Whir!

The demonic energy covering the entire sky and land gathered to King Baorn, forming black armor over him. A chilling, intense bloodlust emanated from the gauntlets and boots, which were glowing ominously with an evil light. Its overwhelming, irresistible presence drew the eyes toward it.

Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at King Baorn, who was wrapped in a tremendous amount of concentrated demonic energy.

‘The energy in his possession is on a whole different scale.’

Of course it is. He absorbed all of the holy power spread throughout this entire kingdom!

Wrath nodded, saying that it was a natural outcome.

His demonic energy is as vast as the ocean, and his body has surpassed the limits of the human race. However…

He clicked his tongue as he watched Baorn stroke his gauntlets.

That’s all he has. You should be able to understand what that means.

‘Yes.’

Raon calmly nodded. Like Wrath had said, King Baorn had become a lot more powerful, but Raon wasn’t exactly worried. There was a good method for defeating a monster like that.

“I’ll start by destroying that mouth of yours.”

King Baorn kicked the sky violently. His punch rushed at him from the left in less than a blink of an eye. It was a tremendous speed, the sound was arriving slower than the punch itself.

Cring!

Raon turned his left wrist slightly, and the demonic sword with it. The frost-covered blade descended in a diagonal strike.

Whaam!

Baorn’s powerful punch was redirected by the demonic sword’s blade, curving like a whip and hitting thin air. The shattering sound of the air resounded in all directions.

Shring!

Raon didn’t take a single step back, raising his right hand and wrist and putting them on the same line. The divine sword in his grasp rapidly advanced towards Baorn’s heart.

Crack!

A mark resembling a trace left by a wriggling snake was engraved on Baorn’s breastplate.

“Kuh!”

Baorn hurriedly stepped back to prevent his heart from being pierced. He turned around mid-air like a leaf in the wind and stomped down with his right foot.

The demonic energy concentrated around his ankle was so powerful that black sparks were erupting from it. It wasn’t just an improvised move. It was a systemized kicking technique. Baorn was capable of using proper martial arts.

Rumble!

The demonic energy storming around Baorn’s leg was even more powerful than the first punch. Its heaviness made it feel like a boulder was weighing upon his shoulders.

Clang!

Raon grazed the steel frame with his demonic sword and slashed upwards to unleash the Blizzard Sword Art. The blade of frost mixed with the blue wind of the Light Wind Style deflected Baorn’s kick softly.

Whaaam!

The demonic energy unleashed by Baorn’s attack smashed the spire’s pillar instead of Raon's, and the entire tower started to collapse. The steel frame, rocks, and planks fluttered chaotically into the air.

“You aren’t able to fly!” Baorn’s lips curled into a smile as he spread the two pairs of wings behind him.

“So what?”

“You won’t be able to run away anymore!”

He unleashed his punch towards Raon, who was falling to the ground, thinking that it was a great opportunity for him. The massive amount of demonic energy blazing from his dark red gauntlets rushed toward the vital spots all around his body.

“I have no intention of running away, though.”

Raon smiled coldly and swung the divine and demonic swords in a cross shape. The flame and frost erupted while cutting through the space, severing the heavy demonic energy into four different pieces.

Whoosh!

Baorn appeared from the bottom right and thrust his fist, demonic energy wavering around it, implying that the previous punch was just a feint. A pitch-black web of light erupted from the demonic energy blazing in between his fingers.

Thud!

Raon stepped on the steel frame falling behind him. Using the Light Wind Style’s wind on the edge of his foot, he escaped behind Baorn’s back.

“Hmph!”

Baorn spread his wings slightly. He caught up with a tremendous speed and kicked upwards. His dark boots rushed at Raon, crushing the air in between them.

Thud!

Raon kicked a piece of brick and moved to the opposite side again.

He dodged all of Baorn’s attacks, stepping onto the falling steel beams, rocks, and planks instead of the land. He almost looked like a leaf floating inside a tornado.

“You little rat!” Baorn got too close to him in frustration, and Raon’s eyes sparked.

‘It’s finally happening.’

