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Raon turned his head towards where he heard a faint sound of air breaking.
"You're doing better than I expected."
Despite not having reached the Grandmaster level yet, Mark Goetun was following closely behind, not falling too far behind. It seemed he was truly chasing him with his life on the line.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have the capacity to pay you any attention today."
Even though he was using his footwork at full power, he couldn't sense Merlin or anyone else. With only unpleasant thoughts flooding his mind, he couldn't afford to think about Mark Goetun.
"If you lose me, return to the family."
Raon left those words for Mark Goetun, telling him he could return, and imbued his steps with the wind of Garunua and the subtleties of extreme speed. His footwork sped up even further, narrowing his vision and dyeing his surroundings black. He dodged the obstacles that approached his line of sight using his aura perception and ran alone in the direction he heard the sound.
"I found them!"
Wrath opened his blue eyes and raised his round hand.
"If you keep going in this direction you'll find a bunch of those damn bastards!"
He nodded vigorously, indicating that the direction Raon was running in was correct.
'I see....'
Since he still couldn't sense the presence of the others, Raon trusted Wrath's words and moved following his finger. As he jumped over a hill as large as a mountain, he started to feel the presence of people within his aura perception.
'There are so many....'
He felt the movement of numerous people at a distant range that his aura perception could barely reach.
'Fighting spirit!'
So, indeed, the Ghosts of Eden were chasing after her. Several types of fighting spirit were transmitted from afar. As he initially suspected, it was the Ghosts of Eden who were chasing after Merlin.
'Are there more and more?'
Is this right? As the distance got closer, the number of people his aura perceived increased rapidly. There were countless Ghosts of Eden in motion, too many to count.
'Let's see it for now.'
Raon increased the speed of his feet even further as he climbed the mountain that blocked his view. The speed was so fast that it seemed like all his concentration would vanish just by avoiding obstacles like trees and rocks, but he endured by biting his lips.
After reaching the top with steps rough enough to destroy the mountain itself, he tried to exhale the air he had been holding in. No, he was about to exhale, but his mind froze due to the shocking sight.
Under the setting sun, he saw countless humans and monsters moving like a swarm of black ants. The sheer number of them sent a shiver down his spine.
'What is this....'
Raon let out a gasp as he saw the Ghosts of Eden and the monsters they controlled moving not only from the west, but from all directions.
'Are they trying to destroy a kingdom instead of simply capturing Merlin?'
The number of Ghosts of Eden and monsters was truly countless. It wasn't just about chasing after Merlin; they were forming a formation so that they couldn't escape.
'...A heaven and earth net.'
A heaven and earth net is a tactic and a formation that creates an inescapable prison, meaning no one can escape. Currently, Eden wasn't just moving from the west, but was surrounding this entire area from all directions. They were clearly trying to prevent both Merlin's escape and any external rescue attempts.
"It's been a while since this king saw such a spectacle."
Wrath also let out a gasp, saying that a siege of this scale was rare.
"Seems like that crazy woman has gone and done something crazy again?"
He shook his head, suggesting that Merlin might have stolen Eden's helmet and escaped.
"Yes. It's not a run-of-the-mill activity."
At this moment, the Ghosts of Eden weren't just conducting a simple chase, but were operating formations and magic on a large scale. It was clear that Merlin had not only discovered the location of Eden, but had also provoked another major incident before being pursued.
'I was planning to suppress my presence from here, but that seems impossible.'
With magic covering this entire area, it seemed difficult to hide his presence and sneak into that siege net.
'Merlin....'
Raon exhaled briefly as he looked at the vast field that stretched out below the mountain.
'Is she in that forest?'
The Ghosts of Eden were moving as if they wanted to surround the forest in the center of the field. It seemed that Merlin was probably in that forest.
'The aura of a Transcendent...'
As he focused his aura perception on the forest, he felt a sharp Transcendent aura that seemed to scratch his skin. The monster inside was undoubtedly the one who had brought Merlin into danger.
"It's not The Fallen. Have I encountered this one before? It feels a little familiar to me."
The distance was too great to identify it accurately, but it seemed to be one of the Transcendants he knew.
'But the problem isn't just that, Transcendent.'
Among the Eden executives maintaining this heaven and earth net, there was a very small number of Grandmasters and a few Masters. While these individuals weren't a significant threat to him individually, they could pose a challenge to him while maintaining such a massive formation.
'However....'
Raon bit his lip deeply as he watched the forest.
'Why can't I sense Merlin's presence?'
He could feel the presence of the Ghosts of Eden and monsters forming the siege on the opposite side of the forest, but Merlin's energy was nowhere to be found.
'It could be that she already....'
