C808
"Huh?"
Darkan exhaled sharply after examining Raon's soul through his Soul Weapon.
"What the hell is this guy?"
Raon wasn't just a loudmouth. Both his swordsmanship and his growth potential exceeded expectations. When Darkan tried to assess Raon's soul realm, it completely surpassed his imagination.
'This is on par with a Transcendent Warrior.'
Raon's soul realm was vast enough to rival even a Transcendent warrior. While Darkan had been impressed by Raon's martial prowess and talent, the size of his soul was on a completely different level.
'And this is supposed to be a Grandmaster?'
As Darkan tilted his head in disbelief, something even more enormous emerged behind Raon's soul.
"Worm."
The moment he heard that chilling voice that seemed to freeze his soul, Darkan's world shifted.
"Mmm..."
Darkan opened his eyes in a place that wasn't the Holy Sword Alliance headquarters.
"This isn't reality."
Darkan frowned as he caught the falling snow in his hand. As far as he could see ahead, this wasn't reality but someone's mental world.
"This doesn't seem to be Raon's mental world..."
Darkan turned around and recalled that chilling voice. In the center of the endless snowfield stood a massive tree enveloped in silver snow. It seemed to have taken root for a thousand, no, ten thousand years, and it seemed too large to be felled even with his single-stroke sword.
"How could a tree like that...? Ah!"
Darkan's jaw dropped as he looked at the tree that seemed to touch the sky.
"That's not a tree."
What he thought was a tree that had stood for ten thousand years was actually someone's soul. The soul of the owner of this place was so enormous that it had taken the form of that massive tree.
'Is that the owner of this place?'
Darkan licked his lips as he observed the being standing beneath the tree. Hair, like the ocean, cascaded down to their waist, and the bridge of their nose was as sharp as a blade. It was as if the word "beauty" had been sculpted into human form, but the pinnacle was in their eyes. The blue gaze seemed to oppress his soul, leaving him unable to speak.
He or she. No, gender was irrelevant to this being. Their mere existence felt like a blessing and a curse at the same time to the world.
"This must be the one from then..."
It was a face he had seen before, but it seemed like a completely new existence. The realm of their soul was in a completely different dimension than back then.
"This clears up some of the questions I had back then. Are you the one controlling Raon?"
Darkan twisted his lips as he looked at the blue being.
"Control?"
The Blue Demon King, Wrath, slowly turned their gaze.
"Do you think that leech could be controlled by anyone?"
"Indeed, you are right. That child is not someone who can be controlled, nor someone who can control others."
Darkan nodded his head.
"However..."
He clicked his tongue briefly as he examined Wrath.
"You are not a swordsman."
Darkan realized just by making eye contact that Wrath wasn't a swordsman. His curiosity subsided in an instant.
"But you will be a worthy opponent to fight."
Even though this place wasn't reality but a mental world, fighting such a powerful opponent would contribute greatly to his growth.
"Fight?"
Wrath lowered their blue eyes towards Darkan.
"Vermin who doesn't know its place."
The moment Wrath's calm but low voice reached this world, Darkan's waist bent as if he was about to touch the ground. Wrath's immense soul realm began to press on Darkan.
"Ugh!"
Darkan gritted his teeth. He exerted his aura with all his might to prevent himself from collapsing, but all he could do was barely resist it.
'What, what is this...?'
It wasn't a difference in martial prowess. The difference in the power of their souls was so great that it was difficult even to endure. He felt like his own soul was freezing.
"This guy can't be human."
No human could possess such a massive soul. This was impossible even for Glenn or the Heavenly Demon. It was a realm allowed only for monsters who lived for thousands, or even tens of thousands of years.
"Vermin."
Wrath looked at Darkan and tilted their chin.
"Muttering about knowing your place and fighting."
Thick veins bulged on Darkan's face as he endured the pressure exerted solely by Wrath's soul realm, without any physical strength.
"It's been a long time since I felt this way..."
Darkan stood up and bit his lip until it bled.
"I really feel like I've become vermin again."
He twisted a smile as if he felt challenged by this situation.
"Then accept this vermin's challenge!"
Darkan abandoned his defense. Enduring the freezing of his own soul, he raised his dark-colored sword. His Soul Weapon, imbued with his soul, reached Wrath and emitted a deep black light. However, Wrath's massive and firm soul faced Darkan's Soul Weapon without hesitation.
Only a long scratch appeared on the silver tree that embodied their soul.
"A sword strike truly befitting a vermin."
Wrath smiled coldly as they raised their hand.
"You swordsmen, you think your swords are special. In the end, they are nothing more than an art of killing, a mere extension of the hand."
"What?"
Darkan frowned as if to say, "What are you talking about?"
"It doesn't matter the form. What matters is what it contains."
As Wrath snapped their fingers, the gently falling snow intensified. The moment Wrath's snow touched Darkan's shoulder, his arm was swept away by the wind.
"Ah!"
But it wasn't just a snowflake. Every time a piece of Wrath's ice fell, it pierced Darkan's body and caused him to cough up black blood.
"Ha, each one is like a Soul Weapon..."
Darkan fell to his knees in the snowfield, his body torn to shreds.
