The temporary leader of the alliance, Vittern, swallowed nervously while watching Raon’s back as he walked towards the dungeon’s entrance.
‘Wh-What the hell is that guy?’
How could he destroy the barrier in a single strike…?
He’d decided to talk to him because he figured he could take advantage of him as soon as he saw his young, almost child-like face. However, the monstrous power he showed him was completely unexpected.
‘He’s not simply strong.’
One needed to be at least at the Master level to destroy a barrier of that caliber with brute force alone. Considering the fact that he’d destroyed it with an aura blade instead of astral energy, he must’ve read the flow of aura.
‘His aura blade has almost reached perfection, and he can even read a barrier…’
He was a monster.
Vittern admitted his mistake. The smile he saw from him in the beginning wasn’t coming from his inexperience, but from his confidence and composure.
“Vittern!”
“Wh-What should we do?”
“He’s going in right now.”
“Are you just letting him go?”
The guild companions that came with him from the beginning walked up to him. All of their faces had turned pale from panic.
“You idiots. This works out better for us.”
Vittern smiled coldly while looking at Raon, who was examining the entrance.
“Huh?”
“Wh-Which part about this is better?”
“What are you talking about when everyone is afraid…”
The guild members frowned, unable to understand what he was talking about.
“There are people from the Six Kings, the Five Demons, and huge factions similar to them inside. He will have to advance carefully anyway.”
“Ah, which means…”
“Yes. We can just follow him while keeping a decent amount of distance.”
Vittern slowly nodded.
“If we safely follow him while waiting for him to remove the danger from the dungeon, we should be able to get some leftovers.”
It was better that way. By following that young man, they could use him as an excellent meat shield that was even better than the alliance members. They wouldn’t be able to get a huge amount of loot, but their lives should be safe at least.
“Get ready. Start running as soon as he enters the dungeon. We need to reach it before the barrier reappears.”
“Got it.”
“Yes!”
Vittern gave orders to the alliance members and lowered his posture. He lowered his hand as soon as Raon entered the dungeon.
“Run!”
All of the alliance members started to run towards the dungeon the moment he said that.
‘The barrier isn’t reappearing.’
Vittern grinned. It must’ve been a really nice cut, since the barrier was still split in half.
“Let’s enter right awa…Huh?”
His jaw dropped and he came to a halt.
Rumble!
The dungeon’s entrance started to tremble as if a sudden earthquake had occurred, and it was being buried underground.
“Wh-What the hell?!”
“That bastard destroyed the entrance!”
“D-Dig! We have to do it now, because we won’t be able to enter otherwise, not once it’s buried even deeper!”
Vittern hurriedly started to dig the ground with his hands, but he couldn’t do anything about it because rocks and sand kept falling down from the canyon.
Whir!
To add into the trouble, the severed barrier also recovered itself and a heavy fog started to appear.
“You crazy bastard!”
Vittern screamed towards Raon, who had completely destroyed the entrance.
* * *
“Uuh!”
Dorian’s eyes were trembling as he watched the collapsing entrance.
“A-Are you sure about this? What if we can’t leave later on?”
“It’s fine.”
Raon grinned after completely blocking off the entrance.
“Y-You just smiled! You really smiled after destroying the entrance!”
Dorian’s shoulders were trembling violently. He was apparently more terrified by that fact than anything else.
“This is the correct move. It will be dangerous for us if they attack us from behind.”
Magic traps, devices, and barriers weren’t the only dangers when it came to exploring a magician’s dungeon. The competitors who could attack from behind at any time were as dangerous as the traps.
The ones behind them weren’t exactly dangerous for them, but Raon decided to completely block the entrance because other powerful people might arrive later on.
“Well, enemies can’t enter, but we can’t exit either! It’s pointless to get the relics if we have to die here!”
“A magician’s dungeon doesn’t have a single entrance.”
“What?”
“Just think about it. Do you think the magician would live here all the time? Don’t you think they want to go outside sometimes to eat or buy some magic ingredients?”
“Th-That’s true.”
Dorian nodded with his blank eyes.
“Now, do you think they would use this passage every single time? When they’ve set up a bunch of traps and barriers?”
