C1013
Putting a leash on a Transcendent?
Wrath opened his eyes in surprise as he looked at Raon.
- What nonsense are you saying?
He tilted his head as if wondering what leash Raon planned to grab.
'The situation for the Five Kings has changed now.'
Raon twisted his lips as he gripped the hilt of the Heavenly Drive sword after a long time.
'The balance was broken when The Fallen died.'
In the last war, The Fallen had died, and the ghosts of helmets and masks that he led were also slaughtered en masse, so it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Eden's current military strength was less than half of what it originally was.
'Before that, the Black Tower collapsed.'
Unlike Eden, where the Heavenly Demon was still alive, the Black Tower completely collapsed when its only leader, the Black Tower Master, died.
'Besides...'
Raon raised a finger to touch the window where sunlight shone.
'The Holy Sword Alliance, one of the pillars of the Five Demons, isn't on their side, but neutral.'
Rector and the Holy Sword Alliance wouldn't side with the Five Kings, but they wouldn't participate in the war with the Five Demons either. They would never abandon their position of absolute neutrality.
'Actually, they're no longer the Five Demons, but rather the Three Demons.'
Although there were also casualties among the Transcendants of the Five Kings, except for Ogram, all were wounds that could eventually heal. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the Five Kings now had a clear advantage over the Five Demons.
- So what are you going to do with the Archangels?
Wrath frowned as he looked at the blue sky.
- Each of them is practically a top-tier Transcendent. As much as I hate to admit it, some have even reached this king's level.
'Of course I remember that.'
Raon let out a heavy sigh.
'But judging by Derus' inaction, he probably hasn't summoned all the Archangels yet.'
Derus was holding his breath and gathering strength. Considering his perfectionist nature, it was clear that there was still time.
- Even if it takes time to summon them, he'll eventually call the other Archangels.
Wrath clicked his tongue, saying that such a desire was evident in Derus' eyes.
'I know. That's why I have a method in mind.'
Raon waved his hand, telling him not to worry.
- What's this method of yours?
'It's a secret for now. But you'll probably find out soon.'
- Why, I don't know why, but hearing you say you have a method gives me chills all of a sudden.
Wrath shuddered, saying it felt as unpleasant as when he was about to be extorted for compensation.
'You're quite perceptive.'
Raon licked his lips as he looked at Wrath.
- Eh?
'It's nothing.'
He waved his hand and looked back at the window where warmth descended.
'Anyway, the factions that have been watching from the sidelines among the Five Kings will now have to make a definitive decision. Most of them will probably crawl towards us.'
He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the sky that was so clear it was as blue as the sea.
- But why do you say you're going to grab a leash?
'Because we might lose the initiative. We need to prepare in advance.'
Raon tied a letter to the leg of a black swallow from the Shadow Agents that he had received beforehand and released it out the window. The swallow, as if already knowing its way, soared high into the sky and headed south.
- Now I understand what you mean.
Wrath nodded calmly as he watched the swallow's tail.
'But before that...'
Raon licked his lips as he looked towards where the Fifth Training Ground was.
'Let's check the leashes of our own children first, shall we?'
***
Burren and Mark Goetun clashed swords and then retreated to opposite sides.
"This is incredible."
Burren let out a hollow laugh as he looked at his slightly trembling blade.
"To think you would reach the same level as us so soon after becoming a Grand Master..."
He expressed his amazement and congratulations.
"All thanks to the Master of the Palace's teachings."
Mark Goetun nodded calmly as he lowered his sword to the ground.
"He told me it wasn't too late yet, which allowed me to reach this level."
He said it was thanks to Raon that he hadn't given up, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.
"The flower that blooms in adversity is the most beautiful."
Burren clapped, congratulating him again.
"If you're done, get out of the way!"
Martha pushed Burren aside and stood in front of Mark Goetun.
"Uncle, you have to fight me too. Unlike Burren, I won't give you any leeway."
She shook her hands like an alley thug, saying they should have a proper spar.
"Alright!"
