The Continent's Greatest Draws His Sword

An underground training hall where sunlight never reached.

A scream-like battle cry rang out across the fine sand.

The source of that roar was the Light Wind Squad. Every swordsman in the squad except Raon and Dorian had gathered in one place, drilling their swordsmanship.

Not much time had passed, and every one of them still carried injuries both large and small—yet the presence the Light Wind Squad now radiated was on an entirely different level from before.

It wasn't simply that they had grown stronger. They poured out a sharp, savage sword-aura without end, as if their very natures had been transformed.

"Twenty-minute rest."

After finishing the Light Wind Formation drills, Burren ordered the swordsmen to rest.

"Twenty-minute rest!"

Even after hearing the order, the Light Wind Squad's swordsmen did not sit down. They put a little distance between themselves and the others and began training on their own.

Despite it being rest time, the only sounds in the hall were swords cutting the air and footsteps tracing footwork. The swordsmen's expressions were not those of people at practice, but of warriors with an enemy standing right before their eyes—utterly savage.

Burren executed the Frostwind Sword five times in succession, then stretched his back.

Damn it...

Even for a moment—just a brief moment—if he didn't keep his focus on the sword, ugly thoughts rose to the surface.

Whether Raon had been forced to wear one of Eden's masks. Whether Dorian had become a blood ghoul, drinking blood. Or the worst possibility of all: that something had gone wrong, and both of them were already dead.

Just stay alive. Both of you.

He owed Raon a debt of gratitude too vast to put into words. It wasn't only his life that had been saved—his very soul had been redeemed. Even if Burren himself had to die, he wanted Raon to live.

Please.

As Burren bit his lip, praying for the two of them to be unharmed, Marta approached.

"Time's up."

"Yeah."

He nodded and looked at her. Her complexion was deathly pale. This wasn't a time for training at all—it was a time for treating wounds—so her condition was far from good.

But the words get some rest never left his mouth. She wouldn't listen anyway, and he couldn't even begin to imagine how she felt, having had a comrade abducted by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her mortal enemy.

"Forget about me. Do something about that."

As if she'd read Burren's thoughts, Marta frowned and pointed behind her. There, Runaan was swinging a sword thick with frost, leaking a chilling, hair-raising aura.

"That crazy girl. She hasn't slept this whole time—she's just been swinging her sword. She's going to actually drop dead at this rate."

"Mm..."

Burren bit his lip as he looked at Runaan. Despite carrying injuries no less severe than Marta's, she was training with such ferocity that it was hard to even approach her.

The girl who used to love staring blankly up at the sky was gone. In her place stood a female swordsman overflowing with killing intent.

"I can't stop her."

Burren let out a long sigh and shook his head. It wasn't just Runaan and Marta. Everyone else was swinging their swords like they'd lost their minds, thinking of Raon and Dorian.

Knowing how they felt, trying to stop them was impossible.

"Assemble! From now on, we resume Light Wind Formation drills..."

Creeeak.

Just as he was about to gather everyone and restart the formation training, the hall door opened smoothly and Rimer walked in. His gaze was uncharacteristically calm, and dry enough to send a chill down the spine.

"Raon's location has been identified."

At Rimer's low voice, every swordsman of the Light Wind Squad froze in place. Their exhausted eyes flared with the light of hope.

"I-is that true?"

"Where?"

"Is Raon alive?"

"Wh-what about Dorian..."

The Light Wind Squad's swordsmen rushed toward Rimer, pouring out every question they had wanted to ask but hadn't been able to.

"The location is the area near Camelun. I don't have precise information beyond that yet."

Rimer shook his head.

"The black market is preparing a large-scale dimensional transfer. We'll cross to Camelun through a dimensional gate. There's still time, so if anyone wants out, say so now."

"......"

No one answered. That meant all of them were going.

"For all that resolve, your eyes are full of tension."

Rimer smiled the way he always did, light and easy.

