Raon snapped his fingers while running towards the route where the Warring Steel division was seen for the last time.
'According to the information, their traces suddenly disappeared from that route.'
According to the informative booklet that Chad had given to him, the Warring Steel division was on its way back after spending a night in Loilan Village and disappeared on the way.
Considering that even Trevin, who was at the highest level of Master, and the entire Warring Steel division hadn't left any traces as they disappeared, they were definitely using something special like some kind of power or an artifact.
'I need to figure out what that was, but… There's nothing I can tell for now.'
Since the Warring Steel division had disappeared during daybreak, the available information was too little, and it was impossible to solve the mystery.
Raon furrowed his brow while touching his slightly dry lips.
'Demon Ring and Frozen Scent.'
According to the Shadow Agents' investigations, the two floor overseers involved in the incident were the demonized humans called Demon Ring and Frozen Scent.
Demon Ring used two white chakrams that gave off holy vibes despite his name. However, the chakrams would supposedly turn as dark as the abyss once he unleashed more than fifty percent of his demonic energy, and they became drastically more powerful than before.
On the other hand, Frozen Scent was apparently capable of freely manipulating the water attribute as easily as her own body. There was also a strange rumor stating that her coldness accompanied some kind of fragrance once she unleashed her power, and whoever inhaled it would die within five steps.
'They are both superior to the Black Commander.'
Which floor they occupied in the Black Tower determined their ranks, and Demon Ring and Frozen Scent were both known to manage higher floors than the Black Commander.
Since they had both been notorious for a long time as demonized humans, they wouldn't have had much difficulty defeating the Warring Steel division. One of them was probably enough to annihilate the whole division.
'However…'
Even for them, it was impossible to make the Warring Steel division disappear without a trace.
'They might have gained a new ability. It could be one of them or both.'
Since even the elites from the Shadow Agents were unable to figure out how the Warring Steel division had gone missing, it was necessary to gather information as fast as possible.
'I should start from here.'
Raon activated the Ring of Fire and the Perception of the Snow Flower at the same time.
Whir!
The faint flow of the demon king's skill linked with the resonating rings of fire. The combination of the mana inside and outside his body made him feel like his body was floating in the air, and his vision and perception widened many times larger, just like a blind person opening their eyes.
Raon could feel countless presences through the spreading perception.
He could feel the movement of small wild animals and insects from the south, which was full of greenery around a river, and the quiet snow field to the north looked like no one was around at first, but he could hear the faint breath of the hibernating animals under the ground.
Raon clenched his fist before opening it while spreading his aura perception even further.
'This is strange. The area became even wider than before.'
The area of his perception had increased more than ten percent compared to before he'd returned to the house. He couldn't understand how that happened since he'd been focusing on training his swordsmanship instead of cultivating his aura.
Moreover, he didn't feel stressed at all even though he was using his aura perception and his footwork to the best of his abilities. He felt like he could fight perfectly fine even if a battle broke out while he was in that state.
'Did they increase my realm itself instead of only teaching me swordsmanship?'
It looked like Glenn and Rector had widened his realm on top of teaching him sword principles.
People in the continent called them the pinnacle of swordsmen for a good reason, as they managed to create such a result in a single week.
'However… Even my increased perception isn't catching anything.'
Even though his aura perception had become wider and more sensitive, he couldn't feel anything similar to a trace of battle.
'Wrath.'
Raon furrowed his brow and tapped on Wrath's head, who was riding on his shoulder.
'How about you? Do you feel anything?'
Not really so far. But even if he did, do you believe that the King of Essence would tell you about it?
He stuck his tongue out and sneered.
'True, that's how you are.'
Raon furrowed his brow and flicked Wrath's tongue with his finger.
Ack! The King of Essence's godly tongue! It's worth ten million gold!
Raon ignored him since he was calling himself a god despite being a demon king and focused on his perception instead.
'Well, I still learned something thanks to him.'
Wrath seemed to believe that he didn't give Raon any hints at all, but he'd said that there was nothing so far. That implies that there was nothing to investigate between the dimensional door and where he was.
Raon smiled faintly while looking at Wrath, who was rubbing his thick tongue with teary eyes.
'Thank you again, giving Wrath.'
Raon and the Light Wind division kept running nonstop and arrived at Loilan Village, where the Warring Steel division was last spotted.
"Wow, how can a village even look like that?"
Martha furrowed her brow while looking at Loilan Village.
"Indeed, it's not coherent at all."
Burren agreed with Martha and nodded faintly.
"They are high and low."
Runaan tilted her head while looking back and forth between the buildings with high and low roofs.
It was actually normal for the Light Wind swordsmen to be so surprised.
Loilan Village was a mid-sized village since it wasn't that big or small, and the building styles were drastically different between north and south since the climates of the northern and central regions coexisted.
To prevent the snow from piling up, the buildings in the north had high roofs that made them look pointy. Meanwhile, the roofs in the center were a lot flatter.
People who didn't know the reason behind the difference would have believed that two villages from different regions had been forcibly combined.
'This place is as peculiar as always.'
