"Huh?"
Darkan exhaled sharply after examining Raon's soul through his Soul Sword.
'What on earth is this guy?'
Raon was no mere loudmouth. Both his swordsmanship skills and potential for growth exceeded expectations. When Darkan tried to assess the realm of Raon's soul, it completely surpassed his imagination.
'This is on par with a Transcendent Warrior.'
The realm of Raon's soul was vast enough to rival even a Transcendent Warrior. While Darkan had been impressed by Raon's martial prowess and talent, the size of his soul was on an entirely different level.
'And this is supposed to be a Grandmaster?'
As Darkan tilted his head in disbelief, something even more enormous rose from behind Raon's soul.
-You worm.
The moment he heard that chilling voice that seemed to freeze his very soul, Darkan's world changed.
"Hmm..."
Darkan opened his eyes in a place that was not the Holy Sword Alliance headquarters.
'This isn't reality.'
Darkan frowned as he caught falling snow in his hand. Since he could see ahead, this wasn't reality but someone's mental world.
"This doesn't seem to be Raon's mental world..."
Darkan turned around, recalling that bone-chilling voice. In the center of the endless snowfield stood a massive tree enveloped in silver snow. It seemed to have taken root for a thousand, no, ten thousand years, and looked too large to be felled even with his sword in one strike.
"How could such a tree... Ah!"
Darkan's jaw dropped as he gazed at the tree that seemed to touch the sky.
'That's not a tree.'
What he thought was a tree that had stood for ten thousand years was actually someone's soul. The soul of this place's owner was so enormous that it had taken the form of this massive tree.
'Is that the owner of this place?'
Darkan licked his lips as he observed the being standing beneath the tree. Hair like the ocean cascaded down to the waist, and the bridge of the nose was as sharp as a blade. It was as if the word 'beauty' had been sculpted into human form, but the pinnacle was in the eyes. The blue gaze seemed to constrict his very soul, leaving him unable to speak.
He. Or she. No, gender was irrelevant for this being. Its mere existence felt like both a blessing and a curse upon the world.
'This one is surely the one from back then...'
It was a face he had seen before, yet it felt like a completely new existence. The realm of its soul was on an entirely different dimension from back then.
"This clears up some of my questions from that time. Are you the one controlling Raon?"
Darkan twisted his lips as he looked at the blue being.
"Control?"
The Blue Demon King, Wrath, slowly turned his gaze.
"Do you think that leech would be controlled by anyone?"
"Indeed, you're right. That child is not one to be controlled, nor to control others."
Darkan nodded in agreement.
"However..."
He clicked his tongue briefly as he examined Wrath.
"You're not a swordsman."
Darkan realized just by making eye contact that Wrath was not a swordsman. His curiosity shrank in an instant.
"But you'll be a worthy opponent to fight."
Although this place was not reality but a mental world, fighting such a powerful opponent would greatly contribute to his growth.
"Fight?"
Wrath lowered his blue eyes towards Darkan.
"Vermin that doesn't know its place."
The moment Wrath's calm yet low voice reached this world, Darkan's waist bent as if about to touch the ground. The immense realm of Wrath's soul began to press down on Darkan.
"Ugh!"
Darkan gritted his teeth. He exerted his aura with all his might to avoid collapsing, but it was all he could do to barely withstand it.
'What, what is this....'
It wasn't a difference in martial prowess. The difference in the power of their souls was so vast that it was difficult to even endure. It felt as if his own soul was freezing solid.
'This guy can't be human.'
No human could possess such an enormous soul. This was impossible even for Glenn or the Heavenly Demon. It was a realm permitted only to monsters who lived for thousands, or even tens of thousands of years.
"Vermin."
Wrath looked down at Darkan and tilted his chin.
"Mutter about knowing your place and fighting."
Thick veins bulged on Darkan's face as he endured the pressure exerted solely by the realm of Wrath's soul, without any physical force.
"It's been a while since I felt like this..."
Darkan rose to his feet, biting his lip until it bled.
"I truly feel like I've returned to being vermin."
He twisted a smile as if feeling challenged by this situation.
"Then accept this vermin's challenge!"
Darkan abandoned his defense. Enduring the freezing of his own soul, he raised his dark-hued sword. His Soul Sword, imbued with his soul, reached Wrath and emitted a deep black light. However, Wrath's enormous and steadfast soul met Darkan's Soul Sword head-on without wavering.
Only a long scratch appeared on the silver tree that embodied his soul.
"A vermin-like sword strike indeed."
Wrath smiled coldly as he raised his hand.
"You swordsmen think your swords are special. In the end, it's just a killing art, merely an extension of the hand."
"What?"
Darkan furrowed his brow as if to say, 'What are you talking about?
"The form doesn't matter. What's important is what it contains."
As Wrath snapped his fingers, the gently falling snow intensified. The moment Wrath's snow touched Darkan's shoulder, his arm was blown away.
"Gah!"
But it wasn't just one snowflake. Each time a piece of Wrath's ice fell, it punctured Darkan's body, causing him to cough up black blood.
"Ha, each one is like a Soul Sword..."
Darkan fell to his knees on the snowfield, his body in tatters.
