Raon stood at the bow of the fishing boat, gazing at the approaching harbor. The port and the city behind it were in ruins, as if swept by a massive wave.
"There are more people than I expected."
Raon narrowed his eyes as he observed the people visible among the shattered city.
"It's because this port has lost its master now."
Lawaine, disguised as a fisherman, raised his voice as if pushing back the waves.
"The White Blood Religion's apostle who destroyed this port is dead, and the notorious Kusar Pirates who extorted taxes are gone. People have come to establish themselves anew. It's probably similar in other ports and villages."
He smiled confidently, implying that those people had come to the port thanks to him and the Light Wind Palace.
"That's fortunate then."
Raon licked his lips as he watched people clearing debris and leveling the ground.
"We won't stand out even if we move openly."
He had planned to move stealthily from this port, but with so many people around, it seemed they could act openly without drawing attention.
"The wind is nice, and the scenery is beautiful."
Evelyn approached him, brushing back her dyed black hair.
"Should we secure some land in advance? We could build a villa later."
She grinned, suggesting they build a villa to visit every summer.
"Not a bad idea."
Roenn, disguised as a middle-aged adventurer, chuckled after surveying the entire port.
"If you two build a villa, I'll manage it for you."
His appearance and voice had changed so perfectly that even he would have trouble recognizing himself. It was no wonder he was called the Killing King.
"We don't have time for that."
Raon shook his head firmly.
"Not just in the future, but we don't even know what will happen tomorrow."
Now that they had a lead on the White Blood Religion's headquarters, an all-out war with them was inevitable. With the uncertainty of who might die, light-hearted talk of villas didn't register in his mind.
"That's not right!"
Evelyn wagged her finger in front of his face.
"At times like these, you need to keep your mind at ease. Imagine a happy future."
She smiled softly, saying she always thought positively and envisioned the future, even when she was in Eden.
"I always imagined you by my side, and look, it's come true, hasn't it?"
Evelyn linked her arm with his, curling her red lips into a smile.
"Ha ha ha!"
Roenn burst into hearty laughter, seemingly pleased by Evelyn's words.
"Miss Evelyn is right. Envisioning a happy future helps us focus on the present!"
He clapped his hands, saying it's always good to have hope.
"I agree. It's better to think positively."
Lawaine nodded, saying things would work out anyway, so they should only think good thoughts.
"I'm glad you two understand!"
Evelyn, delighted by Roenn and Lawaine's words, hugged Raon's arm tighter.
"Hmm..."
Raon sighed as he pushed Evelyn away.
'When did these three become so close?'
Although Evelyn, Roenn, and Lawaine knew of each other's existence, they had never really conversed before. Yet after just a day together, they seemed as close as if they'd known each other for years. He felt like the outsider.
-That wicked woman must have used magic to increase her friendliness.
Wrath shook his head, calling her an unbelievable madwoman.
'That's not it.'
Raon furrowed his brow as he looked at the smiling Evelyn.
'She's popular in the annex building too.'
Sylvia, Edgar, Sia, and even Helen and the other maids all enjoyed conversing with Evelyn and wanted to spend time with her. Her friendliness was almost absurd.
'Well, she even won over Grandfather.'
Even Glenn had said he wanted to see Evelyn again, so it seemed her friendliness worked on everyone.
'She must have misunderstood Cela's advice.'
It was clear that Evelyn had interpreted her mother Cela's advice to be proactive as a directive to charge headfirst into everything.
"Well, we've arrived."
Lawaine raised his hand as he docked the fishing boat in front of the harbor, which was split like a cliff after a landslide.
"This is the sea route to the northern sea I mentioned before. You should head in the direction I'm pointing."
He nodded, saying they would be able to see the place from his memory once they went out to sea from this harbor.
"I'll circle around this area and wait for you three."
Lawaine left with the boat, saying he'd be waiting for good news.
"Let's go up."
Raon jerked his chin at Roenn and Evelyn before climbing up to the harbor. More people than expected were working on reconstruction, but it was a large port and seemed understaffed.
"We've claimed this area. Go somewhere else."
People near the harbor and in the prime locations in the city center waved their hands, telling others to go elsewhere. They seemed to be trying to secure good spots in advance.
"They're quite greedy."
