Chapter 532

“Guh!”

Valmail’s lips trembled in fear as he looked at the blade emerging from his chest.

“Wh-what just happened…?”

He hadn’t been careless once after he’d entered the area. He hadn’t canceled his aura perception while he handed over the goods to Resia until she disappeared.

The only moment he let his guard down was when he pulled out the eyes of the weakling who was getting on his nerves by stating the name of his house.

It only lasted for a second. No, it could’ve been even less for a second, yet the man who had stabbed him from behind hadn’t missed that opportunity.

He had silently thrown the daggers to finish off the hiding assassins and even predicted where Valmail was going to move, piercing his heart.

It was a perfect combo without the smallest opening. He was a monster with an extremely polished martial art and assassination technique.

‘D-did the assassin king come to this place?’

While Valmail was thinking about Roenn, Raon violently pulled the blade from his heart.

Pssh!

Crimson blood seeped into the ground, and Valmail collapsed like a marionette whose strings were cut.

“Y-you…”

“I wanted to get some information out of you, but I unfortunately don’t have any time.”

Raon furrowed his brow while watching Valmail convulse on the ground.

‘Because I’ll be screwed if someone sees me.’

There was a large number of assassins and necromancers on the floor above.

If other people found him out while he was torturing Valmail for information, everything would go wrong. It was unfortunate, but he had to kill him right away.

“Who are you? Who in the world could…?”

“Ask your lord about it.”

Raon’s eyes remained cold as he slashed him with his bloody sword.

“Gu-guh…”

The red line appearing on Valmail’s throat widened further, and his life came to an end.

Hmph.

Wrath snorted while looking at Valmail’s corpse, the man’s eyes still wide open even in death.

It looks like even trash like him can feel resentment.

He shook his head at the ridiculous realization.

Raon watched Valmail for a short time before he took off his sword and sheathed it at his waist.

“Huff.”

Malto’s lips trembled as he watched Raon with the only eye he had left. He was the second son of House Sikern.

‘Is he a monster…?’

The man had slain almost twenty assassins at once by throwing daggers and had pierced the heart of a powerful warrior in a single strike even though even a Master like himself didn’t dare fight him.

His back was drenched in cold sweat upon witnessing the unavoidable dagger throw and his restrained sword art, which was designed for killing.

‘Who the hell is he?’

There was no way such a powerful monster would be nameless, yet he couldn’t come up with anyone no matter how hard he thought about it.

“H-hey!”

“Save me!”

“Please get me out of here!”

The warriors had been staring at Valmail blankly, but they finally returned to their senses and shouted at Raon to save them.

“……”

“Huff…”

“Ugh…”

Raon looked at them in a frightening manner, just like Valmail had done, and the warriors inside the cages shut their mouths with pale faces.

“A-aren’t you here to save us?”

“I’m the successor of a company! I’ll give you anything you want if you save me!”

“Same goes for me. I’m from House Yufen. I can give you any amount of money if you can get me out of here!”

The warriors still shouted at Raon to save them even though they were afraid of him.

“Be quiet.”

Raon shut their mouths with a hoarse voice and examined Valmail’s face.

‘His nose bridge is prominent, and his mouth isn’t protruding. It won’t be difficult to disguise myself as him.’

Disguise?

Wrath tilted his head, unable to understand what he was talking about.

‘He’s been wearing a mask without taking off his robe. It’s going to work since even our height is similar.’

Judging from the conversation between Resia and Valmail, they didn’t seem to be that familiar with each other.

He could potentially get rid of the two annoying necromancers at once by taking advantage of the situation.

Trying to kill two birds with one stone ends up making you miss both of them.

‘You sound normal for once. What happened to you?’

The King of Essence has always been normal!

‘You said that you wanted to grill fish a moment ago at the lake. Who are you calling normal…?’

While they were passing by the lake as he followed Valmail, Wrath had spouted some bullshit about wanting to catch a few of the fish because they looked delicious.

‘Anyway, it will be fine.’

Raon smiled while rotating his right arm.

‘Because my arm is long enough to kill two birds at once.’

