Novel Full Chapter 1071
》”A god who doesn’t listen to his believer! Did he really kick the bucket?”
Wrath glared at the message, still unable to contain his anger, and hurled curses at the Demon God.
‘He’s being way too harsh…’
‘I hope I don’t actually get struck by divine lightning.’
Raon shook his head and checked the message floating before his eyes.
[You have achieved a great feat that will remain in history.]
[All stats increase by 100 points.]
The first thing he saw was, naturally, the stat increase message.
‘Stat growth doesn’t mean much anymore.’
Right now, his physical abilities were among the highest even among Transcendents. He had already reached a level where it wouldn’t be strange to put him on par with the Angels or Demons, so stat increases no longer held much appeal.
‘But 100 points is a different story.’
When his stats rose by 100 points all at once, he could feel a clear change even in a body like his current one, which had already reached its limit.
Rumble!
A thrill of growth surged through his entire body, reminding him of the days when he squeezed every last drop of benefit out of Wrath during his trainee days.
》”You’re still complaining even while I’m feeding you!”
Wrath frowned, clearly displeased.
》”It is only because you are stuck in an ambiguous stage right now, but once you break past that realm, you shall see a new world.”
He shook his head, saying the limits of the physical body had not yet been reached.
》”Do not train so that the mind rules the body; train so that the body rules the body.”
Wrath poked Raon’s forehead with a finger, warning him not to neglect physical tempering and stat growth.
‘So you’re saying you’ll keep handing out stat points until then?’
Raon tilted his head with a smile.
‘Thanks. As expected, you’re like a giving tree.’
》”Huh? Uh…”
Wrath blinked blankly for a moment before leaping up in a frenzy.
》”Absolutely not! I shall never give you any more!”
He waved his hands wildly, telling Raon to stop talking nonsense.
‘He’s always so entertaining.’
Raon chuckled and checked the next message.
[A new trait <Blood Control> has been created.]
The second thing that caught his eye was a new trait.
‘What’s this?’
Filled with anticipation, he checked the details of the new trait.
<Blood Control>
Raon snapped his fingers after reading the trait.
‘This is actually pretty good.’
With this trait, even if he suffered major wounds in battle, he could reduce blood loss and keep fighting longer than before. It was a trait perfectly suited to him.
》”Ugh…”
Wrath’s eyes trembled as he looked at <Blood Control>. It seemed he hated everything about it.
[The grade of trait <Unyielding Will> has increased.]
[The grade of trait <Demonic Energy Adaptation> has increased.]
[The grade of trait <Formation Interpretation> has increased by two levels.]
[The grade of trait <Snowflower’s Veil> has increased.]
[The grade of trait <Snowflower’s Absorption> has increased.]
[The grade of trait <Snowflower’s Lance> has increased.]
[The grade of trait <Wrath’s Descent> has increased.]
[The grade of trait <Blood Path> has increased.]
[The grade of trait <Askarai’s Fighting Spirit> has increased.]
[The grade of trait <Heaven Slayer> has increased.]
[The grade of trait <Sword Control> has increased.]
[The grade of trait <Crisis Sense> has increased.]
》”Wha—why are there so many!”
Wrath ground his teeth, saying his neck hurt just from looking at the list of upgraded traits.
‘Even I think it’s a lot.’
The battle had been long, and every situation had been urgent and dangerous, which seemed to have triggered the grade increases for many traits.
But the most important part had not appeared yet.
[You have received the heartfelt gratitude of the Vengeful Spirits.]
[Trait <Heart Sword (Spirit)> evolves into trait <Heart Sword>.]
The Vengeful Spirits of the Soul Requiem Sword had left behind a massive gift as they departed this world. Now, he could manifest the Heart Sword without the help of the Soul Requiem Sword.
‘Of course, I’ll need to work harder.’
Since the grade of the Heart Sword had fallen back to 1-star, its power had weakened, and controlling it would not be easy. But since it was a path he had once walked before, he believed he could return to that peak without too much difficulty.
》”That is a good mindset.”
Wrath suddenly struck a pose and tilted up his chin.
》”A king must not dwell on what was lost, but think instead about how to develop what he currently possesses!”
He patted Raon’s shoulder, telling him to keep that in mind.
‘Sure…’
In the past, he would have brushed it off by saying, ‘I’m not a king,’ but it seemed his personality and way of thinking had changed quite a lot.
‘And finally.’
》”Again? There’s more?”
Wrath flailed about like a freshly caught fish, acting as if he had lost his mind.
‘This is the last one.’
[A new title <Soul Slasher> has been created.]
‘Soul Slasher?’
Judging by the name, it seemed to be a title he had earned for killing the White Blood Lord with the Heart Sword. But since he had only fired the Heart Sword while Rimmer and the Vengeful Spirits handled the rest, he felt a little awkward receiving it.
》”Why are you talking nonsense now!”
Wrath wrinkled his nose deeply.
》”If you’re going to think like that, spit out everything you’ve devoured until now!”
He growled, saying there had never once been a “fair” reward in Raon’s life.
‘I guess that’s true.’
