As soon as Raon awoke from death, he clenched his fists.
'I finally blocked it.'
It was debatable whether he had successfully defended since he died immediately after blocking Wrath's attack. However, he felt satisfied just by not dying instantly from Wrath's full-power strike.
'Of course, there's still a lot to reflect on....'
If his martial prowess had been a bit higher, his sword might have broken, but his chest wouldn't have been split open. He regretted that his strength gave out at the end, causing him to take the attack head-on.
'No, if my swordsmanship level had been just a little higher, I might have been able to withstand it.'
Knowing he was far too inadequate to block Wrath's strike, he tried to overcome strength with softness. But the gap in martial arts mastery and raw power was too great, causing his swordsmanship to crumble.
If his mastery of the Fluid Sword and Severing Sword had been higher, he might have been able to deflect Wrath's attack with the Dance of the Golden Flame. His chest ached at not being able to accomplish that.
'But that guy....'
Raon licked his lips as he recalled the blue cold energy Wrath had unleashed.
'Why did he apply swordsmanship?'
Wrath's attack wasn't just frost magic. He had created a new technique by applying the principles of swordsmanship he had observed to his own accumulated martial prowess.
'He should have recovered his strength after entering the Room of Self.'
It would have been simple to overwhelm him with his original power as before, so Raon couldn't understand why he was using swordsmanship as well.
'Could it be....'
Was he influenced by me? Wrath had always been by his side whenever he trained. It seemed the principles of swordsmanship had been imprinted in his mind, even if he didn't want them to be.
'Just as I was influenced by Wrath, it seems Wrath was influenced by me.'
Thinking about it that way, he couldn't help but smile. He felt his inner closeness to that cotton candy guy grow even stronger.
"Shall we continue?"
As he thought about how he seemed to have become real friends with Wrath, he didn't want to just stay still. He wanted to keep challenging himself to block the other's attacks. With a whoosh, Raon stepped on the Supreme Harmony Steps to advance across the sea and meet Wrath again.
'It's impossible to perfectly block Wrath's attack with my current level.'
Although they were both Transcendents, the difference in their levels was too great to block Wrath's attack with defense alone. The Heavenly Drive would break, and eventually his head would fly off.
'It's hard to deflect too.'
While Wrath's swordsmanship level wasn't that exceptional, his sheer martial prowess was insanely high, allowing him to exert terrifying power just by applying swordsmanship. If he tried to forcibly deflect, he would die with his chest cut open instead of his neck this time.
'And attacking would be suicidal.'
Wrath's attacks were several times faster and more powerful than his own. His head would fly off before he could even open his Sword Domain, so trying to block with an attack would be nothing short of suicide.
"Hah...."
Raon let out a bitter laugh as he rubbed his temples.
'Come to think of it, this is ridiculous.'
Can't defend, can't deflect, can't attack.
'So how am I supposed to block it?'
Realizing that defense, deflection, and attack were all impossible, he felt a tightness in his chest. A throbbing pain seemed to arise in his mind from the frustration.
'Wait. None of the three work? Then what if I try all three simultaneously?'
Until now, he had tried using all three swords and even opened the Divine-Demonic Harmony to use dual swords, but it seemed his proficiency was lacking in front of a master, so he ended up using only the Heavenly Drive.
'The answer wasn't the Heavenly Drive.'
To block Wrath's attack even once, it seemed he needed to raise his proficiency in using all three swords: the Heavenly Drive, the Blade of Requiem, and the Wooden Ring sword.
'Right. Let's try everything we can.'
Now, the fear of death had disappeared, and only the desire to become stronger enveloped his mind. Even if he died not 50 but 100 times, he wanted to block Wrath's attack no matter what.
With a whoosh, Raon raced across the sea without hesitation, thinking about how to block Wrath's attack.
'Huh? I can already see the island?'
It didn't feel like he had run very far, but a gray island began to appear in the distance.
'Has the Supreme Harmony Steps grown?'
It seemed that crossing this vast sea dozens of times had greatly increased the achievement of the Supreme Harmony Steps.
'No, it's not just the Supreme Harmony Steps.'
The Glacier, which had been absorbing the cold energy of the sea and cave, began to stir as if it would soon hatch from its egg.
Though still far off, it felt like he could break through the wall of the 10th level if he could just find one small clue.
'Is Wrath really a lucky charm?'
This time, Wrath himself didn't give him a big reward, but it seemed he was gaining more thanks to the other's full-power confrontation.
'He seemed to be enjoying it too.'
At first, he was reluctant to kill him, but now he seemed to have quite a refreshed expression.
'Of course, it wasn't at the very end.'
In the previous battle, Wrath's lips trembled in surprise when his attack was blocked. Raon entered the black mirror, enjoying the shocked face of his old friend.
"Mmm...."
As Raon landed on the snowfield, Wrath rose with an uncomfortable expression.
