Chapter 732

Raon had been lying from the moment he met Derus Robert. No, from the moment he summoned the Six Kings Conference. He had shouted that they should aim for the wound on the back of his hand, not the death aura, as Derus's subordinates could be hiding in the video conference.

In reality, he had been training only the Blade of Death to draw out the death aura that Derus had sealed, not the wound on the back of his hand.

Thanks to his tireless effort, sharpening day and night, the Blade of Death had already reached the 3-star level, despite being a recently acquired trait.

Even after arriving at the Beast Union, the deception continued. Knowing that Derus's henchmen would have already arrived to gauge the atmosphere, Raon hid his intentions of targeting Derus and instead maintained a calm demeanor, acting as if he had only come to protect Glenn.

It was the same when I met Derus.

As soon as Derus arrived, he used a gentle wind to examine the death aura, not the back of Derus's hand.

Then, while shaking hands, he hinted that he would give up on the death aura by examining the back of Derus's hand. He moved so subtly that Derus would barely notice it, making it natural for him to focus his attention there.

That's where the real game began.

Because Derus was obsessively suspicious and cautious, Raon didn’t immediately target the death aura even when he grabbed Derus’s wrist during the duel. First, he diverted Derus’s attention to the wound on the back of his hand.

The moment Derus’s attention was drawn to the fire of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, Raon drew out the Blade of Death he had hidden in his heart.

With only one chance, he plunged the Blade of Death deep into Derus’s soul path, aiming at the darkness lurking within. A tingling sensation in his hand, as if he had wielded a real sword, was followed by convulsions throughout Derus’s body.

Derus’s eyes turned pitch black, and dark flames erupted from his fingers. The death aura, which should have been hidden even at the cost of his life, had lost control and burst forth on its own.

But the result he achieved wasn’t just one. A gray, mud-like substance flowed from Derus’s hand, revealing superimposed sword marks diagonally across the back of his hand. Two pieces of irrefutable evidence proving that Derus Robert was the swordsman wearing the blue dragon helmet were now visible.

—W-What is this?!

Wrath’s jaw dropped in disbelief.

—Why did the death aura erupt? Weren’t you supposed to aim for the back of the hand?!

That was my goal from the beginning.

Raon twisted his lips into a smile. He was able to deceive Derus Robert precisely because everything had been a lie—even Wrath, who always accompanied him, was confused.

“Huh…?”

“So you were aiming for the death aura from the beginning, not the back of the hand?”

“You deceived even us…”

“You’ve really lost your mind.”

“Ugh…”

Even Glenn and the Six Kings’ leaders, who knew the plan, trembled in shock at the situation.

“Y-You damn bastard…”

Derus pushed forward with his dark, sunken eyes, revealing a demonic expression. It felt like he was looking at the enemy of Zieghart’s First Patriarch, known as Anima.

Damn bastard, huh?

Raon couldn’t help but laugh. Those were the very words he had uttered right before dying in his past life.

“It’s not malice, but meticulousness, Derus Robert.”

Raon returned the words Derus had once sneered, without changing a single syllable. Derus must have realized through the indelible wound on the back of his hand that Raon was the assassin Raon. His eyes distorted as he realized those same words were being thrown back at him.

Seeing Derus’s contorted face, Raon felt a sense of relief, as if the resentment that had accumulated for over 20 years had dissipated in an instant.

“Isn’t that the death aura?”

“Judging by how intense it is, making it hard to breathe, it must be the death aura…”

“The wound on the back of the hand is also there! The sword mark the Six Kings told us to look for!”

“To think that the swordsman wearing the blue dragon helmet was D-Derus…”

“Impossible…”

The neutral martial artists swallowed hard, convinced that Derus was the swordsman with the blue dragon helmet.

“—F-Father?”

Lephon Robert froze, his jaw trembling, unable to believe what he was seeing.

“Raon!”

Derus lost his composure and extended his sword, his face turning bright red. The death aura he unleashed turned into a black net, tightening from all directions. Raon didn’t move, even as the death aura surged toward him like a tidal wave. This wasn’t a fight he could handle anymore.

A massive slash fell from the sky, tearing apart all the incoming death aura.

“How dare you?”

Glenn descended in front of Raon, having shattered Derus’s aura with the Azure Sky Sword. His eyes burned with a dry, ruthless killing intent—he was truly angry.

“You’re really getting on my nerves.”

Chamber bit the candy in her mouth and extended her hands. Silver mana erupted from her small fingers, slicing through the death aura around Derus like it was paper.

A black sword followed behind the silver flash—Silent Sword Master Lecross. The sword strike he unleashed carried a majestic aura.

Derus tried to defend himself by drawing in the death aura, but the Silent Sword Master crushed his chest with sword pressure. Blood gushed from the wound like it had been scooped out with a shovel.

“Gah!”

Despite the unbearable pain, Derus once again forcefully sharpened the death aura and shot it toward Raon.