Raon nodded with a faint smile. It seemed Wrath was encouraging him in his own twisted way. Taking courage from those words, he checked the details of the title.
<Soul Slasher>
Raon gasped as soon as he read the details.
‘This is no joke.’
The Heart Sword was a decisive and beautiful martial art that settled a fight in a single instant. Even a “slight” increase in power and speed meant the difference between killing someone who had once been impossible to kill. It was an immense reward. Considering his future growth, this title might be the most impactful reward he had gained today.
》”Wh-why is this being given!”
Wrath screamed the moment he read the title’s effects.
》”To create something like this, this King would have to pour in an insane amount of power!”
He hurled curses at the system, wondering if it had truly lost its mind.
‘You were encouraging me a moment ago, and you’ve already changed your mind?’
》”Encouraging? En-cour-aging?! When did this King ever encourage you!”
Wrath frowned, claiming he had never had such a thought for even a second.
‘Sigh…’
Raon let out a breath.
‘So that was sincere?’
It seemed Wrath hadn’t been encouraging him at all and had simply been sincerely mocking him. Raon’s affection for him plummeted instantly.
Raon let out a sigh as he closed his eyes.
Click.
The door to his room opened, and Evelyn entered in a neatly pressed maid uniform.
“Ah…”
Raon frowned slightly when he saw Evelyn.
‘Of all people, why Evelyn?’
He wanted to look over the reward messages again and plan out his future growth, but with Evelyn here, things were bound to get noisy.
“You’re awake.”
But contrary to his expectations, Evelyn didn’t scream. She quietly entered the room and closed the door behind her.
“Huh?”
Raon leaned his upper body back when he saw the eerie smile on Evelyn’s face.
“Why are you closing the door…?”
“Because I wanted to monopolize your time now that you’ve just woken up.”
Evelyn’s beautiful smile looked like a chilling sneer to him.
》”That madwoman…”
Wrath trembled, unable to even look at Evelyn.
》”She came every single day and just stared at you for twelve whole hours. I thought I was going to die of fear!”
He let out a ragged breath, claiming Evelyn’s obsession was even worse than Lust’s.
‘Ugh…’
The moment he heard Wrath’s words, a cold shiver ran down Raon’s spine. Come to think of it, he remembered hearing Evelyn’s happy voice even while he was unconscious at the White Blood Cult.
“M-Mom! Dad!”
He had called his mother and father “Mom” and “Dad” as if he had gone back to childhood, but neither of them had appeared.
“I used magic to erase the sound.”
Evelyn placed one leg on the bed, suggesting they spend some happy time together.
“Uh… Ah!”
Raon gasped as he scrambled backward on the bed. Then a good idea for stopping Evelyn came to mind.
“B-by the way, what happened after I passed out? What about Darkhan? And the Head Of House?”
Trying to divert Evelyn’s attention, he asked about what had happened after he lost consciousness.
“Hmm…”
Evelyn stopped in place and frowned instead of answering right away.
“I can’t tell you that.”
“Huh? Why?”
Raon’s eyes widened.
“Grandfather said he would tell you himself. He told me to bring you to the Head Of House once you woke up.”
Evelyn let out a disappointed sigh, saying she couldn’t ignore Glenn’s words.
》”Ah, I forgot there was another obsession maniac in this house…”
Wrath gasped as the memory returned to him.
》”That grandson-fool old man! During the twelve hours that madwoman wasn’t here, that old geezer was!”
===
Whoosh!
At the main headquarters of the White Blood Cult, where the desperate war had ended and silence had fallen, a single red haze rose from the ground where the white blood essence had melted away.
[…I will kill.]
A young woman’s voice spread eerily through the haze. It was a voice thick with murderous intent and overflowing with hatred.
[I will kill every last one of you!]
It was the White Blood Lord’s voice. The lingering thought she had left behind at the moment her soul was annihilated crawled up from the ground, possessing a will of its own.
[After I regain my power, Raon Zieghart and Martha Zieghart… no, I will destroy the Ziegharts themselves. Derus Robert! You are the same!]
The White Blood Lord’s lingering thought revealed a deep and dense malice, as if it wanted to destroy not only the Ziegharts, but the entire world.
Whoosh!
The lingering thought transformed its red hazy body into the shape of a bat and flew into the sky.
[I am a noble race that never dies…]
Just as she spread her wings and entered the forest beside the port village—
Bang!
A white current that surged up from beneath a tree pierced through the White Blood Lord’s torso.
[Screeeeech!]
The White Blood Lord’s lingering thought screamed and plummeted to the ground.
[Ggh…]
As she trembled violently and looked up, a man with white hair flowing to his waist stepped out from beneath the tree.
[Y-you!]
“You showed up just as expected.”
Lawrence, the man who had hidden within the Holy Sword Alliance while targeting only the White Blood Lord, tilted his chin.
“Because your will to live is more tenacious than anyone else’s.”
He sneered, as if he had anticipated the appearance of the lingering thought from the very beginning.
“Though I didn’t expect only a lingering thought to remain instead of a fragment of the soul. It seems Raon’s Heart Sword worked properly.”
