C746
"Vice Leader..."
Raon frowned as he looked at Rimmer.
"Have you been drinking?"
Although he couldn't smell alcohol, Rimmer's sudden appearance and challenge to a duel made Raon think he must be drunk.
"If you're intoxicated, wouldn't it be better to just go to sleep...?"
"I didn't drink!"
Rimmer shook his head, the red glow fading from his eyes.
"Are you also disrespecting me now? This master of yours..."
He pounded his chest with his fist, looking dejected.
"Now?"
Glenn raised his left eyebrow in disbelief.
"Haven't you been disrespected by Raon since your days as an instructor?"
"Ugh..."
Rimmer's lips trembled as if he had been struck at his core.
"E-Even so, I didn't drink! I'm not drunk at all!"
"That's the kind of excuse people who are already completely drunk sing like a chorus..."
"I'm telling you it's not true!"
He stood on his hands, balancing himself as he insisted he hadn't touched alcohol in a while.
"Then why are you suddenly asking for a duel?"
Raon narrowed his eyes as he watched Rimmer holding his entire body up with a single finger.
"There's something I want to see from you."
Rimmer stood up, showing a refreshing smile.
"Something you want to see?"
"Yes. Only you can show it to me."
He revealed a serious look within his playful smile.
"Um, it's not an excuse, but I've been training nonstop and I'm not in my best condition..."
Raon briefly licked his lips as he looked into Rimmer's eyes. Due to the continuous training, both his body and mind were exhausted, so he didn't think he could show Rimmer what he wanted.
"That's fine. The conditions are the same for both of us."
Rimmer shook his head calmly.
"I've also been training nonstop."
He laughed, saying that this is when interesting duels happen.
"Just do it once."
The training ground door opened and Sheryl entered.
"That gambling addict has actually been training lately."
Sheryl nodded, indicating it was alright to believe him. Glenn silently looked at Rimmer before stepping back.
"It doesn't seem to be a lie."
He stroked his chin, saying that Rimmer seemed to have changed a little.
-That pointy-eared fellow has changed a bit.
Wrath also narrowed his eyes as he looked at Rimmer.
'What has changed?'
Raon tilted his head. Unlike the others, he couldn't exactly perceive what had changed in Rimmer.
-You should feel it for yourself. However, it's probably more of a mental change than a change in martial prowess.
Wrath settled on his shoulder, warning him not to take it lightly. Since everyone was saying so, it seemed like a good idea to have a duel.
"...Alright."
Raon nodded and stepped forward.
"Since you said 'seriously,' I guess we'll be going all out, right?"
"There's no point in having a duel otherwise."
Rimmer lifted his chin and drew his sword smoothly. With a metallic sound, Raon and Rimmer lightly touched their swords before stepping back five paces each.
"This won't take long."
Rimmer pointed his sword towards the sky and his finger towards the ground. It looked like a stance that signified his will to dominate both heaven and earth.
"Sword Domain - Song of Wind and Lightning."
His low voice changed the atmosphere. A storm blew over the previously calm training ground, and lightning began to fall.
"Hmm..."
Raon swallowed as he watched the wind and lightning intensify. Those flows of wind and lightning were like Rimmer's sword. It felt like he was standing in the eye of a hurricane that could take his life in an instant.
"Hm."
Taking a deep breath, he raised the Heavenly Drive sword high and gripped the Blade of Requiem upside down.
"Sword Domain - Divine-Demonic Harmony."
Raon's elegant voice cut through the wind and lightning. A golden sun and a silver moon rose in the dark night sky, suppressing the stormy wind. With a sharp sound, he advanced towards Rimmer, holding the Divine Sword in his right hand and the Demonic Sword in his left. A rumbling sound resonated.
Behind Raon, flames and frost burned, while behind Rimmer, wind and lightning crackled.
The two swordsmen lunged their swords towards each other's necks the moment their gazes met. With a thunderous clash, the shockwave of exploding flames and lightning struck vertically, creating a huge crater in the training ground. A whistling sound filled the air.
