Chapter 641

Raon’s lips trembled as he looked at the wrist that had been caught by the Sword and Saber Sovereign.

‘Wh-what the hell?!’

It surprised him. There was a saying that people fell speechless when they were very surprised, and that was exactly what was happening to him.

Anyone would’ve been surprised if a corpse they were trying to burn suddenly came back to life.

Gueeh!

Wrath also seemed to be surprised—he screamed like a monkey and floated in the air. He looked like cotton candy fluttering into the air.

“You aren’t surprised at all.” The Sword and Saber Sovereign nodded in satisfaction. “It’s a demeanor befitting that great being’s descendent.”

“......”

He was gravely mistaken. Raon’s heart was pounding like it was about to burst and cold sweat was flowing down his spine as he listened. If the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s eyes had been the same as before, Raon would’ve immediately cut his head off.

“W-watch out!”

“Stand back!”

“Raon… division leader!”

Burren, Martha, and Runaan nervously ran towards him. They unsheathed their swords as if they were going to attack the Sword and Saber Sovereign.

“Argh! It’s starting again!”

“Division leader!”

Rimmer and Mark Goetten also raised their swords, their eyes wide.

“It’s fine.” Raon shook his hand at everyone, suppressing the trembling of his heart. “He’s different from before.”

He could no longer sense malice and wickedness in the Sword and Saber Sovereign. His eyes now resembled those of a monk who had devoted their entire life to training and virtuous deeds.

“Did you read my soul? You’re even better than I expected.”

“......”

The Sword and Saber Sovereign was mistaken again. Raon had only read his nature. However, he kept his mouth shut because he figured it would become more annoying if he told him the truth.

“Can I hear your name?”

“My name is Raon Zieghart.”

“I can only admire you the more I watch you. I do wish to hear about how you’ve been living, but let’s get to the point since we don’t have much time.” The Sword and Saber Sovereign briefly sighed before he calmly lifted his gaze. “The first thing I’m going to tell you is this place’s nature. You shouldn’t be aware, but this area originally belonged to Zieghart.”

He lowered his voice as if he were talking about some important secret.

“I know,” Raon stated, calmly closing his eyes before opening them again.

“Huh…?”

The Sword and Saber Sovereign’s lips parted, showing his surprise at his knowledge.

“Y-you know?”

“Yes.”

Raon casually nodded. He was already aware that the land originally belonged to Zieghart thanks to the memory he’d seen, Delpros’s actions, and the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s corpse.

“I-it makes it easier to talk if you already know about it.” The Sword and Saber Sovereign awkwardly scratched his head. “You shouldn’t know why this place was created though. This place…”

“Must’ve been Zieghart’s training ground.”

“Y-you also know about that?”

The Sword and Saber Sovereign stopped speaking and blinked at him.

“Yes.”

He was obviously aware of that information. After all, he’d seen his ancestor’s memory and the documents in the control room.

“I didn’t know at all, though,” Martha said as she shook her head, saying that it was completely unexpected to her.

“Raon was telling us that this place seemed to be a training ground. Of course, I didn’t know that it was Zieghart’s land though,” Burren gasped in surprise.

“I knew all about it,” Runaan stated as she confidently raised her chin, her hands placed on her waist.

“Did you?”

“How?”

Burren and Martha widened their eyes while looking at Runaan.

“Raon said it the moment we arrived. He stated that this land belongs to Zieghart.”

Runaan nodded, talking about how Raon declared that the cavern belonged to Zieghart when they reached the fifth floor.

“That’s not how it works! You idiot!” Martha shook her head at her ridiculous statement. “You’d believe the division leader even if he said the sun rises from the ground!”

“The sun does rise from the ground, though,” Runaan replied, tilting her head.

“…Whatever.”

Martha lifted her hands, admitting her defeat.

“Ahem.”

The Sword and Saber Sovereign cleared his throat, pretending he didn’t hear the strange conversation from behind him.

He stated, “You have outstanding insight. Such impressive wisdom!”

“......”

Raon sighed briefly, watching the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s trembling eyelids.

‘He is misunderstanding again.’

The reason he knew all of that information was because he’d seen the first head’s memory. If it weren’t for that, he would’ve been as surprised as everyone else.

