Chapter 1067
“You’re still the same, Master.”
Raon looked at Rimmer, standing tall with his back straight, and let out a hollow laugh.
‘That’s not an act.’
He had considered the possibility that it was the White Blood Lord’s spell, but it absolutely was not. The only Elf who could brazenly ask to borrow money like that was Rimmer.
》”Correct!”
Wrath nodded vigorously, his jaw jutting out.
》”That shameless face can’t be recreated by some mere spell!”
The guy grinned brightly, saying it truly was that rascal.
“Master? Martha used to call me Master too….”
Rimmer’s eyes widened as if he found it strange.
“Why is everyone calling me Master?”
He tilted his head, seemingly unable to understand.
“So you really did help Martha, Master.”
Judging from Rimmer’s words, it seemed he had helped Martha achieve her revenge from inside the Sword Field Creation.
“I just gave her a little push.”
Rimmer waved his hand, saying he had done nothing special.
“She was the one who moved her own legs and swung the sword.”
He curled his lips, saying Martha had become a swordsman he could be proud of.
“I agree.”
Raon nodded as he thought of Martha, who had finally achieved her goal.
“Enough! Why do you keep calling me Master?!”
Rimmer frowned, sounding genuinely curious.
“What else would I call you? You’re not in the Division Leader’s seat anymore, and you’re not the Vice Division Leader either.”
Raon raised a hand toward Rimmer.
“It feels too distant to call you Instructor like in the old days, so Master fits best.”
There were other things he could call him, but “Master” was the best title to describe Rimmer.
“If you don’t like ‘Master,’ I can call you slacker, gambler, debtor, or sleepyhead instead.”
Raon moved his fingers one by one as he listed the options.
“L-let’s just go with Master.”
Rimmer sighed, saying none of those were any good. Standing face-to-face and talking like this made it feel like they had returned to the days they spent together in the Fifth Training Ground.
“Right. Come to think of it, I really am dead.”
Rimmer realized that was why he could no longer be called Division Leader or Vice Division Leader, and let out a bitter smile.
“That’s right….”
Raon pressed his lips together firmly.
“But how did you get into the Soul Requiem Sword?”
To lighten the somber mood, he asked about something he had been curious about.
“Not sure?”
Rimmer blinked as if asking why he was being asked that.
“Huh?”
“Maybe they pulled me in, or maybe I went in on my own. I don’t really know.”
He shrugged, saying that even he did not know how it had happened.
“That really is a Master-like answer.”
Raon let out a hollow laugh and nodded. Even though he still had no answer, he was happy. He wished this moment could last a little longer.
“But thanks to that, I got to see a lot of good things.”
Rimmer slowly lowered his eyes.
“I was always by your side. When you reached Transcendence and avenged me, when you brought down the Black Tower, when you split the Fallen One’s soul, and today, when you tore apart the White Blood Lord’s soul.”
He said he had been there for all those moments as he lifted his eyelids.
“Still, more than any of those amazing feats, all the moments I spent with you all—eating together, training together, sleeping together—made me happy.”
Rimmer smiled gently, saying that just watching over the Light Wind Palace had been enough for him.
“So in the end, you were just slacking off.”
Raon gave a faint smile, asking why he had not shown himself if he had always been there.
“Sorry. You know I sleep a lot.”
Rimmer clasped his hands together as if begging forgiveness for his mischief.
“Actually, it was because it was you that I entrusted the Light Wind to. If it had been anyone else, I wouldn’t have handed the kids over even if the Family Head himself ordered it. My choice was right after all.”
He looked over the swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace outside one by one, his gaze tinged with nostalgia.
“Master….”
Raon looked at Rimmer’s quiet eyes and let out a heavy sigh.
“Your thoughts on the Family Head… are they still the same?”
Rimmer raised his right brow, as if asking what he thought of Zieghart’s Family Head now.
“No. Now….”
Raon thought of the war that had taken place today and lifted his eyes, the wavering in them having disappeared.
“I want to climb up and see it for myself.”
After taking revenge on Derus, he had grown far too attached to the people of Zieghart—no, to Zieghart itself—to simply leave.
If possible, he wanted to become the Family Head and be a wall that could protect everyone, just like Glenn.
“I knew it! That’s your throne!”
Rimmer clapped crisply. Hearing his applause again after so long made Raon’s heart burn hot.
“Get rid of jealous old men like that geezer and Karoon, and climb up there already!”
He shook his fist as he said words that would make Glenn call down dozens of bolts of lightning if he heard them.
