C950
'How can this be...?'
Raon's fingertips trembled as he looked at himself in the mirror.
«It was just a normal mirror, wasn't it?»
After entering the Room of the Self, he had performed several experiments. He hadn't expected this situation to occur suddenly in a room where nothing changed even when using the Ring of Fire and the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation. In contrast to his own expression frozen in surprise, the Raon in the mirror wore a kind smile.
«Fortunately, I don't feel any malice».
It didn't seem to be an external intrusion; the reflection of himself in the mirror possessed a familiar and warm aura.
-Huh? What's that chubby cotton candy over there?
Wrath frowned and pointed at his own reflection in the mirror.
-How horrible! Just a shapeless blob of fat!
He snorted mockingly, belittling his own appearance.
'It's you, you know?'
Raon turned to Wrath with a wry smile.
-Nonsense! How can that blob be the great me...? Ah!
Wrath's jaw dropped so wide his teeth almost fell out as he realized that the cotton candy in the mirror was himself.
-Why, why is my great self reflected in the mirror! And why do I look so ugly!
"You've always looked like that."
Raon waved his hand and said that he had been a cotton candy from the beginning.
-Absolutely not! The great me possesses the greatest beauty in the demon realm!
Wrath pulled at his hair, lamenting the loss of his elegant and beautiful figure. Unlike Raon, Wrath's actions in reality were directly reflected in the mirror. The Raon in the mirror, whether aware of the current situation or not, simply maintained a calm smile.
"What's so funny?"
As Raon frowned and asked, the surroundings darkened and the room itself began to disappear. The old walls vanished, leaving only the undulating darkness and the mirror reflecting him.
'Is it telling me to approach?'
With only the mirror in front of him, he had no choice but to approach.
"Eh."
Exhaling briefly, he stepped closer to the mirror. He extended his right hand towards the smiling Raon reflected in the mirror. The surface of the mirror rippled and accepted his hand without resistance. It felt cool and smooth, as if he was dipping his hand into a stream.
-You're, you're being absorbed! Get out quickly!
Wrath grabbed his shoulder and shook him, urging him to leave the mirror.
-No, I think it's okay.
The reflection of himself in the mirror didn't show any signs of malice, he just kept smiling. This mirror seemed to be the entrance to the true Room of the Self. As Raon entrusted his body to the mirror, his entire body was sucked in from his hand to his arm, overlapping with his reflection by the time he was completely absorbed.
"You've finally arrived."
The lips of the smiling Raon in the mirror moved.
"My..."
* * *
"Mmm..."
Raon opened his eyes and frowned.
'Did I fall asleep?'
As he sat up and looked at the floor, he saw black waves flowing like shadows. Though it looked like a river, he didn't sink into it.
'I'm sure I entered the mirror, but...'
He seemed to remember his reflection saying something at the end, but he couldn't recall what it was.
'Where am I, anyway?'
He looked around as he stood up.
«I've never seen a place like this before.»
The ground he was on had black currents flowing through it and a vast sea stretched out before him. However, the color of the sea was far from ordinary.
'A silver sea?'
An endless winter sea stretched out, as if a field of silver snow had been laid over blue waters. Judging by the undulating horizon, it looked like an ocean.
-So what's behind me?
Feeling warmth on his back, he turned around and saw a huge mountain of sand, as if beach sand had been piled up. The mountain was so high that its peak was barely visible.
'Is this the true Room of the Self?'
It seemed that the small room before was indeed just an entrance to this place, as he had initially thought.
-That's why Glenn said we didn't need the Nadine bread.
Now he understood why Glenn had said they didn't need the Nadine bread. There was no need to eat in a space that wasn't reality.
'Wait a minute...'
Speaking of Nadine bread, why was it so quiet? Normally, the cotton candy that should be angry at the mere mention of Nadine bread was nowhere to be seen.
'Wrath?'
He quickly looked around, calling out to Wrath, but he didn't appear.
'Did I enter alone?'
Since it was a space that could only be entered once per person, it seemed that Wrath couldn't follow him and bounced back.
