N/T: Translation made by our friend 'Irving'. A big round of applause for him :)
Chapter 660
"Have you all memorized it?"
After Raon had taught the Light Wind division the principle of the Light Wind Style, he tilted his chin.
“What?”
“How can we memorize that after hearing it just once?”
“It’s too long to memorize right away!”
The Light Wind swordsmen, who were mumbling, shook their heads vigorously, saying it was impossible to memorize in one go.
“Wow, as expected of the supreme martial arts. Just the principle alone is making my head explode…”
Krein massaged his temples as he repeatedly recited the beginning of the principle.
“It’s easy.”
Dorian smacked his lips, saying the principle was just the right length.
“You, you already memorized it?”
“Of course.”
He nodded calmly, unlike his usual self.
“The most important thing for a quartermaster is memorization ability! This much is a breeze!”
Dorian laughed, saying that his memory had to improve since he often practiced identifying and taking out items from his belly pocket.
“Ugh, even the coward Dorian memorized it in one go, and I’m struggling….”
“I’m more embarrassed than when I lost in sparring….”
“I must memorize it! Absolutely!”
The Light Wind swordsmen, seeing Dorian memorize it easily, trembled with frustration.
“I’ve memorized it, so I’ll help my team members.”
“Me too.”
“Well, if you can’t memorize the principle, you can’t even start. You fools! Come here right now!”
Burren, Runaan, and Martha also memorized the principle at once and helped their team members memorize it.
Raon smiled faintly as he watched the swordsmen divided into three groups to memorize the principle.
‘It’s a nice sight.’
In the past, Burren and Martha would have only cared about learning for themselves and wouldn't have helped others, but now they were stepping up to help their teammates. This filled him with a strange sense of satisfaction.
As he looked at the Light Wind swordsmen with a satisfied expression, he turned around.
Mark Goetten and Rimmer were sitting facing each other, discussing the principle.
‘Is Sir Mark Goetten bad at memorizing?’
Since high martial prowess didn’t necessarily mean good memorization skills, he thought it might be possible and approached the two.
“Have you memorized up to the Path of Wind?”
“I’m a bit confused.”
Rimmer awkwardly laughed and scratched his head.
“Oh….”
Raon gaped in surprise as he watched.
‘So it was Rimmer who forgot?’
He had assumed Mark Goetten couldn’t memorize it, but the culprit was Rimmer. Moreover, the Path of Wind was in the very beginning. It meant he hadn’t been focused from the start.
“Maybe it’s because I’m getting old these days? It goes in one ear and out the other.”
Rimmer laughed, rubbing his smooth skin that wouldn’t lose to the Light Wind members who were in their early twenties.
“Hmmm….”
Mark Goetten also looked dumbfounded, as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Division leader, help me out. My concentration has dropped a lot these days, so it’s not easy. I’ll go home and memorize it all.”
“Hold on.”
Raon approached Rimmer and held out his hand. fire rose from his palm, forming the shape of cards.
“Huh? What’s with the cards?”
Rimmer blinked, wondering what he was doing.
“Do you know what this is?”
He showed four cards with the number 4 as he spoke.
“It’s four of a kind!”
Rimmer shouted the poker hand’s name in less than 0.1 seconds.
“And this?”
Raon narrowed his eyes slightly and showed a different combination of cards.
“Flush.”
“Three of a kind!”
“High card!”
“Full house!”
“Royal straight flush.”
It wasn’t even 0.1 seconds. The answers came out before the forms even changed. It seemed his brain functioned solely for gambling.
“How’s that? This is the skill of a professional gambler!”
Rimmer proudly patted his chest, as if he were proud of himself.
“You have incredible concentration.”
Raon clenched his fist, extinguishing the fire, and snorted.
“You’re not getting old at all. If you don’t memorize everything today, I’m not letting you go home.”
He told him to memorize it no matter what and waved him off.
“Th, that demon leader!”
Rimmer ground his teeth in frustration.
