You Can See Me, Right? Say Something Already!
Raon narrowed his eyes as he watched Loengrin thrash about in empty air.
That man is really your servant?
"He is."
Wrath scrunched the bridge of his nose and nodded.
Then why did it take you this long to recognize him?
An alias like Loengrin might have hidden the name, but failing to recognize his own power made no sense at all.
"You still don't understand?"
Understand what?
"That fellow is already dead."
Ah!
Raon swallowed dryly. He had forgotten — the man spoke and moved with such vivid life — but Loengrin had no legs, and his body was a translucent ghost.
"Most of the power This King lent that four-eyed fellow has already returned to This King's true body."
Wrath shook his head as he gazed at the ice flowers painted across Loengrin's robe.
"Detecting that fellow's energy after death warped it is no different from tossing a mug of beer into a river's headwaters and trying to find it again downstream."
I see.
It was only natural, when he thought about it. Loengrin was one of the heroes who had fought Merlin, the Witch of Betrayal, centuries ago. Even if Masters and high-ranking mages lived long lives, surviving until now would have been impossible.
Then what is that state he's in? Has he actually become a ghost?
Raon asked, looking down at the transparent tail peeking from between Loengrin's blue robes.
"That is no mere ghost. It is a residual will. The husk of a soul that could not leave this world because of lingering regret."
Wrath let out an irritated breath.
"Just as a grudge dwells in that shoddy dagger of yours, that fellow had attachments left behind, and so he ended up in that wretched state."
What kind of attachment?
He was curious what regret could have left a mage once called a hero looking like that.
"That is..."
That is...?
"How would This King know that?!"
Wrath waved his hand wildly.
If you don't know, who would? You've been watching him this whole time.
Raon tilted his head. Wrath would have been stuck to the man's side just like this — not knowing didn't make sense.
"Do you think everyone is like you..."
Wrath ground his teeth until they scraped.
"That four-eyed fellow was granted power through This King's whim and consideration!"
Rage burned hot in his eyes.
"You! You summoned This King and then plundered everything This King possessed! The two situations are as different as heaven and earth!"
Ah...
Raon slowly lowered his gaze.
That would be it.
Every time his stats were stolen, Wrath would scream that this was the first time such a thing had ever happened to him, then pass out cold. Comparing that reaction to what he had just said, Loengrin and Raon were in completely opposite situations.
"Can you not hear me?! Answer me at once!"
Raon did not look at Loengrin. He looked down at Wrath instead, wanting to gather a little more information.
Whim and consideration — what does that mean?
"Why would This King tell you that?!"
Two extra pineapple pizzas.
"How long do you intend to treat This King like some bottomless pit?!"
Yua said she'd make shrimp pizza before she left, you know?
"Sh-shrimp?"
Shrimp, with beef on top, and two slices of pineapple on each...
"At first, it was similar to you. Back then..."
Wrath opened his mouth at once. Fast and cheerfully.
After the war with Pride had ended, I was resting in the citadel when someone's wrath made itself felt. The rage came not from the Demon Realm, but from another dimension entirely, and it piqued my interest.
Using a clone to divert the mediators' attention, I headed for the place where that mighty wave of wrath had erupted.
"Aaaaaaagh!"
A city engulfed in flames. Upon ground soaked in corpses and blood, a young man whose green hair had been dyed red screamed his throat raw.
"I'll kill them! I'll kill them all! Every last one of them!"
Black blood spilled from the young man's eyes and mouth as he poured out his hatred. The emotion of wrath was killing his heart.
How predictable.
Most wrath is born from others. That one was burning his heart with rage over losing his family and village to someone.
I approached the young man and asked what he desired. He stared into my eyes for a long while before opening his mouth.
"Power! I want the power to kill the demons wearing human skin!"
That, too, was predictable. Those who seethe with wrath and hunger for revenge all want power.
A waste of time.
Just as I was about to leave, the young man's last words brushed my ear.
"There are fiends who should never be allowed to walk this earth on their own two feet. I will freeze them alive and make them feel a pain they can never escape for the rest of their lives."
Those words, muttered as if crushing bone, brought my footsteps to a halt of their own accord. They were the very words I had gone around saying to other demons.
I asked his name.
"Loen-yellow."
The young man swept back his green hair as he answered.
Was it consideration? Or a whim? Using the system, I inscribed my frost and Water Attribute Affinity into the young man.
"Thank you!"
Realizing in an instant that power had taken root within him, Loen-yellow bowed his head.
"Once my revenge is complete, I shall offer you my soul! O God of Wrath!"
The fellow had read too many novels. I shook my head and told him that the emotion of wrath was enough. A Demon King had no need for something as paltry as a human soul.
"Then just say the word, anything at all!"
I told him it was fine, but Loen-yellow clung to my pant leg and refused to back down.
"You may truly take my soul!"
Annoyed, I told him to try improving the traits he had been given.
"I shall do my utmost!"
Only then did Loen-yellow let go of the pants.
