Chapter 834

Goooooo!

As soon as Raon heard Aris’s words, he activated his [Perception of the Snow Flower].

He felt the mystical sensation of the mana in the air turning into his own skin and spread his presence beneath his feet.

‘They’re definitely there.’

Not directly below, but he could sense the presence of people hiding silently about three floors down.

‘A sorcerer? No, a warrior with a sorcery artifact.’

It seemed they hadn’t been detected by his senses because their presence was hidden through sorcery.

‘Hah…’

Raon let out a hollow laugh as he looked at Aris.

‘Did Aunt notice that right away?’

He had felt satisfied after defeating the Second Apostle, a transcendent, and growing stronger—but it seemed he was still far from reaching a true transcendent.

‘I didn’t need to worry after all.’

He had thought Aris had grown anxious out of concern for her son, Sif, but even in her disoriented state, she hadn’t neglected her duties as a leader.

As the saying went, there was no need to worry about a transcendent.

“When we first came to this dungeon, there were only monsters and traps.”

Aris lowered her voice and tilted her chin slightly.

“There were no external footprints, so it’s only right to assume they came from below.”

She pointed her finger downward, indicating they should consider them enemies.

“They came up from below?”

Paras blinked as he stared at the ground.

“It seems traces of you were discovered, Sir Paras.”

Raon narrowed his eyes and placed a hand on his sword.

“M-Me? Absolutely not! I may look like this, but I’m a descendant of the Great Sword and even trained under Lady Aris in hellish conditions….”

Paras trembled as he insisted he had perfectly erased his traces.

“Nothing happened when you re-entered the dungeon alone, right?”

“Y-Yes. I just followed the sorcerers from a distance.”

He rolled his eyes as he explained that nothing had happened then.

“I can feel the energy of sorcery from the warriors below us. They wouldn’t suddenly become alert without reason, so it’s likely they picked up on your traces.”

Raon calmly shook his head.

“Ahh…”

Paras held his head in his hands, feeling like it was all his fault.

“I-I’m sorry. Because I did something strange, I’ve put Lord Sif in more danger….”

“This isn’t your fault, Sir Paras.”

Raon waved his hand toward Paras’s pale face.

“They didn’t find actual traces. They must have noticed it through sorcery.”

“S-Sorcery?”

“Yes. That instinctive sense of danger you felt when you followed the sorcerers to the secret space at the end of the dungeon was probably your body sensing the sorcery embedded there.”

Unlike magic, sorcery uses negative mana and has exceptional power in tracking and detection.

While Paras’s movement techniques and skill in hiding his presence were impressive, his martial realm wasn’t high enough to deceive sorcery.

“T-Then… does that mean they already know we’re here…?”

“That’s unlikely.”

Raon shook his head as he felt the presence of the warriors silently hiding below.

“Covering this entire dungeon with sorcery to detect intruders would be an enormous waste. These warriors below are likely guards sent to conserve the sorcery’s consumption.”

The warriors weren’t moving, as if they had turned into statues, hidden perfectly within the sorcery.

Judging from the situation so far, they were undoubtedly sent as guards to alert their base in case of intruders.

“Of course, that’s just my assumption. From now on, we should move with heightened senses. There’s a high chance detection sorcery has been installed.”

“That’s my nephew for you! Sharp as ever!”

Aris grinned and patted Raon on the back.

“Just like Raon said, let’s move while hiding our presence as much as possible. I’ll handle the sorcery detection, so just quietly follow behind me.”

She said she’d take the lead from now on and slightly bent her knees.

“I’ll put up a sound barrier to block the noise from the Light Wind Division.”

Raon drew in the surrounding mana and wrapped it around the entire Light Wind Division. It couldn’t block all sound, but it was enough to mask the footsteps of the swordsmen.

“Let’s move out.”

Aris exhaled lightly and led the way down the dungeon.

There were no visible traps or monsters, likely because they were relying on their guards.

After about five minutes of descending through a winding path, a small entrance leading to a brown cavern appeared.

“They’re in there.”

Aris turned her gaze and lowered her voice even further.

“I-I don’t see anyone.”

Paras opened his eyes wide, saying he couldn’t even see a shadow.

“I can’t tell either….”

“Yeah. It just looks like a normal cave.”

The Light Wind Division swordsmen also didn’t seem to notice. The sorcery was too powerful for even Masters to detect.

“Three warriors are hiding within the sorcery, watching the entrance.”

Raon inspected the entrance and shook his head.

“It looks like they’re arranged so that if one gets taken out, the other two can report it. Judging by how well they’re hidden, they really must be remnants of the Iron Pillar Federation.”

“Then we each take one.”

