Chapter 286

Whaam!

The tenth apostle shredded hundreds of magic spells in an instant by creating a tremendous spark of bloody energy.

He had injuries all over his body, and the madness burning in his eyes was even more powerful than in the beginning.

"Merlin!"

"Too late. The date is already over."

Merlin smiled brightly while holding the Cage of Eternal Darkness, which had Raon sealed inside.

"How dare you, you crazy bitch!"

The tenth apostle ground his teeth and thrust his white spear downward. The spear strike was falling upon Merlin's head with a tremendous amount of bloody energy condensed inside of it.

"We will stop here for today."

Merlin snapped her fingers, and her body shone like the stars and blurred.

"I won't let you escape!"

"You won't be popular with women if you are so persistent."

"Shut up!"

The tenth leapt in the air to personally charge into the cavern. Frightening explosions occurred consecutively from below.

"Argh!"

Dorian's hands were trembling in fear as he raised himself up. He punched his legs, which didn't want to move, so that he could run over the collapsing land.

'Damn it! I was hoping that this would never happen…'

He knew Raon better than anyone else because he was the closest person to him, and had been ever since they were trainees. Even though Raon always looked like he overcame a crisis with wisdom, he'd always pushed himself to his limits.

He overcame his fear that made him want to hide and watch because Raon was an idiot who put other people above his own life, and the outcome was the worst thing that could happen.

'Vice squad leader…'

Even when Raon was getting sealed inside Merlin's box, his eyes were worried about him, telling him to run away. Because he was that kind of person, he wanted to help him, even if it cost him his life. However, there was nothing he could do.

'Th-This is the best thing I can do.'

He could probably locate a device to counter the box if he looked through everything he had in his belly pocket, but it was pointless. Even if Raon managed to escape, there was no way they could run away from those two.

The best thing he could do was to keep moving with Raon's retrieval in mind.

"Merlin!"

"Gasp!"

Dorian swallowed nervously upon hearing the tenth apostle's shout coming from the cavern.

It was so terrifying that he wanted to sink to the ground and start crying. He might have if the situation weren't so urgent.

'I-I need to run away.'

If the monster caught him, he wasn't simply going to die—the possibility of Raon's retrieval was going to disappear with him. It was because he would fail to deliver 'it'.

'I need to go as fast as possible… Ah!'

Dorian was trying to run as far as possible from the tenth apostle, but suddenly stopped.

'He said that I shouldn't move in a situation like this…'

He remembered what Raon had told him during a recent training session in the North Grave Mountain.

"If you are trying to escape from a master, hiding is better than running away. It only takes them being a Master to single-handedly discover your presence and catch up to you. On the other hand, if you control your breath while hiding, you are highly likely to survive."

"Control my breath?"

"Yes. If you are on a mountain, pretend to be a wild animal. If you are in a place with lots of people around, you should pretend to be an ordinary person. Relaxing is the most important part. If you manage to relax and suppress your presence, it will be difficult to find you."

He suppressed his breath while thinking about the focus enhancement training that he went through with Raon. He breathed as slowly and as weakly as the dead—or, rather, a person who was about to die—and hid himself under a wall.

'He's right about that.'

The tenth apostle was supposed to be a Grandmaster. Since he might end up following him even if he managed to escape the city, it was better to feign death and hide.

Maybe Raon predicted that such a situation would occur, since the training that he considered useless was saving his life. He felt thankful to him once again.

'Sir Raon always thinks about the future.'

Just in case…

He took out a small glass bottle containing red liquid from his belly pocket and squeezed it inside his sleeve, then he covered his mouth and lowered his body a bit more.

Whack! Whaam!

It sounded like the enraged tenth apostle was destroying everything around him. The crashing sound that continued for a while eventually subsided, and the tenth apostle's energy scattered like dust in the wind despite how fiercely he spread around his madness.

"Haa…"

Dorian only raised himself once thirty minutes had passed after that. He was still trembling in fear. His pounding heart didn't want to stop, as he went overboard despite being a coward.

"I feel like I'm dying."

He grasped his head, feeling dizzy from being unable to breathe properly, and moved towards the Light Wind squad's location.

He suppressed his presence just in case and went around the street to leave the city.

As he was about to leave the city, a bit more than thirty people were entering. He didn't recognize some of them, but most of them were the Light Wind squad members.

"Team leaders!"

Dorian ran at Burren while suppressing his tears from bursting out.

