Chapter 1300
The atmosphere shifted violently, far surpassing the pressure exerted by the minor aristocrats who had previously sought out the wise Doraen.
The gathered crowd gulped in fear, retreating from the suffocating aura radiating from the King of Winten and the elite sovereign guards flanking him.
"I have been informed that a charlatan is hiding here, casting spells over the citizens of Winten!"
A middle-aged man with snow-white hair, identifying himself as the Knight Commander, slammed his foot down and roared. The physical shockwave he released caused the very earth beneath the multitude to shudder.
"The sovereign of Winten has arrived in person to liberate his people from demonic deception. Frauds, drop to your knees!"
The Knight Commander unsheathed his sidearm, clearly uninterested in mediation. The steel reflected the midday sun, casting a harsh, blinding glare over the scene.
"Uuuugh..."
"It’s the leader of the knights!"
"The air is too heavy..."
The pilgrims waiting for Doraen’s counsel, along with those already healed by his touch, collapsed to the dirt, bowing their heads in submission.
Whoooooosh!
As the masses lowered themselves, a man adorned in a crown of gold and a crimson mantle stepped past the Knight Commander. He wasn't particularly stout, yet his sheer physical scale gave him the appearance of a moving colossus.
"Drag that cultist pretender before me."
The King of Winten barked the order, gesturing dismissively with his chin.
"Understood!"
The Knight Commander gave a sharp nod and pivoted. He prepared to march through the path of kneeling bodies, shrouding himself in a vibrant coat of mana to carry out the royal decree.
"No!"
"You can't!"
"We have to block them!"
"Don't let them touch him!"
The commoners, who had just been paralyzed by the monarch's presence, suddenly found the strength to defy the knights' killing intent and stood tall.
"The sage is no deceiver!"
"He is the one who took away our agony!"
"Watch your tongue when speaking of him!"
"To me, he is a deity!"
Those who had experienced Doraen’s miracles bit their lips, refusing to yield an inch as they formed a human wall against the royal guards.
"You absolute lunatics!"
"What do you think you're doing? Move!"
"This is the King's own command!"
The royal knights, visibly shaken that the commoners they viewed as mere pests were standing up to them, widened their eyes and increased the weight of their spiritual pressure.
"We will not budge!"
"He isn't a demon! He stayed by our side and mended our lives!"
"Have mercy, please!"
Even as the crushing force of the knights made them cough up blood, the people held their ground.
"Uh..."
"Hmm!"
The knights let out conflicted groans. They noticed that the eyes of these people weren't clouded by madness; they shone with a clarity and intelligence sharper than ever before.
"What is taking so long!"
The King, who had been idly picking his ear in boredom, stomped his foot with a thunderous crack.
"They are already lost to the fraud’s brainwashing! Slaughter them all and bring that snake to me!"
He flicked away a bit of earwax with a wild hand gesture, demanding immediate violence.
"Yes, Sire!"
The Knight Commander gritted his teeth, feeling he had no other choice, and hoisted his blade.
"From this moment, anyone shielding the charlatan will be treated as an enemy of the state!"
He announced his intent to kill anyone who remained in their path.
"Uugh!"
"We won't move!"
"Defend the sage!"
Despite the cold blue steel pointed at them, the people remained, clutching their hands together in prayer and defiance.
"Strike!"
Sensing the King’s impatient gaze on his back, the Knight Commander swung. But just as the massacre was about to begin, a flash of sapphire light erupted from the crowd.
Claaang!
It wasn't the work of Burren or Martha. The high-ranking nobles and warriors who had been touched by Doraen’s wisdom moved of their own volition to parry the knights' strikes.
"Count Asak?"
The Knight Commander stared in shock at the man who had intercepted his blow.
"Why are you doing this?"
His jaw shook, unable to comprehend why a man of Asak's status would intervene.
"That man is no fraud."
Count Asak shoved the Commander’s blade back, his expression resolute.
"He purged the internal demons I have battled my entire life in a single instant."
He shook his head firmly, testifying to the sage's authenticity.
"Asak! You’ve lost your mind!"
The King of Winten recognized the Count and snarled in fury.
"This is open insurrection! Every soul here is a rebel! Take their heads!"
He screamed for a total purge, demanding the death of every person in the clearing.
"Ugh..."
The Knight Commander looked at Asak with deep regret.
"Asak, you should have stayed out of this."
He squeezed his eyes shut for a second before reopening them with lethal focus, pouring more power into his weapon.
"Exterminate them all!"
Just as the Commander prepared to cut through the Count and begin the slaughter, a calm voice drifted through the chaos.
"Stop."
It was a quiet, low-frequency sound, yet it sliced through the screams and the clatter of steel, vibrating in everyone’s ears.
Whoooosh.
The sage Doraen—who had been ministering to the sick in simple robes without even a tent to his name—rose. No, it was Raon Zieghart. As he stepped forward, it felt as though he had materialized out of thin air. The overhead clouds parted, the dusty winds died down, and the people instinctively bowed as if in the presence of a true emperor.