"No, it's not like that."
Just when a vision of red blood staining his mind was about to form, Wrath jumped in front of him.
"She's still alive, for now."
Wrath shook his head, emphasizing "for now."
"However, if you don't hurry up, your imagination could become reality."
He frowned and said that if Raon wanted to save Merlin, he had to act immediately. Raon pulled out the Heavenly Drive and the Blade of Requiem and plunged them into the ground. Above the darkening sky, as if to replace the fading sun, a golden sun and a silver moon rose.
'There's no time.'
Normally, he would have killed the commanders maintaining the siege first, but now there was no time to find them. He had to force his way through with strength and terror. Raon grabbed the fire-tempered divine sword and the frost-forged demonic sword and jumped towards the field.
The overwhelming aura emitted by the Sword Domain caused the Ghosts of Eden and monsters surrounding the forest to simultaneously turn around.
A fire sword and an ice sword?
"It's, it's the Sword Emperor Raon Zieghart!"
"Stop him!!"
"Capture him at all costs!"
The Eden executives recognized the divine and demonic swords and shouted to stop him.
"Get out of the way."
Raon swung his divine sword, burning with golden light, towards the Ghosts of Eden and monsters approaching to block his path. An imposing flame rose above the blade and fell as if it wanted to devour the yellow earth.
The flame imbued in the divine sword exploded, scattering terrifying heat forward. The Ghosts of Eden and monsters trying to block his path melted away.
"This should be enough..."
He launched a powerful sword strike from the beginning to demonstrate overwhelming strength. He needed to get into the forest while the Ghosts of Eden were in shock.
"Haha."
Raon let out a turbid sigh and kicked the blackened ground. As he advanced along the path he had cleared with his divine sword, a huge shadow fell over his head. Looking up, he saw giant monsters like ogres and trolls rushing down as if to block his path.
Did they regain their senses so quickly?
It seemed that the commander operating this heaven and earth net was more capable than he had thought.
"No point trying to buy time."
Raon raised his killing intent and drew a full moon with the blue light of his demonic sword. The beautifully icy frost that bloomed from the demonic sword blade tore the giant monsters trying to surround him into tiny ice shards. Raon exhaled a white breath and ran towards the forest again.
'My body feels heavy.'
It wasn't because he was tired from running all the way there. It felt as if gravity had intensified several times, with massive pressure falling from the sky.
'Have they shifted the formation towards me?'
It seemed they were concentrating the pressure of the heaven and earth net on him instead of the exhausted Merlin.
'Cunning bastards....'
If he had time, he could focus on defense and interpret the flow of the heaven and earth net, but he didn't have that luxury now. Raon bit his lip and unleashed the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and the Glacier. He unleashed the Fangs of Madness and the Blizzard Sword Art towards the monsters and Ghosts of Eden approaching to block his path.
The flame imbued in the divine sword and the frost enveloping the demonic sword exploded in succession, turning the Ghosts of Eden trying to block his path into gray ashes and ice dust.
"W-what is this...?"
"This is an impossible force."
"To think that the Sword Emperor's reputation was true..."
Even the Eden executives seemed surprised by his strength, their eyes trembling as they stood still. However, the commander of the heaven and earth net didn't seem fazed by his strength and continued to move monsters and Ghosts of Eden to block his path.
'Whether they block me or not, I have to break through and advance.'
Raon gritted his teeth and ran towards the ever-closer forest. His body felt heavier and heavier, but he used the power of his divine and demonic swords to tear through the wall of monsters and humans.
'Not much left... huh?'
When he had crossed more than half of the vast field, he felt a chill behind him. Someone had fired a Star Ring aimed at the back of his neck. Raon tilted his divine sword to deflect the approaching Star Ring, but Eden's offensive was just beginning.
Not content with overturning the ground beneath his feet, they rained fire and ice swords from the sky, and launched spears and arrows from all directions.
Most could be blocked with just an aura wall without needing to wield his sword, but the powerful magic, curses, and Star Rings unleashed by the Grandmasters had to be deflected with his divine and demonic swords.
Did they change the shape of the heaven and earth net?
Raon bit his lip as he cut down a wind spell heading towards him from behind.
"I haven't been able to break the siege; I've been trapped inside it."
To think they would send Ghosts of Eden through the path he had cleared to attack from behind… the commander of this heaven and earth net was exceptionally intelligent.
"It's not a threat, but this means..."
Merlin's condition must not be good. Considering that the heaven and earth net, originally intended to surround Merlin, was now moving to pressure him, the outcome could already be decided.
'Should I find the one controlling the formation first?'
