Raon’s eyes widened as he looked at Merlin, who had confidently declared that he was her possession.
‘Why is she saying that in this situation?!’
It was a dangerous statement that could reveal his relationship with Merlin if those who heard it were distrustful.
Considering the fact that her pupils inside the mask were completely red, she seemed to be expressing her anger without any consideration for the aftermath.
‘How is the tenth apostle going to react…?’
Raon looked at the tenth apostle while thinking about an excuse. He was violently grinding his teeth while pointing the spear in his right hand towards Merlin.
“I knew you would be here, crazy bitch.”
The tenth apostle wasn’t concerned at all about what Merlin had said. He seemed to be thinking about what she’d done to him during their previous encounter.
“Haa…”
Raon breathed out a sigh of relief while watching the tenth apostle gather his bloody energy.
‘It’s a relief that the tenth apostle was the one who heard that.’
Others might have become suspicious, but it was already the third time the tenth apostle was fighting Merlin.
He simply seemed to consider it to be the ramblings of a madwoman.
“I won’t miss you this time. I’ll offer your head and Raon Zieghart to our religious leader.”
The tenth apostle bent his left knee slightly as he spun his spear, emitting a thundering sound.
“I don’t mind the part about myself. I’m perfectly fine with giving you my head, however…”
Merlin continued with a sinister smile on her face.
“If you try to steal my belongings, your head is going to roll instead of your hand.”
A countless number of magic circles appeared from behind her. A supersized magic circle covered the sky like a beehive, radiating a majestic light.
Hicc…
Wrath’s lips trembled as he watched Merlin.
From the way she appeared to her lines… Every single thing about her gives him goosebumps!
He hung his head. It looked like Merlin was even scarier to him than the Holy Sword Alliance master.
Thud!
The tenth apostle twisted his lips and pierced the sky with his spear shaft. A majestic yet evil energy wave engulfed the surroundings.
“Merlin!”
"Don't use your mosquito mouth to call my name. Disgusting."
Merlin snapped her fingers, and her magic circles started to breathe like living creatures and fired all kinds of magic spells.
Fire and ice danced in the air while lightning and wind sang a song. The unknown magic rained down endlessly like a cluster of stars.
“You won’t get me a second time!”
The tenth apostle gripped his spear lightly with two hands and rotated it like a windmill.
The pale white astral spear bursting from the spear shaft created a majestic wave, tearing apart all the magic falling from the sky.
‘Hmm…’
Raon narrowed his eyes while watching the astral sphere created by the tenth apostle.
‘Has he gotten stronger as well?’
The tenth apostle’s aura was a bit more transparent than during their previous encounter.
Considering the fact that members of the White Blood Religion’s aura became more transparent the more powerful they were, he could guess that the tenth apostle’s monstrous power had grown even further.
‘He’s improved in that short time. What a dangerous man. However…’
Raon licked his lips and looked up to Merlin. She snapped her fingers while snorting, and the magic circles barraging him with spells turned the color of sunset.
The activation speed of the magic was further improved, and the power was amplified at the same time. Every single one of them seemed to be as powerful as an astral sphere.
Boom! Boom!
The tenth apostle was easily breaking through the spells, but he gradually slowed down.
“Kuh…”
He ground his teeth with trembling shoulders under the impact of the barrage of spells.
‘Merlin has improved even more.’
While the tenth apostle had been training within the confines of the White Blood Religion, Merlin had been walking a tightrope, visiting Zieghart from Eden. It was only natural that her improvement surpassed his.
‘But why… am I feeling happy about this?’
In the end, Merlin and the tenth apostle were both his enemies. The best outcome would’ve been for them to kill each other in the fight, yet Merlin’s superiority was making him feel relieved for some strange reason.
‘It’s pointless to think about this.’
Raon weakly tapped on his cheeks and raised his gaze.
“I’m different from back then. I won’t follow either of you!”
Raon declared to Merlin and the tenth apostle that he would walk his own path before he ran to the right.
“Aaaaah!”
“Th-they are following us!”
“Please save me! They are behind…”
“Hck!”
The White Blood fanatics caught up to the civilians and devoured their flesh and blood. They looked like beasts on a hunt.
They looked exactly like fiends as they grinned happily with their mouths covered in blood.
“Pl-please…”
When the bloody claws of a bishop were about to stab into the back of a woman who was shielding her child, Raon used the Supreme Harmony Steps.
Thud!
A deep footprint was created on the ground, and his body stretched out like lightning.