"This guy!"

"Hey, fatty! Where have you been?"

Burren and Martha came running at him with frowns on their faces. Even though they were angry at him, their eyes were filled with worry.

"Ugh!"

Dorian bit his lip tightly while meeting the Light Wind squad's eyes.

"S-Sir Raon…"

He pounded his chest to breathe out the air clogging his lungs.

"Sir Raon has been kidnapped."

"..."

"Shit…"

Burren and Martha clenched their fists while lowering their gazes to the ground.

"Damn it!"

"That ended up happening…"

"The one who was fighting against the tenth apostle was wearing an old woman's mask. She must've been Merlin, who had been targeting the vice squad leader."

The Light Wind squad seemed to somewhat expect that result, as they watched the fight between the tenth apostle and Merlin.

"That idiot! What can he even do against two Grandmasters?!"

Martha pounded the ground with her fist. The emotions filling her fist instead of aura pulled at everyone's heartstrings.

"He's sacrificed himself once again in order to save us."

Burren violently ground his teeth. He clenched his fist to the point that he nearly bled as he lowered his head.

"Ah… Ah…"

Runaan sank to the ground on the spot with trembling hands. She seemed to be in a complete panic.

"Which one kidnapped him?"

"It was Merlin from Eden. He was absorbed into a strange box…"

Dorian described the situation he witnessed.

"Sh-She had to use teleportation of all things…"

"Doesn't that make it impossible to find him?"

"No! We just need to act quickly…"

"But even the tenth apostle lost her. A magician like Merlin won't even leave a trace from teleportation…"

"Raon…"

"Damn it!"

Light Wind members' faces turned pale. Everyone was stuttering, the focus leaving their eyes.

"Kuh…"

"Damn it!"

"Raon, that damn bastard…"

Even the sound of weeping could be heard.

"Th-There's a way to find him."

Light Wind squad's gazes sparked upon hearing Dorian's hoarse voice.

"A way? What is it?"

Runaan stood up from the ground like a tumbling doll and grasped Dorian's head.

"Dorian!"

"Spit it out! Quick!"

"Say it already!"

Every member of the Light Wind squad rushed at him and grabbed him by his collar, shoulders, and arms.

"Let me go first!"

Dorian stepped back, then took a small glass bottle that contained red liquid from his pocket.

"A glass bottle?"

"What is that?"

"It's a liquid made from crushing the Snake Tail Red Flower."

He opened the glass bottle's lid. A faint fragrance tickled his nose.

"The Continent Chaser Fragrance!"

The young woman wearing a rose patterned eyepatch, who'd been mixed into the Light Wind members, shouted.

"You must've sprayed the Continent Chaser Fragrance on him!"

"Huh? Who is she…?"

Dorian tilted his head since he'd never seen her before.

"She's Miss Denning Rose, the branch manager of Black Market. Explain that first."

"Ah! Just like she said, this is called the Continent Chaser Fragrance, and it's used for tracking people, since people say that its fragrance can be scented from House Robert in the south all the way to Zieghart in the north."

"Wh-Which means, you…"

"Please tell me!"

"Yes. I sprayed this liquid on Sir Raon before he was absorbed into the box."

Dorian nodded with a faint smile on his face.

"Dorian."

"You punk!"

"How did you do that when you are such a coward?!"

Runaan, Burren, and Martha hugged Dorian in their arms, and the Light Wind squad also smiled at the hope they felt.

"But I can barely smell anything from it. Are you sure we can find him?"

"It's because a strong fragrance is bound to be removed quickly. We need a special artifact to feel the fragrance."

Dorian nodded, then took a ring from his belly pocket. It was an artifact with a red jewel embedded in the center.

"You can smell the fragrance of Snake Tail Red Flower if you wear this ring, which means that we can find young master Raon wherever he i…"

"I see."

A chill ran down his spine upon hearing the cold voice behind him.

The Light Wind squad's astonished eyes reflected the tenth apostle.

"Gasp!"

Dorian quickly put the bottle and the ring in his belly pocket. He immediately tried to run away, but his entire body started to stiffen, starting from his neck. He quickly shook off his sleeve before he couldn't move his hand anymore.

"I need you to come with me."

The tenth apostle grabbed Dorian by his neck and raised him up. He couldn't resist because he was completely petrified, like a stone statue.

"No!"

"Die!"

