Raon had encountered four of the Five Demons in his previous life.
If he were to choose which of them were the hardest ones to fight against, the White Blood Religion was always in the top two.
They were a group of fanatics that didn't hesitate to pierce the stomach and slash the throats of their allies for their religious purpose.
"Kill them all."
The bishop wearing a coat with two white lines extended his hand, and the White Blood fanatics started running at them with bloodthirsty eyes.
'Well, then…'
Raon held the Blade of Requiem in a reverse grip and gathered the energy from the Ten Thousand Flower Cultivation.
'Let's take your revenge.'
With fierce steps, Raon dashed at the White Blood fanatics.
Clang!
The White Blood Religion believer at the front drew a sword curved like a crescent moon. It was the White Blood Religion's main weapon, a scimitar.
He slashed the scimitar at Raon's neck without even shouting.
'I knew it.'
The White Blood Religion believed that killing in a single strike was a mercy, and usually aimed for the neck or the heart. The attack was extremely lethal, but it was easier to dodge because of that.
Raon bent his knees. He dodged the scimitar with a paper-thin difference then slashed with the Blade of Requiem.
Thud!
The White Blood fanatic's head fell on the ground, following the hand's light movement and drawing an arc.
"Huh."
Raon exclaimed, looking at the Blade of Requiem.
'What just happened?'
It was just a simple and light cut, yet the opponent's head was cut off. It was an unreasonable degree of sharpness.
'I feel like I'll get cut just from holding it.'
He licked his lips, looking at the ghastly energy spreading out like the roots of a thousand-year-old tree.
'Let's continue.'
The Blade of Requiem resonated in response.
Thud!
Raon kicked the ground. He pierced into the White Blood fanatics attacking the knights, slashing with the Blade of Requiem.
Spurt!
Along with a frightening sound, the bodies of five White Blood fanatics had been split diagonally.
Whir!
The Blade of Requiem resonated even more intensely, craving for more blood, and the wave of ghastly energy also became stronger.
Raon's red eyes sparkled. He dashed into the battlefield, leaving his body to the ghastly energy and started slaughtering the White Blood fanatics. He looked like a red wolf taking a stroll amidst a flock of sheep.
"Stop."
Once he killed twenty White Blood fanatics on his own, a man with a white line on his coat stood up to him. He was a priest, a higher rank of believer.
Whir.
The scimitar the priest was holding started shining in white.
"Die."
The priest came running at him, aiming for his neck.
'It's too obvious.'
His attack was no different from the believers.
Raon extended his left foot to the back. He thrust the Blade of Requiem the moment the scimitar hit the ground.
Poof!
It was just a simple thrust, yet the left side of the priest's chest exploded. It was a ridiculous amount of power.
'It's crazy.'
The Blade of Requiem was still craving its revenge. Its dry resonance sounded like the priest's blood wasn't enough to satisfy its thirst.
"Hmm."
Raon narrowed his eyes, looking at the priest's blood seeping into the ground.
That's a weird color for blood. Mixing in some water would have that light color.
Wrath was right. The priest's blood was light red, similar to red paint with a small amount of white mixed in.
'This is the White Blood Religion's characteristic.'
The White Blood fanatics used a cultivation technique called Bloody Banquet to gather bloody energy, then enhanced it by drinking human blood.
Their blood grew white the more they drank blood and the more they cultivated.
In other words, how close to white a White Blood fanatic's blood was determined their position and power.
They really are crazy.
'Yes, they can't even be called humans.'
Raon kicked the ground, seeing that the knights were struggling against the White Blood fanatics. He assaulted the priest that was hacking his scimitar at the red-haired knight's neck.
"Hmm!"
The priest reacted quickly and turned his body, but it was already too late.
Wham!
The Blade of Requiem's sharp strike sent the priest's arm flying.
"Kuah! Y-you bastard!"
Raon didn't miss the opportunity as the priest stepped backwards in panic. He followed up immediately to behead him.
"Huff…"
Hearing the desperate breath, Raon looked sideways. The red-haired knight that barely managed to survive was staring at him in astonishment.
