The Witch and the Dragon
The fairy tale of a witch who commanded a wicked dragon to devour people had begun with none other than Merlin, standing right in front of him.
Centuries ago, Merlin had betrayed humanity, sided with the monster hordes, and unleashed a war that swallowed an entire kingdom whole.
When she had been called the Witch of Betrayal, a blue-scaled dragon was said to have always been at her side. Records of that evil dragon—which had frozen hundreds of knights in a single breath—had survived to this day, and this helmet appeared to have been forged from that dragon's magic stone.
Raon narrowed his eyes at the helmet floating above Merlin's palm.
No doubt about it. That was the dragon from the stories.
With its razor-sharp blue scales and a sky-blue mane streaming from its crest, the helmet was unmistakably the beast Merlin had commanded back then.
So that's why she gave me an elixir packed with frost energy. He'd wondered why the elixir had been overflowing with cold and nothing else. It had been a gift prepared in advance for this dragon.
She's thorough, I'll give her that. She hadn't even put the helmet on him yet, and she was already trying to raise his frost energy with an elixir. The devotion was almost impressive.
But if this thing is a true Dragon, isn't that a problem? The stories only ever called it Merlin's evil dragon. It could be a lesser breed—a flying wyrm or an earth dragon—but if it was a true Dragon, things could get dangerous.
Whatever anyone says, Dragons are the strongest race on the continent. Their epithet was the strongest species, the mediators of the continent. If the soul dwelling in this helmet belonged to a true Dragon, even the Ring of Fire might not be enough.
"Hmph! What's a measly lizard supposed to do?"
Wrath snorted as he looked at the dragon helmet.
"This King has roasted those lizards, boiled them, and even deep-fried them!"
You have?
"Indeed I have! This King is the Monarch of Wrath! A Dragon is nothing This King cannot crush underfoot!"
Sure, sure.
"Hey! Listen to me!"
Raon gave a slight nod as Wrath flailed his tiny fists.
He's probably not lying.
Wrath did not lie. If he was talking like that, it meant he had taken down at least three Dragons.
This might go more smoothly than I expected.
Raon watched Wrath huff through his nose, then lifted his gaze.
"Is this helmet made from a Dragon's soul?"
"Who knows."
Merlin let out a faint laugh and lowered her eyelids.
"You'll find out tomorrow."
She refused to give him a proper answer, insisting he would know once he put it on himself.
"Then let me ask something else."
"Hm?"
"Are you really Merlin?"
Raon looked into the eyes behind the old woman's mask. Those mysteriously colored irises glittered with feverish heat.
"What do you think?"
"I wasn't sure until now, but looking at this helmet, it seems genuine."
Merlin had said she'd prepared a helmet perfectly suited to their second meeting. The way she obsessed over kidnapping him—even burning a legendary consumable to do it—just to force a dragon helmet onto his head… she might actually be the real Merlin.
There are still things that don't add up.
The skin visible beyond the mask was smooth and snow-white, without a single wrinkle. Even being generous, she looked about Encia's age.
And Loengrin said he personally cut Merlin's throat.
When Loengrin had explained himself, he had said he destroyed the witch's castle and ended Merlin's life.
The dead did not come back, so the woman in front of him being Merlin did not make sense either.
No. Wait.
Raon's eyes flew wide, and he swallowed dryly.
I came back too.
Just as the assassin Raon had been reincarnated as Raon Zieghart, Merlin might have been reincarnated by something as well.
"You'll know the answer to that question too, once you put on the helmet."
Merlin covered the lips of her mask with a finger, insisting he would understand everything once he experienced it himself.
"When do I put it on?"
"Tomorrow."
She flicked her hand, and the dragon helmet floating in the air vanished like smoke.
"We'll begin tomorrow evening, when the full moon rises."
The heat in Merlin's eyes burned even hotter.
"Until then, you'd do well to make the energy in that elixir your own."
Merlin pointed a finger at the elixir sitting on the table.
She traced her fingers down Raon's cheek and let out an excited breath.
"See you tomorrow."
Merlin waved her hand as if she had no further business and left the room.
"A chance of winning, huh…"
Raon opened the lid of the wooden case. He looked at the elixir radiating frost and let out a dry chuckle.
If I swallow this, any chance of winning disappears entirely.
There was even more Soul-Confusing Water in it than yesterday. She clearly intended to tear down the walls protecting his soul altogether.
"Helping this devil instead of hindering him!"
Wrath clicked his tongue as he stared at the door Merlin had left through.
"She acts clever, but she's a complete fool."
She really is.
Raon nodded. Merlin had prepared the Soul-Confusing Water to help the dragon inside the helmet, but that energy had instead grown the Ring of Fire and the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames—the very arts that would be a tremendous help when he fought the dragon.
Just as Wrath said, it was no different from aiding the enemy.
"Hmph. This King never does anything that benefits an enemy. Wisdom is knowing what consequences your own actions will bring."