He reached the woman in an instant and unleashed the Blade of Requiem’s ghastly energy.
The yellow light flashing from the red blade severed the bishop’s claws and neck at the same time even though they were wrapped in bloody energy.
“Cough…”
The bishop tilted towards the ground, his pupils trembling in disbelief at his sudden demise.
“Burren!”
“Yes!”
Burren and the swordsmen from the third team responded to his call and approached him. They escorted the woman and remaining civilians toward the collapsed rampart.
Cring!
Runaan was stopping the Holy Sword Alliance’s swordsmen and the White Blood fanatics from approaching the people evacuating the city alongside Mark Goetten.
No order or communication was necessary because they’d been working together for a long time.
It wasn’t just Burren and Runaan. Every single member of the Light Wind division completed their jobs and gathered around the rampart once again.
‘But still…’
Raon bit his lip while looking ahead of him.
‘There are still too many people who didn’t manage to escape.’
Since the warriors from the Five Divine Orders weren’t leaving the Thespian Emperor’s formation, they were only protecting the VIPs near them without rescuing the civilians and warriors from neutral factions that were far away from them.
If they were left alone in that isolated state, it was going to be a catastrophe with more than a thousand fatalities.
Slash!
Raon looked to his left while cutting down a White Blood fanatic blocking the path.
‘They can’t afford to help either.’
Rimmer had a demonic expression on his face that Raon had never seen before as he attacked the Master of the Wise Dragon Sword.
“Kallis! I’ll kill you at all costs!”
The lightning and wind weren't the only elements engulfing his blade. Malice also surrounded it, emitting a sound reminiscent of a beast's cry.
“It’s impossible in your current state.”
The Master of the Wise Dragon Sword swirled his sword in his left hand and effortlessly blocked Rimmer’s slash.
Even though he was using a different arm from before, his strike was brimming with sharpness and wisdom. It looked like he wasn’t lying about getting stronger after losing his arm.
“I told you to shut up!”
Rimmer barked out the words and swung his sword in a rage.
Even though his hand was covered in blood and his face and arm were wounded, his sword never stopped moving.
Raon bit his lip while touching the Blade of Requiem.
‘This is dangerous.’
Rimmer wasn’t using the Sword Field Creation yet, but the Master of the Wise Dragon Sword wasn’t using the astral sphere either.
Raon had the feeling that Rimmer was going to lose even after they started to use their full power.
‘Should I help them…?’
Just as he was about to head towards Rimmer, Sheryl, who had taken a step back, took out a gold pouch from somewhere and threw it at Rimmer’s head.
Smack!
Rimmer turned around while blinking upon getting hit by gold coins out of nowhere. “You damn idiot!”
Rimmer was confused, and Sheryl ground her teeth while looking at him. She completely tore apart the hem of her dress, threw it away, and stomped the ground.
“Are you trying to get all your students killed? Once is enough for regret!”
The red fervor filling Rimmer’s eyes slowly subsided as the resonance reached deep into his heart.
“Hmm…”
Rimmer stopped in his tracks and rolled his eyes. He quickly checked on Raon and the Light Wind division behind him before nodding his head.
“I’m sorry…”
“I don’t need your apology! Do better!”
Sheryl bit her lip and fixed her grip on her swords.
“I’ll do better, so this is mine now.”
Rimmer slowly nodded and picked up the gold pouch from the ground, tucking it into his clothes.
“You are fucking insane…”
Sheryl exclaimed in amazement, but she didn't comment any further, as if implying that it was better that way.
“I don’t care anymore if you die or not!”
She shook her hand and advanced towards the apostle. Astral spheres with different colors emerged from her two swords, crossing in the air to block the apostle’s path and pierce toward his shoulder.
Attack and defense were being done at the same time in that single move. It was an exquisite move, displaying the nature of the twin blade technique.
And she was perfectly alert to both Merlin and the tenth apostle behind her at the same time. Sheryl was the most attentive person among everyone present in the scene.
Clang!
However, the apostle she was facing was also extraordinary. His white hair fluttered in the air as he cut through the White Sword’s defense with his left hand and deflected the Black Sword’s attack with his right hand.
He possessed a matchless prowess, capable of blocking the Black and White Twin Swords with his bare hands and even counterattacking. The fact that he was even more powerful than the tenth apostle allowed Raon to guess that he should’ve been one of the three first disciples of the White Blood Religion’s leader.
Whaaam!
