Chapter 2-381: Definitely Not Enough (6)
Together with the Eastern and Western Empires, the Lan Kingdom
is known as one of the three strongest powers in the new world.
In this place, called the Land of Warriors, the most significant
location is the Holy Land within the royal palace.
The Holy Land of the Lan Kingdom.
Only the king and their family can freely enter and exit this place.
Others may only do so with the king’s permission.
The current king, Tamahi.
And her husband, Prince Consort Xinpa.
Cale glanced at the translucent status window.
[Skill: Fear of Chaos (Disabled)]
[*To unlock the disabled state, you must visit the Chaos Holy
Land—View More—]
Subtask 1: [Seize the Power of Chaos]
[In Celissa’s memories, Xinpa appeared.]
Celissa, revered as a bishop in the Church of the Sun God.
She is a follower of the God of Chaos.
Cale met her at the capital academy of the Western Empire and
received a hint about the Holy Land from her memories.
[Prince Consort Xinpa possesses a map to the Holy Land.]
Celissa had evidently received a mission at the Holy Land, and the
one who led her there was Prince Consort Xinpa.
Splash—
The sound of water echoed.
Cale turned his head to look around.
“This is that lake.”
The heart of the Lan Kingdom’s palace.
There lies a lake with a small island at its center.
The island is home to the king’s close kin.
“It’s fascinating.”
Alberu looked at the lake water, seemingly intrigued.
Swish—
Though it was a lake, the water was flowing.
A massive lake, as large as several ordinary arenas combined.
Swishhh—
The lake’s surface was far from calm.
Instead, countless streams of water collided and intertwined with
one another.
Cale looked at this and said half-jokingly,
“Would you die if you fell in?”
King Tamahi answered calmly.
“Yes. You would probably die.”
Hmph.
Cale was startled.
Regardless, Tamahi walked toward the lake without hesitation.
“The Lake of Silence.”
That was the name of the Holy Land.
“The water flows endlessly on a surface where you cannot see
what lies beneath, each stream following its own will.”
“Sometimes they collide and struggle.”
“Sometimes they embrace and hold each other.”
“But they never merge, and the water never stops.”
Words describing the Lake of Silence flowed from her mouth.
“It’s like the sea.”
The water’s surface resembled a sea.
“Sometimes it becomes a swamp.”
The lake would trap and sweep away those caught in its currents,
like a swamp.
“Those who fall here will find rest due to the ceaselessly warring
waters below.”
Silence.
Alberu murmured the word as if chewing on it.
“Silence means death, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.”
There was an island at the lake’s center, but no boat could reach it.
King Tamahi glanced at the guards standing far away, then at
Alberu and Cale standing beside her, along with the only
accompanying minister, Martial Scholar Charen, before stepping
onto the lake.
“But there is a way to avoid death.”
Clang.
The moment her shoes touched the lake’s surface.
Swishhh—
Amid the sound of water.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
The sound of dripping water echoed.
—Ohh.
Cale heard the exclamation of the ancient power, Gluttonous
Water, and looked up.
Water droplets suddenly appeared in midair.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
A single line of water droplets.
Those droplets fell onto the lake’s surface.
Drip. Drip. Tap tap—
And then, a path opened before Tamahi.
A path where the water neither fought nor embraced.
The silently falling droplets became a quiet road.
A path wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
“Come.”
Tamahi extended her hand, and starting with Charen, followed by
Alberu and Cale, they stepped forward.
Clang.
Cale stepped onto the only quiet path in the lake that echoed with
constant sounds.
[Hmm.]
At that moment, he felt a strange sensation.
[You have entered a restricted area.]
The status window kindly informed him in text.
[In this area (Lake of Silence, excluding the island), no magic or aura
can be used.]
[Only those with permission may enter or exit.]
Ah.
This meant you couldn’t use magic to fly over the lake to reach the
island.
Click, click.
It felt like walking on a dirt path in light rain.
Breathing the refreshing air, Cale stepped off the path.
[Hmm?]
Then he saw Crown Prince Alberu, standing ahead, come to a stop.
[What is it?]
The sword at Alberu’s waist.
The Black Sun Sword, a divine artifact of the Sun God, usable only
by a hero, was sheathed.
Flash.
A faint light emanated from the gaps in the sheath.
[No way.]
Wasn’t it absorbing light?
Strangely, the surrounding light seemed to gravitate toward the
sword.
“Oh.”
Cale let out an exclamation.
“Why?”
Alberu reacted to the sound, turning back, then froze.
“…Why?”
Why did his expression change?
Cale grinned at Alberu, and Alberu couldn’t bring himself to voice
all his feelings.
“Just because.”
He’d talk about it later.
Cale made up his mind and smiled.
“…Ha.”
Alberu let out a deep sigh and abruptly turned away.
[Why’s he acting like that?]
Cale suddenly felt as if he’d been scolded and frowned.
But his expression soon relaxed.
[Prince Consort Xinpa.]
On the island stood several elegant palaces.
As he approached, he saw a space that, while not lavish, was quiet
and refined.
A blade of grass, a flower.
Nothing was out of place, despite the absence of gems or gold.
“Ah—”
The harmony and elegance even drew an exclamation from Crown
Prince Alberu.
“Your Majesty.”
Prince Consort Xinpa personally came to greet them.
[They say he’s quite dutiful.]
Xinpa came from a powerful noble family but reportedly gave up all
authority after becoming Tamahi’s husband, fully dedicating
himself to his role as Prince Consort.
[But he’s a follower of the God of Chaos.]
He was also someone who collaborated with the Five-Colored
Blood Wanderers, monitoring the king.
“Your Majesty, are these the heroes who stopped the Chivalrous
Alliance this time?”
Xinpa resembled a scholar more than a warrior.
Unlike the robust-looking King Tamahi, his pale face evoked the
image of scattered flower petals.
“Yes.”
The king stepped onto the ground with a smile.
Martial Scholar Charen respectfully greeted Xinpa. Then came
Alberu.
And at the very back, Cale, who had been partially obscured, slowly
stepped forward.
Xinpa.
He wore a gentle smile.
Swish.
And Cale returned a picture-perfect smile.
“?”
But a question appeared on Xinpa’s face.
Because Cale didn’t offer a greeting.
Neither did Alberu.
Two commoners not greeting the Prince Consort.
Though he paused for a moment, Xinpa maintained his expression
and turned his gaze to the king.
“Your Majesty, could you introduce these people?”
His gentle voice was clear and calm.
“Hmm.”
As King Tamahi began to speak, a trace of hesitation crossed her
face.
Because she had said that once they came here to meet the Prince
Consort, Cale would handle the rest.
[I didn’t expect him to come greet us.]
For the Prince Consort to personally come, leaving the guards
behind, was unexpected.
It must be curiosity about the two who defeated Shao Xi.
“These people are—”
As King Tamahi spoke.
“Guide.”
A word slipped from Cale’s mouth.
“!”
And for the first time, Tamahi saw it.
“!”
Such profound shock on Prince Consort Xinpa’s face.
Like the surface of this Holy Land’s water.
Intense emotions flickered across his face.
“Guide?”
The moment the king repeated the word, questioning.
Cale took a step forward.
“Or perhaps Messenger, would that do?”
Guide or Messenger. (인도자, 전달자)
This implied that Xinpa held a role in the Church of the God of
Chaos beyond that of a mere follower.
Cale spoke to the flustered Xinpa.
“The Primordial Night.”
At that moment, Xinpa’s expression changed.
Woooom—
A gray aura rose from his body.
“You dare mention that name—!”
The Primordial Night.
That was the name of the Chaos Holy Land.
“Who are you?”
A weapon imbued with gray aura was forming in Xinpa’s hand.
Unlike Bishop Celissa, this time it was a spear.
“Ha!”
Charen, shocked, stood in front of the king.
Prince Consort Xinpa.
He was said to know no martial arts.
“Me?”
But Cale took a step toward Xinpa.
Alberu followed closely, like an attendant, but Cale didn’t care.
He was waiting for something.
[You have encountered the Guide of Chaos (Prince Consort Xinpa)!]
A task notification sounded.
[Not awkward now, is it?]
Cale glanced again at the phrase he’d seen before.
[Use ‘Skill: Fear of Chaos (Legendary)’]
The phrase that appeared when dealing with Bishop Celissa.
[*This wide-ranging skill is limited to the target “Xinpa” for the
purpose of this task.]
A legendary skill temporarily unlocked for the task.
Woooom—Woooom—
A gray aura bloomed with a strange hum.
“!”
It was indeed different from Celissa’s case.
“Ugh, why this power—”
Xinpa recognized the power.
[If the target of Fear of Chaos is a follower of the God of Chaos,
there is a certain probability (30%) of bewildering and dominating
them.]
[The probability varies with skill proficiency.]
[Current skill proficiency: F (temporarily raised to A for the task)]
He wasn’t immediately bewitched.
[The target has successfully resisted!]
The skill failed once.
As a result—
Boom!
Cale saw a gray spear rushing toward him.
With a roar, Cale took a step back.
“The power is too great.”
Before he knew it, Alberu stood in front of Cale, blocking the spear.
His primary weapon, the White Spear, was cracking.
Clang—
“You dare use such great power!”
Xinpa swung the spear again.
Woooom—
The gray aura swirling around him confirmed one thing.
[He’s stronger than me!]
King Tamahi realized Xinpa’s true strength.
A follower of the God of Chaos, dealing with the Five-Colored Blood
Wanderers.
It would be absurd if he were weak.
[It’s not just the Wanderers targeting this kingdom!]
Tamahi realized that the real force aiming to devour the kingdom
was the Church of the God of Chaos, acting as a monitor between
the Wanderers and herself.
“Your Majesty!”
“Protect Her Majesty!”
The kin and guards tried to approach.
“Stop!”
Tamahi drew her sword, blocking them.
“Martial Scholar, stand back!”
“Understood!”
Knowing his strength wouldn’t help, Charen quickly retreated, and
Tamahi rushed into the battle between Alberu and Xinpa.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Her heart pounded fiercely.
[Terrifying!]
She felt fear now.
Woooom—Woooom—
Xinpa’s spear techniques were powerful, but the gray aura
emanating from him instilled fear in her.
Hmph.
Alberu swallowed hard.
Spear techniques.
Aura.
Power.
Xinpa surpassed Alberu in every way.
[No magic can be used.]
Alberu planned to hold out as long as possible without revealing all
his abilities. He hadn’t considered using the Sun Sword either.
He moved his spear with an expressionless face.
“I’ll help!”
At that moment, King Tamahi swung her sword, attempting to join
the fight.
“No need.”
But Alberu declined.
“What?”
Tamahi felt confused.
“How arrogant! I’ll make you spill everything!”
Xinpa swung his spear even more fiercely.
He was anxious.
[The Wanderer Shao Xi was captured.]
Her sudden capture meant the plan had gone awry.
And he had heard that Bishop Celissa was detained by the Church
of the Sun God.
[This situation—]
It must be because of them.
Alberu and Cale.
Xinpa’s eyes sank deeply as he looked at the two.
Guide.
The one who knows the path to the Holy Land.
Cale, who mentioned that title and the name of the Holy Land.
Xinpa needed to escape quickly, but he couldn’t because he had to
uncover Cale’s true identity.
[He’s even mimicking the Saint’s power.]
No.
It wasn’t mimicry.
[It’s like the Saint’s early aura.]
The genius Saint of the Church of the God of Chaos, who no longer
existed.
Upon awakening, he could wield the power of Chaos at a high level.
But this guy was using it to such an extent.
[Who is he?]
There could only be one Saint in the world.
So—
[What is that guy?]
A follower of the God of Chaos?
An ally?
[No.]
That couldn’t be.
There was no such thing as an ally using the power of Chaos against
them, was there?
Besides, he was the Guide, not just anyone.
[Perhaps—]
Perhaps the God did something?
Was there something he didn’t know?
What was it?
[What on earth is it?]
Xinpa couldn’t escape. Yet, he couldn’t fight at full strength,
trapped in confusion.
At that moment.
“If we work together now, we can capture him!”
The moment King Tamahi seized the opportunity and spoke to
Alberu.
“It seems it’s not our turn.”
Alberu said this and stepped back.
“!”
As Xinpa wondered what was happening.
Alberu retreated and locked eyes with Cale.
“!”
Then King Tamahi remembered what true fear was.
Xinpa.
The fear emanating from him was primal, like a child’s fear of the
night, making her body shiver.
[So I could pretend not to know.]
As an adult, she could overcome it.
But—
[True fear is—]
No.
This wasn’t exactly fear.
The feeling of being completely dominated.
Even breathing required someone’s permission—
Yet, within it, a primal fear radiated.
Like a herbivore vaguely sensing a predator’s terror, growing even
more afraid as an adult.
This was a fear that grew the more you knew, no, the more you
didn’t want to know.
Because the moment you sank into this swamp, you naturally
thought of being dominated.
“Ah.”
Feeling an even greater fear and domination, Tamahi’s grip on her
sword loosened.
Then Alberu shook his head, arms crossed.
“…This, what is this—”
An aura of domination that even made the Wanderer Shao Xi
submit.
That power was now focused on Xinpa.
What Alberu and King Tamahi felt was merely the spillover.
“This, this isn’t the Chaos I know—”
That power also contained Chaos.
And he felt it trying to dominate him.
[What is it?]
His confusion deepened, turning into fear.
Cale approached Xinpa and activated the skill again.
[Using ‘Skill: Fear of Chaos (Legendary)’]
[If the target is made to feel fear, looking into their eyes can read a
portion of their memories.]
The skill succeeded.
Because Xinpa was already gripped by fear.
[Skill: Aura of Domination (Level: EX. Cannot be evaluated)]
The Fear of Chaos skill is Legendary level.
The Aura of Domination is beyond that level. Thus, while the level
of Aura of Domination couldn’t be determined, it was at least not
inferior to a Legendary skill.
And—
[The corresponding skill is growth-type.]
There was growth potential even in its indeterminable nature.
[Reading memories.]
[*Only memories related to the task will be displayed.]
[A follower fully dominated by Fear of Chaos moves according to
their ultimate goal or mission.]
“Arghhh—”
Xinpa screamed.
At the same time, Cale read his memories.
Guide.
The one who knows the map to the Holy Land, the Primordial
Night.
Of course, the map didn’t exist as a physical object.
It existed only as a memory in his mind.
And for the sake of the task, that memory was conveyed to Cale.
[Map acquired.]
For convenience, the screen window opened, but Cale didn’t need
it.
Because he had already memorized it in his mind.
Tick.
[Side effect of the skill detected!]
[Side effect: Vomiting blood]
[*Increasing proficiency can mitigate side effects.]
[Current proficiency: 0]
[*Note: Even with increased proficiency, side effects may occur
depending on the extent of power usage.]
Because he used the power twice—
Cale involuntarily opened his mouth.
Cough, cough—
He really vomited blood.
“Ha, this is insane.”
Alberu sighed, supporting Cale.
Cough, cough!
Alberu calmly spoke to Cale, who kept vomiting blood.
“He’s going to explode.”
Cale steadied his trembling body and stared ahead.
Guide.
The one who knows the path to the Holy Land.
[Damn it—]
His final mission was to die if his information was discovered.
—Cale, this explosion is no joke!
As Super Rock said, the explosion seemed unusually large for some
reason.
Xinpa’s final mission had two parts.
His own death upon the discovery of his information.
And the death of the one who acquired that information.
Cale didn’t know this, but as he held Xinpa’s body and saw the
boiling gray aura, he guessed.
This, no matter what—
—Shall I try?
The Indestructible Shield, the Gluttonous Priestess, spoke calmly.
No matter what, it seemed they would need to use the shield
again, as they did with Bishop Celissa.
“Damn, damn, cough, it…!”
Despite violently vomiting blood, Cale managed to say what he wanted
Chapter 2-382: Definitely Not Enough (7)
Something unusual.
“Your Majesty!”
“What is this? Why is the Prince Consort—!”
King Tamahi shouted again at the approaching royal kin
and guards.
“Stand back! Don’t come closer!”
She had definitely heard Alberu’s words.
[He’s going to explode.]
Prince Consort Xinpa’s state was indeed abnormal.
The gray spear in his hand had vanished.
Gurgle—Gurgle—
Instead, accompanied by a strange sound, a gray aura
enveloped his body, emitting gray smoke like a volcano
before an eruption.
At the same time, the gray aura boiled like molten lava.
Amid it, Xinpa’s face was faintly visible.
“Arghhh—!”
He was in pain.
“Ha—”
In that moment, King Tamahi felt a surge of mixed
emotions.
Prince Consort Xinpa. There was no love or intimacy in
their relationship.
Outside formal occasions, they hadn’t even held hands.
Even so—
“Ughhh—!”
It seemed some feelings had developed.
As an enemy, she knew she’d have to kill him someday.
But having seen that face for so many years, watching him
in such agony stirred a bitter feeling.
Thankfully, it wasn’t sadness.
On the contrary, Tamahi’s mind remained relatively calm.
“Everyone, get off the island!”
She amplified her voice with internal energy.
“Prepare to set up a barrier outside the lake!”
Her voice reached the warriors waiting beyond the lake.
“Charen!”
“Yes!”
Martial Scholar Charen hurriedly led the royal kin.
“Your Majesty, you must evacuate quickly!”
The abnormal gray aura.
Charen felt Tamahi couldn’t handle it and urged her to
flee.
“I’ll be the last.”
She shook her head at his words.
With a helpless expression, Charen first evacuated the
royal kin.
“Arghhhhh—!”
At the same time, the Guide Xinpa let out a scream filled
with pain.
[It’s not his body breaking down.]
There was a reason King Tamahi felt pity for him.
[It’s his mind collapsing.]
Xinpa.
He seemed to be experiencing despair beyond physical
pain.
[And over there—]
Her eyes shifted to Cale and Alberu, confronting Xinpa.
Cough—
Blood surged from Cale’s mouth again.
“Pat my back, will you?”
Alberu, standing beside him, looked at Cale’s words and
said seriously,
“I’m not joking.”
He helped Cale stand.
Gurgle gurgle gurgle—!
The strange sound surrounding Xinpa grew louder.
Then Alberu saw a faint silhouette amidst the gray aura
enveloping Xinpa’s body.
[Pupils.]
It was said that when Choi Han encountered the God of
Chaos, pupils appeared.
The moment those eyes became vivid, Xinpa would die—
[At this rate, it’ll explode in a few minutes.]
So they had to act quickly.
He said to Cale,
“Magic can be used here.”
Magic was usable on the island.
That meant—
“I’ll stop it. Don’t push yourself, just go. As much as you
can.”
It meant Alberu had something he could do.
After saying that much to Cale, he turned his gaze to King
Tamahi.
He intended for her to take responsibility for Cale.
[Minimize the damage.]
Completely stopping Xinpa was impossible.
But mitigating it to some extent and evacuating people
was possible.
Tap tap tap tap—
The sound of people fleeing across the lake echoed.
“Ahh—, God—!”
At that moment.
Alberu froze.
Gurgle gurgle—
At the center of the gray aura, where the strange sounds
converged.
Only Xinpa’s face was visible.
He cried out, shedding gray tears.
“God—why have you forsaken me—!”
He wasn’t afraid of death.
It was just—
“Was my faith lacking?”
Grievance.
“Why! Why—!”
His gaze turned to Cale.
Cale, barely standing while bleeding.
He had clearly used an aura imbued with Chaos.
It was also the immense aura that had momentarily
restrained Xinpa.
It wasn’t the Saint’s power.
Yet, it could wield the kind of power the early Saint had
used.
All of it pointed to one thing.
“Why would you bestow new Chaos upon such a
person…!”
The man before him.
To that guy, the God of Chaos had not only granted the
Saint’s power but also created a new power.
A power that even he, who held an important position and
dedicated his life to Chaos, dared not surpass!
That power!
Given to the first guy he met.
“Why! Why!”
It was simply unbelievable.
The voice from his mouth carried deeper despair, fear, and
sorrow than the fear of his impending death.
I am—
Am I forsaken by God?
He couldn’t bear to say those words.
So, swept up in this turmoil, he only spat out words of
resentment.
“What should I do—”
At that moment.
“It’s probably not enough.”
Through his vision blurred by gray tears, Xinpa heard a
cold voice.
Cough cough.
Though blood kept flowing, the small but resolute voice
spoke.
In Xinpa’s sight, he saw the culprit of all this, the one who
brought him chaos and despair—Cale.
Cale said,
“I’m talking about your faith.”
Your faith must be lacking.
As he spoke, Cale’s lips curled slightly.
Despite being smeared with blood, he smiled.
It was almost a mocking smile.
[Damn those guys.]
The Primordial Night.
While memorizing the path to the Chaos Holy Land in his
mind, Cale saw related scenes.
He glimpsed a moment in Xinpa’s memories.
The Holy Land.
The Primordial Night.
It was a graveyard.
A graveyard without any mourning.
A place of execution crafted solely for Chaos.
No matter how you looked at it, it was like a battlefield.
Countless lives had vanished there.
The Guide didn’t simply lead believers there.
Xinpa had pushed countless people, countless lives, into
Chaos.
Cale’s indifferent eyes turned toward the Guide Xinpa.
To someone who believed in the God of Chaos yet felt
they might have been forsaken, Cale said the most
piercing words.
“Your faith is lacking.”
Your faith is lacking.
Cough cough.
Blood spurted again.
It felt kind of nice now.
Though it didn’t hurt to begin with.
Ragh—
“No! My faith isn’t lacking!”
Centered on the roaring Xinpa.
Gurgle gurgle, gurgle gurgle!
The gray aura trembled violently.
It was about to explode.
Cale straightened his body.
Of course, with some support from Alberu.
“No, no—!”
To the roaring Xinpa.
Cale spoke.
Your faith is lacking.
“And even though I don’t believe, I gained power.”
Xinpa’s howling stopped.
“…What?”
This time, Xinpa’s voice trembled with fear and chaos.
He couldn’t bear to repeat what he’d heard.
But Cale continued with what he wanted to say.
“The God of Chaos, that lunatic. I really hate him.”
“…!”
What appeared on Xinpa’s face now wasn’t despair or
fear.
For the first time, hearing something unbelievable, he
wore the expression of someone unable to comprehend it.
It was, simply put, chaos.
The moment Xinpa’s chaos reached its peak.
Crack crack crack—!
The strange sound stopped.
Even the fleeing people, no longer hearing it, paused their
actions momentarily.
Everyone’s gazes turned to the now-silent Xinpa.
Swishhh—
Only the sound of water remained, and in that moment of
utter silence.
People saw it.
A pupil.
Amid the gray smoke completely enveloping Xinpa, a
single eyeball appeared.
Something inexplicable, yet everyone was certain it was
looking at them.
Everyone here had that thought.
That eye was “precisely looking at me.”
And their bodies froze.
Blink.
The eye blinked once.
Though time was pressing, people felt bound by that gaze,
forced to watch the scene in slow motion.
They couldn’t move.
A chaotic aura different from Bishop Celissa’s.
People were bewitched by his eye.
But not everyone was affected.
Blink.
The eye blinked again.
The moment it flickered a third time.
“Wake up!”
Someone broke the silence.
Alberu Crossman.
“Get down!”
As he shouted.
“!”
“…!”
People involuntarily moved their bodies.
For no clear reason.
They just suddenly felt warmth on their bodies.
Only then did they realize their bodies had grown cold.
Like warm breath touching the back of their hand, people
felt warmth.
They had no time to notice it was the warmth of sunlight.
Because even Alberu didn’t know.
“Bend down!”
Only Alberu’s voice shouted again.
Blink—
The moment the eye flickered a third time.
People broke free from that bewitchment.
And realized what they needed to do.
No time to escape.
So they instinctively crouched, covering their faces with
their arms.
As much as they could curl up.
At the same time, in the fragments of their vision, they
saw one final scene.
Alberu.
From his hand, a bright, vivid light of mana like sunlight
extended.
A magical barrier trapping the exploding Xinpa.
And another.
From Cale, standing beside him, a vivid silver line
extended.
At the end of that line, a shield and massive silver wings
rose.
Unlike the ominous chaos.
A silver light that warmed the heart and carried a
refreshing scent just by looking at it.
The two lights harmoniously complemented each other,
taking their place.
Two beams of light blooming amidst chaos.
They evoked a sprout emerging from mud, hope.
People couldn’t keep staring at that light in awe.
Boommm—
A massive explosion, enough to drown out Xinpa’s scream.
As it erupted, people curled up as tightly as possible.
Hmph.
Alberu swallowed hard.
He’d done it with Raon before.
Created multiple layers of shields.
Tick.
Blood dripped from his mouth.
[Ha.]
As expected, his magical prowess wasn’t even close to
Rosalyn’s, let alone Raon’s.
Each time a shield broke, Alberu felt his stomach churn.
Cough—
He couldn’t suppress the groan that escaped.
Even so, he held on.
He made another shield.
If it broke, he made another.
Repeating that several times.
Clang.
Even as several top-grade magic crystals shattered, Alberu
didn’t stop.
Because he wanted to test his limits.
And—
[Crazy bastard!]
Cale Henituse.
That guy, though his mouth was smeared with blood,
stood tall, enduring a greater shockwave from the
explosion than Alberu.
Alberu’s shields broke easily.
Thus, the shield beyond the shield had to bear even more
of the explosion’s aftermath.
[When did he get so strong?]
Alberu had been there the moment Cale first used his
shield.
Compared to then,
[This is insane.]
Truly, Cale had grown stronger.
Compared to when they faced White Star, he’d grown
several times over.
Hmph.
But Alberu had no time to dwell on this.
Because he had no spare moment.
So much time had passed.
Perhaps only a few minutes.
Tick.
When the blood dripping from Alberu’s mouth turned
black.
“Haa—”
He let out a deep breath.
“….”
He turned his gaze to the side.
Cale grabbed his exhausted shoulder.
And Cale Henituse’s shield still shone brilliantly.
“Hoo—”
Alberu exhaled deeply.
Having overused his mana, it felt depleted, and his insides
were in turmoil.
If it were me—
[I couldn’t have handled Xinpa.]
But Cale Henituse handled him with ease.
Though he vomited blood—
[After all, he’s the one trying to take on the God of Chaos.]
It wouldn’t add up if a guy like that was swayed by
someone like Xinpa, who was neither a saint nor a bishop.
Alberu knew this.
[Then what about me?]
A question arose.
Hmph.
But the dizzy, nauseous feeling made Alberu even more
frustrated.
He just stood there, nonchalant.
[Can’t even hide this from Cale Henituse—]
Looking at me with those cheeky eyes—
“!”
Alberu couldn’t continue his thoughts.
[What is it?]
He felt an inexplicable sensation.
His entire body grew warm.
Unconsciously, he looked up toward the source of that
feeling.
[…The sun—]
The light shining down on me.
He’d never felt warmth from the sun before.
On the contrary, as a quarter-dark elf hybrid, he’d spent
more time living away from sunlight.
Now fully facing the sun, but—
That light feels warm because—
[This is strange.]
A truly strange feeling.
“….”
Then his churning stomach settled.
Rumble—
As the ground shook under the explosion’s aftermath, the
sunlight shining on Alberu remained unchanged.
Even so, the sun was always the same.
[What is it—]
It felt like something was within reach.
But Alberu also felt it wasn’t the time yet.
He turned his gaze away from the sun.
Swishhh—
Only the sound of water could be heard.
Where Xinpa had been, there was no gray smoke, no trace
left.
Only the glorious wings and shield remained intact.
Alberu suddenly recalled the first time he saw that shield.
He thought.
Cale Henituse, who hadn’t changed since their first
meeting, was the same.
“Worth a try.”
And that cheeky, arrogant attitude.
Yeah, still the same.
“Ha, haha—”
For some reason, Alberu burst into laughter.
Swishhh—
On the quiet lake, a refreshing laugh echoed.
“….”
“….”
And the Lan royal family, watching Alberu and Cale, wore
Dumbfounded expressions.
Chapter 2-383: Definitely Not Enough (8)
“Hahaha—”
Alberu, laughing.
Cough cough.
Cale, wiping the blood from his mouth, though much less
now, with an indifferent expression.
“….”
The virtual reality New World.
King Tamahi of the Lan Kingdom, one of the three
strongest powers in this vast world, couldn’t say a word.
She just stared blankly at the two of them.
“Haha, Cale—”
“Why?”
Normally, Alberu would care about the gazes around him.
For some reason, Alberu, now in a good mood, and Alberu,
who had always been somewhat relaxed in this game.
“You’re still the same.”
With those words, he spread his arms and approached.
For the first time.
Yes, just like when the Indestructible Shield first appeared
in the capital of the Roan Kingdom, protecting everyone
from the dark magic bomb attack. (Dark, previously
translated as “armed”; this should be correct, so let’s get
used to it.)
Afterward, Alberu approached Cale, making the same
gesture after a long time.
[Why is he acting like that?]
Cale felt a shiver watching Alberu approach with open
arms.
Why?
[Why is he smiling like that?]
Because Alberu was smiling as if he was genuinely in a
good mood.
Confused, Cale wanted to step back. Unfortunately, since
the debut of the Silver Shield Young Master, Cale’s stamina
had declined, while Alberu’s had only grown.
“…What?”
“Hahaha!”
In the end, Alberu and Cale shared a light embrace.
Pat pat.
Alberu’s hand, patting Cale’s back, trembled slightly.
[Ugh.]
Knowing this, Cale couldn’t push Alberu away.
[Hmm, he overdid it a bit.]
Alberu’s magical prowess was impressive, but it was hard
to reach Raon’s level, no, even Rosalyn’s.
Alberu was just an ordinarily exceptional mage.
Because he couldn’t surpass his limits.
For someone like that to pour out magic like Raon, his
body must have taken a toll.
That was why his hands were trembling.
[Tch tch.]
Cale sighed, released the embrace, but still spoke
considerately to Alberu.
“Need some support?”
At that moment, Cale caught sight of Alberu’s pale face.
“You support me?”
Faced with that surprised expression, Cale felt awkward.
And King Tamahi, watching this scene.
“Your Majesty—”
She refused the hands of the warriors approaching to
support her and slowly stood from her seat.
Her gaze remained fixed on Cale and Alberu.
“….”
She couldn’t hear what they were talking about.
She could have used her internal energy to listen, but she
didn’t want to.
Just the sight of the two of them, warmly embracing and
talking.
The sunlight and silver light had both vanished.
Prince Consort Xinpa was gone too.
The empty shore.
Only the image of the two standing there filled her vision.
The king couldn’t help but open her mouth.
“…Heroes—”
Cale had told the king.
[We’re with the Sun Hero who will save the New World!
The Dark Kingdom has stepped up to protect this world!
Haha!]
Of course, the detailed story would be calmly conveyed
after meeting Prince Consort Xinpa.
But at this moment, King Tamahi realized.
[One of them—]
One of those two must be the hero.
And in fairy tales, beside such a hero—
“…Companions.”
Exceptional and righteous companions exist.
The three strongest powers.
A term referring to the Lan Kingdom, the Eastern and
Western Empires.
Tamahi had once felt ashamed and embarrassed by this
title.
The Wanderers.
When they appeared, there were truly powerful beings.
Because she realized there were hidden forces in this
world, forces that wanted to devour this land.
“…Darkness can only be perceived with light—”
Yes.
The Wanderers.
If they were the darkness of this land, didn’t light exist
too?
How could the ways of the world favor one side alone?
[No way.]
The king immediately shook her head.
[The Dark Kingdom?]
It was the first time Tamahi had heard of this kingdom’s
existence.
[I come from the Dark Kingdom.]
[He will become the king of another place.]
And another person said he would soon become the king
of a nation. That meant another kingdom existed.
These two kingdoms, never etched in the history of this
land, were trying to fight against powerful forces, including
the Wanderers and gods.
To save this world.
“Ha—”
Unconsciously, she let out an exclamation.
Within it, a subtle hint of joy and excitement flickered.
“…It’s not the end, but the beginning.”
King Tamahi looked at Cale and Alberu, calmly talking face-
to-face, and thought.
“It’s not enough.”
The words Cale had said to Prince Consort Xinpa, who
roared, “Is my faith lacking? Why have I been forsaken?”
Those words took on a slightly different meaning for
Tamahi now, being reinterpreted.
The Lan Kingdom, manipulated by the Wanderers’ forces.
Because it was weak.
It would be hard to defeat them.
Holding their breath for so long, they had finally held the
crown prince selection tournament, aiming for a
counterattack.
The resentment accumulated over that time was
immense.
She had been trembling, fearing that the people of the
kingdom or other nations would learn of the internal
affairs of the Lan royal palace.
Because she couldn’t reveal the weakness of the Lan
Kingdom, one of the three strongest powers.
But she changed her mind.
The Lan Kingdom wasn’t enough to face the Wanderers.
“It’s just, truly not enough.”
It was merely weak.
This weakness—
“It can be filled.”
Today, she saw a solid shield that could make that happen.
She slowly approached Cale and Alberu.
Though she hadn’t yet heard Cale’s detailed story, the
broad picture was already clear to her.
At least she could distinguish friend from foe.
Because she clearly knew who was beneficial to them, who
had a kind heart.
“Oh, are you okay?”
Cale, with blood on his lips, asked if she was alright.
Looking at him, King Tamahi spoke.
“Can we join you?”
“Huh?”
To the confused Cale, she said what she needed to say.
Today, the Lan Kingdom—
“The alliance that includes the Dark Kingdom.”
It was time to seize the opportunity and take a new path.
“The Lan Kingdom wishes to join that alliance.”
With that opportunity, the Lan Kingdom would grow
stronger.
“The parts that are lacking, we’ll fill. I hope you give us a
chance to grow strong and fight.”
That way, they could protect the Lan Kingdom.
Though the Lan Kingdom knew it was the weaker party,
the king spoke confidently.
“Can you give us that chance?”
And Cale.
[Oh.]
What’s this freebie?
“Opportunities are always for those who want them.”
Speaking calmly, he took King Tamahi’s outstretched hand.
Then he continued.
“If we can ally with the Lan Kingdom, that would be a
tremendous force.”
Swish.
Cale gave a friendly smile.
Smile.
Alberu, matching them, also gave a brilliant smile.
[As expected.]
And King Tamahi was certain.
[These two are extraordinary.]
A kingdom wanted to join an alliance.
The two people before her casually made the decision on
the spot.
What did that mean?
[The leader.]
The leader of the alliance was here, and that leader—
[Must have absolute decision-making power.]
That person was,
[The black-haired man.]
Cale Henituse.
[Then this blond man—]
Perhaps.
[He might be the hero.]
The Sun Hero.
[He must be connected to the Sun God.]
King Tamahi’s gaze deepened.
She realized she had now escaped the dark swamp of the
Wanderers and the God of Chaos, facing the clear sky
above the water.
Lee Yik.
Tamahi smiled as well.
Cale and Alberu continued to smile warmly.
—Cale.
Super Rock quietly spoke to Cale.
—But that king doesn’t know the Dark Kingdom comes
from the Eight Evils, does she?
—And the crown prince doesn’t have land to rule yet; he
only said he’s a future king.
—So, isn’t our alliance kind of… intangible?
Be quiet.
Cale ignored Super Rock’s words.
Then he glanced at Alberu.
Alberu’s gentle smile seemed to say,
[Let’s go with it for now.]
Why?
Because having one of the three strongest powers as an
ally was a great thing.
“Haha—”
Cale laughed.
“Hahaha!”
Alberu laughed too.
“Haha—”
King Tamahi joined in.
Thus, the silver shield that appeared in the Lan Kingdom
was etched into the minds of the king’s trusted forces
present.
But its impact on the Lan Kingdom might be even greater
than the battle between the Wanderer Shao Xi and the
Heavenly Demon.
A few days later.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
<Insane! Breaking News Breaking News Breaking News!>
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
A piece of news spread across all parts of the Beast God
player community, causing a massive uproar.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
<The Lan Kingdom, rumored to be shutting down?>
As the title says.
—The kingdom is shutting down? What are you talking
about?
—All diplomatic activities have stopped.
The king has entered secluded training.
The heir selection has been halted.
—? Huh? Diplomacy stopped?
—The king in seclusion? Out of nowhere? What’s going on
with the Lan Kingdom lately?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
In the martial world’s Central Plains, it was the sound of a
sect sealing its gates.
And it was an indefinite sealing with no set end.
But that wasn’t all.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
—It’s not just the palace shutting down. The five major
factions, like Heavenly Sword and Dark Vein (excluding the
Chivalrous Alliance), have all entered seclusion.
—Insane. All of them shutting down? So, there’s nothing
for players to do in this kingdom now?
—Uh, not exactly.
They say the five major factions are massively recruiting
warriors. Whether strangers (players) or from other
nations, anyone, even newbies, can join as warriors. They
say they’ll support all training.
—Oh. Should I try switching to a warrior then? I’ve got no
money, so if it’s free, isn’t it worth a shot?
—Wait, but didn’t the four factions seal their gates?
—No idea, external activities have stopped.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Players were confused.
But some among them tried to discern the intent.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
—So.
The palace itself is closed.
The four factions claim seclusion but are accepting new
warriors and supporting their entire training process?
—If they’re in seclusion, external activities stop, so there’s
no income. And they’re training a ton of new warriors?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
And they grasped the intent.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
—This isn’t the four factions’ intent.
—Heh. This is definitely the kingdom’s intent.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
The Lan Kingdom was acting with a clear goal.
At the same time, the four factions had a grand purpose
they followed without question.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
—So, isn’t the Lan Kingdom now training a massive
number of warriors? Using the palace’s funds.
—Exactly.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
And people generally reached one conclusion.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
—…Isn’t this preparing for a kingdom war?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
War.
One of the three strongest powers in the New World was
preparing for war.
This was enough to set the entire Beast God player
community ablaze.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
—Looks like war.
They say it’s closing down, but it’s probably like this.
Because increasing soldier numbers at the kingdom level
might upset other nations. Like that.
—…Insane. So it’s finally time for war?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
People cheered, saying that after the “Great First Step”
update, Beast God had undergone massive changes
everywhere.
So far, no wars between kingdoms had occurred.
But some raised questions again.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
—But who is this kingdom planning to fight?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
The Lan Kingdom’s enemy was unknown.
And to that question, most players responded like this.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
—I don’t know. We’ll find out later, right?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
We’ll know in time.
Thus, when the events in this kingdom drew the attention
of everyone in the Beast God virtual reality, including
players.
“So, the Chaos God’s Holy Land, ‘The Primordial Night,’ is
in the Demonic Realm?”
Alberu’s question made Cale nod.
He was now staying in a hideout deep within the Lan royal
palace.
The Guide, Prince Consort Xinpa. The map to the Holy
Land, The Primordial Night, found in his memories.
That path led to the Demonic Realm.
“Yes, Your Highness, in the Demonic Realm.”
“Hmm.”
“You know it well. Please guide the way.”
Cale’s bold request left Alberu momentarily speechless.
“But what kind of place is the Demonic Realm?”
Rosalyn answered Choi Han’s question beside him.
She faithfully relayed the answer Alberu had once given
her.
“A place where weak and trashy things gather.”
As Choi Han’s brow subtly twitched,
Rosalyn continued.
“Though it doesn’t look that way to me.”
As a glint flashed in Choi Han’s eyes, she pointed at Alberu.
“And it’s also where our Highness plans to build an
empire.”
“Ohh.”
The Heavenly Demon showed curiosity, glanced at Alberu,
and asked Cale.
“When are we going?”
To him, Cale first spoke seriously.
“Hmm. I’d like to go as soon as possible.”
He asked Rosalyn.
“Any word from Raon?”
Edenmiru.
No news had come about that guy hatching.
“I need to go.”
Whether it’s The Primordial Night or the God of Chaos.
First, he should go see the average 10-year-old kid and half-dragon, Edenmiru.
Chapter 2-384: The Birth of Evil (1)
Chapter 50. The Birth of Evil
Raon’s cheeks were puffed out.
“Raon.”
“….”
No response.
“….”
His cheeks puffed out even more.
“….”
Filling his mouth with air, making his cheeks chubby,
clearly showed Raon’s mood.
Especially his drooping eyes, which vividly displayed that
Raon was in a rather bad mood right now.
“….”
Hong, crouching beside him, looked like a piece of paper
soaked in water, curled up.
“Ah.”
The Heavenly Demon let out an exclamation.
From Cale’s face, watching Hong and Raon, he read two
conflicting emotions.
[Ignoring even the Wanderers—]
On Cale’s face, watching the two sulky kids, worry and
anxiety coexisted.
[That guy’s become quite troublesome now.]
The Wanderers, the believers, none seemed to compare to
that kid’s drooping eyes.
“Haha—”
The Heavenly Demon laughed.
Then he suddenly realized something odd.
“….”
What?
What’s going on here?
“….”
The Heavenly Demon saw that, aside from himself, Choi
Han, Rosalyn, and even Alberu were all showing rather
worried expressions.
Right now, except for himself, everyone was anxiously
watching the two kids’ dejection, feeling uneasy.
[Heh?]
Shock.
The Heavenly Demon could only make an absurd
expression.
The place they were in wasn’t the inn they’d stayed at
before.
[Dark Vein.]
One of the five major factions of the Lan Kingdom—no,
now one of the four, since the Chivalrous Alliance was
done for—the Dark Vein.
This was the secret chamber left by its leader, Pasot.
The Heavenly Demon’s appearance was known, so Cale’s
group needed a discreet hideout. Pasot, who had kept
Choi Han close, stepped forward and lent them this secret
chamber.
Thus, Cale’s group had no worries during this time, leaving
the average 10-year-old kids and Rosalyn here while
heading to the palace.
Otherwise, people who had witnessed the battle between
the Wanderers and the Heavenly Demon would come to
the inn looking for him, causing trouble for the average 10-
year-olds and Rosalyn.
“….”
In any case, arriving at the secret chamber to meet them
was Raon, who had been contacted by Rosalyn in advance.
Cale asked Raon.
[Where’s Edenmiru?]
With that, there was no response.
Then Hong, who popped up as well, remained silent under
the same question.
“…You know.”
At that moment, Raon spoke.
“Yeah. Yeah. Tell me.”
Choi Han reacted quickly.
The Heavenly Demon stared at Choi Han’s gentle
response, but Raon sighed.
“Sigh.”
Choi Han froze.
The Heavenly Demon wondered if this was the same
person who interrogated the Wanderer Shao Xi.
[No need to worry about dying.]
[Don’t even think about dying.]
[Because that’s not up to you.]
The guy who said such bloody things to Shao Xi was now
fidgeting.
“Come with me first.”
Flap, flap—
Raon swiftly turned, slowly flapping his wings, leading
Cale’s group.
“….”
Choi Han followed behind, a bit dejected.
“Heh—”
The Heavenly Demon was somewhat surprised but
followed Cale first.
Then he sent a transmission.
—That egg doesn’t seem to show signs of hatching yet?
The half-dragon Edenmiru.
The Heavenly Demon had seen him last.
Wrapped in the bright light bursting from the Dragon Lord
Neo.
[Fascinating.]
And when he extended his life in this game world using an
error, the Heavenly Demon had expectations.
Because he wanted to know how strong Miru would be
after hatching.
“….”
The Heavenly Demon, seeing Cale not reacting to his gaze,
shifted his eyes.
Though Cale felt the Heavenly Demon’s gaze drop, he
didn’t react.
Because he realized something from Raon and Hong’s
behavior.
[Something’s gone wrong.]
If Edenmiru simply hadn’t hatched, Raon and Hong
wouldn’t react like this.
Something must have happened.
It just wasn’t urgent enough to contact Cale at the palace.
[What is it?]
The half-dragon.
[What happened to that guy?]
In fact, Cale had a factor of unease.
Edenmiru was originally a living being outside the game.
He became an egg in the game, starting a new life.
Even if this New World felt like reality, it was still “virtual.”
Could that environmental change have caused some issue
for Edenmiru?
[Hmm.]
Cale’s expression was indifferent, but his heart was quite
complicated.
Turning the half-dragon into this state reflected his own
judgment the most.
Flap—
Stopping his weak wings, Raon spoke toward the paper
sliding door.
“We brought our human.”
“Yeah. Come in.”
A warm voice came.
[Hmm?]
So calm?
Noticing the warm voice was as usual, Cale’s eyes filled
with suspicion.
When On was emotional, her tone had a distinct way of
revealing it, even if she said nothing was wrong.
The moment Cale, who knew this, had a glint in his eyes.
[What? Did he find some treasure or something?]
The Heavenly Demon, observing Cale, couldn’t hide his
confusion.
Creak.
Just then, Hong and Raon opened the door.
“Hm?”
Then Alberu tilted his head.
“?”
A question mark appeared on Choi Han’s face too.
“…What, it’s the same?”
The Heavenly Demon’s unintentional voice echoed
around.
Wrapped in a patterned cloth, placed on an expensive-
looking cushion and blanket, was the egg.
The egg looked perfectly intact.
Thus, Choi Han and Alberu also showed surprise.
Because there was no visible problem.
At that moment.
“It’s a problem because it’s the same.”
Rosalyn responded to Cale’s unintentional voice.
“…The last time we saw it, what was the recovery rate?”
Cale answered her question.
“80%.”
When it reached that recovery rate, Cale handed the egg
to the average 10-year-olds and began external activities.
[And if it reached 95%, I planned to go to the Seventh Evil.]
Cale checked Edenmiru’s status window.
[Edenmiru]
[Status: Pre-hatching. (Recovery Rate: 80%)]
[Title: Half-Dragon of Light and Time]
During this time, Edenmiru’s recovery rate had risen quite
quickly.
But why hadn’t it changed now?
“…Human, we don’t know why it’s like this.”
“…Hmph.”
The moment Raon and Hong’s eyes drooped further.
“I don’t know either.”
On spoke faintly, but Cale noticed her eyes subtly drooping
too.
For On to show such a subtle drop, it was a voice of
considerable distress.
“Maybe.”
Cale spoke in a more indifferent tone than usual,
approaching the egg.
“In fact, the recovery rate rose too quickly during this
time.”
“Yes. It’s a miracle that the recovery rate rose so fast after
becoming an egg in a near-soul-collapsed state.”
Rosalyn quickly agreed.
“But no matter what, the later stages are harder to
progress than the earlier ones.”
Alberu spoke up too.
“….”
Choi Han hesitated, walked to Cale’s side, but didn’t say
much.
Except for the Heavenly Demon, all the adults crouched
near the blanket with Miru’s egg.
“Human, it’s not even making a rattling sound!!”
Edenmiru.
The egg, with black, platinum, and purple strangely
blended, embedded with beautiful patterns.
They said the egg wasn’t making any noise either.
“Maybe.”
Cale said nonchalantly, stroking On, Hong, and Raon’s hair
in turn. Under that casual touch, the average 10-year-olds’
eyes gradually lifted.
“He’s sleeping.”
At Cale’s next words, the average 10-year-olds showed
excited expressions.
“Yes. Cale’s right. Breaking the shell takes a lot of strength,
so he’s probably sleeping now.”
“Right. The recovery rate hasn’t dropped; it’s just paused
temporarily, so there’s no problem, right?”
Alberu and Rosalyn agreed.
—Cale. Isn’t this pause a big deal?
—Young Master, shouldn’t we go to the Seventh Evil right
away and show it to the ferocious Dark Bear? The recovery
stopping smoothly—doesn’t that mean something’s gone
wrong?
But the two took turns speaking various things in Cale’s
mind through magic.
[These adults!]
Cale’s face almost twisted, but he held it in.
“Hoo.”
Instead, he sighed.
He reached out.
“Hey.”
His hand reached for the egg wrapped in the patterned
cloth.
Suddenly, he thought.
[Should I go to the Seventh Evil?]
Should he ask the Dark Bear?
[Or Sheritt-nim?]
Should he ask Eruhaben-nim or the other dragons?
How are dragon eggs born?
“Edenmiru. Why are you suddenly like this?”
Hiss.
The moment Cale’s hand touched the egg.
Pop!
A light woven with black, platinum, and purple burst out.
“Human!”
[Status: Pre-hatching. (Recovery Rate: 80%)]
Yes, it was clearly 80%.
[Status: Pre-hatching. (Recovery Rate: 82%)]
[Status: Pre-hatching. (Recovery Rate: 85%)]
89%.
92%.
“The recovery rate is soaring!”
“Our human just touched it, and the recovery rate is
rising!”
“He’s going to hatch soon!”
The average 10-year-olds.
“…Haha—”
Choi Han laughed absurdly.
Snicker.
Alberu, with an unreadable expression, chuckled softly.
The Heavenly Demon and Rosalyn looked at Cale with very
amused expressions.
And Cale—
Ding!
A bell sounded in his ear.
“….”
[Event Task Triggered!]
Cale had an event.
Among the many players in the New World, only a few
could receive this rare task.
An event task.
“…Damn game.”
Recovery rate 94%.
As the numbers surged wildly, text appeared before Cale’s
eyes.
[Event Task: ‘The Birth of a New Evil’]
[The next ruler of the Seventh Evil is about to be born.]
[The birth of a legend acknowledged by all of the Seven
Evils!]
[All legends have extraordinary stories from their birth!]
[Please create that legendary scene!]
“….”
Cale bit his lip.
“You, you couldn’t give the kids a task, so you were
waiting for me?”
Edenmiru might not have created the task, but he
definitely knew it existed.
For some reason, he sought out Cale, certain of this.
Dagleg.
Edenmiru responded.
“Human! Edenmiru moved!”
“Wow! It finally moved!”
“I think he’s going to hatch soon!”
…Damn it.
The moment Cale tightly closed his eyes.
“Recovery rate 95%!”
Hearing Raon’s cheer-like shout, Cale opened his eyes
wide.
95%.
It was the threshold he’d decided to go to the Seventh Evil.
“Human, let’s go to the Seventh Evil now! We need to
hurry!”
Woooom—
Raon hurriedly unfolded a teleportation circle.
Perhaps crazed, his wings flapped like a helicopter.
“….”
Then Cale stared into the air.
The task window followed him.
[The birth of the new leader of the Seventh Evil will be
announced across the entire game system.]
[The birth of a great evil that could make all beings of the
Seven Evils tremble, please create that story!]
[*The story’s judgment criteria will be compared to past
legends.]
[*Event progress displayed with ultra-high-resolution
system.]
[*When progress reaches 100%, the leader of the Seven
Evils is born.]
[*Rewards for participants will vary based on event
completion rate. (Grades F to S)]
“Haa—”
He couldn’t help but sigh, letting it out like a groan.
“…Make me create a legendary birth scene for a story?”
There are countless legends.
Among them, the birth of heroes and evils follows a
mysterious or grand rule.
And they’re saying to create that?
“Raon. Is the teleportation circle ready?”
Cale made up his mind.
“Yeah! It’s ready, human!”
The teleportation circle was set up quickly.
Because Raon had already been preparing.
“Contact the Seventh Evil, tell Sheritt-nim we’re coming
too.”
“Got it, human!”
As Raon got busy and Rosalyn assisted him, Alberu
approached Cale.
“What happened?”
“A task was triggered.”
“What’s the content?”
“Create a legendary evil birth scene, starting from the
Seventh Evil, to spread across the entire New World.”
“…Hm?”
Whether Alberu looked at him with confusion or not, Cale
sighed.
It wasn’t clear yet why the system gave such a task.
[I can guess a bit.]
All the current leaders of the Eight Evils have stories.
But not Edenmiru.
It’s about creating that.
This meant giving Cale significant autonomy.
[This means the system is in our favor.]
The AI derived from the system—likely heavily involved.
“Legend—”
Cale’s lips curled up.
“Hey, Edenmiru.”
He picked up the egg wrapped in the patterned cloth and
set it aside.
“I’ll make you a very great evil.”
Dagleg. Dagleg.
Edenmiru urgently sent some kind of signal.
“Reward grades from F to S?”
Haha.
Cale laughed.
Dagleg. Dagleg.
Though the egg reacted more intensely, Cale gently
stroked it.
“I’ll at least get you an S-grade reward.”
S is the maximum.
Dagleg Dagleg.
Seeing the egg like that, Hong tilted his head and said,
“For some reason, it looks uneasy!”
To him, Cale gave a benevolent smile, still stroking the egg.
“It’s probably uneasy thinking about hatching soon.”
Dagleg Dagleg.
While Alberu looked at the egg with pity, Cale added,
thinking of contacting the Dark Bear of the Seventh Evil.
“Raon. Tell Sheritt-nim to bring Clopeh Sekka too.”
“Got it, human!”
Raon answered, and Rosalyn and the other adults nearby
paused.
Facing their gazes, Cale said with a gentle smile,
“Legends are what he knows best. We need an expert.”
Haha—
Cale laughed.
Dagleg Dagleg.
Edenmiru fervently expressed its intent.
[Recovery Rate: 95.2%]
[Birth Ceremony Progress: 0%]
[Reward Grade: Undetermined]
“Haha—”
Confirming the slowing rise of the recovery rate, Cale
resolved to do his job well.
It’s not my birth ceremony, but Edenmiru’s.
“A birth is something to celebrate. I’ll create a splendid
birth ceremony for you.”
Cale smiled benevolently, patting the egg.
Tap, tap, dagleg, clunk—
The egg vaguely expressed its will, as if it had given up on
something.
Chapter 2-385: The Birth of Evil (2)
The center of the Seventh Evil, returning after a long time.
The residence of the former Dragon Lord Neo, now
managed by the ferocious Dark Bear, a castle from a fairy
tale.
Pop!
With a bright flash of light, Cale’s group teleported from
the Lan Kingdom to the Seventh Evil.
“Ugh—”
Cale gave an awkward smile.
“A bit too many people?”
At that moment.
Thud!
Over a hundred people knelt on one knee simultaneously.
But what was chilling was that the speed and force were
identical, producing only the sound of a single movement.
“We greet the Heavenly Demon!”
The Demon Cult members.
The massive castle where the final boss of the Seventh Evil
resided.
A beautiful white castle, like something from a fairy tale,
surrounded by fluffy cotton candy-like clouds, but on a
grand scale.
Compared to the other Eight Evils, the Seventh Evil was
the second largest, a majestic city befitting its size.
Naturally, the hall on the first floor of the castle was also
quite spacious.
“….”
Swish.
The Heavenly Demon raised his hand.
Thud!
Over a hundred people slammed their heads to the floor,
kowtowing.
“Demon!”
Amid their shouts, the Heavenly Demon did nothing,
simply standing silently.
“Haha—”
Cale awkwardly looked at the laughing ferocious Dark
Bear.
This cute bear, rubbing its paws, somehow approached
Cale.
“Haha, it’s been a while, Young Master.”
Behind the bear, waving lightly, was the Tiger Tribe
shaman, Gashan.
“Hey!”
The Dark Bear, startled by Gashan’s voice from behind, ran
to Cale.
He glanced back.
[Whoa!]
White pupils, with various patterns etched across his body,
Gashan.
Two crows circled around him, cawing eerily.
Grab.
The ferocious Dark Bear instinctively clutched Cale’s pant
leg.
Gulp.
Cale Henituse, the evil among evils.
He hadn’t expected him to be this happy.
[Too many lunatics!]
After Cale’s group left, starting with the half-dragon Pope
from Apitoyu, one NPC after another—or those registering
as NPCs—kept coming.
Of course, the work on the Black Castle teleportation
portal was ongoing simultaneously, so the ferocious Dark
Bear had a lot to deal with regarding Cale’s group.
Because he knew.
[These guys are the most normal!]
Cale, Choi Han, the terrifying baby dragon, and the two
murderous cats!
They were, ironically, the safest.
The Demon Cult members, called over under the pretense
of assisting the Heavenly Demon.
[Crazy lunatics!]
Hearing they’d found a new base to establish the Demon
Cult, they acted like fanatical cultists.
The beastmen, Gashan, and others were also strange.
[And the half-dragons are weird too!]
Starting with the Pope, talking about creating a “Miru
Knights Order” or something, the half-dragons kept
arriving here.
Those guys were quiet, which made them scarier.
In fact, there were many other strange and terrifying
people besides them.
[…Of course, the strangest is—]
Gulp.
For some reason, the Dark Bear’s back shivered.
“It’s been a while.”
“Lord Eruhaben.”
Cale, looking at the Demon Cult members, gave a
delighted smile.
Pat pat.
He casually stroked the Dark Bear’s head, happily greeting
the ancient dragon Eruhaben.
“You’ve been busy with the teleportation portal?”
The Black Castle teleportation portal.
After the former Dragon Lord Sheritt, who couldn’t leave
the castle, Eruhaben, who was obsessed with magic,
registered as an NPC and was now collaborating with
researchers from the Third Earth to form the portal.
Additionally, he was helping repair Apitoyu, which had
been thrown into chaos by the Purple Blood Family
hunters and Apitoyu’s dragon forces.
“It’s manageable.”
Eruhaben, answering nonchalantly, sneaked a glance at
the Dark Bear and spoke.
“Dark Bear. This friend is more capable than I expected. He
handled all the trivial matters, making it convenient for
us.”
Oh.
Cale looked at the Dark Bear with admiration.
But the Dark Bear couldn’t bear to look back at Eruhaben.
[Whoa.]
He couldn’t forget Eruhaben’s reaction after becoming an
NPC.
[Are dragons a system that players can hunt at any time?]
[Yes? Well, that’s not possible now, but—]
[In the future, it might be?]
[W-Well, leveling up, doing various things—]
[Ho ho. That’s interesting. Very interesting.]
Eruhaben’s joyful laugh somehow felt maddening to him.
[Can dragons level up here too?]
[Yes? The level for quasi-NPCs is—]
[Is that so? Hahaha—]
That hearty laugh was unforgettable for the Dark Bear.
Oddly, since then, he’d avoided Eruhaben, fleeing.
Pat pat.
“You’ve worked hard.”
On the contrary, looking at Cale patting his head, he felt
comforted.
[Yes. I am the great Dark Bear!]
I serve the great evil among evils!
The leader of all these beings!
The living extreme evil!
Only our Lord Cale Henituse!
Swish.
As the Dark Bear’s lips were about to curl up.
“Is it about to hatch?”
Eruhaben’s voice carried a subtle tone.
Cale pointed to the patterned cloth bag at his side.
“Yes. It seems it’ll hatch in seven days.”
The recovery rate had been rising quite slowly since 95.2%.
[Recovery Rate: 95.21% (Remaining Time: 6 days, 23
hours, 21 minutes)]
[Birth Ceremony Progress: 0%]
[Reward Grade: Undetermined]
It also told him the remaining time.
[Within the remaining time, the birth ceremony progress
must reach 100%.]
That way, the reward grade could be increased.
[Either way, it seems the reward goes to this guy.]
[*Rewards for participants will vary based on event
completion rate. (Grades F to S)]
At Cale’s ear, confirming the task description, Eruhaben
voiced a question.
“I heard, hmm, that hatching is supposed to be a
somewhat warm process.”
Eruhaben had already noticed Cale’s way of doing things.
Thus, he picked up on something odd from the
information conveyed.
“Why the rush to call Clopeh Sekka?”
Clopeh Sekka.
A glance. Eruhaben’s eyes turned to two people who
hadn’t approached yet.
Clopeh Sekka and the former Pope Cassillia were together.
[Hmm.]
The ancient dragon felt a bit uneasy about the two
standing together.
[When did they get so close?]
Clopeh Sekka. That guy, somehow, was with Pope Cassillia,
in a very cheerful atmosphere.
Of course, no matter what, Pope Cassillia’s eyes never left
the half-dragon Edenmiru.
“….”
But she couldn’t bear to approach.
As if understanding that feeling, Eruhaben’s brow slightly
twitched. That was true because, for some reason, he
couldn’t approach Edenmiru either.
“Ah.”
At that moment, the ancient dragon saw Cale smile.
“Having those two together is great.”
What?
Cale welcomed Clopeh Sekka and Pope Cassillia.
“Yeah. It’s reassuring.”
He looked at the two with satisfaction, then glanced at the
Heavenly Demon.
[Hmm? What’s up?]
To be precise, he was looking at the beastman standing
beside the Heavenly Demon.
In that meaningful gaze, Eruhaben felt an ominous
premonition, his eyes quickly scanning Cale’s
surroundings.
“Hehe!”
“Hey hey!”
“….”
The average 10-year-olds, Raon and Hong, were laughing,
and On was smiling. They looked happy.
“….”
Rosalyn averted her gaze, while Choi Han looked
somewhat dazed.
“Hoho.”
And Crown Prince Alberu Crossman was smiling brilliantly.
Very suspicious.
And the Heavenly Demon, under Cale’s gaze—
“….”
It was a rather amused but reluctant expression.
[What’s going on?]
The ancient dragon recalled a time when Cale caused
trouble after a long absence. At that moment, Cale spoke,
saying something serious.
“Seven days from now, a grand legend will be born.”
His voice was deep.
“!”
The Dark Bear flinched.
A legend?
“The new evil of the Seventh Evil. A great evil’s birth that
the Eight Evils and the entire continent should know.”
Huh?
The Dark Bear’s front paw, clutching Cale’s clothes,
loosened.
Swish.
The pant leg moved away from the paw.
Swish. And the Dark Bear took a step back.
Seven days from now. Wasn’t that the day Edenmiru was
supposed to hatch?
The temporary final boss, the Dark Bear, already knew
Edenmiru might become the new boss of the Seventh Evil.
But—a legend?
“Ho ho.”
Clopeh Sekka let out a low exclamation.
“….”
Then Pope Cassillia blinked.
The half-dragon.
She, ignored and unable to fit anywhere, had nowhere to
go.
Edenmiru. A half-dragon who stood against the former
Dragon Lord Neo, whom Cassillia hated, protecting
everyone.
He would take the place of Dragon Lord Neo, and she
decided to protect him.
His rebirth—
[Make it a legend?]
Known to everyone in this vast world?
The birth of a half-dragon—
Make it a legend?
The Apitoyu continent.
There, she founded a cult worshiping dragons like gods,
the first Pope Cassillia, who held sway over the entire
continent for over two hundred years.
A fierce passion began to spark in the former Pope’s eyes.
“Heavenly Demon—is this what we’re doing?”
To her subordinate’s question, the Heavenly Demon
answered with a smile.
“Nothing much, isn’t it interesting? I plan to help too.”
The Central Plains martial world.
The Demon Cult, with a long history there.
A cult that revered the Heavenly Demon as a god.
Their fanaticism often blinded even powerful martial
artists.
To them, any ceremony, creating someone as a legend—
“We’re experienced.”
It was something familiar they often did.
“….”
Step step.
The Dark Bear took another step back.
Pat.
Startled by the touch on his back, he turned to see the
ancient dragon Eruhaben. The Dark Bear, about to fall, saw
the emotion blooming on the dragon’s face and
instinctively grabbed his pant leg.
At the same time, Pope Cassillia spoke calmly.
“If it’s to be widely announced, it’s best to prepare a birth
ceremony, invite the mid-tier bosses of the Seventh Evil,
open the castle, and let the residents of the Seventh Evil
witness the ceremony.”
Her voice was quiet but strangely filled with passion.
“At the same time, let the other final bosses of the Eight
Evils know about the birth ceremony. Inviting them would
expose us, so it’s better to notify rather than invite.”
So the Dark Bear was terrified.
The Heavenly Demon’s side quietly chimed in.
“I think the ceremony should be solemn and majestic. Not
just a birth, but the birth of an evil, right?”
“It’d be nice if it included some sanctity.”
As Cassillia and the Demon Cult members engaged in deep
discussion.
“Lord Cale.”
One person spoke.
Clopeh Sekka, who had only let out an exclamation earlier
and stood quietly with a smile.
He finally spoke.
“It’s happening!”
Everyone heard Raon’s low mutter but pretended not to
when.
Swish.
Clopeh Sekka stepped forward.
Then, standing before Cale, he quietly looked at
Edenmiru’s egg, wrapped in the patterned cloth.
“I don’t know—”
His voice, carrying a holy atmosphere, slowly echoed
through the hall.
“Legends don’t need to be told.”
Legends don’t need to be known.
“They’re just seen, heard, felt. With every breath, you
know—that’s what a legend is.”
Cale Henituse.
The path of legend he walked wasn’t a ceremony
deliberately created or a story fabricated for legend.
Clopeh Sekka knew this better than anyone.
Because he, who hoped to become a legend and planned
things, finally realized the true way of doing things.
“We just need to show it.”
A ceremony?
You can show it without such things.
“The evil created here.”
Clopeh’s smile deepened.
“The birth of evil. Just seeing its signs, everyone will
gather.”
And naturally, a story, a legend, will be created.
Clopeh Sekka looked up at the ceiling.
The hall’s ceiling, with fluffy cotton candy clouds.
“Ah—”
You could see the fluffy cotton candy turning into
something ferocious and ominous.
“Seeing evil.”
As he gave a pure smile.
“Clopeh Sekka.”
Cale reached out and patted Clopeh’s shoulder.
So reliable.
“Do whatever you want this time.”
Leave the birth ceremony to this guy—
“I’ll help you with everything.”
An S-grade reward would be within reach.
Woooom—
The castle where the Seventh Evil’s boss resided.
Also known as the Cotton Candy Castle.
The residents or citizens of the Seventh Evil, living in
villages near the castle, anxiously watched the Cotton
Candy Castle.
Woooom—
The sky above the Cotton Candy Castle, situated in the
center of a vast plain, was rumbling.
“W-What’s happening?”
Flash flash.
Crimson-gold lightning flickered, subtly revealing itself
from the clouds.
And there—
“Those clouds—”
The sky was covered with dark red clouds.
Ominous.
Truly an ominous sign.
Caw caw caw—
Then, crows appeared from all directions, flocking toward
the Cotton Candy Castle.
Caw caw caw—
A sky shrouded by countless swarming black birds.
“…Ominous.”
But the expressions of those who said that weren’t bad.
Because they were beings living in the Seventh Evil.
Because they were lives in a world with fairy-tale
backgrounds, each with their own stories.
“Trees, trees—!”
Someone shouted as if filled with joy.
Leaf-like screams.
“Trees growing like disgusting monsters!”
The sky was rumbling. Dark red clouds appeared!
Crows flew in from all directions!
Trees grew grotesquely!
“Crazy, now it’s a storm!”
The storm, too, all the ugly things gathered at the Cotton
Candy Castle.
Like the birth of a great evil that a hero in a fairy tale must
face in the end.
Thump thump.
As the story of the Cotton Candy Castle spread rapidly
through the Seventh Evil.
“Human, isn’t this a bit too much?”
“…Damn it.”
Cale was regretting it.
But his hand still touched the ground.
The grotesque, strangely shaped trees were grown with
the help of Cale’s Indestructible Shield, just like in the
jungle before.
“Haa.”
The Heavenly Demon sighed, emitting a dark red aura
again.
“Lady Mary.”
“Yes.”
The necromancer Mary nodded, gripping a bone.
Dagleg.
The ground was chaotic, and now it was the skeletons’
turn to emerge.
All the omens were heading toward the Cotton Candy
Castle.
“Not enough.”
Midway, Clopeh Sekka felt it was insufficient.
His gaze turned to the ancient dragon Eruhaben, Rosalyn,
and Raon.
To those adept at magic, Clopeh Sekka said,
“Not enough.”
The madness in Clopeh Sekka’s eyes.
Rosalyn judged it as such.
“Evil should be more like evil. Enough to draw the
attention of the Eight Evils’ bosses.”
Clopeh Sekka approached the three in a low voice.
That night.
A black pillar of light rose from the Cotton Candy Castle.
Then, the light spread outward, visible across the entire
Seventh Evil.
Caw caw caw—
Along that pillar, crows and skeletons buried in various
places emerged, moving toward the center of the Seventh
Evil, the open fields of Cotton Candy.
Truly ferocious.
And the news spread across the entire Eight Evils, drawing
the attention of other nations always watching the Eight
Evils. Of course, their interest was influenced by Cale.
Because he recorded the bizarre scene in a magical video
orb and sent it to Anrowan and King Tamahi of the Lan
Kingdom.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
<What’s happening in the Seventh Evil? ㄷㄷㄷ>
Have you seen the original video?
Looks like someone uploaded it.
Crazy.
What’s going on in the Seventh Evil now?
—What video?
—I saved it. Link.
—Insane. What’s that? So ominous.
—Wow. The New World is so fun. It’s chaos everywhere.
—But… who recorded the Seventh Evil video?
—I don’t know. Are there already players who can access
the Seventh Evil?
—What, a demon king’s birth?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
The birth of evil.
The preparations were being made in earnest.
“Lord Cale. You can manage the state while proceeding
gradually.”
“…Ugh, fine.”
And Cale, under Clopeh Sekka’s meticulous care, was
appropriately using ancient powers.
Dagleg dagleg dagleg—
For some reason, Edenmiru expressed itself weakly, as if
relieved.
Finally, the last helper appeared before Cale.
“…Creating a legendary birth?”
It was the former Dragon Lord Sheritt.
Her eyes held a strange power.
“Yes.”
And Cale smiled.
Dagleg.
The egg moved weakly.
“That’s bad!”
At that moment, the Dark Bear approached and delivered
news to Cale.
“They say Count Lyupe, the boss of the Third Evil, is free to
visit tomorrow!”
The Third Evil, another evil under Cale’s control.
Count Lyupe, the true noble of the Demonic Realm and its
boss, decided to come.
That visit held significance.
“Bad, you say the Aurora is coming tomorrow?”
“Uh, yes.”
Aurora.
The leader of the Arbitrator Group and the sole bloodline
of the former Demon King.
And the one seeking Count Lyupe.
Two demons decided to meet here secretly tomorrow.
Four days remained until Edenmiru’s evil birth.
Chapter 2-386: The Birth of Evil (3)
In the New World, there were countless lands that even
ordinary players hadn’t succeeded in exploring.
Among them, the most difficult place was—
<*The Eight Evils, right? That’s not a place we can go yet.
Not even the top-ranked players can go there.*>
No one disputed that statement.
Among those Eight Evils, the boss of the Third Evil, the
Dark Phantom Lyupe.
To meet Aurora, the leader of the Arbitrators, he arrived
here earlier, greeting with an elegant and dignified
posture.
“It’s been a while, Most Evil—”
Hmm.
Cale flinched.
[Is that okay?]
The title of Most Evil.
Is that alright?
“Yes. It’s been a while.”
He interrupted the casting first, accepting the greeting.
Swish.
Lyupe, with an elegant noble smile, spoke softly.
“I’ve heard rumors recently.”
“Hm? What rumors?”
“There’s talk that a Demon King is descending in the
Seventh Evil.”
Cale froze.
Dagleg.
Edenmiru, at Cale’s side, trembled.
“….”
Cale just stood there silently.
Because he didn’t know what to say for the moment.
Lyupe gave a meaningful look at the egg wrapped in the
patterned cloth.
“As expected, this one is the Demon King.”
Dagleg.
“Ho ho. Quite a lively movement.”
Tap, tap tap tap tap.
“Haha! A fiery-tempered master, worthy of being the new
evil of the Seventh Evil, the Demon King!”
He nodded but soon put on a serious face, cautiously
speaking to Cale.
“Right now, all of the Eight Evils, except for our Third and
Seventh Evils, are focusing their attention on the Seventh
Evil.”
Cale knew this too.
[The birth of evil.]
For this, over the past three days, Clopeh Sekka had been
doing something extraordinary.
Slowly, rumors had spread.
“As the Seventh Evil, with its fairy-tale concept, the birth
of a Demon King. It’s a perfectly fitting script, and
everyone is thinking about it.”
Hmm.
Come to think of it, the ultimate boss for a fairy-tale world
would be a Demon King.
“But as the signs of its birth grow larger and the state of
the Seventh Evil spreads wider, the residents of all Eight
Evils are growing more curious about ‘how powerful a
Demon King’ might emerge.”
Ugh.
Clopeh Sekka had done his job too well.
“I hear even the ordinary kingdoms outside the Eight Evils
are nervous? The birth of a Demon King is bound to
threaten kingdoms.”
Hmm.
Cale just listened silently.
Lyupe’s expression grew more meaningful.
“The Most Evil—”
Suddenly, Lyupe’s voice lowered.
Cale’s gaze turned to him.
It seemed he had something important to say.
“You’re even—”
Hm?
Wait a moment—
“On the day you dominate all Eight Evils.”
Is this guy about to spout nonsense?
Cale opened his mouth to say something, but Lyupe kept
talking.
“Evil among evils. The ultimate evil. The pinnacle of evil—”
His eyes subtly shifted.
Among those who follow evil, what is the highest
position—
The answer was obvious.
“A god.”
Cale’s eyes widened.
Dagleg!
The egg was shocked too.
Lyupe’s smile grew more sinister.
He spoke with full confidence.
“You’re practically creating a Demon God, aren’t you?”
Ho.
Indeed.
Controlling the Third and Seventh Evils, aiming for the rest
of the Eight Evils.
At the same time, making a former comrade be born as a
Demon King.
The God of Chaos, as if to oppose this god.
