Can You Really Do It?
"Can you really do it?"
Pedrick approached with his brows drawn down in worry.
"It didn't go quite as I expected, but I believe it's possible."
Raon nodded and lifted his hand from Encia's wrist. The moment Glacia's frost receded, she began to moan again.
"Heavenly Sword Squad Leader."
"Hm?"
"Forgive the request, but could you find me a clear glass bottle with a lid?"
"Understood."
Sheryl did not even ask why. She simply walked out. It seemed this incident had built a fair amount of trust between them.
"Saint, please keep watch over Lady Encia's condition. I need a moment to gather my aura."
"That much is no trouble at all."
Once Raon saw Pedrick take Encia's wrist, he sank to the floor and closed his eyes.
I'll need both the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames and Glacia.
To absorb the Hell Worm's energy and extract the creature alive, he would need the Ring of Fire, the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames, and Glacia—all three. It would be difficult, but if he used the Demonic Eye of Wrath, he would be able to pinpoint exactly where the Hell Worm was hiding.
With his eyes still shut, Raon pictured the Hell Worm's removal in his mind and circulated the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames. Every energy mattered, but today's protagonist was the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames, now risen to the fifth star.
A deep rumble rolled through him as he stirred the dormant art to life. When he opened his eyes, Sheryl had already returned, and a glass bottle sat waiting on the table.
"A-are we starting now?"
"Yes. You'll fall asleep for a little while, and by the time you wake, it'll all be over."
Raon smiled and pressed lightly just below the nape of Encia's neck. She let out a short moan, then her eyes closed and her head lolled to the side.
"Then I'll begin. Saint, please draw up Lady Encia's Life Essence."
"Assisting with a treatment... I can't remember the last time I did this."
Having decided to trust Raon, Pedrick seemed determined to see it through. He stood opposite and laid his hands on Encia's shoulders.
Raon immediately began to circulate Glacia's frost with the gentleness one might use on a child, easing it into Encia's mana circuits. He cooled her body from the bottom up just as before, but this time he did not pack the frost into every inch of her pathways. He left a portion empty. That space would become the channel through which he absorbed the Hell Worm's energy.
A sharp hiss filled the air as Glacia's pure frost sequentially cooled the heat in her mana circuits. The instant it reached the area around Encia's neck, the hidden Hell Worm burst forth and began to spread its heat.
"Nngh..."
Even though she had been put to sleep, Encia's body trembled. The Hell Worm's heat was so intense Raon could feel it through nothing more than her wrist.
This is where it starts.
Raon resonated the Ring of Fire to sharpen his focus, then circulated the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames. The fifth-star flames seeped smoothly through the empty spaces Glacia had left in her mana circuits, rolling toward her head disguised as heat the Hell Worm itself had produced. The creature took that pure fire for its own and directed all its wariness toward the frost alone.
Just as I thought!
Everything so far had gone according to plan. Now it was time for the second stage.
Raon activated the Absorption Technique, a skill that had become available upon reaching the fifth star of the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames.
With this, I can devour that thing's heat too.
The Absorption Technique of the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames was an art that could drink in heat. It could not take a massive amount of energy all at once, but against a creature like the Hell Worm that slowly vented warmth, it was tailor-made. He raised the technique with exquisite slowness and began to take in the heat the Hell Worm was pouring out.
The heat piled up, layer by layer, in the lower dantian that had grown spacious upon his rise to Master, and the recovery speed of his body began to climb. The Hell Worm, never even realizing its own heat was leaking away, kept pumping out more in its struggle against the frost.
No different from a frog in boiling water.
Drop a frog into boiling water and it will leap out at once. But if the water heats gradually, the frog never registers the danger—and cooks to death. The Hell Worm was that frog. If he kept coaxing it to vent its heat little by little, the creature would exhaust every last scrap of its power and end up with nothing.
All I have to do is absorb it.
The heat the Hell Worm wasted accumulated in Raon's body without a single drop lost, becoming aura and stamina, even raising his achievement in the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames. It was no different from an elixir that absorbed itself. Feeling the thrill of his wounds closing and the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames' aura swelling, Raon took in the Hell Worm's heat at his leisure.
Three hours later, the heat the Hell Worm was emitting had dwindled to a visible degree, and Raon's dantian was brimming with the energy of the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames.
There's even more than before.
A dry laugh escaped him. Despite his injuries, far more aura filled his dantian now than before he had fought those Masters.
If he knew, he'd be furious.
The Hell Worm that Derus Robert had spent decades researching and developing had become a delicious elixir. A smile rose unbidden at the pleasure of shattering the man's plans wholesale.
