"..."
Denier showed no reaction to Raon's provocation. He knelt down and bowed his head, as if waiting only for the call of the Leader of the White Blood Religion.
"You've become a leashed dog. Is that why you betrayed Zieghart? To live like this?"
Raon sneered as he retrieved the Wooden Ring Sword that the Leader of the White Blood Religion had thrown away.
"..."
Denier still didn't open his mouth, just staring at the back of the Leader of the White Blood Religion.
"It’s pointless to provoke or ask him anything. He’s made that way."
The Leader of the White Blood Religion mocked that provocations wouldn't work on Denier.
"Now you're sucking words instead of blood? I wasn't talking to you. Stay out of it."
Raon waved his hand at the Leader of the White Blood Religion as if shooing away a fly.
"You insolent brat..."
Unlike Denier, the Leader of the White Blood Religion seemed susceptible to provocation, furrowing her brow as she glared at him.
-Even at a time like this, you're provoking... you really are something else.
Wrath let out a hollow laugh as if he found it absurd.
"If you won't speak, I'll have to make you."
Raon bent his upper body deeply forward like the blade of an axe. Just as he was about to charge, Denier pulled Martha into his arms.
"If you move even one step from there, I'll kill this person."
Denier pulled Martha into his left arm and pointed his sword at her neck, as if he meant it.
"F-Father..."
Martha's pale lips trembled at the sight of Denier, whom she had followed as much as her mother, trying to kill her.
"Please..."
She squeezed her eyes shut as if she didn't want to believe this reality.
-W-What is this! What the hell is he doing!
Wrath gritted his teeth as he saw Denier's sword touching Martha's neck.
-In what world is it possible for a father to kidnap his daughter and take her hostage!
He seemed truly angry, emitting a rage as intense as Raon's own.
-Summon me right now! I'll kill that bastard and the mosquito woman too!
Wrath jumped up and down, saying he would save Martha and trap Denier and the Leader of the White Blood Religion in an icy hell.
'That's a choice we should only make when there's really no other answer.'
Using the demon king summoning would permanently reduce both his and Wrath's power. Since they don't know how much strength and realm they would lose, that path should be avoided as much as possible.
'We still have a way forward.'
Raon raised his left foot as he looked into Denier's eyes, which were flowing with cold energy. He stepped forward resolutely, ignoring Denier's words not to move even one step. Denier pressed the blade lightly against Martha's neck, as if to prove he was serious. Red blood flowed from her white neck.
Raon didn't stop walking even after seeing Denier cut Martha's neck.
"Didn't I tell you not to come?"
Denier frowned, showing emotion for the first time.
"You can't kill Martha."
Raon nodded his chin towards Denier, whose voice had risen.
"If you still think this person is my daughter, you're making a big mistake."
Denier lifted his chin as if human relationships had no effect on him.
"R-Raon..."
Martha opened her eyes slightly and called his name. In her trembling eyes was not betrayal, but pain and sorrow.
"It's okay. You won't die."
Raon nodded to Martha, telling her not to worry.
"No, she dies."
Denier pushed the sword deeper into Martha's neck as if he meant it. Blood red enough to make one's skin crawl dripped from her neck, staining the white ground.
"Ugh..."
Martha groaned from the pain and fear, but pressed her lips down as if she believed in him.
-Hey, you! Stop! The beef girl is going to die!
Wrath shook Raon's shoulder as if telling him to stop moving.
"Can you stop with the bluff?"
Raon twisted his lips as he looked at Denier and the Leader of the White Blood Religion in turn.
"You're planning to use Martha as the new body for the Leader of the White Blood Religion, aren't you?"
"Hmm..."
Denier's hand holding the sword trembled slightly, as if he hadn't expected Raon to notice that part.
"If that's not the case, there's no reason to take Martha as a hostage instead of King Lecross."
Despite knowing that taking the severely injured King Lecross hostage would be the best choice, Denier threw him away and took Martha instead. It was an illogical move.
"Is, is that true?"
Balder's eyes widened as if he hadn't even considered the possibility.
"I'm sure. If they really didn't need Martha, they could have killed her immediately while retreating."
The fact that they paralyzed her entire body and took her away instead of killing her clearly indicated that Martha had an important role to play.
"Moreover, the Leader of the White Blood Religion's current body has reached its limit."
Raon frowned as he pointed to the Leader of the White Blood Religion, whose hands and arms were covered in white scales.
"For the Leader of the White Blood Religion to use her full bloody energy, she needs to find a body with a matching soul wavelength. She's currently occupying Martha's mother's body, so it's not strange that she's targeting the grown Martha."
Raon gritted his teeth so hard his gums were pressed.
