Chapter 289: Chapter 289
Wow!
Wrath exclaimed after having the breakfast Merlin had brought for Raon.
The is exactly what the King of Essence wanted, and the taste is amazing.
Even though shrimp pizza and pineapple pizza were both pretty heavy for breakfast, he was enjoying it as if it were light morning bread with a grin on his face.
Try the ice cream over there. The King of Essence's mouth feels stuffy right now.
Wrath fidgeted his fingers while pointing at the ice cup containing the ice cream.
"Haa..."
Raon sighed while looking at the cup containing the mint chocolate ice cream.
'She even prepared all this...'
Was she a stalker or something?
Merlin must've investigated what he usually ate since she brought the shrimp pizza, pineapple pizza, and even the mint chocolate ice cream when he didn't even ask for it.
He thought that she was scarier than he'd previously thought, and there was one more problem.
'I don't like any of this.'
None of the food she brought him was to his liking.
Shrimp pizza, pineapple pizza, and mint chocolate ice cream weren't his favorite foods, they were the favorite foods of the Demon King of Strange Taste.
'Tsk.'
Since it was obvious that Wrath was going to start rampaging around if he refused the food right in front of his eyes, he had no choice but to eat it.
Uhuhuhu!
Wrath's eyes closed partially, like crescent moons, as soon as the mint chocolate ice cream touched his tongue.
'Is he really a demon king...?'
People were definitely going to start a mutiny if a demon king smiled like that after eating ice cream. He was definitely not a demon king, no matter how he thought about it.
"Haa."
Raon shook his head after finishing the mint chocolate ice cream. He kept eating it because of Wrath, but he still didn't find it delicious. He couldn't understand why Runaan or Wrath liked it so much.
It's because you grew up in a sheltered environment with no difficulties.
Wrath sighed deeply while looking at the now-empty ice cream cup.
The mint chocolate is so sweet for the King of Essence because he went through so many hardships.
'Bullshit', was what he wanted to tell him, but he barely managed to suppress his urge. He told himself that he would ask Merlin to change the menu to prevent Wrath from saying that ever again.
Haa, this is nice. This is heaven.
'But that's not where you should be.'
Raon stared at Wrath with a dumbfounded expression on his face before he stood up.
Are you visiting the chef?
'Why would I do that?'
Where are you going then?
'I feel like I'm going to gain weight at this rate.'
He rubbed his stomach. Because the food was even better than when he was in Zieghart, he almost looked like he was on a vacation instead of being kidnapped.
'I'm going to do some exercises.'
Training again? You really never get tired of it.
Wrath shook his hand at his persistence.
'I'm not going to train. It's something that I can only do here.'
Raon left the room. He went through the strange corridor where the rooms kept appearing and disappearing and went outside. He walked up to the border of the branch and placed his hand on the wall.
Cring!
Along with a small spark, the translucent barrier covering the branch made its appearance.
The aloof energy spreading from the extensive barrier with sun, moon, and star patterns felt like it was telling him that he would never be able to escape.
'It's almost ridiculous how complicated it is.'
Considering the fact that all kinds of energies were spreading out from the barrier, it must've been made by combining forces between a warrior, magician, dark magician, and a shaman above the Grandmaster's realm. It was too difficult for him to destroy in his current state.
Did you come to look at it? It's impossible in your current state.
Wrath snorted, telling him to know his place.
'I know.'
'I know better than anyone.'
Raon chuckled and examined the barrier.
"You should take your hand off."
A cold voice could be heard from behind him.
"I'll cut your hand off if you try touching it one more time."
Raon turned around upon feeling the sharp murderous intent. The man wearing the horned snake helmet was standing there like a hoodlum.
The Soul Severing Sword was staring at him from way behind him with his arms crossed.
"Do you want to cut my hand off? That's pretty good."
Raon smiled faintly and placed his hand on the wall once again. Along with a powerful spark, the barrier became even clearer.
"Come at me."
"Huh..."
The man wearing the snake helmet laughed bitterly at the unexpected situation.
"Do you even realize who I am?"
"You must be a swordsman who inherited a basilisk's power."
There weren't that many monsters with a horned snake's shape. It must've been the basilisk, which was a huge snake living in the desert with the power of petrification.
"Basilisk, huh..."
The snake helmet snickered. It was impossible to tell whether he was right or wrong about it.
"It doesn't matter even if it's not a basilisk. You look a lot easier to fight against than the person behind you."
Raon pointed at the Soul Severing Sword.
"So you were picking a fight on purpose."
The snake helmet exclaimed while tilting his head.
Don't tell me that you are trying to...
'You guessed right.'
Raon clenched his fist and smiled.
