Raon lowered his sword and the Flame's Singularity fluttered away like leaves in the wind.
The ice troll lord's huge body, which covered the moonlight, knelt on the fading flame. A dark hole remained on the left side of its chest, where the spear of flame had pierced through.
Tsssh.
As if time was flowing backward, the ice troll lord's skin and flesh were regenerating. It was an outrageous amount of regeneration, befitting the lord, but it was pointless. After all, its heart was already shredded to pieces by the Flame's Singularity.
"Krrr…"
Raon met the ice troll lord's eyes. Vitality was leaving its white pupils, similar to the perpetual snow.
'I'm not sure.'
It looked like the ice troll lord resented him, or wanted to live, or…
Was thanking him, although that might have just been his imagination.
"I'll grant you a painless death."
"Krr!"
Raon raised his sword once again. When he was about to decapitate it in order to relieve its pain, the ice troll lord stood up with a trembling chin.
"Krr…"
It was standing confidently on its two legs with clenched fists, as if it wanted to keep fighting until the end. It was the monster's resolution that it would fight until the end without kneeling, befitting a true king.
"Wonderful."
Raon admired that from the bottom of his heart. He never thought he would feel that way for a monster.
"Krrrra!"
The ice troll lord roared and rushed at him. It was losing its balance slightly, like a baby that had just started walking, but it didn't fall down.
Raon slashed, so that he did not tarnish its resolution. Ziegharts' aloof blade took the ice troll lord's life.
"Krr!"
The ice troll lord's thick lips curled up. It was definitely smiling. It wasn't just Raon's imagination—the ice troll lord was indeed thanking him.
"Kwaaaa!"
"Krrrrr!"
"Kieeee!"
Upon hearing its final roar, the monsters gave up on fighting and withdrew. They spread out in all directions to run away as fast as they could.
"As a king, until the end…"
Just like he said, the ice troll lord died as a king, to a point where Raon felt ashamed instead.
'Goodbye.'
Raon closed his eyes, wishing for it to reincarnate in a better place, just like he did.
He was a true king. One that I haven't seen for a long while.
When he opened his eyes once again, Wrath was looking down on the ice troll lord's corpse.
This troll is younger than you if you convert to a human's age. Yet, it already knew what it needed to do. It was truly suited to the title of 'king'.
'Yes.'
You can tell from this young troll, who was born and died as a king even though it didn't have anything. Regardless of the race, a king isn't made, but born.
Wrath turned to meet Raon's eyes.
…is what I used to think.
'You used to think?'
Yes. But I changed my opinion after seeing you.
'What do you mean?'
The first time I saw you, the number of qualities of a king I could feel from you were less than the chocolate chips in a chocolate cookie. However, you've changed. It's not just your might, but your soul's level has changed.
Wrath's eyes sparkled like sapphires.
Just like an artisan making a pot from clay, the qualifications of a king are being made inside of your soul.
'Qualifications of a king…'
However, it doesn't look like you have any intention of becoming one.
'You are right. I've never thought about that.'
He was born as the lord of Zieghart's grandson, but he couldn't think about succeeding the House. He just wanted to profit from them, and make Sylvia and the maids happy.
A commoner's mind with the king's qualities, how interesting. How your qualifications will grow and change, and how your mind will alter in the future, will be fun to watch. Because there's no one like you, even in Devildom.
'Then, are you not going to take over my body? Are you admitting your defeat?'
N-Nonsense! I just said that you are interesting! I never said I'm not going to take away your mind and body!
Wrath shouted, struggling with his short arms.
Once the King of Essence targets something, I won't be satisfied until I obtain it! The King of Essence will take away your body by any means necessary!
'Ah, okay.'
While we are on that subject, the King of Essence's temperament is similar to that troll kid. I'm the true king that saves my subordinates even if I'm in danger. The only difference is that the King of Essence's power doesn't lose to anyo… Wh-Why are you looking at me like that?
Wrath shivered, noticing Raon's icy cold gaze.
'Even now, you still want to brag and prattle on about yourself…'
"Sir Raon!"
As Raon was shaking his head at Wrath, Dorian came running at him. His arm was broken, his entire body was covered in bruises, and his armor was in tatters.
"You…"
He thought Dorian was holding on pretty well, but that wasn't the case. He really fought to death to buy time for him.
