Chapter 234

Raon smiled faintly as he saw the Gambling Monster’s widened eyes.

‘Interesting.’

The Gambling Monster’s Sword Field Creation wasn’t an enhancement-type like Rimmer’s, which strengthened his sword’s power. Instead, it was an installation-type, which consisted of creating a dark space with invisible blades that were set up at desired locations.

‘I didn’t know there were Sword Fields like this.’

The Gambling Monster was striking from the front with an illusion sword that could be blocked, while materializing the pre-installed black blades from behind to cut the opponent’s weakness. 

Since the world was weakening aura perception, there was no way anyone could avoid the attack. Raon had thought that a Sword Field would be always about enhancing physical abilities, aura, or attributes, and had never imagined that it could deceive an opponent like that.

‘He’s really consistent.’

At the Gambling Monster’s level, he could’ve created a more powerful Sword Field, yet his Sword Field was about toying with his opponent instead. He was a true gambler, down to his bones.

Thanks to him, Raon started to understand Sword Field.

Sword Field wasn’t a simple technique, unlike swordsmanship or footwork. It was the flow of a warrior’s life, including their personality and the way they’d been living.

‘I don’t think I can use it yet.’

Probably because he didn’t have enough experience, he couldn’t see the flow. However, that was nothing to be sad about, since it was just a matter of time.

“Are you telling me that you found all fourteen of my blades?”

The Gambling Monster’s irritated frown looked like rotten tree bark. Since Raon had analyzed his expression during the gambling and drinking matches, he could feel that his scowl was very slightly awkward.

‘I need to focus.’

It wasn’t over yet.

He only managed to stand equally against the Gambling Monster by discovering the Sword Field’s secret. No, he was actually still at a great disadvantage. He was still inside the Sword Field, and stopping the bleeding was all he could do.

‘I need to use the black blades in order to win.’

The Gambling Monster still had one more trick hidden up his sleeve, and Raon had already noticed the trick. He needed to finish the fight in an instant after creating an opportunity by pretending he didn’t notice.

“Nice. Very nice.”

The Gambling Monster bit his lip. His voice was trembling slightly in anticipation and excitement.

“However, I’ll show you that knowing all that isn’t going to make any difference!”

He reached in front of Raon in the blink of an eye, as if he had traveled through darkness, and slashed. The blade that was filled with the principles of an illusion sword started spinning in a spiral, creating dozens of blades rising towards him. It was an oppressive sight, as if dozens of soldiers were thrusting their spears at once towards his vitals.

Whir!

Raon lowered his posture by a lot to dodge the black blade passing right above his head, before increasing the output of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation’s energy to the maximum.

Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, Hundred Flames.

Flame Spirit.

The red glow on the blade spread out through the wind. The astral energies of raging fires numbered over a hundred as they covered the dark space. They looked like flower petals falling down at their most beautiful moment.

Baam!

The clash between the dark blade and the beam of fire created a powerful explosion. Raon and the Gambling Monster were bounced back at the same time from the impact, which was strong enough to shake the barrier itself.

Raon considered the black blades set up behind him while getting pushed back.

‘Right bottom, left middle, and two locations diagonally.’

He turned himself, as flexible as a reed under the autumn wind, to dodge the black blades filling the space.

Wham!

The Gambling Monster broke through the aftereffect of the explosion with his body to thrust his sword. He must’ve been irritated that his move was brought to naught once again. The sharp blade reached right under Raon’s nose in an instant, followed by his huge body.

Cring!

The single blade multiplied into two, then turned into four before becoming eight. Raon’s entire vision was filled with the Gambling Monster’s blades in an instant.

‘This swordsmanship is so annoying.’

Regardless of his weakened aura perception, the spreading speed and reality of his illusion sword were on a different level, making Raden Zieghart and Garon Zieghart’s techniques look like child's play.

‘I have to shatter!’

Raon resonated the Ring of Fire and held his sword horizontally. His stride as he advanced looked powerful enough to destroy the barrier.

Whir!

A crimson circle appeared in front of the tip of the sword that was thrusted at lightning speed, and a tremendous amount of energy gathered on it.

Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, Hundred Flames.

Heavenly Heavy Cannon.