As soon as his first strike was blocked, Rimmer moved to the right. With extreme speed, he advanced as if teleporting and thrust his sword towards Raon's chest.
With a thunderous clash, Raon angled his Demonic Sword downwards to block the wind blade fired by Rimmer. A roaring sound erupted as the wind and frost collided, creating a snowstorm as if winter had returned. Raon narrowed his eyes, watching Rimmer's assault coming like flashes of lightning.
'He's really serious.'
Rimmer increased the power of his Sword Domain, even at the cost of physical damage. His lightning-wrapped speed seemed difficult to follow, even at full power.
'Then it's better to slow him down instead of trying to keep up.'
Giving up on competing with Rimmer's speed, he instead employed the blunt sword, heavy sword, and severing sword techniques, which were slow but powerful. Although it's generally impossible for slowness to overcome speed, there is a time when it is possible: anticipatory action. If you can read your opponent's movements, you can reach the destination first even if you move later.
Rimmer's movements had become simpler than usual due to his focus on speed and power. Raon needed to identify those gaps.
With a roar, the Ring of Fire resonated to its extreme. In a world of hyper-concentration where time slowed down, he analyzed Rimmer's sword and footwork in detail.
'Down to the right.'
He blocked Rimmer's Thunder Sword, which was aimed at his knee, with the flames of his Divine Sword. With a thunderous clash, Rimmer retreated as quickly as he had advanced, then aimed again at Raon's right waist. This time, instead of focusing solely on defense, Raon counterattacked with the flames of his Divine Sword.
"Ugh..."
Rimmer was pushed back, spitting out red lightning. He let out a low groan, as if he couldn't believe his sword strike had been perfectly blocked.
"As expected, it's not easy."
Rimmer twisted his lips into a smile and further increased his speed. His body and his sword became almost blurry. Raon narrowed his eyes, trying to locate a Rimmer who had disappeared.
'It's not just his mind that has changed. His body has become even stronger.'
It seemed that Rimmer had trained his body to bring out this speed and power. Raon could feel his desperate determination to win.
'But that doesn't change anything.'
There was no need to panic just because the opponent had become faster. He just needed to do what he could at this moment. With a thunderous roar, Raon extended his Divine Sword and Demonic Sword like a net, relentlessly blocking Rimmer's sword strikes. Anyone else would have had their skin torn and bones broken, but he countered with a body that wouldn't yield even to a Transcendent Warrior.
With a thunderous blow, Raon's sword pierced Rimmer's shoulder, predicting the direction of his charge. Flesh tore and red blood sprayed. But Rimmer, as if feeling no pain, charged forward, evaporating his blood with lightning. Wings of wind and lightning sprouted behind him as if preparing for a final attack.
"The wind and lightning are my sword."
Rimmer's voice, filled with determination, drew the wind and lightning that roared through the heavens and earth.
"There's nothing I can't cut."
He launched his sword strike with a deep smile. As if transcending speed, a wind and lightning sword was already falling before his eyes. With a thunderous roar, Raon deactivated the Divine-Demonic Harmony just as Rimmer's strike crashed down. Unlike how he normally ended this domain using the Invincible Azure-Red Sword, he raised the Heavenly Drive sword straight up.
Sword Domain - Heaven's Rift. A golden radiance bloomed over the fading flames. A deeper Ten Thousand Swords. Raon's true sword, now encompassing even the death sword and the evil sword, opened a new heaven.
With a deafening roar, the wind and lightning, also parts of the heaven, were crushed before the enormous heaven that Raon had opened. Rimmer's wind and thunder sword caused a tremendous explosion on the training ground floor. The earth's surface turned over, the walls collapsed, and clouds of dust rose in all directions.
"Are both of you crazy?"
Sheryl clapped both hands in disbelief.
"Was it necessary to go that far?"
Glenn silently stomped his foot, and as the dust settled, the training ground split in half was visible. Rimmer lay fallen, having dropped his sword, while Raon remained in place, pointing the Heavenly Drive sword downwards. The outcome was clear.
