Chapter 1034
Chapter 1034
‘A dull throb is running through my joint.’
Raon’s lips curled as he adjusted his grip on Heavenly Drive, which had just collided directly with the crimson beast.
‘The sheer kickback is extraordinary.’
The massive red wolf clearly lacked refined combat techniques, yet its raw power was formidable enough to rival his own strength as an upper-tier Transcendent.
‘On top of that, its recovery is nearly instantaneous.’
Even after taking the brunt of Revolving Sky directly on its foreleg, the monster simply gave a slight shake of its limbs and regained its footing. It stood there looking entirely unscathed.
“Grrrrrr!”
Exposing rows of stark, pale fangs that contrasted sharply with its bloody coat, the crimson wolf radiated an even thicker aura of bloodlust and slaughter.
“Seems you require a much firmer restraint.”
Raon drew both Heavenly Drive and Blade of Requiem, driving the twin blades down into the blazing red expanse of the ocean. Sword Domain. Divine-Demonic Harmony. Instantly, one side of the waters flared into brilliant golden fire, while the opposite side froze into pure white frost. Beneath the radiant ascent of both sun and moon sweeping away the surrounding gloom, Raon brought his holy and unholy weapons into position.
“These twin blades will serve as your collar.”
He tipped his chin toward the crimson wolf, daring the beast to close the distance. With an ear-splitting howl, the monster brought its claws sweeping downward on a steep angle, coated in deep crimson power. The velocity and momentum behind the strike were easily double what it had shown moments before.
“Futile.”
With an icy smirk, Raon traced a trail of golden brilliance linking the ocean to the heavens using the divine sword’s flame. Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation – Crimson Slash. That unadorned, lightning-quick cut smashed straight into the beast’s descending talons. Amid a deafening detonation, the crimson wolf went hurtling through the air, its front digits bent at unnatural angles as if shattered.
“Kwahhhhh….”
The creature vented plumes of pale vapor, writhing from the agonizing impact.
“Losing your nerve this early?”
Raon’s mouth tilted upward as he watched the beast glare back at him with pure hatred. Then, rather than lunging straight at him, the creature plunged beneath the waves with a heavy splash. Despite its colossal, mountain-sized frame sinking into the depths, not a single ripple disturbed the surface. It was as though the monster had dissolved directly into the surrounding brine.
‘Its aura has vanished without a trace.’
Even when pushing Perception of the Snow Flower to its absolute peak, the overwhelming stench of iron and the dense sanguinary presence saturating the waves made tracking the creature impossible.
‘Where could it…’
Holding his breath to sharpen his senses to the environment, he caught the faint stir of frozen air right at his back. The second he spun around, the beast’s razor talons were already descending toward his skull.
‘How does it move with such effortless fluidity?’
To fade and materialize without leaving behind the faintest vibration or sound—it seemed the claim made by the Nine Apostles about this beast being an ancient marine spirit held true.
“Hiding your presence is quite a trick, however…”
Raon swung both blades upward in an ascending arc, carving through the crimson sea. With a thunderous boom, crests of scarlet flame and pale frost erupted as both swords swept out in complete balance. Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation – Flame and Ice Unification. The defensive-offensive maneuver of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation rose like an impenetrable barrier, directly cutting off the beast’s trajectory.
Battered by the swirling tides of fire and permafrost from Flame and Ice Unification, the crimson wolf was violently repelled, dragged backward into the depths against its will. The stained sea seemed to churn with an even darker hue, bearing the weight of its trauma.
With a massive surge of water, the monster rocketed back out into the open sky. Its immense frame eclipsed the conjoined celestial lights of Divine-Demonic Harmony as it split open its dripping jaws.
A torrent of sanguinary power surged from deep within its pitch-black gullet, descending in a deluge of crimson lightning. It was a cataclysmic barrage, potent enough to reduce not just Raon, but this entire ocean expanse to nothingness.
‘It can even fire a concentrated breath?’
The beast seemed bent on obliterating his very being, discharging its sanguinary energy in a manner indistinguishable from a dragon’s breath.
“Come then.”
Raon pointed his twin weapons directly into the path of the encroaching cataclysm. He instantly detonated the immense pool of aura compressed within the intertwined red and blue sword energy. Flame Dragon Strike – Twin. Two serpents of roaring flame and biting frost tore right through the descending beam of slaughter, slamming full force into the monster’s torso. An earth-shattering boom echoed across the water!
Hurled through the air as its hide tore apart, the crimson beast crashed violently into the churning waves, thoroughly stunned. Raon lowered his hissing, steam-shrouded swords, watching the submerged silhouette below.
‘Its flesh is already mending.’
It was not merely the earlier damage to its front leg; even the severe gouges across its chest and throat torn open by the twin dragons were knitting back together smoothly.
‘This surpasses standard flesh regeneration.’
