Chapter 642

Nedon Jureon blinked while watching Raon, who’d emerged from the grave. He was the head of the prestigious House Jureon, the Spear of Celestial Grace.

‘What? Should this really be happening?’

The warriors who’d remained outside the grave had made an unspoken promise.

Regardless of who came out with the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s legacy, they swore to combine their forces and attack them. However, no one was making a move because of Raon's preemptive actions.

The warriors who should’ve taken the lead in the assault were simply watching the development. It was a disconcerting sight.

However, he could understand why. Raon Zieghart’s pressure was far too powerful as he stepped up. His aura was spreading throughout the land and making the sky tremble. It was only natural that no one could attack him.

‘We have no other choice than letting them go at this rate…’

Nedon Jureon narrowed his eyes while watching Raon.

‘Wait, he’s severely injured.’

He examined Raon more closely while ignoring his powerful wave of energy, and he realized that his coat and uniform were torn to pieces and the inside was bloody. He seemed to be severely injured.

‘It’s not just him. All of them are severely injured.’

Serena, the Void Sword Division leader, looked like she could die at any moment because of how much blood she had on her uniform, and the other swordsmen—including Rimmer—also had plenty of wounds all around their bodies.

‘Their expressions aren’t looking good either.’

The Light Wind Division, the Void Sword Division, and the neutral factions behind them all looked pale. That implied that they were extremely exhausted from digging into the grave.

‘I understand it now’

Nedon clenched his fist.

‘He is just acting right now.’

Of the Five Demons, the White Blood Religion, the Black Tower, and the Holy Sword Alliance had entered the grave. Since there were three of them, they couldn’t possibly be intact if they had to defeat them to acquire the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s legacy.

Raon Zieghart was just taking the initiative to hide their disadvantageous situation. His acting was excellent indeed, but the pale faces of the swordsmen behind him couldn’t be hidden.

‘This is our only chance.’

If they managed to leave, it would be impossible to catch them anymore. It was necessary to finish them off right there.

Nedon rapidly sent the aura messages. He told the leaders from the other factions that Raon Zieghart was bluffing and convinced them to act according to the original plan.

The leaders from the other factions immediately nodded, noticing that everyone in Zieghart was extremely tired.

‘Shall I take the lead?’

Being the vanguard wasn’t a great choice when it came to hunting a savage beast. However, the beast in front of him was drastically injured, and there was plenty of ranged support behind him.

Since his safety was guaranteed, it was a perfect opportunity to take the lead and increase his fame and influence.

Nedon came out from his bush with a composed smile on his face. He calmly walked up to Raon.

“Drop our weapons and leave? I don’t understand.” He stopped ten steps away from Raon and shook his head. “This land doesn’t belong to Zieghart. I have no intention of dropping my weapon, nor to leave this—”

He was talking with his spear shaft lying on his shoulder, but a powerful wind pressure suddenly blew at him. He felt like his skin was tearing apart.

Claack!

He could feel a powerful impact on his right cheek before the wind subsided. The world was spinning and sensation faded away from his body.

“Ah…”

His mind left his body before he could let out a groan. All he could see as he closed his eyes was Raon Zieghart’s arrogant face.

Whaam!

The moment Nedon struck the ground, his face crushed, the warriors who were preparing to attack came to a halt. It almost looked like time had stopped.

* * *

“Ten seconds have passed.”

Raon clicked his tongue after destroying the face of the warrior who came up to him first. He placed Heavenly Drive’s scabbard on his shoulder while watching the people who’d frozen like wooden dolls.

“Er…”

“Was he serious? Wasn’t he just bluffing?”

“What the…?”

Their lips were trembling as they looked back and forth between Raon’s calm face and Nedon’s crushed face.

“Your warning has expired.”

Raon tilted his head and stepped on Nedon’s back to walk towards the warriors.

“Wh-what are you doing right now?!”

“How are we supposed to drop our weapons at a place like this?!”

“Try to make sense at least!”

“Why is this Zieghart’s land? Stop your nonsense!”

The warriors who seemed to be the leaders of each faction shouted while stepping back in fear. Raon shifted his gaze to remember the faces and locations of the leaders.

Thud!

He lightly executed the Supreme Harmony Steps to ride through the wind. He advanced at a tremendous speed, which gave an impression that the sand on the ground was being swept backward, and reached the brawler at the front.

“Kuh!”

The brawler was surprised but still extended his fist in a disciplined manner. Raon easily dodged the fist by raising his elbow, smacking him with the sheathed Heavenly Drive.

Whaack!

With the sound of bones breaking, the brawler collapsed on his back with blood gushing from his head.

“It should work out if I just beat their heads.”

Raon bent his ankle and kicked the ground. He approached the next swordsman who had run his mouth and smashed him with Heavenly Drive.

“Kuh!”

The swordsman created a sword barrier to defend himself with a shout of concentration.

Smack!

However, Heavenly Drive’s power was too great for him to withstand. Heavenly Drive’s scabbard shattered the swordsman’s sword barrier and bashed his forehead.

“Geh!”

The swordsmen fell flat on the ground with a slightly unsightly scream.

