'How can this be...?'
Raon's fingertips trembled as he looked into the mirror.
'It was just an ordinary mirror, wasn't it?'
After entering the Room of Self, he had conducted various experiments. He hadn't expected this situation to suddenly occur in a room where nothing changed even when he used the Ring of Fire and Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation. In contrast to his own expression freezing in surprise, the Raon in the mirror wore a gentle smile.
'Fortunately, I don't sense any malice.'
It didn't seem to be an external intrusion; the reflection of himself in the mirror possessed a familiar and warm aura.
-Eh? What's that chubby cotton candy over there?
Wrath frowned, pointing at his own reflection in the mirror.
-How hideously ugly! Just a ball of fat with no shape at all!
He snorted derisively, disparaging his own appearance.
'That's you, you know?'
Raon turned to Wrath with a wry smile.
-What nonsense! How could that lump be the great me... Gah!
Wrath's jaw dropped so wide his teeth nearly fell out as he realized the cotton candy in the mirror was indeed himself.
-Why, why is the great me reflected in the mirror! And why do I look so ugly!
'You've always looked like that.'
Raon waved his hand, saying he had been a cotton candy from the start.
-Absolutely not! The great me possesses the utmost beauty in the Devildom!
Wrath tore at his hair, lamenting the loss of his elegant and beautiful form. Unlike Raon, Wrath's actions in reality were directly reflected in the mirror. The Raon in the mirror, whether aware of the current situation or not, simply maintained a calm smile.
"What's so funny?"
As Raon furrowed his brow and asked, the surroundings darkened and the room itself began to disappear. The old walls vanished, leaving only the rippling darkness and the mirror reflecting himself.
'Is it telling me to approach?'
With only the mirror before him remaining, there was no choice left but to move closer.
"Haaa."
Exhaling briefly, he approached the mirror. He reached out his right hand towards the smiling Raon in the mirror. The surface of the mirror rippled and accepted his hand without resistance. It felt cool and soft, like dipping his hand into a stream.
-You're, you're being sucked in! Get out quickly!
Wrath grabbed his shoulder and shook him, urging him to leave the mirror.
'No, I think it's alright.'
The reflection of himself in the mirror showed no sign of malice, just continuing to smile. This mirror seemed to be the entrance to the true Room of Self. As Raon entrusted his body to the mirror, his entire body was sucked in from his hand to his arm, overlapping with his reflection at the moment he was completely absorbed.
"You've finally come."
The lips of the smiling Raon in the mirror moved.
"My..."
* * *
"Hmm..."
Raon opened his eyes, furrowing his brow.
'Did I fall asleep?'
As he propped himself up and looked at the ground, he saw black waves flowing like shadows. Though it looked like a river, he wasn't sinking into it.
'I'm sure I entered the mirror, but...'
He seemed to remember his reflection saying something at the end, but he couldn't recall what it was.
'Where am I, anyway?'
He looked around as he stood up.
'I've never seen a place like this before.'
The ground he stood on had black streams flowing through it, and a vast sea stretched out before him. However, the color of the sea was far from ordinary.
'A silver sea?'
An endless winter sea stretched out, as if a silver snowfield had been laid over blue waters. Judging by the rippling horizon, it seemed to be an ocean.
'Then, what's behind me?'
Feeling heat on his back, he turned around to see an enormous mountain of sand, as if beach sand had been piled up. The mountain was so high that its peak was barely visible.
'Is this the true Room of Self?'
It seemed that the small room from before was indeed just an entrance to this place, as he had initially thought.
'So that's why Glenn said we didn't need Nadine bread.'
Now he understood why Glenn had said they didn't need Nadine bread. There was no need to eat in a space that wasn't reality.
'Wait a minute...'
Speaking of Nadine bread, why was it so quiet? Normally, the cotton candy that should be having a fit at the mere mention of Nadine bread was nowhere to be seen.
'Wrath?'
He quickly looked around, calling for Wrath, but he didn't appear.
'Did only I enter?'
