Raon exhaled, his breath forming white mist as he gazed at the sea permeated with cold energy.
'Things have changed quite a bit.'
Winter had come to the sea during the time he spent searching for the former Leader of the Holy Sword Alliance Darkan with Rector and training the Light Wind Palace Swordsmen. Though the cold hadn't fully settled in yet, the rolling waves reflected different colors than before.
"Time really flies, doesn't it?"
Lawaine smiled brightly as he flicked seawater with his fingertips.
"It feels like you just left a few days ago, but three months have already passed."
He nodded, saying that time seemed to pass faster because the sea remained unchanged.
"Have you seen Haerang recently?"
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at the calm water surface.
"No. I haven't seen him at all since you left."
Lawaine shook his head, saying that although he had patrolled this area for three months, he hadn't encountered Haerang.
"I see..."
Raon clicked his tongue briefly.
'Did he go somewhere else?'
Before leaving this port, he had asked Haerang to keep an eye on the White Blood Religion, but hearing that he hadn't been seen once made him think he might have left the area.
-That's only natural. Having barely escaped from those Blood Demons' clutches, why would he only care about your request?
Wrath snorted, saying that wolves needed their freedom.
-Don't rely on spirits, get out there and do it yourself.
'I already brought the diving suit.'
Naturally, he had brought Evelyn's diving suit since he needed to personally check if there were any changes in the White Blood Religion's movements before the war began.
'It's still a while before sunrise, so I should leave right now...'
Just as he was about to take out Evelyn's diving suit from his subspace pouch, a water droplet the size of a human torso shot up from the sea and transformed into a young wolf.
"Kyang!"
It was Haerang. As if he had been waiting, he emerged the moment Raon's foot touched the sea and stuck out his tongue.
"So you hadn't gone somewhere else?"
"Kyaung!"
Haerang shook his head firmly in denial.
"Don't tell me you've been watching the White Blood Religion while waiting for me this whole time?"
"Kyung!"
He wagged his tail with his body stretched out, as if confirming that was exactly what he'd been doing.
-Tsk, a wolf should have more pride...
Wrath frowned, saying it was like a puppy choosing its master.
-That's not a wolf, it's just a dog!
He waved his hand dismissively.
"Thank you."
Raon bent his knee and patted Haerang's head.
"But you seem bigger? No, your physical size is similar, but your aura..."
While Haerang's size hadn't changed much from before, the sea energy he possessed had grown immensely beyond comparison. It felt as if he encompassed all the surrounding waters.
"Kyaung!"
Haerang lifted his front paw to scratch his nose bridge, as if unsure himself.
-Born as a special spirit and having overcome difficult trials, it's not strange that he'd grow so much in such a short time.
Wrath lowered his eyebrows, suggesting that Haerang had grown as a spirit thanks to the hardships he'd endured.
'That's good.'
Hearing that Haerang had achieved spiritual growth by overcoming his pain brought both pride and relief simultaneously.
"Shall we go then?"
Raon put on Evelyn's diving suit and patted Haerang's head.
"Kyaang!"
Haerang bowed his head as if offering to guide them himself, then jumped into the sea.
"I'll be back."
"Yes! I'll be waiting."
Lawaine bowed deeply as if telling him to be careful. After acknowledging Lawaine's farewell, Raon silently dove into the sea. Though the changing seasons had filled the seawater with a chilly cold energy, it had no effect on him.
Haerang slowly cut through the water ahead of him, as if telling Raon to just follow him.
'How cute.'
Raon followed Haerang's swaying tail while suppressing his presence and controlling his breathing. As if in a trance watching Haerang's tail, they soon arrived at the valley where the White Blood Religion Headquarters was submerged.
Following Roenn's movements from memory to avoid the barrier magic, they descended into the valley where the Kraken disguised with gray sand and the white city atop it came into view.
'Still in the same place. However...'
Raon frowned as he examined the area around the headquarters.
'Can't go any further because of the Blood Demons.'
For unknown reasons, Blood Demons of Archbishop rank or higher were submerged around the White Blood Religion Headquarters, just like him.
'What happened during this time?'
