"Vice Leader..." Raon frowned as he looked at Rimmer. "Have you been drinking?"
Though he couldn't smell alcohol, Rimmer's sudden appearance and challenge to spar made Raon suspect he must be drunk.
"If you're intoxicated, wouldn't it be better to just go and sleep..."
"I didn't drink!" Rimmer shook his head, the red glint fading from his eyes.
"Are you disrespecting me too now? This teacher of yours..." He pounded his chest with his fist, looking dejected.
"Now?" Glenn lowered his left eyebrow in disbelief. "Haven't you been disrespected by Raon since your instructor days?"
"Ugh..." Rimmer's lips trembled as if struck at his core. "A-anyway, I didn't drink! I'm not drunk at all!"
"That's the kind of line people who are already completely drunk sing like a chorus..."
"I'm telling you it's not true!" He balanced himself on his hands, insisting he hadn't touched alcohol in a while.
"Then why are you suddenly asking for a spar?" Raon narrowed his eyes as he watched Rimmer supporting his entire body with one finger.
"There's something I want to see from you."
Rimmer stood up, flashing a refreshing smile. "Something you want to see?"
"Yes. Only you can show it to me." He revealed a serious gaze within his playful smile.
"Um, it's not an excuse, but I've been training non-stop and I'm not in my best condition..."
Raon briefly licked his lips as he looked into Rimmer's eyes. Due to continuous training, both his body and mind were exhausted, so he didn't think he could show Rimmer what he wanted.
"It's fine. The conditions are the same for both of us." Rimmer shook his head calmly. "I've been training non-stop too." He laughed. "This is when interesting sparring matches happen. Just do it once."
The door to the training ground opened, and Sheryl entered.
"That gambling addict has really been training lately." Sheryl nodded, indicating it was okay to believe him.
Glenn silently looked at Rimmer before stepping back. "It doesn't seem to be a lie." He stroked his chin. That pointy-eared guy has changed a little.
Wrath squinted his eyes as he looked at Rimmer. What has changed?
Raon tilted his head. Unlike others, he couldn't quite sense what had changed about Rimmer.
-You should feel it for yourself. However, it's probably more of a mental change than a change in martial prowess.
Wrath settled on his shoulder, warning him not to take it lightly. Since everyone was saying so, it seemed like a good idea to spar.
"...Alright." Raon nodded and stepped forward.
"Since you said 'seriously,' I assume we're going all out?"
"There's no point in sparring otherwise."
Rimmer raised his chin and smoothly drew his sword. With a metallic sound, Raon and Rimmer lightly touched their swords together before stepping back five paces each.
"This won't take long." Rimmer pointed his sword at the sky and his finger at the ground. It looked like a stance signifying his will to dominate both heaven and earth.
"Sword Domain—Song of Wind and Lightning."
His low voice changed the atmosphere. A storm blew over the previously calm training ground, and lightning poured down.
"Hmm..." Raon swallowed dryly as he watched the wind and lightning grow stronger. Those streams of wind and lightning were like Rimmer's blade. It felt like standing in the eye of a hurricane that could take his life in an instant.
"Hm." Taking a deep breath, he raised the Heavenly Drive sword high and gripped the Blade of Requiem in reverse.
"Sword Domain—Divine-Demonic Harmony."
Raon's elegant voice split the wind and lightning. A golden sun and silver moon rose in the dark night sky, suppressing the raging storm. With a high-pitched sound, he advanced toward Rimmer, gripping the Divine Sword in his right hand and the Demonic Sword in his left. A rumbling sound echoed.
Behind Raon, flames and frost blazed, while behind Rimmer, wind and lightning crackled.
The two swordsmen launched their swords at each other's necks the moment their eyes met. With a thunderous crash, the shockwave of exploding flames and lightning struck vertically, creating a huge crater in the training ground. A whistling sound filled the air.
As soon as his first strike was blocked, Rimmer moved to the right. With extreme speed, he advanced as if teleporting and thrust his sword toward Raon's chest.
With a thunderous clash, Raon tilted his Demonic Sword downward to block the wind blade shot by Rimmer. A roaring sound erupted as wind and frost collided, creating a snowstorm as if winter had returned. Raon narrowed his eyes, observing Rimmer's onslaught that came like flashes of lightning.