Raon entered Loilan Village, thinking that it hadn't changed at all since the last time he'd seen it.
The atmosphere inside the village was anxious and hectic at the same time, probably because they knew about the Warring Steel division's disappearance and the Black Tower's movement.
"Welcome."
Raon was planning to start by examining the village, but a middle-aged black-haired man walked up to him and bowed. He was wearing yellow clothes with a small bird pattern at the hem.
"My name is Rugen, the eighth external wing of the Shadow Agents."
He quietly mumbled that he was an external agent from the Shadow Agents. Raon immediately nodded because Chad had mentioned he had someone to help them, even though the agent's outfit and attitude were already believable enough.
"I'm Raon Zieghart, the Light Wind's vice division leader."
"I'm honored to meet you."
His eyes looked excited as he nodded. It didn't seem to be flattery.
"How is the situation?"
"There shouldn't be any changes compared to what you've heard."
He sighed, saying that nothing had changed even though he'd been thoroughly searching Loilan Village and its surroundings.
"I've investigated every single one of the villagers and every building, but nothing strange was found."
"Did the floor overseers from the Black Tower not visit this village?"
"They didn't. People haven't even seen any black robes around."
The black robes that clad them in darkness were a characteristic of the Black Tower. Rugen shook his head, saying that the Black Tower hadn't visited the village at all.
"How is that even possible?"
Martha frowned and examined the village from left to right.
"The Black Tower's scoundrels supposedly appeared around here!"
"Indeed."
Rugen nodded without being surprised. He seemed to be aware of Martha's personality.
"The place where the Warring Steel division was seen last is close to here, isn't it?"
"Correct."
"Then how does it even make sense that the villagers don't know about it?"
Martha rolled her eyes fiercely, saying that it was strange no matter how she thought about it.
"There must be at least one person who knows. Let's look for them."
"And how are you planning to search?"
Raon sighed while looking at Martha, who was bobbing her finger.
"By beating them up of course, what else? Violence solves all problems!"
Raon felt like he'd heard that before, as Martha shouted for him to give her permission.
"You really are amazing."
Runaan gave Martha a thumbs up to compliment her. However, she tilted her thumb downwards and continued.
"It's a stupid idea that no one would come up with except for Miss Rakshasa."
"You slowpoke!"
"Hmph."
Martha and Runaan kicked each other and started to fight.
Raon shook his head and closed his eyes. He gathered as much wrath as possible and spread the Perception of the Snow Flower as much as possible. While feeling the sensation of his skin spreading through the air, he tried to scrape up the Black Tower and the Warring Steel division's traces in the entire village.
'It seems there's nothing.'
Just as Rugen had said, he couldn't feel the Warring Steel division's presence nor the Black Tower's demonic energy. None of them had left any trace in the village.
Raon opened his eyes. Martha and Runaan were trying to push each other with their palms.
"Stop."
Raon raised his hand to split them apart and shook his head.
"Gathering information by beating people up isn't a good method even in a hurry. Moreover, I don't think we will get anything by doing that."
"Huh…?"
"What?"
The Light Wind swordsmen blankly raised their eyes upon hearing that.
'Wait, that's what you always do!'
'You even did it to us, on top of the enemies!'
'You previously told us that we should consider the possibility that we didn't do enough beating if the problem wasn't solved!'
The Light Wind swordsmen dropped their jaws while thinking about what Raon had previously done and said, but Raon didn't even care about them.
"Anyway, we are leaving. Get ready."
Raon shook his hand at the Light Wind division before walking up to Rugen, who was standing behind him.
"Can you guide us to the place with the last trace of the Warring Steel division?"
"Are you sure? It's relatively far from here."
"I don't mind."
"In that case, let's get going."
Rugen nodded and left the village before using footwork. He didn't look that powerful, but his footwork was extremely fast and confident.
Raon unleashed his aura perception as much as possible once again while following him. He examined the flow of the wind, as well as the movement of animals and people while looking for strange energy.
However, both the forest and the snow field were completely peaceful. He didn't manage to find anything until Rugen came to a halt.
"Here we are."
Rugen exhaled roughly and pointed ahead. He could see a small path slightly away from Hoffern's avenue.
A gray frozen lake was in the north, and a clear lake was sloshing under the setting sunlight in the south.
The small and narrow path passed between the two lakes with extreme contrast. It was a beautiful scene that anyone would stop by, let alone the Warring Steel division.
"This is where the Warring Steel division's last traces were found. However…"
Rugen looked away in the middle of his explanation. Swordsmen in gray uniforms showed up from the path between the lakes that he'd previously pointed at.
Their unshakable gazes were as sharp as a blade polished by an artisan, and reversed burning sword emblems were engraved on their clothes. They were the White Lotus division's swordsmen that Glenn had supposedly summoned beforehand.
The White Lotus division always stayed outside the house because of their division leader's personality, which made it his first encounter with them after the assault on Eden's branch.
Raon briefly licked his lips, while observing the swordsmen's presences.
'They are powerful for sure.'
The White Lotus division was clad in even more powerful and ferocious pressure than the Warring Steel division, probably because they'd been continuously fighting and carrying out missions outside the house.