"What in the world is this?!"
Wrath burst out above the bracelet, grinding his teeth.
"How are you drawing power even from a worm?! Why is the world so desperate to heap everything onto this brat?!"
He pounded his chest as if the injustice were personal.
"Take care of This King for once!"
I'll take care of you later. Just stay quiet.
Raon left Glacia's frost on one side only and halted the Absorption Technique.
Time to finish this.
He steadied his breath inwardly, then drew up wrath and poured it into his eyes. A crackling filled his vision the instant he willed himself to see the Hell Worm inside Encia's skull. The interior of her head entered his field of view. Upon a membrane of some kind he could not quite identify, inside the bone, a tiny red insect had its legs splayed.
Even more grotesque than the last one I saw.
The Hell Worm had four teeth sprouting from its snout and ten legs sharp as thorns—a repulsive sight. Exhausted, its body heaved as if a person were panting for breath.
It's burned through most of its energy, so it must be starving.
The Hell Worm had consumed the greater part of the heat it possessed. It would not be able to endure that hollowed-out feeling. It would be drawn to heat, without a doubt.
Raon drew the now even purer heat of the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames up to the mana circuits near Encia's head. Watching the Hell Worm's condition through the Demonic Eye of Wrath, he regulated the movement of his aura.
It's moving.
Sensing the heat of the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames, the Hell Worm lifted a leg slightly, as if wary. Guarding against the Glacia in the opposite mana circuit, it crept toward the flames.
Good thing I pulled it free in advance.
The Hell Worm lifted its legs from the place it had been rooted for years and followed the energy of the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames downward. Like a fisherman luring a fish with a rod, Raon worked that energy to draw the creature slowly, slowly down. Thanks to the Demonic Eye of Wrath, guiding the Hell Worm toward an exit was not difficult.
Nngh...
His head throbbed terribly—the Demonic Eye of Wrath still did not sit well with his body—but he gritted his teeth and held his concentration to the end, leading the Hell Worm toward Encia's nasal cavity.
Almost there.
Raon opened his eyes and looked at Encia's nose. The instant her nostrils gave a short twitch, he slipped his fingers in and seized the Hell Worm inside.
"Heavenly Sword Squad Leader!"
"Got it!"
Sheryl caught on at once and tossed him the glass bottle she had brought. He caught it, dropped the thrashing Hell Worm inside, and clapped the lid shut.
A frantic scratching filled the glass. Only now seeming to realize it had been tricked, the Hell Worm raked the bottle with all ten legs. Watching those ten legs twitch in unison sent a shiver up his spine.
Good thing I put her to sleep.
Raon looked at Encia and let out a breath. Even with her straightforward personality, she would never have been able to handle a worm coming out of her nose. Putting her under first had been the right call.
"T-this was inside Encia's body?"
Pedrick strode over, eyes wide, and examined the Hell Worm.
"Yes. The thing that was pumping heat from Lady Encia's head is this insect."
Raon nodded and held the bottle out to Pedrick and Sheryl.
"Good heavens..."
"Eek!"
Unlike Pedrick, who looked merely incredulous, Sheryl recoiled in horror.
"Saint, would you take this insect and study it?"
"Study it?"
"Considering that Temus targeted Lady Encia, there are bound to be more. He may have planted them in other people as well, so we need a reliable method of removal—not just the method I used today."
That was why he had extracted the Hell Worm alive.
"Mm. I'm sorry, but I can't give you a definite answer. This is the first time I've seen one of these."
"That's fine. And could you also look into a solution for the Rage Worm?"
"Rage Worm. That's Temus's doing as well, I take it."
Pedrick had heard the full story, so he already knew Temus had died because of a Rage Worm.
"I'll do everything I can."
Despite the difficulty written on his face, he nodded firmly.
"Ah, one more thing."
"There's... more?"
Pedrick now looked genuinely burdened, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
"The maid who planted that insect in Lady Encia was almost certainly under brainwashing."
"Brainwashing?"
"I'd like to find a way to undo that as well."
A red heat kindled in Raon's eyes.
That's the most important piece if I'm going to smash Derus's plans.
To break Derus Robert, he first had to deal with the people the man commanded. If he could shatter the Hell Worm, the Rage Worm, and the brainwashing, a third of the man's forces would vanish. And the finest expert who could make that happen was standing right in front of him—Pedrick, the Saint of Rags.
"You're worried about the one behind all of this."
"That's right."
"I understand. I'll look into it with everything I have."
Pedrick nodded, his gaze grave.