The Gambling Monster’s illusion swords were attracted by the Heavenly Heavy Cannon’s gravity, and the darkness was removed for an instant.

“Is this—?!”

When the Gambling Monster’s eyes widened and he tried to get away from the gravity, Raon exploded the Heavenly Heavy Cannon.

Baaam!

Hundreds of blades and the concentrated astral energy of a raging fire exploded, inflating the Sword Field to the point that it looked like it would explode.

Rumble!

As an aftermath of the explosion, the astral energy stormed at Raon and the Gambling Monster with its dark jaw.

Raon leapt into the storm without any hesitation, and the Gambling Monster also kicked the ground.

Wham!

The two swordsmen spread mighty strikes at each other inside the storm that could crush their flesh if they showed any weakness.

Clang! Clang!

Raon clashed against the Gambling Monster’s sword, avoided the astral energy radiating from the storm, and deflected the black blades targeting his limbs.

The sense of crisis was soaking his body, since he felt like he was fighting against three people at the same time, but a strange smile unconsciously appeared on his face.

‘This is fun.’

Even though the Ring of Fire, the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, and Glacier’s outputs were at the maximum, and his head felt like it would break because he was wrecking it too hard in order to predict the Gambling Monster’s move, he was still having fun. The joy of fighting with everything he had made him tighten his grip.

“Are you smiling now?”

“It’s strange, but this is so fun.”

He parried the Gambling Monster’s illusion sword that was targeting his shoulder with Revolving Sky, then pulled back his left foot to render two black blades useless.

Wham!

He left the subsiding storm of astral energy to control his body. He incorporated the spiral rotation into Heavenly Drive to create a frozen whirlwind.

The Gambling Monster slashed upward with his sword pointing towards the bottom. The blade overlapped with another blade’s point to create a pitch-black flower of steel. He was initiating his own technique, Dazzling Blade of Destructive Illusion.

Claang!

The clash between the silver storm and the group of steel flowers created the ear-splitting sound of an explosion.

“Seriously, you are too annoying!”

The Gambling Monster severed the wavering astral energy and thrust his sword. The sword’s extremity kept shaking in order to make it difficult to figure out its target.

Whir!

Even though Raon couldn’t use his aura perception, he still had the Ring of Fire. He increased his focus to the point that his brain felt like it was burning in order to enhance the speed of his awareness.

‘Left side!’

In his slowed vision, he could see where the Gambling Monster’s blade was moving. The right side of his chest. He was targeting Raon’s lung.

Clang!

Just like rainwater flowing down from the roof, Raon held Heavenly Drive vertically to parry the Gambling Monster’s sword, then immediately turned the blade.

Creak!

Heavenly Drive’s flame soared after scratching the ground, and the Fangs of Insanity’s sharp fang was added. The deadly blade managed to scratch the Gambling Monster’s thigh.

Clang!

The Gambling Monster managed to defend by holding his sword horizontally, but he was pushed back by Heavenly Drive’s fierce power.

“Kuh!”

He bared his teeth like a savage beast, a small groan slipping from him that suggested that his pride was hurt.

Rumble.

Raon lowered his waist, putting force into his big toe on his left foot. He controlled the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier to the point that his energy center started to hurt, then exploded his bunched muscles to leap forward like a bouncing rubber band.

‘I have to finish here.’

Prudence glowed in Raon’s eyes.

It was time to decide the match. 

* * * 

The Gambling Monster forcefully weakened his grip as he watched Raon passionately dashing at him. He maintained his panicked expression, taking three more steps back.

‘He’s amazing.’

Many people had seen through the secret of his space, but Raon was the fastest person to discover all of the blades’ locations.

‘He has enough skill to be the youngest Master on the continent.’

He could understand why all of the powerful people—including Rimmer—kept calling Raon’s name and looking forward to his future. His skills were on a different level, and he had enough talent to fly through the sky, just like the current head of house that he took after.

‘But he’s still impatient.’

His might, judgment, and insight were all excellent, but he still seemed immature because he was so young.

Raon believed that there were fourteen blades in total hidden inside the barrier, but that wasn’t the actual number. There were sixteen blades set up inside the darkness, which was two more than his prediction.

