Chapter 345: Chapter 345
Raon's sword didn't stop even after it unleashed the red tidal wave. He followed his ancestor's sword traces and drew a magnificent picture as the Ring of Fire enhanced his mind.
The ocean's embrace was waiting at the destination of his brush strokes. The accumulation of tidal waves created a vast ocean capable of swallowing the entire world.
Snap!
The crimson ocean created by the Flawless Sea of Fire crushed Martio's black mountain.
Rumble!
With a thunderous noise that sounded like the entire world was collapsing, Martio's energy faded away. The attacking astral energy and his concentrated energy for self-destruction both disappeared.
"Aah..."
He groaned in despair, his right arm torn off.
"Huff!"
He stepped back with difficulty and his teeth chattered.
'Wh-what was that swordsmanship just now?'
The tidal wave of fire had swallowed everything he had.
It wasn't just the astral energy dwelling in his sword but also the energy he had been gathering in his heart that was wiped away. He couldn't regain his composure because he couldn't understand what happened.
'But that technique... It somehow feels...'
Raon's technique shared a similarity with House Robert's swordsmanship. It almost looked like his lord's technique.
However, he didn't have the time to think about the technique because Raon was standing right in front of him, his eyes a blazing crimson—just like the ocean that burned up everything in his possession.
'Uuh...'
He felt suffocated the moment he met those eyes. Nothing came to his mind. The fear for his life had revived even though he had forgotten it a long time ago.
Kosini bit her lip tightly, watching the terrified Martio.
'He's a monster.'
It was impossible to completely ignore mental magic, even for a Grandmaster.
But he was just a Master. The magic should've had an effect, no matter how small it was, but he had literally nullified her mind control magic. She was speechless over how absurd that was.
'It's all over for us...'
There was nothing she could do. Martio's strike and her most powerful mental magic, Spider Memory, were both ineffective.
'I don't want to di—Hmm?'
Kosini rolled her tongue while watching Raon.
'He... He isn't interested in me.'
He seemed to be fully focused on Martio. It must've been because he had a larger grudge against him than her.
'This is my chance.'
Since he was focused on Martio, it was the only opportunity she had to escape from that monster.
Whir.
Kosini carefully controlled her mana. She set the coordinates above the ocean in order to escape the dungeon and slowly arranged her mana.
Whir.
However, once she used the arranged mana to activate the teleportation spell, an intense pain could be felt in her shoulder.
"Ack!"
She looked down to check, and a dagger was buried beneath her shoulder with a strange ghastly energy emanating from it.
"This can't be..."
She raised her eyes as goosebumps appeared all over her body. A frightening pair of red eyes were looking down on her.
'I-it's still fine.'
Even though Raon noticed her escape, it was still okay. She had already finished arranging the mana for her teleport.
"You are too late!"
Kosini stepped back and activated the teleport.
"You are dead meat now. Sir Derus is going to—huh?"
She should've disappeared while she cursed him, but the arranged mana wasn't moving at all.
"N-no way..."
Kosini looked at the dagger in her shoulder with trembling lips. The ghastly energy emanating from it was preventing the magic's activation.
"You will die if you pull it out."
"Ah..."
She was trying to grab the dagger with her trembling hand, but Raon's frightening voice could be heard. She unconsciously lowered her hand with fear running down her spine.
"Kosini! Run away! You must tell him!"
Martio screamed while holding onto Raon with his only arm and leg.
"Ugh!"
Kosini gritted her teeth and pulled the dagger from her shoulder. There was still some leftover ghastly energy, but it wasn't a big deal.
Whir!
She quickly chanted and tried to cast the teleportation spell once again, but the world became slanted.
'Ah...'
She couldn't even speak, let alone control her mana.
All she could see alongside a small impact in her head was that her body was collapsing. Martio was crying in despair while Raon stared at her with his red eyes.
'Did I end up dying?'
She realized she was dead, but she felt relieved instead. It was because she finally managed to escape those terrifying red eyes.
'What a relie—'
Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at the bloody edge of the Blade of Requiem.
'It's literally the worst nightmare of magicians.'
The Blade of Requiem's Ghastly Flow of Mana still worked even though he was further away. The fight was pretty much over the moment the Blade of Requiem stabbed the magician.
It might not have worked if Kosini didn't panic, or if it had been a more advanced magician than her, but it was still surprising that such a thing was possible.
'Thank you for helping me.'