Runaan and Martha were the first ones to react. They instantly unsheathed their swords and charged at the tenth apostle.

Thud!

The tenth apostle shook his hand. Bloody energy emerged from the simple swing of his hand, dashing towards their hearts.

"That bastard!"

"Haap!"

Runaan created a frozen wall in front of Martha, who couldn't think straight anymore.

Clang!

The powerful bloody energy mercilessly shattered the frozen wall, and Runaan coughed up blood as she bounced back.

"Kuh!"

Martha used Berserk upon noticing Runaan's gaze telling her to continue. She exploded all of her remaining aura to strike.

Thud!

The tenth apostle flicked his fingers. The line of bloody energy emerging from his index finger shattered Martha's sword and pierced through her chest.

"Open formation! Stop him at the cost of your lives!"

Burren and the Light Wind squad bit their tongues and dashed at him. Everyone prepared for death and unleashed their special techniques to the best of their abilities.

"How annoying."

The tenth apostle stretched his hand. The bloody wave emerging from his hand instantly shattered the Light Wind formation. Every single one of the swordsmen were slammed on the ground, coughing up blood.

"Huaa…"

Martha bit her lip and raised her sword as if she didn't care about her injury at all. The old and worn out droplet necklace was swaying over her torn uniform.

"I-I'm definitely going to kill you! You won't have Raon, nor Dorian!"

She screamed as she thrust her sword.

Tap.

The tenth apostle grabbed Martha's powerless sword and narrowed his eyes while looking at her necklace.

"I see. You are from back then."

"Kuh…"

He briefly clicked his tongue and flicked his fingers, and Martha rolled on the ground as a result, like a marionette that had lost its strings.

"Forget about Raon and this guy."

The tenth apostle shook his hand, and a red puddle appeared beneath him.

"Because that's the only way for you to survive."

Before he even finished talking, he sank into the puddle with Dorian.

"Aaaaah!"

Runaan screamed and crawled at it to pound on the ground where the tenth apostle had disappeared with her bare hands. Her hands started to bleed and her flesh was getting torn apart, but she didn't stop.

"Kuh…"

Burren came up next to Runaan while wiping away the blood flowing from his mouth. He looked like he had finally lost it as he started digging at the ground.

"Dorian…"

"Dorian!"

"Those sons of bitches!"

Every swordsman from the Light Wind squad except for Martha, who had fainted, came next to them to slam the ground.

Denning Rose watched them for a while before she noticed the glass bottle rolling from the right side. Her eyes widened.

"Wait a moment!"

She picked up the glass bottle and called out to everyone.

"We can find him if we have this!"

"B-But the ring…"

"We also use the Continent Chaser Fragrance. We can make the artifact to find him if we have this fragrance!"

She couldn't understand why the Continent Chaser Fragrance was there when the tenth apostle was supposed to have it, but it was totally possible to find him by using it.

"I'll find him no matter what."

The only eye that Denning Rose had sparkled brightly.

"I swear it under the name of the fourth successor of the Black Market's master."

Dorian swallowed nervously while rolling his eyes.

'This place…'

The snow-white room didn't have a single speck of dust, the red pillars looked like they were smeared with blood, and a luxurious platform was erected on top. No matter how slow he was, there was no way he wouldn't realize whose room it was.

The tenth apostle walked up to the center of the room before he knelt.

"Greeting the master."

'Huff!'

His bad feelings were always right. There was only one person an apostle would refer to as their master. The owner of the strange room was the White Blood Religion's leader, who he never wanted to meet in his life.

Whap.

A woman's curvy shadow appeared from behind the red curtain covering the platform.

Although nothing had taken effect at all, her presence suddenly appeared as if she had just appeared out of nowhere.

'This…'

He felt like his paralyzed chin was trembling. The mysterious air spreading all over the room was different from Glenn's powerful pressure.

It was a huge shock that she was capable of creating such an atmosphere despite being hidden behind the red curtain.

"The seventh has returned to the Blood God's embrace."

The gentle voice coming from behind the curtain almost felt warm. He felt like happiness, sadness, kindness, and contempt were mixed into one in her voice.

"I beg your pardon."

The tenth apostle closed his eyes and lowered his head.

"You don't need to be sorry, since it was simply his fault. Don't worry about it, since the Blood God is going to take him into their embrace."

Laughter was mixed into the voice of the White Blood Religion's leader. Dorian couldn't understand why she was laughing when her disciple had died, and that made it even more terrifying.

