A Wager with Wrath
A sound like an entire book being ripped apart split the air, and a diamond-shaped rift of blue dimension tore open all the way to the heavens. From within that dimension, where waves rolled like an ocean, Wrath revealed himself.
A vast, rumbling presence poured forth. True to his epithet as the Monarch of Wrath, he was wreathed in an absolute aura unlike anything he usually displayed, and his cold eyes looked down upon this world.
"Hmm..."
Raon frowned as he watched Wrath slowly cross through the dimensional rift. Why does that guy still look the same? No—that's not the important part...
Why is he so huge?
Wrath's appearance was the same blue cotton candy as always—except bigger. No, a lot bigger. He had swollen to roughly a hundred times the size he'd been when he emerged from the ice-flower bracelet.
"Urgh!"
The instant he exited the dimension, he lost his balance and tumbled toward the ground with an undignified shriek.
BOOOOOOM!
He had grown heavier in proportion to his size; Wrath's crash sent the entire space shuddering.
"Guh..."
Wrath squinted and lifted his head slightly.
"You sluggish little maggot! You still haven't finished? What in the world have you been doing?!"
For the first time since they had met, Wrath's words reached him properly. Not inside his head—through his ears.
"Where is the lizard? This King wishes to tear into one whole after so long."
He actually ate them?
Raon let out a hollow laugh, too incredulous to do anything else. He had thought Wrath had simply defeated dragons in battle—but it seemed he had genuinely eaten them. No matter how he turned it over, he could not understand why Wrath was not the Monarch of Gluttony.
"Stop staring and open your mouth. Where is the lizard? This King needs to restore his vitality after so long."
"Under you."
Raon shook his head and pointed at the floor.
"What?"
"He's pinned underneath you."
Apparently Rocta had not expected the blue cotton candy to drop the instant it appeared. He was now flattened under Wrath's belly, squashed into a pancake.
A faint aura still rose from him, so he was at least alive. Getting crushed to death under a cotton candy's belly would have been a pitifully undignified end. At least he had been spared that.
"Hmm?"
Wrath lowered his gaze and smacked his lips.
"Dragon waffle?"
No matter how he looked at it, Wrath was insane.
"Haa..."
Raon let out a sigh and looked up at him.
"Why do you still look like that?"
"What are you talking about?"
"This is a place where souls find their true forms. So why are you still a cotton candy?"
"Cotton candy? What is cotton candy?"
Wrath did not answer the question. He asked what cotton candy was instead.
"It's candy made by heating coarse sugar and spinning it into threads as fine as cotton, then gathering them into a puff. It looks exactly like you do right now."
"Does it taste good?"
"..."
He had seen that answer coming, so the dismay was milder than it might have been.
"It just tastes like sugar."
"This King must try it later."
Wrath smacked his lips again.
"Never mind that. What happened to that handsome, beautiful appearance you always brag about? Why are you a cotton candy?"
This was a place that had even revealed the form he had worn in his previous life as an assassin. He could not understand why Wrath alone remained unchanged.
"That much should be obvious."
Wrath frowned as if Raon ought to be asking something worth asking.
"This world opened because the walls of the mind belonging to you and the lizard collided. If This King's true form appeared here, that would be the strange part."
"Your wrath is nested in my soul."
"And thanks to that wrath, This King's physique has become this splendid, has it not?"
He seemed quite pleased with his enormous body. He looked down at his plump little arms and smiled.
"Huh..."
Raon let out a breath as he stared at him. No matter how he thought about it, he could not begin to understand what went on inside that cotton candy's head.
"You really are..."
He was about to speak to Wrath again when the ground shuddered.
A deep tremor rolled through the earth, and Wrath went bouncing high into the sky.
"GRAAAAAAH!"
Rocta, who had been pinned beneath him, let out a monstrous roar as he unleashed a colossal surge of frost and despair.
"A cowardly sneak attack?!"
Rocta glared up at Wrath, now sailing through the air, and ground his teeth.
"I will tear that lump of flesh to shreds!"
Being crushed under Wrath's belly had apparently been quite the shock. A mad light burned in his eyes.
"Not even a proper lizard. A half-breed putting on airs."