“Uh…”
“The answer is no. They usually create a passage that no one else can use at the bottom part of the dungeon. We can just leave through there.”
Every single one of the magician dungeons that he’d visited before had a secret passage. Raon expected that the exit would be a lot easier than the entry.
“Wh-What if we don’t find one?”
“Then we’ll need to breach through here.”
“How can we even breach through that pile…”
“You have a shovel, right?”
Raon pointed at Dorian’s belly pocket.
“I-I do.”
“You also have a pickaxe, don’t you?”
“Indeed. I even have a mana stone powered excavator and a handcart…”
Dorian took out a tool that looked like a spear with a spiral spearhead and a cart.
“D-Did you even have those?”
Raon did expect him to have a shovel, but he never thought he would bring a mana stone powered excavator around with him.
“Well, it’s a must have.”
“That’s great. We’ll just need to excavate.”
“Ah, you are right.”
Dorian immediately nodded.
“It wasn’t a big deal.”
He smiled while saying that it wasn’t a big deal when he thought about it. It was really convenient that he was so simple.
“We just need to pay attention to the front now.”
Raon took a glance behind them before sheathing Heavenly Drive.
“I’m not giving my stuff to anyone else.”
Since he was already there, it was unacceptable to return empty handed. No matter what or who awaited him from below, he was going to get the relic that could help Rimmer before leaving.
“…H-How are they yours already?”
Dorian was amazed by his greed.
“Let’s go.”
Raon went ahead and walked through the cave. Since there was only one passage without any traps or barriers, he was able to advance quickly.
‘It’s getting cold.’
The temperature had decreased drastically upon entering the dungeon. Since the owner was a famous magician of the water attribute, he must’ve lowered the overall temperature of the dungeon.
“Hmm…”
Raon placed the piece of frost that was floating in the air on his hand, narrowing his eyes.
‘But this coldness…’
Why did it feel familiar?
The familiar feeling was growing as the coldness intensified. It was similar to Glacier, but different at the same time. He felt like he was meeting someone from his hometown in a faraway land.
Hmm…
Wrath was also squinting his eyes. He seemed to be pondering about something while watching the coldness.
‘Wrath. Does this coldness happen to…’
“Kuuh! It’s so damn cold! My bones are freezing!”
Just as Raon was about to ask Wrath about it, Dorian’s scream could be heard. He took a fur coat made from ice troll skin from his belly pocket and wore it because of the unbearable cold.
“Do you also want one, vice squad leader?”
“No thanks.”
Raon shook his head.
‘It’s meaningless for me.’
Since his water resistance was at six-stars, the coldness like that had no effect on him.
‘It’s actually better this way.’
After all, since the people who entered before had to have been having a hard time because of the cold, it was working to his advantage.
Swaa!
The coldness intensified as they kept going lower. Steam started coming out from their mouths, and their heads started to become covered with frost.
“Th-There’s a hole over there!”
Dorian pointed at the oval shaped door at the end of the passage while stamping his feet from the cold.
“I’ll enter first.”
Raon examined the other side of the door while checking to see if anyone was present. There was an extremely large cavern inside, and it was even colder than outside. It almost felt like the fourth circle magic, ice field, was applied to the entire space.
Whir!
As he was about to enter, the Blade of Requiem’s quiet sword resonance could be heard from around his waist.
There was only one reason for the Blade of Requiem’s call.
The presence of the White Blood Religion.
‘So it was the White Blood Religion.’
Raon was wondering about it when he heard from outside that people from the Five Demons were there, and it was apparently the White Blood Religion.
‘I guess they are the fastest ones to react.’
The White Blood Religion’s congregation was rooted in the entire continent. Since they must’ve had a branch pretty much everywhere, they could act faster than anyone as long as they had the information.
“The White Blood Religion is here. Enter carefully.”
“Eek?”
Dorian covered his mouth to express his shock.
Raon entered carefully. The floor was covered in corpses, and they must’ve been from small- or medium-sized groups, considering their emblems.
They had sword wounds on their bodies, but they also had bite marks in various spots, as if they had been defeated by beasts.
‘They even devoured their flesh.’
