The Tenth Flame
Even after sending Marta and the remaining trainees in at the right moment, Raon did not show himself.
He held his breath and buried his presence even deeper—down to the level of a wild animal, or a branch trembling in the wind.
Bolstered by Marta's support, the trainees recovered their courage and their will, and began to sweep the Green Ghosts aside.
This is where it starts.
Raon let out a thin breath and loosened his power still further. The word victory was drawing close—but this was the most dangerous moment of all.
That Green Helmet Ghost still hasn't shown.
The Green Helmet Ghost of Eden who had given the Green Ghosts their attack orders was definitely up there, somewhere above them.
Slowly, silently, Raon approached the thicket where everyone was fighting.
Just as Burren, Runaan, and Marta were about to bring their swords down on the last remaining Green Ghosts—he appeared.
So the Green Helmet Ghost was here after all.
A lower-ranking officer of Eden. The Green Helmet Ghost, who had inherited the power of an Orc Warrior, came striding in with a terrifying aura pouring off him.
BOOOOM!
A single enraged blow sent Burren, Runaan, and Marta flying all at once. Crushed beneath the Green Helmet Ghost's aura, the three of them couldn't even move their bodies properly.
Thump.
Raon matched his own heartbeat to the Green Helmet Ghost's breathing and moved his feet.
The footwork he had learned at the cost of his life in his assassin days. Moving as if hidden inside a shadow, he slipped behind the Green Helmet Ghost.
Rumble!
As the Green Helmet Ghost's killing intent crashed down toward Marta with the axe, Raon hid his own murderous aura inside it and raised his sword.
"Just die already!"
The instant the Green Helmet Ghost brought its axe down, Raon ignited the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames.
A flower of flame blossomed from the tip of his sword and plummeted toward the Green Helmet Ghost's neck.
"You!"
Shock flooded the Green Helmet Ghost's eyes as it spun around. In that fleeting instant, it raised Battle Qi toward its back, trying to wrench the sword off its path.
"Don't resist. Just die."
Raon split the Battle Qi erupting from the Green Helmet Ghost with the flames of Ten Thousand Flames and brought his sword down.
"GRAAAAAH!"
The instant the blade fell like a thunderbolt to cleave the Green Helmet Ghost's neck, the creature lunged inward instead.
SPURT!
Crimson blood exploded, and something thudded onto the ground.
Raon frowned as he stared ahead.
"Heh heh..."
The Green Helmet Ghost, its entire left shoulder severed, was coughing up blood and laughing.
"Didn't expect me to come in close, did you?"
"You lunatic."
Humans try to flee in a moment of crisis—they don't charge in. To close the distance in that instant and offer up an arm instead of a neck was an act that could only be called insane.
This is why I hate fighting these bastards.
Raon clicked his tongue.
"Ghhk!"
As crimson Battle Qi surged up over the Green Helmet Ghost's shoulder, the blood that had been gushing like a burst dam began to stop.
"Looks like you can't move either."
"..."
Raon didn't answer. As the creature said, he had staked everything on that last strike, and for a moment he couldn't move. If his body had had any leeway at all, he would have charged in that instant and taken its head.
"Are you the one in charge here?"
He spoke as he rotated the Ring of Fire, recovering his body and his aura.
"You think my superiors would bother coming to a little village like this?"
The Green Helmet Ghost clenched its axe tight in its remaining arm. The crimson Battle Qi that had subsided surged up once more.
"You never know. You people are lunatics, after all."
Raon exhaled the turbid energy with his breath and bent his knees slightly. In a stance ready to spring at any moment, he filled his lungs with fresh air.
THUD!
The Green Helmet Ghost kicked off the ground. It swung its axe, pouring out a killing intent so thick it raised goosebumps.
Fwoosh!
Raon raised his sword. The flames of Ten Thousand Flames, First Bloom reignited, wrapping around the blade.
CLAAAAANG!
Sword and double-bladed axe collided, ringing out with a sound like steel being crushed. Crimson sparks scattered and began to scorch the ground.
"You withstood that?"
