Chapter 452 |
Once Raon arrived at the lord’s manor, he could see the White Lotus division coming through the main building.
“They really look like defeated soldiers.”
Just like Dorian described, they looked depressed—like soldiers who were returning from a lost battlefield.
“That’s why I told you that they looked like they'd lost.”
Dorian came up next to him and quietly whispered.
“Hmm? Wait a moment…”
Raon narrowed his eyes while examining the White Lotus division’s appearance.
‘Did they really get beaten?’
Once he examined them more closely, he realized that every single one of the White Lotus swordsmen was covered in bandages all over their bodies.
Since he had eliminated both the Black Tower and the White Whale, he couldn’t even guess what enemy they’d faced.
“Huh?”
Raon examined the White Lotus division once again while licking his lips and furrowed his brow.
‘Even Ayad was defeated?!’
Ayad’s hair and half of his face were scorched black, and he was covered in thick bandages from his right shoulder all the way down to his waist. He looked like he had been beaten severely.
In fact, he seemed to be the most injured person in the White Lotus division.
“Th-they are really injured.”
Dorian also realized that they were actually injured and groaned.
“I know, right?”
Raon slowly nodded.
‘Did they fight against the main troops from the Black Tower or something?’
He didn’t want to admit it, but the White Lotus division was still a bit stronger than the Light Wind division.
It felt like a mystery to him that the people who deserved to be called powerful in all situations were severely defeated like that.
‘But how come none of them died?’
Strangely enough, all of them were severely injured, but there didn’t seem to be any deceased members. It was a strange situation in many aspects.
Raon was thinking about what enemies could’ve been in the Hoffern region when Ayad walked up to the lord’s manor.
“Hmm…”
Ayad’s face crumpled like a piece of paper grasped by a hand as he glared at Raon.
“What happened to you?”
Raon raised his chin slightly while looking at the bandage covering Ayad’s shoulder.
“You were playing hide and seek the last time I saw you. Were you caught by someone?”
Raon rolled his lips into a thin smile while sarcastically mentioning how he’d been hiding until the end when he was fighting against the White Wolf Saber.
“…You don’t need to know.”
Ayad violently ground his teeth and entered the lord’s manor.
The White Lotus division seemed too ashamed to even look at Raon and followed their leader.
“Hmm…”
Raon smiled faintly and followed behind the White Lotus division. He created a thin layer of aura to prevent those in front of him from noticing him.
“Let’s go.”
“Wh-where are we going?”
Dorian freaked out and grabbed Raon’s sleeve.
“We need to confirm if they make an accurate report.”
“Of course they would, they are dealing with the head of house.”
“No, his eyes looked like he was going to lie without hesitation.”
Raon dragged Dorian with him and followed the White Lotus division.
Pathetic.
Wrath violently pounded on Raon’s shoulder.
Revenge is full of vanity. Stop doing useless things, let’s go eat some ice cream already.
‘…Are you really supposed to say that as the monarch of wrath?’
A demon king should’ve been urging him to take his revenge, but he was stopping him from doing so. Wrath must’ve really wanted the ice cream.
However, Raon wanted to follow them no matter what, since it was the only time he could see Ayad’s face in ruin.
Please! The ice cream shop is going to close!
‘I’ll buy you two sets tomorrow.’
Sure! Revenge has to be taken! Of course! A demon king has to take their revenge even if it takes a thousand years!
Wrath cheered in joy and stopped bothering him.
Which means I can choose eight ice creams in total. I’ll get four mint chocolates, and one is reserved for the flavor of the month, and then strawberry, chocolate, and pineapple… It could be better though.
‘……I’m getting sick of him at this point.’
Raon briefly sighed and followed the White Lotus division until the audience chamber’s entrance.
They must’ve had already notified them of their arrival since the door was opened and Roenn came out as soon as Ayad approached it.
“Thank you for your work. Please enter.”
“Thank you.”
Roenn gestured at them to enter, and Ayad bowed at him before entering the audience chamber.
Raon walked up to Roenn just as he was about to close the door after the White Lotus division finished entering.
