Raon decided to assassinate the fourth apostle, then turned around to call for Dorian.
âDorian.â
âEek!â
Dorian shuddered while carrying a luxurious, shining white desk. He pointed the desk forward as if he were staying alert with a sword.
âWh-Whatâs the matter?â
ââŠWhat the hell is that?â
Why was he carrying a desk around with him?
Raon could only laugh. He could understand why he did it if heâd had a sword in his hand instead, but he couldnât understand why he was holding the desk like a sword. Moreover, the fact that the desk was so pretty for no reason was making it more ridiculous.
âI-Itâs a deskâŠâ
âI can see that. Iâm asking why you are carrying a desk with you.â
âGhostâŠâ
âGhost?â
âTh-This desk is made of the white wood, so I figured it would be useful to chase away the ghost.â
Dorian blushed in embarrassment as he lowered his head.
âA desk made of the white woodâŠâ
White wood as material was extremely efficient at driving away ghosts and evil spirits. In fact, priests usually used artifacts and weapons made of white wood.
âDid I scare him too much?â
Ignoring the fact that Dorian took out a white wood desk from his belly pocket, Raon could only smile at seeing him try to chase away the ghost with the desk.
âIsnât it heavy?â
âI-Itâs fine.â
He was lifting and lowering the desk as if he were holding a twig thanks to his excellent strength. Though, his face was completely pale from the fear.
âDoes that work against you?â
Raon pointed at the white wood desk and looked at Lohengreen.
[No way. Iâm not an evil spirit.]
Lohengreen shook his head and laughed.
Stop treating the King of Essenceâs servant like an evil spirit!
âBut isnât Dorian also your servant?â
Heâs just stupid. You need to understand.
Wrath frowned in displeasure, as he thought Raon was belittling Lohengreen. Raon thought it was such a mystery how considerate he was despite the situation.
âHe said it wonât work.â
âOh no!â
Dorian sank to the ground while holding the back of his neck. Considering the fact that he was still holding onto the desk in his hand, he mustâve been really scared of him.
âWell, thatâs not the important part right now.â
âWhat could possibly be more important than a ghost?!â
âFirst of all, the mister here isnât a ghost. And below usâŠâ
Raon pointed at the floor of the passage with his finger.
âThereâs a White Blood Religion apostle.â
âUghâŠâ
The desk, which was almost hanging from Dorianâs hand, finally fell to the floor.
âA-An apostle?â
âMorell from Salaman is also there, and the bitch princess as well.â
âDoes that mean that Balkar is currently fighting against the White Blood Religion?â
âYes.â
Raon nodded.
âL-Letâs sneak in. Since they are fighting against each other, letâs ask the mister ghost to guide usâŠâ
âSneaking in isnât an option. Itâs better to properly clear them out, because the laboratory is right below it. Thatâs whyâŠâ
âTh-Thatâs why?â
Dorian swallowed nervously.
âIâm sure the vice squad leader is going to make it possible even if there isnât any option.â
Since Raon had always come up with the best solution in any situation, Dorian believed that he would manage to find a way to advance deeper without fighting the White Blood Religion and Balkar.
âIâm planning on assassinating the apostle.â
ââŠWhat?â
Assassination?
Dorian felt like his heart skipped a beat. It was even more ridiculous than digging a tunnel or walking around.
âD-Did you just declare that you are going to assassinate an a-apostle?â
It was so ridiculous that his voice trembled like a leaf fluttering into the air.
âYes. I think the White Blood Religion is going to wipe out Morell and Balkar and reach the laboratory before us at this rate. Thatâs why I wanna kill the apostle to prevent that.â
âUghâŠâ
Drool was dripping from Dorianâs widened mouth.
âDoes he think of an apostle as a fly or something?â
They wouldnât die so easily!
Dorian would have understood if he said that he would fight them one-on-one, but since he said that he would assassinate him instead, he was just dumbfounded.
The worst part was Raonâs casual expression. Dorian realized it because heâd been with him for such a long time, that Raon truly believed from the bottom of his heart that he could assassinate the apostle.
âWh-Which apostle is inside the cavern right now?â
âThe fourth apostle.â
âI-I believe heâs at the intermediate level of MasterâŠâ
Dorian had investigated the White Blood Religionâs apostles after encountering the tenth and seventh apostles in Porvan.
