Chapter 423

Raon pulled his arms out and walked into Sloth’s barrier. It felt like diving into water—he couldn’t feel any resistance at all.

“I’m free to pass.”

He looked back while smiling, noticing that Wrath’s jaw had dropped to the ground.

“It’s telling me ‘Welcome inside the barrier.’.”

Wh-why is it letting you pass?

Wrath knocked on the barrier with his fist. His lips were trembling violently.

This can’t be happening. How do you call yourself a barrier if you let him pass so easily?!

Raon recognized his extreme surprise because he started complaining without even using his usual dignified tone.

You bastard! What did you do to cheat this time?! Why did the barrier stop functioning?

“It’s obvious.”

Raon pointed at the black flower bracelet he was wearing around his wrist.

“It let me pass because I have the emotion of sloth both inside his bracelet and my soul.”

He could feel the sloth inside him responding to the barrier a moment ago.

Since Sloth had made that barrier, and the sloth inside his black flower bracelet and his soul were also his power, it was only natural that the barrier wouldn’t reject him.

Err…

Wrath’s plump hands trembled, and he carefully examined the barrier. His eyes gradually narrowed before widening like full moons.

That stupid sleepyhead! Why would you make a barrier like this?!

“Why not? It’s a nice barrier.”

Raon wagged his finger at Wrath, who looked like strawberry cotton candy with his flushed face.

“It knows perfectly who to refuse and who to accept.”

Raon tried touching the barrier once again. He couldn’t feel any rejection at all.

Considering it was Sloth who made the barrier and how lazy he was, it implied that he was welcoming Raon because he liked the goblin king’s magic stone that he’d previously gifted him.

Ugh…

Wrath’s face became even more flushed, irritated by that fact.

As soon as the King of Essence recovers his body, he will make sure that stupid Sloth won’t be able to sleep for the rest of his life! Unforgivable!

“You can do that later if you want, but…”

Raon extended his hand towards Wrath.

“Give me what you promised.”

Huff!

Wrath shut his eyes as soon as he saw the hand.

“Have you ever heard the saying, ‘Don’t make any bet unless you are certain’?”

He hasn’t! You are a damn scammer!

He was even more frustrated than the other times because he lost a bet that he firmly believed he would win.

“Well, aren’t you glad you learned it now? Just consider it the price for the lesson and pay it now.”

P-price for the lesson…

“Give me a proper trait instead of a useless one.”

Don’t worry about that. The King of Essence won’t be the one to decide, just like the other times.

Wrath murmured that the system was going to pick instead since the bet would be unfair if he did it.

‘He’s such a mystery.’

He never lied nor tried to deceive despite being a demon king. He was actually nicer than most people—except for the extreme anger that he showed from time to time.

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Raon waved his hand at Wrath, who was stomping his feet in irritation, and started to climb the last part of the mountain.

Since there were no monsters nor wild animals inside Sloth’s barrier, he easily managed to reach the peak.

Raon whistled while standing at the peak of Stallin Mountain.

“So this is Stallin Mountain’s peak.”

The peak was flatland with a slight incline, and the ground was completely white.

It wasn’t snow covering the ground. It was frozen water, like a lake in the middle of winter.

The transparent frozen ground and the faint sunlight shining down from above were creating a mysterious atmosphere that almost felt surreal.

“Where is Sloth…? There he is.”

Raon laughed bitterly while looking at the center of the frozen land.

‘He’s blatantly sleeping.’

A small furball was lying while hugging a red rock at the center of the icy ground. It was obviously Sloth.

That idiot!

Wrath smacked Sloth with his round, ham-like fist to vent his anger. Naturally, nothing special happened.

The King of Essence was extorted again because of you! You useless sleepyhead!

Raon walked up to Sloth while listening to Wrath’s angry shouts.

“A baby white bear?”

Sloth was hugging the goblin king’s magic stone with his short arms and legs, and he looked exactly like a baby bear.

However, he had two candy-sized horns on his head, unlike ordinary white bears, and had a black star mark on his chest.