Raon nodded slightly and advanced.
Each time he swung the Blade of Requiem, one or two White Blood fanatics disappeared. A tremendous amount of murderous intent endlessly stormed around the red blade.
"I have no other choice."
The bishop, who had been overpowering the prince and two knights on his own, turned around. He used a strange footwork, making him look like a moving shadow, to step in front of Raon.
"I'll kill you first."
"Can you do it?"
Raon sneered. He could feel that the bishop was stronger than the Green War Demon or Raden, but he couldn't imagine losing at all.
"I'll show you."
The bloody scimitar drew a half moon towards his neck.
Whoosh!
He leisurely bent his back and the scimitar cut his golden hair, scattering it in the air.
'He is the same.'
The bishop wasn't an exception to the White Blood Religion's way of targeting the neck and heart.
As Raon straightened his back, the bishop opened his left hand, which wasn't holding the sword, shooting snow white energy from his index finger towards Raon's heart.
It was a technique called Bloody Finger Bullet, which consisted of shooting aura from the finger's mana circuit.
'I knew it.'
Raon slashed the Blade of Requiem down. The Bloody Finger Bullet was cut in half by the fierce ghastly energy, destroying the rock behind him.
As the bishop pulled his arm back, Raon pierced into his space, swinging the Blade of Requiem at the scimitar coming down at him.
Clang!
The enchanted scimitar and the Blade of Requiem, surrounded by ghastly energy, clashed and produced a thunderous noise similar to a devil's scream on the hill.
Creak!
The ghastly energy of the Blade of Requiem glowed darkly. It became a red ray of light to bounce off the scimitar.
"Hmm!"
The bishop's expression grew stiff, irritated by the fact that he was pushed back by a small dagger.
"Who are you, and where are you from?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't reveal my identity myself."
"I'll be the one to drink your blood."
The bishop opened his left hand and put it on his waist, then held up his scimitar. With an intense pressure emanating from his posture, he was aiming for an all-out attack.
'Bring it on.'
Raon bent his knees and narrowed his eyes. Just as he was about to use a secret dagger technique, ghastly energy started emerging from the Blade of Requiem.
Whir!
The ghastly energy spread out along with the resonance, drawing a curved trajectory in the air. It looked like dancing steps and a butterfly's flapping wings at the same time.
'Are you telling me to copy that?'
The Blade of Requiem resonated once again in assertion.
"Although I'm not sure what that is…"
Raon nodded and started rotating the Rings of Fire.
The five rings of fire resonated to slow down time. The ghastly energy's path grew clearly visible.
'That is…'
The path carved by the ghastly energy was a sword dance. The sword dance of fertility that the Siren villagers used to offer to the divine tree Othello.
The sword dance of fertility that was supposed to pray for world peace had become a sword dance of revenge and resentment in order to slice the enemy's throat.
"Die."
White light shone from the bishop's hand and sword. A wall full of blades crushed against him. It was the bishop's secret technique, the White Spirit Wall.
"Fine."
Raon brandished the Blade of Requiem.
'I'll do as you wish.'
He stomped the ground and used the blazing energy that was burning up from his lower body to rotate his waist.
The aura of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and the Blade of Requiem's ghastly energy mixed into a single energy, tracing through the sword dance's trajectory.
Clink!
As the Blade of Requiem advanced, the amount of energy inside the blade exploded.
When Raon finally thrust his sword, a frightening aura stretched from the blade with a thundering sound.
Baam!
The mixture of aura and ghastly energy ripped apart the White Spirit Wall in an instant, rampaging through the bishop and the fanatics behind it.
"Hmm."
Raon's legs faltered for an instant. It looked like he'd spent too much aura at once as his head went blank.
"Haa…"
He caught his breath and slowly raised his head.
A bloodstain was the only thing remaining under the subsiding sandy dust. The White Blood fanatics, priests, and the bishop had all been erased without a trace.
"Hah."
Raon exclaimed and looked at the Blade of Requiem. The red blade had grown even darker after sucking up the bloody energy from the death of White Blood fanatics.
