Chapter 628

It was dark.

It was as if night had fallen in that world of darkness. Raon swallowed nervously as his eyes took in the dark forest filling his vision.

‘How is this even happening?’

The outside world was totally bright, but he could understand it being so dark since he’d come so far down. However, he was seeing a huge forest in front of him. He couldn’t understand why such a forest existed underground.

Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at the branches and leaves of the trees making the forest.

‘The existence of a forest is strange enough, but the leaves are also strange.’

You could usually approximate the climate of a region by the leaves and branches of a tree. Thin leaves implied that it was a cold region while broad leaves suggested a tropical climate, but both kinds of leaves coexisted inside the forest.

‘Moreover… What’s going on with the sky?’

Since he was underground, there should’ve been a ceiling, even if it was a high one. However, no matter how far he extended his aura perception above his head, he couldn’t sense any ceiling at all. Even though he’d fallen for a long time, it was an impossible occurrence.

‘Huh?’

Raon’s hands trembled as he started to raise his gaze.

‘No way… is that a moon?’

He could see a crescent moon even smaller than a pinky nail at the left corner of the sky. Its extremely faint radiance differed from a real moon, but it did seem to be a moon at least.

‘What is this place?’

He pinched the back of his hand just in case, but he could feel pain normally. That implied that he wasn’t dreaming. The strange land in front of him really existed.

‘A boundary? A formation? Was it a trap, after all?’

Even though his mind was engulfed in anxiety, his instincts weren’t telling him that it was a trap. He wasn’t too sure, but it even felt familiar.

‘I don’t understand what’s happening.’

He furrowed his brow, thinking about the entrance of the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s grave once again.

‘There should be no exit if it really is a trap…’

That’s not the case.

Wrath suddenly emerged from the bracelet.

‘That’s not the case? Do you know where we are?’

No, he doesn’t.

He shook his hand despite sounding like he knew something.

‘Then what did you mean by that earlier?’

There’s an exit leading to the outside, which is what you were worried about.

Wrath pointed at the moon in the sky.

You should’ve realized already, but this isn’t an ordinary space.

‘Yes.’

Whether it’s a boundary created with magic, a formation made with sorcery, or even if it was created with martial arts, there’s bound to be an exit since there was an entrance. That’s the law of dimension for a complete space.

He shook his finger, saying that there was bound to be an exit leading to the outside world even though it might be difficult to find.

‘I see.’

Fortunately, Raon realized that he wasn’t in the worst possible case. The demon king could be helpful sometimes, despite being a food waster.

‘Thank you.’

If you are thankful, then leave this place already and buy him some ice cream. Apparently, they’ve come up with some new flavors.

‘......’

Raon couldn’t understand how he had information about new flavors when he couldn’t even speak to other people. He was shaking his head when the Light Wind swordsmen fell behind him one after the other.

“What is this place?” Burren furrowed his brow while shifting his gaze.

“Why is it so dark? It was definitely daytime before.” Krein tilted his head while looking at the dark forest.

“You idiot, it’s dark because we’re underground!” Martha gave him a smack with her knuckles.

“There’s a moon.” Runaan raised her finger. The crescent moon was reflected in her blank eyes.

“Huh…?”

“Why is there a moon underground…?”

Martha and Burren’s jaws dropped as they looked at the moon Runaan was pointing at.

“Wh-what is a mysterious place? It almost makes me want to leave right away…”

Dorian put his hand into his belly pocket with trembling lips, showing that he was already terrified. A burning torch came out with his hand.

“…What’s that?”

Raon blinked while looking at Dorian. He could never get used to that pocket, not when he’d just pulled out a torch instead of torch materials.

“It’s a torch, a necessity.”

Dorian smiled awkwardly and distributed the torches to the Light Wind swordsmen. Raon couldn’t understand how a burning torch was inside a pocket, but the darkness faded away a little thanks to that.