Anxiety rose in his chest, knowing the Blood Demons wouldn't be in the sea without a special reason.
'We might need to revise our plans...'
As Raon watched the Blood Demons moving around the headquarters with furrowed brows, the sea suddenly heaved like an erupting volcano as the Kraken's massive tentacles, too large to take in at a single glance, unfurled.
'What is this...'
It felt unreal. The Kraken's form was so massive and majestic that Raon thought he must be dreaming. The Kraken extended its long tentacles, seemingly controlling the water currents, and grabbed hold of the valley. Haerang looked at him trembling, as if thinking they'd been discovered.
'No.'
Raon shook his head while holding Haerang tightly in his arms.
'We haven't been discovered yet.'
If their identity had been discovered, an apostle would have burst out instead of the Kraken moving. It was clear the Kraken was trying to relocate somewhere else.
As he predicted, the Kraken wasn't attacking but rather using its eight tentacles to maintain balance so the White Blood Religion Headquarters wouldn't shake as it climbed up the valley.
'That was close.'
As the Kraken moved and the Blood Demons relocated with it, if his diving suit hadn't been enchanted with camouflage magic, they would have definitely been discovered.
-Haaa...
Wrath exhaled excitedly as he watched the Kraken's tentacles slowly climbing the valley.
-The more I look at it, the more I want to eat it.
Unaware of his own limitations, he salivated at length about wanting to eat grilled Kraken.
'Phew.'
Raon internally sighed in relief as he climbed the valley while maintaining some distance from the Kraken. After ascending the valley, the Kraken moved far north and buried its massive body in the brown sandbed.
As he had seen before, the creature seemed to possess strong instincts, instantly matching its skin texture to the brown sand to conceal itself.
It was camouflage so effective that even his eyes could barely detect it.
-What! If it was just coming here, why did it even move?
Wrath frowned, noting that it had barely moved after climbing the valley.
-That's how fat builds up in its flesh!
He clicked his tongue, saying it wouldn't taste good if it didn't move enough.
'This is the place Haerang first implanted in my mind.'
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked around the sea where the Kraken had settled.
'The original location of the White Blood Religion Headquarters.'
It was certain. Looking at the surrounding terrain, the scene matched exactly with the memory of the White Blood Religion Headquarters that Haerang had left in his mind.
-Then...
'Yes. The White Blood Religion's defenses have been lifted.'
The White Blood Religion was clearly preparing to resume external activities after lifting the strengthened defenses they had put in place when their activities were discovered.
'Well, they've held back for quite a while.'
It had been over three months since the Nine Apostles died and their sailing ship sank - they had endured much longer than he expected.
Considering the White Blood Religion's nature of needing to drink others' blood to grow stronger, it was surprising.
'The two months spent preparing magic actually turned out to be beneficial.'
Raon's lips curled up as he watched the Blood Demons setting up new barrier magic around the headquarters.
'Our chances of winning have increased by twenty percent.'
***
Martha's sword fell, carrying magnificent crushing energy. The sword technique, with its flickering dark aura, carved heavy sword marks into the training ground floor.
"Tsk."
Martha clicked her tongue roughly as she looked at the violently damaged training ground floor.
'This isn't right...'
While the power of the Crushing Ocean Sword itself seemed to surpass Grandmaster level, she felt uneasy about the many gaps in aspects other than the crushing sword principles.
'It feels different from when I cut through father's aura.'
Unlike when Denier had given advice, her movements felt awkward, like wearing ill-fitting clothes. (E/N: Raw said 'Derus' instead of 'Denier'...no way...right?)
'Again...'
Though exhausted from swinging her sword all day, there was no time to rest. With war imminent, she held her sword at ready. Just as Martha was about to perform the Crushing Ocean Sword again, the training ground door opened and Denier entered.
"I wondered who was in my training ground, but it was you."
Denier let out a breath, as if seeing her for the first time in almost two months.
"Today was individual training, so I came home for the first time in a while."
Martha bowed her head, mentioning individual training without saying that Raon had left.
"Father must be busy these days too? I heard he's barely been home."
"The Head of House ordered an intensive training period."