"What about Raon Zieghart?"

"Haa… When I managed to find him…"

The tenth apostle opened his eyes and told her about what happened at Grand Seville.

"Merlin. Merlin, I see. She's being a hindrance once again."

Her voice was still gentle, but she sounded slightly irritated and angry.

"So, who is that boy?"

"I brought him here because he sprayed the Continent Chaser Fragrance on Raon and has the artifact that will allow us to find him."

"Artifact?"

"Yes. He has it in that belly pocket, but I can't take it out."

The tenth apostle frowned while looking at Dorian's belly pocket.

"It looks like a special artifact."

"Interesting."

The White Blood Religion's leader gently waved her hand from behind the curtain, and Dorian's body floated into the air. He was dragged towards the platform as if he were being pulled by strings.

'Hieeh!'

Dorian screamed on the inside. His heart was tightening so hard that he felt like he was going to die at any moment.

'I-I'm sure she's going to kill me. Still…'

'I won't give away the ring.'

The ring couldn't be handed over considering everything Raon had done for him. Since he left the Continent Chaser Fragrance that he had in his sleeve behind, they should've been able to create another artifact to find him.

All he could do was to somehow survive while believing that the others would rescue Raon.

Tap!

Dorian gently landed on the platform just like when he started to float. It looked like the mana circuits that the tenth apostle had blocked were unclogged, since he could move his limbs once again.

"Th-The pocket is never going to open if you kill me! I'll never give you the ring…"

"It must've been difficult."

"Huh…?"

He expected her to start torturing him right away, but a gentle voice was all that came from the White Blood Religion's leader.

"You were hiding in that intense battlefield in order to help your master. I'm proud of you."

A hand came out of the red curtain. The snow-white hand, which was frighteningly beautiful, caressed his dusty head. The warmth and softness of her touch made his chin tremble in fear.

"I know how much you've suffered."

"Ugh, no matter what you try… Ah!"

He raised his head to tell her that he wasn't going to yield, meeting the black eyes behind the small opening of the curtains. His head turned completely empty upon meeting the pitch-black eyes.

"At this rate, your master's soul will be fed to a monster that's even worse than a beast."

"That's…"

"Give me the ring."

The White Blood Religion's leader reached out her hand that she was using to caress Dorian's head.

"I'll retrieve your master and let him ascend to a higher stage."

"Uh…"

Dorian blankly nodded, then took out the ring with a red jewel embedded on it and gave it to the White Blood Religion's leader.

"Thank you."

She waved her hand, and Dorian collapsed to the side.

"It looks like the journey to find a new disciple is going to be rather interesting."

She smiled faintly while looking at the shiny red ring.

"I'll be able to see the old faces that I've been missing."

* * *

The leader of Shadow Agents, Chad, went to the audience chamber more urgently than ever before. He would've normally waited after knocking on the door, but he immediately opened the door and entered.

"The leader of Shadow Agents?"

"Sir Chad?"

Sheryl was grabbing Rimmer by his collar and Roenn was smiling behind them, and they both tilted their heads upon noticing him.

"Oh! Are you here to save me?"

Rimmer waved his hand with a bruise on his eye.

"I'm sorry! It's an emergency!"

Chad didn't respond to them, instead kneeling in the center, where he could see Glenn.

"It's urgent news from Grand Seville's Black Market! Th-The vice squad leader of the Light Wind squad has been kidnapped by Merlin from Eden!"

Chad's lips were trembling violently as he spoke. He anxiously raised his head, as he was unable to guess how they were going to react.

Whir!

Rimmer's playful eyes were sparkling like a demon's, Sheryl's eyes revealed her intense murderous intent, and the atmosphere around Roenn turned icy cold in an instant.

"Elaborate."

Glenn's expression didn't change at all. He looked as coldhearted as he was in the beginning, but that made it even more scary.

"Elaborate in more detail."

"Ah, yes. The Light Wind squad's vice leader noticed that an array was set up all over Grand Seville and…"

Chad summarized Denning Rose's letter as briefly as he could and reported.

"Eden, that trash…"

"Do they believe that the entire world belongs to them just because we let them do as they please?"

"Their lives have been spared for too long."

The energy waves coming from Rimmer, Sheryl, and Roenn intensified. The entire audience chamber was trembling from their wrath.

"Chad."

