Shattering the Wall
"Hah..."
Raon let out a breath of relief as he watched the remnants of Battle Qi scatter into nothing. I barely stopped it. By driving the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames through the Heavenly Sky Sword and Glacia through the Requiem Sword to their absolute limits, he had split a wall of Ganggi itself.
He had drawn both swords from the very first exchange instead of saving them for a surprise, and the blow had left him with a nauseous, gut-deep internal wound—but he did not regret it.
They're alive. That's enough.
Pedrick and the child had survived. Abandoning the ambush, taking the injury—none of it felt like a loss.
"Just who in the world are you..."
Pedrick's voice was the same as it had always been. The memory of the old man patting his back and pouring warmth into him rose unbidden, and a small smile touched Raon's mouth.
"I'll explain later. Please fall back."
Raon pointed behind him, then turned to face what was coming. It was a pity, but Pedrick had nothing left to give. Raon would have to fight this alone.
Can I even do this?
It looked grim. The original plan had been to take on three Masters together with Pedrick. Honestly, this was the worst possible situation.
A heavy rush of air rolled across the clearing as the exploded sand and dust settled, revealing two armored ghosts.
Jeokranggwi and Heuk-ikgwi.
A warrior in crimson armor with a wolf-head helm, and a man in black armor set with a pair of wings, both of them staring with eyes that promised slaughter. The pressure rolling off those searching gazes alone was immense. Both were monsters who had stepped into the realm of Master.
And behind them...
Raon swallowed dryly and looked past the pair. A man with the lower body of a mountain goat and the upper body of an armored knight, a goat helm on his head, was leaning against a tree as if he had all the time in the world.
Akyanggwi.
Of all things, it had to be Baphomet...
The Lycanthrope and the Gargoyle Lord were powerful boss-class monsters in their own right, but Baphomet existed on an entirely different plane. It was a supreme-class monster that wielded Sword Master-level greatsword technique and 7th Circle magic at the same time, and it possessed the intelligence to toy with human beings as it pleased.
Akyanggwi had inherited that power. He would be no ordinary Master.
Frankly, Akyanggwi alone looked more dangerous than Jeokranggwi and Heuk-ikgwi put together.
The one mercy is that he's alone.
Baphomet originally traveled as a pair and did whatever it pleased. The fact that this one was still by himself meant he was incomplete.
"An Expert who can cut Ganggi. So you're Raon Zieghart."
Jeokranggwi raked his gaze over Raon and nodded.
"R-Raon? You're Raon?"
Behind them, Pedrick—still gathering the child into his arms—went wide-eyed.
"It's been a long time."
Raon offered Pedrick a faint smile, then nodded.
"I wondered how you brought down the 7th Apostle. So you can use both fire and water attributes."
Jeokranggwi seemed to know him already. His eyes narrowed as they settled on the Requiem Sword and the Heavenly Sky Sword.
"Can I just kill this bastard? Huh? I hate his face already!"
Crimson Battle Qi surged from the dagger clenched in Heuk-ikgwi's fist. He looked ready to hurl himself forward that instant.
If all three come at me, I have no chance at all...
Raon glanced at Akyanggwi. The goat-helmed man showed no intention of fighting; he still had not taken his back off the tree.
"My job's just blocking this path, y'know. If you don't come this way, I've got no reason to step in."
Akyanggwi caught the look and grinned. The lightness of his tone was bizarre—he sounded like a child.
"You really mean that?"
Jeokranggwi's eyes narrowed at him.
"You heard it too. Just hold the path. We each do our own jobs."
Akyanggwi shrugged, as if to ask what anyone was going to do about it. They both belonged to Eden, but they clearly did not share the same will.
"He's telling the truth. He didn't lift a finger even when his own allies were in danger."
Pedrick nodded. Even while he himself had been fighting for his life, Akyanggwi had not moved.
I still can't afford to let my guard down.
Baphomet was a monster that did as it pleased. His mood could change at any moment. Raon could not allow himself a single unguarded breath.
"I can't take it anymore! Zieghart or whatever—an Expert acting this cocky?!"
Heuk-ikgwi spread his wings. He rose as softly as a balloon, then fell like a thunderbolt. The dagger, thick with Battle Qi, screamed toward Raon's throat.