“The Light Wind vice division leader?”
Roenn wasn’t surprised, but he tilted his head. He seemed to find it unexpected for Raon to be there.
“What brought you here today…?”
“I naturally have to join since the Light Wind division and the White Lotus division were on the same mission.”
Raon confidently declared the words as if he were wearing an iron mask.
“Huhuhu.”
Roenn laughed and looked inside the audience chamber.
Raon followed his gaze and looked at the throne above the platform. Glenn gave a small nod of approval.
“Please enter.”
Roenn smiled and politely raised his hand.
“Thank you.”
Raon thanked Roenn and stood in front of a pillar just like the executives who waited there whenever he came to report.
“Greetings, my lord.”
Since he wasn’t the one making his report, he quietly said his greetings and bowed at Glenn.
“Gr-greetings, my lord!”
Dorian bowed deeply while wiping the cold sweat flowing from his forehead.
“Hmm…”
Glenn nodded and received their greetings. He looked like he couldn’t be bothered with them.
“Wh-why are you here…?”
Ayad’s lips trembled as his eyes rolled in panic.
“Don’t mind me. Please start your report.”
“Gr-greetings, my lord!”
Ayad and the White Lotus swordsmen bowed to Glenn. However, their trembling eyes were still directed at Raon.
“Ayad.”
Glenn coldly looked down on Ayad and the White Lotus swordsmen who were kneeling in front of him.
“I heard that the White Lotus division didn’t fight the Black Tower nor the White Whale. Why are you in such a shabby state?”
He furrowed his brow while skimming through the White Lotus division, who had literally turned into defeated soldiers.
“Actually, we were…”
Ayad bit his lip and raised his head.
“Assaulted by Eden instead of the Black Tower.”
“Eden?”
“Yes. M-Merlin from E-Eden suddenly attacked us.”
He sighed deeply while stating Merlin’s name.
‘…Merlin?’
A chill ran down Raon’s spine as soon as he heard Merlin’s name.
‘No way, was she actually there?’
It was extremely improbable that the White Lotus division had encountered Merlin by sheer coincidence.
Merlin must’ve followed him and decided to attack Ayad because she didn’t like how he spoke.
W-was that perverted stalker really there?
Wrath was also shocked, and his lips trembled in fear. He must not have realized it because he was thinking too hard about the ice cream.
“Wait a moment.”
Sheryl raised her hand from behind Glenn.
“I’m fully aware of Merlin’s abilities. She’s a monster whose mana and magic proficiency keep increasing nonstop.”
Sheryl lowered her eyebrows. It looked like she couldn’t understand how it happened.
“How come none of you died when that lunatic attacked you?”
Ayad clenched his fist to the point of bleeding and opened his mouth.
“Actually, what happened was…”
* * *
* * *
Ayad left the Hoffern region alongside the White Lotus division after a short break.
‘That arrogant boy, he shouldn’t refuse a duel at least after what he said.’
He walked while planning to request a sword duel against Raon right after he returned, and the sky suddenly turned as dark as if night had fallen.
“Hmm?”
He raised his head, and an unknown person wearing an old woman’s mask was floating under the dark rain clouds.
“M-Merlin!”
He realized it was Merlin from Eden and immediately drew his sword, but she was plucking flower petals in the air instead of attacking.
“Kill him. Leave him. Kill him. Leave him. Kill him. Leave him. Kill him. Leave him. Kill him!!!!!”
Merlin cheered in joy while throwing away the flower with no more petals left.
“It can’t be helped since the score is two-two now. I’ll stop right before you die. It should be better to leave you alive to feed my dear.”
The moment she said that she was going to stop right before they died, countless magic circles appeared from the rain clouds.
Whir!
A dazzling light gushed from the magic arrays and colorful spells started to rain down.
“Open formation!”
“Open formation!”
The White Lotus division quickly formed a defensive formation under Ayad’s order.
Creak!
However, Merlin’s magic easily destroyed the formation’s flow like an awl breaking through paper because they had hurriedly made the formation instead of taking their time getting into their positions.
“Damn it!”