Aris tilted her chin toward Raon and Rimmer.

“Middle, lower left, upper right, right?”

Rimmer also seemed to have sensed the presence of the warriors hidden by sorcery, as he twirled his fingers.

“I’ll take the left.”

“Then I’ll take the right.”

Aris and Rimmer drew their swords, saying they’d take the left and right respectively.

“Wait a moment. If they’re carrying something like an artifact, there’s a chance they could send a message before we subdue them.”

Raon raised his hand to stop Aris and Rimmer.

If even a finger moved, they could potentially alert the base, so charging in recklessly wasn’t a good idea.

“Then what do you plan to do?”

Aris furrowed her brow.

“We can’t go any further without breaking through this entrance.”

“Let’s toss one in.”

Raon beckoned to Dorian, who was standing blankly.

“M-Me? Toss what…?”

Dorian’s eyelids trembled nervously, clearly uneasy.

“Please.”

Raon smiled lightly and threw Dorian toward the entrance of the cavern.

“W-Wait a second!”

Dorian tried to brace himself to avoid being flung but ended up tumbling right into the cave entrance.

“Now.”

Raon didn’t miss the moment the sentries focused their gazes on Dorian and activated the [Supreme Harmony Steps].

With a gust of wind wrapped around his toes from the [Radiant Light Style], he charged toward the warrior hiding in the center of the cavern.

“Ah.”

The sentry’s gaze shot up from Dorian in a panic, but it was far too late. Raon’s fingertips were already touching his neck.

Thud!

The sentry crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut after taking a direct hit from Raon’s hand strike.

The sentry couldn’t even move a finger, completely suppressed by Raon’s aura.

Thwack!

Two more shockwaves rang out almost simultaneously. Rimmer and Aris also struck down the hidden sentries and landed silently on the floor.

‘Good. We got them before any signal was sent.’

There wasn’t the slightest movement in the sorcery in this space. Thankfully, it seemed they were subdued before any alarms went off.

“You were right.”

Aris nodded as she showed the small button the sentry had been holding in his hand.

“Looks like this would’ve sent a signal down below. How did you come up with that plan?”

She praised him for both his quick thinking and solid planning.

“I’ve done it a lot.”

Raon chuckled and shook his head.

Dorian, based on appearances, was the very embodiment of a harmless creature—like a rabbit or a squirrel.

Anyone would’ve panicked at the sight of such a clumsy-looking guy trembling alone in a cave.

“I say this every time, but our squad leader’s real talent isn’t swordsmanship—it’s that sneaky brain of his.”

Martha shrugged, saying his intellect was astonishing.

“We’re on a mission. Call it good judgment, not sneakiness.”

Burren shook his head and reminded her to show respect to the division leader.

-What nonsense!

Wrath shook his head.

-The brat’s real talent isn’t his brain or swordsmanship—it’s his mouth!

Wrath furrowed his brow in frustration that no one seemed to realize this.

“I wanna try throwing Dorian too…”

Runaan clenched her small fist, expressing her desire to give Dorian a toss herself.

“P-Please don’t! If you join in, Lady Runaan, I might really die!”

Dorian trembled, saying his heart nearly gave out.

“As expected of the Light Wind Division’s quartermaster. Now you’re even supplying bait using your own body.”

Krein whistled teasingly at Dorian.

“Hey, you punk!”

Dorian finally snapped and lunged at Krein.

“Let’s interrogate them first.”

Aris signaled for everyone to begin questioning the subdued sentries.

“Yes.”

Raon nodded and examined the state of his target.

Judging by the iron-plated armor connected with sorcery, there was no doubt they were warriors of the Iron Pillar Federation.

“What’s your name?”

Raon asked, but the sentry refused to even lower his gaze and kept his mouth shut.

“Alright then. It’s been a while since I used this.”

Raon smirked and activated a torture technique he had developed—alternating between heat and cold—on the warrior’s body.

Thanks to his growth, the intensity of the heat and cold had improved to the point that even someone with strong endurance wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

“……”

Normally, they’d start screaming as soon as it began, but this warrior’s face only turned red. He neither screamed nor reacted excessively.

“You’re from the Iron Pillar Federation, aren’t you?”

“……”

“Answer me!”

Aris, too, used the essence of her [Spatial Sword] to dig into the sentry’s flesh, but still couldn’t make him talk.

‘This might take a while.’

Might as well study the sorcery carved into their bodies while he’s at it.

The pain of Raon’s method increased over time, so he decided to analyze the sorcery surrounding the warrior’s body until it finally broke him.

-You don’t even know the basics of sorcery.

‘I don’t. But with my traits, I can see it.’

