C272 - Brother and Sister (3)

"Take his sword, the Bradamante. He'll surely fight you then," Dyfus had said.

"The Bradamante? Isn't it in Joshua's armory right now?" Mary asked.

"Exactly. I told you to pay attention, didn't I? What did I just say? I said the flagbearers would be busy because of Father, right? Joshua will be out of the Garden of Swords starting tomorrow. And you'll probably stay here."

"Oh! So, even if I steal his armory, I won't get into trouble right away. Is that it?"

"Not right away, probably. Although he'll be furious once he returns."

"That's why they call it an afterthought. You think about it afterward. I'll think about handling my problems later. I have to go get that sword as soon as Joshua leaves. After all, it was worth peeling fruits for you."

"Deal with your own problems, alright?"

"Don't worry about that. But if Mother tries to kill me for it, then step up, okay? I'm counting on you, dear older brother. See you later then. I'm off!"

"What? Hey, come on! Mary! You idiot! I don't agree with your request! Did you hear me?"

Mary didn't stop at anything if she could fight the powerful, even if it meant stealing from the armory of the second flagbearer and successor to the patriarch in broad daylight.

As soon as Joshua left the Garden of Swords, Mary headed to the armory located within his independent residence.

She subdued all of Joshua's guardian knights who didn't retreat and successfully stole the Bradamante. In the process, over a dozen of Joshua's guardian knights were injured, and Mary herself suffered multiple cuts on her body.

The guardian knights guarding the armory were in shock at this sudden tragedy, but now that Jin had returned, it was inevitable for something like this to happen.

Mary had always been in Jin's plans to retrieve the Bradamante.

"I didn't think she would bring it back so quickly. Well... Mary is truly something special. But what is that she's carrying on her back? It looks very heavy." Jin's gaze fell on the unidentified large cloth sack she carried on her back.

Mary pointed at the Bradamante hanging from her waist with her thumb.

"Don't tell me you're going to reject me again. I never said that Phoenix Heart was free."

"Aren't birthday gifts usually free?"

"Normally, people return the favor!"

"Mary. Actually, the reason I didn't want to fight you was that I didn't want to draw too much attention right after arriving."

"What?"

"Well... it's hard to explain."

Veins popped on Mary's neck. "You're looking down on me right now, aren't you? Jin, you brat. Uncle Jed told me you were crazy, but I had no idea you were this cool."

Another commotion was brewing in the hallway.

"We've found the seventh flagbearer!"

"Retrieve the object at all costs!"

"Lady seventh flagbearer! Please stop playing around and return the sword!"

"Oh, damn it. Have they caught up to me already? Hold it right there. I'll stab you if you come any closer!"

Jin didn't expect things to escalate this far. He predicted that Mary would confront him with the Bradamante, but he had no idea she would also bring the pursuit of the guardian knights to his room.

I guess it's not the time to act innocent.

Jin infused mana into his red ruby.

Wroom!

"Myaa!" Shuri was summoned out of nowhere. Mary's eyes widened.

"Let's go, Mary."

Jin hopped on Shuri's back and reached out his hand to Mary. When Mary grabbed his hand, Jin realized that the sack on her back was much heavier than it appeared.

Meanwhile, Gilly and Petrow quickly opened the largest window wide enough for Shuri to jump through.

Shuri leaped.

In an instant, Gilly and Petrow's collaboration in opening the window proved futile. Shuri's large size caused it to bump its head against the window frame and fall flat on the ground.

"Hm."

"Meowwww."

Jin tried to conceal his embarrassment and retracted Shuri back into the red ruby. Then he jumped out the window with Mary and summoned Shuri again.

"Please forget about the awkward scene back there."

"I'll give you a good beating! I'll tell you where to go!"

"Alright."

Shuri began running through the Garden of Swords in the direction Mary indicated.

Joshua's guardian knights managed to suppress the curses they desperately wanted to let out and attempted to follow from behind until they heard a voice.

"Look at these fools. Can't they see me here? Turns out this room belongs to me too, Murakan. If you ever step into this room, know that you'll be killed." Murakan prevented the guardian knights from entering the room.

Joshua's guardian knights were completely lost. The chain of command in the clan they were taught never included a dragon.

Does the Dark Dragon outrank the twelfth flagbearer? But this Dark Dragon is the guardian dragon of the twelfth flagbearer, right?

Wait, are we supposed to listen to this Dark Dragon in the first place? We should be immediately pursuing the seventh and twelfth flagbearers...

Murakan's face grew fiercer as the guardian knights wracked their brains.

"Damn, look at these useless fools. Even Temar, that boy, never dared to cross my territory. I know times have changed, but should I be treated like this even in the Runcandel clan?"

"We will take a detour, Lord Murakan," a guardian knight spoke, but Murakhan was already upset.

