Raon entered the restaurant next to the alley and ordered a sandwich.
Ugh…
Wrath was grunting in displeasure.
This isn't what you promised!
'There's nothing I can do about it, the restaurant is closed.'
The restaurant he wanted to go to was already closed, probably because it was open all night long. There weren't that many restaurants open in the morning because Grand Seville was more active at night than during the day, leaving him with only a few choices.
Even though the King of Essence resolved himself to never trust your mouth ever again, he was tricked once again!
Wrath's hand, placed on the table, was trembling violently in anger.
He will never trust you ever agai…
'I'll try out all the delicacies in the city once the mission is over.'
You are lying! You must be lying once again!
'You must also be aware that it won't last that long.'
Raon pointed his finger up. It wasn't directed at the ceiling, but the sorcery array above it.
'That sorcery array was released yesterday, which means that it will be activated today.'
The ghastly energy and bloody energy he felt when he was trying to enter the restaurant was a fragment of the power that was spread out from the array's release. Since the sorcery was released, it would be activated pretty soon in order to avoid the energy dissipating.
From what the King of Essence can see, that power isn't perfect yet. It didn't manage to fill its vessel yet.
'You are right, but it has its sacrifice right here.'
Raon smiled faintly and pointed at himself.
Are you saying that you are the sacrifice?
'Yes. I'm sure they are aware of my arrival.'
Judging from the situation, the White Blood Fanatics must've already infiltrated the Black Market. Since he was pretty much the White Blood Religion's archenemy because of him defeating the seventh apostle and killing the fourth apostle, there was no way they would overlook information about him.
'They will try to attack me. Stay patient for a little longer, since it won't take that long.
R-Really?
Wrath was blinking innocently. He must've completely forgotten what he said twenty seconds ago.
'Of course.'
Ugh…
"Your food is ready."
While Wrath was probing him with a doubtful gaze, the clerk brought two sandwiches with eggs and ham inside.
"Thank you."
He placed the dish on the table because he was still talking to Wrath.
What are you doing right now?
'I'm trying to tell you that you can really trust me this tim…'
Shut up and eat already. The King of Essence is starving right now!
'Hah.'
Raon exclaimed. He thought they were talking about food for a later time, but the sandwiches in front of his eyes were apparently more important to Wrath. His behavior made it difficult to believe that he was really a demon king.
Raon reluctantly took a bite of the sandwich. The crispy bread surrounding the thick ham, cheese, and soft egg formed a perfect harmony to fill his mouth with nutty and rich flavors.
'This is pretty good.'
Wow, this is not bad. Anything goes when you are starving, after all.
A single sandwich was enough to bring happiness to Wrath's face.
The bread is tilted! Fix the ham's position! The balance will be broken otherwise!
"Hmm…"
Raon licked his lips while watching Wrath's happy expression.
'I feel like I've been the bad one.'
Because he was being way too passionate over a single sandwich, Raon decided that he would eat some nice food for him after the mission was over.
He figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to reserve an entire restaurant to eat with everyone in the Light Wind squad.
'I should check that out.'
He loaded the reward window, which he hadn't managed to properly check because of Wrath's rampage.
Sorcery Analyst
Title given to the one who managed to analyze a high-level piece of sorcery by themselves.
Effect: All stats +5.
'It even gives some stats.'
He thought the title wouldn't have any value, but it was even increasing his stats. A smile appeared on his face because of the unexpected gift.
Array Analysis (One-Star)
Insight and focus is increased upon analyzing all kinds of arrays, including sword formation, martial formation, and sorcery array.
The Array Analysis ability didn't give any extra stats, but allowed him to better analyze all kinds of arrays—including the sword formation, which was a type of array technique. Since its star rating could be further raised, he figured that it would become much more useful than a few stats once it was properly developed.
'Moreover, I got some extra stats.'
The last message told him that he'd gained five points in all stats. All of the rewards he had received before the battle even started almost felt like the blessing of the goddess of victory to lead him into a guaranteed win.
Wow…
Wrath was so happy while eating his sandwich, but bit his lip tightly upon seeing the message.
How can it even give you all those rewards when it was just a bit of sorcery that you analyzed?
'It's fair when you think about it.'
Raon shook his hand.
'The system gives rewards according to achievements. It's only natural for me to get a nice reward because I managed to analyze that massive sorcery array.'
The system always took the most efficient course of action. Even though he didn't actually have a battle, what he managed to do was worthy enough to be called an achievement, and the system was simply rewarding him accordingly. That was why the rewards he got were all related to sorcery and arrays.
