Chapter 323:

Name:Swordmaster's Youngest Son Author:
Chapter 323:

C323 - Assault on the Villa (2)

It was a dense and deep forest. The path was not well-paved in any direction, and even monsters roamed the abandoned forest.

Not many people in the world could build a villa in a place like this and maintain it.

Joshua had his Guardian Knights and hunting dogs residing here.

Grr, Grrr....

From somewhere, unknown creatures emitted low growls.

However, the monsters couldn't approach Jin recklessly because they feared the intimidating aura that emanated from him, the aura of the Clan of Legends.

"If Sister Luna hadn't told me, even with the Seven-Colored Peacock's information-gathering ability, it would have been impossible to find this place."

In a way, this villa was situated in a place that only someone who had grown up with Joshua, by his side, could find.

-When Joshua was a teenager, there was a forest he used to go to for training on the days when I bullied him a lot. It was a forest where monsters appeared. It seems he chose that place to follow in Father's footsteps training in the Black Sea.

Luna shared the story while revealing the location of the secret villa.

The people of the Ekan Kingdom called this place the Abandoned Forest, the Dark Forest, or the Abyssal Forest, just as people named useless and dangerous forests in various regions.

The nearby village disappeared after being attacked by monsters, and the Ekan Kingdom lacked the capability to clear the forest.

Young Joshua considered this place the perfect training ground.

And he thought his father would be delighted.

He hoped that if he trained alone in this forest, just like his father did in the Black Sea, he would eventually be recognized. Rêạd new chapters at novelhall.com

Only once, Cyron mentioned something about that forest to Joshua.

"You're doing well. But you won't be able to catch up to your sister like this."

Cyron rarely praised his children.

So, if he combined praise and admonishment, and it wasn't a mocking tone, it was certainly closer to praise.

But at that time, Joshua, who respected his father, couldn't stand being compared to Luna, even at that moment when he was training following his father.

So, he personally led the knights of his faction and set fire to the villa.

From that day on, the villa disappeared from Runcandel's records, and Joshua stopped searching for the Ekan Kingdom.

It was about ten years after that, for some reason. Joshua found this place again and built a villa identical to the one he made in his youth.

"It might be because of his affection for Father, or simply because he liked that forest, or maybe because his sense of inferiority has diminished, I don't know the reason, but in any case, it seems to have become quite an important place."

While Jin briefly recalled Luna's story, he felt a presence and turned his head.

Through the dense and dark trees, he saw people with masks.

They were Kashimir, Alisa, Kuzan, and Yulian.

They had just arrived in the forest and had now found Jin.

"We've erased all the traces the young master left when he arrived."

Kuzan said politely, bowing his head. As Kuzan said, his companions had erased the tracks that Jin intentionally left behind so they could find him.

"Thank you for your hard work."

According to the information provided by Luna, the number of residents inside the villa was approximately three Guardian Knights and ten hunting dogs.

"You can kill the hunting dogs, but try to do without the Guardian Knights unless absolutely necessary. If you can't subdue them, then you can eliminate them. Especially with Kuzan and Yulian, there might be an old comrade who recognizes their skills, so they have to change their fighting style."

The reason they wanted to do without the Guardian Knights if possible was that they were individuals who had sworn loyalty to Runcandel before becoming followers of Joshua.

Jin wanted to avoid killing more Guardian Knights of the clan in the future. In other words, he wanted to give them a chance.

Before the large-scale confrontation with Joshua began, Jin wanted to give them the opportunity to surrender.

Knights who made wise decisions had the option to be recruited.

"Understood."

Jin, Kashimir, and Alisa had brought different weapons than usual.

Alisa carried a pair of daggers instead of her usual gauntlets.

Jin turned his gaze towards Yulian.

Yulian, who used to be extremely introverted and always seemed scared whenever Joshua's name came up, seemed even tenser today.

"Yulian."

"...Yes?"

"He's definitely here."

Upon hearing those words, Yulian clenched her lips tightly.

Jin gave her a light tap on the shoulder and continued.

"Let's go in."

Jin and his companions began to advance quickly along the forest path.

While Kuzan tried to subdue the suspect with his poisoned needle, Jin raised his hand to stop him.

Jin realized that the man's vacant eyes were staring into nothingness.

He couldn't see what was in front of him.

Unless he was blind, he wouldn't react like this even after seeing those suspicious masks.

But who is he?

The rest of the team also realized that fact some time later.

[How many of them came?]

The man's use of the word "materials" referred to humans.

"Five."

[Only a handful. I can't do anything with that number. Just throw them in and go.]

"I've been curious for a while, but what are these 'materials' for?"

When Jin approached and asked, the man lifted his head.

[Tsk, Sir Joshua made a big mistake this time. Letting someone like you ask such a question...]

Crack!

He struck the floor with his staff.

Immediately, ominous purple magic circles appeared on the floor, ceiling, and walls.

Intuitively, Jin and the others could sense that this was ancient dark magic.

That meant not even Jin had any idea of what kind of effect this magic would have.

In a brief instant, several thoughts crossed Jin's mind.

Should he kill the man to dispel the magic?

Or defend against the unknown magic and subdue him to obtain information?

The latter option appealed to him, but the risk was too high to guarantee the safety of his comrades.

Bam!

Jin lunged forward and drove his sword into the man's neck.

Jin considered that cutting off his limbs wouldn't stop the magic.

[Guah!]

The man shivered and fell forward.

Not even a second had passed since the magic circle was activated.

"Young Master, are you alright?"

"I'm not sure what kind of magic it was, so I killed him. It might have been something like what Myuron did, trying to summon something from hell."

When Jin removed the fallen man's hood, the purple magic circles lost their light and disappeared.

It was a horrifying face.

The features were so distorted that it was impossible to distinguish the nose from the mouth, and the body looked as if someone had forcibly pieced together chunks of flesh.

Moreover, it seemed like the man was already weakened even before Jin killed him.

"Well done. Huh, who is this... a Magician? No, he doesn't seem human."

"He certainly doesn't look human, more like a demon. I've been taught how weakened demons can end up like this during my days in the special forces."

Alisa added an explanation to Kashimir's question.

Jin searched the man's robe, checking his belongings. Strange and worn pieces of paper and bone fragments, whether from animals or humans, fell from the inner pockets of the robe.

Plop, clatter...

And then, a familiar black marble rolled out.

"Young Master Jin, this is...!"

Kashimir exclaimed in shock as he looked at the marble.

The marble closely resembled an object that Jin and the others knew. It was made exactly from the same material.

A Shadow Energy Pearl?

The recording device used by Solderet.

The bead that had fallen from the man's robe was precisely that.

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