Chapter 685

Ogram further enhanced the aura in his fist, twisting his shoulder in a spiral motion.

Rumble!

His punch advanced with a majestic ray of light and fended off the bloody energy, crushing the energy of death. However, the bloody energy and the energy of death intensified their pressure, pushing back against the punch as if declaring that they were only getting started.

‘This is where the real battle begins.’

The auras of the White Blood Religion’s leader and the man in the dragon helmet were each stronger than his own, even when considered separately. He had to incorporate Tidebreaker into his punch to defeat both of them at once.

Whir!

Ogram unleashed Tidebreaker at the maximum output. The colorless aura emanating from his fist created majestic concentric circles as it faced the intensifying bloody energy and energy of death.

“Kuh…”

A tremendous wave of energy gushed from the bloody energy and the energy of death, putting a shattering pressure on his fist. The pain made him feel like his limbs were about to explode, but he couldn’t step back now.

He completed the punch, relying on the strength of his body, which he had honed through countless hours of training.

Whir!

Tidebreaker’s energy cut through the bloody energy and the energy of death like a salmon swimming against the current, digging into the bodies of the White Blood Religion’s leader and the man in the dragon helmet.

‘I did it!’

Tidebreaker’s wave had reached his enemy’s body. It was going to inflict a huge amount of damage to their souls.

‘I just need to continue… Hmm?’

He focused on his senses in order to finish them off right away, but he couldn’t feel the presence of the man in the dragon helmet, who should’ve been on his right. The White Blood Religion’s leader’s soul was the only thing he could sense.

‘Where is he?’

He tried spreading his aura perception while smacking the White Blood Religion’s leader’s soul with Tidebreaker, but he couldn’t feel the presence of the man in the dragon helmet from anywhere.

‘This is dangerous…’

He tried to withdraw, a chill running down his spine, but he could feel a cold metal piercing into his chest.

He looked around and saw the man in the dragon helmet stabbing his chest with a dark sword, a severe wound visible on the left side of his upper body. Ogram guessed that he had broken through the aura without protecting himself in order to hide his presence. He was truly a lunatic.

“Guh…”

A suffocating pain engulfed him as the energy of death surrounding the blade pierced his body and soul.

“You filthy bastard!” Ogram tried to pull out the blade from his chest, but he couldn’t push it back—which implied that his enemy was stronger.

“H-how…?”

His lips trembled because he’d never thought that he would lose in a match of physical strength, of all things.

“So this is the extent of the strongest body among the Six Kings and the Five Demons.” The man in the dragon helmet shook his head, expressing his boredom with his laughter.

“W-weren’t you the White Blood Religion’s leader’s companion…?”

Ogram bit his lip deeply. The White Blood Religion’s leader had taken a huge amount of damage because she had to take the full brunt of Tidebreaker to herself. He couldn’t believe that a Transcender just took him by surprise, abandoning his companion and taking a wound serious enough to tear apart his flesh in the process.

"We aren't companions. Our interests just happened to align. And…" The man in the dragon helmet pointed his chin at the White Blood Religion’s leader. “If she dies from this, it simply means that is all she amounts to.”

His nonchalant smile suggested that he didn’t care whether the White Blood Religion’s leader died or not.

“Uhh…” Ogram bit his lip, seeing the emptiness in the eyes glowing inside the helmet.

‘He’s dangerous.’

There was no one like him among the Six Kings and the Five Demons. His strength wasn’t the only issue. His way of thinking was dangerous.

He almost looked like a punk on the back street who would do anything for victory instead of a transcended warrior holding absolute power.

“What’s your goal…?”

“You won’t be able to understand.” The man in the dragon helmet sneered faintly. However, he didn’t seem to be sneering at Ogram this time.

“Beast Union Leader!”

“Where are you?!”

It happened when Ogram was trying to muster his energy in order to escape the situation. The Suran Chief and Garona’s voices could be heard from behind the dark shroud that was created when the man in the dragon helmet appeared.

“Get out of here right now!” Ogram shouted, gripping the blade piercing his chest to prevent the man in the dragon helmet from moving.

“Return to the Union, ask for help from Zieghart and Balkar!”

“I wonder if they’ll be able to escape.” The man in the dragon helmet curled his eyes into a crescent shape.