Raon caressed the Blade of Requiem before equipping it around his waist.
Grr...
The grinding sound of Wrath's teeth could be heard.
'You are going to break your teeth if you keep doing that.'
Shut up!
He shouted and shoved his face against him.
Who the hell are you?!
'Hmm...'
Raon slowed down his breathing, as Wrath seemed to be asking about the situation.
'How can I trick him?'
The most important part was said through aura messages, but he got too excited and ended up revealing some things that he shouldn't have. It was honestly a hopeless situation.
'This is actually...'
Why the hell are you getting another trance?!
'Ah?'
However, Wrath wasn't questioning the situation—he was simply angry about the fact that he went into a trance twice in a row.
Is a trance a neighborhood restaurant for you? Are you just going there to fill your freaking stomach whenever you are hungry?
Wrath lamented the absurdity of the situation.
The King of Essence's life was long enough to be called exhausting, but he has never seen madness like two trances a day before! Were you feeling at home in the trance?!
'I was just lucky.'
He managed to enter the trance because he saw the traces of the Flawless Sea of Fire in his extremely focused state as he was trying to stop Martio's self-destruction.
He was just lucky. It wasn't his skills. That was why he had no excuse.
You make the King of Essence angry every single time! He's going nuts!
'Is this what they call an inferiority complex?'
Bullshit! Even a god would want to punch you if they saw you!
'Haa.'
Raon shook his head and walked up to Martio.
"Ack!"
He had lost both his arms and was groaning in pain.
"Martio."
Raon went on his knees to meet Martio's gaze.
[Does it hurt?]
"You..."
[It also hurt for me.]
Wrath must've already realized it, but he still used an aura message just in case.
[When you stabbed beneath my fingernails and toenails with a needle, when you tore apart the vitals points throughout my body with a blade, when savage beasts bit me, and when my only friend had to die... It hurt so much.]
Raon took Martio's sword and stabbed his thigh. That spot could cause intense pain, enough to make the entire body go numb.
"Huah..."
Martio sounded like he was about to die as he lowered his head.
Pssh!
The second stab was behind his shin. That spot could cause intense pain that made it feel like ants were devouring the body.
"Kuaaah!"
Martio screamed while struggling like a caterpillar.
"Don't worry. I still have a lot more to pay back."
"Uaaah!"
Raon struck Martio's vitals without showing any expression on his face, as if he were wearing a mask. His scream echoed throughout the quiet dungeon.
"Is this fun for you?"
"Uuh..."
"You were smiling while doing this to children who couldn't even speak properly yet. Was it fun?"
He was too excited and said it with his mouth even though he should've sent it through an aura message. Actually, he'd been excited ever since he entered the dungeon.
However, he didn't regret it even if Wrath managed to discover the truth. He couldn't quench the twenty years of waiting for his revenge by simply taking his life.
"St-stop..."
"The children you've killed also begged for their lives and asked you to stop countless times. Have you ever granted their wish?"
Raon remembered his previous life. The children who died from the torture, the children who were bitten to death by the wild dogs, the children who turned into the higher-up's playthings before being murdered, and the children who had to die at their best friend's hands.
He could remember all those young faces that couldn't even close their eyes in resentment. He gritted his teeth because he felt like he was going to cry otherwise.
"Uaah..."
Martio's wavering breath sounded like he was about to die. He was actually on the verge of death because he was being tortured after spending his vitality.
"Don't worry, I won't let you die."
Raon controlled the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier at the same time. He shoved Glacier into his left mana circuits and the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation into his right mana circuits.
Whir!
The two energies combined in Martio's wounded solar plexus and created an intense wave.
"Kuaaah!"
Martio's explosive scream was the loudest one so far. His eyes distorted shape because of the mixture of mental shock and physical pain.
"What is Derus's goal?"
"Uuh..."
However, Martio still didn't respond. It was a behavior befitting a fanatic.
"Let's try increasing the intensity."
Raon smiled coldly and amplified Glacier and the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation's energies.
"Uaaah..."
Martio's eyes rolled back. His limbs crooked like a squid.
"I've been enduring that pain ever since my birth. It's a perfectly bearable pain for a human being, so you should endure it."
The pain Martio was experiencing was no different from the pain Raon had every day until the Curse of Frost was lifted.
"I-I've already exhausted my vitality. I'm going to di—"
"I already told you that you aren't going to die."
Raon firmly shook his head.
