Chapter 663

Raon narrowed his eyes, looking at the troll sorcerer’s head as it rolled below his feet.

‘It’s not an ordinary sorcerer.’

Trolls normally had green skin, but the sorcerer’s skin was brown. A difference in color was a symbol of power for monsters. Its special skin implied that the troll had a special power.

‘Well, it did manage to react before it died.’

If the troll sorcerer had been a bit more powerful or agile, it could’ve dodged or blocked the astral energy. It was definitely part of the royal guards, the closest vassals of the king.

“Hmm…”

Raon licked his lips, watching the monsters getting in the Light Wind Division’s way.

‘It’s not just the troll sorcerer. The monsters are quite powerful overall.’

Just as knights serving a wise king radiated wisdom, and those following a mighty king unleashed immense physical strength, the combative energy of monsters also grew stronger in proportion to the power of their king.

Considering that the monsters were attacking the Light Wind Division like berserkers instead of being intimidated by their overwhelming prowess, it was clear that a powerful king was born among their ranks.

“Mad Dog Division.” Raon licked his lips, shaking his wrist. “I believe I told you to climb all the way to the peak of the mountain while maintaining the speed of your footwork. You’re being delayed quite a lot right now.”

As he scolded them, his lips curved into an evil smile.

“Th-that’s not true!”

“We are only getting started!”

“We’ll break through them in no time!”

The Light Wind Division frantically shook their heads as soon as they heard Raon’s frightening voice.

“You motherfuckers!”

“Get out of my waaay!”

“We’ll be the ones to die if you don’t!”

“Push forward! Kill them, even if you have to die in the process!”

The monsters were definitely powerful. They tried to stop the swords without fearing death, all in order to protect their king.

However, the Light Wind Division’s madness was even stronger. The swordsmen split apart the wall of monsters, their eyes glowing yellow with bloodlust.

“That’s more like it.”

Go easy on them!

Wrath shook his head at Raon’s harsh treatment.

Even in Devildom, they don’t raise their youngsters like that anymore!

‘Even in Devildom?’

If anyone did that in the land ruled by the King of Essence, they’d be criticized by the other parents!

‘R-really?’

Raon kept getting the impression that Devildom seemed to be even more human than in the human realm. Actually, he couldn’t even tell what it meant to be human anymore.

“E-excuse me…”

While Raon was having a philosophical contemplation, a young holy knight approached from the right and lowered his head. He was the one with the most powerful energy among the holy knights present.

“Thank you for saving us.”

Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at the emblem engraved on the holy knight’s armor.

‘The Holy Kingdom of Schper.’

He’d seen the emblem when he had spars against various neutral factions in Banneret, the Thespian Emperor’s city. However, it wasn’t just the emblem. The young holy knight’s face was also familiar.

“We’ve met before, haven't we?”

“Y-you remember me?”

The young holy knight’s eyes widened, surprised that Raon recognized him.

“It’s still in my memory. Were you Sir Hopen…?”

“Y-yes!” Hopen nodded, his chin trembling intensely.

‘He actually recognized me…’

His presence wasn’t even as good as a random knight on the roadside during his encounter with Raon. He was surprised and honored by the fact that Raon still remembered him.

“Yes. I remember because your basics were especially good among the people I met back then.” Raon nodded while looking at Hopen.

‘He even managed to defeat four members of the Light Wind Division.’

After defeating Krein during the sparring matches, Hopen had defeated three more swordsmen before he stopped fighting. Raon remembered him because both his skills and willpower were excellent, and he’d displayed splendid chivalry.

“I’m honored that the Light Wind Division leader recognized me.” Hopen politely lowered his head.

“You’ve become a Master. Congratulations.”

“It’s all thanks to you, Sir Raon.”

“What? What did I do…?” Raon tilted his head, unable to understand what he was talking about.

“I don’t know if you remember it, but our squad leader perished when Banneret was assaulted by the White Blood Religion’s leader and the Holy Sword Alliance master…”

“Hmm…”

Raon bit his lip. His words reminded him of the moment when the White Blood Religion’s leader killed Biten, Schper’s previous holy knight captain.

