Chapter 279: Chapter 279
A scarlet fog was wrapped above the brilliant Grand Seville's night landscape like a rain cloud.
The way the scarlet fog spread its grotesque energy as it endlessly engulfed the atmosphere above the city was creepy enough to make a chill run down one's spine just from looking at it.
Raon clenched his teeth.
'A sorcery array...'
There was no way the scarlet fog was a natural fog, as he needed to use the Ring of Fire, the Blade of Requiem's ghastly energy and even the Evil Eye of Wrath in order to barely manage to discover it. It must've been an array created by a White Blood Fanatic, a high ranking officer capable of using advanced sorcery.
'Do the bloody demons seriously not know moderation?'
They were literally crazy.
Even though Grand Seville wasn't a large city, it was unimaginable to cover the entire city with a sorcery array. It could only be described as mad.
'The bloody energy I felt before must've also leaked from that.'
It was impossible to perfectly maintain such a large array unless the blood religion's leader or the highest-ranking apostle was personally attending to it. The faint bloody energy that he felt when he first arrived in the city must've leaked out from the gap in the sorcery array.
Did you finally realize it? You are always so slow.
Wrath snorted, calling him a snail. His reaction told him that he'd already been aware of it for a long time.
Whir!
A sword resonance filled with wrath and resentment burst from the Blade of Requiem upon feeling the bloody sorcery.
Raon caressed the wailing Blade of Requiem and narrowed his eyes.
'So...'
What kind of array was that?
They must've had a particular objective, considering the fact that they went as far as concealing such a huge array so well that even a Master couldn't notice it easily.
'It's not trying to block the entrance or exit...'
Considering the fact that people had no issue entering and exiting Grand Seville, it didn't seem to be creating a restricted area.
Judging from the way the bloody energy kept inflating from the fog, it must've been an extremely dangerous piece of sorcery.
'I can't tell from here.'
Since he looked at the forest from afar, it was necessary to enter the forest to examine what kinds of trees it had.
Raon eased the energies he was using and descended from the hill. He hid his presence just like when he went to the hill, crossing Molve Lake and returning to Grand Seville.
Since he had already seen it once, he managed to find the sorcery by using only the Ring of Fire, without the help of the Blade of Requiem and the Evil Eye of Wrath.
"Hmm?"
Raon frowned slightly while examining the scarlet fog.
'It looks like something is mixed into the bloody energy.'
It was different from the bloody energy so far.
A somewhat familiar energy could be felt from the scarlet fog floating in the sky. That power must've been one of the reasons the bloody energy could remain hidden.
Raon exhaled roughly while looking at the suffocating scarlet wave.
'Considering how bad it is, they must've already killed hundreds of people at least.'
He was almost overwhelmed by the range and size of the sorcery array as he watched it from below. They must've killed the warriors and ordinary people indiscriminately in order to contribute to the bloody sorcery's formation.
'The only relief is the fact that it's not too dense.'
However, the problem still persisted. If they could concentrate the huge bloody energy in a single spot, it would become powerful enough to blow up half of the city in an instant.
Tsk.
It's checkmate.
If he told people about the sorcery and tried to evacuate them, they would detonate the spell and blow the city up. However, leaving it alone would lead to the sorcery's completion, and its activation couldn't be any better than the previous scenario.
All choices led to a dead end.
'Moreover...'
There was one more problem.
It was almost impossible to stay hidden while deploying such a huge sorcery, no matter how skilled they were.
It implied that the number of White Blood Fanatics inside Grand Seville was probably twice as many as his expectations. They also could have infiltrated the Black Market, and both cases could be true at the same time.
'This is so suffocating.'
He could only rely on the Light Wind squad—the information was lacking, and the sorcery could explode at any time. All of those facts were suffocating and upset him.
You are so pathetic.
Wrath snorted while struggling to climb up his shoulder.
The King of Essence is feeling so much better from watching you being useless on your own.
'How about you then? Do you know what kind of sorcery it is?'
Hmph, the King of Essence doesn't know about such a lowly power.
'You are bragging when you don't even know.'
It's different! The King of Essence wasn't bragging. He simply doesn't need to know.
He clicked his tongue while looking up at the sky above Grand Seville.
The King of Essence would've straight up shattered such insignificant energy into pieces. He told you before already, but petty tricks are meaningless in front of absolute power! Back in Devildom, many demons were boasting with their petty tricks, but the King of Essence smashed all of their heads...
'Straight up shattering it...'
Raon licked his lips while repeating Wrath's words.
'If I want to destroy the sorcery array...Ah!'
He just needed to dispel it.
Dispel. Since the array was maintaining the sorcery, he simply needed to dispel the array. That was going to straight up shatter the sorcery.
'I can do it.'
Since he was somewhat knowledgeable in sorcery, and he knew a lot about array techniques.
Since he had the Ring of Fire to see the flow of energy and the Blade of Requiem to destroy the bloody energy, it wasn't impossible to destroy such a huge array.
