Chapter 1130
Whoosh! A violent shiver ran through Raon as he stared at the pale radiance erupting from Rector's back.
'That isn't a standard manifestation of energy.'
The power surging from Rector’s frame wasn't the typical aura that Evelyn’s restorative arts had mended. It was a manifestation of his very essence—his life force. Much like Ramiel had done, he was incinerating his own vitality in a desperate bid to obstruct Derus Robert.
"Grandfather!"
Raon lunged forward, grabbing Rector’s shoulder to physically restrain him.
"What do you think you’re doing!"
Raon clamped down hard on the older man’s shoulder, his voice thick with a plea for him to stop, but Rector remained unmoved. The golden luminescence of his life energy only flared brighter.
"The one destined to perish in this place has already been marked by fate."
Rector shoved Raon aside with a rough strength, his eyes reflecting a man who had already committed to turning his life into ash.
"Don't you have a future that requires you to remain standing?"
He gestured with his blade, a silent command for Raon to retreat to safety.
"Grandfather, you have a future you need to see as well!"
Raon bit down on his lip, his gaze fixed on Rector.
"All I have is all of you."
Rector turned his head with agonizing slowness to look at the young man.
"If you can endure, if you can find a way to smile again, then my dreams and my joy are fulfilled."
A smile, more radiant and sincere than any Raon had ever seen, spread across his face, as if that singular hope was his entire world.
"Ah..."
Raon’s jaw shook as he beheld Rector’s features, which seemed to be emitting a divine glow.
'He looks as though he might dissolve into the air at any second.'
It wasn't just a matter of draining his life; Rector was projecting a brilliance so intense it felt as though his very spirit might be wiped from the tapestry of existence. The sheer pressure of his presence made drawing breath a labor.
'No.'
Raon bit his lip until the copper taste of blood filled his mouth, his fingers tightening around Heavenly Drive.
'I refuse to let Grandfather vanish like this!'
In this second life, he had finally managed to build a foundation of family and gather people he truly cherished. He would not permit Derus to snatch away his most valued treasures a second time. With a sharp hiss, Raon flipped his grip on Heavenly Drive, holding it in reverse as he hoisted it high.
'The only path out of this nightmare is the Demon King's Descent.'
He lowered his gaze, focusing inward toward Wrath. Truthfully, he was uncertain if even that forbidden transformation could repel a monster like Derus, but no other options remained.
'You'll assist me, won't you?'
-I shall grant you my aid.
Wrath gave a solemn nod, as if he had seen this resolution coming from the start.
-But heed this: you will forfeit much of the progress you’ve clawed for. Your strength will plummet below what it was even before the conflict with the White Blood Religion.
The demon narrowed his eyes, silently questioning if Raon was truly prepared for such a regression.
'It is of no consequence.'
As long as he retained the ability to hold a sword, he could rebuild. A road already traveled is always swifter to navigate the second time around.
-You truly are a stubborn fool.
Wrath let out a small, grim smile and gave his assent.
-Commence at once. Before that old man turns into nothing but a hollow husk.
'My thanks.'
Raon gave a firm nod and prepared to drive Heavenly Drive into his own midsection. Suddenly, a sharp, rhythmic sound cut through the suffocating aura of murder. Clap! Clap! Clap! The applause originated from Derus Robert. With mock formality, he struck his palms together—the same hands that had been poised to slaughter Raon moments before.
"Hmm?"
The fires of Rector’s life force flickered as he halted, his brow furrowing in confusion. He couldn't fathom what Derus was plotting.
"Truly magnificent."
Derus ceased his clapping, a subtle, chilling smirk playing on his lips.
"That display made me perfectly understand the concept of human—or rather, familial—devotion."
He nodded with exaggerated gravity, as if he were deeply affected by Rector’s willingness to die.
"I have presided over the ruin of countless lineages, and the conclusion is almost universally the same."
Derus held up a single, slender finger.
"Those who screamed the loudest about the sanctity of family usually traded their kin for their own skin. I’ve seen parents offer up the hearts of their own children to buy another day, and children present the decapitated heads of their elders to earn mercy."
He bared his teeth in a grin, as if those memories were some of his most cherished entertainments.
"But you people are actually eager to throw your lives away for one another. Since this is a level of genuine devotion I haven't encountered in an age, even my own heart is stirred."
Derus continued to nod, professing to be moved by the bond between Raon and Rector.
"What is your game?"
Rector didn't waver for a second, his grip on his weapon only tightening.
"I am being entirely sincere. Your family's loyalty has touched me."
Derus beamed, acting as though he merely wanted to offer accolades for such a touching performance.
"Lies!"
Raon took a heavy step forward, his teeth grinding together.
"How dare you speak of such things, you who butchered your own kin and wiped out your own house with your own hands!"