'It's nice and quiet, but...'
It was a bit disappointing. Maybe because he had always been with Wrath, the absence of his chatter made things feel a little dull.
"Still, it will probably be better for training. But..."
Where should he go? To the silver sea and the golden sand mountain. Both stretched out endlessly, making it difficult to decide which way to go. Both felt equally familiar, making the choice even more difficult.
'Then for now...'
Raon looked up at the golden mountain.
'Do I climb the mountain first?'
It seemed better to climb the mountain with a visible peak rather than the sea, where he didn't know where to go.
'Okay, quickly... huh?'
Raon froze when he was about to take a step forward using the Steps of Supreme Harmony.
'My aura is gone...'
The aura that had always filled his energy center had completely disappeared. No, he couldn't even feel his own energy center.
"So that's how it's going to be?"
Raon twisted his lips as he looked at the peak of the sand mountain, obscured by clouds.
—But you know what? This isn't enough to stop me.
* * *
His legs sank deeper and deeper with each step. Everything on that golden mountain seemed to be made of sand, making even a single step upwards difficult.
«This isn't ordinary sand»
Even though his aura had disappeared, the principles of the footwork he had mastered hadn't vanished. Despite utilizing the flow of the Steps of Supreme Harmony, it was still difficult to escape this sand hell.
“Just walking is draining all my strength.”
Though he was simply climbing a sand mountain, his stamina was being depleted as if he were fighting in a war.
"It's not just my aura that's gone; my physical abilities have also been greatly reduced."
As he climbed, he could clearly feel it. His superhuman physical abilities had descended to the level of an ordinary adult man. The mere act of climbing that sandy slope left him breathless and with weak legs.
'And it's so hot...'
As a Transcendent with fire resistance, he shouldn't be affected by the heat, but he was sweating through his clothes and feeling pain like burns with each step on the hot sand.
"Don't tell me..."
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked towards the top of the mountain.
'Have my Traits disappeared too?'
He extended his hand, trying to open his status window.
'It doesn't appear.'
The status window and messages that always answered his call had completely disappeared.
'To think that even the messages that appear in the mental world have vanished...'
The status window and reward messages could be seen even in the mental world. Seeing that even the status window connected to his soul was cut off, this Room of the Self seemed to be a truly special space.
"This is brutal."
His inner frustration slipped out. The Room of the Self, or rather, that man from the mirror, seemed to want him to suffer.
—Okay. I'll accept whatever you give me.
He was confident in his tenacity. Whether as Raon the assassin or as Raon Zieghart now, he had never seen anyone more stubborn than himself. He had more confidence than anyone in his ability to persevere.
"I'll climb to the top."
Raon shook off the sweat dripping from his forehead and advanced towards the sand in front of him. As he climbed, the angle made it difficult to ascend with his legs alone, but he continued to force himself upwards, digging into the sand with both hands.
"I feel like my hands are burning."
It felt like his hands were wrapped in red-hot iron chains. Enduring the pain that threatened to cloud his mind, he continued to climb the sand mountain.
'How long has it been since I felt this way?'
He had often felt the threat of death while fighting strong opponents, but it had been a long time since he suffered natural conditions like this.
'I guess I've had it too easy lately.'
His abilities increased with achievements, and the system created Traits that matched his actions. Despite putting in the effort, he had become spoiled by receiving rewards that went beyond his efforts.
'But why did they take away my aura and Traits?'
He couldn't understand why the Room of the Self had taken away his abilities.
'Let's think about it. What's left to me in this state...?'
Mental strength and swordsmanship? Physical abilities, stamina, aura, and the status window. Many things had disappeared, but the swordsmanship and mental strength he had continuously developed remained intact.
«Then, instead of doing it with my body, should I perfect my swordsmanship with my mind?»
Come to think of it, although he wielded his sword physically every day, it had been quite a while since he had wielded a sword in his mind.
'Let's try it.'
