Knock, knock.
Regel quietly knocked on the door to Derus’s room.
“Enter.”
Derus’s gentle voice could be heard from inside. Regel carefully opened the door and entered the room.
“What’s wrong?”
Derus raised his head. He was sitting in front of a neatly organized hardwood desk.
‘Did he already manage to regain his composure?’
There was no trace of anger in Derus’s eyes anymore. Even though the ninth farm was destroyed, and the young dogs were released right before the brainwashing became complete, Derus had already returned to his calm self.
‘However, he’s never going to forget about it.’
Borini Kitten wasn’t the perpetrator behind the incident. Because Regel had served him for a long time, he could guess that Derus was going to search the entire continent if he had to and find the perpetrator to destroy everything they owned.
Regel bowed, before walking up to the desk.
“Martio sent a message. He’s making progress without any problems and said that he would bring good news from the exploration.”
“I see.”
Derus slowly nodded and closed his eyes. He seemed to have complete faith in Martio.
“Hmm…”
Regel briefly licked his lips while watching Derus’s reaction.
“What’s the matter?”
“Kosini mentioned that there was a mythical grade monster below the dungeon. I’m worried about them because Martio hasn’t completely recovered from his injuries yet.”
Martio was taken under Derus’s wings at the same age as Regel, and they’d managed to survive together all that time. The long time they’d spent together made them like brothers, and that was why Regel was worried about him.
“Don’t worry about it. Martio and Kosini are more than capable of dealing with it.”
Derus simply shook his head.
“He’s a responsible person and he even said he would bring good news. That’s why I can trust him this time.”
Martio still remembered the mistake he made in the Owen Kingdom. His declaration was his expression of his resolution to bring the relic from the dungeon by putting his life on the line.
“He used to be the head of the underworld, even though he’s been ousted now.”
He calmly lowered his eyes.
“You shall believe in him.”
* * *
Martio swallowed nervously as the blade neared him.
‘He got me!’
He didn’t expect him to appear from the side because he’d been too focused on his back. He felt like his body was completely frozen.
‘I need to block it…’
But that didn’t mean he was going to die without trying anything. He couldn’t stop the blade from stabbing him, but he could minimize the damage at least.
However, the tip of the intruder’s sword was shaking, and he couldn’t tell whether he was targeting the neck or the heart.
‘In this case…’
Heart.
Most assassins would target the heart. Even a small injury to the heart was deadly, unlike the neck, and that was why he decided to defend his chest.
“Haap!”
Martio bit his lip and twisted his upper body as much as possible.
Cring!
And his expectations were correct. The intruder’s sword was rushing towards his heart.
Pssh!
Because he’d curved his back to the breaking point, the intruder’s sword only managed to cut his solar plexus instead of his heart before it was pushed back.
Thud!
Martio quickly withdrew while covering his chest and stood next to Kosini.
‘Ack…’
The intense pain was making him dizzy. The solar plexus was the crossway of mana circuits all over the body, and a vital point that could endanger his life. He managed to avoid having his heart pierced, but the damage was still huge. He estimated that he wouldn’t be able to muster even half of his normal strength.
‘However… I can last, at least.’
It could have been dangerous if he were alone, but the shadows and Kosini were with him. Taking care of an assassin like that was an easy task for them.
“Catch h—huh?”
Martio pointed at the intruder and started to order the attack, but he had to stop with trembling lips.
‘I-impossible…’
A black-haired and black-eyed man was standing there. His face was unremarkable, with pale skin, sharp eyes, and a small scar under his right eye. Martio’s hair stood on end upon recognizing such characteristics.
“Aah…”
It was impossible for that man to be inside the dungeon—or even in the world anymore.
“Raon…”
His heart tightened and felt like it was going to burst. The assassin Raon. The man in front of him was the previous head of shadows, Raon, who he’d raised with his own hands.
“Raon?”
Kosini’s eyes widened as her chin trembled.
“H-he’s really Raon!”
Her voice became hoarse from the astonishment he felt.