"To think I'd witness something like this!"
Despite experiencing excruciating pain, he smiled deeply as if enjoying the situation.
"The reason you're still alive is because you didn't try to kill the leech. If you had harbored ill intentions, I would have taken your head the moment you arrived here."
Wrath revealed dry eyes, as if withered.
"Should I say I was lucky?"
Darkan shook his head, coughing up blood.
"Whether it's luck or not will be known only after it's over. You'll end up dying by that leech's hand anyway."
Wrath tilted his chin as he watched Darkan fading away as if about to disappear.
"I, I look forward to it."
Darkan fell backward, maintaining his smile until the end. His soul melted away with the snow.
"..."
After gazing at the now-quiet snowfield, Wrath turned around.
"Did you see?"
* * *
"Yes."
Raon nodded as he walked out onto the snowfield.
"You just used Soul Sword techniques with snow and ice instead of a sword, right?"
"Similar, but not quite."
Wrath calmly shook his head.
"Just as Soul Sword hones one's soul to sharpen the blade, this king imbued his soul into the most familiar snow and ice."
"That's impressive."
Raon let out a dry laugh as he looked at the composed Wrath.
"I didn't expect you to subdue the former Leader of the Holy Sword Alliance so easily."
Darkan was one of the strongest among the Five Kings and Five Demons. Unless it was Glenn, the Heavenly Demon, or Derus, no one could defeat him, so Raon hadn't expected such overwhelming dominance.
"It's because he came here on his own."
Wrath pointed down at the snowfield.
"If we had fought in reality, it wouldn't have ended so easily."
He shook his head, saying it was easy because they fought in his home turf.
"I see."
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked around the mental world Wrath had pointed out.
"But why is there nothing in your mental world? What's that tree?"
The only things visible in Wrath's mental world were the endlessly falling snow and the massive tree. Even the World Tree in the elves' sacred land of Sepia wasn't this large.
"Finally..."
Wrath twisted his lips upward without answering.
"The time has come!"
"Time for what?"
Raon swallowed dryly as he watched Wrath smile with a murderous intent.
"To correct your bad habits!"
Wrath let out a chilling laugh, saying he could suppress Raon with his soul's power here.
"The days of being threatened with food! The sorrow of choking on Nadine bread! Even the evil act of stealing this king's power!"
He approached Raon, grinding his teeth.
"This king has forgotten nothing!"
Wrath shuddered with the thrill of revenge.
"I'll use this opportunity to thoroughly correct your habits and make you serve this king properly!"
He said that's why he quickly chased Darkan away.
"First, I'll avenge the mint chocolate! I'll rip out your throat and..."
"Wait."
Raon looked at Wrath and tilted his chin sideways.
"What mint chocolate revenge?"
"Huh?"
Wrath stood still, his mouth agape.
"What do you mean..."
"You said revenge, so what revenge?"
"When, when I wanted to eat it and you didn't let me..."
Despite his beautiful appearance, he blinked his eyes blankly.
"When was that?"
Raon continued to engage Wrath in conversation while operating the Ring of Fire.
'I need to buy time.'
If he got caught by Wrath, he might be stuck here forever. Having visited mental worlds countless times, he knew he could find a way out if he had enough time.
"You, you've been eating only meals since you came here! Even when this king threw a fit wanting dessert..."
"No, that's not right. Thanks to you crying over my head, Dorian gave me mint chocolate ice cream. We ate that right away in the evening."
Raon watched Wrath while creating a crack to escape this mental world.
"Oh, that's true..."
Wrath nodded blankly. It was hard to believe this was the same Demon King who had overwhelmed Darkan just moments ago.
"No, that's not it! This king wants to eat it every day! And there's more! You eat Nadine bread every time you train, and you keep draining this king's power, how do you explain that!"
"Ah, that's..."
Raon smiled and stretched out his hand.
"I don't need to explain."
With a grin, he opened the passage he had prepared. The white snowfield split open, and his soul began to be sucked into the gap.
"Huh? No, wait!"
Wrath screamed and reached out his hand.
"I haven't even hit you once! Not even once!"
But regardless of Wrath's will, Raon's soul disappeared into the hole.
"Damn it all!"
Wrath grabbed his head and screamed.
"Hey! Eat the mint chocolate! Huh? Please! I'm begging you!"
His final words changed from threats to pleas as they echoed.
"Don't hold today's events against me!"
'You must be joking.'
* * *
As Raon tried to open his eyes while hearing Wrath's shouts, it didn't feel like reality.
'What's this? Did Wrath catch me after all?'
As he opened his eyes wondering, he saw a black, burnt land. It was a familiar place. Although there were no green trees or bushes, it was Lawrence's mountain that he climbed every day. A blonde swordsman and a robed magician descended onto the blackened, dead mountain.
[Are you really going to do it here?]
The magician frowned as she looked at the swordsman.
[It's completely ruined, isn't it?]
[That's why we're doing it here. No one cares about this place now, but it will come back to life someday.]
The blonde swordsman nodded with a gentle smile.
[Sigh...]
The magician let out a long sigh.
[You're really impossible. Alright.]