“Don’t underestimate our youngsters.” Ogram raised his leg and smashed the waist of the man in the dragon helmet.

Whack!

The man in the dragon helmet snorted and smacked Ogram’s abdomen.

“Kuh…”

Ogram bent forward, blood gushing from his mouth. His body couldn’t maintain its steel hardness anymore because the energy of death was seeping into it.

The excruciating pain and endless bleeding gradually blurred his vision, but Ogram still didn’t release the blade stabbing his chest. That was because Garona’s death would be inevitable if the monster in front of him was freed.

Whaack!

The man in the dragon helmet kept punching him with his left hand. Ogram’s knees were lowered because of the shattering pain of his bones and muscles, but the hand holding the blade remained clenched until the last moment.

“Guh…”

The White Blood Religion’s leader stood up while groaning in pain. She’d taken a serious amount of damage, but it was apparently not enough to kill her.

‘Haa…’

Ogram examined the other side of the dark shroud using his aura perception, which was gradually shrinking. It looked like Garona had made up his mind, as he turned around and started to run away.

Ogram thought he would be able to escape because he actually had excellent wits about him despite acting simple.

‘For some reason… I’m reminded of him.’

Watching the White Blood Religion’s leader, who managed to survive, and Garona’s back reminded him of Raon, whom he had helped train alongside Garona.

He had already taught Tidebreaker to a few executives in the Beast Union, but he had the feeling that Raon and Garona would be the ones to attain its pinnacle.

‘I’m leaving Garona to you…’

* * *

“Leave? What is that supposed to mean…?”

The Suran Chief’s lips trembled as he examined the dark shroud that kept him from seeing inside.

“Beast Union Leader!” He approached the shroud as if he didn’t hear Ogram’s words.

“You can’t do that…” Garona raised his arm to block the Suran Chief’s path. He shook his head while biting his lip to the point of bleeding. “Th-there’s no way the Beast Union Leader would’ve said that for no reason.”

“Hmm…” The Suran Chief swallowed nervously and stepped back.

He was able to calm down after seeing that Garona was forcing himself to maintain his composure despite how he would usually be even more agitated in the same situation.

“The Beast Union Leader is powerful. What he just said implies that we are getting in his way. We need to withdraw.” Garona ordered the warriors and sorcerers behind him to retreat with trembling fingers.

‘Both parties will be endangered at this rate.’

If Ogram had to order them to leave, he must’ve been in a crisis as well.

‘There must be another enemy other than the White Blood Religion’s leader.’

The White Blood Religion’s martial arts turned whiter the stronger it was. The shroud that kept them from seeing inside was definitely a technique from another faction, like the Black Tower.

Since they had to leave first for Ogram to escape without worrying about them, running away was the correct decision.

“We’re withdrawing!” The Suran Chief nodded his head, showing that he understood his intentions.

The warriors and sorcerers turned around after seeing their eyes and ran back to the path that they’d come from. However, the White Blood Religion’s bloody demons jumped out of the dark shroud with no intention of letting them go.

Whaam!

Garona’s punch and the Suran Chief’s sorcery advanced at the same time, making the bloody demons charging at them explode on their way.

“We’ll take care of them!”

“Move as quickly as possible!”

Garona and the Suran Chief defeated all of the bloody demons jumping out from behind the shroud before catching up to the warriors and the sorcerers.

“Are you really alright?”

The Suran Chief furrowed his brow while looking at Garona. Considering how nervous he was, there was no way Garona wouldn’t be worried about Ogram. After all, he was his disciple.

“I’m fine.” Garona nodded with a broad smile on his face. “My master should return safely as long as we manage to escape.”

He shook his hand, calling Ogram his master instead of the Beast Union Leader.

“Yes, I can’t imagine him being defeated either.”

They smiled, with their eyes reflecting their trust in Ogram. However…

Slash!

Along with the frightening sound of something cutting through the air, the sorcerer running at the front of the group had his head torn off.

The blood gushed from the sorcerer’s corpse, and a villain clad in a crimson coat from head to toe shot up from it. Even though he wasn’t an apostle, they could feel that his prowess was even higher than an apostle’s.

“......”

The bloody demon nodded at them while blocking their path. He seemed to be implying that they should try attacking him.

