Chapter 955

               

Raon walked down the sandy mountain, opening his right hand.

Whoosh—

As he operated the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, a thicker golden flame rose from his palm.

‘So as the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation grows stronger, the color turns golden?’

He recalled the moment during the evaluation when he had seen the First Head of House’s flame—a deep golden hue.

‘That must be the ultimate form of a swordsman.’

The First Head of House had clearly completed both the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and the Ring of Fire, surpassing even transcendence itself.

‘How long will it take me to reach that level… or even get close to it?’

From what he could sense, even Wrath and Glenn hadn’t reached that same realm. It wasn’t just a matter of martial skill—it was a difference in existence itself.

The Transcendents among the Five Kings and Five Monarchs hadn’t reached that height, so it felt far out of reach for him.

‘Come to think of it…’

Raon folded his hand, extinguishing the flame, and smacked his lips.

‘The balance between the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier has been broken.’

Ever since he first received Glacier from Wrath, he had always kept the two techniques equal in level.

Because the heat of Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and the cold of Glacier were natural opposites, he had to maintain careful equilibrium between them. But now, that balance was completely off.

‘Controlling the fire is going to be tough for a while.’

His Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation had reached Ten Stars, but Glacier had yet to even touch the end of Nine Stars. It would take time and effort to control the immense heat.

‘Hm?’

While thinking about his future combat style, Raon’s eyes widened.

‘The sand doesn’t hurt anymore.’

Unlike when he climbed the mountain, the golden sand didn’t burn or resist him on the way down—it merely sank beneath his feet with each step.

‘Then I’d better move quickly.’

Now that both his physical and mental trials were over, there was no reason to linger. He used his footwork to descend swiftly down the mountain.

‘Since I have to catch up to Wrath.’

Even from this high peak, he couldn’t see the end of the sea Wrath had crossed.

It would take quite some time to reach him, so haste was necessary.

Thud—

Sliding down the slope, Raon headed toward the dark ground where he had first arrived in the Chamber of Self.

Whooom—

As his foot touched the black soil, the shadow-covered ground began to glow with gold.

‘Something’s happening again?’

But aside from the color change, nothing else occurred no matter how long he waited.

‘This must be because of Wrath too.’

He guessed this place acted as both the entrance and exit of the Chamber of Self, and Wrath’s interference must have sealed the exit temporarily.

‘I can’t tell yet if this is a good or bad thing.’

He smiled faintly and gazed toward the sea.

‘Even if it doesn’t help me, I hope it benefits Wrath at least.’

Wrath was always complaining—“You’re sucking me dry!”, “My spine is breaking!”, “There’s nothing left but bones!”—yet whenever Raon or the Light Wind Palace was in danger, he never hesitated to use his Authority.

He was one of the kindest and most compassionate beings Raon had ever met. If this place could grant him even a small amount of strength, Raon sincerely wanted him to have it.

‘Of course, if he gets a lot stronger, I’ll just take a share for myself.’

Raon chuckled, imagining Wrath shouting, “Why are you the one taking it, you gluttonous human!” as he stepped onto the blue sea.

‘Refreshing.’

After enduring the blistering sand and suffocating heat of the sun, the cold breeze from the sea felt almost comforting.

‘Wait. This isn’t just cool—it’s familiar.’

There was a distinct energy flowing across the sea’s surface—the cold of Glacier.

‘That cotton candy bastard… what did he do while flying over this place?’

He had no idea what Wrath had done to cause the entire sea to be infused with his frost.

‘Still as sloppy as ever.’

Raon smiled, walking across the water until he suddenly stopped.

‘A sea of frost, huh…’

If the entire ocean was filled with the energy of Glacier, it should be possible to absorb it as he moved.

‘I can do it. No—I have to.’

The cold spread throughout this vast sea wasn’t particularly dense, but because it was so widespread, he could absorb enormous amounts of energy by moving through it.

That would significantly advance his mastery of Glacier.

Whooom—

Raon calmed the heat of Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and drew out the frost of Glacier buried deep in his dantian.

Fwoooosh!

As he activated Glacier, the cold energy of the sea began to seep through his feet, circulating along his mana circuits.

‘This should work nicely.’

Because both the frost within him and the one in this sea came from Wrath, controlling them was simple.