Rimmer had managed to wake up from his blind rage thanks to Sheryl, but it still seemed unlikely for him to defeat the Master of the Wise Dragon Sword.
Even though wind and lightning flickered from his attacks, they were unable to break through the trajectory of the Master of the Wise Dragon Sword’s blade, which sloshed like the tidal waves of a vast ocean.
Raon briefly clicked his tongue while fixing his grip on Heavenly Drive.
‘Should I help them after all?’
Even though people were dying rapidly, it looked like Rimmer and Sheryl’s side was more urgent. Just as Raon was about to join their battlefield, Sheryl shook her head.
“We are fine here.”
Sheryl continued without taking her eyes off the apostle standing in front of her.
“We’ll join you after we take care of them. You should do your job.”
“She’s right. Don’t worry about us and get out of here for now!”
Rimmer agreed with a faint smile on his face, apologizing for his unsightly behavior.
Raon looked at their backs. He felt like he could entrust them with his life, just as he had with Glenn.
“I’ll be back before that happens.”
Raon bowed to Rimmer and Sheryl before he kicked the ground to dash towards the plaza.
Cring!
He charged in between the Holy Sword Alliance’s sword demons who were slaughtering the civilians and executed Frost Pond with a swift slash. The transparent dew on the Blade of Requiem became a blue spearhead to pierce the hearts of every single sword demon around him.
‘It’s not enough.’
There were lots of warriors from neutral factions who remained at the center to protect the civilians. They also needed to be rescued no matter what.
Raon unsheathed the Blade of Requiem and used the Supreme Harmony Steps. He dashed to the right side of the plaza and stood at the center of the Holy Sword Alliance’s groups.
He twisted his left ankle, channeling that power through his waist and wrist to swing Heavenly Drive. The fire flowers blooming on the silver blade spread around through the wind.
Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation
Hundred Flames
Flame Spirit
The red leaves wrapped in the astral energy of raging fire became a cluster of flowers, wiping out the Holy Sword Alliance’s sword demons.
Whaaam!
It was truly a storm of fire. The neutral factions and even the White Blood Religion and the Holy Sword Alliance fell speechless for a moment upon witnessing that majestic sight.
Whir!
The Blade of Requiem in his left hand followed the attack. Blood Rain burst from the interlocking scabbard and red blade to shred the nerves of the White Blood fanatics.
“Argh…”
“Kuah…”
“Ack!”
The White Blood fanatics collapsed while screaming even though they were the type of people who would die with a smile even when they were stabbed by a blade.
“Now is your chance!”
* * *
* * *
The warriors from the neutral factions started to run towards the collapsed rampart alongside the civilians upon hearing Raon’s shout.
‘It’s still too narrow.’
Even though he’d destroyed the rampart, it still required a lot of time for the evacuation because there were too many people in the plaza.
He wanted to destroy it a bit more, but he didn’t have the time for it because the Holy Sword Alliance’s swordsmen and the White Blood fanatics were swarming at him from left and right.
‘I need to block the path… Hmm?’
He turned around to block the path to stop their chase, and a giant wearing a black robe fell from the sky. His large hand turned red and mercilessly exploded the heads of the White Blood fanatics who were running after the people.
It wasn’t done by aura. Magic was flowing in his fist.
“I’ll take care of this place!”
Yuria nodded heavily, declaring that he would block the path while Raon protected the people.
Raon looked into Yuria’s eyes. They were as clear as a bull's, befitting his huge size.
“I understand.”
Raon nodded back to Yuria before running towards the rampart. He looked up to the sky where the tenth apostle and Merlin were fighting.
“You won’t escape!”
A strange light sparked from Merlin’s eyes. Crimson fireballs fell from her magic circle.
‘Is she telling me to use that spell to my advantage?’
Even though she wasn’t his companion, he could tell her intention just with the look in her eyes.
Cring!
He covered Heavenly Drive and the Blade of Requiem with a smooth flow of aura, like flowing water, and unleashed a soft sword technique.
The spells Merlin had dropped were redirected towards the rampart through the sword’s trajectory.
Whaaam!
The spells must’ve contained a formula to destroy stone and steel, because the rampart collapsed in an instant, and a passage at least twice as wide as the previous one appeared.
“That way!”
Raon sent the people he’d brought from the plaza towards the destroyed rampart.
The evacuation, which was proceeding at a snail’s pace, became dramatically faster with the creation of the second exit.
“Head to Cameloon!”
The Five Divine Orders’ city, Banneret, was pretty close to Cameloon. They were pretty much going to be safe once they reached that city.
