N/T: Translation made by our friend 'Irving'. A big round of applause for him :)
Chapter 687
Raon held his breath, keeping his eyes fixed on Ogram's back.
'Why is he appearing in my mental world?'
Even though Ogram had taught him the Raging Sea, the only thing embedded in his mental world was swordsmanship.
The perfect martial arts he had mastered as a child did not exist here, so he couldn't understand why Ogram had appeared.
Whoooosh!
Ogram threw a punch into the air, seemingly unaware that Raon was watching him from behind.
There was a sense of boundless freedom in his disciplined movements. It seemed as if he was putting all his strength into his fist.
Raon swallowed dryly and approached Ogram.
'What's this...'
Ogram looked the same as when Raon had seen him in the Sran tribe village. Except for one thing.
His eyes.
His eyes were desperate, as if he was fighting a mortal enemy.
Raon had never seen such earnestness in Ogram, who always exuded confidence and composure.
"Hmm."
Raon bit his lip as he looked at Ogram's desperate eyes.
'Now is not the time to think about why he's here.'
The instinct that had always saved his life told him. If he missed this opportunity, he would never see this again.
Raon operated the Ring of Fire to its extreme. The eight rings that were slowly rotating in the air resonated in an instant, allowing him to reach a state of maximum concentration.
Whooosh!
The fist that extended from Ogram's left hand drew the wind of the Light Wind Style, and the shockwave that burst from his right hand amplified the heat of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation.
He was not simply performing the Raging Sea but demonstrating how to efficiently utilize the energy he possessed.
Boom!
Every time Ogram's fist rose, the mental word twisted. It was not the destructive power of the fist nor the purity of the aura that formed the massive flow.
It was the Raging Sea, seeping into the ends of his fists.
'Is this the true Raging Sea?'
The more he watched, the more impressed he became.
The Raging Sea that Raon had learned from Ogram was a technique to penetrate the opponent's aura barrier and shield and deliver a shock to their body.
But the Raging Sea that Ogram was demonstrating now seemed to penetrate not only the aura barrier but also the opponent's body.
In other words, it appeared to have no limit to the objects it could pass through.
Raon watched Ogram's the Raging Sea without missing a single moment, so that he could someday reach the pinnacle of the Raging Sea.
When time passed, which felt as short as a moment and as long as a year, Ogram's movements suddenly changed.
Whoooosh!
Ogram started stepping and throwing punches as if there was an enemy right in front of him.
'Dodge to the right and use the Hundred Banishing Fist. This time, break through head-on with the Shoulder Smashing Fist?'
He wasn't fighting as if an enemy was appearing.
'He's really fighting someone.'
Raon didn't know who Ogram was fighting, but his movements were different from when he was demonstrating the Raging Sea. He was fighting someone one-on-one.
As if an invisible enemy was launching a fierce attack, Ogram bent his waist, clenching his fists.
He unleashed the Raging Sea outputs to the maximum and extended his fist. The flow of aura that penetrated everything split the sky and the ground.
Rumble!
Even though Ogram was confident of his victory, he didn't let his guard down and focused all his attention on his enemy.
'This is a win.'
Even Raon thought it was all over. At that moment, a black blade rose from Ogram's left side and tore through his arm.
'Demonic energy...?'
The black energy emanating from the blade wasn't unfamiliar.
'No, that's the dark flow.'
What had cut Ogram's arm wasn't demonic energy but the dark flow he had felt in front of the tomb of the Saber Sword Sovereign.
It was clearly the energy that Derus Robert was hiding.
Despite being surprised by the ambush, Ogram didn't stop fighting. He minimized his evasions and started fighting two-on-one.
Although he was a powerful warrior among the transcenders, he couldn't withstand the attacks of two enemies.
Eventually, the dark flow spread like a spider web and trapped Ogram.
Raon trembled as he watched Ogram sink into the darkness.
'What is this...?'
He couldn't understand the situation, and when he let out a shaky breath, his mental world began to collapse.
It meant that the time he could stay here was over.
'No way...'
Raon bit his lip, not looking at the collapsing mental world but at the space where Ogram had disappeared.
'Did something happen to Ogram in reality?'
* * *
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"Huff..."
Garona exhaled heavily as he advanced. He was carrying the Sran tribe leader on his back, and despite being seriously injured himself, he kept moving, spitting blood.
'I have to keep going...'
If he stopped even once, he wouldn't be able to walk anymore.
The man in the red robe who blocked their way was strong. Even though he wasn't an Apostle, he had strength beyond an Apostle, and Garona had faced death countless times whenever they clashed fists.
