"Are you all high or what?!" Hellgrum ground his teeth violently, making a cracking noise. "What is this nonsense, when your disciple was the one who picked a fight with me?" He swung his arm, telling him to understand the situation properly.
"Fight? When did Mustan ever pick a fight with you?" Rector's brow furrowed deeply.
"He blocked our path, saying that the South-North Union are filthy pirates!" Hellgrum glared sharply at him, showing that he wouldn't forgive him for that.
"Does that count as picking a fight?" Rector casually shook his hand while snorting. "Apparently, stating the truth is considered picking a fight now."
"H-how dare you!" Hellgrum bit his lip while looking at Rector's cold eyes.
"Raon Zieghart defeated the Axe King Roman in a duel fair and square." Rector looked back at Raon, who was unconscious. A deep sense of admiration gleamed in his old eyes. "Even though the Axe King himself admitted his defeat and asked you to send Raon Zieghart back, you chased him all the way here to kill him. You can't be any more unsightly."
Rector's eyes, shifting toward Hellgrum once again, were twisted with disgust, as if he were looking at loathsome vermin.
"Everything that my disciple said was true. Which part was a provocation, Hellgrum?" Rector nodded his head, gesturing at him to go ahead and say it if he had anything to say.
"You stubborn old man." Hellgrum exhaled roughly while glaring at Rector. "Do you think I'm chasing after him just for the sake of the South-North Union? It's for the Five Demons!"
"For the Five Demons?" Rector furrowed his nose, asking what he meant.
"Yes, it is. The Beast King Ogram's defeat broke the balance between the Six Kings and the Five Demons. It's not an exaggeration to say that the Five Demons rule the world now." Hellgrum gazed down upon the unconscious Raon while lowering his long spear.
"And how is that related to your filthy behavior?"
"The biggest obstacle for the Five Demons, or rather the Six Demons, on their path to rule the world is Raon Zieghart right there—not the current Six Kings. If we don't kill him right now, he will become a monster that not just myself but even you won't be able to reach."
He clenched his fist to the point of bleeding, saying that Raon couldn't be allowed to escape no matter what.
"Six Demons? It looks like you decided to accept those things called the Shadow."
"I believe the Holy Sword Alliance wasn't exactly against it, though they didn't agree to it." Hellgrum narrowed his eyes, saying that the matter was already concluded. "Even the Holy Sword Alliance master's disciple was defeated by Raon Zieghart. I'll give you his head, so bring it to your alliance master..."
"You are gravely mistaken about our alliance master." Rector curled his lips into a smile while looking at Hellgrum. "Our alliance master doesn't pick an immature fruit. The reason he didn't take part in this matter is because your disgraceful conduct is simply repulsive." He furrowed his brow, saying that his alliance master wanted a duel against Glenn. "If our alliance master had witnessed this scene, your head would be rolling by now."
"B-bullshit! Even a dog on the street knows that the Holy Sword Alliance sided with the White Blood Religion and the Black Tower!" Hellgrum shook his hand in disbelief.
"This and that are different matters." Rector confidently shook his head. "Anyway, this allowed me to learn why the South-North Union is a gathering of unscrupulous thieves." He laughed at Hellgrum, snorting.
"Y-you bastard..."
"This chatter has dragged on long enough." Rector raised his hand while shaking his head. "This is my final statement. Leave right now."
"What if I refuse?" Hellgrum shook his head while taking a step forward.
"I'll make you realize how huge the difference between Transcenders is."
"Wahahahaha!" Hellgrum burst out in laughter while covering his forehead, as if he had already lost his sanity. "Alright, show me what you've achieved by deceiving people and sucking their swordsmanship out of them."
Hellgrum swirled the long spear in his hand, while laughing at Rector in return.
"Yes. At your age, you need to be punished to make you understand." Rector calmly nodded, as if he was expecting that situation.
"Sword Demon!" Just as the two Transcenders were about to clash, Rimmer's voice could be heard.
"Leave. You are unrelated to this fight." Rector looked back.
"What are you even talking about?! Moreover, you—"
"I already told you. I'm not here to help you. I just couldn't stand to watch that old man's filthy behavior."
A turbulent emotion welled up in his eyes as he examined Raon before it rapidly disappeared.
"Leave."
Rector shook his hand, and a formless energy blew at Dorian's ship to gently push it away. The ship advanced quickly despite creaking, cutting through the violent current of the Rable River.
"Rector!"
"Sir Rector!"
Rimmer and the Light Wind Division called Rector's name from behind, but he didn't look back anymore.
"What an emergence of a hero." Hellgrum turned around while sneering at him. "Beorn, command the troo—Hmm?" He widened his eyes, while checking on the bandits behind him.
"What? Where did Beorn go?!"
"Huh...?"
"H-he was here with me just now though?"
"He suddenly disappeared!"
The pirates shouted with trembling chins. They were apparently not aware of Beorn's disappearance either.