“How did you get here? No, how are you even alive?!”
Martio screamed from the shock.
‘This can’t be happening. It’s impossible!’
Derus had killed Raon, and he’d disposed of the corpse with his own hands. He burned his bones and flesh to completely erase any trace of his existence, be he was alive in front of him. He couldn’t understand how it was happening.
“I’m back—”
Raon slashed with a smile on his face. Three shadows’ heads rolled on the ground before they could react. The technique he used was the Dark Blade of Slaughter that Martio had taught him in the past.
“—to take you and your master with me to hell, since that’s where you belong.”
“Ah…”
Even his voice was the same as before. He’d stopped the bleeding on his solar plexus, but blood gushed from it once again as a chill ran down his spine.
“Nonsense! Such things can never happen in the worl—Gasp!”
Martio’s eyes trembled upon noticing Raon’s sword.
“Heavenly Drive?”
Raon’s sword was exactly the same as Raon Zieghart’s sword, which he’d seen recently.
“So you noticed.”
He seemed to have no intention of hiding it, as he raised his sword to show him. Martio could be certain of it. It was the same Heavenly Drive that Raon Zieghart had used.
“N-no way…”
“You guessed right.”
Raon put his hand on his face and unleashed the flame. His face gradually changed with a red haze. His black hair turned blond, and his black eyes started to shine red.
Whir!
The blond hair and red eyes were revealed. Even though they were rare characteristics for humans, they were widely known as Zieghart’s distinctive features.
“Raon Zieghart…”
“Yes.”
Raon nodded. He was Raon Zieghart.
[I’m the Raon that you raised just to butcher and eat. I’ve returned to drag you down to the depth of hell.]
He said that through an aura message, but Martio was too confused to notice. He felt like he’d lost all his ability to think.
‘He was… My lord Derus was right!’
Derus believed that the assassin Raon and Raon Zieghart were the same person, and he was right.
‘I need to kill him. No, I need to first let him know.’
Even though he was injured, he was confident he could defeat Raon alongside Kosini judging from his past performance in the arena.
However, there was no way a monster like him would’ve come to a dungeon without any other preparations.
‘My first priority is…’
Martio unsheathed his sword and ordered the shadows.
[Leave the dungeon right now and inform our lord Derus! Tell him that Raon and Raon Zieghart are the same person!]
It should’ve sounded strange, but around twenty shadows inside the cave started running towards the exit while avoiding Raon as soon as they heard the order.
“You know.”
Raon was standing still with a smile on his face instead of chasing the shadows.
“I still haven't forgotten the lesson I learned from you.”
“What?”
“I need to create the situation I want to succeed in assassination.”
He snapped his fingers. The moment the snapping sound spread out, the dungeon started to tremble, and the ceiling collapsed from above the shadows who were running away from Raon.
Rumble!
None of the shadows managed to avoid it and were buried under the rocks and soil. Even though there were more than twenty shadows before, none of them were alive anymore.
Step.
Raon took one step towards them with a smile. The discrepancy between the soft footstep and the scene he’d created made them swallow nervously.
“The only ones who are allowed to leave…”
His voice was extremely deep.
“…are the dead.”
* * *
* * *
Raon smiled coldly while watching Martio and Kosini’s faces turn pale.
‘It worked perfectly.’
The only reason he stabbed Martio’s solar plexus even though he could’ve cut his head off with the first strike was to see that face on him. That expression of bewilderment coming from the man who’d worn a composed mask made him feel like a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders after twenty years.
“Y-you…”
Martio’s hands were trembling, as was the sword he was holding. He seemed extremely shocked by the situation, and by the way the shadows were annihilated because of his order. Raon couldn’t stop his smile upon seeing his expression of despair and astonishment.
“Let’s put an end to it, Martio.”
Raon raised Heavenly Drive and pointed at Martio’s heart. Cold sweat was flowing down from Martio’s forehead because of that frightening pressure.
“H-how…?”
“You little piece of shit!”
