CHAPTER 719

[T.L: punisher87]

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In the remnants left by Heaven Shatter, the body of Diphus undulated. Blood-like chaos surged from the torn left arm and wings.

From now on, the entangled figures of the two could not be called a fight.

Diphus, cornered, barely swung his sword, Volgar, and Jin relentlessly stabbed his vulnerable spots with his blade.

Each time, large holes appeared in Diphus' physical form. If Diphus were human, he would have died more than ten times by now.

Jin wielded a merciless sword, as if he intended to eliminate every trace of Diphus' physical body.

[Kluk, memories of Diphus! Do you truly perceive me as a different being?]

Kwang! Volgar, the great sword, blocked Jin's finishing strike and was driven into the ground.

[You call me a chaos bastard who devoured your brother, huh? You've been saying strange things since earlier. I understand your excitement to seize victory, but look properly. I am Diphus Runcandel, your elder brother.]

"In the garden of swords, no one can bear the name Runcandel anymore."

[Keuk-kuk, from your perspective, that may be true. However, it's difficult to keep treating me like someone else. It's not just a matter of fact, but also a matter of courtesy towards an opponent who doesn't become humble even when cornered, little brother.]

Suddenly, the atmosphere around Diphus changed.

The faltering swordsmanship, overwhelmed by the tide, quickly regained stability, and Volgar brimmed with destructive power as it did in the beginning.

'Is this his last struggle?'

Jin had always considered that Diphus had some hidden moves up his sleeve.

'So it wasn't self-destruction, but rather enhancement.'

It didn't matter what it was. Even if it was an eruption akin to a volcano, he could block it. Even if Diphus grew stronger, it would be the same.

However, Jin soon realized that Diphus' transformation was not limited to that.

Instead of chaos, Volgar began to emanate a bright white radiance.

'Aura...!?'

The fierce aura unique to Runcandel enveloped Volgar with light.

In an instant, Jin distanced himself from Diphus and locked eyes with him. He was smiling like a madman, breaking the horn on his forehead.

"Do I still seem like someone other than your elder brother?"

The voice, which had amplified with a grim tone, returned to Diphus' original tone, and the wings on his back fell to the ground like withered flowers.

Instead of chaos in the wounds that covered his body, hot and crimson blood flowed.

'He reverted his physical transformation?'

Diphus, standing before Jin once again, was completely unchanged, just like his old self.

Naturally, this was an unexpected event that Jin had not included in his predictions.

"Answer me, youngest."

"What on earth...?"

"It was inevitable for you and me to become enemies and fight. But at least, don't try to relieve your guilt by recognizing me as a different entity."

If Diphus had shown his old self and begged for his life, Jin would have considered it a desperate act to survive.

However, in the eyes of the returning Diphus, there was still the resolve of someone prepared for death.

Meanwhile, Jin's heart couldn't help but waver for a moment.

"When you left for the close door training... I had to endure a tough fight as the 4th flagbearer of the clan. Along with Mary."

Diphus said that and swung his sword at Jin.

Jin evaded the attack and didn't take his eyes off Diphus.

No matter how many times he looked, it was still Diphus.

"When Mother accepted chaos, the transformation of the clan happened in an instant. Many of us, including me, tried to resist, but it was futile. Those who resisted Mother were only chased and killed every day."

But would I have resented you back then?

Jin couldn't answer the following words.

"No one blamed anyone. Father, Luna, who had no sign of returning even though the clan was inevitably changing, and you, who left alone. Even Mother, who oppressed us at the time. Why did that happen? Because I believed that all of those things were the result of my own weakness."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"But throughout the fight, you resented and hated me. Seeing me not as Diphus Runcandel, but as a monster of chaos. Am I no longer myself since I accepted chaos? Can you really determine that? Joshua became tainted by chaos, but he is still Joshua. Am I no longer Diphus now?"

"Don't you dare compare that bastard and elder brother Diphus."

"You still turn away. Jin, my youngest brother. Let me tell you one thing. Receiving Mother's power is impossible without one's consent. Even if Mother tried to bestow it forcibly, I couldn't accept it. It means I became a fragment of evil god by my own will!"

Jin's pupils widened and trembled.

But after a few seconds, Jin regained his composure.

Even if everything Diphus said was true, nothing would change.

"...I understand what you mean. Whatever the reason for choosing chaos, it's regrettable that it turned out like this. I won't resent you either."

