The one who opened the training ground door and entered was Balkar’s Princess Jayna. She walked up to Raon while looking like an irritated cat.
“Why did you call for me?”
“Why did I call for you? You need to be taught another lesson. No, maybe you are just stupid.”
Raon stretched his hand towards Dorian with a cold smile on his face.
“Dorian.”
Yes!”
Dorian immediately took out a white paper from his belly pocket and gave it to him. It was so convenient that he didn’t even need to say what he wanted.
“Thank you.”
Raon spread out the paper he got from Dorian. It was the special contract that he used as a leash to bind Jayna after saving her in Porvan City.
“Ugh…”
Princess Jayna’s lips trembled violently upon seeing the special contract. She didn’t seem to have forgotten about it, since she looked furious.
‘So she didn’t forget about it.’
It was just frustrating for her.
The reason she spoke like that when she arrived wasn’t because she forgot about the special contract, but because she wanted to rebel against him to vent her frustration.
He could somewhat understand her feelings because that Balkar princess in front of him had everything her way so far, with no one stopping her.
‘However, you can’t behave that way in front of me.’
Others would have shown their understanding because of Jayna’s appearance or background, but Raon was different.
The appearance was nothing but a human’s skin for him, and he had no good will nor memories with Jayna. There was no reason for him to look at her with favor.
Tsk, tsk.
Wrath frowned while looking down at Jayna.
She can’t even suppress her feelings and she exposed them completely. She’s a truly foolish human.
‘……’
Raon wanted to rebuke him by saying, ‘Are you really the one to blame her for that?’, but he managed to suppress his urge.
“I must’ve told you before to speak politely towards me at all times.”
Raon shook the special contract with a smile on his face. Jayna’s eyes rolled to follow the special contract.
“…Why did you call me, sir?”
“I don’t really like it.”
“Argh, wh-why have you summoned me, sir?”
It must’ve hurt her pride, as Jayna clenched her fist and hung her head.
“I wanted to give you a bit of useful information.”
“Information?”
“Yes. It’s information about Martha Zieghart, who you are going to fight tomorrow.”
“What do you mean…?”
Jayna’s eyes widened so much that they looked like they would pop out. Her reaction was telling—she couldn’t understand his intention at all.
“Let me ask a few questions before then.”
Raon raised his chin slightly and bobbed his finger. Jayna furrowed her brow and came one step closer to him.
“I heard House Robert and Balkar had frequent contact recently. What was that all about?”
That information was mentioned by both the leader of the Shadow Agents and Denning Rose. It wasn’t strange for him to ask that question since Zieghart was careful about those two factions.
“Erm…”
“Say it.”
“It’s about a mine, Sir.”
“A mine? At Robert?”
“They are digging a mine at the coast near Robert territory, and they asked us to invent a magic spell to carefully dig out the soil and the mineral in order to prevent a collapse because it’s located under the sea.”
Jayna immediately told him about the mine. She didn’t seem to consider it a big secret.
‘A subaquatic mine… I don’t think there was anything like that.’
He’d visited all of the coastlines near House Robert’s domain during his assassin training. He could tell for sure that there was no such thing as a mine under the ocean where he ran a lap countless times.
‘What is he planning… Ah! Is it because that dungeon opened up?’
There was an unknown dungeon under the ocean near House Robert, but it was impossible to open the door no matter what they tried. Judging from the situation, they must’ve managed to open the door.
“Didn’t they request any magicians to be sent by any chance?”
“We also told them that it would be easier for us that way, but they asked for a spell to be invented because they wanted to deal with it themselves.”
Jayna slightly furrowed his brow, saying that they were being annoying.
‘He must be trying to keep it a secret.’
Robert and Balkar were on good terms. He would’ve requested specialists for it if he was really trying to dig a mine.
The reason he requested a magic spell instead of a magician must’ve been because he was trying to hide the dungeon’s secret.
“When did you give them that spell?”
“During this conference, Sir.”
Jayna told him that Chamber’s assistant gave the magic tome to Derus’s assistant during the conference.
“I see.”
Raon clenched his fist and smiled.
‘It means that I still have a chance…’
Raon figured that he had another chance to mess with Derus.
‘It’s fine if I can’t get whatever’s lying there. I just need to prevent him from getting it.’
He had no information about the dungeon, but it didn’t really matter. He could just destroy the dungeon if he felt like he wouldn’t be able to get the treasure to prevent Derus from getting it. It was a chance with no drawback for him.
