“Ugh.”

Sheryl let out a short groan. Her eyes were filled with regret. Apparently, she thought she could leave him behind for sure from that.

“That was your one-sided offer.”

“You should've refused before if you wanted to. I'm sure you've already experienced it before.”

Raon simply shrugged his shoulders.

“Ack!”

Sheryl frowned. She must've remembered how she ended up being in charge of dish washing because she didn't stop Ekan from arm wrestling with Raon.

“You have to surpass expectations in moderation to be somewhat understandable. You are way too unconventional.”

She sighed, shaking her head.

“But a promise is still a promise. I won't tell you to go back. Instead, you should obey my orders no matter what. I'm not negotiating on this one.”

“Of course.”

Raon smiled, in contrast to the frowning Sheryl.

“But where did you learn the concentration of heavy sword?”

Sheryl narrowed her eyes while looking at the extremity of Heavenly Drive's blade.

“Concentration of heavy sword?”

“I'm talking about the strike that shattered the Brutal Yellow Demon's axe just now.”

She pointed at the completely shattered blade of the Brutal Yellow Demon's axe.

“You concentrated the heavy sword's power in one area instead of on the entire blade.”

“I was just copying him.”

Raon casually pointed his finger at the collapsed Brutal Yellow Demon.

“He was gathering the energy of a heavy sword in one spot in his axe, so I tried doing the same since I figured I could.”

“So, you tried it and it worked?”

“Yes.”

“What a mind-blowing talent…”

Sheryl's voice was trembling slightly. Her expression was telling him that she'd witnessed something impossible.

That's not a big deal. The King of Essence is even capable of showing a far more advanced version of a technique he’s only seen once, let alone copying it.

Wrath frowned in displeasure.

Raon smiled gladly, since the mere fact that he was saying that proved that he did something amazing.

He could analyze his opponent's technique thanks to the , and the reason he managed to achieve the concentration of heavy sword was thanks to continuously practicing his heavy sword recently. Since the combination of luck and effort had created that result, it wasn't exactly thanks to a mind-blowing talent.

“Don't tell anyone that you learned a technique that way.”

“I only told you because you are the Heavenly Blade leader.”

“Hmph, you are just trying to flatter me.”

Sheryl snorted, then turned around. Despite what she said, her mouth seemed to be curved into a small smile.

“Thank you for saving us!”

“Thank you very much!”

As he was preparing to leave again, the warriors who managed to survive the Brutal Yellow Demon's axe came to them and bowed. Considering their white and brown uniforms, they seemed to be the warriors from House Basin and House Trian in Retran.

“The priestess Rosy was worried about you. You should return to Retran.”

“I-I see.”

“Erm…”

The warrior in white uniforms nodded, but the ones in brown uniforms took another step towards him while biting his lips.

“Our head of house went after the Saint, but he hasn't returned yet. If you can find him…”

“O-Our head of house also went with him!”

They were talking about different heads of houses.

“Are you telling me that the heads of both House Basin and House Trian came out?”

“Yes. They came to help the Saint, while entrusting the city to the vice heads of houses. But we got separated mid-way…”

The warriors were telling him that both heads acted in order to save Federick, but they couldn't find them anymore after they were separated.

He thought they'd perished while protecting the city since he couldn't find them, but they were apparently chasing after the Saint.

The heads of houses must've decided on that dangerous venture of chasing Eden because they were aware of the fact that Eden obtaining the Raysin after killing the Saint would be detrimental to the entire continent.

Since it wasn't easy to make such a decision, Raon unconsciously admired it.

“Since we are also chasing the Saint, we will tell them to return if we meet them.”

Raon nodded at them.

“Thank you!”

“We lost a lot of time. Let's move on.”

Sheryl dashed like an arrow bouncing off a bowstring without waiting for his response.

“I hope everything ends well…”

Voicing his small wish, Raon used footwork to follow her.

As they were traversing the field, collapsed corpses could be seen from different places. They were wearing the same uniform as the warriors they had just encountered, which meant they were from the houses Basin and Trian.

“They are the real warriors.”

Sheryl, who was running ahead of him, closed her eyes towards the corpses.

“They advanced in order to help the Saint, despite knowing that they were going to die. Some people might call them stupid, but I'd like to show my respect to their conviction.”

“Same goes for me.”

Raon nodded.