‘I guess it can’t be helped.’

After all, that was what he’d made him believe.

He’d shown him the dice before he’d appeared in order to influence his belief that there were fourteen blades prepared in that space.

That must’ve been why Raon made the mistake of thinking that there were fourteen blades in total.

However, that was a trick. The dice were completely irrelevant, and there had been sixteen blades from the beginning.

And one of them was targeting Raon’s right shoulder, while the other one was targeting Raon’s left ankle as he dashed towards him.

‘He will be able to learn a lesson from this defeat.’

Even though he was certainly the most talented person in the continent, he was still way too young and inexperienced to gain his recognition. It would’ve been a different story if Raon was a few years older, but the Gambling Monster had no intention of letting him win in his current state.

‘Come.’

He lowered his sword while looking forward to Raon’s expression when he fell for his tricks, all while believing that he had figured everything out.

Whoosh!

Raon reached the front of the fifteenth black blade, completely unaware of it. The moment the pitch-dark blade was about to stab his shoulder, his body vanished into thin air. He then turned his body to even dodge the sixteenth blade, before approaching him at lightning speed.

Whir!

The hair all over his body stood on end upon facing Raon’s red eyes, as deep as the abyss.

‘H-He knew about them all along!’

His calm eyes and the perfect evasion. He must’ve been aware of the fact that there were sixteen hidden blades all along.

“Perish the thought!”

The Gambling Monster grit his teeth. The fact that he’d figured out about those blades was astonishing enough, but there was enough time for the Gambling Monster to react. When he tried to block the crimson blade falling towards him, Raon’s left hand moved to his waist.

Crack!

Along with a blunt sound of friction, like grinding a log, a crimson dagger was drawn to spread out frozen streams.

Whir!

The sword resonance burst out at the same time. The strange roar that exploded like thunder sounded clear and wicked at the same time.

“O-Oh, no!”

The Gambling Monster widened his eyes. He couldn’t react in time, because he didn’t expect Raon to draw the dagger that he had yet to use, nor that he would use the martial art of sound with it.

The strange sound resonance didn’t miss that opportunity, piercing his ears at lightning speed.

Creak!

The thunderous noise of frost exploded inside his ears to impair his vestibular organ’s abilities. His vision started spinning, and he couldn’t regain his balance.

Whoosh!

As if Raon had been looking forward to it, he smoothly followed through with a slash of Heavenly Drive. The blazing flame surrounding the silver blade severed the darkness.

“You bastard!”

The Gambling Monster screamed. His body had lost balance, but he forcefully stopped himself from collapsing by using aura, slashing at Raon as he approached.

Clang!

The red blade and the black blade clashed diagonally, creating a huge shockwave.

Whaam!

Raon and the Gambling Monster were bounced back at the same time, just like rubber balls.

“Kuh!”

The Gambling Monster stopped himself by sticking his sword into the ground, and Raon rolled on the ground while dodging the black blades in the meantime.

“Huff.”

Raon faltered as he stood up. Blood was flowing down from the deep laceration created by a sword on his chest.

“Were you aware that there were sixteen black blades in total?”

The Gambling Monster scowled, a vicious look in his eyes.

“Well, yes.”

Raon nodded while grasping the wound on his chest.

“How…?”

“I became certain once I saw this Sword Field. You are a gambler at heart.”

“Hmm…”

“There’s no way a gambler like you can’t hit eighteen with his dice. That’s why I figured the number you showed me with the dice in the beginning was fake.”

The Gambling Monster was skilled enough to form the number one with three dice. There was no way he would make fourteen in such an important match. The dice were just a trap from the beginning.

“Which means, you realized that I was trying to trick you…”

“Yes, I pretended that I was tricked. After all, the best opportunity to trick your enemy is when the opponent is plotting something.”

“Hmm, then how did you even find those blades? It’s impossible to find them just from looking at your injuries.”

“I used this.”

Raon raised the Blade of Requiem, which was still howling.

“I created a sword resonance to find your hidden blades.”

“Sword resonance? A-Are you telling me that you have been continuously creating sword resonances because…”

“Indeed. That wasn’t for the fight, but in order to find the hidden blades. After all, my hearing was intact, unlike my aura perception.”