Judging from their appearances, they must’ve had a feast, despite how cold it was. He expected nothing less from the bloody demons who got drunk on power and abandoned humanity.
Whir!
The Blade of Requiem resonated more violently than previously upon realizing that fact.
‘This works out. I can kill two birds with one stone.’
It was the perfect opportunity to get rid of the vampires who didn’t deserve to live on top of obtaining the relics.
Raon minimized his pressure and went towards the center of the cavern while pretending he didn’t notice anything.
“Are they new guests?”
“Two people? That’s too few.”
“I know, right? I’m pretty sure there were more people outside.”
“They won’t even fill my stomach.”
Twenty White Blood Fanatics were walking towards them over the frozen blood from all around the cavern. Their teeth and lips were covered in human flesh and blood, while their blades were glowing red.
“I like the left one. The handsome ones tend to have tender flesh.”
“I prefer the right one. I can eat a lot with all the meat he has.”
Five of the White Blood Fanatics had lines drawn on their robes. They were the priests, unlike the other low rank fanatics.
“Shut up and kill them. We can’t allow the smallest disturbance.”
The White Blood Fanatic who was standing at the center stepped up. Considering the fact that he had two lines drawn on his robe, he was the bishop in charge of the group.
Raon licked his lips while holding the hilt.
‘Perfect timing.’
Because he wanted to test something.
He’d been curious about what would happen if he used Blue Rain with the Blade of Requiem’s resentment against the White Blood Religion. Since the ones in front of him deserved death, he decided to try it out right away.
Thud!
All the White Blood Fanatics exploded their bloody energies to charge towards them upon the bishop’s signal.
Cring!
When the stench of blood coming from the White Blood Fanatics brushed past Raon’s nose, he controlled Glacier and drew the Blade of Requiem.
The upright principles of Blue Rain brushed past the blade, which was covered in ghastly energy, to create a frightening spark.
Raon Zieghart Style Swordplay.
Alternative Fourth Form. Blood Rain.
The blazing fire turned the red blade crimson, and a devil’s roar came from it. The grotesque melody severed the atmosphere, shredding the inside of the ears of the White Blood Fanatics.
“Kuaaah!”
“Gah!”
“Cough!!”
Upon hearing that grotesque sound, blood gushed from the eyes, ears, nose, and mouths of the White Blood Fanatics as they knelt on the ground. They screamed in pain as they rubbed the floor before they became breathless.
Whir!
The Blade of Requiem finally stopped its roar once it finished absorbing all of the bloody energy coming from the White Blood Fanatics.
“This is crazy.”
Raon gasped while looking at the Blade of Requiem’s crimson color, which had become even deeper than before. Even though it could only target the White Blood Religion, its destructive power was on a different level from Blue Rain. Raon could guess that he could even slay an archbishop with that.
‘Moreover…’
It was a bit cruel, but the Blade of Requiem looked so satisfied because it gave so much pain to the White Blood Fanatics before killing them.
“Are you okay?”
Raon turned around to look at Dorian. He was slightly worried about him because it was a really cruel melody.
“I-I’m perfectly fine. But…”
“Hmm?”
“It sounded extremely sad. I’m not sure how to describe it, but I felt my heart breaking.”
Tears were welling up in Dorian’s eyes to justify his impression.
‘I guess so.’
Raon nodded. Blade of Requiem was forged in order to pay respect to the souls who died to the White Blood Religion. Since the sadness of losing their families outweighed their desire for vengeance, the sword resonance must’ve incorporated that feeling into the strike.
‘We should be able to put an end to them one day.’
Raon made that promise to the Blade of Requiem one more time before returning it to its sheath.
“Let’s go.”
* * *
* * *
Raon went through the passage that the White Blood Fanatics were guarding. The temperature was dropping even lower. It looked like even their breath was being frozen because it was even colder than Habun Castle.
“Ack! I feel like all of my organs are freezing!”
Dorian murmured that it was driving him mad, and took out a woolen hat, woolen shoes, and a heat generating magical pack. He finished the process of taking them out of his belly pocket to switch into them as fast as lightning.
“Huh? What is this flower?”
He narrowed his eyes while looking at the ice flowers sprouting from different locations on the ground. The ice flowers were similar to the one on his bracelet, but were also different at the same time. Moreover, blue coldness was emerging from the walls.
