Chapter 30

Clench!

Raon grit his teeth.

'Wrath!'

As he was interrupted just before forming an aura in his trace, the aura started to scatter.

'Grr!'

Raon focused and tried to condense the aura from the 'Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation' as it began to dissipate. Just as he was about to force it to settle, a coldness rushed at him.

I told you.

Wrath's voice was jeered at him.

The King of Essence will target you when you are in your weakest state.

'Grr…'

He was right.

Wrath did warn him that he would attack at the most dangerous moment. To be honest, Raon had somewhat expected it to happen.

However, he completely forgot about Wrath while in his trance.

I'm only getting started!

Wrath exploded his massive coldness, aimed at him. Raon shivered, facing the coldness that seemed to even freeze his cold sweat.

He wanted to open his eyes immediately because of the bone-freezing pain. However, he couldn't do that. It risked reversing the flow of his mana, which would incapacitate him.

'You bastard…'

He forgot, since Wrath had been tamed for a while, that he wasn't his ally. He wasn't just a devil, but a king of devildom. He seemed to be trying to eat away his entire soul by breaking his body.

Whirl!

As Wrath's coldness grew more powerful, the ice in his mana circuit started to reverberate.

'Ugh…'

He groaned in pain. It felt like his skin and bones were being split apart. The extreme coldness and wrath started to corrode his mind.

It's over.

Wrath's cold voice contained exhilaration instead of anger.

Your body and mind now belong to the King of Essence.

Just as he said, Raon's whole body was being filled with that extreme cold. He was losing his senses due to the extreme pain, and he felt like he would faint at any moment.

'Grr!'

Raon bit his tongue. The pain allowed him to regain his senses for an instant, like a bucket of cold water.

'Think, think!'

Wrath's coldness had already covered his entire body. He could take control of it at any moment now.

'I can't stop the 'Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation'.'

It was too late to use the 'Ring of Fire', since Wrath's coldness was going to engulf his body and mind before the ring started to rotate.

'I need to reach a breakthrough.'

Raon tried to withstand it by circulating the 'Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation'. It was a precarious situation, like hanging over a cliff with a single rope.

Just give up. Your body is already mine.

'We won't know until I try.'

It's an unnecessary struggle, like that old man who ignites the charcoal kiln every day.

'Charcoal kiln… Charcoal kiln!'

There was a way that he could survive.

Clench!

Raon clenched his fist and gathered the mana with all his remaining power.

Whoosh!

The mana flowing into him wasn't nature's mana, heated up by the charcoal kiln, but the mana inside the kiln itself.

Bastard! What are you doing?!

'Last-ditch struggle!'

Yes, it was a last-ditch struggle. He'd gotten enough of dying without being able to do anything in his previous life. He didn't want to die in vain in his current life, no matter what.

Rustle!

From the ceiling of the charcoal kiln, covered in stiff clay, a rustling sound of leaves could be heard.

You bastard! Stop it!

'Ugh!'

The coldness from Wrath grew stronger, powerful enough to freeze to his bones. Despite being unable to feel anything in his limbs, he withstood it with the very last of his strength and inhaled for the last time.

Crack!

With an earth-shattering sound, a tremendous heat burst into the air. Flame was bursting out from inside the charcoal kiln.

Huff!

Raon instantly inhaled the heat, as if he'd never taken a breath before.

The heat was inhaled not only through his nose and mouth, but the pores of his skin. His entire body pushed back the coldness. It was an overwhelming power, like lava running through his veins.

Whap!

Wrath's coldness vanished like a spring snow facing the turbulent waves of heat.

Wh-what is this?!

'Wrath, disappear!'

Raon kept controlling the 'Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation', chewing his lip. He also rounded up the tremendous amount of ice that his mana circuit had melted down, guiding it towards his energy center.

Whoosh!

The energy of 'Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation', which used to be like a dying flame, formed into a clear shape upon taking in the heat from the charcoal kiln.

Whir!

And that wasn't all.

A pure white energy was condensed like a bead, right next to the aura from the 'Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation', taking a clear shape. It was the ice of the Frost that used to fill his mana circuit.

Da-damn it!

'Huff…'

Without paying attention to Wrath screaming in anger, Raon organized all the heat in the air and the ice inside his body.

It took extreme concentration. Withstanding Wrath's interruption, Raon fell into a second trance.

* * *

"Ha!"

Vulcan breathed out heavily, placing a piece of firewood in the furnace.

Watching the furnace, where the firewood was immediately set ablaze, he recalled the past.

'It's already been thirty years.'

It had been thirty years since he made his last masterpiece, the True Heavenly Sword. After offering the best sword of his life to Glenn Zieghart, he thought his journey had come to an end.

Since he'd obtained so much wealth, the kind that wouldn't run out for the rest of his life, he decided to retire and enjoy the rest of his life.

However, he was sitting in front of the fire when he came to his senses.

He didn't need to wake up early, nor ignite the furnace. And yet, he kept heading towards the blacksmith.

'I am absolutely stuck.'

He was still stuck in the moment that he'd created the True Heavenly Sword.

'I can't stop it.'

He'd created countless swords and contributed greatly to Zieghart. Its leader—Glenn Zieghart, one of the strongest of the continent—was using his sword.

