Raon narrowed his eyes to a thin line as he gazed at the black flames that sent shivers down his spine.
'I'm certain.'
That's the death aura. A power that amplifies malice even more than the Death Energy wielded by necromancers. Those Black Flames that kill the living and bury the dead in darkness were unmistakably the death aura used by Derus Robert.
'Why has the death aura appeared?'
Raon clenched his jaw as he stared at the gently burning black flames.
'It shouldn't have any connection to me.'
If the death aura had appeared after he'd entered the First Patriarch of Zieghart's memories created by the golden flames, he might have understood, but it was this death aura that had summoned him into these memories now. He couldn't understand why these flames had flown to him, someone with the ability to erase the death aura.
'Is it because I saw the First Patriarch's memories in the Unyielding Blade?'
Raon stroked his chin as he reflected on everything that had happened so far. Since this was his first experience since discovering his ancestor's memories in the archives of the Unyielding Blade, he thought it might be an extension of that event.
'No. The First Patriarch's memories always contained only fragmentary content.'
The memories of his ancestors that he had seen so far, while related to each other, had never continued beyond their respective fragments. Seeing the Black Flames suddenly burning in the annex building's garden, which had no connection at all, clearly indicated a completely different reason.
'Is it because I met Derus Robert?'
No, that's strange too. It wasn't like he'd only encountered Derus Robert once or twice before. He'd even directly cut through the aura the man emitted, but this was the first time something like this had happened.
'It means something different happened this time... Huh?'
As soon as he thought about something different, he felt something resonating within his soul.
'Could it be...'
Raon placed a hand on his chest and furrowed his brow.
'Because my Soul Sword connected with Derus?'
If that assumption was correct, then the memory he had just entered should be Derus Robert's memory.
'I need to confirm it.'
Raon slowly regulated his breathing and stepped beyond the wall of black flames that veiled his sight like a curtain. Whoosh. After passing through the Black Flames, a familiar scene appeared. Not from his current life, but the image of House Robert, to which he had devoted his entire life and soul in his Past Life, now revealed itself before his eyes.
'House Robert...'
It really does seem to be because my Soul Sword connected with Derus's. His Soul Sword had nearly been absorbed by Derus Robert's, but thanks to Glenn, he had barely escaped that crisis. He had thought it was cleanly severed at the time, but looking at the current situation, it seemed instead that Derus's Mental Image had been drawn to him.
'Is it because of the Ring of Fire? I guess I should call this a blessing in disguise.'
He had thought it was the worst situation when Derus Robert developed the ability to absorb Soul Swords, but thanks to Glenn, he was now able to see fragments of the man's memories. It seemed like this would be a greater advantage than expected.
'Where is he?'
Raon walked through the familiar garden of House Robert, searching for Derus's location. However, no matter where he went, he couldn't sense or see any trace of him.
'Looking more carefully, the garden seems a bit different.'
The location of House Robert itself was just as he remembered, but the shape of the garden and the directions of the paths were slightly different.
'The past. Quite a distant past, perhaps.'
Judging by the unfamiliar appearance absent from his past life memories, this seemed to be House Robert from an era he didn't know.
'Should I go inside the mansion?'
Just as Raon was about to enter the House Robert mansion, a sound came from the far end of the garden. Crack. It sounded like someone stepping on leaves.
'It's that way.'
Raon briefly smacked his lips and walked toward the corner of the garden where the footsteps had come from.
'As I thought, this is a place I don't know.'
Originally, there had been a high wall decorating this part of the garden, but now a small space was hidden among the shrubbery.
Holding his breath, he entered to find a silver-haired boy who looked less than 10 years old and a middle-aged man with a cold expression. The two looked similar, suggesting they were blood relatives.
'Derus Robert!'
Those inhuman cold eyes and lips curled upward as if mocking the world. Others might not recognize him, but Raon could. The silver-haired boy who appeared younger than 10 was clearly Derus Robert in his childhood.
'Then that man is...'