"As expected of unscrupulous thieves. Can't you even manage your subordinates?" Rector beckoned with his finger, while sneering at him.
"Shut up!" Hellgrum's shoulders trembled in irritation before he raised his hand. "Kill all of the traitors to the Six Kings! I'll take responsibility for it!" he shouted, and the Blue Wolf advanced, cutting through the current.
Whaaam!
The bows of the two warships were destroyed even further, creating a passage connecting the two ships.
"Kill them!"
"Don't let a single one live!"
"You thieves!"
"You traitors!"
The South-North Union's warriors and the Holy Sword Alliance's swordsmen crossed blades with each other, boarding the other party's ship.
The Holy Sword Alliance's swordsmen were superior in skills, but the South-North Union's warriors made up for their weakness by taking advantage of the fact that the battle was taking place on a rocking ship.
Whir!
Even as the battle between the warriors of the South-North Union and the Holy Sword Alliance intensified, Rector and Hellgrum simply glared at each other, not making any moves.
"Let's change the location." Rector nodded at him while advancing towards the river, stepping on the air.
"Hmph." Hellgrum followed Rector onto the river, implying that he didn't want to harm his subordinates either. "I should be thanking you for coming to my battlefield on your own accord. As long as we are here—"
"Hellgrum." Rector's extremely low-pitched voice sounded like it was coming from the depth of hell. "You made a huge mistake today."
The energy wave emanating from him completely dried up, to the point where there was no moisture remaining at all.
"What do you mean...?"
"Die."
Rector thrust his sword, his face distorted like a fiend. The aura blazing from his white blade created a majestic radiance through the horizon.
Whaaam!
"We're seeing so many familiar faces today," Rimmer gasped, feeling the huge wave of aura erupting at the center of the Rable River.
"Er-erm..." Dorian swallowed nervously while looking back. "The Sword Demon came to save us, didn't he?"
He shook his head, saying that he couldn't believe the Sword Demon's words when he said he was unrelated to the matter.
"I think so, too." Burren spoke without the usual objectivity, which was rare coming from him. "The Sword Demon had many chances to catch us before, but he let us go every single time." He stroked his chin, saying that he was the same as Merlin's case.
"Auntie said the same thing before, that he returned after just fighting a little despite being stronger than herself." Martha nodded, saying that Aries's words were on the same line.
"He was glad to see Raon once again." Runaan nodded at Raon.
"Hmm?"
"Was he glad to see Raon?"
"How could you tell?"
The Light Wind Swordsmen tilted their heads, saying that Rector's eyes were cold.
"He looked like he was proud of him." Runaan blinked while meeting everyone's gazes.
'I'm sure of it.'
She could tell because she didn't usually show her emotions. Even though it was for a brief moment, Rector's gaze was full of pride and approval as he looked at Raon. The reason he was stepping up must've been because of Raon.
"It doesn't matter what the Sword Demon is thinking." Mark Goetten calmly opened his eyes, his hand on the hilt of his sword. "The important part right now is to escort our division leader to safety. We need to focus, everyone." He calmly caught his breath, standing at the edge of the deck.
"Yes, we should save the matters about the Sword Demon and Merlin for later. Don't let your guard down until that ship appears." Rimmer calmly nodded and looked forward.
'I'm curious, though.'
Rector was definitely deeply related to Raon and Sylvia. He could somewhat guess what it was, but he couldn't be certain because there was no proof at all.
"Dorian, how is the ship's condition?"
"It's not good." Dorian sighed deeply while stroking the shaking helm. "I've covered it up with wooden planks as a temporary measure but it's not going to last for long. I think the smallest impact could destroy it..."
He bit his lip, saying that the situation was extremely dangerous.
"The smallest impact could destroy it, you said?"
"I-it's that bad?"
The swordsmen had been covering the floor with planks to stop the water from leaking, gasping upon hearing Dorian's explanation.
"We got hit by a breath, collided with another ship, and got pierced by boulders..." Dorian lowered his head, blaming himself for the bad maneuvering.
"It's alright. We just need to last for a bit longer." Rimmer wiped the cold sweat from his forehead while looking forward.
'Haa, keeping aura perception open isn't something that a human being should do.'
He'd been spreading his aura perception as much as possible ever since Raon's duel to the death, just in case. The massive aura consumption was one thing, but analyzing the countless pieces of information coming from the aura perception was pushing his mind to its limit. It felt like his head was going to explode from the inside.
'But I still need to keep it up.'
Keeping his aura perception on had allowed him to minimize the damage to the ship because he could locate the enemies in advance. When he said they needed to last for a bit longer, he was resolving himself rather than telling the Light Wind Division to do so. He was determined to endure until they switched ships at the cost of his life.
"Huff..."
It happened when Rimmer was watching the endless flow of water with half-closed eyes.
A huge sailboat that seemed out of place on the river entered his vision from the west. It wasn't any smaller than the Blue Wolf, the warship of the South-North Union's leader, and a flag with a cute skull emblem was fluttering from the top of the mast.