Although his name would be passed down in history even if he retired, he couldn't sit still. He couldn't stop holding his hammer, nor stay away from the fire.

There was only one reason that he was hesitating so much.

Even though he wanted to keep working, he wasn't confident in creating something that would surpass the True Heavenly Sword that he'd offered Glenn.

In his indecision, he ignited a sloppy fire and used his hammer. 

All he could feel was emptiness.

'That's why I made this kiln.'

About ten years ago, he'd started creating coals from the charcoal kiln in order to create golden charcoal, which surpassed black and white charcoal.

He thought he could possibly create a better sword if he had that special charcoal.

However, he never succeeded, not even once.

Collecting legends and rumors, he tried countless methods. However, he couldn't obtain the golden charcoal.

He didn't want to give up. It was the only obsession left in the final days of his life.

While he was burning away his time, that boy came to visit him.

Raon Zieghart.

He'd been breathing with the furnace's flame from the day he'd met him. The flame that had been stopped for decades started to burn like a savage beast.

It was the first time.

The flame had never reacted, nor had it ever increased its firepower before.

Thinking that something might change, he'd allowed Raon to stay next to him. However, he didn't have high expectations.

'Because this is a hellfire.'

The kiln's heat was so severe that even a veteran blacksmith avoided it. Some blacksmiths had come to him with the intention of helping, but a few days was enough to make them slip away.

The boy was drenched in cold sweat and withstood the pain by biting his lip. However, he kept visiting him every day and sat in front of the furnace.

At first, he was clearly unable to focus on his cultivation because of the heat coming from the ground. The second day was the same, he kept biting his lip while trembling from the heat.

Three days, four days, a week, a month, three months.

Raon kept visiting the kiln without missing a single day.

And today.

The fire inside the furnace burned fiercely, as if it was reacting to Raon breathing in and out, and the heat inside the kiln had become many times stronger.

Inhale!

He dominated the flame in that space, as if he'd become the embodiment of the fire.

'This is—!'

Vulcan suddenly realized it was an important opportunity for him. Not an opportunity to create a new charcoal, but an opportunity for him to live as a blacksmith once again.

"Huff!"

With extreme concentration, he maintained the firepower in the furnace. Blowing and fanning, he kept repeating every action that could grow the fire.

The flame was alive.

The transparent flame at the center was increasing its firepower while erasing the weak and murky ones.

However, something unexpected happened.

Frost fell from Raon's body, which should've been sweating from the charcoal kiln's heat.

'What is this?'

He looked around in a panic, but the ice was nowhere else to be found.

That ice kept spreading throughout his body, and his golden hair ended up freezing.

'Wh-what should I do?'

Raon's body was trembling. He understood he wasn't in a good condition, but he didn't know what to do.

He knew he shouldn't touch him at a time like this, but he thought Raon would die if left alone.

"H-hey! You…"

"Stop."

As Vulcan was about to extend his hand in order to wake Raon up, Rimmer appeared. He was literally moving like the wind.

"Rimmer! What are you doing?! He is going to die!"

"There's nothing we can do right now."

Rimmer shook his head. He frowned and stared at Raon, who was shaking even more now.

"If he receives the slightest impact from the outside, he will cough up blood and die."

"Is that the ice you talked about before?"

"Yes. He was born with that ice in his body."

"That's…"

Vulcan bit his lip as the sight tugged at his heartstrings.

'Such a young child…'

He felt sorry that a child still wet behind the ears was born with a coldness severe enough to erase the furnace's heat. At the same time, he felt proud of the boy that had managed to withstand it until now.

He wanted to help somehow.

"Is there anything we can do?"

"No. It will be dangerous if you touch anything at all."

Rimmer's expression was unusually serious. His fist was clenched, and his eyes didn't move away from Raon.

The two of them kept staring at the ice covering Raon's entire body in complete silence.

"He… He is really going to die at this rate! Anything!"

"Wait! Raon just moved!"

Rimmer's expression contained hope. He snorted as he kept staring at Raon.

"What? What do you mean… huh?"

Vulcan turned his head. The flame from the furnace had suddenly grown fiercer.

Rumble!

The flame came from the furnace, surging around the entire kiln. The kiln's clay enclosure had exploded, causing the tremendous heat to fill the air.

Boom!

It was difficult to breathe due to the immense heat.

"Huff!"

He lowered his body because of the heat, the type of which the Continent's Blacksmith had never felt before, but the heat didn't last.

Whoosh!

That was because the heat was being absorbed by Raon, rotating in a spiral towards him. With the tremendous amount of heat being condensed into him, the coldness covering his entire body melted.

Whap!

A red flame burned along Raon's body. No, the flame wasn't red.

It was golden.

Reflecting the golden daybreak rising over the eastern mountain, a golden flame burst forth.

Despite being engulfed in a golden flame, Raon didn't stop cultivating. He kept absorbing the heat from not only his surroundings, but also the entirety of the North Grave Mountain.

Rumble!

As the sun fully showed its majestic light, the light pouring out from Raon started to grow faint and he opened his eyes.

Spark!

Vulcan, who met his eyes, swallowed. A thrill running up from his toes pierced his brain.

A dark golden light.

The golden light, containing the daybreak's light, was burning in his eyes.

____

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