Chapter 772

Raon swallowed hard as he watched the demonic energy in the Soul Stone, which had been raging as if it were about to explode, suddenly subside.

Fwoosh!

Did he suppress the demonic energy with willpower?

Seeing the Soul Stone's explosion stop, it seemed that Rector had crushed the demonic energy with his transcendent Willpower.

—That Soul Stone contains demonic energy that even most Transcendent Warriors would have difficulty enduring...

Wrath licked his lips as he looked at Rector.

—That old man seems to have grown quite a bit.

He chuckled and said that old men also grow well.

Grown? Now that I think about it, Sir Rector's aura seems much sharper now. It's like seeing Glenn from before.

"W-what..."

Certainly! Here’s your passage, proofread and formatted according to your guidelines:

The two-headed demon's eyes widened in disbelief.

Gasp!

"Demon Sword! Why are you here? And how did you stop the explosion?"

He yelled at Rector with the mocking laughter wiped from his face.

"..."

Rector looked at the two-headed demon with cold eyes, without answering.

Grrrr!

"This can't be! Everyone must die here!"

The two-headed demon raised his shattered arm, contorting his face. He seemed to be trying to detonate the Soul Gem remotely using Fighting Spirit.

He’s trying to blow up the Soul Gem!

Gathering what little aura he had left, Raon activated the Supreme Harmony Steps. He advanced directly toward the two-headed demon and swung the Requiem Blade he held in a reverse grip.

The sword, flickering with demonic energy, cut through the two-headed demon's Fighting Spirit and pierced his neck.

Urgh!

The two-headed demon tried to detonate the Soul Stone even if it meant his own death, but he couldn't move a finger due to the demonic energy emanating from the Requiem Blade.

"R-Raon Zieghart. You interfere to the very end..."

He gritted his teeth and raised his bloodshot eyes.

"Now that you are about to die, that annoying smile of yours has disappeared."

Raon nodded, looking at the cruelly contorted expression of the two-headed demon.

"S-if you kill me, the Soul Stone will explode immediately! Don't pull out the sword..."

"Your lies are clumsy."

Raon scoffed and looked at the two-headed demon.

"If that stone were to explode with your death, you would have committed suicide earlier."

The two-headed demon wanted everyone present to disappear even if he died. The fact that he didn't take his own life and tried to detonate the Soul Gem clearly showed that the explosion triggered by suicide had also been blocked by Rector.

"W-Wait! No! Listen to me! I..."

"Now it's your turn to be mocked by death."

Raon shook his head firmly and forcefully swung the Requiem Blade, severing the two-headed demon's neck.

The demon's head detached and rolled onto the ground.

Thud!

"Damn it..."

The evil spirit that had mocked human life and destiny died in despair.

Ugh...

Raon let out a long sigh as he looked at the two-headed demon who had died with his eyes wide open. Seeing the one who had played with the lives of others die in sobs felt comforting, as if a weight had been lifted from his chest.

I want to collapse right here, but...

There is still work to be done.

He raised his head in pain and looked at Rector and Edgar. They also looked silently toward there.

Was Father referring to Sir Rector?

Edgar had called Rector "father" before, which meant that Rector was his grandfather.

—To think that that old man is your real grandfather....

Wrath licked his lips as he examined Rector.

—As expected, your lineage is not normal.

He frowned and said he had known from the very first encounter that Raon was extraordinary.

You knew Sir Rector was here from the beginning, didn't you?

—Of course.

Wrath snorted, as if telling Raon to ask whatever he needed.

Then why didn't you tell me?

—That old man has been watching you more than once or twice. I thought he would stay quiet this time too, since he never appeared before.

He shook his head and said that he thought Rector's hobby was voyeurism.

"F-Father, how did you..."

Edgar swallowed hard, as if he couldn’t believe that Rector had arrived.

"I received a call from that one while I was tracking Eden’s movements."

Rector pointed at Merlin.

"It seemed unbelievable, but I came just in case, and I’m glad I didn’t arrive too late."

He nodded his head toward Merlin gratefully.

"This child greets grandfather."

Merlin gently lifted her tattered skirt as if it were an old umbrella and bowed her head. She seemed to have no sense of shame.