"You really don't get tired, do you? You're not a 5-year-old kid anymore."
He wrinkled his nose as if dumbfounded. Though his appearance was like a personification of beauty, his behavior hadn't changed at all from when he was cotton candy.
"I'm still far from it."
Raon planted the Heavenly Drive and the Blade of Requiem in the ground and opened the Divine-Demonic Harmony. He raised the Divine Sword and Demonic Sword in both hands and floated the Wooden Ring sword Sword above his head.
"Didn't you say you only use one sword because you can't concentrate?"
Wrath furrowed his brow as if asking what he was thinking.
"That's right. It became messy and my hands got confused. But I think it's right to challenge myself."
Raon bit his lip as he crossed the burning Divine Sword and the frost-emanating Demonic Sword.
"You can only grow by overcoming difficulties, right?"
If you only show off your strength to those weaker or equal to you, you'll eventually fall behind. He wanted to prove that he could use three swords in front of a master like Wrath.
"Hmph. Do as you please."
Wrath narrowed his eyes slightly and raised his hand. He seemed to have become more serious because of the battle just before. With a low hum, Wrath raised frost light at his fingertips without even saying he was going to attack.
'Here it comes!'
It was startling, but the attacker doesn't always give a warning. It was right to block on his own.
'As I prepared.'
Raon recalled the three sword techniques he had thought of while crossing the sea. Attack, defense, and deflection. He imbued each of the three swords with a different flow. With a rumble, he raised a Fire Wall with the flames of the Divine Sword and drew the Dance of the Golden Flame with the frost of the Demonic Sword. Finally, he imbued the Void Slash into the Wooden Ring sword Sword floated by Sword Control.
But before the three swords could connect as one, Wrath's slash came crashing down first.
With a crash, the Fire Wall shattered, the Dance of the Golden Flame split, and the Wooden Ring sword Sword was knocked away. And then, with a swish, his head was cut off as if he had returned to the beginning.
"How sloppy."
Wrath shook his head firmly as if Raon was far from adequate.
"If the flow of the three swords doesn't connect, it's worse than using a single sword."
He clicked his tongue long as if telling Raon to come to his senses.
"Don't worry...."
Raon let out a faint smile.
"I'll be back soon."
With those final words, he disappeared into sand.
"He's always had a strong desire for strength, but...."
Wrath furrowed his brow as he watched Raon overcome even death.
"Now it's excessive. I'm surprised he's not demanding I hand over my power."
He knew Raon was obsessed with swordsmanship, but here that desire was overflowing to an excessive degree.
'Excessive desire? Could it be that greed....'
Wrath narrowed his eyes to thread-like slits as he looked at the place where Raon had died.
'That Greed bastard. Was this his aim?'
He had been suspicious of why Greed had given such an excessive amount of from the beginning, but it seemed he was trying to change Raon to his liking.
'What a fool.'
Wrath shook his head with a smirk.
'That weasel would have become the King of Greed even if you hadn't meddled!'
As he was thinking that Greed would regret it someday, the dimensional gate opened and Raon entered. It seemed his footwork had grown incomparably from before, having crossed that vast sea dozens of times.
"Let's start again."
Raon nodded as if telling him to prepare for the next fight.
"No...."
Wrath shook his head as he watched Raon smile as if enjoying this moment.
'I might be the one to regret it first....'
I should have just run away from the beginning!
* * *
Raon licked his lips as he advanced across the sea.
'This isn't easy.'
He thought he had become quite accustomed to using three swords, but when he actually faced a master like Wrath, he realized he was full of openings, worse than using a single sword. His face flushed hot with embarrassment.
'But that's what makes it fun.'
Having many shortcomings meant there was a wide path forward for growth, so he could keep improving. That made him incredibly happy.
'I can see the path I need to take, even if just a little.'
After using three swords, he had experienced over 40 deaths. Because he reflected on himself and challenged again with each death and revival, he could feel that his swordsmanship had grown to a different level than before.
'In the previous fight, the deflection was good, but the defense side collapsed. Thanks to that, I couldn't even attack properly.'
Because he was assigning different domains to each of the three swords, it wasn't easy to control their power and flow. Especially since the Glacier was being overwhelmed by the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, it was difficult to balance the cold and heat energies.
'But if I keep clashing, I'll eventually achieve it.'
Vowing to block Wrath's attack even if he had to die a thousand times, he entered the blue cave. However, something was different from before. With a rumble, the ceiling and walls of the cave undulated as if they had turned to mud, and the frost fragments that had been emitting a pale blue light were swelling as if about to burst.
'What is this....'
It didn't feel good. He put strength into his legs and quickly stepped forward using his footwork to advance through the cave. When he reached the end of the cave, he saw a mirror tinged with black. The mirror had cracks drawn on it like a spider web that he hadn't seen before.