“I’m rather busy right now…”

Garona raised his hand, clenching his fist. Tidebreaker’s energy, which he hadn’t been able to maintain so far, was blazing powerfully on his fist.

“Get out of my way if you don’t want to die!”

Wham!

The White Blood Religion’s leader furrowed her brow while looking at Ogram, who had collapsed with his eyes closed.

‘He really is a monster.’

Even though the bloody energy and the energy of death had completely pierced his mana circuits and blood vessels, Ogram still didn’t faint until the last moment.

His willpower was ridiculously powerful. It even made her think that the strongest willpower was his specialty instead of the strongest body.

‘However…’ The White Blood Religion’s leader threw a sideway glance at the man in the dragon helmet with her narrowed eyes. ‘He is even better.’

Regardless of his might, his way of thinking was completely different from the others. They were fully capable of winning by fighting normally, but the man in the dragon helmet had attacked Ogram from the back to ensure that he wouldn’t be able to escape. That implied that he didn’t really care about his own injuries as long as he could win. It wasn’t how the Transcenders usually fought.

She would’ve been impressed if she had just been a bystander in the battle, but she was furious instead because she’d served as bait.

“I knew it. You’re still alive.” The man in the dragon helmet casually waved his hand. “I would’ve been disappointed if you died.”

“I almost died.” The White Blood Religion’s leader furrowed her brow, swallowing back the blood welling up in her throat. “And it was all thanks to you.”

Her soul was drastically harmed because she’d had to fend off Tidebreaker on her own after the man in the dragon helmet had escaped. Her body and mind were aching so much that she could collapse at any moment, but she shook her hand, pretending to be fine.

If she collapsed right there, there was no telling what the other bastard would do to her.

“You need to deceive your ally to deceive your enemy.” The man in the dragon helmet shrugged his shoulders.

“How can you say that?!”

“We managed to catch our prey easily, thanks to that.” He smiled, pointing at Ogram, who was breathing weakly. “He’s still alive as you ordered, and he won’t be able to wake up on his own because his soul is separated from his body.”

The man in the dragon helmet weakly kicked Ogram’s body, saying that it was his gift for her.

“Hmm…”

The White Blood Religion’s leader dissipated the energy she’d been gathering in her hand. She licked her lips deeply while looking at the blood flowing from Ogram’s chest.

‘That should allow me to…’

When it came to consuming blood to enhance the Blood Art, the effect intensified in proportion to the strength of its original owner. She couldn’t even imagine how much stronger she was going to become if she kept absorbing the Beast King Ogram’s blood.

“This should conclude the trade, right?” The man in the dragon helmet nodded at her.

“Yes, I’ll recommend you to be one of the Five Demons.” The White Blood Religion’s leader nodded while looking away from Ogram.

“There’s one more thing.”

“…I know, I’ll grant a request.”

The man in the dragon helmet had asked her to recommend him to the Five Demons and grant one request for him in return for capturing Ogram alive. She honestly couldn’t trust him, so she’d prepared a way to escape in various ways, but he really had carried out his part of the deal.

“By the way…” The White Blood Religion’s leader twisted her lips while looking at the eyes inside the helmet. “What should I call you and your organization?”

He still hadn’t told her his name or the name of his organization. The man had just too many secrets.

“I’m still nameless. And as for the organization… Call it the Shadow.”

“Shadow? Do you mean that group of assassins…?”

“Another star is going to fall soon. I’ll tell you when that happens.”

“Another star is going to fall…?”

The White Blood Religion’s leader lowered her eyebrows. He’d said that a star was taken down when he was fighting Ogram. That meant he was implying that another one among the Six Kings and the Five Demons was going to fall.

“You can announce that you’ve captured Ogram on your own today. It’s meaningless to me.” The man in the dragon helmet casually shook his hand as if he wasn’t interested in an insignificant person like Ogram at all.

“Then can we let them escape? The ones who are running away right now.”

“That’s fine. They couldn’t have seen anything. Actually, it would be better to leave them alive.” He rubbed the tips of his fingers, saying that it would be interesting.

“What’s your goal?” The White Blood Religion’s leader furrowed her brow, her eyes skimming over the man in the dragon helmet.

‘I can’t tell what he is thinking at all.’

She’d thought he wanted to be famous because he wanted to join the Five Demons, but she couldn’t understand what he was thinking at all after hearing that he would forfeit all of the fame for defeating Ogram.