He's really serious.
Rimmer increased the power of his Sword Domain, even at the cost of physical damage. His lightning-wrapped speed seemed difficult to keep up with, even at full power.
Then it's better to slow him down rather than try to keep up.
Giving up on competing with Rimmer's speed, Raon employed slow but powerful blunt sword, heavy sword, and severing sword techniques. While slowness generally cannot overcome speed, anticipatory action could: if you read your opponent's movements, you can reach the destination first even if you move later.
Rimmer's movements had become simpler than usual due to his focus on speed and power. Raon needed to identify those gaps.
With a roar, he resonated the Ring of Fire to its extreme. In a hyper-focused world where time seemed to slow, he analyzed Rimmer's sword and footwork in detail.
"Lower right."
He blocked Rimmer's Thunder Sword aiming for his knee with the flames of his Divine Sword. With a thunderous clash, Rimmer retreated as quickly as he had approached, then targeted Raon's right waist again. This time, instead of focusing solely on defense, Raon counterattacked with the flames of his Divine Sword.
"Ugh..." Rimmer was pushed back, spitting out red lightning. He groaned lowly, as if unable to believe his sword strike had been perfectly blocked.
"As expected, it's not easy." Rimmer twisted his lips into a smile and increased his speed further. His body and sword became almost blurry.
Raon squinted, trying to locate the vanished Rimmer.
It's not just his mind that's changed. His body has become even stronger.
It seemed Rimmer had trained his body to draw out this speed and power. Raon could sense his desperate determination to win.
But that doesn't change anything.
There was no need to panic just because the opponent had become faster. He just needed to do what he could right now. With a thunderous roar, Raon spread his Divine Sword and Demonic Sword like a net, endlessly blocking Rimmer's strikes. Anyone else would have had their skin torn off and bones broken, but he countered with a body that wouldn't yield even to a Transcendent Warrior.
With a thunderous strike, Raon's sword pierced Rimmer's shoulder, predicting his charge direction. Flesh tore and red blood sprayed. But Rimmer, as if feeling no pain, charged forward, evaporating his blood with lightning. Wings of wind and lightning sprouted behind him as if for a final attack.
"Wind and lightning are all my sword."
Rimmer's voice, filled with willpower, drew in the raging wind and lightning across the heavens and earth.
"There is nothing I cannot cut."
He launched his sword strike with a deep smile. As if transcending speed, a sword of wind and lightning was already falling before his eyes.
With a thunderous roar, Raon deactivated the Divine-Demonic Harmony just as Rimmer's strike came crashing down. Unlike how he usually finished this domain by using the Invincible Azure-Red Sword, he raised the Heavenly Drive sword straight up.
Sword Domain—Heaven's Rift.
A golden radiance bloomed over the fading flames. A deeper Ten Thousand Swords. Raon's true sword, now encompassing even the death sword and evil sword, opened a new sky.
With a deafening roar, wind and lightning, also parts of the sky, were crushed before the enormous sky Raon had opened. Rimmer's sword of wind and thunder caused a tremendous explosion on the training ground floor. The earth's surface flipped, walls crumbled, and dust clouds rose in all directions.
"Are you both crazy?" Sheryl slapped both hands down in disbelief. "Was it necessary to go this far!"
Glenn silently stomped his foot, and as the dust settled, the training ground split in half came into view. Rimmer was slumped down, having dropped his sword, while Raon stood in place, pointing the Heavenly Drive sword downward. The outcome was clear.
"I lost." Rimmer flopped down powerlessly, waving his palm. "I gave it my all, but I was completely overwhelmed." He lay spread-eagled, admitting his defeat.
"Whew..." Raon let out a long sigh and lowered his arm weakly. That wasn't easy.
Rimmer was a swordsman capable of producing results beyond mere martial prowess. The speed and power of his Sword Domain were so strong that even a moment of carelessness could have resulted in Raon's defeat. Indeed, that elf was the right person to lead the Light Wind division.
However... Raon moistened his lips with his tongue as he looked at the still trembling blade of the Heavenly Drive sword.
Has my Sword Domain grown too?
Heaven's Rift seemed to have become stronger than before. No, it definitely had become stronger.
This is probably...