‘As expected…’

He looked down at the ocean that shimmered in the same blue hue as Wrath’s energy.

‘Wrath really is a blessing magnet.’

Grinning, Raon continued across the sea, already planning how to tease the cotton candy demon later.

—

Rumble—

A man with black hair and black eyes descended from the sky, stepping down as if walking on invisible stairs.

His movements were graceful like a seasoned dancer, yet fierce like a starving beast.

“So this frozen tree is the manifestation of your soul?”

The man clasped his hands behind his back as he examined the azure World Tree.

“Beautiful and noble. It suits you well. Though of course…”

He laid his hand on the trunk.

Crackle—

At his touch, the base of the World Tree turned gray and crumbled to dust, as if a thousand years had passed in an instant.

“…it’s rotten black on the inside, isn’t it? Just like the so-called King of Trash who abandoned his kin to climb the throne.”

A cold smile formed on his lips as he stared into the hollow heart of the withering tree.

“Watch your mouth.”

Wrath clenched his fists, veins bulging. Even knowing this man was only an illusion conjured by the Chamber of Self, it was infuriating.

“Raiz.”

The black-haired man’s name was Raiz—the ancient demon who had once ruled as Monarch before Wrath.

“Oh? To think the current Demon King would call my name. I’m honored.”

Raiz bowed mockingly, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“You look well. Did you sacrifice more of your followers as offerings to fuel your growth?”

His lips curled into a cruel grin.

“I told you to shut up!”

Wrath roared and lunged. From his outstretched hand burst a frigid, piercing cold.

“You still lose your temper so easily.”

Raiz smiled knowingly and raised his hand. From his palm, gray energy clashed against Wrath’s frost.

Kwoooom!

Blue and gray light collided violently, shredding the snowflakes across the frozen plain and snapping branches off the World Tree.

“With that temper, it’s no wonder you fit the title so well—King of Wrath who slaughtered his own subordinates.” (T/N: OOOOOOOhhhhhh. What a revelation!)

Raiz chuckled darkly.

“It was all… because of you!”

Wrath growled and swung his arm, striking Raiz across the face.

Kwoooom!

Amplifying his frost, he froze Raiz entirely, trapping him within a massive pillar of ice.

“Hmph…”

Even within the ice, Raiz smiled thinly.

“You’ve certainly grown stronger… but not enough. What, did you waste your strength playing guardian to some mortal again?” (T/N: Again?!?? Who was the first human then?)

As he frowned in disappointment, gray energy erupted, shattering the ice.

‘He broke unbreakable ice… that cursed power of his is still the same.’

Wrath scowled, watching the gray aura swirl around Raiz.

‘The Authority of Collapse.’

Just as Wrath’s power froze everything, Raiz’s Authority destroyed all it touched.

If that gray energy reached him, even Wrath would be obliterated.

“I was hoping to fight the Demon King of Wrath… not this weakened shell. Disappointing.”

Raiz clicked his tongue and suddenly vanished.

Boom!

He reappeared behind Wrath, thrusting a surge of collapsing energy toward his back.

“I knew you’d do that.”

Wrath snorted, turning sharply and scattering frost toward the incoming attack.

Kwooooom!

Frost spread like an umbrella while the collapsing energy shot forward like a spear, colliding in a violent shockwave.

The ground split like a spiderweb, and the silver sky cracked open with black fissures.

“So it’s the same frost that killed me!”

Raiz grinned as he drew out an even greater wave of gray energy.

“This time, I’ll kill you and take your body for myself!”

“You’re already dead! Whatever you heard, whatever trick brought you here—”

Wrath drew upon his icy rage, pushing back the collapsing force.

“I’ll kill you again. No—once isn’t enough for you. I’ll kill you hundreds, thousands of times over!”

Unleashing the power he had always restrained, Wrath gathered the Authority of all rage in existence—the fury of the Blue Demon King—into his hands.

“With your current strength, you can’t win!”

Raiz sneered, compressing the collapsing energy into a spinning orb.

Bzzzzt!

From the orb burst a gray beam that devoured everything in its path.

Krrrraaaaang!

The World Tree split open with a black hole through its trunk, shaking the heavens and earth.

Raiz’s power could collapse even this dimension itself.

“You’re right—I am weaker now. But I’ve gained something else in return!”

Wrath pulled from the charred air an argent demon sword glowing like moonlight.