"Denier might have had Martha adopted by Zieghart to make her a suitable body for the Leader of the White Blood Religion to transfer into."
Although he didn't want to imagine it, considering the situation so far, that seemed the most likely possibility.
"..."
Denier said nothing and just glared at him as if he wanted to kill him.
"Ha..."
The Leader of the White Blood Religion let out a hollow laugh as if she found the situation ridiculous.
"Your little brain works quite well."
She wrinkled her nose as if acknowledging his judgment.
"Now that I've confirmed my prediction is correct..."
Raon bent his upper body forward like a drawn bow and stepped into the Supreme Harmony Step. He advanced as if folding the ground and swung Crimson Slash towards Denier's neck. Denier blocked Crimson Slash with his sword, pulling Martha back as if to prove Raon's judgment correct.
"As expected."
Raon drew a cold smile at the veins popping out on Denier's temple.
"Raon Zieghart..."
Denier gritted his teeth audibly as he pushed back Crimson Slash's flames with his bloody energy.
"You'd better give it your all."
Raon lifted his chin as he pressured Denier with his strength.
"I'm quite angry today."
He swung the Heavenly Drive, infusing the flames burning above it with his anger. The golden flames imbued with anger instantly incinerated the white bloody energy and stretched towards Denier's heart. Denier realized that a head-on collision would be difficult and retreated without hesitation after raising a wall of bloody energy.
"Protect this person."
Denier handed Martha, who was gasping for breath, to the Archbishop before standing in front of Raon again.
"How much was sincere, and how much was a lie?"
Raon asked as he looked down at Denier, who had lowered his stance as if tense.
"Everything was sincere, and everything was a lie."
Denier disappeared with a white air current after saying those words. It wasn't magic. His movement was so fast that he seemed to vanish before Raon's eyes.
'As expected...'
Raon frowned as he sensed Denier moving to another location before entering his aura perception.
'Was speed Denier's specialty?'
He had felt it since Denier avoided Frost Snap in the Divine-Demonic Harmony state, but Denier's ability seemed to be extreme sword techniques and movements that even his senses couldn't catch. Raon's shoulder was split and blood sprayed as he spread his aura perception thicker to find Denier's position.
The sound of the sword wind followed only after the blood had hit the ground. It seemed Denier was moving faster than sound and shooting out sword strikes.
'He's certainly not below me.'
As he had initially felt, Denier possessed martial prowess almost equal to his own.
'This time from behind!'
Denier moved behind him in an instant, thrusting his sword towards Raon's neck as if to kill him in one blow. Raon blocked Denier's thrust with the Blade of Requiem held in reverse grip, narrowing his eyes.
"Seems like attacking from behind is your specialty. Or maybe it's all you can do."
Provocations still work on Denier after all. Raon wiggled his finger arrogantly to provoke him.
"Hmph!"
Denier snorted and increased his speed even further. His afterimages reflected like mirrors as he moved, making it appear as if there were hundreds of Deniers in front of Raon.
"Die."
With that chilling cry, Denier's afterimages, each in a different stance, rushed in simultaneously. They weren't clones, but they felt like clones, and Raon couldn't find the real Denier's position. It felt like fighting magic rather than martial arts. Raon barely deflected Denier's sword strike aiming for his chest by focusing all his attention on his aura perception.
'It's not heavy, but it makes my bones vibrate.'
Denier's sword was imbued with the mysteries of extreme swift and sharp sword techniques, causing pain as if skin and muscles were being torn even when blocked. A chill ran down Raon's spine at the sharp energy that seemed capable of taking a life with a single stab.
"You're still far from it."
Denier left a chilling voice as if he had expected this, slicing Raon's shoulder once again as he passed by.
"Hmm..."
Raon frowned as he stanched the blood from his shoulder, which had been cut twice by Denier. He thought he had blocked it, but Denier's sword had no form, making it difficult to defend against.
"You've grown much more than when I last saw you."
The Leader of the White Blood Religion nodded in satisfaction at Denier's movements.
"It seems your luck has run out."
She curled up the corners of her mouth as if certain of Raon's death.
"Raon!"
"You bastard! Didn't you say you'd finish this quickly?"
Larian and Chamber shouted. They seemed more worried about him despite the impending battle with the Leader of the White Blood Religion.
"..."
Alice and Lecross, like true swordsmen, nodded silently as if they believed in him.
[Don't try to kill the Leader of the White Blood Religion, think of it as holding out.]
Raon sent an aura message to Larian, Chamber, Lecross, and Alice as he deflected Denier's sword aiming for his heart.
[The Leader of the White Blood Religion's condition is not normal. Even now, she's buying time to recover her wounds and stamina. Start the fight quickly and drain her strength.]
He told them the only way to win this war, saying that although the Leader of the White Blood Religion looked fine, she wasn't normal.