Baorn wasn’t considering any counterattacks because he had been the one making the attacks ever since the tower’s collapse. It was the perfect opportunity to take him by surprise.

Cring!

Raon didn’t withdraw. He advanced instead and thrust his divine sword.

“Where are you looking—huh?”

Baorn sneered while looking at the divine sword stabbing the thin air, but a crimson sphere soared from the tip of the blade.

Whir!

The fireball that shimmered like a small sun started to absorb Baorn, who was trying to punch. It was the Heavenly Heavy Cannon, the second form of the Raon Zieghart Style.

“Kuh…”

“It’s already too late.”

Baorn hurriedly tried to withdraw, but the Heavenly Heavy Cannon’s force of attraction grabbed his wrist and didn’t let him go.

Whaam!

The cannonball gathering at the tip of the divine sword exploded, blowing Baorn’s right arm up without leaving any trace of it behind. The debris of the spire turned into black ash and fluttered in the air.

“Your wings are so useless. How about taking them off?” Raon landed on the ground and nodded towards Baorn, who was clutching his shoulder.

“Kuh… Shut your mouth.”

Baorn gritted his teeth, and a new arm started to sprout from his shoulder even though there wasn’t even a trace of the previous one left. His regeneration was even better than a troll’s. He seemed to have completely surpassed the human realm.

“I-is that really King Baorn?”

“Both his personality and appearance can’t be called human anymore. He’s trash.”

“He’s a real demon.”

Burren, Martha, and Runaan furrowed their brows, watching Baorn regenerate his arm.

“Whoa, it stinks like filthy water!”

“Shit…”

Rimmer pinched his nose because of the demonic energy’s stench, and Saintess Olga ground her teeth, frustrated by the fact that she couldn’t move anymore.

“Father…”

Hopen closed his eyes while putting his hands together. It was difficult to tell what he was thinking.

“Stay back, everyone,” Raon ordered everyone behind him to retreat and gripped the divine and demonic swords. “Because this fight is only getting started.”

* * *

“Kuh…”

Baorn bit his lip while looking at the regenerated arm. The demonic energy had allowed him to even regenerate an arm that was completely destroyed, but that wasn’t the important thing.

‘Raon Zieghart. What the hell is he?’

His demonic energy was a lot greater and his physical strength was no less than his opponent’s. The demonic energy he was controlling should’ve been capable of easily crushing Raon’s astral sphere, but he wasn’t pushed back in the slightest. He almost looked like an impenetrable wall.

‘No, there’s no way!’

Raon was no god. He was a human being. Moreover, he was just a young human who hadn’t managed to reach transcendence.

The Sword Field Creation had a time limit, and his aura wasn’t endless. He assumed that he just needed to push him with the amount of demonic energy, and Raon would have no other choice than to kneel in the end.

“I’ll completely drain you.”

Baorn advanced while destroying the land and extended his weakly clenched fist. It was the White Starry Fist. The extremely swift punch, meant to praise God with its speed, was tainted by demonic energy and rushed toward Raon’s heart.

Raon raised his red sword, maintaining the relaxed smile on his face. The flames undulated like a river’s surface, fluently deflecting the White Starry Fist’s trajectory.

Whaam!

The punch only managed to hit the ground instead of destroying Raon’s sword. A dark crater formed on the ground, but Raon didn’t move a single step from his spot.

‘More! I’ll keep going!’

Baorn unleashed the White Starry Fist and the Black Lotus Kick one after the other, maximizing the demonic energy’s output. The punches and kicks stormed around, crushing all of the buildings in the surrounding area.

However, the fiery assault subsided like a breeze upon facing Raon’s two swords. Raon’s breath was quiet, not even a single drop of sweat forming on his forehead. His casual expression made it look like he was having tea while reading a book instead of fighting.

“Huff…” Baorn’s chin trembled as he exhaled roughly. “What?! What the hell is going on?!”

According to his plan, Raon should’ve been exhausted to the point that he couldn’t even hold a sword anymore, but Baorn was the one who was exhausted instead.

He couldn’t believe it, because both his energy and physical body were superior to Raon’s.

