Chapter 818

“Huff…”

Krein let out a ragged breath as he climbed the darkness-drenched mountain.

His eyes trembled violently as if drowning in a sea of anxiety.

“Where is it?”

Krein bit down on his lip and darted his gaze to both sides.

“They’ve got to be watching…”

He gulped dryly and tried to hide behind a large zelkova tree when—

Piaaaang!

A blue blade shot out from the shadow of the tree, aiming for Krein’s throat.

“Eek!”

Startled, Krein instinctively swung his sword to block the blade that had surged from the shadow.

“Guh!”

But the force behind the strike was so immense that he was flung backward like a kicked pebble.

“Ugh…”

As Krein groaned in pain and looked up, he saw Burren shaking his head with a dry gaze.

“The direction was right, but your reaction was too slow. Focus more.”

Leaving those words behind, Burren vanished back into the darkness.

“Huff…”

Krein wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead and got back on his feet.

‘This area’s dangerous.’

He lifted his heels and quietly moved to the right, trying to make no sound. He was just about to hide behind a large rock shaped like a tiger when heavy footsteps thundered from up the mountain.

“So you were here.”

It was Martha. She charged in like a wild beast, wearing a striking and fierce grin.

“Aaaargh!”

Krein screamed and thrust his sword with all his strength at the charging Martha—a desperate attempt to survive.

“Too slow!”

Martha shouted that she saw it all and brushed aside Krein’s strike effortlessly.

Claaang!

A powerful shockwave erupted between their swords, and Krein was forced to his knees, sliding off to the right.

“Guhh…”

Krein’s hands trembled, unable to completely disperse the impact from Martha’s blow.

“You can keep going, right?”

Martha grinned chillingly and raised her sword again. The heavy slash fell like a giant swinging a greatsword down on his head.

‘My head? It’s going for my head, right? Not my chest?! If that hits, I’m dead!’

Fighting back tears, Krein exploded his condensed energy above his head just as the strike came down.

KWAANG!

With a fierce blast, Krein was flung back and crashed into the ground.

“Urgh…”

The impact was so intense he couldn’t even lift his head as he groaned.

“If you’re sure about something, block it right away! Why’re you hesitating like an idiot!”

Martha scolded him for his lack of focus, kicked him in the stomach, snorted, and disappeared up the mountain again.

“Ugh…”

Krein trembled as he slowly got up.

‘If I stay here, I’ll run into that beast again.’

Even though his body felt drained, he forced himself to move. If he got hit again by Martha in this state, he wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon.

“Huff.”

Krein lowered his breath like a plant pretending to be lifeless and began descending the mountain.

He tried to distance himself from Burren and Martha, but an icy chill seemed to rise from his very bones.

“A chill? N-no way…”

Krein swallowed hard and tried to retreat, but a silver wind began to swirl around him.

‘Damn it! She’s here!’

There was no mistaking who it was. Runaan had summoned a wind of frost that wrapped around the area.

‘Where is she?’

A chilling energy could be felt from within the silver storm, but he couldn’t pinpoint her exact location. Cold sweat dripped from his palms due to the tension.

‘I’ll have to erase everything before she arrives!’

If he didn’t know where the attack was coming from, then the only solution was to erase it all.

Chiiing!

Krein gathered all his aura and unleashed a buzz-saw-like energy wave toward the surrounding frost.

KWAOOOOOM!

The wave of energy spread like a web, clearing away the silver wind.

Feeling a moment of relief, he tried to catch his breath—but then five strikes shot out from the fading frost.

THWACK!

Krein was struck by the blade of frost and rolled across the frozen ground.

“Guhh…”

He let out a pained gasp and slowly lifted his trembling head.

“……”

Runaan emerged from the frost, her eyes calm as she looked at him.

“Don’t ever let your guard down. Whether you block or dodge—think about how to minimize the damage.”

She tapped her forehead twice as if to say always think, then vanished into the frosty mist.

“Urgh…”

Krein couldn’t get up. He collapsed where he was.

“I’m gonna die. Why the hell am I going through this…”

Raon said it’d be slightly tough training, but experiencing it firsthand—it wasn’t slightly tough, it was deathly hard.

‘He made the focus training even harsher…’

Until now, the focus training had been ambushes that you could somewhat block, and after encountering a trainer once, you were left alone until you hid again.

But in today’s training, if you only blocked “somewhat,” you’d die. The attacks were filled with killing intent. Not only Raon, Rimmer, and The Gambling Monster were involved—now even the transformed team leaders were participating, giving them no room to relax.