‘The Light Wind division should be more than enough for the job.’
Raon could guess that the Light Wind division and the warriors from the neutral factions would be able to protect the civilians as long as he stayed behind to protect the powerful warriors.
“Yes!”
“Mhm.”
Burren, Runaan, and the Light Wind swordsmen immediately nodded. They left the rampart while protecting the civilians as soon as they received the order, not asking any questions.
Raon smiled faintly upon seeing that they trusted him as much as he trusted them.
‘As for me…’
Raon was about to return to Rimmer and Sheryl’s location when the flying warship, the Sword Wing, started to move once again under the moonlight.
‘Don’t tell me, is it coming this way?’
As soon as that thought flashed through his mind, a crescent-shaped beam was fired at him from the turret on the Sword Wing’s right side.
“Kuh!”
Raon bit his lip and swung Heavenly Drive and the Blade of Requiem upwards at the same time. The Blade of Requiem was wrapped in a shield of fire, and Heavenly Drive’s edge was surrounded by crimson radiance.
Claaang!
He defended against the impact with Firewall and countered with Crimson Slash, causing the Sword Wing’s mighty wave to finally subside.
“Haa…”
‘This isn’t going to work.’
Joining forces with Sheryl and Rimmer could potentially allow him to kill the apostle or the Master of the Wise Dragon Sword, but he had a feeling he was going to pay with the deaths of the Light Wind division, the neutral factions, and the civilians who were escaping.
‘Do I have to make a decision…? No, the answer is obvious.’ Raon stepped back while looking at the Sword Wing. Saving people was more important than killing enemies.
It was a complete opposite choice from when he used to be an assassin. The mindset of Zieghart’s swordsmen that Sylvia wanted him to possess had begun to bloom into a small flower.
‘Well, at least that’s some relief.’
He had actually considered the Black Tower the biggest danger in that journey.
Raon was worried about the Tower’s vice master because he wanted to kill him, unlike Eden and the White Blood Religion who were just trying to capture him, but the Black Tower was fortunately not there.
As he was about to escape from the city while glaring at the Sword Wing, the Demonblade and the Demon Slaying Spear floated into the air through the gray smoke filling the platform.
Whir!
A dark sea surged from the Demonblade’s sword piercing the sky. The tidal wave unleashed towards the plaza felt like the soul would be destroyed just from facing it.
Rumble!
The Demon Slaying Spear was riding a red horse with burning red skin, and a fireball as huge as the sun was emerging from the Sky Piercer pulled behind him.
It was truly a demonic cavalry spear art. His majestic performance showed why he was the leader of the Demon Spear Guild.
They were both using transcendental martial arts of will rather than an established technique of astral energy or astral sphere. Raon’s heart pounded and his brain was stirred just from watching them.
“Nice.”
The Holy Sword Alliance master smiled peacefully even though he was under the two transcenders’ attacks.
He casually leaped from the platform and dropped the sword from his hand. His sword throbbed like a living creature and rushed towards the Demon Slaying Spear’s Solar Edge and the Demonblade’s Black Sea.
Slice!
The sword soared into the sky to sever the Demonblade’s tidal wave and pierced through the Demon Slaying Spear’s sun.
It wasn’t even surrounded by any astral energy or an astral sphere. It was simply wrapped in a faint light, yet the result was unbelievable.
“Ah…”
Raon’s chin trembled as he watched the Holy Sword Alliance master’s sword.
‘That’s not just a flying sword. It’s sword manipulation.’
Sword manipulation was a legendary realm supposedly capable of controlling the sword according to their will, and the Holy Sword Alliance master’s sword followed his will by severing the transcenders’ wills.
‘I never thought that realm actually existed in the world…’
He’d thought it was a technique from fairy tales and had never expected to actually see it.
The King of Essence told you, didn’t he?
Wrath licked his lips while scratching his nose.
He is peculiar. He took a different path than your old man.
‘It’s not as simple as that.’
Peculiar wasn’t enough to describe the sword manipulation because it was literally a legend.
Raon bit his lip tightly while watching the Holy Sword Alliance master drive the Demonblade and the Demon Slaying Spear into a corner on his own. The Ring of Fire started to rampage before he knew it and examined the sword manipulation’s flow.
‘I don’t really see anything because his realm is too high, but…’
He could at least tell that he was controlling the sword through his will and a mysterious resonance of his aura.
‘I can at least tell why the sword manipulation is a legend.’