Wrath drifted in midair, looking down at Rocta.
"What are you doing? You, This King's servant, ought to be wrapping this up promptly."
"How about a wager, for old times' sake?"
Raon pointed at Rocta and smiled.
"A wager? What sort of wager?"
"Let's bet on who subdues that guy first."
"You insolent brat! You think you can defeat This King?!"
"I've been defeating you my whole life."
"Kh..."
The words struck home. Wrath could not refute them; his lips trembled.
"Very well! This King accepts that wager!"
"I have questions for him, so you can't kill him. Whoever makes him submit first wins."
"This King is aware!"
The instant those words ended, a message he had not seen in a long time rose before his eyes.
📍 Condition: Be the first to subdue the Dragonian.
🎁 On Success: All stats +10, two traits increase in rank.
⚠ On Failure: Generate 25 points of Wrath's emotion.
Raon checked the message and nodded.
"I accept."
The moment he accepted, the message vanished.
"A wager? You dare look down on me?!"
Rocta glared at Raon and Wrath, grinding his teeth hard enough to crack them.
"In this place, I will lose to no one!"
A light so vast it was blinding surged from the sword he had drawn.
"You stay out of this!"
"You stay out."
Raon and Wrath, however, merely waved the actual party concerned aside and looked at each other.
"He's far stronger than you, even if he doesn't look it. Can you truly do this?"
Wrath sneered. Because he was an enormous cotton candy, it was not even that annoying.
"You taught me, didn't you?"
"This King? Taught you what?"
"That in a fight like this, the most important things are willpower and imagination."
This world was a place that had given shape to the body they had used when clashing with Wrath. If he made his mental strength and his soul unshakable, he would lose to no one.
"I'm the one who won't lose to anyone here."
Raon smiled, heat rising in his eyes, and lifted the Heavenly Sky Sword and the Requiem Sword.
"Hmph. You will not even get the chance!"
Wrath flicked his hand. With that single wave, the ground beneath Rocta's feet began to freeze over entirely.
Craaaack!
Frost energy that froze a Dragonian—a being with extreme resistance to cold—solid. The power was absurd.
"Th-this frost!"
Rocta's mouth fell open at the sight of Wrath's cold. He seemed to have recognized Loengrin's frost; his whole body trembled with terror.
Just as the Glacia frost Wrath had raised was about to freeze Rocta through, a mighty blaze erupted and wiped the frost away.
"Kh!"
"I don't think so."
Raon smiled, the Heavenly Sky Sword extended before him.
"You dare interfere?!"
"Nobody said I couldn't."
"It will not matter anyway!"
Wrath's eyes flashed a piercing blue, and thousands—no, tens of thousands—of ice blades formed in the air.
WHOOOOSH!
The blades dropped in an instant, targeting Raon and Rocta at once.
Raon thrust the Heavenly Sky Sword forward. Along the path of the blade, thousands of red flower buds bloomed.
A field of flame-flowers filled the air and melted every last one of Wrath's ice blades. It works, after all. If they fought in earnest it would be over in a single blow, but here, at least, he could stop Wrath. Nothing's changed. Combat in this place was the same as clashing souls with Wrath. If he raised the Ring of Fire and elevated the grade of his soul, trampling that Demon King would be nothing at all.
Raon looked at Wrath's scowling face and curled a thin smile. A Dragonian, and a Demon King on top of that. Looks like I'll be feasting well.
The White Blood Cult Leader's audience chamber.
In a vast room where white and crimson blended in harmonious splendor, a sound like a woman letting out a moan drifted through the air.
Ahhh...
The sound was coming from empty space. A ring and a glass bottle containing the Continental Tracking Scent floated in midair, wrapped in pure white energy.
"..."
Dorian stood beside a pillar on the right, blankly watching the glass bottle and the ring as they slowly turned.
Thum.
The ring and the bottle, which had been spinning without end, came to a sudden halt, and the white energy covering them both traced a bizarre pattern in the air.
"Hmmm."
The red feet upon the dais stirred, and the White Blood Cult Leader let out a heated breath.
"It took rather a long time."
Her sultry gaze passed over the ring and the glass bottle and swept down the pattern that had risen in white.
"I see."