Just as Raon turned his gaze to the man standing opposite Derus. Swoosh! The cold-looking middle-aged man unhesitatingly knelt on both knees. He bowed his head as if honored and kissed the tip of Derus's foot. The highest form of courtesy. It resembled a slave's gesture of submission to his Master.
"..."
Derus nodded with arrogant eyes, as if the middle-aged man's greeting was only natural.
'Hmm...?'
Raon frowned as he looked the middle-aged man up and down.
'Only the head of house should be able to wear that robe, right?'
The cold-looking middle-aged man wore the House Robert robe that Derus Robert always wore. The fact that he wore a garment that only the head of house could wear meant that he was the current patriarch.
'So he's the previous head of house, and a father shows such submissive respect to his son?'
The man before Derus must be Teruan, the previous head of House Robert, but Raon couldn't understand why he would greet his son in such a way. No, beyond that, just watching this scene made his soul shrink with an eerie feeling.
'What on earth..."
Just as Raon was chewing his lips, unable to understand the situation no matter how much he thought about it. Swoosh. Derus's gaze, which had been looking down at his own father with arrogant eyes, turned to Raon. He curled up the corners of his mouth grotesquely long, as if he was aware of Raon's presence.
Unlike the First Patriarch of Zieghart, however, he didn't seem to recognize Raon. It was like an illusion created by the concept of Derus that existed in his Mental Image.
'You...'
Just as Raon was about to speak to Derus, black flames containing the death aura flared up before his eyes, as if saying it wasn't time yet. Whoosh! The Black Flames burning with death rose up, containing slightly stronger firepower than before, obscuring his view.
'To know who Derus really is...'
Does it mean he needs to become stronger? It seemed like he needed to become strong enough to pierce through the intensified Black Flames in order to proceed to the next scene.
"Good."
Raon calmly nodded as he faced the intensely heated Black Flames.
"It won't take long."
After making a declaration close to certainty, he closed his eyes and opened them again, and the black flames were gone, revealing the bright, clear garden of the annex building.
-Hey you!
Wrath ground his teeth as he tapped Raon's shoulder.
-Where did you go this time! Death was emanating from you!
He rolled his large eyes, asking what on earth Raon had done.
'It seems Derus Robert left me a gift.'
Raon twisted his lips into a smile as he felt the tiny death aura at the edge of his soul.
-You're speaking nonsense again.
Wrath shook his head, saying he was tired of even the nonsense.
-Enough. Hurry home and eat!
He smacked his lips, suggesting they talk after filling their stomachs.
'Sorry, but I don't think we have time for that.'
Raon turned his body toward the training ground and pulled out a piece of Nadine bread from his subspace pouch.
-Huh...?
Wrath gaped at the sight.
-P-put that down! That bread is dangerous. Everyone who eats it dies!
He spread his hands wide, begging Raon to resist. But the Nadine bread was already in his mouth.
-Aaaaargh! The smell of burnt rubber in my mouth!
Raon ran to the fifth training ground while listening to Wrath's screams.
'I need to get stronger faster than before.'
If only to learn who Derus Robert really was.
***
"Not one year, but one year and one month later?"
Chamber in the blue screen scratched the bandage wrapped around her forehead, seemingly dumbfounded.
"That bastard is definitely up to something! Even the timeframe is suspicious!"
She frowned, asking why anyone would agree to such terms.
"The Destructive King of the North probably had no choice."
King Lecross calmly nodded as if understanding Glenn.
"Derus is a monster who knows how to exploit human psychology."
He trembled his dry lips slightly, suggesting his body was still not well.
"You should have called me to that place!"
Ogram let out a powerful roar from within the screen, as if regretting not being able to beat Derus.
"Damn traitors!"
He seemed to be desperately training for the future war, as his body was covered in wounds, and he emitted an aura of a completely different level than before.
"Aah..."
Mage Tower Master Larian, covered with a blanket as if drained of all energy, slightly raised her hand. It seemed to mean she agreed with whatever was being said.