She nodded and began drawing a magic circle in the air. A massive circle unfolded, beginning to paint a new sky above this land.
[This spot will do.]
The blonde swordsman dug into the blackened earth and planted a single seed. Despite its small size, the seed seemed to breathe with an enormous life force, glowing blue.
[This must become the final stronghold.]
The blonde swordsman buried the seed with a solemn gaze, as if seeing into the future.
[If you're done, come help!]
The magician furrowed her brow at the blonde swordsman as if scolding him.
[Alright.]
The blonde swordsman smiled and grasped his scabbard. His sword drew itself out and soared into the sky. It was a Sword Control technique. But it was different from Darkan's. Instead of grotesqueness, it painted graceful and majestic lines in the sky.
As the swordsman drew lines, magic followed, creating a barrier to cover this land.
'Huh?'
As Raon watched this scene, the blonde man's gaze turned back. The moment he met those red eyes, Raon felt his soul begin to blur.
"Gah!"
When he opened his eyes again, he saw Darkan spitting out black blood. It seemed the impact Wrath had inflicted in the mental world was manifesting now.
"It wasn't your power that expelled me. I'm not satisfied yet!"
Even after suffering soul damage from Wrath, Darkan didn't back down. He truly was a relentless man.
'I need to end this here.'
Raon wanted to cut down Darkan, but the Heavenly Drive imbued with Heaven's Rift was completely erased by the Soul Sword.
'A method...'
As he pondered what to do, he recalled Zieghart's ancestor he had just seen.
'Yes. That's the only way.'
He ignited the flames in the Heavenly Drive once more. While distracting Darkan's attention with the Flame and Ice Unification, he released the Blade of Requiem he was holding in his left hand. Harmonizing his upper dantian with the Ring of Fire, he grasped the soul thread of the Blade of Requiem.
"This much isn't enough!"
While Darkan was extinguishing the flames of the Flame and Ice Unification, Raon imbued the Blade of Requiem with the Sword Control technique he had created himself. The red blade of the Blade of Requiem circled through the air before falling and plunging towards Darkan's back.
It was a mysterious move that incorporated both Zieghart's ancestor's and Darkan's Sword Control techniques. It was a sword path that no one could have predicted.
"What is this!"
Even Darkan's face showed shock as he hadn't expected the Sword Control technique. However, Darkan, befitting a Transcendent Warrior, raised an aura shield the moment the Blade of Requiem was about to pierce his flesh. In the end, the Blade of Requiem only inflicted a flesh wound before falling to the ground.
"Damn it..."
As Raon bit his lip, sensing failure, Darkan lowered the hand that had been blocking the Heavenly Drive.
"That was a good move."
Darkan picked up the fallen Blade of Requiem and returned it to Raon.
"You pass."
"What?"
"I said you pass."
He nodded his head largely, as if satisfied.
"I was surprised by the monster in your body, but I wasn't particularly interested. What I wanted to see was your swordsmanship and fighting spirit."
Darkan laughed as he spat out the black blood in his mouth.
-What?
Wrath frowned as he looked down at Darkan.
-This vermin! You dare run your mouth after being thrashed by this king? Come back in! I'll strip your flesh and bones this time!
He shook his head, saying he would definitely kill him this time.
"Your swordsmanship, fighting spirit, and the realm of your soul all pass. You have the right to run your mouth."
Darkan curled his lips upward, saying Raon had earned the right to speak about the future. He truly seemed uninterested in Wrath, not even asking a single question about him.
"Then..."
"As promised, I'll leave without touching anyone."
He nodded his chin, saying he would keep his promise.
"...Then I'll come find you when I've mastered a new sword technique."
"Good. However..."
Darkan briefly shook his head.
"I might not be around by then."
"What do you mean by that..."
"I'm going to challenge your grandfather."
He laughed, saying Glenn would probably be first.
"But you'll surely die then? Why did you accept my proposal?"
Even for Darkan, charging at Glenn alone would mean certain death. His answer didn't make sense.
"Even if I don't see it, the mere existence of a new sword technique is meaningful."
Darkan smiled as if pleased by the mere existence of such techniques in the world. He was different from before. It seemed he had undergone a change of heart.
"Hmm..."
Raon swallowed dryly as he watched Darkan smiling joyfully.
'This man is a madman, but he's a true swordsman.'
A peculiar person who pursued only the sword above all else in the world. A martial artist who held his own beliefs beyond good and evil.
"You are..."
-Hey!
As Raon was about to speak to Darkan, Wrath sprang up before his eyes.
-Erase this king's aura right now! Hurry!
'Why so suddenly...'
-Do it quickly! Just do as I say!
Wrath was so urgent that he didn't even use his royal speech.
'Alright.'
Seeing such an urgent demeanor for the first time, Raon operated the Ring of Fire and dispelled all the wrathful emotions remaining in his body and sword.
'Is this enough?'
As Raon nodded to Wrath, the night sky shook as if it were about to fall. It seemed someone outside was trying to break the barrier.
-Damn it! It's already too late!
Wrath trembled his lips as he looked at the turbulent night sky.
-She's coming! That crazy stalker!