### Chapter 1319
"That lunatic is absolutely out of his mind!"
Krein spat out his irritation as he scaled the obsidian slopes of North Grave Mountain.
"He sent us back to the family territory ahead of him only to duel with Archangel Uriel! His face was as white as a sheet, so why on earth is he causing this ruckus instead of collapsing into bed!"
He mashed his teeth together, the sound audible in the quiet night, clearly livid at the individual forcing them to trek up North Grave Mountain in the dead of night.
"Resting isn't even the point; he should be under a healer's care..."
Dorian heaved a heavy sigh beside Krein.
"Those aren't just flesh wounds; he’s sporting catastrophic internal damage."
He shook his head, mentioning he had peered into Raon's state using his Mind's Eye.
"In-internal damage? Is the guy actually suicidal?"
"Well, he went toe-to-toe with Archangels back-to-back, so it would be a miracle if he were functioning normally..."
"He claimed he wouldn't delegate today's drills to anyone else and would oversee them personally? Seriously, what is wrong with him!"
"At this rate, he’s less of a Sword Sage and more of a Sword Demon or a Sword Devil!"
Other warriors from the Martial Prowess division, struggling up North Grave Mountain alongside Krein, added their own grievances to the chorus.
"I don't care about anything else, but I'm officially against Lord Raon becoming the head of house."
"Exactly! I used to hope Lord Raon would take the seat instead of Lord Karoon, but looking back, I was completely delusional!"
"Our pride and the Zieghart reputation would hit new heights, sure, but..."
"Exactly. We’d all be in our graves before that happened. We have to block his succession no matter what!"
The martial artists who had once held Raon in the highest esteem now wagged their heads vigorously, declaring that he must never lead the house.
"Oh, is that how it is?"
Martha drifted up behind the fuming warriors, draped her arms over their shoulders, and flashed a predatory smile.
"M-Miss Rakshasa. No, Lady Martha!"
"Gasp!"
"You're... you're here..."
The warriors’ eyes shook with terror, caught off guard by the sudden arrival of Martha, Raon's most trusted confidante.
"You pathetic morons!"
Martha scowled and shoved the warriors toward the dirt.
"Would the blades of Zieghart, the peerless among the Five Kings, actually reject their future leader just because they're terrified of a workout? Should I just take your heads off right here and save us the trouble?"
She gripped the hilt of her blade, implying she was ready to follow through if they didn't shut up.
"N-no!"
"It was a joke! Just a joke!"
"Yes! I absolutely adore this training!"
The warriors bellowed that they were merely kidding and scrambled up the peak as fast as their legs would carry them.
"Hmph!"
Martha snorted, brushing her hands off as if she’d touched something filthy.
"Go easy on them."
Burren offered a sigh in Martha's direction.
"Even those of us who have been doing focus enhancement training non-stop find this grueling, so those guys are probably hitting a wall."
He offered a faint grin, suggesting they show some leniency to the warriors who had been slapped with extra drills without warning.
"It's because you're so soft on them that these idiots start acting out."
Martha tilted her chin up in annoyance.
"A warrior should live and breathe training at the risk of their life! Since death could come at any second, you should be thrilled the more intense the training gets!"
She clicked her tongue, arguing that growth only happens when you're staring down a lethal crisis.
"They'll get it eventually."
Burren told her one last time not to lose her temper before vanishing toward the eastern slope.
"Miss Rakshasa. No, Martha..."
Runaan drifted toward Martha, bringing her face uncomfortably close.
"Wh-what now!"
Martha flinched at Runaan's sudden proximity and scrambled backward.
"Good job..."
Runaan gave Martha a blunt thumbs up.
"Huh...?"
Martha's mouth hung open as she stared at Runaan’s hand.
"Bash... everyone who... talks trash about Raon..."
Runaan utilized a tone and phrasing she usually avoided and gave a slow nod.
"Keep doing that..."
She repeated her praise once more before ascending toward the summit of North Grave Mountain.