'I can't miss this opportunity to fight Eden's bloody demons.'
Both the snake helmet and the Soul Severing Sword behind him were stronger than him as warriors. Since they were unable to kill him because of Merlin's order, it was the perfect opportunity to steal their martial arts.
"This is perfect, since I was getting bored. Let's see the skills of the Frostfire Sword of Valor, who is rumored to be the greatest genius on the continent."
The snake helmet drew his sword. The blade was thicker than an average sword, making it look like a greatsword.
"Before you turn into a cripple from wearing the helmet."
"Crippled from wearing the helmet, huh...?"
Raon smiled faintly and grasped Heavenly Drive's hilt.
"What's your name?"
"You can call me Unfaceable Snake."
The snake helmet introduced himself as Unfaceable Snake and lowered his posture.
"Attack with everything you have."
"Yes, I'll go for the kill."
Unfaceable Snake charged at him without even a shout of concentration. His fast and soft movement was the result of his footwork, which really resembled that of a snake.
Whoosh!
He rushed to his left side in an instant and swung down his sword. The powerful combative energy dwelling in his blade was falling onto his head.
'There's no variation.'
Unfaceable Snake was striking in a straight line to maximize the power. The powerful pressure was telling him that his neck was going to snap if he blocked it in an inappropriate way.
Whir!
Raon unsheathed Heavenly Drive while rotating the Ring of Fire. The sword draw immediately connected into a slash, and his sword clashed against Unfaceable Snake's sword head-on.
Clang!
Although he was properly prepared, the strike was powerful enough to make his knees tremble slightly and his shoulders sink.
'I knew he would be strong.'
The sword's weight was completely different from the seventh apostle. Just like he thought at first, Unfaceable Snake's realm had far surpassed the intermediate level of Master.
He was a powerful warrior at the advanced level of Master. A warrior of his caliber wasn't even known to the public, which made him realize once again how crazy Eden was.
Wham!
Unfaceable Snake's strike dashed from the left, and Raon blocked his blow. The impact transferred through his elbow and made him bite his lip.
'He's the perfect opponent.'
Since it was time to beat an advanced Master after beating an intermediate.
Unfaceable Snake was the strongest opponent he'd ever faced, but he was still weaker than the real monsters.
If he couldn't even fight equally against him, it was pretty much impossible to escape.
Clang!
He unleashed the Revolving Sky of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation through Heavenly Drive. The flames, rotating like a saw blade, were about to reach Unfaceable Snake's waist when his sword suddenly fell.
Whir.
The red combative energy bursting from his blade solidified like a rock and completely stopped the flames of the Revolving Sky.
'He was a basilisk after all.'
Petrifying an enemy wasn't the basilisk's only ability. It was also capable of hardening its own body to the point where even astral energy wouldn't be able to penetrate it. The hardness of his aura confirmed his suspicion that he was using a basilisk's power.
'This is going to be interesting.'
He got excited, anticipating destroying his combative energy, which was even harder than steel.
"That was pretty good. However."
Unfaceable Snake's eyes narrowed vertically, like a snake's, and his combative energy grew more than twice as big as before. He charged from the right and swung his sword.
Rumble!
The pressure crushing his body felt like a collapsing mountain. His legs trembled from the combative energy's weight. Unfaceable Snake must've been using a special technique.
"Don't tell me it's already over."
"Of course not. I'm not even getting started yet."
Raon smiled cheerfully and used the Supreme Harmony's fifth step. As his footsteps resounded throughout the land, he unleashed the principles of powerful sword dwelling in his silver-white blade.
Slaam!
A shockwave burst from the clash between the two powerful swords, violently engulfing their surroundings.
"Let's make it even more interesting!"
Murderous intent was added to Unfaceable Snake's eyes. He instantly charged head-on to strike. The combative lightning striking in a straight line changed its trajectory slightly to block Raon's escape route.
'He must still have more room to spare.'
Raon chuckled while facing the powerful strike from Unfaceable Snake. Judging from the way his combative energy became even stronger than before, he must've been still conserving his strength.
'I'll draw out even more from you.'
He fixed his grip on Heavenly Drive and dashed forward. The heaviness embodied in the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation's fire straight up clashed against Unfaceable Snake's strike once again.
Claang!
The impact was powerful enough to create a crater on the ground protected by the barrier, and both Raon and the Unfaceable Snake took five steps backwards.
"Hmm..."
The Unfaceable Snake narrowed his eyes and looked down on Raon.
"What did you do just now? The sword suddenly turned heavier."
"I told you, I wasn't even getting started yet."
Raon calmed down the nausea with the Ring of Fire and smiled.
