Chapter 677

“Hehe.” Gluttony smiled in satisfaction while watching the pile of gold.

“That’s not food.” Raon gestured at Gluttony, leaving the message windows behind.

“I know.” Gluttony nodded, hugging the pile of gold like a precious treasure.

“And don’t kill or eat humans if possible.” Raon looked at Gluttony while putting the payment for ice cream and metal containers on the counter.

“Why not?”

“Because they won’t be able to make the ice cream anymore if they die.”

“Ah!” Gluttony nodded, showing that she fully understood what he was saying.

Raon was actually saying that because it would become complicated in many ways if Gluttony started to cause issues, and he was glad it worked.

Arrrgh!

Wrath groaned in pain, clutching his temple.

That stupid simpleton of a food waster! Why is she being deceived by that?!

He shook his head, calling her a doormat that he would never be able to understand.

“......”

Raon wanted to tell Wrath that he was the best doormat of them all but suppressed his urge.

“I’m leaving.”

Gluttony finally stood up after chewing up all of the metallic containers in the ice cream shop.

“To where?”

“It’s a bit far away from here, but I can smell the ice cream from there.” She raised her finger and pointed at the east.

‘Huh…’ Raon gasped, shifting his gaze to follow Gluttony’s finger. ‘That direction… is that Finnick Kingdom?’

There were many villages around the Holy Kingdom of Schper, but the only city large enough to have an ice cream shop was in the Finnick Kingdom, located a significant distance away.

Even a dog couldn’t match up to her sense of smell, since she even managed to pick up the scent of ice cream from the Finnick Kingdom. It was a quality befitting the Monarch of Gluttony.

“Gluttony.”

Raon put his hand on Gluttony’s head. He felt like he was touching soft cotton. He thought he was probably the first one among humans to hold a demon king’s head.

“Hmm?”

She slowly raised her eyes, implying that she didn’t really mind him touching her head.

“Come to the King of Essence if you run out of gold. Of course, only do it when no one else is around, and make sure to completely conceal your demonic energy.”

“Alright.” Gluttony nodded, showing that she understood.

Y-you bastard, no way…

Wrath’s eyes trembled as he looked at Gluttony.

Are you trying to take advantage of even Gluttony?

‘I can’t stay here doing nothing when she is favorable to me.’

Raon smiled while looking at the message stating that he’d gained Gluttony’s favor.

Gluttony believed that he was Wrath. Since he might need to borrow her power one day, there was nothing to lose from being on friendly terms with her.

But that’s all thanks to the King of Essence!

Wrath grabbed Raon by his collar and shook him violently.

This all happened because the King of Essence fed her ice cream. Why are you the one benefiting from it?!

‘No one asked you to do that though.’

Raon smiled cheerfully, watching Wrath’s reddened face.

Argh! This is driving him nuts!

Wrath let out an incomprehensible scream, shouting that he would never forgive him.

Food Waster! You’re being deceived right now! He is a virtuous man, pretty much an angel from heaven! You can’t trust him, never!

‘I can’t tell if you are complimenting or cursing me…’

Raon laughed bitterly while shaking his head.

“See ya.” Gluttony casually waved her hand and disappeared into the white shadows.

“Ah…” Raon furrowed his brow slightly, lowering the hand that had been patting Gluttony’s head. “I still had something to ask her.”

What is it?! What are you trying to extort from her now?!

‘I wanted to learn how gluttony works.’

She is an idiot who knows nothing but eating. Do you really think she would know how it works? Moreover, it applies differently depending on the person!

Wrath wrinkled his nose, criticizing him for asking again after having experienced it multiple times before.

‘Well, that’s true.’

Raon calmly nodded. Considering how envy had changed into admiration, Gluttony’s gluttony was most likely going to be different from the gluttony he was going to obtain.

“Let’s check out the messages now—”

Raon’s hands trembled as he was trying to check the messages. The strength left his legs, and his knees automatically touched the ground.

‘My head…’

His body felt as heavy as drenched cotton, probably because the tension he’d been barely maintaining had left along with Gluttony.

Just sleep instead of trying to fight it.

Raon tried to force himself to open his eyes, but he saw Wrath furrowing his brow.