"I know a specialist when it comes to brainwashing. I'll speak with them."
He was already forming plans, his eyes gleaming as he studied the Hell Worm in the bottle. He seemed quite intrigued himself.
"Then, last of all."
Raon took Encia's wrist again. He absorbed every last remnant of the Hell Worm's heat from within her, then purified her entire mana circuit system with Glacia. Once Pedrick had finished his additional treatment, Encia's skin—which had been swollen and flushed red like a balloon—returned to its original color.
"Lady Encia."
Raon stood beside her and called her name.
"Mmh..."
Encia slowly lifted her eyelids and pushed herself upright.
"Wow, Lord Raon, even from the side you look drop-dead gorgeous. How is that even possible?"
She burst into admiration, looking only at his face.
"I mean it, you could call it a work of art...
Huh?"
She had raised a hand to gesture, then froze.
"Th-this is..."
Encia stared at her own arm and hand—thinner now, and pale—then turned her head.
"What's going on...?"
Holding her hand up, she looked from Raon to Pedrick to Sheryl in turn, her lips trembling.
"I-it doesn't even hurt. There's no pain at all! My body feels cool!"
Tears welled in her large eyes and spilled down.
"Am I better? D-does this mean I don't have to hurt anymore?"
Her lips quivered.
"I can work again. I can chase my dream again!"
"You're all right now."
Raon nodded, watching the tide of emotion crash through her eyes.
"Th-thank you. Thank...
Hic!"
Encia buried her face in her hands and burst into tears. It was the sound of every feeling she had been holding back exploding at once—a cry in which many emotions churned together.
Raon, Pedrick, and Sheryl watched in quiet smiles as Encia wailed as if her heart were breaking.
"My lord! My looord!"
Rimer kicked the Audience Chamber door open as if it were a training hall gate and bellowed.
"Th-that news is real!"
"What!"
Glenn, seated on the throne, shot to his feet. It was an exceedingly rare reaction, but neither Rimer nor Roen paid that any mind.
"Raon reached Master, cut down the Mad Blood Ghost, the Red Wolf Ghost, and the Black Wing Ghost, and saved the Saint—it's all true! The Biyeon Assembly finished confirming it!"
Rimer waved the letter in his hand wildly. At first the story had been so astonishing they had assumed it must be false, or at least exaggerated. It wasn't. Raon had truly risen to Master, slain three of Eden's Masters, and rescued the Saint—a monstrous feat. His name was spreading not only through Zieghart, but across the entire continent.
"Hrm!"
The moment Glenn narrowed his eyes, the letter in Rimer's hand lifted of its own accord and flew to the throne. Glenn opened it and scanned the contents. Just as Rimer had said, it was an account of Raon's deeds, stamped with the confirmation seal of the Biyeon Assembly's head.
"I knew he would reach Master soon enough, but I never thought it would be this fast—and I never thought he'd cut down three Masters the moment he got there!"
Rimer was so flabbergasted he toppled over backward mid-sentence.
"Honestly, the only word that comes to mind is 'insane.'"
Even Roen, who always wore a smile, stood there slack-jawed.
"Eighteen years old! Our Raon is the Youngest Master in the history of the continent!"
Rimer celebrated as if it were his own achievement, dancing a little jig.
"Sit still, would you."
Glenn narrowed his eyes and waved a hand, but he could not hide the corners of his mouth, which had climbed all the way to the ceiling.
"Wipe that smile off first, then say that."
Rimer grinned and pointed at Glenn's mouth.
"Ahem!"
Glenn cleared his throat and forced a scowl, but a faint smile bloomed again without his noticing.
"No injuries, I take it?"
"I checked that too. He was hurt badly, but they say there won't be any lasting effects! With the Saint right there, that's only natural, of course."
Rimer had looked into that as well, and answered at once.
"Honestly, we all knew Raon would become a Master."
"That's true."
Roen nodded.
"But nobody could have imagined he'd cut down the Mad Blood Ghost before even becoming a Master, then take the Red Wolf Ghost and the Black Wing Ghost at the same time after. That kid isn't beyond common sense—he's beyond imagination!"
Rimer bounced up and down, as excited as if he had just won a fortune at the gambling tables.
"My lord. When he comes back, give him a huge welcome! Youngest Master who cut down three of Eden's Masters, and he even saved your old friend the Saint!"
"Of course. A sufficient reward..."
"Ah, not that! Not as the clan head!"
Rimer pounded his chest in frustration.
"As a grandfather, tell your grandson he did well! How long are you just going to sit there and watch? You like it that much—why won't you say it?!"
