"Hmm..."
Raon surveyed the great training ground of the Thespian Emperor while rotating his wrist.
'Not bad.'
The floor was well-trodden, and the equipment was maintained as if unused. Unlike the Thespian Emperor's palace, which was more modest than an ordinary noble's mansion, the condition of the training ground was top-notch, rivaling even Zieghart's. The Thespian Emperor had meticulously taken care of the important aspects of the Five Divine Orders' image.
'It's all done with other people's opinions and rumors in mind. However...'
Raon frowned as he looked at the Thespian Emperor, who was anxiously biting her nails.
'The person herself has become strange.'
The Thespian Emperor he knew was a slippery woman who maintained cold reason at all times to gain advantages. But she had forgotten her greatest strength after losing the ability to read heaven's flow. Now, it seemed she couldn't even properly judge what she could do or what she should do.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that her soul had been consumed by the ability to read heaven's flow.
-That's right.
Wrath nodded as he looked at the Thespian Emperor.
-Being able to know the future is an immense power and authority. It's not strange for that wench to crumble.
He snorted, saying that even in Devildom, there were demons who fell after overrelying on their ability to read heaven's flow.
-However, to be satisfied with a predetermined future is truly frustrating. Fate only has meaning when one carves it out for oneself!
Wrath clicked his tongue in disappointment.
'Hmm...'
Raon narrowed his eyes as he watched Wrath getting angry at the Thespian Emperor's powerlessness.
'Is it because of this guy that I'm not affected by heaven's flow?'
His past self didn't have the ability to change fate. Judging by the creation of the title , it seemed clear that he had gained the power to change the future due to either the Ring of Fire or Wrath.
-For a supreme being like myself, who shattered fate with my own power and ascended to the monarch's throne...
While killing time listening to Wrath's boastful speech, the door of the training ground opened, and the Queen of Swords, Brigitte, entered. She revealed an irritated look in her eyes, as if something displeased her.
'Come to think of it, that person seems a bit strange too.'
She wouldn't have shown her emotions so openly before, would she? Perhaps influenced by the mentally broken Thespian Emperor, the Queen of Swords also appeared different from before.
-What nonsense! You're the strangest of all!
Wrath waved his hand, telling him to reflect on himself.
-You're more arrogant and impatient than usual!
'I did that on purpose.'
Raon smiled faintly as he brushed off Wrath's hand.
-You did it on purpose?
'I wanted to draw out the hidden power of the Queen of Swords.'
The Queen of Swords he had seen before was taciturn and disliked ill-mannered people. He deliberately used an arrogant and cornering tone to provoke her.
-For that, you were using polite speech unlike before?
'It's more irritating when you're impolite while using polite speech.'
-Ha, you're saying you thought all of that through?
Wrath exhaled in disbelief.
-You never let anything slide, do you?
He shook his head, saying he was now tired of such cunning.
"It seems we're ready to begin."
The Queen of Swords placed her hand on the sword hilt at her waist, signaling the start of the duel. Raon narrowed his eyes to a thread-like thinness as he drew the Heavenly Drive from its scabbard.
'Nothing seems to have changed?'
Even though the Queen of Swords had taken a combat stance, she didn't seem much different from when he saw her in the conference room. She was still at a level not much different from the Demon Slaying Spear.
'Well, I'll know when we fight.'
Since he could only know more by directly crossing swords with the Queen of Swords, he raised the Heavenly Drive.
"Please come."
Raon spoke first, telling her to come as he slightly moved the fingers holding the Heavenly Drive. The Queen of Swords also charged forward, destroying the training ground, as if words were no longer necessary. As her fingertips flashed like lightning, a silver sword strike approached before his eyes. It was a supreme drawing technique. It felt like a sword rising from a split dimension.
'Fast and sharp. It's the strike of a supreme master. But...'
I can see it. The Queen of Swords unleashed swordsmanship imbued with transcendent caliber, but it didn't exceed the level he had anticipated. Raon resonated the nine Rings of Fire. As if time had stopped, the flow of air and mana slowed down, and the Queen of Swords' sword strike rushing towards him felt as detailed as if it were touching his skin.
