Chapter 591

The Crimson Flame Demon’s transformation into a spirit was undone, and crimson blood gushed from his chest.

Tap.

Raon dropped Heavenly Drive from his right hand. He had no more strength left to hold the sword.

However, the flame in the Crimson Flame Demon’s eyes wasn't extinguished yet. He seemed to have no intention to give up, even though he was on the verge of death.

“Gaaaah!”

The Crimson Flame Demon roared loudly and extended his hand towards the world tree instead of Raon.

A tremendous heat gushed out of his crimson hand, where his skin was completely torn off. He had unleashed a crimson flame by burning his own life.

Rumble!

Raon was sent flying to the back as if the heat of the Crimson Flame Demon’s fire had slapped his face.

You are just a fire guy! Are you looking down on the King of Essence?!

......

Raon wanted to attack back, but his head throbbed as if it were about to split apart, with Wrath and the fire spirit king still fighting against each other.

He felt like he was going to faint, but he forced himself to steady his mind because the Crimson Flame Demon was still alive.

Whaaap!

Water flowed down elegantly, as if a waterfall appeared from the sky, and blocked the path of the Crimson Flame Demon’s fire. It was the water spirit king’s moon water.

“Stop getting in my way!”

Even though the Crimson Flame Demon coughed up a dangerous amount of blood, he didn’t withdraw his flame. It seemed to be his desperate struggle, since he was going to die anyway if he didn’t do anything.

Psssh!

His flame further intensified and started to evaporate the moon water.

‘Is the water spirit king really losing?’

Raon shifted his gaze while thinking it was strange, and he could see that Siyan was faltering, unable to stand straight. Blood was flowing down from her nose and mouth.

‘Is she at her limit? No, I should be saying that it’s strange she managed to last this long.’

Even though Siyan was a high elf, it would be difficult to control the spirit king’s power on her first attempt. She’d already done enough by lasting until then.

‘I need to finish him off.’

Rimmer was unable to move, the head elder and the elders were severely injured, and the other elves couldn’t even get close to him because of the heat. It was up to him to finish the battle.

‘But what can I do…?’

The Sword Field was closed, and he couldn’t even stand straight, let alone swing his sword, because Wrath and the fire spirit king were still fighting.

The Crimson Flame Demon was solely focused on the world tree while ignoring Raon because he was aware of that fact.

‘Wait a moment… He is ignoring me, right?’

Raon examined the Crimson Flame Demon, who wasn’t even glancing at him and touched the Blade of Requiem in his left hand.

‘I have a way.’

There was the last move he could make to kill the Crimson Flame Demon.

Raon weakened his grip on the Blade of Requiem and stomped the scorched land with his right foot.

He connected the rebound rising from his ankle to his thigh, waist, and shoulder to launch the Blade of Requiem in an instant.

Psssh!

The red blade rushed towards the Crimson Flame Demon’s heart, incorporating the principle of dagger throw instead of aura.

“Hmph!”

The Crimson Flame Demon only focused on breaking through the water spirit king’s moon water because he noticed that the Blade of Requiem didn’t have any aura in it.

He seemed to think that the Blade of Requiem wouldn’t even reach him because of the wall of heat.

Whoosh!

It was also true in reality. The Blade of Requiem faltered, unable to advance because of the Crimson Flame Demon’s heat even though it was wrapped in ghastly energy.

Raon didn’t do anything even though he saw that the Blade of Requiem was about to be shot down. He was waiting for the right moment.

The Crimson Flame Demon realized that the Blade of Requiem wasn’t a threat to him and fully focused on the water spirit king.

At that moment, the last ember filled Raon’s eyes.

‘Now!’

He opened up his upper energy center, which had recovered a little in the meantime. He incorporated his murderous intent to break through the flame and kill the Crimson Flame Demon into the Blade of Requiem.

Whir!

Probably because it was such an extreme situation, the Blade of Requiem’s will connected to his own as if they’d always been together.

