Chapter 662

“…Palace master?”

“Wh-what are you saying?”

“Why would you give the mission to the Light Wind Division leader…?”

The direct line executives couldn’t understand the sudden change in the situation, so they were left blinking in a daze. They’d been counting on Balder.

“All of you lowered your hands, showing that you didn’t want the mission.” Balder shook his head, responding to them brusquely. “I’m just giving him the chance that came to me.”

He furrowed his brow, asking why they were complaining to him when they lowered their hands on their own accord.

“B-but that boy—I mean, the Light Wind Division leader is a collateral!”

“Why are you giving the Light Wind Division leader an opportunity to contribute…?”

“Please reconsider, palace master!”

“Actually, I don’t really like collaterals either. However…” Balder tilted his head after skimming through all the executives. “I like the ones who have ability and spirit.”

Balder shifted his gaze to Raon and winked again.

“Ugh…”

Raon’s shoulders trembled as he watched Balder. The fact that he was winking despite having the bulkiest appearance among them made goosebumps appear on his forearm.

Why is that ogre acting like that?

Wrath wrinkled his nose, showing that he was disgusted by the sight.

‘I don’t understand either…’

Balder had to hate him, even though he might not be as bad as Karoon. His son, Raden, was the first one to pick a fight, but Raon had beaten him up until he was on the verge of death. They couldn’t possibly be on good terms because of that.

Raon was certain that Balder was plotting something because he was suddenly giving him the mission despite their past.

‘But… I can’t predict what he’s thinking at all.’

He couldn’t read Balder’s thoughts because he was supporting him in front of everyone instead of helping him secretly. Raon’s pride was even hurt because he was unable to figure out Balder’s thoughts when he should’ve been the biggest simpleton in Zieghart.

“Ahem!” Chad casually cleared his throat to lighten the mood. “So, the True Martial Palace master wants to hand over the monster extermination mission to the Light Wind Division, right?”

“Indeed.” Balder slammed the table with his palm, saying that was exactly his intention.

“Light Wind Division leader.” Chad nodded, shifting his gaze towards Raon. “Are you going to accept the monster extermination mission passed to you by the True Martial Palace master?”

He lowered his left eyebrow slightly, suggesting he should just take it without question.

“Hmm…”

Raon didn’t respond right away, examining Chad and Balder’s eyes one after the other.

‘Is it really okay?’

Since he was suspicious of both Chad and Balder, he was getting worried about whether it was okay to take the mission. That being said, Balder might be an idiot, but Chad wasn’t. There was no way he would resort to an obvious scheme like that.

“May I ask a question before taking the mission?” Raon calmly breathed out and looked at Balder.

“I’m listening.” Balder nodded his head, telling him to ask his question if he wanted.

“May I hear why you are handing over the mission to me?”

“I already said it in the beginning. I like people with skills and spirit.” He curled his lips into a smile while weakly tapping on the round table with his finger. “My answer is simple. I just thought you would carry out the mission better than anyone else.”

Balder winked once again. The way his eyelids were trembling looked extremely awkward.

“You’ll take it, right?” Balder nodded, acting as if he believed Raon would never refuse.

“Hmm…”

Raon licked his lips while looking at Balder. He became certain of it after talking to him.

‘The chance that he is scheming something is extremely low.’

Karoon had recently been beaten by Glenn while trying to pull off his shabby plot, and Balder had seen it. No matter how stupid Balder was, there was no way he would blatantly pull a trick like that.

“I’ll take it.” Raon nodded at Chad.

“Then the Light Wind Division will be in charge of the monster extermination mission.” Chad quickly finished assigning the mission before anyone could argue.

“Good luck on your mission.” Balder winked again, giving him a thumbs up to show his trust in Raon.

Does he have some kind of magnesium shortage?

Wrath shook his head, saying that he’d never seen such an ugly wink before.

‘Hmm…’

Raon bit his lip while shifting his gaze away.

‘It’s not a trap, but why do I have a bad feeling about this?’

He decided that he’d need to thoroughly prepare for the mission.

* * *

“Balder,” Denier called out Balder as he was about to return to the True Martial Palace after the conference was over. “We need to talk.”

“What’s up?” Balder furrowed his brow, telling him to quickly finish his business, as if he had an urgent matter to attend to.