“R-run away!”

The archer who was the third one to complain withdrew in a sliding motion. Even though he was stepping back, he was moving faster than when using forward footwork.

However, even the archer’s footwork was no match for the Supreme Harmony Steps’s speed.

Smack!

Raon caught up to him with Supreme Harmony’s Second Step and smashed the archer’s head.

“Aack!”

With a piercing scream, the archer collapsed, his body bending like a sickle.

Erm…

Wrath carefully spoke to Raon.

Weren’t you going to resolve the issue with words?

‘I tried, but they didn’t listen.’

Raon tilted his head.

Those weren’t words. You were threatening them! Moreover, when you said beating their heads, did you literally mean breaking their skulls instead of attacking their leaders?!

Wrath’s eyes widened in bewilderment.

‘Correct.’

You’ve completely lost it now…

Wrath shook his head, saying that Raon was becoming more and more crazy.

‘Just wait a little. It will be over soon.’

Raon smiled faintly and moved toward the magician who was the fourth one to ramble.

“Huff!”

The magician freaked out and bent his waist upon realizing that he was the next target. He rapidly put down his staff and raised his hands.

“I-I dropped my weapon!”

The magician shook his head, forcing a smile on his face.

“You should’ve done it from the start.”

Raon walked up to the magician, supporting Heavenly Drive’s scabbard on his shoulder.

“Haa…”

The magicians stroked his chest and breathed out a sigh of relief.

“But it’s already too late.”

Raon twisted his lips and smashed the magician’s head with Heavenly Drive’s scabbard, which he was gripping tightly.

Smack!

The magician couldn’t even scream as he collapsed. He couldn’t close his trembling eyes, which were filled with questions about the unfair treatment.

“B-but he put down his weapon…”

“Why did he hit him?”

“H-how could you do that?! This isn’t even Zieghart’s land!”

The warriors and magicians shouted with trembling shoulders.

“I told you, this land belongs to Zieghart again, starting from today.”

“St-starting from today? Again?”

A red-haired swordsman narrowed his eyes.

“Yes. This land originally belonged to Zieghart. We will be taking it back since the owner of the grave acknowledged us.”

“How does that even make any sense—”

“It does since I said I will.”

Raon moved like he was teleporting through space and split the red-haired swordsman’s skull.

The swordsman was hit on the head while talking and collapsed while biting his tongue.

“H-he’s crazy!”

“He’s out of his mind!”

“We can’t talk sense into him at all!”

The warriors turned pale, having gone from being attackers to victims.

“W-wait a moment! I’m going back!”

“I’ll drop my weapon and withdraw, so please stop!”

“It’s too late now.”

Raon laughed coldly and ran after the warriors who tried to withdraw while dropping their weapons. His eyes were truly filled with madness.

“…Is that how he solves things with words?” Serena’s eyes widened in bewilderment. “Did I misunderstand the meaning of words?”

“Our division leader just has a small issue with his education. Don’t worry about it. You’re not the one in the wrong, Void Sword Division leader.” Burren shook his head while letting out a sigh. “It’s not that bad today. At least he didn’t draw his sword.”

“He didn’t draw his sword, but they still seem to be dying…” Serena gasped as she watched the warriors, their blood not only gushing but pouring from their wounds.

“The name ‘Sword of Rakshasa’ should’ve been his, not mine.” Martha wrinkled his nose.

“How can you see him as a righteous warrior? He’s just a thug,” she snorted while watching Raon.

“Raon, damn handsome.”

Runaan shouted damn handsome Raon and started to doze off, sitting on the ground. She seemed to trust Raon completely.

“I wonder how long he’s going to take.”

“About twenty minutes? There are a lot of them, after all.”

“There are a lot of them, but they’re all afraid of our division leader. I think it will be over in five minutes.”

“I’m betting on ten!”

The Light Wind Division started to bet on when the fight would be over, getting comfortable.

“How about betting some money instead of just talking about it?”

Rimmer walked up to the swordsmen with a smile on his face and started to collect the bet money.

“Is the Light Wind Division always like this…?” Serena gasped while watching the Light Wind Division starting to gamble on what was happening.

“Actually, I’m the only person who is normal in the Light Wind Division.”

Serena looked to the right upon hearing Dorian’s voice. He was sighing, sitting on a comfortable sofa with a campfire in front of him that he’d taken out while it was still burning.

“......”

Serena closed her mouth and shook her head.

‘This is a den of lunatics…’

* * *

On the mountainside, the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s grave appeared as nothing more than a small dot in the distance.

Cubara was kneeling on the ground with trembling hands. She gulped without making any sound and looked at Derus Robert, whose back was in front of her.

Derus wasn’t showing any pressure or emotion. He was as impassive as a doll, but his anger was deeper than ever.

He was extremely frightening precisely because he wasn’t showing his anger at all.

Cubara robbed her own neck. She couldn’t even breathe. Derus’s sheer presence made her feel like her heart was being tightened by a wire.

She ended up leaking a groan while drooling from her mouth, and Derus slowly nodded.

“It ended up happening.”

Malice lurked in his calm voice. She could feel the burning pain on her skin.

