This King Will Wait

Raon did not halt his blade even after raising the crimson tide. Through the resonating rings, his heightened spirit followed the sword traces his ancestors had left behind, painting a picture of staggering scale.

The brush was aimed at a sea that embraced all things. Wave stacked upon wave until they became a great ocean vast enough to swallow the world.

A splitting roar tore through the air as the enormous red sea summoned by Flame Sea Flawless smashed Matio's black mountain to pieces.

The world itself seemed to collapse. With a grinding, earth-shaking boom, Matio's energy melted away. The Ganggi he had been bringing down, the power he had condensed for self-destruction—all of it withered and died.

"Ahhh…"

Matio's despairing groan was still hanging in the air when his right arm was ripped from his body.

"Hhgh—!"

He staggered backward on failing legs, teeth clacking together. What the hell was that swordsmanship?

A tide of flame had swallowed everything he had. Not only the Ganggi coating his blade, but even the energy he had been gathering in his heart had been swept away and erased. He couldn't even begin to grasp what had just happened.

And yet that technique… something about it…

The swordsmanship Raon had unleashed bore an unsettling resemblance to House Robert's own. It was almost like the family head's.

He had no time to dwell on it. Raon was already standing right in front of him, crimson eyes burning as if they were the red sea that had just incinerated everything.

Ugh…

The moment those red eyes met his, Matio's breath seized in his throat. Thought itself vanished. A terror he had forgotten for a long, long time came roaring back—the raw, animal fear of wanting to live.

Cosini bit down on her lip until it bled as she watched Matio freeze in terror. That thing is a monster.

Even a Grandmaster couldn't completely ignore mental magic. There should have been some shock, some reaction—anything. Instead, that man had nullified a mind-control spell outright. It was so absurd she couldn't even find the words.

It's over…

Matio had staked his life on that sword strike, and even Spider Memory—the most powerful mind-control magic she possessed—had failed to touch him. There was nothing left.

We're going to die like this… wait.

Cosini flicked her tongue across her lips as she studied Raon. He isn't interested in me.

Raon had suffered far more at Matio's hands than at hers. Every shred of his attention was locked on the man in front of him.

This is my chance.

Right now, while his gaze was fixed on Matio, was the only moment she would ever have to escape that monster.

She began to weave her mana with painstaking care. To get out of this space, she set her coordinates on the sea above the dungeon and slowly arranged the spell.

The instant she tried to ignite the array and trigger the teleportation magic, a savage pain exploded through her shoulder.

"Ghk—!"

She looked down. A dagger radiating a bizarre, unholy energy was buried beneath her shoulder.

"You have got to be kidding me…"

Goosebumps crawled over her entire body as she lifted her eyes. A pair of ghastly crimson irises were looking down at her.

I-it's fine. Raon had noticed—but it didn't matter. The mana array for the teleportation was already complete.

"Too late!"

Cosini threw herself backward and activated the teleport.

"You're a dead man. Lord Derus will—huh?"

She should have vanished from this space the moment the curse left her mouth. The arranged mana didn't so much as twitch.

"D-don't tell me…"

Her jaw trembled as she stared at the dagger in her shoulder. The demonic energy blooming from the blade was blocking the spell from activating at all.

"Pull that out and you die."

"Ah…"

Her convulsing hand reached for the dagger—and Raon's chilling voice slid into her ear. Terror soaked her spine, and her hand dropped of its own accord.

"Cosini! Get out of here! Tell him—!"

Matio seized Raon with his one remaining arm and leg, screaming.

"Nngh—!"

Cosini clenched her teeth and ripped the dagger from her shoulder. Demonic energy still clung to the wound. She didn't care.

She finished a high-speed incantation and tried to teleport again—and the world tilted.

Ah…

She couldn't move her mana. She couldn't even speak. A small impact registered at her head, and what filled her vision was her own body listing sideways, Matio howling as he lost even his left arm, and Raon's crimson eyes.

I'm dead, then.

She understood that she had died, and the realization brought a strange relief. She was free of those red eyes at last.

Thank goodness…

Raon narrowed his eyes at the blood-soaked blade of the Requiem Sword. A mage's natural enemy, in the truest sense.

The Requiem Sword's Magic Disruption Field activated even when the weapon was no longer in his hand. The moment you buried that blade in a mage, the fight was as good as over.

It might not have worked if Cosini hadn't panicked, or against a mage of still higher caliber—but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the fact that it was possible at all was astonishing.

