Chapter 1034
‘My wrist is tingling.’
Raon twisted Heavenly Drive and curled his lip.
‘That rebound is no joke.’
The red wolf wasn’t skilled in combat, but the sheer power it carried was on par with Raon, an upper-level Transcendent.
‘And its recovery is fast.’
Even after taking Revolving Sky to the forepaw, it casually shook it off and rose again, as if it hadn’t taken any impact at all.
“Grrrrr!”
The red wolf bared its ill-fitting white fangs and spewed out even thicker killing intent and blood energy.
“You need a sharper leash.”
Raon drew Heavenly Drive and the Soul Requiem Sword and drove them into the crimson sea.
Sword Field Creation.
Sword Field Creation – Divine-Demonic Harmony.
Half the sea blazed gold, and the other half froze pure white.
Under the sun and moon that rose brilliant as they erased the darkness, Raon lifted the divine sword and the demonic sword.
“These two swords will be your leash.”
He tilted his chin at the red wolf as if telling it to come.
Krooooooo!
The red wolf slashed down diagonally with claws wrapped in scarlet blood energy. The speed and force packed into those claws were more than twice what they had been before.
“Meaningless.”
Raon let out a cold laugh and drew a golden line that stitched sea to sky with the flames of the divine sword.
Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, Crimson Slash.
A simple strike, but all the more fierce and swift for it, collided with the red wolf’s claws.
Kraaaaaaash!
The red wolf was shoved back, its claws twisting as if they might snap.
“Grrrr….”
It vented pale steam from its mouth, as if it truly felt the pain.
“You’re not scared already, are you?”
Raon raised the corners of his mouth as he looked at the red wolf glaring at him.
Splash!
Instead of charging, the red wolf dove into the sea. Even though a body like a mountain submerged, the water didn’t stir in the slightest. It felt as if the wolf itself had turned into water.
‘Its presence vanished completely.’
Even with Perception of the Snow Flower spread to the limit, blood energy and the stench of blood flooded the sea, and he couldn’t pinpoint the red wolf’s position.
‘Where….’
He stopped breathing and tried to focus on the faintest external trace—
A chilly breath brushed his back.
The moment he turned, the red wolf’s claws were already dropping toward his head.
‘That movement is this natural?’
It vanished and appeared without a sound or a ripple of presence. If so, then what the Ninth Apostle had called it—a sea spirit—might have been true.
“Killing your presence is impressive, but….”
Raon scraped the crimson sea and swept the divine sword and demonic sword upward.
Fwoooooosh!
The divine sword and demonic sword unfurled in perfect symmetry, raising crimson and azure waves.
Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation – Flawless Sea of Flames.
That Ten Thousand Flames sword art, attacking and defending at once, blocked the red wolf’s path.
Kraaaaaaash!
Driven back by the waves of flame and frost, the red wolf sank into the sea against its will. If it had taken a deep wound, then the red sea seemed to surge darker still.
Boom!
The red wolf burst out of the sea and vaulted into the air. It spread its jaws, looming so huge it blotted out the sun and moon formed by Divine-Demonic Harmony, blood dripping from its mouth.
Kraaaaaaah!
From the pitch-black throat of the red wolf, blood energy surged and poured down as crimson lightning. The wave was so vast it felt like it would erase not just Raon, but the sea itself.
‘It’s using a breath attack too?’
Like a dragon’s breath, it spewed a blood-energy exhalation meant to wipe his existence away.
“I’ll take it.”
Raon thrust the divine sword and demonic sword into the onrushing blood storm and detonated the immense aura condensed into crimson and azure sword light in an instant.
Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation – Heavenly Flame: Twin Flame Dragon Break.
Two dragons blazing with flame and frost erased the blood breath in a heartbeat and savagely hammered the red wolf’s body.
Boom!
The red wolf, flesh torn away, was hurled back violently, too rattled to regain itself, and plunged into the sea.
Hiss.
Raon lowered the divine sword and demonic sword, white steam rising from them, and watched the red wolf submerged in the sea.
‘Its wounds are healing.’
The forepaw he’d injured before, and the wounds on its chest and neck where Flame Dragon Break had ripped flesh away, were naturally sealing shut.
‘This isn’t just regeneration.’
The apostles’ regenerative power was beyond a troll’s, but the wolf’s recovery was so perfect and fast it felt like time itself was reversing to erase the injuries.
