C776
Raon swallowed hard as he watched the dragon with its head ripped off and the Dragon Lord coughing blood as he fell.
'Has he become even stronger?'
Killing two ancient dragons with a single casual blow and inflicting a fatal wound on the Dragon Lord seemed beyond human martial arts.
-It's not something casual.
Wrath shook his head as he looked at Glenn.
-That old man is serious.
He frowned and said that Glenn's emotions were filled with rage.
"He must have seen everything on his way here... Ugh!"
Raon collapsed as he turned to look towards House Arianne.
"¡¡Kuhak!!"
Thanks to Glenn's appearance, he had forgotten about the pain for a moment, but Wrath's descent was not yet over. Uncontrollable anger consumed his mind, and black, dead blood gushed from his mouth.
-Raon!
Glenn was about to launch a second sword strike at the Dragon Lord, but he turned and ran towards Raon.
"Head of House. Everything I'm going to say is the truth."
Raon, knowing time was short, grabbed Glenn's hand to stop him from interrupting and insisted that everything he was about to say was true.
-Don't talk! Your condition...
"I must say this."
He shook his head firmly. He had to tell him everything before Wrath went crazy, as Glenn might kill Edgar and Sia thinking they were the leaders of Eden.
"The man wearing the Death Knight armor there is my father Edgar, who was believed to be dead, and the woman wearing the black Orc helmet is my sister Sia."
Raon revealed Edgar and Sia's identities, forcing his stiff tongue to move.
"W-what are you..."
Glenn, who seemed to have never imagined that his son-in-law and granddaughter could be alive, quickly averted his gaze. His lips trembled as he examined Edgar and Sia.
"And Re-Rector was my grandfather. He became the leader of the Holy Sword Alliance to help me and my mother... ¡Kuhak!"
Raon coughed up more blood after looking at Rector, whose breathing was now inaudible.
"Ple-Please save Rector and my mother."
Although it might be impossible even for Glenn, Raon shouted to save them, clinging to his last hope as there was no one else to ask.
"And..."
He looked at Glenn and bit his lip until it turned white.
"Very soon, another being will enter my body."
Raon moved his lips, suppressing his heart that was beating rapidly as if it were about to burst.
"The Demon King, I suppose."
Glenn narrowed his eyes and looked at the black horns protruding from his forehead.
"The Demon King and my first friend I mentioned before."
"Mmm..."
He let out a low groan, apparently remembering when Raon had introduced Wrath as a friend after the war. His expression showed that he had thought of him as a special friend, but he never imagined he was the Demon King.
"He has saved me countless times and saved everyone today. Please don't kill him and stop his rampage."
-Who are you worried about?! I am the lord of Devildom! I will never die, so worry about your own survival!
Wrath shook his head, telling Raon not to worry about him as he sweated while trying to control the anger rising within him.
"Gr-Grandfather. I beg you. Please..."
Raon bowed his head and made an incredibly difficult request to Glenn. When the last feather attached to the Fire Ring fell, his mind went completely black as if the lights had been turned off.
-You're asking the wrong person...
Wrath gritted his teeth, grabbing the ice flower bracelet to avoid being absorbed by Raon's body.
-This king will never surrender!
* * *
*Kraaaaaaah!* Raon, enveloped in blue frost, let out a demonic roar towards the sky. The black horns sprouting from his forehead invoked even darker demonic energy, and the tips of his bright golden hair began to turn blue.
"Mmm..."
Glenn's hand holding the Heavenly Tremor trembled as he watched Raon emitting terribly intense demonic energy.
'Did he capture The Fallen with that power?'
The Fallen's presence had disappeared just before he got here. It meant that Raon and the Demon King had trapped him together, but the fearsome demonic energy was still burning endlessly as if it still had power. He seemed like a being that surpassed the level of an ordinary Demon King.
"It won't be an easy request."
If that Demon King went crazy in Raon's body, it would be difficult even for him to subdue him without killing him.
'However...'
Having been called grandfather by his grandson, he had to fulfill it at all costs.
"Mmm?"
As he raised the Heavenly Tremor, contemplating how to subdue Raon possessed by the Demon King, his grandson's body only emitted demonic energy while his soul seemed empty.
'What is this?'
Maximizing his Aura Perception, he felt something enormous writhing near Raon's wrist.