“But the others aren’t coming in…”

He licked his lips while glancing around.

“Those who entered before us are nowhere to be seen either.” Burren shook his head as he took the area in.

When they jumped into the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s grave, many people had entered in advance, and many people were waiting behind them, yet not a single person could be seen.

Raon could guess that they’d dropped in at different locations depending on when they entered.

“Is it a boundary made with magic?” Rimmer furrowed his brow while looking around.

“I’ve never heard that the Sword and Saber Sovereign used magic, though.”

“That’s true.” Liston nodded his head. He was the last person who’d entered the grave.

“The Sword and Saber Sovereign only wielded swords and sabers his entire life. He never learned any magic or sorcery.”

“Then what is this place?” Rimmer furrowed his brow while looking up at the sky, which was as dark as a moonless night.

“He had some magicians and sorcerers he was friendly with, but they weren’t competent enough to create such a huge space.”

Liston immediately recited the information, showing that he had investigated the Sword and Saber Sovereign thoroughly.

“What kind of person was the Sword and Saber Sovereign?”

“Since you should already know that his martial art reached the transcendental realm, I’ll focus on other aspects. He was more inclined as a righteous man. He didn’t belong to any faction, but he wandered all around the continent and focused on carrying out good deeds and polishing his martial arts. And…”

“And?”

“I’m not sure about this information, but some people were saying that he looked up to Zieghart’s warriors.”

“Is that true?” Raon’s eyes widened. Even Denning Rose hadn’t told him about that.

“Yes. But he apparently never visited Zieghart nor met them. That’s why I said I wasn’t sure.”

“I see.”

Denning Rose must not have told him about it because she couldn’t tell him anything uncertain as the branch manager and the disciple of the Black Market’s master.

Raon stroked his chin and closed his eyes.

‘Which means, there are three possibilities about this place.’

First, the Sword and Saber Sovereign had created it himself in order to pass down his martial art to a successor in the future since he didn’t belong to any faction.

Second, the Sword and Saber Sovereign had used a space that someone else had created before.

Third, it was a trap.

Raon guessed that the third possibility was the most likely.

“We’ll move on for now.” Raon nodded at the Light Wind Division. “Since others entered before us, we should quickly catch up to them.”

“But we don’t even know if an exit exists or not. It might be a trap.” Burren came up next to him with a worried gaze.

“No.” Raon calmly shook his head. “This space is already completed. Whether it’s a formation or a boundary, they had to create an exit since there was an entrance according to the laws of the world. There’s definitely an exit, though it might be difficult to find.”

Raon repeated what Wrath had told him.

B-but that’s what the King of Essence told you!

Wrath’s eyes widened in shock.

“Was there a law like that?”

“I didn’t know.”

“I’ve never heard about it either.”

“He is indeed a division leader. He is so knowledgeable, even in that aspect.”

The Light Wind Division’s jaws dropped in admiration.

“Th-that’s true. Whether it’s a formation or a boundary, they have to create an exit since they’ve made an entrance. That’s really amazing. Most people wouldn’t know about it.” Liston nodded in awe, showing his surprise.

You damned bastard!

Wrath grabbed him by his collar while shouting.

Give those compliments you just got to the King of Essence right now! Why are you being praised for the King of Essence’s information?!

‘Why does it matter who gets the praise?’

Wow! What nerve! He can only admire you at this point! You sly, two-faced bastard!

His hands trembled in frustration.

‘That’s not what I meant…’

Raon was about to shake his hand when messages popped up in front of his eyes.

[Wrath was both surprised and impressed by you.]

[All stats have increased by 1.]

‘Oh?’

…Huh?

Wrath blinked while looking at the message.

Th-this isn’t right! Do you have pasta instead of a brain?! There’s no way it was a compliment!

Regardless of Wrath’s rampage, the message disappeared as if it was done with its task.

Come back out right now! Let’s have a go until one of us dies, the King of Essence or you!