Raon responded lightly before moving towards the outskirts where there were fewer people. After entering a corner out of sight, he gestured to Roenn and Evelyn.
"Let's pretend to establish our base here during the day and conduct our search at night."
Not knowing where the White Blood Religion's eyes might be, it seemed best to create an identity and move accordingly.
"Understood."
Roenn nodded, as if to say he'd simply follow along.
"Then let's build that villa we talked about earlier!"
Evelyn grinned, saying they should properly build a villa since they were at it.
"Do as you please..."
Raon nodded, realizing from Evelyn's expression that he couldn't dissuade her.
"Alright! Leave it to me!"
As soon as Raon gave his permission, Evelyn began lifting and throwing building debris with her bare hands.
"The young lady would be good at both supporting and leading, I see."
Roenn chuckled, seemingly impressed.
"Of course! There's nothing I haven't tried."
Evelyn laughed, pleased by Roenn's words.
"Sigh..."
Raon exhaled deeply as he looked at the undulating sea.
'It's starting to get out of hand again.'
-I told you not to bring her along!
Wrath sniffled, as if asking why Raon hadn't listened to him.
-She's scary!
'I'm scared too!'
But he can't say it out loud!
***
A white room with eight red curtains cascading down. White smoke billowed from the ceiling where no sunlight penetrated.
"The 9th Apostle is dead?"
The peerlessly beautiful woman lying on the red dais lowered her long pipe, narrowing her obsidian eyes. She was the leader of the White Blood Religion, the solid pillar of the Five Demons and master of tens of thousands of blood demons.
"Yes. His body was found in Sikot Port."
The 10th Apostle knelt before the dais, bowing his head.
"Could it be..."
The White Blood Religion leader tapped her pipe on the dais, recalling a name from previous reports.
"Raon Zieghart?"
She furrowed her delicate brow, as if merely saying the name irritated her.
"He was indeed involved. However..."
The 10th Apostle raised his gaze to meet the leader's transparent black eyes.
"It wasn't Raon Zieghart who killed the 9th Apostle, but Martha Zieghart, the leader of the Natchal Division."
He lowered his eyebrows, saying that the 9th Apostle had been defeated by Martha before Raon arrived.
"Martha Zieghart? Has that child already grown strong enough to defeat the 9th Apostle?"
The White Blood Religion leader exhaled sharply, apparently remembering Martha.
"It seems she had some sort of enlightenment."
The 10th Apostle reported that although he hadn't seen it directly, Martha seemed to have grown while fighting the 9th Apostle.
"What happened to the Blood Spirit Ship and the Blood Wolf?"
"The Blood Spirit Ship was cut into four pieces and sank, and as for the Blood Wolf..."
He bit his lip, as if reluctant to speak.
"It seems the 9th Apostle sacrificed his own bloody energy to make it go berserk, but it was annihilated by Raon Zieghart."
"The Blood Wolf was annihilated? That spirit with upper transcendent level power?"
The White Blooded Cultist's grip on his bear polearm shook.
"I had a bad feeling from the moment that cursed name came up..."
As her voice lowered, the red curtains hanging in the room began to shake violently, as if spilling blood.
"Hmm..."
The 10th Apostle trembled all over at the leader's chilling aura.
'Her bloody energy has grown stronger again.'
Since drinking Ogram's blood, the White Blood Religion leader seemed to have completely broken through a wall, emanating a different level of aura each time they met. Now, it was impossible to gauge how much she had grown.
"He beheaded the Black Tower Master, sliced the soul of The Fallen with the Soul Sword, and now he's even taken down that spirit? It's hard to believe even if he's the reincarnation of a war god."
The White Blood Religion leader clicked her tongue, saying it was hard to believe every time she heard about Raon.
"Truly a damnable bastard."
She exhaled red smoke as if soaked in blood, seemingly genuinely angry.
"Huff..."
The White Blood Religion leader looked at the 10th Apostle with clear eyes, as if she had exhaled her anger along with the smoke.
"Strengthen the protective magic and defenses guarding the headquarters for a while. Change the surrounding terrain too. And prohibit entry and exit from the outside."
She jerked her chin, tapping the ash from her pipe.
"Do you suspect they will come looking for our headquarters?"