Raon drew two circular arcs with the Heavenly Drive while operating the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation at its peak. The flames rising along the blade became a shape like a curved wave, standing against the Queen of Swords' sword strike. Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, Flame and Ice Unification. The swordsmanship of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, which perfectly harmonized attack and defense, effortlessly shattered the Queen of Swords' strike.
The Queen of Swords retreated ten steps along with her gracefully thrust sword. Her footprints deeply imprinted on the floor of the training ground showed that she hadn't properly absorbed the shock of the Flame and Ice Unification. It was a clear difference in martial prowess.
'Her strength isn't much different from what I can see.'
The Queen of Swords was a transcendent who had mastered various sword techniques to the extreme, but she wasn't particularly difficult for him, who had mastered the Ten Thousand Swords. Rather, the Thespian Emperor was much more dangerous. Her offensive moves imbued with magic would certainly work on him.
"Will you continue?"
"Of course!!"
The Queen of Swords, seemingly provoked, shouted that she hadn't even started yet and fired off a sword strike from where she stood. A tiny circle extended from the sword strike. Within a point thinner than a single strand of hair lay the extreme will she had built up as a swordsman.
'It's swordsmanship of a different caliber. However...'
I can feel this too. The swordsmanship unleashed by the Queen of Swords rushed towards his chest faster than sound, but its flow had already failed to escape his physical senses. Raon extended his wrist forward and unleashed a thrust identical to the Queen of Swords'.
The thrust, repeated countless times since childhood, drew a red line in the air without the slightest tremor, like the brushstroke of a painter who dominated an era.
Celestial Thunder Arts, Red Ink. As the point and line collided, a red fissure opened as if cutting through space. But the confrontation didn't last long. Red Ink, extending into a single bolt of lightning, shattered the Queen of Swords' strike despite being born later, and thinly sliced through her waist as it passed.
"Hmm..."
The Queen of Swords bit her lip in surprise as she looked at her waist where her clothes and skin had been burned.
"Didn't you say I could die?"
Raon smiled as he looked at the ground beneath his feet, which didn't have even a small trace.
"I'm bored, why don't you put in some effort?"
"Don't rush me. I haven't warmed up yet."
The Queen of Swords twisted her lips as she grasped the end of her sword hilt. She charged towards him with her arm pulled far back, like a cavalry thrusting a lance. A black light that seemed to contain the universe rose above the Queen of Swords' sword blade. It was a technique of the Supreme Swordsmanship that expressed the universe with a sword.
"Hm."
Raon took a deep breath as he raised the flames of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation to their peak. The flames rising from the blade burned with a deep golden color, drawing the form of a mysterious sword. Raon Zieghart style swordsmanship.
Seventh Form, Void Slash.
The golden flames brilliantly burned away the Queen of Swords' sword strike that tried to form the universe, like the explosion of a star, and then fell towards her neck. The Queen of Swords, befitting an upper transcendent, tried to read the movement of the Void Slash in the midst of this and retreat while defending. But his eyes and hands had already read her movements.
He stuck close to the Queen of Swords with the flexibility of the Supreme Harmony's Third Step, then shattered her defense with the sharpness of the Fangs of Insanity.
"Ugh!"
The Queen of Swords slightly bent her knees and waist to deflect the technique of the Fangs of Insanity extending towards her chest, then used that momentum to unleash an extreme thrust towards his chest. This swordsmanship also seemed to be Supreme Swordsmanship, as beautiful black light rippled above the sword strike.
Raon extended his left foot forward. At a distance close enough to feel the Queen of Swords' breath, he unleashed Frost Snap at full power.
Two blades imbued with the demon king's frost struck down the universe and calmly stopped in front of the Queen of Swords' neck behind it. Five moves. That was the number of sword techniques Raon used to subdue the Queen of Swords, Brigitte.
"Huh...?"
Even the Thespian Emperor widened her eyes, as if she hadn't expected the Queen of Swords to be subdued in just five moves.
"Ah, the Queen of Swords?"
"Impossible! In just five moves!"
"The, the difference is too great..."
"Ah!"
The swordsmen of the Unyielding Blade and the martial artists of the White Whale trembled their jaws, seemingly shocked by the result of the duel.
"The Queen of Swords in five moves?"
"Fi-five moves is generous. If he had wanted, it would have ended in one strike."
"Handsome monster..."