The instant the reddened blade tried to open his neck, Raon twisted his shoulder. He had already memorized the grain of Battle Qi while fighting the Mad Blood Ghost; his reaction was fast.
He thrust the Heavenly Sky Sword in return, aiming for Heuk-ikgwi's throat. A silver blade carrying the speed of Frost Lotus was about to split the black armor when the ghost's wings snapped to a different angle.
A savage wind howled, and Heuk-ikgwi shot back into the sky.
A crimson streak filled the space he had left. Jeokranggwi came on like a wolf, raking his claws down.
Fast!
In sheer speed, he seemed even quicker than the flying Heuk-ikgwi. By the time Raon registered it, the man was already in his face.
Ganggi woven from Battle Qi swept toward his entire body. So this was what it meant to be a master of claw arts—an advanced martial principle that sealed off every direction of escape.
But Raon had a footwork superior even to that. He took the first step of the Supreme Harmony Footwork and slipped past every line of Jeokranggwi's claws.
He stamped a True Step and unfolded the Flame Wheel of the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames. A saw-blade of fire, wreathed in searing scarlet, roared through the air.
"Hmph!"
Jeokranggwi felt the pulse of aura, bounced backward as if yielding, then lunged in again.
Flame Wheel and Ganggi collided, and a tremendous explosion burst between them.
"Kh—!"
Raon bit down on his lip. Even though his reaction had been faster, a vicious shock erupted inside him. Jeokranggwi's Ganggi seemed to carry a piercing force that punched straight through aura.
"Die!"
There was no time to think about it. Heuk-ikgwi, who had been watching for an opening in the air, drove a dagger blazing with Battle Qi at Raon's heart.
Raon took the Supreme Harmony Second Step, punched through the red dust, and unfolded the Swift Sword Art. A blue blade, carrying the mysterious power of the Supreme Harmony Footwork, knocked the Battle Qi-slick dagger aside.
The impact was like being struck by a lump of solid iron. Heuk-ikgwi's aura was packed as dense as forged steel. Cutting through it would not be easy.
"Grrrr!"
This time Jeokranggwi crashed in with his whole body. Without even a moment to catch his breath, Raon took the Supreme Harmony Third Step, gave ground, and poured the principle of the Flowing Sword into the Heavenly Sky Sword.
A grinding roar like stone being milled tore the air, and blue blood welled across Raon's wrist. He had failed to fully absorb the force in that charge; a vessel had burst.
"Damn it..."
Raon spat a ragged breath.
And this is them with their strength already spent.
Jeokranggwi and Heuk-ikgwi should have been drained from their brutal fight with Pedrick, and still it was all Raon could do to hold on. His stomach churned as if he were seasick. The internal injuries were getting worse by the moment.
But I'm still standing.
Trusting the analytical power and recovery of the Ring of Fire, he raised both swords. He would have to read their martial arts the way he had when he killed the Mad Blood Ghost, then end it in a single stroke.
"You arrogant little shit!"
Heuk-ikgwi, fury driven all the way to the top of his skull, spread his wings wide and dove. Without bleeding off any of that speed, he loosed the Ganggi on his dagger like an arrow.
Raon clenched his teeth and raised the Requiem Sword. A sword stroke carrying the softness of the Supreme Harmony Third Step deflected the dagger, and he unfolded the Mad Fang Sword with the Heavenly Sky Sword.
The Heavenly Sky Sword's edge drove for Heuk-ikgwi's opening—but the black armor did not split. The Heavenly Sky Sword was thrown back instead.
This kind of hardness...
Even without Battle Qi wrapped around it, the armor was tougher than the Mad Blood Ghost's had been with Battle Qi fully deployed. True to the nature of the Gargoyle Lord, both his armor and his weapon were abnormally dense.
A hiss of displaced air. Jeokranggwi lunged into the gap as Raon was forced back, claws steeped in bone-chilling Battle Qi reaching for his heart.
I have to let it slide off.
Meeting Jeokranggwi's Battle Qi head-on was a bad choice.
Raon turned his ankle and poured Silk-Reeling Force into the Requiem Sword. A blade carrying spiral rotation knocked aside the claw that had erupted with killing intent.
"Kh..."
Raon grimaced. Even after bleeding off most of the force, a shock like a knife punching through his organs detonated inside him.
"We're just getting started!"