While the apostles possessed unnatural, troll-like recuperation, the wolf’s restoration was so clean and rapid that it resembled rewinding the passage of time itself.
-That overgrown hound…
Wrath scowled, staring down at the crimson beast as it surfaced once more without a single blemish, radiating relentless malice.
-Though it has degraded into a feral monstrosity, it still clings to the fundamental nature of an elemental spirit.
He clicked his tongue in irritation, pointing out that rather than simple bodily healing, the beast was reknitting its spiritual vessel directly from the elements.
-So long as this tainted sea remains saturated with sanguinary energy, it will keep coming back no matter how many times you shatter its form.
Wrath wrinkled his nose, remarking that subduing it would prove thoroughly bothersome.
‘To be honest…’
Raon shook his head slightly, keeping his eyes on the wolf whose hostility was steadily mounting.
‘I never planned to end its life.’
-You never meant to slay it?
Wrath’s tone was calm, as though he had already anticipated that answer.
‘Exactly. This spirit was merely an unwilling instrument of the White Blood Religion.’
The Ninth Apostles had mentioned that this creature had once been a guardian spirit watching over the waters.
Though the exact methods of its capture were unknown, the cult had twisted and used it for their own ends. Raon was determined to purge the corrupting energy and return the creature to its true state.
-A sentimental decision, perfectly typical of you.
A faint grin touched Wrath’s features, entirely unsurprised.
-Proceed as you like.
‘Freeing it is the goal, but making it happen won’t be simple.’
Raon clicked his tongue softly, adjusting his blades once more.
‘The only silver lining is that the creature lacks tactical martial experience.’
Being an entity born of the sea, the wolf had never trained in structured warfare nor truly mastered the manipulation of corrupt energy. Subduing it would take time, yet Raon remained certain he could bring it under control.
“Now…”
Just as Raon settled into a stable stance to counter the next lunge, the crimson wolf cast its eyes downward as it stood up. Leaking a sinister, frosty aura of blood, the creature stared fixatedly at its own reflection rippling across the dark waters.
‘What is it attempting?’
The wolf seemed completely unconcerned with Raon’s presence, mesmerized by the liquid beneath its paws.
‘An unsettling sensation… I need to strike before it finishes.’
Pressing his lips into a tight line, Raon prepared to close in on the monster, but the space distorted. The reflection cast upon the water began to diverge from the physical wolf standing above it.
“What?”
Raon’s eyes widened in genuine shock as a second identical red wolf surfaced from the depths.
“How can this…”
In the brief heartbeat it took Raon to draw breath and raise his weapons, the pair split into four. By the time his blades cut down toward the reflecting waters, those four had multiplied into eight distinct beasts surging upward. Raon scowled deeply at the pack of eight crimson wolves standing atop the tempestuous waves.
‘Their proportions have diminished, yet…’
Their internal energy has barely dwindled. Though the beasts—once massive enough to blot out the sky—had shrunk to the scale of large dwellings, the destructive aura pouring from each one remained virtually unchanged. Every single one of the eight radiated power on par with a Transcendent.
‘Can such a thing even occur?’
-It is utilizing the innate authority of an ocean spirit to manifest duplicates.
Wrath furrowed his brow, looking at the water bubbling like a boiling cauldron.
‘Duplicates?’
Raon tightened his expression, observing the snarling pack.
‘Every single one feels completely authentic.’
-Only one true vessel exists among them. Wasting effort on the duplicates is utterly pointless.
Wrath shook his head, explaining that despite identical appearances, a singular original body remained.
‘Which one is it…’
Raon pushed Perception of the Snow Flower past its normal boundaries and activated the Evil Eye of Wrath. Yet even with both sensory abilities fully engaged, he could discern no discrepancy between the eight entities.
‘I will have to draw them out in battle to find it.’
Tightening his grip on his twin swords, he moistened his lips, his gaze sharpening.
‘Three have disappeared!’
Only five wolves stood within his field of view; three had vanished entirely.
‘Could it be…’
He spun toward a minuscule disturbance behind him. Three crimson beasts erupted from distinct vectors at the same instant, lunging at him with fangs bared.
Raon manifested a Fire Wall with his holy blade while weaving the Dance of the Golden Flame with his demonic edge, deflecting the concentrated bursts of red energy unleashed by two of the attackers. Yet the beast rushing through the middle slipped past both the barrier of flames and the weaving sword light, hurtling its massive frame directly toward him.
‘Too late to reposition the blades for a block.’
The third wolf closed the gap with staggering velocity, forcing Raon to project an aura barrier utilizing the power of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation. A resounding crash shattered the air! Even behind that dense layer of aura, the kinetic force and corrupt energy struck with enough violence to rattle his entire skeleton. While his internal organs remained intact, the sheer reverberation set his limbs trembling, making his wrists stiffen with pain.