Since it was a space that could only be entered once per person, it seemed Wrath couldn't follow and had been bounced back.
'It's nice and quiet, but...'
It was a bit disappointing. Perhaps because he had always been with Wrath, the absence of his chatter made things feel a bit dull.
'Still, this is probably better for training. But...'
Where should he go? The silver sea and the golden mountain of sand. Both stretched endlessly, making it difficult to decide which way to go. Both felt equally familiar, making the choice even harder.
'Then for now...'
Raon raised his gaze towards the golden mountain.
'Shall I climb the mountain first?'
It seemed better to climb the mountain with a visible peak rather than the sea where he didn't know where to go.
'Alright, quickly... Huh?'
Raon froze as he was about to step forward using the Supreme Harmony Steps.
'My aura is gone...'
The aura that had always filled his energy center was completely gone. No, he couldn't even feel his energy center itself.
'So this is how it's going to be?'
Raon twisted his lips as he looked up at the sand mountain's peak, hidden by clouds.
'But you know what? This isn't enough to stop me.'
* * *
His legs sank deep with each step. Everything in this golden mountain seemed to be made of sand, making even a single step upward difficult.
'This isn't ordinary sand.'
Even though his aura was gone, the principles of the footwork he had mastered hadn't disappeared. Despite using the flow of the Supreme Harmony Steps, it was still hard to escape this sand hell.
'Just walking is draining all my strength.'
Though he was merely climbing a sand mountain, his stamina was being drained as if he were fighting a war.
'It's not just my aura that's gone; my physical abilities have been greatly reduced too.'
As he climbed, he clearly felt it. His superhuman physical abilities had dropped to the level of an ordinary adult male. Just climbing this sandy slope left him breathless and his legs weak.
'And it's so hot...'
As a Transcendent with fire resistance, he shouldn't be affected by heat, but he was sweating through his clothes and feeling pain like burns with each step on the hot sand.
"Don't tell me..."
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked up at the mountain's peak.
'Have my traits disappeared too?'
He reached out his hand, trying to call up his status window.
'It's not appearing.'
The status window and messages that had always responded to his call were completely gone.
'To think even the messages that appear in the mental world are gone...'
The status window and reward messages could be seen even in the mental world. Seeing that even the status window connected to his soul was cut off, this Room of Self seemed to be a truly special space.
"This is brutal."
His inner frustration slipped out. The Room of Self, or rather, that man in the mirror, seemed to want him to suffer.
'Fine. I'll take whatever you dish out.'
He was confident in his tenacity. Whether as the assassin Raon or as Raon Zieghart now, he had never seen anyone more stubborn than himself. He was more confident than anyone in his ability to endure.
"I'll climb to the very top."
Raon shook off the sweat dripping from his forehead and stepped towards the sand before him. As he climbed higher, the angle made it difficult to ascend with just his legs, but he forcibly continued his climb, digging into the sand with both hands.
'It feels like my hands are burning.'
It felt as if his hands were wrapped in red-hot iron chains. Enduring the pain that threatened to cloud his mind, he continued to climb the sand mountain.
'How long has it been since I felt like this?'
He had often felt the threat of death while fighting strong opponents, but it had been a long time since he suffered from natural conditions like this.
'I guess I've had it too easy lately.'
His abilities increased with achievements, and the system created traits to match his actions. Even though he had put in effort, he had grown pampered by receiving rewards beyond his efforts.
'But why did they take away my aura and traits?'
He couldn't understand why the Room of Self had stripped away his abilities.
'Let's think about it. What's left for me in this state...'
Mental strength and swordsmanship? Physical abilities, stamina, aura, and the status window. Many things had disappeared, but the swordsmanship and mental strength he had continuously built up remained intact.
'Then, instead of with my body, shall I hone my swordsmanship with my mind?'
Come to think of it, while he swung his sword physically every day, it had been quite a while since he had wielded a sword in his mind.
'Let's give it a try.'
