Derus Robert emerged from the ocean, which had returned to its emerald color after the cloud of dust subsided.
His muddy face was both extremely frightening and evil at the same time, which was quite unlike his usual appearance.
Derus Robert shouted towards the sky. The entire ocean started to rage, dozens of waterspouts bursting out.
The waterspouts collided with each other and combined into a black tornado that rampaged through the ocean.
Whaam!
The huge storm only came to a stop after it completely destroyed the fish, sea monsters, and even the trees on the shore.
Splatter!
Derus Robert landed on the shore in the midst of the shower of blood and flesh.
Not a single drop of blood managed to touch his body and face despite the bloody rain falling from the sky.
Derus’s anger didn’t fade away from his face even though he had just ruined the shore and the ocean. The frightening glow in his eyes was extremely terrifying to look at.
Derus ground his teeth while looking back at the ocean, where a huge tidal wave was rampaging.
“Damn it…”
He’d gone all the way down to the abyss to examine the dungeon’s remains, but he couldn’t feel the presence of the relic or mythical creature anywhere.
He tried looking for the corpses after that, but only bones remained because the abyssal fish and monsters had devoured them already. He couldn’t even tell how they’d died, let alone who they were.
He managed to find one relatively intact corpse, but all he could tell was that his bones and flesh were crushed, and he must’ve died when the dungeon collapsed.
‘I didn’t get a single clue.’
Martio, Kosini, and the shadows were dead, the relic and the mythical creature were gone, and he couldn’t even tell what happened.
It was the worst possible outcome, one that he didn’t even imagine would happen.
‘But there’s one thing I know. This was done by a human.’
Martio was a different story because of his strong sense of responsibility, but there was no way the mythical creature would’ve killed Kosini, who specialized in mind control. She would’ve definitely run away if she decided she wouldn’t be able to kill it.
Considering that the relic and the mythical creature were both gone, it must’ve been another person or faction’s doing.
‘Who is it?’
They must’ve been an extremely powerful person since they managed to kill Martio and Kosini without being noticed before taking away the relic and the mythical creature. Derus guessed that they must’ve been at least a Grandmaster.
“Come out.”
The shadows who’d been hiding in the sandy beach hurriedly jumped out upon hearing Derus’s call and went on their knees.
“Did anyone pass by?”
“The residents of a nearby village were the only ones.”
The shadows told him the names and appearances of the residents who’d visited the place without raising their heads.
“Useless.”
“Ah…”
“Uhh…”
Derus violently shook his hand and the shadows became unable to move.
They turned into red powder and fluttered around the beach before they could even scream.
“My lord.”
Regel had been waiting for him at the beach because he was slower to arrive on the scene, and he gave him a white towel while bowing towards him.
Derus took off his top and his gloves before wiping away the mud stuck on his body and face.
“M-my lord! The blood…”
Regel’s chin trembled upon noticing the red blood on the towel after Derus used it.
“I wasn’t injured.”
Derus narrowed his eyes while looking at the blood flowing from the scar on the back of his hand.
‘This is rather curious.’
Blood always flowed from his old scar alongside intense pain whenever he suffered a loss or had a problem.
He couldn’t tell whether it was a coincidence or not, but it was a strange thing to happen.
“Regel.”
“Yes.”
“Investigate the nearby villages. No, search through the entire domain and find the people who have been acting strange.”
“Understood.”
Regel calmly nodded even though it was practically an impossible task.
Derus smiled coldly while sucking the blood on his hand with his mouth. Dark energy was slowly emerging from his eyes.
‘I’ll find you even if you run away to the end of the continent. I’m definitely going to catch you.’
* * *
Inside a forest near Motran city, violent wind severed the morning air.
Dorian was the cause of the wind. He was swinging his sword in a small vacant lot inside the forest.
Whoosh!
Cold sweat flowed down his forehead each time he swung his sword. The training was called Heavy Strike Training, which consisted of maintaining an extreme focus for each swing as if he were facing an opponent.
His training started at daybreak, and the sound of wind coming from his sword finally stopped when the sun reached the center of the sky.
“Haa…”
Dorian sighed and lowered his sword.
‘The vice squad leader was right. The swordsmanship becomes harder and harder as I get stronger.’
He expected it to become easier and simpler once he got stronger, but the swordsmanship kept creating another wall to be surpassed every single time. That must’ve been the reason why people said that the study of martial arts was endless.
‘I wonder when I’m ever going to be strong.’
He’d been making a steady effort in his training so that he wouldn't fall behind the other swordsmen who stayed in the house, but it was getting more and more difficult to understand the swordsmanship as he trained.
