Chapter 497

Raon narrowed down the range of his aura perception and examined the disciple of the Holy Sword Alliance master.

The green eyes seen under the shadowy deep blue hair were brimming with excellence. Raon could feel that his martial art wasn’t anything evil, unlike the other Five Demons.

‘He’s extremely powerful despite his young appearance.’

Raon could tell that the Holy Sword Alliance master’s disciple was a monster that had surpassed Master’s realm just from looking at his perfectly tightened meridians and the movement of his aura, which was as nimble as flowing water.

“You are as good at running your mouth as the rumors suggest.”

The disciple of the Holy Sword Alliance master snorted while stroking his smooth chin.

“But you are delusional.”

He rolled his eyes coldly without yielding to the provocation. His mental state seemed to be as good as his might.

“Delusional?”

Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at the disciple of the Holy Sword Alliance master.

“What are you talking about?”

“The alliance master ordered me to bring you to him, but he never mentioned ‘how’. It means that it’s perfectly fine to bring your corpse.”

The disciple of the Holy Sword Alliance master twisted his lips, and a frightening energy crept up from beneath his feet. It was his murderous intent infused with will, powerful enough to crush the body and tighten the heart.

“Hmm…”

Raon frowned while feeling the murderous intent crawling up to him like a chain.

‘So he is a Grandmaster.’

The way he freely manipulated his will allowed him to confirm the fact that the disciple of the Holy Sword Alliance’s master was a Grandmaster who had already surpassed the Master’s wall.

Victory wasn’t guaranteed because there was a huge difference in realm between them.

‘I’ll persevere for now since the Holy Sword Alliance shouldn’t know that I can use my will.’

He determined that enduring his opponent's will through the strength of his soul while looking for an opportunity to launch a surprise attack was the best course of action.

‘His realm shouldn’t be that high even though he’s surpassed the wall.’

Judging from his appearance, he seemed younger than forty years old.

Surpassing the wall required some time no matter how gifted a person was. That was why Raon guessed that he was most likely still at the entry level of Grandmaster.

‘Haa…’

Raon sighed faintly and met his opponent’s eyes.

“What’s your name?”

“What?”

“I asked you your name.”

“……”

The Holy Sword Alliance master’s disciple frowned without responding. It looked like he wasn’t expecting to be asked for his name in that situation.

“Don’t you even have the courage to announce your name when you are the Dark Night Sword God’s disciple? How pathe—”

“Cloud.”

Cloud’s lips parted as Raon sneered at him.

“I see, Cloud.”

Raon tilted his head while accentuating the name, Cloud.

“You should use your brain if you are going to lie. You can’t just blabber without even thinking.”

“What do you mean?”

“I wouldn’t have been able to escape from that city if the Holy Sword Alliance master wanted to kill me.”

Raon continued while rolling his lips into a long smile.

“The fact that he left me alive after he recognized me implies that there’s something he wants from me. It could be my talent, swordsmanship, or both.”

It wasn’t an instance of overinflated ego. Since the Holy Sword Alliance was a gathering of sword demons who could kill anyone for the sake of sword and sword techniques, there was no reason to bring a corpse back.

“……”

Cloud’s eyes darkened. They were as frightening as a sharp blade. Raon could understand why he’d become the Holy Sword Alliance master’s disciple upon seeing the cursed look in his eyes.

“Yes, I also heard that you were rather smart.”

He nodded, saying that it was all according to the information he’d received.

“Who even told you about it when you’ve been sitting on your ass?”

“The Master of the Bloody Sword told me that you are the most talented person on the continent.”

“Master of the Bloody Sword?”

Raon tilted his head because he wasn’t sure who that was, and Cloud continued.

“But that’s only because you haven’t encountered me yet.”

His murderous intent intensified visibly as a smile spread across his face. It was breathtaking pressure.

“Even though you’ve reached the highest level of Master at a young age, nothing guarantees that you will surpass the wall towards Grandmaster. There are countless vermin who couldn’t become a Grandmaster after reaching Master at a young age.”

He made his declaration with a dry voice and brought his hand towards his waist.

“I’ll teach you about real talent.”

Considering the fact that he kept talking about talent, Raon could guess that Cloud was extremely confident about his talent.

‘He must be extremely talented, of course.’

