Chapter 958
“Haaah!”
Raon let out a faint gasp as he opened his eyes.
‘I’m sure I died…’
He could still recall the moment Wrath’s surprise attack severed his neck, but nothing after that.
‘Did I return to reality?’
He looked around, assuming he must’ve come back to the real world since he’d died within the space created by the Chamber of Self.
‘No… this is—’
Raon swallowed dryly as he stared at the golden shimmering ground.
‘The place where I first woke up.’
The place where he had revived after death was the borderland dividing the sand mountain and the blue sea—the very ground where he had first awakened upon entering the Chamber of Self.
‘So when you die in the Chamber of Self, you return here?’
All the trials he had faced within the chamber had been so dangerous that dying wouldn’t have been strange. It didn’t seem odd that even death itself granted another chance.
“Fuu…”
Lying back on the ground, Raon let out a long sigh.
‘What a relief.’
Since he had entered with both body and soul, he had feared that dying here might mean dying in reality too. Knowing that wasn’t the case finally allowed him to relax.
Tsk.
He rubbed the spot where Wrath had cut off his neck and clicked his tongue.
‘Never thought I’d see my own head fly off again.’
When Wrath killed him, memories of his previous life as an assassin resurfaced.
He recalled Derus cutting his neck and flicking off the blood on his hand like it was nothing but filth. The thought made anger rise instinctively.
“I swore never to suffer that humiliation again…”
‘Looks like I still have a long way to go.’
He thought he’d achieved great growth since defeating the Black Tower Lord and entering the Chamber of Self, yet he couldn’t even withstand Wrath’s strike. Even if it had been a surprise attack, it was still frustrating.
‘Are we really both Transcendents?’
He, Glenn, and Wrath were all Transcendents—but the gap between them felt enormous. Perhaps there needed to be sublevels within that realm.
‘No, I can think about that later…’
‘Why did that damned cotton candy attack me?’
All he did was go to find Wrath after finishing his trial first, yet he’d been ambushed and decapitated. It was utterly baffling.
‘I did plan to take a little—well, maybe a bit more than a little—of his reward if he got too much…’
But I didn’t actually steal it!
If he’d been killed trying to rob Wrath, that’d make sense. But dying mid-training without reason? That was just absurd.
‘Did he hear me say I’d take eighty percent? That was just talk! Did he really think I meant it?’
At most, he’d have taken half. He’d only joked about eighty percent—but the thought still made his chest tighten.
‘That stingy bastard.’
Raon smacked his lips, imagining how Wrath would react if he heard that.
‘But what exactly did I get hit by?’
The attack had come so suddenly that he didn’t even know what had killed him.
‘Since my head flew off, he must’ve shaped his frost like a blade and fired it.’
Even if he had been off guard, for him not to react at all meant Wrath’s attack had been honed to an impossibly sharp edge.
‘That wall’s still too high.’
Not even sensing Wrath’s attack left him uneasy—it had been a long time since he’d felt such a stark gap in power.
‘Still, at least there’s no lasting damage.’
He checked his body and clicked his tongue.
‘Nothing’s missing.’
Just to be sure, he examined his internal energy. His [Ten Thousand Swords], [Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation], and [Glacier] were all intact.
Though this wasn’t his mental world, it was similar enough that dying here seemed to have no real effect.
‘Of course, it hurt like hell.’
That moment of death—the vile sensation of his body disintegrating cell by cell—still sent shivers down his spine, but at least there were no lasting losses.
Uuuuuuuuung!
As Raon exhaled in relief, a circular dimensional gate of golden light rose from the shimmering ground.
‘The exit?’
As he’d suspected, the land dividing the sand mountain and the blue sea was both the entrance and the exit of the Chamber of Self.
“A little disappointing, but I gained plenty.”
He had steadied both body and mind, mastered the true control of [Ten Thousand Swords], advanced [Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation] to ten stars, and pushed [Glacier] to the ninth-star wall. It had been a short but immensely rewarding time.
‘Of course…’
Raon clenched his teeth slightly as he looked toward the sea.
‘I still need to take revenge on that damned cotton candy.’
Even if he hadn’t lost anything, the feeling of dying—of watching his head fall and body collapse—was revolting.
‘How should I repay him so everyone says it was well deserved?’
Since both their souls had entered together, leaving through this gate would naturally drag Wrath out with him. It was better to plan revenge for the real world.