The identity and prowess of most of them were hidden, but the fourth apostleâs might was somewhat known to the public. An intermediate Masterâand that was two years ago, so he couldâve been even stronger.
âThatâs probably correct.â
Raon nodded while looking at Lohengreenâs crystal ball. Judging from his movement and energy wave coming from him, he mustâve been an extremely powerful warrior at the intermediate level of Master.
âHow are you even supposed to kill a monster like that through assassination? If we canât avoid them, we should ask Sir Morell to work with usâŠâ
âThat wouldnât be too bad, but it would be a shame to throw away a situation where the enemy doesnât know of our presence yet. Moreover, working with them has the disadvantage of weakening our voice even if we win. If I just kill the apostle when all of them are in danger, I can control the entire situation.â
âI mean, thatâs true, butâŠâ
Dorianâs lips parted like a goldfish, as he was unable to comprehend how Raon thought that was even possible.
âDonât worry. Everythingâs going to be okay.â
Raon smiled and tapped his scabbard.
âAnd I have a plan if it goes wrong.â
âYou mean sneaking into the enemy and killing them in a single blow when you said assassination, right?â
âIndeed.â
âThen how are you even planning to hide from the fourth apostleâs aura perception to stab him?! Heâs an intermediate Master!â
âWith skills.â
âHuaahâŠâ
The âskillsâ made Dorian drop his jaw on the ground.
âI knew it! You have no plan whatsoever! You have never assassinated anyone before, either!â
âYou are right. Iâve never done a proper assassination before.â
Raon nodded with a smile on his face.
âBut I can still do it.â
âSince Iâve done it countless times in my previous life.â
* * *
The second team members sighed while staring at Runaan, who was standing on the tower built in the middle of the village. They were the ones who were assigned to stay in Doran Village.
Runaanâs eyes were still as blank as ever as she looked around the entire village, but her determination was different from usual.
âHow long has it been?â
âItâs been a bit over two days.â
âShe hasnât slept at all for two whole daysâŠâ
Runaan climbed the tower after Raon and the other teams left on their missions, and she guarded the village without sleeping at all. Even though the team members told her to come down to rest and continue, she didnât listen to them.
âI think sheâs overexerting herselfâŠ.â
âI know, right? Iâve never seen her do that before.â
âEven though she loves to sleep so muchâŠâ
Runaan liked to sleep as much as Rimmer. Since she usually stayed blank and often started dozing off during the morning meetings, it was surprising that she wasnât sleeping for such a long time.
âIt must be difficult for her, since sheâs not simply keeping guard.â
Instead of just looking around to keep guard, Runaan was probing the surrounding areas through a detailed control of her aura. She was bound to be extremely exhausted from that.
âIâll try telling her again.â
The second teamâs vice leader, Ebby, sighed faintly and climbed the tower.
âTeam leader.â
Runaan turned her head as Ebby called out to her. Even though she couldnât sleep at all, there was no trace of exhaustion in her eyes.
âYou should rest for a moment, at least. At this rate, you wonât be able to fight at your full potential when the time comes.â
Since telling her to take care of health wasnât going to work, Ebby used the mission as a reason.
âItâs okay.â
Runaan slowly shook her head.
âI practiced continuing on without sleeping.â
âWhat? Wh-When did you practice something like thatâŠ?â
Ebbyâs jaw dropped. The fact that Runaan had practiced fighting back sleep was completely new to her.
âRaon told me that I canât stay the same forever.â
Runaan closed her eyes while grasping the hilt of Snow Flower.
âI canât be a burden to him forever.â
Even though Raonâs position of vice squad leader was high enough, he always allowed the other swordsmen to rest by personally keeping the night watch and guards.
Since she felt sorry about him continuing to help the others while he couldnât even rest, she had asked her papa to teach her a guarding technique that used a low amount of stamina by spreading aura to observe the surroundings.
She wanted to give up in the beginning because of how difficult it was. She liked sleeping as much as bead ice cream, after all.
âBut thatâs why I couldnât give up.â
When she realized that Raon mustâve been going through the same pain all that time, she became even more determined.
She continuously practiced whenever she returned home, and she managed to learn the guarding technique Cloud Thread, which allowed her to carefully examine the surrounding area while decreasing the necessary amount of sleep.
âI can still continue.â
Runaan shook her head and examined the villageâs scenery.