"Grandfather...?"

Rector's eyes trembled sharply. He looked at Raon and Sylvia as if he didn’t understand the situation, but no one could open their mouths.

"I also called the other side, but it will take a while because it’s late."

Merlin smiled brightly, as if telling him not to worry.

"W-Well done..."

Rector nodded, responding abruptly, as if he didn’t want to talk to Merlin anymore.

"Yes!"

Merlin smiled brightly, muttering that her grandfather had praised her.

"Father. I..."

Edgar couldn’t look directly at Rector and looked away.

"Shut your beak."

Rector shook his head as he stopped the blood still flowing from Edgar’s left chest.

"I'm sorry..."

Edgar couldn’t raise his bowed head, as if ashamed.

"I left the Holy Sword Alliance shouting that I didn’t want to live like my father, but I became a worm who couldn’t even protect his family..."

He trembled as if his heart ached more than the wound in his chest.

"I'm so sorry..."

"No, no!"

Sylvia ran out and held Edgar’s trembling hand.

"Eden came to get me, not him! It’s all my fault!"

She shook her head, shouting that Eden’s attack was because of her.

Mmm...

Rector turned his head as he saw Sylvia’s tear-filled eyes. He didn’t say anything because he understood Sylvia’s pain better than anyone else.

“Ah! My apologies. Let me greet you properly this time."

Sylvia knelt before Rector while holding Edgar’s hand.

"I am Sylvia Zieghart. Father."

She called Rector father and bowed her head deeply.

"It seems you already knew."

Rector nodded his chin as he gently lifted Sylvia.

" You look so similar, it caught my attention immediately."

Sylvia smiled slightly, saying that Edgar and Rector looked too much alike.

Indeed...

Raon nodded as he looked back and forth between Edgar and Rector. As Sylvia said, the two had very similar appearances and auras, differing only in hair color.

"Raon."

Sylvia turned her head and called Raon by name.

"You should greet your grandfather."

She gestured with her hand, inviting him to come.

"Ah, yes."

Raon nodded and stood up. Although his body was powerless, he had to greet properly as Sylvia said.

"Um, well..."

But suddenly, as he stood before Rector, his mind went blank. He couldn’t utter the word grandfather.

“Greetings can wait. Let’s deal with this first.”

Rector also seemed embarrassed as he exhaled softly and carefully lifted the Soul Stone connected to Edgar’s heart.

"Will you be able to endure it?"

"Of course."

Edgar didn’t even groan despite the intense pain, holding Sylvia’s hand tightly.

"It’s alright. You shouldn’t show an unpleasant appearance in front of your son."

Rector smiled slightly as he examined the Soul Stone that was still shaking. After a moment, his expression turned to a frown, as if frustrated.

"If we cut the blood vessels like this, the demonic energy could explode, or your life could be in danger. We will need a doctor after all."

Rector let out a murky sigh and said they needed both a priest and a skilled doctor.

"The Ragged Saint is now in Zieghart."

Raon pointed toward Zieghart. The Ragged Saint Frederick possessed both sacred power and excellent medical skills. He would surely be able to solve this.

"Y-Yes. Let's go to Zieghart."

Sylvia nodded quickly.

Surely Saint Frederick will help us!

"Going to Zieghart is difficult."

Edgar looked down, unable to meet Sylvia’s eyes.

"What? Why?"

"I was an executive of Eden, and my father became the leader of the Holy Sword Alliance. How could we go to Zieghart?"

He bit his lip, reluctant to cause trouble for Sylvia and Raon.

"It doesn’t matter."

Rector shook his head calmly.

"The name of the Leader of the Holy Sword Alliance does not weigh more than your life."

"F-Father?"

"The reason I became the leader of the Holy Sword Alliance was to protect Raon and Sylvia from the Five Demons."

He revealed a firm gaze, as if to say—that was the only reason.

“Father…”

“Father…”

Edgar and Sylvia trembled, their lips pale, as if overwhelmed by the weight of Rector’s sincerity.

“Since you weren’t able to be a father… then at the very least, I should be one.”

Rector smiled faintly and said he was simply paying the price… for having raised a foolish son.