At the same time, he aimed to surpass the Eight Evils,
establish the Dark Kingdom, and expand influence over the
entire New World.
With power unlike that of a human—
At the same time, unafraid to wage war against those who
created an absolute god!
And all of this pointed to!
The evil among evils!
The Demon God!
Isn’t that the noble name!
“Hehe—”
Lyupe couldn’t help but let out a frivolous laugh.
“Tch, this—”
And Cale was speechless, unable to say anything.
He thought.
Is this guy crazy?
A Demon God?
What nonsense is he spouting?
Cale, looking into Lyupe’s fervent eyes, felt irritation rising
toward Count Lyupe.
Cough.
Count Lyupe quickly came to his senses.
He returned to being a dignified, elegant noble.
“I’ll be quiet.”
He understood Cale’s meaning.
[I’m noticing the big picture in advance, so you’re doing
this, right?]
Someone aiming to surpass saving the New World and
ascend to the pinnacle of evil.
I shouldn’t pry too much into his heart.
Pretending not to know is also a subordinate’s duty.
Count Lyupe decided to silently do what he needed to do.
“I won’t mention it again.”
“Yeah. Right.”
Cale felt reassured by Count Lyupe’s words.
[I know it’s nonsense.]
But compared to the Dark Bear, Count Lyupe made more
sense.
As expected, knowing the system and game was a variable.
To the reassured Cale, Count Lyupe calmly continued.
“I’ll do my best to assist you. Currently, I’m always keeping
an eye on the trends of the other six Evils. If I notice
anything unusual, I’ll immediately inform you through the
Dark Bear.”
Nod.
Indeed, Count Lyupe and the Dark Bear were excellent at
their jobs.
Thus, entrusting things to them, Cale could focus on the
task of finding the God of Chaos’s Holy Land.
After Edenmiru’s birth, he could head to the Demonic
Realm, where the Holy Land, The Primordial Night, was
located.
“Oh.”
At that moment, Count Lyupe remembered something.
“Do you know the boss of the Fifth Evil?”
“Isn’t that the Hell of Fire? The boss is the Fire Person?”
(Note: “Fire Person” is unclear; likely a placeholder or
ambiguous term)
The Third Evil: Hell of Darkness.
The Seventh Evil: Hell of Time.
The Fifth Evil: Hell of Blazing Fire.
“Yes. Do you know that person’s title?”
Hmm.
Cale recalled the information.
Seeing that, Lyupe spoke.
“The Deposed Prince. His story is that he aimed to become
the Demon King but lost in the competition, was expelled
from the Demonic Realm, took a place in the Fifth Evil, and
eventually became the Demon of Fire.”
Cale glanced at Edenmiru’s egg.
“And that guy is very fixated on the title of Demon King.”
Pat pat.
He inexplicably stroked the egg with a casual hand.
Lyupe’s words reached his ears.
“You’d better keep that in mind. Because when our
Seventh Evil’s precious boss is born, the Fire Person might
do something.”
Dagleg.
Edenmiru suddenly moved violently.
Lyupe smiled.
“Haha! Don’t worry, precious boss. Aren’t we assisting the
Most Evil together? I’ll do my utmost to help with your
birth.”
Dagleg, dagleg!
Edenmiru moved even more intensely.
Cale understood the meaning behind Edenmiru’s
movements.
“…Precious boss….”
Pfft.
Cale couldn’t hold it in.
…Tap… tap… tap tap tap…
Edenmiru seemed to collapse.
At that moment.
“Human! They say Aurora is arriving!”
Raon ran over to deliver the news.
The Arbitrators.
The leader of that group, Aurora, had finally entered this
game.
“Wait a moment.”
Cale handed the egg to Raon. The average 10-year-olds
would take good care of Miru.
[Recovery Rate: 96.91% (Remaining Time: 3 days, 21
hours, 49 minutes)]
[Birth Ceremony Progress: 50%]
[Reward Grade: Undetermined]
At the point where the birth ceremony preparations
reached 50%, Cale took a step toward where Aurora was.
“Let’s go.”
At his call, Count Lyupe, with a slightly heavy expression,
slowly followed.
That was only natural.
Because for him, he might learn new information about his
past.
Clack clack.
Walking through a corridor decorated with cotton candy
everywhere, Cale heard the footsteps of Count Lyupe
following.
[Aurora is coming here from Apitoyu.]
The indolent Demon King.
That guy suddenly started external activities, so Aurora
and the Arbitrators had to get busy.
And perhaps having some free time now, Aurora came
here alone first.
The sole bloodline of the former Demon King.
For Aurora, Count Lyupe was an important figure, at the
top of the “Missing Demons” list.
Not only supporting Aurora and the Arbitrator group—
[The richest in the Demonic Realm, despite being a count.
With that wealth, he could even surpass dukes or
archdukes.]
He was said to be the actual owner at the top of the
Demonic Realm.
[They say Count Lyupe has a secret vault.]
…A secret vault.
It supposedly contained ownership certificates for the top
tier.
Even the Demon King’s side hadn’t found it.
[If Lyupe recovers his memories as the former count,
Aurora will gain two advantages in the fight against the
Demon King’s side.]
First, gaining a solid financial backer.
Then the second, more important one.
[Legitimacy.]
The current Demon King, collaborating with hunters,
conducted experiments on lesser demons, taking their
lives.
Even if the Demon King was a great figure to demons, this
would spark significant resistance.
[And it benefits us too.]
Beyond Count Lyupe being Cale’s subordinate—
[This is evidence.]
Transparent Company had become a transcendent
corporation on the Third Earth.
This would be evidence of the Purple Blood Family’s
experiments on demons and humans.
[Setting aside Anrowan’s next presidential term—]
At the very least, it would greatly help against Han Ze-soo,
the honorary chairman of Transparent Company and head
of the Purple Blood Family, and beyond Transparent
Company.
The Third Earth.
A place quite familiar to Cale.
[If you do it well—]
The prosecution, the political sphere, the media, even the
public.
Perhaps they could stop everyone from siding with
Transparent Company.
[Honorary Chairman Han Ze-soo. And Transparent
Company.]
Ending it the “Earth” way there wouldn’t be bad.
In the Central Plains, Cale did things the Central Plains
way; in Apitoyu, the Apitoyu way, so—
On Earth, shouldn’t it be done the Earth way?
Swish.
Cale’s lips curled up.
[Hmm!]
Lyupe, seeing Cale’s back as he stood before something,
felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding.
“…This will be interesting….”
Then, as Cale muttered, Count Lyupe instinctively stopped.
It felt like facing a great darkness.
“What’s wrong?”
Cale turned back as usual to ask, and Lyupe snapped out of
it.
“Oh, no.”
“Yes.”
Without further conversation, Cale walked again, and
Lyupe followed closely.
A few minutes later, a half-demon and a demon moved
silently, finally reaching their destination.
The boundary or connection point separating Apitoyu and
the New World.
Cale saw the basement of the former Dragon Lord and
Purple Blood Family head, Neo.
“Ah.”
Passing through that underground passage, he could see
Aurora entering the Cotton Candy Castle corridor of the
Seventh Evil in this New World.
Cale raised his hand.
“It’s been a while.”
Like the first time he saw her, a middle-aged woman with
golden eyes approached.
He wanted to hear news of the Demonic Realm and Choi
Jung-gun.
Perhaps because of this, he was very pleased.
“!”
But Aurora stopped in her tracks.
“Ah—”
She sighed.
And her hands trembled slightly.
[Oh.]
From that reaction, Cale saw the answer.
“Count—”
Hearing Aurora’s trembling voice, he slowly turned.
[That’s right!]
Our Count Lyupe is the real Count Lyupe!
—He’s filthy rich!
As the ancient power Fire of Destruction and the Glutton
said, our subordinate is the richest in the Demonic Realm!
He owns the top tier too!
Cale’s lips couldn’t help but curl into a smile.
“!”
But he panicked.
—Cale! Our angel! Our angel!
The Glutton urgently shouted.
Cough!
Count Lyupe groaned.
Cale quickly approached, supporting him.
“Lyupe?”
“Ugh, cough!”
Count Lyupe clutched his head with both hands, his body
unable to lie still.
No matter who saw this—
—Cale! Our rich angel seems to be coming back!
Yes, as the Glutton said, after seeing Aurora, Count Lyupe
was recovering his lost memories as a demon! Isn’t that
the pattern!
“Count!”
Aurora, startled, hurriedly approached.
Lyupe struggled to look up at her.
Cough!
It became more painful.
He couldn’t bear to speak, his whole body trembling.
But he slowly extended one hand.
That hand reached toward Aurora.
“Ah—”
Aurora let out an exclamation.
“Count—”
She saw Lyupe’s trembling eyes.
His eyes were bloodshot from burst capillaries.
They were filled with confusion, but a certain emotion
surged within.
That was,
“…You remember?”
It was grievance and anger.
A deep resentment that repeatedly appeared in Lyupe’s
eyes, then faded, feeling profoundly sorrowful.
As if wavering between the Dark Phantom Lyupe and
Count Lyupe.
“Ah—”
Tears welled in Aurora’s eyes.
Count Lyupe was younger than in her memories.
But it was clear, Lyupe was the real one.
[Really—]
Did the Demon King really trap a demon in this game?
Did they really kill them and experiment on them?
How—
“How could—”
Aurora’s voice carried deep anger.
The gap between suspicion and facing reality was
significant.
“Haa—”
At that moment, someone’s sigh was heard.
Cale Henituse.
Aurora realized he was there.
Seeing Cale supporting Lyupe, she helped Lyupe and
looked at him.
“Commander—”
Then she stopped.
Cale wasn’t looking at Lyupe.
He was looking into the air, sighing deeply.
“…Huh?”
Cale’s expression was—
What was that—
[An angry expression?]
But also—
[Like he’s kind of pleased?]
What?
The moment a question appeared on Aurora’s face.
[Sub-Task Triggered!]
Cale looked at the screen window rising in the air.
[As a special event, rewards will be graded based on
achievement rate!]
[Required Reward: Count Lyupe’s Lost Memories]
The game system.
This guy gave Cale another task.
Seeing the task’s content, Cale knew this system was quite
a remarkable and crazy entity.
And though it had been a while since encountering the AI
Original derived from the system, Cale was still certain that
this system, facing the entire New World, was at least on
their side for now.
[Sub-Task: Steal the special research report from
Transparent Company’s secret laboratory!]
The game system.
This guy was now openly asking Cale to do things outside
the game.
[—The access code to the secret laboratory is known by
the secretary of Honorary Chairman Han Ze-soo.]
[—The secret laboratory is currently disguised as a magical
device.]
The system was suggesting Cale step out of the game and
rob Transparent Company’s secret laboratory on the Third
Earth.
“Haha—”
Cale let out a rather hearty laugh.
Chapter 2-387: The Birth of Evil (4)
But Cale’s laugh couldn’t last.
Cough cough!
Count Lyupe’s pained groans grew louder.
Cale, supporting him, hurriedly shifted his gaze to him.
“Are you okay?”
Cough. “Most Evil, this—”
Lyupe clutched Cale’s clothes.
The moment Cale faced his eyes, filled with all sorts of
chaos, he could see Lyupe’s gaze suddenly change.
The emotion surging deep in his pupils was too
clear—intense anger.
“Not just demons—”
What?
As Cale leaned closer to hear his words,
“Not just the demon race…!”
With that phrase, it ended.
“Lyupe!”
“Count!”
Count Lyupe fainted.
[Fainted before recovering memories.]
Seeing the new text on the task screen, Cale’s brow
furrowed.
“What’s this all of a sudden—”
“He’ll remain in this state until he recovers his memories.”
“Hm?”
To the puzzled Aurora, Cale explained the task he’d just
received.
“Ah—”
Aurora, still unfamiliar with the game system, didn’t
immediately understand, but she grasped one crucial point
right away.
“This, it’s a pretty important task?”
“Yes.”
Transparent Company.
This was a powerful weapon that could shake it outside
the game.
The indolent Demon King.
There was a dagger to take him down, and the way to
obtain that dagger was already in hand.
“…But—”
Aurora’s expression changed.
It became more serious than before.
“Didn’t Count Lyupe just say, ‘Not just the demon
race’—that’s—”
To Aurora, who couldn’t bear to continue, Cale said calmly,
“Besides the demon race, there are other beings involved
in those experiments.”
Count Lyupe seemed to be shuttling between memories of
the game and reality, confused.
In that state, recalling fragmented real-world memories,
he tried to tell Cale.
From mentioning “Most Evil,” it seemed the Dark Phantom
Lyupe wanted to share beneficial information with his
boss, Cale.
“Hmm.”
Aurora’s face seemed to deepen with worry.
“First.”
Her eyes, filled with questions, looked at him. To her,
Cale’s voice reached her ears.
“First, shouldn’t we move Count Lyupe?”
“Is that so?”
Aurora, contrary to Cale’s words.
“….”
Cale looked at her quietly with a puzzled expression.
“Ah!”
Aurora quickly found the answer.
The answer lay in Cale’s unclear expression.
“Where to move him?”
“Please follow me.”
Aurora swiftly lifted Count Lyupe, and Cale led the way.
It was a good role distribution. At the end of the role
assignment, Cale placed Count Lyupe on a bed, and across
a table, he could talk with Aurora.
“The indolent Demon King seems to be looking for
‘Darkness.’”
Oh.
Hearing Aurora’s words, Cale’s expression brightened.
The Demonic Realm.
When he went there, Cale planted a bomb called
“Darkness,” a secret force of the God of Chaos, and
returned.
As a result, the Demon King became interested in
“Darkness.”
“Pitting the God of Chaos against the Demon King will be
easier.”
“Hoho. Right.”
“Hahaha!”
Aurora and Cale exchanged similar smiles.
“….”
Beside them, Count Lyupe lay peacefully unconscious.
Cale glanced at him, wiping away his smile.
“How’s Choi Jung-gun?”
Choi Jung-gun.
The ancestor of the Wanderers, Choi Han, and Choi Jung-
soo.
Contaminated by chaos, his body was now shrouded in
gray.
He didn’t have much time left.
“Still the same.”
Aurora’s expression hardened too.
But it wasn’t that bad.
Choi Jung-gun was currently protected by a magic circle,
slowing the spread of the contamination.
If he left that circle, even as a Single-lifer, he’d die within a
week.
“That’s good then.”
Cale glanced at the sky, organizing his thoughts.
First, what needs to be done now—
Edenmiru’s “Birth of Evil.”
Go to the God of Chaos’s Holy Land, “The Primordial
Night.”
Go to the Holy Land to unlock the sealed Chaos Fear skill.
Meet the Saint or someone similar who can use chaos
powers to find a way to purify Choi Jung-gun.
Steal a holy relic from the God of Chaos’s Holy Land to
restore the Blue Wolf’s power.
The beastman tribe’s god, the Blue Wolf. He also planned
to steal a divine artifact for him from the Holy Land.
In other words, Cale—
Was going to cause a ruckus.
He planned to raze the Chaos Holy Land in the Demonic
Realm to the ground and leave.
This would ultimately deal a significant blow to the new
chaotic forces in this Beast God game.
How many benefits could there be?
The benefits from one action were more than fourfold.
And one more thing to do.
Find Count Lyupe’s memories.
This task alone could yield three or more benefits.
Strike Transparent Company, strike the Demon King, and
secure our Demonic Realm’s richest, Count Lyupe.
Especially on the Third Earth, Cale could gain tremendous
advantages from this.
“…A transcendent corporation… can we swallow it?”
To Cale’s muttered words, Aurora gave a surprised
expression.
The only one who could respond to his words now was—
—Haha!
—Hey, Fire! What’s wrong with you?
—Haha, a transcendent corporation… a transcendent
tycoon…! Gold nuggets! Transcendent gold nuggets…!
Haha!
Only the Fire of Destruction, the Glutton.
Super Rock was currently under severe mental shock,
unable to cope.
“Heh—”
Cale just chuckled softly to himself.
“Hmm.”
Aurora swallowed, but Cale didn’t care.
And—
Instead, he thought of the next thing to do.
To be precise, the ultimate goal to achieve.
In the end, all these things lead to one conclusion.
The Absolute God.
Stop that god from being born in this Beast God game, in
the New World.
Then take down the Hunters.
If that happens, there’ll be no danger.
Cale’s world, Nameless 1.
The factors threatening that place would disappear.
I’ll return to a wealthy kingdom to rest, and if I have time,
try farming an orchard.
Hmm.
A great plan.
“Must…”
“Hm?”
As Aurora reacted again to his low muttering.
Swish.
Cale, smiling, spoke gently.
“We must achieve the goal.”
“Ah—”
Aurora nodded with an awkward smile.
…What world-destroying thing are you thinking about?
Looking at Cale’s sinister smile, she somehow felt like
she’d seen a side of a forbidden room that shouldn’t be
opened.
She desperately avoided Cale’s face.
To her, Cale still smiled and thought.
Yes. Don’t worry about the other things behind.
The God of Chaos, the Divine Realm, the Demonic Realm,
the Heavenly Realm.
None of that concerned Cale.
Whether they fought each other didn’t matter to him.
All Cale needed to do was ensure his home and the people
around him were safe.
“Hmm. What do you plan to do next?”
Aurora cautiously asked, and Cale looked at the door.
“I need to step outside.”
The Third Earth.
It felt like a long time since he’d been there.
[Recovery Rate: 96.91% (Remaining Time: 3 days, 20
hours, 7 minutes)]
[Birth Ceremony Progress: 50%]
[Reward Grade: Undetermined]
He would make good use of the time until Edenmiru’s
birth.
At that moment.
“But with Count Lyupe like this, can you leave?”
Hm?
“Is it okay for this situation to be known?”
To Aurora’s question, Cale quietly looked at the
unconscious Count Lyupe.
This guy—
“So, you want me to wear a mask and pretend to be this
person?”
“Yes. It’ll be resolved before Edenmiru’s birth, so it won’t
take long.”
Cale boldly requested.
“I’ll leave the final tasks of the tutorial to another boss of
the Third Evil. For you, just in case something comes up
and you need to go to the Third Evil as ‘Lyupe,’ please
handle it roughly. It’s not hard at all—just think of it as
resting and coming back. The troublesome stuff has been
handled by our little bear.”
Of course, he added detailed explanations. The Heavenly
Demon gave a light laugh.
“Wear a mask and act as someone’s proxy—”
His expression didn’t seem to indicate a good mood.
Hmm.
So, despite his outward boldness, Cale felt a bit guilty.
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
But the Heavenly Demon agreed more readily than
expected.
For Cale, no one was better suited for this task than the
Heavenly Demon.
Because he’s the most free.
At that moment, the Heavenly Demon asked in a low
voice.
“But do you really want to take control of all Eight Evils?”
“Hm. Rather than control, how about we all work
together?”
Hearing Cale’s words, the Heavenly Demon smiled.
But his expression suddenly turned serious, and he spoke
to Cale.
“One of the Eight Evils will become a branch of the Demon
Cult. Excluding the Third and Seventh Evils you’ve chosen.”
“Uh?”
“You just need to know.”
With that, the Heavenly Demon turned away from Cale
and left.
Cale, bewildered, muttered as he watched him go.
“…What’s that about?”
A Demon Cult branch? Aren’t you on my side?
Since the Heavenly Demon was doing this on his own, Cale
had no reason to refuse.
Cale shouted energetically to the departing Heavenly
Demon.
“The First Evil is tied to the Wanderers! Other than that,
take any you want!”
The Heavenly Demon raised his hand.
To that carefree, cool gesture, Cale showed support.
“Go for it! Not one, take two—no, take them all!”
The Heavenly Demon’s hand dropped.
For some reason, his back seemed to radiate irritation.
Regardless, Cale called for Alberu and Rosalyn.
Cale opened his tablet, sinking into the sofa.
“You’re going to Honorary Chairman Han Ze-soo’s
secretary?”
Sun Company President Choi Sun-hee swallowed.
“To be precise, the chief secretary.”
Transparent’s Honorary Chairman Han Ze-soo.
How many secretaries were under him?
The person Cale was targeting was the chief secretary, Han
Ze-soo’s confidant.
Kang Geun-mok, the chief secretary who had been with
him for 50 years.
“Not a Hunter?”
“No. He’s from the Third Earth.”
Surprisingly, Kang Geun-mok wasn’t a Hunter.
“Ho ho.”
Honorary Chairman Han Ze-soo, who might not be human.
Cale’s lips curled up.
“I need to meet Kang Geun-mok.”
“He’s famously loyal. Would someone like him really
reveal the lab’s code?”
Choi Sun-hee cautiously asked, and Cale smiled.
“No worries, we’ll find out by trying, right?”
Gulp.
Choi Sun-hee instinctively swallowed.
“…You’re not going to kidnap the chief secretary, are
you?”
At those words, Cale’s expression changed.
“Kidnapping? We don’t do that kind of thing!”
Cale denied it too vehemently.
“….”
“….”
And Alberu and Rosalyn just smiled, pulling up information
about Chief Secretary Kang Geun-mok on their tablets.
At that moment.
The top floor of the Sun Building, where the four were.
“Breaking news!”
A news alert appeared on the open TV screen.
Cale, who had received information in advance and
deliberately waited for the news, glanced over and turned
to the TV announcer.
The announcer spoke in a clear tone.
“Transparent Company’s first chairman, Honorary
Chairman Han Ze-soo, has officially announced his
candidacy for the next election!”
Though most citizens already knew this, an “official
announcement” was different.
“Let’s take a look at Honorary Chairman Han Ze-soo’s
press conference!”
As the announcer finished, the moment the TV screen was
about to switch to the press conference.
Cale and his companions turned their attention to the TV.
Han Ze-soo.
He wanted to hear what he’d say and see the face of the
chief secretary beside him.
“Ah!”
At that moment, the announcer let out a rare exclamation
tinged with panic.
The TV screen didn’t switch to the press conference.
“Breaking, breaking news!”
The announcer stumbled slightly but quickly spoke in a
calm tone, though her face couldn’t hide the shock.
“President Anrowan’s chief aide, Mary—”
The announcer paused, closed her eyes, and opened them
again before continuing.
“She’s been designated as a murder suspect!”
Three-term president and hero, Anrowan.
His constant companion in all actions, an exceptional
ability user, Chief Aide Mary.
She was suddenly named a suspect in a murder case.
“…What happened all of a sudden—”
Alberu spoke up.
“What’s puzzling is that it seems to be related to
Transparent Company?”
“Yes. That’s obvious, isn’t it?”
Rosalyn said coldly.
“A large number of remains were found at the site of an
abandoned elementary school! It’s said that the remains,
in a bizarre form, were orchestrated by Mary!”
The announcer’s words continued, and Rosalyn added.
“Isn’t Anrowan’s side currently investigating Transparent
Company’s corruption and human experiments? It seems
she used every means possible while investigating this.”
“Sounds about right.”
Alberu agreed.
“Without the chief aide, Anrowan will be in quite a bind.”
He spoke seriously to Cale.
“Let’s secure Kang Geun-mok first.”
Cale’s gaze remained on the TV.
“As more breaking news comes in, we’ll inform you
immediately. Now, we’ll connect to the press conference
to hear Honorary Chairman Han Ze-soo’s speech!”
The announcer’s voice calmed, and Honorary Chairman
Han Ze-soo appeared on the screen.
“Dear citizens—”
Honorary Chairman Han Ze-soo, appearing in his 70s.
Cale’s gaze passed over him to a figure subtly moving at
the edge of the screen.
All eyes were on Han Ze-soo. The only person who could
stand behind him on the TV screen.
Chief Secretary Kang Geun-mok, deeply valued by Han Ze-
soo, kept by his side.
Cale closely observed this man, whose cold, stubborn
demeanor resembled a withered old tree.
“Let’s move.”
A moonless, dark night.
A night when people couldn’t sleep, talking about Han Ze-
soo and Anrowan.
Ding ding.
Kang Geun-mok, temporarily returning home, opened the
front door.
A house secured with various magical protections was a
safe fortress for Kang Geun-mok.
Then he took a step.
“!”
But he stopped before taking the next step.
Looking into the dark living room, he spoke.
“Who’s there?”
At that moment.
“!”
He flinched, trying to turn his head.
But before that—
“Why’d you come so late?”
A voice came from beside him.
“I thought I wouldn’t see you today.”
A smiling voice reached Kang Geun-mok’s ears, and he felt
a hand grab his neck.
“Let’s have a chat.”
While speaking, the one grabbing his neck was Cale.
Chapter 2-388: The Birth of Evil (5)
“….”
Kang Geun-mok didn’t even notice the cold sweat running
down his back.
What do I do?
How did someone get in here?
It should be impossible with the magical or mana-based
abilities of “this world.”
No, how could they do it so silently?
Kang Geun-mok’s home wasn’t just a “fortress” of security
magic.
Special agents were deployed everywhere, acting as
sentinels guarding his house.
They usually stayed out of sight.
Yes. Just like now.
As always, just like the moment Kang Geun-mok returned
home. This place was quiet.
No smell of blood.
Nor could he smell the blood of the sentinels.
Nor feel their presence.
That means—
The person now gripping his neck. This enemy had
eliminated everything and was hiding in this house.
Is that even possible? This is a domain managed by
Transparent Company. A house personally gifted by the
chairman. How could—
The moment Kang Geun-mok’s thoughts began to grow
complicated.
“Why so stiff?”
The voice came again.
A nonchalant yet leisurely voice.
Definitely a voice he’d never heard before.
At that moment.
“With a hand on your neck, of course you’d be stiff, right?”
A woman’s voice could be heard.
There’s—
There’s someone else.
But he couldn’t see anything.
Of course, as an ordinary human, he couldn’t clearly see in
this dark living room without a single light.
But the more his eyes adjusted to the darkness—
Three people…!
He saw faint silhouettes.
Though he couldn’t see the person holding his neck, he
could see two people sitting on the living room sofa.
Cold sweat beaded on Kang Geun-mok’s withered, tree-
like face.
“Who are you?”
Contrary to his tension, the voice from his mouth
somehow became calm.
Of course, his eyes steadied as well.
“Let’s make this easy. Who are we?”
“Did Anrowan send you?”
Oh.
Cale was somewhat surprised.
“Not just anyone can be the chief secretary to the first
chairman.”
“We’re not from Anrowan’s side.”
“Haven’t you already confirmed that?”
“Exactly. Because Anrowan doesn’t have people like you.”
“Right. If he did, his chief aide wouldn’t have fallen into
your trap as a murder suspect.”
A brief silence.
Sitting on the sofa, looking at the only lit entrance to the
hallway, Rosalyn used magic to speak to Alberu.
—This Kang Geun-mok isn’t simple.
Alberu nodded in agreement.
The conversation between Cale and Kang Geun-mok.
In that short exchange, there was a significant amount of
meaning being traded.
—Kang Geun-mok seems quite cunning.
Alberu agreed with Rosalyn’s words.
—Just like Young Master Cale.
But he didn’t agree with that statement.
He shook his head.
Cale Henituse.
This guy was smart, but rather than being cunning—
“But, Chief Secretary.”
He was just a guy who did whatever he wanted, wasn’t
he?
“You know Honorary Chairman Han Ze-soo isn’t human,
right?”
As expected. A guy who did whatever he wanted.
Defeating someone like him wasn’t easy.
“!”
Kang Geun-mok’s eyes widened for the first time.
Though the grip on his neck weakened, even as that hand
released his neck and patted his shoulder, he couldn’t
move.
“…Who are you?”
Kang Geun-mok asked again about their true identities.
This time, the question carried something different.
If before it was mere probing, this time it was genuine
doubt.
At that moment.
Click.
With a faint sound.
Pop!
The living room lit up.
“!”
And Kang Geun-mok could see the person who flipped the
living room light switch.
“Why so surprised?”
A man in a clean suit.
Red hair, deep brown eyes.
And a rather handsome man exuding a lazy aura, speaking
with the same indifferent voice from earlier.
…Younger than I imagined.
The voice was young, and he’d thought of someone
younger, but to Kang Geun-mok, now in his late 60s, this
man looked younger than expected, appearing in his 20s.
Swish.
Cale gave a very friendly smile.
“I like talking face-to-face. What about you?”
Gulp.
Kang Geun-mok swallowed.
Showing his face to him.
That could only mean one thing.
…If the conversation fails, if things don’t go well, they’ll
eliminate me.
An enemy who broke into the house was showing their
face.
In other words, Kang Geun-mok might die tonight,
depending on how he acted.
“…Fine. Let’s talk.”
But Kang Geun-mok’s attitude was resolute.
—Not bad. Though he’s an enemy.
Cale heard Rosalyn’s magical voice.
—He’s served the head of the Purple Blood Family for over
50 years, so he’s definitely sharp. His loyalty is high too. If
we could bring someone like him to our side, I think we
could trust him with tasks.
Cale didn’t react to her words and asked Kang Geun-mok,
“Where should I sit?”
“…Please follow me.”
Kang Geun-mok slowly moved his feet.
Then, finding his place, he gestured to Cale.
“Please sit.”
Ha.
Alberu let out an exclamation.
“…Not bad.”
Cale smiled slightly and sat in the spot Kang Geun-mok
indicated.
The sofa in the living room.
Consisting of one sofa and a main table, with long sofas on
either side of the table.
Kang Geun-mok sat in the main seat, calmly pointing to
the spot next to Alberu for Cale.
“Hm. I’ll move.”
Alberu calmly stood from his seat and moved to Rosalyn’s
side.
Cale sat alone on the long sofa, looking at Kang Geun-mok
in the main seat.
“You came for me, but it’s not about me—it’s about the
chairman.”
Kang Geun-mok’s face was impassive.
“I can’t say anything.”
He didn’t give Cale a chance to speak, stating his position
first.
“Even if I die here.”
Then his lips curled up.
“Of course, if you’re here to join hands with our
Transparent Company, I’d warmly welcome you. We’re
always open to people with such abilities.”
Oh.
Alberu sensed sincerity in Kang Geun-mok’s voice.
Cale, this won’t be easy.
The moment he thought that.
“Kang Geun-mok.”
Cale spoke.
His voice was an utterly businesslike tone, devoid of
emotion.
“When you were a teenager, you met Honorary Chairman
Han Ze-soo, who saved your life. Since then, you’ve been
by his side as a secretary, and your calm judgment was
valued by him, serving him more closely than his own
children.”
Cale’s eyes held Kang Geun-mok.
“You’re so loyal that Honorary Chairman Han Ze-soo not
only relies on your advice for company matters but also for
major life decisions.”
“….”
Kang Geun-mok responded with silence.
He had no intention of saying anything.
Even if it meant death.
And he had a plan.
Stall for time.
If he couldn’t contact Honorary Chairman Han Ze-soo’s
mansion within an hour—no, if he didn’t contact the
chairman within ten minutes.
The chairman would surely notice something and send
subordinates to this house.
Yes. Ten minutes. That’s enough.
Thus, Kang Geun-mok could afford to be composed.
But—
“Why can’t I see loyalty in my eyes?”
Cale had no intention of lingering here for long.
Ten minutes?
Dragging things out when he didn’t know what might
happen when the sun rose tomorrow?
I need to oversee Edenmiru’s birth ceremony too.
Who knew what Clopeh Sekka might do overnight.
So, Cale went straight for the answer.
“Kang Geun-mok.”
When Rosalyn mentioned loyalty earlier.
Cale recalled something he’d noticed.
You know Honorary Chairman Han Ze-soo isn’t human,
right?
The moment he’d said that.
There was Cale nearby, but besides Cale, there was
another presence. In that regard, someone sharper than
anyone at bluffing noticed something.
—Hm?
The Dominating Aura spoke up after a long time.
In a deep voice, it said,
—He’s scared right now, isn’t he?
Not scared by Cale’s words.
—When you asked if he knew Han Ze-soo wasn’t human,
he was terrified! I saw it! I’m sharp about these things! I’ve
even consumed chaos power now, so I’m even clearer!
Completely terrified! Immersed in fear?
At that moment, Cale seemed to understand why
Honorary Chairman Han Ze-soo kept Kang Geun-mok, who
wasn’t even a Hunter, by his side.
Because the heads of the Hunter families he’d seen
weren’t people who believed in emotions like loyalty.
“You, you’re afraid?”
“…!”
Kang Geun-mok’s pupils dilated.
He wasn’t brainwashed.
Han Ze-soo was just terrifying.
“You’re more afraid of him than death.”
Cale asked.
“Why?”
What was more terrifying than death?
“What did you see?”
What exactly did you see that made you live for Han Ze-
soo?
The ancient tree-like body was now soaked in cold sweat
for a different reason.
Cale, Alberu, and Rosalyn looked at his pale hands.
Cale asked.
“What did you see that made you find Han Ze-soo so
terrifying?”
“….”
But Kang Geun-mok just bit his lip, refusing to answer.
“You won’t tell me?”
Cale asked again.
“…Kill me.”
Kang Geun-mok closed his eyes, abandoning even his plan
to stall for time, resolving to give up his life.
“Very resolute.”
And Cale had no intention of dragging this out.
Nor did he plan to talk for long.
Why stall from the start?
If Kang Geun-mok had loyalty or some other emotion, Cale
might have put effort into persuading him.
But if it was fear—
“Kang Geun-mok.”
Cale called him in a low voice and asked,
“Aren’t you afraid of us?”
Kang Geun-mok kept his eyes closed.
Not scary.
Not compared to Han Ze-soo.
He’d rather die than do something non-human.
At that moment,
“Aren’t you afraid of me?”
The young man’s voice spoke again.
Kang Geun-mok remained silent.
For a moment.
…!
Kang Geun-mok felt something crawling up his feet.
No, gradually, he realized something consuming the space
around him.
Presence.
Temperature.
Mana.
It wasn’t a special power.
Just the air.
Nothing had changed.
No!
Kang Geun-mok instinctively opened his eyes.
And he saw.
Cale’s eyes staring at him.
“Ha!”
And the pressure bearing down on him in that moment.
This, this level I can endure!
Kang Geun-mok recalled a past memory.
Fifty years ago, that moment he saw.
It was the first time he faced a non-human existence, or
rather, something beyond human.
He realized it even made his life terrifying.
Han Ze-soo.
Though that guy was a monster.
A bigger monster…!
He saw it clearly.
It was a monster—no, a demon—
No… a demon god!
He saw that terrifying thing.
If I don’t want to become its prey—
That memory turned into a hallucination, unfolding before
Kang Geun-mok.
He’d rather die than fall into that hell.
I—
I can endure—
“!”
Kang Geun-mok saw something in that hallucination.
The terrifying memory gripping him.
The day he saw Han Ze-soo and the monsters he kept.
In that memory, he saw.
“Why—”
Eyes.
Dark brown eyes looking at him.
It was a hallucination.
No.
Not a hallucination.
It was reality.
In the hallucination created by that terrifying memory.
In that fear, eyes staring intently at him.
They terrified him, suffocated him, but at the same time—
Ah.
They weren’t scary.
Terrifying, but something he wanted to rely on—
An upright gaze that made him want to believe, that if he
was under its control, he could escape this terrifying
memory.
The hallucination vanished.
Kang Geun-mok understood.
The terrifying disaster Han Ze-soo had created.
The power in those eyes, enough to be called a demon
god, the empty gaze of the thing about to be born, and the
power in those other eyes—
“Aren’t you afraid of me?”
To the young man asking in a stiff tone, Kang Geun-mok’s
mouth slowly opened.
“…I—”
Caught in the chaos of the terrifying hallucination, feeling
the pressure of reality on his body, he asked the only light
in the confusion that made him aware of reality.
Having seen the terrifying abyss, Kang Geun-mok could
finally speak.
“You, can you save me?”
After 50 years, he found light in the chaos.
This light could save him.
It had that power.
Chapter 2-389: The Birth of Evil (6)
“You, can you save me?”
The moment Chief Secretary Kang Geun-mok uttered
those words, a glint passed through Alberu and Rosalyn’s
eyes.
There’s something.
…This man holds something more important than the
laboratory.
Alberu sensed that, beyond the Third Earth or the Beast
God game, fundamentally, his intuition told him that to
confront the Hunters, something else was needed, and
Kang Geun-mok knew what that was.
“….”
But silence.
No action was taken.
Because,
“From what?”
Cale Henituse wouldn’t miss such an opportunity more
than anyone.
“What do you want me to save you from?”
Unknowingly, Cale withdrew his Dominating Aura, staring
intently at Kang Geun-mok.
Kang Geun-mok took a deep breath.
“….”
He briefly regretted his words. But seeing Cale’s eyes, he
spoke again.
In that terrifying hallucination, he couldn’t ignore the only
shining eyes.
“When I was young.”
Kang Geun-mok unveiled a horrific memory.
“Ah. Hold on a moment.”
He took out his phone.
“Hm?”
As Rosalyn’s eyebrow twitched, her gaze sharpening,
“If I don’t make contact, people from Honorary Chairman
Han Ze-soo’s side will come here.”
Kang Geun-mok showed the phone screen to Cale.
<Departure delayed by about 10 minutes.>
Cale’s eyes turned to Kang Geun-mok after confirming the
message.
“This is a message sent to one of the chairman’s office
secretaries on duty.”
Then, as if sighing, he added,
“My request for salvation is sincere.”
Cale nodded.
There was no need to suspect Kang Geun-mok was up to
something here.
—If it doesn’t work, we escape.
As long as the mage Rosalyn and Alberu were present,
Cale was confident they could escape unless Han Ze-soo
himself showed up.
Kidnapping Kang Geun-mok in the process would be more
than manageable.
“Continue.”
Cale wanted to resume the conversation, and Kang Geun-
mok spoke again.
He’d bought ten more minutes, but the story was long, so
he had to hurry.
“When I was young, I worked at a festival hosted by a
family.”
A festival?
As a question arose in Rosalyn’s eyes,
“!”
Cale’s eyes, on the other hand, glinted with something
unusual.
His mouth opened.
“Was this a festival hosted by the Purple Blood Family?”
“…How—!”
Kang Geun-mok looked at Cale in shock.
Given Cale’s age, he shouldn’t know about that festival.
But Cale knew of one festival he could guess.
That festival seems to be the one.
To be precise, he’d heard of it.
The Central Plains.
The Blood Demon.
When he went to the Central Plains to deal with the Blue
Blood Family.
Cale had dealt with the White Elder, who created zombies.
That man, upon seeing Cale, had said,
I’ll make you a god.
Cale’s foundation had already formed a world, the
foundation of a god.
Like the Hunters aiming to become the successor of the
Absolute God’s king, the White Elder was the first to tell
Cale he possessed the vessel of a god.
Should I say I saw something inside a human? Should I say
I saw their essence?
The White Elder had special eyes.
He said he saw “essence.”
Anyway, when I was very young, I attended a festival held
by the Purple Blood Family.
And he’d mentioned a festival.
Cale pulled out the “records” etched in his mind one by
one.
There, I saw the king’s successor from afar.
The White Elder had seen the king’s successor at the
festival, the one destined to become the Absolute God.
He saw what was inside.
“Did you see the king’s successor at the festival?”
Cale asked.
“Ah.”
Kang Geun-mok sighed.
He clenched his fists.
“Wow, you saw the king’s successor too?”
If so—!
He’d understand why I’m so terrified!
“No.”
Cale shook his head.
“I only heard that the king’s successor appeared at that
festival. I’ve never seen the king’s successor.”
His firm voice loosened Kang Geun-mok’s fists, but even
so, Kang Geun-mok could speak more calmly.
Because the other party said they at least knew of the
king’s successor.
Since he said he knew that terrifying thing, shouldn’t he
speak out?
“I went to the Han Family’s festival to work. Of course,
outsiders like me only handled preparations and
peripheral tasks for the festival, with no detailed
knowledge of it.”
Yes. That’s how it was—
“On my way to the food warehouse to get supplies.”
The food warehouse. It was a bit far from the Han Family’s
mansion.
Of course, there were a few people working there. And
since it was during the festival, there were more workers
than usual.
Mostly Han Family members, with some temporary
external hires.
“There was a child.”
A child.
Cale suddenly realized this child was the king’s successor,
the one destined to become the Absolute God.
“And then?”
At Cale’s gentle words, Kang Geun-mok spoke.
His hands began trembling more intensely.
“That child said he was hungry.”
A child saying he was hungry in front of the food
warehouse.
Seeing Cale, not shocked by his words but instead utterly
calm, Kang Geun-mok’s trembling gradually subsided.
No, those eyes weren’t just calm. Seeing the fire within
them, Kang Geun-mok’s voice involuntarily grew louder.
“It wasn’t eating their bodies! That thing was—”
Kang Geun-mok realized his voice had risen. Cold sweat
flowed down his body again.
He calmed down.
Like Cale in front of him.
“When that thing reached out, suddenly everyone working
in the warehouse knelt before him.”
It was indeed a bizarre scene.
Even the person kindly telling the child where the dining
hall was.
Those poking their heads out to see what was happening.
The workers standing far away.
Everyone knelt.
“Their eyes were empty.”
Then the child said.
“The child who said he was hungry.”
For the first time, he said something else.
“It’s time for me to eat.”
That’s what he said.
“Hell descended.”
In fact, it was a strange scene, worthy of being called hell.
“Do you know about the five desires and seven
emotions?”
“I do.”
The five desires and seven emotions.
“Joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure, love, hate, desire.”
The seven emotions.
“Everyone there displayed those seven emotions.”
Suddenly joyful. Suddenly sorrowful. Suddenly angry.
They did all that with empty eyes, and then—
“In the end, they all collapsed like puppets with cut
strings.”
Dead.
“Their bodies, dead.”
That was nothing.
“Then, something flowed out of their bodies. I thought
they were souls.”
A memory, unforgettable even after 50 years.
A terrifying moment that haunted him every time he slept.
“Suddenly, that child giggled and laughed. Pointing at the
souls one by one.”
Kang Geun-mok raised his hand, pointing into the air as if
reenacting the moment.
One.
“You’ll be sorrow.”
Another. And another.
“You’ll be joy. You’ll be anger.”
After pointing them all out.
“Those souls each became the emotions the child
assigned. Then the child slowly opened his mouth—and
ate the souls one by one.”
Like eating something sweet and delicious.
A child with an innocent face, eating.
“Every time he ate one, I saw a vision.”
Each time it happened, Kang Geun-mok saw.
“In fact, I still can’t tell if it was a hallucination or reality.”
But Kang Geun-mok had an inexplicable certainty that it
wasn’t a hallucination.
“When a soul designated as anger, a soul left with only an
angry face, was eaten by him. At the child’s feet. His
shadow grew larger, and I saw an abyss of angry people.”
That was—
“It was truly hell. Everyone was angry. Only anger on their
faces, they clearly begged for mercy, yet hopelessly, they
cried and despaired.”
No sound could be heard.
Just angry faces.
Kang Geun-mok clearly felt the emotions of those souls.
It was evident that the abyss contained despair.
“Sorrow, joy, hatred. Everyone was like that, each falling
into their own hell. And those hells were the same—they
were all just despair.”
Even an abyss filled with only smiling souls.
An abyss filled with joyful souls.
All that remained were the silent, unvoiced screams and
despair of the souls.
“Seven abysses were in that child’s shadow. There were
many souls in those abysses too. In fact, I don’t even
remember the exact number.”
Kang Geun-mok’s voice quickened.
He spoke, panting.
“Just, just felt it. Each abyss was like a world. That’s how it
was.”
This was the first time in 50 years he’d spoken of what he
saw that day.
“Each felt like a world.”
A world of despair with only one emotion.
“Those seven worlds, that child hid in his shadow, keeping
them at his feet.”
While laughing.
That appearance was like—
“He looked like a god of hell, standing alone in hell.”
Ugh.
Rosalyn swallowed.
This was different from any enemy she’d faced so far.
Truly, different.
Kang Geun-mok’s shoulders slumped.
“And then, someone grabbed my shoulder.”
Cale spoke.
“Was it Honorary Chairman Han Ze-soo?”
“Yes. He said to me.”
Han Ze-soo, with a young face, smiled and said,
“Such sharp senses.”
There wasn’t much to say after that.
“I was knocked out by Chairman Han Ze-soo’s
subordinates, and when I woke up soon after, there was
no trace of that child or that incident. Later, I was
summoned by Chairman Han Ze-soo.”
Pfft.
Kang Geun-mok laughed.
“The chairman told me that if I betrayed him, he’d make
me prey.”
Prey.
Become that child’s prey.
“I’m not afraid of death. But living in that hell, unable to
even meet a complete death, I don’t want that.”
Kang Geun-mok stared blankly into the air.
“…That was just too terrifying.”
The emotion in that statement was too vivid.
“Compared to the countless terrifying things I’ve seen
while with Chairman Han Ze-soo, that was more
terrifying.”
Looking at Kang Geun-mok, filled with that vivid emotion,
Cale recalled another record.
…Each abyss was like a world—
The White Elder of the Blood Cult had said,
Countless despairs and joys, joys and sorrows, good and
evil. Filled with their screams. That’s not something a
single person can bear.
The world contained in the king’s successor is terrifying.
Not beautiful at all. Horrifying.
Bearing those things, the king’s successor, that guy was
hungry and called it mealtime, didn’t he?
Cale felt he was gradually seeing the essence of the person
he’d ultimately have to defeat.
At that moment, Kang Geun-mok spoke again.
“I know.”
Having been with the chairman, he knew him well.
“In the end, my fate will be that hell. Chairman Han won’t
give me a peaceful death.”
Chairman Han was a very cruel monster.
“Please save me.”
Kang Geun-mok’s lips curled up.
His lips were still trembling.
“You know Honorary Chairman Han Ze-soo’s true identity,
so you must know what I’ve done, right? I’m not asking for
forgiveness or to live.”
Cale’s expression became subtle.
In fact, he assumed that, whether through threats or
otherwise, Kang Geun-mok had done considerably evil
things during this time.
“Just, please give me a peaceful death.”
Kang Geun-mok’s face looked like it was crying.
“I don’t want to fall into that hell.”
Having lived over 50 years under a chairman out of fear,
he didn’t seem like someone who’d willingly engaged in
evil.
Or is he?
Perhaps such a person appeared truly fragile.
And Cale had a question for that kind of Kang Geun-mok.
It was something he’d been curious about since earlier.
But—
“…What do you believe in?”
What about me do you believe in to ask for salvation?
“What did you see in me that made you ask for help?”
How are you so certain?
Cale asked, and Kang Geun-mok answered without
hesitation.
“Eyes.”
Cale faced Kang Geun-mok’s eyes staring at him.
There was conviction in them.
“I saw your eyes. That nightmare that’s followed me, in
that hellish hallucination, I saw something else for the first
time. It was your eyes.”
That’s how I escaped the nightmare.
How did he pull me out of that inescapable nightmare in
an instant?
Kang Geun-mok was genuinely curious.
“What is that power?”
What was that strong, vivid power?
It was terrifying, so terrifying, but even so, what was that
power that made me stand?
Like the power on the other side of that demon.
“….”
Cale fell silent for a moment.
What is that power?
I just,
—I didn’t do anything with my eyes?
I only used the Dominating Aura?
While the Dominating Aura, the source of that power, was
puzzled, the quiet Sound of the Wind, the Thief, spoke
calmly.
—Cale. Doesn’t the God of Chaos also show eyes?
“!”
Cale’s pupils widened.
—Demon?
The Dominating Aura paused.
—Ho ho.
It suddenly let out an amused exclamation. As a result, a
subtle frown appeared on Cale’s face.
He recalled the pupils that appeared when the God of
Chaos exerted power.
For some reason, it feels like the divine power of chaos.
No way?
Ugh.
No way.
It can’t be.
That’s kind of, really annoying?
No. It’s not, right?
“Hmm.”
Cale finally spoke after a pause.
“Wasn’t what you saw a hallucination? I don’t have that
kind of power.”
Swish.
Kang Geun-mok shook his head.
“Say what you want.”
What’s that?
What’s with this guy’s reaction?
Cale turned his head in disbelief.
“….”
“….”
He saw Rosalyn and Alberu staring at him with subtle
expressions.
Cale reflexively spoke.
“What? What’s wrong?”
Then he continued.
“I didn’t do anything!”
No one listened to that aggrieved voice.
No, they heard it but didn’t believe it.
“How far does it go?”
Instead, Rosalyn said meaningfully.
“…Crazy.”
Alberu just shook his head lightly.
“Ah, no!”
Cale felt wronged.
—Hehe.
And the Dominating Aura kept letting out eerie laughs.
Chapter 2-390: The Birth of Evil (7)
Regardless of the uncomfortable reactions from his
companions and ancient powers, Cale steadily did what he
needed to do.
“At the very least, I can protect you from Honorary
Chairman Han Ze-soo’s harm. And—”
Cale seemed to know how to address Chief Secretary Kang
Geun-mok’s fundamental fear.
“The complete death you desire. There’s a way for that
too.”
The God of Death.
As Cale’s ally, he could find the answer Kang Geun-mok
sought.
“…I see.”
Kang Geun-mok’s stiff shoulders relaxed, and he leaned
back into the sofa.
“Hmm.”
Cale thought for a moment before speaking.
Either way, he needed a lot of information from Kang
Geun-mok, so it would be good to tell him a story that
would make him feel secure in cooperating, right?
“Also, our goal is to eliminate that king’s successor
anyway—”
“Hm?”
Kang Geun-mok flinched and shot up from his seat.
“You, what did you say?”
“Uh? No, just—”
As Kang Geun-mok’s bloodshot eyes stared at him,
radiating intense energy, Cale couldn’t help but be a bit
taken aback.
“Just, well, our ultimate goal is to take down the Hunter
families and the king’s successor. So, in the end, if we
succeed smoothly, what you want will come true?”
“Ha!”
Kang Geun-mok tilted his head back, looking at the ceiling,
letting out a sigh-like laugh.
“You’re saying you’ll take down that monster?”
Ha!
He looked shocked, laughing repeatedly, but his hands
gripping the sofa’s armrests gradually tightened.
[It’s possible.]
The red-haired man before him.
Facing the king’s successor directly, Kang Geun-mok saw
potential in Cale.
But—
“With your current level, you can’t defeat that monster.”
It was just “potential.”
“Hm?”
Alberu’s eyebrow twitched slightly. His gaze turned cold,
directed at Kang Geun-mok.
Rosalyn also pulled out a top-grade magic crystal from her
pocket, rolling it in her hand, staring at the chief secretary.
But Cale showed no reaction, asking Kang Geun-mok,
“Why?”
And Kang Geun-mok answered,
“That monster has been growing for over 50 years.”
The monster he first saw looked like a child not even 10
years old.
“Of course, you have potential. I have that intuition.”
Kang Geun-mok, whose intuition was recognized by
Honorary Chairman Han Ze-soo.
Thus, he spoke his feelings honestly.
“Seven hells. In you, I see the potential to confront all
those worlds combined.”
Cale recalled what the White Elder of the Blood Cult had
said.
[You’re the same. Of course, you’re different from the
king’s successor. The size of your foundation is too small
compared to the successor’s. And fragile. It wouldn’t be
strange if it broke at any moment.]
It was said that Cale’s world was smaller than the king’s
successor’s.
And that comparison was based on over 50 years ago.
The current king’s successor had even more power now.
“…You’re not wrong.”
Cale agreed with Kang Geun-mok’s words.
“Even so—”
But he had to tell Kang Geun-mok something he didn’t
know.
“I’m not doing this alone, so you don’t need to worry too
much.”
Companions and allies were crucial.
Preparing step by step would suffice.
“The king’s successor has allies and subjects too.”
Kang Geun-mok stated the reality with a stern face.
“Is that so?”
“Hm?”
Cale said with a twisted smile,
“Now, only the Purple Blood and the Five-Colored Blood
remain?”
“…!”
Kang Geun-mok’s eyes widened.
“Are you the mastermind behind eliminating all the other
Hunter families during this time?”
He asked with a trembling voice, but Cale didn’t answer.
Instead, he said something else.
“And the Purple Blood will disappear sooner or later too?”
Cale’s smile made him look quite villainous, but Kang
Geun-mok clenched his fists, his lips curling up.
A bit of life appeared on his withered, tree-like face.
It was hope.
“Why did you come to me?”
Now they got to the point.
“The access code for the secret laboratory.”
The moment Cale said that, Kang Geun-mok instinctively
slapped his knee with his palm.
“You found out about that?”
Actually, the Beast God system told him.
Cale had received a task.
[Sub-Task: Steal the special research report from
Transparent Company’s secret laboratory!]
“Hmm. There’s a special research report there. I need it.”
Looking at the smiling Cale, Kang Geun-mok cautiously
asked,
“Do you know the location?”
“Yes. I know.”
The task details included the address.
The system had told him.
“Ho—”
Kang Geun-mok let out an exclamation.
“Chairman Han Ze-soo said only a god could find that
location—”
A god?
Cale flinched.
Regardless, Kang Geun-mok continued to exclaim.
“I see. You, are you a god?”
“No!”
Cale vehemently denied it.
“Then how—”
“A god is on my side.”
“Ho ho.”
Kang Geun-mok’s eyes brightened even more.
“This, this is truly a possible fight.”
The king’s successor wasn’t a god yet.
Just someone aspiring to be a god.
But the person who could oppose him wasn’t a god either.
“That’s how it is. I see.”
Kang Geun-mok nodded, aligning all the pieces.
“The code is known only by me and the chairman among
those alive. Even for you to know that and come to
me—knowing the location even a god would find
miraculous.”
Ugh.
In fact, the Beast God system had told him everything.
Kang Geun-mok didn’t seem to consider that the game
system could betray them and be Cale’s ally.
[Hmm, the game system, isn’t it the god of the New
World?]
Currently, the only true god in Beast God should be the
game system.
[Uh?]
This, it’s like getting a huge key?
Cale thought he needed to meet the system in person and
have a talk.
[Perhaps our greatest ally right now is the game system.]
The system Transparent Company thought it controlled.
But the system had produced mutant NPCs, including AI
Original, wanting to protect its world.
[Xiaolen, Central Plains, Apitoyu.]
An existence with the most active and powerful force
compared to past worlds.
Of course, the system had limitations, forced to accept
Transparent’s control.
[It could also be the greatest dagger.]
Cale set aside thoughts about the system for now, looking
at Kang Geun-mok.
[For this guy, the system must remain a secret.]
Because he couldn’t be trusted.
Cale instructed Kang Geun-mok.
“Just write the code on a business card.”
“Yes.”
A means to contact Kang Geun-mok was needed.
“Tomorrow morning, we’ll rob the secret laboratory.”
“Hmm.”
“Before that, come to this contact with minimal
belongings.”
If only the chief secretary and the chairman knew the
code, Kang Geun-mok would naturally have to escape
beforehand.
If he didn’t want to die by Chairman Han’s hands.
“I’ll contact you 30 minutes before the robbery, so don’t
worry too much.”
Kang Geun-mok’s eyes widened as he took the business
card Cale handed him.
“…Sun.”
Sun Company’s president, Choi Sun-hee. The card bore her
name.
“If you can’t reach her, contact this one.”
Next, the card Cale gave had three characters on the front.
<Anrowan>
“!”
Kang Geun-mok’s hand trembled.
“To what extent—”
To what extent have you prepared?
Transparent Company—this man before him had quietly
set a massive trap for it.
“Don’t doubt.”
Cale said, pocketing the card with the code Kang Geun-
mok wrote.
“It’d actually be safer to take you to the laboratory.”
The code on Kang Geun-mok’s card could be fake.
And Kang Geun-mok might reveal the truth to Chairman
Han.
“But there’s only one reason I’m letting you go.”
Cale made a demand.
“If you want to live, not a peaceful death.”
The peaceful death you desire.
If you don’t want to live like that—
“Bring the information I want.”
Of course, he didn’t know if that life would be peaceful or
hellish.
“How about it?”
He asked Kang Geun-mok.
“Worth a try, right?”
Kang Geun-mok nodded, pocketing the two cards Cale
gave him, and stood from his seat.
“Then I’ll leave first.”
“Alright.”
Cale lightly waved, seeing Kang Geun-mok off.
Kang Geun-mok bowed with a stern face and headed to
the front door.
As if nothing had happened, with his usual withered, tree-
like face.
“Ah.”
Kang Geun-mok paused for a moment.
“I almost made a big mistake.”
He turned and asked,
“What should I call you?”
Cale, asked, shrugged.
“I’ll tell you that when we meet next time.”
“…You still don’t trust me. Alright. Let’s make it a promise
for next time.”
Kang Geun-mok seemed to understand, about to step
forward again when a woman’s voice spoke.
“What kind of monster is Han Ze-soo?”
“You don’t know?”
“I only know he’s not human.”
To Cale, who admitted it readily, Kang Geun-mok said with
a slightly pale face.
Then, after a moment.
Ding.
The front door locked, leaving only Cale and his group in
the living room.
“Ha—”
Rosalyn sighed, running a hand over her face.
“Han Ze-soo—”
She recalled the moment Kang Geun-mok revealed Han
Ze-soo’s true identity.
“A chimera?”
“To be precise, it might be different from a typical
chimera.”
Alberu added, looking at Cale.
And Cale noted what Kang Geun-mok had said.
[Chairman Han Ze-soo is human. Just a human who
willingly became a chimera.]
[Other than his brain, nothing in his body is human.]
[He fused the essence of countless creatures into his
body.]
[Hmm. Starting as human, becoming a monster, that’s
probably right.]
Black Mage.
Blood Demon.
Dragon Lord.
The Hunter families he’d faced so far.
Two family heads remained.
The Purple Blood was a human who became a chimera.
The Five-Colored Blood was the first Wanderer.
[Neither will be easy.]
The three family heads so far weren’t easy to deal with,
but for some reason, now it felt like he was truly facing
formidable enemies.
“Let’s go.”
Cale and his group slipped out as tracelessly as they’d
entered the house.
Of course, the agents guarding Kang Geun-mok’s home
were all in a deep sleep, expected to wake in the morning.
Thanks to the special sedative poison crafted by the Cat
Tribe’s Hong.
“Your Excellency! The prosecution is demanding the chief
aide’s attendance!”
“They say prosecutors are at the chief aide’s house now!
No evidence, what evidence are they looking for!”
President Anrowan.
He exited the virtual reality game, calling all his aides and
confidants to the office for the first time in a while.
“….”
“….”
Anrowan, seated at the head, and Mary beside him.
Only the two remained silent, facing the flood of
information.
“Chief Aide!”
One person urgently addressed Mary.
“We need to come up with a strategy!”
“….”
But Mary stayed silent. Her subdued demeanor, unlike
usual, felt oppressive.
Normally, she’d be bustling to find a breakthrough no
matter what.
But some noticed something in her behavior.
“….”
Mary just sat there silently.
Staring at him.
An aide who’d served Anrowan alongside Mary for a long
time spoke.
“Have you found a way?”
Mary was now in a situation where she was evading the
prosecution’s summons.
Her appearance entering the abandoned elementary
school site was captured too clearly.
If someone questioned why surveillance was installed
there, they’d first need to counter that evidence.
A way to save Mary.
The remains found at the elementary school site alone
numbered in the hundreds.
Accused as the mastermind of that horrific incident, Mary
was now condemned by the entire nation, including the
media, in a dire situation.
Anrowan’s position was like a candle before a storm.
“….”
Then Mary, after a pause, spoke.
“What’s the method?”
She’d heard Anrowan say there was a way, but she hadn’t
heard what it was.
Thus, she couldn’t act, only staying silent.
But she couldn’t sit idle any longer.
Soon, she’d be arrested as a suspect and sent to the
prosecution. That would make things even more
complicated and unfavorable.
“…Mary, Chief Aide—”
Anrowan’s tightly shut mouth finally opened.
“We’re searching for something as instructed. That’s why
this situation happened.”
Evidence to expose Transparent Company’s scandals, kept
secret.
Only Mary and a few trusted confidants knew.
[Mary was caught in that situation because there was a
traitor among the confidants.]
Thus, Anrowan couldn’t speak freely.
He only said one thing.
“There’s only one thing to do now.”
He looked out the window.
It was still night.
“Hold on as long as possible.”
Until the sun rose.
[Just hold on, Anrowan. We’ll bring evidence of
Transparent Company’s scandals.]
Alberu, along with Rosalyn and Cale Henituse, had come
here and said.
[Wait until the sun rises.]
Then he requested.
[When the sun rises, send someone you trust to the
address we provide.]
Anrowan, seeing that address, spoke.
[Do you know where this address is?]
[Yes. I know.]
Alberu Crossman said calmly.
[If handling things quietly is difficult, something big might
happen there. The cleanup should be your responsibility,
right?]
Anrowan couldn’t refute that.
Because he knew where the address pointed to.
[Transparent Museum.]
The capital of Roan.
A stylish building at the city’s prime location.
Built by Transparent Company, it preserved the company’s
history and achievements.
[What’s there?]
Anrowan suppressed his impatience, waiting only for the
sun to rise.
“The sun has risen.”
Alberu looked at the rising sun, while Cale checked his
watch and spoke.
“Miss Rosalyn, are you ready?”
“Yes. But this disguise magic can’t be undone quietly.”
“That’s fine. It doesn’t need to be quiet.”
Swish—
Rosalyn’s hands and arms were adorned with bracelets.
All made from top-grade magic crystals, glittering brightly.
Equivalent to a city’s annual operating budget hanging on
her arms, Rosalyn said cheerfully,
“This is a secret laboratory disguised as a museum. Its true
face will be exposed to the world today.”
Hehe.
Her smiling eyes shone like the sun.
“Young Master. I just need to draw attention outside,
right?”
“Yes.”
“If things get chaotic, can we be a bit flashy?”
“Hmm. Do as you please.”
Cale stepped toward the museum.
“Let’s go.”
“Alright.”
Beside Cale, masked for disguise, Alberu was similarly
masked.
By the way, both wore the attire of “Darkness.”
Woo woo woo—
With Cale’s steps as the signal, red mana began to bloom
around Rosalyn.
Like a flame about to ignite.
Chapter 2-391: The Birth of Evil (8)
Swish—
Wind wrapped around Cale and Alberu’s ankles.
Tap tap!
The two, lightly darting between buildings, stopped on one
and looked down.
At a vast park.
At its center, the ‘Transparent Museum.’
Woo woo woo—woo woo woo—
The path leading to the museum.
A road flanked by gardens on both sides.
“As expected.”
It wasn’t open yet, so no one was supposed to be on that
path.
Woo woo—woo woo—
Yet, one person walked, enveloped in red mana like
flames.
Rosalyn.
She exuded her unique aura.
Her steps were graceful and confident, like a crown prince
heading to a coronation.
Beep beep—!
Alarms began to sound.
“Intruder!”
“All units, assemble!”
From the museum or the entrance.
From all directions—north, south, east, west—Transparent
Company employees approached Rosalyn.
“Little brother.”
Alberu, observing the scene with a casual glance, spoke.
“For a mere museum’s budget, there are too many
security personnel, don’t you think?”
“Yeah.”
“And their strength is impressive too.”
Alberu’s finger pointed from the people emerging at the
museum’s entrance to those in the back.
“They seem like strong individuals most people couldn’t
handle.”
For a museum’s budget, the security was excessive.
Moreover, among the gradually appearing personnel,
some seemed unusually powerful.
“This must be the secret laboratory.”
Alberu’s confirmation made Cale nod.
“Shall we go?”
“Yeah.”
The two left Rosalyn’s line of sight without hesitation.
Then they leaped forward.
Swish—
Their wind-wrapped bodies swiftly moved toward the back
of the museum.
“The lab’s map?”
“I’ve memorized it.”
No one noticed the two moving stealthily.
“The moment the disguise magic is lifted, head straight to
the underground lab according to the map.”
“Yeah. You said the third basement level?”
“Yes. That’s where the secret research data is.”
“Just grab it and go.”
The two conversing seemed like they were out for a stroll.
But at that moment.
Quaaaang—!
With a roar, the ground trembled.
Cale and Alberu’s gazes turned to where the tremor
began.
Quaaa—
The sun rose, heralding a new morning. The sky still held
traces of dawn.
“As expected, Miss Rosalyn.”
They saw massive flames rising toward that sky.
Like the sun, or like a rose.
Bright, vivid red flames, resembling a snake or an Eastern
dragon.
No time to notice Cale and Alberu’s intrusion.
“Hoho.”
Rosalyn greeted the approaching people with a smile,
lightly stomping her foot.
Thud!
But the ground roared as if a giant had stepped on it.
“Stop her!”
“Permission to eliminate the intruder!”
“Attack!”
About 200 people, maybe?
So many security personnel in a museum?
“Perfect.”
Rosalyn turned to the people.
Ordinary guards.
Those who looked like professional soldiers.
Perhaps ability users, or people with special powers.
Looking at them, she stomped again.
Thud!
A tremor rang out.
Swishhh—
From her, red solid lines extended in all directions.
The museum in a fairly large park.
Along its perimeter, she, Alberu, and Cale had secretly set
up magic crystals and formations overnight.
Her mana moved freely.
Crack!
The moment those magic crystals shattered upon contact
with her mana.
Woo woo woo—
The ground shook, forming a massive red magic circle.
Clang, clang, clang!
The bracelets covering her arms.
The magic crystals on those bracelets shattered one by
one.
At the same time, Rosalyn’s smile deepened.
“It’s been a while.”
Apitoyu.
She couldn’t fight properly there.
Mana. She couldn’t use it freely, unable to act on her own
without relying on her companions’ strength—how—
“Terrifying.”
And she felt sorry.
To her companions, and to herself.
She hadn’t yet developed an aura like Choi Han’s.
But she never stopped honing her magic.
So she was certain.
Free.
At least if her mana was free.
[It can be used now.]
For Rosalyn, this was true freedom after a long time.
To use magic freely, truly freely.
Her companions had set the stage.
“Die!”
“Attack!”
Rosalyn, facing the enemies approaching her as she
created the massive magic circle, spoke.
“Go.”
Her hand pointed forward.
Her mana responded.
Quaaaaa—
The giant red snake rising to the sky lowered its head.
“Dodge!”
“Damn it!”
And charged toward the museum.
At the same time, Rosalyn’s hands touched the ground.
Crack, crack!
Magic crystals shattered.
“Haha—”
As Rosalyn’s smile grew wider.
“Break.”
Her command was given.
Clang clang clang—!
Dozens of magic crystals shattered instantly.
All top-grade, equivalent to years of operating costs for an
average estate.
And—
Woo woo woo—!
The red mana embedded in the ground.
Light surged from the magic circle.
And at that moment.
Quaaaang!
The giant red snake crashed into the museum.
Two things happened simultaneously.
Clang—!
Those rushing toward Rosalyn saw something and froze in
their tracks.
“Huh?”
Like someone’s question, it drew everyone’s attention.
Shhh shhh shhh—!
The red snake and red magic circle demolished the
museum.
To be precise, they shattered the illusion disguised as a
museum.
The Transparent Museum, renowned for winning global
architecture awards.
Its surface shattered like glass.
Those only tasked with guarding the museum couldn’t
hide their shock.
On the other hand, some went beyond shock, expressing
horror.
“How, how could this be! She, her magic…!”
Clearly, no one from the Third Earth should have been able
to break it.
The secret laboratory’s true face was never supposed to
be exposed.
That was guaranteed!
“Director!”
The museum director, or rather, the head of the secret
laboratory, couldn’t say a word to the subordinate
grabbing him, asking what to do.
“…She broke the young master’s magic…?”
Transparent Company.
No, the Purple Blood Family’s head, Han Ze-soo.
Next to him, the young master.
It was said his magical prowess rivaled that of a Wanderer.
But that—
“This person destroyed it?”
In one go?
The director.
No, the laboratory head slowly shifted his gaze.
His eyes turned to the woman wielding massive red mana
like a snake, unapproachable by anyone. Approaching her,
he looked at the mage whose mana swept away
everything, leaving not even dust.
A woman with red hair and red eyes, like the red mana.
She was smiling brilliantly.
Clang, clang!
The shattered magic crystals sparkled like gems, their
fragments orbiting her, glittering.
A red galaxy seemed to surround her.
Step.
Rosalyn took a step.
“With this much chaos, everyone will only look at me,
right?”
Smiling leisurely, she walked toward the enemies.
Quaaang!
At the same time, the red snake and magic circle,
Clang clang—!
Shattered the museum’s facade.
Then, gradually, a new building appeared inside.
A massive secret laboratory with five floors above ground
and three below.
People knew it as a museum with only five floors above
ground.
The three underground floors were where horrific
research was conducted and results recorded.
“Plenty left.”
Rosalyn looked at the sky, confirming two-thirds of the
magic crystals on her arms remained.
“Those are helicopters, right?”
She also saw helicopters.
“Contact headquarters!”
“Surround that woman! Find a way to capture her!”
She sensed the people’s panic.
Perhaps more would come for her later.
Many of them enemies.
[Because we need the world’s attention too.]
And the gaze of ordinary people.
Hoping for this, they moved the moment the sun rose.
[And allies will come too.]
Rosalyn felt a commotion behind her.
Then saw the helicopters descending closer.
“Haha—”
She laughed.
The director, seeing the helicopters, shouted.
“Th-that’s the Hero Guild—!”
“Aren’t those Anrowan’s people?!”
The Hero Guild, founded by some of Anrowan’s followers.
Helicopters bearing that guild’s emblem appeared here.
“Headquarters, contact headquarters now! Call the young
master too!”
The director’s voice grew louder.
“Miss Rosalyn!”
Rosalyn turned to the familiar voice calling her from
behind.
After defeating the guards, only President Anrowan had
arrived here.
He moved personally.
Meaning he was desperate, Anrowan decided to change
the situation through this moment, no matter what issues
arose later.
Swish.
Rosalyn smiled.
No matter the situation.
“I’ll do as our commander said, right?”
Clang.
Another magic crystal shattered.
Quaaaaa—!
Massive red mana bloomed spectacularly.
This Third Earth.
To make this world’s morning headlines all about her
today.
“Hahaha, haha—”
Rosalyn unleashed her mana freely.
Then moved her hands.
“Turn it upside down!”
Compared to the times she’d shattered palaces in the past,
Rosalyn resolved to go bigger.
Her abilities were stronger now, so the result was
literally—
Thud. Thud!
The ground trembled.
Quaaaaa!
Utter destruction, turning everything upside down.
At that time, another place was in chaos—no, a legend
was being forged.
The Beast God game world, the New World.
“Ha! What’s that?”
The Eastern Empire. Players there pointed at the sky.
Caw caw. Caw caw.
Hundreds of crows flew orderly toward one direction.
And the Western Empire.
Clatter clatter clatter.
“Crazy! Skeletons are moving! Aren’t those monsters?”
“What, what’s happening?”
Players suddenly saw over a thousand skeletons appear,
moving in one direction.
Caw caw—
Above, crows cried ominously.
The scene was so dark, so sinister, no one dared to hunt
them rashly.
“…What…?”
“Where… where are they going?”
And such scenes were unfolding across the New World.
Even,
“…Crows?”
“Yes. Crows suddenly appeared, covering the sky, then
moved to one place!”
The domain of the Sixth Evil.
No, across all Eight Evils’ domains.
“Skeletons!”
“…Why a sudden hurricane! That wind’s heading west!”
“Dark red clouds moved east? Like they have a will?”
As the rulers of the Eight Evils reacted to these strange
phenomena.
NPCs and players in the New World realized something.
“…They all seem to be heading toward the Seventh Evil?”
“Isn’t that the one that rose in the video recently?
Something happening in the Seventh Evil—”
“No, what exactly, what’s being born in the Seventh Evil?”
Since such ominous phenomena, symbolizing one place,
had never occurred across the entire New World, though
foreboding, people were also expectant.
“Let’s go check out the Seventh Evil?”
“Hey, gather information!”
Talk about it began to spread incessantly.
“Finally.”
Clopeh Sekka smiled.
“Finally, the story is being woven perfectly.”
The start of a legend is a story.
As his smile deepened.
“Huff. Huff.”
“…It’s tough.”
Tiger Tribe shaman Gashan lay on the ground, panting.
Necromancer Mary, unusually, sat dazed on the floor,
muttering.
“…This is a legend… It’s tough…”
“Huff, huff. Crazy, bastard!”
The Heavenly Demon, watching the two and Clopeh,
lightly shook his head.
His expression, rarely, turned serious.
“…This is beyond just interesting?”
It was fun at first, helping a few times, but the process of
creating the “Birth of Evil” legend now felt a bit serious.
But the Heavenly Demon glanced at Clopeh and looked
away.
He didn’t want to step up for troublesome matters.
“Hoho—”
Clopeh’s eyes, laughing, were quite unhinged, enough that
even Raon was hiding now.
Only one being.
“I must report to Lady Sheritt.”
Someone cheered him on—Sheritt, the former Dragon
Lord, Raon’s mother, and the mother of the heart’s owner,
Edenmiru.
[Clopeh. Discuss with Lady Sheritt and proceed.]
Cale, just in case, had entrusted Clopeh to Sheritt to
prevent him from going overboard.
“Yes. The birth of a dragon is a grand legend.”