"I seriously can't catch up to you. You really killed the Voracious Ice Demon and the Blue Shamanic Demon, and even the lord after that. In comparison, I got my arm broken from fighting just the lord."
Dorian sniffled, grabbing his broken arm.
"What happened to you? Why did you step up?"
"That's…"
He caressed his belly pocket, unable to reply immediately.
"You know, you fought the Blood Raving Demon last time."
"Yes."
Though, he just held out, rather than fighting.
"I felt so frustrated when I ran away back then. I felt like my heart was tearing. I'm scared of getting hurt physically, but I was even more scared of hurting my heart. That's why I pledged that I'd never run away while leaving my companion behind."
"And you kept it this time?"
"Yes…"
Dorian lowered his head in embarrassment.
"I see. You were very helpful."
Raon smiled at Dorian. His chest felt warm from his sincere feelings. It was the first time he was helped, but it didn't feel bad at all.
"And you, too."
He turned his head to look at Edquill, who was standing to the side awkwardly. His condition was even worse than Dorian's. His armor was covered with blood, and the bone of his leg was completely destroyed.
"…It was my pleasure."
"Pleasure?"
Edquill had suddenly become polite, even though he used to mumble that he wanted to kill him later.
"I only did it because I wanted to, so you don't need to mind it."
He bowed politely and returned to the castle. Judging from his untainted eyes, it looked like something had really changed in his mind.
"Shout the name of our hero!"
From the top of the castle gate, Terian yelled, holding his bloody sword up high.
"Woaaaah!"
"Raon! Raon! Raon!"
The soldiers yelled Raon's name in unison. The entirety Habun Castle trembled with his name.
Raon clenched his fist.
'My name…'
It felt like the name he could never reveal, the name he had to hide all the time, was spreading throughout the world. The thrill made his heart pound.
"Let's go."
When he clasped his chest and was about to return to Habun Castle, messages popped up in front of his eyes.
[You've accomplished great achievements.]
[Your soul level has increased.]
[Regeneration has increased drastically.]
[Title has been created.]
[All stats have increased by 3.]
[Iron Will's rank has increased.]
Why are there so many of them?!
* * *
Rushine Mountain, to the west of House Robert.
Under the mountain famous for its splendid landscape, there was an underground space that no one knew about. In the middle of that space, which was darker than night, about five hundred children were kneeling with their eyes closed.
They had their hands put together as if they were praying, but cold sweat kept flowing down from their foreheads and backs.
"Uhh…"
"Ah…"
"Keuh…"
The children, who were enduring it while biting their lips, started to collapse one after the other. Bleeding from their eyes, noses, or ears, their whole bodies trembled.
The masked men that were watching from the side took the child and disappeared somewhere each time one collapsed.
The children collapsed more and more frequently as time passed, and in the end, there were only 108 of them remaining.
The tall masked man that was watching them from the center walked up to the upper floor, where he could look down on the entire space.
Derus Robert, with his silver hair similar to a snow field flowing down to his back, was watching with a wine glass in his hand. Although a lot of time had passed, he looked even younger and livelier than before.
"The brainwashing has ended."
The masked man knelt and bowed at him.
"So, there are 108."
The 108 children were reflected in Derus's aloof pupils.
"Yes. There are more than we expected. The dogs this time will be more usable."
"Reduce the number to half."
"Pardon?"
"Riffraff aren't necessary. What I need are hunting dogs that can bare their fangs against Masters."
He smiled, looking at the children bleeding from their mouths. The dry smile, devoid of emotion, set off goosebumps.
"H-how shall we reduce the number?"
"That's your job. It is nothing I should be concerned about."
Derus' blue eyes glowed viciously.
"I-I beg your pardon!"
The masked man smacked his head onto the ground to beg for forgiveness. Blood was dripping from his forehead.
"Did you feed them the rage worms?"
"Yes! We fed them the improved ones, so they won't be released from the brainwashing like Raon!"
"Raon, Raon…"
Unlike the same feverish name that resounded in Habun Castle, a cold voice crushed that name.
"He was a pretty useful one."
Derus frowned, looking at the scar on the back of his right hand. Raon's abilities were the best among all the hunting dogs he'd raised so far.
If only he hadn't undone the brainwashing by himself. He had the abilities to kill the highest executives of the Six Kings, so losing him was a shame in many ways.