The two ghosts gave him no room to breathe, pouring out colossal Battle Qi as they hunted him from sky and earth at once.
Because he had to block Ganggi, his aura hit bottom almost immediately despite how short the fight had been, and a vicious pain flared in his gut as if a furnace had been lit inside it.
"Starting to regret this?"
"It's too late to run. This is your grave."
Jeokranggwi let a cold smile slip; Heuk-ikgwi bared his teeth and laughed. Both of them seemed to think it was over. They closed in at a leisurely walk.
"Regret?"
Raon swallowed the blood rising in his throat and smiled.
"I threw that away a long time ago."
Even if he died here, there would be no regret. A life-saving debt was repaid with one's life. He would save Pedrick by any means necessary.
Lars.
"So you've finally made your decision. Good. This King shall descend and wipe them all—"
Let's make a deal.
"What?"
Wrath had been in the middle of bursting out of the bracelet; he froze.
I'll take your wrath. In exchange, restore my internal injuries and my aura.
"A meaningless gesture. Even recovered, you cannot defeat those two."
The moment it looks like I'm going to die, I'll hand my body over to you.
"Y-you lunatic..."
Then back out, if you're scared.
"Very well! As much as you like!"
A clear, crystalline energy seeped in through the Ice Flower Bracelet. The pain in his abdomen—like a heated awl being driven through him—subsided, and his empty aura core filled like a spring welling up from the earth.
In accordance with the contract with Wrath, 20 points of Wrath have been generated.
A wager with Wrath has been created.
Should death become imminent, the body shall be surrendered.
Raon did not even look at the messages. He simply nodded.
I can win.
Ever since he had split the Mad Blood Ghost's Ganggi, a number of lines he could not name had been rising in his mind. They flashed across his vision the way light does when you squeeze your eyes shut and open them again, and the fiercer the fight became, the darker those lines grew.
If those countless lines could be joined into one, he was certain he could step into somewhere new.
Now is the time to advance.
This was a trial with death standing in front of him—and an opportunity to take one more step.
A hiss of steel. Raon raised the Heavenly Sky Sword, the Mad Fang Sword howling along its edge, and leveled both blades at Jeokranggwi and Heuk-ikgwi.
Dozens of sword strokes and spells collided, scattering a magnificent spray of light across the darkened night sky.
"Out of my way!"
Merlin drew a magic circle larger than the moon itself, her face twisting.
"I already told you. No one gets through here."
Sheryl leveled her white sword at Merlin and smiled, cold as winter iron.
"You idiot! There are three Masters in there! Even Raon can't win!"
Merlin's eyes burned with a dense, genuine heat, as if she truly wanted him.
"I have to stop them before they kill him! Move!"
"And then you'd drag him off to Eden, wouldn't you."
Sheryl gave a short, knowing laugh.
"It's better than dying!"
"He won't die. Raon has never once gone back on a word that left his own mouth. And besides..."
She smiled, faintly, and went on.
"You're talking nonsense."
Merlin bit her lip and opened her hand. The bracelet around her wrist shone black, swelling the magic circle in both size and grade.
"I'll kill you, then go welcome Raon myself."
"Go ahead and try. If you can."
Sheryl smiled, ice-cold, and raised her white sword. A gray current surged from the blade and climbed all the way to the roof of the sky.
A black tidal wave erupted from the magic circle and crashed against a single line of sword-light blooming from the white blade.
Unlike the magnificent collision between Sheryl and Merlin, the fight among Raon, Jeokranggwi, and Heuk-ikgwi turned with a breathless, choking urgency.
Raon wiped a thread of blood from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve and kicked off the ground.
He thrust the Heavenly Sky Sword at Jeokranggwi, who came on with fangs bared, pouring out claw-Ganggi—and with the Requiem Sword reversed in his grip, he shoved aside Heuk-ikgwi's strike from behind, aimed at the nape of his neck.
Twin detonations of enormous force ripped the skin of the earth inside out and set the forest swaying as if it would come down.
The instant he stepped the Supreme Harmony Footwork and slipped the shock, Heuk-ikgwi's wings were already on him, scything in as if to cut him apart.
"Hah—!"
He spat a rough breath and swung the Mad Fang Sword.