'However… They have many fatalities because of that.'
It was impossible for everyone to become a hero. Those who managed to survive became more powerful, but a larger number of swordsmen ended up dying before then. Raon had heard that the White Lotus division always requested many members for that reason. In fact, there was only one of their members who he recognized among those he was seeing.
"It's the White Lotus division."
"They were supposed to be here, huh…"
"But why are they glaring like that? Are they picking a fight?"
The Light Wind division darted their tongues in and out upon recognizing the White Lotus division.
"The Light Wind squad? Why is the Light Wind squad here?"
"I heard they were dispatched as additional reinforcement for this mission."
"Reinforcement? What do we even do with them?"
"And they are the Light Wind division now, instead of a squad."
"Oh, yeah. I heard they were promoted."
The White Lotus division also recognized the Light Wind division and slightly furrowed their brows. The way they spoke was rather disturbing.
'It's so pointless.'
Raon briefly sighed and walked up to the White Lotus swordsmen.
"Where is the division leader?"
"I'm not sure. Where did he go again?"
The swordsman, who seemed to be a team leader, impudently shook his head while whistling.
The pointless tension was undesirable for Raon since there wasn't much time, but the White Lotus division didn't seem to agree. They seemed to believe that the Light Wind division had volunteered for the mission in order to steal the White Lotus division's achievement.
"You…"
"Hey, you son of a bitch!"
Raon furrowed his brow, and a vulgar curse could be heard from behind. Of course, it was Martha's doing.
"Where's your respect, you fucker? Can't you see our vice division leader right here? Huh?"
"Erm…"
The team leader widened his eyes in surprise. He must not have expected a sudden curse.
"You even know that we've been promoted to a division but still picked a fight with us. You must have a death wish."
Martha glared ferociously at the White Lotus swordsmen. She looked like she would attack them at any moment.
"Good job."
Runaan nodded at her while unironically applauding her. It was rare for her to support Martha.
"He looks like some paltry rat…"
"I'll pull your limbs off."
"Watch out how you run your mouth if you don't want to die."
It wasn't just Martha and Runaan. The entire Light Wind division was glaring at the White Lotus division with their eyes gleaming with damp madness. They looked like they were going to attack if they were provoked any further.
"Stop it."
Raon would've normally let the Light Wind division mess them up, but he didn't have any time to waste. It was necessary to discuss with the White Lotus division leader as fast as possible and take action.
"Say it now. Where is he?"
Raon didn't even need to release his pressure. The team leader was intimidated by the Light Wind division's madness, and he pointed at the southern lake while his shoulders trembled.
Raon followed his hand and saw a tall man standing in the middle of the White Lotus swordsmen.
His shoulders were as broad as a whale, and his jawline was angular. He looked like a heavenly general from the myths, but his pressure was the most important part. The extreme heaviness weighing upon Raon's body felt like he was the embodiment of a huge mountain.
Raon didn't use any aura. He endured Ayad's pressure with nothing but willpower and bowed to him.
"Greetings, White Lotus division leader."
"It's been a while, Light Wind vice division leader."
Ayad slowly nodded. He wasn't showing any displeasure for not being the only ones on the mission, unlike the other White Lotus swordsmen, but the foul sign in his eyes clearly indicated that he didn't like Raon's presence.
'I guess there's no reason they would be welcoming us.'
Raon decided not to care about it since he just wanted to save the Warring Steel division.
"The Warring Steel division's traces disappeared after those."
He briefly clicked his tongue while looking at the lake.
"There's no trace of battle, and no corpse floated to the surface. It's a mystery. However, no matter what power was in action, they couldn't have left the Hoffern region."
Ayad turned to look at Raon.
"The best method to look for them is simple. It's to scatter the Light Wind division and the White Lotus division one by one to search the entirety of Hoffern. If every swordsman moves individually, we should be able to search the entire region before sunrise."
He nodded, saying that it was the only way to find the Warring Steel division's traces in that land.
"You should head to the east, for instance. Search everything starting from the entrance…"
"I apologize for saying this, but I don't want to."
Raon shook his head when Ayad was about to spread the map. Scattering the members one by one was definitely not a good method in the given situation.
It might allow them to quickly find the traces, but it could increase the casualties. That was why he couldn't accept it.
"Err…"
"D-did he just…?"
The White Lotus swordsmen glanced at Ayad sideways with trembling lips. It looked like they didn't expect Raon to immediately refuse.
Whir!
Ayad straightened his back while almost crushing the half-opened map in his grasp. His gaze pressing upon Raon's soul was as fiery as the northern wind and heavy at the same time.
"What did you say just now? Say it again."
His gaze became a violent pressure and crushed Raon's shoulders. The pain on his skin felt like he was being stabbed by a blade, but he counteracted with the power of his soul enhanced by the Ring of Fire and stood in front of Ayad.
"I said I don't want to."
"You've always loved to say no, haven't you?"
"There's no reason to go out of my way to create more casualties."
Raon's red eyes and Ayad's gray eyes clashed against each other, and a deep distortion was created on the calm lake.