Some techniques were bound to be physically impossible to achieve by wielding the sword with a human body.
For example, it’s impossible to slash towards the left and slash from the left again immediately after, without drawing your arm back.
‘However… sword manipulation makes it possible.’
Since the sword was floating freely instead of being held by a hand, it could achieve techniques that would’ve been impossible otherwise. The sword manipulation was an outrageous technique in its form, just like its power.
‘I want to keep watching it…’
He was getting new ideas as he watched the sword manipulation.
He could see the possibility of a new way to get stronger, but saving people took priority.
Raon turned around without hesitation after he confirmed that the people had finished leaving the city.
* * * fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Rumble!
The master of the Holy Sword Alliance fended off the Demon Slaying Spear, who was attacking him directly, with his hand while using sword manipulation to drive the Demonblade into a corner.
He smiled faintly while watching Raon’s back as he escaped through the collapsed rampart when the two transcenders had temporarily landed on the ground.
‘He is amazing.’
Just like he’d heard from the Master of the Bloody Sword, Raon had the talent to impress the entire continent. He seemed to surpass even his youngest disciple, Cloud, who was considered the most talented swordsman in the contemporary Holy Sword Alliance.
‘I should take him with me at least.’
The Holy Sword Alliance master shook his hand towards his back.
“Cloud.”
“Yes.”
The young warriors who’d been staying behind the Holy Sword Alliance master bowed at him.
“Capture Raon Zieghart.”
“Alive or dead…?”
“Keep him alive, of course. Bring the Elite Guard Unit with you.”
“Understood.”
Cloud nodded and shook his hand towards the sky, and swordsmen wearing blue robes jumped down from the Sword Wing.
“Let’s go.”
He ran towards the destroyed rampart, his eyes sparkling like a cold blade.
“Where are you looking?!”
“You are the first one I’ve met who is even more arrogant than me! This is so damn irritating!”
The Demonblade and the Demon Slaying Spear unleashed their dark sea and solar sphere once again. Their power was even denser than the previous attack, yet the smile remained on the lips of the Holy Sword Alliance master.
‘I’m curious what kind of face Glenn is going to make if I take Raon away from him.’
* * *
Raon was moving at the very back of the line while spreading the Perception of the Snow Flower.
“Is it really okay for us to leave like this?”
Dorian was carrying Martha on his back with trembling lips.
“Our division leader and the Heavenly Blade division leader are still in there…”
Krein also kept looking back in anxiety.
“It’s the Heavenly Drive division leader and our division leader we are talking about. Believe in them.”
Burren shook his head, saying that it was time for them to do their job instead of worrying about them.
“Yes, they will come back.”
Runaan nodded calmly. She also seemed to believe in them.
Raon smiled faintly as he watched Burren and Runaan ease the anxiety of the team members.
‘They’ve really grown a lot.’
In the past, they would have been trembling with anxiety like the other team members, but now they were the ones calming them down. Raon felt proud of them for it.
He figured he should prepare some separate training for them after they returned.
“The team leaders are right. We are solely going to focus on protecting the people from now on, and—”
Just as Raon agreed with the two team leaders and was about to tell them to focus on the guarding duty, a terrifying presence appeared from the direction of the rampart.
“Prepare for battle!”
He turned after shouting at the Light Wind division to get into sword formation. He immediately drew his blades, and a young warrior wearing a blue robe came into his sight.
‘That man…’
He was the one who’d stayed right behind the Holy Sword Alliance master from the beginning. He looked young, but the energy wave coming from him was far more powerful than Raon’s.
“A sword with blue stars embedded on it…”
Denning Rose pointed at the man’s robe with her trembling hand.
“He is the disciple of the Holy Sword Alliance master!”
She swallowed nervously, saying that he seemed to be the youngest disciple, judging from his age.
“I knew it…”
Raon had been thinking that he was much too powerful for his age, and he was the Holy Sword Alliance master’s disciple, just like he’d anticipated.
By the time Raon was ready to unleash the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier at the same time, the Holy Sword Alliance master’s disciple stopped in front of him.
“Raon Zieghart and everyone here needs to come with me, in accordance with the alliance master’s orders.”
He tapped on the sword hanging around his waist, implying that he was going to kill them if they moved.
“What if I refuse?”
“Death is the only other choice you have.”
The disciple of the Holy Sword Alliance master shook his head, advising against the meaningless struggle.
“No, there’s another choice I can take.”
Deadly lightning sparked from Raon’s eyes.
“I send your head back separate from your body.”