Raon lowered his sword and the Flameâs Singularity fluttered away like leaves in the wind.
The ice troll lordâs huge body, which covered the moonlight, knelt on the fading flame. A dark hole remained on the left side of its chest, where the spear of flame had pierced through.
Tsssh.
As if time was flowing backward, the ice troll lordâs skin and flesh were regenerating. It was an outrageous amount of regeneration, befitting the lord, but it was pointless. After all, its heart was already shredded to pieces by the Flameâs Singularity.
âKrrrâŠâ
Raon met the ice troll lordâs eyes. Vitality was leaving its white pupils, similar to the perpetual snow.
âIâm not sure.â
It looked like the ice troll lord resented him, or wanted to live, orâŠ
Was thanking him, although that might have just been his imagination.
âIâll grant you a painless death.â
âKrr!â
Raon raised his sword once again. When he was about to decapitate it in order to relieve its pain, the ice troll lord stood up with a trembling chin.
âKrrâŠâ
It was standing confidently on its two legs with clenched fists, as if it wanted to keep fighting until the end. It was the monsterâs resolution that it would fight until the end without kneeling, befitting a true king.
âWonderful.â
Raon admired that from the bottom of his heart. He never thought he would feel that way for a monster.
âKrrrra!â
The ice troll lord roared and rushed at him. It was losing its balance slightly, like a baby that had just started walking, but it didnât fall down.
Raon slashed, so that he did not tarnish its resolution. Zieghartsâ aloof blade took the ice troll lordâs life.
âKrr!â
The ice troll lordâs thick lips curled up. It was definitely smiling. It wasnât just Raonâs imaginationâthe ice troll lord was indeed thanking him.
âKwaaaa!â
âKrrrrr!â
âKieeee!â
Upon hearing its final roar, the monsters gave up on fighting and withdrew. They spread out in all directions to run away as fast as they could.
âAs a king, until the endâŠâ
Just like he said, the ice troll lord died as a king, to a point where Raon felt ashamed instead.
âGoodbye.â
Raon closed his eyes, wishing for it to reincarnate in a better place, just like he did.
He was a true king. One that I havenât seen for a long while.
When he opened his eyes once again, Wrath was looking down on the ice troll lordâs corpse.
This troll is younger than you if you convert to a humanâs age. Yet, it already knew what it needed to do. It was truly suited to the title of âkingâ.
âYes.â
You can tell from this young troll, who was born and died as a king even though it didnât have anything. Regardless of the race, a king isnât made, but born.
Wrath turned to meet Raonâs eyes.
âŠis what I used to think.
âYou used to think?â
Yes. But I changed my opinion after seeing you.
âWhat do you mean?â
The first time I saw you, the number of qualities of a king I could feel from you were less than the chocolate chips in a chocolate cookie. However, youâve changed. Itâs not just your might, but your soulâs level has changed.
Wrathâs eyes sparkled like sapphires.
Just like an artisan making a pot from clay, the qualifications of a king are being made inside of your soul.
âQualifications of a kingâŠâ
However, it doesnât look like you have any intention of becoming one.
âYou are right. Iâve never thought about that.â
He was born as the lord of Zieghartâs grandson, but he couldnât think about succeeding the House. He just wanted to profit from them, and make Sylvia and the maids happy.
A commonerâs mind with the king's qualities, how interesting. How your qualifications will grow and change, and how your mind will alter in the future, will be fun to watch. Because thereâs no one like you, even in Devildom.
âThen, are you not going to take over my body? Are you admitting your defeat?â
N-Nonsense! I just said that you are interesting! I never said Iâm not going to take away your mind and body!
Wrath shouted, struggling with his short arms.
Once the King of Essence targets something, I wonât be satisfied until I obtain it! The King of Essence will take away your body by any means necessary!
âAh, okay.â
While we are on that subject, the King of Essenceâs temperament is similar to that troll kid. Iâm the true king that saves my subordinates even if Iâm in danger. The only difference is that the King of Essenceâs power doesnât lose to anyo⊠Wh-Why are you looking at me like that?
Wrath shivered, noticing Raonâs icy cold gaze.
âEven now, you still want to brag and prattle on about yourselfâŠâ
âSir Raon!â
As Raon was shaking his head at Wrath, Dorian came running at him. His arm was broken, his entire body was covered in bruises, and his armor was in tatters.
âYouâŠâ
He thought Dorian was holding on pretty well, but that wasnât the case. He really fought to death to buy time for him.