"No, no, that won't do. My ego has suffered considerable damage, and I can't let you go like this. Fools, you haven't shown me any respect as soon as you laid eyes on me."

"We will retreat for now. Squad, take a detour and pursue!"

At that very moment, dark energy gathered in Murakan's eyes.

Black scales formed on his arms and face, and wings grew from his back simultaneously.

He transformed parts of his body to reveal the strength of a dragon.

The guardian knights froze immediately like statues before they could turn around.

If this had been a thousand years ago, common guardian knights would barely be able to look Murakan in the eyes. All members of the Runcandel clan showed utmost respect for Murakan in Temar's days.

"Don't you know how to bend your knees?"

The guardian knights immediately bent their knees upon hearing Murakan's words.

Gilly and Petrow were startled by the sight, but they managed to keep their composure.

Murakan exuded immense and extraordinary strength, but the guardian knights didn't yield out of fear.

They realized how disrespectful they had been to the revered guardian of the clan until recently.

"The servants of the Runcandels have offended the guardian of the clan, the great dark dragon. We will accept any punishment you decree upon us."

Murakan looked at them for some time and responded. "Very well. Someone will have to take responsibility for this offense. Bring me Rosa Runcandel."

The guardian knights could solemnly swear that this was the most humiliating and disastrous day they had experienced since becoming knights of Joshua.

Jin and Mary arrived at a plain on the outskirts of Kalon.

This vast, empty land was assigned to Mary's direct control the moment she became a flagbearer. The land had one purpose.

Battles.

Whenever Mary found a worthy opponent, she would drag them here and fight until she was satisfied.

Jin was the first worthy enemy of this year. It was also Jin's first time coming to this place.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Mary stretched, brandishing her sword while Jin inspected the dried bloodstains and sword marks covering the area.

I heard that a hundred powerful figures lost their lives here.

There were also numerous deep sword gashes, indicating the number of great battles fought here.

Mary loosened Bradamante from her waist.

Then she threw it as far as she could, across the plain.

"I would stake it in the ground somewhere, but it would be dragged into the battle and thrown away anyway. Finally, I can fight against you."

"Now, I can feel comfortable fighting against you in this place."

Jin had provoked her two days in a row, from the moment they had a chance to speak in the Garden of Swords. The motive behind the provocations was the same as always. It was to gain an advantage in defeating her.

She's in the late stages of the eight stars or the early stages of the nine stars. She's not intimidated.

Jin wasn't the only one who had grown stronger in the past four years of his Reserve Flagbearer stage. All the flagbearers had made tremendous progress, including Mary.

In fact, Mary even knew the finishing moves.

She's not going to use the finishing moves, is she? What a pity. I did everything I could to provoke her until now, but she regained her composure along the way.

No veins were popping on Mary's neck anymore. She looked at Jin calmly.

"Dear brother?"

"Yes, Mary?"

"Did you know?"

"Know what?"

Mary burst into laughter. "I killed you at least thirty times along the way."

"That's very strange to say. How is that possible?"

She revealed the dagger she had hidden in her sleeve. "While riding that cat behind you, this little dagger could have explored every nook and cranny of your body if I wanted it to. I didn't want our reunion to end in such a boring way."

Jin simply observed his third sister speak triumphantly and didn't respond for some time.

People used to have a misconception about Mary Runcandel, the fiercest person in Hufester. They thought of her as a martial artist who always sought to fight cleanly.

But that couldn't be further from the truth.

Mary did everything to win. She simply lacked talent for schemes and plots, so she stayed away from them. But she never hesitated to use veiled threats, poison, or ambushes.

In that sense, Mary wasn't lying when she said she had been soft on Jin. Although it was only half true.

"And that's exactly why I told you earlier. How strange. Did you think I didn't notice those little things?"

Jin had been aware of Mary's dagger throughout the journey. It was quite an exhilarating experience, and the threat was enough to make him break into a cold sweat.

Mary licked her lips with satisfaction at his response. "Uncle, I'm proud of you. If those fools from Tona had said those words, I would have smashed their jaws. But you are genuine. You sound quite convincing. It doesn't seem like you're bluffing."

"Thank you."

"Let's start now, my dear brother. Before we do, I almost forgot something." Mary finally let go of the heavy sack she had been carrying on her back.

Even Jin couldn't believe his eyes as she began to unfold the sack.

This is insane. These are mana bombs! And they're anti-personnel type, the most powerful ones!

Each of the blue clumps the size of an egg filling the sack was as potent as a seven-star attack spell.

Mary scattered the bombs across the terrain without hesitation. They immediately rolled and filled the area between the siblings.

They had safety locks that prevented them from detonating with a slight impact. But with the shockwaves their battle would cause, those safety locks meant nothing.

"I've been waiting for this fight for too long. It wouldn't be good to have a boring scenario, right? I spent the whole night trying to think of how this battle could be more satisfying. Haha. Come at me, Jin!"