TRAIGS (Novel) Chapter 733

C733

Raon had been lying from the moment he met Derus Robert. No, from the moment he summoned the Six Kings Conference. He shouted that they should aim for the wound on the back of his hand, not the death aura, as Derus's subordinates could be hiding in the video conference.

In reality, he had been training only the Blade of Death to draw out the death aura that Derus had sealed, not the wound on the back of his hand.

Thanks to his tireless effort of sharpening day and night, the Blade of Death had already reached the 3-star level, despite being a recently acquired trait.

Even after arriving at the Beast Union, the deception continued. Knowing that Derus's henchmen would have already arrived to gauge the atmosphere, Raon hid his intentions of targeting Derus and instead maintained a calm demeanor, acting as if he had only come to protect Glenn.

'It was the same when I met Derus.'

As soon as Derus arrived, he used a gentle wind to examine the Death Aura, not the back of Derus's hand.

Then, while shaking hands, he hinted that he would give up on the death aura by examining the back of his hand. He moved so subtly that Derus would barely notice it, making it natural for Derus to focus his attention on the back of his hand.

'That's where the real game began.'

Because Derus was obsessively suspicious and cautious, Raon didn't immediately target the death aura even when he grabbed Derus's wrist during the duel. First, he diverted Derus's attention to focus on the wound on the back of his hand.

The moment Derus's attention was diverted to the fire of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, Raon drew out the Blade of Death he had hidden in his heart.

With only one chance, he plunged the Blade of Death deep into Derus's soul path, aiming at the darkness lurking within. A tingling sensation in his hand, as if he had wielded a real sword, was accompanied by convulsions throughout Derus's body.

Derus's eyes turned black as pitch, and dark flames erupted from his fingers. The death aura, which should have been hidden even at the cost of his life, had lost control and burst on its own.

But the result he achieved wasn't just one. A gray, mud-like substance flowed from Derus's hand, revealing superimposed sword marks diagonally across the back of his hand. Two pieces of irrefutable evidence proving that Derus Robert was the swordsman wearing the blue dragon helmet were now visible.

—W-What is this?!

Wrath's jaw dropped in disbelief.

—Why did the death aura erupt? Weren't you supposed to aim for the back of the hand?!

'That was my goal from the beginning.'

Raon twisted his lips into a smile. He was able to deceive Derus Robert precisely because everything had been a lie, to the point that even Wrath, who always accompanied him, was confused.

"Huh...?"

"So you were aiming for the death aura from the beginning, not the back of the hand?"

"You deceived even us..."

"You've really lost your mind."

"Ugh..."

Even Glenn and the Six Kings' leaders, who knew the plan, trembled in shock at this situation.

"Y-You're a damn bastard..."

Derus pushed forward his dark, sunken eyes, revealing a demonic expression. It felt like he was looking at the enemy of the Zieghart family's First Patriarch, known as Anima.

'Damn, bastard, huh?'

Raon couldn't help but laugh. Those words were the curse-like words he had uttered right before dying in his past life.

"It's not malice, but meticulousness, Derus Robert."

Raon returned the words Derus had sneered and murmured, without changing a single syllable. Derus must have realized through the indelible wound on the back of his hand that Raon was the assassin Raon. Derus's eyes distorted as if he realized that the same words were being returned to him.

Seeing Derus's contorted face, Raon felt a sense of relief, as if the resentment that had accumulated for over 20 years dissipated instantly.

"Isn't that the death aura?"

"Judging by how intense it is, making it hard to breathe, it must be the death aura..."

"The wound on the back of the hand is also there! The sword mark the Six Kings told us to look for!"

"To think that the swordsman wearing the blue dragon helmet was D-Derus..."

"Impossible..."

The neutral martial artists swallowed hard, convinced that Derus was the swordsman with the blue dragon helmet.

"—F-Father?"

Lephon Robert froze, his jaw trembling, unable to believe the situation.

"Raon!"

Derus lost his composure and extended his sword, his face turning bright red. The death aura he unleashed turned into a black net, tightening from all directions. Raon didn't react even as he watched the death aura surge like a wave. This wasn't a fight he could handle from now on.

A huge slash fell from the sky, tearing apart all the death aura rushing from all directions.

"How dare you?"

Glenn descended in front of Raon, having torn apart Derus's aura with the Azure Sky Sword. His eyes burned with a dry killing intent, truly angry.

"You're really getting on my nerves."

Chamber bit the candy in her mouth and extended her hands. Silver mana erupted from her small hands, cutting the death aura around Derus as if it were nothing.

A black sword advanced behind the silver flash. Silent Sword Master Lecross. The sword strike he unleashed emitted a majestic aura.

Derus tried to defend himself by drawing in the death aura, but the Silent Sword Master crushed his chest with sword pressure. Blood gushed from the wound that seemed to have been dug out with a shovel.

"Kuh-huk!"

Despite experiencing unbearable pain, Derus once again sharpened the death aura forcefully and shot it towards Raon.

"Ah, no..."

As Larian extended her long, slender fingers, Derus trembled throughout his body, unable to move as if he were a puppet on strings. It was one of the Magic Tower Master's five specialties, string magic.