‘Is he really Sloth?’

Raon could feel the energy of Sloth, but he started to doubt whether it was really him or not because his appearance was drastically different from their previous encounter.

Are you still asking after seeing that stupid expression?! It’s the sleepyhead himself!

Wrath frowned while pointing at Sloth, who was licking his lips in happiness.

Raon chuckled and nodded.

‘He does feel like it.’

Raon examined the face more closely, and Sloth’s expression from when he’d seen it in front of the castle walls overlapped with it.

“Sloth.”

He tried calling the name on his round ear, but Sloth didn’t react in the slightest.

“Sloth! Wake up!”

Raon kept shouting his name, but he remained completely immobile, not even budging in his sleep.

‘Isn’t he dead?’

He’s not going to wake up for a while.

Wrath finally took his hand off Sloth, exhaling angrily.

‘Why not?’

There are two types of sleep: light sleep and deep sleep. Living organisms alternate between the two while sleeping, and he is currently in a deep sleep.

‘In that case, we just need to wait until the light sleep period. It won’t take that long, will it?’

An ordinary human or demon would have a 90-minute cycle, but him…

He looked down on Sloth as if he were a pathetic creature.

That cycle is multiple years.

“Huh…?”

Raon’s jaw dropped. He said it out loud because he was too surprised.

‘M-multiple years?’

Indeed. At a glance, it looks like he will be out of that phase by next year.

Wrath shook his head, saying that Sloth would never wake up while in that state.

You managed to cross the barrier, but it ended up being pointless.

He rolled his lips into a smile. He seemed to have found a bright spot in the disastrous situation.

‘Are you serious about that?’

Try shaking and hitting him if you can’t believe it. Shouting will be pointless against him since his ears are closed.

‘But what if he starts to rampage once he wakes up?’

There’s no way you can wake Sloth up with your shabby skills. His recovery is faster than you can ever do damage to him.

Wrath sneered, saying that Sloth only woke up when his life was endangered by an attack.

‘Oh no…’

Wrath pretty much never lied. His confident declaration signified that he was telling the truth.

It’s also going to be an issue if you get extremely lucky and manage to wake Sloth up. Once he wakes up from the deep slumber, he won’t be able to recognize you and will trample you before returning to his senses.

‘Is there no other way?’

Waiting is the only way for now.

‘Who the hell sleeps like this?!’

The one-year period wasn’t even how long he was going to sleep. It was the duration of his deep sleep before transitioning into a light sleep, and that was just ridiculous.

That’s why he is the Monarch of Sloth. Sleeping is the only important thing for Sloth. That slowpoke won’t even care if other demons take advantage of his name as long as he can sleep.

Wrath blabbered that lots of low-ranked demons in Devildom took advantage of Sloth’s name in the past.

“Haa…”

Raon grabbed Sloth’s shoulders and tried shaking him.

“Wake up!”

“……”

However, Sloth wasn’t showing the slightest reaction, his happy expression unchanged.

‘He’s still a demon king despite how he looks.’

Raon couldn’t take the magic stone from the baby bear despite mustering all of his strength, which had already transcended human limits. Sloth was a demon king for a good reason.

“Haa…”

Raon sighed and put Sloth back down.

‘I can’t exactly attack him.’

Wrath had previously mentioned it wouldn’t be effective, but it would be madness to start attacking with a sword when he was there to make a request.

This is simply impossible, unlike the barrier just now. What about returning and eating some pineapple pizza instead?

‘Pizza…’

A method came to mind upon hearing the words barrier and pizza.

‘Just in case it works…’

He tried to use the sloth, just like when he broke through Sloth’s barrier a moment ago.

Whir!

He mustered the energy of sloth from the bottom of his soul, similar to how he used wrath.

The emotion of Sloth climbed through his soul, and he felt drowsy all of a sudden.

He had this soft sensation that suggested he could fall asleep as soon as he closed his eyes and a helpless feeling where he didn’t want to do anything. It seemed to be the sloth’s raw ability.

Raon grabbed Sloth’s shoulder with his hand containing the sloth.