“Ah, no…”

As Larian extended her long, slender fingers, Derus trembled throughout his body, unable to move, as if he were a puppet on strings. It was one of the Magic Tower Master’s five specialties—string magic.

“Urgh!”

Just as Derus tried to gather his limbs to break the magic, the Beast King Ogram appeared from behind. Instead of attacking from the front like last time, he unleashed a series of blows imbued with the Fierce Wave Arts from behind, as if to avenge being ambushed earlier.

A deafening crash echoed, and Derus staggered, spitting out black blood.

As Derus’s eyes fluttered closed, Raon leapt forward. Protected by Glenn, he advanced and stabbed Derus’s abdomen with his divine and demonic swords.

“Kh!”

As Derus was about to collapse, coughing blood, Raon punched him in the face. With an explosive impact that seemed to twist the earth’s axis, Derus was slammed into the ground.

“Haah…”

Raon exhaled deeply and immediately retreated. His hands trembled. For the first time in his life, he felt relief mixed with even deeper anger.

“Ugh…”

Derus groaned painfully, covered in blood.

“You really pack a punch.”

Ogram shook his smoking fist and grinned at Raon.

“How does it feel to be hit from behind, Derus Robert?”

He curled his lips upward in mockery.

“D-Damn…”

Derus crawled on the ground, surrounded by the transcendental warriors of the Six Kings. His hands trembled, perhaps from pain or rage.

—Why stop now? You should keep hitting him! The grudge is deep, isn’t it?!

Wrath waved his arms wildly, recalling what he had said at the first Six Kings Conference.

That bastard still has strength left.

Raon calmly shook his head. Despite his injuries, Derus’s energy hadn’t dropped significantly. There was a risk he could use Raon as a hostage to escape. Stopping here was the best move.

—You knew.

Wrath nodded solemnly.

—You’re quite perceptive… in strange areas.

He frowned, as if annoyed that Raon’s insight always activated in odd ways.

“We can’t kill him yet.”

Chamber shook her head and stood beside Ogram.

“We have a lot of questions for this bastard.”

She lifted her witch’s hat, her expression serious.

“You’re right.”

Raon bit his lip and lowered his gaze. Derus was probably still carrying out human experiments and raising assassins. They needed him to talk in order to stop that.

“First, we need to know why he did this.”

King Lecross approached Derus’s right side, sword at the ready.

“I just want to end this quickly…”

The Magic Tower Master anxiously shrugged, though still restraining Derus with her string magic.

“Head of House!”

“What are you doing?”

“Stop this immediately!”

The Young Sword Division Leader and the Robert House Elite Warriors burst into the arena to protect Derus—but their feet halted at the boundary.

“They can’t pass.”

Roenn pointed his sword at Varian, the Division Leader, emanating a chilling killing intent.

“Calling him Head of House after all this… you must be in cahoots with him.”

Sheryl had her sword at Bellun’s neck, her eyes icy cold.

“—Hmm…”

“That’s not true! There’s no way the Head of House would do something like this!”

Unlike Varian, the Elite Warrior Division Leader Bellun shouted, still in disbelief.

“—F-Father…”

“Why did you do this when you lacked nothing?”

“Huu…”

Derus didn’t answer. He simply let out a long sigh.

“If you don’t attack me now, you’re not in your right mind.”

He looked at Raon with a calculating gaze, as though regaining composure.

“It’s been a long time since I felt pain like this.”

Derus exhaled and caressed the deep sword wound on his chest. As his hand touched the wound, it began to heal—more like divine power than natural regeneration.

“Don’t move.”

Glenn narrowed his eyes and pressed the Heavenly Tremor to Derus’s forehead. Lephon sat on the ground, trembling.

“Is he really that monster, Father? No, right? Please tell me it’s not true!”

He shook his head violently, desperate to deny what he saw.

Are only the Young Sword Division Leader and the maids the ones who knew?

From the looks of it, the Elite Warriors and Lephon Robert seemed unaware of Derus’s true identity. It left a bitter taste—but they couldn’t stop here.

“Derus Robert.”

Glenn’s gaze was like burning coal as he looked down at Derus.

“You can’t escape.”

Chamber tilted her chin, smirking.

“I’ve blocked all teleportation and dimensional gates. Anything you try is useless.”

“Yes, it won’t work. S-Surrender…”

The Magic Tower Master shook her head, her voice firm.

“Your son is watching. Stop dishonoring yourself.”

King Lecross exhaled slowly, glancing at the tearful Lephon.

“Derus Robert. To think it was really you…”

Ogram clenched his fist until it bled.

“That’s right. It’s me.”

Derus gave a bitter smile.

“I learned from you. To deceive someone truly suspicious… you must deceive yourself first.”

Raon gripped Heavenly Drive tighter, locking eyes with Derus.

“Kuhahahahaha!”

Derus burst into maniacal laughter.

“Yes, that’s you, Raon. A single mistake is enough for you.”

He nodded as though he'd solved everything.