If it weren't for the enlightenment of the Raging Sea, obtained through the will to help his master, his heart would have been pierced, and he would have fallen onto the cold ground.
"Ugh..."
The Sran tribe leader, who was being carried on his back, groaned and patted his shoulder.
"Garona. Leave me. You must survive..."
The Sran tribe leader's lips were pale from heavy bleeding, and he told Garona to leave him behind.
"I cannot."
After leaving Ogram behind, if he abandoned the Sran tribe leader as well, he wouldn't deserve to look back at himself in the future.
Dying here would be better than doing something he could never do as a warrior of the Beast Union.
The communication crystal was also broken, and the warriors and shamans following behind were too injured to carry the Sran tribe leader.
"Why doesn't the Union leader come?"
"Could it be that he was defeated by the White Blood Religion’s leader…."
"Well, that's the only..."
The Sran tribe warriors lowered their heads, searching for Ogram. It was natural for them to think that way since he hadn't shown up for a long time after the battle ended.
"Stop your nonsense!"
The dying Sran tribe leader turned his head and shouted.
"Do you think the union leader would fall to a mere vampire? He moved away to divert attention from us!"
His voice was firm, showing his unwavering belief in Ogram.
Garona bit his lip and nodded.
'Yes. We must believe...'
If the warriors of the Beast Union didn't believe in their leader Ogram, who would?
Garona put strength in his toes and continued walking.
After an unknown amount of time, when he was truly on the verge of collapse, numerous shadows emerged on the dim grassland.
At the center of those shadows, a handsome young man in scholar's attire rode a horse, an unusual sight in this grassland.
"Vice union leader..."
Normally, he would frown at the sight of him, but today, he was incredibly grateful for his presence.
"Vice union leader!"
Garona stopped and screamed, a mix of a shout and a roar.
Crackle!
Upon hearing the sound, the vice union leader vanished from atop the horse and appeared before Garona's eyes. It was like a flash of lightning.
"Garona!"
"Why are you so late?"
When Garona was about to collapse to his knees, the vice union leader caught and supported his waist.
"What on earth happened!"
"Contact the entire union immediately..."
Garona, unable to hold back his emotions, burst into tears.
"Master is in danger!
* * *
"Do you expect me to believe that now?"
Glenn Zieghart frowned as he stared at the communication crystal.
[Ah, this is frustrating.]
Chamber, the archmage of Eternal Flame, tilted her head.
[Even though I love to joke around, would I lie about something like this? Huh?]
Chamber told him to believe her, furrowing her beautiful brow.
She had shed her usual pretense and revealed her true personality.
"..."
Glenn stared at Chamber in the crystal for a moment before nodding.
"Then continue."
[I'm not your subordinate! You know that, right?]
"I know, so explain it from the beginning."
[Ugh! There's no one I like in your family except for Raon!]
Chamber sighed deeply, glaring at Glenn.
[This is the last time. Listen carefully. I heard that the White Blood Religion’s leader attacked the Chiran tribe, and Ogram ran there alone. After that, Garona and...]
She relayed the story she had heard from Garona and the Sran tribe leader to Glenn.
[...That's how I ended up getting contacted. Of course, I only heard the story from Garona, so I don't know what happened inside the black veil.]
"Garona..."
Glenn repeated Garona's name. He remembered Ogram introducing Garona as a potential successor in the future.
"So Ogram hasn't shown himself yet?"
[So I contacted you too.]
“Hmm….”
Glenn frowned. Normally, Ogram would have told them to come closer and watch, as he was confident in his ability to defeat anyone. Given that he told them to run away and has not shown himself since, it was reasonable to think he was dead.
‘No, rather, he might just be alive, barely hanging on.’
The White Blood Religion’s leader drinks only the blood of living people to enhance her bloody energy.
Ogram would be a huge delicacy that she hadn't been able to taste yet, so she would definitely keep him alive.
“Did you check the place?”
[Yes. The area was filled with the waves left by the transcenders. The traces of Ogram’s martial arts and the White Blood Religion’s leader’s Goddess of Blood Devouring Anguish were still there. However, the black veil Garona mentioned wasn't anything special. It was just one of the ordinary vision veils magics.]
Chamber nodded calmly.
“The outcome?”
[There were no definite traces. But the last remaining thing was bloody energy.]
“Is that so….”
[This news is spreading faster than any rumor.]
Her eyes gleamed with a cold light like a blade.
[You understand what that means, right?]
“…It means the balance of power is being disturbed.”
[Exactly. This is quite a serious matter. No, it’s not just serious, it’s fucking serious.]
Chamber clicked her tongue long.