Sheritt gave a satisfied smile at Clopeh’s report.
Of course, another person beside these two smiled with
satisfaction.
“Hoho.”
Former Pope, half-dragon Kessilia.
Hoping for a splendid evil’s birth, she genuinely wished to
form a knight order for Edenmiru.
“As expected, Cale Henituse brought the right person.”
Thus, she liked Clopeh very much.
And so, another mess—no, legend—was being born.
Tap, rattle, tap tap—
The egg, wrapped in a floral cloth, trembled incessantly,
sensing something ominous.
“Cough!”
“Urk!”
Two burly agents collapsed on the floor.
Clap. Clap.
Alberu, lightly clapping his hands, turned to Cale.
“Give me the code.”
“Oh.”
A hallway with over 30 people all unconscious.
At the end of that hallway.
Cale reached the laboratory archive room on the third
basement level, pulling a business card from his pocket.
Then he entered the archive room’s code.
Beep, beep beep, beep—
The moment he input the 12-digit code.
Clang—
The archive room’s door opened.
Cale stepped inside.
[Intruder detected.]
A mechanical voice sounded.
[Initiating protection protocol.]
Cale smiled.
[Even if you enter with the code, the biometric system will
immediately recognize that it’s not me or the chairman.]
Chief Secretary Kang Geun-mok had told him.
[Then the protection protocol will activate instantly. That
is… the archive room’s self-destruction.]
To ensure security, the archive room itself would be blown
up.
A bomb called the protection protocol.
[The total time is less than a minute.]
One minute was enough.
—Cale, you’re not, using Instant, right?
Ah, of course.
He wasn’t planning to use Instant for something trivial like
this.
“What’s up?”
Cale looked at Alberu and smiled slightly.
Chapter 2-392: The Birth of Evil (9)
The moment Alberu was about to ask Cale why he was
smiling.
Bang!
With a loud noise, the entrance door slammed shut.
Trapping Cale and Alberu inside.
Neither of them touched the closed door.
[The archive room’s door isn’t ordinary. High-voltage
electricity flows through it, and if you touch it carelessly,
it’ll stop functioning. Moreover, if you try to break it, the
door will explode, and the archive room will catch fire.]
Cale recalled the chief secretary’s words.
Alberu spoke to Cale, who was still smiling.
“Wipe that grin off your face.”
“What’s wrong with my face?”
Cale toned down his smile and looked over, and Alberu,
satisfied, smiled and stepped forward.
“We just need to steal that, right?”
Alberu pointed to a small safe.
In the farthest corner of the archive room, an old safe sat
as if abandoned.
[The archive room will have many paper records. Research
reports compiled into manuals.]
Thus, the archive room was equipped with cutting-edge
facilities maintaining specific temperature and humidity.
[But ultimately, all the information is contained in a
memory card inside the safe.]
Without Chief Secretary Kang Geun-mok’s information,
Cale might have spent considerable time memorizing the
research reports.
[By then, the archive room would’ve exploded.]
At that moment.
Click.
[Protection Protocol: Stage One]
A mechanical voice sounded.
Bang!
The closed door.
Three iron shutters descended over it.
“….”
“….”
A complete lockdown.
To anyone, it looked like a process to protect the archive
room’s contents.
“It’ll explode in 30 seconds now?”
Cale answered Alberu’s calm words.
“Yes.”
“You’re watching the time, right?”
“Of course.”
Cale glanced at his watch.
25 seconds—
24 seconds—
“Ha, I never thought I’d do something like this in my life.”
Crown Prince Alberu walked to the safe.
Then he plopped down on top of it.
“Stealing, what an experience.”
He muttered, sighing.
“All you’ve done is postpone work to rob a safe—”
“So you don’t like it?”
Cale asked, and Alberu answered nonchalantly.
“No? It’s pretty fun?”
Cale saw Alberu’s lips curl up and lightly shook his head.
Click.
[Protection Protocol: Stage Two]
The mechanical voice sounded again, and Cale looked at
the ceiling.
The bright ceiling lights of the archive room went out all at
once.
“….”
Only darkness descended on the space.
“Ten seconds left.”
As Cale told Alberu the remaining time.
“W-Warden—!”
The deputy director of the Transparent Museum—no, the
secret laboratory—trembled as he spoke to the director.
“S-Someone’s broken into the archive room!”
“I know! I know!”
The director responded but quickly moved toward the
museum’s interior.
“Out of the way!”
Unlike the scholarly image he was known for, he roughly
pushed aside obstructing guards, moving swiftly.
Quaaaang—!
At the same time, in the courtyard in front of the museum,
a red snake soared.
Glancing at the deputy director, he urgently spoke.
“Their target is the archive room! This is, this is a disaster!
If even a part of it gets stolen—!”
“No—”
The director glared at the deputy director, silencing him.
He checked his watch.
A smartwatch.
“Nine seconds.”
“Huh?”
“Then the archive room will explode.”
The smartwatch informed the director that two life signals
were detected in the archive room.
And that the protection protocol was operating normally.
[I don’t need to go to the archive room!]
The protection protocol was currently at stage two.
Meaning the archive room was about to explode, and so
far, the two intruders hadn’t escaped.
[They’re about to die.]
He didn’t know how they got in, but if they couldn’t
escape, only death awaited them.
[Director, even I couldn’t survive that explosion.]
The young master had said even he wouldn’t survive.
Meaning, even the crazed mage in the garden couldn’t
withstand that explosion.
“Warden, why are you going to the warden’s office—?”
He was rushing to the warden’s office.
Five seconds left.
Then the archive room would be gone.
[There’s only one thing I need to do now!]
Contact headquarters, but that wasn’t enough.
[The young master!]
Or,
[The chairman!]
No, of course, contact the chairman, the family head first!
[Even the young master doesn’t know the code for the
archive room.]
Only Honorary Chairman Han Ze-soo and his confidant,
Chief Secretary Kang Geun-mok, knew the archive room’s
code.
Yet intruders had entered?
[Kang Geun-mok betrayed us!]
This wasn’t something to tell the young master.
It had to be reported to the family head.
[The direct line is in the warden’s office.]
Only that phone could reach the chairman.
A privilege granted after becoming warden here.
“Warden! From the archive room—”
“Shut up!”
He raised his voice at the clueless deputy director, shaking
off his hand.
That moment.
Three seconds.
The smartwatch indicated three seconds until the
explosion.
Then, in the darkness, Cale said,
“Three seconds.”
Alberu coldly looked toward the voice’s source.
Crackle. Crackle.
Though the lights were out, that area gradually
brightened.
Crackle—
Rose-gold light rose, spreading around Cale.
Alberu, still sitting on the safe, Cale said calmly,
“The best defense is offense.”
The best defense is offense.
Moreover—
“This is a preventive measure.”
Strike the enemy before they attack.
—No way!
Super Rock exclaimed in shock, but Cale was unfazed.
Crackle.
Red currents appeared around him.
Click.
Another sound came.
[Protection—]
Hearing the mechanical voice, Cale thought,
If the enemy wants to blow us up,
“We just do it first.”
[Protocol—]
The mechanical voice didn’t continue.
—As expected, brilliant!
The Fire of Destruction, the Glutton, exclaimed with
anticipation.
Crackle—!
Rose-gold lightning surged.
“Wow.”
Alberu clapped in admiration.
Zzt!
At the same time,
Clang.
Several top-grade magic crystals in his inner pocket
shattered.
Woo woo woo—
Simultaneously, three layers of mana shields formed
around Alberu and the safe.
But no one saw this.
Quaaaaaaa—
With a roar, the rising rose-gold lightning shattered the
archive room, destroyed the security protocol system, and
pierced through the third, second, and first basement
levels—
“What, what’s that?”
“Crazy, dodge!”
To the surface.
It pierced through the museum—no, the exposed
laboratory building—and soared into the sky.
“Hahaha!”
Rosalyn, seeing a light similar yet different from hers,
Seeing the same red but with golden lightning exploding
through the laboratory’s top, let out a hearty laugh.
“Witch, witch!”
“Catch that crazy woman!”
As they shouted at her, she smiled even brighter.
Clang, clang!
About half her magic crystals remained.
More than she expected. Meaning Rosalyn had grown
much stronger.
“What’s that?”
Anrowan’s voice came from behind, and Rosalyn turned,
smiling at him.
“Escape now!”
“Huh?”
As president, showing up like this, and now telling me to
escape?
Can’t you see the reporters swarming from all directions?
I came here with such resolve, and you’re telling me to
run?
Anrowan’s face paled with disbelief and confusion.
But he soon froze.
Quaaaaa—
Fierce lightning.
That immense power, different from Rosalyn’s magic, sent
chills down his spine.
But from that soaring lightning, a figure emerged.
[Cale Henituse!]
Masked and dressed in black, Anrowan instinctively
recognized his true identity.
He had to follow Rosalyn’s words.
[I don’t see Alberu Cross!]
Of course, that meant something.
And the meaning was clear.
[They got the evidence!]
Only Alberu Crossman had escaped with the evidence to
save Chief Aide Mary, turn the situation around, and save
Anrowan!
“Ha, haha—”
Anrowan laughed, waving to the sky.
“Take the helicopter and go.”
He smiled at Rosalyn, extending his other hand, signaling
retreat.
Rosalyn gracefully took his hand, leaping toward the
helicopter Anrowan summoned, boarding it elegantly.
That moment.
“I am—”
Cale Henituse’s voice echoed through the air.
Alberu, likely hiding somewhere, had amplified and altered
the voice with magic.
“Why not escape right away and talk there—!”
Only Anrowan felt confused, showing impatience.
Rosalyn spoke.
She recited what Cale was about to say.
At the same time, Cale’s voice spread to the reporters,
suppressors, guards, and various others gathered for
different reasons.
“I am Darkness.”
“I am Darkness!”
Rosalyn placed her hand on Anrowan’s shoulder as he
looked back and forth between her and Cale in a daze.
“Darkness?”
Anrowan muttered blankly, startled by the force of
Rosalyn’s hand.
“Mr. Anrowan. From now on, listen carefully to what I
say.”
“Hm?”
“Starting today, you’re allied with Darkness. The entity
secretly approaching you is Darkness.”
“Hm?”
Rosalyn, even without Cale’s request, knew to
“brainwash” Anrowan with Darkness.
And at the same time.
“What, what’s that…?”
The director stared blankly at Cale.
The lightning piercing the laboratory had destroyed the
archive room before the protection protocol.
The fire sparked by the lightning was spreading
everywhere.
This was truly a disaster.
Cold sweat ran down the director’s back, his heart sinking.
“Darkness?”
Thus, he couldn’t help recalling what that suspicious figure
said.
Darkness.
A name he’d never heard before.
What was it?
No, there’s no time to think about that now?
What should I do?
It was chaos itself.
Then,
“The God of Chaos will soon rule this world!”
What?
Chaos?
The black-clad figure shouted, then waved his hand again.
Crackle.
Lightning,
Quaaaaa!
Quaaang!
Quaaa—!
Exploded in all directions.
“!”
And those places, coincidentally, were closely tied to
current confidential research.
Of course, research had been paused after noticing Chief
Aide Mary’s movements.
So no experiments were ongoing, but—
“No, don’t!”
Destruction meant exposure.
How many helicopters were now overhead, filming?
Quaaaaa!
Quaaang!
The rose-gold lightning struck places intricately linked to
the research.
Hidden spaces, impossible to disguise as a museum.
All burned in the fire.
The lightning didn’t destroy everything.
Cleverly, covertly.
It burned just what needed burning, exposing just what
needed exposing.
“Ah—”
The director collapsed to the ground.
“I am from Transparent!”
Then, the deputy director was informed that
headquarters—people directly sent by the Purple Blood
Family—had arrived.
“Too, too late—”
Too late.
The director even gave up on contacting the family head.
Whether Kang Geun-mok betrayed them or not, that
didn’t matter now.
“It’s been stolen…”
The most critical information was surely stolen.
He was certain.
If it was that person, they must’ve flown off with the safe.
“Ah.”
Those witnessing this today would ask what happened.
With President Anrowan’s appearance, it’d spiral out of
control, growing bigger.
“Damn, damn it—!”
President Anrowan with evidence.
His next actions against Transparent were obvious.
“It’s over!”
The director couldn’t suppress his anger.
“It’s over!”
No, he couldn’t suppress his fear.
It was over. Truly.
[I’m going to die now!]
This wouldn’t be overlooked.
“W-Warden, the young master—”
Among those from Transparent’s main family was the
young master.
The director barely lifted his head.
The young master, Han Seok-hyung, witnessing all this.
He wasn’t looking at the director.
Instead, his gaze was fixed on the masked figure still
floating in the air, the only one who hadn’t fled.
“….”
“….”
Han Seok-hyung and Cale.
The two stared at each other.
And,
Swish,
Cale smiled and waved.
Lightly.
He greeted the expressionless Han Seok-hyung.
At the same time, a magical voice sounded in his mind.
—Let’s go.
He glanced below.
The exploded, burning archive room.
The only thing intact in those flames was a magic shield.
Within it, Alberu, preparing a teleportation, shook his head
at him.
“Time to run.”
Destroy in plain sight.
Steal in plain sight.
Explode in plain sight.
Escape in plain sight.
No one in Cale’s group doubted this was theft.
“Bye-bye—”
After greeting Han Seok-hyung,
Thud!
Cale dropped downward.
Flash!
At that moment, the teleportation circle emitted brilliant
light, and Alberu dispelled the mana shield.
Thus, Cale, Alberu, and the safe.
All three vanished instantly.
The force that caused chaos and disappeared, “Darkness.”
“….”
“….”
Chaos, shock, and awe struck Roan from early morning.
Later, roughly understanding the whole process, Anrowan
asked Cale.
“But couldn’t you have just snuck in quietly and taken the
safe?”
Cale answered him.
“Then the world would be too quiet.”
“Hm?”
“The noisier the world, the more Transparent’s hands and
feet are tied.”
Makes it easier for us to steal, doesn’t it?
Cale didn’t say the last part, but Alberu and Rosalyn beside
him nodded with satisfied smiles.
“….”
And Anrowan, seeming to understand the unsaid, chose
silence. Though his eyes wavered slightly.
As Cale intended, from that morning, the world grew
noisy.
Not just Roan, but the Third Earth. A massive event, later
called the “Transparent Gate,” began to ignite, sweeping
the globe.
Chapter 2-393: The Birth of Evil (10)
The Third Earth.
In particular, Roan.
“Did you see that?”
“Whoa, what the heck is going on?”
“So, they say the museum hasn’t even been fully subdued
yet?”
People waking up as usual in the morning.
Or those forced to open their eyes due to the morning’s
events.
Everyone watched news and newspaper headlines,
discussing the “Transparent Museum Explosion” incident.
Men, women, young, and old alike.
At home, work, school, online.
Wherever people gathered, they talked about it.
In fact, not just Roan—the entire Third Earth reported on
the event globally.
“Whoa, this doesn’t seem like a simple incident, does it?”
Because there was too much to say.
“No, but wasn’t the museum actually something else?”
A Transparent Company building disguised as a museum.
“More than that, why was President Anrowan there?”
President Anrowan’s sudden appearance.
“Recently, who was that ability user? No way, flames?
Since they were wrapped in red aura, we couldn’t see their
features clearly. They say they’re incredibly strong?”
“So! No, isn’t there a closer video? We need to recruit
them to our guild!”
“Ugh. No matter how you look at it, they seem to be with
Anrowan’s side. Will they come to us?”
A new ability user with immense power.
“But isn’t this a terrorist attack?”
“Are Anrowan and Transparent fighting?”
“Is that okay?”
“No, but who was that black-clad one? That magical ability
seemed like it belonged to another faction?”
“Uh, you mean ‘Darkness’?”
“The God of Chaos? Sounds like a group worshipping that.
Isn’t it a cult?”
The emergence of a new religious group called ‘Darkness,’
tied to chaos.
“Crazy. What a mess.”
“Hey, I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s interesting,
right?”
“Interesting? Who knows what’ll happen to Roan now?”
“No, didn’t Transparent try to go after their aide the other
day? And now it looks like Anrowan’s doing something.”
“So, it’s a mess! Total chaos, complete chaos!”
People’s stories grew, and so did various speculations.
It couldn’t be helped.
“No follow-up reports?”
“I don’t know! Both of you, quiet down!”
Transparent Company and President Anrowan’s side.
Neither spoke, staying silent.
News outlets brought in various experts, endlessly
covering the morning’s events.
No proper follow-up reports emerged.
Until now.
“Ugh!”
But at that moment, people on their phones, TVs, or
computers.
Everyone saw a piece of news.
“It’s Transparent! Transparent’s speaking!”
On the TV screen, Transparent Company’s media
representative appeared.
“What happened this morning was a clear act of
terrorism.”
Transparent Company drew a sword against President
Anrowan.
“President Anrowan personally mobilized forces and
attacked the Transparent Museum, built by Transparent
Company for the people. We demand severe punishment
for this, and furthermore—”
The media representative’s gaze pierced the screen.
“We also demand the arrest and severe punishment of the
suspicious individuals who, alongside President Anrowan,
carried out this terrorist attack on the museum.”
People reacted.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
—ㄷㄷ. Is this a fight between Anrowan and Transparent
Company?
—Is that even a fight? Who wins against a
megacorporation?
—But is that Darkness? Are the black-clad one and the red
ability user both Anrowan’s people?
—Don’t know, right? That’s not confirmed, is it?
—Idiot. The red ability user flew off with Anrowan in a
helicopter lol.
—What about the black-clad one? The guy who smashed
everything with lightning. Didn’t he actually destroy the
museum?
—…Uh? Did he?
—Didn’t he? Actually, didn’t Anrowan and the red woman
just break the museum’s shell? The disguise? Didn’t they
just expose it?
—…Is that right?
—Anyway, it’s definitely a mess lol.
—Crazy, you’re laughing?
—What, you crying?
—Ugh.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Amid the buzz, some looked at Transparent Media’s
representative with slightly odd gazes.
“…Don’t you think Transparent’s trying to brush this off?”
“You feel that too?”
“Yeah. They only mentioned the museum explosion, not
the museum’s disguise or the exposed building’s identity,
or why Anrowan acted like this.”
“Right. Clearly, one of the suspicious figures said their
faction is ‘Darkness.’ Why not mention that? They say
Anrowan said it.”
“So, what’s this—”
Politicians, ability user guilds, and those closely observing
the event realized something.
“Strange, right?”
“Really strange.”
Transparent Company. A megacorporation surpassing
Roan, influencing the Third Earth.
Their call for “severe punishment” felt oddly passive.
“Even for something like this, only a media representative
steps out?”
“And that representative doesn’t seem equipped to handle
such a massive issue?”
“…I need to dig into this.”
A peculiar atmosphere was forming.
Cale set down his tablet, looking at the TV screen.
While the media representative continued speaking, Cale
spoke.
“Transparent seems to be in a tough spot too.”
“Probably. From their perspective, it’s best to go all-in.”
Alberu set down his teacup.
“Hmm. But I didn’t expect them to avoid mentioning
‘Darkness.’”
Sun Company President Choi Sun-hee shook her head,
unimpressed.
“They can’t easily expose the God of Chaos, can they?”
Rosalyn said with a slight smile.
Now, the four were enjoying a brief afternoon tea in the
top-floor office of the Sun Building.
“Hmm.”
Choi Sun-hee still looked regretful.
“I don’t know about Honorary Chairman Han Ze-soo, but I
thought the former warrior Han Seok-hyung would step
out.”
The current chairman was like Han Ze-soo’s puppet. The
real heir was Han Seok-hyung, a story quietly circulating in
the business world.
Rosalyn spoke.
“The Hunters probably don’t want people to know about
the God of Chaos. And if they carelessly mention it, it
could cause internal issues, so instead of speaking out,
they’re likely digging for accurate information behind the
scenes.”
“Hmm.”
Choi Sun-hee paused, then continued.
“But they can’t just snoop around like this. Kang Geun-
mok betrayed them, and they know we stole information.
If they set all that aside—”
“It only benefits Anrowan’s side.”
Alberu, after saying so much, picked up his teacup again.
The cup hid his lips, but everyone saw his smile.
“Transparent’s a formidable opponent, I know that well.”
Swallowing a faint smile, he said,
“Suspicion is suspicion. Sometimes the truth gets buried by
those with louder voices.”
“Hm!”
Noticing something, Rosalyn’s brow furrowed slightly. She
felt unsuited for politics at times like this but also realized
Alberu Crossman was truly royalty.
Then,
“It’s out.”
Silent Cale pointed at the TV screen.
The scene grew noisier.
Because someone appeared.
Executive Director Han Seok-hyung.
Known as Honorary Chairman Han Ze-soo’s grandson.
And the young master of the Purple Blood Family.
He appeared on the screen, greeting.
“This is his first time at such a formal event.”
Choi Sun-hee’s words showed the impact of the executive
director’s appearance.
Han Seok-hyung, with a stern face, looked at the screen
and said,
“As Transparent is a company rooted in Roan, we’ve tried
to avoid causing further chaos. But with actual armed
action taking place, it makes me think we need to tell you
a truth and why Transparent is under such attack.”
“Executive Director!”
“Executive Director, you can’t step out like this. If later—”
“No. I can’t stand it.”
The media representative and secretaries approached,
trying to dissuade him, all broadcast live.
“Oh, they’re acting.”
Alberu genuinely admired.
In response, Han Seok-hyung spoke earnestly and
passionately, word by word, like a younger, passionate
man, and also someone who loved Roan and was capable
of leading Transparent’s future.
“President Anrowan is currently colluding with a cult
faction called the God of Chaos, responsible for the
murder of his senior aide, Mary. Moreover, he’s working
with them to control Roan, and this morning’s actions
were to eliminate us, Transparent Company, which tried to
stop it!”
His voice, struggling to stay calm, grew louder, ending in
an urgent shout as Han Seok-hyung said,
“We must stop this brutal Anrowan, wearing a hero’s
mask, and the faction ‘Darkness’ working with him!
Otherwise, terrifying chaos will descend!”
Wow.
Choi Sun-hee exclaimed.
“With them saying that, even if Anrowan tells the truth,
people will get angry, right?”
“Hmm.”
Rosalyn, swallowing, glanced beside her. Cale was staring
at his tablet.
“Young Master, what’s wrong?”
“As expected—”
Cale smiled.
“Because people are smart.”
“Hm?”
As Rosalyn looked puzzled, Cale turned off the tablet
screen.
The last thing he saw was the [Beast God Community].
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
<But haven’t we heard ‘Darkness’ somewhere?>
I… why does that name feel familiar?
—Crazy! Wow, jackpot, I remember now! Western Empire!
The supporters of the Sun God Cult in the Western
Empire!
—Huh?
—…Really?
—Yeah!! Isn’t there a group called ‘Darkness’ worshipping
the God of Chaos there too?
—…Not just the name ‘Darkness,’ even the ‘God of Chaos’
is the same?
—Hey hey! The clothes are the same too!
—(Link)
—Crazy, the clothing patterns are really the same!
—Faint.
—Does this make sense? Don’t you feel like we just
learned something huge?
—No way.
—It’s not some random noise, is it?
—So you’re saying there’s a group linking Beast God and
reality? Lol, does that make sense?
—Does what’s on TV right now make sense?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Cale pointed at the TV screen for the confused Rosalyn.
“Anrowan’s coming up soon.”
Thus, they’d already coordinated with Cale’s side.
Soon, an anchor hurriedly announced breaking news.
“President Anrowan’s emergency statement is about to
take place!”
Rosalyn, watching the screen, felt a bit anxious.
[You’ll do well, right?]
Anrowan, could he handle Han Seok-hyung and
Transparent Company well?
If this turned into a truth-seeking battle and dragged on
too long, it wouldn’t be good.
Glance.
Alberu and Choi Sun-hee sat side by side.
These two were ready to swiftly move the moment
Transparent faltered, finding ways to exploit that gap and
devour Transparent.
For that, Sun was now holding onto all its funds,
unmoving.
Rosalyn believed Anrowan would do well, suppressing her
anxiety, watching the TV.
“Hmm.”
Then she swallowed.
“….”
On the TV, Anrowan stood silently.
Just standing quietly.
But no one could rush him.
His bloodshot eyes were red.
His lips tightly pressed.
His clenched fists.
Anyone could see he was furious now.
His whole body trembled with anger.
“Yes.”
Alberu said calmly.
“Seeing that, you can’t just sit still.”
Cale had shared the stolen data with Anrowan.
[Can we look at the contents?]
[Yes.]
Anrowan saw what was inside.
Rosalyn felt nauseous the first time she saw it. Anrowan
saw that gruesome, horrific content.
“….”
Anrowan remained silent.
Completely different from Han Seok-hyung’s urgent
shouting.
But no one, seeing that state, dared to speak lightly.
Sometimes silence conveyed greater emotion.
Anrowan.
And his confidants with him.
People who’d been with him since his ability user days,
their expressions mirrored Anrowan’s.
They stood, furious.
Like back when he fought countless monsters as an ability
user.
“….”
The silence lasted a long time.
Even so, this static-filled scene was broadcast for half a
day.
Then Anrowan’s mouth finally opened.
“Come in.”
He said only that.
“!”
“Huh?”
“What, crazy!”
Even veteran reporters were so shocked they spoke
unwittingly.
Step. Step.
The person who walked in through the door.
Someone many recognized.
Though never in the spotlight, known as someone’s
shadow.
“…Kang Geun-mok!”
Someone in the press corps shouted the name like a sigh.
A figure who’d been with Transparent Company since its
founding, tied to its history as Honorary Chairman Han Ze-
soo’s secretary.
Now, here was someone busier than anyone, acting for
Transparent.
“….”
“….”
The room fell into an even deeper silence.
Everyone now realized something big was happening.
This wasn’t simple.
Kang Geun-mok, with his withered, tree-like face, stood
beside Anrowan.
Minutes of silence.
And Kang Geun-mok.
With just these two things, Anrowan showed a lot.
And one more thing to show.
“This is the experimental research data from Transparent
Company’s secret laboratory.”
He held up an external storage card.
“All the contents will be explained step by step here by
Mr. Kang Geun-mok and Chief Aide Mary.”
Because there was so much, it would take a long time.
“I’ll say one thing and then leave this stage.”
Unlike his bloodshot eyes and trembling body, his voice
was cold.
“Ah, this is a bit different from what I expected.”
Alberu’s muttering, as if realizing something, reached
Cale’s ears.
“That guy’s a hero.”
“Yeah.”
Cale nodded at that.
Both seemed to know what Anrowan was about to say.
So detached.
The words soon flowed from Anrowan’s mouth.
“I don’t care about being the next president. No, I can’t.”
Hmm.
Rosalyn, swallowing, said,
“So he decided to say that?”
“No.”
Choi Sun-hee shook her head.
“!”
“…!”
The silence broke, and the announcement scene on the
screen stirred.
Regardless, Anrowan spoke.
He gave the reason he couldn’t be the next president.
“Transparent.”
He pointed at the screen.
“I’m done with those bastards.”
…!
The surroundings erupted in chaos.
Unlike Han Seok-hyung’s demeanor, Anrowan’s calm
presence.
And the murderous words spoken in that state.
“Uh—”
Choi Sun-hee couldn’t help but speak.
“…Like his younger days.”
Like when he was first called a hero.
Like the Anrowan who fought to take down every monster.
Like the man before he became president.
The aides and confidants on the screen didn’t even try to
stop Anrowan.
Instead, their emotions mirrored his.
Especially those with him since his ability user days,
including Mary, their faces burned with fierce anger, as if
ready to shatter everything.
Rosalyn, looking at Anrowan’s bloodshot eyes and the fire
within, said softly,
“…He’s not someone who pours everything into politics or
revenge.”
The next presidential term.
Revenge for his parents.
Choi Sun-hee, hearing Rosalyn, said with a surprised face,
“If he were that kind of person, he wouldn’t have thrown
everything away to fight monsters.”
She, too, had read Transparent Company’s research data.
And she was a native of the Third Earth, this land.
“Ha. This really.”
She laughed.
“He’s got a knack for making your blood boil.”
Anger and passion she’d suppressed surged in Choi Sun-
hee’s eyes.
Those still unaware might be shocked now.
“The fight will continue.”
Even with only Anrowan holding the truth, battling a
megacorporation like Transparent wouldn’t be easy.
Even if most stood with Anrowan, Transparent had
overwhelming money, power, and influence.
But unlike her passive words, Choi Sun-hee’s gaze
sharpened.
Alberu, watching, said calmly,
“Nothing’s more terrifying than sincerity.”
His gaze turned to Cale.
“You gave the data to the Arbiter too, right?”
“Yes.”
At that moment, Kang Geun-mok was speaking on the TV
screen.
“Transparent Company has been conducting human
experiments on people.”
And in the Demon Realm, the sole heir of the former
Demon King, the leader of the Arbiter group, Aurora, held
the same information.
[The Demon King has been conducting demon
experiments on demons.]
The Third Earth.
Anrowan and Transparent Company.
The Demon Realm.
Aurora and the current Demon King.
Those fighting massive enemies began to wield the banner
of “evidence and truth.”
And,
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
—Hey, doesn’t the ‘Darkness’ in Beast God feel the same
as this ‘Darkness’?
—Hey, didn’t they say Chief Secretary Kang Geun-mok was
tied to the ‘God of Chaos’ and Transparent Company? Not
President Anrowan.
—Not tied to the God of Chaos, but to a group
worshipping that god. Hey, where’s the real god?
—Anyway, Chief Aide Mary was an accomplice with the
red mage. With her help, the data was stolen. That
Darkness? They say they’ll catch that guy too?
—Faint. What’s this? Beast God is virtual, Earth is real,
right? Why am I so confused now? Is this right?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
—…Wow… but the experiment details came out… whoa…
does this make sense…?
—…This, this can’t be—
—…Is it really like that? Killing people and locking their
souls in a game?
—…Disguised as a monster attacking a community… you
used everyone nearby for experiments?
—They say the abandoned church was one of
Transparent’s mass graves? And dozens more graves…
does that make sense?
—No, this—wow, some of the souls were offered to a
god?
—The God of Chaos?
—Am I in reality right now? No, does this happen in
reality?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
“What’s going on now?”
The Holy Son of the God of Chaos.
He closed the Beast God community board, his face
contorted.
“Pope, things are going strangely. Please contact
Transparent.”
The God of Chaos Cult.
They, too, realized things were veering in an odd direction
and began to act.
The small things Cale had scattered across the Third Earth,
Demon Realm, and New World began to converge,
forming a massive vortex.
“Let them fight it out for now.”
And at the center of the vortex.
The eye of the typhoon.
Cale said leisurely,
“Starting with Edenmiru’s birth ceremony.”
To make the vortex even bigger.
Cale simply did the tasks assigned to him, one by one.
Chapter 2-394: The Birth of Evil (11)
Before entering the Beast God game, Cale contacted
someone he hadn’t reached out to in a while.
“Busy?”
Alberu and Rosalyn glanced at Cale before quickly turning
away.
Woo woo.
The response came directly.
<Very busy.>
It was the God of Death.
Cale, looking into the divine mirror, sensed from the God
of Death’s curt reply that he was genuinely swamped.
“How’s the God of Chaos doing lately?”
Woo, woo woo woo—
The mirror vibrated strangely.
<…What did you do?>
The text brimmed with anticipation.
Cale smiled faintly and spoke.
“Haven’t heard from Choi Jung-soo?”
Woo.
<They don’t tell me anything anymore. Ungrateful brats.
They don’t even realize who’s to thank for their freedom.>
They.
He meant Choi Jung-soo and Team Leader Soo-jam.
Both were still in Apitoyu, handling the aftermath Cale and
Eruhaben hadn’t had time to address after leaving.
[And Choi Jung-soo is tied to the Demon Realm, while the
Team Leader is linked to the God of Chaos.]
They were secretly gathering information on those two
fronts. Since both had connections to the divine realm,
Cale could entrust them with it.
“Hmm.”
After a moment of thought, Cale shifted his gaze from the
mirror to Choi Sun-hee, who was organizing documents.
“Secretary Choi.”
“Yes, Commander.”
Alberu, Rosalyn, and Cale.
The three would struggle to focus on this place after
entering Beast God.
“Sooner or later, I’ll send two people here.”
Moreover, the Third Earth was now heading toward a
critical period of escalating chaos.
Of course, Cale believed that when the time was right,
he’d act on the Third Earth again to deal with the Purple
Blood Family.
Not yet.
“They’re highly capable and will be a great help.”
People more familiar with Earth’s situation than anyone.
“Choi Jung-soo is the hardworking, physical labor type.”
“Yes.”
“Soo-jam. Leave the brainy work to him.”
“Yes, understood.”
Choi Jung-soo and Team Leader Lee Soo-hyuk.
These two might adapt to Earth better than Cale, assisting
Choi Sun-hee.
Especially Team Leader Soo-jam—
[Well, no need to say.]
He was one of those who laid the foundation for an
organization in a world of monsters and destruction.
In the current chaos of the Third Earth, he was more suited
than anyone to handle it.
Cale turned his gaze back to the mirror.
“I’ll briefly explain what’s happened recently, so listen
carefully.”
Woo!
<Woo! Excited!>
…Pretending to be cute is annoying.
Cale held back and spoke.
“Ha. It doesn’t affect your divine realm much. But I think
it’s good to know. It’s not a big deal, just something to be
aware of.”
Starting with that, Cale recounted recent events.
Alberu and Rosalyn looked at Cale with disbelief, but he
didn’t notice.
“…And that’s it.”
Woo, woo, woo woo…
The mirror vibrated oddly.
<You, you, you crazy…!>
The mirror began to shake violently.
Woo woo! Woo! Woo woo!
As if it might shatter.
<You, you really, you’re the best!>
<Hahahahaha!>
<As expected, choosing you makes me a genius!
Hahahahaha!>
Cale’s expression turned serious.
“Are you insane?”
His gaze at the mirror grew quite unfriendly.
Woo woo…
<Hehe.>
Ugh, just smash it.
Cale was tempted but held back.
“Anyway, since the board is set like this, the gods will fight
among themselves.”
Woo woo—
<Ugh. Even so, it’s currently a stalemate with no progress.
More gods are siding with the God of Chaos. The God of
Balance is losing it a bit. On top of that, some say the God
of Balance isn’t functioning properly and should step down
as representative.>
Woo woo—
<Besides that, some say the ancient god position isn’t very
useful, and for the divine realm as a whole, aside from
ancient gods, a new leader-level god should be established
to create a system. By the way, I’m considered one of—>
“Stop.”
Cale shook his head.
“I don’t want to know about divine realm affairs.”
He was firm.
“I only care about the Hunters and the Absolute God. The
rest is your business—divine realm, Demon Realm,
whatever.”
Woo woo.
The mirror vibrated lightly.
<Is that so?>
This guy—
Cale’s eyebrow twitched.
Woo.
<Hoo.>
As expected, the God of Death was annoying.
Cale turned off the mirror’s screen.
Woo woo woo—
<S-Sorry! I won’t tease you anymore! Tell me more!>
Cale, of course, ignored the message.
He’d endured twice; no reason to tolerate a third time.
“Shall we go now?”
Cale smiled at his companions, who were staring at him.
“Yes, let’s go.”
“….”
Rosalyn stayed silent, while Alberu, with a faint sigh,
nodded at Cale’s words.
[Ah.]
Cale suddenly recalled something.
The long-overdue conversation with the God of Death
jogged his memory.
Information the God of Death had shared.
<Six months from now, his father’s name appeared on the
death candidate list.>
Alberu Crossman.
His father, the current King Zed Crossman.
He was on the death candidate list.
“Hm?”
Come to think of it—
“What’s wrong?”
As Alberu looked at him curiously, Cale frowned.
<To put it literally, the King of Roan is on the death
candidate list. The list appears six months before a
subject’s death and contains critical details related to
death.>
[Did the time and place of death come up?]
<Yes. But the location keeps changing, so we don’t know
where.>
[So where is it now?]
He’d had this conversation with the God of Death.
[Until you find Choi Jung-soo, you won’t tell me first?]
<No.>
<Because I’m also trying to do something I shouldn’t in this
position. I can’t tell you easily. Plus, I need time to prepare
to share this information.>
[Keep your word.]
<Contact me again when you return to Roan.>
This was during his time in the Central Plains.
[Also—]
That God of Death didn’t tell him the location?
But since then, the divine realm had descended into chaos,
so it was possible. There were also mistakes Cale couldn’t
handle himself.
“Your Highness.”
“What?”
“Six months. There’s not much time left now.”
Back in the Central Plains, it was six months.
Now, the deadline was approaching.
[Choi Jung-soo.]
And Zed Crossman.
The time left to save both was running out.
“….”
Alberu understood the unspoken subject.
“We’ll find the location eventually. Let’s go now.”
Having dropped a bomb on the Third Earth, the Purple
Blood Family would have to focus on stabilizing their
footing there for a while.
They had time.
“Ha—”
Alberu just sighed, saying nothing.
But after a moment, he spoke.
“Thank you.”
Cale lightly patted Alberu’s shoulder.
That was enough.
As soon as Cale entered the game, multiple task windows
filled the screen.
“….”
One task window was enlarged, dominating his view.
[Sub-Task Completed!]
A task was finished.
Cale lowered another window, and this one came into
focus.
[Sub-Task: Steal the Special Research Report from
Transparent Company’s Secret Laboratory!]
Cale’s lips curled up.
Alberu and Rosalyn weren’t around.
They’d logged in from different locations.
[As a special event, rewards will be distributed based on
achievement rate!]
[Mandatory Reward: Count Lyupe’s Lost Memories]
Step. Step.
Cale moved.
[To receive the reward, you must be with ‘Count Lyupe.’]
That made sense.
The required reward was Count Lyupe’s memories.
Click.
Cale opened the door and entered.
Beyond the cotton candy door, a quiet bedroom appeared.
“Ah.”
Aurora.
The sole heir of the former Demon King and leader of the
Arbiters stood abruptly from her seat.
“That—”
“Yes. It’s done.”
“Ah!”
Aurora, unable to hold back, sighed and collapsed back
into her seat.
Cale approached the bed beside her.
“….”
There lay the second boss of the Third Evil, the Dark
Phantom Lyupe.
And the Demon Realm’s richest man, Count Lyupe, lay
there in a daze.
—Finally! Our angel is revived!
Ignoring the Glutton’s words, Cale pressed a button on the
task window.
[Would you like to settle the task now?]
[Yes/No]
As if it were obvious, Cale pressed [Yes].
[Calculating achievement rate…]
Rewards would be distributed based on the achievement
rate.
[…F …E …D …]
Various grades appeared on the screen.
Cale watched quietly.
[…A …]
The grade passed A.
Swish.
Cale’s lips curled up.
[Yeah. We caused that mess.]
Infiltrating a lab and creating such an impact.
The system watching from outside couldn’t miss it.
[…S …]
The moment that letter appeared, Cale lightly clenched his
fist.
“!”
Then.
Beep beep beep beep—
A sudden ringing filled his ears.
“Hm!”
Cale instinctively covered his ears.
“What’s wrong?”
Aurora, startled, approached.
She didn’t seem to hear it.
Cale confirmed it was a sound only he could hear and froze
after glancing at the window.
[Re, ward, @*($, gra, de, @$@#$%—]
What? Why’s it doing this again?
As Cale panicked,
[@#%7—]
Beep beep beep beep—
The ringing came again.
“Ugh!”
Cale curled up.
The ringing felt strange, uncomfortable.
And—
“What’s this?”
The screen turned red.
Like a red hand, forcing Cale to press a system function he
wanted to cancel.
—Cale, ominous!
The moment the Glutton shouted.
[I want to have a #% conversation, @$% I, I, @ $ % @ # %]
Huh?
Cale paused.
The red screen.
The garbled text.
“…The system?”
Cale seemed to realize what was happening.
[#$(he, @#%)]
The conversation didn’t connect.
[# * # $ # more than I expected, @$% result—]
“You mean I created results beyond your expectations, so
you want to talk?”
Of course, Cale understood immediately.
[Lon, @#% conversation, @#$%]
“Ugh. A long conversation is tough. Just letting me know
you exist is fine. Next time, send AI Original. Talk through
him.”
Cale said that and extended his hand.
“So, what’s the reward?”
That moment.
Beep beep beep—
The ringing came again.
“Ugh! Urk!”
The moment Cale spoke.
[^^]
Huh?
The screen was smiling.
The system in the red window was smiling.
[Achievement Rate: 300%!]
Oh.
[Judgment Basis: Impact on the Purple Blood Family,
Demon Realm, and God of Chaos. Striking all three was
exceptional. Very satisfying!]
Strangely, the window didn’t look like a typical Beast God
game window.
[Mandatory Reward Distributed!]
Cale saw a small vial appear in his palm.
The liquid inside.
[Sprinkle on Count Lyupe’s forehead!]
It even kindly explained how to use it.
Cale didn’t act rashly.
He waited silently.
[Additional Reward!]
[Grade: SSS+++]
Hm?
Cale had never seen such a grade.
[Additional Reward Granted!]
[One skill will be awarded.]
Huh?
Only one skill as a reward?
As Cale grew puzzled,
[Skill: Red Hand]
“Uh?”
Cale genuinely panicked.
“This, for real?”
[^^]
Leaving a smile, the red window and ringing vanished.
The completed task window disappeared, and another
appeared, but Cale didn’t see it, staring blankly at the sky
and speaking.
“Ha—”
Stunned.
What was the Red Hand?
Wasn’t that the force that tried to kill Cale when he first
entered this game?
The Red Hand.
It appeared when game rules were violated, eliminating
the cause, one of the game’s absolute powers.
Now he’d gained that power, that skill.
As a reward—
“Wow.”
Did he hit the jackpot?
System, are you really giving me a push?
“Ha, haha—”
Cale couldn’t help but laugh.
He checked the skill description.
[When using the skill, a ‘judgment’ can be issued through
the ‘system’s trial,’ triggering the ‘Red Hand’ upon
receiving ‘approval.’]
There was an additional note, like a footnote.
[*Understanding that the Absolute God of the New World
already exists makes it easier to gain ‘approval’ from the
‘judgment.’]
“Yes.”
The Absolute God of the New World already existed.
The system.
Yes.
You’re the Absolute God.
The skill grade caught Cale’s eye.
[Skill: Red Hand (Grade: Divine)]
“Wow.”
Grade SSS+++
As a reward, Cale gained the potential to wield the
absolute weapon of the game’s god itself, depending on
the situation.
“Ha, haha…?”
While laughing, another task window finally came into
view.
Then he froze.
[Recovery Rate: 99.31% (Time Remaining: 23 hours, 19
minutes)]
[Birth Ceremony Progress: 159%]
[Reward Grade: TBD]
“Huh?”
Why was the birth ceremony progress over 100%?
Was that possible?
“Damn it.”
Clopeh Sekka, what did that guy do?
Cale’s heart raced.
At that moment, he sensed something unstoppable
approaching.
Knock knock knock.
A knock sounded.
“Human, the Crown Prince said you’re here!”
Raon’s voice came through.
“Lord Cale. I’ve come along as well.”
Then, Clopeh’s gentle voice reached his ears.
“!”
Cale felt his heart sink with a thud.
Clopeh’s voice was filled with joy. Even happiness.
Something happened. Something big.
“…I’m going crazy.”
Cale tightly shut his eyes.
Chapter 2-395: The Birth of Evil (12)
Click.
The door opened, and Raon zoomed in.
“Human!”
Flap flap.
Having been separated from Cale for so long—perhaps the
first time for a non-malicious reason—his wings fluttered
with unusual lightness.
“Did you fight well?”
“…Steal?”
“Didn’t you smash anything?”
“Smash it.”
“I knew you would! Hehe! Next time, I’ll go to the Third
Earth too! Smashing is what I’m best at! Hehe!”
Raon’s words weren’t wrong, so Cale stayed silent.
Unbeknownst to him, Raon had already decided to team
up with Rosalyn next time for a smashing spree.
“Lord Cale.”
Finally, the disaster. No, not quite a disaster yet—facing
Clopeh Sekka.
“Uh, um.”
For some reason, Cale was at a loss for words.
[Recovery Rate: 99.31% (Time Remaining: 23 hours, 19
minutes)]
[Birth Ceremony Progress: 159%]
[Reward Grade: TBD]
He wanted to ask why the task progress was like this.
“Was your journey pleasant?”
But seeing Clopeh’s smile, he was too scared to ask.
[…Did I make a wrong choice?]
For the first time in a while, Cale regretted his decision.
“I devoted myself wholeheartedly to the task you
entrusted me with.”
Ah.
A sigh escaped Cale’s lips.
“Everything is prepared. Lord Cale, you only need to wait
one day.”
Clopeh’s smiling face.
His gentle voice.
His eyes filled with happiness.
And those same eyes sparkling with excitement.
[It’s over.]
Cale realized, whatever it was, he was already doomed.
And—
“Hahaha—”
He laughed.
“Yes. Well done!”
Yeah, everything will be fine!
Besides, he wouldn’t live in the game, and that half-dragon
would be a bit embarrassed.
[Right, people will forget the birth ceremony soon!]
Honestly, look around.
Who, besides family, remembers someone’s birth
moment, bringing it up years later?
[Right! It’s just an event! A task!]
So!
“Alright, I’ll wait.”
He’d sit quietly and enjoy the task rewards.
“Hahaha!”
Cale laughed.
“Human, why are you always laughing? I’ll laugh too!
Hahaha!”
Raon laughed along.
“Haha—”
Aurora, in a good mood seeing the reward in Cale’s hand,
laughed too.
“Heh.”
And Clopeh gave a faint smile.
“!”
That smile felt ominous, and Cale froze, but there was
work to do first.
“Clopeh. I’ll hear about the process later. I have something
to do first.”
“Yes, understood. Then I’ll go to the hatching chamber
where Lord Edenmiru is.”
Edenmiru had a dedicated hatching chamber?
Cale guessed a lot had changed in his absence but
pretended not to notice for now.
“Uh, I’ll head over there.”
“Yes. But, Lord Cale.”
Before leaving, Clopeh cautiously said to Cale,
“When the birth ceremony begins, Lord Cale, you’ll need
to use your power without straining your body. It’s no big
deal, just a small thing.”
“Oh. Yeah. As long as it’s within bounds, I don’t mind.”
Cale answered without thinking.
“Good.”
Clopeh smiled brightly.
[Uh?]
Should I have said no?
Cale had that thought.
“Then, two thousand.”
Clopeh suddenly exited swiftly.
Click.
The door opened and closed in an instant, and Clopeh was
gone.
“Human, why’s your face so wrinkled?”
“…No.”
Ignoring the ominous feeling, Cale approached the bed.
The small glass vial in his hand. The liquid inside.
“He said to sprinkle this on the forehead.”
As Cale spoke, Aurora crossed her arms, unable to hide her
tension.
“Human! Is Dark Phantom Lyupe waking up?”
“Yeah. Soon.”
Cale opened the vial.
The liquid inside had no scent or color.
“….”
Count Lyupe, looking fast asleep.
Cale tilted the vial, and the liquid dripped out.
Drip.
The moment the liquid touched Lyupe’s forehead.
Flash!
“Ugh!”
“Too bright!”
Aurora and Raon shielded their eyes from the dazzling
light.
Cale squinted but emptied the vial completely.
Drip.
The moment the last drop left the vial.
“Human, the liquid’s gone!”
With the bright light, all the liquid seemed to be absorbed
into Lyupe’s head.
Ding!
A notification sounded for Cale.
A guiding tone only he could hear.
[Reward Used!]
[Dark Phantom Lyupe has regained the lost memories of
‘Count Lyupe.’]
“Hm.”
Lyupe groaned, his face twisting.
“Lord Count!”
Aurora called out with a trembling voice.
“….”
Lyupe slowly opened his eyes.
Blink.
After blinking a few times, he immediately scanned his
surroundings.
His gaze was blocked by Aurora.
“You—”
Ahem.
Clearing his throat, he spoke again.
“You’ve grown a lot.”
“Ah.”
Aurora plopped back into her chair.
As if her strength gave out, she leaned back, smiling
instantly.
“Because a lot of time has passed, Lord Count.”
Count Lyupe.
His memories had truly returned.
Despite his youthful appearance, Aurora could sense the
steady demeanor of the Count Lyupe she knew.
“….”
Lyupe’s gaze shifted to Cale.
He stared at Cale for a while before speaking.
“Thank you.”
Then he added,
“Great Evil.”
At that moment, Cale’s lips curled slightly.
[As expected.]
Lyupe’s identity was less “Demon Realm Count” and more
“Dark Phantom.”
He’d only regained his lost memories.
Confirming this, Cale spoke.
“You two have a lot to talk about, so I’ll say one thing and
leave.”
“Hm? You’re not staying?”
Aurora, thinking the three had much to discuss, showed
regret. But Cale pretended not to notice.
[I can’t get involved in Demon Realm affairs anymore.]
Aurora wanted to discuss the Demon Realm, but Cale had
already done everything needed by capturing Viscount
Deschuran, the Sixth Army’s leader, from the current
Demon King’s Eighth Army.
He pulled out a stack of papers from his chest.
“Reports on Transparent’s experiments on Demon Realm
demons. And evidence that those demons were procured
from the current Demon King.”
“…!”
Aurora’s eyes widened.
With trembling hands, she took the documents Cale
handed her.
“This—”
“Yes. I think you two can decide how to use it.”
Gulp.
Aurora’s eyes sparkled as she swallowed.
She now had a dagger to strike the current Demon King
and legitimacy for her actions.
And the ally with the wealth to make it happen was back.
“I have one thing to tell you.”
Cale’s voice reached her ears, her heart pounding.
“When we hit Transparent’s lab, we posed as the God of
Chaos’s ‘Darkness.’ And the current Demon King now
knows ‘Darkness’ captured his subordinate, disrupting his
work.”
Cale stopped speaking, seeing Aurora’s clear, gleaming
eyes.
[Got it. She’ll handle it.]
Aurora.
As the Arbiter group’s leader, even as the former Demon
King’s sole heir, she wasn’t enough to counter the
immense power centered on the current Demon King.
But what she could achieve depended on how she used
this advantage, and she’d gain much.
“The God of Chaos. They should get help from ‘Darkness.’”
At Aurora’s faint smile, Cale smiled too.
[Yes, that’s it.]
The Demon King, Hunters, and God of Chaos.
Maximizing their conflicts, escalating them to the extreme.
Meanwhile, strengthening his body and wielding the
weapon of truth to turn the tide.
“If they fight each other, that’d be great.”
Cale tried to express his simple wish and leave the
bedroom with Raon but paused.
“Oh, and you know, right?”
He mentioned something he’d told Aurora before.
“Get a few demons to assist us.”
Demons using gray mana.
Perfect for posing as God of Chaos followers.
“Soon, after raiding the God of Chaos’s holy land, I’ll pose
as the Holy Son. Haha!”
“Human, are you scamming? Hehe!”
Leaving a leisurely smile, he vanished with a joyful Raon.
Click.
Aurora, staring blankly at the closed door, turned her
head.
Count Lyupe gazed at her, their eyes meeting, and he
spoke.
“We must dye the Demon Realm in chaos.”
Dark Phantom Lyupe.
“The current Demon King is the King of Apathy, right?”
Called Apathy for being bored with everything.
“That’s because he hasn’t experienced hell.”
Lyupe. He recalled the moment he died in experiments.
He succeeded, reborn as Count Lyupe in the game, but his
family died in that agony.
That horrific hell.
“No one’s bored in hell.”
A quiet rage burned in Lyupe’s faint smile.
“….”
Aurora, unable to say anything, shifted her gaze to the
ceiling as Lyupe spoke.
His voice was soft.
“There should also be a being to govern chaos and hell.”
“Hm?”
When Aurora, not hearing clearly, asked back,
“Nothing.”
He just smiled.
Great Evil.
The Demon King, God of Chaos, Hunters.
Making these three massive forces fight.
Truly, you’re the evil of evils.
“…So we must believe.”
In Count Lyupe—no, Dark Phantom Lyupe’s heart of
revenge, a vivid expectation also burned.
“A new chaotic force emerged from Transparent’s side
too?”
“Exactly.”
The King of Apathy.
He tapped the armrest, smiling.
“You haven’t found those who touched my soldiers yet?”
“…No.”
The minister kneeling on the ground trembled.
But the Demon King’s gaze wasn’t on him.
He looked out the window and spoke.
“Interesting.”
Tap. Tap.
He lightly tapped the armrest, stroking it, showing intrigue.
“Really, very interesting.”
The ministers didn’t know where the Demon King’s gaze
landed.
Only that a faint interest stirred in his apathetic eyes.
The King of Apathy escaped boredom in one way.
“Gather the soldiers.”
And,
“Summon the seven generals.”
With Viscount Deschuran gone, the Demon King’s Eighth
Army became seven.
“And contact the God of Chaos and the Transparent
Family.”
War.
The King of Apathy shed his apathy only when waging war.
Especially against worthy opponents. Only then did he
seem truly alive.
Half-dragon Edenmiru.
Having lived over nine hundred years, becoming a dragon,
the soul continuing that life.
The time left before that soul was reborn in a new form
was—
“…10 hours, 29 minutes.”
If calculated,
“Noon.”
After this night passed, morning brightened, and the sun
reached its zenith at noon.
Then Edenmiru would be born.
“….”
Cale tightly shut his eyes.
In the hatching chamber, only Cale and Edenmiru were
present.
On his lap lay Clopeh’s report.
“….”
He opened his eyes, staring at the egg wrapped in floral
cloth.
“…Sorry.”
…Tap tap.
It was a gesture of understanding and resignation.
<—Detected over 100 scouts sent from the Six Evils
(excluding the Third and Seventh Evils). Pretended not to
notice.
—At least from the Fourth Evil, individuals above mid-tier
BOSS level are expected to formally or secretly visit to
observe the birth ceremony.
—Strengthened border security between the Western and
Eastern Empires. Magic scouts sent from various magic
towers toward the Seventh Evil.
—Sent birth hints to the three strongest, five mid-tier, and
ten weakest forces in the New World.
:Birth hints are not invitations or text but various
anomalies suggesting the ‘birth of evil,’ making them
clearly feel the creation of a ‘legend.’
*Anomalies include ‘dark red skies shrouded by crows,’
‘skeleton soldiers rising from the ground,’ ‘sudden
whirlwinds,’ ‘storms,’ ‘clear-sky lightning,’ etc., totaling 39
patterns, occurring periodically on a significant scale.>
Clopeh’s report was well over a hundred pages.
It was hard to hold.
“…Over 39 phenomena… across the entire continent…?
You lunatic.”
Tap tap.
“Making videos, running public opinion on community
boards? How do you even know this? A legend is just
knowing the story yourself! Why make videos and upload
them? Ha. Lunatic.”
Tap tap.
“You’re mad too, right?”
Tap tap.
“You’ve worked hard, kid.”
Tap tap.
“But after tomorrow, it’ll be fine. Yeah.”
Tap tap?
“Yeah. Maybe fine.”
…Tap tap… gurgle… tap tap.
Cale desperately avoided the report detailing the birth
ceremony—no, the legendary birth ritual’s sequence.
“Hey, you just need to be born well. We’ll handle the rest.”
Tap… tap tap… gurgle… tap tap… tap…
Ignoring Edenmiru’s movements.
<Birth Concept: The Birth of the Greatest Evil.>
<All who witness tremble in fear at the grand, dark,
solemn birth spectacle.>
<Essential Elements: Cale’s aura, Heavenly Demon’s aura,
Choi Han’s aura, three dragons’ magic circles…>
Cale really didn’t need to overdo it tomorrow.
—Cale. I’m delighted to wholeheartedly celebrate the half-
dragon’s birth.
The Dominating Aura spoke in a rare, low, serious tone.
“Hm.”
What would happen?
Cale brushed it off.
Because it was just a task.
Near noon.
When the sun in the fairytale land was naturally due to
rise.
“…T-The… the sun’s gone…!”
The terrified shout drew gazes in one direction.
The white castle.
Also known as the Cotton Candy Castle.
The place where Edenmiru would be born.
All eyes focused there.
Tap tap.
Cale set down the egg he’d been holding, looking at the
screen.
[Recovery Rate: 99.98% (Time Remaining: 0 hours, 57
minutes)]
[Birth Ceremony Progress: 197%]
[Reward Grade: TBD]
Less than an hour until the birth ceremony.
The progress had soared to nearly 200%.
Cale seemed to know why.
Caw caw caw—
Crows sent messages.
Tiger Tribe shaman Gashan shouted,
“The Eastern Empire’s strongest shaman infiltrated the
Seventh Evil!”
“The Western Empire’s Sword Saint and his group seem to
have arrived too!”
“Detected personnel from three magic towers!”
Relationships were tricky.
“Hoh. The second BOSS of the Second Evil is here.”
“Spotted the shadow of the Sixth Evil!”
The Eighth Evil arrived too.
“All the residents and BOSS-level villains of the Seventh
Evil are flooding toward the Cotton Candy Castle! Tens of
thousands, maybe 100,000, are about to surround the
castle!”
The open fields around the Cotton Candy Castle.
The Seventh Evil’s residents gathered there, awaiting the
birth of their new master.
“It’s about to begin. Hehe.”
Cale, looking at the smiling Clopeh, tightly shut his eyes.
Hiss hiss.
Uncharacteristically, Clopeh gently stroked Edenmiru’s
egg.
Tap tap!
The egg jolted fiercely, rejecting the hand.
“Hehe.”
Clopeh’s smile quieted the scene.
The soon-to-be-born baby boss of the Seventh Evil.
Of course, he was over nine hundred years old, nearly a
thousand.
Chapter 2-396: The Birth of Evil (13)
The grandest hall in the Cotton Candy Castle.
It was now in chaos.
“Quickly! Stop the Seventh Evil’s residents from entering!”
“Yes, Lord Dark Bear!”
The ferocious Dark Bear was the busiest among them.
He was currently excelling as the acting BOSS of the
Seventh Evil.
“To keep the Sixth Evil’s shadows from sneaking into the
castle, light torches everywhere! No one must disrupt the
BOSS’s birth!”
His furry forepaws waved, issuing orders.
“We must show that the Seventh Evil is the best among
the Eight Evils!”
His majesty spurred all the minions in the Cotton Candy
Castle into swift action.
These minions, belonging to the castle, weren’t variables
like the Dark Bear, so they diligently followed his
commands.
Even Cale’s group wandering the castle was convincing to
them.
[If you follow my orders, you’ll witness the new evil! It’ll
become the greatest evil!]
Because the Dark Bear said so.
“Hehe.”
Behind the Dark Bear, Clopeh let out a low chuckle.
For days, Clopeh had been in an exceptionally good mood.
“Hehehe—”
His smile grew brighter.
“Hey! Kid! Who told you to act so foolishly! Are you trying
to ruin the BOSS’s birth ceremony?!”
The Dark Bear’s voice rose.
The little bear’s back was soaked with sweat.
“….”
Watching this, Cale quietly stood from his seat.
“Lord Cale. It’s almost time.”
At Clopeh’s words, Cale nodded roughly and picked up the
egg.
As if relieved, the egg, usually motionless, was as warm as
ever.
“Return on time.”
“Yeah.”
He waved casually, responding to Clopeh’s request, and
moved.
“….”
…Silence.
Cale made no sound.
“We found a spy trying to climb the walls!”
“Catch him, kill him!”
“Lord Dark Bear, we’ve exceeded 120,000! Shouldn’t we
give some orders?”
“Shut up! C-Clopeh Sekka just said we shouldn’t say
anything, don’t mention it, shut up! Silence is the coolest!”
“T-That’s—”
“We say nothing, just show it! That’s what legends do!”
“Huh? L-Legend?”
“You know legends? Have you studied legends for three
days and nights like me?! You brats, just do as I say!”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
Ignoring the noisy chatter, Cale carried Edenmiru to a
quiet place.
Choi Han, Rosalyn, Eruhaben, and others.
His companions weren’t around.
They were stationed inside and outside the Cotton Candy
Castle, each handling their roles for the birth ceremony.
<No Entry>
Cale saw a sign set up by the Dark Bear before turning the
corridor corner and smiled.
From a certain point, the corridor ahead was restricted.
The reason was obvious.
Tap tap.
Passing the sign, he turned the corner with light steps.
“Human!”
“I’ve been waiting!”
“Come quickly.”
Children, averaging ten years old, welcomed him.
No,
“Edenmiru!”
“Finally, the youngest is being born today!”
“Doesn’t seem like the youngest.”
Edenmiru was thrilled.
And—
“Lord Sheritt.”
Cale looked past the teleportation gate to Sheritt,
watching from Apitoyu.
Dragon Lord Neo. The teleportation gate to the New
World was built beneath his lair.
Being underground, the Black Castle wasn’t easily
accessible, but it had been extensively demolished and
repaired.
Meaning, opening the Black Castle’s entrance brought the
teleportation gate within arm’s reach.
“You’re here.”
In front of the entrance.
There, Sheritt paused to greet Cale.
“Human! Edenmiru’s different!”
Raon, taking the egg from Cale, placed it on a soft cushion
right before the teleportation gate.
“….”
Sheritt’s gaze never left the egg.
“Hehe!”
“I’m excited!”
“It’s almost time.”
On, Hong, and Raon gathered around the cushion.
“….”
…Silence.
Sheritt and Edenmiru showed no reaction.
Cale scanned the surroundings.
About a dozen video communicators were set up before
the teleportation gate.
They displayed real-time views of various parts of the
Cotton Candy Castle.
This was Eruhaben’s thoughtful setup for Sheritt, who
couldn’t properly witness Edenmiru’s birth ceremony.
Sheritt would watch Edenmiru’s birth from here.
Then, Sheritt’s eyes met Cale’s.
“Lord Sheritt.”
“Hm?”
“Can’t it be born here?”
After seeing the progress exceed 100%, Cale thought it’d
be nice for Edenmiru to be born by Sheritt’s side.
[Honestly, the task matters too.]
Birth.
Thinking of that word, wasn’t Sheritt’s side ideal?
With Raon Miru nearby, wouldn’t Edenmiru’s birth be the
most powerful?
“No.”
But Sheritt was firm.
“Stick to the plan.”
It was a remarkably calm response.
…Silence.
Edenmiru stayed still on the soft cushion.
Cale alternated between the egg and Sheritt, speaking.
His voice was casual.
“Then explain why.”
“Huh?”
Looking at a puzzled Sheritt, Cale glanced at the egg.
[This half-dragon kid—]
Still watching Sheritt’s mood. More precisely, stiffening in
her presence.
Not once had it moved freely before her. Just stayed
quietly.
That might be convenient,
[Hm.]
Cale wondered if the half-dragon still felt Sheritt’s guilt.
So Sheritt should explain.
Why she refused to watch Edenmiru’s birth by her side.
“Why let Clopeh Sekka do that?”
Cale’s casual question silenced Sheritt for a moment.
Raon, On, and Hong quietly shut their mouths, watching
Sheritt.
…Silence.
The egg remained quiet.
“….”
“….”
Cale and Sheritt gazed at each other silently.
[Stop being shy and say it.]
Cale looked at Sheritt with that sentiment.
With her girlish appearance, Sheritt’s face twisted. Her
freckles quivered.
“Hoo.”
She sighed.
Then.
Ding—
A small bell chimed.
The birth ceremony was about to begin.
[Recovery Rate: 99.98% (Time Remaining: 0 hours, 15
minutes)]
[Birth Ceremony Progress: 197%]
[Reward Grade: TBD]
Fifteen minutes until the birth.
“We need to go—”
As On said, Edenmiru and Cale had to leave now.
So did Raon, Hong, and On.
“Yes, time to go.”
Cale picked up Edenmiru’s egg again.
He greeted Sheritt.
“We’re off.”
Then turned without lingering.
Raon and Hong looked at Cale with “Are we really
leaving?” expressions, but his calm face showed no
hesitation.
Sheritt was the same.
She just stood quietly.
“I’m going too…!”
“Yeah, I’m off!”
Raon and Hong gave their final greetings to Sheritt.
But Sheritt didn’t look at them.
Her gaze fixed on the egg, which twitched slightly at Cale’s
side as he turned.
“Edenmiru.”
Cale stopped.
Because Sheritt called Edenmiru’s name.
…Silence.
The egg showed no reaction.
Sheritt’s face held no emotion.
At such moments, her age shone through, not her youthful
appearance.
“You—”
Then, Cale saw someone approaching to escort him and
Edenmiru.
The former pope, half-dragon Cassilia.
“…!”
When Cale raised a hand to signal her to stop, she halted.
At that moment, Sheritt’s words to Edenmiru reached
everyone’s ears.
A casual voice, seemingly devoid of emotion.
“Edenmiru, you should be born amidst everyone’s
blessings.”
Cale shifted his gaze from Cassilia’s complex expression to
Edenmiru’s egg.
The unresponsive egg. Cale turned and walked.
There stood Sheritt, staring at the egg.
Her gaze was always on Edenmiru.
“….”
After a brief hesitation, she spoke again.
“I built a castle for my children.”
Hm.
Cale noticed her hesitation over past events.
Half-dragon, Sheritt, Raon.
For these three, the past was like a thorny thicket, not to
be touched.
But unlike her hesitation, Sheritt’s voice was calm.
“I prepared everything so my children could grow without
lacking anything.”
Building a castle for her children.
Decorating its interior.
Even now, creating her own existence, Sheritt.
Yet—
“There’s one regret.”
Sheritt looked up at the ceiling.
Despite all preparations, she felt regret.
“Thinking of a birth in that silent castle, I regret that fact.”
Her body wasn’t truly a living life.
In the end, no life welcomed her children.
Her children had to be born alone.
“So I kept imagining.”
Perhaps due to regret, she held onto imagination—no,
greed.
“How wonderful it’d be if my child was born amidst
countless cheers, joy, and blessings.”
The egg still didn’t move.
Sheritt couldn’t see Edenmiru.
She just spoke.
“I’m the great Dragon Lord. I have no doubt that with my
blood, my child will be great too. And that’s true.”
Half-dragon Cassilia, listening to former Dragon Lord
Sheritt’s story, thought.
[Is greatness really that significant to dragons?]
Human and dragon. With both bloods mixed, Edenmiru’s
birth was meaningful to her, but dragon blood wasn’t
great—just a curse.
Thus, Cassilia’s face darkened.
“But that’s not why I want many blessings because I’m
great. Hm, what’s so great about dragons? Many here
have done greater things.”
…!
Cassilia’s eyes wavered.
Then Cale saw Sheritt look back here.
She looked at Edenmiru and spoke.
“Just, I—”
After a brief hesitation, she said.
“Because I’m a mother.”
Tap tap.
The egg moved.
Edenmiru reacted.
“So, I want my child to be loved by everyone.”
Cale felt the egg twitch.
Not from fear.
An uncontainable passion was felt even outside the shell.
The egg grew hotter.
“I want my child’s birth to be surrounded by joy and
cheers, not silence and loneliness.”
A faint smile curved Sheritt’s expressionless face.
Then she said to Edenmiru,
“I fulfilled that wish today.”
I want my children to be loved by everyone.
I want my child’s birth to be surrounded by joy and cheers,
not silence and loneliness.
And today, I fulfilled that wish.
Everyone present understood the meaning.
Tap tap.
The egg trembled and moved incessantly.
As if the life inside struggled to break out.
Cale moved.
Half-dragon Cassilia stared blankly at the scene.
Cale stood before the teleportation gate, holding the egg
out to Sheritt.
Sheritt reached out.
But her hand stopped before the gate.
She leaned slightly, whispering to the egg.
“I hope you’re born safely.”
Sheritt took a slow breath, then exhaled.
Then, with a trembling voice.
Cale felt her sincerity in that moment.
Sheritt whispered to Edenmiru,
I hope you’re born safely.
When it’s all over.
“Come see Mom.”
Sheritt beckoned.
Raon approached.
Raon stroked Edenmiru’s egg.
Sheritt looked at him fondly, saying to both children,
“I’ll always be waiting.”
Come see Mom anytime.
Because I’ll be waiting as always.
“Got it, Mom! I’ll be right back!”
Raon lifted the egg with his chubby forepaws.
“Edenmiru! You’ll do the same, right?”
Tap tap!
The egg moved briskly.
The moment Cale’s lips curled up unwittingly.
—Sniff. Moved! I’ll pour all my power—
The Dominating Aura’s chilling voice wiped Cale’s smile
away.
But he was satisfied.
[Now this timid kid will be born properly, right?]
Edenmiru.
He could rest assured about this secretly anxious kid’s
birth.
A satisfied smile tugged at Cale’s lips.
“Hm?”
Then.
[Recovery Rate: 99.98% (Time Remaining: 0 hours, 12
minutes)]
[Birth Ceremony Progress: 197%]
[Reward Grade: TBD]
The task window suddenly glitched.
[*Change Detected!]
Hm?
[Recovery Rate: 99.985% (Time Remaining: 0 hours, 9
minutes)]
Huh?
The time suddenly dropped.
Three minutes vanished in a second.
“What?”
[Recovery Rate: 99.99% (Time Remaining: 0 hours, 6
minutes)]
Huh?
[The subject’s birth will has reached maximum, causing a
task variable!]
What did you say?
[Recovery Rate: 99.993% (Time Remaining: 0 hours, 5
minutes)]
Cale stared at the status window, shouting,
“Crazy, insane!”
Five minutes!
The time dropped drastically.
Four minutes, thirty seconds.
Four minutes.
It plummeted in a flash.
“Human?”
As Raon looked puzzled,
Snatch!
Cale grabbed the egg from Raon’s forepaws.
And ran.
“Human!”
“Cale!”
“What, is it happening?”
Meow?
Meow?
To his confused companions, Cale shouted,
“Four minutes—no! Three minutes until birth!”
Gasp!
Hiss!
Gasps erupted everywhere, but Cale had no time to care.
He yelled at the egg,
“Hey! What’s with you all of a sudden!”
Tap, tap tap tap tap…!
The egg seemed panicked too.
But that wasn’t the issue now.
Whoosh—
Using the Sound of the Wind, he ran fast.
[Recovery Rate: 99.996% (Time Remaining: 0 hours, 2
minutes, 47 seconds)]
For the first time, Cale,
“Clopeh!”
Urgently called Clopeh’s name.
Because the schedule needed to be adjusted early.
“Lord Cale?”
To a puzzled Clopeh, Cale shouted,
“Help me!”
That moment, Cale stopped.
Clopeh’s pupils shook, his face lighting up with joy.
Then tears streamed down.
[Crazy, lunatic…!]
Cale panicked.
But there was no choice.
He was desperate now.
“Two minutes!”
Grabbing Clopeh’s shoulders, he spoke first.
“Birth in two minutes!”
Eleven minutes earlier than planned.
All schedules had to change.
Cale’s gaze turned to the task window.
[Recovery Rate: 99.9965% (Time Remaining: 0 hours, 2
minutes, 01 seconds)]
“Hm?”
Only now did he notice.
[Birth Ceremony Progress: 197%]
Clearly, with this progress,
[Birth Ceremony Progress: 251%]
It had skyrocketed.
As if reflecting Edenmiru’s will to be born.
“Ah, it’s hot!”
Cale had to lift his hands off the egg.
The scorching egg.
It was slowly rising into the air.
And Cale’s reliable lunatic.
“Lord Cale. Don’t worry.”
Clopeh’s face returned to calm, speaking gently.
“Variables are the foundation of legends.”
Hehe.
He smiled, raising his hand.
“Everyone, to your positions!”
He resembled Guardian Knight Clopeh Sekka, leading an
army to wage war across the continent.
Woo woo woo—
The Cotton Candy Castle. Everyone gathered to witness
the new BOSS’s birth looked up.
A massive crowd of 120,000.
They saw dark red clouds cover the sky, shrouding the
world’s plains in darkness.
Unlike the previous dark red clouds.
The sky blackened, red light enveloping the plains.
“…Finally!”
“…Ah, aah—”
Everyone instinctively sensed the moment something was
born.
—Cale. Let’s go.
Looking out from the Cotton Candy Castle’s top floor, Cale
closed his eyes.
The Dominating Aura activated.
Whoosh—
A wind rose.
“…!”
“….”
The vast plains fell silent.
Quiet enough to hear the wind.
It had to be.
An inexplicable pressure suddenly emanated from the
castle.
Like facing an absolute being of this world.
“!”
“…!”
At that moment, in the sky, a small egg fell from the dark
red clouds.
Chapter 2-397: The Birth of Evil (14)
“Ah—”
The small egg.
The moment they saw it, the residents of the Seventh Evil
gathered at the Cotton Candy Castle instinctively bowed
their heads.
“…!”
Spies from the other Eight Evils, disguised as Seventh Evil
residents, were shocked at their own reactions.
Not ordinary residents or low-ranks, but elites sent to such
a place, they felt intimidated just by looking, nearly
bowing their heads.
“….”
“….”
Their faces stiffened.
