Chapter 627

Raon raised Heavenly Drive from below, aiming toward the Holy Sword Alliance’s sword demons and the Black Tower’s demonized humans behind Luciton and Bellurian.

Slash!

The sound slashing through the air resounded as loudly as a violent tide, and the bodies of the demonized humans tilted toward the ground.

Swoosh!

The slash cut through the space and the chests of the demonized humans and the sword demons at the same time, crimson blood gushing from them as a result. They lay down in the desert without even realizing their own deaths, just like Luciton and Bellurian. The gray sand was stained with the crimson color of blood.

“Huh,” Liston gasped while observing Luciton and Bellurian’s headless corpses. “Those monsters shouldn’t have died so easily…”

Raon’s two casual swings looked like he was simply fanning at them, yet the wall created by the Holy Sword Alliance and the Black Tower that had stopped hundreds of people was instantly destroyed. It was an overwhelming power. He seemed to have grown even stronger than the last time he’d seen him.

“I could get them easily because they were underestimating me.”

Raon shook his hand at Liston, who was flustered at the sight. Luciton and Bellurian had lost their heads in a single slash because they’d underestimated Raon and weren’t going all out right off the bat. Such carelessness should’ve never happened during a fight to the death.

‘This isn’t time to be concerned with those idiots.’

Raon activated the Perception of the Snow Flower and gathered his aura. He formed his aura perception into the shape of a spider web and spread it all around the forest and desert.

‘They should be easy to find since they’re supposed to be fighting right now.’

He couldn’t see Serena and the Master of the Abyssal Sword anywhere in the forest or desert, but the flow of their aura should have been easily noticeable since they were fighting. His aura perception spread in all directions like a divine dragon, and he could sense a powerful wave of aura from the end of it. It was a clash between wills unleashed by Grandmasters.

‘They’re over there.’

Raon decided on the direction and turned around.

“They were over there the last time I saw them.”

The location Liston was pointing at was slightly away from the aura wave’s location. He was wrong.

“They must’ve strayed away while fighting. They are over here right now. Follow me, everyone.”

Raon told Liston the correct direction and shook his hand towards the Light Wind Division. He executed the Supreme Harmony Steps and dashed forward at the front of the formation.

“Yes!”

Not a single person among the Light Wind Division doubted his decision—it was as if they completely believed Raon’s words as the truth—as they followed him by dashing through the desert.

“Ah, this is so much work.”

Not even Rimmer was arguing with him despite being the Sword of Light, who didn’t even listen to the head of house.

The entirety of the Light Wind Division had complete trust in Raon.

“I can just rest at this rate, can’t I?” Liston sighed while looking at Raon’s back, which was already far away.

He didn’t even need to give him any information because he could find his enemies with his inhuman aura perception. Liston had seen many warriors before, but he’d never seen such a monster.

‘However, even if I won’t be helpful at all… I should still follow him until the end.’

He wanted to follow the Light Wind Division so that he could feel that sensation once again.

“Wait for me!”

Liston shook his hand and dashed through the desert, following the Light Wind Division’s trail.

“Hmm…”

“W-we should go too!”

“Yes! The Sword and Saber Sovereign’s grave is right under our noses! We can’t miss our chance!”

“That’s right. You never know who will get the treasure once we enter the grave.”

“Catch up to them!”

The warriors who’d been stopped by the Holy Sword Alliance and the Black Tower also dashed through the desert in the direction Raon was running. The desire reflected in their eyes hadn’t decreased at all.

“Haa…”

While those warriors were running like bison, some of them were turning around, giving up on the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s legacy.

“I don’t think I can do this.”

“I agree. I’m going back home…”

“How am I even supposed to win against a monster like that?”

“I’m just going to carry on the family business at home…”

A few warriors were frightened by Raon’s might and returned to their homes with their heads hanging low. However, the powerful warriors and eccentric people who’d been watching the situation unfold while hiding slowly started to follow Raon—without a single exception.

* * *

Raon ran towards the location where he’d sensed the clash of auras for a while, a devastated forest and desert appearing on his path.

Half of the forest was turned into ash, implying that it was set on fire, and the other half was frozen by black frost.

On the other hand, the desert had dozens of craters on the ground. There was hardly anywhere intact—as if it had been bombarded by magic.

‘Did the Snow Wraith Duchess fight against Barphil the Boltweaver in the forest while Serena fought the Master of the Abyssal Sword in the desert?’

He could guess that it was how the two-on-two battle had unfolded.

‘No… There’s one more person.’

There were traces of another extremely powerful warrior, something that wasn’t the auras of the Void Sword Division’s swordsmen or the Abyssal Sword Division’s sword demons.