Shupel the Dashing Spirit Master and Juran the Eldritch Necromancer were high-ranking necromancers.

He would be able to assassinate one of them, but it was fully possible that he would let the other one escape.

Since it could become a problem later on if they managed to escape, he wanted to eliminate them at the same time no matter what.

‘But I’ll need to prepare thoroughly.’

Raon dyed his eyes brown just like Valmail’s and modified the bridge of his nose, eyebrows, and cheeks a little before he put on the mask.

He pulled the hood low over his head as a finishing touch before he stood up. The silhouette from his nose to his mouth looked just like Valmail’s.

“Gasp…”

“Uhh…”

The warriors swallowed nervously since they still couldn’t understand the situation.

“The villains on the floor above might find out about this if I free you right now. The one in charge of the rescue will enter soon, so just wait for a moment.”

Raon’s voice gradually grew deep, like a small wave gradually turning into a large tide, and he ended up sounding just like Valmail.

“R-really?”

The warrior from House Sikern, whose eye was pulled out by Valmail, held onto the cage with a trembling chin.

“Be quiet as you wait.”

Raon nodded at him after throwing him a powdered medicine that could reduce his pain and stop the bleeding.

“I-I understand.”

The warriors resigned themselves to wait while biting their lips. The hope of survival probably made them decide to go along with him.

‘Haa…’

Raon slowly caught his breath and straightened his back.

He poured some water that he’d prepared in advance onto Valmail’s sword before he headed to the stairs.

‘Valmail had a coldhearted and sharp personality. He also had an inferiority complex towards the houses.’

* * *

He climbed the short amount of stairs while putting together the information about Valmail in his head, encountering Resia, who was coming back down.

He casually stopped walking since he’d already noticed her presence.

“Sir Valmail?”

Resia’s eyes seemed to be curious, as Valmail was coming up after telling her that he’d wait down below.

“I forgot about some material that I’m supposed to hand over to those old folks,” Raon said sharply as he calmed his pounding heart with the Ring of Fire.

‘This is the right way to act.’

Valmail had referred to Shupel and Juran as old folks. Since that implied that his rank wasn’t inferior to theirs, sounding like he was looking down on them was the correct decision.

“What kind of material is it?”

Resia asked about the material instead of backing off, implying that she was suspicious of him.

“I’ll deliver it to them if you give it to me.”

She extended her hand, asking him to give her the material he’d brought.

“I don’t want to see them either, but he ordered me to give it to them directly.”

“Did you actually forget such an important order? How uncharacteristic of you.”

Resia’s eyes narrowed as thin as a needle. She was clearly suspicious of him.

“That’s true. I made a mistake because of a certain piece of trash.”

“Trash?”

“I was distracted by the vermin who kept blabbering about his house from the moment he was kidnapped. I finally remembered after pulling his eye out.”

Raon twisted his lips while showing Valmail’s dislike towards prestigious houses.

“Did you harm the material?”

“It was just an eyeball.”

“Seriously…”

Resia sighed and lowered her raised hand. She stared at the inside of Raon’s hood with clear eyes that didn’t reveal her thoughts.

‘Did it not work?’

Raon bit the flesh inside the cheek and controlled his aura with a fingertip. He was getting ready to draw his sword when Resia slowly nodded.

“I understand.”

Resia turned around, asking him to follow her. Her aura perception implied that she didn’t completely trust him yet.

Huah!

Wrath groaned while clutching his pounding heart.

Even the King of Essence’s heart is pounding. How aren’t you nervous even in this situation?!

He shook his head. He looked even more nervous than when he was fighting against two transcenders at once.

‘This isn’t a big deal.’

Acting was an everyday occurrence when he used to be an assassin. He was trying to avoid being nervous as much as possible since it was necessary to react immediately if a problem occurred.

Raon followed Resia and examined the factory’s interior with his aura perception.

‘The positions are the same as before.’

The assassins hiding on the walls and ceiling and the necromancers in charge of making the Deathbringer Revenants were still at the same locations.

However, Deathbringer Revenants that seemed to be the completed products were standing in front of a pillar, and that was the only difference from two days ago.