"Ha!"
Martha let out a dry, incredulous laugh while watching Runaan’s retreating form.
"I never thought I’d see the day where I actually agreed with that dazed girl."
She was still shaking her head in disbelief when.
"Martha."
Raon materialized in front of Martha and unsheathed his Heavenly Drive.
"We don't need a preamble, right?"
He gave a sharp, calm nod, indicating they should begin their duel immediately.
"W-wait! I'm the first one?"
Martha's brow furrowed, wondering what he was playing at.
"I haven't even finished my warm-up!"
She bit her lip, demanding to know why he had bypassed the others below to target her directly.
"And besides, I've been defending you this whole time!"
Martha ground her teeth at the sheer absurdity of it.
"A warrior must always be in a state of readiness. To use your words, you never know when your time is up."
Raon leveled Heavenly Drive as if he would strike regardless of whether Martha drew her weapon.
"Grr! Fine! Let's see what you've got!"
Martha unsheathed her sword, muttering that she’d just have to warm up in the heat of battle.
"I don't know what this new exhaustion drill is, but I'm going to tag you at least once!"
She lunged forward, swinging her blade downward, determined to show him the progress she had made.
Claaaaaang!
Raon effortlessly parried Martha's heavy strike and whipped Heavenly Drive in a sharp diagonal arc.
Whooooosh!
The searing red edge whistled past Martha's throat.
"Huh...?"
Martha’s grip failed; her sword clattered to the ground as she fell to her knees.
"Ahh..."
She grabbed at her neck, overwhelmed by the freezing sensation of her throat being severed and a crushing wave of agony, before collapsing onto her back.
"Aaaaaaahhhhh!"
Martha couldn't contain the primal terror of death and the phantom pain of the blade's passage, letting out a blood-curdling shriek.
'Wh-why? Why would Raon...?'
Raon was the one person she relied on as much as—no, more than—her own mother. She couldn't wrap her head around why he had just ended her life.
'Is this what dying is? I feel so cold...'
She had danced with death many times, but never had it felt this intimate. Her consciousness felt like it was drifting away from her body, and a glacial chill took hold of her.
'It hurts so much... it's so dark. But...'
Martha took ragged, shallow breaths while staring at Raon, who stood there in total silence.
'Wait, when am I actually going to die?'
She was certain her throat had been opened by Raon, yet her heart kept beating and her thoughts remained clear. In fact, even breathing wasn't getting any harder.
"What... what is... huh?"
Her eyes snapped wide as she spoke. If her throat were cut, sound shouldn't be possible.
"What is going on!"
A frantic Martha scrambled to touch her neck again. The skin she thought had been carved by Heavenly Drive was perfectly intact, marred only by a microscopic graze.
"You..."
She glared up at Raon, who was observing her without emotion.
"What the hell did you just do to me!"
Martha barked at him to explain, forcing herself up on legs that felt like jelly.
"I feinted a killing blow while utilizing Soul Sword to transmit a shock to your spirit that mimics the sensation of dying."
Raon rested Heavenly Drive against his shoulder and allowed a faint, knowing smile to surface.
"It's about tricking your soul into believing its end has come. It’s likely similar to a prisoner on the block who is blindfolded and feels ice on their neck—their mind is so convinced the blade has fallen that their heart simply stops."
He gave a casual wave of his hand as if explaining a basic chore.
"Th-that's actually possible?"
Martha’s jaw hung slack in disbelief.
"Normally, it would be beyond me as well. But my Soul Sword evolved significantly during this last mission, making it feasible. I was a bit nervous during the trial run, but it seems to have worked out."
Raon smirked, noting that what he’d done to Martha served as both training and a final test of the technique.
"A trial run..."
Martha continued to rub her throat, visibly disturbed.
"Fascinating, isn't it? Let’s go again. It's too taxing to perform frequently, but it will yield far better results than standard focus training."
He brought Heavenly Drive back to a ready position, inviting another round.