S-shitty ears bastard!
Wrath ground his teeth even harder than Rimmer, raising his head.
There’s no such guy in Devildom! Call him heaven being instead!
He glared, saying not to compare Raon to demons.
With the help of the team captains and their inherent talent, the Light Wind swordsmen perfectly memorized the principle of the Light Wind Style in less than an hour.
Rimmer, as if proving his lack of concentration was just an excuse, memorized the principle as soon as he heard them again. He was truly hard to handle.
Raon climbed back onto the platform and looked down at the Light Wind swordsmen.
“Since you’ve memorized the principle, it’s time to put it into practice.”
He nodded as he made eye contact with the swordsmen.
“Let’s begin practicing the Light Wind Style.”
“Leader.”
Burren raised his hand and stepped forward.
“It’s late, so it might be better to start practicing tomorrow. We’ve been training and standing guard, so we might not be able to concentrate.”
He shook his head, saying the Light Wind swordsmen couldn’t endure because they were tired from training and standing guard.
“I agree. I really want to start learning, but since it’s the supreme martial art, it would be better to start tomorrow.”
Martha also nodded in agreement with Burren’s words.
“I’m fine with it.”
Runaan unexpectedly wanted to start now, blinking her eyes.
“It’s easier to learn the Light Wind Style when you’re relaxed than when you’re tense.”
Raon smiled faintly and beckoned with his finger.
“Get ready.”
“Sigh, that stubbornness.”
Rimmer’s voice came from behind, but Raon ignored it.
“I guess we have no choice….”
“It’s difficult, but it’s also exciting.”
“Right. It’s the supreme martial art, after all.”
The Light Wind swordsmen, half worried and half excited, sat down in the training ground. As if by agreement, everyone simultaneously closed their eyes and recited the principle of the Light Wind Style.
Goooooo!
Since it was wind martial arts based on Garunua, a gentle breeze wrapped around the Light Wind swordsmen.
A while later, the swordsmen who had finished practicing the Light Wind Style opened their eyes simultaneously.
“As expected, it doesn’t work…”
“Yeah. It’s too difficult.”
“I can’t get the hang of it…”
“Since we don’t understand the meaning of the principle, it’s hard to feel the wind.”
As expected, the Light Wind swordsmen shook their heads, saying it wasn’t easy.
“It’s difficult, but doesn’t this flow feel familiar?”
“Yeah.”
Runaan and Martha nodded at each other.
“Of course, it feels familiar.”
Burren swallowed his saliva as he looked at Raon.
“Because this is the flow of the Great Light Wind Formation.”
“The, the Light Wind Formation?”
“Now that you mention it…”
“It’s similar. No, it’s almost the same!”
The Light Wind swordsmen, realizing that the Light Wind Style and the Light Wind Formation had the same flow, gaped in surprise.
“That’s right. The flow of the Light Wind Style follows the Light Wind Formation.”
Raon made eye contact with Burren and smiled slightly.
“This time, try practicing the Light Wind Style while maintaining the Light Wind Formation.”
He drew the shape of the formation with his finger as he continued.
“You’ll feel something different from before.”
* * *
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Following Raon’s instructions, Burren and the Light Wind swordsmen practiced the Light Wind Style while maintaining the Great Light Wind Formation.
The wind generated by the Great Light Wind Formation was absorbed into his body through every pore, guided by the principle of the Light Wind Style.
This phenomenon wasn't happening to him alone, it was happening to everyone maintaining the formation, as if they were resonating with each other.
Wooooooong!
The pure wind energy entering his body spread through his mana circuits, guided by the principle of the Light Wind Style.
Goooooo!
The more he recited the principle, the more energy melted into his body.
The wind, which was already close to him (Burren), felt even more familiar.
As he began to understand the essence of the wind, the complex Light Wind Style principle unraveled like a thread and naturally seeped into his mind.
‘Ha…’
Burren bit his lip, feeling the intense changes occurring in his energy center, mana circuit, and mind.