Thanks for the help.

He stroked the Requiem Sword once, then slid it back into the sheath at his waist.

"Grrrrrr…"

Wrath ground his teeth so hard they sounded ready to crack.

Keep that up and you'll break them.

"Silence!"

Wrath shoved his face in close, bellowing.

"Just what the hell are you?!"

Hmm…

It sounded as though Wrath was asking about the situation, so Raon slowed his breathing and took his time. How do I lie my way out of this?

He had conveyed the important parts through aura messages, but in his agitation he had also let things show that he shouldn't have. Honestly, he had no good answer.

So, about that…

"Why did you fall into a trance again?!"

Ah?

What Wrath was actually asking about wasn't the bizarre situation at all. It was the fact that Raon had entered a trance twice in a row.

"Is a trance some neighborhood restaurant? You just walk in, stuff your face, and walk out whenever you're hungry?"

Wrath spat the words out as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"This King has lived so long that life itself grew tedious—and this is the first time This King has seen a madman enter a trance twice in a single day! Is the trance your personal bedroom?!"

I got lucky this time.

His concentration had been pushed to the absolute limit trying to stop Matio's self-destruction, and in that state he had glimpsed the traces of Flame Sea Flawless. That was how he had slipped into a trance. It wasn't skill. It was genuine luck. He had nothing to say for himself.

"Just looking at you makes This King's blood boil! This King is going to lose his mind!"

Is this an inferiority complex?

"An inferiority complex?! Even a god would smack you on the head if he saw you!"

Good grief.

Raon shook his head and walked toward Matio.

"Ghhhhk…"

Both of Matio's arms were gone. Thick, broken groans leaked from his throat.

"Matio."

Raon dropped to one knee and met his eyes.

"You…"

Wrath had probably pieced together a fair amount already, but Raon sent another aura message just in case.

Raon took Matio's own sword and drove it into the man's thigh—a vital point that delivered pain enough to paralyze the entire body.

"Hhghk…"

A dying gasp spilled from Matio as his head dropped.

The second thrust punched into the back of his shin, a vital point that produced pain as if ants were devouring every inch of his flesh.

"Gyaaaaagh!"

Matio thrashed like a worm, a ripping scream tearing out of him.

"Don't worry. There's plenty more where that came from."

"Aaaagh—!"

Raon's face was as blank as a mask as he struck Matio's vital points one after another. The man's screams flooded the silent dungeon.

"Is this fun for you?"

"Urgh…"

"You did this to children who couldn't even speak properly—and you were smiling. Did you enjoy it?"

Words that should have gone out as an aura message burst from his mouth in his agitation. No—he had been in this state ever since he set foot in this place.

Even if Wrath overheard, he wouldn't regret it. Twenty years of waiting for this revenge could not be soothed by the hollow act of simply cutting a throat.

"S-stop…"

"The children you killed begged you to stop too. They pleaded with you to spare them, over and over. Did you ever listen even once?"

Memories of his previous life rose unbidden. Children who had died under torture. Children torn apart by stray dogs. Children who had become playthings for the officers and died for it. Children who had been forced to kill the ones they were closest to.

Young faces that had not even been allowed to close their eyes floated before him. Tears threatened, and he clenched his teeth.

"Ghhhk…"

Matio's breath shuddered as if it might snap at any moment. He had expended his vital energy and then been tortured on top of it. He was already at death's door.

"Relax. You aren't going to die."

Raon circulated the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames and Glacia at the same time, driving Glacia into the mana circuits on Matio's left side and the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames into those on his right.

The two energies contended at the man's ripped-open solar plexus, kicking up a tremendous pulse.

"GYAAAAAAGH!"

The loudest scream yet exploded from Matio's mouth. Mental shock and physical agony fused together, and his pupils warped into diamonds.

"What is Derus after?"

"Nngh…"

Even now, Matio didn't answer. A fanatic to the last.

"Let's turn the intensity up a little."

Raon smiled coldly and amplified the power of Glacia and the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames.

"Aaagh—"

Matio's eyes rolled back. His limbs bent like a squid's.

"I've been enduring that pain since the day I was born. A human being can handle it just fine, so bear with it."

The agony Matio was experiencing now was no different from the pain Raon had suffered every single day until the Curse of Frost had been lifted.

"I-I've used up all my vital energy. I'm going to die…"

"I told you. You aren't going to die."