"Ughhh..."
Martha let out a shuddering breath.
"I was wrong. Those guys were totally right."
She bit her lip while looking at the unnervingly focused Raon.
"You are absolutely forbidden from being the head of house! You total freak!"
* * *
Raon descended the mountain slopes after concluding the session that had subjected the warriors to the soul-deep trauma of death via the Soul Sword.
'At least everything went according to plan.'
Fine-tuning the Soul Sword's output to ensure it left no permanent scars on the warriors’ spirits had been a delicate task, but he had successfully allowed everyone to experience the threshold of death. Those who endured today’s drills would undoubtedly emerge more resilient.
-You didn't have much of a choice but to succeed.
Wrath watched him, his lips curled in a wry twist.
-You’ve put your own soul through that wringer so many times, it would be embarrassing if you failed!
He scowled, noting the sheer volume of self-inflicted practice Raon had performed.
'Experimenting on myself and applying it to others are two very different things.'
Raon admitted he’d been on edge throughout the process and let out a soft sigh.
-Whatever, you're such a nag.
Wrath snorted, dismissing Raon's lingering anxiety as unnecessary.
'If you say so.'
Raon smiled, sliding Heavenly Drive back into its scabbard.
"That was quite the spectacle today."
Sheryl shook her head, appearing genuinely stunned.
"I had no idea such a method of Cultivation was even a possibility."
She let out a breathless laugh, amazed that someone could shock the spirit into feeling the literal sensation of passing away.
"Hehehe..."
Roenn gazed up at the heights of North Grave Mountain, his wrinkled eyes blinking slowly.
"They're all completely spent. It looks like it will be quite a while before they can piece their mental fortitude back together."
He swallowed hard, recognizing that the training had drained them as effectively as death itself.
"On the bright side, they'll be significantly more powerful when they do stand up."
Sheryl followed Roenn's gaze toward the peak, her lips curving upward.
"Those who have stared death in the face always come back harder to break."
She nodded, convinced that this was superior to any other form of preparation.
"Indeed. Their physical limits, their mental endurance, and even their grasp of the sword—they'll see growth across the board."
Raon echoed Sheryl's sentiment with a subtle grin.
"The only downside is that I can't do this often. That’s why I tracked them down before even letting my own body recover."
Though his physical wounds were significant, his mental clarity remained sharp. In fact, having fought two Archangels in a row, he felt more attuned than ever, which is why he was so eager to introduce the warriors to this Soul Sword training.
"Ah, so that was the reason..."
Sheryl let out a sharp gasp of realization, finally understanding why Raon had jumped straight into drills.
"Huhhh..."
This time, Roenn's mouth fell open in genuine awe rather than a chuckle.
-Hmph! You weren't thinking about your troops; you were just venting the stress from that beating Uriel gave you, weren't you?
Wrath snorted, acting as though he’d seen right through Raon.
'Maybe.'
Raon brushed off Wrath’s jab with a light shrug and a wave.
'Let me check something with you. About what you mentioned yesterday.'
He narrowed his eyes, thinking back to Wrath’s comment as they walked toward the Lord's Manor.
'What did you mean when you said my soul was seething like lava?'
-It’s exactly what I said.
Wrath gave a casual shrug.
-In that moment, your spirit was boiling over as if it might detonate, surging with violent energy.
The entity blinked, insisting his description was literal.
'Surging violently?'
Raon tilted his head in confusion.
'I didn't feel anything out of the ordinary back then.'
Contrary to Wrath's observation, neither his body nor his soul had registered any shifts. He had simply been having a civil conversation with External Commander Illiune, so he couldn't fathom what could have been "boiling."
'Could it be...'
Raon was about to press Wrath for more details when.
"T-Temporary head of house!"
Chad, the Leader of the Shadow Agents, came sprinting toward them, arms waving frantically. He shouted with such intensity it sounded like he was coughing up blood, as if he were delivering the news of the century.
"The Head of House has returned!"