‘Is this really happening?’
By practicing the Light Wind Style while maintaining the Great Light Wind Formation, he was able to understand the principle and absorb more energy.
Despite experiencing it firsthand, it felt like a dream.
Whooooosh!
The wind energy surged through his body, carving the flow of Light Wind Style into his mana circuits, muscles, mind, and energy center. The wind, which had been surging like a storm, settled into the traces it had carved, creating a blue light.
Koooong!
The moment he finished reciting the final principle of the Light Wind Style, a thick lightning bolt struck his mind.
A new kind of wind, different from the cold wind he originally possessed, surged through his entire body.
Whooooosh!
He could feel the same blue wind that Raon had shown blooming from his body
‘So this is the Light Wind Style.’
The wind of the Light Wind Style gently swirled around him, protecting his senses. In this state, it blocked out surrounding noises and movements to prevent any disturbance to his training.
‘He really is a monstrous guy.’
When Raon explained the Light Wind Style to him, he had been half-convinced. He had doubted whether it was possible to achieve super sensory perception, and even if it was, wouldn't it be something only Raon could do? But after experiencing it himself, he realized it wasn't something exclusive to Raon.
This martial art itself contained a super sensory perception.
It was so astonishing that he couldn't even laugh.
Burren let out a breath and opened his eyes. He saw the red sun rising in the sky.
The wind that had been protecting him dissipated silently, catching the sunlight.
“Ugh…”
“Ah…”
“It wasn’t a dream.”
The other swordsmen who had maintained the Great Light Wind Formation also blinked as if waking up.
“You're finally awake.”
Raon, who was sitting casually on the platform, raised his hand with a smile.
“How does it feel to wake up after a week?”
“A week?”
Burren’s eyes widened at his words.
“Did you just say a week?”
“Since the sun has risen, it’s actually been a bit more than a week.”
Raon nodded, pointing at the rising sun.
“That’s….”
It felt like only a few hours, or even minutes had passed, yet a week had gone by.
‘So we were in a trance state.’
Realizing that they hadn’t sensed the passage of time, he figured they must have been in a trance.
‘How long has it been since I was last in a trance… Oh! Wait!’
Burren looked around with wide eyes.
“Did everyone fall into a trance?”
Raon had said it had been a week. This meant everyone here had been in a trance.
“What the hell did you do?”
Martha’s lips trembled, forgetting even to use formal language.
“I told you. This martial art was made for you from the beginning.”
Raon laughed, looking at the Light Wind swordsmen, who were still maintaining the formation.
“The Great Wind Formation is a formation you've trained in every day for nearly ten years, and the Light Wind Style created with the same flow of that formation. It’s naturally easy for you to grasp. Although I didn’t expect everyone to fall into a trance.”
He nodded, saying it seemed their daily practice had triggered a miracle.
“No matter what, I’ve never heard of so many people entering a trance simultaneously.”
“Same here. This is just….”
"Miracle? This is practically an impossibility!"
"I'm starting to get scared now..."
The Light Wind swordsmen were both delighted by the miracle and shocked, their jaws trembling.
“Enough talk. Let’s test it out.”
Raon raised his finger, instructing them to activate the Light Wind Style.
“Let’s start with defense.”
“Yes, sir.”
Burren swallowed hard and nodded. When he activated the Light Wind Style, the wind engraved in his mana circuit and energy center surged up.
Thinking about defense, a shield imbued with blue light formed on the back of his hand. It was the wind shield that Raon had shown them.
Whoooosh!
The blue light of the wind, enhanced by the effect of the Great Light Wind Formation, formed a massive shield covering the entire Light Wind swordsmen.
“Now, attack.”
Upon hearing Raon’s command, the wind on the back of his hand transformed into a sharp blade even before he could think.
The flow of the Great Light Wind Formation also shifted rapidly, creating a powerful blade storm.
Kugugugugu!