Raon got the pleasant feeling of a cool wind blowing into his brain, which felt like it was about to be cooked.

Whir!

The Blade of Requiem was falling after losing to the heat but it stopped wavering and rose back up.

The red blade advanced even faster than when it was carrying the astral sphere and broke through the Crimson Flame Demon’s fire.

Whack!

It all happened in an instant. The Blade of Requiem shot forward like a ray of light, shattering the Crimson Flame Demon’s helmet and piercing straight into his skull.

“Cough!”

The Crimson Flame Demon’s hand fell powerlessly. His life started to fade away when even a laceration on his chest couldn’t kill him.

“D-Dancing Sword…?”

The Crimson Flame Demon’s dry lips trembled as he looked at Raon.

“You’ve been deceiving me all along…”

“No.”

Raon exhaled roughly and shook his head.

“It was a coincidence.”

He wasn’t lying. It was because of the urgency of the situation that he’d managed to connect with the Blade of Requiem.

If it was an ordinary situation, he would’ve failed it 100 times out of 100 attempts.

“Uuh…”

The Crimson Flame Demon fell on his knees and collapsed. He twisted his lips while extending his hand towards the world tree.

“I-it was within my reach…”

It was the last thing he said before he perished. Raon kept watching him just in case, but he didn’t stand back up.

“What a tenacious bastard…” Raon exclaimed and fell backward.

‘I’m really at my limit now.’

He had exhausted everything, his stamina, aura, and willpower alike. He didn’t even have any strength left to keep his eyes open.

‘They should be able to manage with the rest of the enemies.’

Since he’s slain the Red Demon Snake, Cassandra, and even the Crimson Flame Demon, the elves should be able to take care of the rest.

To be honest, he couldn’t be bothered anymore and just wanted to sleep.

Because…

Alright! If you want to struggle so much, then the King of Essence is just going to devour you!

......

Wrath and the fire spirit king were still fighting inside him.

Wrath had the overwhelming advantage in power, but the fire spirit king remained as tenacious as a leech.

‘Stop fighting, you crazy things… I’m really going to die at this rate!’

* * *

Rimmer gasped while crawling towards Raon, who had collapsed.

“He really did it in the end. What a monster.”

Raon had managed to cut through the Crimson Flame Demon’s fire and shattered his skull even though he was way more powerful.

Even though the fire spirit king and the water spirit king had helped, it was an impossible feat to achieve.

‘The last sword technique he did… It was the Dancing Sword…’

It wouldn’t have worked if the Crimson Flame Demon hadn’t let his guard down because of how imperfect it was, but Raon’s dagger definitely followed the flow of Dancing Sword.

‘It was only recently that Grandpa taught him about the Sentient Arrow. How could he already…?’

It hadn’t even been a week since Sterin had shown him the principles of Sentient Arrow. The fact that he’d analyzed that profound principle and made it into his own was shocking.

‘A monster. No, it’s not even enough to describe him.’

He was called a genius at first, and a monster afterward, but it was still not enough to describe Raon.

“Good job.”

Rimmer managed to approach Raon with lots of difficulty and gently stroked his singed blond hair.

“And thank you.”

Seipia would’ve turned into ashes and Eden would’ve gained a new transcender if it weren’t for Raon.

Regardless of the fact that he was his disciple and a subordinate, Rimmer simply felt grateful to Raon.

“Sir Raon!”

He looked behind him upon hearing Siyan’s voice. She was running towards them while wiping her nosebleed with the back of her hand.

‘Yeah. He’s also a benefactor for her.’

It was all thanks to Raon that Siyan could muster the courage and managed to summon the spirit king.

There were so many things to thank him for once he woke up from his slumber.

“Siyan, are you o—”

“Sir Raon!”

She completely ignored Rimmer, knelt in front of Raon, and started to examine his condition.