“When did you realize? During this war?”

Raon tilted his head. This was a question about when Derus realized he had been reincarnated. Derus slowly stood up. Though blood-soaked, a terrifying aura rose from him.

“I am the swordsman wearing the blue dragon helmet who attacked you and tried to kill Glenn Zieghart.”

He confessed, his red lips twisting into a smirk.

“Why?! Why did you do this?!”

Ogram grabbed Derus by the collar, eyes bloodshot.

“What were you lacking?!”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

Derus shook his head, his bitter smile directed not at Glenn or Lecross, but at Raon.

“To think it was all a deception… you really prepared thoroughly. I predicted all the actions of these old men, though I didn’t expect you to act like this. But to answer your question… No. From the beginning.”

“What?”

“I fundamentally don’t believe in coincidences.”

Derus rolled his eyes and let his arms hang loosely.

“Blood has flowed from this wound for the first time in a long while. At first, I didn’t know why. But as time passed, I was able to find the connecting thread.”

He extended the wounded back of his hand, still dripping with blood.

“Raon. Every time you accomplished something, or when something I prepared was ruined, blood would flow from this hand. When the two events coincided, so much blood would pour out that the inside of my glove would be completely soaked.”

He licked the blood from the back of his hand and smiled faintly.

“My suspicions grew stronger at the Six Kings Conference. I made sure…”

Derus raised his fingers.

“At the Water Demon Host factory. After all the Water Demon Hosts I sent to kill you died and the factory collapsed. The handling of that incident was the work of someone who knew me well. Then, I heard you had survived. Despite the time difference… I was certain. You were Raon.”

He clenched his wounded hand, as if confirming it again.

“Once I came to that conclusion, everything aligned: the Shadow Factory, the underwater dungeon, and the Water Demon Host facility.”

Derus revealed a confident smirk, as though reconstructing the truth from the answer.

“And finally…”

He opened his hand again, exposing the cleaned wound and his reddened teeth.

“Only you can leave a wound that doesn’t heal.”

He laughed, his twisted eyes contorting grotesquely.

“If I hadn’t realized with this, I wouldn’t be worthy of wearing what’s on my neck.”

He shook his head, as though warning Raon not to underestimate him.

“Ah…”

Kubara swallowed hard as he watched Derus’s mad laughter.

To think that Raon Zieghart was the real Raon…

Though he had trusted and respected Derus, he couldn’t accept that Raon Zieghart was the assassin Raon, supposedly long dead. Even though Derus talked about it every day, he had dismissed it as obsession.

Raon bit his tongue as he watched Derus, so sure of himself.

As expected, that bastard is dangerous.

He had assumed Derus realized it only during this war because of the wound, but to think he had suspected and confirmed Raon’s reincarnation even before that—wasn’t the thinking of a normal person. Derus Robert was truly the craziest man in the world.

“What the hell is he talking about?”

Ogram frowned in confusion.

“He’s pretending to be insane. To escape this.”

Chamber raised her voice, placing multiple mana shields around herself.

“I-I’m scared…”

The Magic Tower Master strengthened her string magic and hid behind Chamber.

“Yes. Everyone will think it’s nonsense. But…”

Derus lifted his dry gaze.

“It’s enough that you and I know.”

He chuckled as though it all amused him.

“Stop wasting time with useless chatter and answer my question.”

Glenn narrowed his eyes and pressed the Heavenly Tremor deeper against Derus’s forehead.

“What is your objective?”

“Objective? That is…”

Just as Derus opened his mouth to lick the blood trickling down his forehead—

BOOM!

The bodies of the Elite Warriors suddenly bulged with grotesque blood vessels before exploding. Though not as powerful as the Water Demon Hosts, the shockwave was strong enough to shake the entire arena.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Derus unleashed both his death aura and innate Astral energy to attack the Six Kings' formation.

“Maintain your positions!”

“Don’t break the encirclement!”

“He can’t escape from here anyway!”

Glenn, Chamber, and Ogram didn’t falter. Their eyes locked on Derus, blocking all routes of escape.

“Ah, you old men are really annoying.”

Derus didn’t move from his spot—but suddenly, something was in his hand.

“—F-Father?”

Lephon Robert. The one who had been beside the Young Sword Division… was now in Derus’s grasp.

“What is this…?”

Even Glenn’s eyes widened. No one had seen it coming.

“What’s going on…?”

Raon’s lips trembled. It wasn’t that Derus had brought Lephon here or that Lephon had come to him.

It felt like Lephon had been in Derus’s hands from the beginning.

“You… don’t tell me…”

Chamber furrowed her brow and turned sharply.

“Are you trying to use your son as a hostage?”

She twisted her lips in disgust.

“Have you really lost your mind…?”

“Hostage?”

Derus curled his lips into a smirk as he held Lephon closer.

“Do you still see this as human?”

***

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

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Writing Ant, 글개미]

[Translator – MurimTang]

[Proofreader – Mayank]