Mark Goetun nodded as if to say 'bring it on' and blocked Martha's sword strike head-on as she charged at him.
A powerful wave of aura spread through the air of the Fifth Training Ground from the clash of the two Grand Masters.
"Next is me..."
Runaan slowly raised his hand as if he also wanted to fight Mark Goetun.
"Yawn!"
Krein let out a long yawn as he watched Mark Goetun and Martha spar.
"It's so peaceful. With the Master of the Palace gone. I couldn't be more comfortable."
He leaned against a tree, saying there was no need to be on guard.
"Are you saying it's comfortable because the Master of the Palace isn't here?"
Dorian rolled his eyes as if to say 'what are you talking about?'
"When the Master of the Palace is here, even if we train with all our might, we feel self-conscious."
Krein snorted as he looked at the tree.
"Because that person works so hard. It makes me feel like I'm slacking off, you know?"
He shook his head, saying he hated that feeling.
"That's a good thing."
Trevin wagged his finger at Krein and Dorian.
"People develop when they feel like they're lacking something."
He frowned, saying that without Raon, their training wasn't going well.
"That's because you haven't been under our Master of the Palace for long, Trevin!"
Krein waved his hand vigorously.
"It's not just about making us feel self-conscious! He often suddenly appears to ask for a training spar and then just beats us up!"
He exhaled forcefully as if he was vomiting, saying that Raon's training was much more intense than Burren's or Martha's.
"I wish he'd stop doing that damn concentration training."
"That's right, it's killing me, I can't move my body."
"I hate fighting against the Master of the Palace. What's the point of not being able to land a single blow and just getting beaten up?"
"The intensity of the training keeps increasing. I don't feel like I'm getting stronger."
"Maybe the Master of the Palace is training us just to beat us up?"
The swordsmen who sympathized with Krein's words nodded vigorously as they gathered around him.
"..."
However, Dorian remained silent with trembling eyes, as if he had felt something.
"So you all know!"
Krein stomped the ground as he looked at the swordsmen who gathered around him.
"I'm telling you, they don't understand! These monsters don't understand our feelings!"
He gnashed his teeth, saying that people like Burren, Martha, and Runaan didn't understand their pain.
"It's true that Raon's training has made us stronger. But now we need to do something different. Always fighting, always training concentration. It's boring and no fun!"
Krein snorted, calling Raon 'Mr. Repetition'.
"Dorian, why are you silent? You have plenty of complaints too. Speak up."
He patted Dorian on the shoulder, telling him to vent his pent-up frustrations.
"Mmph."
Dorian removed the hand covering his mouth and pointed behind Krein.
"N-No way..."
Krein gulped hard, as if he felt fear from Dorian's trembling finger.
"Is he behind me?"
"Y-Yes..."
Dorian nodded with a sob.
"Ahaha..."
Krein turned around, his entire body trembling like a freshwater fish impaled on a stick. From behind the tree he had been leaning against, Raon emerged, his red eyes gleaming.
"M-Master of the Palace! When did you arrive?"
Krein forced a smile, tensing every muscle in his face.
"Just now."
Raon nodded calmly, as if he hadn't heard anything, and headed towards the platform.
"W-What? Didn't he hear?"
Krein licked his lips as he watched Raon's back ascending to the platform.
"D-Does it seem like he did?"
"The Master of the Palace did arrive right as we finished talking."
"G-Thank God..."
The other swordsmen muttered with sighs of relief, as if they had narrowly escaped death.
"We almost died."
Krein wiped the cold sweat that was dripping from his forehead like rain, as if he had just returned from hell.
"Ugh..."
However, Dorian, who knew Raon better, closed his eyes tightly as if he could see Krein's future. As Raon stood at the edge of the platform, the swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace, who had been engaged in various activities, gathered in front of him and assumed positions of attention.
"Have you all maintained your personal training well while I was gone?"
Raon lowered his red gaze to meet the eyes of the swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace.
"Yes!"
The swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace all responded in unison, without hesitation, as if they were one person.
"Everyone participated in training from dawn, even after their vacations ended."
Burren reported that all the swordsmen had focused on their training without any unusual incidents.
"Everyone has gotten used to it, so now they train on their own even without being told."
Martha laughed gleefully, as if she was proud of them.
"Only one person was late..."
Runaan tilted his head, saying that even the number of latecomers had decreased.
"That late person was you!"
Martha yelled at Runaan, as if she couldn't believe what he was saying.
"I didn't say it wasn't me."
"Then why are you talking about it as if it were someone else?"
She gnashed her teeth, telling Runaan to come to his senses.
"Hmm..."
Raon looked back at the swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace, ignoring Runaan and Martha who had started arguing.
"I can see you've all been diligent in your training. Good job. However..."
Raon's eyes sharpened after offering praise.
"It seems that the results of the training aren't showing properly."
He shook his head, feeling that the swordsmen's martial prowess levels hadn't changed for quite some time.
"Well, that's..."
"You can't instantly get stronger just by training!"
"Yeah, it takes time..."
Burren, Martha, and Runaan sighed, saying they had passed the stage where effort immediately showed results.
"Familiarity is a terrifying thing."
Raon tapped the scabbard of his Heavenly Drive sword out of habit.
"Once the body and mind adapt to difficult training, there isn't much more to gain afterwards."
While swordsmanship is perfected through repetition, physical strength and mental fortitude cannot be developed through familiar efforts.
"To be honest, you guys are strong."
Raon lowered his hand towards the swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace.
"You possess physical abilities, mental fortitude, and swordsmanship beyond your current level, and you've accumulated several real combat experiences, so you probably won't lose easily against opponents of the same level."
Through concentration enhancement training, he had strengthened their mental fortitude; through direct combat, he had tempered their bodies; and through duels, he had provided them with real combat experience. It wouldn't be strange to say that the Light Wind Palace was the strongest individual martial force.
"However, you're lacking one aspect."
Raon raised a finger to point at their energy centers.
"Aura."
While the swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace possessed decent auras, they were still young, so they often lagged behind in terms of aura quantity and quality compared to opponents of the same level.
"So I've thought of a new training method. This will be..."
Raon smiled coldly as he looked at Krein, who shuddered at the word 'new'.
"Absolutely not boring."
"Uh..."
Krein's complexion turned pale as he realized that Raon had heard everything he said.
"We'll start with..."
Raon spun his finger as if he was thinking.
"Urgh..."
Krein took a step forward, as if he felt his destiny.
"Martha first."
However, Raon extended his hand not to Krein, but to Martha.
"Not Krein?"
Martha tilted her head as if she was surprised.
"Yes. You're first."
Raon smiled as he descended in front of Martha.
"Sit down and look forward."
"Okay."
Martha trusted him completely and turned her back to him. Raon concentrated the heat of Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and the coldness of the Glacier on his fingertips, then pushed it towards Martha's mana circuit.
"Ugh!"
Martha raised her trembling eyes, feeling intense pain from the sudden aura attack.
"This training involves expelling my aura that I'm injecting now with your own aura."
Raon smiled slightly as he continued pushing aura into Martha's mana circuit, which was trembling from the pain.
'I didn't expect to use this as training.'
Originally, this method was his own torture technique for extracting information from enemies. But after hearing Krein's complaint about boring training, he decided to modify it into a new aura training method.
'Not bad for a makeshift training regimen.'
Unlike when he was torturing, Martha could resist with her own aura, so the quality and density of her aura would gradually become stronger. It was a similar effect to muscles getting stronger after being destroyed.
'If they endure this training to the end...'
The effect could be even greater than fully absorbing a top-grade elixir. Not everyone can fully absorb the efficacy of an elixir simply by consuming it. But if they endure his training, they could possess an aura stronger than fully absorbing a top-grade elixir.
'Of course...'
Raon smiled mischievously as he looked at Martha, whose face had turned bright red.