‘Ban him from orb ice cream? No eating out? No, too mild.’
Wrath’s patience had grown—he could endure that.
‘Then… Nadine bread?’
If he’d erupted in fury just from hearing “enemy of Nadine bread,” that had to be the thing he hated most.
‘Perfect. I’ll make him eat only Nadine bread for a year.’
Having lived as an assassin, Raon could eat anything.
It wasn’t just that he could stomach the rubbery bread—he could swallow actual rubber if he had to. A year—or even ten years—of Nadine bread would be nothing.
‘Just you wait.’
Smirking, Raon stepped toward the gate.
‘You’ll never kill me again. I’ll teach you a lesson—with Nadine bread… huh?’
He paused mid-step.
‘Wait.’
Raon turned his gaze toward the blue sea and clicked his tongue softly.
‘I died… yet lost nothing?’
In reality, death was the end. Even in a mental world, dying often came with loss—like damage to the soul. But here, there were no penalties.
‘This could be…’
Raon turned away from the golden exit. He stepped onto the blue sea—its color resembling Wrath’s hair—and licked his lips.
‘A new opportunity.’
—
“Daaaaamn it!”
Wrath clutched his head in both hands and screamed.
“A mistake! A huge, disgusting mistake!”
He had only meant to slap Raon’s cheek with frost—but his power had surged uncontrollably, slicing the brat’s head clean off.
‘But was it really… just a mistake?’
He had indeed lost control after suddenly growing stronger—that much was true.
But could he honestly say he hadn’t meant it? That was harder to answer.
‘My blood boiled over.’
The moment he saw the moonlight’s frost he had worked so hard to obtain being absorbed by Raon, his mind went blank.
‘And then…’
Everything he’d endured came flooding back.
Being ignored by that brat Raon. Having his stats stolen. Watching him use Wrath’s own name to extort other Demon Kings. But worst of all—
‘Nadine bread…’
The nauseating rubbery taste of Nadine bread resurfaced, and rage had overtaken him completely. The power he’d unleashed had been beyond Raon’s ability to block.
‘He’s definitely alive though…’
Which makes it worse.
This was a space formed from his and Raon’s souls. The brat couldn’t die here—he’d have already revived.
‘If he’d really died, that would’ve been better…’
What now?
Not only was his trial over, but Raon’s too. That meant an exit would have opened—and the moment Raon left through it, Wrath would be dragged along. He had no power to resist it.
‘That damned brat…’
He looked furious when his head fell off. That glare had said, ‘You’re dead, you hear me?’ The memory alone made Wrath’s shoulders tremble.
‘He’ll probably make me eat Nadine bread for a month…’
Still not fully understanding Raon, he underestimated him.
‘There’s no way I can endure that.’
He’d rather starve than eat that bread repeatedly. Even before entering this place, eating Nadine bread had nearly killed him.
‘So… I have to beg?’
In the real world, because of that cursed ring, he couldn’t win a battle of souls against Raon. Once they left here, he’d have to raise both hands and beg for forgiveness.
‘Though that greedy demon won’t stop there.’
Raon would definitely demand material compensation. How much would satisfy that insatiable monster?
“Ugh, this’ll be costly.”
Though his soul and Authority wouldn’t truly diminish, the thought of parting with the moonlight frost he’d gained felt suffocating.
‘Damn it!’
Wrath punched the air.
‘All this because I couldn’t hold back once! Some Lord of Wrath I am!’
Still, even the Lord of Wrath couldn’t defeat the terror of Nadine bread. He slumped down, wondering how to coax Raon into leniency.
But no matter how long he waited, the Chamber of Self didn’t collapse.
‘What?’
Why wasn’t it ending?
When Raon exited, both of them should’ve been pulled out and this place erased—but nothing changed.
‘D-don’t tell me he actually died? No, impossible!’
If Raon had truly died, the world would’ve collapsed the moment his head was cut off. The fact it was intact proved the brat was alive.
‘Then maybe he hasn’t found the exit?’
Or perhaps he was plotting revenge.
The uncertainty was worse than a beating. He even thought dying again might be easier.
‘You sneaky bastard! What are you planning!’
He leaned back against the World Tree Raon had sat by, shouting at the air.
Gooooooo…
As anxiety climbed his spine, a dark mirror shimmered—and Raon stepped out of it.
“Uh…”
Wrath’s dry lips trembled as he saw Raon’s feet touch the snowfield.