– “That mutt….”
Wrath frowned at the red wolf, which had returned to an intact state and was spilling killing intent again.
– “It’s been monsterized, but it seems its spirit traits are still intact.”
He smacked his lips, saying it wasn’t regenerating—it was restoring its form like a spirit rebuilding an ethereal body.
– “As long as the blood energy in this sea doesn’t disappear, it will revive again and again, no matter how many times you kill it.”
Wrath wrinkled his nose, as if it wouldn’t be easy to deal with.
‘Actually….’
Raon shook his head while watching the red wolf’s killing intent thicken.
‘I never planned to kill it.’
– “You didn’t plan to kill it?”
Wrath asked in an even tone, as if he’d already sensed it.
‘Yeah. That spirit was used by the White Blood Cult.’
The Ninth Apostle had said the wolf was originally a spirit that protected this sea.
He didn’t know how they’d captured it, but since they’d exploited it however they pleased, he wanted to drain the blood energy and return it to what it was.
– “That’s your kind of choice.”
Wrath gave a thin smile, as if he’d expected it.
– “Do as you like.”
‘The intention to save it stays the same, but it won’t be easy.’
Raon clicked his tongue and raised the divine sword and demonic sword.
‘Still, it’s fortunate that it isn’t skilled at combat.’
Because it had been a sea spirit, the wolf wasn’t used to combat or to controlling blood energy. It would take time, but he could suppress it in the end.
“Now….”
Raon lowered his stance, wary of the red wolf’s next rush—
Whoooosh.
The red wolf lifted itself and slowly lowered its gaze. It stared at the surface of the water where its reflection swayed, scattering a cold blood energy.
‘What is it doing?’
The red wolf seemed to have forgotten Raon was even there, just blankly looking down at the surface.
‘This feels bad. I should strike first—’
Woooooong!
The red wolf and the red wolf reflected on the surface moved differently from each other.
“Huh?”
The instant Raon’s eyes widened in alarm, another red wolf burst out of the sea.
“What the….”
As he raised his sword with a sharp exhale, two wolves became four, and when he slashed the sea that held their reflections, four became eight, surging up at once.
Whoooosh.
Raon frowned at the eight red wolves floating over the violently rolling surface.
‘They’re smaller, but…’
Their blood energy hasn’t dropped much.
The wolf that had been large enough to hide the moon was now only as big as a house, but the aura they carried wasn’t much different from the start. All eight wolves were spilling Transcendent-class power.
‘Is this even possible?’
– “It used a sea spirit’s ability to create clones.”
Wrath narrowed his eyes at the sea, boiling like magma.
‘Clones?’
Raon frowned at the snarling wolves.
‘They all look real.’
– “There is only one true body. Destroying the clones is meaningless.”
Wrath shook his head, saying the real one was separate even if they all looked identical.
‘Where….’
Raon pushed Perception of the Snow Flower to the limit and opened Demonic Eye of Wrath.
But even with both traits in use, he couldn’t feel a difference among the wolves.
‘Then I’ll have to fight and find out.’
He licked his lips as he fed power into the divine sword and demonic sword—then frowned.
‘Three are gone!’
Only five wolves remained in front of him. Three had vanished.
‘Don’t tell me….’
He turned toward a faint ripple behind him. Three red wolves surged up from three directions at once, fangs bared as they charged.
Woooooong!
With the divine sword he raised a Flame Wall, and with the demonic sword he traced Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation – Heavenly Flame: Myriad Incense of Heaven, knocking away the blood-energy strikes of two wolves.
But the central wolf slipped past Flame Wall and Myriad Incense of Heaven and slammed its body into him.
‘Too late to block with a blade.’
The third wolf’s movement was too fast. Raon raised the force of Ten Thousand Flames and formed a wall of aura.
Boom!
Even behind that thick aura wall, the wolf’s blood energy was so strong his whole body shook. It wasn’t an internal injury, but the shock made his limbs tremble and his wrists refuse to move smoothly.
‘If it hits head-on, it’s dangerous.’
He’d thought he could endure because it was a body-check, not a claw strike, but it was far more dangerous than expected. He’d have to evade or block with a blade every time.
‘But…’
There’s no time to reflect.
Not just the three wolves that had opened with the first attack—now the five that remained also rushed him, spewing sinister blood energy.