Whap!

The encounter between the two pieces of the energy of sloth caused a small movement from Sloth.

“Huh…?”

However, it wasn’t the way Raon was hoping for.

“Heeh…”

Sloth’s smile deepened, and he slept even more soundly. It was such a blissful smile.

Kuheheheheh!

Wrath burst out in laughter while shaking.

Adding sloth to a sloth will make it even more slothful.

He snorted, saying that Raon should stop believing that everything would go his way.

‘I don’t even know anymore.’

Raon clenched his back teeth and lay down on the transparent icy ground.

‘I’m also going to sleep until he wakes up!’

You idiot, are you planning to wait for an entire yea—

Just as Wrath was about to sneer once again, a message appeared.

[You’ve won the bet against Wrath.]

Raon raised his chin while looking at the message.

‘I can read this while waiting.’

Damn it! Why are you giving it at this time?!

* * * 

The Sword Demon closed his eyes while putting his hand on Mustan’s forehead.

‘He is going to wake up soon.’

Mustan was still unconscious, probably because being one-sidedly beaten up by Raon was a huge shock for him mentally.

‘It doesn’t look like there will be any aftereffects. How fortunate.’

He’d been staying next to him to nurse him for two days straight, and no aftereffects remained thanks to that.

Since he’d also taken an elixir, he would likely be able to move as soon as he regained consciousness.

‘It really was a perfect beating.’

Killing him would’ve been easier. Leaving no aftereffects after beating him to a pulp like that could only be described as amazing.

‘He should’ve learned his lesson now.’

The Sword Demon expected Mustan to have matured because he was thoroughly beaten by Raon, who was far younger than himself.

“Wake up already.”

The Sword Demon was relaxing Mustan’s body once again with his aura when he heard a small groan.

“Hmm…”

It came from Mustan. He opened his eyes as slowly as a turtle.

“Wh-where am I…?”

“You’re in a medical room.”

“Master?”

“Are you alright?”

The Sword Demon took his hand off Mustan’s forehead and observed his eyes. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to have any mental issues either.

“I-I’m not feeling any intense pain.”

It hurt to hear Mustan’s hoarse voice, but there was something he needed to say.

“Do you remember what you did?”

“Ah…”

Mustan’s lips parted upon remembering his defeat against Raon.

“I-I’m sorry. I lost again…”

He grasped his head while biting his dry lip.

“I’m really sorry for bringing shame to my master’s name…”

“That’s not the issue.”

The Sword Demon shook his head.

“Do you consider me your master?”

“O-of course I do!”

“Just like I’m precious to you, Rimmer must be a precious teacher for Raon. If you cherish your master, others will also cherish their masters. What you said should’ve never been said.”

“Ah…”

Mustan’s eyes wavered like a sailboat in a turbulent ocean.

“And the same goes for me. You were a precious disciple to me, but my guidance must’ve been wrong. I should’ve focused on your personality before martial arts. It was my mistake.”

“M-master…”

“Since your body has significantly recovered, and you’ve also regained consciousness, you should apologize to Raon and Rimmer first after you get out of your bed. I’ll accompany you as your master.”

The Sword Demon patted Mustan’s shoulder before he stood up.

“This is a medicine for internal injury that Raon left behind. Take it after a meal since you haven’t fully recovered from your internal injuries yet.”

He placed Raon’s wooden box at the head of the bed.

“You should be grateful for Raon’s consideration. You really could’ve died this time.”

“……”

Mustan quietly bit his lip while looking at the Sword Demon.

“Rest well.”

The Sword Demon left the medical room after telling him to take care of his health.

“Haa…”

He sighed while leaning back against the wall in front of the room.

‘I’m sorry, but I had to do this.’

Mustan must’ve been hoping for him to be worried about him without mentioning Raon, but doing that was bound to make him repeat the same situation.

It was necessary to do that in order to make sure his disciple would learn his lesson.

‘Raising a disciple is such a difficult task.’

He would’ve preferred to fight an archenemy because of how difficult it felt to raise a disciple.