You are at your limit.

His eyes closed before he knew it upon hearing his blunt yet warm words.

* * *

“Ah…” Rimmer hurriedly stood up as soon as he opened his eyes.

‘What even happened?’

He’d stood in front of a demon who was spreading a tremendous amount of demonic energy in order to save Raon and the Light Wind Division, but he’d suddenly lost consciousness.

“Why did I even faint?”

It was impossible for him to simply faint without realizing it, as he had pushed his upper energy center to its limit, fully prepared for death. He couldn’t find any trace of the demon’s attack on him either, making him unable to understand the situation.

“Raon.” Saintess Olga raised her head with difficulty. “He hit the back of your neck.”

“Raon did?”

“Yes. I didn’t see what happened after because I also lost consciousness…”

She barely managed to lift her upper body, exhaling a breath mixed with the scent of blood.

“Oh no!”

Rimmer looked around him while biting his lip to the point of bleeding. The Light Wind Division, holy knights, priests, and the kingdom’s citizens were alive and breathing behind him, but Raon was nowhere to be seen.

“Where the hell is he?!”

He forced himself to stand, steadying his trembling legs. That was when he saw it.

Everything that existed on one side of the kingdom was completely gone, all that remained a pure white. It was truly a sinister sight.

“What is this…?”

He understood as soon as he saw it. The phenomenon was created by a single manifestation of power. He was shocked by the fact that there were people other than Glenn who were capable of achieving it.

Rimmer swallowed nervously and walked towards the land where everything had disappeared.

‘Raon, please…’

He and Raon had stood there. If such a powerful demonic energy was activated, even Raon would’ve been unable to survive.

“Damn it!” Rimmer started to dig the ground with bare hands while shouting.

“Hmm…”

“Wh-what even happened?”

“Where am I…?”

The Light Wind Division started to wake up one after the other upon hearing Rimmer’s scream and frightening pressure.

“Wh-what is this…?”

“…Shit, What even happened here?!”

“Raon?”

Burren, Martha, and Runaan were unable to close their widened mouths upon seeing the void left by the Flower in the Snow.

“Get up right now…” Rimmer turned around. A frightening red light flickered across his green eyes. “And find Raon! Find him no matter what, even if you have to search the entire kingdom!”

“Raon…”

“Yes, he is the only one missing right now!”

Burren and Martha’s faces turned pale.

“......”

Runaan was the first one to run out, not even responding to him. Her blank eyes reflected her impatience, a rare occurrence by itself.

“We're going too!”

“This damn guy!”

The Light Wind Division, including Dorian and Krein, also nodded and stood up right away.

“Wait! We’ll split up. The first team goes to the west, the second team to the north, and the third team to the south!”

Burren issued orders to the Light Wind swordsmen with wrinkles on his brow.

“I’ll check out the overall kingdom.” Mark Goetten sighed deeply and left in the opposite direction from Runaan.

“We should go, too.” Hopen stood up while faltering and raised his hand toward the holy knights. “Split into divisions and find the Light Wind Division leader!”

“The same goes for you. Find him no matter what, even if you have to turn all the buildings upside down!” Olga agreed with Hopen and also dispatched the priests.

Since the holy knights and the priests were fully aware that they’d been saved by Raon, they spread all around the kingdom, running despite their injuries.

“Please let me find you…” Rimmer kept digging the ground from his original spot even though everyone else had left.

He thought that Raon was most likely buried there instead of somewhere else if he was still alive.

He was digging through the ground to the point where his skin was wearing off from the back of his hand when a whistling sound could be heard from the main street. It was the signal from the Light Wind Division’s second team.

Rimmer ran to that spot without even thinking about shaking the dirt off his hands and clothes. Even though it wasn’t that far and he was running as fast as possible, he felt overwhelmingly frustrated.

He even activated the Light Wind Style to reach the signal’s location, spotting an ice cream shop where the signboard had fallen off.

Everyone from the Light Wind Division was already inside.

‘Is he really here?’

Rimmer entered while gasping because of the unexpected location and saw that Burren, Martha, and Runaan were facing each other.