‘Which means, they’re probably…’

While Raon was trying to guess who the other enemy might be, the sandhill exploded and Serena soared into the sky with a tall man with long black hair.

“......”

Serena’s tidy hair had become disheveled, and her uniform was stained with sand and blood. She seemed to be in big trouble.

On the other hand, the tall swordsman who was fighting her was curling his lips into a smile. He wasn’t injured in the slightest.

‘Is he the Master of the Abyssal Sword?’

His arms and legs were abnormally long. He wasn’t at the level of having a perfect body for swordsmanship and footwork. He looked like a grasshopper, but Raon couldn’t laugh at him because the wave of power emanating from him was too great.

Thud!

The Master of the Abyssal Sword stepped on the air as if it were land and charged at Serena. His rapier wavered faintly in his grasp and created dozens of webs of light.

“......”

Serena calmly raised her gaze even though she had noticed the web of blades was covering the sky. She held her sword with both hands and slashed down to cut through heaven and earth.

Whaaam!

With a tremendous shockwave, Serena’s strike and the Master of the Abyssal Sword’s blades disappeared altogether.

Cring!

The Master of the Abyssal Sword immediately rushed at Serena from the left side as if he had expected that to happen and thrust his sword towards her heart.

“......”

Serena didn’t miss the Master of the Abyssal Sword’s movement either, stepping forward onto the desert with her right foot. She advanced in response to her enemy’s attack, aiming to block his sword.

Claang!

Thanks to her quick decision, the Master of the Abyssal Sword’s attack was fended off before it could reach its target. Her heart would’ve been pierced if she’d reacted any later.

‘He isn’t a good opponent for her.’

Since the Master of the Abyssal Sword aimed to maximize his speed, it was pretty much a hard counter to Serena’s heavy blade.

‘Moreover…’

Raon shifted his gaze to the left. A huge presence drastically subsided from the destroyed forest, and someone was approaching them at a tremendous speed.

Rumble!

A young-looking woman appeared, wrapped in the black ice that had frozen half of the forest, and raised her spear of ice toward Serena’s neck.

The Snow Wraith Duchess must’ve defeated the Boltweaver and seemed to be trying to help the Master of the Abyssal Sword.

“You’re late!”

The Master of the Abyssal Sword gripped his sword, which was being pushed back, with an evil grin on his face. He stabbed toward Serena’s heart once again, showing that he wasn’t about to miss his opportunity.

“Hmm…”

Serena’s eyes became distorted for the first time despite how they’d remained composed even when she was injured.

She solely focused on the Master of the Abyssal Sword, not even looking at the Snow Wraith Duchess—implying that she was going to give up on one side. She seemed to be planning to fend off the attack from behind with an aura shield.

Thud!

At that moment, Raon released his energy, which he’d been hiding, and executed the Supreme Harmony Steps. He was different from the Master of the Abyssal Sword, who was stepping on the air. His advance looked like he leaped through the space as he landed behind Serena.

“Raon?”

As Serena’s surprised gaze reached him, Raon crushed the Snow Wraith Duchess’s sword as it rushed towards her with Heavenly Drive’s hilt.

Whaaam!

The Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation’s flame competed against the Snow Wraith Duchess’s frost like beasts baring their fangs and exploded all at once.

“Kuh!”

The Snow Wraith Duchess furrowed her brow and stepped back from the powerful shockwave. Her trembling hands looked like they belonged to a transparent ice sculpture.

“Who are you…?”

The Snow Wraith Duchess looked around in panic, and the Master of the Abyssal Sword landed next to her.

“He is Raon Zieghart.” The Master of the Abyssal Sword recognized him at a glance and furrowed his brow. “How did you get here? Luciton should’ve been there.”

“Now that you mention it…” The Snow Wraith Duchess shifted her gaze, looking for Bellurian as well.

“Do I even need to answer?”

Raon tilted his head while looking down on the Snow Wraith Duchess and the Master of the Abyssal Sword.

“......”

Their gazes stiffened even more fiercely.

“But I didn’t sense a fight at all.”

“That’s because we didn’t fight.”

“What?”

“They both died in a single strike. They weren’t even worth a fight,” Raon declared with an unwavering gaze.

“You little shit…”

“What an arrogant bastard.”

The Master of the Abyssal Sword and the Snow Wraith Duchess bit their lips.

“I have no intention of continuing this pointless talk with you. Just give me the map.”

Raon bobbed his finger at the Master of the Abyssal Sword.

“Hah! Wahahaha!”

The Master of the Abyssal Sword clutched his head and burst into laughter.

“I must’ve been away from the scene for too long.” He twisted his lips and kicked the ground. “Because look at how a brat who is still wet behind his ears is babbling at me!”