Claaang!
Raon thrust Thirty-Six Crimson Slashes into the two wolves charging from the front to drive them back, then cut down the two wolves diving in from the left with the blade of Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation – Heavenly Flame: Frost Lotus.
But one wolf still remained.
‘This one, I’ll—’
He stepped into Supreme Harmony Steps, moving like a wave to evade the last wolf’s blood-energy claws.
“Kyaaaooo!”
Just as he tried to breathe again, the three wolves he’d first driven back came at him again, fangs bared.
‘No choice.’
Raon used Sword Control to draw the Wooden Wheel Sword from the right side of his waist and blocked the three wolves’ teeth.
Hiss!
Frost blooming over the Wooden Wheel Sword collided with the wolves’ blood energy, scattering thick sparks through the air.
Kyaaaang!
Without a moment to ease his breathing, Raon swung the divine sword and demonic sword again, knocking away the wolves’ claws.
“Grrrrr.”
The red wolves restored the wounds they’d taken from blood energy and stared him down with crazed eyes. The malice felt like it wouldn’t retreat even in death.
“You can’t even sit, but you’ve got plenty of tricks. Still, you’ll bow in the end.”
Raon curled his lip as he beat back the wolves’ ever more violent charges.
“Even the toughest can’t stand before a hawk!”
—
Kyaaaang!
Raon cut down the eight red wolves charging from all directions with Azure Sky and the techniques of Sky Piercing Thunder, then drew in a short breath.
‘Now I can’t even spare room to breathe.’
How much time has passed?
Facing eight Transcendent-class monsters made one second feel like a minute and one minute feel like ten. He didn’t even have the spare attention to count time.
Hiss!
The red wolves restored the flesh torn away by Everlasting Sky and Sky Piercing Thunder, then stood before him again and exhaled blood energy.
Kraaaaaaash!
Raon erased the blood-energy breath they spewed with Sky Piercing Thunder – Great Blaze of the Midheaven, then ground his teeth.
‘It’s getting harder to deal with them.’
Even in a berserk state, the wolves were reading his movements and swordsmanship, growing faster and sharper by the moment. They weren’t stupid spirits—they were learning monsters.
‘And I’m reading their movement too, but…’
There are too many.
As true body and clones, the eight red wolves attacked in perfect coordination, like gears interlocking. Even if he read their movement, it was extremely difficult to answer them.
Kyaaaang!
Driven back by the wolves’ combined assault, Raon bit down on his bleeding lip.
‘So I did take an internal injury.’
Continuous clashes in a disadvantageous state had stirred a nauseating pain deep inside. It wasn’t severe yet, but the internal injury had clearly flared.
‘Annoying.’
He was suffering like this to save the thing, and it was thrashing like a mad dog—it made his chest feel tight.
‘Should I just erase them all?’
Starting with Azure Crimson Invincible Blade, he was confident he could pour out linked techniques and wipe those wolves out without a trace.
‘…Hoo.’
Raon suppressed the emotion rising in him and calmly shook his head.
‘Think of this as training.’
It was a battle with beasts, but if he carved out a result here, he could grow a step further.
Woooooong!
Raon decided to follow the path he’d chosen at the start and opened the soul’s rank as a sign he would accept everything.
Claaang!
As he steadied his mind and blocked the four wolves charging from left and right, a scene he didn’t recognize flashed across his mind.
‘The White Blood Cult Leader?’
A woman who seemed to be the White Blood Cult Leader held the leash of a small, young wolf and recited a spell that sent chills through the bones.
‘That isn’t my memory.’
Raon swallowed dryly as he looked at the wolf baring crazed fangs.
‘It’s this thing’s memory.’
Perhaps because he’d opened his soul, the wolf’s memory was bleeding into him regardless of either of their will.
‘So it really was captured against its will by the White Blood Cult Leader.’
Just as the Ninth Apostle had said, the spirit had been caught and forced to consume blood energy and blood.
Kyaaaang!
When he blocked a wolf charging head-on with its body, another scene surfaced.
This time it was the Ninth Apostle, gathering other sea spirits before the wolf and threatening them. The White Blood Cult hadn’t only used this wolf—they’d exploited other spirits too.
After that, the images continued: it devouring blood and blood energy against its will, for the sake of other spirits or sea creatures.
‘You’ve suffered.’
