C807
"You alone..."
Darkan tilted his head to the side in disbelief.
"What did you say?"
"I said I will receive your swordsmanship from now on."
Raon stood in front of Darkan, placing his hand on the hilt of the Heavenly Drive.
"Hahaha!"
Darkan burst into laughter, throwing his red hair back. After laughing for a while, he suddenly stopped and lowered his head slowly.
"The food your grandfather prepared today was quite satisfying. Don't ruin my appetite unnecessarily."
Darkan gestured with his chin for Raon to take a step back and said that he had enjoyed the match with Rector.
"Wouldn't that be a shame?"
Raon moved his finger, ignoring Darkan's warning.
"Your thirst hasn't been quenched yet."
He curled his lips as he looked at the black patch covering Darkan's eye.
"Ha, are you saying you can quench that thirst?"
Darkan slowly lowered his head. His gaze seemed to oppress Raon's heart, as if his eyes had come back to life.
"A mere brat like you?"
Darkan looked at Raon with a clear intent to kill, as if it wasn't a joke.
"Are you crazy?"
Wrath grabbed Raon by the neck, incredulous.
"Cancel it right now!"
He shook his head vigorously, saying there was no way Raon could block it.
"Of course, not now. But..."
Raon shook his head, barely resisting Darkan's murderous intent.
"In the not-too-distant future, I will be able to satisfy your desire with a new sword technique that no one has ever seen before."
As he said this, he gripped the hilt of the Heavenly Drive tightly.
"I was wondering what nonsense you were saying..."
Darkan nodded as if he understood.
"You were trying to buy time."
He chuckled, glancing at Rector behind Raon.
"Unfortunately, Rector can no longer fight. I have taken away all his will."
Darkan lowered his hand, saying there was no point in buying time.
"Raon Zieghart, it's true that I'm interested in you, but not because of your current strength, but because of your talent. Once I confirm it, your body will be nothing more than bait to lure Glenn."
He raised a chilling aura, saying that he could kill Raon right now if he wanted. It seemed his thoughts had changed from before, perhaps because he had seen the Soul Weapon.
"Then put it to the test. My potential."
Raon straightened his back proudly, not crushed by Darkan's aura.
"I feel like I'm going to die."
Although he pretended to be fine, Darkan's powerful aura made him feel like his whole body was being crushed. It took all his mental strength to endure it.
"Are you afraid?"
Raon looked at Darkan with a slight smile.
'Darkan is different from the other Five Demons.'
Although Darkan belonged to the Five Demons, he wasn't good or bad. He was just an eccentric whose soul was filled with passion for swordsmanship, so Raon's provocation would surely work.
'Just seeing his fight with his grandfather, I can imagine his personality.'
Except for the last Soul Sword, Darkan never used his full strength. Even Rector's final technique, which he could have blocked or dodged, Darkan faced head-on, saying he wanted to feel a new sword. Although it seemed like an even fight, in reality, there was an impassable river flowing between Rector and Darkan.
"Because he's a madman, my provocation will work."
Both Glenn and Rector had said his sword was the true path of the Ten Thousand Swords that no one had ever walked before. If he showed the possibility of a new swordsmanship, Darkan would surely let him go.
"R-Raon. You can't..."
Rector reached for his fallen sword again, even as he coughed up black blood.
"I... I will fight."
He forced himself to stand up and told Raon to step back.
"Huh?"
Darkan lowered his eyebrows and looked at Rector, who said he would fight to the end.
"How could you get back on your feet?"
He exhaled in disbelief.
"The world doesn't revolve solely around the realm of swordsmanship."
Raon shook his head, feeling Rector's warmth from behind.
"That's..."
Darkan clicked his tongue after looking into Rector's eyes.
"You simply got back on your feet. You can't fight."
"...I can fight."
Rector advanced with slow steps and stood in front of Raon.
"Even if my life shatters, my will will not."
He raised his sword, overcoming the fear that weighed on his heart. Although he was in no condition to even cut an insect, his determination to protect his grandson was palpable.
"Mmm..."
Darkan pressed his lips tightly together, observing this scene.
"Alright, grandpa."
Raon shook his head, embracing Rector, whose arms and legs were trembling.
"Leave it to me."
He sat Rector down behind him and told him not to worry.
"It's touching. However..."
"You don't have to do it if you're afraid."
Raon turned to Darkan and moved his finger.
"What?"
A vein appeared on Darkan's smooth forehead.
"What did you just..."
"Seeing you move your tongue that way, it seems you're afraid of my future. So, you can kill me now if you want."
Raon opened his arms and told Darkan to do whatever he wanted.
"You... Have you really gone mad?"
Darkan frowned deeply.
"When someone who claims to be obsessed with swords says they will show you a new swordsmanship, if you don't like it, I can only think you're afraid."
Raon shrugged, accepting Darkan's murderous intent.
"...Are you really saying you can show the possibility of new swordsmanship?"
Darkan's lips trembled slightly, as if he was about to fall for the provocation.