“Ah…”

Raon clenched his fists tightly as he met Rector’s calm eyes.

Recalling his words from earlier—and Wrath’s testimony that Rector had been secretly watching over him—every question that had weighed on him finally found its answer.

So, all of Sir Rector’s strange actions… were to protect me.

His heart ached—like it was wrapped in thorny vines woven from both gratitude and regret.

“I’m sorry.”

Edgar, too, seemed to feel the depth of Rector’s heart as he bowed his head deeply.

“I really have nothing to say to you, Father.”

“I told you to stop apologizing.”

Rector waved his hand casually.

“Besides being your wife, son, and daughter… they’re also my daughter-in-law and grandchildren.”

He scoffed, as if to say his actions were only natural.

“…”

Raon smiled faintly as he looked at Rector’s face, which seemed to have regained a hint of warmth.

It feels like… he’s finally come back.

It felt like Raon was seeing that same Rector again—the one who used to spar with Glenn in the sword training grounds back when he first arrived at Zieghart. That same gentle aura from the past… was now blooming within him once more.

“Well, anyway, it means you’re not an enemy.”

Rimmer lowered his sword, finally letting out a breath of relief.

That timid old man’s probably sweating right now.

He chuckled, as if an amusing thought had struck him.

“Looks like Zieghart’s going to back us up. But first, let’s get out of here.”

Rector turned away, placing a firm hand on Edgar’s shoulder.

“Let’s head back to House Arianne.”

“I-I’m sorry…”

Edgar exhaled softly as he leaned into Rector’s support.

“After all these decades, all you have to say is ‘I’m sorry’?”

Rector shook his head, as if telling him to cut it out.

“That’s not something you say in front of your children.”

He glanced at Raon and waved his hand again, urging Edgar to pull himself together.

“Ah… yes.”

Edgar nodded after exchanging a look with Raon and Sylvia.

“I’ll carry Sia.”

But Sylvia stepped forward and gently lifted Sia into her arms, as if she couldn’t entrust anyone else with the daughter she had reunited with after twenty long years.

“This feels… good.”

She smiled through her tears as she walked over to Rector and Edgar.

“Well… you really are something else…”

Rector was about to speak, but he raised his head urgently.

-He's here!

Wrath also shouted in surprise.

"What..."

When Raon looked up, the air stirred like a curtain, and a long darkness emerged. A sacred light emerged from the darkness, rippling like waves. It was The Fallen, the leader of Eden, enveloped in light and darkness.

"...So, we have come this far."

The Fallen nodded calmly, as if he had understood the whole situation just by looking down.

"The Fallen..."

Rector stepped forward, placing himself between the others and the intruder.

“So, you did have something else in mind all along.”

The Fallen smiled faintly, as if this was the outcome he had anticipated all along.

“I will never forgive you!”

Rector’s expression twisted into that of a wrathful specter, filled with murderous intent toward the one who had left irreversible scars on his son and granddaughter.

“Do whatever you want,” The Fallen said casually.

“Of course… after my experiment is complete.”

As The Fallen smiled and snapped his fingers, the Soul Stone that Rector was holding, which hadn't moved at all, began to vibrate violently.

Vrrrm!

The diminished demonic energy surged instantly, and deep cracks appeared in the Soul Stone.

“Everyone, get back!”

Rector pulled the Soul Stone from Edgar's heart and pushed everyone else back.

"Sir Rector!"

The moment Raon called out to Rector—

Craaaack!

The Soul Stone shattered.

BOOOOM!

A colossal wave of demonic energy exploded outward, as if it intended to swallow the entire world in darkness.

Raon was launched like a stone kicked by a giant, tumbling across the ground without end.

His vision went completely white.

Bzzzz…

Only a faint buzzing filled his ears. His limbs were limp—drained of all strength—and his senses felt… erased.

Urgh!!

After what felt like an eternity, consciousness returned in a burst of searing pain that radiated from his abdomen.

He doubled over and coughed up blood, the agony dragging him back into awareness.

Bit by bit, his sight returned.

He saw the plains… cloaked in rising black smoke.

Mom… Dad… Grandpa…

Raon turned his head—only to find no one in sight.

