CHAPTER 620

[T.L: punisher87]

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"Are you really going to keep doing this?"

"What made Brother Jin so angry?"

"Was it so upsetting when we said that a new test is necessary when you have already become the successor of sister battle god? Enough to stab your brethren! Brother Jin can understand this if he really thinks about the situation of other brethren."

"Besides, not all the brethren claimed that he must be tested again. Even brother 10th battle king only wanted a fair Great tournament of battle kings. It's not about taking away what brother Jin has."

"Say something!"

As Baba said, even though the members of the Plutonian tribe were so angry, they still didn't have the heart to kill or banish Jin.

In Kaio's hospital room, they talked about it as if they were about to throw Jin away, but what they wanted the most was a conversation with him.

The Plutonian tribe's law that brethren do not calculate favors among themselves was still applicable to Jin.

But Jin was making things worse and worse.

The Plutonians were ready to settle things if Jin made a sincere apology, but he only dismissed all the brethren, who visited him, coldly.

As time passed, the disappointment of the Plutonians deepened. Watching Jin being increasingly cold, selfish, and ruthless, they began to question if the person they knew truly existed.

"Everything he showed us so far has been fake. How can a person change so much in an instant? We were willing to give everything!"

"Would we have ignored it if he had honestly told us not to test his ability further since he has already inherited Sigmund? Not only brother 10th battle king, but all the brethren would have accepted that."

"He seems convinced that we are causing a fuss just to take away what is his. Was it so unbearable to give equal opportunities to other brethren? If it's not me, you can't even go outside, yet now you dare to verify my qualifications? He has that kind of attitude."

"He can never become a true Plutonian. In the end, he was just a human being, the race that was always greedy!"

Sadness turned into anger, and anger soon turned into a feeling close to hatred. The depth of the rift between them was a problem that nobody could have imagined happening in just a moment.

77 individuals, adding Jin makes 78, and including Lingling makes it 79.

The city, once filled with golden glory, always exuded a lively and shining atmosphere even with these few numbers when Jin arrived. However, now it was filled with a tense and uneasy atmosphere.

"Phew."

Jin spent his time in empty houses on the outskirts of Laprarosa, away from the hall of battle gods.

Even during the Great Tournament, if it wasn't his match, he didn't visit the main hall.

'I've felt it since the last time, but it's really something that I can't do.'

Jin didn't feel comfortable. 

When he provoked Kaio, when he stabbed him maliciously, and even when he continued to provoke all his brethren now. Of course, his heart was bitter and pained, as if filled with acid.

But as the situation became more serious, he became more certain that he had to go through this process at least once.

'I shouldn't leave the feeling that my inheritance of Sigmund was a reward obtained too easily.'

Hierarchy.

Except for the battle god, all the members of the Plutonian tribe were equal. However, looking back, Jin had always been in an exceptional position.

Even though he was not a brethren, he mastered the Plutonian swordsmanship, and after becoming a brethren, he succeeded Sigmund right away.

That's why, even when lining up, Jin's position is next to Vahn, and in the opening match, he battled with all the Plutonians.

All this happened in just a few years they spent together.

They never fought a life-and-death fight with their back left to others, never defended a territory, never conquered, never slaughtered enemies, never joined a war where fate was at stake.

Jin has always been here to receive. However, as Tantel said, the Plutonians were also living beings, so they had very ordinary emotions.

Even after the Plutonian tribe accepted Jin as their brethren, even after Jin was ranked next to Vahn, they always regarded Jin as someone they had to 'take care of'.

They were trapped in a dead world and their time with Jin was very short, so they couldn't treat him completely equally. In other words, the Plutonians only saw Jin as a younger brother.

Jin, as a Plutonian brethren with a second-ranked status, believed that he should be a subject not to be cared for, but a target of struggle. Beyond equal treatment, beyond equality, he believed he should be a subject to transcend. 

If he had shown a transcendent power like Vahn, if there had been a time when he could do that, there would have been no need for conflict like now.

It was the same even when the Plutonian tribe was still confined in Laprarosa.

There would have been no problem as long as he was treated as a beloved youngest brother without conflict. 

But in order to fight with his brethren outside and eventually control them as a leader, a real fight was necessary. Not a play that resembled reality.

After this fight, it was crucial to confirm what would remain. 

It's not that Jin isn't worried at all. There was no guarantee that the results obtained after the fight would be favorable.

'I have to clear my head. Until the Great Tournament of battle kings is over, I just need to focus on training.'

Meditation and retrospection.

After waking up, Jin continued to grow at all times except for the matches.

The injuries he obtained from the battle with Kaio stimulated the sensation of battle god fusion, and Jin's training took place on a higher level than what he had done before.