Ugh…
Wrath ground his teeth violently, unable to refute him.
Once the King of Essence returns to Devildom, he will start by destroying the system!
'If you want.'
Raon shrugged. It didn't really matter for him, since he would've already achieved everything he wanted to do by the time Wrath returned.
'I should get going since I've finished eating.'
He pushed the empty dish to the side.
Wh-What?! Where are you going now when you ate nothing but sandwiches?
'To the others.'
Raon placed the payment on the table and stood up.
'I need to tell them the plan to destroy the White Blood Religion.'
* * *
Martha had been following Runa ever since Raon gave her the order. Just like she mentioned before, Runa was living in a shack alongside two younger siblings.
Martha had thought they would get some nice food for the day at least because of all the money she gave her, but they were filling their stomachs with hard and dry bread, probably because all of their money had been extorted.
"Runa, you should eat this one."
Runa's little sister tried to give her half of her bread. His little brother, who was even younger than the little sister, sniffled and also tried to give her his half-eaten bread.
"I already ate when I was outside, so you shouldn't worry about me. You just finish it up."
Runa smiled faintly and pushed the bread towards her siblings.
Martha frowned while watching Runa.
'They abused her.'
The bruise on her face suggested that she was beaten on top of having her money taken away when she went to pay tribute.
'Those cursed bastards…'
Watching Runa endure her hunger to allow her siblings to eat reminded Martha of her past and made her slightly angry.
'Should I beat them up? After all, that was my money.'
She got more and more angry as she watched the beaten children fill their stomachs with dry bread. She even wanted to beat them up by using her money as an excuse.
"Are they the ones you mentioned?"
"Gasp!"
Raon's casual voice could be heard from behind her as she was thinking about it. She almost shouted in surprise, but she managed to hold it back thanks to Raon covering her mouth.
"You damn bastard! You should stop hiding your presence when you come!"
"I can't do that here though."
Raon smiled gently and created an aura barrier to stop the sound from escaping.
He slightly narrowed his eyes as he saw Runa. He nodded while murmuring that it was just as he anticipated.
"Sh-She has bloody energy all around her body? Can you even see something like that?"
"It's because I'm in a pretty good state right now."
"Hmm…"
'I can't feel anything at all though.'
She wouldn't have noticed the presence of bloody energy at all if it wasn't for the scar. Raon looked like a monster to her because he was capable of feeling the bloody energy inside of Runa's body from afar.
"Because this wasn't the first time she buried the stone, she has a fair amount of bloody energy accumulated in her body from being repeatedly exposed to it each time she did that job. It's rampaging inside her because it's not being controlled by anyone."
"Wh-What happens in that case?"
"She's fine right now, but she's going to die the moment the sorcery array activates."
"She's going to die?"
"Yes. The sorcery array we have right now isn't designed to be activated in a completed state. It's going to feed on those kids first, as they are close to it and are highly exposed to the bloody energy."
A frightening light sparked from Raon's eyes as he clenched his fist.
"Wh-What should we do? Don't tell me you are going to let them become sacrifices!"
"Did you take a liking to them already? You are being different from your usual self."
"Shut up and answer!"
Martha slammed the ground. She was too embarrassed to tell him that they reminded her of herself before joining Zieghart.
"It might become dangerous."
"I don't care."
Any kind of injury was a fair price to pay in order to destroy the White Blood Religion's plan to sacrifice such young children.
Raon nodded with a smile on his face.
"That man named Tius is going to call for those children soon. When that happens, you and the first team should secretly follow each of the children and…"
Denning Rose, the Black Market's Grand Seville branch manager, was walking through an underground passage with dried blood stuck to the ground.
'I thought this place was already destroyed.'
She'd personally confirmed the passage's collapse when she was first assigned to Grand Seville. However, the passage she was seeing was completely open, and traces of dried blood covered the floor.
'No, regardless of why this passage is open… Why am I even here?'
She was walking on her own, but she couldn't understand why she was there and why she was walking through the corridor. It felt like her body wasn't obeying her brain's command. She was unable to stop her steps, nor sit down on the ground. The only thing she could do was to keep walking.
She walked through the bloody and sticky underground passage for a while, and a round passage could be seen, with red light spreading out from inside. She went through the passage even though she was unable to comprehend why she was doing it.
There was a large cavern at the end of the passage with dim lighting similar to moonlight. A handsome young man was sitting at the center of that place, where a nauseating amount of corpses were piled up like a mountain.
