Raon unleashed Front Pond in the midst of raining steel. Heavenly Drive turned into a silver-white ray of light and a blade of ice followed.
Whaam!
Sharpness and speed weren't the only advantages of Frost Pond anymore. The tremendous wave of power made the army of undead burst like rotten fruit.
Whaap!
Raon didn't stop even though he'd already slain dozens of undead, and advanced even further to incorporate the principles of Revolving Sky into the Blade of Requiem.
The torrid sphere of resentment rotated violently as it rushed toward the group of undead on the right side.
Whaaam!
A firestorm surged from the powerful explosion, and not a single undead managed to survive.
'I have to decrease their numbers right now.'
The archlich had placed the powerful undead at the front lines to show their superiority.
It was necessary to deal a critical amount of damage to the undead army—even if he had to spend a large amount of aura and stamina.
Cring!
Raon used the Supreme Harmony Steps while counting on the rain of aura blades and arrows raining from the castle walls.
He pierced into the center of the undead and unleashed the Blue Rain with Heavenly Drive and Flame Spirit with the Blade of Requiem.
Whir!
The majestic sword resonance spread around by the Blue Rain made the undead writhe in pain while grasping their heads. The fire pieces covering the sky followed up to melt the heads of the undead.
Raon was literally massacring the army of the undead when a magic array with dark letters appeared on his head.
'A magic array?'
It was definitely the magic of the archlich who was controlling the undead.
Whaam!
A purple ray fell from the magic array. Upon noticing its tremendous speed, Raon incorporated the Supreme Harmony Steps into his withdrawal.
Whaam!
A bottomless pit was created on the land where he used to be standing. Speed wasn't the only thing it had. Even the power was unimaginable.
'It's so powerful despite being far away…It's at least an advanced fiend.'
Considering the fact that it cast such a powerful spell from the end of the Land of Death, even the term 'advanced fiend' wasn't enough to describe it.
'Shall I withdraw for now?'
Since he had already profited a lot from the action—and he was out of the arrows and aura blades' range—he figured he would withdraw.
Whir!
Another dark magic array was created in the sky. The letters were different from the previous one, implying that it must've been a different spell.
"Let's stop here for today."
Raon waved his hand as if he were teasing the archlich watching from afar.
"See you later."
He turned around and leaped towards the castle without even looking around.
Nice!
Wrath nodded in satisfaction.
Raon Zieghart is the best when it comes to bad personality.
'Hmm?'
The King of Essence has never seen anyone more hateful than you. Your talent is more befitting in Devildom than this continent!
He patted Raon's shoulder, saying that his talent was too great to remain in the human realm.
'You are the one who should return.'
Raon pushed Wrath away as he tried to cling to him and kicked the ground.
Baam!
A huge explosion occurred behind him and his clothes and hair fluttered to the wind. He jumped onto the castle walls by riding that wind, which looked like he was making fun of the lich even further.
"Haa…"
Raon exhaled roughly and looked down on the Land of Death.
'It's nicely destroyed.'
The undead army looked extremely terrifying to the people until a moment ago, but their formation had been completely destroyed.
They were scattered all around the place like some kind of shambled army, and they didn't look threatening at all.
"Raon, super damn handsome."
Raon looked around upon hearing Runaan's call.
"Hey, you are insane!"
"He's so evil."
"He's the demon king, I told you!"
"I'm glad that we aren't the only ones who have to deal with his bad personality."
"It's a shame that I can't see their reaction because they are undead. It would've been so funny if he did that against the White Blood Religion or Eden!"
The Light Wind squad was waving their hands with grins on their faces. Their faces used to be pale, but their complexions had returned and they were flushing red instead.
"Sir Raon! Good job!"
"I-I can't even begin to describe my impression of your swordsmanship."
Wendy and Prica also nodded at him with smiles on their faces, which no longer looked as gloomy.
"That's the White Sword Dragon. The rumors weren't exaggerated."
Baneder casually whistled as if he were a companion now.
"Whoaaa! He's the pride and joy of the annex building!"
"Is that even a compliment?"
"..."
Yua and Yulius were also cheering with bright smiles on their faces. Mark Goetten quietly bowed to thank him for his efforts.
Raon smiled while looking at the bright look in the Light Wind squad, Amber Blade division, and the rangers' eyes.
'It worked perfectly.'