While Heaven's Rift was originally created with endless growth in mind, its rapid change seemed more due to getting closer to the true Ten Thousand Swords by mastering the evil sword and death sword, rather than physical growth from increased stats. Raon clenched his fist, feeling satisfied that he was continuously growing.
"You seem happy about something." Rimmer looked up at Raon and smirked.
"Now that it's over, please tell me."
Raon sheathed the Heavenly Drive sword and approached Rimmer.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Rimmer tilted his head as if he didn't understand what Raon was saying.
"What? You challenged me to a spar saying there was something you wanted to see from me."
Raon blinked. He was dumbfounded by Rimmer's reaction, as if hearing this for the first time despite saying it himself earlier.
"Did I say that?" Rimmer pointed at himself with a finger, showing a blank expression. "I don't remember..." He scratched the back of his head. "I should have known..." Raon said, disgusted, and shook his head.
-This king knew he would be like that! Why did you agree to spar and delay our late-night snack time!
Wrath shook his head, calling Raon stupid.
-What could have changed about that pointy-eared fool!
'You said he changed!'
-Th-that's just his body! His mind is still the same!
'You said his mind changed!'
-Uh, m-me? This king doesn't remember!
The little guy scratched his head with his round hand, as if he had turned into Rimmer. For someone who claimed he couldn't lie, he was doing it quite well now. Raon resolved to feed him Nadine bread when they returned to the annex building. However, Glenn and Sheryl said nothing as they watched Rimmer laughing mischievously.
"Come to the training ground! It's hard for just me and the Gambling Monster to watch all the kids!" Raon shook his head and sighed.
"Alright. I'll come out starting tomorrow."
"It's today!"
After telling Rimmer to come no matter what, Raon stepped back.
"Raon." As Raon was about to leave the training ground, Rimmer raised his hand.
"Don't you want to become the head of the house?"
Rimmer suddenly brought up the topic of becoming the head of the house.
"What's this now?" Sheryl let out a hollow laugh as she looked at Rimmer. "Someone might think you're the head of the house if they heard you." She frowned, expressing her disbelief.
"What are you suddenly talking about?"
"Well, I've asked you about this before, haven't I?" Rimmer shrugged as if asking for Raon's current thoughts. Raon looked past Rimmer's sunken green eyes to Glenn.
Head of the house.
The head of Zieghart. While it was true that his affection for Zieghart had deepened, he had never thought about wanting to ascend to the throne of the head of the house. In the past, he might have used Zieghart's power to cut off Derus's lifeline, but now it was different. Rather, his desire to become the head of the house had diminished because he didn't want to cause harm to the family.
"Not particularly." Raon looked back at Rimmer and calmly shook his head.
"...I see." Rimmer nodded, muttering that it could be so.
"Head of the house. I'll stay behind to clean up here..."
"I'll take care of it, don't worry." Glenn waved his hand, saying they should take a day off from training tomorrow.
"Good work. You can go for today."
"Yes. Then..." Raon greeted Glenn and Sheryl before stepping back.
"Hey! What about me! Why don't you say goodbye to me!" He left the training ground without even listening to Rimmer's words.
"How cold." Rimmer clicked his tongue as he watched the door swinging after Raon's exit.
"Rimmer." Glenn approached Rimmer and turned his chin.
"What are you thinking?"
"I wanted to see what kind of person Raon is now." Rimmer smiled, saying they had a conversation between swordsmen.
"So, are you satisfied?"
"Yes. From accepting my sword to the final Sword Domain. He said a lot of things that were inside him." He nodded, saying it was a meaningful conversation.
"So what's your conclusion?"
"Whew..." Instead of answering, Rimmer let out a deep sigh and stood up.
"Head of house. Until now, I have served you as my lord. I recognized at first sight that you were the king I should serve."
He dusted off his clothes and stood in front of Glenn.
"You actually became a king, and I was satisfied with risking my life to protect the king. However..." Rimmer pulled out the sword stuck in the ground.
"The previous war changed my thinking. Wind and lightning should reside in the high and wide sky." He held the sword upside down, performing the Zieghart sword salute.
"From today, I intend to serve Raon Zieghart as my lord. Not as a potential king, but as a true king."
A solemn yet noble aura emanated from Rimmer's shoulders.
"Please grant me your permission."