“Was there anything else?”
“They also asked for some other spells, and solidified the alliance…”
Jayna told him a few more things, but they weren’t exactly important.
“It’s my turn to tell you now.”
“Uhh…”
“Martha has the earth attribute. However, she has a different tendency from the other earth-attribute swordsmen. She likes to barrage her opponent with attacks as sharp as fire or wind, while still retaining the heaviness of the earth. You should be most careful about her technique, the Devastating Heavy Sword, which is focused around power and speed…”
Raon told Jayna about Martha’s current realm and the flow of her swordsmanship. He didn’t tell her every single detail, but it was enough to influence the outcome of the match.
“You…”
Jayna bit her lip tightly after hearing all of the information about Martha.
“What are you plotting… Sir?”
“Plotting what?”
“I thought you were going to ask me to forfeit when I heard you called me… Sir. But you are giving me the information about Martha instead. That’s why I can’t help being curious about what's going on in your head…Sir.”
“Stop with those ellipsis.”
“Ugh…”
“Where’s your answer?”
“Alright, Sir.”
Her pride must’ve been hurt once again since she lowered her gaze.
“The reason why I’m giving you the information about Martha is…”
Raon’s eyes reflected the moonlight, sparking with a crimson light.
“Because hardships are necessary for humans to get stronger.”
“So are you making that hardship by yourself?”
Jayna’s lips were trembling violently. She looked like she couldn’t understand him at all.
“And during this match, where the six factions are fighting for their pride?”
“Yes.”
Raon nodded without any hesitation.
“What if she loses…?”
“It’s still going to be meaningful. There’s a huge difference between someone who has never been defeated and someone who has experienced defeat.”
Burren and Runaan managed to grow even further thanks to fighting each other to the best of their abilities. Raon was hoping that Martha would also grow even further, and that was why he was creating such a hardship for her.
Martha would likely be able to reach even higher by defeating Jayna, who knew about her weaknesses, and winning against the third prince after that.
“I really can’t understand you…”
“I don’t need your understanding.”
Raon simply shook his hand to swing the special contract in front of her eyes.
“I gave you the information, so you’d better put up a good fight. This contract might end up doing something if you show a poor performance.”
“Argh…”
“What shall I ask you to do? Maybe I should order you to bring me some national treasures from Balkar?”
“Damn it…”
Jayna pouted and clenched her trembling fist. She didn’t seem to know how to react because it was her first time getting one-sidedly abused. It felt so good to see her like that, probably because she’d been acting all haughty ever since their first encounter.
“Haa…”
She let out a deep sigh before raising her head. She quickly recovered from her emotions since she was still a member of the direct line of the Six Kings.
“This removes the two of the orders you can give me, right?”
“Two of the orders?”
“I told you about the trade between House Robert and Balkar, and you gave me orders about the fight against Martha Zieghart tomorrow. That makes it two, right?”
“You seemed to be misunderstanding something.”
“Huh…?”
“I never once said that I was ordering you to do any of it.”
Raon snickered and spread the special contract. It was still written that he had three orders to give her.
“Why…?”
Jayna’s eyes crumpled like paper in a grasp.
“Y-you did ask me to tell you…”
“It says order on the contract. I asked you to tell me, but never ordered you to do so.”
It was true. He simply asked her to do it while showing her the contract. He never mentioned that it was an order, not even once.
“Argh!”
She bared her teeth while spreading her mana around her. She looked like she was about to attack him at any moment.
“You fiendish bastard! There’s no way you are an honorable warrior! You are a demon who came from Devildom!”
There’s no one like him even in Devildom…
Wrath shook his head while responding to Jayna.
“A demon from Devildom? That’s a compliment for me.”
Since both Wrath and the Light Wind squad had been recently calling him a demon king, ‘demon’ and ‘fiend’ wasn’t even an insult for him anymore.
“We are done with the talk.”
Raon gave the special contract back to Dorian.
“Aww…”
Dorian put the contract in his belly pocket with his neck trembling in fear.
“Then I’ll be looking forward to your performance tomorrow.”
Raon patted Jayna’s shoulder as she violently ground her teeth, then left the training ground.
“Daaamn it!”
Jayna’s swearing voice burst out like a storm from the training ground as he was returning to his room.
“I-is this really okay?”
Dorian swallowed nervously while looking back at the training ground, where she was still screaming.