"I, Loen-yellow, shall live for my god once my revenge is complete!"
I told him to stop the nonsense and change his name. Loen-yellow did not suit green hair in the slightest.
After returning to the Demon Realm, I checked on Loen-yellow from time to time. The fellow grew his power, gathered people, and continued to climb. The stronger he became, the greater his wrath grew, making him a decent snack.
By the time the young man who had been killing himself with wrath had become an old man, he and his comrades had succeeded in their revenge, and he laid down all the wrath he had carried.
Not bad.
For a momentary whim, it had been an entertaining diversion, so I left him with a final word to live well, then severed the connection.
Not long after that, that incident occurred.
And the one I met after awakening was a true demon who would make even the Demon Realm weep.
Raon slowly nodded as he looked at Wrath.
So that's how it was.
Now he understood. Why the dungeon's frost had felt familiar. How he had found the golem's core in a single stroke, how he had discovered the passage inside the cave. Every question had been answered.
It was thanks to Glacia.
Because Loengrin, the one who had created this dungeon, had been a servant who received frost and Water Attribute Affinity from Wrath before Raon ever had.
Interesting.
He almost laughed at how things had turned out. They used magic and swordsmanship respectively, but Loengrin was practically a fellow disciple.
This man didn't live an easy life either.
When he had read about him in books, he had thought of him as a typical, boring hero. He was anything but. Even with Wrath's help, he had overcome devastating grief and pain to achieve his goal. A true hero.
Then what's the lingering attachment?
Every other question had been answered, but he still could not tell what unfinished business a man who had already completed his revenge for his family and village could possibly have left.
Are you and I the only ones who can see Loengrin, since we've learned Glacia?
"That would be the case. Ahem. This King ended up telling you everything, but..."
Wrath scratched his chin, looking embarrassed.
"If you have even a shred of conscience, do not even think of using that fellow. Just help him resolve his attachment..."
Raon let his voice reach only Loengrin, so that Dorian could not hear. Judging by how the man had first cried out God of Wrath, he still believed Wrath was a god.
"Hey!"
Wrath bellowed, but Raon ignored him and lifted his head.
"W-what kind of shameless nonsense is that?! Since when are you a priest who serves the God of Wrath?!"
"You doubt me even after I opened this secret passage and stand here looking at you?"
"Th-that is..."
"Then I'll show you directly."
Raon smirked and simultaneously raised the wrath clinging to his soul, along with Glacia.
A deep rumble rolled through the air as blue flames of wrath slowly ignited above his shoulders.
Loengrin's mouth fell open.
"Hah! That blue wrath belongs to His—!"
"Do you understand now?"
"This humble servant greets the Priest of Wrath!"
Loengrin dropped to his knees in midair and bowed his head.
He fell for it, just as expected.
To deceive someone, you needed a little truth, a finely crafted lie, and understated acting. Right now, he had all three. Anyone would have been fooled.
"Seeing as you've become a residual will, it seems you left quite a lot of attachment in this world."
"To recognize it at a glance — as expected of a priest!"
Loengrin nodded in admiration.
"Th-that was all something This King said! You little—! You bloodless, tearless fiend!"
Wrath screamed and lunged at him.
Think about it carefully.
Raon calmly blocked Wrath.
Your subordinate is stuck in that ghostly state because of lingering attachment, right?
"That's right! And yet you intend to use that—"
And right now, I'm the only one who can resolve that attachment, aren't I?
"W-well, yes?"
Wrath muttered that no one else could even see him.
I'm up here right now, and down below are Loengrin's legacy and the ones who went in first.
"A-and?"
If I don't get that legacy, will I really be able to resolve Loengrin's attachment properly? I might do something strange out of disappointment, you know? Ah, I just don't know.
"Urgh..."
Wrath's mouth fell open.
Th-that's entirely possible.
This bastard would absolutely do it. The Raon Zieghart Wrath had seen so far was a demon who would spare neither blood nor tears to achieve his goals. If things went wrong, he might keep Loen-yellow bound to this world forever.
That cannot happen.
Whim or consideration, once This King had taken someone as a subordinate, This King could not leave him in that state.
"Damn it..."
Raon smiled faintly at Wrath's groaning.
He really does think I'm a demon.
Regardless of what happened with the legacy, he intended to resolve Loengrin's attachment. He had simply run into him like this, and he wanted to descend the dungeon a little more comfortably and quickly. That was all.
"What is your lingering attachment?"
"May I tell you after we go down? I shall guide you."
Loengrin bowed his head apologetically.
"Heh."
"Nnngh!"
Raon grinned and turned his gaze, and Wrath hung his head with a look of utter despair.
"Please guide us."
"Understood."
Loengrin told them to simply follow and entered the passage that had opened in the cave.
"Let's go."
Raon gestured to Dorian and followed after Loengrin.
"Wait..."
Dorian swallowed dryly as he stared at Raon's back.
"W-what are you doing right now?! Why do you keep talking to yourself when nobody can hear you, and staring at empty air?!"