He didn't imagine his current sword, but a swordsmanship suitable for a more advanced future self. He imagined the red petals of the Fire Spirit spreading like the leaves of the World Tree and the flames of the Rotating Heaven tracing a trajectory like the sun. Just thinking about it made him feel better and drew a small smile on his face.
'Wait a minute...'
When he thought about swordsmanship, the pain of the heat lessened. When he filled his mind, which had been occupied only with thoughts of adversity, with swordsmanship, the scorching heat of the sun and the pain of the hot sand were drastically reduced.
-So this was the answer.
Raon slightly pursed his lips. Imagining himself cutting through that sand mountain with his sword, he took the next step very slowly.
* * *
—I see. The Fangs of Madness would have been better there.
As he wielded his sword in his mind, he began to recall past battles that now seemed deficient. He had thought he had fought well at the time, but looking back, they were full of mistakes.
Did I rely too much on strength alone?
He felt ashamed of his past self who, despite mastering the Ten Thousand Swords that encompassed all sword techniques, had only engaged in battles relying on strength. While it was good to utilize his strengths, he seemed to have leaned too much to one side.
'Swordsmanship itself is also a problem.'
I increased the number of sword techniques without perfecting any of them. Although I had learned various sword techniques to a considerable level of achievement, I hadn't completed any of them. I regretted increasing the number of techniques without even perfecting the ones I had created myself.
'Let's go back to the beginning.'
One footwork technique and one sword technique. Recalling his apprentice days, when he was content with taking a step and wielding a sword, he began to pull out the sword techniques he had learned one by one from his mind. Now he couldn't feel the heat of the sun, the pain of the sand, or the difficulty of his waning stamina. He could focus solely on forging his true sword.
Raon continued to climb the sand mountain endlessly, imagining a swordsmanship that could break his own limits. When the techniques of the Ten Thousand Swords engraved in his soul were about to break through the wall and reach even higher, his feet touched solid ground.
"Hmm?"
Before his eyes, which were focused solely on his sword, he saw a white plain instead of golden sand.
"Did I reach the top?"
There was no sand in sight, just a white, hardened ground that stretched out. It seemed he had finally overcome all that pain and reached the top of the mountain.
«It seems incredible to me too».
He turned around to look at the path he had climbed. The ground was barely visible due to the white clouds. It was hard to believe that he had reached the top of this mountain without aura, abilities, or Traits.
'Is that the way?'
The only path leading from the top of the mountain was a staircase of a pale golden hue. He exhaled deeply and slowly climbed the stairs. After ascending the rather long staircase, he saw a man standing on a circular platform.
'That person is...'
Although his face wasn't visible because he had his head down, he was a tall man with golden hair. He wore a sword with a knot of flames at his waist and was covered in a black coat.
"No way..."
As Raon narrowed his eyes as he stepped up to the platform, the golden-haired man raised his head. Calm, deep red eyes and golden hair shining like melted sunlight. The man on the platform had a face identical to his, as if he were looking at himself in a mirror.
-No, it's a little different.
Unlike the mirror in the Room of the Self, the man in front of him seemed a little older than him and seemed to have lived a much harsher life, with the aura of battlefields flowing in his very breath.
"Now I understand who this man is."
The first patriarch of the Zieghart family. Although he had rarely seen him face-to-face, he could recognize him from the frequent glimpses of his back. This golden-haired, red-eyed man radiating an intense fighting spirit on the platform was undoubtedly the founder of the Zieghart family.
"......"
Without a word, the first patriarch unsheathed the sword he was wearing at his waist. A dominant aura that was considered supreme rose from the silver blade unsheathed in silence.
"It's a little unfair to have a duel after stripping me of all my power, isn't it?"
Raon placed his hand on the hilt of the Heavenly Drive, drawing a slight smile. His aura was still gone, his stamina was at its lowest, and the pain hadn't completely disappeared. But just being able to fight the man he had seen in his dreams brought an expectant smile to his face.
"I'll learn a thing or two."
Raon unsheathed the Heavenly Sword with trembling hands. He raised the shining silver sword and pointed it at the absolute ruler of a bygone era.
"Oh, the strongest of the past thousand years."
-
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