“Karoon has changed a lot too. He’s not an easy opponent anymore.”
“Well, that’s true. I never expected him to change that much either.”
Rimmer chuckled, saying there were ways to fix people after all.
“Ah, wait! You! I asked if you had money. Why aren’t you answering?!”
He seemed to remember his request for money and stretched his hand out toward Raon.
“I have plenty of money.”
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at Rimmer’s palm.
“Just not any to give you.”
No matter how addicted to gambling Rimmer was, he had never imagined he would lose even his underwear while gambling with vengeful spirits. It was so absurd that he felt some vitality returning to his body.
“You really lost money to vengeful spirits?”
“That’s what I said! Those guys are card sharks! Sharks! The cards kept changing in their hands!”
Rimmer shook a deck of playing cards he had produced from who-knew-where. Seeing that, it really did seem he had been gambling inside the Soul Requiem Sword.
“Sigh….”
Raon held his forehead and let out a long sigh.
“So what, do I burn the gold coins and melt them down for you? Or bury them?”
Since money for the dead was usually sent by burning or burying it, he asked which method he preferred.
“Huh? Did you become an idiot while I wasn’t looking?”
Rimmer circled a finger beside his head as if Raon were insane.
“Of course you send it to a person! I even have an address!”
He tapped his own forehead, telling Raon to get a grip.
》”Aargh, how annoying!”
Wrath ground his teeth.
》”That bastard has the talent to piss this king off even after dying and coming back!”
Even while saying the rascal was just as irritating as ever after seeing him again, the guy wore the faintest smile.
“An, an address? Vengeful spirits have addresses?”
Raon frowned, saying he could not understand.
“Of course a real address! You’ve been using the Heart Sword too much. You’ve gotten stupid!”
“No, when we’re talking about vengeful spirits and then suddenly a real person’s address comes up, of course I’d be flustered!”
Raon protested. It felt like the first time since Rimmer died that he had been flustered by someone’s words, and he found himself laughing.
“Some of the vengeful spirits have parents or children outside the village. Some want to help old acquaintances. I’d like you to look after those people a little.”
As he said that, Rimmer placed a hand on his own forehead.
Thump.
The moment a gentle wind blew from his fingertips, the stories of the vengeful spirits, the locations of the people they wanted cared for, and their faces rose in Raon’s mind.
“Can you do it?”
Rimmer clasped his hands together as if asking earnestly.
“Master, you….”
Raon touched his own forehead where Rimmer’s hand had been and smiled softly.
“You really are exactly the same.”
Despite his outward appearance of seeming like human trash, his Master still possessed a heart deeper than anyone else’s. Confirming that he had not changed put Raon’s unsteadily swaying heart at ease.
“Understood. I’ll take care of everything with the money you left behind. I’m still donating to that orphanage too.”
Raon told him not to worry and nodded solemnly.
“Ah, hearing you say it like that makes me embarrassed….”
Rimmer grabbed his head as if remembering his secret stash.
“Usually, normal people feel proud about donating and embarrassed about gambling, don’t they?”
Raon let out a hollow laugh as he looked at Rimmer doing the opposite.
“I’m not a normal, ordinary person!”
“That’s true too. You damn Elf….”
He chuckled and nodded. Just trading silly jokes like this made all his fatigue feel as though it were blowing away.
“And… hmm?”
Rimmer was about to say something else, but lowered his brows as he looked at the gradually fading vengeful spirits.
“Looks like time’s up.”
He smacked his lips, saying it seemed it was time to go.
“The vengeful spirits….”
Raon looked at the fading vengeful spirits, his fingertips trembling.
“They can go somewhere good, right?”
“No.”
Rimmer shook his head, the smile gone from his face.
“No matter how unjustly they died, these guys ignored the world’s order and remained in this land. If they had stopped there, maybe. But in the end, they achieved their revenge too, so they can’t go to a good place.”
He let out a turbid breath, saying that only extinction remained for them.
“I see….”
He had honestly known already, but hearing it said aloud made his chest ache. It felt as though his journey with the Soul Requiem Sword was truly ending here.
“So….”
Rimmer took a step closer to him.
“These guys want to give you one last gift.”
He flicked his finger, and the vengeful spirits surged toward Raon, just as they had when they targeted the White Blood Lord.
Whoooooosh!
However, unlike when they had bared their fangs to devour the White Blood Lord, they approached Raon’s soul without exposing their teeth, leaving behind the pure energies they possessed.
“W-wait! If they leave this power with me, then they….”