"Whether you'll actually be of any use in a fight. Whether Raon is all right. How many enemies there are, and how strong. All kinds of thoughts will be running through your heads. But if you don't go today, you'll regret it for the rest of your lives."

The swordsmen, conviction settling into their bones, clenched their fists until the knuckles cracked.

"I can't ease every fear you have. But there's one thing I can promise you. It doesn't matter who the enemy is, or how many of them there are."

Rimer met the burning eyes of the Light Wind Squad and smiled a smile that was anything but kind.

Raon looked down at the crimson crocodile mask in his hand and clicked his tongue.

Looks like some kind of crocodile.

Judging by the huge, jagged teeth and the skin ridged like a saw blade, it was a Crocodile—one of those massive monsters built in a crocodile's image.

I wonder which one.

Crocodiles appeared all across the continent, but given that the mask was red, it was likely a desert or hot-region variety.

And a king, no doubt.

Eden didn't use ordinary monsters to make these helmets. They used the magic stones left behind by chieftains or kings. The soul inside this helmet was almost certainly a Crocodile King.

"If you put that on and someone else walks in, won't they catch on immediately?"

Wrath scowled, pointing at the vault door.

They might.

Wrath was right. He'd claimed he'd come here looking for armor and weapons. If he went and put this helmet on, anyone would get suspicious.

Which is why I'm not going to wear it.

"What? You were definitely going to put it—"

There's a way to make contact with the mental world without wearing it.

Raon slipped a hand inside the helmet, a faint smile on his lips.

"Th-that's absurd! You're human. Controlling a soul as you please is impossible!"

You're right. I couldn't do it alone.

He nodded, watching Wrath tilt his head in confusion.

But I have your Wrath, don't I?

Wrath's Wrath was currently clinging to Raon's own soul. If he stirred that Wrath, he could clash with the monster's soul inside the helmet without ever putting it on.

As expected, you're the greatest suc— I mean, the greatest assistant.

Wrath had handed over that Wrath intending to seize this body someday, but that same Wrath had been useful in all kinds of ways.

To think that even the power he'd given away intending to do harm was turning a profit. The Giving Tree from the old stories wouldn't have been this generous.

"Gaaaah!"

Wrath's mouth fell open, as if the thought had never even occurred to him.

"Th-that's impossible! The Wrath that was supposed to be a detriment to you—why is it helping you?! Why are you using it like it's yours?!"

He charged in, swinging his fists in a fury. Of course, he had no strength at all, so the blows were weaker than a cotton swab.

Thank you for your continued patronage.

Raon grinned and shoved Wrath aside.

"Damn it!"

Watching the cotton candy turn a gloomy shade of blue, Raon drew up the Wrath clinging to his soul. Sparks leapt from the right hand he'd thrust into the helmet, and his vision flashed white.

"Mm..."

When he opened his eyes again, the world had changed.

The silent vault was gone. A volcano vomiting magma filled his sight. Dry air steeped in heat churned through his lungs.

Got it.

Raon smiled as he looked at the boiling magma. He'd expected a desert, but this was a lava field. The owner of that mask was the Lava Crocodile King.

Rumble—!

He was surveying the volcanic terrain with a satisfied smile when an enormous column of magma erupted from the heart of the volcano.

BOOOOM!

Behind the magma that surged high enough to touch the sky, a colossal shadow fell.

The Lava Crocodile King. A crocodile of a size Raon had never seen before flashed scarlet eyes.

The Lava Crocodile King lifted its jaw and looked down at Raon.

"No."

Raon snorted and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shook his head.

"I'm the human who came here to boil you and eat you."

"A creature who has lost all fear, I see."

The Lava Crocodile King snorted.

"The humans who came to hunt me always wore that same look. Of course, every last one of them ended up in my belly."

It wagged its snout with arrogant ease.

"Humans are nothing but prey. It was so in the past, and it is so now."

The Lava Crocodile King stamped a foot, overflowing with confidence.

Fair enough.