Burren, Martha, and Runaan also swallowed dry saliva, saying they hadn't expected the duel with the Queen of Swords to end in just five moves.
"Is this..."
Raon frowned as he slightly lifted the Queen of Swords' chin with the tip of the Heavenly Drive.
"All you've got?"
"Of course not!"
The Queen of Swords bit her lip and shook her head.
"Let me be honest. In your current state, no matter what you do, you can't defeat me."
Raon shook his head firmly. The Queen of Swords might have more sword techniques and skills left, but at this level, she could never defeat him.
"For someone who warned that I could die, you're showing too little."
He wasn't mocking her. He really wanted to ask what she meant by those words.
'Did Grandfather make a mistake?'
While he trusted Glenn more than anyone when it came to martial arts, this time he could only think that he had misjudged the Queen of Swords.
"I want to show you properly too, but it's not coming out now..."
The Queen of Swords muttered incomprehensibly as she lowered her head.
"This is my full power at present."
She gritted her teeth audibly, as if angry at herself.
"Hmm..."
Raon opened his eyes wide as he looked at the Queen of Swords openly showing her frustration.
'Just what...'
"That's enough."
The Thespian Emperor sighed as she walked forward.
"Brigitte, step back. If we look deeply into it, that's not your power, is it?"
She shook her head, saying they should stop now.
"Hmm..."
The Queen of Swords let out a low groan as she raised her head. Judging by her furrowed brow, she was retreating because of the Thespian Emperor, but didn't seem satisfied with this result.
"Light Wind Division Leader. I acknowledge it. Our Five Divine Orders will follow the Five Kings..."
The Thespian Emperor nodded, saying they would follow the path of the Five Kings.
"No."
Raon interrupted the Thespian Emperor's words as he raised the Heavenly Drive.
"Now it's your turn to fight."
"What do you mean..."
"Are you going to stamp your seal without confirming what kind of person your future ally is and how much power they possess?"
He lowered his eyebrows, asking if it wasn't too passive a decision.
"...I never intended to test you from the beginning."
The Thespian Emperor hesitated for a long time before parting her lips.
"Actually, I should have made the decision when the Demonblade died and the Black Tower fell."
She shook her head, saying she had missed that crucial time because she could no longer read heaven's flow.
"Someone like me doesn't have the right to test you..."
"How long has it been since you came to this training ground?"
Raon pointed his finger down at the floor of the training ground.
"Pardon?"
"Have you fought or sparred with other opponents?"
"..."
The Thespian Emperor trembled her lips as she looked at the well-trodden floor of the training ground.
"You haven't even trained, let alone sparred, for a long time, have you?"
"Hmm..."
She couldn't answer, as if his guess was correct.
"You're a shaman and a martial artist. You're falling apart because you're just sitting at a desk and using your head."
Raon shook his head with a sneer.
"Don't speak carelessly about her!"
The Queen of Swords gritted her teeth, as if telling him not to mock the Thespian Emperor. Indeed, there seemed to be something special between the two.
"Come at me."
Raon ignored the Queen of Swords and flicked his finger towards the Thespian Emperor.
"I'll shatter the rock weighing down your soul."
"Are you serious?"
"I'm always serious."
He arrogantly tilted his chin, saying this was the last chance to overcome her mental block.
-Why are you trying to fight that wench?
Wrath narrowed his eyes as if asking what he was thinking.
'What we need is a clever fox. Not a broken dog.'
There was no point in gaining the Thespian Emperor in such a broken state. In her current condition, she had no value as either a martial artist or a strategist. Now that the Five Divine Orders had come into the fold of the Five Kings, he needed to awaken her collapsed mind so she could return to her original self.
"Alright. Actually, I..."
The Thespian Emperor bit her lip until it bled.
"I wanted to release this frustration too."
She roughly stomped her foot as if ready to fight.
"I'll give you the first move."
Raon aimed the Heavenly Drive at the Thespian Emperor's neck, telling her to come at him with full force.
"Haa..."
As the Thespian Emperor formed a magic technique with both hands and chanted an incantation, her entire body was dyed with colorless light. The Thespian Emperor kicked off the ground and charged, and he felt a huge mass of mana approaching as if to swallow him whole.
She roughly thrust out her fist burning with colorless mana. It was a simple and crude fist strike, clearly different from her usual intellectual character.
