C844
Silence. That was the first thought that came to Raon as he returned to reality.
'The mana is following my will.'
As if he had received the blessing of mana, he could feel the various energies that spread throughout the world as if they were his own. With just a movement of his fingertips, the surrounding mana stirred. Slowly, he raised his hand and placed it over his heart. A deep resonance echoed as nine rings of fire vibrated within his chest.
Not only the flames of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, but also the cold energy of Glacier and the wind of Garunua pulsed along with the rings.
And deep within his chest, the pain that Rimmer had transmitted to him crystallized. Raon exhaled heavily and opened his eyes.
[You have reached the realm of transcendence!]
[<Fire Ring> has reached 9 stars.]
[<Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation> has reached 9 stars.]
[<Glacier> has reached 9 stars.]
[All skills...]
[Transcendent Trait...]
[Trait...]
As soon as he opened his eyes, reward messages appeared. Raon dismissed them without looking at any of them. Even without them, he already knew he had reached transcendence.
- Hey, you!
Wrath brought his pale face forward.
- Are you alright? The cold energy reached your very marrow, how...?
He shook his chin as if he couldn't understand. His sparkling blue eyes were filled with concern.
'I'm sorry.'
Raon slightly lifted his body and bowed his head towards Wrath.
- E-that's not important! Tell me what happened! How did someone who should have died reach transcendence?
Wrath waved his hands up and down as if he were dying of curiosity.
'That is...'
When Raon was about to answer, the swordsmen of the Light Wind division rushed in with a sound like ice crumbling.
- Raon!
"Are you alright?"
"What the hell did you do?!"
Runaan, Burren, and Martha grabbed him and exhaled with difficulty.
"What do you mean what did I do?"
Raon tilted his head as he looked at the three.
"Your body turned white as if you were dead, then suddenly floated in the air and then burst into a golden flame so dense that it filled this entire cavern. It looked like fire wings had sprouted from your back!"
Martha said she had never seen anything like it before, her eyes trembling.
"That flame melted the wall of cold energy that was trapping us. Curiously, it wasn't hot."
Burren briefly shook his head and said they were able to get out thanks to that.
- Raon, are you really alright?
"I'm fine."
Raon nodded calmly. Although his physical condition wasn't good because his wounds hadn't healed, that wasn't important at the moment.
"Hmm, you seem different somehow..."
Martha narrowed her eyes as if something was strange.
"I see it too. The mana surrounding this guy fluctuates as if it has a will of its own."
Burren also exhaled in amazement.
- Raon, could it be…?
Runaan swallowed hard, as if she had realized something.
"Yes. I have reached transcendence."
Raon nodded as he felt the mana moving according to his will.
"Ah!"
"Tr-transcendence...?"
"How? You were dying..."
- That's right! Explain it properly!
Not only Runaan, Martha, and Burren, but also Wrath pounded his chest as if he were frustrated.
"Master..."
Raon bit his lip deeply as he looked at Rimmer who lay as if he were asleep.
"The Master gave me his teachings."
"Mmm..."
"What does that mean..."
"..."
Burren, Martha, and Runaan turned to look at Rimmer with trembling eyes.
- Don't tell me... did you meet the pointy ears in the mental world?
'Yes.'
Raon nodded, remembering Rimmer, who had not lost his smile until the end.
"The Master came all the way to the mental world to teach me what I was missing. Thanks to that, I was able to reach transcendence."
He raised his trembling hand to stroke his own head. Although it hadn't happened in reality, he could still feel Rimmer's warmth.
"Not only are you transcendent, you're like..."
"It's like you've become a different person."
Runaan continued with Martha's words. As they said, their current self and past self were like different people. No, they were still changing even at that moment.
"Young Master..."
Dorian, with his whole body wrapped in bandages, approached and knelt down.
"I-I'm sorry. I couldn't save the Vice Leader, nor could I protect Lady Alice! It's all because I'm incompetent!"
Dorian seemed to be suffering more mental than physical pain as he buried his pale face in the ground.
"We'll reflect on that later."
Raon shook his head as he grabbed Dorian's shoulder.
"First, we have to finish our revenge."
"Revenge is difficult..."
Burren shook his head and looked down.
"Even if you've reached transcendence, the enemy has two Transcendent Warriors, and it's been 3 hours since they left this place."
He bit his lip and said they would have already reached the dungeon exit.
"I want to do it too! I want to rip that bastard's face off!"
Martha trembled her fist, which was dripping blood, as she sobbed.
"But the dungeon has collapsed, and it will take us much longer to get out than it took them..."