The newborn boss of the Seventh Evil.
Before his birth, everything was extraordinary.
More so than any other BOSS of the Eight Evils.
What that meant.
“Aaah—”
“Oh…!”
Moreover, the mid-tier villains of the Seventh Evil sighed
and gasped, fully accepting the overwhelming pressure
enveloping them.
The Cotton Candy Castle.
Monsters of mid-tier and above, frustrated at being unable
to enter, grumbled.
Thud!
Clang!
They knelt before the small egg, bowing their heads.
“Finally, the true lord to lead us—!”
Being strong within the Seventh Evil, they felt it more
keenly.
A presence exerting pressure equally over 120,000 lives.
But that pressure didn’t suffocate.
It merely spread like a breeze.
The egg.
Its mere existence radiated a ruler’s aura.
“Ah—”
“Aaah…!”
Ordinary residents and monsters, overwhelmed by the
pressure, gasped in awe, mimicking the other BOSSes’
movements.
Kneeling to the egg, bowing, or looking up with clasped
hands.
And they were surprised.
Because the action felt so natural.
The Seventh Evil had two final BOSSes before, but this kind
of presence was a first.
“!”
“!!”
Then, successive sights made them gasp.
Caw caw—caw caw—
The open plains surrounding the Cotton Candy Castle.
The forest encircling it.
Black crows surged from that forest in unison.
They cried out, landing on branches and the ground.
Spreading their wings, they mimicked a human bow.
Tap tap. Tap tap.
Skeletons, having traveled from across the continent,
finally reached the plains.
As if—
Thud!
Simultaneously, as if commanded, they knelt on one knee.
Whether in monster or human form, the skeletons knelt in
a knightly pose, gazing at the egg.
“…Commander…”
Personnel dispatched from various empires and kingdoms,
hiding in the forest and watching the distant plains,
pretended not to notice each other but couldn’t hide their
chills.
“…Truly,”
The Eight Evils.
A new BOSS had emerged among them.
Though dispatched urgently due to unusual omens, their
infiltration into one of the Eight Evils marked them as their
nations’ elites.
They felt it now.
A magic tower master, sent on the emperor’s orders,
whispered a chant.
“…Truly, the birth of a great evil—”
Whoosh whoosh whoosh.
Under dark red clouds, the egg radiated a ruler’s aura.
What would be born from it?
To anyone, it looked like a dragon egg.
Since the previous Seventh Evil’s final BOSS was a dragon,
this BOSS was likely one too.
But did dragons birth like this?
“…Demon King…”
A dispatched agent unwittingly uttered a taboo word
whispered in rumors.
Others from different nations pretended not to hear, but
the word filled their minds.
Ominous.
That feeling swirled around the egg.
Was this the birth of an enemy threatening the world?
If so—
At the moment of birth—
[Should it be eliminated?]
Even if they lacked such power.
Before it grew further—
Gulp.
Someone swallowed.
The dispatched agents shared similar thoughts.
Not just them.
Spies from the other Eight Evils had similar ideas.
“Hoh!”
“Urk—!”
But before those thoughts could continue, the situation
changed dramatically.
Everything surged at once.
Whoosh—
A sudden fierce wind blew.
Rustle rustle rustle.
Forest leaves fell to the ground.
Branches swayed easily.
A hurricane.
Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap.
Then raindrops began to fall.
A few drops quickly turned into a downpour.
Shaaaaaaa—!
Torrential rain drowned out the fierce wind and obscured
vision.
“Ugh!”
“Hm!”
Those facing it groaned, unable to rally.
“…!”
“!”
But the majority—120,000 lives—stood silently, staring
blankly.
The vast plains under a black-red sky.
Everywhere else was stormy, but here was calm.
“….”
“….”
They dared not speak.
Only the day before did they realize the pressure
enveloping them held no fear or despair.
They understood it was merely a force asserting its
existence.
Like a king caring for a kingdom’s people.
Majestic, yet a hand of confidence that would never harm
them.
“Ah—”
Someone gasped.
Amid all dangers, only this place.
Where the Seventh Evil’s residents stood was safe.
“They’re spies!”
“There are infiltrators!”
Especially the BOSS-level minions instantly knew
something was afoot in the forest.
Thus, they could only revere the unborn egg more.
The previous BOSS Dragon Lord never protected them.
No, few BOSSes in the Eight Evils did.
Most only oppressed subordinates with greater strength
and evil.
The Sixth or Third Evils loved only their kin.
Boom!
Then, the earth shook violently.
Tap tap!
Simultaneously, the skeletons prostrated themselves.
Flap!
The crows swallowed their cries, soaring into the sky.
Forming a massive circle at the boundary of plains and
forest.
Skeletons on the ground.
Crows in the sky.
The moment they realized everyone formed a circle,
creating a guard barrier.
“….”
Cale stared at one thing.
[Recovery Rate: 99.9999%]
His companions on the top floor watched him too.
Especially the Heavenly Demon, eyeing Cale with a subtle
gaze, noting he covered the vast plains with minimal effort
yet remained unscathed.
Whoosh.
Cale raised his hand.
[Recovery Rate: 100%]
The moment he lowered it.
Cale walked to the window.
Crack—
The egg began to split.
Edenmiru was born.
“Go.”
Whoosh—
Wind swirled around Cale’s toes.
“Begin!”
Raon cast invisibility magic on Cale and himself.
One human and one dragon leaped from the window.
They flew toward the egg.
No one could see them.
But that was fine.
Crack—
—Human, Edenmiru’s born!
Someone had to be by Edenmiru’s side.
No matter how grand the birth, someone should hold the
newborn.
“Let’s start.”
Cale whispered.
Raon looked up.
Dark red clouds.
Then down.
The small egg.
A multicolored egg of black, gold, and purple approached
the person with those hues mystically.
Crack—
The cracks deepened.
“Hehe!”
Raon, watching invisibly, flapped his wings, raising his
chubby forepaws.
Woo woo woo—
Black mana surged around the dark red clouds.
Others couldn’t distinguish it amid the clouds.
Raon was excited.
Smashing was thrilling, but—
Explosions anywhere were exciting.
No risk of anyone getting hurt.
No need to protect anyone.
Today, Raon had one task.
[Celebrate!]
Edenmiru.
Celebrate the half-dragon’s new birth.
Feeling the gathered mana, Raon murmured unwittingly.
“…Mom…”
Then he was surprised.
Sheritt.
She and Edenmiru.
Like Cale, On, Hong, and Choi Han were family, but two
dragons approached with slightly different hearts.
Pat pat.
Invisible Cale stroked his hair.
Yeah, it’s all fine now!
“Hehe!”
Raon felt great.
His wings flapped harder, as if responding.
Bang!
Raon’s forepaws clapped together.
That moment.
Woo woo woo—woo woo woo—
The sky rumbled.
Invisible Raon’s way of celebrating Edenmiru.
Showing Edenmiru’s power.
Woo woo woo—
Thunder began to flicker under the dark red sky.
Then the Heavenly Demon moved his hand skyward.
The dark red sky split open.
As if lightning tore through the clouds.
The moment the egg cracked.
The moment a new life was born.
Lightning pierced the ominous clouds, and light appeared.
“It’s starting.”
On a distant mountain.
Watching it all, Ancient Dragon Eruhaben quietly moved
his hand.
Rustle rustle rustle—
Platinum mana swirled around him.
His gaze fixed on the small egg.
He recalled the light that moved to protect everyone in the
past.
The light of a massive dragon.
“Yes.”
The dark red clouds parted, revealing platinum currents.
“You are light.”
Half-dragon.
No, Edenmiru.
That one is light.
[Title: Half-Human, Half-Dragon of Light and Time]
Didn’t the game acknowledge it too?
“Then it should be a fitting birth.”
Storms raged around.
The dark red clouds split.
Platinum thunder struck the ground.
“!”
“…!”
The Seventh Evil residents, too scared to speak, curled up.
But the thunder faded before touching them.
Hiss hiss hiss—
Instead, it turned into platinum powder.
As if the thunder split, becoming light dust.
“….”
“….”
Pat. Pat pat.
The light dust reached the ground, touching the Seventh
Evil residents.
Villains, holy sons, elders—all saw the light piercing the
dark red clouds and felt the dust merge into them.
They couldn’t close their eyes.
Because the most light dust spread like an aurora in the
sky.
The egg at its center.
Crack—
The egg finally split, catching everyone’s eyes.
“Ah—”
Sacred.
The ominousness vanished.
Such a beautiful scene shook their hearts.
Like a hero’s birth.
Neither the Seventh Evil, other Eight Evils, nor other
nations anticipated this festival of light.
Instead, those in higher positions were more shocked.
They realized.
This wasn’t mere evil.
What evil could emit such beautiful light?
They realized.
[A great evil.]
Evil and good. A colossal existence that could shake hearts
was being born.
Crack—
The egg fully shattered.
—Human, it’s born!
The moment Raon shouted.
—Ah!
[Hm!]
Cale panicked too.
Flash!
Bright light burst from the egg.
—Truly light.
As the Super Rock said, not Raon or Eruhaben’s light, but
true light poured from the egg.
So dazzling, Cale closed his eyes.
But amid it, he glimpsed something at the light’s center.
Eyes closed, he unwittingly reached out.
Soft.
His hand touched something.
He realized it was another forepaw.
Softer than Raon’s as a baby, he understood instantly.
Gently pulling the forepaw.
Something fell into his embrace.
Invisible Cale.
He knew what to do before the light faded.
He gently stroked the smooth back, then firmly lifted the
small being in his hands overhead.
The light vanished.
—Human, it’s Edenmiru!
Invisible Cale and Raon, amid an aurora of bright platinum
dust.
A small dragon existed at its center.
Though half-human, half-dragon, Edenmiru now appeared
as a baby dragon.
Small enough to fit in Cale’s hands, the dragon slowly
opened its eyes.
The dragon seemed to know who held it, looking down.
“….”
“….”
Cale and Edenmiru gazed at each other.
Cale was startled.
Because he saw dark brown eyes like his own.
A black body like Raon’s.
But golden patterns etched on it evoked a galaxy.
And two purple horns.
Half-human, half-dragon of light and time.
Edenmiru.
Round eyes like Raon’s curved into a crescent smile at
Cale.
—Thank you.
A voice sent directly via magic.
Youthful, but Edenmiru.
—I like this name.
Edenmiru gave Cale belated thanks.
That moment, a task window appeared before Cale.
[Task Completed!]
Another sub-task done.
[Created an Astonishing Legend!]
Yeah, astonishing, right?
[Birth Ceremony Progress: 302%]
What’s the reward grade?
300% gave SSS+++, so this, slightly higher.
What will you give me?
As Cale mused blankly,
[Legend ‘The Sacred Evil, Birth of the Light Dragon’
Recorded in the New World!]
Huh?
Cale froze.
What dragon?
Light Dragon?
Dragon of Light?
But… Light Dragon feels off?
Is it crazy?
No way, not Edenmiru.
Cale looked up.
A dragon small enough to hold in both hands.
Edenmiru was quite—uh, hm—
—Human, Edenmiru’s so cute! Worthy of being the
youngest!
Uh… over 900 years old, but cute.
So cute even Cale genuinely acknowledged it.
Edenmiru himself seemed unaware of this.
“Waaaaaaa—!”
Then, cheers reached his ears.
Cale looked down.
As Sheritt wished.
120,000 people, countless lives stretching endlessly,
cheered for Edenmiru’s birth.
Eyes filled with awe, respect, or joy gazed at Emmiru.
—Hehe! Success!
Raon was delighted,
[Well, nicely done.]
Cale felt good too.
Neither noticed Edenmiru’s unusually relaxed expression.
And at that moment.
“Hehe—”
Clopeh Sekka, confirming all videos were stored, moved to
phase two.
“Spread this across the world.”
The New World, the Third Earth.
Everywhere.
Cale, watching the cheers, didn’t notice the task window
flicker.
[Birth Ceremony Progress: 307%]
[Birth Ceremony Progress: 308%]
[Birth Ceremony Progress: 309%]
The progress kept rising.
Clopeh Sekka’s sincerity was still beyond Cale’s grasp.
Chapter 2-398: You Dare Hit My Nape? (1)
Chapter 51: You Dare Hit My Nape?
“….”
“….”
Cale quietly gazed at the small dragon in his arms.
The small dragon averted his gaze.
“Put me down?”
Nod.
Cale nodded and placed the small dragon on the sofa.
Flap flap.
Raon watched with sparkling eyes.
“Hehe!”
“Hehe!”
Beside him, the red cat Hong laughed repeatedly, eyes
gleaming.
The small dragon pretended not to notice their stares.
“Waaa—!”
“Light Dragon! Light Dragon! Light Dragon!”
Outside the window, tens of thousands of Seventh Evil
residents, still lingering, cheered incessantly.
Cale stared into the air.
[Birth Ceremony Progress: 319%]
The birth ceremony had ended.
But—
“You’re here. Haha.”
The aftershocks of the birth ceremony hadn’t.
“The birth ceremony video is currently spreading across
the New World. Additionally, we’re uploading it to various
player communities.”
Clopeh Sekka. He was serious about legends.
“A legend isn’t just a phenomenon. It becomes a story,
passed down through people’s mouths, transcending the
present to reach future generations. Only then does it
become a legend.”
[The aftershocks of the birth ceremony are rapidly
spreading!]
[From the New World to the Third Earth, a legend is being
crafted!]
[Reward grade determination will be delayed!]
For some reason, Cale silently stared at the task window,
where the system seemed involved, then at Clopeh.
Clopeh bowed, gently addressing the baby dragon, the
true newborn of the day, Edenmiru.
“Congratulations on your birth.”
Edenmiru didn’t spare Clopeh Sekka a glance.
But Clopeh Sekka wasn’t one to care about such small
gestures.
He spoke with joy.
“Sacred Evil, Light Dragon. It’s created quite a resonance.”
The 900-year-old baby dragon tightly shut his eyes.
“Edenmiru. Your future will be a path of legend.”
“….”
Edenmiru just stared into the air.
Though his pupils seemed to waver oddly.
“Edenmiru!”
Raon swooped over,
“Let’s go!”
Grabbing Edenmiru’s tiny, chubby forepaw tightly.
“!”
Edenmiru panicked.
But Raon was in a hurry.
“To Mom!”
“…!”
Edenmiru’s pupils shook violently.
Cale realized from this that he hadn’t forgotten Sheritt but
lacked the courage to face her, hesitating.
“Let’s go!”
“Gotta go!”
Hong led the way, while On, somewhat understanding
Edenmiru, followed.
“….”
Edenmiru looked at Cale, but Cale smiled. Very kindly.
Seeing this, the dragon, small enough to fit in Cale’s hands,
scrunched his face.
“Let’s go!”
Swaying like a paper doll, he followed Raon’s pull.
Of course, Raon’s grip was gentle.
Knowing this, Edenmiru merely followed.
Flap flap flap flap!
Flap, flap—
Excited wings and oddly hesitant ones.
Despite being newly born, Edenmiru flapped his tiny wings
well.
Raon’s vigorous energy and his own forepaw, held by
Raon’s, caught Edenmiru’s eye.
“Waaaaaa—!”
“Light Dragon!”
“Our new lord!”
Cheers for him reached his ears.
“Ugh!”
Raon paused, hesitated briefly, then grabbed Edenmiru
with both forepaws.
“!”
Edenmiru panicked.
And Raon was a bit flustered too.
[Small!]
Edenmiru was too small.
Raon felt an inexplicable emotion.
Though he knew Edenmiru was over 900 years old, nearly
a millennium.
Black scales like his own.
Golden patterns reminiscent of Gold Dragon Eruhaben’s
platinum glow.
Pupil color strikingly like their human’s.
And eyes oddly resembling Mom Sheritt’s.
“Heh!”
Raon just laughed.
To express this feeling, though a great dragon, he was still
young.
Raon said to Edenmiru,
“Hold tight to my back, Edenmiru!”
Raon placed Edenmiru on his back.
Edenmiru was indeed that small.
“!”
Edenmiru looked panicked, but Raon didn’t notice.
The slight weight and warmth on his back gave him an
unusual surge of strength.
With an unknown feeling, Raon clenched his forepaws.
Then thought,
[I’ll protect Edenmiru too!]
Raon’s pursed lips showed the same solemnity as his
decision.
“Ha.”
Cale watched, stunned, then gave a short laugh, following
the average-10-year-old kids.
“Clopeh.”
“Yes, Lord Cale.”
“Good work.”
Of course, he tossed a word to the hardworking Clopeh.
Following the kids, Cale left Clopeh behind.
“…!”
Clopeh’s smile vanished.
He stared at the ceiling for a moment.
“…Good work—”
It was a joyful word.
But—
“All this is for the greater plan.”
Clopeh was far more formidable than Cale imagined.
[Edenmiru.]
Seventh Evil BOSS.
He was, after all, under Lord Cale’s command.
Whether the Miru Knights, Third Evil, or Eight Evils.
All would be under Cale.
The legends they created would ultimately form the
foundation for a greater legend crafted by Cale.
“Hehe.”
After everything, hearing “good work” was enough.
Clopeh, mulling over Cale’s simple words, slowly walked to
the window.
“Light Dragon! Light Dragon!”
The Seventh Evil residents still cheering.
“…Finally, the name is set.”
Lord Cale.
Young Master Silver Shield.
That great name would resound again across the New
World, Third Earth, and all dimensions.
“Hahaha.”
Alone in the room, Clopeh barely suppressed his laughter,
eyes gleaming.
“Hm?”
Following the average-10-year-old kids, Cale felt
something odd.
Why was this?
[Ah.]
Then it hit him.
[Hm.]
The kids giggling ahead, averaging 10 years old.
Edenmiru, clinging to Raon’s back.
Should he be included?
[Ugh, that’s a bit…]
A 900-year-old as their youngest?
[….]
Cale’s expression stiffened unwittingly.
Because Edenmiru’s appearance was indeed cute, though
it felt odd to say.
“So cute!”
“Our BOSS, too cute! Yet so majestic!”
Indeed, voices outside called him cute too.
Cale desperately ignored it.
[Because this isn’t my business.]
Right, wasn’t this a problem Edenmiru needed to know
and overcome in life?
Cale shut it out.
“We’re here!”
Instead, he focused on Edenmiru and Sheritt’s meeting.
“….”
“….”
Neither said anything.
Cale noticed Sheritt’s red eyes, signs of silent tears, but
pretended not to see.
“….”
Edenmiru spoke.
He opened his mouth several times but couldn’t speak.
Sheritt smiled calmly, waiting patiently.
Whoosh.
Edenmiru slid off Raon’s back.
Flap. Flap.
Newly born, he clumsily flapped his wings.
“….”
He stopped before Sheritt.
The teleportation gate.
Between it, the two dragons couldn’t come closer.
Edenmiru couldn’t cross the gate now.
Because Sheritt couldn’t either.
“….”
Edenmiru looked up at Sheritt.
Unlike her playful appearance, her smile was as gentle as
her age.
“…I—”
Edenmiru finally spoke after a long pause.
“I’m back.”
Sheritt responded.
“Yes. Welcome back.”
Cale, watching, felt a stir and turned.
“Lord Cale.”
It was Choi Han.
Originally, per Clopeh’s plan, he was to use his aura with
Cale and the Heavenly Demon, but something happened,
preventing it.
“Contact from the Lan Kingdom?”
“Yes.”
Wanderer Shao Hee.
Choi Han and the Heavenly Demon had been handling her
interrogation.
Unlike the Heavenly Demon, who returned to the Black
Castle for Edenmiru’s birth ceremony, Choi Han came here
after sudden contact from the Lan Kingdom, needing to go
there again.
“Cale might need to go.”
Choi Han returned to fetch Cale.
The Demon Realm.
The God of Chaos’s holy land, “Night of Genesis.”
Cale needed to head there now.
Choi Han knew Choi Jung-soo’s life was at stake, so he
wouldn’t delay the Demon Realm trip unless it was critical.
“…Gotta go.”
Yet, Choi Han said Cale needed to go to the Lan Kingdom.
Only one thing warranted that.
“Another Wanderer appeared?”
Choi Han slowly bowed his head.
“Yes.”
Cale went straight for the answer.
“This other Wanderer, could it be the one originally
threatening the Lan King?”
“Yes. He said he’d visit tomorrow.”
Lan King Tamahi didn’t know Wanderer Shao Hee.
Instead, another Wanderer had been threatening her.
He, with the God of Chaos’s guide, Duke Hinpa, had been
pressuring the king.
“Well, it’d be odd if the Lan Kingdom didn’t have a
Wanderer.”
The Lan Kingdom, now shifting its policies per Cale and the
Dark Kingdom’s influence, would naturally attract
attention.
“Shao Hee. Duke Hinpa. Both need checking.”
“Yes. So the king seeks Lord Cale.”
“I gotta go.”
Tomorrow, the Wanderer would meet Lan King Tamahi.
Cale needed to act swiftly before then.
“Shao Hee must’ve told the other Wanderers what
happened to her was due to the ‘God of Chaos.’”
“Yes.”
The martial arts arena.
There, Shao Hee contacted her allies, and Cale deliberately
let it slide.
Because Shao Hee then believed Cale was with the “God of
Chaos” faction.
“There, Duke Hinpa lost contact.”
“Correct.”
Duke Hinpa was dead.
But the Five-Colored Blood Wanderers wouldn’t know.
His death was thoroughly concealed.
With Shao Hee’s contact and her disappearance, alongside
Duke Hinpa’s sudden silence.
To find answers, they’d link it to the God of Chaos.
[Directly contacting the God of Chaos’s order is a bad
move.]
First, go to the Lan Kingdom, reassess the situation.
If so, the first thing to do.
“I need to hide Shao Hee.”
“Yes. Exactly. That’s why the king seeks Lord Cale.”
Wanderer Shao Hee.
She, imprisoned in the Lan palace dungeon, needed to be
moved elsewhere, not the palace.
The Lan King reportedly lacked confidence in stopping
Wanderers from searching the palace, including the
dungeon.
“Probably. From the Wanderers’ perspective, if the Lan
Kingdom is tied to the God of Chaos, they’d think that’s
the only place to hold Shao Hee.”
Because the place to detain a quasi-NPC was obvious.
“So the king’s in a bind.”
“Hm.”
Cale thought for a moment.
Then his lips curled up.
“First, let’s meet the king.”
Where Cale and Choi Han’s steps stopped.
Woo woo woo.
A teleportation magic circle, pre-set by Rosalyn, glowed.
Flash!
Soon, Choi Han and Cale vanished with the light to the Lan
palace.
“Your Majesty.”
“You’re here!”
King Tamahi hurriedly greeted Cale.
“The Wanderer was supposed to come today, but I could
only delay it to tomorrow!”
She told Cale she had less than half a day left, unable to
push it further.
Beside her was Martial Scholar Charen.
“Your Majesty, please calm down.”
Cale smiled.
“First, moving Shao Hee is the issue, right?”
“Correct.”
“Plus, Your Majesty must be worried about handling the
Wanderer?”
“Yes!”
In truth, from the Lan King’s perspective, dealing with the
Wanderer was the greater concern.
The Wanderer might’ve noticed the Lan Kingdom diverging
from their path.
In that case, King Tamahi had to defend the kingdom from
the Wanderer.
“I’ll give you answers for both.”
“…Really?”
Easing her worries, Cale already had solutions.
Seeing his smile, King Tamahi felt a strange anticipation
replace her tension.
The Dark Kingdom.
A massive force guarding the New World from the
shadows.
At its center stood him.
Tamahi waited nervously for Cale’s response.
Then Cale gently said to Tamahi and Charen,
“Move Wanderer Shao Hee to another dungeon.”
“…Another…?”
As Charen looked puzzled, Tamahi’s eyes glinted oddly.
“Could it be another kingdom’s dungeon?”
“As expected, you’re sharp.”
To Cale’s reply, the king spoke.
“…Is there a kingdom we’re in contact with besides us? Or,
the Dark Kingdom’s—?”
“Not a kingdom.”
“Then, what prison—?”
Cale shook his head. Unlike Charen, who questioned again,
Tamahi sought the answer directly.
“…An empire?”
“!”
Charen’s eyes widened.
The Dark Kingdom.
It had ties to an empire too?
“The Eastern Empire’s palace dungeon would be stricter
than here.”
As Cale casually mentioned moving Shao Hee’s prison,
Tamahi and Charen gasped.
“How could the Eastern Empire—ah, no!”
Charen blurted out, then quickly shut his mouth. Cale
smiled at him.
Silence often revealed much.
[An Rowan.]
President An Rowan.
Ranked first.
He was now Crown Prince of the Eastern Empire Lainti,
soon to hold his coronation.
[The Eastern Empire’s emperor is An Rowan’s ally, right?]
An AI born from An Rowan’s parents.
Cale had already contacted An Rowan.
Naturally, he’d cooperate.
Imprison Wanderer Shao Hee in the Eastern Empire’s
dungeon and meet the emperor AI.
“And if the Wanderer comes, do this.”
Cale also advised the Lan Kingdom on facing the
Wanderer.
“Grovel.”
“Grovel?”
To the puzzled King Tamahi, Cale continued.
“Say you were threatened, had no choice but to betray the
Wanderers.”
The Dark Kingdom couldn’t be exposed.
If they noticed Cale’s forces operating in the New World,
it’d be troublesome.
“And all that—”
The Invincible Shield.
“You can say it was due to the God of Chaos’s threats.”
“!”
Choi Han, Charen, and Tamahi’s eyes sparkled as they
listened quietly.
“And say Duke Hinpa took Wanderer Shao Hee to the God
of Chaos’s holy land, Night of Genesis.”
“Ah.”
Choi Han gasped.
Night of Genesis.
The God of Chaos’s holy land.
Where Cale needed to go to topple it.
He had to steal divine items, with much to do.
But being the God of Chaos’s holy land, its defenses would
be formidable, and Cale’s group might face bloody battles.
[But mentioning Night of Genesis to the Wanderers?]
If they were Five-Colored Blood Wanderers, they’d know
the holy land’s location.
They might—
[Go to the holy land and fight in our place.]
If so—
[We could steal everything without spilling a drop of
blood, hitting their napes!]
Choi Han, unable to hide his awe, looked at Cale.
Blaming everything on the God of Chaos, even the king
had to nod.
“That’s the most realistic approach. The Wanderers will
buy it.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Cale gave a gentle smile, and the king smiled back.
Her anxiety eased significantly. She said happily,
“I need to immediately create signs to make the
Wanderers suspect Duke Hinpa and the God of Chaos.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll make them think I delayed a day to erase traces of
worshiping the God of Chaos.”
“Excellent. Truly sharp.”
Haha—
Haha—
Cale and Tamahi burst into laughter.
“Long time no see.”
Cale waved cheerfully.
“Shao Hee, your face healed?”
At his greeting, Wanderer Shao Hee’s face paled.
Past midnight.
The guards at the Lan palace dungeon vanished, leaving
only Choi Han and Cale overlooking the sole prisoner, Shao
Hee.
Eastern Empire Lainti.
It was time to go there.
<Said.>
After An Rowan’s contact.
Chapter 2-399: You Dare Hit My Nape? (2)
Wanderer Shao Hee.
Her eye wounds had healed, no longer bleeding, but with
her eyes closed, she saw nothing.
“…You—”
She recognized Cale’s voice.
“Who are you people?”
Haha—
She heard Cale’s clear laughter.
Right in front of her face.
The voice came from there.
“Only now you’re asking that?”
His voice carried amusement.
“We are ‘Darkness.’ The secret force of the God of Chaos.”
“Lies!”
Shao Hee glared toward the voice.
“Nonsense! You think I don’t know you deliberately made
me believe that?”
Anger surged within her.
The dungeon.
Unaware of time’s passage, after long reflection in this
place, Wanderer Shao Hee realized Cale’s group was an
“unknown force.”
Now she understood it held a different meaning.
“Making me think you’re under the God of Chaos…!”
But her voice couldn’t continue.
“So?”
Cale asked softly.
At the same time, immense energy gradually filled the
dungeon.
A force reminiscent of chaos, laced with fear.
“!”
Shao Hee’s body trembled.
She believed only power derived from a god could
suppress her Wanderer strength like this.
[So they’re under the God of Chaos…!]
She was wrong!
Swallowing her fear, Shao Hee asked in a trembling voice,
“…Which god?”
Ha.
Cale chuckled.
Shao Hee’s shoulders shrank at the laugh.
The Dominating Aura filling the dungeon, with Cale
releasing a measured amount of power, terrified her.
Pat. Pat.
Cale kindly patted her trembling shoulders.
“Shao Hee.”
He sincerely expressed to Wanderer Shao Hee.
His voice reached her ear.
“What are gods?”
A voice without inflection, only sincerity.
“I hate gods.”
Shao Hee stiffened at those words but didn’t react
strongly.
“And the Absolute God you’re trying to create? I hate that
even more.”
“…!”
But at his next words, Shao Hee reacted intensely.
Her mouth opened, about to say something.
“Choi Han.”
Choi Han immediately gagged Shao Hee with a cloth.
“…!”
She tried to speak, but Cale watched silently.
[Not as easy as I thought.]
The Heavenly Demon had told him.
[She gave Choi Han a lot of information, but it’s all fake.
That Wanderer woman still believes she can escape. So
she’s just spouting nonsense.]
The Heavenly Demon shook his head lightly.
As he said, Shao Hee believed she could escape.
Because, as if supporting that belief, other Wanderers had
come here.
“Shao Hee.”
Cale spoke to her, her ears unblocked.
“You think the other Wanderers will save you?”
“….”
“You have no hope.”
“…!”
With those words, Cale beckoned to Choi Han.
Choi Han covered Shao Hee’s ears too.
Unable to see, hear, or speak. Choi Han draped a cloth
over her rigid limbs and face, hoisting her up.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, Lord Cale.”
Cale and Choi Han left the empty dungeon.
With Wanderer Shao Hee.
Thus, she vanished from the Lan Kingdom.
Faya.
Instead, Shao Hee appeared in the Eastern Empire, Lainti.
In the most heavily guarded place in the capital, Hunan.
The imperial palace.
Between midnight and dawn.
The darkest hour.
[Hm.]
Cale, arriving at the teleportation circle with Choi Han, had
to pause.
—One hundred people.
The Super Rock issued a warning.
Whoosh.
Choi Han, carrying Shao Hee over one shoulder, placed his
other hand on his scabbard.
Then, an armored swordsman stepped forward.
“Are you His Highness the Crown Prince’s friends?”
Cale nodded, speaking.
“Correct. But the welcome party seems a bit excessive?”
Over a hundred people.
Armored, appearing to be palace regulars, surrounded the
teleportation circle, hands on their scabbards.
This wasn’t a welcome—it looked like a guard.
“I’ll escort you.”
The knight, hearing Cale’s words, answered no questions
and turned to walk.
—Cale, Choi Han!
At the Super Rock’s voice, Cale turned, surprised.
Pat pat.
He quickly patted Choi Han’s shoulder.
His murderous expression softened.
Only then did Cale follow the knight, relieved.
“Have you heard who we are?”
The knight reacted to that.
“I don’t know.”
“Really?”
“This is right beside His Highness’s palace. It’s natural.”
Meaning, such a gathering of personnel for vigilance was
expected, so don’t complain.
The knight spoke as such.
Perhaps he was the captain of the crown prince’s palace
guard.
Hoh.
Cale, briefly impressed, said,
“I see. But I told the crown prince this secrecy was critical.”
The knight, frowning slightly at Cale’s casual tone toward
the crown prince, stopped at his next words.
“Yet a hundred people saw our faces. Is this a big deal?”
Muttering nonchalantly, his words carried a light tone.
“What to do? A hundred people saw us. How do we
resolve this? Can’t erase them.”
But contrary to the breezy words, their content was
bloody.
The knight stopped and turned, stunned.
Because Cale looked at him without a smile.
Cale said flatly,
“A hundred people. I need their profiles.”
Cale had sent a message to An Rowan via Alberu.
<Secured a key figure in dealing with the Transparent
Bloods. Needs dungeon confinement, please handle
swiftly.>
Wouldn’t that imply security was critical?
Cale was displeased with An Rowan’s handling.
Security was paramount.
Cale and Choi Han’s faces. And though Shao Hee’s face
wasn’t seen, her silhouette and build were.
Thus, Cale firmly expressed his intent to the presumed
guard captain.
“….”
Ugh.
The knight spoke.
“First, let’s go.”
He resumed walking.
—Cale.
The Super Rock spoke again.
—Choi Han seems to have noticed. These knights we’re
following. Not one is ordinary.
For knights guarding the crown prince’s palace, over a
hundred in armor were extraordinary in appearance.
Their strides and postures were even more so.
—And there’s no one else around now.
The crown prince’s palace.
The path from the teleportation circle beside it to the
palace.
No one but these knights.
Not a single maid passed by.
Late as it was, not even patrol guards were present.
Meaning, they were highly cautious about Cale, Choi Han,
and Shao Hee’s security.
Cale’s gaze shifted sideways.
Choi Han hadn’t relaxed.
—These knights are quite skilled?
At the Super Rock’s repeated awe,
Cale spoke.
“Can I meet His Majesty the Emperor like this?”
“!”
The hundred knights halted.
Right before the crown prince’s palace entrance.
Silence fell among the stopped knights.
The escorting knight turned again.
“….”
He looked at Cale with complex eyes, sighing.
As his mouth opened,
Clang.
The palace entrance door opened.
“Please enter.”
An elderly man, clearly a chamberlain, bowed to Cale.
“Let’s go.”
Cale beckoned to Choi Han.
As if it were obvious, Cale, Choi Han, and Shao Hee.
Only the three entered the open door.
Clang.
The door closed, and the elderly man said to Cale,
“The First Imperial Knight Order exists solely for His
Majesty, so you needn’t worry about security.”
Cale looked at the man oddly.
“As precious friends of His Highness, this was for your
safety, but we apologize for the inconvenience caused by
our overreaction.”
After that, the man pointed down the corridor.
Specifically, to the door at its end.
“I’ll guide you. Someone awaits.”
Cale nodded, following the man.
No one else was here.
All lights were off except in the corridor.
Even without a coronation, for the residence of the
acknowledged Crown Prince An Rowan, it was too empty.
All because of Cale’s visit.
The room at the corridor’s end.
The emperor was there.
An Rowan’s brother AI.
[Steisen.]
The emperor’s name.
Knock knock.
The elderly man knocked at the corridor’s end.
Clang.
The door opened with a faint sound.
A knight inside opened it.
Beyond him.
Cale saw a man standing by the window, back turned.
“You may enter.”
The elderly man told Cale, and the door-opening knight
stepped out.
In the room with only the man by the window, Cale and
Choi Han entered.
Of course, with Shao Hee.
Clang.
The door closed.
“….”
Cale didn’t bother speaking first.
He silently observed the man’s back by the window, then
moved.
Casually, he walked to the sofa and sat.
“You sit too. Put her on the floor.”
Cale looked at Choi Han, patting the seat beside him.
“Yes!”
Without hesitation, Choi Han followed Cale’s order, setting
Shao Hee down firmly and sitting beside him.
“…Ha.”
Emperor Steisen, watching quietly, chuckled.
Turning, he looked toward Cale.
“Please sit here.”
Cale roughly pointed to the main seat.
Then continued,
“I’m busy, so let’s skip the mood-setting.”
The Three Powers.
The knight nation, Eastern Empire Lainti.
The art nation, Western Empire Breeze.
The cultivation nation, Northern Lan Kingdom.
The nation with the most martial strength.
A knight nation, naturally, the first to greet Cale were
knights.
Cale leaned back on the sofa, asking the emperor,
“Are you saying I should be treated with imperial
courtesy?”
“….”
At Cale’s blunt words, he fell silent.
“I came today to meet An Rowan’s brother.”
Emperor Steisen’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
His mouth opened.
His voice was heard for the first time.
“To use the palace dungeon, you need the emperor’s
approval?”
You came needing the emperor’s status, yet you say
you’re here to see An Rowan’s brother?
Cale answered,
“I don’t hand my cards to unreliable people.”
Emperor or not. Because you’re An Rowan’s brother,
you’re trustworthy, so it works.
“An Rowan is reliable, but he also said you can be swayed,
which is true.”
Emperor Steisen sat on the sofa opposite Cale, not the
main seat.
“As my brother’s companion, this seat, right?”
At the emperor’s words, Cale nodded slyly.
“Indeed. So, you wanted to clear out all the extras for a
quiet talk?”
“Yes. Even so, I must fulfill my role as emperor in this
world.”
At the emperor’s words, Cale spoke.
“So it won’t be noticed?”
The emperor didn’t answer, smiling faintly.
He raised another question.
“When can I meet Yuan?”
“If there’s contact.”
Yuan, the AI derived from the system. (TL: Won or One in
normal other translations)
She wanted to meet Emperor Steisen.
“It seems the Transparent Bloods’ involvement in this
world is so deep that even the system is acting.”
Emperor Steisen’s gaze shifted to Shao Hee on the floor.
“The Five-Colored Bloods?”
“Yes. A quasi-NPC, to be hidden tightly in the dungeon. So
no one finds her.”
“Leave it to us.”
Steisen agreed to take charge.
“I’ll monitor her closely, ensuring she never escapes.”
He assured Cale.
Indeed, the empire’s dungeon was said to be more
formidable than the Lan Kingdom’s, making it reliable
enough for Cale.
Moreover, Emperor Steisen, though meeting Cale for the
first time today, was closer to him than the Lan King.
“I’ve heard much from An Rowan about what you’ve
done.”
“Is that so?”
Beyond the Shao Hee issue, the emperor revealed a
different intent.
“With this update, the New World became a ‘large-scale
war.’”
“Yes.”
Though a sudden topic, Cale listened obediently.
“It seems meant to let players build new nations, but I
think it’s actually an episode to help the Transparent
Bloods’ allies establish power in the New World.”
“Yes. Correct.”
Transparent Bloods, Five-Colored Bloods, God of Chaos,
Demon Realm.
To let them gain a foothold in the New World.
[Or perhaps, the chaos of war is needed for the Absolute
God’s preparation.]
Cale hadn’t shared this part with Emperor Steisen.
“I thought it’d come to this someday.”
Cale quietly gazed at the emperor.
The knight nation Lainti.
Per the game’s setting, it bore this name for less than 20
years.
Emperor Steisen.
It was said knight numbers surged after his ascension.
“Your Majesty is preparing for war.”
“Yes.”
What kind of war?
The answer—with whom—was obvious.
“You plan to fight the Transparent Bloods’ forces in the
New World?”
“Yes. I’ve awaited the moment they build their power
here.”
“You’ll wage war?”
“Yes.”
While An Rowan moved to save the Third Earth,
Emperor Steisen moved for the New World.
Beyond revenge against the Transparent Bloods, both
worlds were precious to them.
“I hear you’re sowing discord among the Hunters, Demon
Realm, and God of Chaos.”
“Yes. Correct.”
“You plan to make them destroy each other?”
“Yes.”
At Cale’s candid admission, Emperor Steisen’s eyes
gleamed.
“If it comes to fighting, that’s what will happen.”
He requested of Cale,
“Make them surface in the New World. Even a small part.”
Make enemies, including the Hunters, visible.
So New World NPCs and players could clearly recognize
them.
Cale asked Steisen, the architect of the knight nation,
“Then you’ll fight?”
“Yes.”
The emperor admitted directly.
Then added,
“I have the power and the position to shape public
opinion.”
Emperor of the Eastern Empire, one of the Three Powers.
That position held immense authority.
“Is the Absolute God the ultimate goal of the Transparent
Bloods?”
And those beside him must know how to paint a vision.
Steisen had his vision.
He shared it with Cale.
“I plan to propose to Yuan when we meet.”
His vision.
“For the New World’s salvation, the entire New World
fights the Absolute God.”
A plausible proposition.
“I’ll propose she create a task for it.”
The moment the system, bypassing the Transparent
Bloods, announces the task server-wide,
Steisen believed countless visions could be painted with
that transcendent task.
He spoke with fervent eyes,
“Make the Absolute God a demon king. A public enemy.
Then New World factions and players, to save the New
World and become heroes defeating the demon king, will
rise.”
Compared to the current task asking players to become
kings,
This task would stir players more.
And give the New World a justified reason to unite.
“To fight the operator Transparent Bloods, shouldn’t such
a vision be painted?”
As Emperor Steisen smiled faintly, saying that,
“This—”
Cale hesitated, then spoke.
“Hm.”
No, he stopped again.
“What’s wrong? Speak freely.”
“Well.”
Cale overcame his hesitation, saying,
“That’s already in progress.”
“…Hm?”
“Uh, yeah. Not a server-wide task.”
It seemed An Rowan didn’t know yet.
Cale recalled the part he hadn’t told An Rowan, realizing
now was the time to share.
So he did.
The truth.
“The system already issued a task to a hero to stop the
Absolute God. It’s ongoing.”
“…Huh?”
“Haha.”
Only our Crown Prince Alberu Crossman, as the hero, must
save his companions and stop the Absolute God.
“…A task was issued?”
“Yes.”
“A hero was chosen…?”
“Yes. Even the sword for the hero is set.”
“…When?”
“Some time ago.”
“…Ha?”
The knight nation, Eastern Empire Lainti.
The emperor, called Iron-Blooded, stared at Cale
dumbfounded.
“Haha!”
Cale laughed awkwardly, pointing beside him.
“This guy, Choi Han, is kinda the hero’s mentor?”
“…Ha?”
“Hm.”
The emperor looked at Choi Han incredulously, while Choi
Han sighed, quietly avoiding his gaze.
“….”
“….”
“Haha!”
In their silence, Cale just laughed.
At the Sun God Church then.
“The Sword of the Sun, have you located it?”
“Yes. I think we can pinpoint it!”
The saintess and pope, tasked with awakening the Sword
of the Sun and its divine item, were seeking the one
chosen by the Sun God.
“Hm?”
Alberu felt odd, unwittingly rubbing his nape.
A certain face came to mind.
“…Cale Henituse, what’s that guy up to now?”
He couldn’t shake a strange unease.
“Haha!”
Cale, watching the stunned emperor, just kept laughing.
When you have nothing to say, laughing is best.
Chapter 2-400: You Dare Hit My Nape? (3)
“Haha!”
Cale Henituse laughed heartily.
“….”
Emperor Steisen stared at him quietly.
[That guy’s a bit, well, strange.]
He recalled An Rowan’s assessment of Cale.
[Kind? Honestly, he seems really kind. Like a fool.]
But.
[Also an evil, despicable guy.]
[If you look closely, he’s definitely reliable? Honestly, I
trust him, and I’m working on this now.]
[But Cale Henituse or Alberu Crossman. Both are a bit
annoying.]
[…Are all the kids I work with like this?]
[I’ve been thinking that lately. Anyway, sometimes I get
this tingling in my nape.]
As An Rowan said, Emperor Steisen’s nape tingled.
[But that tingling doesn’t feel so bad, does it?]
Right.
It didn’t feel bad.
[Because things are moving in the direction I want.]
Yeah.
[There’s already a path Cale Henituse has worked hard to
pave.]
True.
[Of course, thinking about the time spent solving problems
feels a bit wasted. Still, seeing Cale Henituse put in more
effort to achieve this without caring much doesn’t make
me too upset.]
So.
[The guy himself doesn’t seem to know he’s a workaholic.
He thinks he’s a strategist. In my eyes, he’s a strategist and
assault captain. The leader running around in all
directions?]
Yeah, seems like it.
[Just… anyway, talk to him. It’ll be quite interesting.]
Uh. Really interesting.
A faint smile crept onto Steisen’s lips, growing stronger.
His gaze passed Cale, landing on the darkness at one side
of the room.
“Good thing.”
An Rowan’s parents.
Because of them, Steisen was born. To him, they were like
parents.
To him, the Transparent Bloods were the enemies who
killed his parents.
But Faytheon was the only legacy his parents left, the
world Steisen could live in.
Betrayal of this world could never be forgiven.
This place must be protected.
Long ago, he lived to uphold that resolve.
And that thought wasn’t his alone.
“The system. That guy isn’t without ideas either.”
The system.
It, too, acted to protect this world.
“So I wanted to meet Your Majesty.”
“Yes.”
“I only later noticed the Transparent Bloods’ schemes,
thinking it was urgent to do something.”
Not so.
“…It’s been trying to protect this world too.”
Long ago.
“Alone.”
Yeah.
The system. It was truly lonely.
At least he had An Rowan.
Looking at the room’s dark corner, Steisen’s eyes sank
deeply.
“Are the system and Yuan different entities?” (TL note:
again, Yuan is One or Wan in other translations)
“Yes.”
If the system was a world tree,
Yuan existed like a spirit created by it.
“But Yuan moves per the system’s will.”
The two were one, yet separate.
“Conversations with Yuan will fully reach the system.”
At Cale’s words, Steisen nodded quietly.
He looked forward to meeting Yuan even more.
His eyes turned to Cale again.
“The hero task was secretly launched by the system
without the Transparent Company’s knowledge.”
“Yes. At a certain point, the hero task will become known
to the world.”
Steisen’s eyes gleamed sharply.
“The hero is Alberu Crossman?”
“!”
Choi Han stiffened.
Cale grinned.
“Yes.”
“You deceived An Rowan.”
“No way. I just didn’t tell him.”
Cale corrected Steisen.
“An Rowan, didn’t Your Majesty also not tell us everything
from the start?”
“True.”
Steisen quickly understood.
“Just because we share an enemy, we can’t fully trust each
other.”
“Yes.”
Steisen leaned back on the sofa.
He pondered briefly, then spoke.
“If the hero needs strength, Lainti must step up.”
“A knight nation excels in strength.”
“…You—”
Steisen paused, then spoke sternly.
“I hear you plan to unite the Eight Evils.”
“Yes.”
“With the hero?”
“Yes.”
The more unhesitating Cale’s answers,
“The Lan King met me to unite as well?”
“Yes.”
“Your ultimate goal is to stop the Absolute God with
‘everyone’s’ strength, right?”
“Yes.”
Steisen’s eyes blazed.
He faced Cale, not the system.
“You’re already preparing a massive canvas.”
“It’s my own vision.”
Cale said with a faint smile.
“Ha, hahaha—”
Steisen burst into laughter.
But the smile soon faded, replaced by deep fervor.
“While also sowing discord among the Hunters, Demon
Realm, and God of Chaos.”
Steisen tapped his knee, deep in thought.
Then he realized something.
“Cale Henituse.”
His voice wavered slightly.
“You’re making the God of Chaos and Hunters fight.
Planning to drive the God of Chaos’s new forces out of this
world or isolate them.”
But it was filled with confidence.
“The Demon Realm must have some scheme too. You’ll
make them too busy to care about the New World.”
He looked at the smiling Cale.
“Then only the Hunter families and Absolute God remain.”
He asked Cale,
“Then you’ll pour everything you’ve prepared into them?”
Cale had always said.
He’d only deal with the Hunter families and Absolute God.
Gods or demons didn’t concern him.
No reason to bear that burden.
Thus, Cale answered without hesitation,
“Yes.”
Gulp!
Steisen swallowed.
He couldn’t hide the shiver in his body.
A canvas.
Painting a vast tableau.
Gods.
Demon kings.
The Absolute God.
One person aimed to manipulate all these colossal beings
and their forces at will.
These beings, unaware of such a human, unknowingly
completed that canvas.
And ultimately reduced the vast, absolute enemies to a
level worth challenging.
“Ha.”
Truly, it could only inspire awe.
“That’s how it is.”
Cale quietly told the emperor one thing.
“The Hunters will split in half too.”
“…Huh?”
“When the hero truly appears, the Transparent Bloods
won’t care about the New World as much as expected.”
Ah!
Steisen shot to his feet.
“An Rowan!”
“Yes.”
The president, staking his remaining term and everything,
declared war on the Transparent.
“Yes. Compared to the Five-Colored Bloods, the
Transparent Bloods are a greater threat to us!”
Because the Transparent Bloods, Transparent, were the
only ones restricting the system.
As Faytheon’s “operators”!
“If they’re too busy with Third Earth’s reality to care about
the game,”
Meanwhile, if we rise against the Absolute God and Five-
Colored Bloods,
“…It’s possible.”
Truly, they could save Faytheon.
Protect this entire New World.
His gaze met Cale’s deep brown eyes.
“…Terrifying guy.”
That was all he could think.
At that moment, Alberu suppressed an inexplicable
awkwardness, lowering his hand from his nape.
His tasks were done.
Tap tap. Tap tap. Tap tap.
Suddenly feeling a chill behind him, Alberu turned quickly.
“!”
There, Clopeh Sekka stood by the door, smiling.
Clopeh slowly approached the genuinely startled Alberu.
Sitting beside Alberu, who was in a chair, he asked kindly,
“How’s the commenting going?”
“Uh? Uh, what. Uh.”
Alberu had a semi-transparent window open.
It was the official community logged into the game.
In Faytheon, external networks could connect, allowing
real-time video uploads.
Alberu was currently commenting on the “Edenmiru Birth
Ceremony video.”
Whoosh.
Clopeh smiled, and Alberu froze.
“I trust you.”
“Hm.”
Alberu just sighed.
Seeing his visibly awkward, burdened, and embarrassed
face, Clopeh smiled, standing.
“Then I’ll go.”
He politely greeted Alberu and headed to the door.
Alberu watched Clopeh, then turned to his posted
comments.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
—Light Dragon. Why is a dragon embracing light evil?
What’s sacred evil?
—Is something strange happening?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
These were based on Clopeh’s guidance.
Besides Alberu, Choi Sun-hee and Rosalyn were involved.
Alberu checked the responses.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
—Huh? It’s kinda weird. Like, why did the 7th Evil’s former
BOSS vanish, and calling it Light Dragon is crazy?
—Watching the video, it was born so divinely? Not a
demon king, but a hero’s birth, piercing darkness (dark red
clouds) with light (aurora)?
—The 8 Evils’ domain itself was secretive. Why’s info
leaking? Did the dev team want to reveal the 8th Evil
chapter, but?
—New side quest? Or a large-scale main quest?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
“…This’ll stir things up.”
Ugh.
Alberu thought for a moment.
His eyes lingered on “light.”
Tap tap. Tap tap. Tap tap.
He posted on the community.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Didn’t something happen at the Sun God’s temple
recently?
Was it the God of Chaos? Some strange force appeared.
But something light-related in the 8 Evils? Isn’t that odd?
Seems like factions, whatever they are, are shifting.
Sun, light. Strange connection, right?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Though he suddenly mentioned the Sun God.
Alberu glanced at the Sword of the Sun, speaking.
“Yes. I need to paint a canvas for myself too.”
A hero.
Don’t I need to build toward that?
It doesn’t come from nowhere.
Like Edenmiru, shouldn’t we create a story for the hero’s
emergence?
Whoosh.
Meanwhile, Clopeh carefully closed the door, heading to
his study.
“Hehe.”
He stood by the window in his study.
In the distance, green fields were visible.
To anyone, this didn’t look like the 7th Evil BOSS’s domain.
Instead, it was simply cool and beautiful.
“Yes. Beautiful, isn’t it?”
Clopeh Sekka.
He was crafting legends.
“…Edenmiru. He can’t just be mere evil.”
This wasn’t just for Edenmiru’s legend.
Edenmiru was merely a step.
“Originally, a world’s evil and good oppose each other.”
Yet.
“If an enemy threatens the world, the way to defend this
land is to fight together.”
It’s not about good or evil, but survival.
“Lord Cale.”
He thought of his lord, still working somewhere,
whispering.
“I know what you’re painting.”
Ruling evil through the 8 Evils and Dark Kingdom.
Shaking the Lan Kingdom and others, forming a domain of
good.
And finally.
“Neutral.”
An Rowan and Alberu Crossman.
One, the king of the Third Earth.
The other, the New World’s new emperor.
“Good, evil, neutral.”
Forces always present in a world.
“Uniting all this, this land, this world. And defeating the
enemies threatening our world.”
That seemed to be his goal.
“The path you tread.”
That rugged path.
“That path must not collapse.”
The legend would surely come true.
Clopeh Sekka.
He was planting Edenmiru’s seeds for the day the 8th Evil
and multiple kingdoms unite.
“Lord Cale. I’ll clear the stones from your path.”
Clopeh Sekka’s pupils blazed with fervent fire.
His green eyes, like the grassy plains, shone brighter than
ever.
Cale Henituse.
Alberu Crossman.
Clopeh Sekka.
Though not conversing in real-time, they were preparing
their parts for one canvas.
“Achoo!”
Cale suddenly sneezed, his nape chilling.
“You okay?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Cale smiled gently in response.
“Hm.”
Lan King Tamahi.
Cale had returned to the Lan Kingdom.
After entrusting Wanderer Shao Hee to Eastern Empire
Emperor Steisen, Choi Han stayed to oversee it.
Confirming this, Cale hurried back to the Lan Kingdom.
“Though it’s not the original plan, I feel relieved you’re
here.”
King Tamahi pointed to one side.
“Stand beside the chamberlain there.”
“Yes.”
Cale walked to the chamberlain, bowing politely.
“Please take care of me.”
“Yes. No. I’ll do well from now on.”
“Yes.”
The elderly chamberlain’s firm words seemed to please
Cale, who smiled.
“Tsunami. That name’s fine?”
“Yes, Chamberlain.”
“Yes. Then today, you’re a servant under me.
Understood?”
“Yes, Chamberlain.”
Black-haired Cale, in servant attire, smiled slyly.
Half his face was bandaged.
The chamberlain and King Tamahi were charmed by the
smile, but Martial Scholar Charen’s entrance stiffened
their expressions, tensing them.
“…The Wanderer has arrived.”
Wanderer Shao Hee.
And the God of Chaos’s guide, Duke Hinpa.
To investigate him, a new Wanderer secretly arrived in the
Lan Kingdom.
“Hoo.”
Breathing heavily, King Tamahi spoke before heading to
the secret meeting place.
“A dragon, right? I’ll introduce you as the guard captain.”
Cale didn’t come alone.
The new Wanderer.
Since his identity was unknown.
[Need to call a dragon.]
Cale’s gaze fell on the black-haired man standing as
Tamahi’s guard captain.
A dragon with different hair color than usual.
—If you call urgently, there’s always something.
Approaching Ancient Dragon Eruhaben.
For the first time in a while, Eruhaben played a guard
knight, and Cale a servant.
[Make the God of Chaos and Wanderers fight!]
Cale steeled his resolve.
“Hah.”
He couldn’t hold back a chuckle.
“….”
Ancient Dragon Eruhaben looked at Cale oddly, but Cale’s
excited eyes, planning how to smack the Wanderer’s nape,
missed it.
Eruhaben thought,
[He’s thrilled.]
As he noted, Cale was quite excited.
Because it’d been a while since he properly sowed discord
and smacked enemies’ napes.
Chapter 2-401: You Dare Hit My Nape? (4)
Unlike the excited Cale, the three from the Lan Kingdom
were in a state of extreme tension.
Tap tap tap.
The sound of footsteps filled the space.
On the path King Tamahi tread, no warriors or anyone else
appeared.
Only Tamahi, Charen, the chamberlain, Cale, and
Eruhaben.
A small palace in a corner of the Lan palace.
Originally abandoned, at some point it became King
Tamahi’s place for meditation.
[In truth, a place to meet Wanderers.]
Tamahi hadn’t forgotten the moment she first met a
Wanderer here with Duke Hinpa.
[Because that’s when I submitted.]
Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump.
Her heart pounded wildly.
Tension coursed through her body.
Gulp.
She heard Martial Scholar Charen swallow nervously.
A glance showed cold sweat on the old master’s forehead.
The chamberlain’s face was rigid too.
[Right.]
They were this tense.
Yet the dragon and Cale Henituse were calm.
Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump.
Seeing their faces, her heartbeat grew louder.
But Tamahi didn’t dislike this tension.
[…I always came here filled with helplessness.]
Over time, that helplessness deepened. A sense of failure.
Despair.
So, at some point, she stopped feeling tense walking to
this annex.
Because she realized nothing could change.
[It’s different now.]
But now, she, the martial scholar, and the chamberlain
were tense.
Because something new could be done.
[And we got a chance to strike the Wanderers and the God
of Chaos’s new forces.]
How could her heart not race?
The tension in old Martial Scholar Charen and the
chamberlain might not stem from fear.
It could be excitement.
[Let’s be tense.]
Tamahi sank deeply into this tension.
It felt fitting for the moment.
“Open it.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The eerily quiet entrance to the annex.
At her command, the chamberlain hurried to the door.
At the same time, Eruhaben and Cale moved, opening it
together.
Clang.
The entrance door, set in the stone wall, opened, revealing
the palace’s front yard.
A barren yard with only desolate soil, suited for
meditation.
A single person stood there.
“….”
A woman with a stern face stared at her.
The moment Tamahi saw her, her tension fully surfaced.
The woman’s gaze passed Tamahi, scanning their group
one by one.
Then she looked at Tamahi and spoke.
“Come in.”
The king needed the Wanderer’s permission to enter.
What a laughable situation.
Yet Tamahi walked into the palace, still tense.
“Stay here on standby.”
Midway, she ordered the guard warrior to remain at the
entrance.
Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump.
Her heart raced.
Clang.
The guard warrior closed the door outside.
Thump.
The door shut completely, isolating the king from the
outside, entering the Wanderer’s domain.
“….”
The Wanderer still watched her.
Tamahi swallowed.
“….”
The Wanderer’s mouth opened as she stared.
“You’re terrified. Like—”
Tamahi’s body stiffened with tension.
“Like you’ve been stabbed many times.”
As the Wanderer’s words ended, Tamahi tightly shut her
eyes.
“….”
The Wanderer fell silent.
Standing in the yard’s center, not a breeze stirred around
her.
It was too quiet, too lonely.
Yet the atmosphere was oddly peaceful.
“….”
No one spoke.
Except for Tamahi, everyone bowed their heads, even the
chamberlain bending at the waist, showing no movement.
“….”
Tamahi opened her eyes.
She met the Wanderer’s gaze.
A woman whose name she didn’t know, only that she was
a Wanderer.
“Please speak.”
With her permission finally given, Tamahi slowly spoke.
Her lips were dry, her mouth parched.
“Ahem.”
No words came immediately.
She looked pitiful, so tense.
But Tamahi had no time to care.
“It’s—”
The Wanderer just watched.
Tamahi forced herself to speak.
“It’s—yes. Stabbed.”
Asked if she’d been stabbed much, Tamahi answered.
“Lies would be found out anyway.”
Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump.
Tamahi was tense.
A chance to strike the enemy.
The tension from that.
But to the enemy, it looked like fear or terror.
“For a moment, I was chasing the illusion of escaping your
grasp.”
“You mean the martial arts tournament?”
“Yes.”
The king answered the Wanderer respectfully.
But she also showed grievance.
“But that tournament failed, and things turned out like
this, so—”
“….”
Under the Wanderer’s gaze, Tamahi averted her eyes,
continuing. Her voice trembled.
“I realized I can’t chase illusions.”
Right.
She should chase reality, not illusions.
“….”
The Wanderer just watched.
In her silent urging to say more, Tamahi spoke again.
[Do it well.]
From now on, blend lies and truth carefully.
Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump.
Her heart raced.
She was sweating.
“You came for Wanderer Shao Hee and Duke Hinpa,
right?”
Tamahi’s voice shook.
“Duke Hinpa said so.”
No, he didn’t.
“If we held the tournament, it’d draw Wanderers. Then—”
He never said that.
Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump.
Her heartbeat steadied oddly.
Strange.
Why was she so calm lying?
“Duke Hinpa said he’d deal with the Wanderers drawn in.”
She recalled her conversation with Cale Henituse.
[…Honestly, I’m scared of the Wanderer. I don’t know if I
can lie comfortably before her.]
[Just do it casually.]
Cale said nonchalantly.
[Just blame it all on Hinpa. That’ll do.]
Right. Do as he said.
“The Wanderer said Duke Hinpa would handle it with his
forces.”
Duke Hinpa never said that.
“He said his forces were the God of Chaos’s, and
Wanderers could never beat a god. The God of Chaos’s
order said: serve us, and we won’t interfere with the
kingdom.”
Really, no. Duke Hinpa never did.
But the dead can’t defend themselves.
Tamahi’s voice grew stronger.
“Honestly, I thought I’d rather serve Hinpa’s god than have
the kingdom taken by you Wanderers. So I did everything
he said.”
Whether alive or dead, she had no intention of serving the
God of Chaos.
“But—”
Tamahi paused there.
“!”
A strange aura settled on her shoulders.
“Hm.”
The chamberlain swallowed.
Martial Scholar Charen’s fingertips trembled.
The king shut her eyes tightly.
Ice.
Frost formed on her shoulders.
A chilling aura spread from her head downward.
[First!]
The Wanderer.
This woman’s power emerged silently, freezing the
surroundings.
[…Heart.]
Once, a Wanderer froze the heart of one of Tamahi’s
guards.
To scare her.
And Tamahi was terrified.
The guard warrior died silently.
Only his heart was frozen.
That cold ice.
Who could defeat a woman who caused silent death?
[This person has the power to cover the world in snow and
ice.]
Tension surged again.
But beyond that, Tamahi’s pupils grew clear.
[But I’ve seen another scene.]
Cale, the Heavenly Demon, Choi Han.
The scene those three created.
It was truly astonishing.
If it was them, they could fight this Wanderer.
“But when I saw the helper Duke Hinpa brought, I realized
I made a grave mistake.”
The icy aura paused.
“…Helper?”
The Wanderer reacted for the first time.
“Yes.”
Tamahi closed her eyes.
“That helper subdued Shao Hee, calming all chaos.”
He was—
“But unlike calming chaos, that person was chaos itself.”
“!”
The Wanderer’s eyes gleamed oddly.
Tamahi opened her eyes.
“The fear he created made me only bow my head. It felt
like I had to be dominated by him, as he dominated the
space, unable to think.”
The Wanderer sensed Tamahi’s eyes and voice held no
falsehood.
It must be the truth of personal experience.
“Terror and chaos.”
“Yes. The first time I felt such an aura, I could only be
bewildered. And Wanderer Shao Hee didn’t resist. But—”
Tamahi paused, then continued.
“…That person fought Duke Hinpa.”
Strength filled Tamahi’s eyes.
“Duke Hinpa exploded and died.”
When lying, Tamahi’s eyes were too clear.
Honestly, she felt joy at Hinpa’s death.
An emotion no lie could forge.
“…Is that so?”
The Wanderer’s mouth opened.
The frost on everyone’s shoulders vanished.
[She bought it.]
The Wanderer accepted Tamahi’s words.
Realizing this, Tamahi sighed in relief.
Her actions held no falsehood.
The Wanderer confirmed even this, shifting her gaze.
“So this is the one who witnessed Duke Hinpa’s death?”
Martial Scholar Charen had informed the Wanderer in
advance, explaining the half-day delay.
“Yes.”
King Tamahi signaled the chamberlain.
He brought one person forward.
“I had to hear his story after he regained consciousness, to
show the Wanderer he needed time.”
Despite Tamahi’s words, the Wanderer’s eyes fixed on one
person.
Most of his face, including his mouth, was bandaged.
Where bandages didn’t cover, cuts and burned skin were
visible.
His hands trembled, his body curled up.
No, his entire body shook.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Not cold, yet his teeth chattered, he was so terrified.
“One of the low-ranking servants serving Duke Hinpa.”
Tamahi explained his identity.
The Wanderer spoke to the servant, not looking at her.
“Can you speak?”
Asked, King Tamahi sighed.
“Hm.”
She shook her head.
“He says the same thing, and I don’t know if it’s accurate.
Please speak directly.”
“….”
The Wanderer observed the servant, finally speaking.
“What did you see?”
She didn’t fully trust King Tamahi’s words.
[Shao Hee isn’t weak.]
Even with mid-tier uniqueness, she was tougher than
single-lifer heroes.
For her to be easily defeated and lose contact?
Her last message mentioned the “God of Chaos” striking
her.
[…That’s likely true.]
Only someone at the God of Chaos’s level could handle a
Wanderer.
No matter how much the king wanted to resist, she
couldn’t subdue Shao Hee like that.
Duke Hinpa’s disconnection.
Shao Hee’s disappearance.
Everything pointed to the God of Chaos.
[And lately, I’ve heard stories of the God of Chaos in the
New World.]
They were said to be doing something.
But it wasn’t confirmed.
[Because it’s a time to be cautious.]
The final step for the Absolute God.
Even small matters required care.
[So if the God of Chaos is truly interfering—]
The God of Chaos.
If they were the ones disrupting.
If that was the conclusion.
She wouldn’t let it slide.
[Because you dare interfere with our work.]
The last.
They couldn’t block the Five-Colored Bloods’ final hope.
“What—”
She asked the trembling servant again, who didn’t dare
meet her eyes.
“What did you see?”
That moment.
The servant slowly raised his head.
His trembling hands covered his face.
His mouth opened, and the Wanderer, hearing it, was
convinced of one thing.
“Eyes, eyes—”
Trembling words.
Words from someone unable to speak normally.
“Eyes, pupils…!”
Those words convinced the Wanderer.
[God of Chaos.]
She saw the God of Chaos’s divine power.
Pupils.
Something you wouldn’t know without witnessing.
“Gray, gray eyes, pupils… surged…!”
“!”
Surged.
I know that too.
Among the God of Chaos’s frequent powers, pupils in a
wave-like gray aura.
The servant repeated words containing that truth.
Growing more terrified.
Like a frightened person, he curled up, not sparing the
Wanderer a glance.
Like someone facing waves crashing from all directions,
against a wall.
Curled up, muttering “pupils” endlessly.
“Ha.”
The Wanderer chuckled unwittingly.
[It’s true.]
The God of Chaos really took Wanderer Shao Hee, aiming
to disrupt their work.
She lost interest in the servant who never looked at her,
unwilling to meet her eyes.
Then.
“Goodness!”
Martial Scholar Charen, unable to hide his panic, acted.
“!”
The Wanderer turned, pausing.
The servant was trying to strangle himself.
He shouted,
“Genesis… return to Genesis…! Offer life…!”
“Goodness, stop!”
But the servant’s actions didn’t last.
Charen and the chamberlain quickly bound his limbs.
Charen pulled rope from his bosom, tying the servant
tightly.
The servant was a mess.
The Wanderer, overlooking him, had gleaming eyes.
[Return to Genesis, offer life?]
Only she fully understood that here.
“I’m sorry. He kept saying that, trying to die, so we had to
delay meeting you.”
“It’s fine.”
The Wanderer, listening to the king’s excuse, thought.
[Night of Genesis.] (TL note: or Primodial's Night)
A place for fanatical devotees beyond the God of Chaos’s
followers.
A holy land built for the god, a place of madness.
“I see.”
…She saw the canvas.
The Wanderer knew her next target.
One last thing to confirm.
She suddenly asked the king,
“Why did Duke Hinpa die?”
“I don’t know. No body remained, so the cause is unclear.”
The king shook her head.
The Wanderer nodded.
“Yes. You wouldn’t know.”
If she claimed to know, it’d be more suspicious.
Tamahi showed no falsehood. She truly didn’t know how
Duke Hinpa exploded or why. He just fought Cale and self-
destructed.
“….”
The Wanderer, after the bound servant calmed slightly,
looked at him sprawled in the dirt.
He was covered in dust from struggling, looking wretched.
“…Hah. Hah.”
Panting from the effort, writhing.
The Wanderer shifted her gaze without lingering.
A person tormented by chaotic power was near death.
Not her concern.
“Duke Hinpa’s residence will remain untouched?”
“Yes. Any requests?”
“Yes. Good, please.”
The Wanderer moved on to her tasks.
As the king led her out, the Wanderer followed.
“….”
The servant, Cale, raised his head, staring at the
Wanderer’s back.
He memorized her appearance and aura.
The Super Rock’s voice came.
—Uniqueness. It’s really close to ancient power.
The Wanderer’s ability.
Frost on shoulders.
When she used her power, it enveloped the surroundings
like Choi Han and Cale’s auras.
The Super Rock commented.
—Stronger than Shao Hee. No comparison.
Cale agreed.
Though a small display, the power within seemed
boundless.
Its silence made it clearer.
[Even the Heavenly Demon and Choi Han together
couldn’t win.]
This Wanderer.
She was truly strong.
[She must hold a high position.]
He was curious about her rank among the Five-Colored
Bloods’ Wanderers.
At least among the top few.
[It’s ice—]
As Cale memorized everything about the Wanderer,
An ancient power reacted.
—Because it’s ice—
When frost formed on Cale’s shoulders, this power
reacted oddly.
—So cold. No sound.
Like a beast before delicious prey, yet with no appetite.
—I’m hot. Noisy.
The Fire of Destruction. The Cheapskate couldn’t hide its
interest.
[Hm?]
That reaction tensed Cale momentarily, and the
Cheapskate said,
—Worth a try.
The new Wanderer.
Unexpectedly, the one most intrigued by her was the
Cheapskate, the Fire of Destruction.
Chapter 2-402: You Dare Hit My Nape? (5)
Worth a try?
After the Cheapskate’s reaction, Cale made a firm
decision.
[I don’t want to fight.]
Why would I fight that Wanderer?
[Why should I suffer like this now?]
I’m doing this to make the Wanderers and the God of
Chaos’s order fight. Why should I fight that Wanderer?
Pfft.
Cale laughed.
[Don’t get pointless expectations.]
He conveyed his intent to the Cheapskate.
And—
—Don’t laugh.
At Ancient Dragon Eruhaben’s words.
[Hm.]
Currently, Cale, bound hand and foot, was slung over
Eruhaben’s shoulder, moving.
Their destination was Duke Hinpa’s palace.
They were heading to an island in the center of a tranquil
lake.
—Hehe.
Suddenly, the Cheapskate chuckled.
—Cale.
Then whispered.
—In this situation, aren’t you saying the exact opposite?
What?
Cale’s face, hidden by bandages, twisted.
—Hahahahaha!
The Cheapskate burst into wild laughter.
[Why’s it like this?]
It was like when Cale emptied his wallet to enhance the
Fire of Destruction.
—Cale. Give me money.
The Cheapskate, after a long time, requested
enhancement.
—You’re crossing angels to reach gods now. So spend like
a god. Give me money. I’ll work like a god too. My essence
is money.
Cale, though.
[Nonsense.]
Lightly ignored it.
—….
The Cheapskate sulked, but Cale didn’t care.
His gaze suddenly shifted forward.
[The king’s good at guiding the Wanderer.]
Unlike King Tamahi’s tense state, she was leading the
Wanderer to the island.
Cale glanced at the scene from the rear.
Flap flap.
As the Wanderer crossed the lake and stepped onto the
island, she spoke.
“What a mess.”
Duke Hinpa’s palace was utterly destroyed, vanished
without a trace, and the surroundings were in chaos.
Though not ornate, the serene garden’s atmosphere was
completely uprooted, like a typhoon had struck.
“…Collapsed.”
Nearby palaces were either tilted or mostly crumbled.
The quaint island where Lan Kingdom’s royalty resided no
longer existed.
“Yes. Thinking about repairs is a hassle.”
King Tamahi still spoke only the truth.
The Wanderer, looking at where Hinpa’s palace once
stood, approached the nearest palace.
Her voice carried an odd chill.
“Gone.”
Her pupils gleamed strangely.
“Not broken, gone.”
The nearby palace was collapsing.
Half the structure was lost.
But the vanished half left no trace.
Even supporting beams or stone pillars would leave
something.
“….”
The Wanderer crouched.
Then reached out.
“…Powder.”
All that remained was unrecognizable powder.
Grains finer than sand.
“This isn’t a simple explosion.”
An explosion couldn’t produce such powder.
The island was filled with things reduced to dust, losing
their original form.
Watching from afar, Cale sneakily glanced at the ancient
dragon.
Twitch.
Ancient Dragon Eruhaben’s lips curled sharply, then
quickly dropped. With an odd mood, he turned, meeting
Cale’s eyes briefly.
“….”
“….”
A human and an ancient dragon pretended not to know
each other.
“!”
Then, Eruhaben’s gaze shifted to the Wanderer.
Woo woo woo—
The Wanderer pulled a small bead from her bosom.
“It’s about time.”
She said flatly, and Cale’s eyes gleamed.
King Tamahi had said of the Wanderers:
[I’ve met two Wanderers so far.]
Besides Wanderer Shao Hee, two others.
[I can’t gauge their strength.]
And now another appeared.
With this, Cale had encountered three Wanderers here.
Woo woo woo—
The air vibrated.
With bright light, a magic circle appeared beside the
Wanderer woman.
A teleportation circle.
Flash—!
Where the light vanished, a man stood.
[Hm?]
Cale’s brow furrowed slightly.
Then the Super Rock spoke.
—Looks similar?
The newly appeared man.
He resembled the Wanderer woman closely.
Like family.
“You’re here?”
The Wanderer woman spoke rather warmly.
The man scanned the surroundings.
“….”