On top of eliminating the undead, he also managed to raise morale to the peak. He managed to achieve all the objectives he was trying to complete.
"We just need to last a bit longer…"
Just as he was trying to give them hope before he moved on, a magic array appeared in the sky above the castle wall.
'I knew it.'
Since the archlich was capable of casting magic to the earlier location where the undead were gathered, Raon obviously predicted that it could also cast it on the castle wall.
'I need to slash it here properly.'
Even for an archlich, there should've been limits to how powerful the magic could be since they were so far away. It was necessary to properly slash the magic to make them learn the lesson that using a spell would be detrimental.
Zap!
The moment the purple ray was about to be fired from the magic array, Raon threw the Blade of Requiem like a throwing dagger.
Wham!
The Blade of Requiem, with the power of Ghastly Flow of Mana, cut through the archlich's spell and magic array.
Zap!
The magic array summoned by the archlich crumbled like a dry leaf before it could unleash its spells.
"It doesn't matter what that skull tries to do from afar."
Raon easily caught the Blade of Requiem when it fell back towards him. He rolled his lips into a smile, sneering at the archlich that should've been watching.
'This is my last move.'
If the provocation worked and the archlich appeared, he could definitely win the battle.
'However, if they choose the war of attrition instead of coming out…It might be difficult.'
* * *
At the western end of what should have been called the Land of Death instead of the Swamp of Death, the three pillars that used to be under the swamp had returned to their original appearance. There were multiple traces of sword slashes on them.
Blue flames were emerging from the empty eye sockets of the archlich and death knight who were leaning against the pillars, watching a large crystal ball.
"Is that the Zieghart of this era?"
The archlich swayed his finger while watching Raon inside the crystal ball.
"His power is as intense as before. He just looks like that man."
"Yes. His bloodline is still powerful, unlike Arianne."
The death knight nodded, his fists touching each other.
"It's not just about his might. He knows how to win a war."
The archlich lowered the hem of his robe and fiddled with the staff in his hand.
'I can't even use magic recklessly because of him.'
The young descendent of Zieghart managed to easily tear apart his spell and magic circle with his small dagger.
A long-distance spell required a large amount of mana and willpower. Since he couldn't understand how Raon managed to destroy his spell, he couldn't attack him recklessly anymore.
"However, he must've spent a lot more stamina and aura than he appears to have. The same goes for the other humans."
"In that case, let's attack right away."
The death knight nodded and placed his hand on the longsword hanging around his waist.
"Get into formation again. I'll lead the troop to destroy those castle walls."
"Alright, let's…"
"No, no."
When the two highest-rank undead were about to take action, the Specter appeared behind them.
"That's what he wants you to do."
Even though the Specter was talking to them, the death knight and the archlich didn't even think about looking back. They just stood there blankly.
"He's hoping that you will attack them right now."
He took a bead from his robe. The bead used to be as clean as spring water, but more than half of it had turned dark.
"Instead of going to him, you have to call him over here. That's the only way to change history."
The Specter declared the words emotionlessly and extended the hand holding the bead.
"I'll help you a little."
Black smoke arose from the bead and seeped into the death knight and the archlich.
Rumble!
The energy of death of the two undead drastically intensified, and the aura of death rising from the Land of Death emanated an even more powerful stench.
"Arise."
The death knight and the archlich raised their hands.
Rumble!
A huge tremor occurred from the Land of Death, and the undead that fell under the castle walls were revived and got into formation.
"Yes."
The Specter nodded while stroking the bead that had turned a bit darker.
"Suffocating them to death is the only way you can win."
Blue flames burst from the eyes of the archlich mask he was wearing.
"I'll tell you when to draw your blades."
Raon bit his lip tightly while watching the swarm of undead advancing towards them.
'They must be a smart opponent.'
Two days had passed since he went down from the castle walls to slaughter the undead and provoke the archlich.
He was expecting them to be extremely furious and come to attack them directly, but they kept sending low- and intermediate-class undead to continue a war of attrition.
The undead corpses piled up over and over for the past five days, and they'd created a small hill that almost reached the castle walls.
'That's not the only problem.'
Raon bit his lip and looked behind him.
"Kuh…"
"Damn it! When is this going to end?! Even the ants aren't as numerous as them!"
"I…want…sleep."