“It’s fine. I didn’t even kill her. Moreover, she’s the one who started it.”
Jayna was the one who picked a fight with him two whole times even though he gave her a chance. Since she still didn’t seem to regret her actions, it must’ve been a good lesson for her.
“Ah, that was a problem, but I’m also worried about Lady Martha…”
“It’s fine. She has too much in her arms, so she needs to win that match at least.”
Raon stopped walking and smiled while looking up at the dark sky.
“She should resign as the Light Wind squad’s team leader if she can’t even do that.”
* * *
* * *
Derus Robert bobbed his chin while sitting in front of Martio’s bed.
“Martio.”
Martio looked like a corpse on the bed, but he opened his eyes upon hearing his call. Anger was briefly reflected in his composed eyes, but it quickly disappeared.
“…Yes.”
Martio responded while enduring the pain that could make him faint at any moment. His mind remained cool despite his hoarse voice.
“What was your impression of Raon?”
“I-I couldn’t watch him until the end, but he didn’t move like an assassin at all from what I saw.”
“Are you sure?”
Derus narrowed his eyes while looking down on Martio.
“Yes. He had the classic nature and movements of a swordsman from Zieghart.
Martio’s chin was trembling as he answered. He seemed to be in a lot of pain.
“His posture sometimes looked like an assassin, but it can’t serve as proof since swordsmen can also use those postures. He couldn’t be seen as an assassin at all.”
“Then what do you think about his assault on you?”
“Haa…”
Martio briefly closed his eyes before opening them again. It was an assassin’s inclination to get rid of his emotions and calm himself down in order to draw an objective conclusion.
“Just like he said, the arena was the safest place in that situation. Since he had received a deep cut on his waist from Borini Kitten and he didn’t have a choice because he had to remove the Fallen’s magic, I honestly don’t think that his decision to slam his swords in front of me was a strange choice.”
Despite his anger towards Raon, he said that Raon’s behavior wasn’t strange at all. Instead, he added that it was a wise move.
“From what I’ve seen so far, I believe Raon Zieghart isn’t related to Raon.”
“Is that your judgment as Raon’s instructor?”
“Yes. It’s an objective judgment without involving my emotions.”
Martio nodded while enduring the tearing pain of his body.
“Alright. You should rest.”
“Th-thank you…”
Derus nodded and shook his hand, and Martio closed his eyes and turned his head away.
“Hmm…”
Derus took off the glove from his hand. The scar on the back of his hand was neatly reduced.
“Let’s return for now and let Martio rest.”
“My lord.”
As Derus was about to stand up, the butler in charge of legal affairs, Regel, opened his mouth.
“It would be better to cancel the order to the young master, wouldn’t it?”
Regel apologetically bowed his head and continued.
“From what we’ve seen today, Glenn Zieghart clearly cherishes the Light Wind squad. It could become a problem if the young master ends up cutting off Raon Zieghart’s arm.”
“You saw it correctly. And Raon seemed to be his favorite among the Light Wind squad.”
“In that case…”
“That’s why it’s better this way.”
Derus Robert snickered and shook his hand.
“I can’t miss this rare opportunity where I can finally learn what Glenn Zieghart is thinking. Let’s find out if he really cherishes Raon, and what he’s going to do if Raon’s arm is cut off.”
Even though it could endanger his son’s life, he made his declaration with a coldhearted smile on his face.
“It should be better to provoke him even further rather than stopping him. He looked really angry already.”
Derus watched outside the window with a cold smile on his face. Cadis Robert was extremely irritated because he barely got any cheers from the spectators despite the overwhelming performance he showed during his match because they kept calling Raon’s name.
“You should provoke Cadis even further.”
“Understood.”
Even though Regel was worried about Cadis, he got rid of his emotion upon hearing his master’s order and simply nodded. Even though they were acting on different sides, Martio and Regel were both nothing but marionettes who had to obey Derus’s orders no matter what.
“Did you check the spell that Balkar gave us?”
“Yes. It was exactly as we requested.”
Regel straightened his back and nodded.
“It doesn’t matter how long it takes. It’s fine even if hundreds end up dying.”
Bloody greed was glowing in Derus’s eyes.
“You just need to bring me the treasure buried underneath.”
* * *
Chirp. Chirp.
Raon was sitting on his room’s floor, and he opened his eyes upon hearing the chirping sound. He nervously raised his head, but it was just a normal chirping sound announcing the start of the day alongside the morning sun.