A lava field was the worst possible terrain—just walking through it left you gasping, your stamina draining away. Even an outstanding knight or mage would have had a hard time taking down a Lava Crocodile King that roamed this place as if it were its own living room.

But this is different.

This wasn't a real lava field. It was a mental world. Magma like this could be blocked with willpower alone.

"Looking at you, I find myself missing the tender flesh of humans. Once I've devoured your soul and gone out, I'll have to feed. Don't make this tedious. Quickly—"

"Right. Let's finish this quickly."

Raon nodded and drew the Heavenly Sky Sword.

"Before someone even more tedious shows up."

"Insolent whelp!"

The Lava Crocodile King threw its jaws wide. Scarlet magma erupted from its throat.

FWOOOOSH!

Raon dropped the Heavenly Sky Sword until it nearly touched the ground, then swept it upward. Blue frost blooming along the silver blade became a vast wall and met the magma head-on.

Hissssss!

The enormous ice wall did not melt even before ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the magma the Lava Crocodile King had spewed. It stood exactly as it had first formed. This wasn't a contest of heat and cold. It was a contest of will.

"Wh-what?! Why isn't that ice—?!"

The Lava Crocodile King bulged its eyes in shock.

"A scrap of ice like that shouldn't last even an instant before magma!"

"Because it isn't ordinary ice."

Raon chuckled and took a step forward. Vivid blue frost surged up the blade of the Heavenly Sky Sword.

"You don't seem to understand this place very well."

Perhaps it had never received a proper explanation after the helmet was made. The creature didn't appear to know this was a battle of mental strength.

Raon kicked off the ground with an easy motion.

"Digging your own grave. You fool!"

The instant Raon rose into the air, the Lava Crocodile King stamped its foot. Magma burst from the splitting earth and shot toward every inch of his body.

"This is supposed to be a grave?"

Raon unfolded the Silver Wind Returning Current of the Snow Wind Sword Art.

WHOOOOOOM!

"Wh-what is this?!"

The Lava Crocodile King stumbled backward. Overwhelmed by the soul-resonance the Ring of Fire had raised, its jaw trembled.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Raon kicked the frozen magma aside and unfolded the Snow Wind Sword Art in a continuous chain. Frost-winds honed to a killing edge split the Lava Crocodile King's hide and tore the flesh beneath.

"GRAAAAAAAAH!"

The Lava Crocodile King screamed, its voice packed with agony.

Good thing it isn't like Rokta.

If this crocodile had been knight-like the way Rokta was, killing it would have left a bad taste. But this thing was nothing more than a beast that saw humans as food. He felt not the slightest pang of conscience about putting it down.

"You...!"

The Lava Crocodile King wrapped its own body in magma.

"I'll erase you without leaving so much as a splinter of bone!"

It charged as a living mass of magma—offense and defense fused into a single technique.

"Unfortunately, that's not happening."

Raon stamped a True Step. Crushing the magma that flooded the ground, he drove the Heavenly Sky Sword he'd held cocked to the left.

SHING!

A silver line so sharp it stung the eyes split the thick magma, and the frost blade racing behind it punched through the Lava Crocodile King's skull.

"Ghhhk..."

The Lava Crocodile King slammed into the earth, a groan leaking from its throat.

"H-how... I, who was the sovereign of the volcano..."

It collapsed without even understanding what had hit it. The light in those scarlet eyes slowly faded.

"Is it that it was weak? Or..."

Have I gotten stronger?

Absorbing Rokta's soul seemed to have grown his mental strength far more than he'd expected. Unless it was something like Wrath, he didn't think he would lose to most of them.

RRRRUMBLE!

The lava field crumbled, and the Lava Crocodile King's corpse vanished. It meant this world was over.

Nnnnng!

Raon was waiting to return to reality when a blue dimension opened in midair.

"This King has arrived... why is it already over?!"

The cotton candy that had been about to cross through the dimension saw the collapsing lava field and his mouth fell open.

"You little brat! That was way too fa—"

Wrath's words were cut off before he could finish them. Raon's vision snapped shut.