'That man…'
Denning Rose swallowed nervously. His purple hair, thin eyes, and the scar created by a sword on his chest were the characteristics that a Black Market's branch manager was bound to recognize. He was the seventh apostle of the White Blood Religion.
"This is our first time seeing each other even though we've been living in the same city, Denning Rose."
The seventh apostle raised himself up, and his lips curved into a gentle smile.
"Ah…"
Denning Rose unconsciously knelt and bowed to him. It wasn't because she was afraid of the seventh apostle, but her body was simply reacting on its own, just as it had when she came all the way there.
"I don't really like women who bow at first sight."
The seventh apostle chuckled and walked up to stand in front of her.
"Argh…"
Denning Rose clenched her teeth. She was trying everything to stand up, but she couldn't move her body at all. Her limbs felt as heavy as rocks.
"What's the matter? Can't you move your body as you wish?"
"Wh-What have you done to me…?"
She barely managed to move her tongue to speak. It almost felt like she was talking through another person's mouth.
"I wonder."
The seventh apostle tilted his head and bobbed his finger, and Denning Rose raised her head.
"Shall I tell you why you didn't manage to discover us?"
"It must be because of your spies…"
Denning Rose sighed while meeting the seventh apostle's thin eyes. She became certain that a spy was among them when she realized the information about Raon was leaked.
'Moreover, it's one of the higher ups.'
Since the information about Raon was treated as top secret, only the higher ups were capable of learning about it. She felt suffocated upon realizing that she was going to die right there, unable to carry out the plan that she'd finished devising in order to find him.
"You are not a complete idiot at least."
The seventh apostle slowly nodded in satisfaction.
"Then who do you think it was?"
He snapped his fingers, and five people wearing white robes stepped forward from the cavern's background.
"Ah…"
Denning Rose's eyes widened. All five of them were the Black Market's people, and one of them was an officer. Moreover, he was the one she had hoped wouldn't be a spy, since he was Philip, the man in charge of an antique shop directly connected to the Black Market's branch.
"Philip, why would you…?"
They didn't respond to her question. They simply knelt in front of the seventh apostle and bowed to him.
"Do you understand why I'm telling you all of this?"
"You must be planning to kill me."
"Incorrect."
The seventh apostle snorted and shook his head.
"It's because your body doesn't belong to you anymore."
"A-Are you telling me that my current state is…"
"Correct. I'm currently controlling you."
He bobbed his finger as if he were controlling a marionette.
"It's not just you. All of those bugs on the ground are also under my control. All I would need to do is tell them to kill themselves and they would stab their own hearts with a knife."
"Wh-What are you trying to…"
"Grand Seville is going to become a huge ranch from today onward. The ignorant masses who are only focused on having fun are going to offer their money and blood without even realizing that their lives are being taken away. This sorcery is meant to achieve that."
The seventh apostle pointed at the ceiling. A huge mass of bloody energy was twitching over the dim lighting.
"Don't worry. I need you to keep on living as Grand Seville's branch manager."
"Ugh…"
Denning Rose's lips were trembling violently. Brainwashing would have been a different story, but she couldn't even report the case to the Black Market's headquarters because she couldn't resist his will. It was terrifying to think that she might be forced to live under the seventh apostle's control for the rest of her life.
"Denning Rose."
The seventh apostle looked down into Denning Rose's distorted eyes and smiled.
"I'll give you your first mission. Bring me Raon Zieghart, since he shall become the last piece to complete this ranch."
* * *
Raon raised his head after he finished checking the changes his increased stats brought to his body and aura. The dark sky told him that the sun had already set.
Even though it was too early to even have an evening glow, the whole world was engulfed in darkness. It was a grotesque sky with no moon, no stars, and no clouds whatsoever.
Step.
A light footstep could be heard from behind. When he turned, he found the Black Market's branch manager, Denning Rose, walking towards him.
"Sir Raon."
Denning Rose walked up to him and bowed politely.
"We've managed to catch a White Blood Fanatic."
"A White Blood Fanatic?"
"Yes. We are planning on interrogating him. Would you mind joining us in the process?"
"Sure."
Raon nodded and put on the coat that was hanging on the wall.
"Thank you."
Denning Rose smiled gently, and Raon followed her to Grand Seville's main avenue.
Whap!
The peculiar buildings and flashy lighting were still shining as brightly as before, but there was one difference compared to the day before.
It was the people. Even though they were at the main avenue, which was frequented by countless people, not a single person was around them.
Denning Rose kept walking with the exact same footsteps and speed as before. She didn't seem to be bothered by that fact in the slightest.