"Good, that's how it should be."

The brothers' swords entwined again.

As soon as the battle began, Diphus' body was covered in lingering wounds.

The wounds no longer healed. Unlike before, even a single fatal blow would be the end for Diphus.

Jin's sword still lacked mercy.

'Is this the realm that elder brother Diphus touched before he was tainted by chaos...?'

He's strong.

Even someone as strong as him couldn't resist chaos in the end.

That's what Jin thought.

However, strength is only an objective standard.

In reality, for Jin, who had reached to the ranks of strongest, Diphus' sword could not pose a threat.

"Kraaak!"

Bradamante struck Diphus's waist, and a gush of blood poured out from the gaping wound.

Immediately after, Diphus's movements noticeably slowed down.

While the chaos monsters paid no mind to such injuries, humans tended to slow down when hurt.

His appearance twisted Jin's heart with pain.

Jin swung his sword silently. With each strike, as the blade cut through Diphus's body, tearing and piercing, a vivid sensation traveled up his arm, sending shivers down his spine. The sensation of killing a person, a brother.

"Our mother is incomparable to someone like me. Do you really think you can succeed in betrayal…." 

Aaargh!

A lump of flesh fell from Diphus's abdomen. He held it in one hand and swung his sword like a ghost.

"You couldn't save even your own clan, yet you think you can save the world? Did you come to Rikalton to save people? Stop this nonsense, you are a hypocrite and a traitor. Even if our mother accepted chaos, she never joined hands with her nemesis!"

Slash...!

A crack appeared in Volgar's blade. The constant onslaught from Jin's attacks was depleting the lifespan of the sword.

Once, twice, thrice.

With each strike Jin landed on Volgar, sharp shards flew from Volgar.

Some of them grazed Jin's face, and droplets of blood trickled down his cheek.

Eventually, on the seventh attack, Volgar shattered into pieces.

Diphus, with his sword and body in tatters, still breathed heavily.

An indomitable, ominous gaze.

Jin paused his steps for a moment, looking at Diphus.

"Come on. Are you hesitating? Haha, did you stop your sword out of fear of killing me?"

A beam of light shot out from the shattered Volgar.

Jin didn't even dodge it. Due to the aura being too faint, the beam of light dissipated somewhere in his energy before reaching him.

But still, Diphus shot beams of light several times. With each attempt, the beams became increasingly faint, and Volgar shook off the remaining fragments while blood spurted from Diphus's body.

He had the will to leave even a scratch on Jin's body, even if he died like this. He was determined to become a vengeful spirit and appear in Jin's dreams if necessary.

"Or do you want to mock me?"

That's not it.

The reason Jin stopped was because he couldn't understand.

How could someone so strong, someone who never yielded to death and pain, someone who could struggle so fiercely... Why did they accept the power of the evil god?

Did he submit to chaos?

It was simply incomprehensible.

"Why... Why did you do that? What made you like this, elder brother?"

"I am the only one who made myself like this. Don't look elsewhere for the reason. Anyway, as you said, nothing will change. Why, do you still need someone to resent? You're wrong. If you don't like this situation either, blame yourself."

The moment Diphus finished speaking.

Suddenly, chaos began to rampage around him.

Jin desperately tried to sever the chaos that enveloped Diphus, but at the same time, a white dimensional gate opened in front of him.

[Boong!]

"Jin!"

Mort, Syris, and Valeria reached out their hands to Jin from the white dimensional gate.

Valeria had been analyzing the records of the battlefield all along and had just discovered the final move of the Prophet.

"Stop, you must not kill the Fourth Flagbearer now! We have to eliminate the Prophet first..."

"Valeria, what's going on?"

"The Prophet placed a spell on the Fourth Flagbearer. It's a curse magic that is designed to return the power he received to the evil god as soon as Diphus dies."

From the beginning, Diphus's goal was to restore the evil god's power through his own death.

That's why he had been taking Jin aside all this time, giving the Prophet time to complete the curse.

If Jin had attacked Diphus along with his companions from the beginning, the war would have ended before the Prophet could complete the curse.

Without any trace left behind, Diphus, who had been engulfed in chaos, disappeared.

"To prevent the curse from activating, we must eliminate the Prophet first. Hurry, the Fourth Flagbearer has been summoned to Rikalton Castle now. We must return immediately and kill the Prophet, and destroy the power that Fourth Flagbearer possesses!"

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