'It won't be easy.'
This training was one of the most difficult among all training sessions so far, as it required enduring unbearable pain while continuously operating aura cultivation techniques. It would be impossible to resist with an ordinary mentality.
"Urgh..."
Martha glared at Krein, gnashing her teeth so hard they made a crunching sound. She seemed to think she was enduring this pain because of his words.
"Next..."
Raon raised his hand to choose the next person.
"Me..."
"Burren."
Raon ignored Krein who was taking a step forward and called Burren, injecting him with aura like he did with Martha.
"Argh..."
Burren also bit his lips, struggling against the unbearable pain, and glared at Krein.
"Next, Runaan."
"W-Wait a moment!"
Krein jumped in front of Runaan.
"P-Please! Do me first! I beg you!"
He rubbed his hands like a fly, as if begging for his life.
"That won't do any good."
Raon shook his head, feeling the cold stares of the people directed at Krein.
"This training was created thanks to you. So you'll receive it at the end."
He injected the heat of Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and the coldness of the Glacier into the back of Runaan as well, who had approached him.
"Hnngh..."
Even Runaan, whose reactions were usually sober, forced his dull eyes open and looked at Krein because of the intense pain.
"Ahh! Please stop!"
Krein screamed, begging for mercy as he planted his face in the ground.
- I've met many demons in my time, but...
Wrath clicked his tongue in disbelief.
- I've never met anyone who tortures people to death like you! You're a bastard similar to the sun!
'Isn't the sun a compliment in this world?'
Raon tilted his head, saying thanks for the praise.
- It's not a compliment, it's a curse!
***
A week later. The swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace had overcome the aura of Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and the Glacier that Raon had injected, making it their own. Raon nodded slightly as he watched the swordsmen concentrating on their cultivation.
'They've adapted faster than I thought.'
He had expected it to take them a month, but the swordsmen overcame his aura much faster than anticipated.
'The achievement is beyond my expectations as well.'
The training began as a way to increase the swordsmen's aura levels, but in addition, they developed resistance to heat and cold. It seemed that the effects of all the training they had done so far worked in combination.
'Of course...'
Raon smiled mischievously as he felt the murderous intent of the swordsmen who were glaring at the back of Krein's head, who was cultivating aura at the front.
'He must be going through hell.'
The swordsmen seemed to believe that this training was actually created by Krein, as they were throwing curses at him with their eyes. It seemed they would throw punches of rage as soon as he disappeared.
- No matter how I think about it, your enemies are miserable.
Wrath clasped his hands together, saying he would pray for their souls from now on.
'There's no need to pray for them. They all deserve to die.'
As Raon shook his head coldly, a pure white bird descended in front of him. It had a red dot on its forehead, emanating a mysterious aura like clouds hanging over high mountains.
"Hmm..."
Raon received the white paper tied to the bird's leg and unfolded it.
'It's finally here.'
The letter, written in an elegant hand, stated that he could visit anytime.
"Stop."
As Raon gestured to reclaim his aura, the swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace raised their heads with weary eyes.
"Is it over already? I can still keep going!"
Martha gasped heavily, clutching her knees.
"Yeah, I was just starting to understand it..."
Burren also licked his lips, as if disappointed.
"I've gotten used to the fire too..."
Runaan nodded with a flushed face, as if he had adapted to the heat of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation.
"A new mission will be coming. Get ready."
Raon shook his clothes and fixed his disheveled hair.
"A mission? I thought there wouldn't be any for a while?"
Trevin narrowed his eyes as he looked at the white paper.
"It's not coming from above, I'm proposing it to the Head of House."
Raon wrote that he would come soon on the letter and tied it to the white bird's leg.
"What kind of mission are you proposing...?"
Dorian swallowed, as if afraid.
"The two remaining of the Five Divine Orders."
Raon smiled coldly as he looked at two streaks of clouds sinking before the majestic sun.
"We need to bring the Thespian Emperor and the Queen of the Sword to their knees."
-
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