“The king has obtained the power capable of making me a God! How come I can’t even defeat you?!”

Baorn shouted and unleashed the special technique of the White Starry Fist. The huge amount of demonic energy created a flash of light from his dark red gauntlets, powerful enough to cover their entire vision.

Thud!

Raon stomped the ground with his left foot. The divine sword he was holding in his right hand turned red. The Crimson Slash advanced even faster than sound, severing the center of the demonic energy.

He wasn’t satisfied with just cutting down the demonic energy. He pushed the demonic energy with his skin to rush toward his opponent, drawing a dreamy line with his sword.

Slash!

Baorn tried to defend himself by creating a wall of demonic energy, but the hazy trajectory of the Sword’s Silvery Dream broke through the demonic energy, leaving a deep wound on his chest.

Baorn coughed, stepping back while clutching his chest. Oozing black blood gushed from his mouth and chest.

‘Wh-what just…?’

His defense should’ve been successful. He couldn’t understand how Raon managed to break through—his demonic energy was a lot greater than Raon’s. He felt like he was trapped in a nightmare.

“I told you.” Raon twisted his lips into a smile while gazing down at Baorn. “I said that I would teach you how insignificant the power you’ve obtained truly is.”

“Why…?” Baorn ground his teeth, gripping the blood-soaked soil with his hand. “Why is the king losing to you?! This doesn’t make any sense!”

“It’s simple.” Raon nodded at Baorn. “Because the essence and qi are all you’ve managed to obtain.”

“What?”

“The harmony between the essence, qi, and spirit is important for a warrior. It’s not an exaggeration to say that you already have the body of a Transcender, and your demonic energy is about twice as much as my aura’s quantity. However…”

Raon raised his index finger and casually shook it. “The spirit. The soul level—or, the area called the mental world—is still the same. No, yours actually shrunk because you’ve borrowed too much power from another being. In short, you are nothing but a child in an adult’s body.”

Baorn had indeed become more powerful. His body was as powerful as Raon’s, and his demonic energy had far surpassed his aura.

However, his mind, which was needed to control that body and demonic energy, was just that of a Grandmaster. No, it was even reverted to being the highest-level Master. He was just an idiot who couldn’t properly control his body.

“I-it can’t be…”

“Let me ask you a question as well.”

Baorn’s lips trembled, and Raon walked up to him, narrowing his eyes.

“Why did you do such a thing? Did you really believe that you could destroy the White Blood Religion and the Black Tower just by gaining that power?”

“Because I didn’t want to forgive them.”

Baorn raised his head while gritting his teeth. His eyes weren’t showing any sign of defeat yet. They were blazing even more powerfully in determination.

“What?”

“Did you know? There’s a line in the holy book stating that forgiving one’s enemy is true revenge.”

“Yes.” Raon nodded, admitting that he’d heard as much.

“I believed it was the right thing to do at first. I thought it would be best for everyone to remove the vengeance from my heart. However, vengeance took over my mind the more I tried, and that’s when I realized it.”

Baorn’s lips curved into a grotesque smile, his eyes darkening and warping with malevolence.

“Forgiveness being true revenge is just an excuse for the weak. It’s the rambling of losers who are unable to take their revenge against the strong!”

Baorn regenerated the wound on his chest and pulled his hands behind his shoulders.

“I’ll take revenge with this power and protect this kingdom!”

The dark flame bursting from his hands became hundreds of astral spheres of concentrated demonic energy, storming throughout the area.

Spark!

Dark sparks erupted all around the place because the gathered energy was far too powerful, and the land was overturned.

“Let’s put an end to this fight.”

Raon didn’t fall back even though he’d witnessed the storm of astral spheres made of demonic energy. Raising the divine sword and lowering the demonic sword, he stepped forward with his right foot.

The flame and frost imbued in the divine and demonic swords were unleashed in a magnificent display. The majestic sight almost looked like two brushes soaked with red and blue ink were drawing a picture in the air.

A tidal wave erupted from the quiet movement of the brushes. A golden wave of flame and a silver wave of frost gushed out of the heavens and earth.

Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, Thousand Flames.

Flawless Sea of Fire.

The huge storm of demonic energy was crushed the moment it encountered the waves striking down from all directions.

Swoosh!

Baorn himself was also caught at the edge of the Flawless Sea of Fire, slamming into the ground with both his arms and legs torn off.

“Gaaah!”

His arms and legs started to regenerate again, but his eyes trembled nonstop, implying that his mind was already broken.

Whack!

As the Sword Field came to an end, Raon smashed Heavenly Drive and the Blade of Requiem into Baorn’s shoulders. The Blade of Requiem’s blade shone a faint yellow, implying that it was absorbing the demonic energy.

Baorn struggled while coughing up black blood, but he was unable to stand up because of the Blade of Requiem’s ghastly energy.

“Th-the king hasn’t lost! I haven’t lost yet…”

“Father!” Hopen ran up to Baorn and went on his knees. “Please stop it!”

“Hopen! Pull out this sword! The king has a task to complete! My revenge—”

“My brother didn’t wish for revenge!” He firmly shook his head.

“What could someone like you possibly know?”

“I know! Because my brother died right in front of me!”

“You…”

“He pushed us away even though the White Blood Religion’s leader was draining his blood. He smiled, glad that he was dying instead of others! He smiled amid that intense pain, telling me to take care of our father!” Hopen shouted with teary eyes, thinking about Biten’s death at Banneret.

"Do you really think my brother would have wanted you to seek revenge, especially at the cost of ruining the kingdom like this? Absolutely not!" Hopen shouted furiously, venting the emotions that had been piling up. “Please come back to your senses!”

Hopen punched Baorn’s face while gritting his teeth.

Whack!

It shouldn’t have done any damage because he wasn’t using any aura. However, Baorn’s wavering eyes looked like the fist hurt even more than the Flawless Sea of Fire.

“Ah…”

Baorn slowly shifted his gaze. The collapsed buildings, the deaths of civilians who didn’t even leave corpses behind, and the demonic energy welling up against the wall of holy power.

Finally, he saw his own body, which was still regenerating after his limbs were torn off. His chin trembled.

“I-I…” He gasped for breath, referring to himself as ‘I’ instead of ‘the king’.

“It’s too late to realize, Father.” Hopen gritted his teeth. "It’s impossible to atone for your sins, even if you spent the rest of your life trying. No one will forgive you. But you still have to rise again."

“Baorn.” Father Firn, his face pale, crawled toward King Baorn. “It looks like it’s all over now.” He shook his head, treating him as a friend instead of the king.

“It’s my fault.” Royal Guard Captain Danief walked up to him while clutching the wound on his chest and lowering his head. “I should’ve stopped you, but I couldn’t do it.”

“Danief…”

“But don’t worry. I’ll be a slave of this kingdom with you and atone for our sin for the rest of my life.” He held Baorn’s shoulder, saying that they would have to do it together. “You should stop now.”

“I-I…”

Baorn bit his lip. He closed his eyes before opening them again, showing that he’d made up his mind.

Whap!

The demonic energy engulfing his body slowly started to decrease, like an ember under rainfall. He seemed to be discarding the demonic energy.

“An excellent choice! Now…”

Hopen nodded with a faint smile on his face, but…

Swaa!

A white hand emerged from Baorn’s mouth. His teeth and flesh soared into the air along with his blood.

“U-uhhh!”

“The contract is terminated.”

An unknown man’s voice came from his mouth, where Baorn’s teeth had been pulled out and his tongue had been cut off.

“W-wai—” Baorn tried to shout at him to wait but his lips pulled apart, carving a grotesquely elongated opening.

It was a handsome man with white skin wearing a black suit and a fedora. However, the atmosphere around him was unlike anyone else present. An eerie presence that didn’t belong to a human or a monster was crushing the surrounding area.

“S-Sil’Kreth…”

Baorn shifted his head towards the handsome man. His eyes were getting cold. A death beyond salvation was befalling him.

“I made it clear, didn’t I? The moment you relinquish possession of the demonic energy, both your body and soul will belong to me. Oh, and one more thing…”

The man called Sil’Kreth snapped his fingers at Firn and Danief, who were next to Baorn.