When he used to be an assassin, he would've just snorted if he heard that someone risked their lives for another person's sake. He would’ve laughed at them, calling them stupid.

However, a huge amount of people had helped them in his life as Raon Zieghart. Since he was now aware how precious the emotions and relationships were, he wanted to applaud their courage.

Raon closed his eyes for a moment to pay respect to the fallen warriors before opening them again.

* * *

* * *

Raon and Sheryl followed the corpses and the traces of battle to chase after Federick. The surviving demons of Eden tried to block their path, but they mowed them instantly and continued their advance.

“A battle between Masters took place here. They didn't go too far.”

Sheryl narrowed her eyes, while looking at the ground, which was cracked in the shape of a spiderweb.

“Judging from the traces, he must be inside that forest.”

She pointed at a forest far to the north. Even moonlight could hardly penetrate the dense trees and grass within the forest.

“Let's speed up a little.”

“Yes.”

He moved while fully focusing on his footwork—then, he heard a breathing sound from the direction of a boulder. It was such a weak breath, coming from someone close to death.

Raon changed directions and ran towards the boulder. A middle-aged man had collapsed behind the boulder with his white uniform covered in blood, and his right arm and left leg were torn off as if they were eaten by a beast.

Judging from the splendid white uniform and high-quality sword, he looked like the head of house Basin mentioned by the people he'd saved earlier. However, there was no way to save him because he was bleeding too much.“Are you the head of House Basin, Dempt Basin?”

“I-I am.”

He barely managed to nod.

“It's impossible. We can't save him even if we spend more time here.”

Sheryl turned her head away, saying that it couldn't be helped. Just as she said, Dempt couldn't live for long.

“W-Wait…”

Dempt desperately looked at them with a trembling chin.

“I-I'm not asking you to save me. P-Please listen to me.”

As Raon was about to move on while biting his lips, he raised his remaining arm with difficulty.

“Th-There was a spy in Retran.”

“Spy? Who was it?”

Sheryl walked up to Dempt, her eyebrows lowered.

“Th-The head of House Trian, Stain Trian. H-He was Eden's spy…”

Dempt spat out Stain Trian's name as if he wanted to kill him. Raon could feel his anger from his voice despite his weakened state.

“Are you telling me the head of House Trian is Eden's spy? Since when?!”

“I-I don't know either. I chased after Eden with him until we arrived here, but he suddenly wore an o-ogre's helmet and did this to me…”

Raon could guess the rest of the story from his state. He must've enhanced his abilities with the ogre's helmet to put Dempt in that condition.

“Ogre…”

Raon grit his teeth. The Eden bastards had apparently managed to find the Blood Raving Demon's successor, on top of the Green War Demon that he'd encountered before.

“I-I suggested sending the vice heads of houses to chase after him and manage the city first, but Stain insisted that we definitely needed to chase them for the sake of the great cause, since the continent would be endangered if we didn't save the Saint. I-I was impressed, believing that I witnessed how much he cared for the world for the first time, but how could this happen…?”

Dempt's clenched fist powerlessly fell to the ground.

“Stain didn't only lie to me, but also to his own house and the entire city. I-I'm sure he was the one who opened Retran's gate to let Eden inside. Now that I think about it, it's impossible that the entire city was set on fire at the same time as Eden’s appearance.”

Dempt continued, while forcing his lips to part.

“Kuh, h-he must be planning to take over Retran after killing me. Th-That should never be allowed to happen…”

He breathed his last breath. He couldn't even close his bloodshot eyes from the frustration and chagrin.

“Let's go.”

Sheryl coldly looked at the forest. Although her voice was the same as always, her pressure was filled with explosive anger.

“Yes.”

Raon closed Dempt Basin's eyes and stood up.

Thud!

Without any signal, they kicked the ground at the same time.

“I'll enter the forest and bring the Saint out. You shall guard the entrance, so that the Eden bastards won't be able to enter.”

“Understood.”

Raon nodded. He wanted to go inside with her to fight, but he was aware that he was only going to be a hindrance to her. Blocking the path from outside was the best thing he could do.

As they approached the forest Federick had entered, he could detect more presences of people and monsters. It looked like the Eden bastards were surrounding the entire forest.

Raon frowned. Eden apparently wanted to obtain the boy, Yulius, and the Raysin no matter what.