She shed tears as if she were truly frustrated.
"Also, this dungeon has a different time axis than the outside. The reason they didn't kill us and left is probably because they were worried that too much time would pass outside..."
Kerin sighed and said they didn't know how many months might have passed if they left now.
"Here, time doesn't just run faster."
Raon turned to look at Paras.
"Lord Paras."
"Yes? Ah, yes..."
Paras bowed his head, his face looking 10 years older, as if he thought this incident was his fault.
"When you came here for the second time, you said you stayed for a week, but only one day passed, right?"
"T-that's right. I thought a month had passed, but I was surprised that only one day had passed."
He nodded, saying he was also surprised.
"This dungeon's time axis is moved by magic. It can be accelerated or slowed down."
When Raon lowered his fingertips, the rocks blocking the way melted and turned to dust.
"It's impossible for them since all the shamans are dead, but I can do it."
Previously, he could only undo the magic that was cast, but now that he had reached transcendence, it seemed he could even manipulate the flow of magic.
"I'll pass on the Master's last words."
Raon turned to the Light Wind division and drew a faint smile.
"'Kill that damn bastard at all costs! Got it? I wasn't going to say this before I left! But seeing him tormenting you too! I can't stand it...' That's what he said before he left."
As he recited Rimmer's words accurately, small laughs could be heard among the swordsmen of the Light Wind division. Everyone seemed to think it was something typical of Rimmer.
"Let's go. We have to avenge our master."
When Raon turned his back heavily, the Heavenly Drive and the Blade of Requiem that were trapped in the ground came out and entered their sheaths.
"Us too?"
"Won't we just be a hindrance?"
Burren and Martha trembled their lips as if they were worried.
"Division Leader. I..."
Dorian grabbed his head and said he didn't want to regret it again.
"This revenge is not something I should do alone."
Raon shook his head as he looked at the green wind accumulated in the cavern.
"I'll make the way, so follow me."
At his last words filled with confidence, a blue light flickered in the eyes of the Light Wind division swordsmen.
* * *
"Haha."
Sif exhaled a long sigh as he broke the rocks blocking the way.
"No spatial movement?"
He gestured to Bardiel, telling him to do something.
"The barrier is broken, so it can't be used now."
Bardiel shook his head and said it would take time for his divine power to recover.
"How long do we have to keep digging in this mud? Even an angel is useless."
Sif snorted as if he were mocking Bardiel.
"Beorn..."
Bardiel narrowed his eyes as he looked at Sif.
"Your personality has changed."
"Personality? Have I always been like this?"
Sif turned his chin to the side as if asking what he was talking about.
"Seeing that you're not aware, it must be a side effect of absorbing the power."
- What side effect! I'm perfectly fine! It's just that you're not up to par to judge me.
He waved his hand, telling him not to say nonsense.
"...What are you going to do with that woman?"
Bardiel changed the subject to Alice, thinking that the conversation was going nowhere.
"I've absorbed all her remaining power while moving..."
Sif wrinkled the bridge of his nose as he looked at Alice hanging from his shoulder.
"Now she's just a burden. It doesn't matter if we discard her."
He lowered Alice from his shoulder as if he were really about to throw her away.
"No, not yet."
Bardiel shook his head.
"The Northern Destructive King values Raon Zieghart more than anyone. To manipulate him by talking about Raon's death, we'll need at least Alice Zieghart's corpse."
"That's a good idea."
Sif said it was a good idea as he picked up Alice again.
"Of course, we'll have to manipulate that corpse. We can't let it be noticed that we attacked from behind."
Bardiel said he would do it himself as he looked down.
"Alright. I'll leave it to you... Oh!"
Sif nodded as he exclaimed at the sight of the sunlight descending from a small hole.
"I can finally see the outside!"
When he reached out, the hole where the sunlight was entering exploded, opening a passage large enough for a person to slide through.
"Ah, the sun really is good."
Sif drew a smile of satisfaction as he received the sunlight pouring in from outside the dungeon with his whole body.
"We're not going to go back walking just because spatial movement doesn't work, right?"
"It will recover in a few hours. Let's wait."
Bardiel said they should wait there for a while before moving, leaning his back against a tree.
"Just in case, it would be good to bet people in this dungeon. Raon Zieghart should be dead, but other humans might come out of there."
He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the dungeon entrance.
"What a loss."
Sif clicked his tongue briefly.
"Raon Zieghart. If we could have investigated him, we could have extracted demonic power from him too..."
"You're too late."
