N/T: Translation made by our friend 'Irving'. A big round of applause for him :)
Chapter 709
"Why are you here, Sword Demon Rector?"
Glenn's voice sank viscously, as if crawling up from the abyss. The anger filling his soul swept the surroundings as a fierce wave of energy.
"Are you involved in this as well?"
Glenn raised Heavenly Tremor as if ready to kill immediately if Rector had any involvement in the attack on Raon.
"Glenn Zieghart."
Rector did not answer the question but stared at the red dagger in Glenn's hand.
"Why do you have the Blade of Requiem?"
He did not back down, emitting an energy so dry that it seemed to have dried up blood.
Rumble!
The majestic energies of Glenn and Rector clashed, causing cracks to appear in the air as if split by a sword.
"M-my lord! Stop!"
Rimmer gritted his teeth and stepped forward. He raised his trembling hand into the space where the energies of the two Transcenders collided.
"The Sword Demon is not an enemy!"
"Th, that's right! He actually saved us!"
"There's no need to fight!"
Burren and Martha followed Rimmer and shook their heads.
"He saved you?"
Glenn narrowed his eyes, still pointing Heavenly Tremor at Rector.
"Yes. The vice union leader of the South-North Union attacked us, but the Sword Demon blocked him, allowing us to escape safely."
Burren swallowed dryly and explained how Rector had blocked Helgurum.
"Hmm…."
Glenn bit his lip slightly, then lowered Heavenly Tremor pointed at Rector.
"I think I deserve to know what happened."
Rector clenched his fist while looking at the Blade of Requiem Glenn held dearly.
"We were attacked by Eden and the South-North Union."
Burren turned to Rector and trembled as he briefly explained what had happened.
"When we were about to move Raon to that pirate ship, we were ambushed by the Evil Goat Demon who used an artifact to appear, and a man named Beorn from the South-North Union…."
"...We started searching for Raon immediately after the astral sphere explosion, but we haven't found him yet."
"Ah…."
Rector's cold face hardened in an instant. His experienced eyes trembled like waves.
"He, he must have been swept away, but he is definitely alive! He wouldn't die in a place like this!"
"Yes."
Martha declared that Raon was not dead and struck her fist. Runaan also nodded, expressing her belief in Raon.
"Ugh."
Rector ground his teeth and turned his gaze. His face darkened as he quickly scanned the river.
"……."
Glenn frowned, looking at Rector’s face, which was crumpled as if he was holding back tears.
'What does that look mean?'
As he pondered Rector's strange reaction and expression, Rector disappeared like smoke.
Chiiing!
Rector reappeared in front of Glenn, and swung his sword. It was a killing blow aimed at severing Glenn's neck in an instant.
Clang!
Glenn raised Heavenly Tremor to block Rector's attack. The force pressing in was chillingly strong.
"Glenn Zieghart."
Rector ground his teeth and amplified the power in his sword. A colorless flame blazed on the blade.
"You couldn't even protect your own grandson, what are you doing!"
He trembled with intense emotion.
"If you were going to abandon him, you should have done so properly. If you were going to embrace him, do it wholeheartedly! What were you thinking, unable to do either!"
Rector, genuinely enraged, unleashed his will to push Glenn away.
"My lord!"
"What are you doing!"
Sheryl and Roenn rushed out with wide eyes, but Glenn raised his hand to stop them.
"…."
Glenn tightened his grip on the Blade of Requiem, looking at Rector's enraged face.
'What is his relationship with Raon?'
The emotions conveyed through Rector's sword included not just sadness and anger but also regret. It was like looking at himself in a mirror.
"Who are you?"
It wasn't a question about his name or affiliation. Glenn wanted to know Rector's relationship with Raon.
"The Holy Sword Alliance and the Black Tower did not move in this matter."
Rector roughly slashed his sword, pushing Glenn towards the river and glaring fiercely.
"With the defeat of Ogram, the Five Demons were no different from the Six Kings who could only guard their positions! In such a situation, failing to protect Raon is the epitome of incompetence!"
He bit his lip, looking at the Blade of Requiem with a broken sheath.
"If Raon is truly dead, I will kill the South-North Union, the Shadows, and you as well."
With those final words, Rector went down the river.
"Master!"
Mustan and the Holy Sword Alliance's swordsmen stood in a daze, then belatedly moved the flying warship to chase Rector.
"My lord."
"Are you alright?"
Sheryl and Roenn approached Glenn, their eyes filled with worry as if they hadn’t heard the conversation due to the intense energy.
"It's nothing."
Glenn shook his head calmly. Crossing swords with Rector had actually cleared his mind.
"I'm sorry. If I hadn't let my guard down…."
Rimmer approached Glenn and knelt, his clenched fists trembling with regret.
"……."