[Are you alright?]
[Worry about yourself!]
Larian and Chamber yelled at him to focus on the fight in front of him rather than worrying about them.
[I'm fine.]
Raon smiled faintly and fully focused on his sight. He entrusted his body to the cold aura that enveloped his eyes and gripped the Heavenly Drive and Blade of Requiem tightly.
[From now on, I'll be able to see everything.]
***
"Fools only learn when they experience it themselves."
The Leader of the White Blood Religion curled her red lips as if certain of Denier's victory.
"The same goes for you. Now that the Godly Blood Summoning Ritual has descended, there's no way I'll fall."
She sneered as she amplified the bloody energy of the Godly Blood Summoning Ritual even more. It seemed as if the bloody energy was dyeing not just the White Blood Religion, but even the coast and the sea.
"That remains to be seen."
King Lecross advanced towards the Leader of the White Blood Religion, taking a fierce step. He thrust forward the sword he had tilted behind his waist, shooting out a powerful sword strike as if to pierce through the sea.
"Well said."
Larian used the lightning at her fingertips to drop a yellow thunderbolt from the clear sky.
"I'll rip that head off!"
Chamber swung her staff, tearing apart the very space where the Leader of the White Blood Religion stood.
"I'll join too!"
Alice also swung her sword, linking with Chamber's magic. A dimension-cutting sword strike burst out from behind the Leader of the White Blood Religion. As the four Transcendents with different abilities launched a coordinated attack, the earth shook violently, melting away the bloody energy that the Leader of the White Blood Religion had spread.
"You vermin."
The Leader of the White Blood Religion narrowed her brows and brought her hands in front of her chest. As she revealed her killing intent along with dense bloody energy, the eyelids of the Godly Blood Summoning Ritual opened, flashing a blood-red light. The Godly Blood Summoning Ritual simultaneously swung down the weapons held in its dozens of hands.
The terrifying bloody energy exploded, instantly collapsing the auras and magic that Larian, Chamber, Alice, and Lecross had simultaneously shot.
The Godly Blood Summoning Ritual raised the weapons in its right hands, creating a powerful wave of bloody energy. It was a move that turned defense directly into attack. Larian drew a hexagram with her dagger to form a defensive magic formula, but the Godly Blood Summoning Ritual's bloody energy was so potent that she was pushed back ten steps.
"Ugh..."
Larian's fingers trembled as she formed the magic formula, as if just blocking the bloody energy was straining her.
"Are you okay?"
Chamber let out a low groan as she looked at Larian, whose hands were shaking.
"Old folks should focus on attacking."
Larian exhaled a turbid breath, saying she would block the bloody energy herself.
"Larian..."
Normally, Chamber would have shouted not to bring up age, but the gravity of the situation prevented her from even thinking of joking.
"Cough..."
King Lecross raised his sword while coughing up blood repeatedly.
"I'm sorry. I'll cut her down for sure in exchange."
He filled his hazy eyes with a knight's noble will, as if ready to fight with his life on the line.
"I'll help with the defense too."
Alice approached Larian and bowed her head.
"No, you focus on attacking."
Larian shook her head firmly.
"Your dimension-cutting sword is effective even against the Leader of the White Blood Religion."
She nodded, saying that Alice's dimension sword was currently the sharpest sword in this situation.
"That's right. If you coordinate with my magic, that sword will become even sharper."
Chamber patted Alice's shoulder, saying they should fight together.
"I'll open the way..."
King Lecross stood at the front again and charged towards the Leader of the White Blood Religion, despite his poor condition. He deflected the weapons of the Godly Blood Summoning Ritual falling down while burning his bloody energy, then dove into the Leader of the White Blood Religion's embrace.
"You're coming to your death!"
The Leader of the White Blood Religion stretched out her hand rippling with bloody energy, as if ready to face him directly.
"The knights of Owen never break!"
Lecross clashed head-on with the Leader of the White Blood Religion, as if to give courage to the knights fighting behind him. Gray sparks erupted everywhere as the ashen aura and transparent bloody energy collided.
"Ugh..."
King Lecross didn't retreat even while coughing up blood, enduring the Leader of the White Blood Religion's powerful martial prowess.
"It's useless to block me!"
With the Leader of the White Blood Religion's fishy smile, the Godly Blood Summoning Ritual moved again. The giant Blood God simultaneously swung down dozens of hands holding weapons, as if to swallow Lecross and the other Transcendents at once.
Larian blocked the onslaught of the Godly Blood Summoning Ritual, which was pouring out tremendous bloody energy, by raising a mana shield with eleven daggers.
"Nngh!"
Red veins popped out in Larian's eyes, and her breathing became ragged as if it might stop at any moment.