âI seriously canât catch up to you. You really killed the Voracious Ice Demon and the Blue Shamanic Demon, and even the lord after that. In comparison, I got my arm broken from fighting just the lord.â
Dorian sniffled, grabbing his broken arm.
âWhat happened to you? Why did you step up?â
âThatâsâŠâ
He caressed his belly pocket, unable to reply immediately.
âYou know, you fought the Blood Raving Demon last time.â
âYes.â
Though, he just held out, rather than fighting.
âI felt so frustrated when I ran away back then. I felt like my heart was tearing. Iâm scared of getting hurt physically, but I was even more scared of hurting my heart. Thatâs why I pledged that Iâd never run away while leaving my companion behind.â
âAnd you kept it this time?â
âYesâŠâ
Dorian lowered his head in embarrassment.
âI see. You were very helpful.â
Raon smiled at Dorian. His chest felt warm from his sincere feelings. It was the first time he was helped, but it didnât feel bad at all.
âAnd you, too.â
He turned his head to look at Edquill, who was standing to the side awkwardly. His condition was even worse than Dorianâs. His armor was covered with blood, and the bone of his leg was completely destroyed.
ââŠIt was my pleasure.â
âPleasure?â
Edquill had suddenly become polite, even though he used to mumble that he wanted to kill him later.
âI only did it because I wanted to, so you donât need to mind it.â
He bowed politely and returned to the castle. Judging from his untainted eyes, it looked like something had really changed in his mind.
âShout the name of our hero!â
From the top of the castle gate, Terian yelled, holding his bloody sword up high.
âWoaaaah!â
âRaon! Raon! Raon!â
The soldiers yelled Raonâs name in unison. The entirety Habun Castle trembled with his name.
Raon clenched his fist.
âMy nameâŠâ
It felt like the name he could never reveal, the name he had to hide all the time, was spreading throughout the world. The thrill made his heart pound.
âLetâs go.â
When he clasped his chest and was about to return to Habun Castle, messages popped up in front of his eyes.
[Youâve accomplished great achievements.]
[Your soul level has increased.]
[Regeneration has increased drastically.]
[Title has been created.]
[All stats have increased by 3.]
[Iron Willâs rank has increased.]
Why are there so many of them?!
* * *
Reaper Scans
[Translator â Kyangi]
[Proofreader â Harley]
Join our discord for updates on releases! https://dsc.gg/reapercomics
* * *
Rushine Mountain, to the west of House Robert.
Under the mountain famous for its splendid landscape, there was an underground space that no one knew about. In the middle of that space, which was darker than night, about five hundred children were kneeling with their eyes closed.
They had their hands put together as if they were praying, but cold sweat kept flowing down from their foreheads and backs.
âUhhâŠâ
âAhâŠâ
âKeuhâŠâ
The children, who were enduring it while biting their lips, started to collapse one after the other. Bleeding from their eyes, noses, or ears, their whole bodies trembled.
The masked men that were watching from the side took the child and disappeared somewhere each time one collapsed.
The children collapsed more and more frequently as time passed, and in the end, there were only 108 of them remaining.
The tall masked man that was watching them from the center walked up to the upper floor, where he could look down on the entire space.
Derus Robert, with his silver hair similar to a snow field flowing down to his back, was watching with a wine glass in his hand. Although a lot of time had passed, he looked even younger and livelier than before.
âThe brainwashing has ended.â
The masked man knelt and bowed at him.
âSo, there are 108.â
The 108 children were reflected in Derusâs aloof pupils.
âYes. There are more than we expected. The dogs this time will be more usable.â
âReduce the number to half.â
âPardon?â
âRiffraff arenât necessary. What I need are hunting dogs that can bare their fangs against Masters.â
He smiled, looking at the children bleeding from their mouths. The dry smile, devoid of emotion, set off goosebumps.
âH-how shall we reduce the number?â
âThatâs your job. It is nothing I should be concerned about.â
Derusâ blue eyes glowed viciously.
âI-I beg your pardon!â
The masked man smacked his head onto the ground to beg for forgiveness. Blood was dripping from his forehead.
âDid you feed them the rage warms?â
âYes! We fed them the improved ones, so they wonât be released from the brainwashing like Raon!â
âRaon, RaonâŠâ
Unlike the same feverish name that resounded in Habun Castle, a cold voice crushed that name.
âHe was a pretty useful one.â
Derus frowned, looking at the scar on the back of his right hand. Raonâs abilities were the best among all the hunting dogs heâd raised so far.
If only he hadnât undone the brainwashing by himself. He had the abilities to kill the highest executives of the Six Kings, so losing him was a shame in many ways.