'It could be...'
Is he resisting from the outside? It seemed that, just as Raon considered the Demon King a friend, the Demon King also considered Raon a friend and was resisting from the outside to avoid going crazy.
-Then there's a way.
If the Demon King had descended into Raon's body and gone crazy, it would be difficult to separate them, but if he was enduring from the outside, it was possible to separate them.
"Be patient for a moment."
Glenn lowered the Heavenly Tremor and slowly closed his eyes. With a sharp sound, he opened his mind's eye and felt something like a blue cloud being sucked into Raon's upper dantian. That seemed to be the Demon King's soul. Despite its small size, the scale of the soul was even greater than his own.
'So that no one dies...'
He could kill that Demon King now, but Raon had asked to save his friend. He couldn't ignore his grandson's wish. With a resonant hum, Glenn raised the sword of his mind. On the transparent blade were reflected regrets from the past and a desperate resolution not to repeat that past.
A sword advances without hesitation. The Soul Blade, imbued with kindness and sharpness, pierced the ring of anger filling the blue Demon King's and Raon's body.
With a sharp, tearing sound, as if the threads of anger were being cut, Raon, who had been emitting intense frost as if he were about to go crazy, fell to his knees like a puppet with its strings cut. With a hiss, the blue Demon King also fell onto Raon's head as if the tension had been released.
"Ugh..."
Glenn wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and let out a long sigh. As his grandson's life was at stake, he felt more mental fatigue than when he faced several Five Demons.
"Thank you for befriending my grandson."
He gave a slight smile to the blue Demon King writhing on Raon's head.
-!!!
The blue Demon King puffed up as if to protest, but then disappeared. The Demon King's presence was no longer felt, perhaps because the anger that had dominated Raon's body had been erased.
Glenn carried the unconscious Raon on his back and headed towards House Arianne. Perhaps due to the wave of ice that Raon had unleashed before, Edgar, wearing the Death Knight armor, was awake.
"I greet you, father-in-law."
Edgar acknowledged Glenn and immediately bowed his head.
"So you are Edgar."
Glenn's fingertips trembled as he silently looked at Edgar. The fact that the place where he met his son-in-law was a battlefield made him feel once again how great his transgressions were.
"I apologize for greeting you so late. I would like to ask for your forgiveness, but there is no time now."
Edgar pointed at Sylvia and Rector, biting his lip tightly.
"Mmm..."
Glenn's jaw trembled as he examined Sylvia and Rector's condition. He hadn't paid attention because of Raon, but they were truly on the verge of death. No, it wouldn't be strange if they died at that moment.
He injected aura into Sylvia and Rector's bodies, but their internal and external wounds were too severe, and the demonic energy had penetrated every wound, making it ineffective.
'Frederick.
Glenn picked up Sylvia and Rector, whose complexions had turned black. The only one he could trust now was the Ragged Saint, Federick. Maybe it was too late, but they had no choice but to try.
"It will be too late if we leave."
Edgar shook his head, not letting go of Sylvia's hand.
"Are you saying we should let them die here?"
Glenn gritted his teeth and looked at Edgar.
"I can save them."
Edgar nodded, showing a slight smile.
"What?"
"I have the ability of a Death Knight. A special demonic energy that brings death to the living and absorbs vitality. In other words, I can also transfer vitality to others."
He nodded heavily, looking at his wife and Rector one by one.
"They both have less than a minute of life left."
Edgar slowly lowered his hands and asked Glenn to lower them.
"..."
Glenn bit his lip, reading the emotion in Edgar's eyes. In the end, he didn't leave and left Sylvia and Rector on the ground. Edgar placed his hands on Sylvia and Rector's chests and uttered the language of the dead.
As the strange language incomprehensible to humans sounded, the color began to return to Sylvia and Rector's complexions, which had been turning black as they died.
On the other hand, black, dead blood vessels appeared on Edgar's pale face.
"Wait! Don't tell me that's..."
Glenn's eyes widened as if he had just realized what Edgar was doing.
"I am already someone who died once. No, it's ambiguous to even call me a person now."
Edgar looked at the collapsed Raon with a slight smile.
"It's enough for me to have seen my son in the end and saved my daughter."
He nodded, saying that he was satisfied.
"Your soul will continue to suffer the pain of being shattered."