The Green Helmet Ghost glared and swung its axe horizontally. A fierce wind pressure—so strong his hands could barely move.
"If I couldn't even take that, I might as well quit being a swordsman."
Raon brought down his flame-wreathed sword.
BOOM!
The second clash with the Green Helmet Ghost made his grip scream as if it would tear apart, but he hid the expression and raised his sword again.
"You know the heart of a warrior! You brat from Zieghart!"
The Green Helmet Ghost burst into a grotesque laugh and brought its axe crashing down.
"Even so, I can't let you live!"
"I never asked you to."
Raon slashed his sword to block the axe and stepped one pace forward.
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!
The overwhelming Battle Qi coating the axe's blade made his sword shudder as if it would snap.
I have to endure.
He couldn't shatter this thing with his current power. He had to fight by shedding the axe's energy.
BOOOOM!
Raon unfolded the principles of the swordsmanship he had learned at House Zieghart, blocking the Green Helmet Ghost's instinctively swung axe. Raon and the monster clad in an orc's instincts traded countless blows of sword and axe at point-blank range.
"W-what the hell."
Burren stared with his eyes wide, his jaw trembling.
What is this...?
The battle unfolding right in front of him—two monsters trading sword and axe—left him unable to breathe.
H-how many times have they swung already?
He couldn't even properly see the trajectories of the sword and the axe. It wasn't a matter of a gap in skill. It meant they were in an entirely different league.
Whoooom!
The Green Helmet Ghost's axe came crashing down like a thunderbolt.
Gulp.
He swallowed dryly without meaning to. If that axe had come down on his own head, his body would have been split in half in that instant. The thought of it sent a cold shiver crawling up his forearm.
But Raon drew a half-moon with his sword and shed the axe aside exactly as it fell.
BOOOOM!
The fallen axe smashed the earth. Crimson energy burst from the split ground.
"Th-that's..."
Burren spread his fingers and scraped at the dirt.
That's the Yeonseong Sword Art!
The Yeonseong Sword Art—the foundational swordsmanship learned first at Zieghart. Raon was holding off that overwhelming axe with nothing but that.
It went beyond impressive. It was so shocking his mouth wouldn't close.
I thought I'd caught up a lot...
After being moved by Raon's effort, Burren had poured everything he had into growing his body and his mind. He'd thought he had drawn close enough to reach Raon's back. He hadn't.
The sword that had severed the Green Helmet Ghost's arm earlier—and the martial power Raon was showing now—had already left the level of a trainee far behind.
"You saw that?"
He turned his head toward the breathless, almost sighing voice beside him. Marta had come up, panting hard.
"That's that bastard's real power."
Marta narrowed her eyes, staring at Raon as he fought the Green Helmet Ghost as an equal.
"What he's shown us until now was nothing but the tip of the iceberg."
She had known all along that Raon was hiding his strength.
But...
She had never even imagined he would display power on par with the Green Helmet Ghost that had sent her, Burren, and Runaan flying in a single blow.
I have no choice but to admit it now.
Marta clenched her fist tight. This mission—everything about it had been in Raon's hands. The situation had moved exactly as he had said it would, and it had unfolded exactly as he wanted. All that remained now was to bring that monster down.
"Haa..."
Having recovered some composure, Runaan approached with her broken sword in hand. In her blue eyes was the image of Raon, looking as if he were barely holding on.
She bit down hard on her lip and was about to join the fight when Marta stepped in front of her.
"Don't. The moment you go in, you'll be torn to shreds."
"I can help."
"You'll die before you get the chance."
"I don't care."
Runaan shook her head. The only thing that had entered her eyes was Raon, struggling to evade the axe.
This girl...
Marta narrowed her eyes. To try to go in knowing how dangerous that place was—she hadn't just been tagging along after Raon after all.
"Then just hold on a little."
"What?"
"That guy..."
Marta pointed at Raon. Those eyes, like a crimson thunderbolt surging in reverse. Looking into them, she went on.
"He's got the same eyes he had when he beat me in our spar."
"Khheh!"