Wrath grabbed his own hair and pulled on it, unable to appease his anger.

‘Can you stop already?’

Would you stop if it happened to you?!

‘Haa.’

Raon shook his head and entered the forest in front of him.

“Let’s go this way.”

He decided on the direction and was about to advance when a rustling sound could be heard from inside the forest.

‘It’s not a person.’

The heavy and bloody stench implied that the presence didn’t belong to a human being. It was a blunt movement, characteristic of a monster.

Roaar!

With a violent roar that crushed the entire forest, orcs appeared, their yellow teeth protruding from their mouths.

“What, orcs?”

“Hah, it’s just orcs.”

“I was nervous for no reason.”

The Light Wind Division chuckled upon seeing the group of orcs. Their expressions were treating them as small fries despite their numbers.

“Don’t underestimate them.” Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at the orcs.

“What do you mean by that…?” Burren observed the orcs once again, but he still didn’t seem to notice as he tilted his head.

“They aren’t ordinary orcs.”

The orcs looked just like the ones outside in appearance, but their gazes and energies were different. They weren’t ordinary orcs.

Moreover, their skin was covered in warm blood. That implied that they’d already slain the other warriors before finding them.

“You’ll find out once you try them out. Krein.”

“Yes!”

As always, Krein used his footwork to advance as soon as he was given the order. He dashed in between the group of orcs in an instant and swung his sword.

Cring!

Just as his aura-coated blade was about to cut down the frontmost orc, the lowered double axe surged like lightning.

Clang!

Krein’s sword trembled, blocked by the orc’s axe.

“What…?”

“Combative energy?” Martha furrowed her brow as she looked at the red combative energy brimming from the orc’s axe.

“How is an ordinary orc using combative energy?” She gasped in disbelief.

Whir!

The battle’s situation was urgent, much to Martha's surprise. The orc pushed Krein back with sheer strength and swung its axe.

“Tsk!”

Krein frowned and focused his aura on his sword. The blade radiated faintly, and the orc’s cut was cut off at the same time as the double axe was split.

“You are right, division leader! They aren’t ordinary orcs! They can use combative energy, even if it’s faint!”

He caught his breath, fixing his grip on the sword.

Kiaaah!

The orcs dashed while screaming loudly, angered by the death of their companion.

Even the speed of their movement was on a whole different level from an ordinary orc. They almost looked like the Dark Orc, which was rumored to be the strongest type of orc.

‘They aren’t too bad to use as teaching material.’

Raon lifted his finger towards the orcs.

“They’ve killed people. Cut them all down.”

“Yes!”

Since the Light Wind Division had already witnessed Krein’s fight against the orc, they unleashed their auras right off the bat.

Every single orc was powerful, but they were no match for the Light Wind Division since they had improved both physically and mentally. The swordsmen cut the orcs down with their combative energy and filled the forest with green-skinned corpses.

“Huh.” Liston gasped as he watched the Light Wind Division advance like a gust of wind.

‘How come every single one of them is at least at the highest level of Expert?’

The Light Wind Division was in their early twenties on average. Liston couldn’t believe that such young swordsmen were at the highest level of Expert, without any exceptions.

‘How is this happening?’

Having a single genius like Raon was understandable, but the fact that all of them were gifted enough to be at the door of the Master realm was even more surprising.

“This side is almost do—Kuh!”

Krein cut down the orc warrior in front of him, only to groan when he was about to proceed to the left. He stepped back while dragging his right leg.

“Ack!”

“Wh-what?!”

The other Light Wind swordsmen started to scream at around the same time as Krein.

“What’s the matter?” Raon took a step towards Krein.

“Th-there must’ve been a trap.”

“Raise your foot.”

As he’d said, there was a hole under his right boot, and blood was flowing from it, implying that he had stepped on a trap.

‘Was the trap set by the orcs?’

A trap with a black spike was located between the weeds where Krein had been standing earlier.