There was no way the Holy Sword Alliance master would accept an ordinary person as his disciple. The mere fact that he was a Grandmaster at such a young age testified to his talent.

‘However…’

Raon smiled faintly while looking at Wrath, who was yawning while lying on his right shoulder.

‘He is no match against me since I have the King of Doormats with me.’

Raon was confident that he could trounce the biggest talent in the continent or whatever as long as he had the giving Wrath with him.

“I don’t know about being more talented, but…”

Raon tilted his chin while rubbing his foot on the ground. He sneered while looking down on Cloud.

“Since even someone like you managed to become a Grandmaster, I think I can achieve it this year.”

“You…”

Cloud’s expression hardened for the first time. He seemed so triggered by the mention of his talent.

However, he must’ve gotten enough mental training befitting his realm since he wasn’t attacking over the irritation.

Raon weakly clicked his tongue and examined the warriors standing behind Cloud.

‘Are they the guards dispatched for the disciple of the Holy Sword Alliance master?’

There weren’t that many, but every single one of them was a powerful warrior, and multiple Masters were present. It was pretty clear that they were Cloud’s bodyguards.

Whir.

Raon expanded his aura perception behind him without taking his eyes off the enemies.

‘There aren’t many warriors left.’

The neutral factions and most of the civilians had already gone far away because the Light Wind division had been protecting them from the rear. Raon estimated that it would be difficult to protect all of them if they started to fight right there.

‘I need to take him far away from here.’

If a Grandmaster’s astral sphere landed in a bad location, it was going to annihilate the civilians and even the Light Wind division.

Luring Cloud far away while leaving the rest to the Light Wind division was the best course of action.

Raon made up his mind and sent an aura message to Burren, Runaan, and Mark Goetten at the same time.

[I’ll draw that talented parrot away with me. I leave the rest to you.]

The three people immediately nodded. Raon liked how he didn’t need to explain any further thanks to the long time they’d spent together.

“I’m rather confident in my footwork.”

Raon sheathed Heavenly Drive and turned his right ankle towards the right, where no one was around.

“Let’s see if you can follow me with that amazing talent of yours.”

Raon kicked the ground with full power, utilizing his fastest footwork, the Supreme Harmony’s Second Step.

“Catch me if you can.”

Are you crazy or what…?

Wrath shook his head while mumbling in wonder.

“You fucking jackass!”

Cloud ground his teeth violently and turned around.

“Take care of them all before I come back!”

He leaped towards Raon right after he gave his subordinates that order. His body, as refined as an excellent sword, dashed through the forest like a ray of light.

A smile appeared on Raon’s lips as he felt the prickling sensation of bloodlust reaching his back. He slightly turned his head to check behind him, seeing that Cloud was chasing after him with a cold expression on his face.

‘I knew it.’

He wasn’t running without a plan. He knew Cloud was going to follow because the Holy Sword Alliance master must’ve wanted him, rather than the others, judging from what Cloud had said.

He thought Cloud was obviously going to follow since his mission would fail if he allowed his target to escape even after killing everyone else.

‘It’s a shame that the others stayed behind though.’

He was hoping for Cloud’s guards to join the chase, but it was apparently too much to hope for. Raon didn’t stop his advance until the ramparts could no longer be seen while hoping that the Light Wind division would put up a good fight.

“Hmph.”

Raon stopped at an open area far away from the others, and Cloud landed on the ground with a frown on his face.

“Is this the limit of your ability after boasting about your talent while running?”

Raon had stopped there on purpose, but Cloud seemed to believe that his footwork was faster as he looked at him with a sneer on his face. He was powerful but seemed to have enough openings in his mentality.

“I was the only person that the Holy Sword Alliance master asked you to capture, right?”

Raon smiled coldly while sweeping his disheveled hair back.

“Can you even become the Holy Sword Alliance’s successor when you are so easy to read? Are you sure you won’t be devoured by your higher-ups?”

“Shut your trap!”

Cloud furrowed his brow and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. The energy wave emanating from him was on a whole different level from before.

Raon could feel that his body and aura were close to being complete.

Haa.

Raon calmly caught his breath while facing Cloud’s distorted eyes.

‘I need to go all-out from the start.’

He could anticipate that Cloud wasn’t going to go easy on him in order to prove his talent. A sloppy response could end up in a defeat after a single strike.