âIâll protect this place no matter what.â
Her purple eyes were glowing with determination to complete Raonâs mission no matter what.
* * *
[Translator â Kyangi]
[Proofreader â Harley]
* * *
Raon was standing in front of the sixth cavern, where Morell and the fourth apostle were fighting against each other.
Even though he couldnât see them, he could feel the impact of the clash between Morellâs magic and the fourth apostleâs bloody energy.
âAre they equal? No. Morell is losing.â
Even though magic and martial arts werenât exactly the same, Morell was stronger than the fourth apostle overall. The reason he was losing despite being stronger seemed to be because the fourth apostleâs bloody energy and his longsword were capable of cutting through magic.
âThat longswordâŠâ
Raon looked at the jet black longsword that the fourth apostle was holding through Lohengreenâs crystal ball. It cut through Morellâs fire magic in a single slash as he watched, and he could feel the evil energy coming from it.
âIs it interfering with magic? Can it also interfere with auraâŠ?â
He couldnât tell exactly what kind of power the longsword had from simply watching through the crystal ball.
âI need to thoroughly analyze it.â
Even though he didnât have much time, it was necessary to accurately analyze the enemy in order to increase the assassinationâs chance of success. He needed to figure out whether the longsword or the bloody energy was causing the phenomenon.
Whir.
Raon opened the ocean of perception by controlling Glacier. He connected his senses with the coldness covering the entire dungeon, and even activated the Perception of the Snow Flower to examine the flow of the fourth apostleâs bloody energy.
Whaaap!
Dozens of flame serpents emerged from Morellâs hands. They were as thick as a pillar from a building.
It was the fire attribute spell that had the same name as his nickname, Snake of Raging Flame. The snakes that were clad in scales of flame rampaged around as if every single one of them were alive, all in order to take the fourth apostleâs life.
Rumble!
The fourth apostle bent himself to the side, slashing the longsword down. White bloody energy was ignited on the dark blade like embers.
Whaam!
The slash and magic were equal in power. However, a strange vibration occurred from the longsword. The heads of the snakes were cut off in an instant, creating a violent explosion.
âWhat he did just nowâŠâ
Raon narrowed his eyes.
âThe bloody energy emerged from the longsword to interfere with the flow of magic.â
The bloody energy emerging from the fourth apostleâs longsword didnât cut through the magic, instead interfering with the flow of mana to weaken Morellâs spell.
âThatâs how he did it.â
Raon nodded while looking at the fourth apostleâs longsword as it slashed through the flow of magic.
âIt wasnât the bloody energyâs ability, but the longswordâs.â
The bloody energy was generally strong against aura and magic, but heâd never heard before that it had an ability like that. It was the longsword that was allowing him to easily cut through the magic.
âIt wonât be too difficult.â
If it was the weaponâs ability instead of the fourth apostle himself, then it wasnât going to be an obstacle for assassination.
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[Hmm, priest of Wrath.]
Lohengreen groaned briefly, then came up next to Raon.
[That mongrel using the bloody energy is more powerful than you. Since you arenât even prepared, shouldnât you reconsider the assassination?]
On top of Dorian, even Lohengreen was worried about him because Raon was clearly weaker than the fourth apostle.
Heâs right. You are just going to die in vain without solving Four-Eyesâs problem if you do something stupid like that. You should just cooperate with your fellow weaklings and fight together. You shouldnât underestimate assassination, you weasel, swindler, and devil!
Wrath spoke with a frown on his face. Considering the fact that he was calling him by all kinds of names in the end, he mustâve still been angry.
âItâs okay. It will be over soon.â
Raon nodded while pushing Wrath away. Assassination meant to kill in a single strike. Since there was a high risk upon failure, it was natural for them to be worried about him.
However, they didnât need to worry about him. The coldness filling the dungeon was giving him all of the preparation he needed.
Whir!
Raon controlled Glacier. He completely suppressed the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivationâs energy and filled the mana circuits all around his body with Glacierâs coldness.
He made Glacierâs energy, which was coming from his energy center, resonate with the coldness filling the entire dungeon to turn it into one single flow.
âA little bit moreâŠâ
It was not enough yet. He needed to erase his presence to a point that the fourth apostle wouldnât be able to notice him. He assimilated Glacierâs energy into the coldness surrounding him so that he would be seen as a single frost shard floating in the air.