"I lost."
Rimmer collapsed without strength, waving his palm.
"I gave it my all, but I was completely overwhelmed."
He lay down with his arms outstretched, admitting his defeat.
"Ugh..."
Raon let out a long sigh and lowered his arm weakly.
'That wasn't easy.'
Rimmer was a swordsman capable of producing results beyond mere martial prowess. The speed and power of his Sword Domain were so strong that even a moment of carelessness could have resulted in Raon's defeat. Indeed, that elf was the right person to lead the Light Wind division.
'However...'
Raon moistened his lips with his tongue as he looked at the still trembling blade of the Heavenly Drive sword.
'Has my Sword Domain also strengthened?'
Heaven's Rift seemed to have grown larger than before. No, it had definitely become stronger.
'This is probably...'
While Heaven's Rift was originally created with infinite growth in mind, its rapid change seemed more due to approaching the true Ten Thousand Swords by mastering the evil sword and the death sword, rather than physical growth from stat increases. Raon clenched his fist, feeling satisfied that he was continuously growing.
"You seem happy about something."
Rimmer looked at Raon and smiled.
"Now that it's over, please tell me."
Raon sheathed the Heavenly Drive sword and approached Rimmer.
"What was it that you wanted to see from me?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
Rimmer tilted his head as if he didn't understand what Raon was saying.
"What? You challenged me to a duel saying there was something you wanted to see from me."
Raon blinked. He was stunned by Rimmer's reaction, as if he were hearing this for the first time even though he himself had said it earlier.
"Did I say that?"
Rimmer pointed at himself with a finger, showing a blank expression.
"I don't remember..."
He scratched the back of his head, saying he didn't know.
"I should have known..."
Raon said he was displeased and shook his head.
-This king knew it would be like this. Why did you agree to have a duel and delay our late-night snack time?
Wrath shook his head, calling Raon stupid.
-What could have changed in that pointy-eared fellow?
'You said he changed!'
-T-That's just his body. His mind is still the same.
'You said his mind changed!'
-Uh, me? This king doesn't remember.
The little guy scratched his head with his round hand, as if he had become Rimmer. For someone who claimed he couldn't lie, he was doing quite well now. Raon resolved to feed him Nadine's bread when they returned to the annex building. However, Glenn and Sheryl said nothing as they watched Rimmer laugh mischievously.
"Come to the training ground! It's difficult for just me and the Gambling Monster to watch over all the kids."
Raon shook his head and sighed.
"Alright. I'll go out starting tomorrow."
"It's today!"
After telling Rimmer to come no matter what, Raon stepped back.
"Hey! What about me! Why don't you say goodbye to me?"
He left the training ground without even hearing Rimmer's words.
"How cold."
Rimmer clicked his tongue as he watched the door swing shut after Raon's departure.
"Rimmer."
Glenn approached Rimmer and turned his chin.
"What are you thinking about?"
"I wanted to see what kind of person Raon is now."
Rimmer smiled, saying they had a conversation between swordsmen.
"So, are you satisfied?"
"Yes. From accepting my sword to the end of the Sword Domain. He said many things that were within him."
He nodded, saying it was a meaningful conversation.
"And what is your conclusion?"
"Ugh..."
Instead of answering, Rimmer let out a deep sigh and stood up.
"Lord Derus. Until now, I have served you as my lord. I recognized at first glance that you were the king I should serve."
He brushed off his clothes and stood in front of Glenn.
"You truly became a king, and I was satisfied risking my life to protect the king. However..."
Rimmer pulled out the sword that was stuck in the ground.
"In the previous war, it changed my way of thinking. The wind and lightning should reside in the high and wide sky."
He held the sword upside down, performing the Zieghart sword salute.
"From today, I intend to serve Raon Zieghart as my lord. Not as a potential king, but as a true king."
A solemn yet noble aura emanated from Rimmer's shoulders.
"Please grant me your permission."
-
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