‘Those might be dangerous.’

Raon scanned them with his eyes to confirm the number and condition of the Deathbringer Revenants as he slowly continued to walk.

Step step.

Resia’s steps came to a halt in front of the Dashing Spirit Master and the Eldritch Necromancer’s laboratory.

She carefully knocked on the door before she opened it.

“I was planning to go downstairs anyway. It’s been a while, Valmail.”

The Dashing Spirit Master smiled while putting on a well-ironed coat.

“I heard you brought lots of fresh ones. It should be fine if I get a taste of a few of them, right?”

Juran the Eldritch Necromancer grinned while rubbing his skinny hands.

“Sir Valmail said that he also brought another material. He said it was personally bestowed upon you by him.”

Resia stepped aside to the right. Raon walked up to where Resia used to stand and looked at the Eldritch Necromancer and the Dashing Spirit Master.

“A material bestowed on us by him?”

“What kind of material is it? It doesn’t seem to be human.”

The Eldritch Necromancer and the Dashing Spirit Master walked up to him while licking their lips, interested in the fact that it was given to them by Derus.

“He…”

Raon drew the sword that he’d been hiding under the robe while talking about Derus. With a flash of silver radiance, the blade severed the Dashing Spirit Master and the Eldritch Necromancer’s necks at the same time.

Slash!

Resia was standing on his right side, and he tried to kill her after that, but she reacted the moment the two necromancers were slain and gained distance.

“Kuh…”

Resia’s head wasn’t completely cut off thanks to that, and only a small amount of blood was flowing from her neck.

However, Shupel the Dashing Spirit Master and Juran the Eldritch Necromancer’s heads fell to the ground, scattering a frightening amount of blood because they weren’t able to dodge the sword.

“You idiot! An aura blade isn’t enough to kill me!”

The Eldritch Necromancer clutched his head while giggling. He looked like he couldn’t even feel any pain.

“He seems to be thinking that we are ordinary magicians. Unfortunately for you, we are pretty much dead already.”

The Dashing Spirit Master also sneered and picked up his own head.

“I’ll take my time asking your body who you—Huh?”

“Wh-why is this happening?”

“The power of regeneration isn’t working!”

The two necromancers watched their bodies melt like a lit candle with trembling lips.

“Aaaah!”

The Eldritch Necromancer shrieked. He seemed to be feeling the pain in his body once it melted all the way down to the shoulders.

“Y-you bastard, what have you done to us?!”

“Damn it! He used holy power and holy water! We’ve been completely devoured!”

The Dashing Spirit Master managed to notice that holy water and holy power were applied to his sword, but he couldn’t do anything and simply fell to his knees. His upper body had completely melted.

“Correct.”

Raon nodded while watching the two necromancers melting like the snow in the spring.

He had enchanted his blade with the Divinity Blooming from the Underworld when he cut them down a moment ago.

He had applied the highest grade holy water to the sword before coming there, and the holy power added on top nullified the necromancy of the Dashing Spirit Master and the Eldritch Necromancer.

“Ugh, damn it…”

“I-I’ll curse you…”

The two necromancers perished with their eyes rolled back as they watched their bodies turn into ash.

“Who the hell are you…?”

Resia gritted her teeth and unsheathed the sword hanging around her waist.

“Do you truly believe that you have the right to question me right now?”

Raon walked up to Resia along with a cold laugh just as the laboratory’s door was destroyed and the Deathbringer Revenants barged in. They were the ones that used to stand in front of the pillar.

‘Does she also have the permission to order them?’

He’d thought that only the necromancers were connected to the Deathbringer Revenants, but Resia apparently also had the rights.

‘Let’s see…’

Raon tried to attack Resia, and the nearest Deathbringer Revenant self-destructed without the slightest hesitation.

Whaaam!

The explosion was even more powerful than before, and the laboratory’s ceiling was destroyed while the floor burst as a result.

Whoosh!

Raon endured the shockwave with his back and went over the wall that the Deathbringer Revenant had destroyed to go into the factory.

‘I can’t leave a single one of them alive.’