"To think I would witness something like this!"
Despite experiencing excruciating pain, he smiled deeply as if enjoying the situation.
"The reason you're still alive is because you didn't try to kill the leech. If you had ill intentions, I would have chopped off your head the moment you arrived here."
Wrath revealed dry eyes, like withered ones.
"Should I say I was lucky?"
Darkan shook his head and coughed up blood.
"Whether it's luck or not, we'll only know when it's all over. Anyway, you'll end up dying at the hands of that leech."
Wrath tilted their chin as they watched Darkan fade as if he was about to disappear.
"I look forward to it."
Darkan fell backwards, maintaining his smile until the end. His soul melted with the snow.
"..."
After contemplating the now calm snowfield, Wrath turned around.
"Did you see?"
***
"Yes."
Raon nodded as he walked towards the snowfield.
"You simply used Soul Weapon techniques with snow and ice instead of a sword, right?"
"Similar, but not exactly."
Wrath shook their head calmly.
"Just as the Soul Weapon sharpens the soul to sharpen the blade, this king imbued their soul into the most familiar snow and ice."
"That's impressive."
Raon let out a dry chuckle as he looked at the serene Wrath.
"I didn't expect you to subdue the former leader of the Holy Sword Alliance so easily."
Darkan was one of the strongest among the Five Kings and the Five Demons. Unless it was Glenn, the Heavenly Demon, or Derus, no one could defeat him, so Raon didn't expect such overwhelming dominance.
"It's because he came here on his own."
Wrath pointed towards the snowfield.
"If we had fought in reality, it wouldn't have ended so easily."
They shook their head and said it was easy because they were fighting on their own territory.
"I see."
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked around the mental world Wrath had pointed out.
"But why is there nothing in your mental world? What is that tree?"
The only things visible in Wrath's mental world were the endlessly falling snow and the massive tree. Even the World Tree in the elves' sacred land, Sepia, wasn't that big.
"Finally..."
Wrath twisted their lips upwards without answering.
"The time has come!"
"Time for what?"
Raon swallowed dryly as he watched Wrath smile with murderous intent.
"To correct your bad habits!"
Wrath let out a chilling laugh, saying they could suppress Raon with the power of their soul here.
"The days when you threatened us with food! The pain of choking on Nadine's bread! Even the evil act of stealing this king's power!"
They approached Raon, gritting their teeth.
"This king hasn't forgotten anything!"
Wrath shuddered with the excitement of revenge.
"I will take this opportunity to thoroughly correct your habits and make you serve this king properly!"
They said that was why they quickly drove Darkan away.
"First, I will avenge the mint chocolate. I will tear out your throat and..."
"Wait."
Raon looked at Wrath and tilted his chin to the side.
"What mint chocolate revenge?"
"Huh?"
Wrath stood still, their mouth agape.
"What do you mean..."
"You said revenge, so what revenge?"
"When, when I wanted to eat it and you wouldn't let me..."
Despite their beautiful appearance, they blinked in incomprehension.
"When was that?"
Raon continued to converse with Wrath while operating the Fire Ring.
"I need to buy time."
If Wrath trapped him, he could be stuck there forever. Having visited countless mental worlds, he knew he could find a way out if he had enough time.
"You, you've been eating only meals since you arrived here! Even when this king threw a tantrum wanting dessert..."
"No, that's not true. Thanks to you crying on my head, Dorian gave me mint chocolate ice cream. We ate it right away that night."
Raon watched Wrath as he created a crack to escape this mental world.
"Oh, that's right..."
Wrath nodded in incomprehension. It was hard to believe this was the same Demon King who had defeated Darkan just moments ago.
"No, that's not it! This king wants to eat it every day! And there's more! You eat Nadine's bread every time you train and you keep draining this king's power, how do you explain that?!"
"Ah, that's..."
Raon smiled and extended his hand.
"I don't need to explain it."
With a smile, he opened the passage he had prepared. The white snowfield opened and his soul began to be absorbed into the gap.
"Huh? No, wait!"
Wrath cried out and extended their hand.
"Not once have I hit you! Not once!"
But regardless of Wrath's will, Raon's soul disappeared into the hole.
"Damn it all!"
Wrath grabbed their head and screamed.
"Hey! Eat the mint chocolate! Huh? Please! I beg you!"
Their last words shifted from threats to pleas as they resonated.
"Don't hold today against me!"
"You must be joking."
***
As Raon tried to open his eyes while listening to Wrath's screams, it didn't seem real.
"What is this? Did Wrath trap me after all?"
When he opened his eyes, he was astonished to see a black, burnt land. It was a familiar place. Although there were no green trees or shrubs, it was the mountain of Lawrence that he climbed every day. A blonde swordsman and a robed magician descended upon the blackened and dead mountain.
"Are you really going to do it here?"
The magician frowned as she looked at the swordsman.
[It's completely ruined, isn't it?]
[That's why we're doing it here. No one cares about this place now, but someday it will come back to life.]
The blonde swordsman nodded with a gentle smile.
[Sigh...]
The magician let out a long sigh.
[You're really impossible. Alright.]