He was definitely making progress, but his mind was filled with such thoughts.
‘I should eat for now.’
His stomach was rumbling because he’d been training from daybreak to noon. He finished the lunchbox they gave him in the inn and leaned his back against a tree.
‘I wonder when the vice squad leader will return.’
Raon wasn’t showing any sign of coming back even though it’d been a while since he left.
He was slightly worried because Raon didn’t even tell him his destination. Of course, his worries weren’t directed at Raon, but the other people who would be involved with him.
Dorian swallowed nervously while watching the dappling sunlight.
‘Don’t tell me… He’s not picking a fight with the Six Kings or the Five Demons, is he?’
Bulldozer. That was the best way to describe Raon’s behavior up to that point.
He barged into an auction house to steal from them, he threatened the princess from another kingdom, he jumped down from the castle walls to wipe out the monsters and he somehow gained weight when he was kidnapped by the Five Demons. That was why Dorian was worried that Raon might really pick a fight with important figures.
“N-no! That shouldn’t be the case.”
Dorian shook his head before he picked his sword up and stood up.
‘I should focus on training.’
He focused his mind and practiced the Meteor Sword he’d learned recently to get rid of the random thoughts.
* * *
Dorian sank to the ground after he continuously swung his sword with the Heavy Strike Training method until sunset.
“Haa…”
‘This should be enough, right?’
He wasn’t actually practicing his sword because he didn’t want to fall behind, but because he was afraid of Raon.
‘Who knows what kind of punishment I’ll get if I don't train enough!’
Raon might force the focus enhancement training or some spars on him if he didn’t get any better, and that was why he was training as hard as possible.
‘Even that demon won’t be able to scold me with how much I’ve improved.’
His skills had visibly improved because he’d been training every day, from dawn to nighttime, since he’d arrived in the city.
Even though Raon was completely nuts when it came down to training, he was definitely going to praise him once he saw his improvement.
‘I’ll stop for today.’
Dorian smiled in satisfaction and sheathed his sword before he stood up.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
The sound of applause resounded throughout the air when he was about to return to his room after he cleaned up the surroundings.
“Wh-who are you?!”
A tall and red-haired man fell from a tree when Dorian drew his sword, his chin trembling.
“Huh?”
Dorian’s jaw dropped. His hair and eye color had changed, but there was no way he wouldn’t recognize him.
“Vice squad leader!”
“You recognized me so quickly.”
“Of course I did!”
Even though he was disguised, there was no way he wouldn’t recognize him because he’d seen him so many times before.
“Did you finish what you were trying to do? How did it go?”
“Yes, it went well, thanks to you.”
Raon nodded while swinging the subspace pocket in front of him.
“I’m glad to hear that. But where did you actually g—?”
“Rather than that.”
Raon cut him off and examined his body.
“I’m impressed.”
“What?
Dorian’s lips parted because he couldn’t comprehend what he was saying.
“What do you mea—?”
“I thought you would be lazing around, but you’ve actually been training so hard.”
Raon praised him with a gentle smile on his face.
“Ah…”
Dorian scratched the back of his head and lowered his head.
‘Was he watching me? I did it!’
Since he’d been swinging his sword all day long except for the mealtimes, Raon was bound to recognize his efforts even though he was the king of devils.
“Judging from how much you’ve improved, you must’ve been training all day every day, just like today. I can see the power and principles dwelling in your sword.”
“Th-thank you.”
Dorian smiled widely from the exhilaration of being complimented and the relief that he wouldn’t have to do the extra training.
“Just like you said, vice squad leader, I realized that the sword becomes more difficult the stronger I get. I still have a long way to go.”
“Wow!”
Raon exclaimed in satisfaction.
“Impressive!”
Dorian figured that it went exactly according to his plan upon seeing the broad smile on Raon’s face.
“I’ll keep training to the best of my abilities!”
“I like your determination. I’ll have to give you a gift.”
“A souvenir? Let’s get moving then. We need to catch up and—”
“Hmm? Where are you going?”
Dorian was about to turn around with an excited smile on his face, but Raon caught him by his shoulder.
“W-we should return to the inn. It’s already nighttime, after all.”
“No, I told you I’m giving you a gift.”
“But you can give the gift after we return to the room…”
“No. I have to give it to you here.”
“Wh-what is your gift?”
Raon pointed at himself with a grin on his face.
“A spar against me.”
“What the fuck?”
Dorian’s mouth widened and unconsciously swore.
“Wh-why are we sparring for no reason?”
“I can’t possibly leave you alone when you’ve been such a good boy and trained so hard on your own. I’ll help you break through the wall that’s blocking you.”