The optimal paths for stabbing and slashing, the unyielding composure maintained in any situation, the sense of avoiding death, and landscapes that seemed to be seen only by those who had transcended, and more...….

In other words, the world of martial arts that only transcendent beings can understand.

In his mind, the image of that world was constantly being drawn without rest. Jin absorbed all of it astonishingly quickly, of course it's thanks to the sense of Vahn that he experienced through fusion.

But that wasn't all.

'Sister battle god's senses are of a person who has been strong from the moment they were born. Just like my father.'

Jin's own domain was being added to that sensation. 

Jin Runcandel's unique domain, which he obtained through the abyss of the bottom and long despair, as well as through one death, further enriched the transcendent world.

As a result,

In the 31st match, which took place three days later, Jin defeated Nata, the 11th battle king, head-on.

Nata was very spiteful, and a fierce battle ensued, but in the end, Jin emerged as the winner.

'Did he not use all his strength when fighting the 10th battle king?'

'No, he is getting stronger. In that short time.'

'Huh, Jin must have known exactly how fast he was growing. That's why he crossed the line and became so arrogant. He doesn't think that all of it was due to the privileges obtained through battle god fusion.'

In the ensuing battle against Beliz, the 38th match, he was defeated. However, Beliz was threatened to death with right arm cut off, and Jin did not stop there, as he had warned her before.

"This...!"

Even after the victory or defeat had been decided, he thrust the sword towards her neck once more as he did with Kaio.

The Plutonian tribesmen were paying more attention to Jin than before, so fortunately, the sword did not cut Beliz's throat or there was no unfortunate incident in which Beliz fought back and killed Jin. The Plutonians shot lightning bolts and separated the two.

Jin's limbs were twisted in the process, but Beliz was unharmed. Now, even the Plutonians had no qualms about suppressing Jin aggressively.

The anger towards Jin intensified even more.

"Crazy bastard...… You really want to kill your brethren again."

"Sister 7th battle king defended you until this very morning. Now, Sister 7th battle king must have changed her mind."

Again, after Jin's recovery was over, he defeated Garmund in the 46th match, and in the 50th and 54th match, he was defeated by Baltirok and Lumora, respectively.

Every time he was defeated, he rushed forward like a demon until the end, only to be subdued. But now, no one was surprised by that sight.

Jin's body was gradually deteriorating.

Even with Runcandel's blessed body, he couldn't continue to withstand the battles against the other battle kings, which he repeated after recovering.

The other Plutonians were also accumulating injuries, but they were fighting a completely different battle than Jin. 

The other Plutonians' battles were not full of bloodlust and hatred that was found in Jin's battles.

Those dark energies were consuming Jin like a parasite.

"I... cannot...… fight."

In the 60th match, Linpa, who faced Jin, said that as soon as the battle began.

She couldn't bring herself to fight a beaten-up Jin. The other Plutonians respected her decision.

Linpa was the one who stopped her brethren from challenging the gods until the very end, and she was the one who stopped talking with a sense of guilt for her failure.

'Anyway, the next battle is with sister 9th battle king.'

'No matter how fast he gets stronger, he can never win against sister 9th battle king. He's already been defeated by the other battle kings...….'

'In the end, sister Baba will put an end to it. Sister Baba, who has endured Jin's rampage until now, is now trembling.'

Baba, like Beliz, was also a person who did not give up on Jin until the end.

Even now, she was ready to forgive Jin if he held out his hand.

She hoped that Jin would not go deeper into the darkness and to a place of no return.

"You won't fight me?"

In response to Jin's icy voice, Linpa nodded and turned away.

"Yes...."

"I am warning you, Linpa. If you take one more step there, I will cut you down right where you stand. Do not avoid the fight."

Linpa continued to move forward, unfazed, and Jin...

Swung the Shadow Sword towards her back.

The cut was shallow because Linpa reacted, but there was a long scar left behind. 

Red blood spurted out. The bloodstain, which seemed as if the red lines had been cut off, seemed to symbolize the end of the relationship between the Plutonian tribe and Jin.

"S-Sister 4th battle king!"

"That crazy bastard...!"

Vahn raised her hand to stop Plutonians, who were about to rush.

"He hasn't broken the rules yet. If Brother Jin kills sister 4th battle king, I will personally handle it. Will you continue, sister 4th battle king?"

"... I quit."

Tension hung in the air. Jin looked down at the fallen Linpa. When Vahn declared the end of the battle, he turned away indifferently.

And in the moment when Jin was about to leave the hall, Baba suddenly moved towards the center of the hall and spoke.

"Sister battle god."

"Speak, sister 9th battle king."

"Sister battle god, just now, you referred to Jin as a brother, but we can no longer consider him as such."

"What do you want to say?"

Baba glared at Jin's retreating figure and spoke.

"Therefore, may I kill Jin Runcandel in the next battle?"

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