Raysin was capable of killing a hundred thousand people if it was used as a poison. Even if it was exaggerated, it should be able to cause a slaughter on a scale of tens of thousands at least, which needed to be prevented at all costs.

Raon tightly grasped Heavenly Drive's hilt. They were many in number, but he couldn't feel any Masters among them. He should've been more than capable of holding them back until Sheryl returned from Federick's rescue.

Hmm.

While he was running towards the forest while reading the movements of low-ranking officers, the red demons and the green demons, Wrath licked his lips.

It looks like you made a mistake.

Wrath didn't respond, simply murmuring that it was getting interesting.

There was no way the Demon King, who loved to show off his knowledge, said that for no reason. There must've been something else in there.

Sheryl would definitely bring Federick back. He only needed to become a wall to stop anyone from entering.

Raon steeled himself once again and kicked the ground. With the forest entering his vision, he could reach the entrance by using footwork a few more times.

“Stop.”

As he was about to speed up, Sheryl stopped running and grabbed his shoulder.

“What? Are you not going in?”

Raon pointed at the forest. A fierce battle was happening inside, and the Saint needed to be rescued before he died.

“We are changing the plan.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Haa!”

Sheryl turned around while gritting her teeth. She exhaled roughly, while looking back at the path they came from.

Rumble!

As Raon was watching the swarming demons of Eden, black foam emerged, and the air twisted like grapevines. Once the foam gathered into a round shape, they turned into a humans' face.

Whir!

With a wide brimmed hat on top, the nose as long as a carrot and forehead full of wrinkles formed the appearance of an old woman’s mask.

Raon swallowed nervously while looking at the mask.

She was the witch of betrayal Merlin, who he'd seen at Habun Castle when he killed the doppelganger. However, unlike the last time, where only her head had appeared, her robe-covered body also appeared.

“Merlin…”

Sheryl furrowed her brows upon recognizing Merlin.

“Wow, it's Sheryl.”

Merlin clapped her hands while laughing in excitement.

“Why are you here?”

Sheryl stood in front of Raon to prevent Merlin from seeing him.

“Because I'm the one who devised this plan.”

Merlin said without hesitation.

“I needed to create a clear-cut result because I made a mistake last time. I worked hard on this one.”

The mistake she mentioned must've been about her failure to take Yua at Habun Castle.

“Is that why you targeted the boy and the Saint at the same time?”

Sheryl's lips twisted as she realized that.“I don't care whether the Saint dies or not. I just need to get the item he has.”

“What are you planning to do with the Raysin?”

“It's obvious. Did you believe I'd use it as a medicine?”

Merlin giggled. As expected, she must've been planning to use it as a poison.

“But I'm not planning to start a genocide with it. I'm just going to compress it over and over again to create a poison that can even kill a Grandmaster in an instant.”

She raised her long finger and drew a circle.

“You are crazy…”

“By the way, Sheryl. The boy behind you is Raon, isn't he?”

Merlin's voice filled with passion.

“It's been a while, Raon.”

“Were we close enough to greet each other?”

Raon glared at Merlin with cold eyes.

“Your eyes became even better. I've been collecting all of your stories. Did you make up your mind to come with me now?”

“I'd rather die than go with you.”

“I like that composure of yours.”

Merlin's old woman mask twisted into a grotesque smile.

“The fact that we met each other again here must mean that we are connected by fate.”

“That's not what fate means.”

“What a nice answer, and what a nice gaze. Aah…”

Her manner of speech was similar to Encia, but Merlin's words felt so unpleasant that a chill ran down his spine.

“I can even bring you with me now. What a relief.”

Merlin's eyes sparkled white behind the mask.

“Your helmet is already ready. It's made for you and no one else in the world.”

Her voice was as kind as an older sister talking to her younger brother. Raon started to feel nauseous, probably because she was using some sorcery with it.

“Come with me. I'll make you surpass Master and even reach Grandmaster.”

“Crazy bitch.”

Sheryl took one step forward. Her powerful pressure was ignited to distort Merlin's flow of mana.

“Raon, we are changing the plan.”

She continued without looking back at him.

“I'll block the path here. You enter the forest. Check the Saint and the boy's conditions. If he is fighting against three or more Masters, you should just take the boy and escape.”

“Heavenly Blade leader?”

“Do you know what the worst-case scenario in a rescue operation is?”

Sheryl placed her hand on the sword on her back and turned her head.