The ghost was a master who could wrap even his wings in Ganggi. The impact punched past bone and muscle and reached his organs. The internal wounds he had just recovered—even taking Wrath's rage to do it—flared open again.
There was no time to feel the pain. The crimson wolf that lunged at every opening was already in his face.
He took the Supreme Harmony Second Step and unfolded the Flame Dragon Form. Its power was reduced, but its speed was like a bolt of light.
Even diminished, the Flame Dragon Form was still the Flame Dragon Form. It did not yield even against Jeokranggwi's Ganggi.
His insides twisted all the same. He swallowed back the blood trying to punch up through his throat and unfolded the Mad Fang Sword's Flash Thrust.
He wrenched aside the black dagger that had been reaching for his neck. Heuk-ikgwi clicked his tongue and rose into the air again.
"Hah."
The internal injuries were spreading like a wildfire. His entire abdomen was packed with a vicious heat, as if it had been burned—but his mind was growing steadily clearer.
Jeokranggwi and Heuk-ikgwi came on at the same time. Each of them had invoked a killing art; the Battle Qi on claw and dagger shook the air and smashed the earth.
Raon drew the Heavenly Sky Sword back to his left shoulder and the Requiem Sword to his right hip, then thrust both at once. Revolving Heaven and Frost Lotus wove together, and red and blue radiance exploded.
Raon was driven five steps back and spat the blood he had been holding in. The burning heat in his abdomen intensified. The internal injuries were worse than before.
It's fine.
He chewed his lip and evened his breathing. They had failed to break through his sword, and their martial arts were beginning to show themselves to him.
Through the settling dust, Jeokranggwi and Heuk-ikgwi came into view.
"What the hell is he..."
"Th-this is possible?"
Both of them were biting their lips as if they had seen something they could not believe. Thin threads of blood ran from their mouths.
"That bastard... he thrust into the opening in the Bone-Rending Claws."
"Same here! He punched through a flaw in the Winged Flying Blade!"
A ruthless light flashed in Jeokranggwi's eyes. Inside Heuk-ikgwi's helm, his pupils glittered with killing intent.
A crash of air. The two monsters realized they had to finish this as fast as possible and poured everything they had into their footwork.
Right side!
Jeokranggwi slammed in from the right blind spot. Raon let the sharp tip of Ganggi rising from below slide off with the Refining Sword Technique, then drew Flower Spirit with the Heavenly Sky Sword.
A storm of flame erupted from the sword's tip and shoved Jeokranggwi back, while the cold of the reverse-gripped Requiem Sword stood up like icicles and knocked Heuk-ikgwi's wings aside.
The two ghosts' Battle Qi came on as a scarlet torrent, but Raon's swords became a high levee and stopped every drop of it.
"Kh..."
A clot of blood burst from his mouth, but a smile rose with it. The openings the Ring of Fire had found were landing, clean and certain.
A sharp ring of steel. The Heavenly Sky Sword perfectly knocked aside Jeokranggwi's twisted Ganggi, and the Requiem Sword shoved Heuk-ikgwi's wings back in a single motion.
Just a little more...
His spirit was climbing, the way a craftsman hammers an edge into a blade. He could feel the Ring of Fire turning around his heart as if it were in his hand.
"That fucking bastard!"
"Kill him as fast as you can!"
Heuk-ikgwi and Jeokranggwi came for his upper body and lower body respectively. The Ganggi on hand and blade burned as hot as ever.
Hah...
He honed his concentration further. Perhaps because they were rushing—the distortions in the martial arts Jeokranggwi and Heuk-ikgwi were driving at him grew more severe.
They're tired too.
After raiding Letran and fighting a blood-soaked battle with Pedrick, Jeokranggwi and Heuk-ikgwi had burned through a great deal of their strength. If he endured—if he simply endured—the advantage would tilt his way.
Enduring is the one thing I've always been sure of.
He had lived as an assassin and borne more than most people could imagine. In patience, at least, he would yield to no one.
He drew the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames and Glacia to their utmost. Bearing a pain as if his mana circuits would snap, he thrust the Mad Fang Sword.
Red and blue sword-light swept the space and split the seams in Jeokranggwi and Heuk-ikgwi's Battle Qi.
"Keep going!"
"Grrrk!"
He stepped the Supreme Harmony Footwork and opened distance, but they clung like leeches, pouring out Ganggi.
"Hup—