However, the needle was smeared with something other than Krein’s blood, a purple liquid.

“Is it poison?”

“P-poison? Am I going to die?”

“Orc poison isn’t that powerful. You should be able to drive it away with your aura.”

“Haa, I’m glad to hear that.”

“But this doesn’t seem to be orc’ poison.”

“Argh! Which one is it?!”

Raon ignored Krein, who was freaking out, and took some poison from the needle to put it in his mouth.

“Di-division leader!”

“What are you doing?!”

“Raon!”

Burren, Martha, and Runaan ran at him at the same time. Martha and Runaan even dropped their honorifics as if they forgot their pledge of speaking to him with respect.

“Don’t worry. I can withstand it.”

His body was already resistant to poison thanks to the Ring of Fire, and he even had poison resistance as a trait.

Since he could eliminate the poison no matter how powerful it was, eating the poison was the best way to figure out what kind of poison it was.

‘It doesn’t do anything to the organs, but it stimulates the muscles, body, and the energy center.’

As expected, the purple poison wasn’t the paralyzing poison that the orcs usually used.

‘Bella’s flower.’

It was a poisonous flower that he’d used from time to time in his previous life. It wasn’t that potent, but it quickly took away stamina and accelerated aura consumption. He used it to devastate the target’s mind.

“It’s a poison using Bella's flower.”

“B-Bella’s flower?” Liston was the first one to react, as expected as an assassin.

“Wh-what is that?” Krein raised his voice in shock.

“It’s not a powerful poison, but it rapidly takes away your stamina. It’s rather annoying to treat.”

“Haa, it could’ve been worse…”

“You shouldn’t be glad about it. You can’t drive away this poison with aura. There’s no way we can find the antidote here…”

He shook his head, saying that the situation was getting complicated.

“Dorian.”

Raon shook his hand at Dorian, who was watching with a stiff face.

“Do you have some Pelen’s flower and Roseren’s leaf, by any chance?”

“Of course I do.” Dorian nodded and took out multiple flowers and stems from his belly pocket.

“They are necessities.”

“......”

Raon was getting confused about what was not a necessity to him but accepted them for the time being. He used a herbal mortar to grind the two materials and applied it to Krein and the injured swordsmen’s feet.

“Huh?”

“Th-the pain decreased, and my hand stopped trembling.”

The swordsmen clenched their fists, saying that they could move again.

By the time the treatment was over, monsters had appeared again. Even mid- and large-sized monsters were among them, in addition to the orcs.

“You shouldn’t assume that the monsters are your only enemies. Think of it as fighting against this space itself.”

“Yes!”

The Light Wind Division shouted as sharply as a blade and dashed towards the monsters.

Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at the corpses of warriors piled up behind the monsters.

‘Sword and Saber Sovereign… What were you even trying to achieve?’

* * *

“Wh-what are those monsters…?”

“Zieghart’s Light Wind Division…”

“Do you think I didn’t know about that? Even though they are from Zieghart, they are only in their early twenties. How come all of them are at the highest level of Expert?!”

“The monsters are powerful, but those kids seem to be even more powerful.”

“Their strength is one thing, but they don’t even get tired. It almost looks like they are the monsters here…”

The warriors sitting in exhaustion at various locations in the forest were amazed by how the Light Wind Division slaughtered the groups of orcs and trolls.

“Huh…” Liston also gasped while watching the Light Wind Division’s backs as they turned monsters into corpses in no time.

‘They are literally monsters.’

They were in a small hell. Night continued for multiple days, they couldn’t even determine their location, and the enhanced monsters appeared endlessly.

There were snares and traps scattered here and there, making it difficult to keep track of everything.

Even a seasoned warrior or assassin was bound to get exhausted and weakened. In fact, the Black Market’s agents, including himself, had practically closed their eyes because of how tired they were.

But the Light Wind Division was different.