'I might be able to use this situation in my favor if everything goes well.'
Considering the small gap in the sorcery, it was definitely not made by a high ranking apostle at the Grandmaster level.
And as long as it wasn't a high ranking apostle, it was impossible to activate such a huge sorcery from afar.
He could just wait there until the caster revealed themselves in order to activate the array. He could then destroy the array and slay the caster, which would put an end to the entire incident.
'Thank you.'
Raon patted Wrath's back with a grin on his face.
'You are the only one who helps me.'
Wh-What are you talking about? How did the King of Essence even help you?
'You can guess.'
What is it? Tell me already!
Wrath swallowed anxiously.
What is iiiiit?!
Splash.
A middle-aged man with a white robe covering him from head to toe was walking through a dim corridor. Although his footsteps should've sounded like he was walking on a hard floor, they were sinking under the sticky red fluid covering the ground.
He passed through the sticky floor and entered a cavern, where dim lighting was spreading from.
The corpses of men and women of different ages were piled up on the right side of the cavern, and the blood flowing from them was painting the floor red.
"Esteemed apostle."
The robed man knelt in front of the young man who was standing next to the mountain of corpses.
"Sniff..."
The young man was biting the shoulder off a child whose top was removed, and the dried up child was groaning faintly, showing that he was still alive.
"Tius. I believe I already warned you about disturbing me during a meal."
The young man glared at the robed man with an irritated gaze. A scar left by a sword was twitching from his chest. He was the seventh apostle, and the scar left by Raon remained on him.
"Raon Zieghart has made his appearance."
The middle-aged man named Tius bowed to him.
"Raon? Raon Zieghart?"
The seventh apostle bit the neck off the child and threw him aside. His mouth, covered in blood, twisted into a smile.
"Did he really come?"
"Yes. He entered Grand Seville this afternoon."
"Kuhahaha!"
He laughed like a madman while sweeping his hair up with his bloody hand.
"The Blood God didn't abandon me."
A frightening smile appeared on the seventh apostle's face as he wiped the blood flowing down from his chin away with the back of his hand.
"How long will it take for the sorcery to be completed?"
"It won't even take a week thanks to sacrificing Bhool, who was a Master."
"Speed it up. I want it completed tomorrow night."
"B-But we haven't gathered enough bloody energy to activate the sorcery yet! It might result in the Surreal Blood Manifestation Array's collapse!"
Tius bowed, asking him to reconsider.
"No, we have enough. A new sacrifice came to us on his own."
The seventh apostle snickered and shook his head.
"Wh-Which means..."
"Yes, Raon Zieghart. We will sacrifice his blood to feed the Surreal Blood Manifestation Array into completion. That should be enough, right?"
"Hmm, shouldn't we deal with him after completing the sorcery?"
"You know nothing about Raon."
"What?"
Tius swallowed nervously. The seventh apostle's voice was so excited that he almost sounded like he was looking forward to meeting a lover that he'd been waiting for. He could rip his head off if he made the slightest mistake in his excited state.
"He's a crazy bastard who destroys common sense. He might manage to discover the Surreal Blood Manifestation Array if we leave him alone."
"Th-There's no way..."
The White Blood Religion's leader was the one who created the Surreal Blood Manifestation Array, and the covertness in its design would've made it difficult for even a Grandmaster to discover it.
Since the array was made by Tius, it was obvious it wasn't as good as the leader's, but it was still impossible for Raon to discover it since he was just a Master.
"It's not because I don't trust you, but because he's just special. He managed to break through my astral energy to injure me despite being a mere Expert, after all."
The seventh apostle grinned while caressing the scar on his chest, which was carved into it by the Blade of Requiem.
"Moreover, it would be rude to make them wait for so long when they came all the way here. We should give him a warm welcome, befitting his grand name of Frostfire Sword of Valor, don't you think?"
"But..."
Tius furrowed his brow slightly in worry.
"Are you telling me that you can't trust me?"
"N-Not at all!"
Tius shuddered as he bowed.
"Ah, it's understandable because the fourth apostle was killed by him after getting stabbed in the back. However, my current self is stronger than the fourth apostle."
The seventh apostle's low voice was brimming with confidence and composure, and the glimpse of his wrath that could be heard in the end of his voice made his presence even stronger.
"You should just focus on completing the sorcery. I'll draw the blood of the youngest Master of the continent in two days and give it to you."
His frightening voice echoed throughout the cavern.
"I'm curious what kind of decision the great Frostfire Sword of Valor is going to make."
* * *
Martha wandered around Grand Seville without a precise destination.
She examined various locations while pretending to be a drunk mercenary, but all she could see were the flashy lightings of the city and the moths lured in by the lights.
"Team leader, we should stop for today and return."
The team member who was accompanying her because of the buddy system came up next to her and whispered.
"People might start suspecting us because we kept moving around without doing anything else."
"Tsk, alright."