“Then see how it feels like to be killed by that babbling brat,” Raon snorted, about to unleash the Flame Spirit.

Whir!

White water spouted at the right side of the Master of the Abyssal Sword and the Snow Wraith Duchess, and a strange man whose upper body was gray showed up.

‘This energy… Bloody energy?’

He could feel the White Blood Religion’s bloody energy from that man. Moreover, it was as powerful as an apostle’s.

“It’s him.” Serena came up next to Raon and bit her lip. “He suddenly interfered when the Boltweaver and I were fighting them. That’s the sixth apostle.”

Her sword trembled in her hand as she told him that they were taken by surprise.

‘So, he is from the White Blood Religion.’

When Raon had noticed the trace of another powerful warrior, he’d thought it was one of the White Blood Religion’s apostles, and he’d guessed it right.

‘The sixth apostle…’

He’d never seen that apostle before, but he couldn’t be underestimated. His bloody energy was too soft, to a frightening extent.

Those three factions often acted together among the Five Demons. Raon guessed that they’d decided to share the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s grave.

“You arrived at the perfect time. Let’s get rid of them for now…”

“We’ve got an issue.” The sixth apostle took a glance at Raon and shook his head. “The Shadowless Wanderer found the grave before us. He was the first one to enter, and the people in the area are all heading over there.”

“What?” The Master of the Abyssal Sword’s eyes widened at the unexpected situation.

“What is that bullshit?!”

“Wasn’t the Shadowless Wanderer killed by the White Snake Rain?”

The Snow Wraith Duchess was also surprised, her mouth widening as she asked what was happening.

“He must have faked his death and continued his search. He appears to have memorized the map.”

“God damn it! Where is it?”

“It’s not too far from here.”

The sixth apostle raised his finger. White bloody energy spread around from the tip of his finger and engulfed the Snow Wraith Duchess and the Master of the Abyssal Sword.

“Where do you think you are going?”

“Hmph!”

Raon executed the Supreme Harmony Steps. He approached the sixth apostle, and just as he was about to unleash the Crimson Slash, the Master of the Abyssal Sword and the Snow Wraith Duchess extended their hands at the same time.

Clang!

The energies of the two monsters exploded at once, and the sword strike and ice rained down like a shower. The attacks weren’t directed at Raon but at the Light Wind Division and the Void Sword Division behind him.

Even though Serena and Rimmer were among them, it seemed unlikely that they could fend off all of those attacks.

“Damn it!”

Raon took a step back and unleashed the Flame Spirit.

Whir!

Hundreds of flower petals bloomed from the tip of his blade, creating a wall of flame that defended the Light Wind Division and the Void Sword Division from the attacks aimed at the front.

Cring!

Rimmer and Serena deflected the falling sword strikes and ice from left and right respectively.

However, the sixth apostle, the Master of the Abyssal Sword, and the Snow Wraith Duchess disappeared in the meantime.

“Sir Raon!” Liston hurriedly ran up to him. “What they said was true. The Shadowless Wanderer already found the grave and entered!”

He lowered his head, saying that their agent had just contacted him.

“The location is…”

“It’s over there.”

Raon pointed in the direction of the destroyed forest. He could sense the presence of the enemies that disappeared a moment ago from that direction. It really wasn’t that far.

“Let’s go.”

“Hmm.”

Raon shook his hand to the back, and Serena stopped walking, coughing up blood. The internal injury that she’d been enduring must’ve been aggravated.

“Void Sword Division Leader!”

“I’m fine.”

Serena wiped the blood from her mouth as if there wasn’t an issue and swallowed a pill to treat the internal injury.

“I’m just slightly injured from the sixth apostle’s surprise attack. Don’t worry about me.”

She shook her hand and went ahead to the forest. Raon thought that her patience was as good as his own because she wasn’t showing her intense pain at all.

“Thank you for coming.” Serena lowered her head with a faint smile on her face. “I’ll thank you properly later, so let’s get going for now. We can’t be late.”

“Are you really okay?”

“Yes.”

“…Understood.”

It would’ve been rude to keep worrying about her when she was saying she was fine. Raon nodded and went into the forest.

The corpses of the Balkar magicians who’d been slain by the Snow Wraith Duchess and the demonized humans were lying all over the place. Many of them seemed to have been killed by the sixth apostle and the bloody demons.

It looked like they didn’t manage to survive even though they were Balkar’s magicians because they were attacked by two out of the Five Demons.

Raon bit his lip and when he entered the forest, able to sense the presence of many people. Their numbers were great, as if everyone in the area had gathered. Even the reclusive masters and the powerful warriors of the previous generations who had been concealing themselves, were showing up.