“You wouldn’t understand even if you heard it.” The man in the dragon helmet nodded, repeating the same thing he’d told Ogram.

“…Yes, I guess there’s no reason for me to find out.” The White Blood Religion’s leader shook her finger, and the tenth apostle walked out from the darkness, picking Ogram up and carrying him on his shoulder.

“Another fun incident is about to break out. Do you want to join?”

“No.”

She shook her head. She wouldn’t be able to move for a while because she needed a good amount of time to recover from the damage to her soul and absorb Ogram’s energy as her own.

“Your injury must be severe.”

The sound of licking lips could be heard from inside the dragon helmet. The ghastly glow of his eyes looked like he was contemplating whether he should go for her or not.

“Try it if you want.” The White Blood Religion’s leader turned her head with a cold laugh.

“Are you counting on the Blood Spirit Sphere you prepared in advance?”

“You…”

“With twelve passages, you should be able to escape no matter what happens.” The man in the dragon helmet nodded his head as if he were aware of everything she was thinking.

“Who the hell are you…?”

The White Blood Religion’s leader swallowed nervously. In fact, she had prepared fifteen total passages to escape if anything happened. She couldn’t believe that he had figured out twelve of the passages.

“I’m just kidding.” The man in the dragon helmet smiled faintly, saying that it was a joke.

“…I’d like to drink your blood as well one day.” The White Blood Religion’s leader disappeared into the white blood with a furrowed brow.

The tenth apostle quietly glared at the man in the dragon helmet before he sank into the blood, following his leader.

“There must’ve been fifteen.” The man in the dragon helmet shook off his hands while giggling, and his torn skin started to heal. All his wounds disappeared as if he had never been injured to begin with. His regeneration was even better than that of a troll.

A woman wearing a black mask knelt next to him a moment later, lowering her head.

“All the traces have been erased. We can return.” She handed over a black glove, saying that everything was over.

“There’s still another thing to do.” The man in the dragon helmet shook his head while accepting the glove.

The atmosphere around him suddenly changed. His voice remained the same, but his frivolous, clownish nature became the dignity of a powerful king.

Psh.

Once the man in the dragon helmet took off the glove that he was wearing, sticky blood flowed from inside.

He incinerated the blood-soaked glove, replacing it with the new glove before shaking his hand out.

“What would that be…?”

“They’re here now.”

He curled his lips into a smile while looking at the vivid golden radiance sparkling from the sky.

“The great lizards, who are always slow as shit.”

* * *

“Haa…”

Raon calmly caught his breath and raised his gaze. The swords of the Transcenders were freely advancing next to the eight rings of fire rotating, as if they were protecting his mental world. It was the same as when he’d first entered the mental world, but there was a slight difference.

‘They’re lower now.’

The swords of the Transcenders were still too high for him to reach, but they gradually lowered their altitude of flight as he kept practicing their swords. He could guess that the swords descended to the ground as he got stronger and got used to the Transcenders’ techniques.

‘Thanks to that, I managed to get a hint.’

Training with the Transcenders’ swords to the fullest extent of his abilities taught him how to unleash his full power in a single moment. Including the burst of emotion that Wrath had mentioned was a different story, but he managed to clearly grasp the clue to creating a new Sword Field.

‘Shall I return now?’

A long time had passed since he’d entered the mental world. A problem could occur in his real body if he kept staying in that world, so he figured he had to prepare to return.

Raon raised Heavenly Drive to consolidate his training for the last time.

Whir!

A yellow aura wavered from the center of his mental world, a large man clad in a black coat surging from it.

‘Is that…?’ Raon’s eyes widened as he looked at the black coat. ‘…the Black Dragon Coat?’

The large man seemed to be wearing the Black Dragon Coat. No, it was definitely the Black Dragon Coat. However, it had more scales than when he was wearing it himself.

Woosh!

The large man wearing the Black Dragon Coat fiercely thrust his fist as if he were facing an enemy right in front of him. The formless aura dwelling in his fist rampaged around alongside Tidebreaker’s flow.

‘Could it be…?’

Raon swallowed nervously while looking at the large man’s back as he executed his punch.

‘Sir Ogram?’

***

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

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Writing Ant, 글개미]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Harley]