Raon was breathing quietly at the center of them with his eyes closed.

“He has a serious injury inflicted by demonic energy, but he isn’t in a fatal state.” Saintess Olga nodded while putting down Raon’s wrist, which she had been holding. “We shouldn’t need to worry about him.”

She twisted her lips slightly, showing that she herself was the most relieved by that fact.

“Haa…”

“Waiting for the result of the examination felt like hell. I would rather fight the Five Demons.”

Burren and Martha sighed deeply in exhaustion.

“Uhh…”

Runaan was finally able to raise her head, looking at Raon. Small traces of tears trickled from her eyes.

“I’m so glad…”

“My hands are still shaking so hard.”

“Me, too. I couldn’t even breathe when I saw him.”

The Light Wind swordsmen sank to the ground, their strength leaving their bodies.

“But why is this crazy bastard even here?”

“It looks like he ate all the ice cream here…”

“Is he possessed by a ghost who perished before eating ice cream?”

Burren and Martha furrowed their brows, unable to understand the situation.

“It looks like he even ate the metallic frames, not just the ice cream…”

Dorian's eyes trembled as he lifted a chunk of metal that seemed to have been spat out after being chewed.

“There’s no way that could be the case!” Krein smiled, saying that he was going too far with that assumption.

“No, it’s true. There’s lots of crushed scrap metal here.” Dorian lifted another chunk of metal, and the Light Wind swordsmen let out a small chorus of laughter.

They could finally smile despite the clear exhaustion on their faces upon learning that Raon was safe.

“......”

Rimmer realized, while watching the swordsmen gathered around Raon, the significance of Raon Zieghart for both himself and the Light Wind Division.

‘I won’t even be able to call him a small king anymore soon enough.’ He smiled quietly while patting Raon’s head. ‘I’ll need to refer to him as a real king.’

Raon slowly opened his eyes. He could see a clean white ceiling, one that looked like the kind you’d find in a hospital room.

“Uhh…”

His head and chest were aching as if they were being stabbed by a burning blade.

‘It hurts, but I managed to survive, at least.’

He was worried about what was going to happen after fainting in the ice cream shop, but fortunately enough, he could tell that he’d been successfully rescued.

‘It’s embarrassing now that I think about it.’

His face heated up when he thought about the Light Wind Division hurriedly looking for him and finding him in an ice cream shop. The embarrassment felt even more painful than physical pain.

You’ve realized it.

Wrath flew towards him and nodded his head.

Everyone called you crazy!

He giggled and laughed at him.

‘It’s your fault!’

You always impersonate the King of Essence. What’s the issue with the King of Essence doing that much?

‘Hmm…’

Raon couldn’t refute his words when it was put in that way.

It feels great to see you shut your mouth. You should do the same in the futu—

Wrath was darting his tongue out to laugh at him, but…

[The trait Gluttony was activated.]

The white flower bracelet given to him by Gluttony shone brilliantly in white, popping up a message about Gluttony’s activation.

Err…

Wrath froze with his tongue pulled out.

‘This is my opinion, but isn’t the system your sworn enemy, not Greed?

Sh-shut up!

Wrath shook his head, telling him to stop saying nonsense.

‘Then let’s check it out.’

Raon loaded the description about Gluttony’s ability.

[Gluttony

All stats, soul level, and natural recovery increase whenever you fill your stomach with food you personally find delicious. Consuming an elixir has a drastically increased efficiency.]

Raon automatically widened his eyes as soon as he read the description.

‘I still had doubts, but… Should this really be happening?’

Increasing the stats and soul level every time he ate delicious food was completely absurd. He could only gasp at it.

‘Moreover… It even amplifies the elixir’s effect.’

Since consuming elixirs also counted as eating in the end, Gluttony amplified its effect. To be honest, Raon felt like that ability shouldn’t even exist in the world.

‘I should be nicer to her next time we meet.’

Raon raised his head, thinking to himself that he should give Gluttony more gold coins the next time she came to see him, but then he noticed that Wrath was unexpectedly calm.

‘You’re looking so peaceful.’

Ugh…

Wrath furrowed his brow slightly.

Th-this much is expected.

‘Well, I guess.’