Psh!
When he was thinking about Raon, the scar on his right hand opened and sticky blood trickled down to the floor.
âM-Master!â
The masked man stood up quickly and was about to run towards him when Derus opened the scar by himself and smiled.
âLook at this. Raon shoved his fang into me as he died. You shall raise those children to grow up just like him.â
Darkness crept from Derusâs blue eyes.
âThey shall become the hunting dogs that can shove their fangs into the enemyâs neck and die with a smile for my sake.â
* * *
Milland and the attack force kept running restlessly, but the sun had already risen a long time ago. When they finally reached the snow field where they could see Habun Castle from far away, dozens of monsters came rushing at them.
âKeuh! Prepare for battle!â
He bit his lip in anxiety and ordered to fight, but it seemed the monsters had no intentions of fighting as they spread out everywhere without even looking back.
He finally noticed the monstersâ conditions. Their bodies were covered in blood, their hands were empty, and their eyes were full of distress. It was the classic appearance of remnants.
âWhat is that?â
Milland furrowed his brow, looking at the monsters running away in a hurry. Although heâd lived there for dozens of years, it was his first time witnessing such a thing.
ââŠLetâs move on. Run at full speed!â
Hiding his confused expression, he ordered them to depart once again.
âUnderstood!â
Since the attack force was also anxious, they quickly started running towards Habun Castle.
Because the group consisted of elites, Milland and the attack force managed to reach Habun Castle before noon. However, the condition was completely different from what theyâd imagined.
The castle walls werenât destroyed, and countless monsters were dead under the castle walls. On the other hand, they couldnât find a single soldierâs corpse.
âWh-What is this?â
âWhat happened hereâŠ?â
âWhat the hell happened this time?!â
The attack force entered inside the castle with trembling legs.
âC-Commander! Look this way!â
Barty, the first scouting party leader, shouted when Milland was walking while looking around. Upon following him, there was a monsterâs corpse that was two times bigger than an average ice troll.
âTh-This is it! Itâs the ice troll lord!â
âSo, it was a trap after all. But who could haveâŠâ
âCommander! Th-There's an Eden demon here!â
âThereâs another one here! Itâs the Voracious Ice Demon!â
The scoutsâ eyes became wide open in astonishment upon finding the corpses of the Voracious Ice Demon and the Blue Shamanic Demon.
âAn ice troll lord, the Voracious Ice Demon and the Blue Shamanic Demon?â
Milland swallowed harshly, looking at the three monsters one after another.
âWhat happened here?â
There were corpses of two of Eden's demons, an ice troll lord, and countless monsters. Yet, the corpses or flesh of humans were nowhere to be seen.
He could understand that it was Edenâs trap, but he couldnât even begin to figure out how they managed to survive against them.
âLetâs go for now.â
Milland caught his breath and walked towards the castle gate. Cheers and roars could be heard from the inside. When he tried to listen more closely, they were shouting someoneâs name.
âRaon?â
It was Raon. His name was resounding to reach the sky.
* * *
After hearing what happened overnight, Milland and the officers sitting in the conference room went blank, eyes trembling.
âHow could this happen in my lifetime?â
âI know, right? Eden and an ice troll lord attacked, yet there were no casualties at all? It feels like a dream. This must be the war godâs blessing!â
âItâs not the war godâs blessing, but Raonâs blessing. He did everything on his own this time, again.â
âDid he seriously get a single arm broken from killing the Voracious Ice Demon, the Blue Shamanic Demon, and the ice troll lord? He is a real monster.â
The officers praised Raonâs prowess and strategy in amazement.
âRegardless of what happened, we won in the end. Festival! Itâs time for a festival, for three days and nights!â
âDo you think three days and nights are enough? We should make it a whole week!â
âThatâs right. We wonât get another day like this for the rest of our lives!â
Since it was obvious that there would be no monster for a while, the officers raised their hands, saying that they should hold a festival right away.
âThereâs something we need to do before the festival.â
Milland silenced the conference room, the atmosphere having grown as loud as a marketplaceâs beforehand.
âThat would beâŠâ
âYou are praising Raon, but cheers arenât all we are giving him, right?â
âO-Of course not!â
âWe have to give him the best award and gold!â
The officers nodded immediately.
âThatâs right. The reason Iâm alive right now is thanks to Raon.â
Terian, who told him about Raonâs fight, smiled broadly.
âThen we can make this short.â
Milland tapped on the table and his eyes sparkled.
âIâm thinking about giving him Habun Castleâs relic.â