His voice was a roar of pure fury, unearthing the deep-seated malice from his previous life—the life where Derus had exploited him like a tool before tossing him into the trash.
"You are operating under a massive delusion. I, too, hold my family and my retainers in high regard, just like any other man. It is simply..."
Derus shook his head with an air of calm reason, his smile never faltering.
"I merely possessed things that I valued more highly."
He lowered his hand, suggesting that it was all a simple matter of shifting priorities.
"Surely you can grasp that?"
Derus peered down at Raon, tilting his head. In those vivid blue eyes, a demon that viewed all of humanity as mere insects seemed to be laughing.
"Yes. I grasp it perfectly. I know exactly what kind of freak you are."
Raon stared back at Derus, his jaw muscles bulging. He felt a primal urge to rip those eyes out and tear the man’s throat open, but the crushing reality of his current weakness was a bitter pill to swallow.
"Lately, I've been surrounded by nothing but people who are even more frigid than I am, so I found myself yearning for this brand of fervor."
Derus lifted the hand that had been radiating lethal intent and pressed it against the left side of his chest.
"It is refreshing to feel the stirrings of human sentiment after so long."
He gave a slow nod toward the scowling Rector.
"As a gesture of my appreciation, I shall refrain from ending your lives this instant."
With a casual flick of his finger, the violent storm of Rector’s vitality began to dwindle and recede.
"W-what have you done..."
Rector gasped, feeling the burning essence he had prepared to sacrifice flow back into the depths of his spirit. He, too, could sense that Derus had ascended to a plane beyond what they had previously known.
"You..."
Raon’s lip bled as he maintained his glare at Derus.
"What is your true objective?"
The Derus Robert he remembered was not a man to leave loose ends. If he and Rector were allowed to mend their wounds, they would eventually become threats capable of challenging an Archangel or an elite Transcendent. It made zero sense to let them live now.
"As I said..."
Derus made a dismissive motion with his hand.
"I am merely enjoying the novelty of these human emotions for the time being."
He blinked slowly, maintaining the facade that his motives were purely sentimental.
-He is absolutely full of it!
Wrath bellowed, his spectral head shaking violently in denial.
-Look at those eyes! They are practically screaming that he is weaving a web of deceit!
The demon gnashed his teeth as he stared into Derus Robert’s icy blue gaze.
'I am aware. He definitely has a hidden agenda.'
Derus was a void where a human heart should be. The idea of him being moved or feeling "good" from witnessing sacrifice was an absurdity.
"You’re a snake who hides his claws behind polite words only when you feel you’ve already won."
Raon’s lip curled in disgust as he looked up.
"I am well aware of your pathetic tendency to drop the courtly act and start spitting filth the moment things stop going your way. Who do you think you’re kidding?"
Derus Robert was the type of person who would play the refined gentleman even to a toddler if he was in high spirits, but would devolve into a vulgar, narrow-minded wretch the second his schemes were jeopardized.
The fact that he was maintaining such polite decorum with Raon and Rector—two people who had ruined his plans time and again—was the clearest sign that he was masking a deeper plot.
"I won't deny I've had such moments. However..."
Derus tilted his head slightly.
"The man standing before you now is fundamentally different from the one you remember."
He wore a smile of self-assurance, claiming to have undergone a profound evolution.
"B-bullshit! You even threw the Leader of the White Blood Religion under the bus, so don't give us that crap!"
Martha’s face contorted in anger as she screamed at him.
"Y-you're a liar..."
Even Dorian managed to find his voice through his terror to protest, proving that nobody in the clearing bought Derus's story for a second.
"To be clear, I didn't say there wouldn't be a price for your freedom."
Derus Robert toyed with his fingers.
"Regardless of how pleasant I feel, I did lose a highly valued comrade, so I must collect a fair compensation."
He gestured toward the remains of Archangel Ramiel, which were still being consumed by fire.
"Compensation?"
Raon repeated the word, his eyes narrowing.
"Precisely. There is a technique I have recently acquired. I find myself wanting to test its edge."
Derus Robert opened his palm wide. Whoosh! An ethereal, formless pressure began to gather above his hand. It was an energy so razor-sharp and frigid that the mere proximity of it caused everyone’s skin to break out in goosebumps.
"They refer to this as the Soul Sword. I imagine you two are quite familiar with the concept, aren't you?"
Derus’s smile widened as he leveled the invisible Soul Sword toward Raon and Rector.
"The... Soul Sword..."
Rector’s jaw dropped as he finally realized the terrifying transformation Derus had undergone.
'...What is this lunatic playing at?'
Raon’s teeth creaked as he felt the weight of Derus’s Soul Sword.
'He’s just going to show his hand like that?'