“It's when the people who came for the rescue end up dying. They were thoroughly prepared this time, and we are normally supposed to withdraw right away.”

“Exactly. You are very experienced indeed.”

Merlin nodded while smiling. Raon couldn't understand how she could express her emotions so well despite wearing a mask.

“However, I have no intention of letting anyone escape. And even if some people end up escaping, I'm going to take you with me, Raon, no matter what.”

She snapped her finger, and heavy footsteps could be heard from the dark forest.

Thud!

The forest's grassy entrance opened up like a curtain, and a giant made his appearance, clad in red armor and wearing an ogre's helmet with a single horn.

“Blood Raving Demon, capture that boy alive.”

“Can I just kill him instead?”

He was different from the Blood Raving Demon he'd seen before. His low voice was filled with the desire to kill. He must've been Stain Trian, the head of House Trian.

“Shall I tear you apart along with your armor?”

Merlin's eyes twisted fiercely. The atmosphere started to tremble from her serious anger.

“Hmph.”

The Blood Raving Demon approached with a cold smile. The intense pressure coming from his tall stature and his enormous combative energy was crushing Raon's body.

“It must be nice to be loved by her.”

“I don't need something like that.”

“How can you refuse when she's offering you a chance to get stronger? Do you trust your talent?”

His eyes were glowing with crimson madness.

“I guess you would, since you have the talent to reach the highest level of Expert at your age and even defeat the seventh apostle.”

“Your words are overflowing with inferiority. Was that inferiority what drove you to betray your house and the people who trusted you, just to kiss Eden's ass? Stain Trian.”

“You…”

“You…”

Stain Trian, who was wearing the Blood Raving Demon's skin, stopped moving upon hearing Raon's cold voice.

“I purposefully granted him a slow death, but he must've run his mouth.”

Realizing that Dempt Basin was the source of information, the Blood Raving Demon blatantly sneered.

“Yes, I did it. I didn't only take Eden's side, but also opened the castle gate to allow Eden's demons to enter and helped them prepare to set fire.”

“Just why…”

“It's exactly what you said. Inferiority! I couldn't bear my inferiority complex and yielded to Eden's temptation. However, I regret it now…”

“Regret?”

Raon narrowed his eyes. That word didn't match the situation at all.

“Yes. I regret not having yielded earlier! I should've taken their side way before!”

The Blood Raving Demon slowly lowered his head. He started laughing like a madman, looking at him with a gaze terrifying enough to give him goosebumps.

“This strength! This power! I'm satisfied with everything! I can even create as much astral energy as I want, which used to be impossible!”

Crimson combative energy was raging like a fire on top of the Blood Raving Demon's fist.

“You shouldn't be able to understand me since you reached the highest level of Expert at your young age. How painful it was to be unable to surpass my limits even though I've been training for my entire life! How desperate it was to have younger ones surpass me!”

He raved in grief.

“You can never understand me, since you are brimming with talent!”

“I understand.”

Raon walked up to the Blood Raving Demon with extremely cold eyes, to the point where he looked heartless.

During his life as an assassin, he'd never trained on his own accord. Everything was for the sake of killing people, and his life was nothing but a component for Derus's plan.

The despair he felt for his entire life was on a different dimension from Stain, who was at least allowed to train in order to become stronger.

“Bullshit! There's no way…”

“Are you enjoying how much stronger you got? Are you happy that you can finally use astral energy?”

“Of course! That Dempt bastard, who has been my rival for my entire life, couldn't even take a single strike from me! I've obtained power that won't lose to anyone!”

Crimson combative energy was overflowing from the Blood Raving Demon's shoulders.

He was certainly powerful. The energy wave coming from him didn't lose to the Blood Raving Demon from Cebu Village at all.

However, he didn't feel any of the despair he felt that time. A power without effort and enlightenment wasn't scary at all.

“Do you realize how many times people asked me to save you? They were so worried about you that they asked me to at least bring news on you.”

“So what?”

The Blood Raving Demon rolled his eyes, filled with murderous intent. He had apparently already abandoned human emotions.

“I like it.”

“What?”

“I won't feel any regret from killing you.”

“You arrogant bastard…”

“Come at me.”

Raon drew Heavenly Drive. The flame bursting from his upright pressure seemed capable of even incinerating the moonlight.

“I'll show you how insignificant power that you've obtained through evil sorcery is.”