“What changed your mind?” Denier narrowed his eyes while walking up to Balder. “You hated Raon so much because of the incident with Raden. Why are you suddenly helping him now?”

“It’s just a matter of the past.” Balder shrugged his shoulders while facing Denier. “And when I think about it more calmly, it’s true that Raden was the one to offend Sylvia first.”

“But you still shouldn’t have any reason to help him.”

“I’ve started to take a liking to Raon recently.”

“What?”

Denier’s eyes widened, showing that his answer was completely unexpected to him.

“It was fun when he messed with the Thespian Emperor during her visit, and he’s been bold and seamless since then. The Blade’s Rest is splendid, just by its existence.”

Balder smiled, reciting Raon’s deeds one after the other.

“But didn’t you dislike collaterals?”

“Our father said something to me when Raden had the sword duel against Raon in the past.”

He lifted a finger while gazing up towards the lord’s manor.

“Responsibility. He said that the direct lines are the true owners of Zieghart, and we need to be responsible for every single action we take and word we speak. Raon is more responsible than anyone else right now,” Balder continued while touching the scabbard hanging around his waist.

“He brought glory to Zieghart’s name and made sure to trample upon our enemies. That’s the ideal life of a Zieghart swordsman,” he declared without hesitation, showing his unwavering conviction.

“Is that why you gave him the mission?” Denier nodded, implying that he could somewhat understand Balder’s thoughts.

“Of course, that’s not the only reason.” Balder chuckled and shook his head. “You heard that Raon created an extremely advanced martial art, didn’t you?”

“Are you talking about the Light Wind Style?”

“Yes, that one.” He shifted his gaze towards the annex building’s direction.

“He gave the Spiral Light Style to the annex building and the Light Wind Style to the Light Wind Division. There are countless powerful martial arts in the world, but a martial art suitable for a person is rare.”

Balder slowly licked his lips, revealing his desire.

“He is a genius in martial arts! Moreover, he is the rarest type of genius, capable of creating the martial art that best suits a given person.”

His eyes glowed in a frightening manner.

“I can’t just leave him alone when such a genius is right next to me. I’m going to request that he create a martial art for me as well!”

Balder smiled, saying that he might be able to break through the wall of transcendence.

“Then are you joining Raon’s side?”

“What bullshit is that now?” He furrowed his brow deeply. “Why would this great one join Raon’s side? We’re just helping each other!”

Balder shook his head, saying that he was simply going to request that he make a martial art for him in return for his help.

“I still haven’t given up on becoming the head of house. But…” He furrowed his brow while facing Denier. “You sound like Raon shouldn’t be allowed to be the head of house.”

“That wasn’t really what I meant, but do you think differently?” Denier’s quiet gaze met Balder’s.

“I don’t.” Balder firmly shook his head.

“I said this before, but I’m going to accept it even if I don’t become the head of house—as long as someone who can lead the house better than me gets the position. It doesn’t really matter to me whether that’s you, our oldest brother, or Raon.”

The look in his eyes was as serious and straight as his bulky body.

“I see.” Denier nodded, showing that he finally understood it.

“What about you? You keep pretending to be a nice person, but you’re actually going for the head of house position.”

“I wonder…” Denier smiled calmly. “I’m different from Karoon, who absolutely wants to be the head of house, and you, who doesn’t really mind leaving it to another person.”

“What do you mean? Make it easier to understand!” Balder furrowed his brow, saying that he couldn’t understand him.

“You don’t really need to know,” Denier said and turned around. “And I’m telling you just in case…”

He raised his finger while looking at Balder again.

“Don’t ask Raon to make a martial art for you just because you helped him today. He’ll kick you out.”

“Huh? Is it not going to work?” Balder blinked, implying that he was planning to visit the annex building right away.

“It’s not an easy task to create a martial art, and Raon’s favorability towards you should be at rock bottom right now. What are you even trying to achieve by asking him right now?” Denier sighed, having expected that answer from Balder.

“Then I can ask him after helping him one more time, right?” Balder smiled, saying that it should work that way.

“The number isn’t even the issue here. It’s not going to work, even if you help him five more times!” Denier couldn’t suppress his frustration and raised his voice.

“I get it, I’ll help him six times then!”

“Huah…” As soon as he heard Balder’s cheerful answer, he let his shoulders slump, giving up on everything. “…Do whatever you want.”