He imagined not his current sword, but swordsmanship befitting a more advanced future self. He envisioned the red petals of the Fire Spirit spreading like the leaves of the World Tree, and the flames of Revolving Sky tracing a trajectory like the sun. Just thinking about it made him feel better, bringing a small smile to his face.
'Wait a minute...'
When he thought about swordsmanship, the pain from the heat decreased? As he filled his mind, which had been occupied only with thoughts of hardship, with swordsmanship, the scorching heat of the sun and the pain from the hot sand drastically reduced.
'So this was the answer.'
Raon slightly curled his lips. Imagining slicing through this sand mountain with his sword, he very slowly took his next step.
* * *
'I see. The Fangs of Insanity would have been better there.'
As he wielded his sword in his mind, he began to recall past battles he now found lacking. He had thought he fought well at the time, but looking back, they were full of mistakes.
'Did I rely too much on strength alone?'
He felt ashamed of his past self who, despite mastering the Ten Thousand Swords that encompassed all sword techniques, had only engaged in battles relying on strength. While it was good to utilize his strengths, he seemed to have leaned too heavily on one side.
'The swordsmanship itself is also a problem.'
I increased the number of sword techniques without perfecting any of them. Although I had learned various sword techniques to a considerable level of achievement, I hadn't seen any of them through to completion. I regretted increasing the number of techniques without even perfecting the ones I had created myself.
'Let's go back to the beginning.'
One footwork technique and one sword technique. Recalling his trainee days when he was happy just to take a step and swing a sword, he began to draw out the sword techniques he had learned in his mind one by one. Now he couldn't feel the heat of the sun, the pain from the sand, or the difficulty of his depleting stamina. He could focus solely on forging his true sword.
Raon continued to climb the sand mountain endlessly, envisioning swordsmanship that could break through his own limits. When the Ten Thousand Swords techniques engraved in his soul were about to break through the wall and reach even higher, his feet touched solid ground.
"Hm?"
Before his eyes, which had been focused only on his sword, he saw a white plain instead of golden sand.
"Have I reached the top?"
There was no sand in sight, only a white, hardened ground stretching out. It seemed he had finally overcome all that pain and reached the mountain's peak.
'Even I find this unbelievable.'
He turned around to look back at the path he had climbed. The ground was barely visible due to the white clouds. It was hard to believe he had reached the top of this mountain without aura, abilities, or traits.
'Is that the path?'
The only path leading from the mountain's peak was a set of stairs with a pale golden hue. He exhaled heavily and slowly climbed the stairs. After ascending the quite long staircase, he saw a man standing on a circular platform.
'That person is...'
Though his face wasn't visible as his head was lowered, he was a tall man with golden hair. He wore a sword with a flame knot at his waist and was covered in a black coat.
"No way..."
As Raon narrowed his eyes while climbing onto the arena, the golden-haired man raised his head. Calm, sunken red eyes and brilliant golden hair like melted sunlight. The man on the platform had a face identical to his own, as if looking in a mirror.
'No, it's slightly different.'
Unlike the mirror in the Room of Self, the man before him looked a bit older than himself and seemed to have lived a much harsher life, with the aura of battlefields flowing in his very breath.
'Now I understand who this man is.'
The first patriarch of the Zieghart family. Though he had rarely seen him from the front, he could recognize him from the frequent glimpses of his back. This golden-haired, red-eyed man emitting intense fighting spirit on the platform was undoubtedly the founder of the Zieghart family.
"......"
Without a word, the first patriarch drew the sword at his waist. A domineering aura that considered itself supreme rose from the silver blade drawn silently.
"It's a bit unfair to have a duel after stripping away all my power, isn't it?"
Raon placed his hand on the hilt of the Heavenly Drive, drawing a thin smile. His aura was still gone, his stamina at rock bottom, and the pain hadn't completely disappeared. But just being able to fight the man he had seen in his dreams brought an expectant smile to his face.
"I'll learn a thing or two."
Raon drew the Heavenly Drive with trembling hands. He raised the gleaming silver blade, aiming it at the absolute ruler of a bygone era.
"O strongest of a thousand years past."