Raon slashed through the Sword Demon's pressure and advanced with the new versatile sword he'd created.
Creak!
His entire body was screaming in pain. His fingertips were trembling from the pain that felt like his bones were smashed into pieces and his muscles were being torn apart.
His brain was the most painful part. He felt like his head was being scorched into ash because his upper energy center was overheating.
'Kuh…'
Raon clenched his back teeth and raised his gaze. He could see the Sword Demon's undisturbed blue eyes. He must've expected that Raon would manage that much.
'So, I didn't surpass his expectations.'
Considering that he wasn't surprised at all, the Sword Demon must've expected Raon's growth during the clash. It was an insight befitting his fame.
'Fine. I'll break that composure.'
Enduring pain was pretty much breathing for Raon. It felt like his heart and head were about to burst, but he endured the pain and clenched his grip.
Whir!
His upper energy center glowed red from the Ring of Fire's heat.
The swords that were buried in his mental world were further revealed and dazzling light radiated from the principle of versatile sword in Heavenly Drive.
One step, and one more step.
The Sword Demon used to be so far away, but he was finally right in front of his eyes, and Heavenly Drive was close enough to reach his sword.
Clang!
Heavenly Drive clashed against the Sword Demon's blade. There was no shockwave, nor was there a thunderous noise. The clash between the versatile principles in their swords created a ringing resonance.
Rumble!
Unlike that elegant resonance, the pressure coming from the Sword Demon's blade became twice as powerful and started to crush Raon's body.
"Kuh!"
His ankles trembled as if he were standing on mud, and his knees bent at an unnatural angle. He felt like his entire body was screaming at him to stop.
'…But I'm still going to continue. I'll break his composure.'
He unleashed the small amount of aura left inside him and made the Ring of Fire resonate.
The world turned white, and he could only see the Sword Demon and his sword.
Along with an illusion that looked like the sword buds in his mental world suddenly rose, the martial art dwelling in Heavenly Drive became more mature.
Crack!
The continuous descent of the Sword Demon's blade was stopped for the first time.
Raon's versatile sword started to sever the Sword Demon's versatile sword like a salmon swimming up a waterfall.
Creak!
With the cutting sound of thousands of papers, the Sword Demon's blade was elevated by more than a handspan.
"Hmm…"
The Sword Demon groaned for the first time, and eyes that used to be completely immobile and emotionless started to waver like a sailboat in a turbulent ocean.
'Just a bit more…'
The physical pain felt like he was dying, but his mind was clearing instead.
'I think I can break through the wall.'
He had just managed to break through the wall towards the highest level Master, but he had the feeling that he could destroy an even bigger wall.
He mustered the small amount of aura remaining in him and polished his principles to the extreme before incorporating them into Heavenly Drive. The Sword Demon's blade was pushed back even further.
Whir!
Raon and the Sword Demon were the only ones inside the white space, but a blue cotton candy suddenly appeared.
You idi…you…going to di…
Wrath appeared in front of his eyes and shouted something while floundering his round hands, but Raon couldn't understand what he was saying because he couldn't hear it too well.
Your head…burst…stop…
He must've found another food he wanted to eat.
'I'll eat it later for you.'
Raon ignored him and unleashed even more power. The distortion of his mental world felt like it was going to expand soon enough, and a majestic brilliance covered his vision.
'I can advance even higher.'
He started to see the wall to reach a higher realm.
He advanced towards the wall, thinking that he would be able to reach it soon enough but the Sword Demon's blade, which had been guiding him, bounced back way too easily.
"Ah…"
Raon felt like he just lost his heart, dropping Heavenly Drive on the ground.
The huge wall that he was about to reach disappeared, and the white space where he was with the Sword Demon faded away.
The world that could've been a dream or an imagination crumbled away like a fallen leaf.
'Damn it! I was almost there. It was so close, I just needed to surpass that wall…'
Regretting that he was unable to grasp that wall, he clenched his fist. In fact, he was trying to clench his fist but he couldn't muster any strength.
"Cough!"
He fell on his knees before he knew it from the terrible pain coming from his heart and brain. The pain was actually happening from all over his body.
"Huff! Huff!"
He couldn't even breathe. He grasped the left side of his chest and forced himself to breathe. Air filled his empty lungs and his vision opened up.