It was so intense that even after dawn, he didn’t feel sleepy at all.

“Aaaargh!”

“Guhhhk!”

“W-wait a second!”

From all over the mountain, the clash of blades and the screams of Light Wind Division swordsmen echoed.

It meant Krein wasn’t alone—the entire mountain was filled with Light Wind Division members getting beaten.

Honestly, this didn’t feel like training—it felt like one-sided abuse.

“Damn…”

Krein gritted his teeth and straightened his back.

If he stayed like this and ran into another team leader, Rimmer, or Raon, he’d really be beaten unconscious. He couldn’t afford to lie around.

“Haa…”

As he steadied his breathing and stood up, someone appeared from the opposite side.

“Eek!”

“Huh!”

He panicked and raised his sword—only to hear a startled groan from the other side as well.

As Krein squinted to identify the figure, the cloud-covered moon peeked out, revealing the other person’s face.

“Dorian?”

The swordsman in front of him was Dorian.

But he, too, looked like he had taken quite a beating—his clothes were in tatters, and both eyes were bruised like a panda’s.

“Why are you here?”

Dorian was one of the people responsible for dragging the Light Wind Division into this hell.

Krein couldn’t understand why the bait had ended up swimming in the lava too.

“Sniff…”

Dorian wiped his tears with a torn sleeve.

“I awakened Mind’s Eye, but my actual skills didn’t change much… so he told me to join in too…”

He sniffled, saying Raon shoved him into the training regardless.

“Everyone’s hitting me harder because I can see where the attacks are coming from.”

Dorian slumped to the ground, saying he was getting hit worse than the other swordsmen.

“Hah…”

Krein gave a hollow laugh as he watched Dorian cry.

“Is our division leader even human…?”

Normally, you’d treat a whistleblower or insider informant with some consideration. But Raon had dragged Dorian—one of the key contributors to this training setup—into hell along with everyone else. It was inhuman.

“He’s terrifying. Absolutely terrifying…”

Krein shook his head, overcome with Raon’s ruthlessness.

“If I were stronger than that guy…”

Dorian clenched his fist toward the night sky.

“I’d punch him in the gut every time we ate…”

He bit his lip, bitter about his own weakness.

“Same here.”

Krein sighed and nodded.

“If I were stronger than him, I’d bash his head every time we made eye contact!”

He trembled with both fists clenched in frustration.

“You think we’ll ever get stronger than the division leader?”

“Get real.”

Krein shook his head, crushing Dorian’s dream.

“Then why the hell did you help him in the first place?!”

He frowned, blaming Dorian for their current suffering.

“Like I knew it would end up like this!”

Dorian jumped to his feet, scrunching his nose.

“That guy’s personality doesn’t show up even with Mind’s Eye!”

He shook his head wildly, saying not even his ability could have predicted this outcome.

“Sigh, it’s just curse words at this point…”

As Krein let out a well-aged sigh—

“Guaaaagh!”

Someone screamed nearby. Krein couldn’t tell what happened, but the shriek sounded like someone got stabbed to death.

“……”

“……”

Krein and Dorian immediately shut their mouths and silently rose to their feet.

Nodding to each other, the two slipped quietly into the forest.

“Uwaaaah!”

“Kyaaaaagh!”

But not long after, their screams echoed together in perfect harmony.

* * *

“Nice sound.”

Raon flicked his finger to the rhythm of the Light Wind Division’s screams.

–You made this hell and even tossed Wallet Guy into it… Youuuu… you’re truly…

Wrath stared at Raon with trembling eyes, as if looking at a Celestial.

‘It’s true their skills are lacking.’

Raon casually waved his hand.

‘And Dorian still needs to grow.’

Though Dorian had awakened Mind’s Eye, there hadn’t been a significant change in terms of combat power.

Since his potential was vast, letting him slack off would be a waste. Even if it was hard now, pushing him would help him grow for real.

–Well, that’s true, but from a humane perspective… no, my bad. You’re not human.

Wrath shook his head, saying he misspoke.

‘I am human, though…’

Raon smacked his lips and grabbed the Heavenly Drive Sword with both hands.

–But why are you just standing there? I thought you’d go around beating them yourself.

Wrath blinked, surprised.

‘I plan to beat them in a different way this time.’

Raon grinned and tossed the Heavenly Drive Sword into the air.