With the enhanced ranks of the [Ring of Fire], [Demonic Eye of Wrath], and [Perception of the Snow Flower], he could interpret even unknown powers if given enough time.

-Heh, relying on weird traits just because you’re lacking in ability. You’ll never grow like that…

‘But the [Perception of the Snow Flower] and [Demonic Eye of Wrath] are your powers.’

-Urk…

Raon shut Wrath up and focused on the flow of sorcery.

‘So quiet. I like it.’

* * *

Splash!

Like a baby sea otter transformed into a shark, it zipped through the water at high speed and came to a halt.

“Hey!”

The sea otter pointed angrily at the sky on the right.

“Why are you going that way?!”

The baby sea otter—Merlin—shouted, and pink energy rippled across the sea to the right.

“Isn’t it this way?”

The pink aura—Lust—tilted her head in confusion.

“That’s the ocean! We’re supposed to be going to land now! Why do you keep veering off course?!”

Merlin clutched her chest in frustration, not understanding any of this.

“Oh, it’s there.”

Lust nodded and drifted southward.

“No, it’s not!”

Merlin couldn’t hold it in anymore and threw the soul stone she was holding into the sea.

“Kyaaaah!”

Startled, she dove into the water and retrieved the falling soul stone.

“Ahh, okay, I get it.”

Lust said she understood and floated over to Merlin’s side.

“Just don’t do anything. Just follow me, got it?”

Merlin tilted her chin, telling her only to step in during a fight.

“Got it.”

Lust nodded proudly, completely unbothered.

“Haaah, so frustrating.”

Merlin let out a long sigh and swam forward again.

‘Why can’t a transcendent find her way…?’

Lust was powerful. Especially the size of her soul—it was larger than any being Merlin had ever seen.

It was still hard to believe that a monster that powerful could be so bad with directions.

‘We should’ve arrived ages ago, but because of that damned sense of direction… huh?’

She looked back and saw Lust once again flying toward the distant sea.

“Not that way!”

Merlin screamed hoarsely with a voice nearly gone.

“You idiot!”

*  *  *

‘That should do it.’

Raon removed his hand from the sentry’s chest and gave a slight nod.

‘A sorcery that uses blood and negative mana.’

The sorcery, armor, and artifact the sentry possessed all gave off the same traces of blood and negative mana.

The sorcery itself wasn’t overly complex, but it reeked of thick, sticky malice.

‘This is enough.’

The sentry’s body was swollen with bulging veins from the torture. Anymore, and there was a real chance he would either die or go insane—so Raon only released the paralysis around his mouth.

“What’s your name?”

“Urgh…”

Even in a near-death state from the pain, the sentry refused to speak.

He wouldn’t even look Raon in the eye, only letting out ragged, disjointed groans.

‘He’s enduring?’

Only the White Blood Cult and Eden—infamous for their madness—had ever endured Raon’s torture. He hadn’t expected the remnants of the Iron Pillar Federation to be this fanatical.

“Another few seconds like this and you’ll die.”

“Grrrk…”

The sentry clenched his teeth until the very end and finally stopped breathing, indifferent to the prospect of death.

“This bastard’s insane! I even ripped up his insides, and he still wouldn’t talk!”

Aris scowled, seeming to have also failed to extract any information before her target died.

“There’s no doubt. These guys are Iron Pillar Federation.”

She bit her lip and continued.

“The sorcery-linked armor, the sickening persistence like something straight out of the White Blood Cult… Everything matches what I’ve heard about them.”

Aris shook her head, visibly unsettled.

“W-Why would people like that kidnap the young master?”

Paras swallowed dryly as he looked at Aris.

“We’re still not even sure it’s Sif, right?”

Aris shook her head, telling him not to spout nonsense.

“Y-You’re right.”

“Let’s not jump to bad conclusions just yet…”

As she tried to reassure Paras—

“I-It’s the Iron Pillar Federation…”

A voice croaked from the warrior Rimmer had been interrogating.

“V-Vice Leader?”

“What the?! How’d you get him to talk?!”

Raon and Aris turned to Rimmer in shock, mouths hanging open.

“I just…”

Rimmer tilted his head like he found their reaction strange.

“I tickled his feet.”

He blinked innocently, saying he just used wind to tickle the guy’s soles.

“T-Tickling?”

Raon’s eyes widened.

“I told you to interrogate him—why’d you tickle him?!”

“Torture’s not my style. I trusted you two to handle that, but I guess this is how it turns out. Looks like I’m the true hero of the Light Wind Division!”

Rimmer cackled, declaring himself a genius.

-As expected…

Wrath shook his head.

-Truly worthy of the title: Original Madman.