The White Blood Cult Leader lifted her long legs, rested her chin upon her knee, and smiled faintly.
"It seems he's been dragged somewhere interesting."
She flicked a finger, and the ring and the glass bottle drifted slowly downward into Dorian's hands.
Footsteps sounded low beyond the audience chamber, and the 10th Apostle opened the door and entered.
"Have you finished?"
"I've found the approximate location."
The White Blood Cult Leader looked at the 10th Apostle and nodded slowly.
"The Maya White Pursuit Art could not pinpoint the exact location?"
"They seem to have raised quite a thick barrier."
She spun a finger, and a map of the continent appeared in the air. One portion of the map flashed white—the point where the commercial city of Camelun stood.
"Camelun?"
The 10th Apostle's eyes flew wide at the light glittering over Camelun.
"Don't tell me Eden is in Camelun?"
"Near Camelun, most likely."
The White Blood Cult Leader stroked her throat and shook her head.
"But Camelun is a city connected to three of the Six Kings..."
"That's precisely why it was easier to hide there."
"Ah!"
The 10th Apostle seemed to grasp the reason as well; he nodded slightly.
"Because they keep each other in check."
"Exactly. They're bound by the name of the Six Kings, but they spend every moment watching one another."
The White Blood Cult Leader smiled faintly.
"Even so, that kind of nerve isn't something you see every day. A sharp mind and plenty of guts. This has his fingerprints on it."
She rose with a languid motion.
"Will you be going in person?"
"I don't think you lot will suffice."
Even dismissed so openly, the 10th Apostle showed no reaction at all. To him, the Cult Leader was a god. If a god had spoken, there was meaning enough in that.
"I shall make preparations."
The 10th Apostle bowed his head and left the room.
"It would be nice if you'd been polished a bit more..."
The White Blood Cult Leader looked at Dorian, still standing there with the ring and the glass bottle in his hands, and let a sultry smile curve her lips.
"You come along as well."
Rocta's jaw trembled as he lifted his head.
WHOOOOSH!
A young human and a cloud-like monster were waging a terrifying battle, hurling fire and ice. I-I'm certain. That's his frost! The energy that cloud-like monster was scattering was unmistakably Loengrin's frost—the frost that had once stopped his time. But...
Frost even more vicious than what Loengrin had used was melting helplessly before the young human's flames. That child was the greater monster.
Rocta swallowed dryly as he looked at Raon. He could not comprehend how a boy who did not even look twenty had come to possess such magnificent willpower and such a high-grade soul. No. That isn't what matters right now.
This was an opportunity. A chance to kill them both at once.
If he struck while the human and the monster were fighting each other, he could finish his revenge against Loengrin and the battle to claim a body in a single stroke.
Since awakening, he had honed his mental strength without end in order to avenge himself on Loengrin and protect his princess. Now was the time to show the results. I'll make you regret ignoring me. No—you won't even have the chance to regret it!
Because you will vanish right here!
Rocta opened his true soul. His body flashed a vivid blue and returned to the form of a blue dragon.
From a height that made a human look smaller than an insect, he drew up the grade of his soul and the emotion of despair.
The Breath of Frost. He poured every last scrap of the mental strength he had accumulated into the strongest attack he had received from his father, and detonated it.
WHOOOOOOSH!
Extreme frost blasted from Rocta's gaping maw and crashed down upon Raon and Wrath.
The two of them, who had been firing flame and frost at each other, stopped moving, turned their heads, and scowled.
"What a nuisance."
"A maggot dares!"
Anger filled the eyes of Raon and Wrath, their fight interrupted.
"We told the third party to stay down!"
Energy of two different lights shot from their fists and shredded the Breath of Frost Rocta had unleashed in a single stroke.
WHAAAM!
Colossal heat and frost twisted together on a diagonal and smashed brutally into Rocta's chest.
CRASH!
For all his enormous body, Rocta went flying like a sheet of paper and slammed into the ground.
"Guhhh!"
In the haze of a fading mind, he looked at Raon and Wrath, who were not even glancing his way, and closed his eyes.
"These lunatics..."
This was my fight...
Raon stuck out his tongue, pointed at the unconscious Rocta, and smiled.