Although it was true that Unfaceable Snake's realm was two stages higher than his own, Raon still had the stats and traits that he had gotten from Wrath. Even if he ended up losing, he wasn't going to lose without putting up a fight.
"Interesting."
Unfaceable Snake smiled coldly and kicked the ground. He approached as smoothly as a snake dashing through the desert, barraging him with strikes. A single slash created five different waves, surrounding him from all directions.
'I can't dodge this one.'
Raon briefly clicked his tongue and unleashed the Firewall of the Hundred Flames of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation. The fireshield burst from Heavenly Drive to clash diagonally against Unfaceable Snake's combative energy.
Whaam!
The overwhelming impact was powerful enough to crumble his posture. Unfaceable Snake must've been going all-out. His entire body trembled from the hand holding the sword up to the shoulder, and the heated pain felt like magma was passing through the center of his chest.
'He is clearly different.'
A high-end intermediate Master and an advanced Master were clearly different. Unfaceable Snake was capable of unleashing power befitting his stage with a perfect understanding of his swordsmanship.
"You will lose your head if you let your guard down. I'm not done yet!"
The Unfaceable Snake dashed through the shockwave. He pierced into his space in an instant and thrust his fist. The combative energy dwelling in his attack was powerful enough to break his bones.
Thud!
Raon turned his elbow to parry Unfaceable Snake's fist.
"You are pretty good!"
He said it in admiration, and Raon closed distance before thrusting Heavenly Drive. The principles of the Fangs of Insanity dwelling in the silver blade revealed their ferocious fangs.
"Hmph!"
Unfaceable Snake deflected the Fangs of Insanity by twisting his body like a snake running away from a predator before slashing his sword upwards.
Cring!
The rising strike was even faster than its descent. It almost looked like red lightning soaring into the sky.
Cring!
Raon's eyes sparked with blue. His aura switched in an instant, and Glacier's coldness surrounded Heavenly Drive.
Frost Pond's blade parried the weak point of the combative energy, and the following blue wave dashed towards Unfaceable Snake's neck.
"Two strikes, I see."
Unfaceable Snake stomped the ground with a grin on his face, and a powerful combative energy burst from around his body to withstand Frost Pond without blocking it. A single drop of blood was flowing down from his lips, showing that it wasn't completely ineffective.
"An ice blade following the trace of the sword..."
He smiled in satisfaction as he raised his sword. His combative energy spread around in a round shape, like a log to storm, in front of him.
"Haa."
Raon bit his lips and slashed down the Fangs of Insanity.
'This is going to hurt a little.'
Considering the size of unleashed combative energy, it was going to be difficult to face it. He condensed as much astral energy as he could and clashed head-on.
Claang!
Raon had to take ten steps back while faltering from the clash between the swords, and Unfaceable Snake only withdrew six steps.
'I agree with him. This is fun.'
Raon wiped the blood from around his mouth and smiled. The main strengths of Unfaceable Snake's strikes were their toughness and softness. Even though it was even harder than steel, it also wriggled like a snake, which made it extremely difficult to fight against.
'It was the correct decision to try fighting him in advance.'
He would've been in big trouble if he had to clash against Unfaceable Snake for the first time when he tried to escape. Picking a fight with him was an excellent choice.
'Because I have the Ring of Fire.'
He had gotten somewhat used to his swordsmanship thanks to using the Ring of Fire. He was confident he wouldn't be at such a disadvantage next time if they ended up fighting again.
'Moreover, I shall now...'
Watch more than his swordsmanship.
It was time to check out his greatest special techniques, the real power Unfaceable Snake possessed.
"You are a rather sturdy guy!"
Unfaceable Snake closed the distance to strike. His diagonal slash suddenly fell. It was a technique that he'd already seen before.
Clang!
Raon used the Fangs of Insanity to violently deflect Unfaceable Snake's strike before pulling Heavenly Drive back. He amplified the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation that he'd prepared to thrust forward.
Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, Hundred Flames.
Flame Dragon Art.
The fire dragon's roar was unleashed at Unfaceable Snake from the front. It had become even more powerful after absorbing the Soul Nullifying Water.
"This is..."
Unfaceable Snake grasped his sword. His eyes turned serious as he straightened his wrist to slash down towards him.
Cring!
The combative energy on his sword spread around in a conical shape, radiating its sturdiness. It almost looked like a huge mountain had emerged.
Whaam!
The fire dragon trying to rise to the sky clashed against the great mountain blocking its way, and a huge crater was created on the land. The tremendous explosion created as a result was followed by a dark whirlwind of astral energy.
Raon used the Evil Eye of Wrath to observe the flow of swords inside the explosion.