"Let's go!"
Chamber and Alice dashed through the path opened by Larian and Lecross, shooting out transcendent magic that tore space apart and dimension-cutting sword strikes.
"Where do you think you're going!"
The Leader of the White Blood Religion tried to block her back with the shield held by the Godly Blood Summoning Ritual, as if she had expected everything. However, Chamber's magic that scraped away space and Alice's sword that cut dimensions pierced through the thick bloody energy shield, creating a new wound on the Leader of the White Blood Religion's back.
Transparent blood burst out like a fountain as the Leader of the White Blood Religion's back was deeply cut.
"You flies!"
As the Leader of the White Blood Religion gritted her teeth and brought her hands together, the weapons held by the Godly Blood Summoning Ritual showed mysterious movements and fell towards the Transcendents of the Five Kings. It wasn't just an attack with strong bloody energy like before. It was an attack following the flow of martial arts, as if a master had grasped the weapons.
"Don't face it head-on! Dodge at all costs!"
At Larian's cry, Chamber, Lecross, and Alice gave up attacking and stepped back, their footwork nearly destroying the ground. Instead of the four Transcendents, the ground that took the Godly Blood Summoning Ritual's onslaught collapsed so completely that no trace of it could be found, creating a massive pit whose bottom couldn't be seen.
"It's useless to run away!"
The Leader of the White Blood Religion advanced with the Godly Blood Summoning Ritual, aiming for Larian and Lecross as if to catch them for sure, but with the support of Chamber and Alice, the two were able to escape without major damage.
"Go back in!"
As soon as the Godly Blood Summoning Ritual's fierce onslaught ended, Chamber came out again through the space she opened, shooting spatial magic to erase the Leader of the White Blood Religion's head.
"I know!"
Alice didn't miss that gap either, shooting a dimension-cutting strike. Larian and King Lecross, who had returned after avoiding the bloody energy, also joined the attack without even taking a breath.
The Leader of the White Blood Religion blocked the onslaught of the four Transcendents with a shield of bloody energy from the Godly Blood Summoning Ritual, but she frowned as if displeased with the situation.
"You're fighting dirty!"
The Leader of the White Blood Religion gritted her teeth and spewed out bloody energy again, but the Transcendents of the Five Kings retreated without looking back in dangerous situations, as if they had thrown away all pride.
"Argh!"
The Leader of the White Blood Religion burst out in frustration and spewed out bloody energy like mad, but she couldn't catch the Transcendents who were retreating while supporting each other.
'This is enough.'
Chamber nodded as she looked at the excited Leader of the White Blood Religion.
'We can't win no matter what we do now.'
Even with four Transcendents gathered, they were all in abnormal states, so catching the Leader of the White Blood Religion was impossible. Avoiding like this and draining her strength was the best they could do.
'The decisive moment...'
Chamber bit her lip as she watched Raon, who was now easily blocking Denier's attacks and even counterattacking, unlike before.
'Will be when Raon finishes with Denier and joins us here.'
***
Raon narrowed his eyes as he deflected Denier's lightning-fast sword.
'I can see it now. No, I can even feel it.'
After opening the Azure Clear Eyes, Denier's movements that had been beyond his cognition began to enter his vision clearly. He could now defend with certainty, not just blocking based on experience and intuition as before.
'Now I can strike.'
Raon turned his body to avoid when Denier approached to stab his neck, then swung down the Heavenly Drive. Denier, unable to handle his charging speed, got his shoulder deeply cut by the Heavenly Drive.
"Hmm..."
Despite frowning from the pain, he came attacking again. His speed increased even further.
'He's definitely faster. But...'
Now I can see everything. Because he could sense what Denier was aiming for and where he was attacking, Raon could prepare a counterattack instead of just defending. Raon deflected Denier's sword with the Blade of Requiem and deeply cut Denier's thigh with the Heavenly Drive.
Denier retreated, bleeding from his shoulder and thigh. His expression turned seriously pale.
"It's too late for regrets."
Raon shook off Denier's white blood from the Heavenly Drive and shook his head.
"You are an enemy of Zieghart."
"Haa..."
Denier exhaled a long breath and took out a glass bottle containing a red liquid from his bosom.
"I haven't shown everything yet."
Just as he was about to open the lid of the glass bottle while exhaling a turbid breath, a strong blue light flashed and the glass bottle in Denier's hand disappeared.
"What is this...?"
"Huh?"
Raon and Denier simultaneously looked up at the empty space where the light had burst. Evelyn was there. She stood in the sky, waving the glass bottle that Denier had been holding in her right hand.
"Looking for this? Or..."
Evelyn drew a red smile and held out Martha, whom she was holding in her left arm.
"Are you looking for this child?"