Burren bit his lip as he watched the wind blades covering the training ground.
‘This is insane….’
Just by thinking, or rather, just by reacting, it instantly formed the most appropriate shape for the situation. The name “supreme martial art” was truly deserved.
Looking at Raon, who was smiling in satisfaction, Burren clenched his fist tightly.
‘I promised to follow you no matter where you go. Even if your martial art was far inferior to my father's, or if your path was more treacherous than death, it didn’t matter to me. But my decision to follow you...’
With deep blue wind swirling in his eyes, Burren nodded.
‘I think it was the best choice of my life.’
* * *
Rimmer let out a hollow laugh, watching the wind bloom from his hand.
‘A trance state….’
He couldn’t remember the last time he had entered such a state.
He had thought he would never experience it again in his lifetime, but thanks to Raon’s peculiar methods, he had the opportunity to feel that dream-like time once more.
“So this is the Light Wind Style….”
“Maybe it’s because of the trance state, but I understand it completely now.”
“Was this planned? Or was it a coincidence?”
“Have you ever seen our leader do anything on a whim? It must have been planned.”
“Is our leader a real monster…?”
The Light Wind swordsmen were more astonished by Raon than by learning the Light Wind Style itself.
‘Well, I feel the same way.’
During the trance, he felt extreme ecstasy. It was such a blissful and joyous time that Raon, who had made it possible, seemed terrifying.
“To think we’d learn a supreme martial art so quickly.”
“I thought it would take us at least a year.”
“Wait. Didn’t the division leader say it had been a week?”
“Yeah, a week.”
“Then….”
“He’s been guarding us alone all this time?”
Realizing that Raon had stood guard alone for a week, the Light Wind swordsmen once again gaped in awe.
“I’ve decided I’ll follow our division leader for life.”
“For life? Are you crazy? We’ll follow him even after death!”
“I’ll follow him in my next life too!”
The swordsmen laughed, vowing never to leave the Light Wind division.
“…….”
Burren clenched his fist tightly, seemingly sharing the same sentiment. He had looked troubled lately, but now his expression was free of worry.
“That monstrous human….”
Martha muttered in disbelief but showed a wide smile, looking thrilled to have learned a new martial art.
“Oh.”
Runaan was spreading ice into the air with the wind, causing an untimely flurry of sleet to fall on the training ground.
Rimmer smiled as he watched the Light Wind swordsmen express their awe towards Raon, and Raon looked back at them with fondness.
'They've truly become leader and subordinates now.'
* * *
Although Raon ordered the entire Light Wind swordsmen to rest, they refused to leave the training ground, eager to test out the Light Wind Style.
‘I wondered if it might happen, but it really did.’
Even though the Light Wind Style followed the flow of the Great Light Wind Formation, he hadn’t expected everyone to enter a trance state. It was a miracle among miracles.
‘Just watching them fills me with pride.’
I, I feel like I'm going to die of hunger….
Wrath raised his withered hand.
‘Hm? But you’ve been eating all along.’
It was all nadine bread! Enough already, let’s have some real food! You promised we’d have something delicious once they woke up!
He groaned, lowering his tail, begging for food.
‘Alright, let’s go.’
Raon nodded, watching Wrath wobble.
The fact that the Light Wind swordsmen had entered a trance, and that the Light Wind Style had become a supreme martial art, was all thanks to Wrath, so he decided to provide him with the food he wanted for a while.
"I'll be heading back, so train moderately and rest."
“Division leader… sir.”
As he was waving his hand and descending the platform, Martha raised her hand.
"Do you have a question?"
"What is it?"
"Did you have this result in mind when you created the Light Wind Formation?"
"Of course not."
Raon calmly shook his head.
"The Light Wind Formation was created by me and the vice leader together. Back then, I was inexperienced, so the vice leader's contribution was greater. We simply utilized the power of the formation to protect the swordsmen executing it until the end."
As he spoke, he glanced at Rimmer.
"Unbelievable..."