Raon shook his head, his voice flat and final.

"Two kinds of aura are competing inside your body, generating a false life essence. Until that energy runs dry, you will not die. Not under any circumstances."

"Ah…"

"In other words, you might have to feel that pain for the rest of your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠life."

"Ghhhk—!"

It was a lie, of course. His life could be sustained for a short while, but he wouldn't last long. It seemed to have worked on Matio all the same. The man's face twisted into something beyond description.

"Last question. What is Derus after?"

"……"

"You don't have to talk. Stay just like that until I leave this place."

"T-to spread terror across the continent…"

Raon had been about to walk away when Matio lifted his head.

"Terror? A war?"

"…That's right."

Matio nodded. A thrill so sharp it was almost frightening ran through Raon—he had broken the mind of a fanatic who had devoted everything to Derus.

"The Six Kings and the Five Demons, then."

"T-that's right too."

"How do you start a war?"

Raon narrowed his eyes. Both the Five Demons and the Six Kings had too much to lose. War didn't break out easily. He couldn't see how they intended to force a fight.

"The s-same as you."

"…Don't tell me. Kidnapping the direct descendants?"

Matio didn't answer, but his expression was answer enough.

"I see."

Raon nodded, a cold smile on his lips.

"A filthy bastard, through and through."

"Y-you'll die by his hand in the end…"

Those were Matio's last words. His breath cut off. For a man who had already burned through his vital energy to have lasted this long was remarkable enough; Raon felt no regret.

I did everything I needed to, anyway.

He had revealed his identity to Matio, killed him with a blend of mental shock and physical agony, and extracted a hint of Derus's plans. It was no exaggeration to call it the finest revenge he could have asked for.

Raon drove his sword into the dead man's heart and closed his eyes. May you all rest in peace.

He offered a quiet prayer for every soul that had died at Matio's hands, hoping they would sleep without pain.

"Hah…"

He let out a long breath and turned around.

Wrath stood with his arms crossed, watching him. It was time to explain.

How do I handle this…

Revealing the reincarnation outright was impossible. He needed to slip in at least a scrap of a false reason. Tempting him with food would probably work best.

Raon licked his lips and approached Wrath.

"Wrath. About what happened just now…"

"Raon Zieghart."

The way Wrath spoke his name was heavier than usual.

"This King is no fool."

"Ah…"

As expected, Wrath had figured it out.

"But neither is This King your debt collector."

"What?"

"This King has no right to hear the whole of your circumstances."

Wrath uncrossed his arms and lowered his eyes.

"This King will be honest. This King has already glimpsed your dreams by chance. It was when you were saving those young humans in the orphanage."

Raon had thought it strange that Wrath had kept his mouth shut at the time. Apparently he had seen the scene of the Life-and-Death Duel with No. 9 in that dream.

"Whether This King and you get along or not, we are bound in a relationship where deceiving each other is nearly impossible. That said, demanding you reveal everything would also be unreasonable. So This King shall wait."

Wrath lifted a hand, a faint smile on his face.

"Huh…"

Raon stared at Wrath with his mouth hanging open. Natural, and utterly unshaken. For the first time, the little creature actually looked like a Demon King. Like a true monarch.

"…You're cool."

It was so completely unlike Raon, who had been scrambling to find a way to lie, that Wrath looked magnificent.

"This King has always been magnificent and beautiful. A mere human has no right to judge This King so casually."

Apparently ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠determined to keep the atmosphere intact, Wrath turned his back and waved a hand.

"The moment we get out of here, I'll let you eat every last thing you want."

He meant it. He was grateful, and he was sorry, and he wanted to give Wrath whatever he asked for.

Wrath didn't turn around. It was the first time food had failed to move him.

"I may have to reassess you—wait, what?"

Raon was smiling as he stepped closer, then stopped dead.

"First, pizza is non-negotiable, and those lamb ribs last time were decent. Ah, this is the southern sea, so lobster and grilled fish would be excellent as well. We'll need fruit juice as a palate cleanser, too…"

Wrath was writing out a list of foods on his palm. Not even five seconds had passed, and he was already onto the next page.

"……"

And here Raon had thought he'd changed. Of course he hadn't.

Even after displaying the dignity of a king, that gluttony was apparently beyond fixing.

Raon shook his head and looked down at the floor. He could feel the killing intent of a spirit beast, irritated by the noise and the tremors, and the corner of his mouth curled up.

One left.