His aura and intent connected naturally, and the Heavenly Drive Sword let out a cry as if it were alive.

–W-wait, no way…

‘Yeah. It’s the Founding Patriarch’s Sword Control.’

Thanks to seeing the Sword Control technique in his dream and completely absorbing its martial manual, Raon could now reproduce a faint version of the founding patriarch’s Sword Control technique.

‘It’s still rough, though.’

Its power and speed were lacking, making it unfit for real combat—but perfect for training.

–So you’re going to attack the Light Wind Division with that?

‘Exactly.’

Raon smiled and launched the flame-tinged Sword Control into the sky.

‘It’s win-win. I get to train, and so do they.’

–No, that thing’s impossible to block!

Wrath violently shook his head, saying this couldn’t be allowed.

–Even the team leaders won’t be able to stop it!

‘That’s not my problem.’

Still smiling, Raon aimed the Sword Control at the nearest Light Wind Division swordsman and launched it.

Paaaaang!

The Heavenly Drive Sword shot like a yellow flash across the night sky, falling toward the shoulder of a swordsman hiding behind a rock.

“Kyaaaaagh!”

Dorian, who had been catching his breath behind the rock, screamed and raised his sword. But since even Mind’s Eye couldn’t read the Sword Control’s trajectory, his pupils swelled with confusion.

“Where’s it coming from?!”

Chiiiing!

Raon easily deflected Dorian’s sloppy defense and smacked him in the stomach with the hilt.

“Guhh!”

Dorian let out a duck-like cry and collapsed on the spot.

“T-this is too much… using Sword Control is just unfair…”

He sobbed, saying Raon was trying to kill him.

“Relying too much on Mind’s Eye isn’t good either. You have to build real strength if you want its effects to multiply. And also…”

Raon nodded, speaking to Dorian through the Heavenly Drive Sword.

“If you want to punch my gut, feel free to try. I’ll welcome it anytime.”

“Hiiik!”

Dorian flinched and trembled.

“Y-you heard that?”

“You said it loud enough for the whole mountain to hear.”

Raon giggled as he watched Dorian’s pale face.

“Th-then…”

“Yeah. Time to beat up Krein next.”

Just as Raon was about to go find Krein, Dorian raised his hand.

“Um, Division Leader?”

“I’m not going to go easy on you.”

Raon shook his head, saying he was sorry, but he couldn’t pull punches during training.

“That’s not it…”

Dorian crouched slightly and lowered his voice.

“Can you… hit Krein harder than you hit me? Please.”

He put his hands together and begged Raon to hit Krein twice as hard, saying it was okay if he didn’t get any leniency himself.

‘See?’

Raon shrugged and pointed at Dorian.

‘Humans are all like this.’

–He learned that from you!

* * *

Before dawn, Raon finished the Light Wind Division’s danger-sensing training and returned to the Fifth Training Ground from the mountain.

The sound of strong wind echoed from inside. Mark Gorton was still there, swinging his saber alone.

“Is your training going well?”

Raon approached Mark Gorton and tapped his scabbard lightly.

‘He’s grown, but it’s still a bit lacking.’

Originally, he should’ve brought Mark Gorton along with the three team leaders to the Holy Sword Alliance, but since he wasn’t sure what the place would be like, he couldn’t risk bringing a saberman like Mark.

Now, though, he regretted not bringing him.

“Whew…”

Mark Gorton lowered his saber and wiped the sweat from his brow.

“I trained as hard as I could here, but I’m still lacking.”

He seemed to recall how far Burren, Martha, and Runaan had advanced and shook his head.

But there was no sign of discouragement—he just smiled calmly, as if he were simply doing what needed to be done.

“You don’t seem impatient.”

“Of course not.”

Mark Gorton nodded serenely.

“Before you took me in, Sir Raon, I stayed in the same place for decades. Being able to grow even a little now feels like heaven.”

He smiled, saying the moment his effort turned into even the smallest results was happiness itself.

“I see.”

Raon returned the smile as he looked at Mark Gorton.

As expected, those who had experienced soul-crushing despair had a different kind of mental strength.

–Hey! Explain it properly! Heaven’s not actually that great!

Wrath frantically shook his head, insisting the Demon Realm was far superior.

“Oh, but lately I’ve been considering expanding my saber techniques a bit.”

“Expanding?”

“I’ve only trained in one direction, so I think it might be good to add other techniques or insights.”

Mark Gorton licked his lips, wondering if he should diversify his martial path.

“Is that what you really want?”