Raon unleashed the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier to the highest output and lightly grabbed Heavenly Drive’s hilt.

The moment a dry leaf landed on the ground, Raon and Cloud unsheathed their swords at the same time.

Distance didn’t matter to them. As their wills surged, their swords were already moving toward each other's souls.

It was a fight between sword draws.

Blades engulfed by majestic auras were firing off at each other’s throats. 

* * * 

Burren swallowed nervously while watching the slow advance of the Holy Sword Alliance’s swordsmen.

‘There are too many Masters.’

Judging from the frightening energy on their swords, he could tell that five among the twenty-five enemies were Masters, and one of them seemed to be an intermediate Master.

Assuming that Mark Goetten would fight the strongest opponent, he couldn’t come up with a solution to deal with the four others.

“They are the Elite Guard Unit who protect the disciple of the Holy Sword Alliance master.”

Denning rose frowned while looking at the swordsmen’s faces, which were as expressionless as dolls. She snapped her fingers, and warriors wearing black clothes emerged from the shadows on the ground.

“We will join the fight.”

She declared that she would handle one side herself and gave orders to her bodyguards.

“Casia!”

Encia shouted and a woman jumped down from a tree.

“Help the Light Wind division!”

“As you wish.”

The bodyguard called Casia bowed to Encia and stood in the way of the Master approaching from the left.

‘This gives us a bit more room… Huh?’

Burren let out a sigh of relief and noticed that the White Blood fanatics and sword demons from Holy Sword Alliance were running towards them from behind the Elite Guard Unit.

He realized it wasn’t going to be an easy fight.

“Into formation.”

“Into formation!”

He opened the Great Light Formation and stomped the ground. The footprint on the land served as a signal for the Elite Guard Unit to start charging at them through the wind.

‘Martha…’

Martha was still unconscious. It would be extremely helpful if she would wake up, but there was no time to hope for such a miracle. The Light Wind division had to fight without her.

“Dorian, focus on protecting Martha.”

“U-understood.”

Burren sent Dorian, who was carrying Martha on his back, to the rear and stepped forward to the front of the formation.

“You can kill them.”

The warrior, who seemed to be the captain of the Elite Guard Unit, raised his sword and ordered the slaughter.

“You won’t kill anyone as long as I’m here!”

Mark Goetten dashed at the captain with a furious shout of concentration. He seemed to be trying to prevent him from causing any damage.

Claaang!

The Brilliance Slash Overflow from the Anarchic Lightning Saber fell like lightning cutting through the sky, but the Elite Guard Unit’s captain withstood his attack with a simple upward swing of his sword.

“Is that all?”

“Patience is my strength instead of might.”

“How crude.”

The Elite Guard Unit’s captain laughed it off and swung his sword downwards. The diagonal slash bent like a whip towards Mark Goetten’s body.

“Kuh!”

Mark Goetten swung his sword in a cross shape to create a saber barrier with the shape of a shield.

Claaang!

The guard captain’s strikes seemed to be endless, but Mark Goetten wasn’t pushed back in the slightest as he endured while biting his lip.

Burren clenched his fist while watching Mark Goetten’s back.

‘Please hold out, Sir Mark.’

He wanted to tell him that he was coming to help, but he had no room for that.

The Holy Sword Alliance’s swordsmen were well aware that they had the upper hand and approached with light steps.

However, they unleashed their powerful aura and started to attack as soon as they got close enough.

Claaang!

Since there were two Masters among the Elite Guard Unit, the Great Light Wind Formation wavered significantly upon blocking the first hit, as if it were about to break already.

‘We are going to lose at this rate.’

There was pretty much a hole in the formation because both Martha and Dorian were missing from it. Burren could guess that they weren’t going to last for long.

“Heavy Battle Form!”

Burren switched the Great Light Wind Formation into the form with the highest defense and slashed upwards towards the elite guard that had reached him.

Whoosh!

The Barren Wind incorporated the heaviness of the land, but it disappeared in vain without cutting through his opponent’s astral energy.

Whaaam!

The counterattack that followed shook the Great Light Wind Formation violently, like a sailboat on a turbulent ocean.

‘Damn it…’

Burren clenched his fist to the point of bleeding.

‘There’s nothing we can do if we can’t withstand the strike in this form.’