Martio was unable to react, and Kosini smacked his cheek.
“It’s normal to be surprised! I also felt like my heart skipped a beat. But are you really planning on dying right now? Who do you think is going to be his next target if we end up dying here?”
“Ah…”
Martio’s trembling faded away upon hearing that. His eyes were regaining his composure.
“You are right about that.”
Martio nodded and smacked his other cheek himself.
“I need to kill him no matter what, for his sake.”
A suffocating amount of murderous intent was spreading from his eyes.
“Kosini, fight him with the determination to die.”
“I know I need to do that in order to survive.”
They came to an agreement, and the entire dungeon started to tremble from their pressure.
Whir!
Martio was naturally the first one to act. He charged in an instant and swung his sword as if the injury had no effect on him. The deep black astral energy was falling towards Raon’s neck.
Swoosh!
Raon simply lifted himself and unleashed the ferocious beast inside the blade. The Fangs of Insanity’s Carnage Burst was gnawing at Martio’s sword.
Clang!
Willpower wasn't enough to overcome a serious injury. Martio couldn’t withstand the impact and slammed into the wall.
Whir!
A powerful wave of mana appeared when Raon tried to chase him. It was Kosini Sion’s doing. The magic piercing into Raon’s brain was her specialty, mind control magic.
“It’s pointless.”
He was pretty much immune to mental attacks while he was using the Ring of Fire. The Ring of Fire rotated around his heart and made Kosini’s mana disappear like snow in the Spring.
Whap!
Raon pushed the ground with the front part of his foot to advance. He was right in front of Kosini in an instant and unleashed the Blizzard Sword Art’s wind.
“Kuh!”
Kosini quickly created multiple layers of shield, but Heavenly Drive, engulfed by the blue wind, broke through three layers and rushed towards her neck.
Clang!
Blood was about to gush out from her neck, but Martio interfered to fend off the blade.
“You bastard!”
Martio’s sword started to rotate, surrounded by black astral energy. His extremely polished assassination technique was charging toward Raon’s left chest.
‘Too slow.’
Raon turned his ankle slashed with his wrath. The all-out attack of the Fangs of Insanity was baring its bloody fangs.
Whaam!
The powerful impact pushed Martio back with his sword and he started coughing up blood. He must’ve taken a huge amount of damage because of his injury from the tournament and the injury to his solar plexus.
“Take this!”
Kosini extended her hand from behind Martio. Yellow lightning was streaming towards Raon. The spell was Chain Lightning, an electric spell that was her favorite attribute after mind control.
Cring!
Raon unsheathed the Blade of Requiem with his left hand while using the Supreme Harmony’s Fifth Step. Even though the swing was as peaceful as the rain flowing down from the roof, the red blade mercilessly destroyed the lightning.
It was the Ghastly Flow of Mana, with the ability to erase magic. That trait was truly a disaster for magicians.
“I’m not done yet!”
A sphere of lightning emerged from her hand and dozens of lightning gushed out from it. It was Plasma Bolt, the strongest magic attack that she could use.
“I already told you, it’s pointless.”
Raon thrust the Blade of Requiem before the Plasma Bolt was completed. The somber ghastly energy interfered with Kosini’s mana to make the Plasma Bolt explode right before it was completed.
Boom!
Kosini was slammed into the ground she was digging because the mana explosion happened right under her nose.
“Huff…”
Her eyes widened after she coughed up blood, but Raon was already right in front of her. He was trying to slash with Heavenly Drive before she escaped with Blink, but Martio interfered and stopped the blade.
Cring!
Raon twisted his blade to use the Black Beast Tribe’s secret technique. The powerful impact created from a point-blank distance made both Martio and Kosini, who was behind him, roll on the ground at the same time.
“Kuh…”
“Ugh…”
Their faces turned pale upon realizing that there was an overwhelming difference in power.
“Don’t worry too much, I won’t kill you so easily.”
Raon looked down on Martio and Kosini with dry eyes.
“You will have to tell me everything you know, and everything you don’t know.”