"You saw him go down, right? The wager is mine."
"What nonsense is that! This King's frost shattered that creature's mind first!"
"My flames were first."
"Nonsense! This King's frost was a handspan faster! Your flames came well after!"
"Mine."
"They were not!"
Wrath shook his head furiously, refusing to concede an inch. Watching him do it in the form of a cotton candy, Raon could only laugh.
"Hmph. Just as well, then. This King shall defeat you as well, and plant wrath in your soul."
"You sure about that?"
Raon tilted his head and gave a short laugh.
"This space is advantageous for me, you know."
"Hmph! It matters not!"
Wrath snorted, blue light blazing in his eyes.
"Once This King draws out his true power, defeating you will be a simple matter!"
"True power, you say?"
Raon narrowed his eyes at Wrath's confident toss of the head.
"Indeed. In this form, This King cannot draw out the whole of his mental strength. From this moment, you shall behold This King's true appearance—the form that filled all the Demon Realm with awe."
Wrath spread his hands wide. The frost that had been dispersed through him like cotton candy condensed toward the center, and his size began to shrink. He seemed to be returning to the original form of one called a Demon King.
Rumble...
The smaller he became, the more the frost condensed, and Wrath's aura began to swell at an exponential rate. Terrifying cold and the emotion of wrath poured out without end, enough to make the flesh crawl.
"But you know."
Raon chuckled and walked toward him.
"I don't actually have to wait for you to finish transforming, do I?"
With those words, he put everything he had into a kick aimed at Wrath's body, which was still curled up in the middle of the change.
WHAAAM!
A sound like a rubber ball bursting rang out, and Wrath's body shot all the way to the heavens.
"Guhhhhk! W-what is the meaning of this?!"
Wrath's eyes flew wide as he screamed.
"This King said he was returning to his original form! Where do you get off hitting him?!"
"Here."
Raon kicked the falling Wrath again and sent him flying into Rocta's face.
"Gack!"
"Ugh..."
Wrath and Rocta groaned as they smashed into each other.
"This is fun."
Raon grinned and sprinted in, slamming a fist into Wrath. With a meaty thud, Wrath skipped across the ground like a stone on water and buried himself in a collapsed fortress wall.
CRAAASH!
From inside the shattered wall, Wrath flailed his arms wildly.
"You! You addled lunatic!"
Wrath blinked rapidly and roared.
"Even demons do not strike someone in the middle of a transformation! One is given time to draw out their power!"
"I'm not a demon."
Raon even used his footwork as he closed in and hammered a fist into Wrath, whose transformation was still unfinished.
"Guhhhhk..."
Struck from both sides, Wrath rocked left and right like a punching bag, unable to collect himself.
"You devil. No—you brat who's worse than a devil..."
Wrath let even his frost and his wrath gutter out, and slowly began to lose consciousness.
BAM BAM BAM BAM!
Rocta watched Raon cheerfully pounding Wrath with a smile on his face, and his entire body trembled. That human is the real one. He's a genuine madman!
He had lived long years with Merlin and seen countless humans, but he had never seen one like this.
Unshakable willpower that did not waver no matter what happened—and cruelty to match. A monster who sent a chill down the spine. Princess...
Why did you have to send a monster like that!
Rocta could not even think of resisting Raon. He found himself resenting Merlin instead. Nothing he did seemed likely to defeat that monster.
"Damn it..."
The moment he submitted in his heart and set his hand upon the ground, a message rose before Raon's eyes.
Raon looked at the message and stopped his hands.
"Oh?"
"Haaahk!"
Wrath, who had been on the verge of passing out, coughed up blood at the sight of that message.
"Th-this is cheating! This King will never acknowledge it! You hit him during the transformation!"
The instant Raon stopped his fists, Wrath twisted his whole body and detonated the frost he had condensed in a single burst.
WHOOOOSH!
Blue frost surged all the way to the heavens, raising a magnificent light.
A voice steeped in fierce wrath and frost made the soul itself tremble.
Rumble!
From within the storm of piercing blue frost, a long, slender silhouette emerged.
A vast, rumbling aura rolled out. The moment he saw the piercing blue light in that being's eyes, a cold shiver ran down his spine.
"Wrath...?"