Since Wrath was there to watch when Gluttony gave him her authority, he must’ve expected that trait to be formed.

‘Then let’s continue.’

Continue what?

‘We didn’t check the previous messages.’

Raon loaded all the previous messages with a grin on his face.

[You’ve gained Gluttony’s favor.]

[You were acknowledged by Wrath.]

[You forced Greed to retreat.]

[You’ve achieved the impossible.]

[All stats have increased by 30.]

Even for an impossible achievement, giving 30 whole stat points when he already had a high number was a tremendous reward.

Th-thirty?

Wrath’s eyes widened in disbelief.

What the fu—

‘You were expecting this too, weren’t you?’

O-of course!

He started to swear, but he nodded awkwardly instead. He was apparently trying to maintain his dignity since he’d even forced Greed to retreat.

‘Then let’s continue.’

Raon chuckled and loaded the next set of messages.

[The trait Water Resistance has increased in rank.]

[The trait Perception of the Snow Flower has increased in rank.]

[The trait Iron Will has increased in rank.]

[The trait Divinity Blooming from the Underworld has increased in rank.]

[The trait Water Affinity has increased in rank.]

[The trait Magic Armor of Snow Flower has increased in rank.]

The messages were announcing the increased trait ranks. There were a lot more of them than the other times, but that was understandable because all of those traits were related to the battle.

‘There are six of them. You knew about them too, didn’t you?’

Of-of-of course!

Wrath’s eyes were shaking left and right like a pendulum.

With the King of Essence’s foresight, this much is nothin—

His cheeks were shaking like cotton candy despite his claim that he’d expected it.

[You’ve directly experienced the sensation of Wrath moving his body.]

[All stats have increased by 15.]

[Your soul level increased drastically.]

[The trait Focus has increased in rank.]

It seemed to be the reward for feeling like he was actually going through that battle himself inside Wrath’s body during the Demon King’s Advent.

‘Wrath, did you…’

Know when to stop! You bastards!

Wrath became strawberry-flavored cotton candy, unable to suppress his anger anymore.

Cough! You don’t know when to stop just because the King of Essence is keeping quiet! He’ll seriously destroy you! Got it?

He coughed and raged, but the system vanished without responding after completing its task.

This is infuriating! Ghak! The King of Essence will destroy that thing as soon as he returns!

‘I’ve gained so much.’

All of his stats, several of his traits, and even his soul level had increased. Of course, Gluttony was the best harvest among them all.

Guh…

Wrath sank to the ground and sniffled.

The damn hustler already looked down on him, but it’s going to get even worse.

He shook his head, saying that it was too harsh.

‘Wrath.’

Raon watched Wrath shrink for a while and lowered his head slightly.

What?!

‘Thank you.’

Huh?

Wrath widened his eyes, wondering what he was even talking about.

‘I didn’t think that you were really going to take the burden from the Demon King’s Advent.’

Even though he’d performed the Demon King’s Advent, the emptiness in his upper energy center and the physical damage weren’t as bad as the last time. He was going to be able to recover without any issues before the duel to the death thanks to the rewards.

Considering the fact that his upper energy center took less damage despite the fact that he’d gotten stronger clearly implied that Wrath had taken his burden.

Don’t sound so pathetic.

Wrath frowned, telling him to stop saying nonsense.

The King of Essence always keeps his word… Cough!

He started coughing mid-sentence.

‘I’ll eat everything you want once my body recovers.’

Raon smiled faintly, watching Wrath keep coughing nonstop.

Stop that shit. ‘After I recover!’ Eat the hell up right now! You have Gluttony now!

‘Ah, that’s true.’

Raon nodded. Since Gluttony had the ability to enhance his recovery, he could guess that eating should allow for a faster recovery.

‘Did I become a zombie or something…?’

He just needed to eat and sleep to recover his aura, stamina, and willpower. He couldn’t help thinking that he’d become a monster beyond human limits.

Raon was laughing bitterly when the door opened up and Saintess Olga made her entrance.

“Hmm?”

“Huh?”

She met his eyes, realizing he was awake, and shouted, “Your lord is awake.”