‘This coldness… It’s not ordinary.’
It was a barrier.
The ice flowers and the coldness spreading from the walls and floors weren’t simply there to lower the temperature. It was a dangerous barrier that could freeze a person’s respiratory organs upon entering the human body because of their viscosity.
If they foolishly endured the coldness while thinking it was just about the temperature, respiratory failure would kill them before long. In fact, corpses were lying around in the corners of the passage, their bodies completely frozen.
Whaap!
Raon controlled the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation to melt down the coldness directed at him and Dorian. Even though he had to consume some aura doing that, it was the better course of action.
“Th-Thank you! It feels like I drank a warm bowl of stew.”
“I need to protect my pocket after all.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Raon smiled faintly, walking ahead. A dim light was radiating from the end of the passage.
“This place…”
Once he entered the area, he could see a beautiful glowing blue lake.
“A lake? Are we supposed to cross it?”
Dorian smiled faintly after looking at the border of the lake.
“It looks easy. The distance is short…”
“That’s not it.”
Raon frowned and grabbed the hilt of his sword.
Rumble!
At the same time, the lake fluctuated like a wave and gathered towards the center of the room.
The agglomeration of water surged like a fountain, forming a huge, human shape. It was a 5-meter-tall ice golem with different kinds of ice flowers engraved on the body and red light radiating from its eyes.
“Argh!”
Dorian dropped his jaw, withdrawing with trembling fingers.
“I-It’s a golem! An ice golem!”
“Moreover, it’s rather difficult to deal with.”
It wasn’t an ordinary ice golem. Since it was capable of shifting its form between a liquid and a solid state, it had an extremely high regeneration—which meant it was necessary to melt down its entire body or destroy the core in order to defeat it.
‘It is so well made.’
The flow of mana was constant.
He tried spreading his aura perception through the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, but he couldn’t really feel the core inside the golem. Considering the fact that he couldn’t see it when he used the Evil Eye of Wrath either, it had to be taking the shape of a particle of ice just like the rest to hide among them.
‘Just in case…’
He didn’t have the time to search for the core because he was far behind those who went ahead, but he tried controlling Glacier because the coldness in the area felt familiar to him.
Whir!
As soon as he examined the golem with the high purity coldness, he could feel that a semicircular ice shard inside the golem’s right shoulder was very slightly different from the rest.
‘Is that the core?’
He double checked to be sure, and the flow coming from the golem’s right shoulder was slightly different from the other parts.
‘Let’s try it.’
Raon unsheathed Heavenly Drive and dashed forward.
Rumble!
The golem reacted immediately, walloping down his fist—which was the size of a human body—as fast as the lightning. Because it was in a liquid state, the movement was as smooth as it was fast.
Thud!
The moment the golem’s fist fell towards him, Raon kicked the ground to leap and stabbed his blade towards the semicircular shard that he’d found with Glacier.
Crack!
With the sound of shattering glass, the golem stopped moving.
Rumble!
The golem’s entire body convulsed before turning into green liquid, pouring down onto the ground like a sandcastle meeting a wave.
“Huh? Huuh?”
Dorian’s jaw dropped as he stared at Heavenly Drive.
“W-Wasn’t that a simple stab just now? How did you shatter the golem with a single stab?”
“I destroyed its core.”
“Did you find the core in a single attempt? Are you a magician or something?”
“I was lucky.”
Raon shook off the ice shard from Heavenly Drive and licked his lips.
‘How curious.’
Even though Glacier’s aura of coldness had an extremely high purity, it wasn’t normal to find the location of a golem’s core.
‘Hey. By any chance, does the coldness in this place feel familiar to you?’
Raon asked Wrath, who was dwelling in his forearm.
Ugh…
Wrath grunted instead of responding.
‘Wrath?’
Be quiet. I have something to think about.
He shook his hand, glaring at the flower pattern engraved on the golem.
‘That’s so unusual of him.’
Raon chuckled. He opened the door the golem used to guard and entered.
He went through a short and dark passage, and three dark caves appeared. He couldn’t see anything inside the caves because of the pitch-black darkness.