“It’s fine! I’ll break through on my own—”
“No. All it takes is a small amount of beating—I mean, sparring for you to get better.”
Raon unsheathed Heavenly Drive and urged him to get ready.
“You just said that you would keep training to the best of your ability, right? Do your best now instead of in the future.”
“…But I’ve been training all day long.”
“Which means this is the best time to show your skills. Raise your sword already.”
“B-but…”
He was trying to avoid sparring or the focus enhancement training by improving his skills, but it was bearing the complete opposite result.
‘Wh-why is this happening?!’
Dorian raised his head with trembling lips to look at Raon’s eyes. He could understand the reason once he saw the crimson eyes glowing in madness.
‘Ah, that’s right. He’s a madman…’
* * *
* * *
Raon was impressed by Dorian’s enthusiasm and kept educating him by beating him up until the next morning.
“Huaaah…”
Dorian was breathing heavily while limping on the ground like a wet towel.
“I-I’m dying…”
He put down the sword in his hand, saying that he couldn’t do it anymore.
“Kill me if you want. I can’t even move a finger anymore.”
Raon chuckled while watching Dorian’s belly, which was puffed up like a frog’s.
“I was going to stop anyway.”
He nodded and returned Heavenly Drive to the sheath. His exhaustion was understandable since he’d been sparring all night long after training all day long.
“Well done.”
“…I thought you were going to ask for more.”
“Do you want to continue?”
“No! Not at all!”
Dorian quickly stood up and shook his head so fast that his face couldn’t even be seen.
“You might be injured if we continue any further, but it looks like you still have enough strength left in you.”
“Th-that’s not true!”
He lay back down and started to pant.
Pathetic.
Wrath shook his head while he watched Dorian.
Is that guy really the King of Essence’s subordinate…?
‘But it’s still praiseworthy that he’d been training on his own.’
Raon smiled faintly while feeling Dorian’s growth.
He’d told him to just idle around because he didn’t want to pressure him before they returned to his home, where he’d been bullied in the past, yet he’d been training instead. Raon was proud of him for that.
He was originally planning to cultivate after eating the energy core and the ocean soul. However, when he saw the impressive growth from Dorian, he decided to spar against him to help him improve even further.
‘Shall I help him a bit more?’
He put his hand in his subspace pocket. He plucked one of the ocean soul’s leaves and gave it to Dorian.
“What is this?”
“Cultivate after eating it.”
“A transparent leaf? You brought me something strange once again.”
Dorian received the leaf with trembling hands because he was out of strength. He didn’t ask any more questions and immediately shoved it in his mouth since he trusted Raon.
“I-it’s delicious. And…Huh?”
He chomped on it and sat on the ground to start cultivating right away.
He said it’s delicious. Let’s try eating it!
Wrath jumped into the air and pointed at the leaf that Dorian had just eaten.
‘Haa…’
Raon gave him a sideways glance.
‘You never change.’
The glutton demon king wanted an elixir just because it was delicious. He was calling Dorian pathetic, but he was even worse.
Stop being like that, just try one…
‘I’ll eat it later. Be patient.’
He pushed Wrath away and told him that he was planning to eat all the remaining leaves and the flower at the same time.
Whir!
Dark energy was flowing from Dorian’s pores. The ocean soul’s leaf was driving out the impurities from his body through its detoxification ability.
‘It’s getting started.’
Raon placed his hand on Dorian’s back and shoved his aura into him.
He helped the cultivation with the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation so that Dorian would absorb the entirety of the ocean soul’s energy, and so that his body’s waste would be excreted more easily.
The cultivation started at daybreak, and Dorian finally opened his eyes in the afternoon.
“Wow…”
He swallowed nervously while looking at his hands.
“Wh-what did you give me? The quantity of my aura has increased. Why am I feeling so light?”
“The ocean soul’s leaf.”
“Ocean soul? What was an ocean soul again—ah!”
Dorian briskly stood up in surprise.
“Ocean soul? Are you talking about the ocean soul from the legend?”
His wide eyes looked like they were going to pop out.
“Yes.”
Raon simply nodded. Despite being talkative, Dorian kept secrets when it came down to it, so he didn’t mind telling him about it.
“B-but that’s an elixir that only appears in stories! Where did you get such a treasure?”
“I harvested it in the ocean.”
“Err…Huh?”
Dorian’s jaw dropped and he fell speechless.
‘Of course. He harvested it. But there should be more to the story!’
He casually said he harvested it in the ocean as if it were an oyster or something. Dorian could only laugh at the ridiculous statement.