Ayad gritted his teeth and created an astral barrier, but he couldn’t stop Merlin’s spells from falling like rain.
Rumble!
Spells of various attributes exploded on top of the collapsed aura wall, and the sword formation turned into complete pandemonium.
“Kuaah!”
“Cough!”
“Ugh…”
The White Lotus swordsmen couldn’t maintain the formation anymore because of the exploding spells and were sent flying in all directions.
“You crazy witch!”
Ayad wrapped his body in astral energy and withdrew, leaving his collapsed subordinates on the ground where they could be killed at any moment.
“Yes, I’m a witch. And I’m also crazy.”
Merlin giggled and snapped her fingers. The magic circles floating behind her connected with each other like spider webs, and a majestic light radiated from them.
Whaam!
The spells falling like a meteor shower were surrounded by mana that was even thicker and denser than before.
“Argh!”
Ayad tried to run away, but Merlin’s spells kept following him while ignoring everyone else—as if they had eyes attached to them.
“It’s pointless to run. I’ve added a homing function to those spells.”
Merlin grinned while her shoulders danced.
“Damn it!”
Ayad stopped running and turned around. He slashed the huge fireball with his sword, which was engulfed in a blue aura.
Slash!
As expected of the master of the White Lotus division, he cut down all the spells swarming at him like a tidal wave with a subtle flow from his sword.
However, Merlin’s magic was endless. Even though her spells were as powerful as astral energy, she kept raining them down as if she had an endless amount of mana.
“Kuh!”
Ayad groaned. His shield was crushed once he ran out of aura, and the spells started to explode on his bare body.
Wham! Wham!
His right shoulder got a serious burn upon getting hit by a fireball, and his left shoulder got frostbite as an ice spear pierced through it.
He even got internal injuries from the consecutive assault of the spells, and blood flowed from his mouth ceaselessly.
“It’s far from over.”
Even though Merlin was fully capable of killing him, she kept controlling her output to keep causing pain and damaging him.
“Kuh…”
Ayad slammed his sword on the ground and helplessly raised his head.
“K-kill me.”
He couldn’t do anything anymore because he’d run out of aura and stamina, but Merlin was still perfectly fine.
The moment he thought there was no way out because the difference in ability was way too big, her magic became transparent.
Whack! Whack!
Merlin concentrated the mana into the size of a fist and started to hammer Ayad’s body like a sandbag.
His mind was blown away because she was hitting more than ten different spots at the same time. His head became blank from the endless pain.
“Cough!”
It was only after Ayad coughed up blood and collapsed on the ground that the clusters of mana scattered into the air.
“St-stop making fun of me and kill me already!”
He spoke while gritting his teeth, but Merlin simply shook her head.
“This should count as near death, I think.”
Merlin waved her hand while smiling in excitement.
“He will take care of the rest.”
That was the last thing she said before she turned into a small light and disappeared.
“Huh…”
Ayad coughed up blood once again while looking at the sky that was becoming brighter.
“What the hell is going on…?”
* * *
“…That’s what happened.”
Ayad told them the story while skipping the part about how he tried to run away while leaving his subordinates behind and how he surrendered to Merlin.
“Two-two? What does that mean?”
Glenn narrowed his eyes while stroking his beard.
“I’m not sure either.”
Ayad shook his head heavily.
“That’s her.”
Sheryl slowly nodded her chin.
“That’s the madwoman, considering how crazy she was acting.”
She nodded, saying that it was understandable for Merlin to do that.
“Haa…”
Raon covered his forehead and closed his eyes.
‘It was because of me.’
She must’ve done a fortune telling with flower petals to see if she should kill Ayad or not since he had been in conflict with Raon.
Two-two implied that the result told her to kill him twice and leave him twice. That was why she must’ve decided to leave him half dead.
The chill ran down Raon’s spine as if he were inside a frozen cave.
“I’m ashamed to return after losing to the enemy without being able to do anything. It was my fault.”
“It was our fault!”
Ayad bowed to Glenn, saying that he deserved death. The White Lotus swordsmen also bowed after him.
“Get up.”
Glenn quietly declared and bobbed his knuckle.