“Hey, can’t you see how badly injured I am…?”

“You are alive. That’s enough!”

Siyan murmured that he should just go ahead and apply some ointment or something and grabbed Raon’s hand.

“Sir Raon, are you okay?”

Raon couldn’t respond because he was already unconscious.

“What should I do?!”

Siyan accepted some moon water from the water spirit king, which had decreased in size, and poured it into Raon’s mouth. Blood was flowing down from her mouth because of her internal injuries, but her hand never stopped.

“Rimmer.”

The head elder came to them after eliminating the remaining enemies and extended his hand towards Rimmer.

“Haa…”

Rimmer grabbed the head elder’s injured hand and stood up.

“Haa…”

The head elder let out a short exclamation while looking at Raon.

“What the hell is that monster?”

“Raon Zieghart. He is currently my disciple and my subordinate, but in the future…”

Rimmer smiled faintly while gazing down at Raon, whose eyes remained closed.

“He will become the king that I’m going to serve.”

He called him the king with an unusually serious voice.

“I see.”

The head elder wasn’t surprised, nor did he scold him. He simply nodded, acknowledging that he had the qualities to become the king.

“We should probably be included in that serving…”

“I told you!”

He was briefly catching his breath when Erian came up to them and raised his fist.

“That human! He is the spirit king’s contractor!”

Erian claimed that his long faith was finally paid back with a refreshing smile on his face.

“Moreover, he even became the savior of elves on top of being the spirit king’s contractor! My intuition is never wrong!”

He grinned and shook his hand towards Leiran, who was standing there blankly.

“Leiran, you didn’t believe in Raon! How do you feel right now?”

“A-about that…” Leiran stuttered, unable to respond.

“You called me crazy, didn’t you? This is what you call a wise investment!”

Erian looked thrilled about Raon becoming the spirit king’s contractor, even more than about Seipia surviving. Even his personality had changed entirely.

“The spiritual realm should be stabilized now since the water spirit king and the fire spirit king were revived…”

“Be quiet already!”

He raised his voice, and Siyan yelled at him while examining Raon.

“L-Lady Siyan?”

“Sir Raon is in a strange condition.”

“Strange?”

Rimmer hurriedly approached Raon.

“Heat and coldness are fighting inside Sir Raon. The heat must be the fire spirit king, but what could the other one be?”

Siyan’s head trembled, saying that she couldn’t understand it.

“The other one?”

“Yes. It’s a coldness, but it’s even more powerful than Ellaim’s…”

She shook her head, saying that she could sense an energy even more intense and gigantic than the water spirit king.

“I-isn’t it the second water spirit king or something? Or your water spirit king made a contract with him at the same time…”

Erian blinked while looking at Siyan.

“There’s no way that’s possible!”

Siyan rapidly shook her head and looked at Raon again.

“This thing inside Sir Raon’s body is… Huh?”

“What’s the matter?”

“Th-the fire spirit king’s energy has suddenly disappeared! Wh-what’s happening?”

She widened her eyes, unable to understand.

“Huh…?”

“It’s true. I can’t sense the fire spirit king’s energy anymore.”

Rimmer and the head elder dropped their jaws, noticing that the spirit king’s energy had disappeared.

“Th-then what’s going to happen now? Is Raon in danger?”

Erian worriedly examined Raon.

“No. The coldness is also fading away now, and he’s being stabilized.”

Siyan shook her head with a sour face.

“Isn’t it because the fire spirit king returned to the spiritual realm?” Rimmer asked while scratching his chin.

“I don’t think so…”

Siyan shook her head while looking at Raon’s face, which seemed to be at ease.

“What could’ve happened?”

* * *

Raon lifted his eyelids with difficulty.

‘Where am I…?’

He could see a brown ceiling, resembling finely woven tree trunks. He seemed to be in a different house, one belonging to an elf, instead of the inn where he’d been staying before.

‘Well, I guess it was burnt up.’