The Heavy Battle Form of the Great Light Wind Formation was similar to a turtle hiding inside the shell to look for a chance for a surprise attack. However, the shell was about to shatter because the enemy’s attack was too violent.

Burren quickly looked back. He could see Runaan biting her lip as she maintained the center of the formation.

She must’ve received a large amount of damage because she was protecting the formation without Martha, but she was enduring it without even letting out a groan.

Whaaap!

Runaan exhaled roughly and unleashed her coldness. It was a frost fog capable of fortifying the formation and limiting the enemy’s movement at the same time.

However, the enemy attacks continued amid the fog. The astral energies of the two Masters exploded one after the other, and the formation’s center started to tilt.

“Kuh!”

Burren gritted his back teeth.

‘We are all going to die at this rate.’

There were two Masters and ten highest-level Experts. Moreover, there were countless swordsmen of the Holy Sword Alliance and White Blood fanatics assaulting them like hungry demons. Burren could tell that they were all going to end up dying if they focused on defense.

‘What about the others…?’

He quickly looked around, but no other warrior was available to help. It was a trial that the Light Wind Division had to overcome by themselves.

‘We have no other choice.’

Burren swirled his sword and advanced.

“To the Decisive Light Form!”

He abandoned defense, switched into an offensive formation, and jumped into the space of the Master who was trying to attack.

Claaang!

As expected of a Master’s strike, Burren felt like his shoulder was about to break even though it was an all-out surprise attack of the Barren Wind Sword.

It was different from when he used to fight Mark Goetten, who wasn’t trying to kill them. His opponent’s powerful malice was clutching around his body.

“What an idiot. You could’ve lived for a bit longer if you kept hiding like a mole.”

The elite guard sneered and swung his sword.

“But my companion next to me would’ve died if I did so.”

“It’s precisely because you care about your weak companions instead of the difference in skills that you can’t get any better.”

A frightening smile spread around his lips as he swung his sword engulfed in astral energy down. It was an extremely simple attack, but that made it even more fearsome.

Claaang!

It was too fast to dodge. Burren immediately raised his sword to block it.

Creak!

The astral energy cut through the aura blade and caused a tremendous amount of pressure.

“Kuh…”

Burren’s chin trembled violently as he forcibly extracted more aura from his aching energy center.

“You are not Raon Zieghart. Know your place.”

The Master from Holy Sword Alliance declared in a cold voice and swung his sword down.

He seemed to be trying to cut him in half along with the sword. Blood gushed from Burren’s shoulder and the hand that was holding the sword from the astral energy’s influence.

‘I’m not Raon Zieghart, you say? I know that better than anyone.’

He’d looked down on Raon when he’d seen him for the first time, he wanted to catch up to him once he realized what kind of person he was, but he just wanted to support his back at that point.

‘Because he’s given me so many things.’

Raon gave him countless gifts even though Burren had looked down upon him and laughed at him.

He was willing to offer even his life for Raon’s sake, as he considered him closer than his father or brothers.

There was no reason to live on if he couldn’t even complete a simple order, let alone be a pillar of support.

 “Aaaaaah!”

Burren stomped the ground while letting out a scream. The wave of the astral energy ripped his clothes apart and ruined his hair. Moreover, his voice was a scream instead of a shout of concentration, which was the behavior he despised the most since he loved a noble attitude.

“A pointless struggle!”

The Master from the Holy Sword Alliance unleashed his astral energy while twisting his lips. Burren’s knees bent and his back arched.

However, probably because he’d found freedom, a sense of relaxation that he’d never had before, his heart and energy center pounded powerfully to unleash an imposing wind.

“Kuh!”

Burren gritted his teeth and raised his sword. The aura accumulated over and over around his half-broken sword to create a majestic blue radiance. His astral energy advanced alongside a barren wind, shaking the entire forest to pierce through the Master’s sword and sever his chest.

Slash!

Red blood gushed from the swordsman’s chest.

“Huff…”

Burren spat out the blood welling up in his mouth and pointed his sword at his opponent.

“Raon Zieghart is incomparable to an idiot like me.”

He twisted his lips while looking at the brilliant light engulfing his blade.

“Apologize for what you said.”

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Writing Ant, 글개미]

[Translator – Kyangi]

[Proofreader – Harley]