The Green Helmet Ghost bared its teeth as it unfurled its Battle Qi.
"Running out of strength, are you?"
"..."
Raon didn't answer. He focused only on unfolding his swordsmanship and stopping the axe.
The killing intent is getting thicker.
Whether it had claimed an Orc Warrior's armor in some cheap land-grab or not, the creature was overflowing with power even with a quarter of its upper body gone. That was a toughness that truly deserved to be called insane.
I should have finished it earlier.
Raon clicked his tongue. It had been a long time since his last assassination, and he hadn't fully hidden his killing intent. A frustrating situation.
"You're special. Considering your age, calling you the greatest genius on the continent wouldn't be an overstatement. But..."
The Green Helmet Ghost's mouth curled up long and thin, like a crescent moon.
"I am a special being as well."
The flames on the axe it held burned a shade deeper.
Whoooom!
The force loaded into the descending axe was faster and fiercer than before.
Chiiing!
Raon turned his sword sideways and shoved the axe away. The moment he tried to shed it as before, the axe's blade rotated and crushed down on his sword.
"I've figured out every sword technique you've used. You modified the basics to make it a bit tricky, but it's over now."
The Green Helmet Ghost's words were no lie. It was reading the direction Raon's sword would move in advance, making it impossible for him to defend or shed the blows.
BOOOOM!
Sword and axe collided, and a roar unlike any before burst out. It was a clash of raw power against raw power.
"Kh..."
A groan he had been holding back slipped from Raon's mouth. The force loaded into the axe had grown beyond what he could bear, and his forearm trembled violently.
"Did you know? Eden's officers have special abilities."
"..."
"I have a sense. A sense that lets me see where and how your sword will move."
The Green Helmet Ghost grinned and swept its axe sideways. The Battle Qi riding the axe-blade created a strange current, cutting off the direction Raon would dodge.
"You talk a lot, just like someone I know."
Raon smiled coldly and struck his sword upward.
Kiiing!
With a sound like gears twisting out of true, the Green Helmet Ghost's axe scraped past the blade and plunged toward the ground.
BOOOOM!
Raon kicked off the collapsing earth and drove into the Green Helmet Ghost's chest. He brought his sword slashing down toward the creature's startled eyes.
Slash!
A savage volume of blood erupted from the Green Helmet Ghost's left chest.
"Ghhhk!"
It swung its axe wildly as it stumbled backward.
"Tsk."
Raon clicked his tongue. He had tried to cut the creature's body clean through this time as well, but he lacked the power and the distance. Fighting in a body that hadn't finished growing was, as always, no easy thing.
"Y-you. How the hell..."
"Just as you read my swordsmanship, I simply figured out your attack patterns."
"...Does that even make sense right now..."
"Why wouldn't it? Anything you can do, I can do too."
It wasn't a lie. Fighting the creature while operating the Ring of Fire had let him predict the direction the axe would move. It wasn't perfect—but he had grasped about half of its movements.
"Hoo..."
The blood from the Green Helmet Ghost's chest began to stop. Flames of Battle Qi ignited across its entire body.
"What is your name?"
"Raon Zieghart. You're a nameless fiend of Eden."
"Blonde hair, red eyes. I had a bad feeling from the moment I saw you..."
As if killing intent itself had taken form, a crimson energy surged from the creature's eyes.
"You've inherited Glenn Zieghart's blood strongly."
"What?"
"You're dangerous. I'll kill you here no matter what it takes. For the sake of Eden's future."
WHOOOOSH!
The Battle Qi that had been spreading around the Green Helmet Ghost gathered into the double-bladed axe. It no longer looked like an axe. It looked like a mace forged of crimson blood.
"I'll crush you and the Zieghart standing behind you. Every last one of you."
The Green Helmet Ghost ground its teeth and raised the axe.
Even looking at that enormous power, Raon did not retreat. He adjusted his grip on the sword trembling in the massive wave of energy.
"This is the perfect chance to put it to the test."
He stretched one knee forward and drew his sword back.
Goooooh!
The single flame that had been burning at the sword's tip surged like a wave and flowed down the blade.