“You called me a fool? No—I’ve simply invested in the future.”

Thinking of Raon, who was suffering through his own trials, Wrath slashed the blade downward.

Claaang!

The silver frost from his sword froze even Raiz’s collapsing energy solid white.

“I will return. There’s still a certain infuriating brat I owe plenty to!”

“Return? You’re not going anywhere. The only place you’ll go is back into the trash heap!”

Both Demon Kings slammed their feet into the ground, unleashing their full Authorities.

The fury of the former and the current overlapped, dyeing the white world in a deep, stormy blue.

Kwooooooom!

—

As Raon continued across the endless sea, he smirked.

‘Is it really okay to be this easy?’

This felt far too comfortable.

When he’d climbed the sand mountain, he’d reached the brink of exhaustion. When sparring with the First Head, his mind had nearly shattered from the riddles. When fighting that halfwit Anima Parel, his heart nearly stopped.

And when he endured the sun’s heat, he had literally felt his flesh and bones melt.

‘Compared to that…’

Now, just walking across the sea raised his Glacier proficiency. It almost felt wrong to gain strength this easily.

‘I might not break through Ten Stars, but I can probably get close.’

Since walking alone improved his skill, staying here until the trial ended didn’t sound so bad.

‘Hmm?’

While smiling in satisfaction, he noticed a scorched gray land forming on the horizon.

‘Is that the end of the sea?’

Wrath’s energy pulsed strongly from that direction—he had to be there.

Thud.

Raon stepped ashore, gazing at the gray island.

‘Wrath’s energy… it’s coming from that mountain.’

A massive gray mountain rose in the island’s center, the source of Wrath’s aura.

‘Looks like I’ll find him sooner than expected.’

Smacking his lips, Raon walked toward it.

‘It’s huge… but completely burned out.’

The mountain looked like it had long died, reduced to ash. Thankfully, Wrath’s energy wasn’t coming from the mountain itself but from a pitch-black cave beneath it.

‘Alright then…’

Brushing the ashes from his hands, he stood at the cave’s entrance. It was so dark he couldn’t see far inside.

‘Walking in blind, huh—wait.’

After a few steps, faint light began to glow like amethyst along the walls.

‘This light… feels like Wrath’s frost.’

The glowing motes carried the same icy aura, even denser than the sea’s.

‘Could I… absorb it here too?’

Just as he had with the sea, he could probably raise his Glacier mastery again here.

‘That cotton candy demon sheds power everywhere he goes. Or maybe… this place was like this from the start.’

Even Wrath wouldn’t carelessly spill this much energy, so it was likely a natural property of the Chamber of Self.

‘He sure had it easy.’

Raon lowered his brows, stepping deeper into the glowing blue tunnel.

—

Time passed unnoticed as he walked, focusing on Glacier.

Whooom—

He didn’t know how long it had been—just the steady rhythm of walking and absorbing, walking and absorbing.

‘Boring, but the gains are huge.’

By absorbing frost from both the sea and this cave, his Glacier had grown immensely.

He hadn’t yet broken into Ten Stars, but balancing it with Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation would now be easy.

‘See? Follow the tree that keeps on giving, and you’ll always get a fruit or two.’

He chuckled and kept walking—until something appeared ahead.

‘A mirror?’

It was the same full-length mirror he had seen when first entering the Chamber of Self.

‘Why is this here? Could this be the exit?’

He reached toward it but paused as he sensed something from the right—a small depression in the ground, where a blue orb floated.

‘What’s this?’

Sensing no hostility, he extended his hand toward it.

The moment his fingers touched the orb, a massive surge of cold flooded into his body.

Rumble—

The frost didn’t reject him—it flowed naturally along his Glacier channels and into his dantian, as if it had always belonged there.

“Ha…”

Raon let out a breath, feeling the frost circulate like lightning through his body.

‘What the—why is everything so easy for him?!’

He’d nearly died climbing that mountain and enduring the sun, but Wrath’s trials seemed as simple as a stroll. Even a child could pass them! His eyebrow twitched in disbelief.

“Figures… the cotton candy just sucked honey all the way through.”

Raon looked into the mirror, where Wrath’s fluffy reflection shimmered faintly.

“Alright then. I’ll be fair—only eighty percent of it’s mine.”