Psh!
When he was thinking about Raon, the scar on his right hand opened and sticky blood trickled down to the floor.
"M-Master!"
The masked man stood up quickly and was about to run towards him when Derus opened the scar by himself and smiled.
"Look at this. Raon shoved his fang into me as he died. You shall raise those children to grow up just like him."
Darkness crept from Derus's blue eyes.
"They shall become the hunting dogs that can shove their fangs into the enemy's neck and die with a smile for my sake."
* * *
Milland and the attack force kept running restlessly, but the sun had already risen a long time ago. When they finally reached the snow field where they could see Habun Castle from far away, dozens of monsters came rushing at them.
"Keuh! Prepare for battle!"
He bit his lip in anxiety and ordered to fight, but it seemed the monsters had no intentions of fighting as they spread out everywhere without even looking back.
He finally noticed the monsters' conditions. Their bodies were covered in blood, their hands were empty, and their eyes were full of distress. It was the classic appearance of remnants.
'What is that?'
Milland furrowed his brow, looking at the monsters running away in a hurry. Although he'd lived there for dozens of years, it was his first time witnessing such a thing.
"…Let's move on. Run at full speed!"
Hiding his confused expression, he ordered them to depart once again.
"Understood!"
Since the attack force was also anxious, they quickly started running towards Habun Castle.
Because the group consisted of elites, Milland and the attack force managed to reach Habun Castle before noon. However, the condition was completely different from what they'd imagined.
The castle walls weren't destroyed, and countless monsters were dead under the castle walls. On the other hand, they couldn't find a single soldier's corpse.
"Wh-What is this?"
"What happened here…?"
"What the hell happened this time?!"
The attack force entered inside the castle with trembling legs.
"C-Commander! Look this way!"
Barty, the first scouting party leader, shouted when Milland was walking while looking around. Upon following him, there was a monster's corpse that was two times bigger than an average ice troll.
"Th-This is it! It's the ice troll lord!"
"So, it was a trap after all. But who could have…"
"Commander! Th-There's an Eden demon here!"
"There's another one here! It's the Voracious Ice Demon!"
The scouts' eyes became wide open in astonishment upon finding the corpses of the Voracious Ice Demon and the Blue Shamanic Demon.
"An ice troll lord, the Voracious Ice Demon and the Blue Shamanic Demon?"
Milland swallowed harshly, looking at the three monsters one after another.
"What happened here?"
There were corpses of two of Eden's demons, an ice troll lord, and countless monsters. Yet, the corpses or flesh of humans were nowhere to be seen.
He could understand that it was Eden's trap, but he couldn't even begin to figure out how they managed to survive against them.
"Let's go for now."
Milland caught his breath and walked towards the castle gate. Cheers and roars could be heard from the inside. When he tried to listen more closely, they were shouting someone's name.
"Raon?"
It was Raon. His name was resounding to reach the sky.
* * *
After hearing what happened overnight, Milland and the officers sitting in the conference room went blank, eyes trembling.
"How could this happen in my lifetime?"
"I know, right? Eden and an ice troll lord attacked, yet there were no casualties at all? It feels like a dream. This must be the war god's blessing!"
"It's not the war god's blessing, but Raon's blessing. He did everything on his own this time, again."
"Did he seriously get a single arm broken from killing the Voracious Ice Demon, the Blue Shamanic Demon, and the ice troll lord? He is a real monster."
The officers praised Raon's prowess and strategy in amazement.
"Regardless of what happened, we won in the end. Festival! It's time for a festival, for three days and nights!"
"Do you think three days and nights are enough? We should make it a whole week!"
"That's right. We won't get another day like this for the rest of our lives!"
Since it was obvious that there would be no monster for a while, the officers raised their hands, saying that they should hold a festival right away.
"There's something we need to do before the festival."
Milland silenced the conference room, the atmosphere having grown as loud as a marketplace's beforehand.
"That would be…"
"You are praising Raon, but cheers aren't all we are giving him, right?"
"O-Of course not!"
"We have to give him the best award and gold!"
The officers nodded immediately.
"That's right. The reason I'm alive right now is thanks to Raon."
Terian, who told him about Raon's fight, smiled broadly.
"Then we can make this short."
Milland tapped on the table and his eyes sparkled.
"I'm thinking about giving him Habun Castle's relic."
____