“Well, to be honest, I’d like to stay as I am. But if it’ll help me grow more…”

“Learning other saber or sword techniques certainly isn’t a bad thing. But…”

Raon glanced at the hilt of Mark’s saber, worn out and wrapped in shredded bandages, and shook his head.

“Walking a single path doesn’t make you weak or slow. If you stick to your own way, you might reach results even faster. When I went to the Holy Sword Alliance…”

He told Mark Gorton about the unshakable convictions and overwhelming strength of the swordsmen there, who followed one path only.

“I see. So those kinds of people…”

Mark Gorton clenched his fist, inspired by the idea that swordsmen like him who walked a single path could still reach great heights.

“That’s why I have a suggestion.”

“A suggestion?”

“How about going to the Holy Sword Alliance?”

Raon pulled out an envelope from his coat.

“You want me to go to the Holy Sword Alliance?”

Mark Gorton gulped as he looked at the envelope.

“But I use a saber, not a sword. Is that okay?”

“That’s why I was worried too. But as I just told you, the Holy Sword Alliance is a place where people live, just like anywhere else.”

Raon smiled faintly and handed him a letter of introduction addressed to Rektor.

“It’ll definitely help you.”

The wall of Grandmaster was high. Even among those hailed as geniuses who reached Master quickly, very few ever reached the realm of Grandmaster.

Mark Gorton knew the pain of stagnation. He regretted the past but worked harder than anyone now, so Raon was sure he could do it.

It might just be Raon’s hope, but of Burren, Martha, Runaan, and Mark Gorton, he believed Mark had the best chance of breaking through first.

“……”

Mark Gorton stared at the letter with wavering eyes, then reached out as if he had made up his mind.

“I’ll go.”

“Good choice.”

Raon smiled and handed him the letter.

“When will you leave?”

“Once I’ve made the decision, I should act immediately.”

He nodded, saying he would leave tomorrow.

“Then one piece of advice.”

Raon raised a finger.

“There’s a swordsman named Lawrence who lives behind the Holy Sword Alliance grounds. He’s a really kind man and an excellent martial teacher. Be sure to visit him every day and learn.”

He smiled as he said it.

“Understood. I will.”

Mark Gorton said he would and left the training ground.

–Are you trying to renounce your humanity completely?!

Wrath shook his head in disbelief.

–Why are you setting both of them up to die?!

“Somehow…”

Raon smirked as he watched Mark Gorton’s back.

“I think the two of them might become good friends.”

* * *

After finishing breakfast, Raon visited the Shadow Agents.

“Welcome to the Shadow Agents.”

Chad, the head of the Shadow Agents, greeted him at the door with a smile as if he had been waiting.

“I’ve already received word from the head of house. You’re here to investigate the founding patriarch’s history?”

“Yes. There are some things I’m curious about.”

“Haha, I understand. This way, please.”

Chad guided him to the underground records room where Zieghart’s past was kept and led him into his office.

“Why the office…?”

“The records of Zieghart—even the most trivial ones—are forbidden to leak. Only those with the current Shadow Agents master’s permission can access them, and the path lies within this room.”

When Chad tapped his fingers several times on a wall with no windows, a deep thud sounded—and the wall split open, revealing a path that led downward.

“Whoa…”

Raon widened his eyes. Even though he hadn’t released his sensory perception, he hadn’t noticed the entrance right in front of him. That was impressive.

It must’ve been a mechanism crafted by an extraordinary master.

“Please follow me.”

Chad nodded cautiously and began descending the stairs.

The staircase was wide, and thanks to permanent lighting installed throughout, going down posed no difficulty.

“Actually, I’ve also been curious about the founding patriarch and have done some research. But aside from what’s already known, nothing else is really recorded. You won’t find much within the last 500 years.”

He clicked his tongue, saying only records from at least 700 years ago contained any information about the founding patriarch.

“I see.”

As Raon listened and continued down the stairs, his feet eventually touched the floor.

When he looked up, he saw rows and rows of towering bookshelves, like trees in a forest, filled to the brim with books and documents.

“This is Zieghart’s history.”

Chad, flushed with excitement, stepped forward.

“The closer to the entrance, the more recent the records. The deeper you go, the older the history.”

He walked ahead, saying anything related to the founding patriarch would likely be further inside.

“Thank you.”

Raon nodded and was just about to follow behind Chad when—

Fwoooosh!

As if he had triggered a trap, golden flames erupted from the dim floor and wrapped around him.