“I was the vice-captain back then, so I struggled desperately to save the knights. I ended up getting enlightened as a result. Of course, it would’ve been meaningless if I couldn’t escape from that hell, but…”

He lifted his gaze while clenching his fist. His eyes were blazing intensely.

“We managed to escape from there thanks to you. It was because you destroyed the castle walls.” He lowered his head, thanking him for saving them when they could’ve died.

“Th-thank you!”

The knights behind Hopen also bowed at Raon, talking about the same incident. Raon realized that the faces of those knights were also familiar. He could guess that the group consisted of the survivors of that incident.

“I apologize for the late expression of gratitude. We’ve sent a letter to Zieghart, but back then, you…”

“I see, I should’ve been rumored to be dead. It’s fine.”

Raon smiled faintly and nodded. It was probably a natural outcome that he didn’t receive the letter from them because he had been attacked by the Demonic Monarch of the Azure Flame, Wrath had manifested, and he had been kidnapped by Aries since then.

“By the way, what brings you here?”

“We’ve come to exterminate the monsters because we heard that a king of monsters has appeared on Divarn Mountain. This mountain overlaps slightly with our domain. We ended up in this shameful shape, though…” Hopen shamefully rubbed the back of his back.

“Hmm…”

Since Divarn Mountain was vast, it wasn’t strange at all that it overlapped with the Holy Kingdom of Schper. However, it was only the edge, and the problematic region was far away from it. There was a good reason the kingdom was described as holy, considering that they came so far for the extermination.

“We ended up troubling you for our task. I appreciate the Holy Kingdom’s goodwill.”

“No-not at all. All I’ve done was to carry out a mission from the upper echelon.” Hopen smiled awkwardly, saying that he was simply ordered to get rid of the monsters as fast as possible.

“That’s the amazing part.”

Raon nodded with a faint smile on his face. They’d left him a favorable impression already when he’d encountered them because of Biten, and they really deserved their name.

“We should’ve taken care of them cleanly. I’m ashamed that it ended up like this.” Hopen hung his head, embarrassed by the fact that they were being praised even though they had to run away from the battle. “On the other hand, the Light Wind Division is amazing. They seemed to have reached a level that we can’t even catch up to anymore.”

The Light Wind Division looked back as soon as he finished voicing his envy. None of the monsters that used to stand in their way could be seen anymore.

“W-we’re done.”

“We took care of all the monsters… Sir!”

“There were seriously so many of them…”

Burren, Martha, and Runaan shook their heads while breathing roughly.

“Division leader! We completely got rid of them!”

“Our Light Wind Style is pretty decent now, isn’t it?”

“I-it didn’t even take that long!”

The Light Wind Division was also smiling, looking forward to his response.

“Hmm…”

Raon scratched his head while looking at the Light Wind Division.

“I didn’t see, because I was talking to him.”

“Ah…”

“Err…”

The Light Wind Division turned pale upon hearing his response.

“I’ll make sure to watch next time. Head up there already.” Raon brusquely shook his hand, telling them to prepare for the next battle already. “Would you like to come with us?”

Raon gently raised his hand toward Hopen and the knights, a contrasting smile brimming with kindness. “You should confirm the extermination’s progress since you’ve got a mission.”

“Thank you for your consideration!”

“Thank you, Sir Raon!”

The holy knights nodded while putting their hands together, as if they were greeting God.

“L-look at him…”

“The holy knights need to see his true demonic face…”

“He is only polite to strangers! Only to strangers!”

“He isn’t just a demon. He is a demon king. A human being can’t be acting like that…”

“Now that I think about it, didn’t he call us Mad Dogs again earlier?”

“Again? I didn’t even notice because I’ve gotten used to it!”

The Light Wind Division trudged over the monster corpses, their shoulders slumped as they headed toward the peak.

“He was a nice guy in the past. Why did he end up that way?” Rimmer shook his head, saying that he couldn’t understand it.

It’s you! It’s your fault, Shitty Ears!

Wrath barked at Rimmer.

He grew up while watching you. There’s no way he would become a proper human being!

* * *

“Left wing is empty! Fill it, third team!”