“I thought Delpros, the Shadowed Serpent Division leader, and the marionette of the Sword and Saber Sovereign would be enough against anyone, but he must’ve ruined it all again.”

Raon’s face was reflected in his cold eyes. The frightening sight gave the impression that it was being smeared with blood.

“He’s gotten stronger. He’s known to have reached the Grandmaster’s realm, but he already reached the intermediate realm.”

“......”

Cubara’s widened and she glared in Raon’s location.

‘Intermediate?’

The rumor about Raon Zieghart reaching Grandmaster had only spread at the beginning of the year. He was intermediate already? Even for a genius, such growth should’ve been impossible.

She was even more afraid of Raon’s growth than of Derus. She’d thought her strong point was that she wasn’t flustered in any situation, but she felt like her strong point had just disappeared.

“Discard the following plan. It’s meaningless since they’ve returned alive.” Derus shook his head, keeping Raon in his vision. “Continue with the division among the Five Divine Orders. It could be our key, considering how things turned out over here.”

“…Understood.” Cubara swallowed nervously and nodded her head.

‘He immediately came up with the next plan.’

Even though Derus had just witnessed his plan—which had cost a huge amount of time and resources—be ruined, he was thinking about his next move instead of getting angry. Even though she’d been serving him for her entire life, a chill still ran down her spine.

“The great plan will be postponed by at least ten years if we don’t come up with a definitive measure.” Derus sighed briefly and shook his head. “It’s all my fault.”

He bit lip tightly while watching Raon rampage among the warriors like a wolf among the sheep.

“I didn’t give him the highest priority even though I was aware of the danger he posed. It’s my fault.”

Derus sneered at himself and lifted his hand.

Whir!

An ominous dark energy as round as a moon burst from his hand.

Swoosh!

Derus raised his hand to carve the dark energy. In a moment as brief as a single breath, the round energy had turned into the shape of a sharp and slender spear, resting in his grasp.

Cubara’s lips trembled as she looked at the spear Derus had just created. She couldn’t feel any energy from it, but it was frightening. After all, the only thing dwelling in the spear was the phenomenon of death.

“Would this be enough to kill him?” Derus turned around with a faint smile on his face.

“…Of course,” Cubara agreed, nodding.

Even though Derus was controlling the output, it was still impossible for Raon Zieghart to defend against it in his current state.

“The thought that I shouldn’t do it keeps tickling my mind, but I can’t suppress my urge anymore. I’m still human.”

Derus pulled the black spear back while looking at Raon.

“If he even manages to survive this, it will be fate.”

With a quiet voice, the spear of darkness disappeared into the shadows of the night.

* * *

Whaaam!

Raon curled his lips into a smile while looking at the bodies of unconscious warriors, which were piled up like a mountain.

‘My body feels so light.’

The Sword and Saber Sovereign’s aura of earth had fortified his middle energy center almost excessively. His entire body was brimming with vitality because his body, mind ,and aura had regained their stability.

“Stop! Please stop!”

“Pl-please stop it now!”

“I’ll disarm myself!”

The warriors dropped their weapons and went on their knees, shouting that they were giving up. All he could hear was the sound of metals hitting the ground and painful groans.

Raon was about to approach the hill that had been formed by the swords, spears, and sabers piling up.

Raon!

Wrath’s impatient scream could be heard.

‘Why are you call—’

Raon started to respond but suddenly stopped.

Something was approaching.

No, it wasn’t something. It was death. The stench of death he’d felt in his previous life was right in front of him.

Probably because his life was coming to an end, an extreme focus washed over him. Time slowed down to the point that he could see the flow of air with his eyes.

Defense and evasion were both impossible.

Even if he entrusted his body to Wrath, his heart was going to be pierced the moment their souls switched.

The only thing he could do was to thrust the scabbard he was holding. That was it.

However, thrusting his scabbard was meaningless. What was approaching him incorporated death that even the astral sphere couldn’t defend against.

Was it the life flashing before his eyes?

The scenes of his life from his previous to his current life quickly went past his vision. However, he could think of no way to survive no matter how he searched those memories.

Just as the illusion was about to end, he noticed the last scene.

The Sword and Saber Sovereign was passing down his martial arts to him. He was reminded of the swordsmanship in the very last chapter of his martial arts, the Sword Breaking Art.

As the name implied, it was a secret technique that consisted of destroying your sword to save your life. He couldn’t use it perfectly, but he could at least buy a small amount of time.

Raon bit his lip to the point of bleeding and executed the Sword Breaking Art with the scabbard he was holding.

Spark!

The scabbard was fissured in the shape of a spider web, creating a thin sword barrier in front of his eyes. However, the energy of death broke through the Sword Breaking Art in an instant and pierced toward his heart.

He’d only bought a split second, even less than 0.5 seconds. No, it wasn’t even 0.1 seconds.

‘It was meaningless after all…’

Raon could feel the approaching death pierce through his skin.

However, he didn’t close his eyes. He strained his eyes, determined to fight until the last moment. The space on the left was split apart diagonally, and a blue radiance sparked in the right sky.

Claaang!

***

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]