Burren, Martha, and Runaan were biting their lips with their faces turned pale. They weren't afraid of their enemies, but their stamina and willpower must've reached their limits because they kept fighting for five days without any proper rest or sleep.
"D-does this ever end?"
"They must be trying to suffocate us to death…"
"Damn it! Stupid corpses!"
"Please stop coming!"
The Light Wind swordsmen were even more exhausted than the team leaders, and the hands holding their swords were trembling. Forget sleeping, they couldn't even rest, and many of them had their eyes half closed.
"Kuh…"
"I-I want to sleep…"
"This is endless."
Since that was how bad it was for the Light Wind squad, the Amber Blade division was either on their knees as if they'd lost their mind, or they were leaning against the wall. As for the rangers, many of them had collapsed from exhaustion.
Raon furrowed his brow while looking at the hands of the swordsmen and rangers on the ground.
'It can't be helped.'
Even though there was no direct confrontation, the rangers and swordsmen's hands were covered in bloody bandages. Since they had managed to last for five days while holding their weapons all along, they should've been praised for their tenacity.
"Th-this is hell…"
Raon went towards Dorian, who was taking out clothespins from his belly pocket to attach them around his eyes.
"Dorian. Have you received any news about whether they received it or not?"
"Unfortunately not. It's just a one-sided thing…"
Dorian shook his head while taking the clothespins from his eyes.
"We just have to wait."
"I see."
Raon nodded and returned to the front of the castle wall. The undead were slowly approaching while he thought.
'I need to find a different method…'
You should take care of yourself instead.
Wrath emerged from the bracelet with a frown.
The others at least managed to sleep for a short time. You haven't slept at all for five days straight!
He started punching with his round fist, telling Raon to sleep instead of worrying about others.
'Are you worried about me?'
No-not at all! The King of Essence just wants you to avoid ruining your body, because it will be his soon enough!
Wrath hurriedly shook his head and shouted in denial.
'I guess that's the case since you were secretly adding some wrath while using the Silver-White Aurora earlier.'
Gasp! How did you know…?
'There's no way I wouldn't notice.'
Raon smiled faintly. Wrath didn't recover the wrath that he'd shoved into Raon when he was helping him with the Silver-White Aurora's activation. He must've been planning to use it as a trap later, but Raon was already aware of it.
Ugh! You really make him not want to help you!
'I'm grateful for your help anyway.'
Raon patted Wrath's cotton candy head and caught his breath.
'I'll buy everything you want to eat after this war is over.'
He wasn't lying. He wanted to get some proper meals and sleep because he hadn't been able to sleep or eat properly for a while.
Re-really?
'Yes.'
What's that change of mind…?
'I won't say in return for that, but can you recover my aura and stamina? I'll take your wrath.'
Aura can be recovered. Injuries can also be healed, but not willpower.
'Willpower…'
Your willpower is at rock bottom right now because you kept leading the fight in this castle without sleeping in the slightest. That's one thing the King of Essence can't help with.
Wrath continued with a frown.
Even if your stamina and aura are recovered, you won't be able to fight if you don't have the willpower.
'I see.'
He was right. He could slowly recover his aura through cultivation, but not his willpower. Even though he was aware of that fact, continuing to fight was the only option he had.
Raon quietly sighed, and Wendy Arianne approached him.
"Sir Raon."
Wendy raised her head while smiling awkwardly.
"Sh-shouldn't we abandon the castle and withdraw?"
She suggested abandoning the castle with trembling lips.
"Are you serious?'
Wendy Arianne was a true warrior who kept swinging her sword to save the house even though the entire house was corrupted and destroyed. The fact that she was suggesting an escape despite her respectable mind signified that the crisis was extremely serious.
"Yes. People are more important than the castle."
She nodded. She must've already made up her mind.
"Unfortunately, we can't."
Raon slowly shook his head.
"That's what they want us to do."
The castle built by the first head of Arianne was capable of blocking the energy of death. If the castle collapsed or they left the castle, the ordinary people were all going to die from the energy of death, and the swordsmen and rangers were going to be hunted down by undead that never tired.
'Is he still in the middle of his training?'
It was so suffocating that Raon even thought about Rimmer. That was when the team leader of the rangers, Prica, came running towards him.
"W-we got a problem!"
Prica continued while wiping the cold sweat flowing down from his forehead.