However, its power was not simple. The Thespian Emperor's fist strike broke through the Heavenly Drive's defense and rushed in, scraping his skin.
"I'll take it."
Raon revealed his teeth in a grin and raised a strong sword to match the Thespian Emperor's fist. As the strong sword and strong fist clashed head-on, a crimson line seemed to be drawn, splitting heaven and earth.
* * *
The Thespian Emperor gritted her teeth as she poured out fist strikes imbued with magic power and aura without pause.
'He's blocking all of this?'
Raon was receiving her onslaught, which could be considered her full power, without retreating a single step. It seemed he intended to fight power against power until the end.
'Is this man really that child from back then?'
The young swordsman who had toyed with her using his tongue had now become a great swordsman standing side by side with her, no, even surpassing her.
'When I first saw him, he was already a Master.'
Not even years had passed since then, yet he was now standing as my equal.
'A genius. No, this is beyond a monster, he's a demon king.'
The Thespian Emperor's jaw trembled as she watched Raon, who was cutting through her magic power with flames and pushing back her aura with cold energy.
'What was I doing while this child was ascending to transcendence?'
She had vowed to create a massive force that wouldn't lose to either of the Six Kings and the Five Demons by gaining benefits between them, but in reality, she had achieved nothing. She had just watched like a mouse, unable to even pick up fallen cheese crumbs.
'And then...'
After losing the ability to see heaven's flow, she had truly just been breathing and standing still. Every day, she had brainwashed herself, saying, 'I'm just waiting. I'm just waiting silently for a better opportunity.' She had been holed up in her office like a shut-in.
But the child standing before her had risked his life, breaking through numerous hardships to build up strength and experience that wouldn't lose to her. Feeling that difference on her skin, she felt nauseous, as if seeing her own ugliness in a mirror.
"Aaaaargh!"
The Thespian Emperor let out a scream rather than a battle cry as she threw a punch with all her might. A fist strike filled with emotion that she would never normally use. Although it was an attack too easy to counter or dodge, Raon received all the punches, even as blood flowed from his lips.
"Come on, more."
Raon smiled refreshingly and tilted his chin, as if it wasn't enough yet.
'Heaven's flow...'
Looking at Raon, who seemed far more mature than herself, she was reminded of the day she read his heaven's flow. The sight of the blood that should have expressed the future escaping the Celestial Scriptures of its own will was certainly terrifying. But as she met Raon's clear eyes, that terror began to look like belief and will to carve out his own fate.
'Is heaven's flow... no, is the future not important?'
The thought that heaven's flow was just one path, and what mattered most was what will a person held, clawed at her collapsed mind.
'Yes. That's right.'
I was too deeply immersed in the ability to read heaven's flow. Until now, she had prioritized a predetermined future over her own will or beliefs. That was no different from throwing her soul into a gutter. The Thespian Emperor felt her mind, which had been plagued by headaches, becoming crystal clear as she endlessly swung her fists.
The turbulent flow of her fist strikes and magic began to settle like the waves of a great sea.
* * *
Raon exhaled as he looked at the Thespian Emperor, who had stopped her rough punches and stood frozen like a statue.
'An enlightenment?'
The Thespian Emperor seemed to have gained some insight while pouring her fists at him.
'I meant to let her vent her feelings, not to give her an enlightenment...'
He had only intended to pull her out of the gutter, but the Thespian Emperor had immediately run into a clothing store and started buying new clothes, bags, and shoes as soon as she grasped his hand. Honestly, he was dumbfounded. However, it wasn't bad. The Thespian Emperor was someone who knew what gratitude was, so there would be more ways to use her in the future.
'I should receive a big reward for this.'
As Raon was quietly smiling and about to step away from the Thespian Emperor, his eyes met with the Queen of Swords, who was leaning against the wall of the training ground.
"Huh?"
Raon swallowed dry saliva as he looked at the Queen of Swords' sharp eyes.
'What's this?'
The same face, the same body, the same aura, but this woman was not the person he had crossed swords with earlier. He felt a completely different quality from her.
"You..."
Raon aimed his sword at the Queen of Swords as he stood in front of the Thespian Emperor, as if to protect her who was in a state of enlightenment.
"Who are you?"