Chapter 633

“F-floor overseer!”

“How is this happening…?”

“I-impossible! Lady Snow Wraith Duchess couldn’t have died to a brat like him!”

“Aah…”

The Black Tower’s demonized humans looked at the Snow Wraith Duchess’s corpse at Raon’s feet with trembling lips. Their foreheads were drenched in cold sweat.

“F-faster! Move as fast as you can!”

Burren gritted his teeth and stabbed his sword at the demonized humans. The Barren Wind emerging from his sharpened blade severed the demonized humans’ chests in their surprised state.

“If our division leader says he’ll do it, he will! He isn’t joking!”

Martha furrowed her brow and activated Berserk. The aura sparkling from her hand fell upon her enemies with a tremendous weight.

Whaam!

With a huge impact that echoed throughout the labyrinth, the demonized humans were sent flying in all directions.

“I don’t want to train…”

Runaan scattered her frost, impatience dwelling in her blank eyes. The frost scattering from her blue edge started to bind the limbs of the demonized humans.

“You are nothing but pests to this world!”

Mark Goetten looked like he despised the demonized humans rather than being afraid of Raon’s training. He unleashed his Anarchic Lighting Saber technique at the maximum output while biting his lip.

The saber strike tore the sky apart like lightning and cut down the head of a team leader who was ordering the others.

Rumble!

The explosive power of the Light Wind Division’s team leaders and Mark Goetten followed up one after the other, and the wall of demonic energy protecting the demonized humans was shattered in an instant.

“The path is open!”

“No mercy to the demonized humans! Kill them all!”

“Let’s go!”

The Light Wind Division entered the domain of the demonized humans by executing their footwork so they wouldn’t miss the opportunity their team leaders had created.

“St-stop them! Fend them off no matter what!”

“H-how are we supposed to fend them off?!”

“Ugh…”

“I-it’s over. It’s all over for us!”

The demonized humans were shocked by the Snow Wraith Duchess’s death and couldn’t even counterattack as they were pushed back helplessly.

“You idiots! Do you want to die here?!”

“Go to the front right now!”

“We can still survive!”

The Master tier demonized humans tried to raise their spirits, but Burren, Martha, and Runaan took action to completely break their spirits.

“Fight? Do you think you stand a chance?”

“It’s all over! You dark rats!”

“There’s no path for you.”

The three team leaders took care of one Master tier demonized human each and destroyed any hope for a counterattack from the demonized humans.

Because the Snow Wraith Duchess had perished and even their team leaders couldn’t do much, the remaining demonized humans were plucked as easily as weeds.

“You’re the last one!”

Martha leaped like a tiger and smashed her sword into the last remaining demonized human team leader’s neck.

“Kuaah…”

The demonized human extended his hand into the air in regret before he collapsed.

“We’re done!” Burren swallowed nervously and looked behind him.

“How long did it take?”

“It hasn’t been five minutes yet, right?”

It wasn’t just him. Everyone in the Light Wind Division was looking at Raon with nervousness and anticipation in their minds.

“Hmm…” Raon tapped on his wrist, then shook his head. “Unfortunately for you, it’s been more than five minutes.”

“What…?”

“Th-there’s no way though?”

“We finished them off quickly!”

The Light Wind Division widened their mouths, unable to believe that five minutes had already passed.

“Five minutes?” Rimmer tilted his head. “I think they finished at around the four-minute mark.”

He was tilting his head, asking if Raon wasn’t mistaken with his measurement.

“Vice division leader.” Raon narrowed his eyes while looking back at Rimmer. “Do you want to train with them?”

“......”

Rimmer’s shoulders trembled, then he shook his head.

“I-it’s been more than five minutes! It clearly has! I saw it myself!”

He abandoned the Light Wind Division like old shoes for the sake of his own well-being.

You bastard, you’re just like those celestials!

Wrath furrowed his brow deeply.

How can you lie without even batting your eyes when you should be a human being?!

He gasped at his ridiculous behavior.

‘It’s all for their sake.’

Raon was shaking his head with a smile, when…

“It wasn’t!”

Dorian energetically raised his hand. He shook his head, a portable watch in his hand.

“I activated the watch as soon as you mentioned the five minutes, and the alarm didn’t ring yet!”

The ticking sound of the needle could be heard a few times before the watch started to vibrate and made the chirping sound of a small bird.

“See? We just hit the five-minute mark!”

“......”

Raon licked his lips while looking at Dorian’s watch, asking, “Are you sure your watch isn’t broken…?”

“You should know that I always make sure to maintain the necessities at least. It’s not broken!” Dorian confidently put his hands on his waist.