"Yes, yes…"

Goosebumps appeared all over his body upon hearing Glenn's emotionless voice. His heavy voice contained a wrath even worse than the other three's.

"How about the pyroxene's signal that I gave to Raon?"

"I tried looking for it, but it's coming from the sky and in the middle of the ocean. He must be in a location with a distorted timespace."

The pyroxene necklace that Glenn gave to Raon had a sonar-like ability, and it could be found anywhere in the continent. However, the signal couldn't be detected properly. He must've been hidden inside an extremely sophisticated barrier.

"…Does that mean that we can't find him?"

"No."

Chad quickly shook his head.

"We currently need his physical location, and the boy named Dorian solved that issue. We can find him by using both the necklace and Continent Chaser Fragrance. It won't take a long time, since the Black Market seems to be also actively working on it."

One of the Black Market's successors declared that she would start the search as soon as she finished making the artifact. Since they were experts at finding people and objects, they were bound to find him pretty soon.

"Sheryl, summon all of the officers of the house. Roenn, summon the heads of the vassal houses."

"Yes!"

"Yes."

They immediately left the audience chamber with threatening looks in their eyes.

"Chad. Investigate Eden and the White Blood Religion's movements, even if you have to mobilize all of the divisions and squads for it. You have to do it as quickly as possible."

"Is the White Blood Religion also included in this?"

"The White Blood Religion can use sorcery to distort the laws of the world. If they get their hands on the ring and find the Continent Chaser Fragrance, they are most likely going to discover Raon's location."

"Ah…"

"And the boy they kidnapped is also a Zieghart."

"Ah, understood!"

Chad clenched his fist and stood up. His declaration that they would to save a Zieghart made him proud of his house and his heart pounded violently.

"Rimmer, you should help Chad."

"..."

Rimmer silently stood behind Chad. His always-playful atmosphere had turned as cold as the northern wind.

"And…"

"I won't tell the annex building about this."

Rimmer bowed to Glenn and left the audience chamber alongside Chad.

"Haa…"

Glenn bit his lip and grasped the handles of the throne. He grasped them so hard that the red iron turned into powder and fluttered in the air.

"Eden, White Blood Religion."

His eyes glowed with a bloody light.

"I'll remove all of you from this world."

'No matter where you are hiding.'

* * *

"Hmm…"

Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at the ceiling that seemed to be made of log.

'Where is this…?'

Along with a small headache, he remembered that he was caught by the Cage of Eternal Darkness that Merlin used.

'She even used a legendary consumable for me.'

A legendary artifact was extremely valuable. Moreover, what she used on him was a consumable that had only one use. He realized that he'd been underestimating her insanity.

"Hmm…"

He raised himself up. He put away the extremely soft blanket, and he could see that he was wearing white clothes that didn't have a single speck of dust on them. Merlin must've changed him into them.

'The necklace is here. Huh? The sword is also here…'

The pyroxene necklace wasn't the only item there, since his uniform was neatly folded alongside the Blade of Requiem and Heavenly Drive above his head.

'What's going on? Have I really been kidnapped?

The uniform and necklace were understandable, but he couldn't understand why the Blade of Requiem and Heavenly Drive were there.

Did you finally wake up?

Wrath shoved his face into him, ready to take notes.

So, what are you going to do next? It's time to give the King of Essence a lesson.

He smiled in anticipation, completely confident that Raon had a plan for everything happening in the future.

'Plan…'

Raon licked his lip while grabbing Heavenly Drive.

'This isn't too bad when I think about it.'

When he heard the conversation between Merlin and the tenth apostle, he thought that being kidnapped by Eden would be far better than the White Blood Religion if it had to happen.

'Because she said that a powerful monster's soul dwells inside the helmet.'

Since he'd been fighting against a self-proclaimed demon king ever since his childhood, he was confident he could emerge victorious regardless of who he had to fight inside the helmet.

'And escape is more than possible.'

He wouldn't be simply escaping, either. He could become far stronger than before by the time he escaped.

'I have to thank the Giving Wrath once ag… Huh?'

Raon was smiling while holding the Blade of Requiem when he felt a piercing gaze from behind him.

Whir!

At the same time that the Blade of Requiem warned him, he turned around and unsheathed his sword.

Clang!

A white skull helmet was floating on the black longsword that blocked the Blade of Requiem. The golden spark shining from its empty eyes gave off the stench of death.

"Death knight's helmet…"