Glenn had ordered everyone to minimize missions and focus on training, without mentioning the upcoming war with the White Blood Religion to avoid leaking information to the Five Demons' spies. As a result, not just the Light Wind Palace, but all swordsmen were going through hell.
"Your skills have improved greatly since I last saw you. Breaking through to Grandmaster High Rank is just a matter of time."
Denier patted Martha's shoulder approvingly.
"While my martial arts seem to be improving, my Crushing Ocean Sword isn't getting any better. I think I'm worse than when I showed it to father after returning from the previous mission."
Martha sighed, saying that while her aura, combat experience, and mental strength had grown, her mastery of the Crushing Ocean Sword had regressed.
"That can't be right? Show me once."
Denier stepped back, offering to assess it personally.
"Yes!"
Martha nodded and demonstrated all the forms of the Crushing Ocean Sword before Denier.
"How should I put it... The crushing sword principles are getting stronger, but other principles can't keep up, so the balance seems off."
She shared her recent concerns about swordsmanship with Denier.
"So you're worried that only the crushing sword principles are getting stronger..."
Denier stroked his chin while looking at Martha.
"It might not be bad to continue as is."
"Pardon?"
Martha blinked blankly.
"But then won't it be easy to dodge or block even if the power is strong?"
"It's fine, don't force yourself to change that flow. I'll review your stance and aura flow again."
Denier demonstrated personally, telling her to trust herself and focus on the crushing sword principles. His Crushing Ocean Sword was focused on crushing principles like hers, but remarkably, the balance of his swordsmanship remained stable.
"When you grow a tree's trunk, the branches grow naturally. The Crushing Ocean Sword is the same. Focus on the crushing principles, and the other principles will follow naturally."
He nodded, telling her not to doubt herself and to follow her current feelings.
"Especially against sinister energy, you must focus even more on the crushing sword. It's about breaking through with force. Understand?"
After demonstrating the Crushing Ocean Sword focused on crushing principles, Denier turned to her with a smile.
"I understand."
Martha nodded heavily.
"Then I'll try again."
She stepped forward and raised her sword. Based on the confidence regained from Denier's advice, she performed the Crushing Ocean Sword while concentrating even more on the crushing principles rather than suppressing them.
'The feeling is definitely better.'
When she stopped suppressing the crushing principles, her sword strikes extended with more vitality, as if shackles had been removed from her limbs. Just performing the technique made her heart feel refreshed.
"Not bad, but spread your arms wider here."
Denier roughly guided Martha's arms according to the flow of the Crushing Ocean Sword, but his eyes glowed with warm pride at his daughter's growth.
***
After reporting to Glenn and Chamber that the White Blood Religion had emerged from the valley, Raon immediately headed to the fifth training ground.
"Hmm..."
He clicked his tongue briefly as he watched the swordsmen honing their individual techniques.
'With war approaching, what training should I have them do?'
After two months of creating daily training regimens to strengthen their swordsmanship, mind, body, and aura in sequence, he wasn't sure what else to focus on.
'If I can't think of anything, it's best to return to basics….'
Just as he thought about going back to reviewing swordsmanship basics, Krein passed by in front of him. Seeing Krein reminded him of the brown notebook where he had been recording training contents.
"Krein."
Raon snapped his fingers to call Krein.
"M-me?"
Krein pointed at himself with his finger.
"Is there another Krein besides you?"
"Ah..."
He approached nervously, his eyes darting around.
"Why did you call me?"
"You wrote a training log, right? Bring it here."
"What...?"
The moment Krein heard the request for the log, his eyes trembled as if he'd seen a ghost.
"Why that..."
"To see what training we've done so far. That's why I had you write it down."
Raon wiggled his finger, as if asking why Krein was questioning something so obvious.
"W-wasn't that for personal keeping?"
Krein's jaw trembled as if he had no idea.
"You can keep it as a memento, but bring it here first."
"Hik..."
He remained silent for a while before shaking his head.
"I, I left it at home yesterday..."
Krein shook his head, saying he didn't have it now.
"Really? Then for tomorrow..."
"What are you talking about? You carry it in your subspace pouch."