"My two auras are clashing in your body to create false vitality. You will never be allowed to die until that energy is exhausted."
"Ah..."
"In short, that pain might last forever."
"Uhaah!"
Raon was obviously lying. While it was true that he could extend his life temporarily, he couldn't make it last forever.
"D-damn it..."
However, Martio seemed to believe him. His face distorted into an indescribable shape.
"I'll ask for the last time. What is Derus's goal?"
"..."
"You don't need to answer. You can stay in that state until I leave this dungeon."
"H-he wants to release fear into the continent..."
Martio raised his head when Raon was about to leave.
"Fear? Is he planning a war?"
"...Yes."
Martio nodded. Raon felt exhilaration from the fact that he managed to defeat the mind of a fanatic who had dedicated his whole existence to Derus.
"It must involve the Six Kings and the Five Demons."
"Th-that's also correct."
"So, how is he planning to cause this war?"
Raon narrowed his eyes. The war couldn't happen so easily because the Five Demons and the Six Kings had too much to lose. He couldn't understand how he was planning to start a war.
"I-it's the same as your case."
"...Don't tell me... Is he planning to kidnap the direct lines?"
Martio didn't respond, but his facial expression gave him the answer.
"I see."
Raon smiled coldly and nodded.
"He's such a nasty guy."
"Y-you will end up dying at his han—"
Martio couldn't finish his sentence and perished. Raon had no regrets because it was good enough that he managed to survive so long after spending his vitality.
'I've finished everything I wanted to do.'
He managed to traumatize Martio by revealing his identity before causing physical pain as he died, and he even managed to obtain hints about Derus's plan. It wasn't excessive to call it the best revenge he could've had.
Raon stabbed Martio's heart with his sword and closed his eyes.
'Rest in peace, everyone.'
He prayed, hoping that the souls that Martio had killed would be able to rest in peace.
"Haa..."
He sighed and turned around.
* * *
Wrath was looking at him with his arms crossed. It was time for an explanation.
'What shall I do...?'
He couldn't tell him everything about his reincarnation. It was necessary to add some fake reasons.
'Tempting him with food should be the best method.'
Raon licked his lips and walked up to Wrath.
"Wrath, what happened this time...."
Raon Zieghart.
Wrath's voice sounded heavier than usual as he called Raon's name.
The King of Essence isn't an idiot.
"Hmm..."
Wrath seemed to have realized already, just like Raon had expected.
But you aren't indebted to him either.
"What?"
You don't have to explain everything that happened to you.
Wrath uncrossed his arms and closed his eyes.
To be honest, the King of Essence happened to see your dream when you were trying to save the children from the orphanage.
Raon had thought it was strange because Wrath wasn't blabbering as much as usual, but he had apparently witnessed the fight to death against Number 9 in his dream.
Whether we are on good or bad terms, we can hardly deceive each other. However, that's not a reason to ask you to reveal your whole story. That's why he is going to wait.
Wrath smiled faintly and raised his hand.
You shall tell your story once you are ready. The King of Essence will forget about this until that happens.
"Huh..."
Raon's jaw dropped as he stared at Wrath. His casual yet imposing appearance made him look like a demon king, a true monarch, for the first time.
"...You are so cool."
He was the complete opposite of Raon, who was trying to deceive him no matter what, and that was giving a great impression.
The King of Essence has always been cool and beautiful. He's not someone that a mere human can dare to judge.
He turned around and shook his hand. He must've been trying to keep that atmosphere around him.
"I'll eat everything you want as soon as we leave this place."
Raon was serious. He was so thankful and apologetic at the same time, and he wanted to do every favor for him that he could.
...
Wrath didn't turn around. It was the first time he didn't even budge when food was mentioned.
"I'm seeing you in a new ligh—huh?"
Raon walked up to Wrath with a smile on his face but suddenly had to stop.
We are definitely including pizza, and the lamb chops from last time were pretty good. Ah, since we are at the southern sea now, lobsters or grilled fish would be a good idea. We also need some fruit juices to kill the aftertaste...
Wrath was writing down the list of food that he wanted to eat on his palm. It hadn't even been five seconds, yet he had already written more than a whole page.
"..."
'I thought he had changed, but I was mistaken.'
Even the dignity of a king couldn't help his gluttony.
Raon shook his head and looked at the ground. He rolled his lips into a smile while feeling the mythical creature's murderous aura, filled with irritation from all the noise and vibrations they had caused.
'There's one left now.'
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