He could guess that he was carried there because everything other than the houses behind the world tree had been turned into ash.

‘It wasn’t an easy fight.’

The Crimson Flame Demon was powerful. More precisely, he became powerful. Raon could finally understand how overpowered it was to get stronger while fighting.

‘However…’

Raon clenched his fist, feeling that his strength hadn’t completely returned yet.

‘I’ve also gotten stronger thanks to him.’

The duel to the death while using the fire spirit king and Wrath’s power had slightly improved his realm, which had stabilized after he’d reached Grandmaster.

It wasn’t just about the realm. The experience of wielding such immense power would undoubtedly prove invaluable in the future when he aimed to reach even greater heights.

‘Putting that aside…’

Raon closed his eyes and examined his condition once again.

‘The fight in there must’ve concluded now.’

He couldn’t sense Wrath and the fire spirit king’s energies anymore, even though they were still fighting when the Crimson Flame Demon was defeated. They both seemed to have left.

‘Wrath must’ve won.’

The fire spirit king was as persistent as a leech, but there was no doubt Wrath would have prevailed in the end because of the overwhelming difference in power.

‘Wrath.’

What’s shup?”

Raon called out to Wrath, and he slowly crawled out from the bracelet.

‘What happened to the fire spirit king?’

What else? He was crushed by the King of Esshence’s dignity.

He snorted without looking at Raon.

‘Did it return to the spiritual realm, then?’

Raon licked his lips. He wanted to see what the fire spirit king looked like. That was why it felt regrettable that it’d left before it happened.

……

Wrath didn’t respond, twitching his plump cheeks.

‘What are you doing by the way?’

Wh-what do you mhean?

‘Hmm?’

Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at the back of Wrath’s head. His cheek couldn’t stay still for some reason, and his pronunciation was strange. He almost looked like he was eating something.

‘What are you eating?’

Huff!

Wrath covered his mouth with his chubby hands and shook his head as if he had been caught.

‘Hey.’

Raon grabbed Wrath’s head and turned it around. As expected, he was chewing something in his mouth. An ominous feeling ran down his spine like a burn.

‘Spit it out.’

Since Wrath had a spiritual body, there was no way he was eating anything ordinary. He was definitely doing something strange.

N-no! This is for the King of Essence!

Wrath closed his mouth tightly, refusing to spit it out.

‘Spit it out!’

Raon grabbed Wrath’s mouth. He tried to force it open, but his chin was so strong that Raon couldn’t open it even though he used all his strength.

‘What are you even eating right now?!’

I-it’s a candy.

Wrath shook his hand, telling him not to worry about it since it was just candy.

‘Candy?’

Indeed. It’s a strawberry-flavored candy. Don’t worry about it.

‘Strawberry flavored…’

The mention of strawberry flavor reminded him of what Wrath had told him before.

Green spirits taste like green grapes, and red spirits taste like strawberries.

Wrath had said it when he was talking about his visit to the spiritual realm.

Raon swallowed nervously and looked at Wrath again.

‘Hey, d-don’t tell me…’

It’s not true!

‘What’s not true?!’

Raon gritted his teeth and walked up to Wrath. He forced his mouth open by mustering all his strength.

Tap.

A crimson candy fell from the slight gap in Wrath’s mouth. The teeth marks all over the candy implied that it had been chewed on many times.

‘It’s really candy… Huh? Flames?’

Raon examined the candy and widened his eyes. A faint ember that was about to be extinguished was blazing around the candy. The flame felt familiar for some reason.

‘N-no way…’

He shouldn’t be saying no way because he was certain about it. It was the fire spirit king’s energy that had helped him during the battle against the Crimson Flame Demon.

“The spirit king is dead…”

Raon’s lips trembled as he clutched his head.

“The spirit king appeared after a thousand years but he died again!”

That’s why you should’ve fed the King of Essence when he asked…

“You food waster!”

***

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]