"Yes. If it's just swordsmanship, I can teach you."
"Just swordsmanship?"
"If you reveal your transcendent power as it is, I won't be able to block a single blow."
Raon tapped his temple with his finger, telling Darkan to think carefully.
"..."
Darkan closed his mouth and cast a heavy gaze from behind his black eye patch, as if trying to understand Raon's intentions.
"..."
Raon, too, with his arms crossed, didn't avoid Darkan's gaze.
"Alright. But if your performance is disappointing..."
Darkan's chin dropped sharply like a sword.
"I will kill those behind you and make you my disciple. I will turn you into a puppet that moves according to my liking."
He gritted his teeth finely, as if making a vow.
"Alright."
Raon nodded and stood in front of Darkan.
"D-Does this work?"
Wrath widened his eyes and looked at Darkan.
"Didn't he blow that guy's head off? How...?"
"It's not just a provocation."
"Huh?"
'There's the title.'
He had the title of "Tongue that Manipulates Heaven and Earth." That title caused mental confusion even to the strongest, so it must have further stimulated Darkan's desire for swordsmanship.
"Ugh! In the end, this king helped you again..."
Wrath gritted his teeth as if he was frustrated.
"B-But surely he won't keep his promise!"
"No, he will."
Darkan's passion for swords was something neither he nor Glenn could match. To the point of gouging out his eyes to see the Soul Weapon, if they showed him the possibility of a new sword, he would withdraw without any interference.
"!!R-Raon!"
"It's not necessary! It's too dangerous!"
Lawrence and Zalek shook their heads and said that shouldn't be done.
"Raon..."
Rector bit his lip and looked at Raon as if feeling his own helplessness. However, Burren, Martha, Runaan, and Dorian nodded calmly, as if they believed in him.
"Don't worry."
Raon nodded calmly after making eye contact with all those people.
"Nothing will happen."
***
Raon faced Darkan in front of the Holy Sword Alliance's courtyard, where the mansion and houses had been destroyed.
"Only three times."
Darkan raised three fingers.
"I will unleash three sword strikes adjusted to your strength, so if you disappoint me even once, it's over immediately."
"And if I satisfy you?"
Raon lowered his chin and looked at Darkan's fingers.
"If you truly show the possibility of a new swordsmanship as you say..."
Darkan nodded slowly.
"I won't touch anyone here and I will disappear."
He struck his chest as if making a promise.
"Good."
Raon nodded and drew the Heavenly Drive and the Blade of Requiem. Unlike Darkan, he had to give his all from the start, so he immediately opened the Divine-Demonic Harmony. The fire ring resonated as he held the Divine Sword and the Demon Sword in both hands. He prepared himself fully, operating the Evil Eye of Wrath and the Snow Flower Perception.
"Let's begin if you're ready."
Darkan gently grasped Zalek's sword and swung it downwards. It seemed like a simple downward strike, but within it was a sword path perfected to the extreme. It was a swordsmanship that contained the life of a transcendent who had trained his entire life.
'Ordinary swordsmanship won't work!'
It seemed that no sword technique he knew could block that downward strike. Contrary to expectations, it seemed he would have to reveal his full strength from the start. The Divine Sword and the Demon Sword crossed diagonally as Raon took a stance. Raon's sword technique in the Zieghart style.
Form 6 Linked Technique Divine-Demonic Harmony: Invincible Blue-Red Sword.
The Invincible Blue-Red Sword is a sword technique that pours all the remaining energy of the Divine-Demonic Harmony to cut the opponent with overwhelming power. But this time, he not only imbued power, but also the principles he had developed in the two swords burning with flames and frost.
In the Divine Sword, he condensed speed, lightness, change, illusion, and spirit, while in the Demon Sword, he concentrated slowness, heaviness, precision, solemnity, and arrogance.
The Divine Sword and the Demon Sword, different in color and texture, emitted a deep glow and collided with Darkan's downward strike. A thunderous sound was heard, not like the clash of swords, but as if a mountain had collapsed.
Although Darkan had controlled his strength, the clash of such powerful auras caused the ground to sink and cracks to appear in the sky as if it had been torn apart.
"What the..."
Raon let out a turbid sigh and took ten steps back.
"It's clearly a swordsmanship I've felt before, but it feels like I'm seeing it for the first time."
Darkan curled his lips upwards as if he was excited.
"Not bad."
He made an honest assessment, worthy of a man obsessed with swords.
"We haven't even started yet."
Raon shook his head, quickly regulating his breathing.
"I feel like my arms and legs are about to break."
Despite his outward appearance, his insides weren't good. His physical strength had been depleted and his energy center had been severely affected, causing him to go into shock. Darkan had controlled his strength, but it seemed he had no intention of adjusting it to Raon's level.
"So this is a true transcendent,"
From Darkan's perspective, he had greatly reduced his strength, but to cause such an impact, the wall of transcendence was truly high and imposing.
"Then, for the second time. This will be a little different."