Lawrence smacked his lips, looking slightly disappointed.
[H-how are you here…!]
“I’m here because it’s me. Because I know you better than anyone.”
He smiled coldly and shook his head.
“Ah, since you’re only a lingering thought, perhaps you don’t understand?”
Lawrence snorted and gripped the bat-shaped lingering thought in his hand.
“If you had grown in this state by drinking human blood and malice, a new soul would have been created. But that won’t happen now.”
He smiled as he ripped off the wings of the bat-shaped White Blood Lord and set them ablaze.
[Screeeeech!]
The White Blood Lord’s lingering thought let out the same piercing scream her original body had made while alive.
[W-wait! Wait. I will…]
The lingering thought struggled desperately to survive, releasing a faint bit of blood energy—her very lifeline.
“Shut up. Just disappear.”
As Lawrence brought down the white flames gathered in both his hands, the White Blood Lord’s lingering thought burned away together with the bat’s body.
[Screeeeech!]
“Denier Zieghart was right. You should never have existed in this world.”
His bitter voice faded away as the lingering thought, the final proof of the White Blood Lord’s existence, was completely erased.
“Haa…”
Lawrence closed his eyes and let out a sigh so heavy it seemed the ground itself might collapse, as if countless emotions were mixed within it.
“Is this really…”
Rektor emerged from behind Lawrence and let out a low groan.
“…enough to satisfy you?”
He narrowed his eyes, wondering if Lawrence was truly alright.
“The real White Blood Lord was annihilated by Raon and Martha. What you just killed was literally only a lingering thought. Even if it had hidden away and regained power, it would have eventually become a different being from the White Blood Lord.”
Rektor frowned deeply, worried that Lawrence had failed to achieve complete revenge.
“This is enough.”
Lawrence brushed off his hands as if that were sufficient.
“The story of those children and that sword was deeper and heavier than mine. Just watching it was enough.”
He drew a thin smile, saying he felt vicarious satisfaction just from watching Martha and Raon’s fight.
“And you and I both participated in that war, didn’t we?”
Lawrence nodded calmly, saying they had won thanks to the support they provided from the shadows.
“Still…”
“We should be thinking about what comes next. Derus’s eyes will be everywhere, so it was the right decision not to reveal the Holy Sword Alliance here.”
He looked at Rektor with calm eyes, telling him they needed to prepare for the future.
“That future is something I must handle. It is none of your concern…”
“Since you barged into my life, I have to barge into yours for things to balance out.”
Lawrence snorted and passed by Rektor, entering a cave deep in the forest. Inside the cave lay a man in white robes who appeared to be one of the Angels, along with assassins in black masks, all collapsed without even being able to close their eyes.
“Prepare to throw these things into the sea.”
Until now, there had been too many people around to dispose of the corpses, but now that the martial artists of the Five Kings Alliance had left, it seemed possible to throw them into the ocean.
“Fine. I understand.”
Despite his words, Rektor turned his gaze back toward the main headquarters of the White Blood Cult. Looking at the land where Raon had fought to the very end, he drew a soft smile.
“Well done, my grandson.”
===
‘It’s late now…’
Raon looked at the moonlight pouring in through the window and smacked his lips.
‘It would be better to go after the sun rises.’
Glenn had told him to come immediately, but since it was dawn, he thought it would be better to visit the Head Of House after sunrise.
‘Now that I’ve sent Evelyn away, should I go back to sleep?’
Not all of his injuries had fully healed yet, so he was about to close his eyes and sleep again.
Whoosh!
A sharp sword wind echoed from the lakeside.
‘Is it Noona?’
A natural smile rose on his face as he felt the unique Aura he had personally taught Sia.
‘She’s improved a lot.’
Just from the sound of the sword wind, he could tell how much Sia’s swordsmanship had developed. That was only natural, since a genius had been putting in the effort.
‘Right. Just like that… hm?’
Just as Raon was about to fall asleep to the sound of Sia’s sword wind, he heard a familiar man’s voice from the lakeside. Since it wasn’t Edgar or Yulius, he focused his Aura into his hearing.
“Do I do it like this?”
“Perfect! You’re overflowing with talent! Seriously. No, you’re almost at your brother’s level!”
“Really?”
“I’m telling you! Want to try fighting me?”
Sia and the man spoke warmly, as if they were already close.
‘Fight? Who on earth is it?’
Unable to hold back any longer, Raon finally opened the window and stepped outside. As he approached the lake, he saw a tall man standing beside Sia, guiding her swordsmanship.
‘For some reason, the back of his head looks familiar… Gasp!’
Raon’s jaw dropped as he stared at the man’s back.
“D-Darkhan!”
The back of Darkhan’s head, which he had seen countless times during the beggar lessons, was right there next to Sia.
“Why are you here!?”
“Oh! You’re awake!”
Darkhan turned around and flashed a refreshing smile.
“Your sister’s sword is quite interesting! Can I spar with her?”
He waved at Raon as if greeting an old friend.
“Of course you can’t!”
Unable to hold it in any longer, Raon shouted.
“You crazy bastard!”