"Weegen Arianne and the executives have escaped!"
"What?"
"I don't know how they opened the jail, but they took hostages and escaped over the eastern castle walls!"
"Ah…"
Wendy Arianne bit her fingernails in despair.
"What the hell…?"
Raon clenched his fist while looking at Prica.
'I thought I knew he was trash, but…I can't believe he fell so low.'
Even though he was pulled down from the head's position, House Arianne was still his house, and he ran away during a crisis. Raon couldn't believe how ugly he could be.
"Who helped them? Baneder?"
"I didn't."
Baneder came after Prica and shook his hand.
"I've been quietly resting in my room. Prica can testify for me."
"Yes…"
Prica nodded, saying that he was right.
"He was a snake, but people are uneasy because he was still the head of house. They are starting to say that we should all run away together…"
He ground his teeth violently, saying that the unified spirit of the house was ruined because of Weegen and the executives.
"Understandable."
Raon nodded.
'He was still their head of house, even though he was unsightly.'
Wendy was the new head of house, but it was just a temporary position. It was only natural for the troop to lose morale because Weegen escaped like a loach.
"That fucking pig, I'm going to kill him no matter what!"
Martha was unable to suppress her anger and punched the ground.
"Haa…"
Raon sighed in frustration when a powerful energy of death rose from behind them.
'Don't tell me.'
He turned around and saw a dark cloud appear.
Rumble!
The army of mid- to high-ranking undead that were hiding behind the zombies and skeletons were moving again. They must've noticed the anxiety spreading inside the castle.
Kieeeh!
Specters flying in the sky signaled the start of the battle. They exhaled their dark breath to attack the rangers at the right end of the castle walls.
"Runaan!"
"Mhm."
Runaan, who was standing around the right castle wall, kicked the ground upon hearing his call. A frozen barrier was unleashed at the same time as her footstep to block the rangers' front.
Clang!
The death breath and the ice wall clashed against each other and subsided at the same time.
The moment the wall was destroyed, Runaan jumped into the air to unleash her second technique. The frozen strike was fast and soft at the same time, and the two specters who were trying to withdraw were cut in half.
However, the undead didn't care about the specters' deaths. They keep running towards the castle at full speed.
Rumble!
Ghouls and skeleton warriors ran from the center, a group of dullahans charged like a knight order, and three death knights were lighting up the area with the red fires in their eyes from the left side.
However, that wasn't all. Liches and skeleton mages appeared from the right and started to cast their spells. It was the magic squad that the enemy had been hiding all along.
"Martha, Burren."
Raon pointed at the magic squad while biting his lip.
"Stop their magic by all means necessary."
"I'll do as you command."
"What an easy task!"
Despite what they said, they unleashed their aura with serious expressions on their faces.
Whaam!
The liches and skeleton mages unleashed their spells that were brimming with the energy of death. Burren and Martha fired their aura blades, incorporating the auras of wind and earth to shoot down the spells mid-air. However, the shockwaves from the explosion engulfed the castle walls and created more serious fissures.
"Head of house, please keep protecting the castle walls overall! Sir Mark, please take care of the ones charging from the center. As for me…"
Raon unleashed a silver strike towards the group of dullahans charging from the left side. A weak aura blade advanced toward them, and deadly astral energy appeared behind it. It was an application of the Sword's Silvery Dream into a long-range attack.
Slash!
With the frightening sounds of splitting flesh, six dullahans were cut in half and rolled on the ground.
"I'll take care of the stronger ones."
He used the Supreme Harmony Steps to the right. The chimera zombie running towards him looked like a hundred zombies had been combined.
'I can't let it approach us.'
He fixed the grip on his sword and unleashed a superspeed aura blade. However, the chimera zombie's body expanded like a balloon before the deadly attack reached it.
Whaam!
The chimera zombie's body inflated and exploded as the aura blade reached it. Dark flesh and bones flew towards the castle walls. It was a corpse explosion—a suicide attack.
Cring!
Raon weakened his grip on Heavenly Drive with his feet on the inclined castle wall. The White Shadow Slash was unleashed to erase the darkness, melting down all of the bones and flesh flying toward the castle.
White Shadow Slash. The technique capable of erasing all energy had completely removed the aftermath of the explosion.
Whir!