He even started to feel admiration towards Rimmer and Sylvia Zieghart, who’d managed to raise Raon into such an excellent man.

The Sword Demon pressed his hand on his forehead while leaving the medical area.

‘I’m so tired.’

He felt slightly dizzy, either because he’d been using aura to tend to Mustan’s injuries for two days straight or because he had to scold his disciple.

‘I need some rest.’

He went to his room after looking back at Mustan’s medical room.

* * *

After the Sword Demon had left, Mustan stared at the ceiling blankly for over an hour.

People brought food and medicine into the room, but he kept grinding his teeth without even looking at them.

‘Raon, it’s always Raon. Did I really have to hear his name as soon as I woke up, and from my master of all people?’

The very first thing he’d heard from the Sword Demon was ‘Are you alright?’, but he’d already forgotten about that and only remembered the scolding he gave and the mention of Raon’s name.

Creak.

Mustan ground his teeth to the point that they made a screeching sound similar to steel.

‘Just why… Why are you telling me such a thing?!’

He couldn’t understand why his master was admonishing and criticizing him. Worrying about a disciple who fainted from getting beaten up should’ve come first. It was completely incomprehensible.

‘He changed because of that bastard.’

In the past, his master only cared about him, regardless of other people.

Because his master, who used to cherish his disciple the most, was now caring about Raon instead, his fist clenched before he knew it.

“Are you that fond of Raon Zieghart?”

The emotion of envy that had been hiding because of the fear and violence from Raon was reviving. It was burning powerfully into an even bigger fire than before.

‘I’m the chosen one here!’

He managed to become the Sword Demon’s disciple because he was acknowledged as the second most talented person in the alliance. The thought that his master wasn’t looking at him anymore made him feel like he was suffocating to death.

“Damn it!”

Mustan raised himself up. His body ached all over, but the pain was bearable. He changed his clothes and went outside through the window.

There weren’t many people in the street because it was still early in the morning. He went on the castle wall with faltering steps.

The white snow field he could see seemed to contrast with his heart, which was smeared in darkness.

“Kuh!”

He gritted his teeth and jumped down on the snow field. The scouts and knights were calling him from behind, but he walked through the field without paying any attention.

“Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!”

He was so jealous.

He was extremely jealous of Raon Zieghart.

How he was famous throughout the continent, how he was given the titles ‘Young Sword Demon’ and ‘White Sword Dragon’, and how his master was interested in him from the bottom of his heart. All those aspects were giving him an unbearable sense of jealousy.

Mustan violently kicked the ground, unable to suppress the boiling jealousy anymore.

Power was welling up in his legs, which were as weak as a twig, and his empty lungs were brimming with breath.

As the green fire ignited in his heart increased in size, power surged in his body.

He was brimming with energy just like before the fight against Raon—even more than that.

Rumble!

The emotions and power surging from his body became uncontrollable. He focused on running because he felt like his body would explode if he didn’t do anything about it.

He ran so much that he even lost track of time. Habun Castle had almost disappeared from sight, yet it still wasn’t enough for his frustration to subside.

“Damn it!”

He was jealous of Raon Zieghart.

His name, reputation, might, and the attention of his master. Mustan wanted to take everything he had.

“I’m jealous of you, Raon Zieghart.”

Mustan spoke the word jealousy for the first time.

“I’ll take away everything you have by any means necessary! I’m never going to give up!”

The moment he shouted, the energies that were welling all the way up to his neck went out of control.

Wham!

A tremendous amount of uncontrollable power started to emanate from him.

“Huh…?”

However, that wasn’t his own power.

‘What’s going on?’

A green blade appeared in front of his eyes and pried the space open.

Creak!

Inside a dimension where green and black lights were creating harmony, a presence that shouldn’t have existed in the world burst out.

The wild presence that even his master didn’t have was a great wave of soul that he’d only witnessed from the alliance’s leader.

Rumble!

Mustan trembled, and his steps came to a halt when a pair of dark green eyes flashed from the mutilated space.

“I like your Envy.”

***

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]