Jinn BLADE-Chapter 182 | Snapped

Krane’s blade snapped forward and plunged ahead with great fiery force, and for a brief moment he truly believed it had pierced through Jinn’s flesh. In his mine he already pictured Jinn collapsing, the duel ending in his favor.

But that moment of imagined victory shattered into pieces instantly when he realized what he had actually struck. His sword had pierced something, yes—but it was nothing more than Jinn’s synthetic arm, which Jinn had thrown in front of the blade at the very last second, using it like a shield and sacrificing it completely to stop the lethal strike.

*crack! *crack! *hisssssss!

The mechanical limb hissed loudly in strain, the kritonium faltering and crackering apart as molten heat from Krane’s blade melted every mechanism inside. Sparks burst out from between the joins, and the whole arm spasmes before becoming totally useless, dead weight hanging at Jinn’s side.

"kurghk!"

Krane gritted his teeth hard, frustration painting across his face as he pushed forward with both hands, trying to force the last inch he needed to stab through Jinn’s abdomen. He wanted that strike to land—he wanted to win, the triumph, the death of the slave, and ultimately, the humiliation of House Sorellia as a whole.

But before he could push any further, a sudden crimson slash through the air with a violent snap.

In that instant, Jinn’s blade cleaved through the already ruined synthetic arm, cutting it cleanly free and sending it clattering on the ground. The dismembered mechanical limb sparked, hissed, and bounced once before lying still.

The sudden force made Krane stumble backward several meters, booting skidding as he nearly lost his balance.

Krane’s eyes darted back to Jinn, and the sight that greeted him made his breath hitch. Jinn now stood with fury carved deeply across his face, his sword, Fangeryth, fully unsheathed at last.

Crimson eidra pulsed and cracked along its blade, glowing like veins of lightning crawling all across its frame... as if mimicking the rage that was burning inside Jinn.

Only then... Jinn finally spoke. His voice sounded different now, heavier, almost shaking with a storm he could barely hold together.

"Pain... have you ever truly felt it?" he murmured, the words low, quiet, but carrying so much fury that even the air felt like it tightened around them.

And then—he moved.

*BANG!

Jinn burst forward with a speed far beyond what he had shown earlier, his entire body snapping ahead like a crimson lightning strike. He moved so fast that Krane barely even saw the swing, only felt the rush of air before the strike connected.

Jinn’s blade sliced upward in a clean, brutal crimson arc, faster than a blink,

Faster than a thought.

"Huh?"

Krane didn’t understand what had happened until he felt something warm splatter across his cheek. He looked down, eyes widening, and his own arm lying on the ground—cleanly lacerated from his shoulder, blood gushing on in a grotesque uncontrolled steam.

A wave of pain hit a second later, sharp enough to make his knees buckle.

"A-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!"

"AAARGH IT HURTS!"

His pain induced shrieking filled the royal hall.

"STOP HIM!" one of the members of House Vulkan screamed from the sidelines, panic clear in his voice. He tried to rush toward the barrier, his hand glowing with flame eidra as if he wanted to break into the dueling arena and save Krane.

But the moment he tried stepping forward, a large, hulking figure blocked his path.

Zendrell.

The huge man stood there like a wall of stone, towering over the Vulkan member with a stare so cold and threatening that it forced the man to freeze mid-step. Zendrell didn’t need to say a single word—his presence alone made the fool realize that stepping forward would mean death.

Another member of House Vulkan stepped forward next, a tall woman whose face was filled with a boiling kind of fury that she didn’t even try to hide. Her jaw tightened so hard that the muscle on her cheek twitched, and her hand clamped around the hilt of her sword like she meant to break it in half with her grip alone.

She glared at Zendrell with her eyes sharp and shaking, anger pushing through her voice as she nearly shouted, 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Step out of the way, brute, unless you wish to incur the full wrath of our family!"

Her tone echoed through the hall, heavy and sharp, making many nobles around them stop whatever they were whispering and instead murmur louder, excited by the chaos and drama growing inside the duel arena. Some gasped, others whispered insults behind fans, and many simply watched like it was their favorite entertainment.

"And whose fault was it," Mezra said as she stepped forward with her usual slow, authoritative stride, heels tapping lightly on the polished floor, "that such foolishness even began here today?"

She adjusted her glasses with a single finger, the faint glint on its lens adding another level of pressure as she stared the woman down. Her voice remained calm, too calm, the kind that cut deeper than yelling ever could.

"Your youngling started this entire mess—and he will bear every consequence that follows, whether you like it or not."

But even with Mezra’s words heavy with authority, the members of House Vulkan refused to listen. Their pride was too swollen, their fear for their prodigy too sharp, and so they ignored her completely.

One after another, they began unsheathing their blades, the metallic ring echoing like a threat. They looked as if they were ready to charge into the barrier itself, even if it meant being burned alive by the magic encasing it.

Before they could take another step, Princess Akavi stepped up.

The entire room froze.

She stood tall, expression serious to the point it made several nobles bow instinctively. Her presence alone seemed to lower the temperature of the hall, icy and commanding.

"Your family dares to insult my name," she said, her voice ringing with royal power, "and to insult my partner as well. By royal decree, your entire family should be punished by execution... yet I am lenient enough to allow only the one responsible—only the young one who dared to slander me—to face the consequences."

Her eyes narrowed sharply.

"Do not test my patience any further."

A wave of fear ran through House Vulkan. Their bodies stiffened, and their earlier anger melted into terror. No one dared to breathe too loudly. No one dared to meet Akavi’s stare. Their young prodigy’s life hung on a very thin thread—one they suddenly realized they could not protect.

Yet Jinn...

Jinn felt none of that mercy. He didn’t even look their way.

Ignoring Krane’s broken screams, Jinn moved with a coldness that sent a chill through every noble watching. His crimson-charged sword snapped again, and in a single merciless motion, he lacerated Krane’s remaining arm, slicing it clean off.

"A-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

"STOP! NO! STOP!"

Flesh and blood hit the ground with a wet thud, and Krane collapsed, now completely armless, his shrieks mixing with the crackling of crimson eidra still swirling around Jinn.

Jinn stepped forward slowly, each step heavy, deliberate, filled with anger so deep it felt almost ancient. He stared down at the once-proud prodigy, now shaking on the ground like a helpless child.

"Tell me," Jinn said with a chilling calmness, "O prodigy of Vulkan... how does it feel knowing that your life now rests in the hands of a slave?"