Raon stared at Wrath nodding along in the form of freshly spun cotton candy, his mouth falling open in a round O. The fact that Wrath still didn't realize he was the Monarch of Suckers was so absurd it drew a hollow laugh.
How did this guy even become a Demon King?
What idiot put him in charge?
Raon opened his eyes. Soft moonlight was spilling through the window, which meant the sun had risen again outside.
Even more than yesterday.
He felt his aura, harder and larger than it had been back at the house, and a faint smile touched his lips.
To grow this much in two days.
It wasn't only the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames and Glacia. The Ring of Fire, purified by the Soul-Confusing Water, had grown as well.
To be kidnapped by the enemy and come out stronger than before—if he told that to someone who didn't know the circumstances, he'd get slapped for talking nonsense. And yet it had actually happened.
I don't suppose there are a few more of those elixirs lying around?
Elixirs of the same kind lost efficiency the more you took them, but he wasn't going to be drinking Soul-Confusing Water again anyway. He wouldn't have minded grabbing a few more.
"Keh. You're the only bastard who'd think of wringing an enemy camp dry!"
That's what you call audacity.
Raon chuckled and sat up. He was loosely working the stiffness out of his body when the door opened and Merlin came in.
"Did it go well?"
"Yeah…"
He nodded, his eyes markedly more vacant than the day before. He'd seen plenty of Runaan, so he was confident in his vacant-eyed act.
"Not bad."
Merlin looked at those eyes and nodded, satisfied. The mouth she'd slightly lifted the mask to reveal curled upward like a twisting vine.
"Unfortunately, I can't play with you today. I have to prepare for tonight."
She set the meal she'd brought down on the table, her gaze gleaming a faint crimson.
"I'll come get you this evening."
"Alright."
Raon simply nodded, his eyes still vacant.
"Heh heh."
Merlin stroked his hair and went back outside.
Raon immediately shook his head clear and sat down at the table. He finished the meal quickly and left the room at once.
As he walked the corridor toward the grand hall, the gazes that fell on him were distinctly different from yesterday. Eden's ghosts greeted him with a little more deference.
So they're actually accepting it now.
With the helmet confirmed for today, they seemed to regard him as a genuine Eden executive.
Sorry, but things aren't going to go the way you people think.
"I keep noticing this, but do you not feel anxiety at all?"
Wrath rested his chin on Raon's shoulder, his face scrunched up.
Anxiety?
"You're alone in the enemy's camp, and you might even have your body stolen. No matter how This King looks at it, that is not a human's nerve."
Not even a little.
Raon shook his head.
I beat you. Why would I be afraid of anything else?
The moment Wrath had claimed he'd crushed Dragons, the tension had gone out of Raon like a snuffed candle.
He had already won a battle of willpower against the Monarch of Wrath with ease. No matter who the opponent was, he was confident he would win.
And if they realized mental attacks wouldn't work and tried to crush him with raw physical force, he still had a last resort: unleash Wrath, smash this place to rubble, and run.
Because there's no one here I need to protect.
If the Light Wind Squad had been here, he couldn't have summoned Wrath carelessly. But every human in this place was an enemy. If anything, he felt more at ease than when he was with his own people.
He was certain he could wring every last drop of value out of them and then find a way to escape. Far from tense, he was actually enjoying himself.
"What a strange creature you are."
Wrath frowned, still unaware that Raon's peace of mind was because of him.
"Where are you going this time?"
You'll see.
Raon received the greetings of the robed, masked ghosts with an easy, almost entitled composure and walked out of the grand hall.
He approached the edge of the barrier and raised his hand.
A low, resonant hum rolled out as he channeled his aura and revealed the barrier—and the presence he'd felt yesterday surged up behind him at once.
"What is it this time?"
Gold Masked Snake cocked his chin to one side, looking thoroughly annoyed.
Soul-Severing Sword appeared in front of the wall and stood there like a statue, watching him.
Steel whispered from the scabbard. Raon drew the Heavenly Sky Sword, leveled it at Gold Masked Snake, and smiled.
"Let's go another round today."
At those words, Wrath and Gold Masked Snake both dropped their jaws at the same time.
"This crazy bastard!"
"This crazy bastard!"
A thunderous crash rang out. Gold Masked Snake caught Raon's sword strike and narrowed his eyes.
What is this? It was different from yesterday.
Swordsmanship he had knocked aside with ease the day before would not be pushed back so readily now. Raon slipped through the gaps like a predator stalking prey, driving his blade in with cunning precision.
"Tsk."
Gold Masked Snake clicked his tongue and set his wrist straight. He stripped the softness from his sword and poured in power and weight.
I'll crush him.
To overwhelm him with force and aura the way he had yesterday, he gripped the sword in both hands and brought it down. A slash fell on a diagonal like a thunderbolt from the heavens—
A thunderous diagonal slash, crashing down as if to split the skull in two.