‘Why is that ghost here?’
The Chamber of Self’s exit was the same as the entrance. He could’ve left right after reviving—so why come back?
‘N-no way…’
Was he here to take revenge?
That ghost wasn’t content with tormenting him in reality—he’d come to do it here too.
“Khhhk…”
Wrath buried his face in his hands and groaned. He could already see his grim future, and tears welled up.
“Wrath.”
Raon’s red eyes glowed with a burning glare.
“Th-the King is sorry! Truly, terribly sorry!”
Faced with him directly, all the words Wrath had rehearsed vanished. His mind went blank like prey before a predator—he could only apologize.
“I’ll never lay a hand on you again, so please, anything but Nadine brea—”
“Hey.”
Raon waved his hand sharply, cutting him off, his tone brimming with anger.
“Y-yes?”
“Enough talk. Use the same technique you killed me with. Again.”
He drew [Heavenly Drive] and crooked a finger at him.
“A-again?”
Wrath’s eyes widened.
“What nonsense are you spouting!”
He had expected Raon to punish him with a month of Nadine bread—but being told to attack again completely threw him off. What the hell was that brat thinking?
“Attack me like before—cut my neck again.”
Raon lowered his stance, motioning with his chin for him to hurry up.
‘T-this is…’
Wrath swallowed hard as he saw Raon’s smile.
‘It’s a trap!’
That expression screamed that if he attacked, Raon would make him eat Nadine bread for three months, not one. He mustn’t fall for it.
“Ghhk…”
Wrath squeezed his eyes shut, pretending he saw nothing.
“T-the King will not strike again—”
“If you don’t, you’ll eat Nadine bread for the rest of your life. No bead ice cream, no home-cooked meals. Ever.”
Raon frowned deeply, voice dead serious.
“P-permanent Nadine bread…?”
Wrath’s blue eyes trembled like jellyfish adrift in water.
“You know I keep my word.”
Raon stomped his foot, urging him to choose.
“R-really attack? Truly?”
Wrath exhaled shakily, asking again.
“Yes! How many times do I have to say it?”
Raon nodded impatiently.
“Ghhrrr…”
Wrath bit his lip until it bled. The thought of a lifetime without orb ice cream and nothing but Nadine bread turned his mind blank again.
‘That… that I cannot allow!’
No matter the jam, peanut butter, coffee, or even wine—nothing could mask that rubbery taste. It destroyed every flavor, even his own sense of taste. The idea of enduring that forever rekindled his killing intent.
“Die!”
Wrath screamed, raising a blade of frost with all his might.
Paaaaaaang!
The blade of ice flew faster than sound and split Raon’s neck just as before.
“Ha!”
Even as he died, Raon smiled brightly—as if satisfied.
Thud.
His head hit the ground, and his body crumbled like a collapsing sandcastle.
“W-what… what is this?!”
Seeing Raon smiling as he died filled Wrath with more dread than before. The brat was terrifying.
“What the hell do you want from me?!”
‘Has he awakened to some new form of madness?!’
—
“As I thought…”
Raon sat up in front of the golden gate.
“I don’t die here.”
Even after dying twice, nothing had changed. Just as he suspected, death here carried no consequences.
‘But…’
He still hadn’t seen it.
Even without letting his guard down, he couldn’t track Wrath’s attack. It was a power beyond his current reach.
‘Good. That makes it interesting.’
Smirking, Raon stepped onto the sea, his feet following the steps of [Supreme Harmony Steps].
‘This will be even greater than what I gained from the Chamber of Self.’
Here, he could fight Wrath at full strength, die endlessly, and suffer no loss.
It was the perfect training ground.
‘I can’t even see his strikes now…’
‘But if I die enough times, I’ll start to sense them.’
Even if he couldn’t block Wrath’s attacks, simply accumulating experience against him would help immensely against other Transcendents.
Dying was terrifying—and painful. But missing a chance to grow hurt far more.
Paaaaaang!
Pouring all his strength into it, Raon sprinted across the sea, pierced through the gray island’s cave, and stepped into the mirror again.
Fwaaaaa!
When he returned to the ruined snowfield, Wrath was there—his teeth chattering in terror.
“Kill me again.”
Raon grinned and tilted his head.
“I-I’m scared…”
Wrath stumbled backward, shaking his head violently.
“What are you trying to do to me with this madness?!”
He screamed desperately for an answer.
“You damn pervert!”