"The 9th Apostle and other blood demons wouldn't have said anything about this place. But they might have checked the devices on the ship, so it's right to be cautious."
The White Blood Religion leader lowered her hand, saying they should prepare thoroughly given the situation.
"Understood."
The 10th Apostle, seemingly in agreement with the leader, rose without hesitation and left the white room.
The White Blood Religion leader bit the end of her pipe with her red lips and looked at the back of her hand, as white as if it had never seen sunlight. She narrowed her eyebrows at the sight of a patch of skin raised like fish scales.
"It's starting earlier than expected."
***
On a dim night with a crescent moon falling, Raon, Evelyn, and Roenn stood on a deserted beach, wearing night suits inscribed with blue magic formulas.
"I've put magic on those diving suits to suppress presence and sound. It's my special creation. It won't be detected easily, even by a Transcendent."
Evelyn smiled confidently, saying even a Transcendent would have a hard time detecting it.
-I, I have to admit, she's special in that aspect...
Wrath shook his head, saying that as the Monarch of Wrath, he had to acknowledge her skill in this area.
"I've also made it so that it eliminates the waves generated when swimming."
Evelyn raised her fist, saying they absolutely wouldn't be detected by movement.
"However, I couldn't add invisibility magic because it's a bit heavy and might cause mana to leak."
She wagged her finger, saying it would be better to move without invisibility.
"It's light and easy to move in, considering the magic it contains."
Roenn chuckled, saying he had no trouble using his aura.
"You've done well in such a short time."
Raon stroked the diving suit Evelyn had made, expressing his gratitude.
"Oh, come on, there's no need for that between us."
Evelyn slapped her own back, as if to say such words weren't necessary.
"W-Well, shall we depart?"
Raon told Roenn and Evelyn to follow him before diving into the sea first.
-Do you know where to go?
'Yes. I can see it clearly.'
As soon as he entered the sea, the location from the sea spirit's memory appeared. It seemed they needed to head north towards deeper waters.
[Follow me.]
Raon sent an aura message to Roenn and Evelyn and began swimming slowly, following the sea spirit's memory.
'We could sell these diving suits.'
The effect of Evelyn's diving suits was evident. Breathing was comfortable, and a single kick propelled the body forward smoothly.
[This is nice. It feels like I'm on a honeymoon with Raon.]
Evelyn smiled as she touched the passing fish with her fingers.
[Ha ha ha.]
Roenn let out a grandfatherly laugh, seemingly pleased by Evelyn's endless enthusiasm.
[Please be quiet...]
Raon covered Evelyn's mouth and refocused on the search.
'I've seen this place before.'
The sea spirit hadn't just left a path to the White Blood Religion's headquarters; it had imprinted landmarks like rocks and seaweed in Raon's mind. Following these memories, he could move without confusion.
[We're getting close. We need to be careful now.]
According to the sea spirit's memory, they would soon arrive near the White Blood Religion's headquarters. There might be magic traps, so they needed to completely suppress their presence and move slowly from now on.
'From here, there should be... Huh?'
Why isn't it here? According to the sea spirit's memory, there should be a rock shaped like a turtle's shell, but nothing was visible in his field of vision. He felt perplexed for the first time, as the sea spirit's memory had been accurate until now.
'Did we come to the wrong place? No, this direction is correct.'
Just in case, he looked around, but the other areas weren't in the sea spirit's memory at all.
'It's difficult to find direction like this...'
All he could see now was the sand at the bottom of the sea. In this state, it was impossible to find direction.
[Please look for a turtle shell-shaped rock around here.]
Raon explained the rock from his memory to Evelyn and Roenn before moving north.
'I can't see the giant pink coral that should be after the turtle rock either.'
Having lost direction at the turtle rock, he couldn't find the next location.
'Have we been discovered?'
He wondered if the White Blood Religion had noticed they had started searching and were on the move.
'No, that's unlikely.'
If they knew they were being tracked, they wouldn't have acted in such an obvious way. They were probably just being cautious due to the submersible ship.
[Be extra careful from now on.]
Raon warned Roenn and Evelyn that there might be White Blood Religion movement in the area before activating his Azure Clear Eye. The eye that could see everything didn't detect any bloody energy or artificial aura.
'Wrath.'