'He piled up combative energy on top of combative energy to create multiple layers.'
The power of Unfaceable Snake's strike was on a completely different level from before, and it was thanks to piling up combative energy and forming it into layers. Even though the Flame Dragon Art was facing it, he felt like his shoulder was about to be dislocated from the astonishing amount of power.
'Let's try getting a bit more out of him.'
Raon maximized the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation's output and stomped the ground. He unleashed the Great Severing Smash, which was the heaviest strike among the Fangs of Insanity, while surrounding it with the principles of heaviness as much as he could.
Rumble!
Heaviness was added on top of the heavy strike, and his blade descended upon Unfaceable Snake, looking like it was about to smash his head into pieces.
"Nice, come at me."
Unfaceable Snake turned his shoulder. His rough movement made him look like a stone statue trying to stand up, but the combative energy dwelling in his movement was even larger than the previous strike. Raon figured that it must've been another one of his special techniques.
Whaam!
Alongside a crimson spark, a huge cluster of combative energy surged from below.
Rumble!
The impact was powerful enough to shake the barrier on the ground, and the demons of Eden around them were all sent flying.
"You can still continue, right?"
Unfaceable Snake took his sword with two hands. A sphere of condensed combative energy emerged from his blade. The sphere expanded continuously until it filled the entire space.
"Don't worry. Merlin will heal you as long as you don't die."
"You must be feeling very relieved right now."
Raon smiled coldly and thrust his sword. A powerful current burst from the silver blade to create a red sphere.
Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, Hundred Flames
Heavenly Heavy Cannon.
It was smaller than the sphere of combative energy that emerged from Unfaceable Snake's sword, but the energy—surrounded by powerful lightning—was even more condensed than his.
"Let's see the bitter end!"
As Unfaceable Snake and Raon were about to unleash their attacks at the same time...
Whoosh!
A dark lightning strike, containing the energy of the dead, struck the ground between them.
Whaam!
The black energy rotated violently and remained completely intact despite taking Raon and Unfaceable Snake's special techniques at the same time.
Tap.
Once the black light dissipated, Soul Severing Sword could be seen lowering his black sword. The way he tilted his chin slightly made it seem as if he were telling them to stop the fight.
"He's pouring aura on our parade."
Unfaceable Snake clicked his tongue at Soul Severing Sword.
"He's no fun."
He frowned and lowered his sword.
"Hmm."
Raon also sheathed Heavenly Drive after briefly licking his lips.
"Let's keep it for later. He's not the only problem, since I think Merlin is going to get angry if we continue."
"..."
Soul Severing Sword was staring at him with his black sword once more in his scabbard. His eyes were completely emotionless, just like the day before.
"Can I challenge you if I manage to defeat him?"
"..."
He kept staring without responding or changing his expression.
"I'll take that as a yes."
Raon smiled faintly and waved his hand.
"See you later."
'I'm liking this place more and more.'
It was pretty much heaven, just like Wrath had said, since they were giving him elixirs and sparring opponents were coming to find him on their own.
Raon returned with a faint smile on his face.
"..."
Soul Severing Sword turned his right shoulder slightly to watch Raon returning to the building until the end.
* * *
"Haa."
Merlin sighed briefly while applying ointment to Raon's shoulder and waist.
"You really are a troublemaker. You couldn't even wait for a short time without causing problems."
She shook her head as she laughed bitterly.
"You are the first one to pick a fight with Unfaceable Snake and ask him for a spar. Everyone was surprised."
"I wanted to see how strong he was."
Raon turned his neck lightly and closed his eyes. He responded to her question honestly since it was impossible to hide it from her anyway.
"Warriors are like that."
Merlin finished applying the ointment and moved aside slightly. It must've been a really effective medicine, since the pain in his bones and muscles had already subsided.
"You can deal with the internal injury with an elixir, right?"
She sighed and placed the same elixir box as the one she brought the day before on the table.
"I adjusted the ratio a little since you said that your head felt dizzy. It should be a lot better than yesterday."
Raon opened the box. The coldness tickling his nose was slightly milder than the day before.
'She did adjust the ratio. She added even more Soul Nullifying Water.'
Judging from the look, she must've reduced the amount of coldness and added even more Soul Nullifying Water. With the combined dose from the two days, he shouldn't even be able to feel the dizziness, since he should be feeling all foggy.
"And."
Merlin extended her right hand. Blue light emerged from her white hand and a helmet appeared to float in the air.
It had two horns and diamond shaped, blade-sharp scales. With a light blue mane stretching behind it, there was no way he wouldn't recognize it.
"Dragon's helmet..."
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m