Martha clicked her tongue and nodded. She wanted to continue the search on her own if she could, but she didn't want to repeat her previous mistake. She calmed her impatience and turned around.
"Let's re..."
As she was about to tell them 'let's return', a slightly dirty little girl bumped into her.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
The little girl bowed to her, before running into the alley between the pubs.
"She's so cute that it makes me angry."
Martha snickered while looking at the girl's back.
"What?"
"Wait here for a moment."
She waved her hand at the team members and went to the alley the girl ran into earlier. The girl must've already left, as the alley was already empty.
"But of course."
Martha nodded, since she knew that would be the case, and went through the alley before heading to the right. The girl she met earlier was checking the wallet in the deeper part of the alley.
"Gasp!"
The girl tried to run away in surprise, but Martha ran over the wall to reach behind her in an instant and block her retreat.
"Give it back before it gets violent."
"G-Give what back?"
The girl bit her lip and hid the wallet behind her.
'She's the exact same.'
She reminded Martha of herself in the past.
Martha calmly examined the girl. Even with her dirty appearance, bruises could be seen on various parts of her body. She felt slightly nostalgic, as it reminded her of her childhood.
However, they were different stories. She had no intention of overlooking a pickpocket.
"I'll give you a choice. You can either get beaten to death before giving it back, or give it back right now while I'm being nice."
Martha bobbed her finger while speaking as kindly as possible.
"Uhh..."
The girl couldn't easily hand over the wallet even though her chin was trembling in fear.
And Martha knew exactly why.
'She needs to pay tribute.'
Considering her shabby appearance, someone must've been extorting her. The fact that she tried to steal from Martha, who was disguised as a mercenary, implied that she couldn't afford to pick her target.
"Haa..."
Martha tapped the girl's head and bobbed her finger once again.
"Give it back. I'll give you the money for a meal if you give it right now."
She would've normally destroyed the ones extorting her, but she had no time for that because she was on a mission. She decided to give her a silver coin as a compromise and leave her alone.
"R-Really?"
"You could get beaten up instead."
"No!"
The girl shook her head and handed out the wallet with both hands.
"That's righ...Huh?"
Martha chuckled and tried to take the wallet, but suddenly stopped. She swallowed nervously upon noticing the scar on the girl's wrist.
"H-Hey, what's wrong with this?"
"What?"
"Who left this scar on you?"
"Wh-Why are you asking me about that?"
"I need to know."
Martha grabbed the girl's wrist while grinding her teeth.
She needed to know at all costs.
Because a small amount of bloody energy could be felt from her wrist.
* * *
Raon went around the entirety of Grand Seville to examine the array's flow. No one suspected him because lots of people were walking around despite it being the middle of night, and because Raon was holding a bottle in his hand to pretend to be a drunkard.
"Haa..."
He leaned his back against the rampart and sighed quietly.
'I'm getting a bit dizzy.'
Even the examination was difficult because the scale was so large.
However, precisely because the scale was large, small openings could be seen occasionally. It must've been impossible to achieve a desirable amount of durability because they were too focused on remaining covert.
'I can totally do it.'
Raon became certain of it after checking the entire sorcery array covering Grand Seville.
He needed some time, but he figured it was more than possible to dispel the array by using the Ring of Fire and the ghastly energy from the Blade of Requiem.
'I first need to figure that out in order to dispel it.'
The first thing he needed to do was to determine the origin of the other energy mixed into the bloody energy. Having that knowledge was going to make it a lot easier to dispel the array.
'I'm pretty sure I'm familiar with this energy...'
Raon licked his lips and raised his head. The clear moon was approaching the fog covering Grand Seville at an extremely slow pace.
"It's so bright for no reaso...Huh?"
While he was watching the clarity of the moon contradicting the severity of the situation, dreary bloody energy was secretly spreading out from the city.
'Bloody energy?'
Raon frowned and ran towards the origin of the bloody energy. Once he arrived at the central avenue that had the largest number of passersby in Grand Seville, his chin started to tremble.
'Wh-What's going on here...?'
He could feel the bloody energy from everyone in front of him.
The man coming out of the pub, the prostitute sending him off, the cartman in the middle of transportation, and even the young clerk welcoming clients into his shop. He could feel the bloody energy from everyone breathing in that area.
Although others couldn't feel anything about them, Raon was certain about it because he'd been investigating the array.
Even though it was extremely faint and disappeared too quickly to be from a White Blood Fanatic, the people definitely had bloody energy in them.
'Are they really White Blood Fanatics? This many people? That's definitely not true.'
White Blood Fanatics acquired White Spirit Aura to gather the aura in their hearts just like the magicians.
However, the bloody energy in those people weren't focused on their hearts, but scattered throughout their bodies instead.
Since there was no way the bloody demons would go against their doctrine, they definitely were not White Blood Fanatics.
Raon swallowed nervously and raised his head. He clenched his fist while watching the bloody fog spread like a cloud.
'Don't tell me, that array's purpose is...'
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