Chapter 283

Burren swallowed nervously as he watched the meteor shower of bloody energy.

‘He really destroyed that...’

He couldn’t even move a single finger when the sun disappeared and the sorcery array revealed itself. He was overwhelmed by the huge scale of the bloody energy covering the entirety of Grand Seville, and swallowing nervously was the only thing he could do.

The same went for the others. Even Runaan was visibly breaking out in a cold sweat, despite the fact that she usually looked like she was incapable of feeling panic.

While every member of the Light Wind squad was staring at it nervously with trembling hands, Raon’s aura message could be heard.

[You look like chickens.]

Hearing his vulgar voice in the serious situation made a vein bulge on his forehead.

[I didn’t teach you to become such weaklings.]

His cold voice reminded him of the training he had to go through. The tag game of death, sleepless spars, training camps aimed to destroy his humanity, and more. Just thinking about those hellish times was enough to send a chill down his spine.

‘He’s right. We can’t die to sorcery like that now, after coming all the way here.’

Burren grasped his sword tightly. Because he’d already experienced true hell before, his fighting spirit returned to him.

“I can’t die before punching that shithead.”

“Yes, we are definitely going to smack him real good.”

“Let’s survive.”

“This is nothing compared to that bastard’s training.”

The other Light Wind members also braced themselves and glared at the sorcery array. Their eyes weren’t reflecting fear anymore, but their confidence in overcoming the situation.

[I like those eyes.]

Raon nodded in satisfaction, without even looking at them.

[Don’t worry about the sorcery array, because I’m going to destroy that one. You should focus on your task.]

And Raon ended up destroying the sorcery array on his own, just like he promised, and even managed to stab the seventh apostle.

Burren and the Light Wind squad clenched their fists as they watched Raon.

The man, who once used to be nothing but a fellow trainee, had become their companion at some point and was now standing in front of them. They prayed for his victory as they watched his back.

* * *

Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at the injury he left on the seventh apostle.

‘It could’ve been better. It wasn’t deep enough.’

The seventh apostle managed to avoid a fatal injury by bending himself backward the moment the Blade of Requiem was thrust at him. He even lowered his posture after that while stopping the bleeding on his chest to prepare against the next attack.

‘So, he isn’t going out of control.’

He was agitated for sure, but he still remained reasonable. He must’ve learned from the previous fight that losing his mind would lead to his loss.

“I have to confess.”

The seventh apostle nodded while pressing on his wound to stop the bleeding. He must’ve been feeling extreme pain because of the ghastly energy even if he managed to stop the bleeding, but he wasn’t really showing it on the outside.

“I didn’t expect you to stab me like this. This is rather original.”

“Are you a professional confessor or something? Why do you keep admitting to things no one cares about?”

Raon snorted and twirled Heavenly Drive.

“I don’t need your acknowledgement. I just want your head.”

He caught his breath and crossed his arms while holding the two swords.

‘I should finish him off quickly.’

He was trying to pretend he didn’t, but he had to spend a lot of aura to destroy the Surreal Blood Manifestation Array. Raon decided to quickly finish him off without delay.

“You are just an insect...”

The seventh apostle frowned heavily as he raised his saw sword towards him. Raon’s mockery was apparently more irritating than the blow he took. The bloody energy burst from the saw sword was threatening enough to make his hair stand on end.

Thud!

Raon violently kicked the ground. He used the Supreme Harmony’s Second Step to charge at the seventh apostle from the front like lightning.

“You bastard!”

He must’ve thought Raon was underestimating him because he was attacking from the front like that. He swung his saw sword.

Whoosh!

The deadly blade, surrounded by powerful bloody energy, reached right in front of Raon’s eyes. It was fast, heavy, and sharp at the same time.

‘Even his technique has changed.’

He hadn’t only become more powerful. He had even learned a new swordsmanship of the highest grade.

Thud!

Raon turned his left foot slightly to step forward. His smooth step made it look like he was walking on water as he brushed the atmosphere with Star Connecting Sword.

Clang!

The silver blade, incorporating icy cold energy, flowed like a constellation to block the seventh apostle’s saw sword.

Raon leaned forward. It was time to attack, since he managed to defend. He grabbed the Blade of Requiem lightly to use the Flame Spirit.

The yellow and red flower petals blooming from the short blade turned into a sharp storm to engulf the seventh apostle.

“I’ve also seen this one before.”

The seventh apostle stepped back softly. He spun the saw sword like a windmill to create a barrier of bloody energy.

“It will be different from back then.”

As soon as Raon’s voice could be heard, the movements of flower petals changed. The pieces of flames advanced like living organisms to explode their raging heat in front of the seventh apostle’s vital points.

Whaaam!

The seventh apostle’s bloody barrier faltered violently from the consecutive blasts.

“Kuh, this power...”

“You aren’t the only one who got stronger.”

Raon jerked his chin and raised his lips into a smile.

“You are going to die before you try anything if you keep believing that you are still ahead of me.”

“What?”

“You were weaker than me in the past, and you are still weaker than me right now. Stop blabbering and die.”

The seventh apostle’s trembling chin almost looked anxious upon hearing Raon’s confident declaration.

“You arrogant bastard!”

He screamed and charged at Raon. His explosive power came from a fit of rage, but his attacks became even sharper than before. He’d managed to strengthen his attacks without losing his reason.

Clang!

Raon held the Blade of Requiem in a reverse grip to block the seventh apostle’s strike, which was charging at him like a wild boar. The all-out blow was powerful enough to numb his shoulder and arm, and the impact even managed to reach his stomach.

“You little worm! I’ll crush you right away, so you won’t be able to hold a sword ever again!”

The seventh apostle must’ve predicted that Raon would block his strike, since he immediately turned his wrist to follow up with a second strike.