“But you shouldn’t know about this fact. The one who created this training ground…”

“Must be the first head of Zieghart.”

“Y-you even managed to deduce that fact!”

The Sword and Saber Sovereign’s eyes widened and he clapped his hands loudly.

“You know everything already! It’s as if you witnessed it directly! His rightful descendent is different indeed!”

“......”

It wasn’t as if he’d witnessed it—he’d actually witnessed it. Since Raon had really watched the scene of them creating the training ground, the Sword and Saber Sovereign wasn’t exactly wrong.

However, Raon didn’t say anything about it because he couldn’t exactly tell him that fact.

Raon narrowed his eyes while watching the Sword and Saber Sovereign, who seemed ecstatic and surprised at the same time.

‘I have a strong feeling that he has a sloppy personality.’

Unlike when the Sword and Saber Sovereign was fighting senselessly, he felt extremely friendly for some reason.

“Th-then did you also know about the fact that I’m affiliated with Zieghart?”

The Sword and Saber Sovereign was asking a question instead of telling him information, as if he wanted to challenge him to a quiz.

“No.”

“I knew it, you couldn’t have known all tha—”

“But I could somewhat guess it.”

“Y-you guessed?!”

“Yes.” Raon calmly nodded and continued, “There’s almost no information left about you, Sword and Saber Sovereign, but I could guess as much based on the way that you paid respect to Zieghart’s first head and the fact that Zieghart’s old emblem is engraved inside the martial outfit you are wearing right now.”

“Hah! You seem to be even better than him in terms of wit.”

The Sword and Saber Sovereign gasped in surprise. He put his thoughts together for a moment and quietly nodded.

“I’m affiliated with Zieghart, but I wasn’t exactly inside Zieghart. I was tasked with protecting Zieghart from the outside.”

“Huh…”

“Th-the Sword and Saber Sovereign was from Zieghart?!”

Rimmer and Burren gasped while looking at the Sword and Saber Sovereign.

“I guess it’s understandable since Zieghart was supposed to have been even more powerful in the past than it is right now.”

“I thought it was just a legend because no records from back then remain.”

“The Sword and Saber Sovereign was our protector from the outside. This is insane…”

The jaws of the others dropped upon hearing such a secret piece of history.

“I made that decision myself in order to repay the gratitude I felt to the first head of Zieghart.”

A faint smile surfaced on the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s face as he reminisced about the past.

“Gratitude? But the first head and the Sword and Saber Sovereign lived in different timelines.”

“The first head kept working for the lives of the continent even after he withdrew from the head of house position. That’s how he ended up helping me.”

“Ah…”

“I came here to leave my martial arts to Zieghart before my life ended after my retirement, but I never expected it to go so wrong. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Raon shook his head with a faint smile on his face. “It’s not your fault, sir.”

The Sword and Saber Sovereign’s personality was exactly as he’d imagined. He wasn’t in the wrong because Derus Robert, who’d planned the entire incident, was the problem.

“One more thing.” The Sword and Saber Sovereign raised his hand while smiling faintly. “Despite what he said, I left two successors behind. They inherited my sword and saber respectively.”

He shook his head while pointing at the deceased Delpros.

“I didn’t tell them about Zieghart because they were too mischievous, but my martial arts should’ve been passed down all this time. Find their descendants and make it your strength.”

“I’m grateful for it, but there’s no way to find—”

“I’ll tell you about it now.”

The Sword and Saber Sovereign extended his hand towards Raon’s forehead. Raon tried to step back but met the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s eyes. The strength left his body upon seeing eyes as pure as the morning dew.

“Thank you.”

The Sword and Saber Sovereign smiled faintly, thanking him for his understanding. The hand touching Raon’s forehead was cold, but strangely enough, he could feel the warmth from it.

“I’ve often contemplated whether I should leave my martial arts or just let them disappear because of everything that happened. However, all of my worries disappeared when I saw you.”

A heavy energy seeped into his head the moment his voice came to a halt.

‘Aura?’

The Sword and Saber Sovereign’s heavy aura entered through the head and spread throughout his body. It was a sturdy and indomitable aura of earth. The Sword and Saber Sovereign’s impenetrable nature was perfectly absorbed in it.