She nodded and began to draw a magic circle in the air. A huge circle unfolded that began to paint a new sky over this land.
[This place will serve.]
The blonde swordsman dug into the blackened earth and planted a single seed. Despite its small size, the seed seemed to breathe with enormous vitality and glowed blue.
[This must become the final stronghold.]
The blonde swordsman buried the seed with a solemn gaze, as if he was seeing the future.
[If you're done, come help!]
The magician frowned at the blonde swordsman as if she was scolding him.
[Alright.]
The blonde swordsman smiled and grabbed his scabbard. His sword unsheathed and rose towards the sky. It was a Sword Control technique, but it was different from Darkan's. Instead of grotesque, it painted elegant and majestic lines in the sky.
As the swordsman drew lines, the magic followed them, creating a barrier to cover this land.
'Huh?'
As Raon watched this scene, the blonde man's gaze turned towards him. The moment he met those red eyes, Raon felt his soul begin to blur.
"Ah!"
When he opened his eyes again, he saw Darkan spitting out black blood. It seemed the impact that Wrath had inflicted in the mental world was now manifesting.
"It wasn't your power that expelled me. I'm not satisfied yet!"
Even after suffering spiritual damage from Wrath, Darkan didn't back down. He was truly a relentless man.
"I need to finish this here."
Raon wanted to finish Darkan off, but the Heavenly Drive imbued with the Heaven Rift was completely erased by the Soul Weapon.
'A method...'
As he thought about what to do, he remembered the Zieghart ancestor he had just seen.
"Yes, it's the only way."
He ignited the flames in the Heavenly Path once more. While distracting Darkan's attention with the Flame and Ice Unification, he released the Blade of Requiem he was holding in his left hand. He harmonized his upper dantian with the Fire Ring, grabbing the soul thread of the Blade of Requiem.
"This isn't enough!"
As Darkan extinguished the flames of the Flame and Ice Unification, Raon imbued the Blade of Requiem with the Sword Control technique he himself had created. The red blade of the Blade of Requiem flew in circles through the air before falling and rushing towards Darkan's back.
It was a mysterious move that incorporated the Sword Control techniques of the Zieghart ancestor and Darkan. It was a sword path no one could have predicted.
"What is this!"
Even Darkan's face showed surprise, as he didn't expect the Sword Control technique. However, Darkan, as befits a Transcendent warrior, raised an aura shield the moment the Blade of Requiem was about to pierce his flesh. In the end, the Blade of Requiem only inflicted a superficial wound before falling to the ground.
"Damn it..."
As Raon bit his lip, feeling the failure, Darkan lowered the hand that had been blocking the Heavenly Drive.
"It was a good move."
Darkan picked up the fallen Blade of Requiem and returned it to Raon.
"You pass."
"What?"
"I said you pass."
He nodded his head widely, as if he was satisfied.
"I was surprised by the monster that was in your body, but I wasn't too interested. What I wanted to see was your swordsmanship and your fighting spirit."
Darkan laughed as he spat out the black blood in his mouth.
"What?"
Wrath frowned as they looked at Darkan.
"This vermin! Do you dare to talk nonstop after this king has beaten you up? Come back! This time I will strip you of your flesh and bones!"
They shook their head and said they would definitely kill him this time.
"Your swordsmanship, your fighting spirit, and the realm of your soul pass. You have the right to talk nonstop."
Darkan pursed his lips and said that Raon had earned the right to speak about the future. He really didn't seem interested in Wrath, he didn't even ask a single question about him.
"Then..."
"As I promised, I will leave without touching anyone."
He nodded his chin, saying he would keep his promise.
"...Then I will go find you when I have mastered a new sword technique."
"Good. However..."
Darkan briefly shook his head.
"I may not be here by then."
"What do you mean...?"
"I am going to challenge your grandfather."
He laughed and said that Glenn would probably be the first.
"But then you will surely die. Why did you accept my proposal?"
Even for Darkan, attacking Glenn would only mean certain death. His answer didn't make sense.
"Even if I don't see it, the mere existence of a new sword technique is significant."
Darkan smiled as if he was pleased by the mere existence of such techniques in the world. He was different than before. It seemed he had undergone a change in attitude.
"Mmm..."
Raon swallowed dryly as he watched Darkan smile cheerfully.
"This man is a madman, but he is a true swordsman."
A peculiar person who only sought the sword above all else in the world. A martial artist who held his own beliefs beyond good and evil.
"You are..."
"Hey!"
As Raon was about to speak to Darkan, Wrath appeared before his eyes.
"Erase this king's aura right now! Quickly!"
'Why so suddenly...?'
"Do it quickly! Do as I say!"
Wrath was so urgent that they didn't even use their royal speech.
'Alright.'
Seeing such urgent behavior for the first time, Raon operated the Fire Ring and dispelled all the remaining wrathful emotions in his body and sword.
'Is this enough?'
As Raon gestured to Wrath, the night sky shook as if it was about to fall. It seemed someone from outside was trying to break the barrier.
"Damn it! It's too late!"
Wrath trembled in their lips as they looked at the turbulent night sky.
"She's already coming! That crazy stalker!"
-
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