Raon bit his lip as he met the wolf’s eyes, blood energy streaming as it shrieked in rage.
‘Truly.’
This spirit had endured far more pain than he’d imagined, and even now, in this moment, it was suffering under a vicious wound.
– “Those filthy blood fiends!”
Wrath clenched a round fist, as if he was seeing the same thing.
– “Next time I see them, this King will beat them all to death!”
He revealed sincere killing intent toward the White Blood Cult, genuinely enraged by the spirit’s past.
‘First, let’s save this wolf.’
Raon took a deep breath and looked over the red wolves that kept exploding with blood energy.
‘This isn’t the time to treat it as training.’
I have to save it first.
As fast as possible, he wanted to give this wolf not death, but the comfort of freedom.
‘But the method…’
He bit down and started to shake his head—
[Trait Perception of the Snow Flower has increased in rank.]
[Trait Demonic Eye of Wrath has increased in rank.]
[Trait Perception of the Snow Flower and Demonic Eye of Wrath have evolved in linked synergy.]
[A new trait Azure Mind’s Eye has been created.]
A cold chill bloomed over his eyes, which had been weighed down by fatigue, and within his senses and vision he began to see a lone wolf among the eight that carried a blue core.
No—more than that. He could also see the transparent blood energy pressing down on the true body’s soul. It was unmistakably the blood energy the White Blood Cult Leader had planted at the start.
Kiiiiiyaaah!
As if it realized its true body had been exposed through Raon’s gaze, the red wolf exploded with killing intent and charged together with its clones.
Raon Zieghart Swordsmanship.
Form Six: Divine-Demonic Harmony—Azure Crimson Invincible Blade.
He fired Azure Crimson Invincible Blade with the fading divine sword and demonic sword, driving all eight wolves back.
Grrrrr!
Even after taking Azure Crimson Invincible Blade, the wolves didn’t lose consciousness. They instantly regenerated their ruined bodies and surged at him again.
The true wolf visible through Azure Mind’s Eye wasn’t in the rear—it was at the very front, baring its fangs at him. Just like the temperament he’d seen in its memories.
Ssssss.
Raon lowered Heavenly Drive and the Wooden Wheel Sword and raised the Soul Requiem Sword.
“Please. Lend me your strength.”
He lifted the Soul Requiem Sword and asked for help from the wraiths howling within blood energy.
Woooooong!
As if agreeing to grant his request, the wraiths within the Soul Requiem Sword rang out with a clear sword hum, stirring a green wind.
Whoooosh.
Recalling his realizations so far and the blue wolf’s past burned into his mind, Raon launched a Heart Sword formed with the Soul Requiem Sword at the crimson blood energy devouring the wolf’s soul.
Screeeeeech!
The Heart Sword tore through space and time and burrowed into the pure white blood energy pressing down on the red wolf’s mind.
‘T-This…’
But his Heart Sword’s realm wasn’t enough. It couldn’t push the blood energy aside—it only embedded there, stuck.
Kraaaaaaah!
Seizing that opening, the seven wolves other than the true body bared their fangs and rushed at him.
Kyaaaang!
Raon raised Heavenly Drive and the Wooden Wheel Sword to defend, but because his mind was focused on the Heart Sword, the wolves forced his blades aside and began tearing at his skin with blood energy.
“Cough…!”
Even as flesh ripped and blood spilled from his mouth, Raon didn’t retreat. He focused only on maintaining the Heart Sword’s flow.
‘I can’t retreat. Not now.’
He could never lose to the White Blood Cult’s blood energy—blood energy that had turned an innocent spirit into a demon and viewed people as nothing but feed.
‘And…’
If he couldn’t even save this wolf, then saving Martha’s mother would be impossible, even in death.
To erase the past and change the future, he opened every layer of rank he had built up so far.
“I’ll save you. From that hell.”
Even in a moment where his life was at risk, Raon focused only on the Heart Sword’s flow.
Trusting the path of the sword he had built, he took one step further forward—
And a golden radiance surged over the Heart Sword that carried his soul.
[Trait Heart Sword (Spirit) has increased in rank.]
The moment the Heart Sword’s realm rose, the blade of the Heart Sword formed with the Soul Requiem Sword sharpened like a honed edge and cleanly shredded the White Blood Cult Leader’s blood energy that had wrapped the red wolf’s soul.
Baaang!