“Where should we go?”
Dorian looked around the caves one after the other, murmuring that they had the exact same shape and size.
Whir!
Raon tried to check the inside with aura perception, but the connection was cut off before it could reach deep enough. The coldness inside the caves was disturbing his aura perception’s movement.
Raon knelt and examined the traces on the ground. Most of the people followed the human instinct to go to the right or to the middle, but a decent number of people also went to the left.
‘Where should I go?’
He didn’t have much time.
Even though he managed to save a lot of time so far, he was still significantly behind when compared to the ones who went on ahead. He was most likely going to fall too far behind if he chose the wrong cave.
‘Just in case…’
He figured that Glacier might be helpful once again, gathering the coldness inside his body.
Whir!
He used the high purity coldness to examine the cave on the right, the middle, and on the left. Unlike when he used the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, the aura perception didn’t get cut off, allowing him to continue to the deeper part.
“So, Glacier is more helpful here after all… Hmm?”
When he examined the left cave, he could feel a very small gap on the left wall. There was an extremely small hole that even a thin thread wouldn’t be able to pass through.
‘Maybe this hole is…’
Raon shoved Glacier’s coldness into that gap.
Screech!
Along with the sound of splitting rock, the darkness dissipated to create a passage that one person could pass at a time.
There must’ve been a secret barrier there.
‘He’s using people’s psychology on top of his detailed control of mana.’
Lohengreen’s mana control was on a different level from the other magician dungeons that Raon had visited before. It was so natural that even he had difficulties finding it.
‘So this is why no one managed to find it yet.’
The least number of people had entered the left cave. Moreover, a barrier-type secret passage was set up right next to the entrance, which made it obvious that no one else managed to find it before.
‘I should keep Glacier on.’
It wasn’t just his impression. The coldness inside the cave and Glacier were actually similar in many ways. Raon had the feeling that he could advance faster and more easily by using Glacier all the time.
“H-How did you find it this time?”
Dorian’s chin was trembling in disbelief that a human being was capable of such a thing.
“Young master… By any chance, did you make this dungeon?”
He was calling him ‘young master’ like he did in the past. It showed how confused he was.
“It’s just a coincidence. Let’s go.”
[Did you really find this place?]
Raon chuckled. As he was about to advance, an admiring voice could be heard from behind him.
‘Huh…?’
Did he miss someone’s presence?
Raon grabbed the hilt of his sword and quickly turned around. An old man wearing a blue robe with a long beard reaching the floor was floating in the air. His legs couldn’t be seen, and his entire body was transparent. He literally looked like a ghost.
“…Wh-Who are you?”
[Eek? Can you see me?]
The old man’s jaw dropped, and he came towards him. Raon couldn’t feel any presence from him, and all he could feel was the coldness filling the air.
[Oh! God of Wrath! Finally!]
He shouted with joy while jumping like a child. Even though he was transparent, he looked so happy that his face almost looked like he was blushing.
“What are you doing?”
Dorian tilted his head. He was apparently unable to see the old man.
‘Is he really a ghost… Wait.’
There was only one person who would’ve become a ghost in such a place.
Lohengreen.
He was a lot older than expected, but the round glasses, blue robe with flower patterns on it, and the narrow eyes perfectly matched the descriptions he’d read of Lohengreen in the books.
“Are you Lohengreen, Sir?”
[Yes! I’m Lohengreen!]
He looked very pleased as he nodded.
“But why are you in such a pla—”
Haa, I got it.
As Raon was trying to ask him a question, Wrath sighed deeply while looking at Lohengreen.
‘What did you get?’
I finally understand why the coldness in this place and the name felt so familiar to me.
Wrath raised his finger to point at Lohengreen.
His real name is Lohenyellow. He’s the King of Essence’s servant that borrowed his power.
“Ah!”
Raon’s eyes widened as far as they could upon hearing that.
‘So that’s why the coldness felt so familiar.’
The reason the coldness felt familiar to him, the reason he could find the golem’s core and the passage through Glacier, must’ve been because Lohengreen inherited Wrath’s coldness.
‘Which means…’
Raon licked his lips while looking at Lohengreen.
Another doormat?