He could see the countless spectators that he had forgotten and a destroyed arena.
"Ugh…"
Raon wiped the sweat flowing down his cheek with his sleeve. His uniform was turning red. He must've been bleeding from his eyes and nose.
'Wh-what's happening…?'
You must be insane!
Wrath popped out and grabbed him by his collar.
You almost died just now!
He shook his hand grabbing Raon's collar, saying that he almost died from a forceful activation of his upper energy center.
'I almost died?'
Indeed! You tried to tear off your upper energy center's door by force with your mana of fire and ice at the same time without even breathing. There's no way your body can survive that!
'Ah…'
Your body belongs to the King of Essence! Don't do anything reckless with it!
Wrath headbutted him, telling him to never do such a crazy thing ever again.
"Are you okay?"
The quiet voice lessened his nausea.
"Hmm…"
Raon suppressed his groan and raised his head. The Sword Demon was looking at him with the same look in his eyes as at the beginning of the match.
No, it wasn't exactly the same. His pupils looked composed at first, but they were trembling slightly.
"Hey, do you realize you almost died just now?"
The Sword Demon let out a small sigh while saying the same thing as Wrath.
"You could've learned a lot just from defending against my attack, but you almost suffered a loss from trying to push it back. That loss would've been the only life you have."
His eyes were glowing furiously. He seemed to be scolding him from the bottom of his heart. Raon's hair stood on end because his piercing gaze felt even sharper than his blade.
He's right. If that geezer didn't withdraw his sword at that moment, your upper energy center would've exploded and you wouldn't be standing here anymore.
Wrath licked his lips, saying that he saw the Sword Demon in a new light.
'He withdrew his sword…? Ah!'
Raon remembered how the Sword Demon's sword was pushed back way too easily when he thought he was about to reach the huge wall.
He thought the Sword Demon was hindering his progress, but he was actually saving his life.
'Was he really trying to teach me?'
Just like the Sword Demon had said before the match started, he must've been trying to help Raon's development as a senior instead of repaying the humiliation of his disciple.
"Thank you for saving me."
Raon bit his lip and bowed politely.
"Physical injuries can be healed. Internal injuries take a bit more time, but they still can be recovered. However, the energy center can hardly be recovered once it is destroyed."
The Sword Demon tapped on his own temple with his index finger.
"The upper energy center is especially dangerous because you can be crippled or lose your mind if you make a mistake with it. You need to control it a lot more delicately than the other energy centers."
"Hmm…"
"Some children's upper energy centers are already open from the moment of their birth, but it usually opens up upon becoming a Grandmaster for most people."
The Sword Demon looked at Yua, who was watching from far away.
"However, you don't belong to either of the cases. Your upper energy center wasn't open when you were born, but the path opened up during your growth. It's a special case, but you ended up like this because you tried to use the small gap into the upper energy center beyond its limit and lost control."
He explained how it happened with a calm voice.
"You are already an advanced Master at twenty years old. No, I should say the highest level of Master since you just surpassed the wall. You reached the peak way too quickly."
The Sword Demon's serious eyes seemed to be observing him.
"If the stairs you climbed so far can be compared to sharp rocks, the stairs awaiting you in the future might be made of rotten hardwood or extremely thin pieces of paper."
He must've been trying to tell him that it was necessary to be more careful in every step in the future, unlike before.
"Even an excellent lumberjack needs to sharpen their axe from time to time. You should take it easy for a while since you just surpassed a wall today."
"I'll keep it in mind."
Raon nodded while listening to the Sword Demon's wise advice.
'He's right.'
He managed to reach the highest level of Master from the spar against the Sword Demon and even gained massive enlightenment about the versatile sword.
He still had a long way to go until the realm of Grandmaster and the Sword Field Creation, but he should be able to reach it soon enough if he slowly advanced step by step.
"The fact that you entered a trance during a battle implies that you've always done your best during training. I'm starting to understand how you managed to reach your realm at your age."
The Sword Demon returned his sword to its scabbard with a faint smile on his face.
"Keep working on it."
"Yes."
Raon bowed once again, and the spectators started to shout by the time he raised his head.
"Whoaaa!"
"The White Sword Dragon managed to defend against the Sword Demon's strike!"
"Raon! Raon! Raon!"
"White Sword Dragon! White Sword Dragon! White Sword Dragon!"