Some of the warriors had unsheathed their swords, wary about the others, but most of them were simply running into the forest.

Raon went deeper into the forest by following their steps, and he could see a small zelkova tree under a small hill. There was a rectangular hole in the ground.

The smooth section implied that it wasn’t a natural hole but one that was artificially created instead.

The Master of the Abyssal Sword, the Snow Wraith Duchess, and the apostle were nowhere to be seen, implying that they’d already gone inside. There was blood scattered all around the area.

Considering the fact that they had entered without hesitation when they had the map, it must’ve been the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s grave for sure.

While Raon was thinking, the reclusive masters, powerful warriors from the previous generation, and even the ordinary warriors were all jumping inside.

Raon frowned while looking at the hole in the ground.

‘I can’t read any energy.’

It was just a hole, but he couldn’t sense the energy inside it.

“......”

Serena’s expression wasn’t looking good either, probably because she noticed the same thing.

“Void Sword Division, we’re going in.”

However, she decided quickly. Since her mission was to find the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s grave, she must’ve decided to move without hesitation—whether it was a trap or not.

“Are you really going in?”

“I picked this mission myself. I should complete it even if I have to die.” Serena smiled calmly, saying that she couldn’t withdraw from it. “You should make your own decision. If you end up coming in, you should play it safe as much as possible.”

She casually shook her hand and went ahead into the grave.

The Void Sword Division also jumped in without any hesitation, showing their trust in their division leader.

“What are we going to do?”

Rimmer came up next to him. Many people were entering the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s grave while he was contemplating the matter.

“Isn’t this a bit strange?”

“Strange?” Rimmer came closer, asking what he meant.

“The fact that the grave was found the moment we were about to clash against the Abyssal Sword Division, the Black Tower, and the White Blood Religion is strange, and the fact that everyone came to learn about it is also strange.”

Raon furrowed his brow while looking at the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s grave. Considering the fact that Serena was also looking at it with a bad expression, she must’ve noticed that it was strange.

“Moreover, the Shadowless Wanderer is a thief and an information agent. He would’ve preferred death to opening the grave where it was fully visible to everyone.”

“Maybe he had no other choice because the Holy Sword Alliance would’ve gotten it otherwise,” Rimmer said, shaking his head.

“Even then, it’s true that the situation is strange.”

Burren narrowed his eyes while looking at Raon.

“In the end, it’s most likely a trap,” Rimmer sighed.

“Indeed. However…” Raon nodded at Rimmer and examined the hole once again. “This entrance is clearly an old structure. It wasn’t made just a few dozens of years ago but hundreds of years ago at least.”

The entrance looked so old that he couldn’t even estimate how old it was.

“I agree with you. It might be a trap, but this wasn’t made recently,” Liston stated as he nodded in agreement.

“So, what are you going to do?” Rimmer nodded his head, asking for his decision as the division leader.

Raon looked around the Light Wind Division. All of the swordsmen were looking at him with their gazes brimming with confidence. They seemed to be telling him that they could achieve anything.

“We’ll go.”

Even if he couldn’t obtain the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s legacy, he couldn’t allow the Five Demons to get it. Moreover, Serena had already entered in her injured state, and he couldn’t simply ignore her.  He had to give her a minimum amount of support, at least.

“Yes.”

Rimmer calmly nodded. He seemed to be saying that he trusted Raon’s decision as the division leader, whether he was right or wrong.

“Dorian.” Raon shook his hand at Dorian. “Distribute that to everyone.”

“That? Ah! Yes!”

Dorian nodded and distributed badges with a green wind emblem to everyone in the Light Wind Division.

“What is this?” Burren shook his head while accepting the badge.

“It’s the Light Wind Division’s sign.”

“That’s why it’s a green wind,” He chuckled while taking a glance at Rimmer.

“Well, it’s shabby, but I guess it’s not too bad.” Martha nodded her head.

“It’s light.” Runaan seemed to like it and immediately attached the badge to her sleeve.

“This is so dull. Instead of spending money to make something like this, you should’ve given it to me.”

“......”

However, the elf who was the motif of the emblem frowned in displeasure. Seriously, he made it so hard to like him.

“Let’s go in.”

Raon jumped into the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s grave after confirming that everyone in the Light Wind Division had attached their badges to various spots on their uniforms.

His feet didn’t reach the ground, and the aura spreading around him was suddenly disconnected. That implied that the space was completely disconnected from the outside.

It was a strange sensation. It felt like he was falling into a bottomless abyss while floating in the air.

By the time his senses became dull from falling for too long, he could finally feel his feet reach the ground.

Raon slowly raised his eyebrows. His jaw dropped upon witnessing an unbelievable sight.

“What is this place…?”

***

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]