“Oooh!”

“Dorian… Dorian did it!”

“He prevailed against the demon!”

“He defeated the demon king! Our hero, Dorian!”

Everyone in the Light Wind Division shouted Dorian’s name and put their hands up.

Puhehehehe!

Wrath burst out into laughter while covering his plump stomach.

You were defeated by your wallet! Serves you right!

[Pepepepeep!]

Even Caiyan laughed at him while flapping its wings.

Cough!

[Peeep!]

Raon walked up to the Light Wind Division, grasping Caiyan with his left hand and Wrath with his right hand.

“I must’ve made a mistake. I’m sorry.”

He was only going to hurt his dignity if he kept insisting since it was already timed. He had no other choice but to acknowledge it.

What’s gotten into you?

Wrath blinked at his unexpected behavior.

“R-really?”

“You’re acknowledging it?”

“Whoaaa!”

“Dorian! Dorian! Dorian!”

The Light Wind Division happily cheered for the victory and even tossed Dorian in the air.

“Uhehehe! We won!”

Krein started a mocking dance and bobbed his finger.

“Krein.”

Raon swept his hair back and walked up to Krein, who was acting up.

“What?”

“You’ve been stabbed.”

“I-it’s not a big deal.” Krein shook his head while hiding the wound on the back of his hand.

“You would’ve lost your hand if it was a slightly bigger deal.”

“Err, about that…”

“Moreover, it was stabbed by a blade of demonic energy, not just an ordinary blade. You could’ve been forced to cut your arm off instead of a hand.”

“I-I mean…”

“That’s one.”

Raon walked up to Dorian, who was extremely proud of himself since he’d become the hero who’d slain the demon king.

“Dorian.”

“What?” Dorian walked up to him while trying to read his face.

“You’ve got a cut on your thigh.”

“I-it was just a scratch. Even my skin is unhar—”

“Demonic energy can inflict fatal injury just from touching the skin. It’s not called demonic for no reason.”

“Ah…”

“That’s two.”

Raon went past Dorian and approached another Light Wind member. All of them had small injuries.

“What is he doing right now? Why is he counting those numbers?”

“I-I’m not sure.”

“I have a bad feeling about this…”

The Light Wind Division gulped nervously while listening to Raon’s count, which had already gone past ten.

“Twenty-five.”

Raon finished counting the number of Light Wind swordsmen who’d gotten an injury before returning to his original position.

“That’s the number of idiots who were injured during this fight.”

“......”

The Light Wind Division lowered their heads and closed their mouths as if they never had a festival.

“How could twenty-five of you get injured against enemies whose morale was broken after the Snow Wraith Duchess’s death? Do you think that should happen?”

“Bu-but…”

“Well, it happened because we were fighting in a hurry! Because we didn’t have the time!”

“Shouldn’t you have sharpened your focus even more because you didn’t have much time? Do you even think that works as an excuse?”

The Light Wind Division’s faces turned pale because of Raon’s cutting remark.

“This is no good. I’ll have to fix you up a little now.”

“W-wait a moment! That’s not what you promised!” Krein rapidly raised his head like a meerkat.

“What promise?”

“Since we finished the fight in five minutes, it’s unfair to make us train…”

“You misunderstand. This training is a bit of special education for those who were injured like an idiot. It’s unrelated to the time.”

Raon curled his lips into a smile while gazing down at the Light Wind Division.

“Th-the demon king has revived…”

“How did he revive so quickly?!”

“Who is going to exterminate him now?”

The Light Wind Division sighed, lowering their shoulders in resignation.

[Y-you demon, peep!]

Even Caiyan pitied the Light Wind Division, its wings trembling.

You idiots! How many times does the King of Essence have to tell you until you understand?!

Wrath yelled at the Light Wind Division.

A demon king like that doesn’t even exist in Devildom!

* * *

“Haa.”

The Void Sword Division leader, Serena, sighed briefly while lowering her sword. Corpses of large monsters covered in white fur were piled up like a mountain behind her.

Blood still retaining its warmth was flowing onto the land, but the snow falling from the sky removed the traces of battle in an instant.

“......”

Serena slowly raised her gaze. Snow was falling endlessly from the empty sky. Nothing existed on the land under the snow. Endless plains were all that existed in this world.

‘Where is this place?’

The scenery she’d seen when she first arrived on the fourth floor after passing the third floor’s labyrinth had no difference at all from the place she was in after walking for over a day.

The snow field, snow, and monsters were the only existences in this world.

‘Are there no other people at all?’

She’d gone through the passage toward the fourth floor with the Void Sword Division, but forget her subordinates, she hadn't encountered anyone at all. The space must’ve been either extremely expansive or isolated from the outside.