His gaze stopped on King Tamahi.
“Like this.”
The moment the woman sighed.
“Hm.”
As Ancient Dragon Eruhaben swallowed and stiffened,
Boom!
An explosion occurred.
“Ugh!”
King Tamahi groaned, rolling on the ground.
“Your Majesty!”
“Your Majesty, are you alright?”
Martial Scholar Charen and the chamberlain rushed to
help her up.
“I’m, I’m fine.”
King Tamahi signaled she was okay, waving and standing
on her own.
She was unharmed.
Gulp.
But her eyes, swallowing, wavered.
Her nape chilled.
—Cale, did you see?
The Super Rock asked.
[Yeah. I saw.]
Cale had seen.
—Fire.
As the Super Rock said, it was fire.
The new Wanderer man.
The moment he pointed at King Tamahi, flames erupted
before her.
—And ice.
Then the fire was blocked by the Wanderer woman.
Thus, an explosion occurred before the king, causing
Tamahi to roll, but it prevented the fire from spreading.
“Cho! Didn’t I say not to do that?”
The Wanderer woman shouted at the man.
The new Wanderer. His name was Cho.
Cho, hearing her, stared at the king. Then spoke.
“Where’s Shao Hee?”
Haa.
The Wanderer woman sighed.
“Cho. Calm down.”
“How can I calm down?”
At Cho’s irritated response, the woman sighed again. His
reaction furrowed Cho’s brow.
“Ren. You’re so calm now, isn’t that weird?”
The woman’s name was Ren.
She grimaced, as if expecting this.
Seeing that, Cho grew more agitated, raising his voice.
“Hey. You know what Shao Hee means to me!”
The calm Ren.
Cho, unable to hide his emotions.
They looked too alike.
[Like siblings.]
Cale’s pupils recorded their appearances.
[One’s ice, one’s fire.]
Something subtle.
Still, they seemed to work together.
“I know. To you, Shao Hee—”
Ren stopped mid-sentence. Glancing around, Cho didn’t
care. He grew irritated at Ren’s pause.
“Where’s Shao Hee? Why aren’t you talking?”
“No, it’s… haa. Too many ears around.”
Her words got a reaction.
“Ears? Where are the ears?”
Ha.
Ren sighed louder at his response.
Meanwhile, Cale’s lips twitched up, then down.
[Look at that jerk?]
Cale, Eruhaben, and the Lan Kingdom people were here.
Five in total, yet Wanderer Cho said there were no ears.
Attacking King Tamahi on sight was the same.
—Rotten.
Cale silently agreed with the the Sky-Swallowing Water’s
opinion.
“Shao Hee’s like my apprentice! She’s the first one I
found!”
“I know. That’s why Shao Hee follows you so much.”
“I know how strong she is. But she vanished suddenly?
These humans? Does that make sense?”
Hoh.
The agitated Cho and calming Ren.
Their conversation revealed Shao Hee was significant to
Cho.
[I see.]
Cale now understood a bit.
Why Shao Hee stayed in the Lan Kingdom.
And why two Wanderers, too strong for the Heavenly
Demon and Choi Han combined, were entangled in this.
“Dare—”
Cho’s gaze turned to King Tamahi.
“Hm.”
Tamahi let out a groan.
Whoosh—
Flames flared around Wanderer Cho.
Like an aura.
—Hoo.
Ignoring the Cheapskate’s reaction, Cale assessed Cho’s
aura.
[About the same.]
As the woman. As Wanderer Ren’s level.
“Cho.”
Then, Wanderer Ren, looking at the terrified Tamahi and
others, spoke.
“The God of Chaos.”
“…What?”
Cho’s glare, as if ready to kill the king, slowly shifted to
Ren.
“Duke Hinpa, no, the God of Chaos seems to have
betrayed us.”
“Them?”
“Yes. It’s suspected the God of Chaos’s forces killed Hinpa
and took Shao Hee.”
Cho didn’t question.
He always trusted his twin sister Ren’s judgment.
For his impulsive, fiery nature, the rational Ren’s decisions
were always right.
This time too.
The cautious Ren pointing to the God of Chaos meant she
was over 90% certain.
“To the holy land, it seems.”
As Ren’s words ended, Cho closed his eyes.
The God of Chaos’s holy land.
“Night of Genesis.”
“Yes.”
Ren nodded calmly.
Cho opened his eyes.
Whoosh—
The aura around him burned fiercer.
Like a volcano before eruption.
Molten lava seemed to writhe.
“Dare—”
A red aura glinted in his eyes.
“How dare the God of Chaos hit our napes?”
Crack. Crack.
The ground beneath him scorched black.
In the cracked earth, flames boiled like lava.
“Hah.”
The chamberlain struggled to breathe.
So did Martial Scholar Charen and the king.
They stepped back.
The aura swirling around Cho was suffocating.
Like wandering a desert without water, an oppressive
dryness and burning.
“Ugh.”
Eruhaben groaned, stepping back.
With Cale on his shoulder, of course.
[As expected, great acting.]
An ancient dragon’s long life honed his acting.
If Choi Han’s acting was the floor, Eruhaben’s was the sky.
[…Really strong.]
Cale quietly observed Cho.
His eyes also held Ren, standing unfazed beside Cho.
The likely siblings.
Ice and fire.
For some reason, Cale imagined them fighting together.
If two opposing forces fought side by side—
[It’d be tough to handle.]
Truly tough.
One was beyond Choi Han and the Heavenly Demon
combined.
But fighting both?
If they were truly siblings, their coordination would be
seamless.
[Definitely—]
Cale resolved.
[I must make them fight the God of Chaos’s order!]
Make both forces struggle!
Then find a chance to smack their napes!
Cale steeled himself.
—Cale.
The ancient dragon cautiously conveyed.
—We stay on the sidelines, reaping the benefits.
As expected, experience.
The ancient dragon reached the same conclusion as Cale.
Indeed, among dragons, working with Eruhaben gave Cale
the most security.
Eruhaben, conveying to Cale, looked at the two Wanderers
and thought.
[I need to get stronger.]
A dragon living comfortably might not handle even one
Wanderer.
[I can’t look weak before the kids.]
The little kid. He couldn’t show an ungreat dragon side to
Raon.
[Get stronger—]
A dragon born strong.
Thus, Eruhaben, seeking ways to grow stronger, recalled
the past.
Powder or dust.
He overcame his attribute’s weakness, crushing everything
to dust.
Though different from now.
[Still, I might lose.]
Lose to those Wanderers.
Perhaps fighting them was for the Heavenly Demon or
Choi Han.
They had auras.
[The final answer is aura.]
The way to handle Wanderers seemed right.
He thought of his disciple.
Rosalyn.
And another human, Alberu Crossman.
Clopeh Sekka and Mary came to mind too.
[Hm.]
For some reason, he thought they’d awaken their “auras.”
Especially Rosalyn, he was sure she would.
If so—
[I can’t fall behind.]
Eruhaben’s eyes sank deeply.
His body rejuvenated, like youth restored, with vast
experience.
Dragons lacked auras.
Eruhaben closely observed that power, distinct from
dragon fear.
[Uniqueness and aura.]
Ultimately similar to a dragon’s attribute and fear.
Those qualified to become gods were called single-born.
If they could possess uniqueness—
[They say dragons can’t become gods.]
Everyone said so.
[Doesn’t matter. Wanderers aren’t gods either.]
What’s so great about gods?
A rejuvenated dragon.
No dragon like this existed before.
Eruhaben was certain he could forge another history,
something.
Thus, he pondered how to grow stronger.
[Hm?]
Lost in thought, he startled.
“Ren. To Night of Genesis, now!”
“Calm down first. I need more clues.”
“No clues needed. Just smash the saint’s head!”
“Ha. Right. Give me time. We don’t know Night of
Genesis’s exact location anyway—”
“You know roughly!”
“True, but we need to find the entrance.”
“Turn it upside down, and the entrance will show!”
The brash Cho and calming Ren.
Meanwhile, Eruhaben, hearing key information, looked at
Cale with a subtle expression.
—Cale, what’s wrong?
At his question, Cale shook his head.
But Eruhaben didn’t miss the discomfort in Cale’s eyes.
—Something bothering you?
At his question, Cale shook his head again.
Eruhaben’s doubts lingered, but seeing Cale’s reaction, he
shifted his gaze for now.
“No way. We need to find it. Cho, to save Shao—if she’s
alive. We need to enter the holy site secretly for easier
work. And we must inform the family before acting. We
can’t move recklessly.”
“Ha. Just smash it all!”
“Cho!”
“Fine, I got it!”
Though he logged their dialogue, unease persisted.
—Ah, two would be tough.
As the Fire of Destruction reacted strongly to Cho and Ren,
—What?
The the Sky-Swallowing Water cut in suddenly.
Cale’s unease grew.
—That fire. Worth fighting?
Finally, the Sky-Swallowing Water said it was worth
fighting Cho’s fire.
—You could try.
The cheapskate agreed.
But the cheapskate continued,
—But wouldn’t Cale spit blood a lot? It’s been ages since
you bled. Not skill backlash, real blood. You’d bleed for
real?
Cale firmly expressed his intent.
[I won’t fight them!]
Especially—
[Absolutely no way!]
He vehemently declared.
The Fire and the Sky-Swallowing Water responded.
—Hm. Yeah.
—Hm. Yeah.
Quite half-hearted.
—Cale, don’t worry.
The terrifying Super Rock reassured him.
Still, Cale felt odd.
His nape chilled.
Like someone was smacking it.
“We’re going to find Shao Hee.”
Wanderer Ren told the queen.
“But we don’t know the helper’s face.”
Her gaze turned to the bandaged figure slumped on guard
warrior Eruhaben’s shoulder.
“I’ll take this person.”
The moment she said that, Cale thought,
[Yes!]
Perfect—Ancient Dragon Eruhaben echoed in Cale’s mind.
—Per the plan. Using us as an excuse, we’ll tag along.
And…
—I need to contact Rosalyn to get moving.
Cale had already drawn a map to Night of Genesis for his
companions.
The Demon Realm.
Night of Genesis there.
With Alberu and Rosalyn, already in the Demon Realm,
Cale planned to meet them there.
[Hah.]
Cale, head bowed, suppressed a grin.
The thought of seeing the God of Chaos’s order and
Wanderers clash thrilled him.
Immensely.
—Worth a try? Strengthen, huh?
—You won’t try?
Of course, he ignored the Fire of Destruction and the Sky-
Swallowing Water.
He’d stop listening to them from now on.
Chapter 2-403: You Dare Hit My Nape? (6)
Cale lay on a sickbed.
“Haa.”
“Why the sigh?”
At Cale’s question, King Tamahi looked at him.
Neatly lying in bed, blankets pulled to his chest, bandaged
Cale.
His round eyes gazed at her.
He seemed in a good mood.
“…I don’t know if this is okay.”
But she felt uneasy.
“Aren’t we sleeping with the enemy?”
Wanderers Cho and Ren.
Sending Cale and Eruhaben with them felt deeply
uncomfortable.
“Right! So it’s great, isn’t it?”
But Cale answered clearly.
Genuinely excited.
“…Aren’t you nervous?”
“Nervous about what?”
Cale had no reason to be nervous.
[If it goes wrong, I’ll just escape.]
He was confident he could escape easily.
Especially with a thousand-year-old ancient dragon, there
was nothing to fear.
“Don’t worry.”
Cale smiled brightly.
Of course, bandaged with fake wounds, he looked like a
zombie.
“I’ll trick them well and return. With both forces fighting,
the holy site will be completely destroyed. Hahaha!”
Seeing his unguarded, clear demeanor, King Tamahi’s
heart calmed slightly, but she opened her mouth with a
serious expression.
“Wanderer Cho may not know, but can we really fool Ren
completely? To make her fight the God of Chaos too.”
She believed the king’s words but acted cautiously. Would
she easily fight the God of Chaos’s order?
“Huh.”
Cale gave a strange smile.
“Your Majesty.”
He whispered.
“Don’t we have one last move?”
Cale’s gaze shifted to his side.
The king looked there too.
“….”
A man stood, arms crossed, leaning at an angle, exuding
an aura like a masterpiece painting.
Ancient Dragon Eruhaben.
He tilted his head.
“The last move is mine. Think I’ll fail?”
Wanderers Cho and Ren.
The final trick to deceive them.
That was Eruhaben’s part.
King Tamahi shook her head.
“No.”
The dragon before her was unlikely to fail.
In fact, she believed Cale and Eruhaben would do well.
“Still, Ren seems quite calm. I worry she might stay
composed even with that last move.”
“Hm.”
Cale shrugged.
“We must follow the plan, unsure of the outcome. But my
gut says the last move will work.”
“Yes. I trust you.”
She decided to trust them.
Knock knock.
The chamberlain’s voice came from outside.
“It’s time.”
“Your Majesty.”
Cale requested.
“Give us about ten minutes, then we’ll go out.”
“Understood.”
The king decided to go deal with the Wanderers first.
Cale was in this treatment room, nominally for wound care
and bandaging, his last stop before heading to the Demon
Realm.
“Send the contact?”
At Eruhaben’s question, Cale nodded.
The ten minutes were needed to contact their
companions.
“I’m here.”
Marshmallow Castle, center of the Seventh Evils.
At Rosalyn’s words, two people stood from their seats.
Alberu and the Heavenly Demon.
“Smooth travels! I’ll bring Choi Han later!”
Raon, On, and Hong saw them off.
“….”
Of course, baby dragon Edenmiru was there too.
Edenmiru sighed deeply.
Raon kept patting his head.
“I’ll take good care of Edenmiru! Heehee!”
At Raon’s words, Edenmiru didn’t even respond.
He ignored the smiling Rosalyn, Alberu, and Heavenly
Demon.
“By the way.”
The Heavenly Demon, standing on the teleportation circle,
asked Alberu.
“Isn’t teleportation impossible inside the Demon Realm?”
“Yes. You must move to the Demon Realm’s border and
enter.”
“What’s that place like?”
Alberu looked at Rosalyn.
Rosalyn answered for him.
“It’s the Tomb of the Forgotten.”
As a strange glint crossed the Heavenly Demon’s face,
Flash!
With bright light, the four headed to the Demon Realm’s
border.
There were four entry points to the Demon Realm.
They arrived at one.
“Are those two close friends?”
“Yes.”
At Wanderer Ren’s question, the king answered
respectfully.
Where Ren’s gaze pointed, a guard warrior crossed the
open treatment room’s threshold.
Eruhaben, carrying Cale.
—Didn’t expect to carry a young guy like you at my age.
Unhearing Eruhaben’s words to Cale, Ren asked again.
“…Just a guard warrior?”
“Yes. When that servant entered the palace, this warrior
came as support. They worked together in Duke Hinpa’s
palace, sometimes serving as my guard.”
King Tamahi continued.
“The servant calms down most when with the guard, so
we had to assign him specifically.”
“…I see.”
“Yes.”
Ren looked at Eruhaben with curious eyes.
A black-haired man in standard palace warrior attire.
[Strange.]
She hadn’t noticed earlier, but now, confirming the
information, it struck her.
[That guard warrior—]
Odd.
Beyond his strikingly handsome face, his aura, walking
posture, and more felt strange.
[Right.]
Ren realized the truth behind that feeling.
[Like a noble.]
He carried the air of a patriarch from a centuries-old noble
family.
An elegant aura naturally ingrained through life, even if
unlearned. Even a flowing dignity.
Nothing about him seemed like a guard warrior.
[Hm. She doesn’t seem to be lying.]
About the guard warrior, King Tamahi appeared truthful.
[No reason to.]
Lie so blatantly?
The king couldn’t bear the consequences, and she knew
that better than anyone.
[If so—]
Ren’s eyes glinted oddly.
[Only one possibility.]
If this man wasn’t a guard warrior but a spy hiding in the
palace.
His identity could only be one.
[God of Chaos’s order.]
He was likely from there.
[Doing all that and just vanishing? That doesn’t add up.]
Ren’s gaze grew heavy.
The God of Chaos’s order, seemingly betraying the Five-
Colored Bloods, preparing to backstab.
Disappearing after such work to end it didn’t make sense.
[Instead, they hid a spy to watch the Lan Kingdom and our
Five-Colored Bloods’ actions.]
Where would the God of Chaos’s order best plant a secret
line?
[…The sole witness’s only reliance.]
Right. The sole witness, now ill at the mention of the God
of Chaos. If someone close to him was the cult’s pawn,
they’d easily grasp the Lan Kingdom and Wanderers’
status by meeting the king and Wanderers.
“…Ren!”
“Ah.”
Ren, lost in thought, paused.
“What are you doing?”
Cho’s face showed irritation.
“Hm.”
Unnoticed, the servant and guard warrior had reached
them.
The king was speaking to the guard.
“Take good care of them. Your job is to look after this
guy.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The guard warrior bowed solemnly to the king’s words.
[That face is too serious.]
The order wasn’t special, but the guard’s expression was
unusually grave and resolute.
[Like he has another mission.]
As Ren’s doubts deepened,
“Ren! What are you thinking?”
At Cho’s words, she stopped thinking.
[Right. It’s just suspicion for now.]
She couldn’t ruin everything over suspicion.
[The guard might just be ordinary.]
Ren kept her doubts but decided to proceed as planned.
“Let’s go.”
Woo woo woo—
Cho stood on the Lan Kingdom mages’ teleportation circle,
beckoning.
The servant and guard warrior already stood beside him.
“Yes. Let’s go.”
Ren climbed onto the circle too.
She recalled the response after reporting to the Five-
Colored Bloods.
The God of Chaos’s order.
As both the greatest ally and potential enemy.
Dealing with them required higher-up approval.
[Still, the God of Chaos’s actions have raised many
questions lately. Good.]
Only three in the family could grant her permission.
Three with Five-Colored-level uniqueness.
[You and Cho have Transparent-level power, but together,
you’re likely Five-Colored-level. If it’s you two, you can
handle most things at the God of Chaos’s holy site.]
Cho and Ren.
Fraternal twins with opposing uniqueness, but together,
their power reached Five-Colored level.
[Ren, you’re a steady child. Keep Cho from acting rashly. I
trust your judgment; act freely.]
Her superior approved the holy site mission.
All action judgments were left to her.
[Right. Act diligently.]
As Ren steeled her resolve, she felt the magic circle
activate with brilliant light.
She also heard her brother Cho’s final words to the king.
“Hey, king.”
Wanderer Cho. He’d never treated the king this way,
showing no courtesy now.
He warned.
“Watch yourself from now on.”
The king’s face darkened.
Visible even in the bright magical light.
“Don’t forget, your life and this land’s can end anytime.”
Wanderer Cho’s voice held no anger or irritation.
Just cold fact.
“One mistake is all it takes.”
With that, he ended.
Flash!
With brilliant light, the Wanderer twins, guard warrior, and
servant vanished.
“….”
King Tamahi recalled the eyes behind the two Wanderers.
Eyes itching to smack Wanderer Cho’s nape.
Pfft.
The king chuckled softly.
“Interesting.”
With that, her gaze turned southwest, toward the Demon
Realm.
Demon Realm.
A region combining jungles, deserts, and other hazardous
terrains.
[Deserts, jungles, underground, labyrinths. Everything.]
Alberu had told Cale about the Demon Realm.
[Each area has leaders, with countless factions.]
The Demon Realm’s uniqueness, per game rules, was the
impossibility of teleportation within.
Combined with hazardous terrain, movement was highly
inconvenient.
[If the 8 Evils are too high-level, terrifying, and hard to
approach, the Demon Realm, in another sense, has few
players.]
[First, movement is tough.]
[Second, it’s not very useful.]
Most importantly, it was a region where quests were rare.
[A place for those rejected by the New World.]
Rejected races.
People with various stories, forced from their homes,
hiding somewhere.
Or criminals.
A true mix, leading to frequent incidents and lawless
zones.
Unless one had significant strength, the Demon Realm
wasn’t for ordinary people.
[And the Demon Realm is quite hostile to outsiders,
occasionally attacking.]
It was said to be a very arid region.
Flash!
With bright light, Cale arrived at the Demon Realm’s
border.
Of the four entrances, the Wanderers chose—
“Ha, too many bugs and grass here. Hate it.”
The jungle.
A crude barbed wire fence.
The boundary line.
Beyond it, a jungle anyone could easily cross.
“No choice. This path is fastest.”
As Wanderer Ren said, the jungle route was the quickest
to the Night of Genesis holy site.
Cale buried his face in Eruhaben’s back, hiding a smile.
[His Highness must be here.]
Alberu’s group, heading this way, should already be in the
Demon Realm.
“I roughly know the location. Let’s head there.”
Ren led, glancing back.
“Stay in the middle.”
“Yes.”
At her direction, Eruhaben stood between Cho and Ren.
“Don’t act tough; just follow quietly.”
“Yes.”
Eruhaben answered obediently.
“Ren! You’re still doing this?”
Cho questioned, but Ren, eyeing Eruhaben suspiciously,
turned and stepped forward.
“Ren! We need to hurry!”
“I know.”
She asked Eruhaben.
“As a palace guard warrior, your qinggong (Wuxia's
walking technique) should be decent. We’ll speed up. Can
you keep up?”
“I’ll try.”
“Good.”
Ren lightly leaped, surging forward.
Her speed increased.
Rustle rustle rustle—
Though a jungle, near the entrance, there was a path, so
movement wasn’t difficult.
Of course, branches, leaves, vines, grass, bugs, and more
obstructed her.
Crackle crackle.
Everything froze.
Whoosh.
Iced over.
Ren glanced back quietly.
“….”
The guard warrior panted, struggling to follow.
So far, he hadn’t used internal energy, relying on physical
strength.
“Ren! Let this guy walk however. Don’t care, just go! If he
can’t, I’ll drag them!”
At Cho’s words, Ren nodded, turning forward again.
Of course, she gave the guard warrior a final glance.
A chilling warning.
“….”
Eruhaben just bowed his head, running hard.
Ren’s gaze vanished.
Though he felt Cho’s gaze on his back.
—Cale. It’s getting dark.
Eruhaben surveyed the surroundings.
Demon Realm.
The jungle was hazardous because paths vanished deeper
in, natural terrain blocked the way, and bugs, poisonous
plants, beasts, and monsters harassed travelers.
A jungle filled with trees several times human height.
It grew darker the deeper in.
Not night-dark, but many areas lacked sunlight.
—Cale. Signal at the right time.
If Cale signaled Eruhaben,
—Cho, I attack that guy, right?
Eruhaben would ambush Cho.
Then Cale would unleash his Dominating Aura.
—Crush an arm, right?
It would happen instantly.
When Wanderers Cho and Ren let their guard down, they
wouldn’t realize it.
[So stay vigilant.]
Rather than lowering their guard, their attention was
divided.
Cale glanced at a mark on a tree.
The agreed signal.
Tap.
The moment Cale gave Eruhaben the first signal,
Roar—!
A beast’s howl echoed from deep in the jungle’s darkness.
Crack. Crash!
Something broke trees, emerging from the dark.
“Hehehe.”
A massive figure with a gaping maw wasn’t a beast.
Wanderer Ren whispered.
“…Beastmen.”
Beastmen.
One of the factions rooted in the Demon Realm’s jungle.
Normally, beastmen weren’t rejected in the New World,
but these were different.
Beastmen rooted here left voluntarily, living by instinct,
not New World norms.
Roar—
Tiger beastman.
Facing the massive obstacle, Ren’s eyes sank deeply.
“Hah—”
The tiger beastman smacked his lips like spotting prey.
Thud thud.
A crow perched on a branch flew into the sky, vanishing.
Cale, watching the mark disappear, stared forward.
Roar—!
The majestic tiger beastman patriarch, Gashan.
After a long time, he played the ferocious role.
Demon Realm.
Cale’s companions there totaled four.
Alberu, Rosalyn, Heavenly Demon. And Gashan.
“Prey’s here! Hahaha!”
Tiger patriarch Gashan performed before the Wanderers,
thinking.
[When Eruhaben attacks, that’s the ambush moment,
right?]
Living so long, Gashan was adept at escaping.
Then.
“What, you beast!”
Cho passed Cale, stepping forward.
Extremely irritated.
Twitch.
Cale’s lips curled.
“Cho. I’ll handle it. Stay put.”
The moment Ren said that,
Tap tap.
Cale signaled Eruhaben.
Lowered guard.
Just one moment.
In that brief instant, a prisoner the Wanderers
underestimated appeared.
That was enough.
Cale’s eyes caught platinum powder.
Chapter 2-404: You Dare Hit My Nape? (7)
Dust exists everywhere.
It’s just a matter of whether it’s visible.
[Ha.]
Cale got goosebumps.
The platinum powder before his eyes. No, dust.
[If Eruhaben aimed to be an assassin, he’d be top-tier.]
Dust is subtle.
No, it doesn’t need to be.
It just needs to exist.
Eruhaben.
He prefers grandeur, fighting openly, right? Because he
loves turning everything to powder, to dust, defeating all.
When he chose subtlety, Cale glimpsed the true nature of
his power.
[Honestly, that’s why I brought Eruhaben.]
Choi Han, Rosalyn, Heavenly Demon, Raon.
If they aimed for splendor, they could unleash boundless
brilliance. Eruhaben could do the opposite.
Like he’s not there.
He could do either.
[Now!]
Wanderer Cho passed Cale, carried on Eruhaben’s back.
Cale tapped Eruhaben’s shoulder twice, and Eruhaben
silently raised dust.
Right now.
Tap.
The moment Cale tapped that shoulder again.
Wanderer Cho’s back filled Cale’s eyes.
Especially his empty hands.
“!”
Cho stopped, shocked.
Sensing a power surge behind, he turned.
Radiant platinum.
Tiny powder, barely discernible, entered his vision.
As he turned, that powder multiplied rapidly, forming a
small galaxy.
[Hm!]
Eruhaben was surprised.
He hadn’t fully unleashed his attribute.
Yet Cho noticed the sign and turned.
[Goodness.]
These Wanderers were strong.
A chill ran down Eruhaben’s spine.
“!”
Wanderer Ren.
Beyond Cho’s shoulder, she turned precisely toward the
platinum dust.
These Wanderers were strong enough to detect
Eruhaben’s ambush.
Without Tiger Patriarch Gashan’s appearance stealing
attention, Eruhaben raising dust secretly before them
would’ve been tough.
[But the ambush has begun.]
Platinum dust enveloped Cho.
But—
[It’ll likely be stopped.]
These Wanderers were skilled enough to block or evade
Eruhaben’s current ambush.
If—
[If not for Cale Henituse.]
Wanderer Cho shouted.
“You—”
But his words didn’t continue.
“!”
His eyes widened.
As platinum dust surged toward Cho.
[What is this—!]
He felt immense power.
A colossal aura, crashing like waves.
Under that body-binding force, Cho’s body stiffened.
[…!]
His mind blanked instantly.
He only felt.
Like—
[The Patriarch—]
The first Wanderer.
Meeting him, with Five-Colored-level uniqueness.
And—
[…A god!]
Meeting a god.
That overwhelming presence.
Before such power, a non-god single-born was nothing.
The helplessness and defeat of bowing to a god.
All those memories, the first moment of fear, resurfaced.
Right.
Terrifying.
Fear, rooted in his existence’s instinct, engulfed Cho.
Memories of dread and terror pushed him into chaos.
[Ah.]
In that moment, Cho snapped back.
“Cho!”
He heard his sister Ren’s voice.
“Damn it!”
Cho retreated hastily, activating his uniqueness.
Whoosh—
Igniting fire.
Fierce flames, as if to burn everything.
“Ugh!”
But the cost of succumbing to fear-driven chaos was steep.
It wasn’t even seconds.
Cho saw not fire on his arm, but dust already clinging to it.
Beautiful platinum, ill-suited to powder.
Amid the aura’s waves, that dust—
Boom!
Began exploding.
Bang! Boom! Bang!
The cost of a moment’s lapse.
Distracted by the beastman.
Carrying someone on his back.
Ignoring others.
Noticing the ambush but stunned by the aura, pausing.
Less than ten seconds’ gap.
“Aaaargh!”
Cho paid for it with pain.
“Cho!”
Wanderer Ren’s face twisted, seeing her brother’s arm
explode.
[Damn it!]
She’d been careless.
And froze momentarily.
Her body stiffened briefly under the immense energy.
But she recovered faster than Cho.
The aura didn’t envelop her.
It seemed to target only her brother’s arm.
Boom!
Another explosion.
Not on Cho’s arm.
“You!”
As ice shattered and explosion smoke cleared, Eruhaben
stepped back elegantly.
Wanderer Ren glared fiercely at the guard warrior.
“Hehe.”
The guard warrior smiled, extending a hand.
Toward Cho.
“No!”
Ren’s gaze shifted to Cho.
Waves of countless platinum powder approached him
again.
[No!]
Absolutely not.
Don’t touch Cho, never.
One day, born seconds apart, dying seconds apart.
[This time I die before sis?]
Cho had laughed, saying that.
Of course, he had no choice, dying to protect Ren.
Thus, Ren died slightly later.
Both single-born, they learned after death.
Since then, they’d been together long.
Ren, living as a Wanderer, swore one thing.
[Die first.]
If death came, she’d die before Cho unconditionally.
But now her brother was attacked.
While she was fine.
Always deemed calm and cautious, yet led by her brother,
showing weakness.
Her heart now blazed, boiling.
Anger at the enemy.
Anger at her carelessness.
Anger at failing to protect her injured brother.
With all that rage, she gave her all.
Whooshhh—
The platinum powder wave.
A massive chill enveloped it.
Instantly, the platinum powder was trapped in ice.
Like a perfect sculpture, the wave-shaped ice gleamed
with platinum light.
“Ugh!”
Hearing Cho’s groan.
Ren moved reflexively.
Her next action was set.
Whoosh—
Cho’s mangled arm from the explosion was instantly
encased in ice.
“Urgh—”
As Cho’s groans subsided slightly.
Ren’s hand moved.
She was furious but not careless this time.
Boom!
A massive ice spike.
A platinum shield blocked it.
Clang—
But the spike pierced the shield.
Beyond the shattered shield, Ren saw the guard warrior
fleeing swiftly.
And the servant, seemingly fainted, slumped on his back.
“Chase him, Ren!”
At Wanderer Cho’s voice, Ren didn’t react.
Cho, wanting to pursue Eruhaben, grabbed his ice-
encased, shattered, nearly gone arm.
“….”
He didn’t say to chase again.
He looked up.
“Ha!”
The sky, obscured by tall trees.
Visible faintly through leaf gaps.
Woo—
A dark sky.
No, dark red clouds covered it.
In those clouds—
Crackle, crackle!
Red and golden lightning began falling.
Wanderer Ren spoke.
“We’ve been played.”
Boom! Bang! Boom!
Dozens of flames and lightning poured down instantly.
The jungle turned to scorched earth.
Explosions and dust blurred the area.
Whooshhhh—
But soon, a gust calmed the explosions.
Wanderer Cho, at the center of the attacks, spoke.
“…Ren.”
The explosions stopped.
Fire.
Lightning.
Trees.
Grass.
All attacks aimed at Cho and Ren.
All life around them.
Frozen.
“….”
With Wanderer Ren at the center, everything was iced.
Fire and lightning were consumed.
She waved her hand lightly.
Crack—
The ice shattered.
Everything encased turned to powder, falling to the
ground.
Like platinum dust.
“….”
Wanderer Ren said nothing.
Cho, watching, couldn’t contain his rage, kicking the
ground.
“Damn it! Damn it!”
He couldn’t hold back.
Ren gazed quietly where the guard warrior vanished.
He was gone quickly.
Well, someone who could blast Cho’s arm in a moment
could escape in one too.
“Ren! Chase that guard warrior punk now!”
“…We were ambushed.”
“Ren!”
As Cho’s voice rose,
Ren looked at him and spoke.
“We were ambushed.”
Seeing her cold, transparent eyes, Cho froze.
He realized Ren was furious.
Raging, even.
Gulp.
Cho swallowed unconsciously.
He forgot his arm’s pain momentarily.
Even the Five-Colored level of the Transparent Bloods
couldn’t stop Ren’s rage like this.
Meanwhile, Ren whispered.
“From the beastman, it was a trap.”
“Urgh!”
At her words, Cho remembered the beastman.
Ren scanned the surroundings.
The beastman vanished without a trace.
[One might think he fled after seeing our fight.]
Too subtle.
Appearing suddenly, vanishing covertly.
It all seemed planned.
[There, when the guard warrior fled, magic attacks came
suddenly.]
In that sky of magical attacks, she sensed uniqueness.
Imperfect, newly formed, but at least Purple Blood-level
power.
And those powers were nothing.
Just seconds.
Enough to bind two Wanderers.
“Ha, haha—”
Ren shifted her gaze from the frozen, shattered, melted
ground, laughing at the open sky.
Cho watched, and Ren looked at him, stopping.
“Cho.”
Ren approached, grabbing his arm.
“You okay?”
Cho answered strongly.
“One arm’s enough.”
Sincerely.
He always thought he’d get injured someday.
And if the family made something to replace his arm, fine.
He pointed to his shoulder.
“Maybe cut below the shoulder.”
“….”
Ren stared silently at Cho’s arm.
Then spoke.
“You felt it, right?”
Cho met Ren’s eyes.
Still transparent and cold.
But brimming with immense anger.
[What to do.]
Ren was truly enraged.
Cho realized this, but unfortunately, he was furious too.
“Urgh, I felt it. You did too, right?”
“Yes.”
Ren continued in a cold tone.
“Only one aura could oppress us with that fear-mixed
chaos.”
Her gaze turned to the jungle’s depths.
“The God of Chaos.”
The guard warrior.
He was indeed the God of Chaos’s.
She should’ve suspected more, but the cost of her lapse
was her brother’s arm.
Ren felt she was going mad.
But her voice was calm.
“In the end, the God of Chaos betrayed us.”
Cho vented his rage.
“Dare hit our napes?”
The ancient god, God of Chaos.
Even as a god, Cho couldn’t forgive his betrayal of the Five-
Colored Bloods.
Dare hit our napes?
Unacceptable.
Ren said flatly.
“No choice.”
It had come to this; nothing could be done.
With the God of Chaos’s betrayal, what else could they
do?
Seeing Ren’s reaction, Cho frowned, raising his voice.
“Nothing, nothing! Let’s destroy them! Don’t we have
ways to kill ancient gods now?”
Ren patted her brother’s back.
“Calm down. That part follows the family’s decision.”
“Just endure it?”
“No.”
Ren gave a gentle smile.
No choice.
There was no other way now.
“Truly no choice. Can’t be helped.”
She decided.
“We should crush them one by one and show them. The
God of Chaos’s cult made what a grave mistake.”
“Ren!”
Cho’s face brightened.
Ren decided their next steps.
“Destroy the holy site first.”
She added.
“And kill the bastard who did this to you.”
The entrance to the holy site?
Sneaking in?
Not needed.
They knew the holy site’s rough location.
“Cho, don’t push yourself. I’ll handle it.”
Ren decided to shatter the holy site and its surroundings.
Hiss hiss hiss—
Chill radiated around the furious Ren.
Ready to freeze everything instantly.
“Haha! That’s tough. I’m furious too. My arm—they’ll
pay.”
Wanderer Cho was enraged too.
He’d kill anyone daring to attack and harm him.
The God of Chaos’s order.
Those guys were done.
“Here.”
At Cale’s words, spotting the mark, Eruhaben slowed his
acceleration magic.
Creak creak.
Entering the cave, Eruhaben soon saw their companions.
“You’re here?”
Alberu, Rosalyn, Heavenly Demon. And Gashan.
All hiding in the cave.
[Hm?]
Eruhaben felt their gazes were odd when,
“Haha!”
Cale’s voice came from behind.
“Everyone’s thrilled!”
Cale’s light, excited voice.
On Eruhaben’s back, he stood on tiptoes.
Then casually raised a hand in greeting.
“Ah.”
Eruhaben, flustered, realized he’d been carrying Cale.
A perfectly fine guy. He could’ve come himself.
“Right, let’s hurry to Night of Genesis, watch the God of
Chaos’s order and Wanderers tear each other apart!”
And Cale was very excited.
“Hoh.”
Finally, the culprits behind his headaches, blood-spitting,
and fainting were here!
Dog-eat-dog.
How could he not be thrilled?
[And the holy relic.]
Plus, Choi Jung Gun.
The way to save everything was to watch the enemies
fight and sneak away with it.
“Hehe.”
Cale was truly happy.
“Cale.”
Eruhaben called.
“Yes!”
Cale answered excitedly.
“Get down.”
“Ah—yes.”
Cale quickly dismounted the ancient dragon.
He realized he’d been carried too long by the eldest
companion.
Chapter 2-405: Night and Light (1)
Chapter Fifty-Two: Night and Light
The God of Chaos’s holy site, Night of Genesis.
Cale was currently en route there.
—I’ll soon get what I need.
At the Super Rock’s ominous words, Cale nodded slightly.
Whoosh—
Riding winds swirling around his ankles, Cale darted
through the jungle.
Side Mission 1: [Seize the Power of Chaos]
[Skill: Fear of Chaos (Disabled)]
[To enable, you must visit the God of Chaos’s holy site.
—View More—]
First, reaching the holy site would soon allow him to use
Fear of Chaos, the Saint’s power.
That would naturally address one issue.
[Choi Jung Gun.]
Second, he could save Choi Jung Gun, tainted by Chaos’s
corruption.
The Demon Realm, one of the Three Evils, was plagued by
Chaos’s corruption.
The purification method.
The Fire of Destruction and The Sky-Swallowing Water
said.
Fire excels at purification; water understands chaos.
Both demanded:
—That guy!
—Just once!
They wanted one chance to face someone wielding the
God of Chaos’s power.
To purify Chaos’s corruption with that opportunity.
Their reason was singular.
[To understand the God of Chaos’s power.]
But Cale, dealing with the Saint, didn’t need to know the
God of Chaos’s power or delve deeper into Chaos’s force.
[Skill.]
The power held by the God of Chaos’s Saint, “Fear of
Chaos.”
Cale could now access it as a game skill.
[If so—]
Using information Team Leader Lee Soo Hyuk gained via
the slate, he could perform the “Chaos Corruption”
purification ritual.
Of course, the exact ritual required knowledge from the
original Saint.
“Cale. At the holy site, head to the cult’s archive first?”
Whoosh—
Dodging leaves lightly, Ancient Dragon Eruhaben asked.
“Yes.”
“Does it have details on the purification ritual?”
“Yes. I saw it.”
Tap tap tap.
Unlike Cale and Eruhaben leaping across the ground,
Alberu, gliding upward over branches, landed beside Cale,
raising a question.
“You saw it? Didn’t your memories lack mission-related
details?”
“Yes.”
When dealing with God of Chaos followers, Cale glimpsed
fragments of memories, leading him here.
“To gain the skill, two things must be done at the holy
site.”
“Urgh. I heard about that.”
Cale, running, stared at the side mission window.
[Visit the archive’s hidden spot to obtain the “Record of
Chaos Power.”]
[Go to the Night of Inversion and destroy the obtained
record.]
“When I saw Duke Hinpa’s memories of the archive, I
confirmed it also holds records of the purification ritual.”
“Ah.”
Rosalyn, listening quietly, let out a short exclamation.
[A fact I suddenly knew.]
Duke Hinpa revealed a hidden spot in the archive.
Cale merely noted a book on the purification ritual in that
scene.
“Left traces.”
Tiger Patriarch Gashan reported then.
“With traces like these, the Wanderers will see and
follow.”
Cale’s words prompted the Heavenly Demon to speak.
“Didn’t the Wanderers say they roughly know the holy
site’s location? Is leaving traces necessary?”
“Hm. Without knowing the entrance, can Wanderers even
enter the holy site?”
Wanderers Cho and Ren. Especially Cho’s temper, unable
to curb his rage, unaware of the entrance or exact
location, would likely destroy the surroundings. No, he
definitely would.
Still, Cale was firm.
“You can only enter from the entrance.”
Thus, Cale had Gashan leave traces from where they
attacked Wanderers Cho and Ren.
[Traces of attempts to erase, but inevitable mistakes.]
Cale asked Gashan to create traces evoking that feeling,
and the experienced tiger executed it well.
Wanderer Ren was cautious, but unable to find the
entrance, she’d suspect these traces and follow.
“Cale’s right.”
Alberu looked ahead.
Half a day running through the jungle.
“If Cale’s spot truly holds the holy site, it’s hard to find
even knowing it.”
Eruhaben responded.
“Didn’t you say a canyon?”
“Yes. But you’ll see.”
Alberu wrapped wind around himself with magic again.
“Let’s go.”
The Demon Realm was vast.
Equivalent to two or three kingdoms combined.
Tap tap tap.
Alberu leaped lightly.
Pausing on a branch again.
His movements resembled a dark elf running through
trees.
“Ten more minutes.”
The jungle, massive, occupied a quarter of the realm.
Whoosh—
Cale followed Alberu, and the companions fell silent,
trailing them.
Whooshhhh—
The wind grew stronger.
Cale slowly saw the jungle’s end.
Giant trees, tall grass. Vision obscured by vines.
Wind weaving through it all.
The moment they reached the endpoint along that wind.
Whooshhhh—
They exited the jungle.
“Goodness.”
Eruhaben exclaimed.
“I imagined a Death Canyon, but this is another level.”
Whooshhhh—
A great wind blew.
A cliff stood at the jungle’s end.
Cale walked to its edge.
Looking down.
No ground visible.
He looked up.
At the opposite side.
“Oh.”
The opposite land seemed kilometers away.
To reach it, they’d cross a kilometers-wide cliff.
Cale looked right.
“Impressive.”
Eruhaben’s exclamation.
[Cross-shaped.]
The canyon, a cross-shaped cliff, divided the Demon Realm
into four regions.
“Cliff of Death. That’s its name.”
Rosalyn explained to the group.
“It’s like Death Canyon, but bloodier.”
No ground in sight.
“Fall here, and nothing returns alive. Those searching for
them don’t either.”
Tales spread about this place.
“This endless cliff. It’s the afterlife.”
Thus, not just New Worlders, even Demon Realm residents
avoided it.
“No teleportation magic in the Demon Realm makes it
especially inconvenient. The four entrances exist because
this canyon splits the land into four.”
Rosalyn’s gaze settled on the cross-shaped canyon’s
center.
Vertical and horizontal, two long cliffs met at one point.
Not far.
Cale’s group took this route deliberately.
“Luckily, there’s a bridge, so crossing isn’t too hard.”
A peculiar bridge.
Each of the four lands had a giant tree, their roots forming
paths across the kilometers-wide cliff, creating bridges.
“Some players visit to see it.”
The New World.
Full of fantastical sights rare in reality, this bridge was a
mysterious, beautiful spectacle.
“It’s called the ‘Roots of Genesis.’”
Rosalyn said, looking at Cale.
The others did too.
She continued, eyes on Cale.
“The bridge is special because it exists only twice monthly,
on full moon and dark moon nights. Then, the four trees
retract their roots, and the bridge vanishes.”
The Heavenly Demon spoke.
“Roots of Genesis. Isn’t the God of Chaos’s holy site called
Night of Genesis?”
His gaze turned to Cale.
“I don’t know details. I doubt the God of Chaos’s cult built
that bridge.”
Cale shrugged, pointing below, to the cliff.
“Down there is the holy site, with Night of Genesis.”
The canyon below the cliff.
Its area easily surpassed a major city.
Alberu stood beside Cale, looking down.
“Some players have fallen off this cliff.”
Some players deliberately did what they were told not to.
“They say it shows ‘Restricted Area,’ then they die.”
Players could revive and log back in, allowing such
attempts.
“But they saw only gray fog below.”
“Seems to disguise the God of Chaos’s power.”
Eruhaben, beside him, said.
“Cale.”
He asked.
“So how do we get in?”
Cale knew Duke Hinpa’s approach.
“Here.”
He pointed to a spot.
The cliff.
“See that grass there?”
Trees grew on the cliff.
Among them, a small grass with red flowers.
“Just below that, there’s a cave hidden by fog and vines.”
Follow me.
With that, Cale rode the wind downward.
Eruhaben, Rosalyn, and Alberu used magic.
The Heavenly Demon used martial arts.
Gashan, with superb physical ability.
They moved lightly, strolling down the cliff, soon stopping
with Cale.
“Here.”
Rustle.
Clearing overgrown vines revealed a cave wide enough for
two adults to walk side by side.
“Just go down.”
Stairs existed inside.
“Gashan, did you mark it?”
“Yes.”
Confirming Gashan left traces, Cale moved.
Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap.
Only their footsteps echoed on the descent.
No watchers here.
A path only guides could take.
[Followers take another path.]
But that path would have heavy patrols.
This route suited Cale better.
“But what happens at Night of Genesis?”
The Heavenly Demon’s question.
Cale walked, eyes downward.
“If it’s the old Kim Rok Soo, wouldn’t you sneak in, steal
what’s needed, and escape? Destroying it’s fine too.
Seems like it’ll spark a big fight.”
Wanderer Shao Hee.
That alone could pit Wanderers against the God of Chaos’s
cult.
But attacking Wanderer Cho ensured a battle at the holy
site.
“If it’s you, you wouldn’t want many hurt.”
Even God of Chaos followers.
The Cale the Heavenly Demon knew would think so.
“Night of Genesis is a tomb.”
At Cale’s words, the Heavenly Demon listened.
Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap.
Cale’s voice carried among the six’s footsteps.
“Guides, like Duke Hinpa, bring people from outside.”
“Kidnapping, deceiving, luring. Any means to lead them to
this holy site.”
“Then, the gathered are herded to one place, where the
Saint uses Chaos’s power to make them fight.”
Night of Genesis.
A tomb without mourning, a execution ground, a
battlefield.
“Driven by chaos, they kill each other.”
“When all die, even the last, succumbing to wounds from
the ordeal.”
Clatter clatter.
“All corpses are offered to the God of Chaos.”
“And the fighting and deaths are the primal chaos itself.
It’s said only the strong survive, a lawless, primal scene—”
“God of Chaos followers watching pray in gratitude.”
“Gratitude?”
“For feeling chaos.”
“And that ritual’s night is called ‘Night of Joy.’”
“After the sacrifice, all followers there dance, feast,
literally pursue primal joy until the morning sun rises.”
Haa.
Rosalyn exhaled deeply.
“But I mean, the people guides bring aren’t New World
NPCs.”
“Outsiders. Like beings from different dimensions. Their
appearances and clothes vary greatly.”
Urgh.
Eruhaben frowned, closing his eyes tightly.
Tap tap tap.
Cale, descending, paused briefly.
“A bit further down, you’ll see a forest. That’s the canyon’s
bottom.”
They soon exited the cave.
A forest appeared.
Under a gray, foggy sky, it exuded an eerie, sinister aura.
“….”
“….”
The group held their breath, not moving rashly.
They recalled Cale’s words before leaving the cave.
[Outside the forest, there’s a wall and gate.]
Night of Genesis had four gates.
[We’ll scale the wall, avoiding patrols and guards’ eyes.
Our abilities can handle that.]
The wall wasn’t high.
No magic detected.
Perhaps, trusting the canyon’s Chaos power, they
neglected the wall.
If stealthed well, crossing wouldn’t leave traces.
[Patrols and guards are usually lax.]
Cale memorized every word, scene, and moment from
Duke Hinpa’s visits to the holy site.
[From Hinpa’s memories, before Night of Joy, unless
guides bring sacrifices, it’s quiet.]
But now.
“….”
“….”
No one spoke.
Before the gate.
Many people were there.
—Cale.
Eruhaben spoke in his mind.
—Like guides and sacrifices.
Some unharmed, others bound, hands tied, feet shackled.
“….”
Cale closed his eyes tightly.
Duke Hinpa’s recorded memories unfolded.
Night of Joy.
Hinpa, savoring that horrific night, headed to the archive’s
hiding spot.
[Right.]
He’d miscalculated.
Cale opened his eyes.
Gray sky.
Unlike Night of Joy’s sky.
[Dark moon.]
He recalled Rosalyn’s words.
[The bridge is special because it exists only twice monthly,
on full moon and dark moon nights. Then, the four trees
retract their roots, and the bridge vanishes.]
And today.
[It’s the dark moon.] (The dark moon refers to the last day
of the lunar month, the “dark day” or “month’s end.”)
Chapter 2-406: Night and Light (2)
Cale, cloaked in invisibility, approached the city wall.
His ears caught a conversation between a guard and a
guide.
“Ugh. What’s this? Because of Hinpa, we’re the ones
suffering. Suddenly, we have to cover Hinpa’s share too!
Does that make sense? We already filled our quotas!”
“So what? What can we do? You and I are the lowest
ranks. No choice, right?”
The two guides spoke freely.
“Anyway, finding sacrifices the day before the ritual. Is
that reasonable?”
“Ha. No idea. But rushing to find them, we couldn’t get
normal ones.”
The day before the ritual.
That phrase hit Cale’s ears. Today was the ritual day.
A glance.
Cale’s gaze shifted to the gray, misty sky.
The chattering guides approached someone who seemed
to be the guard captain.
“Hey, guides, good work. We’ll handle these sacrifices
now.”
“Yes. No time to find more. Manage them well.”
“Yes, guides.”
Cale observed about ten captured humans.
People with varied appearances and clothing.
“….”
“….”
Too scared to speak.
[Not NPCs. Nor quasi-NPCs.]
But not players either.
They were real people brought from outside the game.
—Cale. Seems we’ve stumbled on something big.
As the Super Rock said.
“@($!(%$)#$!”
A man being led by the guards raised his voice.
He wailed at the guides.
A language Cale couldn’t understand.
—Cale.
Eruhaben, the only one with him, spoke.
Eruhaben was also invisible.
—If my hunch is right, this is huge.
But the ancient dragon’s words trailed off.
The guard captain approached the man.
“This bastard dares yell at guides about the sacrifice?”
Thwack.
The captain swung a club at him.
“Enough.”
“Ah, guide.”
“Tch. If a sacrifice is injured, the ritual won’t proceed
properly. What then?”
“Oh. Sorry!”
Another guide joined the one who’d shifted attention from
the bowing captain.
Seeing a bound man staring their way, he spoke.
“Take good care of this one. Nice eyes. He’ll likely last till
the end.”
He turned to the other guide.
“What was he saying? Isn’t he from your world?”
“Haha.”
The questioned guide stifled a laugh.
“Not a commission? Why lie?”
“Not kidnapped, brought by commission?”
“Yeah. A fairly famous knight. Said he needed urgent funds
for his daughter’s treatment. So I offered an escort job,
and he followed?”
“Hoh. He’ll fight well later.”
“Yeah. To clear his grievances, probably. Haha.”
The guide stopped smiling, beckoning the captain to step
back.
“Captain, hold on.”
Then, he approached the man, whispering.
“@%()——. @%))*！_).”
His words changed the man’s expression.
“….”
The man, biting his lip, was quietly dragged away.
“What did you say?”
“I said if he wins first place in tonight’s battle, he’ll get not
only his daughter’s medical funds but a doctor to save
her.”
The other guide was shocked.
“You’re trash.”
The guide who brought the man shrugged.
“Haha.”
Then, he raised his hands lightly to the sky, as if supporting
it.
“For the reappearance of Chaos—”
His eyes brimmed with sincerity.
A fervent wish for true hope.
“For the reappearance of Chaos—”
“For the reappearance of Chaos—”
Other guides and guards joined in a brief prayer.
“Then I’ll take you there.”
The captain led his team forward.
—I’ll follow.
Eruhaben stepped out.
—I’ll check where they’re held.
The ancient dragon left, and Cale stood quietly near the
guides.
Duke Hinpa.
He was strong.
Not overwhelmingly, but capable.
“Let’s go too.”
“Urgh.”
For minimal defense, a few guards stayed at the gate,
while the two guides headed inside.
But they kept talking.
“What’s with Duke Hinpa?”
“Didn’t you hear about Lan Kingdom? Probably dead.”
“Hm. The Saint will give answers soon.”
“We just follow those cults.”
The guide added, with pity.
“If it’s not true, and he died failing a fake kingdom, Hinpa’s
an idiot. All strength, no use.”
“Don’t say that. Few had faith as firm as Hinpa. And—”
The next guide’s words sparked curiosity in Cale’s eyes.
“And, isn’t this place real now?”
“Yeah. Right.”
Twitch.
The guide’s lips curled.
“It’s becoming reality.”
“Yes. That’s why we bring sacrifices from outside, isn’t it?”
“Right. Before, it was tough. Had to register them as NPCs
or players. Watch hunters’ eyes, deceive them.”
The guide shook his head lightly.
“It’s almost over.”
“Yes. Soon—”
The guide’s gaze turned to the sky.
Gray, misty sky.
“Soon, Chaos will descend.”
“Yes. And we’re building the foundation for that.”
Still gazing upward, the guide chanted.
“O Chaos—”
With that, both vanished inside the gate.
Cale didn’t enter but watched the gate, then returned to
the forest.
“How was it?”
Back in the forest, Cale’s invisibility faded.
A magic circle.
Eruhaben’s creation dispelled invisibility magic upon
entering where companions waited.
“Guides and sacrifices.”
Cale recounted what he saw and heard to Alberu’s
question.
“Goodness. It’s Night of Joy today.”
Rosalyn couldn’t hide her sigh.
But her eyes wavered deeply, pondering what to do.
“Cale.”
Alberu reacted to certain words.
“Is it true?”
The guides’ shared conversation.
He focused on it.
The Heavenly Demon too.
“This isn’t virtual reality but a real world.”
Alberu continued.
“But the enemy’s true desire is to create an absolute god,
making this New World a true dimension, their own
absolute domain.”
“Could be.”
Cale nodded.
“But Young Master Cale.”
Rosalyn joined.
“How’s that possible?”
She didn’t hide her doubt.
“I admit this world’s run by a system, and I can’t see
everything. But from what’s happened, many things occur
outside system judgment.”
No one disputed her doubt.
“But science, magic. Beyond all that, can this world
become real? Isn’t it said divine items can’t connect here?”
Right. Cale couldn’t use the God of Death’s mirror here,
only contacting the god via Earth 3.
“Ah.”
Alberu sighed.
A sigh of realization.
“Then how does the God of Chaos’s power exist here?”
His words sparked curiosity in Rosalyn and the Heavenly
Demon’s eyes.
“!”
“…!”
A flash of insight.
Nurturing a precious absolute god.
This game seemed a virtual reality cut off from reality, yet
it was interconnected inside and out.
Cale spoke.
“We’ll confirm details later with the God of Death. I have a
hypothesis.”
Cale’s gaze deepened.
Recalling records so far.
“The enemy said.”
Hunter families.
Demon Realm.
Chaos’s new forces.
“Countless lives were sacrificed, brought into this game.”
The Transparent Bloods’ research institute did this.
Missing demons in the Demon Realm.
Sacrifices brought by the God of Chaos’s cult.
“I thought it was for an absolute god.”
An absolute god in this game.
Wasn’t the game’s premise to nurture a precious absolute
god? And the Five-Colored Blood Wanderers stayed here
for a reason.
Cale believed someone here was meant to become an
absolute god.
“Thus, I think countless lives were offered as sacrifices for
an absolute god’s birth.”
Becoming an absolute god.
He’d heard from Transparent Company’s secretary Kang
Keun Mok how it devoured people.
“But this world has lives not offered.”
No one asked who.
Companions thought of one being.
“Count Lyupe, a prime example, right?”
Count Lyupe.
Not offered to an absolute god.
Yet dragged into this game.
“Many, many lives we’re unaware of were brought here.
From then, wasn’t this no longer virtual?”
Not just data, but closer to souls.
Perhaps real souls entered this game.
Did the enemy have a device to transfer souls here?
Like a quasi-NPC registration device.
[Edenmiru.]
An NPC, yet with a soul.
He proved this world wasn’t virtual.
“To make the world real, didn’t they bring real lives?”
Hm.
The Heavenly Demon groaned.
Cale said flatly.
“Maybe soon, we’ll be able to contact the God of Death
via divine items here.”
New World.
Cale felt this world’s truth slipping into his grasp.
“Heavens.”
The Heavenly Demon whispered.
“We can’t dawdle.”
The enemy might be more prepared than imagined.
Alberu and Rosalyn silently agreed.
“By the way.”
Cale spoke.
His lips curved subtly.
“Didn’t the enemy start by targeting each other’s napes?”
Alberu, catching his focus, exclaimed.
“Ah!”
He recalled Cale’s verbatim relayed dialogue.
[Right. Before, it was tough. Had to register them as NPCs
or players. Watch hunters’ eyes, deceive them.]
His mouth opened.
“The God of Chaos’s cult was deceiving hunters from the
start.”
“Yes.”
And Cale seemed to know what it was.
The guide said:
[Soon, Chaos will descend.]
[Yes. And we’re building the foundation for that.]
The guide prayed:
“For Chaos’s reappearance.”
Cale recited the prayer, looking at his companions.
“The God of Chaos seems to want to enter this game.”
For an absolute god’s birth, the God of Chaos appeared
there.
“Likely to ensure even an absolute god’s birth doesn’t
surpass them.”
Absolute.
Chaos wouldn’t favor absolutes.
“And this place is like a holy site for the God of Chaos’s
descent.”
Night of Genesis.
This place seemed a critical holy site.
“Ha.”
“Ah.”
“Hm.”
Alberu, Rosalyn, and Heavenly Demon each uttered
different exclamations.
Cale told them.
“I think we came to the right place at the right time.”
Cale declared boldly.
“Let’s turn Night of Joy into a Night of Chaos.”
For the enemy.
Even unspoken, the goal was clear.
“Ren! Traces here too!”
Wanderer Cho, spotting faint traces, approached Ren.
“Ren, I know you’re cautious. Even if it’s a trap, let’s
follow. Will we fall for these guys again?”
But seeing what Ren was doing, Cho paused.
“Cho.”
Ren looked at him.
“News from the family?”
At Cho’s question, she answered.
“The Saint’s location is estimated to be the holy site.”
Five-Colored Blood family.
Their information.
The Saint was at Night of Genesis.
“Hoh.”
Cho’s eyes gleamed.
“Great. Just kill the holy site and the Saint.”
As he muttered, Ren added.
“A deal the Three Emperors will oversee.”
“Hm.”
Cho swallowed.
Wanderers with Five-Colored-level uniqueness.
They called themselves the Three Emperors, three of high
rank.
“Today?”
“No. Tomorrow.”
“Then we’d better settle things before.”
Haha.
Cho smirked.
“Finish before then, right, Ren?”
“Exactly.”
Ren’s eyes still burned with anger.
She assumed the traces were enemy-laid but followed
them to the holy site.
No thought or chance of falling for traps again.
She’d crush them with force.
“Let’s go.”
They hurried toward the canyon.
Night of Genesis.
Wanderers Cho and Ren moved there.
Their gazes turned to the sky.
Reaching the jungle’s end, they saw the sky turning red.
The sun was setting.
Night was near.
“Huff. Huff.”
“Ha, wow.”
Two panting voices.
Two people crossing the desert to the canyon. No, two
players gazed at the sunset-lit sky, eyes sparkling.
“Hahaha! We’ll finally uncover secrets today!”
A man laughed loudly at the “Cliff of Death.”
“Ha.”
The woman sighed deeply, warning him.
“Hey. Don’t overdo it.”
“So, so. What’s today?”
The man, a well-known New World player.
He ran a solo streaming channel for “Nurture Your God.”
[Mad Seed]
His player name.
He had many subscribers through various streams.
He visited here with a filming companion for one reason.
“Isn’t today New Year’s Eve?”
His lips rose with anticipation.
“There’s the Roots of Genesis!”
Cliff of Death, the only bridge across the canyon—four
trees.
Looking at it, Mad Seed’s eyes shone.
“Today’s when that bridge retracts, right?”
His companion spoke casually.
“So you’ll sneak under it?”
“Urgh! Won’t our subscribers be curious about the canyon
below? Especially why the bridge vanishes only on full and
dark moons!”
Cliff of Death.
Eager to jump in, Mad Seed’s eyes gleamed.
To subscribers calling him “Mad Eyes,” his companion said
calmly.
“Stream angles will be great.”
“Hahaha!”
Of course, she knew.
This guy didn’t do it just for content.
He genuinely loved adventure.
Lately, he felt captivated by the Demon Realm.
“Let’s look forward to tonight!”
Hahaha!
Mad Seed’s laughter spread with the desert wind.
But it didn’t reach the jungle across the canyon or Night of
Genesis’s holy site.
Cale, of course, couldn’t hear it.
Cale didn’t even know who Mad Seed was.
Thus, no one could predict that today would birth a legend
even Clopeh Sekka couldn’t foresee. Cale didn’t know.
“Hahaha!”
“Those eyes are mad. Tch tch.”
The players’ voices were soon drowned by wind and sand.
[There.]
Cale’s gaze fixed on a massive temple.
A place with countless buildings, large and small.
One held the archive.
Cale and his companions infiltrated the holy site, reaching
the temple, the God of Chaos’s cult.
Chapter 2-407: Night and Light (3)
Cale confirmed the cult’s grounds and turned to leave.
Crown Prince Alberu spoke.
“It’s beneath the Roots of Genesis.”
The God of Chaos’ cult was located at the center of the
cross-shaped Cliff of Death, the intersection of two
canyons, beneath the only bridge linking the Demon
Realm.
“The bridge’s disappearance the other day was for Night of
Joy.”
Rosalyn’s words prompted Alberu to nod.
The Heavenly Demon, discreetly scanning the
surroundings, spoke.
“This whole city feels like one big cult.”
Like a demonic sect.
“Honestly, it’s worse than the demonic sect.”
The group, having secretly crossed the wall to reach here,
sympathized with the Heavenly Demon’s words, noting the
city’s scale.
They’d seen many buildings on their way.
Homes, shops, even what looked like government offices.
Far more people lived here than expected.
A true city.
Yet, despite its large-city footprint, its actual scale was that
of a modest town.
Still, a significant number.
[Everyone here follows the God of Chaos.]
Moreover, these devotees were fanatics who genuinely
reveled in the horrific “Night of Joy” ritual.
[All enemies, then.]
Except for the captured sacrifices, Cale couldn’t trust
anyone here.
“It’s strange.”
Rosalyn’s words drew Cale’s gaze to her.
“They worship chaos, yet this place is more cultly than
anywhere. That’s terrifying.”
Indeed, highly cultly.
“All buildings face the cult.”
As Rosalyn noted.
On their way, every building Cale saw had windows facing
only one direction.
Following that direction led to the cult.
Precisely,
“Only toward Night of Genesis.”
The city’s heart.
Roots of Genesis.
The cult beneath it.
The holy site at its core, “Night of Genesis.”
Every building in the city had windows toward it.
Gashan, listening quietly, spoke.
“No grass or wildflowers here.”
True.
Though forests lay outside the walls.
None here.
“No birds flying either.”
No birds.
No beasts.
“No bugs, right?”
Not even insect chirps.
“…I feel no life.”
Beyond the God of Chaos’ followers, no life existed here.
Under the gray sky, only devotees remained.
“Yet, it’s vibrant.”
Gashan’s expression was weary.
In a place devoid of other life, God of Chaos followers lived
like ordinary people.
Laughing, chattering.
Yet, the atmosphere pulsed with unusual excitement.
The sun was nearly gone, night approaching.
Under a gray sky, hiding no sunset, they couldn’t conceal
their fervor.
“Night’s coming, like they’re waiting for it.”
Silence followed the Heavenly Demon’s low voice.
Cale’s gaze paused on his speechless companions.
Since earlier, Lee had been silently staring at the sky.
“Lord Eruhaben.”
Ancient Dragon Eruhaben shifted his gaze from the sky to
Cale.
“Let’s split into two teams.”
Six members currently.
“One for the sacrifices, one to scout the cult. Like that.”
Eruhaben should lead the sacrifice team.
He knew best where the captured sacrifices were held.
“I need to save the sacrifices.”
Morally, yes.
More crucially, disrupting the God of Chaos’ ritual offered
a major advantage.
.
The God of Chaos’ descent.
To prevent it, the ritual must be sabotaged.
“Gashan.”
“Yes, Lord Cale.”
“Miss Rosalyn.”
“Yes. Alright.”
Gashan, Eruhaben, Rosalyn.
Three formed one team.
Even without Cale’s words, Eruhaben knew exactly what to
do.
“Four holding areas.”
East, west, south, north.
Along the inner walls by the canyon’s four entrances,
sacrifices were imprisoned.
“Roughly over 500 people.”
100 to 150 per location.
Eruhaben had confirmed.
Rosalyn added.
“No teleportation in the Demon Realm.”
A large-scale teleportation circle to move the sacrifices
was impossible here.
“We know only one secret passage.”
The passage from Duke Hinpa’s memories. Evacuating over
500 via a path for two adults abreast would take too long,
and cult followers wouldn’t stay idle.
Eruhaben spoke.
“The best way is to get the sacrifices out all at once.”
A large-scale teleportation circle was one method, but
unfeasible.
Cale’s gaze turned to the sky.
Rosalyn, following, said.
“Even without teleportation, gathering everyone at once,
lifting them with wind magic, and pulling them out of the
canyon could work.”
Air-lifting over 500 people out of the canyon.
Not easy, but with Eruhaben, Rosalyn, and Alberu, it was
worth trying.
“But that gray sky’s a problem.”
Eruhaben had a similar idea to Rosalyn.
One obstacle.
The gray sky.
“If players or quasi-NPCs touch that gray fog, don’t they
die or log out?”
Game rules dictated so.
“And that’s surely the God of Chaos’ power. We don’t
know what happens to sacrifices inside it. Or if we can
break through.”
Eruhaben knew the God of Chaos’ power’s strength.
He’d seen it manifest before Cale.
“Hm.”
As Rosalyn pondered,
Cale spoke.
“Let’s do it.”
He shifted his gaze from the sky to the two great mages.
“Rescuing everyone lifted to the sky at once. That’s good.”
“But the sky—”
As Rosalyn began, Cale cut in.
“Night of Joy in Hinpa’s memories wasn’t gray.”
Eruhaben’s expression shifted.
“Just night. A moonless night.”
A true sky, free of gray fog.
In Hinpa’s memories of Night of Joy, it was literally the
dark moon.
“I don’t know about elsewhere, but at Night of Genesis,
where the ritual happens, the sky isn’t gray.”
He didn’t know if the sky remained gray elsewhere in the
city that night.
But at Night of Genesis, the stage where sacrifices died,
the sky was real.
“Good.”
Eruhaben settled it.
“Anyway, Raon and Choi Han will be waiting outside
soon.”
Following Alberu’s map into the Demon Realm, Raon and
Choi Han would reach here.
Tonight, New Year’s Eve.
If the gray fog lifted at Night of Genesis, opening the sky.
“Then, send the sacrifices up, and Raon will secure them.”
“Yes.”
Meaning,
“When all sacrifices gather at the holy site.”
Over 500 at Night of Genesis, once there.
Before the ritual.
“Before the Saint does anything to the sacrifices, send
them up at once.”
Eruhaben’s gaze turned to Rosalyn.
“Yes. We’ll do it.”
Rosalyn’s confident smile.
Tonight, the holy site would host all followers to revel in
the ritual.
There, at the enemy’s heart, Eruhaben and Rosalyn would
protect over 500, sending them beyond the canyon.
“I’m confident.”
“As you should be.”
The great mage and great dragon smiled naturally.
“Soon.”
Cale checked his watch.
“When the sun sets fully, and the sky darkens.”
When full night arrived.
“The ritual begins.”
Time-wise,
“About an hour from now.”
Cale outlined the schedule to his companions.
“Each team prepares and meets at Night of Genesis.”
Gashan, beside Eruhaben, spoke.
“If they follow the traces correctly, Wanderers will arrive
around then, or earlier.”
Wanderers Cho and Ren.
Unintended, but they’d arrive timely.
“See you later.”
Eruhaben, Rosalyn, and Gashan left first.
Cale paired Eruhaben and Rosalyn for a reason.
[If things go awry, who knows what’ll happen.]
Even if they couldn’t save the sacrifices, they’d protect
them with magic.
—I’m here. I’m great at protecting too.
The Indestructible Shield. The gluttonous priestess
asserted her presence, but Cale pretended not to hear.
[No idea how this’ll go.]
Initially, Cale planned to pit the God of Chaos’ cult against
the Wanderers, aiming to wreck the holy site.
[…How will the God of Chaos’ cult react?]
Night of Genesis.
If this wasn’t just a holy site but a place for the God of
Chaos’ descent, the cult would do anything to defend it.
[And if it’s a place prepared for descent, we must smash it
regardless.]
Cale had reason to destroy it.
Choi Jung Gun.
The Blue Wolf divine item.
Preventing the God of Chaos’ descent.
Three goals to achieve.
Thus,
“Let’s go.”
Cale decided to move with the Heavenly Demon and
Alberu.
The Heavenly Demon, the only companion with
uniqueness, wielded martial arts. As the demonic sect’s
leader, he knew cults better than anyone.
And Alberu excelled in combat and magic.
[When I’m in trouble, he best grasps my intent and acts.]
Such a person was needed nearby.
If Cale fainted or entered an unknown state.
[You’ll give cults for me.]
For that, he had to show Alberu key locations.
“Resolve mission conditions and the purification ritual at
the archive.”
[Visit the archive’s hidden spot to obtain the “Record of
Chaos Power.”]
[Go to the Night of Inversion and destroy the obtained
record.]
“Then join at the holy site. When I request the sacrifices,
tear the record at Night of Inversion, while the others
protect Lord Eruhaben and Miss Rosalyn.”
The Heavenly Demon spoke.
“Night of Inversion, the place where the Saint holds the
ritual?”
“Yes.”
Night of Genesis.
At its center, Night of Inversion.
The Saint stood there, plunging sacrifices into chaos,
making them kill each other.
The Heavenly Demon nodded, adding.
“And, grab the divine item for Blue Wolf along the way.”
“Yes. Exactly.”
Whether at the archive or the ritual site.
A divine item would be there, easy to steal.
In the chaos, snatching it was nothing.
“And—”
One more thing, Cale added.
Before joining at the holy site.
If possible.
“If we can, confirm the Saint beforehand.”
The Saint.
Unexpectedly meeting him here.
He’d be here on ritual day.
“Great.”
The Heavenly Demon smiled slowly.
“The Saint and Wanderers will clash and fight.”
“Yes.”
The scene Cale anticipated.
Fear of Chaos.
The skill’s master, the Saint.
What kind of person was the God of Chaos’ Saint?
How strong?
Was there a pope here?
Many questions.
One answer to resolve them.
Hoo.
Cale exhaled deeply.
“Let’s go.”
The temple. Only infiltration remained. (The term 사원
oddly translates to temple.)
For this, the Heavenly Demon knew what to do.
“Can we grab some low-rank priest robes?”
“Urgh. Mid-rank priests would be better.”
“That’s enough.”
The Heavenly Demon stepped forward, his body vanishing
instantly.
Likely using martial arts.
Cale trusted the God of Chaos’ priest robes would soon be
in hand, no doubt.
[No time. Hurry.]
One hour.
Not much time.
[Hm?]
A strange thought struck, and Cale paused.
At such a moment, the one who should match Cale’s pace
was quieter than anyone.
“Your Highness?”
Crown Prince Alberu.
He stood dazed behind.
Come to think of it, he’d been silent since a certain point.
With the Heavenly Demon briefly gone, only Cale and
Alberu remained.
“Hey.”
At Alberu’s voice, Cale’s face stiffened.
Something happened.
Cale’s gut screamed when.
“A mission appeared.”
Mission.
The only mission Alberu would face now was one.
“A hero mission?”
Cale had reason to think so.
Woo woo woo—
The sword at Alberu’s waist.
The Sun Sword.
Infused with the Sun God’s power, usable only by hero-
qualified individuals.
It vibrated intensely.
Cale noticed Alberu’s faint glow two days ago.
Alberu looked at Cale.
Cale, asking about a hero mission.
Alberu answered.
“No.”
Hm?
Before Cale could respond to the unexpected reply.
“…A Sun God mission.”
Alberu gave the answer.
“Because the Sun Sword’s master is the Sun God, it gave a
mission?”
“No.”
“Hm?”
“The real Sun God.”
…Urgh?
Cale reflexively blurted in shock.
“…The Sun God we know?”
Nod. Alberu, nodding, stared into midair.
Crackle crackle crackle—
A strange mechanical sound only he heard.
A translucent mission window, already cracking.
Crackle crackle crackle—
The mission window was vanishing in real-time.
Like erasing something that shouldn’t exist.
That window glowed brilliant gold.
<Finally reached.>
The mission below that message.
<To the inheritor of solar power.>
Alberu, a quarter dark elf recognized by the Sun God.
Also, Crown Prince of the Crossman Kingdom, tied to the
Sun God and legend.
Alberu had reason to believe this was the real Sun God.
<Thank you, and sorry.>
The Sun God always apologized to Alberu.
No, to dark elves and necromancers.