"Why is she like that?"
Ogram frowned as he looked at Larian's screen.
"Leave her be. I'm useless right now, so Larian's struggling to create and maintain the Magic Circle and Dimensional Gate all by herself. She probably hardly has time to sleep."
Chamber bit her lip slightly as she looked at Larian with eyes full of apology and sympathy.
"...Can you two really not return?"
Ogram bit his lip as he looked at Chamber, who still couldn't remove her bandages, and Lecross, who relied on a staff.
"Old muscle-head. I'll recover and return on my own, so don't worry!"
Chamber proudly snorted, saying she was desperately trying to return to how things were before.
"...Yes."
Lecross said nothing, just looked at Glenn, Chamber, Larian, and Ogram in turn, then slowly nodded.
"It will be difficult for me. Even if I recover, I don't think I'll be much help."
He gave a weak smile, saying that even if his body and mind were to recover as much as possible, he would struggle to demonstrate even Grandmaster-level skills, let alone Transcendence.
"Instead, I will support the war by mobilizing all of Owen's resources."
Lecross calmly raised his chin, saying there was no need to worry about that part. However, his hands were trembling violently with the regret of not being able to fight directly.
"Damn those evil spirits!"
Ogram stomped his foot roughly. He put so much force into it that the sound echoed even in Zieghart, located across dimensions.
"Regardless of how the situation developed, Derus Robert has declared war, and we have no choice but to prepare for it."
Glenn slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again and looked at the blue window showing the leaders of the Five Kings.
"However, it's clear they're preparing something during this one year and one month. They're probably devising ways to eliminate us all. So before that..."
He rose from his throne and placed his hand on the Heavenly Tremor.
"Mobilize all the capabilities of the Five Kings to find the location of Derus Robert and Eden."
Red lightning flashed across Glenn's eyes.
"Before one year and one month passes, we will strike at their necks first."
***
"...Therefore, from now on, Zieghart enters a state of war preparation."
Glenn declared the state of war preparation to the Zieghart executives gathered in the audience chamber after explaining what had happened.
"Someone like Derus declaring war?"
Balder trembled his clenched fist.
"How dare that Continent criminal! Isn't that... Gah!"
He turned his head toward Karoon beside him as if to vent his anger, but then backed away in shock.
"Yes. He's a madman indeed."
Karoon was emanating an icy aura above his eyes, as if his pride had been scratched by Derus's declaration of war.
"I won't be able to bear it without taking his head."
He bit his molars audibly, showing a rare display of deep anger since his transformation.
"..."
Burren nodded heavily from behind Raon, as if agreeing with Karoon's words.
"One year and one month? That's an odd number."
Alice twisted her lips, saying that just looking at the timing of the war reeked of conspiracy.
"That's right."
Glenn looked at Alice and nodded gently.
"Derus is clearly hiding his intentions. Therefore, we won't wait for the war in one year and one month, but will strike at him first."
He emphasized that this war would not be started by Derus and Eden, but by the Five Kings, clenching his fingertips.
"Train with all your might during the remaining period. Everyone in the family must become Zieghart's blade."
Glenn raised his chin as he ordered everyone to prepare for war with their lives on the line.
"Excuse me..."
As soon as Glenn finished speaking, Balder confidently raised his hand.
"We're currently conducting the Successor candidate test, so what will happen with that?"
He smacked his lips, suggesting that while war preparations were good, that issue also needed to be resolved.
"Balder..."
Karoon also seemed to think that wasn't the priority now, as he cast a cold gaze toward Balder.
"Ah, no, just thought we should know..."
Balder winced and hunched his shoulders, startled by Karoon's intensity.
"No, his point is valid. The Successor selection has been in progress since before this."
Glenn calmly nodded as he looked at Balder.
"We'll shorten the period for the second Successor candidate selection and finish it in a month. And the final Successor test..."
He nodded as he took in Karoon and Raon standing side by side.
"Will be decided by whoever inflicts the greatest damage on Derus and Eden before the war begins."