A huge noise that sounded like the corridor was collapsing could be heard even before Olga finished speaking, and the Light Wind Division swarmed into the room.

“Raon.”

“You punk! Are you alright?”

“What did you even do?!”

Runaan, Martha, and Burren were the first ones to approach him and stood next to the bed.

“Division leader!”

“Young master! I was so worried!”

Dorian and Yua sniffled with trembling shoulders. The other Light Wind swordsmen were also showing their worry in their eyes.

“Raon.” Raon was telling everyone that he was fine when Rimmer nodded at him, being the last one to arrive. “What even happened after we fainted? Where did that monster go?”

“She started to fight with another demon and disappeared.” Raon nodded at Rimmer.

“Another monster?”

“Yes. Two demons fought like crazy and ran away as soon as the dragons appeared. They seemed to be antagonizing each other.” Raon told him the brief response that he’d prepared in advance.

“Do the demons fight against each other?”

“It should be obvious. After all, humans also swing their swords against each other.”

“Then we got lucky this time.”

The Light Wind Division was smiling in relief, but Rimmer stroked his chin with a somewhat unconvinced expression on his face.

“......”

Saintess Olga remained quiet for a while, making it difficult to tell what she was thinking, before she gestured at him with her hand.

“How is your body? Can you move at least?”

“I’m feeling some pain, but I can move around just fine.” Raon nodded while slowly turning his shoulder.

“Then get ready. We have something to attend to,” Olga declared and left the room.

“What do we need to attend to?” Raon blinked while gazing up at Rimmer.

“I’m not sure.”

Despite his response, the faint smile on Rimmer suggested that he was already aware of what it was.

* * *

Raon put on the white outfit that Olga sent to him and entered the palace, guided by the holy knights.

Since the palace was located behind Wrath during the battle, only the outer walls were destroyed, and the interior wasn’t really damaged.

‘That’s a relief.’

It was something of a relief at least, as the entire kingdom would’ve stopped functioning for a while if even the palace had been destroyed.

Ghak! It’s all thanks to the King of Essence.

Wrath nodded his head while letting out a dry cough.

He moved to the outskirts on purpose because there were lots of humans there.

‘Good job.’

Raon casually patted Wrath’s head while smiling faintly.

A dizzying pain visited his chest from moving his hand. He figured he would need to take some time to rest once it was over.

Bring some tasty food instead if you have time for touching, cough! The King of Essence’s head!

‘I’ll… Hmm?’

Raon started to respond to Wrath but tilted his head instead.

He’d thought he would be brought into the palace, but the holy knight was walking towards the royal garden.

‘Why?’

He tilted his head because he couldn’t understand why he was heading that way, and he saw that countless people were lined up in a garden that was as vast as the great training ground.

Saintess Olga, Sir Kinnear, high priests, holy knight captains, and countless priests and knights were standing with their hands put together.

Multiple layers of white cloth covered the pillars and trees in the garden, implying that they were preparing for an important ceremony, and everyone’s outfits were as splendid as when they were performing the sacred ceremony.

Hopen stood up from the center of the priests, surrounded by a noble light. His coat was ornate, the white and gold symbolizing the Holy Kingdom of Schper fluttering beautifully.

“You’ve arrived.”

Hopen smiled while showing intense emotion in his gaze, as if he was going to start shedding tears at any moment.

“What’s happening right now?” Raon asked.

“We wanted to thank you before anything else, Sir Raon.”

“Thank me?”

Raon tilted his head, and Hopen fell on one knee with a faint smile on his face.

“Greetings to the Holy Kingdom of Schper’s benefactor,” he shouted, and everyone standing in the garden made the same posture as him.

“Greetings to the Holy Kingdom of Schper’s benefactor!”

The pain in his chest was removed not by their holy power but by the resonance delivering their sincere gratitude.

“We have a request for our benefactor.” Hopen raised his head with a subtle smile on his face.

“What would that request be?”

Hopen shifted his gaze to the right as if it were the answer to Raon’s question. A platinum-colored crown gleamed with a dazzling shine, as if the sunlight itself had been melted into it.

“Would you do us the honor of placing the crown on my head during today's coronation ceremony?"

Footnotes:

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