‘It wasn’t Merlin. Do I have to be nervous for the rest of my life?’
He laughed bitterly because Merlin could pop out anytime from anywhere.
You coward.
Wrath smiled coldly and shook his head.
You got nervous from the fear. You are even worse than a chicken.
‘But you are the one who is most afraid of her.’
It was such nonsense coming from Wrath because he was hiding from her obsession back then.
Th-the King of Essence just has trauma from obsession…
‘Trauma?’
The one who left a trauma on Wrath must’ve been an extraordinary demon.
‘They must’ve been really strong since you are so afraid of them.’
H-he’s not afraid! It’s not because I’m afraid that I avoid her. It’s because I don’t want her dirt rubbing off on me!
‘That’s true.’
Raon snickered. Devildom was apparently the same, and they preferred avoiding crazy people instead of dealing with them.
‘She must be pretty strong then.’
She’s just annoying and is no match for the King of Essence! Back in Devildom, the King of Essence was the strongest demon king and his invincibility was unmatched…
Wrath suddenly started bragging about himself even though he was trembling from the memory of that obsession a moment ago. It was truly a demon king’s moodiness.
“Haa.”
Raon examined his condition while Wrath’s bragging went in one ear and out the other. The injury on his waist and his swollen mana circuits weren’t completely healed yet, but he could fight just fine. It was the result of continuously using the Ring of Fire and the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation instead of sleeping.
Lots of demons should still be missing the King of Essence. Why do you think they are missing him? That’s right. It’s because of his powerful might! His mana is as vast as an ocean and they fell…
‘He never stops.’
Raon ignored Wrath as he kept bragging about himself. When he started changing into the uniform, messages appeared in front of his eyes.
[You’ve slashed the eternal tier spell, Yin Yang.]
[You’ve won against an opponent at a higher realm while being injured.]
[The Blade of Requiem’s trait Ghastly Flow of Mana’s rank has increased by two.]
[The Blade of Requiem’s ghastly energy has increased.]
[The trait Array Analysis’s rank has increased.]
[All stats have increased by 8.]
He finally got the reward for cutting the Fallen’s magic and defeating Borini Kitten in an injured state the day before. The system must’ve been waiting for his body and mind to be healed.
“Two ranks at once?”
The Ghastly Flow of Mana’s rank leaped to three stars from shaving off the Fallen’s chaos. The Array Analysis also increased, and the Blade of Requiem even gained more ghastly energy, which was almost excessive for a single slash on a spell.
Whir!
The Blade of Requiem’s clear sword resonance told him that it also liked it.
Wh-what’s going on?!
Wrath was still bragging about himself but suddenly dropped his jaw.
Why would you even give so many rewards for cutting through weak magic like that? What about the King of Essence? Are you trying to give away every last bit of his powe—
‘But you said you were one of the strongest in Devildom.’
Uhh…
‘Aren’t you actually weak if you are worried so much about this amount of reward?’
No, but…
“For the merciful demon king, this should be as much as a single cup of water from the vast ocean, isn’t it?’
That’s right! That’s how it is!
Since Wrath had been bragging so far, he nodded his head while suppressing his tears. Even that aspect about him was just like the giving tree.
Raon turned his head around from Wrath, who was smiling awkwardly, to look at the last part of the message.
‘The rank-ups for the traits are great, but I’m not sure about the stats.’
It wasn’t because it was bad.
The extra stats could be a source of error since he was almost perfectly used to his body, and the fact that it was added right before a difficult battle wasn’t too great.
‘Actually, no. My first opponent is the Dragon Slaying Beast.’
Since he had to fight the Dragon Slaying Beast before crushing Cadis, he had the perfect opponent to get used to his enhanced body.
‘A contest of strength, I like it.’
Raon figured that it would be interesting to fight against a Beast Union warrior with sheer strength since they were supposed to have the strongest bodies among the Six Kings.
Raon put his coat on and looked outside the window. He clenched Heavenly Drive while watching the gently waving sunlight.
‘Today is the day where Zieghart’s name will stand at the peak of the Six Kings.’
Let’s eat something before then. The King of Essence’s stomach is feeling empty because you took away his stats on top of not giving him any sleep.
Wrath was rubbing his stomach with rounded eyes.
‘Please read the mood…’
Raon sighed and shook his head.
