Raon turned around silently and widened his eyes. Behind the corpse of the Black Dragon, a man wearing a green serpent helmet was walking out.
"You are..."
He had sensed someone approaching from behind just moments ago, but he never imagined it would be Eden, let alone someone with a serpent helmet.
-That snake helmet guy. Isn't this the fourth time now?
Wrath frowned, wondering why he kept coming back to life.
'That's right. The color is different each time.'
From the Golden Mask Swordsman, to the Red Demon Swordsman, to the Blue Serpent Swordsman, and now a green serpent. It was unclear how far this would go. Absurdly, he was now curious about what the next color would be.
'What's even funnier is...'
He's getting stronger each time. The aura of the man wearing the green serpent helmet had surpassed Grandmaster and reached Transcendence. Though still inferior to himself, he had clearly broken through the wall and transcended human limits.
-How curious. They're clearly different humans, and their temperaments aren't similar, yet they feel like the same person.
Wrath shook his head, saying the very existence was strange.
'Indeed. There's definitely something there.'
As he said, all the previous serpent helmet wearers had died, and the green serpent helmet in front of him now was also a different person. However, those wearing the serpent helmets remembered everything that had happened with him. This raised suspicions that they were either the same person or shared the same consciousness.
"Green this time, huh?"
Raon furrowed his brow as he looked at the man wearing the green serpent helmet.
"You recognized me right away."
The man in the green serpent helmet touched his helmet and smiled thinly.
"Just what is your true identity?"
Raon pointed his Divine Sword and tilted his chin.
"For now, you can call me Green Serpent."
The man in the green serpent helmet introduced himself as Green Serpent while flicking his hand. He seemed less frivolous than the one he had seen before.
"That's not what I'm asking about."
"Then what are you curious about?"
Green Serpent turned his head askew, as if telling him to speak.
"I'm asking what your true identity is."
Raon raised his piercing gaze.
"Earlier, you said that each time you see me, I change to your satisfaction. That implies you've encountered me multiple times, yet this is my first time seeing you."
He twisted his lips while letting out a cold voice.
"Though it's the fourth time for that ugly helmet."
"Ah, you've asked this question before."
Green Serpent nodded lightly.
"The answer is simple. Think of it as you feel. You can consider me the same person, or not. It's up to you."
He shrugged as if telling Raon to think as he pleased. He didn't seem inclined to give a proper answer.
"More importantly..."
Green Serpent licked his lips as he looked at the Black Dragon's corpse.
"Even though it had just become an ancient dragon, I didn't expect Zera Piret to die so easily. Should I have acted a bit faster?"
He let out a hollow laugh as if he couldn't believe the Black Dragon's death.
"Act faster? What are you plotting by joining hands with the dragons?"
Raon threw a question filled with killing intent.
"Isn't it simple? Just to burn this place down."
Green Serpent dusted off his hands as if it were obvious.
"The World Tree?"
"It's something I couldn't do because you stopped me."
He licked his lips as if referring to the time of the Red Demon Swordsman when he attacked Sepia with the Crimson Flame Demon.
"Do you really share consciousness with those who died?"
Raon lowered his eyebrows as he looked at Green Serpent.
"Not sharing. My consciousness is entirely my own. Of course, the next one will be different..."
Green Serpent muttered incomprehensibly in a calm tone. His personality was clearly different from the previous ones.
"Then..."
Raon was about to speak to Green Serpent when he turned his gaze northward. Sterin's aura had diminished considerably from before. It seemed he was being pushed back significantly.
'Moreover...'
That Green Serpent. He's hiding something. Considering he said he finished his business, he must have either taken something from Sepia or planted something there. It would be best to cut him down as quickly as possible and go help Sterin.
"I have many questions, but there's no time. I'll deal with you as quickly as possible."
Raon pointed his Divine Sword, wrapped in killing intent, towards Green Serpent.
"I thought I was ahead this time, but I didn't expect you to be above me again."
As Green Serpent lightly flicked his fingers, a massive Red Dragon rose into the sky above Sepia amidst a burst of crimson flames.
"It was good that I asked Matirus for one more."
He nodded with satisfaction.
"With two against one, it shouldn't be too difficult to stop you."
"A dragon..."
Raon bit his lip as he looked at the Red Dragon floating in the sky.
'It's lived long, but it's not an ancient dragon.'
Judging by the Red Dragon's size and mana, it had reached the end of maturity, but fortunately, it wasn't at the level of an ancient dragon.
'Of course, being a Red is a problem.'
The Red clan possessed the strongest martial prowess among dragons, and this place was a forest. It was the perfect battlefield for it to exert its greatest power.
-Oh! Two dragon roasts! And with different flavors!
Wrath even clapped his hands as if pleased. Despite the dangerous situation, a hollow laugh escaped.
[It has been foolishly caught off guard.]
The Red Dragon seemed more annoyed at being outwitted by a human than angry about its kin being killed, as it narrowed its eyes and opened its massive maw. Above its pitch-black throat like an abyss, crimson mana began to condense like lava.
[But I'll still have my revenge!]
The Red Dragon unleashed the flames it had condensed in its mouth. The Breath of Flames, the dragon's strongest breath, fell like lightning towards Raon.