However, what he was giving wasn’t just his aura. The principles of his martial arts, the Abyssal Saber Art and the Demon Breaking Sword Art, permeated into his mind alongside the aura.

The Sword and Saber Sovereign didn’t have much aura left because he had died a long time ago and his core was broken. What he really wanted to deliver must’ve been his martial arts instead of his aura.

The Abyssal Sword Art and the Demon Breaking Sword Art were both complicated martial arts, but they felt strangely familiar, probably thanks to his experience from fighting against the Sword and Saber Sovereign.

Raon slowly closed his eyelids, feeling a new flower of martial arts blooming in his mental world.

* * *

The Sword and Saber Sovereign smiled faintly while watching Raon enter his trance.

‘What an amazing boy.’

After the villains awakened him, his mind had been perfectly clear, but he was unable to control his body. In the midst of his hellish second life, he realized that he was in a different era.

A lot of the information was inaccurate. He was worried that all of the secrets he knew would be buried in the ground with him, but it was a meaningless worry.

The youngster named Raon Zieghart had already figured out everything on his own before he told him about them.

‘He looks extremely similar to him. It’s more apparent the more I watch him.’

His blond hair, which was as dazzling as the sun, and blazing red eyes that seemed capable of burning away every malice in the world reminded him of his lord, the first head of Zieghart.

‘Of course, his personality is the most similar aspect.’

Raon cared about the weak even when his life was at risk. The way he prioritized saving others even if it put him at a disadvantage reflected Zieghart’s core values.

It wasn’t that difficult for martial arts and houses to be passed down. The really difficult part to maintain was the original mentality.

The youngster named Raon had perfectly inherited the first head’s resolution and thoughts when he founded Zieghart. He had decided not to hand over his martial arts to anyone during the incident, but Raon had made him change his mind.

The Sword and Saber Sovereign smiled deeply while making a grave misinterpretation of Raon’s personality in his thoughts.

‘He is similar to the head of house in every aspect, but… His appearance is even more handsome. My lord, your descendent seems to shine even brighter than you. Moreover…’

He nodded in satisfaction while watching the Light Wind Division and the Void Sword Division, who were guarding Raon without hesitation.

‘All of them are.’

The Sword and Saber Sovereign smiled faintly while watching the golden heat emanating from Raon’s chest.

‘I don’t believe you need to worry about them anymore. Your flame burns just as bright as ever.’

* * *

The first thing Raon saw after opening his eyes was the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s smile.

“Why would you give me such a thing…?”

The Sword and Saber Sovereign tragically fell prey to necromancy while trying to leave his martial arts to the future. Raon had never expected he would pass down his martial arts to him, not when he could’ve just disappeared after that.

“I figured I could count on you.”

The Sword and Saber Sovereign nodded, his faint smile remaining on his face.

“Actually, I’m…”

“You don’t need to say anything.”

Raon was trying to tell him that it was just a misunderstanding, but the Sword and Saber Sovereign firmly shook his hand.

“I was watching you while my soul was shackled.” Transparent radiance emanated from the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s black eyes. “At first, I wanted to die. The fact that my small bit of greed caused my suffering made me want to die even though I was already dead. However…”

He gripped his chest painfully, showing that he was serious.

“I was happy when I saw you. I was deeply impressed by the way you fought me without taking a single step back while using his martial arts and swordsmanship. I was thankful for the fact that I still had eyes to see you.”

The Sword and Saber Sovereign raised his head with a slightly more lighthearted gaze.

“The moment I saw you saving others even in the middle of your battle against me, I clearly realized that you are his true descendent.”

“......”

Unfortunately, that was also his misunderstanding. Raon had only saved those people in order to ruin Derus’s plans. If it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t have gone out of his way to save people who’d come to the grave out of greed.

“I’m simply glad that his martial arts, sword, and mind have been successfully passed down.”

The Sword and Saber Sovereign patted Raon’s head while meeting his eyes.

“And you are more handsome than him.”

“......”

It must’ve been a joke, but Raon couldn’t laugh at it.

“Damn handsome Raon, I knew it.”

However, he almost laughed bitterly because of Runaan’s voice coming from behind him.