As he licked his lips, Raon's voice could be heard from the dungeon entrance. Raon emerged from the dungeon with a calm expression as if he had been waiting. His golden hair soaked in blood, the black dragon coat torn to shreds, and the wound on his chest still open.
He looked as if he were crippled, but his red eyes were calm and serene.
"Eh...?"
Bardiel trembled his chin as he looked at Raon.
"Why are you here?"
He shouted as if he couldn't understand the situation.
"Didn't I think you were dead?"
Sif also let out a hollow laugh as if he were dumbfounded.
"I didn't expect to see you alive again. And even having reached transcendence?"
He shook his head, laughing.
—But how did you get here? Didn't I sense anyone following us from behind?
"Are we close enough to have a conversation like this?"
Raon didn't answer and lowered both his hands.
"Right. We're not that close, of course."
Sif nodded his chin mockingly, saying he was being rude.
"To be honest... I'm glad to see you again, little brother. I was disappointed that I couldn't absorb your blood. If I could absorb your talent too, the only one in Zieghart who could stop me would be my grandfather."
He laughed and said he had gained quite a bit just from the blood he got from the previous surprise attack.
"!!Beorn!!"
Bardiel called out to Sif, frowning deeply.
"Focus! There's something different about him!"
He swallowed dryly as he looked at Raon, from whom he couldn't feel any energy.
"It's not just him who has changed. I've absorbed all my mother's power, and even if he has reached transcendence, he'll still die!"
Sif shouted not to worry and launched an extremely sharp spatial cut aimed at Raon's neck.
"Mmm!"
Bardiel, matching Sif's attack, created a pure white cloud and dropped light hailstones on Raon. Raon stepped forward, exhaling calmly. Neither the spatial cut that fell like lightning nor the light meteor shower that fell over a vast area could even graze the hem of his clothes.
It didn't seem like he was dodging the attack through footwork, but rather as if the Spatial Cut and the hailstones were avoiding his body.
Raon didn't miss even the faint flow of mana emanating from the enemy's breath. The sunlight filtering through the treetops, the dew accumulating in the puddles, even the leaves falling slowly. He could feel the mana of nature through his skin.
«So this is the realm of transcendence.»
His body felt heavy as if he had fallen into a deep swamp. He could feel the flow and harmony of heaven and earth, but, on the contrary, his arms and legs moved much slower than he thought. But it was okay. The enemy was slower than him, heavier than him, and weaker than him.
"You dodge well for someone who's staggering."
Sif lowered his eyebrows as if he were displeased and fired a spatial cut tinged with blue light. It seemed he had absorbed all of Alice's power, as it was faster and more powerful than what he had experienced in the cavern.
"We have to kill him..."
Bardiel also seemed to have decided to use all his power, as he clasped his hands together to concentrate the white light. Just when Sif's Spatial Cut and Bardiel's flash of light were about to connect, Raon disappeared.
The place where he reappeared was to Bardiel's left. That mysterious but swift movement completely escaped the sight of the two Transcendants.
"Oh, no!"
Bardiel, as befits a transcendent warrior, reacted in a fraction of a second and turned the direction of the light he was firing. The flash of light, very sharp, covered Raon's entire body. Raon drew the Heavenly Drive in the glare that distorted space. A thousand fires become celestial fire. A thousand flames reach the sky and fall as golden flames.
Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, Celestial Fire. The golden flames burned Bardiel's light and ripped his chest open rudely.
"What..."
Raon shook his head as he looked at Bardiel who was screaming.
"Your movements are always large when you use that technique."
"R-Raon Zieghart..."
"Don't call my name with that dirty mouth."
He abruptly pulled out the Heavenly Drive, bursting Bardiel's upper body. The angel collapsed on the ground with his wings soaked in blood.
"What is this..."
Sif trembled his chin as if he were dumbfounded.
"Are you saying you gained something and came back?"
"..."
Raon gripped the Heavenly Drive in his right hand without answering, as if it wasn't worth talking about.
"It's dizzying."
Perhaps because he had reached transcendence while unconscious, or because his wounds hadn't healed, his vision was blurry. But now was not the time to show weakness. No matter what happened, he at least had to achieve his master's revenge against Sif.
- Okay. But as I said, you're not the only one who has changed.
Sif tilted his black sword behind his back. A powerful energy about to explode burned throughout his body. As if he were pouring out all the power he had stolen from Alice, intense vibrations occurred throughout the island.
"Sword Domain: Annihilation!"
The black sword that pierced space shone with an achromatic color. The sky and earth split diagonally, and cracks tinged with blue emerged between them. It was an extreme sword technique that seemed to perfectly imitate Alice's Sword Domain Annihilation. Raon narrowed his eyes as he watched Sif's Sword Domain rush forward and pierce space.