And what did he even show up for?

Raon opened his eyes. The Lava Crocodile King's helmet, his hand still inside it, came into view.

The color's faded a little.

Perhaps because the Lava Crocodile King's soul inside had vanished, the helmet's crimson glow seemed a shade paler.

Wrath.

Raon tapped the ice-flower bracelet where Wrath resided.

How much time has passed?

"Hmph. This King doesn't know either."

Wrath turned his head away in a slightly sulky voice.

How would you not know?

"I was c-concentrating on breaking through your mental world..."

He really was useless.

That's why a guy who's already spent all his energy shouldn't have come in the first place.

"B-because I was curious..."

Does he seriously have nothing better to do?

Raon shook his head at Wrath and carefully set the Lava Crocodile King's helmet back where it had been.

"What nonsense is that?! This King is busy too! There are meal plans to draw up, and the nutritional composition of dishes to—"

Hold on.

Seeing a message rise before his eyes, Raon clamped a hand over Wrath's rambling mouth.

Those were the rewards for absorbing the Lava Crocodile King's soul. Because the soul had been smaller than Rokta's, the absorption had been faster than before as well.

This is pretty good too, isn't it?

All stats up, plus increases in the proficiency of both the Ring of Fire and the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames. Because it hadn't been a humanoid monster, his martial arts themselves hadn't risen—but an even better trait had been created.

Fire Attribute Affinity.

Just as Water Attribute Affinity strengthened frost, Fire Attribute Affinity was a trait that fortified heat, and that pleased him more than anything else.

"Th-this doesn't make any sense!"

Wrath's eyes trembled as he stared at the messages.

"Why does everything go so smoothly for you?! Why does the world only help YOU?!"

He ground his teeth, insisting that even when he'd used the system himself, it had never been this generous.

"This King never even gets to eat, so why do YOU get everything?!"

Because I live a virtuous life?

"Woof woof! That's the most damn-cursed load of dogshit This King has ever heard!"

Wrath barked like a puppy, eyes blazing.

"Among every human nature and demonic nature This King has ever witnessed, you are the worst! Even the Demon Realm has nothing like you!"

The Demon Realm's like that, is it?

Hearing about the Demon Realm so often, it had grown rather familiar. At this rate, visiting it someday didn't seem like such a bad idea.

"Hmm..."

Raon looked toward the vault's exit and clicked his tongue.

It doesn't feel like that much time has passed.

By his senses, it felt like less than an hour—but the flow of time in a mental world ran on a different axis, so that feeling might not be accurate.

Better pull back for now.

He glanced at the other helmets, then shook his head.

If I linger any longer, it might raise suspicion.

Better to grab a sword for now and come back later to devour the souls in the other helmets.

From a table where swords were laid out in a row, Raon picked up a longsword similar in form to the one Rokta had used.

RRRRUMBLE!

He was about to buckle the sword at his waist and head out when the room—no, the very earth—began to shake.

What is that?

It wasn't just a tremor. He could feel that things outside the vault had grown extremely busy as well.

As Raon frowned and turned, the vault floor opened and a martial artist wearing a goblin mask—someone who had been outside—rose up through it.

"There's a problem. We need to seal the vault, so please come out."

"A problem?"

"An intruder has appeared at the Supreme Yin Barrier."

"An intruder? Who?"

"I don't know that either."

Don't tell me...

At the word intruder, his heart began to pound.

Raon left the vault, spreading his sensory perception to its limit. The anticipation that had been kindling in his eyes had already gone dark before he even stepped out of the great hall.

"Hah..."

The overwhelming presence rolling in from beyond the hall stopped him in his tracks.

What is this?

He'd thought perhaps Sheryl, or swordsmen of squad-leader rank, had come from House Zieghart—but that was absolutely not the case.

The mysterious presence now spreading through the air wouldn't yield an inch even to Glenn.

Raon swallowed dryly and headed for the hall's exit.

Just what kind of monster had come calling?