“Right wing is too quick! Match speed with the center!”

“Surround the formation with the Light Wind Style’s wind, not your swords.”

The Light Wind Division was practically invincible as they followed Martha, Burren, and Runaan’s orders, surrounded by the Light Wind Style’s wind. Monsters devoting their lives to the king were split apart like dry firewood.

Grr…

Kiaaah…

The madness filling the eyes of the monsters faded away, and they started to step backward.

“A-amazing.” Hopen swallowed nervously as he watched the Light Wind Division tear the monsters apart. “I was well aware that the Light Wind Division had many excellent warriors, but I didn’t expect them to be so good…”

“They still need to improve a lot.”

Raon smiled faintly and shook his head. The Light Wind Division’s shoulders trembled upon hearing Raon’s voice.

“D-did you just hear him? We still need to improve…”

“Isn’t he implying that we need to train even more?”

“I-I think so. He doesn’t say things for no reason.”

“Damn it! Increase the pace!”

“Let’s destroy them all and climb!”

“Gaaaah!”

The Light Wind Division let out a roar that almost sounded like a scream and charged toward the still-numerous monsters.

Whaaam!

Blue wind seeped onto the breakthrough formation shaped like a spear, and the wall of monsters was devastated in no time.

“Keep going like this!”

With Martha’s shout from the front row, the Light Wind Division’s spear of wind rushed towards the peak of the mountain.

“Hmm…”

Raon licked his lips while watching them.

‘That wasn’t what I meant…’

He was just being humble toward the other party. He didn’t mean that he didn’t like their current level of prowess. He was speechless at their reaction because there was nothing to misunderstand about it.

Speechless? Don’t even start!

Wrath shook his head, treating it as nonsense.

Think about how much you’ve been bullying them for them to end up that way!

He sniffled, pitying the Light Wind Division.

‘Well, it’s all good since we’ll arrive faster now.’

Raon shrugged his shoulders. After all, anything was fine as long as it drew out more power from them.

Whaaam!

Raon followed the path that the Light Wind Division had created with Hopen, and by the time they reached a hill where they could see the peak, the sound of something blocking the Light Wind Division’s advance could be heard.

He shifted his gaze and saw that large monsters—an ettin, an ogre, and trolls—were blocking their path. Three troll sorcerers were supporting them from behind.

Raon licked his lips upon seeing that the combative energy of the monsters was on a whole different level from the ones below.

‘These are the royal guards.’

The ogre was even taller than seven meters, and the troll and troll sorcerers had brown skin—just like they’d seen below.

They were both powerful enough to be called mutants, and the ettin was powerful enough to defeat multiple ogres on its own to begin with, so its existence itself was a threat.

Whaam!

The ettin started its charge, holding a club even thicker than a log with both hands, while the ogre leaped to the sky and started to punch.

The troll sorcerers cast blessings on the two monsters while throwing curses and piles of rocks at the Light Wind Division. All of them were monsters of the highest rank, capable of using combative energy.

“Finally, some opponents that are worth cutting down.”

“Large Light Wind Formation!”

“Unleash the Light Wind Style.”

Burren, Martha, and Runaan stepped forward, and the sword formation in the shape of a spear returned to its original circular shape.

“There’s no reason to waste any time! Defeat them at once!” Martha shouted, and the Light Wind Division advanced, maximizing the Light Wind Style’s output.

Whaam!

The blue wind emanating from their blades circulated within the Light Wind Formation, further amplifying the sharpness of their swordsmanship.

The will of swordsmen who’d been coordinating for a long time was unleashed as a single aura blade.

Slaash!

The ettin’s club and the ogre’s fist were split apart in an instant, and the staves were destroyed in the troll sorcerers’ hands behind them.

“Grr…”

“Aaack…”

The monsters collapsed, their eyes trembling in disbelief at their own deaths.

The ettin, ogre, and troll sorcerers were definitely powerful. This was an undeniable fact, as the order of holy knights from the Holy Kingdom of Schper had to run away, unable to even reach the midpoint in the face of them.

However, there were five Masters in the Light Wind Division, and the other members were at the highest level of Expert.