Raon looked at Rimmer with trembling eyes.
“That power is meaningless to them now. It’s a gift from your comrades-in-arms, so the proper thing to do is accept it.”
Rimmer nodded, saying it was enough if he simply remained grateful.
“Comrades-in-arms….”
Raon bit his lip deeply as he watched his own soul grow stronger while the vengeful spirits grew weaker.
Whoooosh!
The vengeful spirits transferred the pure energy and soul they possessed to Raon, then returned behind Rimmer.
They were wrapped in a purple airstream, just as they had been when they first entered the Soul Requiem Sword.
[You have received the sincere gratitude of the vengeful spirits.]
[The trait <Heart Sword (Spirit)> evolves into the trait <Heart Sword>.]
Now able to draw out the Heart Sword through his own power alone, Raon offered the Zieghart sword salute to the vengeful spirits.
“Thank you.”
Just as the vengeful spirits had shown him sincerity, he too showed them his sincerity.
Whoooooosh!
The vengeful spirits sent one last voice saying they were even more grateful, then slowly rose into the empty air. Their very existence began to be erased from this world.
“This is the end.”
Rimmer looked at his own body fading, just like the vengeful spirits, and let out a slender smile.
“What will happen to you, Master?”
Raon grabbed Rimmer’s hand.
“My soul has also turned turbid from staying with the vengeful spirits, so I probably won’t be able to return to the World Tree right away.”
Rimmer frowned, saying it would be hard for him to melt into nature like other Elves.
“If I become the wind and wander the world until my soul is purified, then maybe I’ll visit. I might even become a Spirit.”
He said he would still keep watching over them, waving his hand calmly.
“Master….”
Raon did not let go of Rimmer’s hand and gritted his teeth.
“I wanted to watch Martha complete her revenge, watch Runaan overcome her trauma, and watch Burren knock down his father, but what I wanted to see most was you ascending Zieghart’s throne. I’ll definitely be watching.”
He said he would come no matter what, then freed his hand from Raon’s grip.
“I guess I can’t call you Little King anymore. Become a king you yourself can be proud of.”
Rimmer said that was his final request, then rose into the sky as a green wind.
“Tell the kids of the Light Wind Palace to live doing what makes them happy. If you keep everything bottled up, it just makes you sick.”
He smacked his lips, seemingly regretting that he did not have time to visit each of them and give them advice.
“Ah! And lastly, tell Sheryl not to forget me, to remember me forever! Tell her to stay alone no matter what!”
Rimmer shouted that he absolutely had to pass that message on, then disappeared northward together with the purple mist left behind by the vengeful spirits.
》”Th-that’s basically telling her to live as an old maid!”
Wrath’s mouth fell open in disbelief.
》”Cursing her on the way out! He really is a madman!”
The guy shook his head, calling Rimmer a genuine lunatic.
‘That’s not it.’
Raon shook his head calmly.
‘Lady Sheryl would never listen to Master, so he meant the opposite. He wanted her to forget him and meet someone good.’
Rimmer wanted Sheryl to forget him and be happy.
“You must….”
Raon wiped away the transparent, pale green teardrop forming at the corner of his eye as he looked at the sky where Rimmer had disappeared.
“You must come.”
He vowed to show Rimmer the very moment he was waiting for, gripping Heavenly Drive.
===
“…Are you okay?”
Runaan grabbed Raon’s shoulder, her eyes wide open.
“A purple flash burst out from the hilt of the Soul Requiem Sword, and then you didn’t move for a while.”
Burren shook his head, saying he had thought Raon had opened his eyes only to faint standing up.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
Raon picked up the Wooden Wheel Sword that had fallen at his feet and let out a weary smile.
“There’s something I need to tell you all….”
“Raon!”
Martha, who had been checking on Denier, raised her hand toward him.
“I saw that lazy Elf! In the Heart Sword you sent….”
“I met him too.”
Raon nodded, saying he already knew.
“Th-that lazy Elf? Don’t tell me….”
“Don’t say ‘don’t tell me’! There’s only one lazy Elf in the world!”
“You saw Master?”
“Where? How?”
The swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace, who had been busy doing all sorts of things, all gathered around Raon and Martha.
“Let me speak first. Inside my Sword Field Creation….”
Martha told them first what had happened to her.
“W-wait. So Miss Rakshasa can’t wield a sword anymore?”
Runaan’s pupils trembled as if she could not believe Martha was no longer a swordsman.