"Kugh!"

Just as Derus was trying to gather his arms and legs towards his chest to break the string magic, the Beast King Ogram emerged from behind him. Ogram unleashed a series of blows imbued with the Fierce Wave Arts from behind Derus, instead of from the front, as if to avenge being ambushed before.

A thunderous sound exploded, and Derus staggered, spitting out black blood.

The moment Derus closed his eyes from the impact, Raon leaped off the ground. Relying on Glenn's protection, he advanced and stabbed Derus's abdomen with his divine and demonic swords.

"Kuk!"

As Derus was about to collapse, coughing up blood, Raon punched him in the face. With an explosive sound that seemed to twist the earth's axis, Derus was slammed into the ground.

"Haah..."

Raon exhaled deeply and immediately retreated. His hands were trembling. For the first time in his life, he felt a sense of relief mixed with even deeper anger.

"Kugh..."

Derus groaned painfully, covered in blood.

"You really pack a punch."

Ogram shook his smoking fist and grinned at Raon.

"How does it feel to be hit from behind, Derus Robert!"

He curled his lips upwards, as if mocking Derus.

"M-Damn..."

Derus was crawling on the ground, surrounded by the Six Kings' transcendental warriors. His hands trembled, perhaps due to pain and anger.

—Why stop now? You should keep hitting him! The grudge is deep, isn't it?!

Wrath agitated his hands up and down, as if remembering what he had said at the first Six Kings Conference.

'That bastard still has remaining strength.'

Raon calmly shook his head. Despite his serious injuries, Derus's energy hadn't decreased much. There was a possibility that he could take Raon hostage to escape this situation, so stopping here was the best option.

—You knew.

Wrath calmly nodded.

—You're quite perceptive in strange areas.

He frowned, saying that Raon's perceptiveness seemed to be concentrated in strange places.

"We can't kill him yet."

Chamber shook her head and stood beside Ogram.

"We have a lot of questions to ask this bastard."

She lifted her witch's hat, saying there was much information to uncover.

"You're right."

Raon bit his lip as he lowered his gaze. Derus was probably still carrying out human experiments and raising assassins even now. To stop that, they needed to make him talk.

"First, we need to know why he did this."

King Lecross approached Derus's right side, wielding his sword. He seemed ready to stab at the slightest mistake.

"I just want to end this quickly..."

The Magic Tower Master anxiously shrugged her shoulders, although she was restraining Derus with string magic.

"Head of House!"

"What are you doing?"

"Stop this immediately!"

The Young Sword Division Leader and the Robert House Elite Warriors burst into the arena to protect Derus. But their feet stopped before reaching the arena.

"They can't pass."

Roenn was pointing his sword at Varian's neck, the Young Sword Division Leader, emanating a chilling killing intent.

"Seeing that you still call him Head of House after witnessing this, you must be in cahoots with him."

Sheryl also had her sword at Bellun's neck, the Elite Warrior Division Leader, rolling her cold eyes.

"—Hmm..."

"That's not true! There's no way the Head of House would do something like this!"

Unlike Varian, the Elite Warrior Division Leader Bellun shouted, still unable to believe the situation.

"—F-Father..."

"Why did you do this when you lacked nothing?"

"Huu..."

Derus didn't answer and simply let out a long sigh.

"If you don't attack me in this situation, you're not in your right mind either."

He looked at Raon with intellectual eyes, as if he had regained his composure.

"It's been a long time since I felt pain like this."

Derus exhaled empty air as he caressed the deep sword wound on his chest. As his touch reached the wound, the wound, which should have been fatal, began to slowly regenerate. It felt more like divine power than an ability.

"Don't move."

Glenn narrowed his eyes as he pressed the Heavenly Tremor against Derus's forehead. Lephon sat on the ground, trembling the hand that touched the ground.

"Is he really that monster, Father? No, right? Please tell me it's not true!"

He shook his head vigorously, as if refusing to believe despite knowing about the wound of the swordsman wearing the blue dragon helmet.

"—Hah..."

Raon let out a short sigh as he observed this scene.

'Are only the Young Sword Division Leader and the maids the ones who knew?'

From the looks of it, the Elite Warriors and Lephon Robert seemed to be unaware of Derus's true identity. Although it left a bitter taste, they couldn't stop because of them.

"Derus Robert."

Glenn lowered his red gaze as he stood in front of Derus.

"You can't escape from here anyway."

Chamber tilted her chin to the side, as if mocking Derus.

"I've blocked all teleportation magic and dimensional gates. Anything you do is useless."

"Yes, it won't work. S-Surrender..."

The Magic Tower Master shook her head, saying he couldn't escape.

"Your son is watching. Stop dishonoring yourself."

King Lecross exhaled a low sigh as he looked at Lephon, who was crying.

"Derus Robert. To think it was really you..."

Ogram gritted his teeth, clenching his fist until blood flowed from his palm.

"That's right. It's me."

He smiled wryly, as if acknowledging defeat.

"I learned from you. To deceive someone who is very suspicious, I must first deceive myself."