Darkan dropped the sword he was holding and his cheeks flushed. Sword Control. It seemed he had no intention of going easy, just adjusting his energy.
His Sword Control bent at an impossible angle for a person and rushed towards Raon's neck. The energy contained in the Sword Control wasn't something that could be easily blocked, let alone the technique.
'Heaven Rift?'
No, not now. He had to save the Heaven Rift, which could contain everything, for the third time. He had to block it somehow in this state.
"I have no choice but to take a risk."
There was only one way to block that Sword Control without the Heaven Rift, even if it was an incomplete martial art. Raon's mind spun rapidly as if struck by lightning, segmenting the mantras of the Reverse Wave Arts and the Fierce Wave Arts.
The Reverse Wave Arts that erase the form of swordsmanship and the Fierce Wave Arts that penetrate the opponent's aura. The flow of these two mystical martial arts connects like a puzzle, drawing a new flow of martial arts.
The power of intuition, though weakly open, became the connecting rope between the Reverse Wave Arts and the Fierce Wave Arts, balancing the two chaotic martial arts. The Divine Sword with its fire extinction and the Demon Sword with its fading cold energy raised a purple light like the mist of dawn.
The incomplete swordsmanship, still unnamed, erased the sword path contained in Darkan's Sword Control and extinguished the powerful force that dwelled within it.
Unlike the first clash, there was no shockwave or thunderous sound, but the impact it conveyed to the people was even greater.
"H-How could he so easily...? Even if he controlled his strength, that was Sword Control."
Rector opened his eyes in disbelief.
"...Is that my Reverse Wave Arts?"
Lawrence's lips trembled when he saw Raon's martial art mixed with his own Reverse Wave Arts.
"He finally opened a gap in the Mind's Eye."
Zalek couldn't hide his surprise either and swallowed dryly. The others couldn't close their open mouths either when they saw the Sword Control simply calm down.
"Cough..."
Raon finally couldn't hold it in and coughed up blood. It was good to create a new martial art, but he ended up with internal injuries due to the power of the Sword Control.
"You created a new sword technique using breaking techniques. It seems the Beast King's Fierce Wave Arts are also included. Wonderful."
Darkan nodded widely, as if he was satisfied this time as well.
"Not bad, taking an ugly breaking technique and turning it into something new and promising."
He wrinkled the corners of his lips for a while, as if he was enjoying that moment.
"But there's still one more step. If you disappoint me here, it's all over."
"I know."
Raon nodded, wiping the blood flowing from his mouth.
"Then get ready."
Darkan nodded, as if giving himself time to breathe for a moment.
"Ugh..."
Raon closed his eyes, gripping the Heavenly Drive whose fire had gone out.
'I barely have enough strength left to use the Heaven Rift.'
The Heaven Rift, the Sword Domain that grows with his life. Thanks to the training and meditation in the Holy Sword Alliance, it has grown even more, so he should be able to show potential even to the demanding Darkan.
"I'm ready."
Raon nodded after calming his turbid breath.
"Then let's begin the final move."
When Darkan moved his finger, the Sword Control fell and a black-toned light sword emerged from his grip.
'Huh...?'
Raon swallowed dryly when he saw the sword of darkness burning like flames.
'Soul Weapon?'
He thought these three confrontations were just a test, but it didn't seem that way to that madman. Even if he controlled his strength, Raon never expected him to bring out the Soul Weapon.
'Damn it!'
It was the second time he had seen the Soul Weapon, but he had never thought about how to block it. His mind seemed to melt as if white paint had been poured over it.
"No, in the end, it's the same."
Even if the Soul Weapon was a sword that pierced through everything and cut the soul, what he had to demonstrate was still swordsmanship. He resonated the fire ring to the extreme and brought out the wrath of his soul to the maximum. He opened the Sword Domain, hardening his soul to the point where even the sharpest sword couldn't cut it.
A golden light net spread over the blade of the Heavenly Drive, condensing the principles of the sword he had built in the mental world. Within a single light, ten thousand sword paths were reflected, raising a great wave of swordsmanship.
His swordsmanship, imbued with everything he possessed, clashed with the Soul Weapon. It should have been impossible in the first place, but it seemed Darkan had deliberately used it against the Heaven Rift to see through him. The light of the Heaven Rift was erased within the darkness of the Soul Weapon. But the swordsmanship he had perfected fought to the end, biting into the sword of darkness.
'I held on!'
Raon bit his lip tightly. He hadn't pushed back the Soul Weapon, but he had weakened its power. Thinking he could now resist, he raised the realm of his soul even higher.
"Good!"
But Darkan didn't seem to intend to end it here. Laughing loudly as if he was satisfied, he raised the blade of the Soul Weapon thicker. That madman seemed to want to conduct a new test since he was satisfied with the previous one. Darkan's Soul Weapon plunges to cut Raon's soul, surpassing his physical body.
Just as the black sword was about to cut Raon's soul... Something that no one expected happened. Another existence touched Raon's soul. The soul of the Monarch of Wrath confronted that sword.
"You worm."
-
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