“I have one last thing to tell you.”

The Sword and Saber Sovereign created a sword barrier and lowered his voice.

“Zieghart has a true enemy.”

“Enemy?”

“I thought the head of house had annihilated them all, but their legacy still continues.”

He sighed and pointed at his own eyes.

“Do you remember how the black and white parts of my eyes were reversed?”

“Yes.”

Raon was surprised when he first saw the Sword and Saber Sovereign because those eyes were the same as the monster he’d seen in the first head’s memory.

“It’s their characteristic. It’s the eyes of demons.”

Why demons again?! You are more evil than us!

Wrath shook his head, calling them more evil.

“Just who are they?”

“We called them ‘Anima’ during my time, but I’m not sure what they are called nowadays. They change their names quite often, after all.”

“Anima…”

They were clearly related to Derus, but Raon had never heard of the name when he was working under him.

‘This is the worst-fated relationship.’

Apparently, the ill-fated relationship between Derus and himself wasn’t just about their previous life.

“By the way… Huh?”

Raon started to speak to the Sword and Saber Sovereign, but his eyes suddenly widened. The Sword and Saber Sovereign’s body was breaking into pieces and scattering away.

“Hmm…”

The Sword and Saber Sovereign smiled faintly, looking at his hand as it began fluttering like pieces of a puzzle.

“My time must be up.”

“Ah…”

“I must’ve reached my limit because I gave you all of my remaining aura, even if it was a small amount.”

He shook his head, silently telling Raon that he shouldn’t worry about it.

“But I’m still relieved. All my worries have disappeared after seeing you.”

The Sword and Saber Sovereign caught his hand with his remaining left hand.

“If you are the current successor of Zieghart, I don’t even need to see the head of house to understand his qualities. You can use everything I’ve left behind however you want to.”

“Esteemed Sword and Saber Sovereign, I’m not Zieghart’s successor.”

“Are you not? I suppose you are still too young. But you will soon…”

“That’s not it.”

Raon briefly shook his head. He wanted to tell him the truth before he left so that he wouldn’t misunderstand for once.

“I’m still a collateral.”

“Huh…?”

The Sword and Saber Sovereign’s eyes widened.

“A c-collateral? You?”

“Yes.”

“What?! But that doesn’t make any sense! How did a collateral even learn the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and the Ring of Fire?!”

He extended his hand in disbelief. However, his hand turned into dust and disappeared before it reached Raon.

“About that…”

“W-wait a moment! Just wait a moment! I can’t leave like this! Why are you even a collateral?! Are there only idiots in Zieghart right now? Why are you a colla—”

The Sword and Saber Sovereign screamed, but his body didn’t stop disappearing. It looked like his eyes were getting distorted like at his first appearance as he completely faded away.

“......”

Raon blinked while looking at the land where the Sword and Saber Sovereign had just been.

“Should I not have told him about it?”

He’d honestly told him because he was going to disappear, but it seemed to have gone for the worse.

Haa.

Wrath clutched his head and sighed deeply.

Sometimes, some things are better left unsaid.

He sighed once again and furrowed his brow.

Wait, should a demon really be teaching a human about having an upright personality?

* * *

Raon dusted his hands off. It couldn’t be helped since it was already done. He shook his head to forget about it and returned to the Light Wind Division.

“A-are you okay?” Burren asked as he walked up to him while blinking. “It looked like the Sword and Saber Sovereign was screaming at the end…”

“It looked like a desperate struggle to me. What did you even tell him?” Martha also showed her curiosity by tilting her head.

“…It wasn’t a big deal. He just said farewell.”

Raon simply shook his head because he felt like they would be flustered as well if he told them the truth.

“The Sword and Saber Sovereign was our ancestor. That’s surprising.” Serena returned to her senses and laughed bitterly. “What you said when we first arrived here wasn’t wrong.”

“I know, right?” Raon chuckled while looking at Serena. “How is your condition?”

“I’m fine, thanks to you.”

Serena nodded as if she was perfectly fine even though she was severely injured. She truly had the soul of a warrior.

“Then let’s leave now.”