“This reminds me of the past.” Balder chuckled, watching Denier get exhausted on his own. “You are the same as before even though you’ve been acting cool recently.”

“Haa…” Denier shook his head. “That simple mindset is one of your weapons. Continue walking your path like that.”

It was the last thing he said before he left for the Wise Martial Palace.

“I told you to make it easy to understand.” Balder watched Denier for a while and snorted at his back.

***

The Next Day

Raon finished his preparations for the mission and went up on the fifth training ground’s platform. He gazed upon all the members of the Light Wind Division, his hands clasped behind his back.

The swordsmen’s pressures had reached another realm even though not much time had passed since they’d learned the Light Wind Style. It was clear that they’d been training day and night.

Raon stood at the edge of the platform, his lips curved in satisfaction.

“Our mission this time is to exterminate the king of monsters, born in Divarn Mountain.”

Raon explained the mission once again while watching the Light Wind Division, who seemed to be looking forward to the mission rather than being nervous.

“The monsters are perfect opponents to try out the Light Wind Style since there are powerful monsters like ettins in their ranks, and their numbers are continuously multiplying.”

“Shouldn’t you normally be telling us to be careful instead of saying it’s perfect at this point?” Dorian’s chin trembled at his ridiculous statement.

“Our division leader isn’t normal. He’s crazy, I mean, he’s slightly insane—I mean, he’s nice and insane…?” Krein started to stutter, getting his thoughts jumbled up while trying to describe Raon.

“The king and their royal guards might be a different story, but there’s no reason for you to be afraid of the common monsters.”

“That’s true!”

“We’ve gotten a lot stronger, after all!”

“Some monsters are nothing for us! They aren’t like the Five Demons!”

“Yes! We’d be better off biting our tongues off and dying if we were the types to lose to some monsters!”

The Light Wind Division nodded cheerfully, as if their everyday training had become their confidence.

“I like your confidence. Therefore…” Raon smiled, approving of the Light Wind Division’s reaction. “If the monsters manage to injure you in the slightest or the extermination is delayed, you will be punished in a way that will make you wish that you could bite your tongues and end yourselves.”

A bloody glow radiated from his red eyes.

“Ah…”

“O-oh no…”

“He got us again!”

“Krein! Please shut up!”

The Light Wind Division screamed, realizing that they were baited by Raon.

Clap!

Raon loudly clapped his hands to shut their mouths.

“Of course, we will be training on the way.” He pointed at his foot with his finger as he spoke. “You’ve gotten used to adding the Light Wind Style to your swordsmanship, but I noticed that you still needed a lot of improvement when it comes to footwork…”

“Don’t tell me…”

“You guessed right. Continuously practice adding the Light Wind Style to your footwork on the way. The super sense can somewhat make up for it, but it’ll be a lot more effective if you can consciously summon the wind.”

The Light Wind swordsmen turned pale upon hearing Raon’s order.

“Get started now. The one running at the very back will get the back of their head…”

As soon as Raon mentioned the back of the head, the Light Wind Division ran from the training ground, unleashing the wind of the Light Wind Style.

“Hey…” Rimmer smiled awkwardly, watching out for Raon’s mood. “I-I don’t need to do it, right? I’ve almost finished learning it…”

“......”

Raon smiled cheerfully while lifting his scabbard without saying anything.

“Haa! What are the demons even doing? They should get him on their side already!”

Rimmer ran outside with teary eyes, complaining that the disciple was threatening the master.

What nonsense are you talking about?!

Wrath shouted at Rimmer’s back.

Even the Devildom would be ruined if we brought him there!

* * *

“Wow…”

Hopen, the fifth holy knight captain of the Holy Kingdom of Schper, swallowed nervously while watching the endless wall of monsters.

‘This is seriously no joke.’

He didn’t even need to spread his aura perception. The stench and combative energy of the monsters engulfed the entire mountain. Their numbers were immeasurable.

‘It hasn’t even been that long since we heard about the appearance of a king, yet there are so many of them already…’

The number wasn’t the only issue. The mountain was full of mid- to high-grade monsters instead of weak kobolds and goblins.

‘We’ll be annihilated at this rate.’

Considering the numbers and power of the medium and large monsters, the knights wouldn’t even be able to get close to the king and the royal guards. Retreating was the only option they had for the time being.