Unlike the Black Dragon, it didn't spread over a wide area but was compressed into one point, making its pressure tremendous. His feet involuntarily dug into the ground, and the hand holding the sword trembled.
"Try to block it for now."
Green Serpent stepped back significantly as if intending to conserve his strength. His movement technique made him disappear from sight in an instant, as if riding the wind.
'What intense heat.'
Even with his Fire Resistance, the heat from the breath made him feel like his skin was being roasted. Without the Ring of Fire, he probably couldn't have remained in this place.
Raon bit down on his molars and plunged into the Breath of Flames. He resonated the Ring of Fire to its extreme and unleashed the Great Bind of the Heavy Sky of the Azure Sky Sword with his frost-imbued Demonic Sword that flickered silver.
The Breath of Flames that threatened to destroy the Great Forest clashed with Glacier's cold energy in mid-air, engaging in a contest of heat and cold. Steam rose in all directions, and a white snowfield spread across the ground.
The sword technique of the Great Bind of the Heavy Sky, embodying the vastness of the sky, began to shatter the heat and freeze the Breath of Flames itself. Blue icicles that seemed to reach the sky rose from the ground of the Great Forest.
[Impossible!]
The Red Dragon's eyes trembled as if it couldn't believe its full-power Breath of Flames had been blocked.
[How could the Breath of Flames be frozen...]
"Youngsters should go play elsewhere."
Raon stepped on the frozen Breath of Flames and rose into the sky. Before the stunned Red Dragon could react, he swung the Silver Sword Dream towards its neck. Just as the glowing red blade of the Divine Sword was about to pierce through the Red Dragon's scales and shatter its Dragon Heart, a green blade imbued with wind surged forth.
It was Green Serpent. The man who had disappeared from the ground had suddenly appeared to block his sword.
"I can't let you kill this friend too. We'll have to retreat from here."
As Green Serpent lowered his chin, a strong wind blew and pushed Raon back.
"And if I refuse?"
Raon resisted Green Serpent's wind with his transcendent willpower and pressed down his Demonic Sword onto the Divine Sword. Although he couldn't shatter the Red Dragon's heart, he managed to inflict a fatal wound on its neck before retreating.
[Graaaaaah!]
The Red Dragon writhed in agony, its massive body convulsing as if the mere tearing of flesh was excruciating.
"I didn't expect you to push through from there."
Green Serpent frowned, saying Raon had a terrifying personality.
"How relentless."
He licked his lips, saying Raon's personality seemed to have become more aggressive.
"But you're not scared, are you?"
At Green Serpent's shout, the Red Dragon that had been writhing in pain ground its teeth and turned around.
[Not at all! I'll kill that insect with my own hands!]
The Red Dragon revealed a gaze full of killing intent while recovering its wound with healing magic. One after another, high-level spells were created around it, and thanks to its Red lineage, the power of the spells seemed no less than those of the Black Dragon he had just killed.
Green Serpent also seemed intent on going all out now, as he condensed green wind on his sword.
"I don't like your wind."
Raon deeply furrowed his brow as he looked at the wind reflected on Green Serpent's sword.
"I'll shatter it right now."
* * *
"Haa..."
Siyana let out a long sigh as she lowered her hands.
'This is tough.'
Even though Raon had erased most of the poison, she couldn't block the toxins carried by the wind. Summoning four highest-grade spirits simultaneously to protect all of Sepia had consumed too much of her mental energy, making her head dizzy.
'But I can't rest.'
Siyana narrowed her eyes as she watched Raon, the Red Dragon, and Green Serpent fighting in the sky.
'If we stay here, even Lord Raon won't be able to use his full strength.'
There were many elves and children in Sepia who couldn't fight. For Raon to use his full power and to prepare for any contingencies, they couldn't stay here.
"Everyone, move to the sacred ground!"
Siyana called out to the remaining elves in the village as she opened a gap in the sacred ground she had created to protect the World Tree.
"But if the World Tree is endangered because of us..."
"It's alright! The World Tree always thinks of us first!"
She shouted resolutely to the hesitating elves and pointed to the path leading to the sacred ground. She seemed like a completely different person from when she was trembling in front of Raon.
"Ah, understood."
"Everyone, enter the path to the sacred ground! Children first!"
The elves, seemingly encouraged by Siyana's words, entered the path to the sacred ground with their hesitant legs.
"Lord Raon."
Siyana clasped her hands as she looked at Raon erasing the Fire Dragon's flames.
'Please.'
She said a silent prayer for no one to die and entered the sacred ground last.
* * *
'Good.'
Raon nodded as he watched the elves enter the sacred ground. It had been difficult to control his attacks to prevent magic or sword strikes from falling on Sepia, but now he felt he could fight properly.
"Where are you looking?"
Green Serpent lowered his eyebrows and swung his sword. With just one swing, hundreds of wind blades rushed towards all the vital points on Raon's body.
[Explode!]
The Red Dragon took advantage of the wind Green Serpent had created to shoot a high-level fire magic called Explosive Flame. The magic, originally powerful but slow, came piercing like a beam of light riding the wind.