'Your resentment was way stronger than I thought.'
It was to the point that it would transform the dance of fertility into a dance of revenge.
He felt slightly bitter as he turned around.
"Uuh…"
"Ah…"
Greer and the knights were falling back with wide eyes. They were opening and closing their mouths like goldfish, too surprised to say anything.
"Y-y-young master."
Dorian crawled up to him, his limbs trembling as if he had caught a chill.
"What was that just now? W-was it some kind of magic?"
"I wonder."
Raon shook off the blood from the Blade of Requiem and shook his head.
"I'm not sure either."
He wasn't sure how to describe the dagger that contained a sadness surpassing its power.
* * *
Gulp!
The knight Roreil swallowed, looking at the blond boy standing there confidently.
'Wh-what was that?'
He annihilated the White Blood Religion with a single strike. That sort of prowess was only possible for advanced Experts or highest-level Experts.
'...H-how could he have done that?'
The strength left his fingers, which were supporting his body from the ground. It felt like Raon's frightening eyes were shining like a death god's, even though he'd thought of him as a sloppy and naive boy.
'I was sure he hadn't even reached the Expert's level…'
The Raon Zieghart's prowess that he saw in Cameloon was way weaker than his own, and he was even weaker than the prince.
And the fact that he was carrying around multiple swords made him think that he was just a naive greenhorn.
He was convinced that the kind-natured prince was thinking better of him.
'But that wasn't the case.'
The naive greenhorn was himself.
Raon was an expert, strong enough to deceive him completely. He was that strong with a single dagger, so he couldn't even begin to imagine how powerful he would be if he actually drew his sword.
'What an idiot…'
While Roreil was blaming his own foolishness, the prince stood up.
"Huh. He became way stronger than before."
The prince exclaimed in amazement and walked up to Raon.
"I believe the amount I've been training doesn't lose to anyone, yet there seems to be a difference that I can't even dare try to catch up to."
The open-hearted prince admitted the extent of Raon's prowess.
"Thank you very much. It's all thanks to you that our lives were saved."
He lowered his head, as if he forgot about their difference in social standing. However, no one could stop him from doing that since it could've been really dangerous if Raon hadn't been there.
"Th-thank you."
"Thank you for saving us."
"You were really amazing."
Roreil suddenly stood up and bowed to Raon. The other knights also hesitantly approached him to express their gratitude.
"It was nothing."
Raon looked up at the green mountain over the hill and shook his head.
"I'm sure you would've managed even if I wasn't here."
* * *
After cleaning up the battlefield alongside the knights, Raon settled down in a different place.
Unlike before, the knights kept glancing at him. They weren't secretly looking down on him anymore, and their gazes were filled with awe.
'They are only treating me fairly after I show my strength.'
Of course. Humans are strong against the weak, and weak against the strong. They are worse than any animal in that aspect.
Wrath murmured that they were even worse than demons, popping out from the flower bracelet.
'Well, anyway this dagger is fiercer and more dangerous than I thought.'
He stared at the Blade of Requiem's blade, shining in red. It only became like that when it met the White Blood Religion, but it was carrying an intense resentment.
Hmph. It's still just a lousy tool. If the King of Essence had lent you the strength, the whole area would've been frozen.
'But you can't do that.'
Ugh…
'Let's not talk about something you can't do.'
I-I can do it, but I'm just not doing it. Because The King of Essence wants your body and soul!
'Excuses, once again.'
Excuses? Back in Devildom, countless demons came to the King of Essence, begging for strength. One of them had been bestowed with power…
'Be quiet.'
When Wrath started his boring story, the Blade of Requiem vibrated.
The energy imbued on the red blade flowed into Raon's body.
Stop it! That parasite is trying to steal the King of Essence's body!
'First of all, this is my body and not yours. And secondly, it doesn't have any intention to harm me.'
Raon shook his head. The energy he felt from the Blade of Requiem wasn't ghastly energy, it was a pure energy. As he was thinking about what just happened, a message popped up.
[The Blade of Requiem offers you purified blood energy.]
____
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