‘Taking a direct charge like that is hazardous.’
He had assumed bracing against a blunt tackle would be manageable compared to a claw swipe, yet the danger was immense. From here on, he had to evade entirely or deflect cleanly with steel.
‘Even so…’
There was no room to catch his breath. The initial three had barely pulled back when the remaining five wolves lunged forward simultaneously, spraying thick torrents of blood-soaked energy.
Raon unleashed the Thirty-Six Crimson Flash Techniques directly into the faces of the two frontal attackers to drive them back, then brought the icy edge of Frost Snap crashing down upon the pair diving from his left flank.
Yet one more wolf remained.
‘I must slip past this using footwork…’
Flowing through the subtle shifts of Supreme Harmony’s Third Step, he slid clear of the descending talons.
“Kyaoo!”
Before he could stabilize his breathing, the first three wolves he had pushed away barreled back in, jaws gaping.
‘No other way.’
Summoning the Wooden Ring Sword resting at his right waist through Sword Control, Raon placed it directly in the path of the three converging sets of jaws. A harsh, grinding shriek tore through the air! Dazzling sparks scattered as the freezing mist radiating from the Wooden Ring Sword ground violently against the wolves’ corrupt aura.
Without a moment to steady his ragged gasps, Raon swung his main twin blades once more, knocking aside another flurry of lethal claws.
“Grrrr.”
The red wolves glared at him with unhinged, bloodshot eyes, their flesh knitting together as corrupt energy sealed their sword cuts. Their feral obstinacy made it clear they would not halt even if torn to pieces.
“Quite an array of parlor tricks for mongrels that cannot even heel. But you will still end up subdued.”
Raon’s lips twisted into a grimace as he met each consecutive wave of charges with relentless steel.
Raon drew a sharp breath after scattering the eight beasts charging from every angle using the techniques of Azure Sky Sword and Celestial Thunder Arts.
‘There isn’t even a moment to inhale.’
How much time had actually elapsed?
Locked in combat against eight Transcendent-tier entities, every passing second dragged like an eternity. He lacked the luxury to even track the flow of time.
With a series of shrill shrieks, the crimson beasts regenerated the flesh shredded by Azure Sky Sword and Celestial Thunder Arts using their vile power, standing tall once more to exhale plumes of gore. Raon clenched his jaw, using Heavy Sky Cannon to obliterate the approaching toxic breath.
‘Containing them is becoming progressively more exhausting.’
Despite their berserk frenzy, the beasts were actively deciphering his footwork and timing, returning with ever faster and more precise assaults. These were not mindless constructs; they were adapting predators.
‘I am reading their attack patterns as well, yet…’
Their sheer numbers make it suffocating. The eight beasts operated with seamless coordination, like interlocking gears, exactly as expected of an original body synchronized with its clones. Even anticipating their trajectories, weathering the assault was taxing to the extreme. Raon bit his split lip as the collective onslaught gradually forced him backward.
‘Has the strain finally rattled my core?’
A dull, sickly ache flared within his dantian from absorbing continuous heavy impacts while on the defensive. It had not yet developed into severe damage, but internal stress was undeniably accumulating.
‘Thoroughly frustrating.’
A knot of bitterness tightened in his chest, seeing the creature lash out with such murderous fury even as he strained to keep it alive.
‘Should I simply wipe them all out?’
He held no doubt that unleashing his absolute arts, starting with the Invincible Azure-Red Sword, would disintegrate every last one of them down to the ash.
‘Haa.’
Raon exhaled gently, banishing the frustrated impulses rising in his mind.
‘I should treat this as personal refinement.’
Though his opponents were feral beasts, pushing past this wall would surely allow his martial realm to advance further. Opening the spiritual plane of his inner soul—an act that embodied his determination to embrace everything—Raon moved to intercept four wolves diving from his flanks.
As he calmed his mental state to intercept the beasts, an unfamiliar vision flickered across his consciousness.
‘The sovereign of the White Blood Religion?’
The image revealed a woman who appeared to be the ruler of the White Blood Religion, clutching a restrictive tether wrapped around a small, youthful wolf while chanting an ominous incantation.
‘These are not my experiences.’
Raon swallowed dryly, his gaze locking onto the wolf snarling with tormented fury.
‘These belong to the beast.’
By throwing open the gates of his soul, the memories locked within the creature were flowing backward into him.
‘So it truly was subjugated against its will by their leader.’
Just as the Ninth Apostles had stated, the sea spirit had been bound through force by the master of the White Blood Religion, compelled to swallow blood and vile energy against its nature.
As he blocked a wolf lunging straight for his throat, another fragment of memory surfaced.
This time, the Ninth Apostles stood before the young beast, surrounding other lesser marine spirits and threatening their lives. The cult had not stopped at ensnaring this single creature; they had systematically exploited the entire aquatic ecosystem.