Because she kept walking through the empty snowfield while worrying about her subordinates, her stamina was draining even faster than during a battle.

Even the mental fatigue was accumulating because she had to fight monsters that popped out without any presence, and her body was starting to feel heavy.

‘Is this really the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s grave?’

She’d been ignoring it so far in order to act faster than the Five Demons, but she was getting more and more suspicious about the grave.

‘Rather than a grave… It looks like a place where abilities are tested.’

Deadly traps were usually prepared in graves and dungeons in order to fend off graverobbers.

However, the grave she was in seemed to be testing intruders rather than trapping them. She couldn’t understand the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s intentions.

‘Who is the monster that even made this place?’

Whether it was the Sword and Saber Sovereign or someone else, it was clear that they held an unfathomable amount of power.

She looked at the sky again, her thoughts getting more jumbled the more she thought about it. The intense snow falling like crazy around her reminded her of the member of the house she’d seen before entering the grave.

‘I wonder if Raon is doing fine on his way.’

She believed in Raon’s strength and judgment, but she couldn’t help being worried because the enemies were the White Blood Religion, the Black Tower, and the Holy Sword Alliance.

Since he’d even helped her before she entered the dungeon, she was curious about if he was advancing well.

‘I need to get out of here in order to find it out, but… Hmm?’

While Serena was licking her lips, gazing at the endless snow field, a small shape could be seen on the right edge of her vision.

‘It’s not a monster.’

The fourth floor’s monsters had been appearing all of a sudden, ignoring her perception. It had a human appearance instead, one that she’d never seen there before.

‘Who is that?’

She didn’t recklessly approach them and focused her aura on her eyes, since they could’ve been an enemy.

The blond hair and red eyes blazing like the powerful sun weren’t losing their light even under the snow, and she could see a black coat fluttering in the air, which had become his trademark.

“Raon?”

“Void Sword Division leader!” Raon also confirmed who she was and ran towards her rapidly.

“I’m glad that the first person I met here is the Void Sword Division leader!” He lowered his head, his face covered in delight.

“Have you also been wandering around here?”

“Yes. I’m not too sure, but I think it’s been over a day now,” Raon sighed, saying that it was a terrible place with no end in sight.

“I was the same.”

Serena nodded and examined Raon. She examined him just in case since it was such a special place, but she didn’t find anything strange about him.

The nature of his aura and his frame were the exact same, and his uniform had the tear that he’d gotten from fighting the Master of the Abyssal Sword and the Snow Wraith Duchess before entering the grave.

“Did anything special happen?”

“It did, right before coming to this place.” Raon shook his head.

“Right before?”

“Yes. I encountered the Snow Wraith Duchess at the third floor’s labyrinth.

“Wait, did you win against her?”

“Yes.” He smiled nonchalantly while stating that he’d slain the Snow Wraith Duchess.

“Huh…”

Serena laughed bitterly while looking at Raon.

“I was just lucky. She was controlling her demonic energy like a wave, and it was difficult to deal with.”

“I’m curious about how you won against her, but let’s get moving for now.” She shook her hand towards him. “We need to find the others, too.”

“I understand.” Raon nodded and followed her from the left.

“Tell me while walking. How did you encounter the Snow Wraith Duchess, and how did you win against her?”

Serena shook her finger towards Raon, who was next to her, while walking to the front.

“She came at me as if she’d been waiting for me the moment we reached the end of the labyrinth. I told the Light Wind Division to fight the demonized humans and went for a one-on-one…”

Raon explained the fight against the Snow Wraith Duchess with his characteristic calm speech.

“Seriously, you used frost against her…”

Serena looked forward while chuckling. She was rapidly getting relaxed because she’d encountered a person after a long time and the person in question was Raon, who she’d come to cherish. She felt like she’d returned to the house.

“I had an easier time in comparison on the way.”

“Did you not encounter any of the Five Demons?”

“No, I was far away from the Five Demons. But I fell into a nasty trap in the labyrinth…”

As she was telling him her story while looking forward…

“I see.”

Raon raised his right hand like a weapon while maintaining his smile. He stabbed his hand at Serena’s back without any pressure or murderous intention.

Whack!

* * *

“Burren, you’re too fixated on the idea of leading everyone from the front, and you aren’t showing your own strength enough.”

Raon dusted his hand off and started by standing in front of Burren.

“I-I understand.” Burren nodded painfully. The area under his eyes had become completely dark.

“Martha. You’re still relying too much on Berserk. Your real ability will decrease if you keep relying on that power.”