Raon nodded his head while looking at the Light Wind Division, the Void Sword Division, and the surviving neutral factions. There were quite a lot of them even without counting Zieghart’s warriors. There were enough people to act as witnesses.

“It’s going to be lots of work to climb back up.”

“You don’t need to worry about that part.”

Raon pointed at the ceiling while shaking his head.

“I found the control room that manages this training ground. We can quickly reach the ground by using that.”

“Nice! Let’s go right now!” Rimmer nodded, saying that he wanted some alcohol.

“I’m sleepy.” Runaan blinked while yawning, showing her drowsiness.

“But we can’t all leave at the same time. We need someone to control this place.” Serena narrowed her eyes while looking around. “Since we can’t leave the task to a stranger, we should leave one person…”

“It’s not a person, but we have a perfect chicken for the job.”

“Chicken?”

“This one.” Raon chuckled and pointed at Caiyan the phoenix where he was floating in the sky.

“Peepie will manage this place.”

[Wh-who are you calling a chicken?! Before that, why would I even do that? I’m not going to do anything!]

Caiyan shook its head, saying that it wouldn’t listen to humans anymore.

“I’m leaving though.”

[Huh…?]

“You can live peacefully once I leave. Are you saying that you are refusing that opportunity?”

Raon tapped on Caiyan’s wing with a smile on his face.

“If you want to stay with me so much, it can’t be helped—”

[I’ll do it! I’ll send you up there! Right now, extremely quickly!]

Caiyan rapidly flapped its wings, determined to seize the opportunity. The sand on the ground flew up like a storm.

This demon won’t be leaving forever.

Wrath shook his head while watching its behavior.

A chicken head can’t be any better…

* * *

The faint red foothold slowly soared toward the sky. It was a secret passage only allowed to the one controlling the training ground.

“There should be a lot of people once we leave, I guess?” Rimmer sighed while looking at the ceiling.

“It would be stranger if it wasn’t the case.” Serena nodded, saying that it would obviously be the case.

“Ah, I don’t want to fight anymore.”

“No, we need those people.” Raon shook his head while looking at Rimmer. “Because they need to be witnesses.”

“That’s true, but it’s too much work.”

Rimmer calmly nodded, implying that he understood what Raon meant by witnesses.

“I still can’t believe that I met the real Sword and Saber Sovereign.” Burren touched his chest to feel his trembling heart.

“I’ve never imagined a development like this either.” Martha scratched her nose while agreeing with him.

“Yeah, I want to sleep.”

Runaan blinked, saying that she was tired. She didn’t even seem to care anymore about the Sword and Saber Sovereign.

Raon nodded faintly while calmly looking around the Light Wind Division, who’d regained their composure.

‘You all fought well, but it’s still not enough.’

It would’ve been quite dangerous once again if it weren’t for multiple coincidences. He figured he would need to improve their individual strength.

‘Because I already have the material for that.’

He should be able to create a new martial art for them by combining the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s martial arts.

While Raon was deciding on the direction of how to make everyone stronger, Caiyan’s voice could be heard from the control room.

[Peep! You’re almost there!]

‘Well, before that…’

Raon nodded as he gazed at the light, which was shimmering like fluttering sunlight.

‘I have something else to do.’

Along with the sensation of the sudden surge of the floor, the dark sky of the night entered his vision. The ground on the surface, which he was stepping on for the first time in what felt like a long time, felt as soft as cotton.

“That’s a lot of people.”

“Yes, they are overflowing.”

Rimmer and Serena furrowed their brows while looking around the forest.

As they said, the area was brimming with hyenas waiting to rob the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s legacy.

“Stay alert.”

Burren briefly shook his head, and the Light Wind Division spread its wings left and right in order to open the formation.

“I’ll resolve the matter with words.”

Raon left the Light Wind Division’s formation and walked forward. He stood alone at the center of the forest and stomped the ground.

Wham!

A huge shockwave spread in all directions, echoing throughout the land and even the sky.

Bushes and trees faltered, and the pale faces of the hidden warriors were revealed.

“This land belongs to Zieghart from now on,” Raon declared, looking down on thousands of eyes overflowing with desire.

“I’m giving you ten seconds. Put down your weapons or disappear. Choose wisely.”

***

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]