Following that, images flickered past showing the wolf willingly gorging itself on tainted blood and corrupt power solely to spare the lives of the other spirits and ocean life.
‘You have endured far too much.’
Raon’s jaw tightened as he looked into the eyes of the beast howling through streams of bloody mist.
‘Far too much.’
This guardian spirit had suffered torment beyond anything he had conceived, and even at this very moment, its inner being was being chewed apart by agony.
-Those repulsive vermin of blood!
Wrath slammed his spectral fists together, clearly bearing witness to the identical memories.
-This monarch shall tear every last one of them limb from limb the next time they cross my path!
His hatred toward the White Blood Religion erupted outward, entirely incensed by the suffering inflicted upon the spirit.
‘I must liberate this beast first.’
Raon let out a steady breath as he watched the crimson pack continue to erupt with destructive power.
‘This is no longer the time to treat this as self-improvement.’
His sole priority had to be the creature’s salvation. He needed to grant this being the tranquility of liberation rather than the cold release of death, and he needed to do it immediately.
‘Yet how to unravel it…’
Just as he pressed his lips together in contemplation:
[The proficiency of the trait has advanced.]
[The proficiency of the trait has advanced.]
[The traits and are synthesizing through resonance.]
[A newly synthesized trait has been awakened.]
A refreshing chill washed across his strained vision, and among the eight rampaging beasts, a single entity bearing an azure core manifested clearly within his sensory awareness. That was not all. Tracing through that clarity, he could see the semi-translucent, oppressive miasma constricting the original spirit’s soul—the exact corrupt binding placed there long ago by the leader of the White Blood Religion.
The true wolf let out a ferocious howl, sensing that its true form had been laid bare by Raon’s newly awakened sight. Radiating frantic bloodlust, it spearheaded a unified charge alongside its duplicates.
Raon Zieghart’s style. 6th Form Divine-Demonic Harmony Linked Technique: Invincible Azure-Red Sword.
Channeling the dimming lights of his twin weapons, he unleashed the Invincible Azure-Red Sword, repelling all eight oncoming beasts in a single sweeping blast. Even with their physical vessels crushed by the impact, the wolves refused to falter; their broken limbs knit together instantly as they lunged forward once more.
Yet the authentic wolf revealed through the Azure Clear Eye had not retreated to safety; it was baring its fangs directly at the front line. That self-sacrificing ferocity matched the noble spirit he had seen within its memories.
Raon lowered Heavenly Drive and the Wooden Ring Sword, lifting the Blade of Requiem high.
“I ask of you. Grant me your aid.”
Raising the Blade of Requiem, he reached out to the weeping apparitions dwelling within the sanguinary haze. With a clear, resonant hum, the spirits sealed within the blade answered his plea, vibrating in harmony to kick up a verdant gale.
Weaving together every realization he had achieved and the tragic memories of the azure beast still echoing in his mind, Raon drove the Soul Sword conjured through the Blade of Requiem straight toward the crimson corruption gnawing at the creature’s soul.
Slicing clean through the fabric of space, the Soul Sword struck deep into the pale miasma binding the spirit’s inner consciousness.
‘This… it will not yield…’
Yet because his mastery over the Soul Sword was not yet complete, the strike lacked the force to dispel the vile energy crushing the wolf’s soul, grinding to a dead halt. Perceiving his vulnerability, the remaining seven duplicates lunged forward with savagery, fangs aimed directly at his vitals.
Though he moved Heavenly Drive and the Wooden Ring Sword to ward them off, his mental focus remained locked entirely onto the spiritual blade. The duplicates forced his guard aside, their claws and fangs digging into his flesh amid bursts of dark power.
“Kuhak…”
Even as his skin tore and blood surged into his throat, Raon refused to give up an inch of ground, pouring every shred of concentration into sustaining the Soul Sword.
‘I will not yield here.’
He could never surrender to the wretched sorcery of the White Blood Religion—monsters who turned a benevolent guardian into an engine of slaughter and treated living beings as cattle.
‘What is more…’
If he proved incapable of rescuing this single entity, he would never possess the power to bring Martha’s mother back to life. He threw open every domain he had forged through his life to rewrite the tragedies of the past and forge a new outcome.
“I will pull you out. From that endless nightmare.”
Standing on the threshold of mortal danger, Raon gave his complete devotion to guiding the flow of the Soul Sword. As he planted his foot and stepped forward, placing absolute faith in the swordsmanship he had cultivated, a radiant golden luminescence burst forth along the spiritual blade anchored to his very soul.
[The proficiency of the trait <Soul (Spirit) Sword> has advanced.]
With the advancement of the Soul Sword’s realm, the edge manifested by the Blade of Requiem sharpened to absolute perfection, mercilessly carving through the dark bindings of the White Blood Religion’s leader that had long ensnared the crimson wolf’s spirit.
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