'Is it over....'
Raon reached out to the mirror with furrowed brows. With a sensation of his legs floating, his body was sucked into the mirror. Fortunately, the path leading to the snowfield was still there. But the state of the snowfield wasn't normal either. The sky was collapsing, and the ground was splitting to create spaces of nothingness.
"Exactly 99 times."
Wrath shook his head as he looked at the crumbling ground.
"99 times? What do you mean?"
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at Wrath.
"The number of times you've died is exactly 99."
"Ah...."
"It seems you can only die 100 times in this space."
Wrath licked his lips, saying there was a limit to death even in this place.
"Then if I die this time, will I die in reality too?"
"That's possible, but you're more likely to be kicked out of this space."
He said Raon would probably be forcibly ejected from the Room of Self as he lowered his hand.
"Then that's fortunate."
Raon let out a sigh of relief.
"Fortunate?"
Wrath let out a bitter laugh as if dumbfounded.
"Yes. It means I can fight you one more time."
Raon smiled as he drew the Heavenly Drive and the Blade of Requiem.
"Did you not hear what I said? I said you could die in reality too!"
"You said that's less likely. I trust you."
Because he trusted Wrath, he didn't want to miss this last opportunity.
"Your greed is crazy enough to make me cry. That's why...."
Wrath furrowed his brow and then drew a faint smile.
'It's even admirable.'
No matter how much was at work, this was the first time he had seen someone so purely wanting to become stronger. Moreover, the reason for wanting to become stronger wasn't just for himself but for others, which made his fondness for the guy grow even more.
"Fine. I'll face you one last time."
Wrath nodded and stepped forward.
"You won't go easy on me because it's the last time, right?"
Raon shouted not to go easy on him at all as he opened the Divine-Demonic Harmony.
"Of course not. I'll use my full power to kill you."
Wrath nodded and straightened his back. His eyes flashed coldly as if he meant it.
"Haa...."
Raon closed his eyes as he felt the ground shaking as if it would collapse.
'So this is the end.'
He was happy to keep growing even while feeling the pain of death. He enjoyed it thinking it was a time that would never come again, but now it seemed that end was approaching.
'Let's do our best now.'
This was an opportunity that wouldn't come again, a chance that couldn't be grasped. To not miss this last moment, he honed his concentration to the maximum and opened his eyes.
"Come."
Raon nodded as he raised the Divine Sword and Demonic Sword, and floated the Wooden Ring sword above his head.
"Very well."
Wrath twisted his lips into a smile as he stretched out his hand.
"I'll kill you more spectacularly than anyone for the finale!"
The moment blue light flickered at the tips of his long, beautiful fingers, Raon stepped back on the Supreme Harmony Steps.
The Supreme Harmony Steps, which had grown from crossing the sea 100 times, moved Raon's body as if transcending space.
After buying time for Wrath's attack to approach using the Supreme Harmony Steps, he raised a Fire Wall with the flames of the Divine Sword. With a roar, the flame shield, which was originally square-shaped, blocked in front of him with the curved beauty of a castle wall. With another roar, Raon drew the White Shadow Slash with the Demonic Sword in his left hand at the same time as he spread the Fire Wall.
The light of the Demonic Sword spread across the black sky, rising like a white wave.
The moment the red shield and white canvas bloomed, Wrath's slash came crashing down. With a thunderous crash, the flame shield barely withstood the frost's onslaught, but the canvas of the White Shadow Slash, lacking in power, shook as if about to tear.
'I have to endure.'
He knew from the start that the White Shadow Slash performed with the 9th-level Glacier would be insufficient. Though his left hand felt like it was being torn apart, he forcibly endured.
'You've eaten enough, now it's time to spit it out!'
He fully released the cold energy he had accumulated while crossing the sea and cave a hundred times. With a rumble, a half-moon of silver light shone upon him, guiding the cold energy with a clear radiance. With another rumble,
The frost of the Glacier circulated rapidly along the ring of fire, raising an enormous cold energy that wouldn't be overwhelmed by the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation.
With a thud, he felt a shock as if blades of cold energy surging from inside his heart had pierced through his three energy centers. His energy centers pulsed as if exploding, and an immense cold energy rose through the mana circuits of his entire body.
10th level. The 10th-level Glacier raised frost on the blade of the Demonic Sword that was deeper than moonlight.
With a rumble, the canvas of the White Shadow Slash, which had seemed about to tear, was dyed with silver frost, raising an unbreakable wall of silk.
'Now!'
While blocking Wrath's offensive with the flames of the Divine Sword and the frost of the Demonic Sword, Raon unleashed the Whispering Wind, which harmonized wind and lightning. With a thunderous crash, the three lights and Wrath's slash collided, sending out a massive shockwave that seemed to erase the snowfield itself.