Raon simultaneously deployed the Fire Wall and White Flame Flash to block both the wind blades and the Explosive Flame. However, the impact was so great that he couldn't prevent being pushed back.
"It seems even you struggle with two against one."
[You won't be able to block this time. This is the end!]
Green Serpent raised a blade that had condensed all the wind in the atmosphere, while the Red Dragon once again condensed its Breath of Flames.
"The end? I like endings."
Raon advanced towards the Red Dragon and Green Serpent as if he had deliberately allowed himself to be pushed back, kicking the air heavily. He took the Supreme Harmony Steps at their extreme, pulling his Divine Sword above his shoulder and his Demonic Sword behind his waist.
Flames and frost, as vast as if they could cover the sky, surged up over the dying Divine Sword and Demonic Sword, like a dying star's final explosion.
Raon Zieghart's Sword Style, 6th Form
Divine-Demonic Harmony Linked Technique: Invincible Azure-Red Sword. The ultimate swordsmanship of Transcendence manifested in the world through the blades of the Divine Sword and Demonic Sword. Flames and frost, which should have been opposites, formed an heterogeneous harmony and spread out, completely shattering the Red Dragon's breath and Green Serpent's wind blades.
The sky, darkened by the tremendous mana wave, split open, and black waterspouts rose from heaven and earth. However, as the Red Dragon and Green Serpent had also used their full power, the Invincible Azure-Red Sword's wave failed to cut them and faded away in vain.
[How is this possible? A mere human...]
The Red Dragon exhaled a tired breath, as if it couldn't believe Raon's martial prowess.
"My hand is trembling."
Green Serpent also shook the hand holding his sword, as if drained of strength.
"But it's fortunate. Now that his sword technique has ended, he won't be able to produce the same power as before... Huh?"
He widened his eyes as he was about to encourage the Red Dragon.
"What!"
Raon's hands, which should have been holding swords, were empty. The moment he realized this, a sword came flying from the right. It was the Sword Control technique cutting through space.
"Ugh!"
Green Serpent hurriedly gathered wind to deflect the incoming Heavenly Drive. Although he managed to block it, the power contained in the Sword Control was too strong to avoid internal injuries. Black blood spurted from his mouth.
"Urgh, help me... Huh?"
As Green Serpent turned around to request assistance, he saw a blue-glowing leaf sword pierced through the Red Dragon's throat.
"Insane..."
It seemed Raon Zieghart had fired two Sword Control techniques from the beginning, and unlike himself, the dragon hadn't been able to dodge and had its throat pierced.
[Graaah...]
The Dragon Heart is a vital point for dragons, similar to the heart for humans. With that damaged, the Red Dragon fell to the ground, unable to control its body. The Red Dragon rolled its eyes and breathed its last, just like Zera Piret, who had dismissed humans.
"...I thought our levels were similar, but I didn't expect such a difference in martial prowess."
Green Serpent's blood-soaked lips trembled as he looked at the dead Red Dragon and the Black Dragon's corpse beside it.
"Whew."
Raon exhaled a breath tinged with the scent of blood, his waist half-bent.
'Fortunately, it worked.'
He had aimed at both simultaneously with Sword Control at its extreme the moment the Divine-Demonic Harmony ended, and fortunately, he managed to take down one. It would have been better if Green Serpent had died too, but he was glad to have dealt with at least one.
'Though I'm exhausted too...'
Having fought consecutive battles at full power and even visited the mental world, he was greatly fatigued both mentally and physically. His body felt heavy as if soaked in water, and his aura consumption was severe, but he maintained a calm gaze without showing it.
"The situation favorable to you has ended."
Raon shook his head as he grasped the returned Heavenly Drive and Rimmer's sword.
"Without further ado, let's end this..."
Just as he was about to attack Green Serpent, something flew from the north and crashed into the center of Sepia.
"Ugh..."
As he turned his gaze, he saw Sterin staggering in the dust cloud. At the same time, a noble-looking man with golden hair and eyes appeared beside Green Serpent.
"Is it ready?"
The golden-haired man tilted his chin towards Green Serpent.
"Of course it's done."
Green Serpent nodded, licking his lips.
"Then..."
As the golden-haired man snapped his fingers, Sepia crumpled like a piece of paper crushed in a hand, and then a powerful explosion occurred. With a golden radiance, space split open, and the barrier of the sacred ground hiding the World Tree was breached.
"Ah..."
"W-What's happening!"
Siyana and the elves, standing as if protecting the World Tree, widened their eyes at the sudden situation.
"Are you Raon Zieghart?"
The golden-haired man, who appeared to be a dragon, raised his chin arrogantly.
"To kill two of my kin in this short time, you must certainly die here."
He tilted his head, raising killing intent in his calm gaze.
"Back to a disadvantageous fight, huh?"
Green Serpent sneered as he swung the sword in his hand.
"An unfavorable battle..."
Raon curled his lips as he looked at the Heavenly Drive and Rimmer's sword.
"I've been through dozens of those already."
He retorted, raising golden flames over the Heavenly Drive and Rimmer's sword.
"I'll show you what a Zieghart swordsman is capable of."