“Retreat! Everyone, retreat!”

Hopen stepped forward and bought time for the knights and soldiers to escape.

‘We can’t suffer more casualties.’

Knight Captain Biten and countless knights had perished at Banneret during the festival of the Five Diven Orders. He couldn’t afford to lose any more knights.

“Th-there are monsters behind us as well!”

“They must’ve come from below the mountain to encircle us!”

The holy knights who’d been trying to create a path returned with their troops, reporting the news with trembling lips.

“Damn it…” Hopen bit his lip, sensing the bloodlust of monsters coming from behind them.

‘The king should still be on the mountain. Do they have another leader?’

There was no way ordinary monsters could close in like that. There was definitely another entity commanding the monsters.

‘There was a good reason we lost contact with the first team. All of them must’ve died.’

Some of the knights among the scouting party who’d climbed the mountain in advance were at the entry level of Master. Hopen had found it strange that they couldn’t contact them anymore, but he realized that they must’ve been annihilated.

‘It can’t be helped.’

He changed the plan to save as many people as possible, giving up on saving everyone.

“I’ll take the lead from now on! Undo the defensive formation and switch to the breakthrough formation!”

Hopen unleashed the astral energy towards a path with the smallest number of monsters. A blade engulfed in holy light split the wall of monsters in half.

“Charge!”

As soon as the path was created, he dashed down the mountain while commanding the troops. He unleashed his astral energy again and again, preventing monsters from refilling the ranks.

Kihehe!

Just as the area under the mountain came into view, the land suddenly collapsed alongside a sinister laugh.

Wham!

He stopped his advance, turned his head while taking a step back, and saw a troll sorcerer swinging a staff made of human bones.

“You monster!”

Hopen started to move to cut down the sorcerer, but the monsters started to block the path once again.

Wham!

The troll sorcerer seemed to know how much distance it needed to maintain to stay out of the astral energy’s reach. It cast its spell from far away, aiming to strike the knights and soldiers with a boulder.

“Stop it!”

Hopen sharpened his astral energy and unleashed a ranged slash, but the troll sorcerer leaped backward and continued to attack with only sorcery. Considering how proficient it was at keeping the distance, it was an extremely smart monster.

‘So that troll was the one…’

He could guess that the troll sorcerer was the one who’d created the encirclement to pressure the troops. He noticed that even the color of its skin was different. It wasn’t an ordinary troll sorcerer.

‘But we won’t be able to leave the mountain if I use all my strength against that troll…’

He would be able to kill the troll sorcerer if he went all-out, but he had to risk his life as well. He didn’t have much energy left because the battle had been going on for so long.

‘I have no other way!’

Hopen bit his lip. As the captain of the holy knights, he had to save his subordinates even if he had to kill himself in the process. He mustered all of his remaining energy and formed powerful astral energy.

Swoosh!

He broke through the encirclement in an instant, and he was about to behead the troll sorcerer…

Whir.

The troll sorcerer's figure blurred and vanished as if it were merely an illusion. He had been perfectly deceived by an illusory spell.

Kihihihi!

The troll sorcerer giggled, appearing next to the soldiers. The burning boulder surging from his hand started to fall upon the knights and the soldiers.

‘Damn it!’

Hopen's chin quivered. The urgency of the situation left him unable to make a clear decision.

“No!”

He extended his hand while screaming, but they were too far away from him. His heart tightened, feeling the death of his subordinates.

That was when…

Whoosh!

A sudden gust of blue wind felt as though it was wiping away the mountain's darkness, and the troll sorcerer's head, still mocking humans, dropped to the ground in an instant.

Swordsman appeared from behind, surrounded by clear wind, and started to slaughter the monsters.

“Die!”

“Go to hell!”

However, the way they swung their swords made them look like evil demons who craved revenge instead of righteous knights saving their lives.

“Wh-what…?”

Hopen’s eyes trembled as he witnessed the swordsman making his way up from the very back. With blond hair and red eyes, the radiance surrounding him was even more powerful than the sun, and he was a warrior who he couldn’t possibly forget even though he’d only seen him once.

“Raon Zieghart!”

“Mad Dog Division.”

Raon’s lips twitched elegantly, his presence even more dignified than he had been at Banneret.

“Bite.”

“......”

***

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]