âWh-WhatâŠ?â
Dorian swallowed nervously while watching Raonâs back.
âWhy canât I feel his presence?â
Even though Raon was right in front of him, he couldnât feel his existence at all. If he hadnât been looking right at him, he wouldnât have noticed that he was right in front of him.
[Huh!]
Lohengreen exclaimed as he sensed that Raonâs presence had completely assimilated into the dungeonâs coldness.
âMy worry was unnecessary.â
It was obvious that he wasnât mistaken.
There was no way that the God of Wrath wouldâve assigned an idiot who didnât even know the limits of his abilities as his priest. Lohengreen was ashamed of himself for doubting him for no reason.
Swish.
Raon unsheathed the Blade of Requiem. Ominous energy was glowing on the red blade.
Whir!
The powerful ghastly energy and unusually intense sword resonance were showing its excitement for killing an apostle.
âNo.â
Raon grasped the Blade of Requiem tightly and shook his head.
âHe will find out if you keep being so loud. Hide your murderous intent behind the enemyâs and lower your presence.â
The Blade of Requiemâs ghastly energy was rampaging like a tidal wave, but Raon put it under control to synchronize with the flow heâd created.
Whir.
Although the ghastly energy used to be as violent as an erupting volcano, it started to flow as quietly as a small stream.
After lowering the Blade of Requiemâs ghastly energy to the point that he could hide it with Glacierâs coldness, Raon finally nodded.
He collected his senses and stood at the sixth cavernâs entrance. Since his presence was completely gone, no one was paying attention to him.
Morell, the fourth apostle, the White Blood Fanatics, and Balkarâs magicians were still attacking each other with aura and magic, their eyes filled with murderous intent.
Raon closed his eyes as he watched them.
When was a beast the most vulnerable to attack?
When they were sleeping? Or when they were eating?
No.
It was when they were about to kill their prey.
Since they fought with the determination that they would die from hunger if they failed to catch their prey, they were fully focused on their enemy right before they killed them.
âHaaâŠâ
Raon slowly caught his breath and overwrote his soul with the senses of his previous life, when he was at the peak, as he smoothly fixed his grip on the Blade of Requiemâs hilt.
He lowered his posture, his eyes fixated on Morell, who was drenched in cold sweat as he was pushed back by the fourth apostleâs bloody energy.
âKuh!â
âKyaah!â
Inield and Princess Jayna were slammed into the ground, unable to withstand the archbishopâs bloody energy. The archbishop didnât miss the opportunity, creating dozens of spears with bloody energy.
âDamn it!â
Morell gritted his teeth and discharged a powerful wave of flame. The sphere produced as a result was extremely powerful. However, that magic shouldnât have been used at that moment.
He was feeding his opponent because he was too desperate to finish his battle to save the princess.
Creak!
Alongside the fourth apostleâs evil laughter, ferocious bloody energy burst from his black longsword, distorting the flow of Morellâs magic.
âYou were too hasty, Snake of Raging Flame!â
The apostle tilted his body and slashed down with his longsword. Morellâs flame was entangled with the longswordâs bloody energy and started to lose its power.
âNot yet.â
Raon shook his head.
He was going to notice him if he moved at that moment. He needed to wait a bit longer.
Cring!
The fourth apostleâs blade severed the huge flame sphere, piercing Morellâs shoulder.
Pssh!
A dangerous amount of blood gushed from Morellâs collarbone, and the fourth apostleâs murderous intent intensified. He changed the trajectory of his longsword with the intention of beheading him in a single strike.
âNow!â
Raon gritted his teeth and kicked the ground. The maximized Supreme Harmony Steps allowed him to ignore the space between them as he reached right next to the fourth apostle.
He suppressed his emotions and stopped breathing completely. He stood in the fourth apostleâs shadow, as silently as the blue frost floating around the dungeon.
Whoosh!
The moment the fourth apostleâs black longsword was about to pierce Morellâs neck, Raon stomped the ground and thrust the blade of Requiem.
Creak!
The blade, as red as blood, shredded the flow of bloody energy into pieces as it pierced the left side of the fourth apostleâs chest.
âWh-What?!â
The fourth apostle gritted his teeth and tried to pull himself away, but it was already too late.
Boom!
The concentrated ghastly energy and coldness inside the Blade of Requiem burst out in an instant, creating a powerful explosion inside the fourth apostleâs chest.