Glenn silently placed his hand on Rimmer's shoulder. He knew Rimmer must have been the most shocked, so there were no words he could offer at the moment.
"Heavenly Blade division, Light Wind division, and Warring Steel division will continue the search here."
"Understood."
"We will definitely find him."
Sheryl and Trevin nodded heavily.
"Hey, mister."
Chamber approached Glenn and beckoned with her finger.
"What's the relationship between Raon and the Sword Demon? It seemed like he was his real grandfather or something?"
She tilted her head in confusion, seemingly having heard the conversation despite the intense energy barrier.
"I don't know. So…."
Glenn turned his gaze towards where Rector had disappeared and let out a low breath.
"I need to find out more about that side as well."
* * *
Boom!
The space slashed by the sword twisted and sank like opposite poles of a magnet.
The White Blood fanatics caught in the space were split in half, spraying greyish blood.
"Tsk."
Aris clicked her tongue briefly, trembling as she held her sword.
'He escaped.'
She had killed all the White Blood fanatics and assassins, but the first apostle had fled with injuries. She wanted to catch him, but there was something more urgent.
"Illiune, take care of the rest."
Without waiting for an answer from the foreign minister Illiune, Aris ran towards the annex building.
The exhaustion from using the Sword Field Creation made her frustration grow as she couldn't move faster.
Boom!
Ignoring the strain on her body, she moved towards the annex building garden, where a massive explosion occurred.
The ground twisted as if collapsing, and grey smoke rose to the sky.
"That…."
Aris widened her eyes as she swung her sword. The wind that arose from the blade pushed the smoke away, revealing the garden.
The ground had been carved into the shape of a sword, and beneath it, the white blood fanatics, assassins, and the demons of Eden lay dead barely recognizable.
At the edge of the carved ground, in front of the annex building, Karoon stood with his sword raised, protecting Sylvia.
"Karoon."
Aris blinked as she looked at Karoon, who was frowning.
"Why are you here? Could it be that you came to save Sylvia?"
She exhaled in disbelief at her own words.
"Y-yes. Elder brother came and saved me…."
"No."
Karoon firmly shook his head while looking at Aris.
"I just couldn't leave the trash that dirties this land alone."
He dusted off his hands, stating he was only dealing with the ones who attacked Zieghart, regardless of Sylvia.
"And not because you were worried about your sister?"
Aris teased with a smirk.
"I said no, didn't I?"
Karoon adjusted his grip on his sword and scrunched his nose.
"Whatever the reason…."
Aris smiled faintly as she looked at Karoon and Sylvia standing before and behind each other.
"You look good together as a family."
She nodded, as if pleased with the sight of her siblings.
"Hmph!"
Karoon snorted and turned away.
"Where are you going?"
"There are still other trash left."
He moved towards the North Grave Mountain, stating he had to kill enemies who had infiltrated Zieghart.
"He really loves Zieghart. I can't understand it."
Aris shook her head as she approached Sylvia.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes," Sylvia nodded, exhaling softly.
"I thought it was possible, but I never expected them to actually attack the annex building."
Aris waved her hand in disbelief.
"Your son is really something. To even predicted this."
"He has always been wiser than me since he was young."
Sylvia smiled as if pleased by the praise for Raon.
"Yes. He must have gone because he was confident he could win the duel to the death. Don't worry too much…."
"I'm not worried."
She shook her head calmly.
"He'll come back safely today, just like always."
Sylvia smiled softly, saying she should prepare Raon's favorite dish for dinner.
"Can I come too?"
"Of course!"
The two exchanged smiles and entered the annex building.
* * *
The moment Raon's chest was pierced by Beorn's sword.
Damn it!
Wrath rubbed his cotton candy hair furiously, while releasing his wrath energy.
The King of Essence will make you repay this with twenty boxes of mint chocolate! Not twenty pieces! Twenty boxes! A hundred of them!
Shouting for mint chocolate, he blocked the white blade aiming to pierce Raon's heart with his wrath energy.
'Damn it! This is the only way!'
Since Raon was unconscious, he couldn't use the Demon King's Descent.
If he entered Raon's body now, he would go berserk, killing the people and swordsmen of the Light Wind division on the surface.
Even if causality was disrupted and his soul suffered a great shock again, he had no choice but to intervene indirectly.
The King of Essence just recovered, and now he might… hmm?
Wrath stopped drawing out his wrath energy and narrowed his eyes.
A blue water droplet appeared between Raon and the blade that was trying to pierce his chest.
That droplet is….
It wasn't his wrath. The droplet had a gentle flow, as if it had condensed from the mana of nature itself.
The human who pierced Raon wouldn't even notice that the droplet was blocking his blade.
Whatever it is, it's fortunate.
Thanks to the droplet, Wrath didn't need to use much wrath to protect Raon from the sword.
However, the red-haired human exploded his astral sphere to ensure Raon's death
Boom!