It would have made more sense if Derus had hidden his true power to lure them into a trap, but openly flaunting the fact that he had attained the Soul Sword was far more unsettling. Every hair on Raon’s neck stood on end, and a succession of cold shivers raced down his spine.
"If you can withstand a strike from my Soul Sword, I shall grant everyone here their lives."
Derus shifted his focus to Rector, proposing a singular duel.
"Withstand a Soul Sword?"
Raon’s eyes flashed with anger.
"How can you demand someone who is physically and spiritually drained to block a blade that severs the soul!"
He swung his arm, shouting that the proposal was madness.
"My mastery of the Soul Sword is in its infancy. It is still a blunt, weak thing."
Derus gave a casual shrug, downplaying his lethal achievement.
"Very well."
Rector gave his consent immediately, offering no protest.
"Do your worst."
He stood tall, fists clenched, looking like a man who truly didn't care if his journey ended here.
"Grandfather!"
Raon rushed to Rector’s side, seizing his hand.
"It's all right. In this moment, I feel I can endure anything."
Despite the fact that his limbs were visibly shaking from total exhaustion, Rector gave him a reassuring smile.
"Not even a Soul Sword can break me."
He asked for Raon’s trust and turned back to face his enemy. Thwack! Raon bit his lip as he looked at Rector’s vulnerable back, then his hand blurred as he struck the back of the older man’s neck.
"Ah..."
Completely blindsided by the strike, Rector’s eyes rolled back as he slumped forward.
"I’m sorry."
Raon caught the falling elder, lowering his head in a silent apology.
"But I refuse to let you die, Grandfather."
Rector had no experience dealing with the Soul Sword, and his spirit was currently a flickering candle. If Derus struck him now, there would be no coming back. Raon simply could not bear to watch his grandfather be snuffed out in front of him.
"I will be the one to face your Soul Sword."
Raon stepped into the space Rector had occupied and raised his chin defiantly.
"Impressive."
Derus gave a thin, approving nod.
"You were the one I was truly interested in from the start."
The instant Derus smiled, Raon felt a spectral blade bypass his physical body entirely. Whoosh! Derus Robert’s Soul Sword sliced through the fabric of reality, appearing instantly before Raon’s very spirit.
'Only a soul can parry a soul.'
Raon called upon the sword of his heart, the weapon forged from his own essence, to intercept the incoming strike. Clang! A titanic shockwave that threatened to unravel a Transcendent’s mind erupted as the two spiritual blades met. Zzzzzzt! Unlike physical steel, the two Soul Swords didn't rebound; instead, they began to fuse together like two powerful magnets.
'W-what is happening...'
Raon’s throat felt dry as he sensed his Soul Sword being forcibly dragged toward Derus.
'My spirit is being siphoned into his blade!'
Normally, a clash of Soul Swords is a war of attrition and willpower, but this was a perversion of that logic. His essence was being rapidly consumed, as if Derus’s sword were a bottomless void.
'Even if his technique has an inherent absorption trait, this is impossible.'
Derus shouldn't have been able to overpower him this easily. He had only learned the Soul Sword after his battle with Darkan. Raon had held the secret far longer, so it was incomprehensible that Derus had not only closed the gap but was now dominating him.
"Exquisite."
Derus’s features twisted into an expression of pure ecstasy.
"At long last, I will peel back the layers of your identity and see every secret you’ve been guarding."
He smirked, clearly intending to use the connection to read the entire history of Raon’s life through the link of their souls.
'This is a disaster...'
Raon ground his teeth, pushing his Ring of Fire to its absolute limit, but he couldn't stop the inward pull. He could only delay the inevitable for a few more seconds.
"It is finished."
Just as Derus reached out to seize Raon’s Soul Sword, which was now inches from him—Swoosh! The spiritual bond between them was severed cleanly, as if a razor had sliced a thin thread.
"Hmm!"
Derus’s eyes widened in genuine surprise for the first time as he stared at the broken connection.
"He’s actually here!"
Evelyn, who had been a silent spectator, clapped her hands together with a beam of pure joy. The mana radiating from her fingers tore open a Dimensional Gate that crackled with blue intensity. A portal massive enough for a titan to step through materialized, and an aged warrior with hair like spun gold and eyes flashing with crimson lightning emerged.
"You again."
Glenn Zieghart. The undisputed sovereign of the continent’s blades stood before Derus, his entire being cloaked in a mantle of righteous wrath.
'Haa...'
Raon let out a long, shaky breath of relief at the sight of Glenn and looked back at Derus.
'Now he'll... wait?'
Something was wrong. In every previous encounter, Derus had visibly crumbled, looking for any possible avenue of escape the moment Glenn appeared.
"It has been quite a while."
But now, he was wearing a broad, satisfied grin, looking for all the world as if he had been expecting Glenn to show up.
"Destructive King of the North, Glenn Zieghart."