“Argh!”
Kosini’s chin was trembling as she grasped her shoulder.
“Th-the mind control and the lightning magic are both ineffective. He’s a complete monster…”
[Use…]
Martio clenched his fist to the brim and grabbed Kosini’s shoulder. She could hear his aura message.
[Use me.]
[What?]
[I’ll make my vitality run wild. Use Berserker on me.]
Kosini’s face hardened as she heard the words.
[But if I cast Berserker on you while your vitality is running wild…]
[It’s fine.]
Martio nodded with unwavering eyes.
[His blade will reach our lord eventually. I need to finish him off right here.]
“Hmm…”
Kosini nodded after noticing the determination in his voice.
[Alright.]
Kosini leaped backward and extended her hand. The mana from her hand distorted in an opposite way of the normal formation and seeped into Martio’s body.
It was the most effective berserker magic, Madness Break.
Whir!
Martio’s eyes turned red, and his muscles puffed up into a rough shape of an orc. The change wasn’t only limited to his body, either. Even his energy erupted like a volcano to fill the entire surrounding area.
“Hmm…”
Raon furrowed his brow while watching Martio’s change.
‘Is he using Vitality Explosion?’
Vitality is the power of life that humans had inside them from the moment of their birth. It was a power that couldn’t be recovered once it was used, yet Martio seemed to be using it.
‘Moreover…’
It was further amplified through Kosini’s berserker magic. He’d become about three times more powerful in terms of the raw quantity of his aura.
“Die!”
Martio slashed while crushing the ground. The astral energy dwelling on his blade became as long as a spear shaft and as thick as an axe. His Dark Blade of Slaughter was completely under control, unlike Martha when she went berserk.
“Show me your desperate struggle.”
Raon smiled coldly and stomped the ground.
“Because I was starting to get sad with how disappointing you were!”
He unleashed the Aqua Flower of the Blizzard Sword Art. The astral energy twisted up alongside the wind to clash against Martio’s strike.
Clang!
Bone-shattering pain was felt from the impact. The synergy between Vitality Explosion and Berserker seemed to have multiplied his power by more than three times.
Creak!
Raon showed a toothy smile while clashing with his power.
‘Perfect reaction. I can now pay you back with interest.’
Slam!
He deflected Martio’s sword with the Blizzard Sword Art. Once Martio’s blade was pushed towards the wall, Raon slashed Heavenly Drive upwards.
Whap!
Countless flower buds of raging fire appeared from his blade and spread around. The Flame Spirit’s flower petals—which had become even more powerful thanks to his ancestor’s traces—filled the entire space.
Raon’s sword didn’t stop after unleashing the Flame Spirit. It was the Revolving Sky of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation. A sphere emerged from Heavenly Drive’s blade and rotated violently to spread powerful flames.
Whaam!
The combo between Flame Spirit and Revolving Sky blocked Martio’s escape in all directions.
“This isn’t a big deal!”
Martio screamed and thrust his sword. The black astral energy of his blade spread around like spiderwebs to fight back against the flames. It was the Dark Blade of Slaughter’s special technique, the Vengeful Spirit’s Howl.
Baam!
The clash between Raon’s red astral energy and Martio’s black energy created a tremendous explosion.
Rumble!
The shockwave spread all the way from the walls to the floor, and the hardened ground collapsed.
Tap!
Raon spun midair to land on the uneven ground. He couldn’t see them properly because of the dust, but he could feel that Martio and Kosini were standing on the other side.
‘This is intense.’
The pain felt like he broke his right arm, which was wielding his sword. Martio’s strike was far stronger than it should’ve been because he was burning his own life force and even had Kosini cast a spell on him.
‘And that’s what makes it worth defeating him.’
Since he was one of the archenemies that he’d been waiting for twenty whole years for revenge against, he would’ve felt empty if Martio died in vain. His desperate struggle was making it even better for Raon.
Whoosh!
Raon twirled Heavenly Drive to remove the dust. Martio was glaring at him and the red color in his eyes had intensified even further.
