-Ring of Fire?
Wrath narrowed his eyes as he looked at Raon's chest.
-It's, it's still only nine of them?
'Yeah. It's still nine.'
Raon nodded as he felt the Ring of Fire circling around his heart like a comet's tail.
'Come to think of it, it should have become ten long ago.'
Originally, he should have taken more time to form ten Rings of Fire, then achieved awakening to reach his current level. However, he had grown by understanding human emotions rather than through awakening, so he had surpassed transcendence without upgrading his Ring of Fire, Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, or Glacier.
It was such an unusual occurrence that even he hadn't anticipated, so he had drifted past it naturally, but now it was time to create one more ring.
-What a damn annoying trait!
Wrath furrowed his brow deeply as if he couldn't believe it.
-How does it make sense for someone who hasn't even reached 10-star martial arts to have such an ability! No wait! That damn ring was like crap from the first time I met you!
The demon ground his teeth roughly as if remembering how he couldn't possess Raon's body because of the Ring of Fire.
'The person who created it was exceptional.'
Raon chuckled and lowered the hand that had been feeling the ring's movement.
'Probably stronger than you?'
The martial artist who created the Ring of Fire was the first head of House Zieghart. He was a peerless warrior who had slain the Demonic Dragon and saved the world, and from what Raon could sense, he was a martial artist stronger than both Wrath and Glenn, so it made sense that the Ring of Fire he created was special.
-Nonsense!
Wrath shouted loudly.
-There's no human stronger than this king!
The demon furrowed his eyebrows, insisting that the Monarch of Wrath would never lose to a human.
-Bring that bastard here right now! I'll crush his neck!
'Not his neck—you wouldn't even be able to twist his little finger.'
Raon shrugged his shoulders at the enraged Wrath.
'The person who created the Ring of Fire is no longer in this world.'
The first head of House Zieghart had established House Zieghart, sowed seeds for the future across the entire continent, then disappeared without leaving any trace. That was already a thousand years ago, so he might have been killed by someone or died of old age. In any case, it wouldn't make sense for him to still be alive.
-Hmph! Then this king won!
Wrath snorted, saying that the one who survives is the stronger one.
'I suppose so.'
Raon smiled thinly and nodded.
'Anyway, since I unknowingly skipped stages, I think I need to fill that gap.'
He drew a perfect circle with his finger to represent the tenth ring.
-That won't be so easy.
Wrath shook his head while looking at his finger.
-Catching a carriage that has already passed is harder than you think.
The demon clicked his tongue, saying that since the timing was missed, it might actually be harder now that he had grown than it was back then.
'You're right.'
Raon didn't argue with Wrath's words and calmly acknowledged them.
'Just because I've gotten stronger doesn't mean I can easily obtain the level I should have achieved before.'
As Wrath said, even though he had surpassed transcendence, obtaining the tenth ring wasn't easy. In reality, he could vaguely sense the outline of the tenth ring, but it was obvious that filling it would be difficult.
-Then it'll take another age...
'No.'
This time Raon interrupted Wrath's words and raised his hand.
'This time there's someone who can quickly shorten that period.'
He pointed his finger toward Glenn who had entered the annex building.
-Ah!
Wrath also seemed to realize what he was talking about and opened his eyes wide.
'Having the continent's greatest swordsman beside me is a serendipitous encounter of a lifetime.' (E/N: Will say it again but it is hard to read this seriously considering how often Glenn has trained Raon by now)
Raon licked his lips as he said he would make full use of Glenn until the very end.
'Like extracting crab meat, I'll absorb grandfather's swordsmanship until I reach the pinnacle of martial arts.'
-Whoa...
Wrath gaped his mouth open as if he couldn't believe it.
-Now after sucking me dry, you're going to drain your grandfather too?
This is a parasite, not a human!
***
"Hmm!"
Glenn looked out the window where he could feel Raon's gaze and drew a thin smile.
"He's changing little by little."
He nodded satisfactorily as if he could feel Raon's changes with his skin.
"How is it?"
Sylvia placed sliced fruit on the table in front of Glenn and Sia and sat down beside them.
"Is Raon doing well?"
Even though she was a Grandmaster, she seemed unable to grasp the situation between Glenn and Raon, rolling her eyes with curiosity.
"Well."
Glenn answered while picking up a piece of melon with his fork.
"Raon is attempting various changes, but I don't know if he'll succeed."
He said that since Raon was standing at a crucial moment, there was also a high possibility of failure, and handed the melon to Sia.
"If he's making attempts, that's enough."
Sylvia drew a gentle smile as if she liked Glenn's words.
"I feel relieved."
"Even though I said there's a high possibility of failure?"
Glenn tilted his head as if asking whether she had properly heard his words.
"Yes. He might fail as father said. But he'll definitely get back up and challenge again."
Sylvia clasped her hands tightly as she watched Raon swinging his sword using moonlight as illumination.
"Because Raon is a child who doesn't know how to give up."
She seemed to trust Raon, saying that even if he failed many times, he would eventually succeed, and slowly closed and opened her eyes.
"That's right! My younger brother never loses."
Sia swallowed the piece of melon in one bite and grinned.
"He said if you don't give up, you won't lose to anyone!"
She clenched her fist while repeating exactly what Raon had said.
"If you don't give up, you won't lose..."
Glenn repeated Raon's words that came through Sia's mouth and drew a pleased smile.
"That's right. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Raon's life is contained in those words."
His grandson, who was born in the annex building as branch family, rose to direct lineage through his own strength and effort, surpassed the Light Wind Squad to become the Light Wind Division, and even reached the position of master of the Light Wind Palace, had more right than anyone in this world to say those words.