Two magic arrays appeared in the air. Raon kicked the castle wall without even taking a breath. When the dark spears were about to be fired from the magic arrays, Raon slashed down with the Blade of Requiem, which was wrapped in astral energy.
Slash!
The Ghastly Flow of Mana was activated, and the magic spear and magic array were severed altogether.
"Haa…"
Raon exhaled roughly and lowered his gaze. Because the group of undead was too numerous and even enhanced, many of them managed to break through the sword aura blades raining towards them.
'Hmm?'
The aura blades were still raining, but the endless rain of arrows had stopped. Raon looked around and noticed that the rangers were holding their bows with trembling hands.
'They ran out of the arrows…'
It should've been obvious. Even though Wendy had thoroughly resupplied the defense, she didn't expect a war of that scale. They only managed to last that long thanks to the residents crafting the arrows.
"Hold your spears!"
Raon shouted, and the rangers clenched their javelins and went to the front.
"Throw!"
"Uaaaah!"
They weren't too proficient with them, but there were so many undead that they still managed to hit the ghouls and skeleton warriors' heads. However, it wasn't enough to stop the advance of the undead.
Whaam!
Raon unleashed the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation's fire and created ice spears with Glacier to fire at them, but it was impossible to deal with the entire army of undead on his own.
'It's faster than expected, but there's no other choice!'
Raon looked at the rangers who were in charge of supplies.
"Pour the holy water!"
Upon hearing the order, the rangers opened the lid of the holy water that they'd been saving and poured it into salt water. They quickly mixed it together and poured it over the walls.
Swaaa!
However, the undead didn't stop even though they were soaked in holy water. They came running even faster and started to attack the castle wall.
Creak!
The fissures on the walls became larger and larger because of the powerful energy of death.
"Gasp!"
"Wh-what…?"
"Th-the holy water didn't work!?"
"This can't be happening!"
The rangers and swordsmen's chins trembled violently as they witnessed the strange sight—the undead were unaffected by the holy water!
"I-I think that's fake."
Wendy shook her hand with a frown.
"Fake?"
"The previous head once got a large sum of money for himself after selling something, and I think he sold the real holy water."
"Ah…"
"Fa-fake holy water…?"
"How is this happening?"
Morale decreased even further when they heard that the holy water was fake. Let alone the rangers, even the swordsmen's faces were shadowed.
"Dorian!"
"I have them since they are necessities! But…"
Dorian placed down his sword and put his hand in his belly pocket. Once his hand came back out, he was holding five luxurious glass bottles.
"It was expensiveeeee!"
He added the holy water and salt water into a watering can used for gardening to spread the water over the castle walls.
Kuaaa!
Kieeeh!
Even though the undead kept charging like bulls through the spears, arrows, and aura blades, they screamed and withdrew as the holy water touched them. The energy of death piercing into the castle wall was also removed completely—as if an eraser had been used.
Whaam!
A dark ray was fired from the lich that was commanding the magic squad of the undead. Judging from the direction, Dorian was the target.
Slash!
Raon slashed down with the Blade of Requiem in a reverse grip to cut the spell. He jumped down right away and incorporated Heavenly Drive with fire. At the same time as the tip of his sword was extended to the front, a fire dragon's breath burned up the undead approaching the castle wall.
Psssh!
While Raon was attacking, spells and arrows fired by the skeleton archers and mages rushed towards him.
Clang!
Raon slashed the spells with the Blade of Requiem and slashed the arrows with Heavenly Drive, and the sound of collapsing walls could be heard from the left.
Raon raised his head and saw that a death knight who'd been hiding among the zombies had jumped up on the wall.
Clang!
Runaan quickly ran there to block the sword falling towards a ranger, but she was immediately pushed back because of her exhaustion.
Raon connected the rotation starting from his ankle to his wrist to unleash Heaven Slaying Dagger.
Pssssh!
The deadly blade incorporating the principles of Flawless Throw flew like a ray of light to destroy the death knight's skull.
"Kuh…"
Raon endured the pain in his lungs to jump back onto the castle walls.
'This is so hard.'
Raon's hands holding the swords were trembling as he furrowed his brow. He managed to push them back temporarily with the holy water and the Flame Dragon Art, but it was a matter of time before they returned. His allies were extremely exhausted while the enemies were only getting started.
Raon clenched his back teeth while looking at the swarming undead and the closed castle gate.
'The only path I have left now is…'