The Falling Thunderbolt came screaming down as if to cleave Raon's head in half—and then his movement changed in an instant. He drew his foot back half a step, twisted his waist to the right, and smashed the center of the Falling Thunderbolt with a blade seething with heat.
A shattering crack rang out. The Falling Thunderbolt warped before it could unleash its full power, and Gold Masked Snake's own balance crumbled with it.
A heavy rush of air. Raon closed in like a shaft of light, as if he had been waiting for that exact moment, and swept his sword. Explosive, rushing energy surged along the silver-white blade.
You idiot!
Whether Raon had gotten impatient at the thought of seizing an opening, a tiny gap showed in his strike.
"Get lost!"
Gold Masked Snake snorted and drove a blow straight into Raon's opening—
A killing blade that smashed openings without mercy.
A high, keening shriek of steel. The instant Crimson Star Stream went for Raon's gap, a crimson gleam flashed through his eyes.
A deep, resonant hum. As if the light in his gaze had seeped into the blade itself, Raon's sword strike solidified, ripening into something dense and complete.
Densely packed aura cut off the flow of Crimson Star Stream perfectly and sent a chilling counterattack screaming back.
A roar of fire. Two streams of flame coiled along the blade, spinning furiously as they lunged for Gold Masked Snake's throat and chest.
"Kh—!"
Gold Masked Snake whipped his sword around and brought down a defensive secret art—
A defensive secret art, the blade whirling down to bind and turn aside the killing edge.
A deafening crash. The two Hard Sword strikes collided, and a violent shockwave burst outward. Across the crushed earth, Raon was forced back eight steps—Gold Masked Snake, six.
It was the same kind of clash as yesterday, but Raon's loss had shrunk by two steps, and Gold Masked Snake had been driven back one step farther.
"Huh…"
Gold Masked Snake stared at Raon with a look of sheer disbelief.
What the hell is going on right now?
He had poured even more Battle Qi into his swordsmanship than yesterday, and yet Raon had taken the strikes more easily, more lightly—and even counterattacked. His lips trembled. He couldn't believe it.
Is it even possible to get this much stronger in a single day?
Merlin had fed Raon elixirs, so it was only natural that his aura had grown.
But that wasn't why he was being pushed back now. The boy's swordsmanship itself was different from yesterday—as different as heaven and earth.
Even with a genuine enlightenment, it was impossible for swordsmanship to advance this far in a single day. He had no idea what kind of magic the boy had used.
If he keeps developing at this rate…
This could get dangerous.
Gold Masked Snake swallowed dryly. If Raon truly grew at this pace every day, he might well be standing on equal footing by their tenth bout—at the latest.
"Hoo."
Gold Masked Snake lowered his sword and stretched his back.
"What a shame."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I mean it's a shame about your talent. A few more fights and this would've been fun."
Raon lowered the Heavenly Sky Sword as well and lifted his head.
"If I put on Eden's helmet, I stop being myself?"
"To be precise, you'd call it assimilation."
"Assimilation?"
"That's right. Your soul gets absorbed by the being inside the helmet."
Gold Masked Snake tapped his snake helmet with a couple of fingers and smiled.
"Assimilation can happen instantly, or it can proceed slowly. The moment you start doing things you wouldn't normally do, as if they were natural—that's when it begins."
"And from that moment, I can use Battle Qi?"
"You're about to disappear, and you're still thinking about getting stronger? You really are a lunatic. Now I get how you ended up with that kind of power at your age."
He grabbed his forehead and laughed, a low, amused chuckle.
"That's right. From the moment assimilation begins, you can use Battle Qi like it's instinct. That's how the thing works."
Gold Masked Snake studied Raon for a long moment, then slid his sword into its scabbard.
"That's enough for today. The fun's gone out of it."
He turned his back and waved a hand.
"I'll come find you tomorrow too."
Raon spoke quietly to Gold Masked Snake's retreating back.
"There's no point."
Gold Masked Snake let out a short laugh and vanished like smoke.
Soul-Severing Sword did not withdraw even after Gold Masked Snake had gone. He remained in the same stance, watching from that same spot.
The emotionless golden glow of his eyes seemed to be saying something, but Raon could not read the meaning.
"You…"
"Raon!"
Just as Raon started toward Soul-Severing Sword, the air warped and Merlin burst out of empty space.
"You fought that idiot again?"
She frowned at the crushed ground.
"Don't play with that filthy snake brat. You'll get dirty too."
"I didn't have anything to do. Swinging a sword settles my mind a little."
Raon answered with his eyes slightly unfocused. When the mind was dazed, the body moved on instinct, so there was no suspicion in her gaze.
"Once today is over, you'll be able to crush that snake brat underfoot without even trying."
Merlin smiled softly and took his hand. With a palm that was strangely, unnaturally hot, she stroked the back of his hand and curled her lips.
"Everything's ready now. It's time for you to be reborn even stronger."
Raon met Merlin's eyes, blazing with anticipation, and licked his lips.
I'm ready on this end too.