His heart began to pound wildly, thundering in his chest like it might burst at any moment.

“Ugh…”

He crawled forward on his knees, dragging himself toward the rising smoke. His limbs wouldn’t move properly—but he couldn’t just lie there doing nothing.

As he finally reached the edge of the black haze, a sudden gust of wind swept through the battlefield, clearing the dust and demonic smoke from the air.

“Ah…”

Rimmer and Merlin had collapsed nearby, coughing up blood—likely having shielded him from the blast.

Beside them…

Edgar and Sylvia lay lifelessly, arms wrapped around Sia as if protecting her in their final moment.

Raon turned his trembling gaze forward.

Rector stood alone at the edge of a massive fissure in the earth—so deep and dark it looked like a gateway to the abyss.

His entire body was sagging, as though he had poured every last ounce of his strength into containing the explosion of the Soul Stone.

Oh…”

Whether his senses were distorted, or this was cruel reality—he couldn’t tell.

Everyone’s breath… seemed to have vanished.

Seeing them all lying there—soaked in blood—something deep within him snapped.

The fury buried in his soul ignited like wildfire, rising uncontrollably.

A storm of rage surged to his fingertips.

–Stop it! Are you trying to kill everyone?!

Wrath frantically waved his arms, placing himself in front of Raon.

–How many times do I have to tell you? If I descend directly into your body, you’ll lose your mind!

–Still…

The wrath kept talking, but Raon couldn’t hear him clearly anymore.

His mind was already drowning in fury.

His senses… were slipping away.

“If you hadn’t protected those worthless things… you wouldn’t have ended up like this.”

The Fallen nodded in mock sympathy as he looked down at Rector—who had finally collapsed to his knees, head lowered in defeat.

“Still, I’d say the effort was worth it.”

He smiled, clearly satisfied with the outcome of his twisted experiment.

Snap.

A line—deep in Raon’s mind—fractured.

He stopped resisting.

He gave himself over to rage.

The mind he had honed and tempered through years of sword cultivation… began to freeze.

Like polished silver cracking under pressure.

–Damn it!

Wrath gritted his teeth as he was forcefully pulled into Raon’s mind.

A spirit without a body of his own—forever unable to take control—he knew exactly what this descent would bring.

Chaos.

Destruction.

Even if it meant devouring himself in the process.

That masked bastard would undoubtedly escape.

And everyone else… would die.

–You idiot! Just hold on a little longer!

He screamed from within, trying desperately to hold back the surge.

And then—

Fwoooosh!

The Ring of Fire, no longer guided by its master, began to rotate wildly.

Whoooosh!

Flaming wings burst forth from Raon’s back, unfolding in a blaze of burning brilliance.

* * *

“Is he broken?”

The Fallen slowly approached Raon, who stood frozen in place, unmoving.

“His mental strength is weaker than I thought.”

He raised his dark blade—aiming straight for Raon’s heart and neck.

But just as he was about to strike—

Fwoooom!

A brilliant blue light erupted from the cracked earth beneath them, wrapping around Raon like a protective flame.

Ssshhh!

The dark sword in The Fallen’s hand tore like paper—then dissolved into nothing.

Crack!

Black horns sprouted from Raon’s forehead.

And behind him—a massive, shimmering silver moon rose, casting its pale light across the battlefield.

Beneath that sacred moonlight, the Frost World Tree bloomed—its aura dimming both the light and darkness radiating from The Fallen.

The sky turned to crystal white.

The earth twisted into a void of black.

Standing beneath the blue radiance, Raon appeared transcendent—as if the entire world knelt at his feet.

A distortion of causality—an anomaly powerful enough to defy the laws of the world—had taken form inside a human body.

“T-This is…”

For the first time, The Fallen’s eyes filled with confusion—and fear.

He hastily erected barriers of light and darkness, stacking them high in defense.

But—

Fwoooosh!

Raon surged forward, cloaked in the Demon King’s energy, crimson eyes gleaming like a predator’s.

The Heavenly Drive tore through the barriers like silk.

Light and darkness split.

And—

Spluuurt!

A fountain of crimson blood burst from The Fallen’s abdomen.

***

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]