If a single one managed to escape, Derus might obtain information. He couldn’t allow anyone to escape.

“Wh-what?!”

“Why did the Deathbringer Revenant act just now?”

“It even exploded! Was there an issue with the signal?”

The necromancers and assassins outside the laboratory didn’t understand the situation yet and didn’t leave their positions.

‘They are at the perfect locations.’

Raon threw the daggers with his left hand and unleashed the aura blade of wind with the sword in his right hand.

Whaam!

The dark throwing daggers pierced the hearts of the assassins that were trying to attack him, and the aura blade of extreme quickness cut off the heads of the necromancers.

‘There’s roughly half of them left now.’

Raon prepared for the second attack just as the Deathbringer Revenants broke through the smoke and rushed at him.

Whack!

The moment the fastest Deathbringer Revenant turned red in preparation to explode, Raon went to its left and kicked its waist with his foot.

His transcendental power and speed dwelled within his kick, and the Deathbringer Revenant’s explosion only occurred after it was sent flying.

Whaaam!

A tremendous explosion occurred, and four assassins staying back in a corner turned into a pool of blood and subsided.

Swoosh!

Raon dodged the attack of the other Deathbringer Revenants without even using footwork and unleashed an aura blade toward a necromancer’s back as they tried to escape through the passage on his right side.

“F-fuck off!”

The necromancers created a shield of death in an attempt to stop the aura blade, but it wasn’t an ordinary attack.

Claang!

Since the holy water and holy power were assisting the strike, it cut through the energy of death without any issue and tore apart the bodies of the necromancers.

‘It’s over.’

All of the assassins and necromancers he’d checked on when he entered were dead. Resia and the Deathbringer Revenants were the only ones left.

Raon was about to turn around when Deathbringer Revenants attacked him from the left and right.

“Kill him!”

Resia was almost screaming as she gave them the order, and their movements suddenly changed.

‘They became faster.’

The Deathbringer Revenants were a lot faster and smoother than the ones he’d fought before. It almost felt like he was surrounded by living assassins. They encircled him so that he wouldn’t be able to dodge the explosion and started to turn red.

‘Did they already manage to improve them in that short time?’

He’d heard that they were working on improving the Deathbringer Revenants, but he hadn’t expected it to bear results so quickly.

“Amazing. However…”

‘You aren’t the only one who has gotten stronger.’

Raon activated the Ring of Fire and the Evil Eye of Wrath. He rapidly raised his wrist while watching the energy of death from the Deathbringer Revenants move from their energy centers to their hearts.

Psssh!

His sword strike advanced like the evening glow reflected on the ocean and severed the upper bodies of the Deathbringer Revenants in half.

Clatter.

The bodies of the Deathbringer Revenants tilted to the side and fell, but none of them exploded.

“Wh-what happened just now…?”

Resia’s face turned pale to the point where she looked like she was about to die.

‘Impossible! The signal was lost!’

The Deathbringer Revenants could still self-destruct even if their bodies were sliced into pieces. She couldn’t believe that the order wasn’t being delivered anymore even though all he’d done was cut them in half.

“I’ve cut the wick.”

Raon walked up to Resia while lowering his blood-soaked sword.

‘Of course it wouldn’t explode—the fire didn’t manage to reach the explosive.’

A Deathbringer Revenant’s explosion occurred once the energy of death entered their unbeating heart.

He had slashed the flow of the energy of death with a sword imbued with holy power and holy water, which was why they couldn’t self-destruct anymore.

“Wh-who the hell are you…?”

“You aren’t the one asking questions here.”

Raon tilted his chin and stood in front of Resia.

“I’m sorry, but you won’t hear anything from m—”

Resia was about to provoke the rage worm inside of her in an attempt to kill herself, only for Raon to smack her chest.

“Cough!”

Resia coughed up blood with trembling lips.

“Wh-what? But why…?”

She raised her trembling eyes, surprised by the fact that the rage worm wasn’t doing anything.

“It’s been no fun so far because people start to talk way too easily whenever I torture them.”

A frightening light sparkled in Raon’s red eyes.

“I wonder how long you will last.”

***

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]