"Hrm..."
Glenn could not answer. He lowered his eyes. After a moment, having ordered his thoughts, he shook his head.
"That child is my grandson, and he has accomplished a great feat. That much is certain. I will grant a reward befitting that achievement. But I will do so as the clan head. I have never given special treatment to a son or a daughter."
"Aargh! Seriously!"
Rimer shook his head violently.
"I give up! I'm so frustrated I'm going gambling today!"
He waved a hand and strode out through the doors of the Lord's Palace.
"Mm. For once, I agree with Lord Rimer. You need not go all the way—but a little expression of it would be good, I think."
Roen bowed courteously and followed Rimer out of the Lord's Palace.
"Hrm."
Glenn watched the door they had left through for a moment, then leaned back against the throne. He looked down at his right hand, still marked with a long scar, and frowned.
"As if I don't know. But..."
When Sylvia had suffered as an outcast in the family, when she had given up and left the house, he had done nothing for her. He had erased his youngest daughter's existence from his mind and focused only on raising his martial power and shedding the blood of his enemies. Later, after breaking free of his inner demons, he had gone looking for Sylvia—but it had been too late. By then he had already lost a granddaughter and a son-in-law he had never even seen.
For a man like that to start treating Raon and Sylvia warmly now was too much to ask.
"Haa..."
Glenn closed his eyes—not with the gaze of an emotionless god of the sword, but with the face of a human being in torment.
Runaan and every member of the Light Wind Squad had gathered in Raon's room. Unlike usual, they were all calm, watching only his mouth.
"First, when you become a Master, the Middle Dantian opens. There's a sensation like a small wall inside your body shattering, and your aura condenses to another level of firmness."
Raon pointed to the Middle Dantian at his solar plexus.
"What's it feel like when the Middle Dantian opens? Is it refreshing?"
Dorian asked, eyes round.
"Not so much refreshing as a full-body shudder. Like being struck by lightning from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet."
"So once that Middle Dantian opens, you can use Ganggi right away? Does knowledge about Ganggi just appear in your head?"
Burren leaned in, tension in his eyes.
"It's not that knowledge comes in. You instinctively become able to operate the Middle Dantian."
"Doesn't running it through the Middle Dantian slow down your circulation?"
"You'd think so, but the instant the middle opens, every mana circuit in the body activates to another degree, so the circulation speed actually gets faster."
"How much faster does aura circulation get?"
Even Marta, who had been pretending not to care, took a step closer and asked.
"More than twice as fast, and the quantity and quality of your aura increase as well. One wall, and you feel like you've become an entirely different human being."
Raon had been curious about what a Master was like back when he was still an Expert, so he answered their questions one by one.
"What ice cream is the best?"
Runaan, apparently deciding she had heard enough about becoming a Master, dropped a bizarre question.
"Mint chocolate!"
Raon ignored Wrath's outburst and looked at Runaan. Her expression was serious. She seemed to have asked in earnest.
"Well, I like cookies and cream..."
He was about to answer when a knock came at the door, and Pedrick entered.
"Saint?"
"I heard you're leaving the day after tomorrow."
Pedrick walked in with a faint smile.
"Yes. Lady Encia's treatment is finished, so we should return to Yonan."
"The war here is over as well, so I'll come with you. I need to keep an eye on Encia's condition, and I should examine that maid they mentioned."
"Thank you."
Raon nodded.
"Ahem. And there's something I wanted to say to you..."
Pedrick cleared his throat and glanced aside.
"We've heard everything we needed. Let's go."
Marta caught that look first, as usual, and stood.
"I haven't heard everything I needed. The ice cream..."
"Later!"
She dragged the vacant-eyed Runaan out first, and Burren, Dorian, and Crain followed.
A soft click. Once he confirmed the door was fully shut, Pedrick straightened his stooped back and stepped in front of Raon.
"I realized I never said it properly."
"Pardon?"
"Thanks to you, this old man kept his life, and Julius was saved as well. I am truly grateful."
Without a thought for his own status or position, he bowed his head in a formal, respectful posture.
"Please don't do that!"
Raon shot to his feet in alarm. He had never imagined the Saint would do something like this.
"I only repaid a kindness from when I was a child. No—I haven't even repaid it all. There's still a long way to go."
He was not being modest. Because Pedrick had come every year to revitalize his body and given him elixirs, Raon had been able to reach Master at this age. What he had done this time was nothing more than paying back a fraction of the debt.
"Yes. We should talk about that as well."
Pedrick let out a deep sigh and sat down on the floor.
"There's something I need to tell you about your childhood."