Glenn lowered his eyebrows and said that he couldn't bear it.
"Father-in-law, my life has been a series of pains. I'm glad to see my wife, son, and daughter like this."
Edgar stroked Sylvia's cheek, which had regained its color, with a small smile.
—You would have made the same decision if you were in my situation, father-in-law.
"..."
Glenn tried to speak several times, but in the end he remained silent. After living as a prisoner of Eden for decades and barely finding freedom, sacrificing his life for his loved ones was not an easy decision.
That's why he regretted his past even more. If he had accepted Sylvia at that time, this tragedy wouldn't have happened.
Glenn gritted his teeth as he looked at Edgar and placed his hand on Raon's forehead.
"Are you planning to wake Raon?"
"Shouldn't a son see his father's last moments?"
"Ah, then a moment..."
Edgar put on the Death Knight helmet he had discarded. He smiled awkwardly and touched his chin.
"It's embarrassing."
* * *
"What the!"
Raon opened his eyes with a violent groan. It wasn't a natural awakening, but as if someone had forcefully awakened him. He still had a headache.
'What happened?'
Not knowing how much time had passed or what had happened, he immediately raised his head to see Glenn standing in front of him.
"Gr-Grandfather. The situation..."
"It's over. How are you feeling?"
Glenn nodded briefly and asked about his well-being first.
"Eh? Oh, I think I'm okay."
All the anger that had dominated his mind and spirit had disappeared. Although he didn't know how, it seemed that the rampage had stopped before Wrath descended.
-And your friend?
"Yes."
Although Wrath's figure wasn't visible, he could feel his presence by the ice flower bracelet. He seemed to have fainted from exhaustion.
“It was a very difficult request, but thank you for granting it.”
"We'll leave the thanks for later..."
Glenn sighed and pointed to the right. Turning his head, he saw Edgar with his hands on Sylvia and Rector's chests.
"Ah!"
Being weak, he used the Heavenly Drive that had fallen to the ground as a cane and approached Edgar.
"Are Mom and Rector okay?"
Although he couldn't spread his Aura Perception as his aura was completely exhausted and his upper dantian was highly stimulated, he could feel that the two's breathing had stabilized.
"Yes. Now you can rest easy."
Edgar nodded with a gentle smile, as if telling him not to worry.
"I didn't know you could heal too."
Although he couldn't say exactly what he was doing without his aura, he was certainly being healed as he said.
"This father is better at odd jobs than swordsmanship. Medicine, civil engineering, welding, construction, animal husbandry, piloting. There's nothing I can't do. But the best is this mouth. Your mother fell in love with me because I talk so well."
Edgar laughed as if he were having fun, stretching out his words.
—But I see you still call her Mom.
"Ah, when I'm nervous, unconsciously..."
Raon blinked and his face turned red.
"That's good. It means you're close."
Edgar nodded, laughing.
"From now on, don't call Rector 'sir,' call him Grandpa. He'll love it."
He laughed as he stroked Rector's forehead.
"I know, but it still doesn't come out easily."
Raon looked down and said that it had taken him a long time to call Glenn Grandpa too.
"I see. Then why don't you try it with me first? Say 'Dad'!"
"Mmm..."
His lips trembled, unable to speak immediately. He was about to say that he couldn't, but Edgar's eyes inside the helmet seemed so desperate that he nodded.
"F-Father."
"That..."
Edgar staggered as if he had been hit by an arrow and let out an exclamation.
"How cute! That's how I feel! Although I wanted to hear 'Dad' first, it's a bit disappointing."
He clicked his lips and said that he wanted to hear the word "Dad" when he was a child.
"Do you want to try again?"
"I'll do it later. It's a bit embarrassing."
"It's disappointing, but it can't be helped."
Edgar said that he would definitely hear it, grabbing Raon's shoulder.
"The treatment will take a while, so why don't you tell me how you've been living in the meantime? There's nothing better than conversation to bring people closer."
"Mmm..."
Raon looked back. Glenn nodded firmly, as if telling him to do it.
"I stayed in the annex building of Zieghart. When my mother returned to the family, she was demoted to the family branch, so they gave me dirty looks whenever I went to the main building."
"Ah, so that's what happened."
Edgar tilted his head towards Glenn as if he had understood immediately.
"It must have been a measure to protect them from other members of their direct lineage. Thank you for your consideration."