[The Conference of the Six Kings will be held in a few days, so make sure to attend. And….]
She slightly lowered her eyebrows.
[Raon's life-or-death duel. You should also consider what to do about that.]
“…….”
[See you at the conference then.]
Chamber waved lightly and ended the communication.
“Umm….”
Sheryl leaned against a pillar and exhaled a hollow breath.
“It’s hard to believe that the Beast King was defeated by the White Blood Religion’s leader.”
She trembled her lips as if she couldn’t believe such a thing had happened.
“There might be a difference in strength, but considering their natures, Ogram should have had the upper hand….”
Roenn also frowned as if thinking the same thing.
“Nothing has been confirmed yet.”
Glenn calmly shook his head. It was too early to draw conclusions as it had only been a few hours since the incident.
To be honest, the fact that Ogram was defeated by the White Blood Religion’s leader was hard to believe and didn’t want to be believed.
However, since the incident had already occurred, they needed to think about the next steps.
“Is Raon still training?”
Glenn turned his gaze to Rimmer, who was sitting silently.
“…Yes.”
Rimmer was also deeply furrowing his brows, thinking about Raon’s life-or-death duel.
“Hoo….”
Glenn exhaled a low breath and nodded.
“Call him immediately when his training ends.”
* * *
Raon roughly opened his eyes. He had trained in the mental world many times before, but it was the first time he had woken up as if from a nightmare.
‘What has happened?’
Everything was a mystery, from Ogram appearing in the mental world and demonstrating the Raging Sea through his fists, to being ambushed by the dark flow while fighting someone.
It seemed clear that something had happened to Ogram.
‘It felt like he wanted me to know.’
Ogram in the mental world seemed more like he wanted Raon to understand the situation rather than to save him.
[You have gained new enlightenment in the mental world.]
[All swordsmanship levels have increased.]
[All stats have increased by 10 points.]
[The level of the Raging Sea has greatly increased.]
As Raon tried to rise, a message appeared in front of him. It was the reward he gained from his training in the mental world.
‘Wrath is still not awake.’
If Wrath had woken up, he would have been jumping up and down at the sight of these messages, but it seemed he was still asleep, given the silence.
‘All swordsmanship levels increased….’
This seemed to be a reward for training by following the swords of the transcenders.
It meant that the level of versatile sword had increased, so it was the greatest growth of all.
‘And the Raging Sea….’
Thanks to focusing all his mind on Ogram's as if fighting an enemy, the level of the Raging Sea seemed to have naturally risen.
However, the bigger gain was not the increase in achievement, but the realization that the Raging Sea could pass through not only aura barrier, but also other things.
It seemed possible to incorporate the flow of the Raging Sea into the new sword field he was creating.
‘No, this isn’t the time to think about this.’
Though the rewards were tremendous, there was something more important right now.
Raon immediately opened the training room door and went outside.
‘Is it dawn?’
In the training ground, shrouded in the cool dawn air, there was no one to be seen.
‘Of all times….’
He frowned, thinking he had come at the wrong time, a rustling sound came from above.
“Just woke up?”
With a slightly pressed voice as if having slept, Rimmer’s face popped out.
“Vice division leader?”
Raon blinked at the sight of Rimmer. It was hard to believe he was here at dawn when he wasn’t even present during the day.
“Why are you here?”
"Just because."
Rimmer shrugged as if it was nothing and came down to the ground.
“Actually, I have something to tell you, so I was waiting.”
He sighed deeply and lifted his gaze.
“Something to tell….”
Raon instinctively realized that what Rimmer had to say was the same as what he needed to ask.
“Ogram has been defeated by the White Blood Religion’s leader.”
“Ah….”
His hands trembled involuntarily. If what he said was true, then the Ogram he saw in his mental world was a reflection of reality.
"No one knows the exact details yet. But it's certain that Ogram is missing."
Rimmer explained how the White Blood Religion's leader and Ogram had clashed.
"Is there any evidence that someone else interfered?"
Raon asked, recalling the dark flow that had severed Ogram's arm.
"According to Lady Chamber's statement, there were no traces of a third party."
"......"
The absence of traces made it even more suspicious. If it were Derus, he would surely leave no evidence behind.
"So, the thing is..."
"Vice division leader!"
Raon interrupted Rimmer's words and lifted his gaze.
"I need to go there."
"Go there?"
"To the place where Sir Ogram and the White Blood Religion's leader fought!"
In the mental world, Ogram seemed to want him to understand something. There was a high possibility that some trace remained at the site where he fought the White Blood Religion's leader.
"Right now!"
A fiery lightning flashed in Raon's eyes.