They almost looked like they’d just started to fight because of how lively they were as they cut down the monsters and destroyed the traps.

It wasn’t a willpower that warriors in their early twenties could achieve.

In fact, they’d encountered quite a lot of warriors and magicians on their way. Some of the factions had more members and more experience than the Light Wind Division, but their faces were shadowed, without exception. Many were simply resting on the spot, giving up on moving around.

However, the Light Wind Division continued their advance, as unwavering as a deep-rooted tree. Liston was feeling curiosity at that point instead of admiration.

Liston approached a Light Wind swordsman who was walking in the rear. He was a swordsman named Dorian, and he was a weirdo who took out a table and a brazier during meals, and a tent when they were going to sleep.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes?” Dorian smiled cheerfully and turned his head.

“Are you okay?”

“What?” He shook his head, showing that he couldn’t understand what he was asking.

“You’ve been fighting in this darkness for days now. Aren’t you getting tired?”

“Of course I’m tired.” Dorian shook his head while letting out a sigh.

“Then how…?”

“Because I’ve experienced something even more tiring than this.”

“Even more tiring?”

“Yes. We went through the division leader’s three-week-long special training before we came here. That was…”

“Hell,” Krein finished Dorian’s sentence in his stand.

“Yes, this is heaven compared to those three weeks.” Burren nodded in agreement.

“Don’t even talk about it. It makes my hands tremble.” Martha bit her lip, telling them not to even mention it.

“Uuh…” Even Runaan clutched her head despite usually looking blank.

“Wh-what could’ve even happened…?”

“We’ve fought three weeks straight, without even sleeping an hour a day. I thought I was going to die because we had to fight the division leader, the team leaders, and even the other members,” Krein sighed deeply and explained the training they went through.

“I don’t even want to think about it…” Dorian broke out in a cold sweat while remembering that time.

“Huh…” Liston blinked and looked at Raon, who was walking in front of everyone.

“There’s a trap over there. Don’t step on it.”

Raon was pointing at the traps one after the other even though they weren’t visible because of the darkness. Even for an assassin like himself, it was difficult to find them in that darkness—yet he was locating the traps with precision. Even a genius in martial arts shouldn’t have been able to do that.

‘He really is a monster.’

He was obviously aware of how powerful Raon was, but he didn’t know now that he was also knowledgeable in poisons, traps, and formation, while being skilled at raising his subordinates at the same time. Raon looked perfect in every aspect.

Liston swallowed nervously while looking at Raon’s back, which wasn’t wavering in the slightest.

‘The branch manager found a real gem…’

* * *

Raon furrowed his brow while looking at the zelkova tree that was the biggest among the ones he’d seen so far.

‘That’s…’

It was the first time they had come across a place radiating light on its own since entering the Sword and Saber Sovereign's grave. It was an unmistakable sign, clear enough for even a fool to recognize.

“It must be the exit!” Krein shouted while looking at the shining land from behind Raon.

“Unfortunately, it’s not the exit.” Raon shook his head, his gaze fixated on the shining land. “Because they couldn’t have created this place for a trivial trial like this.”

The monsters were powerful, and the traps and snares were full of variety. They drained a great deal of stamina and willpower, but they lacked the strength to inflict significant harm on a powerful warrior.

Since they could only serve as a filter to get the weaklings out, the shining hole in front of him must’ve been the entrance to the next floor rather than the exit.

“It must be leading to the next floor.” Burren nodded, implying that he thought the same thing.

“Let me check it out first.”

Raon made the Light Wind Division stay back and examined the shining land. The hole had a similar shape as the entrance to the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s grave.

However, the rectangular frame felt familiar for some reason, unlike the one outside.

‘Why do I feel this way…?’

Raon examined the hole with narrowed eyes, and a golden flame burst from inside the white hole.

The hand supporting Raon on the ground started to tremble as the golden flame filled his vision.

‘Again? Wait, how come he’s been practically everywhere?!’

***

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]