“Uhh…” Martha bit her lip, unable to refute his words.

“Runaan. You’re still too passive. Don’t you still have something you need to do?”

“Yes…” Runaan understood what he meant and nodded her head.

“Dorian. Moving in order to overcome fear is fine, but your hastiness is decreasing your vision. You should be careful. Next up is…”

Raon pointed out the issues that he’d noticed during their battle to every single member of the Light Wind Division. The Light Wind Division engraved Raon’s advice deep in their hearts while resting. They genuinely realized that Raon wasn’t doing it just to be mean.

“Get ready if you’ve rested enough.” Raon clapped his hands and pointed at the passage leading to the fourth floor. “As a last piece of advice, you should believe in your own strength a bit more. Be more confident.”

“Understood!”

The Light Wind Division entered the passage toward the fourth floor with bright smiles on their faces upon hearing that piece of advice, which was also a compliment.

“Hey, are you trying to make the Light Wind Division as powerful as the Heavenly Blade Division?” Rimmer was the last person remaining, and he shifted his gaze to the front of the passage.

“Rather than being as powerful as them, they should surpass the Heavenly Blade Division.”

Raon shook his head. He had no intention of stopping when it came to making them stronger. He was going to make every member of the Light Wind Division into a Master so that they would be the strongest armed organization in the continent, not just Zieghart.

“Whoa. I’m starting to feel sorry for them.”

Rimmer entered the passage towards the fourth floor, murmuring that he must’ve passed on the division leader position on too early.

“They’ll thank me later,” Raon chuckled and entered the dark hole after everyone else.

Whir!

The floating sensation was the same as the others, but the fall was clearly shorter.

“Haa,” Raon sighed quietly and lifted his eyebrows.

It was white.

The snowfield was literally white, with no trees or even a pebble visible.

The snow falling endlessly from the sky was as big as a child’s fist, giving off the impression that he would be buried in the snowfield no matter what he did.

‘No one is here.’

Not only the Light Wind Division but even Caiyan had disappeared even though he was holding it in his hand.

No one? The King of Essence is here!

Wrath shook his head, brushing it off as nonsense.

‘Yeah… Thanks to you, it won’t be boring, at least.’

Raon chuckled and advanced through the snow field.

But there really was nothing there. People, monsters, trees, clouds, and the sun. Not a single thing that could be used as a landmark existed, making it impossible to tell whether he was moving forward or backward.

Where the hell is this place?!

Wrath furrowed his brow in irritation.

Why is it still endless even though we’ve walked for over an entire day?! The King of Essence is getting bored!

‘The same goes for me.’

He could somewhat tell the intentions of the creator from the first to the third floor, but it was impossible to understand why the fourth floor even existed.

‘Are they trying to irritate me?’

Raon briefly clicked his tongue when a dark shape similar to a shadow could be seen on the right side.

“Raon!”

He enhanced his vision with the Evil Eye of Wrath and could see Rimmer running at him while waving his hand. He looked like a snowman because of the snow piled up on his head and shoulders.

“Vice division leader.”

“We’ve finally met up!” Rimmer sighed, voice worried.

Hmm?

Wrath twisted his lips while looking at Rimmer.

Raon’s eyes became serious as he gazed at Rimmer. He examined him just in case, but he couldn’t find anything strange about him.

“Haa, it was so hard to be alone all day long.”

He shook his head, saying that it was too boring and painful. Raon felt like it was exactly what he would say since he sounded like there was no one to do chores for him.

“Did anything happen to you?”

“It was actually easier for me because there really was nothing here.”

“Well, I guess. After all, you are like that.” Rimmer chuckled and nodded his head.

“Let’s get going. I’m worried because we can’t find the others.”

He furrowed his brow, saying that something might have happened to the Light Wind Division.

“…Sure.”

Raon calmly nodded and started to walk to the front. While Raon was calmly walking, Rimmer put his fingers together and raised his hand like a weapon.

The side of the hand was polished even sharper than a blade and soundlessly rushed towards Raon.

Whaam!

However, Rimmer’s hand could only cut the snow falling from the sky instead of reaching Raon’s heart.

Tap!

Raon grasped Rimmer’s trembling wrist, which had appeared from the ground like an illusion.

“H-how?!” Rimmer’s lips trembled, as he looked into Raon’s serious eyes.

“Because our damned elf master would never worry about me and the others.”

Since Rimmer hated cringy things, he would never say that he was worried about them even if he was thinking such a thing.

Crack!

The heat blazing from Raon’s eyes was as intense as lava. He violently clenched his grasp and smashed the wrist of the thing taking Rimmer’s appearance.

“Who are you?”

***

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]