The astral sphere that emanated from his sword caused a huge explosion, sweeping over Raon's entire body.
Urgh!
Wrath let out a grunt and summoned ice.
He tried to block the astral sphere's explosion with a wall of ice infused with wrath energy, and suddenly, pure energy of water appeared.
Whoosh!
The water energy settled on top of the wall of ice, allowing him to block the explosion of the astral sphere with only a small amount of wrath energy, just like before with the blue water droplet.
But the power of the astral sphere was immense, causing Raon to sink deep into the river, and the Blade of Requiem which had been in his front pocket, fell to the riverbed after receiving a great shock.
Who on earth….
Wrath looked in the direction where the Blade of Requiem had fallen. The water energy that helped earlier had come from that direction.
Whoosh.
In the dim river, a blue light flickered, and a small hand appeared, tightly grabbing the sinking Raon. The fingers were webbed like those of a duck.
You, you are!
Wrath recognized the identity of the blue-eyed creature and widened his eyes.
It was the blue lugh Raon had saved and even named.
It's been a while! What was your name again… was it, Gloomen?
Unable to recall the name, Wrath roughly called him Gloomen. The blue lugh raised his fingers and drew a blue circle.
Buzz!
The concentric circles from his gesture overlapped, opening a door to another place.
He seemed to want to get Raon out of here.
Wait a moment!
Wrath tried to tell the people on the surface to stop coming down, but the blue lugh, thinking Raon was in danger, didn't even look and entered the round dimension.
No! Where are we going this tiiiime... Gurgle!
He felt an uncomfortable sensation, like water entering his nose, and when he opened his eyes, he saw a bright place with a wide view.
Where is this?
Houses, as if a village had been built underwater, came into view with a gentle flow of water brushing past them. They were cute buildings made of colorful pebbles.
When did they build these houses?
It was completely different from when he had come with Raon before.
As he looked around in wonder, the blue lugh gently placed Raon on the ground.
This little kid hasn't changed a bit.
The blue lugh that Raon had named Flumen was still small and cute, like a child.
"Raon…."
Flumen placed his hand on Raon's bleeding chest with a concerned look.
As light emerged from his hand, Raon's wound began to heal slowly.
No, he has changed in other ways.
The water energy Flumen possessed was so vast it felt like he was looking at the river itself. It felt like he was looking at a peak level shaman.
Thanks to this water energy, Wrath was able to save his wrath energy while blocking the exploded astral sphere unleashed by the red-haired human.
This guy is really lucky... Huh?
Wrath, smacking his lips while looking at Raon, widened his eyes.
What is this now?
Upon examining closely, Raon’s martial power had changed drastically from before he went to sleep.
It hadn’t been that long, yet it was unbelievable how much he had changed.
The more absurd thing is….
The more astonishing thing was that he was still growing stronger.
Raon was growing even while unconscious. It wasn’t simply the effect of Sloth or Gluttony, his martial power itself was surging.
This punk….
Wrath grabbed Raon by the collar and deeply furrowed his brows.
What did you eat by yourself to become this strong! Get up and hand it over to me immediately!
* * *
Raon touched his lips while looking at the eight rings rotating in the sky.
‘Mental world.’
He didn’t know the exact reason, but after the duel to death, he naturally entered this world.
Although he had fainted many times before, this was the first time he had entered the mental world in this manner, so he felt a bit flustered.
‘I don’t know why I came here, but….’
It’s not a bad thing.
Thanks to entering the mental world again, he could realize what he had gained and how much he had grown.
‘Especially, I learned about the Genesis.’
The new sword field, named by Roman, was not an ordinary sword field.
Since it was a sword field that projected the swordsmanship he had built up, the higher his swordsmanship level, the more the Genesis would grow.
It was another ‘incomplete’ sword field, an endlessly growing sword field. It wasn’t an exaggeration to call it a miracle that poured the mental world into reality.
Now that he had grown through the duel to death against Roman, he felt he could use a stronger Genesis than before.
‘Actually, it’s not just the Genesis that got stronger.’
Raon laughed while looking at the sword sprouts that had grown taller than before.
‘My overall swordsmanship has improved.’
From basic swordsmanship to the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and the Azure Sky Sword, all the sword techniques he had been learning had advanced.
This duel to the death was no different from an opportunity given to him.
Just as he was about to perform his improved swordsmanship with a satisfied smile,
Kwaaaaa!
Red fire roared from the right sky, and blue ice surged from the left ground.
The fire and ice split the mental world in half, growling as if they would devour each other.
Wuuuuuung.
The green wind caught between the fire and ice trembled, unable to do anything.
Raon smirked as he watched the fire and ice rampaging as if the mental world was too small for them.
‘Now I understand.’
Why I came to this place.
It was time to raise the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier to a higher level.