The collapse of the snowfield, which would have crumbled even if left alone, accelerated, and faint snowflakes rose into the sky.
"Kuhek...."
Raon, who had been standing under that blue snow path, coughed up blood and fell to his knees. The Blade of Requiem and the Wooden Ring sword Sword were broken, and a long wound appeared on his abdomen as if slashed by a blade. But he didn't die, nor did he receive a fatal wound. With a crackle, Raon rose to his feet, leaning on the Heavenly Drive, the only sword that hadn't broken.
"I died a hundred times, but...."
Straightening his back with an overwhelming emotion he didn't even realize, he looked at Wrath.
"In the end, I blocked you."
He wiped the blood flowing from his mouth and pounded his chest with that fist.
"Ha...."
Wrath let out a bitter laugh and nodded as if dumbfounded.
"I admit it. You're the craziest bastard I've ever seen!"
With that extreme praise from him, the world went dark. This seemed to be the end. In the darkness, he could see a golden-haired man smiling with satisfaction. He wasn't sure if that was reflecting himself or the image of the First Patriarch. With a whoosh, Raon slowly closed his eyes as he fell into the darkness.
* * *
"Mmm...."
Raon let out a low groan as he rose.
'This is....'
For the first time in a very long while, he saw not a white sky, but a dark ceiling and dimmed oil lamps. He had returned to the entrance of the Room of Self attached to the audience chamber.
'Is it all over?'
The sensations in the Room of Self had been exactly the same as reality, so he still couldn't feel that he had returned. Just in case, he looked at the mirror in the room, but it now seemed to be an ordinary mirror, reflecting only his image.
-Haaah....
As Raon was examining the mirror this way and that, Wrath popped out of the ice flower bracelet.
-My head hurts. I feel like I'm going to die of exhaustion.
He rubbed his eyes as if he hadn't slept for days.
"Do you remember everything?"
Raon jerked his chin at Wrath.
-How could I not remember! You leech!
He said he would never forget it even if he died, furrowing his brow. It seemed everything that happened in the Room of Self had been real.
"This is amazing."
Raon let out a faint smile as he felt the 10th-level Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier flowing inside his energy center.
"Both cultivation methods really rose to the 10th level."
He had worried about what to do if the growth achieved only in the Room of Self didn't apply, but all the growth he had achieved there was being applied to reality.
"How about you? Did you bring out everything you gained there?"
-It's the same for me.
Wrath nodded, saying it was an amazing place.
-I, I recovered some of my power. But....
"But?"
-It's nothing!
Wrath turned his head sharply and glanced slightly at Raon.
'Why is this troublemaker so quiet?'
Wrath had expected him to throw a fit about being killed repeatedly and bring out Nadine bread, but he was disconcertingly calm. The Raon he saw in the Room of Self and the Raon here felt like different beings.
"Setting aside martial arts, it's amazing that the growth in aura and body carries over to reality. What kind of place is it?"
As Raon was muttering that he wanted to test his grown martial prowess, a message window popped up in front of his eyes.
[You have passed the First Patriarch's test.]
[You have experienced 101 deaths.]
[All abilities....]
[New traits....]
It seemed the system was sending additional rewards on top of what he had directly gained in the Room of Self.
-You were quiet but! I knew this would happen! You damn....
As Wrath was about to let out a shriek, Raon dismissed the message window.
-Huh...?
Wrath froze in the middle of getting angry.
"Shall we go get something to eat?"
Raon shrugged, saying they should fill their stomachs first.
-F-Food? Not Nadine bread?
"Did you want Nadine bread?'
-Th-That's not it, didn't you say you'd force-feed me Nadine bread no matter what!
"You and I both worked hard, so."
He shook his head with a gentle smile.
"Let's go."
Raon rose leisurely and gestured to Wrath.
'There's no need to rush now.'
He had achieved unbelievable growth in a short period of time. There was no reason to torment Wrath who had helped with that. Moreover, if he became too greedy for strength beyond this, he risked getting injured. It was time to rest now.
"Well, suit yourself if you don't want to."
-No, I'll go, but I'm confused because you've changed so much.
Wrath swallowed dryly as he perched on Raon's shoulder.
-Did dying 100 times mess up your head?
'Maybe it did.'
Raon chuckled as he opened the door and went outside.
-Tap the sword three times if you're being threatened! I'll save you!
'I'm not!'
Raon finally couldn't hold back and flicked Wrath on the head.
-Then why have you changed so much! Weren't you rampaging like a mad dog in the Room of Self!
'Because I had something I absolutely needed to get there. Now that it's over, I should return to my usual kind self.'
-What nonsense! You were always crazy! You just went even crazier there!
'Think what you want.'
As Raon and Wrath bickered and left, the Room of Self was dyed in quiet darkness. However, a wind blew from somewhere, raising a faint golden flame on the extinguished oil lamp. As if waiting for the two to return someday.