They kept shouting the White Sword Dragon's name without realizing that the Sword Demon had pulled his sword back for Raon's sake.
"How is he getting stronger every single time I see him?"
"What realm is he in right now?"
"Do you think he can win against the top dogs of the Twelve Stars of the Continent?"
"It's easy for him!"
The spectators cheered while discussing Raon's realm.
"That's not the case!"
Raon raised his hands.
"As for this match, I…"
He wanted to tell them that the Sword Demon withdrew his sword on his own, but it was pointless because every single spectator around the arena was shouting.
"It's okay."
The Sword Demon shook his head.
"But it will sully your reputation if I don't explain it to them…"
"I don't care about my reputation."
He declared that reputation was meaningless for him before he lowered his gaze.
"I can't exactly say anything in return for that, but may I ask you a few questions?"
"Of course…"
Raon nodded, then suddenly heard Rimmer's shout from behind.
"A flower path! The flower path is waiting for me in the future!"
Even though countless people were shouting at the same time, Raon could still perfectly hear Rimmer's voice for some reason.
"I'll answer any question as long as I can. However, can I…"
Raon's eyes sparked in a frightening glow as he looked back.
"Burn some flowers before then?"
Rimmer jumped towards the arena as soon as he realized the accident inside Raon's body but stopped himself.
'He seems to be fine now. What a relief.'
Raon was forcing his upper energy center beyond the limits, but the Sword Demon fortunately had stopped him in time.
'That was unexpected because I heard he had a cold-hearted personality.'
He stayed alert just in case the Sword Demon might try harming him, but he actually helped Raon increase his realm and saved him from the crisis.
'This proves once again that rumors shouldn't be trusted.'
Considering how he was even advising Raon when he'd humiliated his disciple, he was a broad-minded man despite the rumors that described him as dangerous.
"The spar ended successfully, and I…"
'…am rich once agaaaaain!'
The money he'd entrusted to Owen's third prince was further increased from the gamble, and he was even about to get the 40% tax. He was pretty much raking in the money at that point.
'Some of them will fight back because of the commission, but they should calm down once I tell them I'll be supporting House Arianne with the money.
He expected them to riot once they heard about the 40% commission fee, but they had no other choice than to accept it if he told them he was using it for House Arianne.
'I'm such a genius. And…'
Rimmer put his hands together and started to pray towards Raon who was facing the Sword Demon.
'Raon, you are my lucky charm and the only god of wealth I serve. I'm looking forward to your cooperation in the futu—hmm?'
Rimmer narrowed his eyes while looking at the Sword Demon, who was standing in front of Raon.
'Oh, this is why he felt so familiar.'
He finally realized why the Sword Demon looked so familiar to him even though it was his first encounter.
He waved his hand towards Dorian, who was blankly applauding from the next seat.
"Dorian."
"Yes?"
"Don't you think that Raon and the Sword Demon have similar appearances?"
"Whaat? The Sword Demon is rather handsome, but he's not as good as our vice squad leader."
"Watch their facial features carefully instead of looking at their hair and eye colors."
Dorian examined Raon and the Sword Demon's faces one after the other while scratching his head.
"Huh? Ooh!"
He rapidly nodded while looking at Rimmer.
"They definitely look similar when I see them like this! Sir Raon is a lot more colorful, but he looks similar to the Sword Demon in some aspects!"
Dorian nodded, saying that they actually looked the exact same on top of being similar.
"Is this a coincidence? Or… Hmm?"
Rimmer licked his lips, but Raon suddenly waved his hand towards him. He was asking him to come into the arena.
"Squad leader, I think the vice squad leader is calling you."
"Indeed. I wonder why."
"Since they talked about training just now, he might be trying to praise you by saying that it was all thanks to you that he managed to defend against the Sword Demon's attack."
"Hmm, maybe."
Since Raon never cared about his fame, Rimmer figured he might be trying to avoid an annoying situation by shifting the praise.
"Ahem! It's time for me to make an appearance."
Rimmer cleared his throat and straightened his clothes before entering the arena.
"Whoaaa!"
"The Light Wind squad leader!"
"He's the teacher of the White Sword Dragon!"
Because of how amazing Raon's performance was, people cheered for Rimmer just because he was Raon's teacher.
"Am I needed?"
Rimmer asked in a dignified voice. It was difficult to believe he was running the gambling stall until a moment ago.