Raon accepted the reverence with composure and walked toward the King of Winten.
Step.
With every stride Raon took, the people’s heads lowered further, and the knights found their swords dropping and their heart rates slowing. The sheer magnitude of his presence halted the conflict through movement alone.
"Th-that man..."
The Knight Commander, unsettled by a presence unlike any he had encountered, swallowed hard.
"He isn't a god or a saint. He is simply..."
Count Asak, barely holding his position, spoke up.
"A man who embraces the suffering of others!"
He nodded, feeling his own growth since meeting the sage.
"Regardless, once the King decrees punishment, that man is a villain!"
The Knight Commander lunged at Asak, insisting that his duty to the crown superseded all else.
"I will end him!"
He charged toward Raon, bringing his glowing blade down in a lethal arc.
However, the sword never reached its target.
Whoosh!
The Knight Commander froze, his weapon trembling just inches above Raon’s head.
"What are you waiting for? Split his skull!"
The King of Winten shrieked at his subordinate to finish the job.
"I... I can't..."
The Knight Commander bit his lip till it bled. It wasn't that he chose to stop; he physically could not force his hand to move.
"Your Sword Aura is respectable."
Raon gave the Commander a slight nod and walked past him with ease.
"Ah..."
The Commander collapsed, gasping for air as if the wind had been knocked out of him, despite Raon never having touched him.
"Your blade is sharp; perhaps it is best if you rest for a while."
As Raon moved forward with a faint, peaceful smile, the royal guards who had intended to kill the civilians began to drop like falling dominoes. They weren't dead, just slipping into a deep, forced unconsciousness.
"Are you the ruler of Winten?"
Raon finally stood before the King, who was now completely isolated.
"S-stay back! You monster!"
Terrified, the King tried to flee, but his legs failed him, and he tumbled backward into the dirt. The aura of intimidation he had arrived with had vanished entirely.
"A monster..."
Raon’s lips curved into a thin smile as he looked down at the King.
"You are the one being puppeteered by a monster."
Though Aura Perception hadn't flagged it initially, Raon could see the King wasn't acting on his own. He was a vessel for another's will.
His soul is being held captive.
Thanks to his intensive Soul Sword training, Raon could now perceive the inner workings of a person's spirit. He felt a foreign, parasitic entity lodged within the King's soul.
Is this Sariel’s divine influence?
It was clear that the Archangel Sariel had manipulated the King into this confrontation to eliminate Raon.
-That isn’t quite right. The trace of divine power is too faint for it to be Sariel himself.
Wrath disagreed, shaking his head.
-That man isn't being controlled by Sariel, but by one of Sariel's subordinates!
He scoffed, certain that the King was merely a pawn of a pawn.
A slave’s slave?
Raon let out a short laugh.
He’s being incredibly cautious, just as you thought.
By using a proxy of a proxy, the Archangel was keeping his own hands clean.
In 그 case, I should strike at his ego.
Sariel was undoubtedly observing this. Raon needed to provoke him enough to force a direct appearance.
-Provoke his ego? How?
Wrath looked on, intrigued.
Sariel views humans as nothing more than livestock. If a human like me...
Raon looked down at the trembling King.
If I steal his property right out from under him, his pride will shatter.
-Is that even possible?
Wrath exhaled in disbelief.
I just have to excise Sariel’s divine mark from the King’s soul.
Raon spoke with total calm.
-You’re insane...
Wrath’s jaw dropped.
-Sariel’s power in there is microscopic and constantly shifting! Trying to cut it out of a human soul is like trying to spear a specific grain of sand in a storm!
He insisted it was an impossible feat.
For anyone else, perhaps.
Raon activated the Ring of Fire and took a final step toward the monarch.
But I can do it now.
His mastery of the Ring of Fire, Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, Glacier, and his Mental Image had reached their zenith. With his Soul Sword focus, he could isolate that tiny, swimming speck of divine power within the vast ocean of the King's spirit.
Whooooom!
Raon manifested a microscopic blade forged from his own spiritual essence and plunged it into the King’s soul.
Swoooosh!
He cornered the shifting spark of Sariel’s power and struck with surgical precision.
Craaash!
"Gah!"
Sariel bolted upright from his throne of gold.
"What just happened..."
He had been watching the "sage" through the King’s eyes, but the connection had suddenly vanished. He was left in total darkness regarding the situation.
He attempted to re-establish the link with the King’s soul, but there was a void. The "leash" had been severed; his slave was gone.
How did he manage that?
The human had only reached out a hand. Sariel couldn't fathom how a mere mortal could break a divine connection, let alone possess the power to touch his divinity.
"Does he have some hidden trick?"
Sariel let out a freezing sneer and kicked the King of Sarion, who was currently acting as his footstool.
"Very well. I will handle this personally. Since those insects..."
He tilted his head back arrogantly, looking down at the broken royals and nobles who were panting like exhausted hounds at his feet.
"I’ll ensure you spend eternity crawling in the dirt."