In this state, it might be difficult to escape even if he rescued Merlin. He tried to slow down his steps to look for the commander of the heaven and earth net, but only pawns came out to block his path while the commander didn't show himself.
'More fanatical than a religion!'
To think they would attack without fear even after seeing his strength capable of obliterating dozens of enemies with a single strike… they were even crazier than the White Blood Religion. Since they seemed to lack the emotion of fear, he had no choice but to finish them all as he advanced.
«I'm certainly not slow, but…»
He felt uneasy.
He was clearly moving at a fast pace, but the distance to the forest was still large, and the constant interference was delaying his movement by a second each time, which was frustrating.
«Still, the only option is to push forward».
With a Transcendent inside the forest and the possibility of The Fallen appearing at any moment, he couldn't use all of his power. For now, the best he could do was move as fast as possible while conserving some strength. Raon advanced towards the forest where Merlin might be, clearing the path with his divine sword and defending himself with his demonic sword.
«The pressure is getting stronger».
Since the heaven and earth net was a formation formed by the fighting spirit of numerous ghosts, even he, as a Transcendent, couldn't completely ignore its pressure. He could feel in real time that his body was getting heavier and his senses were becoming dull. His speed towards the forest was also gradually slowing down.
"Disappear already!"
Raon roared as he swung his divine sword, incinerating all the monsters charging at him.
"To think that after cutting down hundreds there are still more..."
Even after clearing the path, more monsters and ghosts filled the space. Having to defend against attacks from behind as well, his steps were becoming slower and slower.
"Damn these bastards!"
Raon couldn't hold back and cursed. Just when he was about to draw out the power he had been saving to fight the Transcendent, a lightning bolt fell from the top of the mountain, splitting the Ghosts of Eden and shamans attacking him from behind.
"¡¡¡Huh!!! ¡¡¡Huh!!!"
It was Mark Goetun. He nodded as he wiped away the sweat mixed with blood.
"Go on! I'll protect your rear, Palace Master!"
Mark Goetun ran towards him, saying he would block the rear even at the cost of his life.
"Get out of here! You'll die if you stay!"
Raon yelled at him to retreat immediately, extending his hand.
There are those who are stronger than you here!
The commander of the heaven and earth net and the bull-helmeted figure standing on the east side of the forest were clearly Grandmasters. If Raon left this place, Mark Goetun would surely die.
"A guardian protects his lord! If I'm not here, I have no right to be called by that name!"
Mark Goetun ran towards him without the slightest trace of fear in his eyes.
"From the moment you took my hand at the edge of the cliff, my life has been yours."
He nodded, telling Raon to leave the rear to him and focus only on what lay ahead.
"..."
Raon looked at Mark Goetun's firm eyes, biting his lip and then turning his head.
"You must survive. No matter what happens."
After yelling at him to survive somehow, he turned his body. Now he had no choice but to trust his guardian.
"I won't hold back anymore."
Raon raised his divine sword. The flame imbued in the blade's edge reached the sky and fell, drawing the shape of a huge sword. The Azure Sky Sword strike extended, completely erasing the Ghosts of Eden and monsters trying to block the entrance to the forest and its surroundings.
Raon ran towards the path where the flames were burning. Trusting that Mark Goetun had his back, he advanced forward and entered the forest.
'Merlin is... Hm?'
The sound of horses? While trying to find Merlin, he heard the sound of horses' hooves and metal.
'It could be....'
Raon bit his lip and increased his speed even further. As he went deeper into the forest, he saw horses with armor and mounted lancers.
'The Martial Society!'
The ones in the forest weren't from Eden, but warriors of the Martial Society. It seemed that the Transcendent who had brought Merlin here was probably the Demon Slayer Spear, also known as the Demonic Spear
"Raon Zieghart?"
"How did you get here?!"
The Martial Society lancers/spears opened their eyes in shock upon seeing him. Raon didn't open his mouth and swung his demonic sword. By the time the wind mixed with frost passed, the bodies of the Martial Society warriors were shattered into ice shards.
"M-monster!"
"Retreat!"
Unlike the Ghosts of Eden or brainwashed monsters, the Martial Society knew fear. They quickly moved aside and ran towards the deeper part of the forest. As he went deeper into the forest, he sensed Merlin's presence and her scent, just as Wrath had said.
'She's still alive!'
As Raon pushed through the blood-soaked undergrowth and reached the edge of the forest, he saw the lance/spear formation the Martial Society warriors had formed in a circle. He broke through the Martial Society wall with the flame of his divine sword and entered the formation.
"Stop-"
Just when Raon was about to say "stop," Merlin, covered in blood, was pierced by a black lance.
-
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Demonic spear is not leaving this place alive
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