As Raon was about to tell him to bring it tomorrow, Dorian approached Krein's side and shook his head.
"You were writing in it even during breakfast today."
Dorian blinked, saying he had seen Krein writing in the log this morning.
"You bastard. Where did you sell your Mind's Eye..."
Krein demonstrated the feat of cursing at Dorian without opening his lips.
"Bring it."
Raon smirked and jerked his chin at Krein.
"Ah, uh, yes..."
Krein shot Dorian a resentful look before opening his subspace pouch and handing over a worn-looking notebook.
"I, I need to use the bathroom..."
As soon as he handed over the training log, Krein backed away, claiming his stomach hurt.
"Fine. Go ahead."
Raon nodded and opened the training log he received from Krein.
"Huh? Ha... Ha!"
Though each day's entry was brief, it detailed exactly what training was done and how. Moreover, every entry ended with curses directed at him. He was portrayed as a madman in every single entry.
"Krein."
Raon called out to Krein without taking his eyes off the log.
"Yes? I said I was going to the bathroom..."
"Come forward."
"Heup!"
Krein released his grip on his stomach and stood before the platform with a pale expression.
"This is quite an excellent log."
Raon looked down at Krein with a slight smile.
"Everything necessary is written here. Along with some unnecessary parts."
"I-is that so? I just wrote down the facts..."
Krein laughed awkwardly while averting his eyes.
"Hahaha."
"Ahahaha."
When Raon laughed, Krein twisted his lips and forced out a similar laugh.
"You're laughing?"
"Heup!"
Krein raised his hands to cover both his nose and mouth.
"Today. No, for the remaining time, I'll show you what a real madman is like."
"Keuuk!"
Krein's face turned deathly pale at the cold voice that seemed directed at an enemy.
-Tsk tsk.
Wrath clicked his tongue as if in pity.
-You've picked the wrong fight with this nasty fellow.
He clasped his hands together as if praying for Krein's soul.
***
Raon sat on the bed in the annex building and raised his head.
'It's time.'
The morning had dawned when Evelyn and the Archmages said they would complete their magic.
'It was both a long and short time.'
Though it had been hell raising both the Light Wind Palace Swordsmen's ranks and his own level simultaneously, looking back, it felt like just a moment.
'The Light Wind Palace has grown significantly.'
Especially Martha. While everyone trained hard, Martha achieved the greatest growth. During his time at sea, she had grasped the true meaning of the Crushing Ocean Sword, making it possible for her to exploit even a small opening against the Leader of the White Blood Religion.
'Of course, I'll need to help.'
Even with her growth, if Martha charged at the Leader of the White Blood Religion alone, she would be reduced to bloody mist in an instant. His role was the most crucial.
'For that purpose...'
Raon clicked his tongue and called up his status window.
Traits:
Strength: 1856.
Agility: 1887.
Vitality: 1853.
Energy: 1872.
Perception: 1905.
Wrath: 400.
Sloth: 270.
Envy: 270.
Gluttony: 220.
Lust: 180.
Greed: 100. (E/N: Kinda weird, Greed value was supposed to be higher than others, but it's the lowest)
He had intended to check his status window one last time before the war, but now the numbers had grown so large that they were difficult to read even across two pages. Just looking at his stats, it seemed he wouldn't lose to anyone except the leaders of the Five Kings and Five Demons.
'Especially...'
The Soul Sword had grown significantly.
[Realm of the soul is rising.]
[Trait Soul Sword (Spirit)'s rank is increasing.]
As if all his efforts had paid off, just yesterday he had been able to advance his Soul Sword another level.
'But even with this sword, I won't be able to cut down the Leader of the White Blood Religion.'
The Leader of the White Blood Religion's soul was so vast that his Soul Sword still couldn't completely sever it. However, he might be able to create an opening to save Martha's mother's soul that remained within the Leader. It felt like a small ray of sunlight had broken through what had seemed a hopeless rescue of Martha's mother.
'It begins now.'
Raon rose to his feet, draping the Black Dragon Coat that had been placed beside the bed over his shoulders.
'A war that will end the deep, dark vendetta of a child who lost their mother.'