“The same goes for those two.”

Firn and Danief were standing blankly because of the sudden death of their close friend, and they crumbled like dry leaves from his gesture.

A gray piece surging from their corpses was absorbed into Sil’Kreth’s body.

“Haa…” Sil’Kreth curled his lips into a smile with his arms spread to the sides. “This feels great. I can't recall the last time I went on an outing.”

“Wh-who are you?! What the hell are you?!” Hopen screamed while glaring at Sil’Kreth.

"I am Sil'Kreth, the demon who signed a contract with your father, just as you’re imagining at this moment." Sil’Kreth lowered his head while taking off his fedora. “I’m the new owner of this kingdom.”

A pitch-black demonic energy blazed from his footsteps.

Wham!

The wall of demonic energy that had been slowly pushing its way up instantly covered the entire kingdom. The breathtaking pressure was crushing them, as if the entire space was in his grasp.

“Cough…”

“Wh-what is this…?”

“I can’t breathe…”

It wasn’t just Hopen. Everyone in the Light Wind Division fell on their knees and clutched their throats.

“You damned son of a bitch…”

“H-he’s the real deal. Stay back!”

Even Saintess Olga and Rimmer’s limbs trembled in fear, unable to withstand Sil’Kreth’s demonic energy.

“Guh…”

“S-save me…”

The priests and holy knights collapsed while foaming at the mouths before they could even muster their holy power.

“Yes, this is the most befitting behavior for human beings.” Sil’Kreth nodded while looking at the people who’d fallen on their knees and collapsed. “But how come you are still standing like that?”

He tilted his head, looking at Raon, who was the only person standing.

“An inferior human shouldn’t be able to withstand my demonic energy.”

“......”

Raon pulled Heavenly Drive and the Blade of Requiem from Baorn’s corpse without answering his question.

This is infuriating to watch. A weakling like him boasting about his power…

Wrath furrowed his brow while looking at Sil’Kreth.

But you shouldn’t be able to win against him in your current state. This place is no different from Devildom, a demon’s home ground, and he has obtained far too much demonic energy.

‘It’s alright. I’m not going to fight him.’

What? You aren’t going to fight him?

‘I’m not,’ Raon curled his lips into a smile while tilting his chin. ‘I’m just going to beat him up.’

* * *

Sil’Kreth licked his lips, watching the young human who was the only one standing among the crowd.

‘He is pretty decent.’

The energy he possessed was of exceptional quantity and purity even among the present humans.

‘However… Why is he able to stand?’

Even though he had a large amount of energy, he hadn’t reached transcendence yet. He couldn’t understand why Raon was capable of standing so peacefully, in a place ruled by demonic energy.

‘Well, it doesn’t really matter. I can just kill him.’

He would’ve normally been a little suspicious, but the land had become no different from Devildom, and he had even more demonic energy than in his real body. He was confident he could prevail against anyone.

“I don’t really like torturing people, so I’ll finish you off quickly.”

He was about to raise his finger to cut off the young human’s head…

A silver current erupted from Raon’s shoulders. Strangely enough, demonic energy was clearly showing up from it. The darkness that made it look like Devildom had materialized in the human realm was pushed back to the corner, trembling in fear as if it were terrified of the silver haze.

“Wh-what? That energy…”

Sil’Kreth swallowed nervously and stepped back. His heart tightened with an uncomfortable feeling as he watched the blazing blue energy. He felt like a sharp iron wire was coiling around his entire body.

“Uuh…”

His instinct reacted instead of his reason. His shoulders, his arms, and his entire body were being twisted.

It wasn’t any ordinary demonic energy. It was the breath of a great existence of a whole different quality, a whole different level that he couldn’t even dare to look up to.

“Aaah!”

Sil’Kreth screamed while scratching his own face with his nails.

The demon king’s dignity was showing in Raon’s eyes. The absolute existence that he couldn’t even dare face was gazing down upon him.

“Kneel.”

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Writing Ant, 글개미]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Harley]