Raon gripped the Heavenly Drive tighter as he met Derus's distorted gaze.

"Kuhahahahaha!"

Derus burst into maniacal laughter as he clutched his forehead.

"Yes, that's you, 'Raon'. A single mistake is enough for you."

He nodded as if he understood.

"When did you realize? Was it during this recent war?"

Raon tilted his chin towards Derus. This was a question about when he realized he had been reincarnated. Derus slowly stood up. Even though his body was soaked in blood, a disturbing aura arose that overwhelmed the surroundings.

"I am the swordsman wearing the blue dragon helmet who attacked you and tried to kill Glenn Zieghart."

He admitted his identity himself, twisting his red lips upwards.

"Why?! Why did you do this?!"

Ogram grabbed Derus by the neck, his eyes bloodshot.

"What were you lacking?!"

"You wouldn't understand."

Derus shook his head with a wry smile. He smiled at Raon, not at Glenn or Lecross.

"To think it was all a deception, you really prepared thoroughly. I predicted all the actions of these old men, though I didn't expect you to act like this. But to answer your question... No. From the beginning."

"What?"

"I fundamentally don't believe in coincidences."

Derus rolled his eyes as he let his arms hang limply.

"Blood has flowed from this wound for the first time in a long time. At first, I didn't know why, but as time passed, I was able to find the connecting thread."

Derus extended the wounded back of his hand, from which blood was flowing.

"Raon. Every time you accomplished a feat, or when something I had prepared was ruined, blood would flow from the back of my hand. When the two things coincided, so much blood would come out that the inside of my glove would be completely soaked."

He licked the blood from the back of his hand and smiled.

"My suspicions grew stronger at the Six Kings Conference, and I made sure..."

Derus continued, raising his fingers.

"At the Water Demon Host factory. After all the Water Demon Hosts I sent to kill you died and the factory collapsed. The handling of that incident was the work of someone who knew me well, and after that, came the news that you had returned alive. Despite the time difference, I was sure. That you were Raon."

He clenched his fist with his wounded hand, as if he knew everything.

"Once I came to that conclusion, everything fit: the Shadow Factory, the underwater dungeon, and the Water Demon Host factory."

Derus revealed a confident smile, as if he had deduced the process from the answer.

"Finally..."

He showed the wound that had been cleaned by licking, revealing his reddened teeth.

"Only you can inflict this indelible wound."

Derus laughed, twisting his eyes grotesquely.

"If I hadn't realized even with this, I would be a fool who doesn't deserve to wear what's on my neck."

He shook his head, as if to say not to underestimate him.

"Ah..."

Kubara swallowed hard as he watched Derus laugh madly.

'To think that Raon Zieghart was the real Raon.'

Although he trusted and respected Derus, he couldn't accept the idea that Raon Zieghart was the assassin Raon, already dead. Even though Derus talked about it every day, he had dismissed it, never imagining it could be true.

Raon bit his tongue as he looked at Derus, who was so certain.

'As expected, that bastard is dangerous.'

He had naturally assumed that Derus would have realized through the wound on the back of his hand that appeared during this war, but to think that he had suspected and confirmed his reincarnation even before that, wasn't the thinking of a normal person. Derus Robert was truly the craziest person in this world.

"What the hell is he talking about?"

Ogram frowned, not understanding.

"He's pretending to be crazy. To escape this situation."

Chamber shouted not to let their guard down, placing several mana shields.

"I-I'm scared..."

The Magic Tower Master strengthened her string magic as she hid behind Chamber.

"Yes. Everyone will think it's nonsense. But..."

Derus lifted his dry gaze.

"It's enough that you and I know."

He chuckled, as if amused.

"Stop wasting time with useless chatter and answer my question."

Glenn narrowed his eyes as he pressed the Heavenly Tremor against Derus's forehead.

"What is your objective?"

"Objective? That is..."

Just as Derus was about to move his lips to lick the blood running down his forehead, it happened. The bodies of the Elite Warriors were suddenly covered in thick blood vessels before exploding. Although not as powerful as the Water Demon Hosts, the shockwave was strong enough to shake the ground.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Derus unleashed his death aura and innate Astral energy to attack the Six Kings' encirclement.

"Maintain your positions!"

"Don't break the encirclement!"

"He can't escape from here anyway!"

Glenn, Chamber, and Ogram maintained their focus on Derus without looking away, blocking any path for him to escape.

"Ah, you old men are really annoying."

Derus didn't move from his spot, but something that wasn't there before was now in his hand.

"—F-Father?"

Lephon Robert. The one who had been beside the Young Sword Division was now in Derus's hands.

"What is this...?"

Even Glenn widened his eyes, not having seen it coming.

"What's going on...?"

Raon's lips trembled. It wasn't that Derus had brought Lephon or that Lephon had come here. It felt like Lephon had been in Derus's hands from the beginning.

"You... don't tell me..."

Chamber frowned and turned her head.

"Are you trying to use your son as a hostage?"

She twisted her lips, as if finding it unbelievable.

"Have you really lost your mind...?"

"Hostage?"

Derus curled his lips upwards as he held Lephon close.

"Do you still see this as human?"

-
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