"Sia. You should also remember well what Raon said..."
Glenn was about to continue his advice to Sia.
"Father-in-law!"
Edgar stepped forward, brushing back his hair that had become curly from being scorched by lightning.
"I won't lose when it comes to stubbornness either! Like Raon, I won't give up, and I'll never leave your side until you accept me, father-in-law!"
He pressed his lips down tightly as if he thought Glenn hadn't accepted him.
"Ah...?"
Glenn's eyes grew noticeably cold. He furrowed his eyebrows as if he didn't understand what Edgar was saying.
"Making that expression won't help! My nickname is leech! I'll follow you to the end until you accept me..."
"Shut up!"
Sylvia couldn't stand it anymore and kicked Edgar's jaw with her tiptoe. A loud crack echoed! Edgar was caught off guard by Sylvia's surprise attack and offered up his jaw, collapsing to the floor once again.
"Do you think father struck you with lightning because he hates you! It's because you're acting like an idiot like this!"
Sylvia struck the forehead of the already unconscious Edgar, telling him to please come to his senses.
"Heh..."
Edgar had already lost consciousness, so he couldn't hear Sylvia's words and only drooled from his mouth.
"Sigh..."
Sia also shook her head pitifully at Edgar. Glenn blinked for a moment, then placed his hand on Sylvia's shoulder.
"Stay strong. But..."
He sighed while looking at Edgar who was drooling.
"Why did it have to be this guy?"
"He was really fine before."
Sylvia frowned, saying that he seemed to have become an idiot after wearing the Death Knight's helmet.
"...I see. Is that so."
"Really!"
She raised her voice as if hurt by Glenn's lukewarm reaction.
"He was fine 25 years ago!"
"I said I understand."
"But it's true!"
Glenn and Sylvia shared their first playful conversation and drew laughter.
***
'Crushing sword, variable sword, phantom sword, flexible sword, charging sword.'
Raon chewed his lips as he watched Glenn's tree branch writhing toward him like a divine dragon.
'It would be better to counter in reverse order.'
Since Glenn's sword changed its flow at every moment, he had to create countering techniques in reverse order rather than in the order he read the sword techniques' mysteries. He resonated the Ring of Fire to its extreme. Within the resonance of nine rings shaking his heart, he searched for the position of the tenth ring.
'I can't see any gaps.'
Having surpassed transcendence, the rotation speed of the rings had also become much faster, making it extremely difficult to find space to connect the flames and create the tenth ring.
'Still, I've become able to form about half of it.'
By sparring with Glenn three times a day, he had become able to temporarily add one incomplete ring, though not ten rings. Thanks to this, even if just a little, the time he could observe Glenn's sword had lengthened.
'Just a little more properly... Huh?'
Raon's eyes widened as he was scanning Glenn's swordsmanship.
'What? It was definitely five?'
The swordsmanship Glenn was displaying now contained five sword technique mysteries. However, looking again now, it seemed like there was one more mystery hidden that he couldn't read.
'Is this why I kept losing without being able to use my strength?'
It was certain that he had just been getting beaten for over two weeks because he couldn't read the sword technique mystery Glenn had hidden.
'I don't know what the hidden sword technique is.'
Perhaps because the tenth ring wasn't properly formed, he couldn't see what the additional sword technique mystery Glenn had incorporated was.
'Can't be helped. Even if I can't read it, I'll go with this!'
Raon couldn't complete the tenth ring, so he resonated nine and a half rings and thrust Heavenly Drive toward Glenn's charging tree branch. A deep rumbling sound! His own swordsmanship, created to counter Glenn's sword technique mysteries, extended in a massive line like the sky.
Even though he utilized his nine Rings of Fire, full-power aura, and maximum physical abilities, the result didn't change.
A sharp crack! Raon was pushed back along with Heavenly Drive and rolled across the garden floor full of bushes. Glenn's tree branch was touching his chest, unchanged from its initial appearance.
"I, I lost."
Raon gritted his teeth as he admitted defeat. It was astounding how Glenn could contain such magnificent swordsmanship in that small tree branch.
"Hmm!"
Glenn accepted Raon's defeat and lowered the tree branch.
"How was it today?"
He nodded his chin as if asking what he had felt from today's sparring.
"The sword technique mysteries Head of House initially showed were crushing sword, variable sword, phantom sword, flexible sword, and charging sword. However..."
Raon looked at Heavenly Drive's blade emanating white vapor, then raised his head.
"Another mystery mixed in during the middle. I was able to sense that for the first time."
Looking into Glenn's eyes, he told him that he had become able to read his sword, even if just a little.
"Two weeks, is it. You've finally reached the starting line."
Glenn nodded broadly as if Raon's words were the correct answer.
"However, if you don't know what that swordsmanship is, why it newly appeared in the middle, and why it doesn't break the harmony, you won't be able to block this tree branch."
He lightly dusted off his hands as if this was just the beginning and returned to the annex building.
'To think he'd find that in just two weeks. He's my grandson, but he's truly a monster.'
Glenn felt goosebumps rising at Raon's growth speed and let out an inaudible chuckle.
'But the path from now on will be even more treacherous. Even if luck follows, it'll be before the war at best...'
He was evaluating Raon and envisioning future events. A rustling sound. The leaves on the tree branch Glenn was holding fell, leaving sharp cross-sections as if cut by a blade.
"Huh."
He quickly gathered the fallen leaves with his hand so Raon couldn't see them and showed excited eyes.
'I was thinking wrong.'
Glenn glanced sideways at Raon who was lost in thought and softly curled up the corners of his mouth.
'Perhaps it might actually be faster from now on.'