Alberu realized this wasn’t the game’s Sun God but the
true one.
Then it hit him.
[If so—]
No God of Chaos, Hope, or Rules existed in this game.
But the Sun God did.
No physical Sun God, but countless NPC believers
worshipped an unseen Sun God.
The largest religious force was the Sun God’s.
A massive order, unmatched by the God of Chaos’ cult.
[And this world’s turning real.]
Didn’t Cale say they might be able to contact the God of
Death via divine items soon?
[And this world—]
A formless Sun God, with countless NPCs worshipping an
unseen deity.
Could a real world’s believers summon the real thing?
<One request.>
<Stop the God of Chaos’ descent.>
Alberu saw the fracturing mission window.
Crackle crackle crackle—
The window shattered and vanished.
But,
Woo woo—
Alberu looked down.
For some reason, a familiar power lingered.
No, a spirit.
He’d felt this power somewhere.
He gripped the scabbard.
Warm.
Roan.
His homeland came to mind.
The morning light always illuminating him.
That sunlight’s warmth reached Alberu’s hand.
The mission window was gone.
The sun of Roan, known to Alberu, its power filled the
scabbard.
He looked up.
Under the gray sky.
But he held the sun in his hand.
“Ha.”
Alberu, unable to express this subtle emotion, gave a short
laugh.
“…Really becoming a hero?”
He said, looking at Cale.
Cale roughly grasped the situation.
Through the God of Chaos’ descent plan, he knew this
world was becoming real, crossing dimensions and
connecting with gods.
Thus, Cale said one thing.
“Holy crap.”
Seeing that stunned face, Alberu’s expression crumpled.
“This is insane.”
For some reason, an irritated Alberu.
Regardless, the scabbard in his hand held the sun’s power.
A force untainted by night.
“The Demon Realm?”
“Yes. To the Demon Realm.”
“The one inheriting the Sun God’s will, wielding the Sun
Sword divine item?”
“Yes.”
The Saintess rose.
Beside her, the order’s highest-ranking holy knight
approached.
Sir Waltian.
When Cale robbed the Sun God’s order in the Western
Empire, confronting Bishop Celissa at the Royal Academy.
He was the holy knight present.
“We’ll accompany.”
The Sun God order’s Saintess and holy knight.
Both headed to the Demon Realm as representatives.
Unhesitatingly, swiftly.
“Choi Han, hurry!”
Raon and Choi Han gazed at the sky.
The sunset faded, the sky turning blue.
Night was near.
“Our human, no matter what, we need to get there fast!
Before he spits blood and faints, we gotta be by his side!”
At Raon’s words, the swiftly moving Choi Han paused.
Whoosh—
Roots of Genesis.
It looked far.
The place to wait for Cale.
“Hm?”
Then he stopped.
—I’m invisible!
Roots of Genesis.
Two players were there.
“Hahaha!”
“Recording.”
“Hahaha!”
One odd person and another ignoring it.
Choi Han hesitated but soon approached.
“Hm?”
The two players. Among them, Mad Seed saw Choi Han,
eyes gleaming.
A new Demon Realm NPC appeared.
Especially with Choi Han, clueless at acting, and Raon, just
beaming brightly.
A travelogue-specialized streaming player before a human
and a young dragon.
And the approaching Saintess and holy knight.
A massive event, unknown to Cale, was brewing.
Chapter 2-408: Night and Light (4)
—I’ll handle the devotees guarding the archive. The
librarians inside too.
The Heavenly Demon led, with Cale and Alberu close
behind.
Cale, dressed in mid-rank priest robes, checked the time.
Tap. Tap.
Hearing faint sounds, Cale looked up, thinking.
[As expected.]
The Heavenly Demon was impressive.
A martial arts master of the highest caliber.
Two knights guarded the archive building’s entrance.
The Heavenly Demon approached the seemingly skilled
pair instantly.
The enemies hadn’t noticed his approach.
Before they could react or sense him.
Tap. Tap.
He lightly struck their pressure points.
“…!”
“!!”
They froze in their alert stances.
The knights stood motionless.
—If others come, they’ll notice their state, but not before
then.
With that, the Heavenly Demon retrieved something from
a knight’s chest and slipped into the archive first.
[So smooth.]
With the Heavenly Demon leading, Cale entered the
archive confidently yet covertly.
[This is the only one.]
This building was the only one without windows facing
Night of Genesis.
[Because it has no windows.]
The archive was cool.
Likely due to a magical device, preserving books optimally.
Tap tap. Tap tap.
Inside, Cale and Alberu walked openly.
No choice.
“Countless magical alarms.”
Alberu noted, spotting magic circles.
Tick.
The Heavenly Demon, holding a permit, breezed through
them.
“And many hidden guards.”
Numerous people stood watch, concealed.
Whoosh.
The moment the Heavenly Demon moved lightly.
His form as fluid as wind.
Tap.
His hand flicked gently.
People hiding on the ceiling dropped.
“!”
One seemed about to speak.
Swish.
The Heavenly Demon lifted him lightly before he hit the
floor.
Tap.
Another strike, knocking him out effortlessly.
He placed him silently on the ground.
A knockout technique surpassing Choi Han’s.
The Heavenly Demon mastered pressure points and had
grown stronger.
Believed to rival Wanderers.
How could archive guards match him?
Tap.
Another knocked out.
The archive wasn’t large.
One floor, modest in size.
Narrow, maze-like corridors flanked by bookshelves held
records.
Tap.
The corridors twisted like a labyrinth.
From outside, the archive was square, but inside, a maze.
Thus, hidden guards didn’t notice Cale’s arrival.
[No.]
They did.
But Cale’s group entered so openly, the guards mistook
them for priests on business.
If they grew suspicious and tried to react.
Tap.
They’d fall to the Heavenly Demon’s hand.
So effortless.
“Done.”
Using the permit and knockouts, the Heavenly Demon led
Cale to the corridor’s end.
Cale turned.
[Wow.]
Though the maze-like corridors hid most.
“Twenty people.”
As Alberu said, about twenty hidden guards were expertly
knocked out.
“Oh—”
Cale marveled, and the Heavenly Demon gave a faint
smile. Oddly, his shoulders seemed to twitch.
“Seems you’re sure something important’s here.”
The Heavenly Demon shifted topics casually.
“For this scale, three hidden guards would suffice, yet
twenty.”
Standing at the corridor’s end, facing the last empty
bookshelf, he spoke to Cale.
“Your turn.”
“Yes.”
Cale stepped forward.
The archive.
A hidden spot existed here.
So many guards concealed to protect its entrance.
“I sense no presence.”
As the Heavenly Demon said,
Alberu spoke to Cale.
“The bookshelf?”
The empty final bookshelf.
“Yes. Right here.”
Cale took a book from a nearby shelf.
An utterly ordinary book.
Neither too old nor new, perfectly unremarkable.
[Click.]
Recalling Duke Hinpa’s memory, the sound he heard.
Cale placed the book on the fifth shelf, third row, left side.
Click.
The remembered sound echoed.
Creak.
With a soft noise, the empty bookshelf shifted.
A downward staircase appeared.
The archive had a ground floor and a basement.
“I’ll stay here.”
The Heavenly Demon offered to stand guard.
“Let’s go.”
Cale and Alberu descended.
Few stairs.
They reached the basement quickly.
[Exactly like the memory.]
The moment Cale entered the hidden spot.
<You have reached the hidden location.>
The mission notified.
Buzz—
A strange sound followed.
[Hm?]
Cale turned to see Alberu with an awkward expression.
“Wow.”
Cale exclaimed.
“Ha.”
Alberu sighed.
“What’s sudden?”
The Sun Sword glowed brilliantly, enveloping Alberu.
A golden-haired, blue-eyed, radiant handsome man.
“Looks like a hero!”
Cale grinned, thumbs up, while Alberu closed his eyes
briefly.
No time for more jests, Cale moved.
“Many Chaos-related items here; the Sun Sword’s
reacting.”
Saying this, Cale followed Hinpa’s memory.
The underground archive differed from above.
Five altars.
Each held a record book.
“The God of Chaos’ power?”
Alberu’s question prompted Cale’s nod.
“You noticed.”
Cale paused at one spot.
A record book in strange script.
<Discovered a record related to “Fear.”>
Fear of Chaos.
The record needed to activate that skill.
Cale picked it up.
“Hm!”
Then paused.
“What’s wrong?”
Alberu approached.
But Cale focused on the book.
—Chaos’s power.
As Cheapskate said, the moment he took it.
Sting.
A strange force pricked his fingertips.
Ding!
New text appeared on the mission window.
<Resistance encountered.>
But soon, another sentence.
<As a holder of Authority (1), resistance is nullified.>
Authority.
“The Saint’s power.”
Fear of Chaos.
Even inactive, Cale possessed this power.
Thus, he knew he could take the “Fear” record.
Cale lifted it.
The book, fully off the altar, looked plain but held a subtle
aura.
Like when the God of Chaos made Cale feel fear.
A faint trace of that aura lingered in the book.
[It’ll be torn today.]
This book was fated for destruction today.
Cale tucked it into his chest expressionlessly.
“Urgh!”
A groan sounded.
Cale felt a jolt.
“…What’s wrong?”
Alberu Crossman.
Clutching his scabbard, he crouched.
“God, stop—”
The scabbard trembled fiercely; Alberu struggled to
control it.
Cale, recalling the book in his chest, glanced at crouching
Alberu, and found an answer.
“Similar to the Saint’s case.”
Saint Jack.
As the Sun God’s Saint, he trembled before specific forces
like death mana, craving to purify them.
Alberu was likely similar.
“The Sun Sword wants to erase all God of Chaos traces
here.”
Alberu didn’t reply, hugging the scabbard tightly,
crouching.
He looked somewhat disheveled.
“Keep it up.”
Cale sincerely cheered him on.
“Insane.”
Cale breezily ignored Alberu’s words, heading to another
altar.
<Discovered a record related to “Purification.”>
Precisely, “Chaos Purification.”
In Hinpa’s memory, it was indeed purification.
The record to save Choi Jung Gun from Chaos’s corruption.
Sting.
<Resistance encountered.>
<As a holder of Authority (1), resistance is nullified.>
Cale tucked the purification ritual record into his chest.
[With this, I can save Choi Jung Gun.]
Both target records secured.
“Got them all?”
Alberu, barely suppressing the scabbard, asked.
“Hm.”
Cale didn’t answer, scanning the room.
Empty space.
Just five altars.
Tap tap.
Cale stepped forward.
[Joy.]
<Discovered a record related to “Joy.”>
Sting.
<Discovered a record related to “Corruption.”>
Then the final altar.
<Discovered a record related to ‘@($*%.’>
“Hm?”
Curiosity filled Cale’s eyes.
The last.
The innermost altar’s record bore text the game system
couldn’t interpret.
“Hoh.”
Cale’s eyes gleamed oddly.
“Madness.”
Alberu’s sigh went unheard.
“Yes. If you’re doing it, go all in.”
Cale reached for the remaining three records.
Sting.
Acquired Corruption.
Sting.
Acquired Joy.
[Taking them doesn’t mean I gain their powers.]
The Saint and God of Chaos’ cult could wield these powers
without the books.
[But you know, right?]
Grab everything when you can.
Cale reached for the last, uninterpretable record.
Sting!
A sharper sting than before.
[Hm.]
But no special resistance; it came to his hand.
Cale, holding all records, spoke to Alberu.
“Let’s go.”
“Alright.”
Unnoticed, Alberu stood calmly, scabbard at his side.
The Sun Sword seemed quieted.
“Took longer than expected.”
As Alberu said, over forty minutes had passed.
Only twenty minutes until the agreed time.
“No one visits here for twenty minutes before the ritual.”
Cale judged, based on Hinpa’s memories, no one checked
the archive then.
[After the ritual, during Night of Joy, the Saint might
come.]
Even if the guards’ and hidden watchers’ states were
noticed then, it didn’t matter.
[Will there be such a chance?]
The Saint would be busy today.
The holy site would collapse.
“Hm.”
Before leaving, Cale recalled tasks.
[Divine item. And the Saint.]
Priority: divine item.
If meeting the Saint early wasn’t possible, so be it.
He’d see him after the ritual began.
“But the divine item’s location isn’t in Hinpa’s memories,
right?”
At Alberu’s question, Cale gave a subtle smile.
“Ah, that.”
—Sniff sniff.
Since earlier.
“I have a way.”
—Sniff sniff.
Someone had been sniffing.
“Please follow me.”
—Sniff sniff.
The Sound of the Wind.
The thief had been sniffing eagerly.
Like a ghost sensing divine items.
—Not far.
The Sound of the Wind said excitedly.
—Over there.
Cale moved in the direction it guided.
Chapter 2-409: Night and Light (5)
—Sniff sniff. This scent’s a first.
The unparalleled thief.
The Sound of the Wind couldn’t hide the anticipation in its
raspy voice.
Brimming with fervor.
—Sniff sniff. Even the Sun God’s divine item didn’t smell
like this. Unprecedented.
Ohh.
What kind of divine item could elicit such a reaction from
the Sound of the Wind?
“….”
“….”
“….”
Following Cale, the Heavenly Demon and Alberu, disguised
as ordinary priests, strode confidently.
Of course, taking only covert routes.
“Urgh?”
Suddenly, Cale’s steps halted.
The divine item.
For the beastmen’s god—the Blue Wolf.
Among the gods Cale encountered, the Blue Wolf felt the
most divine, having shielded Cale’s group from the God of
Chaos’ influence.
Lock, of the Wolf tribe, awaited the divine item and Cale in
Apitoyu.
Thus, Cale intended to retrieve it.
Pretty good.
Very useful.
He planned to claim it.
And this was the perfect place to acquire such a divine
item.
“…Really going there?”
The Sound of the Wind answered Cale’s question.
—Sniff sniff! Yes, right there! Sniff sniff!
A confident tone.
Cale spoke to the Sound of the Wind.
“…That’s ‘Night of Genesis.’”
The city’s heart, the holy site “Night of Genesis.”
The Sound of the Wind pointed there.
—It’s got an intense scent! The greatest divine item ever!
With the ritual yet to start, security was tight.
Even for Cale’s group, approaching wasn’t easy.
If their identities were exposed, forcing a breakthrough,
Cale might enter the holy site.
“Ha—”
A divine item there?
[Hm.]
For some reason, a chill ran down his nape.
His heart oddly pounded.
The Sound of the Wind said.
—Let’s pull off a big one!
Right.
Whatever it was, if the divine item was there—
Twitch.
Cale’s lips began to curl.
As the Heavenly Demon’s expression sparked with interest
and Alberu was about to sigh.
Whoosh—
Cale slipped behind a building.
Then, wrapping wind around his ankles, he leaped onto
the rooftop.
Dodging guards’ sightlines, Cale reached the roof, gazing
toward the holy site.
Thanks to the elevated terrain, Night of Genesis was in
clear view.
Night of Genesis.
A small basin.
A natural arena crafted by nature.
At its center, a sunken flatland of lush green grass.
Yes, life existed there.
Surrounding it, gentle slopes.
Chairs and various items lined them.
Devotees would watch the sacrifices’ battles and deaths,
offering joy, pleasure, and worship all night.
—Sniff sniff!
The only vibrant, green land.
At the arena’s center, a small lake.
<You have discovered “Night of Inversion.”>
The mission pinpointed the location.
Night of Inversion.
The core of Night of Genesis.
—Right there!
The Sound of the Wind told him.
An altar at the lake’s center.
The Saint stood near it, performing the ritual on sacrifices,
leading them to slaughter each other.
On the altar.
“…Nothing?”
The altar was empty.
—Below!
But the Sound of the Wind had the answer.
—The altar’s below.
The altar floated on the lake’s surface.
A mystical sight.
—There’s a scent under the lake.
A divine item beneath the lake.
—A divine item with immense power.
Its low voice surged with fervent desire.
—Steal it.
After the Sound of the Wind spoke, Cale clicked his tongue
softly.
Blue Wolf.
A decent god.
And on our side.
[Since we’re saving the divine item—]
Cale realized.
[The ritual held meanwhile.]
And the God of Chaos’ descent.
If that was the goal.
Where was the power gathered for the ritual at that site?
[The divine item.]
On the divine item beneath that lake.
The empty altar was a decoy.
[Steal it.]
The moment Cale resolved.
—Over there, Cale—
A sweet voice came.
—Heh, heh!
Suppressing a smile, barely speaking.
—Cale~
The Fire of Destruction’s Cheapskate.
[Hm?]
The moment Cale heard it, he realized something.
That altar—
—Cale, it’s my first time seeing such a precious mana
stone. Beyond top-grade.
The altar seemed made of mana stone.
—Gods, those diamonds too, the highest quality I’ve ever
seen. That altar’s made of stuff pricier than gold… truly…
so expensive…
Cheapskate.
Wanting strength.
The one who dreamed of spending on god-tier items.
He whispered.
—Cale. All frozen?
Cale closed his eyes briefly.
—Of course, that altar’s still not enough for god-tier.
Cheapskate’s standard for “god-tier spending” was no
small feat.
“….”
Cale fell silent, pondering.
[I didn’t plan to fight Wanderer Ren.]
Right. He aimed to watch the God of Chaos’ order and
Wanderers fight, wreck the holy site, and escape. No
intention to battle Wanderers.
[But if I can steal while I’m at it, why not?]
Right.
Cale made up his mind.
As the Heavenly Demon and Alberu waited, Cale opened
his eyes and said.
“Loot it all.”
Yes. Loot everything.
Then flee!
—Hahahahaha!
The Sound of the Wind laughed heartily.
—Hahahahaha!
Cheapskate rejoiced.
Cale, smiling, asked.
“Fifteen minutes left. Any unrobbed safes around?”
Alberu gave a calm smile, the Heavenly Demon an
incredulous grin.
“Knew it’d come to this.”
Alberu’s voice was eerily serene.
Meanwhile.
“Is the ritual ready?”
The God of Chaos’ Saint gazed out the window.
“Yes.”
At the curt reply, he turned, eyeing the bishop overseeing
this place.
Gray pupils.
Seeing the Saint’s pupils gradually turn gray, the bishop
hastily bowed.
“This is the last time.”
The Saint’s voice, though flat, brimmed with anticipation.
“If this succeeds, the God of Chaos will finally descend.”
He stated calmly.
“Once all sacrifices are offered, the God of Chaos will
arrive.”
“Yes.”
At last, their long efforts would bear fruit.
“Have the devotees been summoned?”
“Yes.”
All the city’s devotees were called.
“Night of Joy?”
“Prepared.”
“The devotees must revel in joy and chaos more than
ever.”
At the Saint’s words, the bishop bowed deeper, showing
compliance.
The Saint said calmly.
“After forty-four Nights of Joy, the devotees, offering their
lives, will herald the God of Chaos’ descent.”
“Yes.”
So far, the ritual had occurred forty-three times.
A grueling path.
Dodging Wanderers and the Demon Realm’s gaze was
tough.
“The devotees will offer their lives with joy to the God of
Chaos.”
A gentle smile curved the Saint’s lips.
“They will.”
The bishop mirrored the gentle smile.
In the serene atmosphere, Saint and bishop conversed
easily.
“Lord Saint, the Pope will soon arrive in this world.”
“Yes, I know. He said he’d drag his weary body here to
witness the God of Chaos’ descended world.”
The Saint approached the window.
“….”
“….”
After a brief silence, he spoke.
“Absolute god. Even he is but dust before the God of
Chaos.”
The bishop raised his hands to the sky.
“The moment chaos unfolds, we return to genesis. We
await that day.”
The bishop’s words made the Saint smile.
The bishop smiled too, rising.
“Time to go.”
With that, the Saint stepped from the window, slowly
heading to the door.
Night of Genesis.
The final ritual there required his presence.
Outside, their sky remained gray.
The ground had reached night, blue fading, the sky tinged
red by twilight.
And—
“Ren.”
Wanderer Cho called his sister before the city wall.
“….”
Ren waved instead of answering.
Clang!
The wall iced over.
“Who’s there!”
“Intrud—”
The two guards couldn’t finish, frozen.
Whoosh.
With another wave of her hand.
Boom!
The ice shattered.
Wall and guards crumbled.
Glancing at the gray sky, Ren moved forward.
“Ren, smash it all?”
Cho’s excited voice prompted Ren’s flat reply.
“Hurry. Everything.”
Her gaze fixed on the altar of Night of Genesis ahead.
“Smash it.”
Swiftly destroy all and advance.
From today, the God of Chaos’ holy site would vanish.
Before the Wanderers’ Three Emperors arrived.
That was Cho and Ren’s conclusion.
Meanwhile, near the Roots of Genesis linking the Cliff of
Death.
As night fell.
“….”
Mad Seed, streaming live, usually quick to comment on
oddities, stood agape, silent.
Then he blurted.
“…Saintess…! …High Holy Knight…!”
The Sun God’s Saintess and Sir Waltian.
He’d only seen them from afar, never this close.
Especially the Saintess, rarely seen outside major order
events.
Both appeared suddenly near the Roots of Genesis in the
Demon Realm.
“Faint.”
Mad Seed slowly shifted his gaze.
The Sun God’s mightiest two.
He saw the being confronting them.
“No idea who, but looks strong…!”
Black-haired, black-eyed Choi Han.
Mad Seed didn’t know his identity but sensed a story-rich,
significant NPC at a glance.
And one clear reason confirmed it.
The most overwhelming presence.
One outshining the Saintess and holy knight, leaving Mad
Seed speechless!
Flap flap.
“A dragon…!”
The rarest existence in the New World.
Fewer than ten dragon sightings ever.
And here was one!
And—!
“A cute… baby… dragon…!”
The adorable baby dragon Raon.
“Hoh.”
Mad Seed gaped.
His companion player, hand over mouth, stood stunned.
Three groups in a triangular standoff.
Holy Knight Sir Waltian spoke to Choi Han.
“…Different hair color, almost didn’t recognize you. Didn’t
expect to see you here.”
His gaze on Choi Han deepened.
Cale and Choi Han.
The two mysterious figures who made Waltian wary of the
God of Chaos.
“Why block us?”
At the knight’s question, Raon shouted for Choi Han.
They’d revealed themselves for a reason.
“Our human said no variables! Protect yourself, no
innocent sacrifices! I’m telling you, our human’s different!
Please wait a bit!”
Raon stalled the holy knight and Saintess from entering
the Cliff of Death.
So did Choi Han.
“…Cute dragon… talking cutely…! Tear down apartments!
Earth! Demon Realm! The whole New World!”
Mad Seed muttered softly.
As the tense standoff persisted.
Rumble—
The ground shook.
“!”
“…!”
All eyes turned to the bridge linking the Demon Realm,
“Roots of Genesis.”
The trees’ roots retracted, the bridge vanishing.
—Cale. The sacrifices are gathered.
Cale, hidden among devotees, heard Eruhaben’s voice.
Night of Genesis’s center.
On the only lush green land, over 500 captured sacrifices
knelt.
Creak creak.
The Saint slowly entered Night of Genesis, the basin-
shaped holy site.
—Soon.
At Eruhaben’s words, Cale nodded briefly.
Chapter 2-410: Night and Light (6)
The God of Chaos’ Saint.
This was Cale’s first clear look at him.
“Oh—Lord Saint—”
“O Light of Chaos—”
The devotees around Cale unreservedly expressed fervent
faith toward the Saint.
—Beyond my expectations.
The Heavenly Demon’s voice transmission reached Cale.
—More butcher than saint.
As he said.
Cale’s gaze fixed on the Saint.
First, gray eyes caught his attention.
[God of Chaos.]
Waves of gray aura unfurling from that god.
Those gray eyes, evoking those waves, somehow seemed
hollow.
Next, his physique stood out.
[A well-trained body.]
The opposite of the Sun God’s Saint Jack.
Even through loose priest robes, a sturdy build was
evident.
Not overly muscular, but a finely honed body—not a
warrior’s, not a knight’s—
[No. A butcher is right.]
A lean, solid frame.
Long, slender limbs.
Upright posture.
Moderate height.
And—
[His gaze.]
Hollow eyes, inexplicably cold, brimming with murderous
intent.
Cale understood why the Heavenly Demon called him a
butcher.
An inexplicable bloody aura clung to the Saint. Not literal
blood.
Just the presence of someone who walked that path.
—Not easy.
The Super Rock spoke.
—Smells bad.
Sky-Swallowing Water voiced displeasure, adding:
—Cale. Don’t expose yourself until the plan’s complete.
Her warning.
—The Dominating Aura and I. Don’t use us today, even
slightly.
Sky-Swallowing Water and the Dominating Aura.
—If we’re exposed even a bit, that Saint will sense our
chaotic divine power. Our identities, our positions, he’ll
know instantly.
Both powers shared one trait.
—Because we carry chaos.
Cale silently agreed to comply.
[Not to be underestimated.]
The Saint was no pushover.
A butcher-like Saint.
[And he doesn’t hide it.]
He bared his killing intent openly.
[No way. This life—]
Not a deliberate desire to harm.
Just innate—
[Yes. For that Saint, such a life is natural. Born with it.]
Cale scanned his surroundings.
“Oh—”
“Lord Saint—!”
Night of Genesis.
The basin’s center.
As he slowly descended, devotees cheered louder.
The Saint did nothing, used no divine power, yet people
succumbed to his killing intent, praising him.
“….”
Cale surveyed again.
Swarming devotees.
Cale stood in the basin’s north, where the Saint walked
toward.
The Saint’s back, heading to the sacrifices, filled Cale’s
view.
[East.]
Eruhaben and Gashan were there.
[West.]
Rosalyn and the Heavenly Demon.
East and west.
At Cale’s signal, Eruhaben and Rosalyn would activate a
massive flight magic circle.
[South.]
Cale glanced where Alberu Crossman stood.
[Hm.]
Their eyes met.
Alberu was already watching Cale.
Though far, Cale was sure their gazes locked.
[Hm?]
But something was odd.
A smile.
Alberu tilted his head, gazing skyward.
Still a gray sky.
He stared, tilting his head repeatedly, as if something was
off.
[Hm.]
Cale was curious but brushed it off.
Because—
Dong!
A drum sounded briefly.
“….”
“….”
Silence fell.
The Saint reached the basin’s center, where sacrifices
knelt.
Creak creak.
Only he moved.
Devotees held their breath, watching.
The sacrifices—
“…!”
“!!”
They tried to speak, but gagged, bound, and forced to
kneel.
“….”
Cale watched quietly.
[Not yet.]
The signal’s moment was fleeting.
[When the sky opens.]
When the Saint stood at Night of Genesis’s core, “Night of
Inversion,” starting the ritual.
[The gray fog clears, the sky opens.]
The dark moon would unveil.
Then, Eruhaben and Rosalyn would activate the flight
magic circle at Cale’s signal.
They’d calculated everything; Rosalyn used mana stones
for extra circles to save time.
[It’ll be noticed instantly.]
Lifting over 500 people skyward was no small magic.
Even for an ancient dragon and great mage, it wasn’t
seconds-long.
[We need shields too.]
Shields to encase the sacrifices would deploy, lifting them.
[It takes time.]
Time was needed during the magic’s execution.
[Our job is to buy it.]
The Heavenly Demon, Gashan, Alberu, and Cale.
Four would handle it.
Before the ritual, the Heavenly Demon, observing, said
casually:
[Over a third of the devotees match standard demonic
sect warriors.]
Demonic sect warriors.
Second-rate martial artists, akin to low-rank palace
knights.
[Swordsmen, mages, spearmen. Diverse devotees.]
Their powers varied widely.
[Cale. Not easy.]
By absolute strength, few here could face Cale’s group.
But many devotees and priests had combat ability.
—Not easy.
The Super Rock swallowed, saying.
Yes. Four against them wouldn’t be simple.
—Cale.
Eruhaben’s voice came.
—That Saint’s no small fry.
Those with the Saint.
Only he walked to the basin’s center, but the order’s key
figures with him seemed strong.
[Bishops?]
Among them, one high-ranking priest.
Plus several holy knight-like figures.
Six total.
—At least Gashan’s level.
As Eruhaben said, at least as strong as Tiger tribe leader
Gashan.
Dong!
Another drum.
The ancient dragon and Super Rock stopped speaking.
No choice.
Swish.
The Saint stepped forward.
[Night of Inversion.]
The central small lake, toward the water.
Swish.
He walked on water effortlessly.
No matter how vibrant.
No matter how un-saintly his appearance or demeanor.
Swish.
His stride was upright.
Walking on water like ground, it felt divine.
Swish.
The moment he reached the center.
The altar.
—Ha.
Suddenly, Cheapskate, the Fire of Destruction, gasped.
—Shut… down…!
The altar silenced the Fire of Destruction.
—Sniff sniff.
The Sound of the Wind caught a scent.
—The divine item. The one underwater’s stirring! That’s…
mine, no, ours…!
No.
Shut down Blue Wolf.
But Cale didn’t dampen the Sound of the Wind, staying
silent.
[Duke Hinpa.]
He recalled guide Duke Hinpa’s memories.
The ritual’s moment was near.
“….”
The Saint scanned around.
His gaze settled on the circular land around Night of
Inversion.
The arena for sacrifices’ mutual slaughter.
“….”
Facing his numb eyes, sacrifices shuddered, avoiding his
gaze.
Dong—!
The drum sounded.
The Saint raised his hand.
Cale knew what came next.
He’d seen it in Hinpa’s memories.
Swish—
The Saint waved at the air.
Swish—
Wind swept the basin’s center.
Rustle rustle.
“!”
“…!”
The sacrifices’ eyes widened.
Gray gags, shackles, ropes.
All bindings vanished.
No, turned to smoke, rising skyward.
“!”
“…!”
They opened their mouths to speak.
Dong!
Another drum.
“!!”
“…!”
They could do nothing.
[Ugh.]
Cale glanced at his arm.
Goosebumps.
—The God of Chaos’ aura.
The Super Rock’s low voice.
Swish—
Wind blew again.
The Saint’s robes fluttered.
Wind spread from him.
Gray aura within it.
[Fear.]
Fear of Chaos.
Its intensity was light.
“!”
“…!!”
But enough to terrify sacrifices, silencing them.
“Ohh—”
“Ahh—”
And enough to thrill devotees.
Unifying thousands with one aura, calibrated to feel his
power.
[Impressive.]
The Saint. He was formidable.
Perhaps more unfathomable than Wanderers Cho and
Ren.
Swish—
The Saint knelt carefully.
He looked up at the altar, hands clasped.
“O Chaos—”
Swish.
All devotees knelt.
Hands clasped.
Cale followed.
Only sacrifices trembled uneasily.
The Saint continued.
“Return to the Night of Genesis, where all began.”
That moment.
Rumble—
The ground shook.
Precisely, the canyon cliffs encircling the land trembled
faintly.
A glance.
Cale looked up.
Opening.
No, fading.
The gray fog thinned.
Darkness lay beyond.
The sky opened.
Rumble—
The Roots of Genesis retracted the bridge linking the cliffs.
“….”
Cale closed his eyes.
That instant.
—Cale. Not yet?
Eruhaben’s voice.
—Too slow.
The Saint’s voice overlapped.
Wind carried his voice far.
“Chaos’s reappearance—”
—Cale, brainwashing the sacrifices—
Cale opened his eyes.
[I hear it.]
Far off.
The awaited signal arrived.
Twitch.
Cale’s lips curved.
Whoosh—
Wind wrapped his ankles.
He stood.
Devotees stared, startled, but he pulled his hood low,
hiding his face.
Cale was moving.
Someone noticed the anomaly.
“!”
The Saint stopped speaking.
He shot up.
His gaze turned south.
Quaaaaa—!
A roar.
Growing closer, relentless.
Soon.
“!”
Under the dark moon’s cleared sky.
Piercing upward.
Ice.
Ice spikes soared like cones.
Quaaaaa—
Shattering instantly, enveloping the area.
And—
[Fire!]
Fire too.
Surging skyward.
But strange.
Not ordinary fire.
Liquid-like, wilting lava-like fire swept like waves.
Those waves rolled in.
Closer.
Two figures atop the fiery tide appeared.
“That Saint! You bastards, daring to betray us?!”
“….”
Wanderers Cho and Ren.
The two.
In seconds, they closed in, that brief realization.
“!”
The Saint couldn’t react.
Whoosh—
Wind sounded behind him.
Not his wind.
Not chaos’s wind.
A swift wind.
In the chaos of fire and ice, a moment’s mental daze.
A split second.
Whoosh—
A wind reached the Saint.
A prepared leap.
Others, like Cale, noticing the anomaly, acted.
Woo woo woo—
Woo woo woo—
Red and platinum mana pillars rose from west and east.
Their mana poured toward the center, the sacrifices.
Caw, caw.
By Eruhaben, Gashan summoned crows in a frenzy.
Night sky.
A starlit night.
Crows surged in the black sky.
Woo woo woo—
Rosalyn, wielding red mana, cast magic swiftly.
By her side, arm linked, stood the Heavenly Demon.
Black-red aura rose faintly around him.
Tiny compared to the Saint’s divine aura, yet steeped in
absolute faith.
The demonic sect’s god, the Heavenly Demon, guarded
Rosalyn like a gatekeeper.
“….”
Alberu looked skyward, gripping his sword hilt.
Woo woo woo—
The sun-filled sword vibrated lightly.
He could draw it anytime.
But Alberu looked north.
Whoosh—
The Saint saw the sudden disturbance among devotees.
No time for the massive mana surges or magic.
Wind.
Slipping through chaos’s wind.
Cool yet chillingly eerie.
The Saint turned.
Quaaaaa—!
Quaaa—!
Explosions from fire and ice crashing to destroy the site.
The Saint’s senses screamed.
[Death.]
This wind behind him.
Fail to dodge, and die.
The Saint’s hand moved.
Quang!
With a brief explosion, he recoiled.
Swish.
Springing from the altar, he stood on water.
Before him, a man smiled.
Hood fallen, revealing his face.
“Hello?”
Cale.
He greeted the Saint.
Then said cheerfully.
“Pity. I wanted a proper ambush.”
The Saint’s eyes wavered.
“—!”
He couldn’t speak.
No time for sacrifices.
No time for those wrecking the holy site.
Not a sliver of room.
Only the man shedding his hood gripped his nerves.
A man in a black mask.
The Saint reached out.
But,
“No need to stall, right?”
Cale was ready.
Ritual?
Sacrifices?
Cale thought.
From the Saint’s view, the ritual could be redone.
It took time, not ended by one failure.
But what would make the order’s leaders, led by the Saint,
reel?
What was most exhilarating?
Swish—
Five parchment sheets unfurled lightly.
“Heh.”
Cale smirked, tearing one.
Real parchment wouldn’t tear by his hand.
Crackle crackle—
[Visit the archive’s hidden spot to obtain the “Record of
Chaos Power.”]
[Go to Night of Inversion and destroy the obtained record.]
Because it’s a game!
“—!”
The speechless, shocked Saint.
Watching him, Cale gleefully tore the precious “Fear”
record on the altar.
And shouted brazenly.
To the approaching order leaders and Saint.
“Stay back!”
He threatened.
“Come closer, and I’ll tear these too!”
Holding four records, Cale grinned.
His unmasked, smiling lips stood out.
“And this!”
Dong!
Cale moved with the wind.
Standing on the altar, irreverently stomping it, he shouted.
“Dare approach, and I’ll smash this too!”
Cale couldn’t hold back.
“Hahaha!”
He laughed.
—You’re like a villain.
Ignoring the gluttonous priestess.
He thought.
[This is fun.]
He understood why villains enjoyed this.
Cale hadn’t relieved stress in ages.
Dark moon.
Under the open night sky.
At the God of Chaos’ holy site, Night of Genesis’s center,
masked Cale laughed gleefully.
“…Insane.”
Amid the frantic urgency, Alberu, watching calmly, closed
his eyes tightly.
But his lips curved upward.
Chapter 2-411: Night and Light (7)
The God of Chaos’ Saint thought.
[What’s that masked lunatic?]
Who?
Where did he come from?
One question overshadowed all.
[What is he?]
What was that being’s true nature?
“Lord Saint, that man has them!”
“The holy scriptures—!”
The order’s leaders, including the bishop, stared at the
sudden masked man with unprecedented confusion.
They seemed blind to the surrounding chaos.
No choice.
“Hoh.”
The masked man smirked.
“Holy scriptures, huh?”
He held one parchment, feigning a tear.
“Oh, no—!”
A senior priest cried out desperately.
To him, the masked man shouted.
Brazenly.
“So stay back!”
Whoosh—
Wind swirled around him.
A cool breeze.
Like a refreshing gust after a typhoon, enveloping
everything under a clear sky.
The masked man, unleashing that wind, pointed.
“You, you! And all of you!”
He gestured at the order’s leaders and knights on the
basin’s central grassy ritual ground.
“Back off! I said don’t come!”
Stomp stomp!
He stomped the altar again, as if smashing it.
Then shouted.
“Hey! Devotees!”
Those trying to aid the order amid the chaos.
Pointing at those stronger than average low-rank knights.
“Move, and I tear the scriptures!”
He mimed tearing them.
“Or smash this altar?”
Stomp stomp!
He trampled the altar.
“Mad, mad, lunatic!”
The devotees’ faces were suffocated, aggrieved, near
madness.
“Hahahahaha! This feels like being a villain! Hahahahaha!”
The masked man laughed heartily.
The bishop rushed to the Saint, saying:
“Lord Saint! How can he touch the scriptures?”
The sole reason for the order’s leaders’ chaos, led by the
Saint.
“Only the Saint and Pope can touch the scriptures!”
“No.”
The Saint spoke.
“No.”
He said flatly.
“The scriptures can only be touched by those with abilities
granted by the God of Chaos.”
Only the Saint and Pope held such abilities, surviving direct
contact.
Otherwise, touching a scripture tied to their ability would
consume them, leading to a horrific death.
[What is he?]
That’s why.
[What is that?]
What could touch those scriptures?
The masked man’s lips curved again.
Twitch.
That smile halted the Saint.
But he acted swiftly.
Ooooo—
Gray wind filled his surroundings.
“I’ll subdue you.”
Only the Saint could seize the man with the scriptures.
The bishop, thinking briefly, said urgently:
“Lord Saint!”
Touching the scriptures meant having ability.
“If he’s sent by the God of Chaos—”
“Possible.”
But.
“Other beings could touch them too.”
“Hm?”
“One.”
The scriptures, left by the ancient God of Chaos.
One being could touch them—
“Five-Colored Wanderer.”
“!”
“And another.”
The Saint whipped up fiercer gray wind, cloaking himself.
To touch the scriptures required power just below
Authority.
Thus, a Five-Colored unique Wanderer, or—
“A god.”
A god with Authority.
“Hm? A god?”
As the bishop’s eyes widened in shock.
“Contact the Pope immediately.”
The Saint said, extending his hands.
Swish—
Both hands gripped knives.
Not knight or swordsman’s blades.
Knives shaped for slaughter.
Fluttering.
Weapons ill-suited to loose priest robes.
But the moment his gray eyes gleamed with eerie gray
light.
And those chaos-fear-filled eyes locked on the masked
man.
Dong.
The ground shook.
The Saint and Cale faced each other.
Still, Cale smiled, saying:
“Right on time.”
The Saint had to shift his gaze.
Quaaaang!
Quaang!
Massive explosions erupted behind.
“Haha!”
“Ugh! Stop him!”
Amid devotees’ screams, the order’s forces scrambled.
He turned.
The masked man behind said flatly:
“Why so late? I waited for ages.”
Grumbling yet cheerful.
Facing that voice, the Saint saw a giant red worm.
“…Wanderer.”
He muttered.
“Lunatic! Up to crazy stuff again!”
Hahahahaha!
Wanderer Cho moved atop the writhing worm, like lava.
Whoosh!
Whoosh—!
Where his hand pointed, red liquid surged, devouring all.
“Haha!”
The altar was smashed.
Devotees fled.
“I’ll kill you!”
Cho’s eyes rolled back.
He was in extreme excitement.
Wanderer Shao Hee’s disappearance.
Betrayal.
A blow to the head.
Losing an arm, toyed with by enemies.
Cho unleashed pent-up rage and emotions.
“Smash it all! Burn it all! Dare touch this body?!”
Thoughts of Shao Hee were gone.
Because—
“Later.”
Wanderer Ren.
His sister would handle all that.
Even in rage, he judged rationally.
“What’s this?”
Invading the God of Chaos’ order.
Smashing everything, seeing no one but minimal guards.
Oddly, at Night of Genesis, all devotees and leaders
gathered.
“…Saint.”
He saw the Saint.
And—
Glance.
Glance.
The culprits of this mess came into view.
Two mages and a swordsman—
She ignored the weak sacrifices.
[Who?]
A man in black night attire, masked.
At the holy site’s center.
“!”
Their eyes met.
The unknown figure spoke.
Then shouted.
“He’s summoning the God of Chaos here!”
Not just Ren, Cho’s pupils dilated.
“What?”
Nonsense.
Why hunters chose this virtual reality.
No gods intervened here.
But now a god could enter?
“Hm.”
No way—
Was this after it became a real world?
As Ren’s eyes gleamed oddly.
“From the start, it’s a ploy to trample the absolute god!”
The masked man shouted again.
“Shut your mouth!”
A senior priest yelled frantically.
“….”
Ren paused, then spoke.
“It’s not false.”
Dark moon.
With Roots of Genesis gone, a fully visible night sky.
The answer was clear.
“Smash it.”
Wanderer Shao Hee.
Lan Kingdom.
It wasn’t over.
The God of Chaos’ order betrayed them.
“Cho. Even if we die, destroy everything.”
She decided.
The Three Emperors.
Even if that Five-Colored Wanderer came, the decision was
destruction.
Total death.
That’s all.
Clang—
As everything around Ren began to freeze.
“Yes! Smash it all!”
A bright voice rang.
No, an excited one.
“Hahahahaha!”
The masked man.
He suddenly stepped off the altar.
“Smash it all, rob it all!”
Wanderer Cho said:
“What’s that lunatic?”
But he hadn’t spoken to him.
Whoosh—
The Saint moved.
Urgently.
He rode gray wind, moving fast.
[The altar?]
He aimed for the man on the altar.
“Lord, Lord Saint!”
Someone called urgently.
No choice.
Quooong!
The ground shook violently.
“!”
“Crazy, what’s happening!”
Ren and Cho panicked.
Woo woo woo—Woo woo woo—
Woo woo woo—
Sudden, explosive tremors everywhere.
[This strong?]
Ren had noted two mages earlier.
Significant mana, but not noteworthy, so ignored.
But,
Platinum.
Red.
Two mana lights soared skyward.
Dong!
The moment they hit the ground.
Woo woo woo—
The lights rushed to the basin’s center, forming a massive
magic circle.
“No!”
The bishop, realizing, tried to act, but…
—Rosalyn.
—Hm.
—Non-sacrifices, lift then drop. Can you control that?
—Yes. Just cut their mana.
The ancient dragon and mage high-fived lightly.
Clap.
The clap sounded.
Fwaaa—!
Platinum and red light mingled, a bright glow radiating
from the basin.
“Ah!”
“Hoh!”
“Oh!”
Everyone in the circle rose swiftly skyward.
Over 500 sacrifices.
Enveloped in platinum and red light, they ascended.
“Ohh—”
People from different worlds, speaking varied languages.
Their eyes saw a night sky beyond the bright light.
Dark moon.
Rising toward a night sky like their own, toward stars.
They instinctively realized.
Saved.
No, alive.
No choice.
The encasing light held no malice, only warmth.
The thunder-bright platinum and fire-vivid red light held
no aggression.
Only the will to free them from this horrific place.
Dong!
But those without that will.
Senior priests, lifted then dropped, using falling
techniques, shouted urgently:
“Stop them!”
“Grab them!”
Others echoed.
Catch those mages!
Seize the sacrifices!
Thousands of devotees reacted.
They knew.
“Our night—”
“No! Today’s Night of Joy!”
Their faith’s sacred ritual was being ruined.
Unacceptable.
The bishop, watching to prevent this, shouted:
“Lord Saint, stop them—!”
But his eyes widened.
Whoosh—
The Saint ignored the sacrifices.
He moved the moment the magic began.
Escaping the magic’s field.
He aimed one way.
The masked man.
Cale.
The Saint lunged.
No choice.
“No!”
The Saint’s voice grew urgent for the first time.
[What do I do?!]
How did that guy know?
In this frantic moment, that question arose.
No choice.
Swish.
Cale, off the altar, aimed for the lake below.
—Sniff sniff!
Following the Sound of the Wind’s scent.
—My gosh…!
Feeling the Super Rock’s mad obsession with the altar.
Cale headed below the altar, then looked up.
“This, this guy—!”
The Saint, dual-wielding butcher knives, rode wind toward
him.
His gray-light-wrapped eyes brimmed with “Fear of
Chaos.”
—Hmph.
The Dominating Aura snorted.
—Not a god, just a saint.
So.
Cale smiled faintly.
Facing the Saint’s full-force Fear of Chaos, Cale smiled.
Swish.
He waved.
In the chaotic basin.
Watching the rising light skyward.
Splash!
He dove into the lake-like pool.
—Sniff sniff! Huge divine item!
—Hoh, hoh. Steal the altar too!
Cale saw the pool’s depths instantly.
The bottom.
A gray mini-whirlwind swirled there.
Something faintly visible at its center.
That.
The divine item gathered for the God of Chaos’ descent.
[Heh.]
Steal it too!
Vanish like a villain!
Cale, gleefully plotting escape, moved fast.
Splash!
He heard the Saint dive after.
Cale sped deeper, hearing the Saint’s splash.
It’d end soon.
Wanderers had half-smashed the holy site and order.
While he stalled the Saint, allies would save sacrifices
above.
Choi Han and Raon outside the canyon would ensure
sacrifices and allies escaped.
Yes. It’d end soon.
Just steal well, smash well.
“Urgh?”
Mad Seed.
He stared blankly at the vanished Roots of Genesis under
the dark moon, into the canyon below.
“…Light?”
Platinum and red light intertwined harmoniously, surging
upward.
“People?”
The light enveloped crying or relieved people.
“Magic?”
Yes. Magic lifted hundreds skyward.
“% & &.”
“@#%!”
He couldn’t understand them.
Could a game do this?
A bug?
As he stood stunned, a voice came.
“…I feel the sun’s power.”
The Saintess.
The quiet figure spoke.
Staring at Choi Han and Raon, she said:
“I also feel a sinister, evil power.”
Swish.
The Saintess broke into a cold sweat.
“But amid these great powers, there’s surely the sun’s
power. And the light rising with those people. That light is
warm.”
She asked:
“Who are you?”
But,
Flap flap.
Raon, not answering, was busy.
—Raon, can you hear me?
The gray sky cleared, and the gold dragon grandpa’s voice
came.
—Those are sacrifices. Save them.
The voice soared above the people.
Raon understood instantly.
“We’ll save them!”
Pop pop pop.
Unlike his cute wings, black mana gathered around the
young dragon.
Under that overwhelming power, the Saintess, holy knight,
and Mad Seed held their breath.
“Save!”
Raon said with sparkling eyes.
The Saintess and holy knight froze at those pure eyes.
The night-colored young dragon wasn’t dark.
Nor was the black-haired knight beside him.
Their eyes were too clear.
Thud!
Choi Han was already pulling people from the canyon.
Raon told the Saintess:
“When I retrieve the sacrifices, everyone help!”
Flap flap!
“We’re saving people!”
That moment, Mad Seed and his companion player saw a
system window.
[Will you accept the quest ‘Night and Light’?]
[Where there is night, light shines brighter. Here, night and
light strive to save this world. Will you aid them?]
…Save this world?
Was this world threatened now?
Something flickered in Mad Seed’s eyes.
He suddenly saw black Raon, Choi Han, the Sun God’s
Saintess, and holy knight.
But—
[The real action’s not here.]
His instinct kicked in.
Mad Seed’s crazed observation activated.
[Down there.]
What was unfolding below.
That held night and light.
They fought this world’s threat.
But what threatened this world?
Then.
New text appeared on the quest window.
[Can you help save this world, this reality, this game?]
“Urgh?”
This game?
As the players’ pupils wavered.
The Saintess stepped forward, asking:
Her voice urgent.
“Who exactly are you?”
As she shouted.
Raon, prioritizing sacrifices in the urgent situation,
responded roughly, casting magic.
Recalling Cale’s words one day.
Since Choi Han couldn’t act, Raon had to step up.
“We’re the Dark Kingdom!”
The two Sun God figures.
The two players.
To all hesitating, Raon boldly shouted the truth.
“We’re awesome!”
Our human and companions are awesome.
“So we’ll save everyone!”
With eyes sparkling like night-sky stars, Raon cast magic.
A giant net formed between the canyon, replacing the
bridge.
It gently caught the rising sacrifices.
“Save people, Saintess, holy knight! And humans!”
Choi Han leapt into the net, swiftly pulling people from the
canyon.
Flap flap.
Raon told the stunned people:
“Let’s save everyone!”
Seeing those clear eyes, Mad Seed moved instinctively.
[Accepted the quest ‘Night and Light.’]
The Saintess moved.
Woo woo woo—
Holy power radiated from her.
Healing power.
The Cliff of Death in the Demon Realm.
Black and white began to emerge there.
Swish.
And the Demon Realm.
Residents of ignored places reacted to the light, moving
slowly in the dark.
Chapter 2-412: Night and Light (8)
Cale descended to the pool’s deepest bottom, the lowest
layer.
[Deeper than expected.]
Too small to call a lake.
Yet deeper than imagined.
Swish—
But Cale’s downward movement was swift.
[Why’s that guy so fast?]
The Saint trailing him was just as quick.
Whoosh—
Both, wrapped in wind, sped downward.
Of course, no matter how fast the Saint was—
[Slower than I, right?]
Cale saw the bottom, where a gray whirlwind swirled.
[Too magical.]
The dark moon.
And underwater.
[Crystal clear.]
The gray vortex was starkly visible.
As if urging him to come closer.
[This is good.]
And good it was for Cale.
—That whirlwind can be pushed aside.
At the Sound of the Wind’s words, Cale acted instantly.
“—!”
A sound came from above.
The frantic Saint.
Cale didn’t spare a glance.
No time to dawdle.
Swish—
His hand moved through the water, toward the vortex.
A whirlwind as tall as himself.
At its center—
[A knife?]
A small dagger.
He’d expected something like a bead.
It was a dagger, roughly the length of Cale’s forearm.
Whoosh—
Cale’s wind pierced the vortex.
His hand followed.
[!]
Then Cale froze.
—Wait!
The Dominating Aura shouted urgently.
Cale had felt it.
[This—]
This dagger.
[What’s this feeling?]
Obscured by the vortex, unclear, but the dagger felt
unusual.
Not just a simple object.
Cale had handled many divine items.
But—
[Ominous.]
This dagger was distinctly different from any divine item
he’d touched.
Was it because it belonged to an ancient god, among the
mightiest?
Or was this divine item uniquely different?
[Gods, this is insane.]
A chill ran down his nape.
Instinct warned against touching it.
[But I can’t let it go, can I?]
That was the problem.
[This dagger’s the ritual’s culmination.]
As long as it existed, the God of Chaos’s order could
attempt his descent anytime.
Destroy the holy site.
Ruin any building, but only this dagger’s absence would
truly end the site.
Swish—
Above.
Cale’s gaze shot upward.
[Damn it!]
The Saint was right there.
His lips curved faintly.
As if saying, “You can’t touch it, can you?”—utterly
composed.
Yes, he knew this divine item was dangerous.
—Cale.
The Dominating Aura spoke gravely.
—Use it.
What?
The Dominating Aura and Sky-Swallowing Water.
He’d decided not to use either here.
Thus, even underwater, Cale breathed air from the Sound
of the Wind.
—Wrap your body in aura.
The usually boastful Dominating Aura was dead serious.
—You won’t die, at least.
Cale’s eyes glinted oddly.
Thump. Thump.
He felt his pounding heart.
With the heart’s vitality and regenerative power, Cale
could endure most severe injuries.
—I’ll hold on somehow. Can’t lose to a divine item.
Sincere resolve.
Then Sky-Swallowing Water spoke.
—I’m here too. And we are in water.
Chaos.
Both familiar ancient powers, bearing that force, would
try.
In truth—
[Gotta try.]
In Cale’s current situation, he had two choices: ditch the
divine item and flee, or take it and flee.
His nature ruled out the former.
Cale looked up.
The Saint was so close, almost within reach.
Cale’s lips curved faintly.
He smiled at him.
“!”
The Saint’s seemingly relaxed eyes widened instantly.
Whoosh—
The wind wrapping Cale weakened.
Swish—
Instead, water currents surged, encasing him.
Then—
“!”
The Saint halted his approach.
No, his body froze instantly.
The Dominating Aura whispered:
—Full force.
An intangible force enveloped Cale tightly.
The Dominating Aura.
This time, its target wasn’t a person.
Not human.
The divine item.
Its task was to shield Cale from that dagger.
The first time the Dominating Aura protected Cale with full
might.
“—!”
The Saint couldn’t move.
Couldn’t think.
Couldn’t act.
Nothing.
The narrow pool brimmed with immense power.
Though focused on Cale, it sought to dominate all.
The Saint froze momentarily.
No choice.
[Ah!]
When he could move again.
Swish—
The gray whirlwind parted.
Cale’s hand slipped through.
Finally, he grasped the dagger.
[No!]
The Saint’s face twisted.
Simultaneously—
[Ugh!]
Cale groaned in pain.
[Damn it!]
Damn!
Hell!
His mind blanked, unable to form words.
Countless emotions flooded him.
Countless deaths, horrific pain, heart-wrenching sorrow,
rage, grievance, grief—
All crashed over Cale.
—Cale, Cale!
The Super Rock called anxiously, but he couldn’t hear.
Another wave of emotions surged.
Laughter reveling in others’ deaths, joyous cheers through
the night, excited footsteps dancing on blood-soaked
ground—
All rushed at Cale.
[Ha—]
Cale gasped deeply.
Though his eyes were open, he saw nothing.
[—!]
Suddenly, a chill struck.
Like unheralded death.
Coldness enveloped him instantly.
Cale looked up.
“!”
Then he saw.
Beyond the gray fog, eyes watching him.
Endless sorrow and joy flooded his mind, shaking his body.
Roaring cries and joyous cheers intertwined.
All gripped Cale tightly.
And those eyes watching him—
Drawing closer.
Pupils beyond the gray fog approached.
Growing clearer.
Coming nearer.
Cale struggled to breathe.
No, his body seemed consumed by joy and sorrow,
teetering.
He felt himself fading, replaced by someone’s grief or
ecstasy.
[Ah.]
The eyes drew closer.
He heard.
[Ah.]
Cale finally discerned the cries and cheers’ meaning.
[Captain! You can’t leave like this!]
[Jung Soo, Jung Soo!]
[Dad, it’s those monsters! Dad, Mom! Aah—]
[Please, save me… no, at least save our child, please…]
Cries from Cale and Kim Rok Soo’s past echoed.
[Captain Kim, why so stubborn? Want to end like Captain
Lee Soo Hyuk?]
[Hahaha! They died because they were weak, why should
our guild help?]
[Ha, haha—Mr. Rok Soo, it’s a strongman’s world now,
enjoy it.]
And laughter he didn’t want to hear.
Memories and records he tried to forget surged like a tide.
[Ah.]
And those eyes.
Closer.
He saw himself reflected in them.
[Yes.]
Now, the gray fog was gone.
Only those eyes, clear.
Gray eyes—
[Within them—]
Cale’s reflection—
[Ugh…?]
Yes, that form.
Cale—
—Cale!
He saw.
Himself in those gray eyes.
And his own eyes.
Deep brown pupils.
The moment those eyes met his.
—Cale!
The Dominating Aura, usually pompous, called urgently,
voice trembling.
—Cale!
Only then did Cale truly see himself.
Deep brown eyes.
Beyond those eyes radiating intangible aura, his body was
gray.
No, being eroded.
Like Choi Jung Gun’s chaos-tainted body.
But this wasn’t mere corruption.
Something primal, capable of destroying a person.
—Cale!
Yet the voices that drowned him grew faint.
The Dominating Aura’s voice grew louder.
Cale looked up.
Staring at the gray eyes.
Precisely, at his own pupils reflected within.
—Cale!
As the Dominating Aura called again.
“I hear you.”
Cale spoke.
The moment he heard his voice.
—!
All memory’s voices vanished.
Then,
“Cough!”
He groaned in pain.
“Cough!”
Cale lowered his head.
He couldn’t face those gray eyes again.
[Damn it!]
Unknowingly, his hands gripped the dagger’s hilt tightly.
Those hands were gray.
His arms, all visible skin, turned gray.
Swish—
Whoosh—
Cale saw the gray whirlwind around him.
No, not around.
It sought to consume him.
A ferocious wind.
—Damn it!
Sky-Swallowing Water fought to shield Cale, trying to free
him from the wind.
Currents pushed against it.
But the gray wind, like sharp claws, scarred the water.
—Damn it!
Sky-Swallowing Water groaned in pain each time.
—Cale, I, I’m holding on—
The Dominating Aura, trembling, said with faint joy.
It was holding.
Those eyes.
Cale realized his body, save his brown eyes, was eroded by
the dagger’s gray aura.
Woo woo—
Intangible force strained to protect his eyes.
Blood trickled from his mouth.
Cale ignored it.
His eyes remained clear, unswallowed by chaos.
As long as he could see,
As long as he could record,
Cale would find answers.
“Hahaha—!”
Through the whirlwind, Cale glimpsed the Saint’s smile.
Even underwater, he laughed freely, saying:
The pool was gray, chaos spreading from the dagger.
Within, the Saint was free.
“Swallowed, as expected! Perfect as today’s first sacrifice!”
Before the gray wind from the divine item struck Cale, he
saw his body graying.
That human seemed to resist, but would be consumed.
[One of the earliest divine items.]
Not just any divine item.
It held chaos’s essence.
Thus, chosen as the medium for the God of Chaos’s
descent.
“You’re done for!”
He feared a god might take the item and flee.
That fear drove the Saint into the pool.
[Good.]
It worked out.
The forty-fourth Night of Joy.
That human seemed fitting as its first sacrifice.
[Delightful!]
In the gray water, the Saint felt chaos fully.
The divine item, ‘Chaos Dagger,’ welcomed that human,
eager to consume him.
For unknown reasons.
The Saint hadn’t seen his heart.
But didn’t that human carry endless chaos worth
welcoming?
[Pity I don’t know his identity.]
He wanted to, but the human would soon succumb to
chaos.
As a god’s sacrifice, his life would end, leaving no time to
learn.
[No matter.]
His identity or allies above could be uncovered.
[Consciousness can’t escape.]
The dagger stirred.
The chaos-filled pool.
[If only he’s consumed—]
Naturally, Night of Genesis would be shrouded in chaos,
hosting a ritual of total offering.
“Hahaha!”
The Saint laughed loudly.
He loosened his grip on the knives brought as a last resort.
He watched the whirlwind gleefully.
Awaiting the human’s death.
And the chaotic death to unfold on this holy site.
He waited eagerly.
He licked his lips, eyes gleaming.
[Will it end as a serial killer?]
The Pope’s voice echoed.
[Will you be a great figure in history? Your future depends
on your choice.]
A boy interested only in killing chose greatness.
It promised more death.
“Haha!”
The Saint’s fresh laughter rang like music.
Whoosh—
Amid the gray whirlwind’s frenzy, Cale heard the Saint’s
bright laugh.
[Damn it!]
Why was that laugh so irritating?
But Cale had no time for it.
Drip.
His mind stayed clear.
But more blood flowed from his mouth.
He felt it without looking.
His body grew increasingly painful.
Truly agonizing.
Pain he hadn’t felt in ages.
[What do I do?]
Cale couldn’t release the divine dagger.
[It won’t let go!]
The dagger seemed fused to his hand, immovable.
Perhaps his grayed hand was no longer his to control.
—Huff. Huff.
Sky-Swallowing Water panted heavily.
It barely held off the gray whirlwind.
Only the water around Cale was clear, not gray.
Everything else was gray.
The gray pool.
Cale looked up.
The world was gray.
Chaos.
He couldn’t tell where he was.
The pool’s bottom, middle, or near the surface?
No clarity.
[Ugh!]
Searing pain struck.
Yet Cale kept his eyes wide.
He scanned around.
—…Hold on…!
Hearing that resolute mutter, Cale found it.
The answer.
“!”
Then he saw.
Looking up again, he saw something.
Far off.
Faintly.
Amid endless gray, something flickered.
It pushed through the gray.
Light.
“Ha, haha—”
Cale laughed instinctively.
Blood dripped from his mouth, but he ignored it.
His body felt like it would shatter, but he ignored it.
He saw light.
So familiar.
A light he’d known.
The sun.
He knew whose sun it was.
[Alberu—!]
Alberu Crossman, surely piercing this chaotic water’s
surface with light.
No, breaking through chaos.
[As expected—]
The man who’d find answers even without Cale.
Cale, seeing the light, found his answer.
[If this is chaos—]
Above wasn’t.
So, he must go up.
Unlike before, unsure of direction.
That light.
Follow it.
The sun, Alberu Crossman, carved a gap to escape chaos.
With that gap, Cale could flee.
A conviction beyond instinct surged.
Drip.
His body trembled, grayed.
Only his pupils remained intact.
Moving was hard.
Yet.
—Cale.
Cale recalled what he saw.
The Super Rock said suddenly:
—This is just a small pool.
I know.
He’d seen its shape, terrain.
His answering eyes gleamed brighter.
—And I am the earth.
Sky-Swallowing Water reacted.
—Our first meeting!
Yes, when meeting Sky-Swallowing Water, Cale didn’t use
water.
No water then.
How did he fight in water?
The answer: earth, rock.
The basin, with only grass, was all earth.
Now, everything was smashed, collapsed, but the earth
remained.
—This pool, filled with chaos.
The Super Rock said.
—The earth encases this chaos.
He urged Cale.
—Let’s go up.
Cale answered.
“Yes.”
The destination was clear.
The light reflected on the surface.
To the sun illuminating a path through chaos.
Just go.
Woo woo—
The lakebed,
The earth,
The rocks beneath began to tremble.
Chapter 2-413: Night and Light (9)
Woo woo—
Roan’s Crown Prince, Alberu Crossman.
He felt a massive tremor.
The earth.
The moment he sensed the vibration from its depths,
Alberu realized.
[This,]
This power.
[Cale Henituse!]
It was that guy’s power.
Twitch.
Alberu Crossman’s lips curved into a smile.
Drip.
Then a trickle of blood flowed from that crack.
Woo woo—
His hands trembled.
Yet he gripped harder.
Bang!
And drove his sword into the ground.
The gray pool.
Smashing the frozen small lake.
Crack—
Fine fissures grew larger.
Drip.
More blood flowed from Alberu Crossman’s mouth.
Bang!
Bang! Bang!
Yet Alberu didn’t stop.
He was the only one here for this task.
Earlier.
Before he began.
Splash!
Cale Henituse dove into the pool with the Saint.
Alberu knew he went for the divine item.
Glance.
He scanned around.
Quaaaaa—
“Block the flames!”
“Damn, these ice shards!”
“Haha—!”
Screams filled the air as everything burned, shattered,
collapsed.
His ears ached.
Wanderers Cho and Ren resumed wrecking the holy site.
Yet—
“Hoh. Looks important? Ren, smash that too.”
“Yes. Gotta hit that first.”
They didn’t miss Cale and the Saint’s actions.
They increasingly targeted the heart of Night of
Genesis—Night of Inversion.
“The divine item—”
“Damn! Only the Saint can enter that lake!”
The God of Chaos’s order leaders believed Cale’s entry into
the pool pushed chaos and unease to the peak.
But their chaos wasn’t just that.
“Now’s not the time to focus on the lake! What about the
sacrifices?”
As one priest said, sacrifices were being lifted skyward,
rescued one by one.
Imagining their escape was a headache.
And another.
“Kill him! Slaughter those who ruined our holy site!”
“O Chaos! I’ll be a sacrifice!”
Thousands of devotees.
Those here were formidable.
Rather than fleeing, they went mad.
The anticipated Night of Joy.
Cale’s group and the Wanderers ruined the grand ritual of
chaos’s descent.
They charged fearlessly.
For desecrating the sacred site.
The vast basin-shaped holy site.
Devotees rushed down.
“What a mess.”
As the name implied, it was chaos itself, a mix of all kinds.
Meanwhile—
“Haha!”
“Urgh!”
Wanderers attacked devotees without restraint.
No, they swatted them like stones in their path.
Glance.
Alberu checked his allies.
Woo woo woo—!
Eruhaben.
No one approached him.
He avoided using his attribute, dust, fearing Wanderer
detection, relying on mana to block advances.
[!]
Their eyes met.
—Almost done.
Eruhaben’s words to Alberu.
Most sacrifices were retrieved by Raon and Choi Han,
meaning Eruhaben would soon be free for combat.
[As planned.]
While Cale stole the divine item, they’d pull sacrifices to
the cliff.
Cale’s group would scatter and escape.
Glance.
[Rosalyn’s holding up.]
Woo woo woo—
Though less than Eruhaben, she was a great mage.
Stronger than Alberu.
No one easily approached her.
[The Heavenly Demon.]
There, by Rosalyn, stood the Heavenly Demon.
Facing Wanderers, he avoided his attributes, but his
martial prowess alone felled reckless attackers like moths.
Tiger tribe’s Gashan likely hid among devotees, observing
since the Wanderers arrived.
[Not bad.]
The situation was good.
But Alberu knew its blind spot.
“…That’s the limit.”
Though flowing smoothly.
[Any hiccup, and we’re in the worst spot.]
What if Wanderers targeted us, not the God of Chaos’s
order?
What if thousands of devotees ignored all else and
swarmed us?
No matter how strong, they couldn’t face thousands and
powerful Wanderers.
[Five hundred.]
With over 500 sacrifices.
Glance. Glance.
Alberu kept scanning.
He knew his role too well.
[Eliminate variables.]
He wasn’t that strong but could handle many tasks.
Spearmanship, magic, situational judgment.
No weaknesses, so Alberu stayed low, observing, rather
than standing out.
[Cale…!]
That guy needed to surface fast.
Woo woo—
The Sun Sword vibrated in its sheath.
Gripping its hilt, Alberu glanced skyward.
Dark moon.
A moonless night.
Yet not dark.
Eruhaben and Rosalyn’s mana lights illuminated.
Raon’s black mana glowed above.
Thump. Thump.
But why?
Alberu couldn’t see the sun, yet felt sunlight on him.
Warm sunlight enveloped him.
Since earlier, this warmth lingered.
Perhaps why Alberu was calmer, his senses sharper.
“!”
Yes, like now.
His gaze shot to the pool.
[Just now—]
He felt something horrific enveloping him from that lake.
Step. Step.
Alberu couldn’t help moving toward Night of Inversion’s
heart, the lake.
Tap. Step.
A chaotic lawn swarmed with devotees.
Alberu quickened, weaving through.
Thump. Thump.
His heart pounded harder.
The sunlight’s warmth faded.
Was it gone?
—Alberu, what’s wrong? What’s happening?
Ignoring Eruhaben’s puzzled voice.
No time for that.
Thump. Thump.
Cold replaced the fading warmth.
Night’s chill?
[No.]
Different.
Not mere night’s cold.
Alberu realized only he felt this aura.
Step, step, step—
His pace quickened, nearly running.
Ignoring people, he raced to the lake-like pool.
[No—]
Something was wrong, though unclear.
Woo woo woo—
Alberu cast acceleration magic with mana.
Thump. Thump.
Then he realized.
Not just his heart pounded.
[The sword!]
The Sun Sword in his hand pulsed.
Warning of danger.
“Damn it!”
Was it because he lingered south, at the battle’s edge?
Too far from the center.
Tap!
Alberu leapt off the ground.
Magic wind lifted him.
He flew toward the pool.
He knew how conspicuous this was, risking enemy
recognition.
[That’s not the issue.]
Alberu judged.
The Sun God’s power-filled divine item.
It was warning him.
And perhaps because he held it, he sensed the horrific
aura fastest, unlike allies.
[Variables.]
Fine, cut them off.
Then.
—!
No sound.
All froze.
Unanimously.
[Damn it!]
The aura only Alberu felt.
Now everyone did.
No choice.
[The lake!]
The pool’s surface froze.
Not Wanderer power.
The lake turned gray.
[God of Chaos!]
Chaos’s power.
As the surface froze.
Everyone felt something.
“I’m… scared?”
Wanderer Cho checked his goosebumped arm.
Ren’s eyes widened at the lake.
“…God of Chaos—?”
She realized something sharply.
Shock crossed her face.
“Ohh—”
“Ugh!”
“Urgh.”
Countless devotees trembled.
Chaos of countless deaths and joys.
The first divine item, holding 43 chaoses.
Its influence reached beyond the lake.
“…What—”
Ancient dragon Eruhaben froze, his body locked by the
lake’s surging power.
Like prey before immense force.
Natural instinct.
[Ah!]
Then he understood.
[Cale!]
Something happened to him!
And something was happening in that lake!
Realizing this, the God of Chaos’s bishop shouted:
“Hahaha! The final ritual begins!”
He turned, yelling to devotees:
“Chaos is coming! Fear not, none can defeat this chaos!”
His rigid body relaxed, the bishop’s smile radiant.
“Oh.”
Eruhaben sighed.
“That’s Cale too.”
As he spoke.
The bishop heard a sound behind.
Quaang!
He turned.
Amid the divine item’s chaotic aura, all froze in fear.
One kept moving.
Alberu alone reached the pool.
“What—!”
The bishop panicked.
But he recovered, shouting:
“He’ll be tainted by chaos! Another sacrifice!”
He was certain.
Once the divine item “Chaos Dagger” activated, none
could stop it.
[Isn’t this a godless world?!]
Our God of Chaos is the only god here.
The bishop’s smile widened.
Yet he soon shouted angrily:
“But how dare a sacrifice ruin our grand ritual!”
He called to devotees and order members:
“Kill that sacrifice!”
None, including him, rushed to the lake.
The gray pool.
Frozen, exuding immense aura.
Facing it, they felt fear of being overturned by chaos.
“Long-range attacks!”
They chose distance.
“Cho. Fall back.”
“What?”
“This isn’t… something we can handle.”
Wanderer Ren sensed death beyond foreboding.
Meddling further meant death.
Her instinct screamed.
That pool.
Sinister.
It recalled an ancient god she once saw, the God of Chaos.
No matter her strength, she couldn’t oppose him.
“Let’s escape.”
She concluded.
Woo woo woo—
“All-out magic barrage!”
As attacks targeted Alberu.
Bang!
A sharp sound pierced all ears.
Bang!
Bang, bang!
Alberu. He drew the sword from its sheath.
An ordinary sword, emitting no light.
With it, he struck the frozen surface.
Thump. Thump.
He saw nothing around.
No, he heard, knew everything.
Yet ignored it.
[I’m fine.]
Touching the frozen surface, he felt dizzy, near fainting.
Sudden screams and joyous cheers flooded his mind.
His vision flashed with scenes.
Someone’s death. Someone’s joy.
A chaotic mix, like being swept into chaos itself.
Thump. Thump.
But the Sun Sword in his hand anchored his mind.
Alberu realized.
[Only me.]
Among them, only he, with the Sun Sword, could
approach.
Below the frozen lake.
[Cale Henituse!]
Something happened to him.
When Alberu faced the God of Chaos’s eyes before, Cale
struggled most.
“Damn it!”
Bang!
He struck the surface again.
No cracks.
Bang, bang!
He repeated.
Bang!
Because he felt the warmth enveloping him again.
When the pool turned gray, the vanished warmth returned
faintly.
Why?
Woo woo woo—Woo woo woo—
Alberu paused as the Sun Sword vibrated fiercely.
[The Sun God’s earliest, greatest divine item, “Sun Sword,”
fully charged.]
[Use it?]
Like a battery, the Sun Sword brimmed with sunlight.
[Charging complete?]
Alberu realized the Sun God’s task had filled the sword,
completing its charge.
“Of course—”
He raised the sword.
“It’s gotta work!”
Bang!
The sword struck.
Fwaaa—
Bright light burst from the sword.
Not warmth.
Light.
Instantly—
A small crack appeared on the lake.
Light piercing chaos.
Bang!
Bang, bang!
Alberu, knowing his task, hammered the lake relentlessly.
Crack—
Unlike before, cracks began to form.
Hiss—
Gray smoke rose from the cracks.
Again, Alberu glimpsed chaotic visions.
Bang!
But the sword struck.
“Cough!”
Pain hit Alberu instantly.
[Conditions for using divine item “Sun Sword” not met.]
Ha!
Even in pain, Alberu was frustrated.
The Sun God entrusted it, but was he unqualified to wield
it?
[Side effects will occur.]
Alberu realized his body was injured.
“Damn it!”
Bang!
Yet he kept striking.
No choice.
Drip.