“…Is that all?”
“Yes.”
Raon took out a flower from his subspace pocket. The blue flower petals were sparkling like the ocean, and the transparent leaves were spouting from a smooth stem. It was indeed the ocean soul from the legend.
“It really is the ocean soul…”
‘Was it even possible for humans to acquire it?’
Even his company, which was one of the five biggest companies in the continent, had concluded that the ocean soul didn’t exist in the world. Dorian couldn’t believe the fact that a young man who wasn’t even twenty years old was holding it in his hands right in front of his eyes.
“I also have this.”
Raon put his hand back into the subspace pocket and took out a round bead. The poisonous aura around it felt so uncomfortable that it was almost suffocating.
“Wh-what’s this?”
“An energy core.”
“An energy core? Where did you get it?”
“I killed a mythical creature and pulled it out.”
“……”
Dorian closed his eyes tightly.
‘He said he killed a mythical creature and pulled it out… I can’t follow the story at all! I don’t even know anymore!’
It was common sense that a mythical creature protected a natural elixir. However, considering the intensity of the energy core’s poison, the mythical creature must’ve been far more powerful than the average monster, yet Raon had returned without a single injury. Moreover, his casual speech—which made it sound like he went out for a walk and got an apple on the way—was the scariest part.
“Aah…”
Dorian’s shoulders trembled in fear as he tried to imagine what was going to happen once Raon was over twenty years old.
‘He might annihilate one of the Six Kings or the Five Demons…’
* * *
Raon smiled while looking around the vacant lot Dorian had been training in.
“You picked a perfect place. The energy core would have made it difficult to cultivate in the room.”
It was impossible to cultivate in the inn because the ghost jellyfish’s poison was too powerful. The vacant lot was wide enough and couldn’t be seen from the outside, which made it the perfect place to cultivate.
He set up an illusional array to prevent monsters and people from approaching before going back to the vacant lot.
“It’s your turn now. Protect me.”
“I-I’m fine with protecting you, but is it really okay to eat that energy core?”
Dorian swallowed nervously while looking at the poisonous aura blazing around the energy core.
“Yes.”
Raon nodded after plucking the ocean soul’s flower petals and one of the leaves. The concentrated mana of the ocean dwelled in the flower petals, while the leaf contained high-purity mana along with the ability to cure poison. That was the reason the impurities were removed from Dorian’s body when he ate the leaf.
“I don’t think I can handle you anymore, vice squad leader.”
“Does that mean that you could handle me before?”
“N-not really… You have a point.”
Dorian scratched the back of his head and nodded.
“Make sure to protect me. I’ll get it done quickly.”
“I’ll protect you with my life!”
He placed his hand on his forehead and nodded.
“You don’t need to go that far.”
Raon chuckled and put the flower petals in his mouth. The five petals melted down on his tongue and smoothly went down his throat. They were filling him with pure energy and the fragrance of the ocean.
Err…
Raon was about to eat the poisonous core and the ocean flower’s leaf, but Wrath suddenly raised his hand.
You should wrap some meat in that leaf, it’s definitely going to be delicious…
‘Go away, please.’
Huff!
Raon snapped Wrath away with the back of his hand as if he were chasing away a fly.
‘I need to focus.’
Being distracted by Wrath would only end up wasting his willpower. He focused once more and put the ghost jellyfish’s energy core in his mouth. The core melted down and lost its previous shape as soon as he put it in his mouth, probably because it was a concentration of mana like the flower petal. The intense poison brimming from the energy core spread around in his mouth and caused a melting pain.
Bleeegh!
Wrath rolled on the ground and trembled violently.
D-disgusting! This is killing him!
‘Hold on a little.’
Raon chewed the ocean soul’s leaf to bring forth the pure energy and shoved it into his stomach alongside the energy core’s poison.
Hey! You won’t be able to taste it if you eat it like that!
‘Please be quiet.’
A huge amount of energy burst from the combination of the ocean soul’s flower petals, the ghost jellyfish’s poisonous core, and the ocean soul’s leaf. The violent explosion seemed capable of tearing his body apart.
The ocean soul’s power of the ocean and the ghost jellyfish’s poison violently clashed against each other after pushing away the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier’s flows.
‘It’s fine.’
He’d been thinking about combining the ocean soul’s flower petals, leaf, and the energy core all along on his way back. He was confident he could take them in.
Whir!
Raon suppressed the urge to cough up blood from the impact and made the Ring of Fire resonate. His trembling lips curved into a smile as he suppressed the two rampaging energies.
‘This is perfect because I like it rough. I’ll make all of you mine.’