"Did that elf really do that?"
"No way, seriously..."
"Did he win a lot of money that day or something?"
The Light Wind swordsmen shook their heads in disbelief.
"..."
Rimmer just smiled gently, an unusual response from him.
"Hmm..."
Raon narrowed his eyes as he watched Rimmer.
'He's been acting strange lately.'
Normally, Rimmer would be bragging, but he was quietly summoning wind. It was odd, especially since he should have been complaining about not gambling for a week. Yet, he was silent.
As Raon moved to approach Rimmer, the door of the training ground opened, and Roenn entered.
"The Light Wind division Leader, I greet you."
"Sir Roenn?"
Surprised by the unexpected visit, Raon tilted his head and approached him.
"The head of house has summoned you. If you are not busy, would you be able to accompany me?"
Roenn smiled faintly, glancing towards the main building.
"If you have something else to do, you can visit later."
Do not go!
Wrath shook his head firmly.
It’s time to eat! Absolutely not!
'Hmm...'
As Raon was about to ask for some time due to his promise with Wrath, Roenn continued.
"It’s early, so I thought you might not have had breakfast. I’ve prepared something."
Roenn smiled, saying they could talk and then eat.
"Ah, right now I'm a little..."
Shut up!
As Raon was about to decline, Wrath elbowed him in the waist.
'What are you doing!'
He said he prepared food! Why aren't you following him right away!
Wrath, eager to eat the main building's food, licked his lips. Raon didn’t know what to do.
"...Alright."
Raon sighed and nodded.
"Thank you. Then, let's go."
Roenn smiled and turned around.
Raon told the Light Wind swordsmen that they could train freely for the day and followed Roenn to the main building.
"Why is the head of house looking for me?"
"I’m not sure. But it’s not a bad thing, he was smiling."
"S-Smiling?"
He widened his eyes, as if it was more surprising than the entire Light Wind swordsmen falling into a trance.
"The head of house is actually a person who smiles often."
"R-Right..."
As they chatted lightly and walked, they soon stood in front of the audience chamber.
Roenn opened the door without knocking and gestured for Raon to follow.
Raon nodded and entered the audience chamber.
Glenn stood by the window, the sunlight streaming in and making his blond hair glow as if it were ablaze.
"You’re here."
Glenn slowly turned around. His eyes were still filled with emptiness, but there seemed to be a slight tremor in them.
"I greet the head of house."
Raon approached Glenn and knelt down.
"Enough with the formalities."
Glenn gestured for him to stand.
"You’ve created a new martial art, I hear. A supreme one at that."
"Thanks to you, my lord."
Raon gulped and lowered his head. To be able to tell it was a supreme martial art just by looking at it, it was an inhuman ability.
"Hmph, is that so."
Glenn cleared his throat and subtly looked away.
"Was it of great help?"
"Yes? Yes. It was a great help."
"I see. Then Rimmer and..."
"Rimmer?"
"Ahem!"
As Glenn mentioned Rimmer’s name, Roenn interrupted with a cough.
"Hmm..."
Glenn straightened up, covering his mouth with his hand.
"A supportive martial art that combines super sensory perception with the wind. There are various ways to develop it. Not bad."
He nodded, acknowledging the martial art’s worth.
"...Thank you."
Raon swallowed hard. Grasping all the information about a martial art he hadn't even seen yet sent chills down his spine
'I still have a long way to go.'
As Raon shook his head, Glenn took a step closer.
"I called you here for another reason."
Glenn shook his head calmly.
"Do you know about the chamber of self?"
"...Yes."
Raon nodded. The Chamber of self was a special chamber or room left by the founder of Zieghart that offered enlightenment. However, he had heard that one could only enter it once in a lifetime, and entering it didn't guarantee becoming stronger.
"Would you like to enter that room?"
Glenn asked if he was willing to enter the room, implying he would allow it.
"Hmm..."
Raon briefly considered the chamber of self and himself, then lifted his gaze.