"It's here! The Navy Wind!"
It was Aries Zieghart's pirate ship, the Navy Wind that supposedly traveled all around the ocean. It was the last piece prepared by Raon.
"Sir Raon!"
"You're safe!"
"We were heading toward you because it was taking too long!"
A bald middle-aged man with an eyepatch covering his left eye waved his hand from the Navy Wind's bow.
He was the previous Raging Wave Division leader, Rabawin, who was acting as the pirate king. Zieghart swordsmen who were originally from the Raging Wave Division lowered their heads at the same time.
"Dorian, full speed toward the Navy Wind."
"Yes!" Dorian steered the ship towards the Navy Wind with a cheerful smile on his face.
Whir.
Since the Navy Wind was moving at the same time, the two ships met each other soon enough.
"Rimmer, why did it take you so long?" Rabawin furrowed his brow while lowering his head.
"Are you really the Raging Wave Division leader? You didn't just grow older. You've practically crawled out from your grave at this point," Rimmer giggled while looking at Rabawin's face.
"This is just a disguise! I'm forced to wear it because of Lady Aries!" Rabawin furrowed his brow while lifting his eyepatch.
"You must be having a hard time too." Rimmer nodded with a faint smile on his face.
"Transfer to our ship for now. That one is going to be destroyed soon."
As expected of a sailor, Rabawin noticed the condition of Dorian's ship, and gestured with his hand to transfer to his ship already.
"Wait a moment." Rimmer spread his aura perception as much as possible one last time before changing ships. He couldn't sense anything except for small wild animals and fish under the river.
'It should be safe to remove it now.'
Rimmer deactivated his aura perception since he couldn't find any enemies in the vicinity, and Rabawin—who was a Grandmaster—was right next to him.
"Ugh..."
His legs were shaking, implying that he'd reached his limit. He would've collapsed if he'd maintained it for any longer.
"First team, climb up first." Rimmer forced himself to make a nonchalant expression and pointed at the Navy Wind.
"I understand." Martha went onto the Navy Wind along with the first team's members.
"There are no issues here." They examined the Navy Wind's deck, nodding to signal that there were no issues.
"Then the second team, transport Raon with the Saint—"
It was when Rimmer was about to order Runaan and the Light Wind's second team to transport Raon that it happened.
"An enemy!"
Rabawin jumped down from the bow, shouting loudly.
Splash!
At the same time, the Evil Goat Demon wearing Baphomet's helmet surged up from the violent wave. He tried to strike Raon's heart with a long sword instead of the greatsword that he usually used.
Both Rabawin and Rimmer were too late to react. They extended their hands, lacking the time to unsheathe their swords, but the astral sphere bursting from the Evil Goat Demon's long sword was a lot faster than them.
However, someone managed to react, as if she'd noticed his movements.
It was Runaan, the one who was the most familiar with the Evil Goat Demon's energy. She blocked the astral sphere rushing toward Raon by creating a wall of frost.
Creak!
The wall of frost made of astral energy was split apart, throwing Runaan onto the deck. She never dropped her sword even though blood was gushing from her mouth.
Whaaam!
The ship finally reached its limit and split in half, making the Light Wind swordsmen fall into the river.
"Raon is safe!" The Ragged Saint, Federick, waved his hand while holding Raon in his arms.
"Runaaaan!"
The Evil Goat Demon tried to thrust his sword once again while screaming, but Rimmer and Rabawin intercepted him thanks to the time Runaan had bought them.
Claaang!
The Evil Goat Demon was sent flying by Rimmer and Rabawin's strikes, coughing up blood.
"You filthy bastard!"
"I was wondering where you've been, Syria Sullion!"
While the sense of relief from fending off the hidden enemy was seeping into everyone's hearts, a secret light sparked from the Evil Goat Demon's shadow.
Shrr!
Beorn, the red eyed swordsman whose emotions seemed to be worn out, broke through Rimmer and Rabawin's encirclement and raised his sword.
His long blade extended like an awl toward Raon in Federick's arms.
"No!"
Federick spread his hands in an attempt to block the sword, but Beorn's blade broke through his arm and pierced Raon's chest.
Zap!
The moment the deadly blade pierced through Raon's skin, a light that no one could see radiated from the ice flower bracelet that he was wearing.
Uhehehehe! A complete revival!
Wrath laughed like a madman, bursting from the bracelet.
Prepare five boxes of mint chocolates for the King of Essence right now—Huh?
The Demon King of Wrath blinked his round eyes while looking at the thin blade piercing into Raon's chest.
A blade? Chest? Err... What's going on now?! Why is he being stabbed by a blade the moment he opens his eyes?!
Wrath shouted, grabbing Raon's by his collar even though he was unconscious.
Raon Zieghart! What trouble did you cause this time?!
Silver steam rose from the river alongside the demon king's scream.
Why is the King of Essence getting this unreasonable treatment the moment he opens his eyes?!