“Yeah. There’s a restriction on my soul. Even if I try to hold one, I probably won’t be able to use swordsmanship anymore.”
Martha nodded, saying the Blood Oath was coiled around her soul.
“You. No. Sigh….”
Burren merely moved his lips, as if he did not know what to say.
“I’m fine. Thanks to that, I was able to complete my revenge.”
Martha let out a refreshing smile, saying she did not regret it in the slightest.
“Sniff!”
“Martha….”
The swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace seemed to understand Martha’s resolve and did not ask anything more, only biting their lips.
“I’ll explain the rest. When the hilt of the Soul Requiem Sword shattered….”
To lighten the heavy atmosphere, Raon told them what had happened with Rimmer.
“Gambling with vengeful spirits? That Elf really hasn’t changed.”
Burren chuckled as if Rimmer’s pathetic face had come to mind.
“Yeah. He’s still an idiot….”
Runaan nodded, the corners of her mouth lifting ever so slightly.
“Master really was easy to learn from….”
Krein lowered his eyes, saying that he had only realized Rimmer’s value in hindsight.
“At least he didn’t try to kill us. This place is hell….”
Dorian sighed, saying the level of training had been entirely different.
“It’s thanks to that hellish training from you, Palace Lord, that we’re still alive right now.”
Mark Gorton placed a hand on his sword, saying that facing the Heart Sword had allowed them to withstand the White Blood Lord’s pressure.
“That’s true.”
Martha nodded in agreement.
“If not for that training, I would’ve died long ago.”
She smiled thinly, saying enduring that brutal training was what had allowed her to hold on.
“Besides… ah!”
Martha urgently turned her gaze toward a groan coming from beside her.
“Are you awake?”
Seeing Denier, who had been lying collapsed, struggling to lift his eyelids, she immediately rushed over to him.
“Ma, Martha….”
Denier spoke Martha’s name in a dry, parched voice.
“A-are you okay?”
Martha took Denier’s hand. Judging by the desperation in her eyes, it seemed she still regarded Denier as her father.
“I’m sorry. Truly sorry….”
Denier repeated his apology in a hoarse voice.
“Don’t talk! The medical team will be here soon, so just wait a little longer!”
Martha shouted at him to stay still, holding his shoulders so he could not move.
“I, I was born in a false place, but thanks to you, I was able to live truthfully in the end.”
Denier slowly raised his hand with a gentle smile.
“Thank you, truly.”
He tapped Martha’s forehead with his pale, glowing fingers.
“Blood Energy?”
Runaan gritted her teeth and drew her sword.
“No.”
Raon raised his arm to stop Runaan. It was an Art that transferred one’s memories to another, just like what Rimmer had done to him.
“Ah, ahh…”
Martha sat there blankly, as if reading Denier’s memories, before her eyes shot wide open with a gasp.
“Y-You. How could you do something like that…”
Her eyes filled with tears, so thick they obscured her dark pupils.
“Thanks to you, I can now die as a human…”
Denier offered the smile of a loving father, as if to prove he was indeed human.
“I shall take the Karmic Burden that remains with you.”
He reached out with a sudden roughness, as if his Original Body’s strength had returned, and grabbed Martha’s wrist.
Wooooong!
The Blood Essence of the Blood Pact coiled around Martha’s Soul began to be sucked into Denier.
“Let go! Let go of me!”
Martha shrieked and tried to wrench her hand away, but he refused to let go.
It seemed he was using all the vitality from his final radiance, the last burst of life before death.
‘The Blood Pact has become a curse.’
Unlike Martha, who was keeping her promise, Denier would suffer excruciating pain for transferring her Blood Pact to his own Soul. That pain would likely not fade even in death.
“Keuk…”
Denier coughed up blood repeatedly, as if in unbearable agony, but he never let go of Martha’s wrist. His unyielding will blazed like a fire in his red eyes.
Zzzzzzt!
In the end, Denier managed to pull the Blood Oath that had been constricting Martha’s Soul into his own, amplifying it several times over in the process.
“W-Why… why would you…”
“You were the light of my life.”
Denier raised a trembling hand and wiped away the tears streaming down Martha’s face.
“My beloved daughter.”
With those words of love as his last, he closed his eyes. His damp hand, as heavy as a stone, fell to the ground.
“G-Get up…”
Martha clutched Denier’s sleeve, her chin trembling.
“Get up! You promised you’d tell me what happened! Not with some memories, but with your own words!”
She slammed her bleeding fist on the ground and buried her face in Denier’s chest.
“Dad…”