He couldn't use the Sword Domain because he had used both the Divine-Demonic Harmony and the Heaven Rift, but he had a new sword left.
He let go of the Heavenly Drive he was holding in his right hand. Naturally, he imbued the ascending sword with the Spatial Sword he had learned from Alice and enveloped it with the wind of Garunua that Rimmer had left behind. The person who had always made his flames the greatest and most splendid was always Rimmer.
Instead of the master he could no longer face, the lonely wind he had left behind pushed his sword.
Raon Zieghart-style sword technique.
The 8th grade, Whispering Wind.
Although Alice and Rimmer couldn't see it, the Heavenly Path, which contained their dreams and desires, collided head-on with Sif's Sword Domain, which contained flames brighter than ever. The weak but straight path of the sword crashed. The clear flames that seemed to imitate Rimmer pierced Sif's Sword Domain that pierced the world.
When the Annihilation of the Sword Domain shattered like thin glass, the Heavenly Drive enveloped in golden flames pierced Sif's chest.
"Kuaaagh!"
Sif trembled his chin as he spat blood from his mouth. As he tried to pull out the Heavenly Drive with trembling hands, Raon stomped hard and let out a roar.
"Light Wind Division!"
At his roar, laced with blood, the dungeon entrance burst open and the Light Wind Division charged. The swordsmen's blades, advancing as if enveloped in their master's wind and turning blue, were filled with pain and rage.
"You damn bastard!"
Martha screamed as she leaped and swung her sword towards Sif's right arm.
"Crazy bitch!"
Sif lunged at Martha as if he had fallen into a trap. With a mere touch of his finger, Martha's body would explode, but Raon wasn't going to stand by. The Heavenly Drive trapped in Sif's chest caused intense vibrations, halting the movement of the aura flowing through his body.
"What..."
Raon coughed up black, dead blood. It was a method that damaged not only Sif's body and soul, but also his own, but this revenge wasn't just his, but that of the entire Light Wind Division.
"What is this!"
Sif yelled and reached out to Martha, but not even a sliver of aura flowed from his grasp.
"Die!"
Martha didn't miss the opportunity when Sif became flustered and struck a blow imbued with the Titan's Aura. Uuuh! Sif's right arm was torn off as if it had been crushed by a hammer.
"Kuaaagh!"
As Sif screamed and tried to retreat, the Light Wind Division's revenge was just beginning.
"Siiiiiii!"
Burren attacked with a howl that unleashed a cold wind. His sharp blade sliced through Sif's left arm with a swift cut.
"Unforgivable..."
Runaan exploded the cold energy imbued in the Snow Flower, shattering Sif's right leg so that he could never stand again.
"For you! For you!"
Dorian landed a blow on Sif's thigh, generating Astral Energy no less powerful than that of the three squadron leaders. It relentlessly tore through Sif's bones and flesh as if to make him feel Rimmer's pain.
"Kuaaagh! Vermin!"
Sif screamed and tried to pull out the Heavenly Drive, but Raon never let go, even as he bled black blood from his eyes and ears. Kerin stabbed Sif's stomach with bloodshot eyes, and Yua and Julius roared as they cut his shoulders.
The Light Wind Division swordsmen also surrounded Sif and plunged their swords into his flesh.
A sad melody played as over thirty swords pierced Sif's body, their blades overlapping.
"T-to think that I would be... by such beings..."
Sif trembled with his cheeks, his veins standing out from the intense pain.
- Didn't you say you wanted to become an angel?
Raon approached with staggering steps and looked at Sif.
"You can't become an angel, a demon, or even a human. At the end of the continent, in the deepest cave, we will burn you so that no trace of your existence remains in this world."
Uttering words like a curse, he drew the Blade of Requiem that had been imbued with Rimmer's soul.
"You weren't defeated by us, but by the Vice Leader."
Raon bit his lip as he looked at the wound on his waist that Rimmer had left until the end.
"That person was too good to die at the hands of someone like you."
"W-wait! I can explain everything! It wasn't just me who..."
He decapitated Sif with the Blade of Requiem before he could utter his last words. A dull thud. When Sif's head fell to the ground, Alice, who lay as if she were dead, spat blood and began to breathe. Only then did her vision begin to blur.
She couldn't hold back the tears that fell. Just as her master had told her to regain her human essence, she cried out, hitting the ground.
More desperately and sadly than anyone else.
-
More Ch4pters on KoreanPlayer
↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓
Thanks for the support