Whap!

The bloody energy on the saw sword expanded three times in an instant to crush Raon’s body. It seemed to be a special technique with maximized weight and power—to the detriment of sharpness.

‘It’s powerful for sure.’

That wasn’t allowed to happen. Since he was the Blood God’s apostle and a disciple of the Blood Religion’s leader, he was never allowed to be afraid of an insect like him.

‘I need a way! But how?’

The seventh apostle’s eyes rolled, and he noticed the blood filling the cracks on the floor and the walls.

‘Ah!’

The seventh apostle secretly nodded.

‘I can do it. I can kill him!’

The cavern was where they activated the Surreal Blood Manifestation Array and replenished the bloody energy. The bloody energy that flew out from the array was gathering back in that place, and he figured he would be able to kill Raon by absorbing it.

“Huff!”

The seventh apostle maximized his footwork to move aside. He unleashed the White Spirit Aura at the same time to absorb the bloody energy gathering inside the cavern.

‘Alright, it should be possible.’

Even though he had only cultivated for a short time, he managed to gather a significant amount of bloody energy. He figured he just needed to buy a small amount of time to gather enough bloody energy to recover from his injuries and kill Raon.

‘I need to focus on footwork as much as possible.’

He looked aside in order to run away from Raon, but he wasn’t chasing him—instead, he slammed his possessed dagger into the ground.

“What are you doing...huh?”

The seventh apostle’s jaw dropped. The bloody energy that was gathering towards him split into two, and half of it was now flowing towards Raon.

Whir!

The dagger’s ghastly energy was increasing as it devoured the bloody energy.

“Kuh! That’s mine! Why are you absorbing the bloody energy?”

“This isn’t bloody energy. It’s the resentment of the people that you’ve killed.”

A cold light shone from Raon’s eyes as he pulled the dagger from the ground.

“Those people...”

The clusters of bloody energy gushed into the air. Raon could be seen lifting his two blades through the bloody fog.

“...Are asking me to make you experience hell before you die.”

* * *

Raon tightened his grip as he felt the powerful energy transferred from the Blade of Requiem.

Whir!

A painful sword resonance could be heard from the Blade of Requiem. It was telling him that the original owners of the bloody energy, the vengeful spirits of the people who were killed by the seventh apostle, craved vengeance.

There was more bloody energy gathering towards the Blade of Requiem than the seventh apostle, as if they were trying to prove it and give him a tremendous amount of power.

‘I shall grant their request.’

Raon lowered his posture and charged towards the seventh apostle.

Wham!

The Blade of Requiem, wrapped in the Fangs of Insanity’s principles, clashed against the seventh apostle’s saw sword. The power of resentment and desperation in the small dagger single-handedly pushed the saw sword back. The frightening amount of ghastly energy crushed the bloody energy.

“Kuh! It’s just the power of weaklings!”

“You are the weakling here.”

Raon held his breath and pulled Heavenly Drive backwards. The flame dragon descended upon the silver blade and opened its jaw. Once its yellow eyes sparkled, a raging breath was unleashed.

Swaaa!

Multiple veins became visible on the seventh apostle’s face as he witnessed the tremendous power of the Flame Dragon Art.

Rumble!

He was fending off the Blade of Requiem and Heavenly Drive at the same time by the explosive power of bloody energy, but the hand holding his saw sword was visibly trembling, showing that he was reaching his limits.

Cring!

Raon leaned forward to add more power to his swords. The blue and red energies pushed the seventh apostle back like a great mountain.

Thud!

The seventh apostle’s legs slammed into the bloody floor, and his body faltered like a paper doll.

“Kuh...”

“The people you’ve killed couldn’t even put up a resistance.”

Raon’s eyes were burning like a flame as he looked down on the seventh apostle.

“I’ll trample you to death like one of the insects you like so much.”

Raon stomped the ground to advance even further. He used the ghastly energy transferred from the Blade of Requiem to amplify the Ring of Fire, the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, and Glacier.

“Uaaaah!”

The seventh apostle screamed desperately and struggled for the last time, but Raon ignored his efforts and gathered all of the power he could muster to crush the seventh apostle.

Creak!

The intensified pressure created a white crack on the saw sword.

Clang!

There was only one fissure at first, but the number increased exponentially and shattered the saw sword into pieces. The seventh apostle’s astonishment could be seen in his eyes between the fluttering pieces of the saw sword.

“It’s over.”

“Daaaamn iiiit!”

Raon lifted the Blade of Requiem and Heavenly Driver to behead the seventh apostle as he screamed.

Whoosh!

A frightening energy charged at him like lightning from behind. Someone’s hand was stretching towards him at a speed far surpassing a Master’s. Raon twisted his waist and thrust Heavenly Drive behind him.

Raon Zieghart style swordplay.

Second form, Reversed Heavenly Heavy Cannon.

The Heavenly Heavy Cannon with maximized repelling force instead of force of attraction fended off the person who charged at him from behind.

“Kuh!”

The seventh apostle didn’t miss the opportunity and tried to run away.

‘I can’t let him escape.’

Raon grit his teeth. He endured the burning pain of his mana circuits and slashed down with the Blade of Requiem on his left hand.

“Fuck off already!”

The seventh apostle swung his shattered saw sword. He was trying to buy time for the one behind Raon to approach by blocking the Blade of Requiem.

Cring!

As the saw sword rose towards him from below, blue light sparked in Raon’s eyes.

Raon Zieghart style swordplay.

Third form, Sword’s Silvery Dream.

A blue aurora brushed past them like a dream, and the Blade of Requiem was thrust into the seventh apostle’s neck.

Whack!

Raon turned to look at the new challenger and twisted his lips.

“You won’t get me a second time.”