He smiled as if he had instantly understood Glenn's intentions.
"..."
Glenn waved his hand silently as if telling him to continue.
"Then, briefly."
Raon nodded and began to share his life so far.
"At the age of 12, I participated in basic training at the Fifth Training Ground. All those guys who fainted up there are my comrades."
"You mean the kids who defended the walls like an iron wall. It was completely different from when they invaded the branch before, I didn't know they would all reach Master. Is it true that you raised them all?"
"...On the second mission, we encountered a Blood Demon. If the Vice Leader hadn't come, we probably would have all died."
"He protected you before too. I was very surprised to see him block the front, risking his own life. Keep trusting him and following him from now on."
"The life-or-death battle with the Axe King was tougher than I thought. But I don't regret it because it was a fair fight. The Axe King was the most martial artist-like person I've seen among the Five Demons."
"That guy never keeps his promises, but he fights fair, huh? An interesting guy. You were his last opponent, so he must have been satisfied even in death. Did he name your last sword technique? You mean that last sword?"
Every time Raon mentioned what he had done so far, Edgar reacted exaggeratedly. It was fun to talk to, as it seemed like watching Glenn receive mission reports in the audience chamber. However, as he continued talking, he noticed something strange.
"By the way..."
Raon swallowed dryly as he was about to reveal Derus's identity.
"W-Why is Dad's vitality decreasing while Mom and Grandpa are recovering?"
As his aura gradually recovered, he could feel Edgar's vitality rapidly decreasing. His voice also became hoarse, as if it were drying up.
"It's part of the treatment. Don't worry."
Edgar shook his head as if nothing. His voice cracked as if he were about to die.
"C-Can I take off your helmet?"
Raon raised his trembling hand and took off Edgar's helmet.
"Ah..."
Edgar had become bony like someone who hadn't eaten for a month, and thick blood vessels like ropes had appeared on his face. The only thing that could be felt in his body, which had become a mummy, was a ghastly death.
"Ah, I've been discovered."
Edgar clapped his hands softly as if he were disappointed.
"What is this..."
"It couldn't be helped."
He shook his head calmly.
"It was the only way."
Edgar smiled and said that to save Sylvia and Rector, he had no choice but to absorb the energy of death and share his own vitality.
—Bu-But you have to live too! After enduring that hell all this time, why?
Raon gritted his teeth. Knowing what kind of life Edgar had led, his anger, which had calmed down, reignited.
"I met you."
Edgar raised his withered hand to stroke Raon's head. The lack of strength in his grasp made Raon's heart sink.
"I fought alongside my son, saved my daughter, whom I could only watch, and saved my dying wife. What else do I need?"
He showed a genuine smile, saying it was enough.
"And even though it wasn't my intention, I killed many people. Now I'm receiving my punishment."
"What punishment!"
Raon yelled at Edgar. He couldn't accept those words because his past life, controlled by Derus, was exactly the same.
-Raon, sit down. There isn't much time left.
Edgar waved his hand calmly, seeming to accept his own death.
"What the..."
Raon tilted his head and watched his father's powerless hand sink.
"You know, I wanted to teach you and Sia my swordsmanship. I gave up because it was impossible, but when I saw you fight with the Mystical Soul Blade, I thought our destinies were connected."
Edgar embraced Raon, stroking his head.
“It was an honor and I felt happy to have my last fight alongside my son.”
"No, that's..."
"Take care of your Mom, your sister, and your grandfather."
He closed his mouth as if those were his last words and hugged Raon tightly. It was a very different image from the talkative man he had been until now.
"Father..."
"Now you're calling me sincerely."
Edgar smiled cheerfully as if all his desires had been fulfilled and folded his body. His dried-up body began to disperse into black dust.
"Please!"
Raon tried to transfer the aura he had barely recovered, but Edgar's body disintegration didn't stop.
"Mmm?"
Glenn, who was biting his lips as he watched Edgar, suddenly moved to Raon's left.
"Who is there?"
He pointed the Heavenly Tremor towards the darkness with a look more tense than when he faced the leader of the Five Demons.
"Me..."
With a somewhat naive voice, a white-haired boy with jade-colored skin emerged.
"I've run out of money..."
-
More Ch4pters on KoreanPlayer
↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓
Thanks for the support