It was a natural outcome because they even had the best formation, one specialized in cutting, and a divine technique called the Light Wind Style.

“Whoa…”

“Wow…”

“So this is the true power of the Light Wind Division…”

Hopen and the holy knights fell speechless upon witnessing the true power of the Light Wind Formation.

Raon smiled faintly, watching the Light Wind Division drive the remaining royal guards and monsters into a corner.

‘It’s finally starting to work.’

The aura and wind had been functioning separately or dissipating in the beginning, but the long battle had allowed them to wield the wind around them naturally. Raon was able to confirm that a real battle was the best lesson. He even felt thankful to Balder for allowing him to receive the mission.

‘Is it my turn now?’

Raon smiled faintly and climbed to the peak, following the path that the Light Wind Division had carved for him.

“That one must be the king.”

What looked like a summit rising high enough to pierce the sky started to stand up. The tough gray skin, arms, chest muscles that resembled a literal boulder, and two heads with different expressions on their faces. The king’s appearance was rather unexpected.

“It was a double-headed ogre…?”

Moreover, it wasn’t any ordinary double-headed ogre. It was a gray ogre, a special type of ogre known for its tough skin and unparalleled strength.

The fact that a double-headed entity was born from gray ogres, which were a powerful race to begin with, must’ve been the reason behind the large number of monsters.

Raaawr!

The double-headed ogre unleashed its tremendous roar while looking up to the sky. It sounded like a declaration of war, directed at the world rather than Raon.

Whir!

Crimson combative energy blazed around it like an undulating wave. The huge amount of energy didn’t even lose to Eden’s demons.

Raon licked his lips, watching the combative energy soaring to the sky to a frightening degree.

‘It could’ve been seriously dangerous if we came any later…’

The ogre possessed such a powerful combative energy and bloodlust even though it was only born recently. If it was found any later, the villages and cities in the vicinity would’ve been completely devastated.

Grr.

The double-headed ogre clenched its fist, which was even larger than a boulder, and descended in front of Raon. It quietly got into a combat stance instead of attacking right away. It seemed to be showing the dignity of a king.

“So, you’re still a king.” Raon unsheathed his sword, a faint smile on his face.

Grr.

The double-headed ogre slowly thrust its fist. It was a greeting, rather than an attack. It instinctively had the spirit of a warrior, its demeanor even better than most knights and swordsmen.

Raon raised his sword in front of him, offering a sword salute.

Kuaaah!

As soon as the greeting of warriors ended, the double-headed ogre stomped the ground and thrust its fist. Its crimson combative energy gushed down like a lightning strike. The ogre had instinctively understood the martial art. It possessed a tremendous talent.

‘I shall go all-out as a sign of respect.’

It was a one-on-one battle against a monster with an unbefitting courtesy. It wasn’t strange to call it a duel between warriors.

Raon unleashed the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and the Light Wind Style at the maximum output. His right hand, which was holding Heavenly Drive, turned into a blue ray of light and rushed toward the opponent. The flaming blade transcended the concept of swiftness and cut through the crimson combative energy.

Craack!

The double-headed ogre didn’t lower its fist even after it was slaughtered by the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation. However, its fist came to a halt before reaching Raon’s body.

Grr.

The double-headed ogre growled in regret and collapsed to the ground.

“It’s difficult to believe that it was a monster.” Raon closed his eyes slightly, watching the double-headed ogre’s heads falling to the ground. And…

Whoosh!

Something soared to the sky from the right and rushed in at a tremendous speed.

Cring!

Raon moved his left hand as if he’d expected that move. He unsheathed the Blade of Requiem, raising the blade of ghastly energy toward it.

Claaang!

The mysterious man’s hand, which was extending toward the double-headed ogre’s heads, was bounced back by the blade, turning his body around mid-air.

“Ah. You’ve gotten even stronger.”

The mysterious man laughed, standing upside down in the air. He was a familiar man, though he was wearing a blue snake’s helmet with three horns protruding from it.

“You…”

Raon furrowed his brow upon hearing his voice, confirming his suspicions.

“What the hell are you?”

***

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]