‘What? Is he getting even stronger?’
Martio’s energy was burning more powerfully than before, just like his eyes. Since vitality was supposed to decrease once it was used, it should’ve been impossible to become stronger.
“Did you mention that only the dead can leave this place?”
Martio crushed the ground and charged at him. Even though the techniques he was using were the Dark Shadow Steps and the Dark Blade of Slaughter that Raon was well familiar with, the speed and movement were on a whole different level.
“The same goes for you. You won’t be able to leave this place alive!”
“I’m an exception. I’m the host of this party.”
“Shut up!”
Raon used Heavenly Drive, which he had pulled back to draw a line, and a blue wave followed the trajectory. The two blades of Frost Pond were unleashed towards Martio’s sword and neck.
Claaang!
Martio polished his murderous aura and swung his astral blade to completely block Frost Pond. He wasn’t even getting pushed back because of the tremendous energy he was using.
“It won’t work on me!”
His energy intensified even further. The way it kept amplifying over and over felt like gunpowder that was about to explode.
‘Gunpowder? Could it be…?’
Raon felt like cold water was pouring on his body. He could guess that Martio was trying to self-destruct with him.
“Did you finally realize? I’m pretty much a bomb right now.”
Martio’s lips curved into a long smile.
“Death is the only fate awaiting you, whether you attack me or not.”
Martio dashed once again. His astral energy was even darker and thicker than before as he assaulted Raon from the left side.
Whir!
Raon created a line of raging fire on Heavenly Drive’s blade. The slash fell upon his opponent like lightning. It was the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation’s Hundred Flames, the Crimson Slash.
Zap!
Even the flaming slash was unable to cut through Martio’s aura of life.
“Kuh!”
Martio pushed ahead with sheer strength even though his mouth was coughing up blood.
Raon frowned while looking at Martio’s murderous eyes.
‘He’s even risking his soul.’
Martio was even sacrificing his soul on top of his vitality through Kosini’s magic to obtain that power.
Clang!
Raon gained distance by using Martio’s strength.
‘I’ll be buried alive if he explodes like this.’
Martio’s self-destruction was too much for him to handle even though he had a complete understanding of the topography inside the dungeon. It was necessary to slay him before he exploded.
‘I should get rid of that power with the White Shadow Slash and use the Sword’s Silvery Dream afterward… Hmm?’
He looked around to find a place to bait Martio in, and he noticed a familiar trace on the wall.
It was his ancestor’s technique that he’d seen on the upper part, the sword traces of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation’s Flawless Sea of Fire.
‘It’s different.’
However, the technique had a different flow. Unlike the entrance, where the traces were all focused on the walls and the floor, the traces of the Flawless Sea of Fire he was witnessing were connected to the entire area.
‘The flow looks like it would break, but it won’t. It’s almost like a huge…’
‘Ocean.’
Unlike House Robert’s swordsmanship, which connected like a river to eventually become an ocean, the Flawless Sea of Fire’s true objective seemed to be the creation of a vast ocean’s embrace right off the bat.
Crackle!
A red line struck upon Raon’s head as he realized that fact.
The second trance had arrived. Raon’s hands started to flow according to the traces on the walls. The pinnacle of the ancestor’s swordsmanship was dwelling in Heavenly Drive as he advanced.
“I don’t know what you are trying, but it’s already too late.”
Martio was charging at him with veins bulging on his face. His puffed-up body gradually turned red, like a bomb nearing its explosion.
“You are going to die here.”
The astral energy was endlessly bursting from his sword. It literally looked like the astral energy had managed to build a black mountain.
Fwoosh!
A small spark was created by Raon’s sword as the mountain of astral energy fell toward him while devouring the space.
The blade revolved around according to the trajectory on the walls and drew an elegant line before soaring toward the sky like a firebird.
Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, Hundred Flames.
Flawless Sea of Fire.
The blade followed the horizon, and a flaming tidal wave emerged to swallow the black mountain.
.____