“If you couldn’t do anything against your enemies, just get strong enough so you and your subordinates won’t have to experience that ever again. That’s how a leader should think.”
“I’ll remember it.”
Ayad clenched his back teeth and lowered his head.
“Report what happened before then.”
“Understood. After I received the search mission…”
He straightened his back and started to report what had happened during the mission.
“By the time we finished searching the two lakes, the Light Wind division had arrived.”
Ayad looked at Raon. He continued while signaling with his eyes that they should keep quiet about it.
“Since our divisions have never cooperated before, we decided to act separately…”
“That’s not what happened.”
Raon cheerfully cut Ayad off.
“You definitely asked us to look for them together.”
“Wh-what are you talking about? We acted separately…”
“That’s what happened in the end. You asked me to look for them together but scatter the swordsmen one by one.”
“Hmm…”
Raon asked him whether he had already forgotten about it, and Ayad was unable to respond, his fingers trembling.
“I believe you even said that we should throw the swordsmen out as bait by making them act separately. You heard him too, didn’t you?”
Raon poked Dorian next to him with his elbow.
“Haap, y-yes he did!”
Dorian nodded with a pale face.
“Bait?”
Frightening pressure appeared in Sheryl’s eyes.
“Hmm…”
Glenn also narrowed his eyes. He also seemed annoyed by the word bait.
“What type of bait are you talking about?”
“I didn’t say bait…”
“The White Lotus division leader said that they were prone to enemy attacks since the Warring Steel division had already been kidnapped from there, and he also said that it was better that way because he would be able to guess the enemy location if they were defeated. He added that he didn’t care whether weak subordinates died or not.”
Raon casually explained what had happened with a mocking voice.
“Ayad…”
Sheryl glared at Ayad. Her severely furrowed brow looked like she wanted to kill him.
“N-no. I was confident that I could save them! I was just trying to save the Warring Steel division as quickly as possible since a long time had already passed since their disappearance…”
“I told you back then, but the Hoffern region is extremely vast. It’s impossible for just the White Lotus division and the Light Wind division to search safely like that.”
“…Just continue for now.”
Glenn bobbed his finger, saying that he would talk about it after the report was over.
“U-understood. After we agreed to act separately, we went towards the village…”
“That’s not what happened either.”
Raon shook his hand.
“I was going to tell you because I found a clue, but you left without listening to me.”
“Wh-what are you talking about?!”
“I was going to suggest that we should surround the frozen lake together because I felt a presence from there. But you told me that we had already decided to act separately, and to do it on my own.”
He pointed at the White Lotus vice division leader, who was right behind Ayad.
“You heard it too, didn’t you, vice division leader?”
“Erm…”
The vice division leader was unable to respond and swallowed nervously, but that was enough of a response.
Whir!
Sheryl glared at Ayad with bloodshot eyes. It looked like her irritation had surpassed her limits.
She looked like she would’ve already drawn her sword if Glenn hadn’t been there.
“Next.”
Glenn’s voice was also cold.
“A-after that, we searched various locations, and ran towards the frozen lake upon feeling the demonic energy bursting out from there. However, everything was already over…”
“That’s not true either.”
Raon calmly raised his hand, as if he were making fun of Ayad.
“You were hiding in a tree and watching me fight the White Wolf Saber.”
“I did that to prevent an unforeseen accident. Because the White Wolf Saber or the Sickle of the Bloody Cloud could try to escape or others could join as reinforcements…”
Ayad gave an excuse that time. He must’ve thought about it beforehand.
However, the reason he gave was full of holes.
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
Raon slowly shook his head.
“The tree you were hiding in was on a path leading to a dead end. They weren’t going to run that way since they aren’t idiots. Even if there were other enemies, it was too far to help me in time.”
“Th-that’s… Gasp!”
Ayad was trying to make more excuses but came to a halt.
“Ah…”
His face turned yellow upon facing Glenn and Sheryl’s murderous eyes.
Raon nodded in satisfaction with a smile that looked as hateful as Rimmer’s.
‘I like that face. That’s what I wanted to see.’
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