Raon clicked his tongue briefly and called out to Wrath.
'Can you sense anything?'
-There have certainly been small changes in this area not too long ago. However, it's not the power of magic or spells.
Wrath shook his head, saying that while there had been changes, he couldn't pinpoint exactly what they were.
'If even you can't find it, it's not around here...'
Raon sighed inwardly and moved north again.
'I'll have to search again.'
He continued looking around, letting his body drift with the ocean currents, but nothing appeared. There was only gray sand and seawater. Eventually, Raon returned to the harbor before dawn, having found nothing.
"Huff, let's stop here for today."
He looked back at Evelyn and Roenn, shaking the seawater from his hair.
"It's getting light. We have no choice."
Evelyn nodded calmly.
"Don't be too disappointed. We need to be patient with these things."
Roenn lowered his chin, as if to say they shouldn't be hasty.
"If the terrain you knew has changed, it surely means the White Blood Religion is nearby."
He clasped his hands, saying it was certain the White Blood Religion was hiding, so they needed to stay calm.
"I think so too. From where we lost our way, we couldn't see any sea monsters or fish."
"Now that you mention it..."
Raon opened his eyes wide, picking up on Evelyn's words. As she said, they hadn't seen a single fish or monster in that area.
"You're right. Something is there."
Evelyn shrugged, saying it was definitely the White Blood Religion's handiwork, even if she didn't know what exactly.
"Yes. Let's narrow down the area little by little."
Raon smiled softly at Roenn and Evelyn, who were giving him hope.
"Then shall we start building our villa now?"
Evelyn sidled up to him, saying they should build a house of love.
"Sigh."
Raon exhaled heavily as he watched Evelyn giggling.
'This might be more tiring.'
***
Raon furrowed his brow as he surfaced.
'I still can't find it.'
For ten nights after their initial search, they had come out to sea every night to look for the White Blood Religion's location, but they couldn't find any trace of them anywhere.
'The memory is fading...'
Since it wasn't his own memory, the recollection the sea spirit had imprinted in his mind was becoming blurry. He needed to find the location of the White Blood Religion's headquarters before the scenes completely disappeared.
"Are you alright?"
Evelyn looked at him with worried eyes.
"Shall we rest for a while?"
Roenn lowered his eyebrows, suggesting they take a break.
"No. We still have time before dawn, so let's search a bit more."
As Raon was about to wave his hand and suggest they go back into the sea, a small water droplet splashed between him and Evelyn. It transformed into a young wolf as it landed. It was the sea spirit he had saved.
"You..."
Raon's eyes widened as he saw the sea spirit again.
"Kyaryung."
The sea spirit narrowed its eyes happily and rubbed its cheek against his hand.
"Is this the spirit you mentioned? It's so cute!"
Evelyn stroked the sea spirit's head, saying it was cuter than she expected.
"Kya-ling!"
The sea spirit looked at him and scratched the sea with its small front paw. It seemed to be saying it wanted to go down together.
"Don't tell me..."
Raon swallowed dryly as he looked into the sea spirit's transparent eyes.
"You're going to guide us directly?"
"Kyaung!"
The sea spirit nodded, as if to confirm that was correct.
"But you'll be scared..."
The sea spirit had been captured by the White Blood Religion leader and directly injected with magic, so even approaching that area would likely terrify it. Even in the memories it had shown, its trembling gaze was palpable.
"Are you really okay with this?"
Raon bit his lip as he held the spirit's front paws.
"Kiao!"
The sea spirit let out a small cry, as if to say it was fine, but its paws trembled slightly, unable to completely overcome its fear. Still, it seemed to trust him.
"Then I'll rely on you. I promise to protect you no matter what."
Raon nodded as he stroked the sea spirit's downy mane.
"Kwak!"
The sea spirit smiled as if to say it believed him, then dove into the sea.
"Let's go."
Raon nodded at Evelyn and Roenn, gesturing for them to follow.
"We'll find our way this time."
Raon made a gesture for the two to follow him and entered the sea. They descended into the dark seabed, following the sea spirit that emitted a soft light as if melting the cold seawater. Raon clenched his fist as he etched the image of the sea spirit, trembling with fear of the White Blood Religion, into his mind.
'This time, for sure.'