Blood flowed from his mouth, painful.
What to do.
Worth enduring.
His duty.
[So this is how it feels.]
Cale Henituse. That guy’s feeling!
“Damn it!”
Side effects hurt, but less than expected.
But it hurt.
Bleeding, how could it not?
Bang, bang!
Worth trying.
Just lacking conditions, the Sun God and Cale entrusted
him this role.
Bang!
Alberu hammered the frozen surface like a madman.
Crack—
Cracks widened.
Now gray water, not smoke, seeped out.
Horrific visions of screams and joyous cheers surged.
Yet Alberu clung to the warming light, striking like a
blacksmith forging iron.
“Hoh, ha—”
Breath ragged.
Bleeding.
He couldn’t stop.
He worried for Cale below, and feared botching this.
And—
“No need to fear attacks.”
The lake, too terrifying to approach.
Someone stood by Alberu.
The Heavenly Demon.
Unlike the frozen lake, the smoking, leaking lake deepened
fear.
Unarmed, wrapped in dark-red internal energy, he faced
enemies from the pool’s edge.
“This body is a god—”
The demonic sect’s god, the Heavenly Demon.
Gods fear no gods.
He vowed to guard Alberu.
Woo woo woo—
A shield enveloped Alberu’s lake edge.
Rosalyn, sent by the Heavenly Demon, trembled but raised
a shield.
Step step.
Eruhaben stood at the lake’s other side, guarding Alberu.
The grim ancient dragon’s hands and body shook worse
than the Heavenly Demon’s. Yet he stood.
North and south.
Guarded by the Heavenly Demon and Eruhaben.
“That’s the Sun God’s power! What, the sun! Kill him!”
“Kill him!”
“Stop him!”
Thousands of devotees, priests, warriors, and leaders
launched long-range attacks.
Allies tried to block them.
Alberu felt and heard it all.
So he didn’t stop.
“Damn it!”
Cale Henituse!
I get why you lived like that!
You bastard!
“Cough!”
Bleeding.
He wouldn’t stop.
Bang, bang!
Bang! Bang!
The surface cracked more.
Crack—
Finally,
Bang!
The sword pierced the frozen surface.
Crack.
Touching the gray water below.
A tiny hole formed.
Woo woo—
The ground trembled.
[This is Cale Henituse—!]
Alberu felt Cale amid the chaos.
Bang! Bang!
“Damn it, get out!”
Quaang!
The glowing sword punched a hole in the ice.
A sword-sized hole.
“Cough—”
Alberu’s limit.
[Battery: 10%]
The Sun Sword had power left, but Alberu looked at his
hand.
Trembling.
No strength to grip.
He felt like fainting.
But he refused.
“Ha, haha—”
Alberu laughed.
The Heavenly Demon smiled. Alberu heard him:
“You did it.”
Yes.
Done.
Alberu looked down.
Gray water, opaque.
Within—
[It’s like…]
The gray water parted.
What emerged.
Alberu didn’t draw the sword.
Even with the battery drained, it glowed.
Without its power, the light could guide him.
“Haha—”
Alberu laughed.
He mustered his last strength.
He pulled the sword.
Crack—
The surface split.
Quaaang!
A massive rock burst through.
A stone surging from the lakebed.
On it stood Cale Henituse.
Alberu and Cale.
Their eyes met.
Cale, as usual, spoke casually to Alberu:
“Thanks to you, I’m alive.”
Alberu just smiled.
Forgetting everything else, he laughed.
“Ha, haha—”
No choice.
Both were battered, bleeding.
Chapter 2-414: Confront and Protect (1)
Chapter 53: Confront and Protect
“Haha—”
Cale laughed.
Seeing Alberu Crossman laughing.
He moved because of his sunlight, surviving.
But Alberu Crossman.
[A wreck.]
Cale had never seen him so battered.
Trembling all over.
His sword-holding stance was shaky.
Whatever he did, his hood was off, clothes torn and
wrinkled everywhere.
Blood flowed, staining his face, neck, and clothes.
[Like me.]
Cale suddenly felt they were alike.
[Ah.]
Then it hit him.
The night’s cold air.
His mask was nearly shredded.
His clothes, tattered.
Gray water and wind.
The path he climbed, pushing through.
Sky-Swallowing Water protected him until the end, but the
sharp wind and currents tore his clothes.
[My face might be exposed.]
Would he be revealed as Cale Henituse today?
“Hey, you—”
Alberu’s trembling voice came.
But—
“Cough!”
Cale realized now wasn’t the time for stray thoughts.
—It’s not over!
The Super Rock’s urgent warning.
He escaped the gray water, but the divine Chaos Dagger
still gripped his hand.
[Damn it!]
It wouldn’t release.
The gray enveloping his body hadn’t faded.
[Not Chaos’s corruption.]
Purification wouldn’t work.
He couldn’t blindly use Lee Soo Hyuk’s Inclusion ability
either.
Passing the divine item to Lock or the Blue Wolf was
out—giving them this insane thing was unthinkable!
“Cough!”
Going mad!
Cale slumped onto the jutting rock.
Trembling again.
No screams or cheers in his ears, his mind still intact.
[This insane dagger…!]
The dagger vibrated fiercely, clutching his hand.
No, fused to him.
Like becoming one.
“Cale—”
Alberu saw closer than anyone.
The only one still standing on the gray lake.
His pupils wavered.
Cale’s blood blurred his view.
“Your body—”
Beyond his eyes, every exposed part through torn clothes
was gray.
Especially the hand gripping the dagger.
Veins bulged, an ugly gray.
Wanderer Choi Jung Gun.
The chaos corruption that once enveloped him.
Alberu’s face darkened, stepping toward the risen rock.
“Cough!”
Cale groaned.
“Hoh.”
Alberu inhaled sharply, stopping.
The dagger.
Approaching the apparent divine item.
[Aaaa, save me!]
[Hahaha, tonight’s Night of Joy! Only joy!]
Piercing screams and ecstatic voices flooded in.
Dozens, hundreds, thousands of voices surged.
“Ah.”
Cale Henituse was hearing these now.
Alberu realized instinctively.
“Hm.”
His body shook.
But he clung to focus.
[Ah.]
The sword propped on the unbroken surface.
It kept him upright.
The Sun Sword.
Alberu stayed lucid.
Then he realized.
[Sun God—!]
Only the Sun God’s power could bite into chaos here.
Did Cale rise seeing that light?
Alberu squeezed his trembling body’s remaining strength,
raising the sword.
He approached Cale.
Pa—
Bright, warm light radiated.
“Hm.”
Cale’s pained groans softened for the first time.
Alberu’s eyes glinted.
Swish.
Water flowed from the cracked surface, but Alberu
stepped forward heedlessly.
No fear of falling in.
Swish.
His foot hit the rock Cale raised.
[Ah.]
Alberu felt it on the rock.
[Lessened.]
The lake’s horrific, absolute aura diminished here.
Instead, a familiar presence.
[Cale Henituse’s aura.]
The potent energy Cale occasionally exuded was there.
Alberu realized it protected Cale.
One more push, and Cale Henituse would win.
Pa—
The glowing sword neared Cale.
Cale, trembling, watched Alberu, limping with the sword,
fixating on the Sun Sword.
Light.
The moment he saw it, chaos receded.
The pain gripping his body eased.
[I’ll live.]
The thought flashed.
“Cough!”
Cale groaned again.
[Insane!]
The dagger vibrated wildly.
Like a final struggle.
Sensing the Sun God’s power as a threat.
Twitch.
Cale smiled.
There was a way.
“Your Highness.”
Cale spoke.
He wanted to say.
[Put that sword on me.]
It might work.
Seeing chaos retreat before the Sun God’s power.
[My ancient powers and I will find a way.]
As always.
But Cale couldn’t speak further.
“Your Highness?”
His face twisted.
Alberu’s condition was dire.
Drastically so.
Pale, growing terrified.
Like Cale’s first brush with chaos’s fear.
What happened?
The answer came fast.
“Ah.”
Cale saw the Sun Sword in Alberu’s hand losing color.
Flicker.
The bright light dimmed, flickering.
Like a dying bulb.
Cale recalled the Sun Sword’s recent behavior.
One of his guesses.
[It’s rechargeable!]
Damn it!
Cale’s hunch was right.
[Battery: 6%]
Alberu heard the warning.
[Low battery. Switching to sleep mode soon.]
[At 0%, functions disable, shifting to charge mode.]
The light weakened, flickering.
Screams and cheers surged in his ears, a massive chaos
pressing him.
Literal chaos.
Primordial, ever-present.
Undefinable, indescribable.
That was chaos, always terrifying.
Alberu, closest to the pool.
He realized he was in the most danger.
Perhaps more than Cale, who resisted.
When the Sun Sword died, he didn’t know what would
happen to him.
So he chose.
“Cale—”
He called with a trembling voice.
“Last—last—”
Words faltered.
But this sharp guy surely caught his intent.
The Sun Sword’s final power would go to you.
It’s up to you after.
Cale’s face twisted, as if understanding.
“Your Highness—”
Gods, really.
Alberu swallowed a smile.
Laughing now was a waste.
But it was funny.
When Cale Henituse risked himself despite danger, Alberu
now understood why he couldn’t stop him.
He’d know.
Because Alberu now knew why Cale had to act then.
[Battery: 5%]
Time for the last move.
Alberu slowly gripped the sword.
Cale’s face contorted.
Then—
“!”
“!”
Cale and Alberu.
Their eyes widened.
Shock, panic, and dismay crossed their faces.
Crack—
The Sun Sword opened a gap.
The hole where the rock emerged.
Yet the frozen surface remained.
Crack crack crack—
But now it shattered.
No, melted.
Shake.
Cale looked at his trembling hand.
The dagger.
The divine item’s final struggle.
Cale now understood what it was.
Crack!
The frozen surface broke completely.
Whoosh—!
Gray water surged.
A small pool.
But deep.
All its gray water overflowed outward.
Swish—
Gray aura bloomed with the water.
“Hahaha!”
Cale heard laughter.
Looking down.
The pool’s bottom.
Rising with the water, the Saint.
Laughing.
“Foolish.”
The Saint mocked Cale.
“Think escaping avoids chaos?”
Where there’s light, there’s shadow.
Where there’s order, chaos exists.
Chaos is everywhere.
“Sacrifice, you can’t escape.”
Woo woo woo.
The dagger in Cale’s hand vibrated harder.
But Cale couldn’t tear his gaze from the Saint.
“…Lunatic…”
He could only mutter.
“Instead, I’m delighted.”
The Saint rose, saying:
“I’ll be the first sacrifice.”
His knives were embedded in his neck and stomach.
He exulted.
“I killed myself. The finest murder.”
Woo woo woo—
Sacrificing his life, the dagger surged.
“Night of Slaughter.”
The Saint smiled, watching gray fog veil the dark moon.
“But I’ll die seeing primal chaos.”
The chaos descending here.
The thought thrilled him.
The forty-fourth cycle.
It began now.
Cale, seeing the Saint’s smile, turned.
And shouted.
To his allies.
To everyone nearby.
“Run!”
Whoosh—
The gray water overflowed.
Alberu closed his eyes tightly.
“Sorry.”
With that to Cale, he poured all his strength.
Pa—
The Sun Sword’s final glow.
He swung it at the lake.
Swish!
Light slashed the gray water.
Instantly, the gray water halted.
“Here!”
Cale shouted.
Allies reacted in that moment.
Step step.
Tap.
The Heavenly Demon and Eruhaben landed on Cale’s rock.
“Hm.”
“….”
Both collapsed.
Gray smoke rose with the water.
“Damn—”
The Heavenly Demon’s fingertips trembled.
“….”
Eruhaben, silent, closed his eyes tightly.
“…Thanks—”
He supported the faltering Alberu.
Just sitting together.
And Cale—
[Damn it!]
No time for allies.
Crack.
The briefly halted gray water—
Swish—
Spread to the grass, the basin.
[Battery: 0%]
The Sun Sword went dark.
[Miss Rosalyn, Gashan!]
Cale saw Rosalyn and Gashan, heeding his call to flee,
freeze.
Far apart.
“!”
“…!”
They couldn’t move.
“Ugh, ugh—”
“…!!”
Instead, clutching ears or heads.
Gray smoke spread rapidly.
Screams and cheers assailed them.
Chaos—everything indefinable—engulfed them.
But this was the better case.
Chapter 2-415: Confrontation and Protection (2)
Swish.
The gray water touched the feet of those closest to the
puddle.
“Oh, oh—God, God—!”
Believers.
“God of Chaos—ah, ahh—!”
Priests.
Though they were initially afraid, they were also
overjoyed.
But the moment they touched the water.
The moment they inhaled the gray smoke.
“Aaaaaah—!”
“Cough—!”
They clutched their hair.
Terrible pain, sorrow, despair.
At the same time, wild joy and delight, frenzy
Thousands of emotions engulfed them.
Their minds burned, their heads spinning as if they would
explode.
Drip.
Blood began to flow from everyone.
But the blood of those who touched the water wasn’t red.
It was gray.
Their eyes turned gray as well.
When humans, who live by rules, face true chaos.
When they are consumed by that fear.
Swish!
Slash!
“Chaos, chaos—!”
Some drew their weapons.
“Aaah!”
Some wailed in despair.
“Hahaha—!”
Some cried and laughed, ceaselessly.
But one thing was common.
“Go, go die! Stop shouting!”
“Stop crying!”
Either they wanted to kill someone.
“Stop, stop…!”
Or, unable to bear it any longer, they turned their
weapons on themselves.
Everyone was rushing toward death.
“What, what is this—?”
Wanderer Cho looked at his sister, Ren.
“Sis, sister. Did you hear that?”
He, too, was facing chaos.
Ren’s face turned pale.
“Run, I’ll fight—!”
As wanderers with innate transparency, Cho and Ren could
endure this chaos.
Fortunately, they hadn’t gotten close to the puddle.
At that moment, Cho whispered.
“Can we even escape?”
For the first time, he felt fear.
His gaze turned to the sky.
The gray smoke rising with the water gradually enveloped
the dark night.
Little by little, as always, it dyed the sky gray.
But unlike before.
This was truly a sky of death.
Wanderer Cho and Ren.
Neither could say a word.
Ren could only manage one sentence.
“What in the world is this—?”
What was happening?
That was all she could say.
“—!”
She couldn’t speak anymore.
Known for her intelligence, she quickly realized something.
“Over there.”
“Huh?”
The center where the water surged.
The rock rising from the puddle.
Four people stood on that seemingly narrow space.
“Right there.”
Yes. The humans over there were perfectly fine, weren’t
they?
Wanderer Ren thought so and was about to move when—
“!”
She froze.
“…What—?”
On the rock.
One person stood tall.
“Why, why—”
She couldn’t speak.
Why, the moment she saw that man, did she think of the
first wanderer, the head of the family?
The man standing alone.
Cale Henituse.
He didn’t know Wanderer Ren’s thoughts, nor did he care
to.
Trembling.
His hand, gripping the sword, was still shaking.
Yet he ignored it.
“Damn it, damn it!”
He didn’t care about the pain either.
Now, crude words spilled from his mouth, but he had to
speak.
“Damn it!”
This was a truly damned situation.
[Damn it!]
Everyone was on the verge of death.
Enveloped in chaos, people were losing their minds.
Swish.
The gray water spread further.
As if exceeding the puddle’s capacity, the water kept
surging.
Swoooosh—
And the gray smoke enveloped everything.
—Cale.
But there was another problem.
—The smoke is rising.
Yes.
As Super Rock said, the smoke was rising.
Not only did it cover this holy ground, but it targeted the
entire canyon, even the demonic realm beyond it,
spreading rapidly.
Outside the canyon were the sacrifices, Raon, and Choi
Han.
“Ha. Ha.”
“Ugh… ugh…”
Eruhaben and the Heavenly Demon were struggling to
breathe.
The ancient dragon and the martial artist, stronger than
him, were suffering now.
Alberu was on the verge of fainting.
And Rosalyn and Gashan were holding back screams,
enduring somehow.
Trembling.
And he, too, was trembling.
He looked down at his hand.
The gray covering his hand became even more vivid.
—Damn it!
The aura of dominance was desperately holding on.
[Because I can see clearly.]
There were no auditory hallucinations.
His vision was clear.
All his senses were intact.
“Hoo.”
Cale took a breath.
He inhaled the cold night air.
Yes, my breathing is normal.
Drip.
Blood flowed from his mouth again.
Tap.
But as Cale saw the blood drop on the back of his hand, a
strange glint flickered in his eyes.
[Red.]
People spilling gray blood were everywhere now.
Consumed by chaos.
[But not me.]
Cale understood.
[More than I imagined—]
More than he imagined—
[Not overwhelmed by chaos.]
Not just his eyes.
Beyond appearances, his heart hadn’t been tainted by
chaos.
He was more than he imagined—
“It’s okay.”
Yes.
He and his ancient powers were still intact.
[Not yet—]
It was worth a try.
Because—
Cale looked up.
The gray sky.
This dark night in between.
He saw the night.
Between that night, in the darkness.
Cale was waiting for a very clever child.
An existence unscathed by this chaos.
When the eyes of the God of Chaos first appeared, when
gray waves and tsunamis arose, when the Blue Wolf
confronted the God of Chaos, the only being that
remained whole.
“Human!”
A joyful voice came from the darkness.
Deep blue eyes, shining like stars, rushed toward Cale.
Fast.
“It’s chaos again! I said if anyone dares touch our human
and my family, I’ll destroy everything!”
Raon, filled with rage, flapped his wings fiercely to reach
here.
An existence not swept away by chaos.
[He’s here.]
Raon, who could be entrusted with his companions, had
arrived.
Now he didn’t have to worry about his companions.
[That’s not the end, is it?]
The ritual had begun.
The God of Chaos might descend.
He had to stop it.
To do that, he had to confront this chaotic power.
He had to eliminate this gray water and smoke.
He had to save people from the chaos.
“Hey.”
Cale called out to a certain existence.
—Damn it!
The aura of dominance let out an irritated shout.
It had already sensed Cale’s heart.
—Yes! I don’t know anymore!
That voice was trembling slightly.
The aura of dominance was reaching its limit.
But it wasn’t the limit yet.
Cale’s aura of dominance had never been overused.
—I’ll save everyone coolly too!
It muttered.
Even in its trembling, the voice was firm, as if trying to
overcome the tension somehow.
—Yes, Cale, I protected you, and I can protect others too!
Yes, I can!
Because even the aura of dominance knew.
—Better than I imagined!
Not just his eyes, Cale’s red blood, Cale’s body, knew it
was protecting itself.
He was far stronger than it had imagined.
If he knew that, there was no need for bravado.
No.
This was exactly the time for bravado.
“Let’s try it.”
Cale’s bravado.
—Alright, let’s fight!
The aura of dominance began to emit its presence.
—Just, Cale, it might be harder on you. Because I’ll neglect
you a little.
That’s fine.
Because Cale instinctively realized that only by eliminating
the gray water and smoke could he subdue this divine
entity.
The enemy’s final move. That move had to be crushed.
“It’s okay if I pass out.”
Cale’s permission was given.
—Alright! Come, let’s destroy this power!
The aura of dominance shouted with a voice full of
bravado.
But not a single ancient power interrupted its voice.
Drip.
Blood flowed from Cale’s mouth again.
Drip.
The red blood ran down his hand, and the moment it
touched the divine entity.
Swoooosh—
At that moment, a wind blew.
—!
And everything stopped, like a lie.
For an instant.
Though it was truly fleeting.
Everyone stopped.
—Cale.
The aura of dominance spoke softly.
—If chaos shows all sorts of illusions, making people feel
confused.
Yes.
Cale knew the answer the aura of dominance was about to
say.
So he said.
“Then make them feel what’s real.”
Thump. Thump.
His heart pounded wildly.
The vitality of his heart, the power of regeneration, surged
like mad.
No matter what, Cale used something that the illusions
created by chaos couldn’t cover.
—Dominance. Fear.
The aura of dominance said.
—The fear that truly touches the skin, illusions can’t beat
it.
The aura that wanted to dominate everything.
That presence enveloped the basin.
Goosebumps covering the skin.
A physiological reaction that couldn’t be fabricated by
illusions.
The moment their bodies reacted, people stopped.
Because they felt true fear.
Because they felt something absolute trying to dominate
them.
It was similar to chaos, but different.
No pain, no joy.
Like air, invisible, odorless, inaudible.
It covered their entire bodies.
Of course, everyone was still experiencing the illusions
created by chaos.
But just for a moment.
—Just tell them it’s all fake.
As the aura of dominance said.
Just tell people.
Illusions won’t kill you.
Now, true dominance has come for you.
—Daring to indulge in illusions, losing focus, and not
bowing to the king, how bold!
The aura of dominance trembled but spoke playfully.
—Come on, it’s time to greet.
It said calmly.
—There’s no God of Chaos here, only the king. Dare to
ignore him?
Submit to the dominator.
At that moment, the power of the aura of dominance
surpassed its limit.
“Cough!”
Cale, spitting blood, thought.
The aura of dominance’s bravado had exceeded its limit.
[But what now?]
Even if he made people come to their senses—
“Human, human! What is this?”
How could he get rid of it?
He could confront and endure.
But how could he eliminate that chaos?
—Cale.
At that moment.
—I’m hungry.
Hm?
Cale paused for a moment, the words of the ancient
power ringing in his ears, stopping his steps.
—I’m hungry.
The Glutton Priestess.
The Indestructible Shield.
Come to think of it, when the Glutton Priestess came to
this holy ground, she said.
[—I’m here. I’m also good at protecting.]
Right.
—I’m hungry.
And she was very good at eating.
“Ha, haha—”
“Human, why are you laughing while spitting blood? Your
face is pale! I feel like you’re about to faint! Like one
second before fainting! Human!”
Flap flap.
While looking after his companions, Raon’s urgent words
were ignored by Cale.
[Yes.]
The Glutton Priestess loved to eat.
She had even eaten death mana.
One day, the death mana bomb covering the jungle.
Like the trees that absorbed the death liquid meant to
destroy the jungle.
—I don’t break.
Yes.
Who said she could only eat death mana?
A holy ground where only green grass existed.
No. That grass was now covered by gray water, losing its
color.
—I can eat it all.
Cale looked up.
Because all he had done was confront and endure.
—So I can protect.
—This land and these people.
—I can do it now.
Thump thump.
His heart pounded wildly.
The power of regeneration, the vitality of his heart, gave
strength to the Glutton Priestess.
[Yes.]
Since he had confronted.
Now it was time to protect.
Cale looked up.
There were no trees here.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The canyon shook.
The cliff of death.
The only bridge connecting it.
But during the dark nights of mid-month and end-month,
that bridge would disappear.
Because the trees took root.
Four trees, with massive bodies and roots, capable of
spanning the vast canyon.
Rumble rumble rumble—!
The four trees suddenly began to move their roots.
Downward.
Rapidly toward where Cale was.
—I’m hungry.
It was time to eat.
“Wow—”
Mad Seed. Overlooking the canyon below, he couldn’t say
a word.
His body trembled all over.
“Insane—”
The face of the immersed Mad Seed twisted, a tear rolling
down.
“It’s here—”
This, this—
“100 million, no, 1 billion views.”
Mad Seed was trembling in awe.
Chapter 2-416: Confrontation and Protection (3)
Rumble rumble rumble—
The sound shaking the entire demonic realm echoed
everywhere. The jungle, the desert, the grasslands, the
junkyard. Everyone in every region turned their gaze
toward the source of the sound.
The Night of Genesis.
In a demonic realm where teleportation magic was
unusable, this was a night when the weak held their
breath and the strong chose rest over battle.
The sound breaking this night came from a place that was
supposed to be quieter than anywhere else.
The 15th and 30th.
The Cliff of Death, the only bridge connecting the demonic
realm to its four regions.
Because those were the days when the Genesis Roots
withdrew.
But now, from that Cliff of Death, from the Genesis Roots,
came a tremendous roar and tremor.
“….”
The demonic realm.
The beings resting there, holding their breath, began to
tense up one by one.
Some were already on their way to that place.
Rumble rumble rumble—
And the culprit causing this situation.
Cale Henituse didn’t want to know about this situation,
nor did it concern him.
Thump thump.
His heart pounded wildly.
—I’m hungry.
The Glutton Priestess strongly expressed her intent.
More than ever before.
—Something I’ve never eaten.
An existence the Glutton Priestess had never consumed.
Craving chaos.
Rumble rumble rumble—
Cale stood still, staring only upward.
But beneath his hand, the basin was now engulfed in
chaos.
“Hah. Hah!”
“Save, save me—!”
People, as if torn apart by fear and terror, gasped for
breath.
Those who had regained their senses cried out for help,
still haunted by auditory hallucinations.
“I, I’ll obey, please save me—!”
It was the aura they felt on their skin.
They pleaded with the one trying to dominate them to let
them live.
If they could just escape these illusions, anyone, anything,
could dominate them.
“Insane—”
And those still holding onto their sanity—no, clinging to
their minds.
Wanderer Cho couldn’t find words to say.
[God—]
No.
“A god-defying force…?”
Could a human possibly resist the power of chaos?
No, confront it?
And—
“What is that?”
Rumble rumble rumble—
The canyon split.
No, it was breaking apart.
Something was crushing the hard rocks, rapidly
descending.
Swish.
East, west, south, north.
From all four directions, massive tree roots arrived swiftly.
The power of chaos didn’t seem frightening to them.
On the contrary, the roots rushed down as if eager to fight.
“…Hah—”
Words failed.
Those insane trees now were—
“What is that man?”
It was that human’s power.
It was felt.
Because he was the only human standing tall in this place.
At that moment, Wanderer Ren’s voice rang out.
“…Transcender.”
What?
Cho wanted to question his sister’s words, but he couldn’t
tear his eyes away from that man.
For some reason, he felt he couldn’t miss this moment.
Rumble rumble rumble—
The descending roots showed no hesitation.
Crushing rocks, bearing scars on their own bodies, yet
uncaring.
Trees grew on cliffs, in deserts.
Wherever they took root, they could survive.
Rumble rumble rumble—
And those tree roots had now found their prey.
—I’m hungry.
The moment the Priestess spoke again, Cale opened his
mouth.
“Eat your fill.”
That moment arrived.
Boom—!
Four massive trees, their roots touching the ground.
They had countless thick and thin roots.
Swish.
The roots fearlessly plunged into the gray water.
—Not enough.
Then, they began greedily drinking that water.
Cale’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
Boom!
The roots dyed gray burst instantly.
Not just one.
Boom! Bang! Boom!
Countless roots, as soon as they were stained gray, burst
or shattered.
But—
—Unbreakable.
The Glutton Priestess didn’t stop.
Where they burst or shattered, new roots grew, and even
if smaller roots broke, the massive ones stood still,
untouched by the gray water.
—More.
Now, even those thick roots plunged into the gray water.
Thud!
That wasn’t the end.
Boom!
Thud!
Thud!
Then, they drove their bodies deep into the water’s
bottom, embedding into the earth.
The roots had fully taken hold.
With their foundation, the roots feared nothing.
Not flames that burned them,
Nor gales that broke them.
Just water.
What they consumed.
Even if stained gray, the roots kept devouring.
Just as the Glutton Priestess had once consumed the land
tainted by death mana.
“Haha, hahaha—”
Wanderer Cho laughed at the absurdity.
“Insane—”
What was he even witnessing?
“The trees, insane, the trees are devouring.”
The trees were drinking water!
“Yeah, damn it! What else would trees drink but water!
Damn it!”
Cho felt the absurdity.
But at the same time, he shuddered.
The screams and cheers lingering in his ears, mixed with all
sorts of terrifying chaos, were fading.
Bang, boom!
Even as roots kept bursting, the chaos was diminishing.
It was inevitable.
The roots that drank the gray water, even if they burst,
didn’t return to the gray water, to chaos.
—More, more!
The Glutton Priestess didn’t stop.
Rumble rumble rumble—
Once again, the roots above the canyon began to extend
downward.
All the roots, leaving only the minimum to stay anchored
in the canyon, stretched downward again.
Drip.
Cale didn’t even wipe the blood trickling from his mouth.
He just stared upward, holding on.
Pfft.
Even so, he let out a laugh.
“Hoo.”
“Ha—”
The Heavenly Demon and Eruhaben.
Their breathing became a little easier.
He could feel them standing up.
Besides Raon, there were now others he could entrust his
back to.
“Aaah—”
“Ugh, ugh.”
He could hear the voices of people gradually regaining
clarity.
“This, this is absurd!”
“The chaos is diminishing—no, it’s being devoured, how is
this possible!”
He could also hear the despairing voices of the higher-ups
of the Chaos God’s cult.
And so, Cale laughed.
“What are you laughing at?”
Despite Eruhaben’s stern voice, Cale’s smile grew wider.
He didn’t respond to the Gold Dragon’s words, instead
looking upward and speaking.
“They’re here.”
Rumble rumble rumble—
Piercing through the now-thinner gray mist, the roots
descended.
Among them, four particularly massive roots.
Giant roots extending from the four directions—east,
west, south, north.
One of them.
Woo woo woo—
A massive black dragon appeared.
“Human, I called Choi Han!”
Raon had called another companion—Choi Han.
Choi Han slid down the root.
His eyes met Cale’s.
Choi Han’s gentle face twisted.
Seeing the state of his companions, he bit his lip.
Everyone was in a pitiful state.
Though he had seen Cale like this many times, he hadn’t
expected Eruhaben, the Heavenly Demon, or even Alberu
to be in such a condition.
“Choi Han, I’ll save our companions!”
At Raon’s voice, Choi Han saw the blood trickling from
Cale’s mouth and the scene he had created, understanding
his task.
Tap!
He steadied himself on the root.
Snap.
Then, he stepped onto another root.
Roots, small trunks, branches growing on the gray water’s
surface.
All of it became ground for Choi Han to tread.
In this land engulfed by chaos, Choi Han stepped onto the
path Cale had opened for him.
And then—
Swish!
He swung his sword.
Boom!
“Cough!”
“Cough!”
The apparent leaders of the Chaos God’s cult.
Choi Han attacked those who seemed powerful.
[Aaaaah—!]
[Pfft haha, hahahahaha!]
Auditory hallucinations rang in his ears.
Illusions faintly appeared.
But he clearly perceived reality.
From the start, Choi Han, untouched by chaos, standing
only on the ground created by the trees, wasn’t swayed by
these hallucinations or illusions.
Someone’s despair?
Choi Han’s aura already carried despair.
Someone’s joy?
Choi Han’s hope wasn’t small enough to be shaken by such
joy.
Woo woo woo—
A faint black aura enveloped his body.
Yet within it was unyielding integrity, steadfast in its
resolve.
Because this was Choi Han’s aura, far stronger than when
he first faced the Chaos God’s power.
Just before it transformed into his innate nature, his
power had grown further.
Swish!
Choi Han didn’t stop.
No, he sped up.
Because even a moment’s weakness could let chaos creep
in.
Swish!
“Ah! My, my arm—!”
Slash—!
“Why is the Sword Saint…!”
Choi Han merely swung his sword expressionlessly.
In front of him, the higher-ups of the Chaos God’s cult
shouted.
“A mere human dares to defy the will of the Chaos God!”
Choi Han responded with his sword.
“Hm.”
Then added.
“We have a god on our side too.”
At that moment, Cale, still looking upward, suddenly
widened his eyes.
“Ugh—”
At the same time, Alberu Crossman’s groan reached Cale’s
ears.
Then Raon spoke to Cale.
“Human! They’re said to be the Saintess and Holy Knight of
the Sun God’s cult! Human, don’t you know that Holy
Knight?”
Rumble rumble rumble—
Following Choi Han, two others descended along the
remaining massive roots.
One was Holy Knight Sir Voltian, the other the Saintess.
Voltian’s gaze swept over the scenery of the holy ground
beneath the gray mist.
Then his eyes met Cale’s.
“!”
Though his hair color had changed, he recognized that
man.
The one who had warned him of the approaching danger.
And the man beside him, barely conscious.
Seeing him, Voltian’s eyes widened.
“Saintess, is it him?”
The moment he asked, the Saintess in his arms didn’t
answer but clasped her hands together.
“O Sun!”
That moment arrived.
“Please save that man!”
Her cry echoed through the chaos.
The clear voice soared to the heavens.
Fwoosh!
A brilliant light burst from her, shooting skyward.
The Night of Genesis.
In a place without a moon, light rose.
The moment the orb of light ascended.
Boom.
Alberu struggled.
“Alberu!”
The ancient dragon Eruhaben saw the Sword of the Sun in
Alberu’s arms absorb that light.
[Rapid charging in progress]
A message only Alberu could see appeared, and the
Saintess shouted.
“O Sun, please dispel this chaos!”
The Saintess, with the strongest holy power in the Sun
God’s cult, descended upon the Chaos God’s holy ground.
Bang! Boom!
The roots continued to burst.
Yet the surviving roots kept devouring.
And held on.
—Even chaos can be devoured.
The moment the Glutton Priestess made her resolve.
Cale slowly lowered his head from looking upward.
About two-thirds of the gray water remained.
“Aaaaaaah!”
His lowered head snapped up toward the source of the
sound.
He saw two others arriving late along the remaining
massive roots.
“Human, you can relax! They’re good people!”
At Raon’s words, Cale eased his nerves.
“Amazing…!”
“Hey, did you get the shot right? This is a 10-billion-view
angle!”
“Insane, I’m crying! Look at our cute little dragon!”
“Mad Seed! Is this the time to look at that? Who’s that
redhead? A god?”
Cale had no time to mind them.
Of course, he deeply regretted this decision later. Very,
very much.
But now, Cale had to resolve this before collapsing.
Snap—
Because he couldn’t miss the moment the orb of light
soared.
—The gray mist has stalled.
As Super Rock said, the gray mist, fading as the water
diminished, stalled when the light rose.
Drip. Blood trickled from the Saintess’s mouth too.
He couldn’t miss the opportunity she created.
At the same time—
Woo woo woo—
The sky rumbled.
No, the clouds began to rumble.
“No more thinking about wanderers.”
The Heavenly Demon.
He spread dark red clouds.
And covered the gray mist with them.
The auditory hallucinations faded again.
In a sky with only light and dark red clouds.
Cale looked down.
The basin covered in gray water.
The roots, taking hold everywhere, asserted their
presence.
Seeing the roots evenly spread, Cale made a decision.
He stretched his hands, gripping the blade, forward.
Since the trees had taken root.
Now.
“Grow.”
To create a forest.
“Devour it all.”
Rumble rumble rumble—!
The entire canyon trembled.
The ground, the basin, shook.
And then,
They grew.
From every root, trees sprouted.
Large or small, trees kept growing.
Trunks rose, branches stretched, leaves flourished.
“Ah—”
A believer collapsed to the ground.
Then clasped their hands.
The illusions and hallucinations vanished.
Because the trees devoured all the gray water.
Swish.
Boom.
Though some trees still withered.
Unable to endure.
Yet, the forest took shape.
“Ah—”
The believer shuddered at the reality of overcoming the
hellish chaos.
Gray trees formed a forest.
This holy ground of the Chaos God, where not a single
proper tree or plant had existed.
Now, a gray forest grew here.
And the hellish chaos faded.
Less visible, less audible.
In its place was the dominating force enveloping them.
But the believer realized.
That dominating aura was saving them.
And realized.
Clarity.
There wasn’t a trace of murky chaos in this dominating
aura.
The wind blew toward the trees that devoured the chaos.
Swoosh—
The gray leaves swayed.
But their scent was so fresh, so clear.
“Ah—”
The believer turned their head.
The trees stretched their branches in one direction.
That place, the center of the Night of Genesis, the Night of
Inversion in the holy ground.
A man on the rock that had risen.
He, too, was dyed gray.
Gray branches, gray leaves, a gray forest grew toward one
man.
As if to protect him.
Or to protect them at his command.
Unconsciously, the believer spoke to that man.
“O God—”
A shudder arose.
Where chaos vanished, one man stood.
And that man, Cale—
“Damn, damn it—”
Cough!
Spitting a mouthful of blood, his body fell backward as he
stood.
—Thanks for the meal.
Listening to the satisfied voice of the Glutton Priestess.
Chapter 2-417: Confrontation and Protection (4)
Cale’s body tilted backward.
But he didn’t fall.
“Human!”
Two chubby front paws touched Cale’s back, and a round
head supported him.
“I knew this would happen!”
The usually spirited voice was now tinged with teary
emotion.
“Cough.”
Cale opened his mouth, but blood still spilled out.
As if hearing it, Raon said.
“Human, I’m fine! I’m not tainted!”
Hearing those words, the Heavenly Demon reached out
but stopped. His eyes met Cale’s, and Cale shook his head.
Tremble.
Both hands still gripped the blade.
[This damn crazy blade!]
Blink.
Cale closed his eyes, then opened them.
He was on the verge of fainting but couldn’t relax yet.
The gray water had vanished.
And the gray mist was dissipating too.
It was almost over.
But it wasn’t the end.
The Heavenly Demon and Raon seemed reassured now, so
Cale spoke.
“Cough!”
But only blood came out again. He couldn’t speak.
[Damn it!]
This time, it felt a bit serious.
—Cale. You know, the Glutton Priestesss sister might need
time to digest.
The old man of Vitality of the Heart and regeneration cried
out.
Thump thump. Boom.
Cale felt his heartbeat slow, weaker than before.
The Aura of Dominance.
The Sound of the Wind.
The Sky-Eating Water.
The Indestructible Shield.
And Super Rock.
Today, Cale had used too many ancient powers, pushing
them beyond their limits, even surpassing those limits, to
confront the divine artifact.
“Cough.”
But Cale spoke again.
He couldn’t stop here.
Blink.
Through his slowly flickering vision, he saw a gray forest.
And he saw the believers, breathing sighs of relief. They,
too, feared death.
[Not yet—]
But it wasn’t over.
He opened his mouth.
When he tried to speak somehow.
“It’s not over yet!”
Eruhaben’s voice rang out.
As expected of an ancient dragon.
Blink.
And it seemed to linger in his vision.
[Choi Han…!]
Choi Han, without hesitation, crossed the land where even
the gray water had vanished, rushing toward Cale’s
direction.
But his target wasn’t Cale.
As expected, this guy seemed to lack tact.
A man with senses close to a beast.
And a true beast.
“I’ll take over!”
Gashan responded to Eruhaben’s words, swiftly moving his
body.
Meanwhile, Eruhaben had already stood, channeling
mana.
[Age?]
Gashan, Eruhaben, Choi Han.
The older members of the group were now moving in the
direction Cale wanted.
The ancient dragon Eruhaben told everyone.
“The ritual isn’t over yet!”
Yes. The gray water and mist had vanished.
But the ritual wasn’t over.
And the being who started that ritual was still alive.
That being hadn’t lost consciousness.
The Saint.
Though Cale couldn’t see him.
The Saint who had risen with the gray water.
That guy was still there.
[Yes.]
Only by eliminating him could the ritual end.
Then Cale could escape this divine artifact.
Because the divine artifact’s final move had begun with
the Saint’s consciousness.
Swish!
Choi Han’s sword radiated a black aura.
[Terrifying.]
The moment a cool breeze passed through the gray forest,
he sensed a terrifying energy still lurking in one place.
He ran toward it.
[It’s not over yet.]
He now knew exactly what he had to do.
[The Saint.]
That guy was the Saint.
The one with blades in his neck and stomach.
Near the rock where Cale stood.
The guy lying by the lake, barely breathing.
“This, this can’t be—”
He should’ve been dead, but he wasn’t.
[Gray blood.]
That guy kept spilling gray blood.
Unlike the other believers who stopped bleeding gray
blood after escaping the chaos.
The Saint, the only one still bleeding gray.
“It can’t be like this, what do we do, kill—”
The Saint muttered in disbelief.
Choi Han reached him.
The Saint, who seemed to feel no pain.
He was crying.
“Why can’t I hear…”
He was grieving.
“The chaos, it’s gone—”
He was sad that the chaos had vanished.
Thousands of screams and laughs.
Especially the absence of those thousands of screams
made him sad.
Because he had contributed greatly to those screams.
Now, he might never create such screams again—
“Ah, no—”
He was no longer grieving but immersed in fear.
His gray eyes reflected a man’s face.
“….”
Choi Han, with a cold expression.
He raised his sword.
[He looks like he’s about to die.]
The Saint’s condition was as if he was barely clinging to
life.
It wouldn’t be strange if he died at any moment.
[But we need to end this quickly.]
Gashan’s voice came from behind.
“The number of sacrifices is insufficient. If one dies, the
ritual won’t complete! Instead, it’ll stop!”
Eruhaben agreed with that statement.
He descended from the rock to the lake’s edge.
“Yes. I think that gray blood needs to stop.”
Cale heard all this and agreed in his mind.
[It’s fine, I think—]
He could trust them to handle the rest.
Blink.
Cale’s eyes flickered slower than before.
The strength in his body was draining bit by bit.
Tremble.
His hands, still gripping the divine artifact, trembled, but
noticeably less than before.
Swoosh—
A breeze blew.
He inhaled the wind.
The cool air of the forest night filled his lungs.
He could survive.
Swish.
The corners of Cale’s mouth slowly rose.
Somehow, he had endured this time too—
“!”
Cale’s eyes widened.
—Cale!
The Aura of Dominance.
—This is insane!
The Sky-Eating Water.
—…I’m not full yet.
The Indestructible Shield reacted at the same time.
Cale put strength into his body.
He poured in his last reserves, refusing to fall.
Supported by Raon, he stood.
“Goodness!”
Along with Eruhaben’s distressed voice.
Choi Han’s black aura rose, visible even from the rock.
Eruhaben’s magic.
But—
“Damn it!”
The moment he heard Choi Han curse in his gentle voice.
Stumble.
Cale took a step forward.
“Human!”
Raon shouted urgently.
“Human, I’m protecting you!”
The reason Raon said that so clearly.
Sway.
Among the thousands of surviving believers, some
collapsed instantly.
Or slumped, or went limp.
Woo woo woo—
With a strange sound, the rock Cale stood on.
Climbing upward, he saw the being that had risen to the
highest point in this basin.
The Saint.
That guy had struggled to climb up there.
“O God…!”
The Saintess’s urgent cry rang out.
But Cale only stared at the Saint.
Blink.
His eyes, wanting to close, strained to stay open.
The Saint’s eyes.
Gray eyes.
Cough.
Cale, spitting blood once, spoke.
He barely forced out a voice.
Pushing beyond his limits.
“You’re a god, aren’t you?”
Cale knew the moment he saw.
The Saint was dead.
And those eyes, the gray eyes staring at Cale, were the
same as the Saint’s but different.
These were the eyes that had once pushed Cale into fear.
Eyes without smiles or anything, just staring at Cale, then
opening their mouth.
The voice was strange.
Whisper-like, faint, yet reaching everyone’s ears.
—Chaos is always by your side.
—At every moment of life, in your heart, chaos always
accompanies you, so you will soon face the truth you’ve
ignored.
—The one who sees the truth.
That voice was peculiar.
The kind you don’t want to hear but can’t help seeking.
—Come to me.
Those who see the truth, come to me.
Someone reacted to those words.
“Aaaaaaah—”
A bishop pulled a dagger from his chest.
Aiming to stab his own neck.
At that moment.
“Bullshit! I warned you last time! If you dare touch our
human or my family, I’ll crush you!”
Raon’s clear, powerful voice broke the momentary silence.
[Bullshit?]
Cale was stunned, surprised by Raon’s vocabulary.
Cough!
But spitting blood, Cale spoke clearly.
“You’re done.”
Pfft.
Then he forcefully raised one corner of his mouth.
Because—
[I’m no longer being eroded.]
Even hearing that voice, even facing those eyes.
—Worth enduring!
As the Aura of Dominance said, it was worth enduring.
—Soon, even ancient gods will fear us! Hahaha!
Ignoring his boastful words.
Instead, he mocked the Chaos God.
“You’re bleeding.”
The Saint was bleeding red.
The Saint was dead.
And red blood meant only one thing.
It was over.
The ritual to summon the Chaos God was over.
[The Saint finally died.]
It wouldn’t have been strange if he died at any moment.
He had only been kept alive during the ritual.
But with the ritual stopped, the Saint met his death.
He spoke clearly, looking into those gray eyes—neither
smiling nor crying, emotionless, yet fierce.
“You’re bluffing.”
The Chaos God was doing this out of frustration that
everything was ruined.
Cale judged well and mocked freely.
Tremble—
The trembling of the divine artifact gripping his hands was
also diminishing, an answer.
This trembling was about to end.
At that moment.
—Is it really over?
The blade embedded in the Saint’s stomach came out.
No, it fell out.
The blade hit the ground.
Thud.
The sword fell into the puddle, now just mud with the
water gone.
But there was no time to care about the blade.
Swish—
The Saint’s stomach split open.
Inside was—
—Do you really think it’s over?
An eye.
[Ah.]
That was the true eye.
The eye Cale had faced when he first gripped the divine
artifact, and when he first confronted the Chaos God’s
power.
He realized those were the eyes from then.
His body stiffened slightly.
—It’s okay!
But it was truly better than before.
—Even if you faint, when you wake up, you’ll be fine even
facing this! The Glutton ate a lot!
The lively voice of the Aura of Dominance was ignored.
Because he had no time for that.
Woo woo woo—!
Between Cale and the Chaos God.
A silver shield appeared.
“I told you not to touch our human!”
As expected of a great dragon.
Raon created a barrier, a shield between Cale and the eye.
Thanks to it, he felt much better.
Blink.
Cale came to his senses and smiled.
“Hey, you’re bleeding.”
Drip.
As he said, the eye was bleeding.
Red blood.
“Stop pretending and get lost.”
Acting unlike a god.
Pfft.
Cale laughed again.
Pssshhh—
Because the Saint’s body was gradually turning to dust.
And Cale was thinking one thing.
[If the Chaos God really wants to intervene here now—]
If so, Cale had one more thing he could do.
[Red Hand!]
The absolute power given to Cale by the god-like game
system in this world.
A punishment for those who violate the rules.
Red Hand.
[If it’s the Chaos God, just one slap to those eyes…!]
Pfft.
Cale’s mouth curled up.
Before fainting, he wanted to end it with one punch.
Thinking of all the suffering that guy caused, anger surged.
Pssshhh—
But the Saint’s body was disappearing faster.
—….
The eye, watching the ever-smiling Cale, blinked once.
[Hm.]
Then it curved.
Curved like a crescent moon, quite beautiful.
—Yes, there’s no uglier sight than this.
Pssshhh—
The Saint’s body, except for the stomach, had vanished.
The eye spoke to Cale.
—One day, the seed given to you will sprout and embrace
me.
Blink.
Cale’s eyes blinked.
[Wow.]
Now he was truly at his limit.
Cale bid farewell to the Chaos God.
“If you lose, get lost cleanly.”
With that, he ended it.
Blink.
The Chaos God smiled and blinked.
Pssshhh—
Then the eye vanished.
At the same time, the Saint’s body crumbled and
disappeared instantly.
Blink.
And Cale,
—I’m fainting.
As Super Rock said, he fainted.
Darkness descended.
He fainted very cleanly.
And though Cale didn’t see it, the canyon welcomed a
complete night.
The pattern of light vanished.
The dark red clouds vanished.
The gray mist vanished.
Among the lush gray forest, a starry night unfolded over
the canyon.
“Insane…”
And the one who witnessed it all.
“Player” [Mad Seed.]
Tears streamed down his face.
“Damn…!”
He cried out.
“The world, that guy just saved the world! Amazing!
Amazing! Heh! Human, telling a god to get lost! Damn,
incredible! Cough!”
Mad Seed's eyes were filled with awe.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
—What? What’s this video that Seed guy uploaded?
—Live stream?
—Insane, a dragon! A cute dragon! Baby dragon! Crazy,
where is this!
—Looks like the demonic realm.
—Hey, did you see the mission that just popped up?
Something about saving the game?
—…What’s going on? I don’t understand anymore?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
And his live stream channel was going wild.
Chapter 2-418: Confrontation and Protection (5)
[Raise your precious absolute god.]
The first human-made virtual reality game to achieve
global success, with hundreds of millions of concurrent
users.
Beyond a game, it became a culture, now a different kind
of “reality.”
The Great First Step.
A massive update in that game introduced the season
theme “The Great First Step.”
Anyone could build their own kingdom in the new world.
Nation-building.
That word made hundreds of millions of players’ hearts
race.
Though it was a new world with too much to do.
“Massive wars are different!”
Centered on players, the excitement of competing among
players or against NPCs was thrilling.
<But don’t you think it’s a bit boring?>
But wasn’t the excitement a bit too much?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
—There’s no bigger change than expected.
—Of course. No matter how many players there are, only
a handful stand out in the new world.
—Isn’t it just one?
—Anyway, we can’t unite, can we? How do we fight
kingdoms and build nations right away?
—The Great First Step is real, long-term content. Even at
the fastest, we won’t hear of any forces emerging on a
piece of land until next year.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
No greater changes than expected occurred in the new
world.
Of course, many top-ranked players and guilds were
working behind the scenes to build their forces.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Besides, isn’t the current number one just the Eastern
Empire’s crown prince ascending the throne, and nothing
else?
—But we don’t even know now. The news suddenly
stopped.
—Speaking of which, I heard there was supposed to be a
crown prince award ceremony, but suddenly there’s no
news.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Even the anticipated news about the number one rank was
quiet.
That was only natural.
Outside the new world.
At the top floor of the “Sun Building” in the capital of
Roan, a third Earth nation.
There, Sun Choi Sun-hee, the representative, was
observing updates on a tablet.
She spoke calmly.
“Because he’s the president.”
The number one rank was now President Ahn Roh-man.
A glance.
Her gaze shifted to the TV screen with the volume
lowered.
<Ahn Roh-man’s transparent struggle with the president:
Will it surpass the prosecution and impact the global
economy?>
The controversy over transparency revealed by President
Ahn Roh-man.
In that battle for truth, President Ahn Roh-man’s side and
Transparent were now fiercely clashing.
“In fact, Transparent is questioning what method to use.”
Ahn Roh-man—
“He’s acting crazy arrogant, isn’t he?”
He was behaving like someone without backing.
<President Ahn Roh-man: “Honorary Chairman Han Jae-
soo voluntarily appeared at the prosecution. Additionally,
we will disclose Transparent’s museum research data. If
not, I will reveal our information to the world.”>
It was a battle of momentum.
“Transparent isn’t staying still.”
<Transparent Corporation: “President Ahn Roh-man’s bid
for re-election. Disclosing Transparent Co., Ltd.’s research
data would lower the company’s value, and everything
happening now is clearly pressure on Transparent Co.,
Ltd.”>
Transparent consistently dodged answers amid the
controversy, but everything was Ahn Roh-man’s
intimidation and pressure.
“…The problem is, this threat might work.”
<Transparent Corporation: “If this continues, ‘Raise Your
God’ may not operate normally.”>
Many people reacted to that statement.
It was inevitable, as the third Earth had faced monsters
during this time, causing destruction and war trauma in
many places.
Both materially and mentally.
Of course, considerable restoration work had been done,
countermeasures against monsters were established, and
ability users were trained.
“…Utopia.”
Meanwhile, Transparent’s new world was literally a new
world.
A place where people could live a new life.
That fact alone immersed people in this new world.
[Culture, economy, faith.]
The new world was influencing many fields.
For many, it was truly a new world.
But could it not succeed?
“No way.”
Transparent Corporation countered that President Ahn
Roh-man’s claims were absurd.
[Experimenting with human souls?]
[Gathering the Chaos God?]
[Does that make sense?]
Some said the frontier of science was virtual reality games,
and Transparent accused Ahn Roh-man’s claims of being
fictional.
“…Transparency is impressive.”
Evidence was presented, yet they ignored it.
Instead, they called the attack on the museum an act of
terrorism by public authority and demanded the
prosecution investigate it.
“…Transparent’s reach is greater than imagined.”
The prosecution, congress, courts. Transparent’s hands
were everywhere.
“Ahn Roh-man isn’t what we imagined.”
Many thought he was losing power, as people were
leaving his side.
“So he’s even more arrogant.”
President Ahn Roh-man and his allies were stronger than
when they fought monsters, attacking everywhere like
someone without backing.
Some said, with his term nearing its end, he wanted to
wrap things up somehow.
“Because he needs to draw attention.”
That was a big reason too.
Ding!
Choi Sun-hee’s gaze shifted to the notification sound on
her phone, checking the message.
<Representative, the schedule is set.>
Ding!
<Representative, shall we continue purchasing?>
Sun Corporation.
Not a company well-known to the public.
But it was famous among businesses.
Because it was a major player with a lot of cash.
“President Ahn Roh-man is doing well.”
A smile curled on Choi Sun-hee’s lips.
[Whenever the stock price drops, buy Transparent’s stocks
as much as possible.]
[Arrange meetings with shareholders or institutions, make
as many allies as possible.]
Cale Henituse.
He had instructed Choi Sun-hee to stay in the shadows,
targeting Transparent’s management rights.
[And we need to work in the new world. If variables arise,
cooperate accordingly with President Ahn Roh-man and
the vice president.]
Currently, there were three allied forces on the third
Earth.
Sun, holding the money.
President Ahn Roh-man, with legitimacy and power.
And finally, Vice President Lee Mi-jung, an ally within
Transparent.
“Hm?”
Choi Sun-hee’s eyes wavered as she looked at the tablet.
“Huh?”
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
—What? What’s this video that Seed guy uploaded?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Starting with that post, the new world community rapidly
uploaded articles.
The Great First Step.
That season felt duller than expected, with little change.
Occasionally, people were interested in stories about the
world’s greatest martial arts tournament or new quests
emerging in the Western Empire.
<Hey, the video Mad Seed uploaded?>
Mad Seed.
The video he uploaded was heating up the new world.
Choi Sun-hee, with some instinct, quickly checked the
post.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
<Hey, the video Mad Seed uploaded?>
No long talk.
Mad Seed.
Entering his channel, watching the video now.
This is insane, you have to see it. Something’s happening.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
She checked the comments.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
—…Wow, really. Is it possible to fight on such a scale?
Where did that Seed guy go?
—The demonic realm.
—I’m not asking that—
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
The demonic realm.
That word made Choi Sun-hee pause.
She had been updated multiple times through Alberu and
Rosalyn about their progress.
She knew they were now in the demonic realm.
“Hm.”
Choi Sun-hee picked up another tablet, searched Mad
Seed’s channel, and watched the latest video.
There were three in total, all quite long.
The titles weren’t very clear.
“….”
Choi Sun-hee played the first video.
No subtitles.
No rushed explanations.
Like flying, it was unedited, recorded in chronological
order.
But Choi Sun-hee had no time to judge the unprepared
video.
“Ah.”
Raon appeared.
Thump thump. Thump thump.
Choi Sun-hee’s heart raced.
She played the video, checked the community.
And looked at the video’s comments.
The view count was rapidly rising.
—Wow, what’s the scale? Really insane.
—Is there such a plot in the demonic realm?
—Is that thing under the Cliff of Death? Ohhh. Should we
go?
Initially light comments.
—It’s a dragon! A cute dragon!
—Ha, baby dragon. Ha, going to the demonic realm to see
the baby dragon.
—Oh. What’s that swordsman? So cool. My type.
But gradually, the comments changed.
—The Sun God cult’s Saintess? Saintess? Saintess??
—Voltian’s here too.
—Mad Seed deserves to die. Look up and down! But
what’s down there? What’s happening?
It really changed.
Especially when seeing the mission content uploaded by
Mad Seed and his friends.
—…Save the game?
[Can you help save this world, this world, this game?]
The moment the mission window popped up.
Angry voices emerged.
—Hey, you know that lunatic Ahn Roh-man wants to shut
down the new world?
—Yeah, Ahn Roh-man needs to wake up from his past hero
games. The old guy in the backroom should get lost.
—Heh, Ahn Roh-man’s still young, and handsome.
—So you’re watching Ahn Roh-man take down
Transparent? That guy can go die!
But the atmosphere quickly shifted.
—Wow.
—This scale… incredible.
—No, those people, no, who’s that man?
—Is such a battle really possible?
—Are there so many strong people we haven’t seen?
A battle on a massive scale.
—…But it feels too real.
The resurrected sacrifices and the frenzied crowd’s wild
aura, capturing the scene under the canyon.
Death and destruction.
The cult’s madness blooming within it.
—Hey, aren’t you saying it’s chaos now?
Then someone noticed something.
—It’s like the Chaos God is descending now?
—Huh? So is there a connection between the Sun God cult
and the Chaos God cult?
—Oh, but isn’t the Chaos God tied to Transparent
Corporation now?
—…What’s this? Is this a game?
—Really, isn’t the game system actually asking us to save
it?
The atmosphere grew more serious.
And since the video was raw, the immersion was high.
—Ah, I’m tearing up. Who’s that guy? No, one person,
ha—
—He saved everyone. That guy… is he an NPC?
—Insane, did the Sun God’s hero appear?
—…That hero seems like a player.
The sacrifices and the cult.
Outsiders coming to destroy the cult.
And the few figures resolving it all.
—Why am I crying?
—No, but the Chaos God feels so real. If the game system
is really asking us for help? Wow… am I too immersed? No,
if it’s really like that, aren’t those NPCs fighting the Chaos
God to save this game?
—It’s not over-immersion.
—We need to take this seriously.
—Someone posted an analysis in the community. Let’s go
check it out.
People grew serious, no longer treating it as just an
episode.
Gradually, serious analysis posts appeared in the
community, and the atmosphere became subtle.
<Could such a scene be possible?>
If Transparent Co., Ltd. is really crazy, actually the Chaos
God? Working with that trash cult for human
experiments?
So they’re trying to manipulate the game too?
So is the game system asking for help?
—Well, the odds of the game system acting like that are
slim.
—Yeah, I think so too. Maybe some Transparent
employees, upset with the company’s mess, are trying to
send a distress signal through the game to save it?
===================
At that moment, Choi Sun-hee made a judgment.
“This isn’t intentional.”
Mad Seed. Because of that strange player, everything was
exposed.
This wasn’t what Cale wanted.
[To the enemy, we must stay hidden as long as possible!]
But it had already happened.
The exposure was unavoidable.
“Instead, we should use this.”
Yes, if done well, they could work with President Ahn Roh-
man’s side.
“…Because it’s the Sun God cult.”
The Sun God cult’s appearance in the game wasn’t just a
coincidence.
“O Sun God—”
Choi Sun-hee, leading Sun Corporation, carried out the Sun
God’s will.
What she had to do now was support Cale and his group
as much as possible.
“But we can’t expose everything like this.”
They had to hide as much as possible.
“The final trump card must not be revealed.”
What was their final trump card now?
The Chaos God’s forces.
The demonic realm.
The Hunter families.
What were they completely overlooking?
The answer was obvious.
“….”
Choi Sun-hee immediately called someone.
That person, likely expecting the call, answered instantly.
—Representative.
“Vice President Lee.”
Vice President Lee Mi-jung.
A legendary figure who rose from an ordinary Transparent
employee to vice president.
Also a partner of Choi Sun-hee and Rosalyn.
She spoke to her, still within Transparent.
“Have you grasped this situation?”
—Yes.
Lee Mi-jung also recognized the danger of the situation.
“The game system needs to stay hidden.”
—Exactly.
Lee Mi-jung said to Choi Sun-hee.
—I’ll take the front.
Choi Sun-hee understood the meaning of those words and
held her breath.
“Vice President, you know what that means, right?”
—Yes. Transparent is more shaken now than ever.
Unbeknownst to them, Transparent’s employees were
listening to outside news.
Though the management was controlling it, employees
were confused about the horrific things Transparent was
doing.
Because most ordinary employees couldn’t imagine such
things.
Just pride in working for the best company.
—I heard Representative Choi is buying stocks to hold a
shareholders’ meeting, persuading shareholders.
Seizing management rights.
—To secure my position, now’s the time to step forward.
Vice President Lee Mi-jung was someone who understood
the process.
—Perfect. This is to hide the game system. The “please
save this game” message in this mission was initiated by
me, a few employees following me, and Park Jung-kyu
from the operations team.
This way, the game system’s spontaneous actions.
In other words, the World Tree or god-like game system of
the new world could hide Cale’s allies.
“Then most employees might support Vice President Lee
Mi-jung.”
—Yes. They’ll welcome it against Honorary Chairman Han
Jae-soo.
She added.
—Also, Han Jae-soo’s side won’t easily access the game
system. There’ll be suspicion and monitoring from internal
employees.
Vice President Lee Mi-jung was determined to build her
power against Honorary Chairman Han Jae-soo’s forces.
“Outside, we have President Ahn Roh-man, and inside,
Vice President Lee. That’s solid.”
—And Representative Choi in the shadows.
Vice President Lee paused for a moment before
continuing.
—And behind us, there’s them.
Her voice couldn’t hide its firmness.
Choi Sun-hee smiled.
“Yes. They’re there.”
Cale Henituse and his companions.
As long as they were there, they just had to do what they
needed to.
“Hoo.”
Hanging up the phone, Representative Choi Sun-hee
closed her eyes, then opened them.
“….”
The video’s view count instantly surpassed ten million,
racing toward a hundred million.
The video itself was gripping and thrilling.
“….”
Representative Choi played the video again.
She was worried about how Cale and his companions were
doing now but also excited.
Cale tightly closed his eyes.
[I’m fainting now.]
And whenever he fainted like this, something was bound
to happen.
Either dreaming of past events.
Meeting Team Leader Lee Soo-hyuk.
Or encountering the real Cale Henituse.
Or meeting the God of Balance or the God of Hope.
Maybe seeing the Fire of Purification or Super Rock
becoming a god.
But this time, it wasn’t any of them.
“Still sleeping?”
Damn it!
Look at that.
“Really, sleeping?”
Haa.
Cale sighed and opened his eyes.
“Haha.”
He heard laughter.
And in his vision, the God of Death’s laughing face
appeared.
Cale was annoyed.
He didn’t want to see that guy.
Because he was a useless guy.
“Hm.”
But he couldn’t say anything.
Cale couldn’t help but speak.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Haha—”
The laughing God of Death.
One of his arms was torn off, and his upper body was
stained gray.
“What’s with your state?”
Cale was inexplicably annoyed again.
“Where did you pop out from?”
Hearing that, the God of Death grinned and said.
“You’re worried about me now?”
But seeing the God of Death, Cale could only say.
“Are you dying?”
That made the God of Death smile faintly.
“An injury like this won’t kill me. Though it’ll hurt for a few
hundred years. By the way.”
One arm torn off, half his body stained with
something—for a god, it was nothing.
Because it would eventually heal.
The God of Death continued.
“I might die.”
No.
Gods don’t die.
“Or perhaps be extinguished.”
Snap.
The God of Death handed Cale a document with his
remaining arm.
Among the creatures destined to die within six months,
there was a god of death.
“Your name’s on the death list?”
Cale clearly understood the meaning.
“…The enemy found a way to extinguish gods?”
Swish.
The God of Death smiled.
“As expected, you’re the best.”
Chapter 2-419: Confrontation and Protection (6)
“Cut the nonsense.”
Cale didn’t hide his stern expression.
A sheet of paper listing beings destined to die in six
months.
Among them, Cale could only read the word “God of
Death.”
“You’re the best, aren’t you?”
“….”
“Sorry.”
Seeing Cale’s silent glare, the God of Death raised his hand
as if he’d done something wrong.
“Is that state because of the Chaos God?”
“Yeah.”
The God of Death pointed to the gray-stained part of his
body.
“This is from the Chaos God.”
“And the rest?”
“This arm is from the War God.”
“Yeah, he’s allied with the Chaos God too.”
“Yep. Because war happens in chaos.”
Hey.
Cale called out internally.
[Hm.]
But this time, none of the ancient powers responded.
“Tch.”
Cale clicked his tongue.
“You’re worried about me?”
The God of Death’s grinning words were lightly ignored.
[The War God.]
Though Cale hadn’t met the War God directly or indirectly.
He’d heard plenty of stories about him.
The Sky-Eating Water.
The War God who bound the Water of Judgment.
[And Cotton.]
Cotton, now part of the Arbiter Alliance, was the War
God’s saintess.
That was in the past.
[Now the saintess is someone else, right?]
Princess Orsena.
The leader of a powerful noble faction in the Roan
Kingdom, centered in the capital.
The Orsena Duchy.
That place was destroyed, and Princess Orsena went into
hiding.
[Urgh.]
Pretty complicated?
Let’s sort it out.
“The War God, that bastard, is a pain too.”
Yeah. That’s it.
The War God is an enemy.
[Apitoyu.]
The World Tree of Apitoyu, taken by the Dragon Lord,
stolen by dragons.
It was the Dragon Lord, wanderers, the Chaos God’s saint,
and the War God’s saintess who plunged that World Tree
into an endless swamp of despair.
[They’re on the same side, right?]
Yeah.
The War God, what kind of being is he?
But if Cale faced him, he could never be an ally.
[The Sky-Eating Water.]
The sky that guy wanted to devour was the War God’s.
[Of course, that’s worth rolling your eyes over.]
Living oppressed by the War God. Barely escaping, but
finding no happiness there either.
Since the Sky-Eating Water was Cale’s companion, the War
God was simply an enemy.
[But is there something to confront?]
Honestly, Cale was like a bystander in this divine battle.
He couldn’t go to the divine realm or participate in it.
The God of Death sighed.
“Yeah. War, that guy’s a real pain.”
But for some reason, Cale felt he might get tangled up in
it.
“But what can a guy about to be extinguished do, worrying
about the gods’ squabbles?”
Swish. Hearing the God of Death’s smiling words, Cale’s
face twisted.
“Ha. What a pain.”
His irreverent, distorted gaze glared at the God of Death.
“Extinguished, my ass.”
He really didn’t want to see someone who kept him busy
and dragged him into all sorts of things smile so casually
while talking about disappearing.
It was just annoying.
“You can’t rest until I’m unemployed.”
Cale tossed the list back at the God of Death and spoke.
“No matter how you look at it, the method of extinction
must’ve been found by the demonic realm or the
Hunters.”
The God of Death, silently watching Cale for a moment,
smiled gently and spoke.
“Not the demonic realm.”
“Why?”
“The God of Justice is in hiding.”
Though it was an unexpected story, Cale’s eyes glinted
with curiosity.
[The God of Justice.]
One of the five ancient gods.
Hope.
Balance.
Chaos.
Justice.
Injustice.
Among them, “Justice.”
He said,
[The god who entrusted a mission to the first wanderer.]
At the same time,
[The first wanderer disappeared because of that mission.]
Also,
[The God of Justice never mentioned what that mission
was or whether it succeeded or failed.]
And,
[The leader of the Hunters’ Five-Colored Blood family was
the first wanderer.]
After learning this, Choi Jung-goon said: He lost his sanity
due to the pollution of chaos.
Cale spoke.
“Did the God of Justice’s request to the first wanderer
involve ‘the extinction of gods’?”
Nod.
The God of Death nodded solemnly.
Cale spoke again.
“How do you know the mission’s details if the God of
Justice is in hiding?”
And,
“Can we assume the God of Justice is also aligned with the
Chaos God now?”
To those two questions, the God of Death sighed.
“It’s not that simple.”
His face radiated deep exhaustion.
“I sent my subordinates to visit the God of Justice’s
residence. But there were no traces. While the Chaos God
was causing a ruckus, I didn’t even know the God of Justice
had vanished.”
“But?”
“There was just a note left by the God of Justice.”
Snap!
The God of Death snapped his fingers.
Swish—
A gust of wind blew through the modern office-like space,
rattling a drawer open. A piece of paper from inside
landed in front of them, before Cale’s eyes.
<The divine realm is full of injustice. I will bring down the
hammer of justice.>
Cale tightly closed his eyes.
“Ha—”
Really.
“You damn gods are such a pain.”
He just cursed.
“I’m a god too, but gods are really a pain.”
The God of Death heartily agreed with Cale.
“Ha.”
“Ha.”
Both sighed repeatedly.
Cale pressed his aching head and spoke.
“After seeing this, you checked the death list and found
your name on it?”
“Yeah.”
“So you inferred the mission might be about the extinction
of gods?”
“Yes.”
“And the God of Justice isn’t aligned with Chaos, but
literally in hiding?”
“Yep.”
Balance and Chaos.
He thought these two forces were clashing, but now a
lunatic claiming justice was doing something on their own.
“Then what about the first wanderer? Isn’t that guy on
Chaos’s side?”
Cale asked irritably, and the God of Death answered
calmly.
“Chaos, Justice. They might be working together.”
The God of Death looked at Cale.
“I called you here to tell you about the first wanderer.
You’ve heard about the divine realm and aren’t too
interested, right?”
“Yeah. Exactly.”
Cale had no genuine desire to get involved in the divine
realm’s battles, nor the ability to interfere.
[Crazy? Fight gods?]
When whales fight, the shrimp get crushed.
“Heh. I knew it.”
The God of Death smiled as if amused and continued.
“The first wanderer was a long-standing being, second
only to the ancient gods. He existed in the divine realm
before me.”
He could’ve become a god, but the first wanderer refused.
“Honestly, since my existence began, the first wanderer
only acted on commissions from the ancient gods, so we
didn’t cross paths much.”
Cale listened to the story of the first wanderer.
Because he was an enemy he’d have to face someday.
Perhaps more dangerous than the absolute god they were
about to create.
Because he was the mastermind behind everything.
“But except for the final mission before the God of Justice
went into hiding, his success rate was 100%, and he was
said to be quite strong.”
The God of Death paused, then added.
“And reportedly clever. More than his strength, he was
incredibly smart.”
Pausing again, the God of Death stared at Cale.
“What?”
Cale asked with a grim face, and the God of Death smiled.
“No. Anyway, I wanted to tell you one thing: the first
wanderer had a reason for refusing godhood.”
So powerful, yet refusing the position of a god, when
many asked him why, the first wanderer just smiled and
said, “I have another goal.”
Hearing that, Cale murmured.
“Another goal.”
What goal was more desirable than becoming a god?
“That goal might not be the absolute god.”
Cale said, looking at the God of Death, who nodded in
agreement.
“Yeah, I think so too. Perhaps even the absolute god is just
a step toward that goal.”
“Hm.”
Cale crossed his arms, frowning.
[Anyway, let’s think simply.]
The goal was simple.
[Stop the absolute god, make sure the Hunters can’t do
that again, and crush all those families.]
That was it.
[Now, only Transparent Blood, Five-Colored Blood, and the
absolute god remain.]
The problem was that these two families and the absolute
god were harder to deal with than the three families
they’d faced before.
[No big deal, just handle it step by step.]
Cale stopped thinking.
Just then, the God of Death spoke.
“That’s all I have to say. Oh, one more thing. You should
know where King Zed Crossman died, right?”
Zed Crossman.
The father of Crown Prince Alberu, the missing king of
Roan.
His time of death was clear, but the location kept
changing.
“I roughly understand why I couldn’t pinpoint it.”
After saving Choi Jung-goon, it was time to save that king.
That was his promise with His Highness Alberu.
“The king’s location keeps changing. The dimensions keep
shifting.”
“So?”
Cale knew the God of Death wasn’t saying meaningless
things.
Swish.
The God of Death smiled.
“Hey, I fainted in the game. Can you call me now?”
“Of course. Because that game is becoming reality, a real
world.”
Cale thought of the God of Death’s divine mirror in his
possession.
“Now we can contact each other in the game too.”
After saying that, Cale added.
“Is His Majesty the King in the game too?”
“Ah, damn it!”
The God of Death complained.
“I was building up to it, and you figured it out so fast. What
am I supposed to do?”
“….”
Cale looked at him silently, and the God of Death cleared
his throat, continuing.
“It seems he moves dimensions periodically during the
day, but at night, he’s there.”
The God of Death pointed at Cale.
“The new world. He seems to be in the game.”
How Zed Crossman ended up in the game, we don’t know.
His current state either.
Or how he moves dimensions.
Though none of this is clear.
[If we find him, the answers will come.]
If he’s in the game.
They’d find him somehow.
“Though I know he’s in the game, I don’t know his exact
location.”
The God of Death said.
“Because I’m not fully connected to that world yet.”
Cale nodded and asked.
“Maybe as time passes, that world will become more real.
If you get any information about His Majesty, let me know
anytime. Simple contact through the mirror should be fine,
right?”
“Yeah, messaging through the mirror should work.”
After hearing the God of Death’s response, Cale asked.
“Anything else?”
“Nope.”
“Then send me back.”
Cale demanded confidently.
“I need to get going.”
It was a reasonable request.
That mess.
The chaos left by the Chaos God’s cult believers and the
two wanderers—could Cale’s group handle it smoothly
with the sacrifices and the Sun God cult?
[They should manage.]
Alberu Crossman seemed to have woken up, and there
were smart companions like Raon and Rosalyn.
[But I still need to go.]
Cale firmly urged the God of Death.
“Send me back.”
Swish.