"I'm going to let everyone know about my squad leader's great deed."
"Great deed?"
Even though he said a great deed, Rimmer noticed a disturbing glow in Raon's eyes. He almost looked like a hawk targeting a rabbit.
Raon raised his hand, and the shouts inside the arena suddenly came to a halt. He nodded in satisfaction and stood at the center of the arena.
"Everyone should be aware that our squad leader was running a gambling stall."
People tilted their heads in bewilderment because they couldn't understand why he was suddenly talking about gambling.
"You must've thought it was strange because Zieghart's squad leader was running a gambling stall. However, it was actually our squad leader's great plan."
"Hmm…"
What Raon was saying definitely sounded like a compliment, but Rimmer's heart tightened for some reason.
"You shouldn't be aware, but our squad leader set a 40% commission fee for this gamble."
"F-forty?"
"Wh-what the hell is that?"
"In which world do you commission 40% from gambling?!"
"He's a fucking scammer!"
"Catch him and pull his ears off!"
The 40% commission fee was written on Rimmer's stall in extremely small letters that only Masters could read.
Because people finally realized that fact, they drew their swords and activated their auras as if they were about to jump into the arena right away.
"Wh-what?! Why are you telling them about it now?!"
Rimmer covered Raon's mouth with his hands.
'What's happening right now?!'
He wanted Raon to explain it to him, but he didn't even look in Rimmer's direction.
"You must want to insult him right now. You must want to scream at him, that even the loan sharks are less greedy than him. However, our squad leader's plan is only getting started."
Raon raised his hand with an evil smile on his face.
"Our squad leader decided to donate all of the commission from the two rounds of gambling to House Arianne, which was devastated from the previous war!"
"Huh? Did I?"
Rimmer's face turned pale upon hearing that, and the people cheered once again.
"Whoaaa!"
"Light Wind squad leader! I knew I could count on you!"
"There was a good reason behind the 40% commission! It was for a greater purpose!"
"I'm fine with it if he's donating it to House Arianne!"
"Rimmer! Rimmer! Rimmer!"
People shouted Rimmer's name once again, their swords still raised into the air.
"Moreover!"
However, Raon hadn't finished talking. Rimmer wanted to stop him right away, but he couldn't muster any strength.
"Our squad leader additionally decided to donate a thousand gold and hold a second festival in two days!"
"Uhh…"
Donating a thousand gold meant that he had to cough up all the money he won by making the third prince bet in his stead. Everything was going wrong.
"N-no! I never said that, you lunatics!"
Rimmer tried to deny it by flailing his whole body, but no one was listening to him.
"Woooooow!"
"Rimmer! Rimmer! Rimmer!"
"Sword of Light! Sword of Light! Sword of Light!"
"Rimmer, you are the donation angel! I can't live without you!"
"Thank you!"
The cheers from that were the loudest so far, and people from House Arianne—including Wendy—thanked him with teary eyes.
"Sword of Light."
The Sword Demon walked up to Rimmer and bowed slightly.
"I thought you were unsightly because you were running a gambling stall, but I never expected you to have such a great purpose. I need to apologize."
He smiled gently, saying that he was seeing Rimmer in a new light.
"That's our squad leader for you!"
"You are so cool!"
"I thought you were just blinded by greed, but you actually had such a nice plan!"
"I'll follow you from the bottom of my heart!"
Even the Light Wind squad applauded Rimmer with gazes filled with admiration.
"Ah…"
Rimmer lowered his hand and stopped trying to stop them.
'I'm screwed.'
If he tried to deny it, he would be stabbed to death by thousands of blades.
"I originally wanted to donate with my personal fund, but I don't need to anymore thanks to the squad leader. I'm really grateful."
Raon lowered his head while feigning ignorance.
"You should wave your hand to everyone. This is the flower path you wanted."
Raon went ahead and waved his hand, urging Rimmer to repeat after him.
"You crazy bastard! This isn't a flower path!"
"This is a flower path too. 'The flower path of doom'."
"O-of doom…"
Rimmer forced a smile onto his face and waved his hand at the spectators. A tear slid from his eye.
"You are the worst son of a bitch…"
Wrath giggled while watching Rimmer, who couldn't even let out his despair.
You used to be his young king, but now you're the worst son of a bitch.