After she kept walking for a while, she finally stopped at the center of the avenue. Even though it was the most populated place in the city, not a single person could be found.
"Sir Raon."
Denning Rose slowly turned around. A single tear flew down from her black, rose-patterned eyepatch.
"I'm sorry."
That was the only thing she said before she stepped back. At the same time, the people hiding inside the buildings came running out.
They surrounded Raon with a gray gaze radiating from their eyes, and they numbered at least a hundred at a glance.
The White Blood Fanatics wearing snow white robes lined up behind them, and the way the bloody energy was emerging from them with weapons in their hands looked like they were trying to threaten Raon.
Rumble.
Raon frowned while facing the people who were trying to kill him, and a white puddle appeared next to Denning Rose.
The liquid was stirred up like bubbles on the surface of a beer before surging up to form a human shape. The purple hair and narrow eyes were the unforgettable characteristics of the seventh apostle, and he smiled confidently at Raon.
"I should probably be saying that it's been a while."
The seventh apostle raised his white hand after dusting off his coat.
"Raon Zieghart."
"Seventh apostle."
Raon lowered his eyebrows slightly as he looked at the seventh apostle.
"Have you been the perpetrator behind this?"
"Yes. Did you enjoy my masterpiece? I didn't expect you to come here at the perfect timing, though."
He giggled and spread his arms to the sides.
"So, how did you like my greeting?"
"Do you call this a greeting?"
Raon narrowed his eyes and grabbed the Blade of Requiem's hilt, which was hanging behind his back.
"Don't be so hasty. I haven't finished talking yet."
The seventh apostle casually shook his head.
"You should realize that those people aren't our believers."
He raised his finger to point towards the sky.
Rumble!
Raon could see a huge rain cloud of bloody energy, even though he wasn't even using the Ring of Fire.
"Did you finally realize it?"
The seventh apostle's smile deepened upon noticing the panic on Raon's face.
"They inadvertently absorbed the bloody energy because of that sorcery. They aren't our believers, but ordinary worms living in this city."
He caught Denning Rose next to him by her hair and lifted her.
"..."
Even though she must've been feeling the pain of her hair getting pulled from her head being lifted so high, she wasn't even groaning, and her expression didn't change in the slightest.
"I know how effective your dagger is. I heard it can sing a song of sword resonance to bring death to all fanatics who possess bloody energy. However, you will end up killing all of these worms alongside them if you try using it here."
The seventh apostle pointed at Denning Rose, then the people filling the avenue.
"Sir Raon…"
Probably because the seventh apostle weakened his control, Denning Rose's suffocated voice could be heard. The incongruence created by the desperation in her voice despite her casual expression was grotesque enough to cause goosebumps.
"I heard the Frostfire Sword of Valor wields his sword for other people's sake, but I wonder how it actually is. Are you going to kill innocent people to save yourself, or are you going to run away?"
He snapped his fingers as if he were giving him a choice.
Upon hearing the snapping sound, the people took out all kinds of weapons and started walking towards Raon. A frightening light was glowing from their eyes, which were filled with gray energy.
"For other people's sake? I've never wanted such a reputation for myself."
Raon unsheathed the Blade of Requiem without hesitation.
Rumble!
Once the red blade was revealed, the thunderous roar of ghastly energy resounded throughout the entire avenue.
"Argh…"
"Kuh!"
"Ahh…"
The commoners with bloody energy and the White Blood Fanatics behind them have all collapsed on the ground with blood gushing from them.
"Kuhahahahaha!"
The seventh apostle covered his forehead and started laughing like a madman.
"Yes, I knew you would do that! That's just how you are! The world doesn't know your true personality. I'm the only person who understands your cruel and evil nature!"
He opened his robe to show him the scar on his chest created by the Blade of Requiem.
"Let's get started. Your blood shall…"
The seventh apostle's chin started to tremble upon noticing Denning Rose's state right next to him. She was still breathing weakly instead of being dead.
And it wasn't just Denning Rose. Everyone who had bloody energy injected into them was still alive. The fanatics behind them were the only people who had died from the attack.
"What did you just…"
The seventh apostle's eyes rolled as he was unable to comprehend the situation.
"You have crossed the line."
"What?"
"The White Blood Religion will have to flee at the mere sight of my shadow from this moment on."
Raon raised the Blade of Requiem to point it towards the seventh apostle. The eerie glow from the blade was the same color as his eyes.
"Because I won't leave a single bloody demon alive on this land."