“How could you pretend all along after you had discovered everything…?”

“Well, it’s your fault for being tricked.”

Raon smiled faintly. The Gambling Monster had no idea about Raon’s tricks because he was busy trying to trick him, and that was the result.

“You’re saying that again…”

The Gambling Monster bit his lip.

“Did a blade stab you in the head or something? How can you make such a judgment at your age?”

Although he had experienced countless matches throughout the continent in his life, no one’s scheming abilities ever came close to Raon’s.

He couldn’t understand how he was even better with tricks than the weeds in the underworld when he was a sheltered flower in a garden that fed him with sunlight and water.

“I need to make you pay for my blood, because my blood is expensive.”

Raon chuckled, pointing at the Gambling Monster’s chest.

“Haa…”

The Gambling Monster closed his eyes. He nodded along with a deep sigh.

“Alright, it would be ugly of me if I didn’t acknowledge you after you got me so hard.”

The moment he gave his acknowledgment, red blood gushed from his chest. His wound, which he had been suppressing with his aura so far, exploded outwards with blood.

Whir!

The Gambling Monster earnestly smiled for the first time inside the darkness that was fading away.

“I acknowledge you. You’ve completed the Promise of Three.”

* * *

Raon narrowed his eyes from the sudden explosive glow. The darkness disappeared like the night fading away from the morning sun, and he returned to the backstreet where he was before.

“V-Vice-squad leader!”

Dorian hurriedly came running at him. His eyes were shivering like a leaf upon noticing the injuries all over Raon’s body.

“You are so badly injured!”

“It’s not that bad.”

Raon shook his head. He didn’t end up severely injured because the Gambling Monster controlled his power. He would’ve been in serious danger if he had decided to harm him.

“Raon! You did it! I believed in you!”

Rimmer quickly noticed the wound on the Gambling Monster’s chest, then cheered.

“I knew I always win whenever I bet on Raon! Oh my god of fortune!”

He gathered his hand and closed his eyes to pray.

“Haa, I don’t understand how someone like you came to be under a stupid teacher like him.”

The Gambling Monster clicked his tongue while looking at Rimmer. He rubbed the blood coming out of his open wound before taking out a container of white medicine from his inner pocket to apply to his injury.

“You should use this, too.”

The Gambling Monster threw the medicine to him with the lid open.

“It’s a medicine for external injuries called Consolidating Ointment. An injury like that will be healed easily.”

“Thank you.”

Raon nodded, applying the medicine to the wound on his chest. The pain immediately subsided significantly alongside a cool sensation, which meant that it was probably an expensive medicine.

“This is very helpful.”

After applying the medicine to the large wound, he returned the Consolidating Ointment to the Gambling Monster.

“Since there’s not much left inside, you can just keep it.”

The Gambling Monster shook his hand, then turned around.

“Gambling, drinking, and martial arts. I acknowledge your abilities under the Gambling Monster’s name.”

He stomped the ground and straightened his back. His large body and fierce eyes were emanating a powerful pressure, with plenty of room to spare, unlike Raon.

“As the first winner of the Promise of Three, tell me your wish. I’ll grant anything you say.”

The Gambling Monster extended his hand, a cheerful smile that looked like he would be fine with anything on his face. His expression was telling him that he would gladly accept anything because he’d acknowledged him.

‘Not bad.’

He was petty when he was using his tricks, but he was apparently clean with the person he acknowledged. 

“Th-This scene could go down in history…”

“Raon! I told you what the most important thing in the world is before!”

Dorian’s chin was trembling with his deep emotions, and Rimmer created a circle with his fingers, telling him to extort more money from him.

“Huh.”

“Hmm!”

The Gambling Monster’s underlings couldn’t take their eyes off of the scene either, swallowing nervously as they watched on.

Raon unsheathed Heavenly Drive with everyone’s gazes on him.

‘I could ask him for more money or ask him to teach me martial arts. However…’

He had already decided on the wish he would ask of the Gambling Monster before he started the Promise of Three.

‘I can make the best use of him with this method.’

Raon grinned as he looked at the Gambling Monster.

“I…”

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Writing Ant, 글개미]

[Translator – Kyangi]

[Proofreader – Harley]