His jaw trembled as he clenched both fists.
"I'm scared of this kind of thing! If it's a ghost, just say so! Say it! Hey!"
"Hah! Hah!"
Crain wiped the sweat streaming down his forehead and looked back. The faces of the squad members running behind him were deathly pale, their bodies swaying as if a single poke would send them collapsing.
Of course they would be.
They had abandoned their horses and been running at full power for nearly a full day. It was only natural that both body and mind were exhausted.
"S-Squad Leader."
Crain called out to Burren, who was running at the very front. Burren did not answer, only turning his head slightly.
"L-let's rest for a moment. At this rate, everyone's going to collapse."
"Mm..."
Burren took in his squad members' crumpled faces and ragged breathing, then stopped.
"Ten-minute rest."
"Urgh!"
"Ahhh!"
"I-I'm dying..."
The moment the rest was called, the swordsmen dropped to the ground and began gasping for air.
"Squad Leader. No — Burren."
Crain caught his breath and stood beside Burren.
"Wouldn't it be better to move with a little more leeway? I know it's urgent, but at this rate everyone will be completely spent."
There was a vast difference in fatigue between moving quickly with footwork and pouring every ounce of aura into that footwork at full power. If they kept this pace, their aura would run dry and they would all collapse. The other swordsmen seemed to share the same thought, looking at Burren with exhausted eyes.
"You think I don't know how hard this is on you?"
Burren let out a sigh and turned his head.
"But the Squad Leader pushed himself past his limits for our sake and ended up like that, and Raon went into the dungeon with only Dorian to save him."
"Ah..."
"The rumor's already reached the South-North Alliance. That means the Six Kings and Five Demons have gone in, and factions just as powerful as them too."
Right now, Raon would be fighting a desperate battle — not only against the traps, barriers, and monsters created by the mage Loengrin, but against rival competitors as well.
He's already late, so he'll be pushing even harder.
Considering when Lector had told them about the dungeon rumor, and considering Raon's personality, it was obvious he would be forcing his way through.
"If it's Raon, he won't back down no matter who he meets inside that dungeon. Elixir or no elixir, he'll do whatever it takes to reach the end. That's why we have to run too. Even if we collapse from exhaustion!"
"Mmm..."
"Hah... you're right."
"If it's the Vice Squad Leader, he'd do that and more."
The moment Burren finished speaking, Light Wind Squad Unit 3 rose to their feet. The fatigue was still there, but a sharp light had returned to their exhausted eyes.
"You all..."
"We're done resting."
"Yes. Thinking of the Squad Leader and Vice Squad Leader gives us strength."
"Those two must be having it far worse than we are."
"Let's move out!"
The Light Wind Squad members grinned and rolled their ankles.
"Good."
Burren met their bright eyes and nodded.
"We move again! We don't stop until we reach the branch!"
"Yes!"
Light Wind Squad Unit 3 advanced with strides even more vigorous than when they had first set out.
After leaving the secret passage, Raon descended the dungeon once more via the official route.
"That foothold is a trap. The moment you lift your foot, your entire body freezes, like a landmine."
"That space is a barrier I named Frozen Hell. Spheres bristling with dozens of ice spikes are scattered throughout the entire barrier."
"Ah, that path leads back up. The opposite side is both rugged and long. The center has fewer traps and is faster."
Loengrin stuck right beside him, pointing out the locations of traps and barriers, and even which paths were more convenient and faster.
We've saved quite a bit of time.
Traveling a route explained by the mage who had built the dungeon himself, they were moving at a speed on an entirely different level from those who had gone ahead. Judging by how the traces had grown thicker, they would catch up before long.
And that's not all.
Raon smiled faintly and pointed at a trap Loengrin had just warned him about.
"How exactly does this one operate?"
"Ah, I form a spherical body of frost, then implant the image of an explosion so that spikes erupt the moment an enemy reveals themselves..."
True to his nature as a mage, Loengrin gave detailed answers whenever asked about how a trap or barrier operated. Thanks to that, Raon even began to see ways to apply the imagery woven into the man's magic to his own martial arts.
"That floor is the final trap of the third level. The fourth chamber should appear shortly."
"Understood."
Raon nodded and lightly leapt over the trap on the floor.
This is comfortable.
Fast, safe, and so comfortable he could almost fall asleep. Obtaining a guide like this was, of course, thanks to Wrath. It was just like him — the Wrath who gave without ever holding back, no matter the time or place.
Thanks.
"Grrk!"
When Raon grinned at Wrath, the little creature's shoulders trembled with indignation.
I should be able to ask about the artifact now.
He had held back for fear of raising suspicion, but it should not seem strange to ask at this point.
"There's something I'd like to ask."
"Please, go ahead."
"Is there an artifact here that can repair a shattered dantian or mana circuits?"
"Hrm..."
Loengrin pondered for a moment, then slowly lowered his gaze.
"There should be two."
"Two."
Raon nodded, concealing the tremor in his heart.
"The God of Wrath desires both of them."
"You little bastard!"