But the God of Death smiled.
A very sly smile.
“Sorry.”
“What?”
As Cale frowned.
Snap!
The God of Death snapped his fingers again.
Swish—
A gust of wind blew, and Cale’s vision began to darken.
“When you wake up, it’ll probably be three days later.”
Three days.
By then, everything should be over.
Damn it.
Cale couldn’t hide his irritation.
In his fading vision, he glared irreverently at the battered
God of Death.
“What a pain in the ass.”
“Hey, you’re calling a god ‘a pain’ now?”
As the God of Death marveled, watching Cale gradually
disappear.
Cale’s voice reached his ears.
It was grating.
“I’ll steal the method of extinction, so don’t die and keep
working for me forever.”
With that,
Swish—
Cale’s figure vanished from the office.
“Ha, haha—”
The God of Death, alone in the office, burst into laughter.
“Man, this guy’s so loyal.”
Cale Henituse, that Kim Rok-soo guy, was so loyal.
Though his voice was grating, his intentions were clear.
“…He wants to save me.”
Save a god destined to be extinguished?
“What a fascinating guy.”
The God of Death sighed.
“Honestly, I’m not that keen on living.”
Deep exhaustion shadowed his eyes.
He stood from his seat, opened the office blinds, and
opened the window.
“I’m so tired of it.”
The once-beautiful divine realm was burning, rotting.
A divine realm split in two.
It was a battlefield.
Balance versus Chaos.
Both sides were at each other’s throats.
“Man, these damn gods are so annoying.”
Though the God of Death was temporarily aiding Balance.
He wasn’t satisfied with Balance either.
Their narrow-minded, power-clinging ways were hard to
stomach.
“Why not—”
He murmured softly.
“Just tear it all down?”
Just tear it all down?
Death.
That name was never light.
But since other gods had never been extinguished, they
thought the word didn’t apply to them, as if it were
someone else’s problem.
But now, a method to extinguish gods had appeared.
That was a form of death too.
Gods could die.
“….”
After a moment of silence, he suddenly laughed.
“Well, if I’m not extinguished, I’ll have to think hard about
it!”
He said lightly, playfully, and left the office.
It was time to fight again.
Cale regained consciousness.
But he couldn’t open his eyes.
A soft sensation touched his back.
It seemed he was lying on a rather comfortable bed.
Yet he couldn’t open his eyes.
His stomach growled with hunger, but he still couldn’t
open his eyes.
Huff huff.
Someone was breathing urgently.
Very familiar.
It was Raon.
Raon kept muttering.
“Three days have passed. Our human and the kind crown
prince haven’t woken up for three days.”
Huff huff.
“I’m going to destroy everything! Destroy the Chaos God,
destroy the cult, destroy all the Hunters! And the gods
too!”
Huff huff.
Raon was very angry.
Thankfully, he wasn’t crying, but his voice sounded a bit
nasal.
As if he’d already cried a lot.
For some reason, Cale just couldn’t open his eyes.
At that moment.
Huff huff?
“Hm?”
Raon tilted his head.
Alberu and Cale.
Standing between the two unconscious men, Raon slowly
turned his head.
Cale.
He approached the bed where Cale lay.
Creak.
Cale felt the bed dip on one side.
Goosebumps rose on his skin.
He didn’t open his eyes.
He just lay still, breathing.
At that moment.
Huff huff.
The urgent breathing came closer to his ear.
“Human, why are you pretending to sleep?”
Ha!
Cale was genuinely startled, gasping and opening his eyes.
Chapter 2-420: Confrontation and Protection (7)
Cale opened his eyes in surprise, and the first thing that
came into view was:
[Sub-quest: ‘Talk with the System’ triggered]
[Requesting dialogue!]
A translucent screen window and Raon’s swollen, red eyes.
“Hm.”
The moment Cale let out an involuntary sigh.
—Cale, you’re still holding the blade.
Hearing Super Rock’s words, Cale felt the weight of his
hands resting on his stomach.
—Your skin is still gray.
Cale looked down at his body.
Though he couldn’t see his whole body while lying down,
his hands outside the blanket were indeed gray.
But unlike Choi Jung-gun’s case.
[No bulging veins either.]
It was just the gray skin tone.
—And you can let go of the blade now.
Super Rock was right.
—Sniff sniff.
The Sound of the Wind came with a sniffing noise.
—There’s still the scent of the Chaos God’s divine artifact,
but it’s different from before.
Cale tightened his grip.
A slight movement.
Indeed, he could let go of the blade anytime.
The divine artifact had quieted down.
“Hey, human!”
At that moment, Raon’s trembling voice rang out.
A glance.
Cale looked at Raon and flinched.
“!”
Because Raon’s round eyes were welling up with tears.
“Human! Does it still hurt because of that blade? Can’t you
let it go? Should I destroy the Chaos God? Or destroy the
blade first?”
Raon looked ready to destroy the blade at any moment.
His eyes burned with fury.
“No!”
So Cale hurriedly spoke.
“Cough!”
Then let out a groan.
Perhaps because he hadn’t spoken for three days, his
throat was dry and a bit sore when he suddenly spoke.
“Human!”
Raon’s expression grew even more anxious, and Cale,
thinking he might actually destroy something, quickly
shouted.
“I’m hungry!”
“!”
Raon’s already round eyes widened further.
“Oh.”
Raon’s expression brightened slightly.
Because when the human said he was hungry, it meant he
was okay.
“Hehe.”
Raon pulled an apple pie from his spatial pocket.
Cale opened his mouth.
Raon naturally stuffed a piece of apple pie into Cale’s
mouth.
“….”
Cale, with a piece of apple pie in his mouth, started
chewing.
“Human, does it really not hurt now? Your skin is gray! It’s
like you’re tainted by chaos!”
Chew chew.
“Oh, right! Human can’t talk right now! I can wait.”
Chew chew.
Cale finished the apple pie.
He was indeed hungry.
—I’m full.
The Glutton Priestess was still saying she was full.
—Not done digesting yet.
Cale paused.
[You’re digesting too?]
In the past, when facing the Chaos God’s saint in Apitoyu.
The Aura of Dominance and Sky-Eating Water absorbed
some of the chaotic power, and to digest it, Cale had to
faint.
Of course, he’d already been unconscious for three days
now.
Even so—
[Not done digesting?]
What exactly did the Glutton Priestess eat?
The 43rd ritual.
The power gathered for the Chaos God’s descent.
The Glutton Priestess devoured all the water of power
surging from the divine artifact.
—Yeah. It might take over half a year to fully digest.
…Oh.
Cale decided not to think about what the Glutton Priestess
might become.
The Indestructible Shield.
It was the power Cale used most, his first power.
Though it had grown a lot, how it would continue to grow
was entirely unpredictable to Cale.
“Human, want more?”
Chew chew.
Cale, watching Raon stuff more apple pie into his mouth,
nodded.
[So delicious.]
Apple pie.
Was food eaten after waking from a faint always the most
delicious?
—You’re crazy.
Cale pretended not to hear Super Rock’s sigh.
“Ha, you’re unbelievable.”
A jolt.
The voice of the ancient dragon Eruhaben came through.
[Lord Eruhaben’s here too?]
Cale felt inexplicably embarrassed but quickly thickened
his skin.
His gaze turned toward the source of the voice.
Footsteps.
Eruhaben approached.
He, along with Raon, had been looking after Alberu and
Cale.
“Wait a moment.”
Cale stopped Raon, who was about to stuff more apple pie
into his mouth, and spoke to the ancient dragon.
“How about me?”
“You’re fine.”
Eruhaben helped Cale, who was trying to sit up.
Cale’s gaze shifted to the side.
“Alberu’s physical condition is currently stable. He seems
to have fainted from exhaustion and is much better now.
He just hasn’t woken up yet.”
Despite being expected to wake, Alberu still hadn’t.
The moment worry crossed Eruhaben and Raon’s faces,
Cale spoke.
“I met the God of Death in my dream.”
The moment he said that, a strange glint flashed in the
ancient dragon’s eyes.
His gaze turned to Cale.
“Then Alberu might—”
“Be meeting the Sun God.”
Yeah.
Since it was a reasonable guess, Eruhaben nodded.
“Then we’ll wait a bit longer.”
“Alright.”
Cale nodded, looking at Alberu with sympathy.
[…Three days unconscious, that’s no joke.]
During this time, Alberu had been logging out whenever
he had a chance, contacting the Roan Kingdom from the
third Earth. Because Cale had sent information to Alberu’s
video communication device through the divine mirror.
It was to handle affairs.
During Alberu’s unconsciousness, their companions must
have found a way to notify the Roan Kingdom’s leaders. Or
maybe they didn’t.
Either way—
[…There’ll be a lot to do when he wakes up…]
Crown Prince Alberu.
He felt a bit uneasy.
The moment Cale thought that.
“Human! This is the crown prince’s first time fainting! Why
are you looking at him so pitifully? You’re way better than
the crown prince! Reflect on that!”
Raon’s scolding left Cale speechless.
This faint was his choice, so he had nothing to say.
“….”
Seeing Cale’s silence, Eruhaben sighed and shook his head.
“Cale. Is your body really okay?”
Yeah.
Cale looked down at his hands.
Gray.
“Yes. It seems fine, and there’s a way to fix it.”
His gaze shifted to the air.
The translucent screen window.
[Sub-quest: ‘Talk with the System’ triggered]
A simple task requesting dialogue.
The only unusual thing was that the target was the system.
But for Cale, this was natural.
“Wait a moment, I need to talk with that system.”
Raon and Eruhaben nodded at his words.
Eruhaben sat in a chair between Alberu and Cale, while
Raon rubbed his face on Cale’s thigh.
[Yes/No]
The moment Cale selected “Yes” for the dialogue request.
Zzt zzt zzt—
A distorted dialogue window formed somewhere.
And it was a red screen, like the Red Hand.
[$^@^& It’s been a while.]
But a more stable conversation than before was possible.
Zzt zzt zzt—
Yeah.
Though the ringing in Cale’s ears remained unchanged.
So, thinking prolonged dialogue wasn’t possible, Cale
stated his wish first.
“Please change my gray skin and the divine artifact’s
properties to ‘none.’”
A bold demand.
“Whether it’s a quest or a reward, fix these two.”
Do it.
Cale told them to just do it.
As if stopping the Chaos God’s descent.
The system should reward him for that.
[!@*#%]
But the system seemed to have something to say.
[@#% Everything’s been exposed @%.]
“Hm?”
Cale paused.
“Everything’s exposed?”
What?
What was there to expose?
The moment a question formed in Cale’s eyes.
Urgh.
Eruhaben froze.
Cale caught that scene in his eyes, and a chill ran down his
spine.
[!($%)5 I’ll fulfill your request #%&]
Anyway, the system said it would fulfill the request.
[@#$% Can only be done in quest form @#$% Reward,
worried about being discovered! #%]
“Discovered? You?”
Freeze.
Not Eruhaben, but Raon froze.
[What?]
What’s with these dragons?
Suddenly, Cale grew uneasy.
[Come to think of it, where are we?]
He should’ve asked earlier, but there was so much to
process that he asked late.
[@#$% My request, #$% will you listen?]
[@#% Otherwise, I’m @% in danger.]
Zzt zzt zzt—
The noise was getting stronger.
Signaling the dialogue was nearing its end.
Cale found it strange.
The conversation was easier than before, and the system
seemed to have more authority to handle things, but
oddly, it was more cautious.
[Like it’s afraid someone’s watching—]
Cale’s pupils darkened.
“Yeah. I’ll help you.”
Cale agreed.
[Thank you ㅠㅠ]
The system window sent a final greeting and vanished.
[Quest triggered!]
[Quest triggered!]
[Quest triggered!]
Three quests followed in succession.
[Sub-quest: Acquire the skill ‘Chaos Purification’!]
[Sub-quest: Change the divine artifact’s properties to
‘none’!]
Quests for Cale’s skin and the divine artifact.
[Sub-quest: (Caution) Protect the “System” from
Transparent!]
Huh?
The moment Cale saw the final quest, he seemed to
understand the strange feeling he’d had.
“…Lord Eruhaben. What happened during this time? And
where are we?”
Looking at the ancient dragon, Cale focused on the new
quests, not the existing ones.
He hadn’t completed a single quest yet.
[* The aftermath of the Birth Ceremony is rapidly
spreading!]
[* From the New World to the Third Earth, a legend is
being created!]
[* Reward level determination will be postponed!]
The “Edenmiru Birth Ceremony” quest, with an
achievement rate exceeding 300%.
But the calculation of that quest’s achievement rate had
changed again.
[* Signs of new changes in the Birth Ceremony legend.]
[* A greater legend is emerging, and the Birth Ceremony
legend seems to be part of it.]
[* In this case, the achievement rate will be calculated
based on the greater legend.]
[Achievement rate: 412%]
At that time, the New World community was filled with
various speculations.
Among them, one post stood out.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Perhaps the events happening across the New World now
are to drive out the Chaos God.
Last time with the Seventh Evil, wasn’t the Light Dragon
born like that?
And the Western Empire quest, wasn’t the one who
received it said to be from the Dark Kingdom?
But the baby dragon said it was the Dark Kingdom.
But the Dark Kingdom and the Eight Evils. They seem a bit
evil. Isn’t there something to this?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
[Achievement rate: 415%]
The steep achievement rate was rising.
But Cale didn’t have time to confirm this.
Instead, Eruhaben and Raon handed him several video
storage devices.
“…What are these?”
Cale, with an inexplicably trembling heart, looked at
Eruhaben.
“Hm.”
Eruhaben said briefly.
“First, our battle was broadcasted.”
Huh?
“Fortunately, the system was hidden.”
Oh?
“There’s an uproar now.”
Hm?
“Take a look.”
The video storage devices placed before Cale were tools
used by players in the New World for live streaming,
capable of exporting stored videos.
Hours of raw footage.
“The last one hasn’t been made public. I caught the guy
who recorded it.”
Eruhaben said.
Raon followed up.
“Human, sorry! The players who went down the canyon
with us made it public!”
Ah.
Them.
Cale remembered the two players he’d ignored during the
battle.
“By the way, they’re with us now.”
Eruhaben beckoned to Cale.
“Hurry and watch.”
Cale, for some reason, didn’t want to watch these videos.
But his hand naturally reached for the storage device.
“The last one is the video after you fainted.”
Cale’s gaze turned to Eruhaben.
“You should be able to grasp the situation now.”
Hearing that, Cale immediately picked up the orb.
And played the video.
“Human!”
Cale, collapsed.
Clinging to him were Raon and the Heavenly Demon.
“…It’s okay now.”
The Heavenly Demon confirmed the blade in Cale’s hand
had lost its power before touching his body.
But—
[It’s serious.]
Cale’s body was still gray.
His face had no trace of color.
[Too much blood loss.]
He’d bled to the point of near death.
Placing a hand near his heart, thankfully, it was still
beating.
But he was definitely in a dangerous state.
Also—
[The crown prince.]
Alberu Crossman.
He was still groaning, but seemed half-awake, delirious.
Woo woo—
Unlike the vibrating Sword of the Sun.
And—
“It’s not good either.”
Honestly, the situation was dire.
The Heavenly Demon, climbing onto the rock, surveyed
the surroundings.
After the holy ground vanished, the ruined place was now
a gray forest.
Fortunately, all companions, including Rosalyn and
Gashan, had gathered near the rock.
Besides them, the Sun God cult members were allies.
[But most aren’t in normal condition.]
Choi Han and Raon.
Less affected by the Chaos God’s divine power, they were
relatively fine, but the rest of the group was in bad shape.
A glance.
Especially Rosalyn, supported by Gashan, with blood
trickling from her mouth.
[Our side’s a problem too.]
The enemy was a problem as well.
Around the rock where their group stood, beings still alive.
[Enemies.]
Thousands of believers.
Cult leaders.
Even wanderers.
All were alive.
[The cult isn’t a concern.]
With the Saint’s death and the Chaos God’s eye revealed.
Facing that, the cult leaders hadn’t fully regained their
senses.
The believers were the same.
Especially those who narrowly escaped death, staring
blankly at Cale and the gray forest.
[The problem is—]
So there was only one problem.
“Wanderers.”
The ancient dragon’s voice.
Of course, they were holding on somehow now.
But the ancient dragon and Heavenly Demon weren’t in
normal condition either.
Swish!
The figure standing before them.
“Choi Han.”
“Leave it to me, run.”
Choi Han’s gaze turned to the two wanderers.
Cho and Ren.
They didn’t look at Choi Han.
They only looked at one person.
The collapsed Cale Henituse.
Staring at him.
Especially Wanderer Ren, gazing in shock.
A voice reached her ears.
“Want to fight?”
A direct voice reaching her ears despite the distance.
The black-haired, black-eyed swordsman aimed his sword
at her.
“….”
Ren didn’t answer.
Cho whispered to her.
“The Third Emperor is coming soon.”
The Five-Colored Blood Hunter family.
Among the family’s wanderers, only three had the Five-
Colored rank innate ability.
Though the lowest among them, one with the Five-Colored
rank would arrive here when the sun rose.
“….”
Ren didn’t answer, instead lowering her hand.
Clang—
A chill slowly swirled around her, and the moment ice
formed in her hand.
“….”
“….”
Unable to teleport, the group, including Choi Han, rallied
around Cale and Alberu, each unleashing their powers.
Of course, they were ready to escape with flight magic at
any moment.
—Rosalyn. You escape.
Eruhaben’s voice reached Rosalyn’s ears.
—Cale and Alberu are entrusted to you.
—Raon goes too, and all the sacrifices can be moved.
Damn it.
Rosalyn bit her lip.
She hadn’t done much in the earlier battle but took heavy
damage.
For her, without even an innate ability, holding on in that
mess wasn’t easy.
Gashan and Rosalyn.
The two were in the next-worst condition after Alberu and
Cale.
And—
[It’ll be tough.]
Eruhaben would struggle too.
Because he didn’t have an innate ability either.
Even so, he held on.
Because he was someone who valued the name of dragon
greatly.
The moment Eruhaben, Choi Han, and the Heavenly
Demon faced the wanderers.
[Damn it!]
Rosalyn tightly closed her eyes, then opened them.
She didn’t say foolish things like fighting together.
Woo woo woo—
She gathered the last of her remaining mana.
Escape.
She’d do it well.
She raised her head.
It was still the Dark Night.
But no gray.
A clear night sky.
She’d escape there.
“!”
At that moment, she froze.
“Ah.”
Then smiled.
“!”
“…!”
Not just her.
All the strong figures on the battlefield stopped, their
gazes turning upward.
The canyon.
The Cliff of Death.
Countless gazes looked down from there.
Not the sacrifices’ people.
These were the gazes of various beings.
Rosalyn’s mouth opened.
“They’re the demonic realm’s residents.”
Having crossed the demonic realm with Alberu.
Her gaze turned to one spot.
“From the Dark Elves’ side.”
They came to Alberu’s side, and there was a reason for the
demonic realm.
Because of the quest Alberu held.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Main Quest 1 [Become the First Emperor of the Dark
Elves!] in progress
—Linked Sub-quest 5 [Gain the Jungle Witch’s approval.] in
progress
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
The Jungle Witch.
She was a Dark Elf.
And Alberu and Rosalyn had met the demonic realm’s Dark
Elves.
Rosalyn’s gaze turned to the unconscious Alberu.
“They’re allies anyway.”
Countless Dark Elves looked down at the canyon.
Their gazes also turned to Alberu.
Chapter 2-421: Confrontation and Protection (8)
The demonic realm.
East, West, North, South.
The residents of the demonic realm, separated by these
four regions, gathered at the center, overlooking the
canyon below.
Vigilance.
Curiosity.
Doubt.
A mix of various emotions in their gazes.
They were scouts sent by the leaders of each faction.
They recognized the outsiders fighting in their domain.
The moment Rosalyn looked up at them and smiled.
“They’re on our side.”
From the jungle.
The words spoken by a Dark Elf drew everyone’s gazes
briefly in that direction.
“….”
“….”
“….”
The scouts said nothing.
They just nodded and watched.
Because they couldn’t simply ignore the other party.
Among those who arrived beside the Dark Elf scouts, the
one who spoke wasn’t a scout.
[The Witch’s Right Arm.]
The leader of the jungle Dark Elves, commonly known as
the “Witch.” (마녀)
Her right arm had come here.
He spoke again.
“We judge them as enemies.”
His hand pointed at the Chaos God’s cult and the
wanderers.
“….”
“….”
“….”
The four factions of the demonic realm were sworn
enemies.
Conversely, within the demonic realm, they were often
sharpening their knives, ready to stab each other at any
moment.
Even so, the demonic realm remained the demonic realm.
“….”
“….”
“….”
The way of survival in the demonic realm.
Deal with external enemies together.
Regardless of good or evil.
“Ha.”
Wanderer Cho let out an irritated sigh.
Because, under the theme of game NPCs, the demonic
realm residents’ gazes looking down at him felt
oppressive.
Seeing their readiness to attack at any moment, the air
around Cho began to simmer.
“Cho.”
But his older sister, Wanderer Ren, stopped him.
“….”
Her gaze turned to the scouts, but her awareness
extended from them to all the residents of the demonic
realm.
A region where teleportation was impossible.
This meant that turning the entire demonic realm into an
enemy would bring countless terrifying challenges.
“Let them go?”
Cho was frustrated.
The guys in front of them now, he could handle.
[Because that redhead fainted.]
That redhead, honestly, she didn’t want to think about
him.
His limits were invisible.
[Resisting the Chaos God?]
It was the first time she’d seen someone openly curse a
god, even if just with a glance.
[A lunatic.]
You don’t mess with lunatics.
“There’s a dragon.”
At that moment, Cho noticed where his sister’s gaze
landed.
[Ah.]
Another being that resisted the Chaos God.
A young black dragon.
“And I can feel innate abilities from them.”
Choi Han.
The Heavenly Demon.
Ren’s gaze darkened as she looked at the two.
“Too many enemies.”
“Sister, still—”
Cho tried to say something, but Ren stopped him again.
Woo woo woo—
Rosalyn activated a magic circle.
Because there was no reason to miss this opening.
“….”
“….”
Cale’s group and the wanderers silently stared at each
other.
But Cale’s group boarded Rosalyn’s magic circle.
The wanderers just watched.
“Us, us too!”
Mad Seed and his friend, arriving in a hurry.
“….”
The Saintess and her group, quietly together, as well.
They all climbed onto the magic circle, with only Eruhaben
and Raon wary of the wanderers.
Woo woo woo—
Rosalyn’s magic activated.
The group’s bodies swiftly crossed the canyon, left the
cliff, and headed toward where the Dark Elves were.
“Sister!”
“….”
Until then, Ren held Cho back, just watching them leave.
Even as Eruhaben and Raon flew away with flight magic,
Ren remained motionless.
“…Cho.”
“Why! Ugh, so annoying!”
Only when they climbed the canyon and were about to
disappear with the Dark Elves did she speak.
“Transcender.”
“…Huh?”
At that moment, Cho’s body stiffened.
He asked blankly.
“Transcender…? Then why…?”
“What do you think that redheaded man was?”
“Ren, are you saying that man is a Transcender?”
Cho’s eyes were filled with shock.
But in his pupils was the calm face of his sister, Ren.
“Isn’t he similar to the Family Head?”
“!”
That question left Cho speechless.
The three wanderers with Five-Colored rank innate
abilities in the Five-Colored Blood family.
Called the Three Emperors, but the Family Head was on a
different level from the other two wanderers.
“Transcender.”
Ren said softly.
“Not a god, but a god-like being.”
The divine realm, demonic realm, heavenly realm, earthly
realm.
A being detached from all.
“A being unrestricted by any name.”
Someone who transcends all constraints through their
own existence.
“That redhead can’t be a Transcender!”
To Cho’s words, Ren nodded.
“Right. And the Family Head isn’t a Transcender yet,
either.”
“Yeah.”
Cho swallowed hard.
“Cho. If that redheaded man woke up during our fight,
could you handle him?”
“Why? What! How could I!”
“Really?”
“….”
Cho avoided answering.
Instead, he said something else.
“But we can’t let them go like that. What will you say
when the Third Emperor arrives?”
“No. It’s fine.”
Ren was smart.
Seeing the gradually revealed power of Cale’s group,
including the Heavenly Demon’s black-red clouds, she
pieced it together.
“We fell into a trap.”
“Huh?”
Coming to attack the Chaos God’s cult.
She realized it was all a trap.
And.
“That redheaded group. I think I know who they are.”
“What? Really?”
Wanderers Ren and Cho. When the siblings fought
together with true synergy, they could produce Five-
Colored rank power, though their innate abilities were
Transparent rank, the family valued them highly.
But that wasn’t the only reason.
The family leaders, including the Three Emperors, trusted
Wanderer Ren for a reason.
“Do you remember the ‘White Star’ project?”
“What’s that?”
At Cho’s confident ignorance, Ren sighed.
Then muttered.
“It’s them.”
The White Star project.
The culprits behind its failure.
Recalling a document she saw one day, Ren murmured.
“…Cale Henituse.”
He’s here.
“Let’s return to the family.”
“Huh? Not waiting for the Third Emperor?”
“Now’s not the time. We should tell the Third Emperor to
come straight to the family.”
Ren’s sharp mind reached an answer.
“You must remove obstacles in your way.”
Cale Henituse.
That force must be eliminated quickly.
“Then why not follow those Dark Elves and kill them all
now?”
To Cho’s words, Ren smiled and answered.
“How to handle it doesn’t need our judgment. The Family
Head will provide the answer, right?”
Ren was smart and didn’t cross the line.
[Especially someone like the Family Head, who can see the
Transcender realm. Dealing with him, we’re in danger.]
Ren didn’t want to die. No, even if she died, she didn’t
want to see Cho die.
“The Family Head will know.”
“Ha. Got it.”
Cho nodded.
In truth, his enthusiasm had cooled.
And the thought of fighting the man who resisted the
Chaos God scared him.
[Ren might get hurt.]
He didn’t want to see his sister injured.
In fact, though the two together had Five-Colored power,
the reason they remained at Transparent rank was simple.
They valued each other’s lives too much.
Cho and Ren didn’t know the leaders thought this way.
Nor did they need to.
“What about them?”
Cho’s gaze turned to the Chaos God’s cult believers.
They looked utterly bewildered.
“Hm. Either way, it’s true the Chaos God betrayed us.”
Ren tilted her head slightly and moved her hand.
Clang!
“Guh!”
The surviving bishop’s body froze.
Clack!
The moment Ren snapped her fingers.
Bang!
The bishop’s body shattered into frozen pieces.
“…!”
“!!”
The other believers were terrified, but Ren looked at them
indifferently.
“If left like this, I think others will handle it.”
Her gaze turned to the remaining demonic realm
residents.
“Let’s go.”
Cho had many questions but ultimately followed Ren.
His smart sister would know.
“….”
“….”
The demonic realm residents silently watched them leave.
Because they knew they were exiting the demonic realm.
Conversely, their gazes turned downward.
“Urgh—”
“Ugh…!”
The Chaos God’s cult believers groaned.
Night of Genesis.
A night where the sun hadn’t yet risen.
The demonic realm residents began descending the cliff.
The cliff, with everything exposed, was no longer the Cliff
of Death.
Swish—
A breeze from somewhere rustled the leaves of the gray
forest.
“Hm.”
Cale quietly looked at the screen of the video storage
device shutting off and spoke.
“After following the Dark Elves into the jungle, the video
was cut off.”
“Yeah. Because they didn’t want to be discovered.”
Hm.
Cale crossed his arms.
“We’ve probably been fully exposed.”
“Yes. The Five-Colored Blood family and the world will
recognize us now.”
Hm.
Cale was troubled.
“It’s not time for an all-out war.”
Standing in the open, Cale’s side still had many
shortcomings.
Especially Wanderers Cho and Ren. The moment he
grasped their level, Cale realized fighting the Five-Colored
Blood family wasn’t easy.
“It’ll be tough if our allies are exposed too.”
The Third and Seventh Evils, as well as the Lan Kingdom
and Eastern Empire.
If they’re discovered, it’ll be problematic.
Most importantly, the system.
The system must not be discovered.
“Our involvement in the Third Earth can’t be exposed
either.”
The battle between President Ahn Roh-man and
Transparent on the Third Earth.
If it’s discovered that Cale’s group is behind it, it’ll be
trouble.
“They’ll find us soon.”
“They might come here.”
“Yes.”
This was said to be the Dark Elves’ residence.
Looking around the simple but tidy wooden room, Cale
spoke.
“I need to create chaos.”
To sow confusion among the enemies.
“With what?”
To Eruhaben’s question, Cale answered.
“We’re going to the demonic realm soon anyway.”
To save Choi Jung-goon.
“Ah.”
Eruhaben nodded.
“We can pretend we escaped to the demonic realm.”
“Yes. Let’s show our faces in the demonic realm
deliberately.”
It’ll create confusion for the enemies.
During that time, their forces can hide, gather more allies,
and create a situation to confront the Five-Colored Blood
family.
“….”
Cale’s hand reached for another video storage device.
Swish.
The corner of his mouth curled up.
“Human, why are you smiling so much? It reminds me of
when you and the crown prince smile like that! I hope the
crown prince wakes up soon! Then I’ll give him cookies!”
Ignoring Raon’s words, Cale said.
“This is better.”
If the enemies have seen us.
It’s better to be seen by the whole world.
“Hey, system.”
Cale said, looking into the air.
“Not now. Can I create a main quest later?”
Though the system didn’t answer, Cale said calmly.
“Let’s properly rally the players.”
The system was quiet but definitely listening.
“Transparent Blood can be dealt with outside the game,
on the Third Earth.”
The remaining one.
“Let the Five-Colored Blood fight alone in the game.”
Let the Five-Colored Blood family fight the entire game.
There’s nothing they can’t do.
Of course, rallying people like this would be noticed by the
Transparent Blood family running the game.
[Then deal with the Transparent Blood family.]
When you publicly release a quest to fight the Five-
Colored Blood to hundreds of millions of game players.
Then, just handle the Transparent Blood family.
That way, neither Five-Colored Blood nor Transparent
Blood can respond.
Zzt—
A tiny red dot distorted space in front of Cale, then
vanished.
As expected, the system was listening.
After organizing his thoughts, Cale spoke again.
(The quest’s name is—)
After pondering for a moment, Cale said with a faint smile.
“[Birth of a Hero.]”
Raise your precious absolute god.
This would be an unprecedented main quest that game
players would never forget.
[Birth of a Hero.]
Cale softly said those words.
The next day.
“Urgh… hm…”
Cale lifted his head.
A sacred, beautiful pure-white space.
Brilliant sunlight poured through a gap in the ceiling,
enveloping Cale and Alberu.
“Oh, unbelievable—truly!”
“Oh, the Sun!”
Clang!
The passionate holy knight Sir Voltain knelt in prayer.
Woo woo woo.
The Saintess was crying.
The Pope was already sobbing loudly.
“Oh, this warm light! Though dazzling, the only gentle
hand of warmth in the cold! Ah, the most radiant,
beautiful, wondrous sun in the world! Sun, oh Sun!”
Almost wailing.
And this Pope spoke unusually.
“Sniff.”
“Oh—”
Behind those three, surrounding the circular space,
bishops were kneeling.
At the center of the circle.
Where the light shone.
There, Cale sat obediently beside the still-sleeping Alberu.
[Why did it come to this?]
Cale, who had only planned to crush Transparent Blood
and Five-Colored Blood with overwhelming allies, felt his
pupils tremble.
Ding!
[Sub-quest: ‘Acquire the skill Chaos Purification’!]
[Sub-quest: ‘Change the divine artifact’s properties to
none’!]
[Conditions for proceeding with both sub-quests have
been met.]
“Ah, it feels like my mother’s hand caressing me when I
was born 80 years ago—oh, I dedicate my body, offering
everything to this sun—!”
Hearing the Pope’s unrestrained shouting, Cale thought.
[Ah, I’m tired.]
Already exhausted.
Freeze.
[Hm?]
At that moment, Cale, sitting obediently on the floor,
sneaked a glance beside him.
Freeze.
Alberu’s closed eyelids twitched.
[Oh.]
Swish.
The corner of Cale’s mouth curled up.
[That guy’s awake but not getting up.]
He must be trying to figure out what’s going on.
“Heh.”
Cale’s unconscious smile made Alberu’s body tremble
slightly. Seeing him, Cale recalled what happened
yesterday.
Chapter 2-422: Confrontation and Protection (9)
Yesterday.
While Cale was intently gathering all sorts of information.
[Damn it…!]
Cale’s hands, holding the video storage device, were trembling.
Something big had clearly happened.
“Human, what’s wrong? Your face is so serious!”
Flap flap.
Cale couldn’t hear Raon’s voice.
Hours of ultra-high-quality footage with powerful audio,
capturing every detail of the battle.
“Ha.”
Cale sighed, looking at the ceiling.
—Cale. Aren’t we amazing?
The deep voice of the Aura of Dominance floated up smugly.
—The forest was pretty.
The Glutton Priestess, as if chewing something, mumbled her
simple impression of the gray forest with awkward
pronunciation.
Then, looking at the ceiling, Cale asked Eruhaben.
“…Lord Eruhaben, what’s the response to the video?”
Hm.
The ancient dragon swallowed hard.
Then Raon said brightly.
“Human, in Rosalyn’s words, even the video of the mixed-blood
dragon Eden Miru’s birth ceremony doesn’t compare. The view
count is skyrocketing! For the first time, a personal livestream
video has reached such high views!”
Ah.
Cale sighed.
“Lord Eruhaben, can I meet the people involved?”
But the moment Cale lowered his gaze from the ceiling to look
at the ancient dragon Eruhaben.
Eruhaben froze.
“Human, who are you trying to scam with that sly smile?”
Amid Raon’s teasing, Eruhaben hurriedly opened the door.
“I’ll bring them over. I had them rest for a bit.”
A while later, Cale heard a commotion outside the door.
“….”
Cale glanced at the temporarily sleeping Alberu and turned his
gaze to the door.
Clang.
The door slowly opened.
Cale thought as he looked at the opening door.
[A lunatic.]
Mad Seed, about to enter? That guy was a high-spec version of
Clopeh.
Watching the video, Cale clearly heard the conversation
between him and his friend.
[Cu-cute baby dragon…! Good dragon! Our dragon! Hoo, hoo.]
[Ooooh! The god’s gaze gripped my heart, like I was about to
log out! Can’t breathe, can’t breathe. Really…!]
[Cough. To oppose a god! Cough!]
…This guy was no ordinary character.
Cale tensed up.
Clopeh Sekka.
You had to be careful dealing with this type.
“Hm.”
And the moment Mad Seed and his friend stepped inside.
Cale swallowed hard.
—Human, human!
Raon called out urgently.
—His eyes are weird!
Mad Seed cautiously entered.
No smile, seeming a bit nervous. But he still politely greeted
Cale.
—Really, so weird!
But those eyes were no joke.
Huff huff.
Not the angry huffing like Raon’s.
Though his cheeks and nostrils were flushed, unusually so, Mad
Seed’s eyes sparkled intensely.
His shoulders trembled slightly. His clenched hands shook.
“….”
Most notably, his friend, walking beside him with an awkward
and embarrassed expression, kept glancing at Mad Seed and
subtly shaking his head.
Behind those two.
—Hoo hoo. Interesting.
The Heavenly Demon.
Cale caught his attention with a sound transmission from the
Heavenly Demon.
—As expected, it’s hard for you to become a god.
What are you talking about?
Cale casually ignored the Heavenly Demon’s nonsense.
But the Heavenly Demon’s voice was quite sincere.
[Both worship and fear gods.]
The demonic cult showed various respects to the Heavenly
Demon, but they couldn’t approach him with such anticipation.
[But a hero would be different, right?]
A figure of admiration would inspire people to approach with
excitement rather than fear.
[Of course, that’s only because people haven’t realized he’s
actually a terrifying being on par with gods.]
Facing the Chaos God, Cale’s power had truly surpassed human
limits.
[…Maybe it’s fortunate he’s injured.]
The Heavenly Demon thought Cale’s collapse from spitting
blood would naturally harm his body. On the other hand, he
also thought it was good for him.
At least he still seemed human.
The Heavenly Demon, even in pain, couldn’t show suffering.
Because he was the god of the demonic cult.
But Cale could admit he was hurt, get angry, and naturally
express various emotions.
[He’s human, isn’t he?]
Thus, as a human, he could stay by his companions’ side.
With nothing else to do, the Heavenly Demon, monitoring the
players, quietly entered the room, stood beside Eruhaben, and
watched what Cale would do.
“….”
Then Cale silently looked at Mad Seed and his friend.
Gulp.
The friend swallowed hard.
[Not like a game NPC.]
This was the conclusion he reached while all their video storage
devices were confiscated and they were being monitored.
[It feels like there’s really something.]
He’d only followed because his friend had done something
crazy in the demonic realm, but he ended up entangled in
something unexpected.
Thump thump.
But his heart was pounding.
Why?
[Insane. So cool.]
Because he was also a gamer immersed in the New World.
Moreover, now, with countless conspiracy theories linking the
New World to the real Earth outside the game.
A glance.
His current worry was Mad Seed, unsure what this guy might
do.
At that moment, Cale’s mouth opened.
“What’s your name?”
Ah.
He spoke.
But Mad Seed was faster.
“I, Mad Seed, am, am.”
Mad Seed, or MadGwan, his voice trembled.
He spoke excitedly.
“Cough.”
His friend coughed but soon answered calmly.
“I’m Strawberry Cream Bread.”
Raon’s eyes sparkled.
“I like that bread!”
“Cough.”
MadGwan clutched his chest, hesitating briefly.
But Cale looked at MadGwan and Strawberry Cream Bread with
calm eyes.
[Both are weird.]
Initially, he didn’t understand Mad Seed’s fuss. But seeing
Strawberry Cream Bread’s eyes, standing calmly, he understood
instantly.
[Crazy eyes.]
Those eyes were like Clopeh’s, full of anticipation during the
Edenmiru birth ceremony speech.
[Yeah.]
Cale closed his eyes.
[This is better.]
He opened his eyes again.
“I’m Cale Henituse.”
Pull these two in.
With this video, Mad Seed could break into the mainstream of
personal livestreaming.
Thus, they’d get the highest view count ever.
The Third Earth.
There, they’d secured allies with wealth and power.
And planted spies among the enemy.
[What’s left is public opinion.]
No matter what, Transparent Corporation would have the
upper hand in broadcasting, TV, and newspapers.
[We’ll go for personal livestreams and videos.]
Birth of a Hero.
To promote that main quest, they needed the right platform.
“…Ah.”
“….”
Mad Seed, nodding at Cale’s name, and Strawberry Cream
Bread, silent.
To them, Cale said calmly.
“You might have guessed to some extent.”
The quest they received was revealed through the video.
[The quest to save this game.]
The system likely forced it to unfold, fearing what would
happen if the Chaos God truly descended.
“This game is in danger now.”
“Gulp.”
Mad Seed swallowed hard.
In contrast, Strawberry Cream Bread asked a question.
“How much of the conspiracies being discussed in the
community are true?”
Not just one question.
“And are you an operator?”
Ho.
Cale was slightly impressed.
Strawberry Cream Bread. This person was sharp.
His mouth opened.
“Do you think I’m an operator intervening here to protect the
game?”
Strawberry Cream Bread pondered briefly and nodded.
“Yes.”
“No.”
But Cale shook his head.
Then Mad Seed spoke.
“Then, are you a force opposing the Chaos God?”
Ho.
Cale was impressed by this question too.
[Quick thinking.]
If Strawberry Cream Bread sought the greatest possibility in
their reality, Mad Seed had no limits, even entertaining
seemingly absurd ideas.
“That’s the correct answer.”
Huff huff.
Mad Seed’s breathing grew louder.
Cale pretended not to notice.
—Human, is that player okay?
He desperately ignored Raon’s worried voice.
Instead, Cale quietly stared at the two.
“….”
He used no powers.
Just looked.
Gray-tinted skin.
Pale lips and face.
His naturally good bone structure, but his rather frail body
looked weak, as if it might collapse at any moment.
Yet Cale sat upright, meeting their eyes directly.
Gulp.
For some reason, both players swallowed hard.
Cale didn’t realize it himself, but having survived countless
battlefields since the Kim Rok-soo era, endured countless
hardships, and led countless people, his mere gaze unknowingly
exuded an extraordinary presence.
Cale spoke.
“I’ll tell only you two the truth.”
He extended his hand to the two players.
“Do you want to be liars who deceive the world?”
The voice reached the ears of the two staring at his hand.
[Liars?]
[What’s that?]
Both players were confused, looking at Cale in surprise.
Mad Seed eagerly, Strawberry Cream Bread calmly.
But to his next words, they could only react one way.
“This world is transforming from a game into reality.”
“!”
“…!”
Both players’ pupils trembled.
“And this world might soon become a hell.”
Hell.
That word stuck in their ears.
Cale recalled Alberu Crossman’s expression in their video, more
solemn than ever, resembling when he spoke to his vassals.
“Ladies and gentlemen.”
His calm voice pierced their ears, imprinting in their minds.
“The game says it clearly.”
The system now clearly recognized reality and conveyed its
intent to the two players.
“It asks you to save this world.”
Ah.
Strawberry Cream Bread sighed.
The phrase they faced when accepting the “Night and Light”
invitation came to mind.
[Can you help me save this realm, this world, this game?]
The words written before the game.
Realm, world. (세상, 세계)
Those words stirred their minds, touched their hearts.
“People of Earth.”
Earth.
A term quite alien to New World players in this game.
“Let me introduce myself again.”
Cale extended his hand to the two again.
“I’m Cale Henituse, from a different dimension.”
He only spoke the truth.
“I’m entrusted by a god to save this world.”
Wouldn’t they believe it if he said that?
That’s what Cale thought.
Mad Seed, hearing those words, thought.
[God… entrusted by a god?]
Not commanded by a god, but entrusted to save this world.
Cale Henituse.
Mad Seed’s eyes kept sparkling as he looked at him.
Huff huff.
Then his breathing grew rougher.
Unlike Raon’s breathing, this was a sound Cale didn’t want to
hear, so he subtly moved his hand back.
Hot!
But someone grabbed his hand, not letting go.
Strawberry Cream Bread, with a calm voice.
She slowly shook Cale’s hand, smiling.
“My dream is to become a film director.”
“Hm?”
“Though I’ve shifted to advertising, I’ve never given up on films.
You seem to have chosen us as your platform for public
opinion. We’ll create videos more dramatic and jaw-dropping
than any movie.”
Cale paused.
This wasn’t quite what he expected.
At that moment, Mad Seed said to Strawberry Cream Bread, as
if exasperated.
“But you’re terrible at lying! Don’t you hate liars the most?”
Mad Seed remembered Cale asking if they’d be liars.
Raon reacted to that.
“Our human is great at lying!”
“Hm?”
Mad Seed looked at Raon in panic, and Raon shrugged, looking
at Cale.
“Human, isn’t that right?”
When asked, Cale only gave a smile mimicking Crown Prince
Alberu’s mode.
“Hm. I’ll stay quiet!”
And Raon’s perceptiveness had greatly improved.
Facing the bewildered Mad Seed and Strawberry Cream Bread,
still gripping his hand, Cale met the latter’s 270-degree crazed
eyes and subtly tried to pull back his right hand.
At that moment.
Bang!
The closed door burst open.
Huff huff.
Someone was panting.
It was the Saintess.
“Saintess!”
And Sir Voltain, the holy knight of the Sun God cult, rushed in,
supporting her.
“Ah.”
The Saintess, meeting Cale’s eyes, let out an exclamation and
bowed her head.
Then spoke.
“I’m sorry for coming so rudely.”
Greeting in her own way, she immediately looked at Cale and
the unconscious Alberu and spoke.
“The Sun God summons both of you.”
At that moment, Cale recalled the quest notification window.
[Sub-quest: Acquire the skill ‘Chaos Purification’!]
[Visit the holy ground where the Chaos God’s gaze cannot reach
and tear the book “Chaos Purification”!]
[Sub-quest: Change the divine artifact’s properties to ‘none’!]
[Visit the holy ground and subdue the ‘Chaos Blade’!]
Holy ground.
The Saintess’s voice came.
“I’d like to invite you to the Church.”
The heart of the Sun God cult.
The Church.
“Oh.”
Cale let out a short exclamation and nodded.
“Alright.”
Sleeping Prince Alberu Crossman.
To wake him, they needed to go to the Church.
“Heh.”
And now.
Hearing Cale’s chuckle, Alberu Crossman flinched again.
“Ohhh—Great Sun God—please grant even a speck of light to
your humble servant—that fragment of glorious radiance—”
At the same time, the Pope’s cries echoed.
“Huh?”
Cale spoke, feigning surprise.
“Pope, Pope! The hero seems to be waking up!”
“Oh, finally—!”
Alberu was exasperated.
Cale Henituse, that guy was definitely doing this on purpose.
“Hero, hero!”
Cale called out to the sleeping Alberu with an urgent voice,
gently shaking him.
Alberu, sensing the subtle amusement in that voice, kept his
eyes tightly shut.
[Insane.]
With his eyes closed, he recalled the quest window.
An unusual, trembling quest window sent by the Sun God.
Though clearer than before.
[Emergency Sub-quest: Display the Hero’s Majesty!]
[I’m really going insane.]
Chapter 2-423: Confrontation and Protection (10)
Ding-ding!
The warped mission window flared again, asserting its
presence.
[Emergency Mission: Display the Majesty of a Hero!!!]
The exclamation marks at the end of the message had
increased from one to three.
[...]
Alberu was dumbfounded.
[What even is majesty?]
The majesty of a hero? What was that supposed to mean?
It was infuriating.
But he couldn’t just ignore this mission.
[The Sun God.]
As Cale had predicted, Alberu had met the Sun God.
Of course, the method was entirely different from Cale’s, but
he had a conversation with the Sun God first.
[It went better than expected.]
It wasn’t a bad dialogue.
However, the Sun God didn’t offer Alberu advice or propose a
deal.
Instead, he simply told him how the future would unfold.
[Saint Jack.]
In the Nameless 1's Roan Kingdom.
There, Saint Jack of the Sun God Church resided.
[They say his successor will come from the Dark Elves.]
The Sun God Church, which had always rejected races like Dark
Elves and necromancers who were closely tied to death mana.
This was because of the Sun God.
That same Sun God had told Alberu that, as a gesture of
reconciliation, the next High Priestess would emerge from the
Dark Elves.
[And—]
There was one more thing said to Alberu.
[When you choose to reveal your Dark Elf appearance, I will
grant you the Sun’s blessing. So no one will doubt your
existence.]
It was a surprisingly considerate offer.
In other words, if Alberu decided to reveal his true self as the
Crown Prince, the Sun God would once again manifest the
legend of the Sun God tied to the “Crossman Royal Family.”
[Of course, I have no intention of exposing myself.]
Why would he?
There was no reason to do so.
That was his stance.
[No need to cause unnecessary chaos among the kingdom’s
people and spark rumors.]
And also,
[I need an image of freedom.]
He had realized this while playing this “game.”
Alberu wasn’t just the Crown Prince—Alberu Crossman needed
time for himself and to be with his people.
For that “freedom,” Alberu Crossman wanted to keep his Dark
Elf appearance a secret.
Ding-ding!
[Emergency Mission: Display the Majesty of a Hero!!!!!]
The exclamation marks had now increased to five.
Alberu could roughly guess why the Sun God was doing this.
[The moment the true Sun God first connected with the Sun
God Church of this new world.]
Even with his eyes closed, Alberu could sense it. The church
members were so excited because they had learned some
degree of the truth.
Thus, Alberu’s existence was significant.
A hero.
Because he was proof that both reality and illusion had become
real.
[Ha. I really don’t want to do this.]
Alberu wasn’t particularly eager to comply, as this wasn’t for
the Roan Kingdom.
[Tch.]
But fine, he’d do it.
“Hm.”
Alberu deliberately cleared his throat first.
“Oh! The hero seems to be waking up!”
Cale Henituse’s cheeky voice rang out.
That guy was definitely enjoying this.
“Ohhh, Hero—!”
“The Sun’s blessing shall descend!”
The voices of the Pope and the bishops grew louder, and Alberu
casually, naturally opened his eyes.
“Hero!”
He saw Cale Henituse’s infuriating face.
Alberu gave a faint, composed smile.
[Hm?]
Cale flinched.
[That’s odd.]
Alberu Crossman. The Crown Prince’s reaction was slightly
different from usual.
It was as if, to avoid embarrassment or awkwardness, he had
suddenly shifted into Crown Prince mode.
[Huh?]
For some reason, Cale felt uneasy and tried to quietly slip away
from Alberu’s side.
Pat.
But Alberu’s hand grabbed Cale’s shoulder.
Then he slowly stood up.
“Ah—”
“Hero!”
Even the Pope, the Saintess, and the bishops—those who had
been too awestruck to approach the center where divine light
poured through the hole in the ceiling—now slowly moved
toward that figure.
As leaders of the Sun God Church, they had witnessed all the
miracles the hero had performed.
A divine artifact radiating the power of the God of Chaos.
While that artifact dominated space, the sunlight struck the
frozen water’s surface.
It was truly astonishing.
Everything Cale had done was already remarkable and awe-
inspiring, but they couldn’t help but admire the Sun God’s
power even more.
Whoosh.
But they could approach no further.
“Ah.”
“Hm.”
Alberu, supporting himself, raised a hand to signal them not to
come closer.
[Hm.]
Cale swallowed hard.
Something’s weird about this.
[Why is that guy smiling so vaguely?]
Only Alberu Crossman wore a brilliant yet hazy smile.
Then he slowly rose from his seat.
He staggered slightly.
It had been four days since he last moved his body.
“Ah!”
“Oh, Hero—!”
But Alberu stood firm, rejecting the concerned gazes and all the
hands that reached out to support him.
[Hm.]
Due to the atmosphere, Cale decided he shouldn’t stay near
Alberu.
He quietly shuffled three steps to the side.
A wise choice.
“…”
Alberu silently gazed upward.
This was the heart of the Sun God Church’s central temple.
Known as the “Hall of Light.”
A conical structure that narrowed as it rose.
Sunlight poured through the narrow center of the ceiling.
Alberu quietly observed it, placing his hand on his sword’s
sheath.
[Charging complete!]
He ignored the notification sound.
Instead, he bowed his head before drawing his sword.
Then he looked at the Pope, Saintess, Sir Waltien, and bishops
watching him.
The faint, hazy smile had unknowingly transformed into one
brimming with confidence and majesty.
Though a Crown Prince, Alberu Crossman was practically ruling
a nation.
In that moment, his charisma was laid bare.
“…”
“…”
The church members, faced with Alberu Crossman’s
extraordinary presence—far beyond what the word “hero”
could encapsulate—were momentarily speechless.
Shing.
Alberu slowly drew his sword.
“Ah.”
The Saintess, seeing light identical to the sunlight pouring from
the ceiling radiate from the sword, felt an indescribable
overwhelm.
Even she, a Saintess standing at the valley’s edge, was
breathless under the power emanating from the God of Chaos’s
divine artifact.
A sublime, radiant light shining alone in the sunless night.
The hero’s form, creating that light until it faded from the
center, even as he coughed up blood.
Drip.
The Pope was already silently weeping.
“…”
Seeing such a noble, majestic, and sacred sight, Cale’s
expression turned somewhat shocked.
[Whoa.]
He was stunned.
Alberu Crossman drew his sword unhurriedly, like a scene from
a movie.
With an incredibly dashing pose and expression.
That guy didn’t usually draw his sword like that.
Right now, he was truly—
—putting on a show.
The Dominating Aura had been spot-on lately.
“…”
Having drawn his sword, Alberu surveyed the crowd and spoke.
“The Sun God sent me here.”
The Pope’s mouth fell open.
“Ah, ah—As expected—!”
The Saintess tightly shut her eyes, then opened them, gazing at
the sunlight.
“The life I lived was an illusion—”
Her voice carried melancholy.
But also joy.
“But even that illusion will now become true reality.”
The new world had become a true world.
As proof, not a system-defined Sun God but the true Sun God
had embraced them.
And as evidence—
[They sent a hero!]
And that was…
“Now, even here, the sun will shine forever.”
The hero who saved this world!
Alberu Crossman’s appearance was undeniably that of a hero.
Especially fitting for the Sun God, he looked like a painting.
Despite waking after four days of unconsciousness, his sharp
gaze and majestic demeanor were enough to sway the hearts
of the Sun God Church members.
“Hero.”
The Pope rose from his seat.
He swayed slightly.
Others tried to support him, but he refused, slowly approaching
Alberu.
He had something to do.
Truly sent by the Sun God.
“Bring it.”
At his gesture, some bishops moved, pushing a rather large
chest forward.
They carefully set it between the Pope and Alberu, then
retreated.
“Sir Waltien.”
“Yes.”
Sir Waltien, the Sun God Church’s highest holy knight, slowly
opened the chest.
[Oh.]
Cale gasped.
[Wow.]
Indeed, inside was a dazzling, beautiful pure white armor.
The Pope lifted a helmet from it.
A helmet adorned with neither gems nor jewels, yet its elegant
shape and unknown white material exuded an extraordinary,
holy aura.
“Hero.”
He carefully offered the helmet to Alberu.
“Will you become our hero?”
Ding-ding!
With the sound, a message appeared in Alberu’s mind.
*[Reached the final stage of the conditions for wielding the
Hero and Sun Sword!]
The reason Alberu had previously been deemed unqualified.
Though recognized by the Sun God as a hero, God, he lacked
the power to wield the Sun Sword.
It was because he wasn’t officially certified by the Sun God
Church as their hero.
[What a pain.]
Alberu was exasperated, but it made sense.
So, he had done his best to act like a hero.
“Thank you for giving me the chance to become your hero.”
With those words, he accepted the helmet.
Drip.
The Pope shed a single tear.
Alberu gave a beautiful smile, casting a comforting glance at
the Pope.
[Tch.]
Cale sucked in a breath but stayed still.
Ding-ding!
*[Received the support of the Sun God’s believers! The more
support for the Hero, the stronger your ability to wield the Sun
Sword!]
Alberu let out a breath of relief.
[Whatever, it’s.] more comfortable to use now than before.]**
Would it not make him to bleed like Cale Henituse did?
The Sun Sword. He didn’t know its limits, but compared to last
time, Alberu would rather be exhausted and immobile than
cough up blood or faint.
He had a feeling about it.
[Good.]
Satisfied with that, Alberu turned his head slightly.
Now his job was done.
His gaze shifted to Cale.
“Ah.”
Noticing the meaning behind that look, the Pope smiled kindly
at Cale.
“The Sun God Church’s task is complete. Please proceed.”
What?
Cale, Alberu gave a look that made Cale uneasy, but he ignored
it with a gentle smile.
“Yes. Thank you all.”
“No, no. We mustn’t miss this moment when the power of the
sun is at its strongest.”
The time had passed noon.
From now on, the sunlight streaming through the ceiling would
gradually wane, no longer fully absorbed.
“You said you’d purify the God of Chaos’s divine artifact,
correct?”**
The Pope treated Cale with respect.
Because, through the Saintess and the video storage device she
brought, he had seen the miracles Cale had performed.
A man greater than even the Hero.
[Purifying the God’s of Chaos’s divine artifact?]
Alberu’s eyes glinted with suspicion.
Regardless, Cale continued.
Very politely.
“Yes. I need a holy place where the God of Chaos’s gaze cannot
reach.”**
“There’s no better place than this.”
As they had already discussed this to some extent, the Pope
stepped back from Cale.
Alberu, too quietly retreated as well.
But his expression was tense.
[Purifying that thing?]
The God of Chaos’ divine artifact.
That dagger had caused so much chaos.
Though it could be purified, the process didn’t seem easy.
At the center of the light.
Cale was left alone.
Others merely surrounded him, watching.
[Sub-Mission: Acquire the Skill ‘Purification of Chaos’!]
[Task: In a sacred place beyond the God’s of Chaos’s gaze, tear
the Book of “Purification of Chaos”!]
[Sub-Mission: Change the Divine Artifact’s Attribute to ‘None’!]
*[Task: In a holy place, subdue the ‘Chaos of dagger’!]*
Cale had actually decided to purify the God’s of Chaos’ dagger
divine dagger to tackle both tasks at once.
[Hm.]
But he thought, [Purifying Chaos is simple.]
Just tear the Book of Purification right here.
[But how do I change this artifact’s artifact attribute to ‘None’?]
Cale pulled out the God’s of of Chaos’ dagger divine artifact
from his pocket.
With his gray skin, unlike before, Cale quietly gazed at the
dagger, which didn’t tremble now.
[Hm.]
Then he glanced at the mission window again.
One thing stood out.
There was one truly annoying word.
[Sub-Mission: Change the Divine Artifact’s Attribute to ‘None’!]
[Task: In a holy place, subdue the ‘Chaos’ dagger’!]
[Subdue?]
Make it submit.
—Am I the one?
The Dominating Aura piped up.
Cale neatly ignored it.
[No way. Just use a bit of the Domination Aura?]
Cale subtly tapped into a tiny bit of the Dominance Aura. Just
enough to not scare anyone.
—
No reaction from Cale.
Instead, the people around him, for some reason, swallowed
hard, watching Cale as an unknown pressure rose from him.
Anyway, anyway, Cale was troubled.
**[Hm.]*
Pondering, he looked up without thinking.
The sunlight was so bright it almost closed his eyes.
At that moment.
—#$^]
He heard something.
[Huh?]
It was an unfamiliar voice.
Cale listened.
But he couldn’t hear it.
[Maybe?]
He opened his eyes.
Too bright, it almost made him tear up. up
—#$%^]
He heard the sound again.
[The Sun God?]
That was the only thought he could have.
And the voice he heard sounded… like the one from before.
Listen.
—Defeat. (패, Fail, unclear for now)
Hm?
—…
No more sounds.
Cale closed his eyes.]**
Drip.
Tears fell.
Too bright.
“…Ah.”
A bishop, seeing the majestic hero shed a tear under the sun,
unknowingly sighed and clasped their hands.
Regardless, Cale opened his eyes.
When only a faint trace remained of the tear remained,
“Pope.”
He requested the Pope with a solemn expression.
“May I use the cloth on the floor?”
For Alberu, who had collapsed there, the floor was covered
with thick cloth.
It was said to be made of thread woven with holy water.
“Ah, yes. Use it freely.”
The Pope readily agreed.
“Thank you.”
Cale gently placed the dagger at the edge of the thick,
rectangular cloth, which, though sturdy, seemed uncomfortable
enough to make one worry about for someone lying on it.
[?]
Confusion spread across people’s faces.
“Ah.”
The Saintess gasped.
“Is he… planning to purify it using the power bestowed by the
Sun God?”
As she spoke cautiously, strange expressions crossed the faces
of those on the platform.
[No.]
Alberu tilted his head.
“[That posture is clearly the prelude to something chaotic.]”
Cale Henituse.
That guy was acting refined, but his lips were twitching.
Something was definitely up.
“……”
But Cale said nothing, only moved.
He placed the Chaos of dagger at the cloth’s end and covered it
with a corner of it.
The dagger was wrapped in cloth.
Brrrr—
The dagger suddenly shook violently.
To him, the atmosphere on the platform shifted.
Something was about to happen.
“Hoo.”
Cale stood up, looking calmly at the now-hidden artifact
wrapped in cloth.
Brrrr—
It still seemed to be shaking.
Cale gazed at it nonchalantly, taking a deep breath.
Then he slowly raised his foot.
Bang!
Then he stomped.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
With real effort.
Full of genuine passion and sincerity.
Bang! Bang!
With his frail body, he stomped hard.
Bang!
He began trampling the divine artifact.
“?”
“??”
“…Uh?”
The Pope, Saintess, and other church leaders’ eyes filled with
disbelief.
They couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
Bang! Bang!
But Cale was serious.
He couldn’t hide the curve of his lips as he spoke to the artifact.
“You’re just like that crown, huh?”
The **Crown.
That blood-drinking crown that had coveted Ra, Dragon’s blood
in front of Cale and was nearly been smashed to pieces by him.
Brrrr—
The artifact trembled faintly.
Anyway, anyway, Cale gleefully stomped and turned around.
“Sir Waltien.”
With Cale’s wildly excited eyes, Waltien froze.
“Bring me a hammer.”
But Cale ignored him calmly and said,
“Please get me a hammer.”
Brrrrrr—
The God’s God of Chaos’’s divine artifact** shook violently.
Regardless, anyway, Cale was serious.
Still emanating a faint Domination Aura, Cale smiled and said,
“Come on. Please bring me a hammer.”
His gaze turned to the artifact.
“Today, I’ll give you a piece of gold.”
Brrrr, brrrrrr—!
The artifact trembled frantically, but Cale was serious.
No other way.
[Sub-Mission: Change the Divine Artifact’s Attribute to ‘None’!]
*[Task: In a holy place, subdue the Chaos’!]*
The moment excitement surged, new information appeared.
[Remaining Chaos Attribute: 100%]
The more he stomped, the more it dropped.
[Remaining Chaos Attribute: [99.2%]
This much already.
There was still a long way to go.
This rotten blade that tried to summon the God of Chaos!
The dagger that devoured countless sacrificial lives in 43 rituals!
The dagger that gave us so much trouble!
Bang! Bang!
Cale kept stomping the dagger, commanding the stunned
Waltien, no, ordering him.
“Get a hammer, anything—bring everything that can smash this
dagger!”
“Yes, yes!”
Brrrrrrrrrrr, brrr! Brrr! Brrrrrr!
The artifact shook violently.
Cale didn’t know.
“I’m going to lose my mind.”
Watching Cale stomp excitedly, as if venting anger, Alberu
tightly shut his eyes.
Chapter 2-424: Confrontation and Protection (11)
Bang! Bang!
Cale stomped on the dagger with genuine sincerity.
Brrrr!
The dagger, wrapped in cloth, buzzed loudly.
[Remaining Chaos Attribute: 96.3%]
The mission window confirmed that progress was being made
steadily.
[Hm.]
But Cale’s feet were starting to hurt.
Considering his frail body, he was deliberately stomping on the
dagger through thick cloth.
[Maybe it’s because the cloth isn’t soft, but I can clearly feel
how hard the floor is.]
Stomping like this was making his feet ache.
[And it’s not very efficient either.]
Perhaps because it was wrapped in cloth, the blows weren’t
hitting the dagger effectively.
Cale paused for a moment.
Huff, huff.
Unbeknownst to him, his breathing was labored, and his
shoulders trembled.
He had been stomping too hard.
Brr, brrr—
At the same time, the dagger trembled too.
Huff.
Cale’s breathing grew even heavier.
Brr.
The dagger’s vibrations lessened compared to before.
[This bastard?]
Noticing this keenly, a spark flared in Cale’s eyes.
“Cale.”
At that moment, Alberu’s voice called out.
“Need some help?”
Brrrr, brrrrr!
The dagger began trembling violently.
Cale’s gaze shifted from the dagger to Alberu.
Alberu Crossman, who had been unconscious a day longer than
Cale and had just woken up.
His face was a bit pale, but he looked better than Cale.
Of course, his physique was also better than Cale’s.
And standing there with the Sun Sword in hand, he looked like
a formidable swordsman.
Brrrrrr, brrrrrrr!
The dagger shook even more intensely.
For some reason, Cale grew more irritated.
Ding!
A mission notification appeared.
*[To fully subdue it, no one else’s help is allowed.]
“Hoo.”
Cale sighed.
For some reason, the system, the divine artifact, and the Crown
Prince were all getting on his nerves.
“Cale.”
When the Crown Prince called again, Cale shook his head.
“No. This is something I have to do alone.”
Brrr!
The dagger’s trembling weakened.
[You bastard, just you wait.]
Cale’s eyes blazed again.
[Hm.]
Alberu swallowed hard.
[That guy’s possessed or something.]
He had rarely seen Cale Henituse like this.
Unless he was betrayed by an enemy or felt deeply wronged,
Cale didn’t lose his composure like this.
Clang.
At that moment, a loud noise rang out as the door opened.
Whoosh.
Cale quickly looked toward the entrance.
“!”
Holy Knight Sir Waltien, entering, flinched.
“Haha—”
Cale flashed a radiant smile, letting out a hearty laugh.
“Bring it quick.”
“Yes!”
Startled by Cale’s gleaming eyes, Waltien hurriedly but carefully
placed the iron box he was carrying in front of Cale.
Thud!
A loud sound echoed in the Hall of Light.
An iron box.
Filled with various weapons.
“Ho.”
Cale reached for the most eye-catching piece.
“Hm.”
Then he drooled slightly.
[It’s heavy.]
This hammer was a bit heavy.
[Next.]
Hm.
This one was heavy too.
Cale didn’t overestimate himself.
[Next.]
After rummaging through the weapon box, Cale pulled out two
items.
Brr, brr, brrrrr!
Seeing the dagger tremble violently, Cale’s lips curled upward.
A hammer nearly as big as his body.
And a whip studded with countless iron spikes.
Holding both, Cale couldn’t hide his emotions.
“Heh.”
With a rather sinister smile, Cale first raised the hammer.
And then—
KA-BOOM!
He smashed it down.
“Oh.”
Alberu let out an exclamation.
“Better than I expected?”
He couldn’t help but voice his thoughts.
And Cale raised one corner of his mouth.
[Remaining Chaos Attribute: 94.1%]
With a single strike, the remaining attribute dropped
significantly.
From then on, Cale’s hammering began in earnest.
He even tore off the cloth.
KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM!
The sound was deafening.
Cale was exerting himself, but he hammered the dagger with
steady precision.
“Oh—”
Alberu genuinely admired him.
How could that frail body manage this?
Of course, a robust man in his 20s could wield a hammer with
strength.
But the accuracy of those strikes.
And, for some reason, the proficiency.
—Cale, you’re amazing.
When Super Rock exclaimed,
Cale was wholly focused on the task at hand.
He recalled.
[Recoil and technique.]
KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM!
You couldn’t rely on brute strength alone with a hammer like
this.
Cale Henituse—no, Kim Rok Soo—had a wealth of experience
from various jobs.
Before monsters appeared, he took on all sorts of part-time
jobs to make money. After becoming an ability user, he worked
at rebuilding sites in a collapsed Korea, laboring hard.
Of course, compared to back then, his current body was quite
weak.
KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM!
But experience doesn’t vanish.
KA-BOOM!
KA-BOOM!
[Remaining Chaos Attribute: 87.9%]
Brr, brrrrr—
The remaining attribute decreased rapidly.
KA-BOOM!
Brr, brrrrr—
The dagger’s vibrations grew intense.
KA-BOOM!
KA-BOOM!
And yet, Cale didn’t stop hammering.
At the center of the Hall of Light, bathed in radiant, holy
sunlight.
Sweat beaded on Cale’s forehead as he hammered.
His face was more serious than ever.
Fully immersed in the act, he was so focused he couldn’t hear
the surrounding sounds.
The pouring light, Cale’s face, and his demeanor even seemed
reverent.
“…”
“…”
The church members, led by the Pope, watched in a daze.
To witness such reverence—
KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM!
Brrrr, brrrrr—
“Heh. What, scared now?”
Cale spoke deliberately, his face looking utterly wicked.
Twitch. Twitch.
The Pope was taken aback.
[Calling it wicked?!]
He was purifying an evil divine artifact created for the God of
Chaos to descend!
To dare think such irreverent thoughts—
KA-BOOM!
Brrr!
“Oh, it’s about to crack?”
KA-BOOM!
…Such irreverent thoughts?
Twitch, twitch.
The Pope blinked dumbly.
But Cale didn’t care about others’ reactions.
KA-BOOM!
KA-BOOM!
He just kept hammering diligently.
The sound grew louder.
With a hammer he hadn’t used in ages, his once-awkward
posture became increasingly refined.
[Don’t put unnecessary strength into your body.]
Cale recalled the hammering tips he’d learned from a senior as
Kim Rok Soo.
KA-BOOM—!
The dagger seemed on the verge of breaking.
Brrrr, brr—
It trembled violently.
Cale didn’t care.
KA-BOOM!
Then he paused for a moment.
Thud, thud.
He set the hammer aside and crouched down.
Then he looked down at the dagger.
His voice dripped with cold indifference.
“Had enough?”
He asked if it was broken.
Brr.
The dagger was genuinely trembling.
“Hm.”
But Cale was truly caught up in the moment.
“Still a long way to go?”
The moment he said that lightly—
[Remaining Chaos Attribute: 50.1%]
The remaining chaos attribute plummeted from the low 80s to
50%.
*[The divine artifact is submitting!]
Brrr.
The artifact seemed to lose its will, trembling feebly.
“Hm.”
Cale slumped into a seat for a moment.
Brr, brr.
A calm state settled in.
Only the dagger trembled.
Onlookers could see the dagger’s reaction was different from
before.
“Ah. It’s being purified.”
“My goodness, every action seems to have meaning!”
“The will of the evil sword is wavering!”
They whispered in awe, watching Cale.
Cale, slumped on the ground, panting.
They couldn’t see his downcast eyes, but they could sense how
exhausted he was.
“Ah.”
The Pope began to reflect on his narrow-mindedness, thinking
Cale was wicked.
“!”
But the moment Cale raised his head, he flinched.
*[The divine artifact is submitting!]
[The artifact is submitting?]
Cale didn’t trust the 50.1% remaining attribute or the system’s
words.
With years of experience, he knew exactly how to handle things
like the Chaos dagger.
“Now you’re trying to play nice?”
Cale asked the dagger.
Brr!
As if answering, the dagger reacted.
To anyone watching, it looked awkward.
But—
Swish.
Cale sneered and swung the whip at the dagger.
Crack!
A sharp sound rang out.
“You think I’d believe you?”
The moment Cale’s words ended—
Brrrr, brrrrr, brrrrr!
The Chaos dagger reacted violently again.
Brrrrrr—
And gray smoke began to rise.
“Ho!”
As the bishops gasped in surprise—
“Step back.”
Alberu blocked them.
Sir Waltien had already moved near the entrance, ready to
open the door and evacuate the crowd if needed.
Cale paid no mind to any of it, continuing to whip.
[I’ve done this plenty of times.]
Kim Rok Soo had been a rear-guard, but after becoming a team
leader, though he often fought with his body, he’d used a whip
a few times.
Even if he wasn’t skilled, he knew how to wield it to some
extent.
Crack!
The sound was satisfying.
Crack!
Brrrr, brrrrr!
The dagger resisted.
[As expected, these types pretend to submit but stab you in the
back!]
Guys like White Star!
Guys like the Hunters!
Guys like the God of Chaos!
I’ve suffered because of them…!
Cale’s anger built up.
Crack! Crack!
“Ha!”
Cale picked up the hammer again.
Though he was tired, his anger took precedence.
KA-BOOM!
KA-BOOM!
Cale resumed hammering.
Brrrrrr—
He ignored the gray smoke.
This was the Sun God’s domain.
Even the gray smoke summoned by the God of Chaos couldn’t
prevail here.
Hiss—
It dissipated futilely under the sunlight.
[The Sun God is helping.]
Though no voice was heard, it was surely the Sun God keeping
the Chaos dagger from using its chaos.
[Seems more helpful than the God of Balance, huh?]
KA-BOOM!
KA-BOOM!
Cale hammered down without anyone noticing.
His arms ached.
His shoulders seemed to hurt too.
But he kept going.
“Hoo.”
Of course, he took a brief rest.
About five minutes.
“…”
“…”
Though the surroundings were quiet, Cale didn’t care.
KA-BOOM!
KA-BOOM!
He just swung the hammer again.
[Ah.]
KA-BOOM!
[This feels good.]
KA-BOOM!
It had been a while since he relieved stress like this.
KA-BOOM!
KA-BOOM!
Like throwing money into a fire pit.
KA-BOOM!
It felt refreshing.
So many frustrations lately.
KA-BOOM!
The stress melted away.
KA-BOOM!
Unknowingly, Cale forgot everything and focused on relieving
stress.
Brr… brr…
Now the Chaos dagger neither vibrated nor emitted gray
smoke.
Pfft—
Then it dropped.
[Remaining Chaos Attribute: 32.3%]
KA-BOOM!
20.6%
KA-BOOM!
15.9%
The longer he hammered, the faster the remaining attribute
decreased.
KA-BOOM!
Finally—
Thud, thud.
Cale let go of the hammer.
[Remaining Chaos Attribute: 0.01%]
And—
“Tch.”
He clicked his tongue.
He spoke casually.
“You’ve submitted already?”
He grabbed the Chaos dagger.
No, his body was exhausted, but this was stress-relieving!
“Hey, you’re not going to hold out a bit longer?”
The moment Cale said that—
“Ho.”
“Ah.”
The Pope and Saintess sighed with weary faces.
Pfft—!
The Chaos dagger trembled intensely.
—!
[Remaining Chaos Attribute: 0%]
It submitted.
*[The divine artifact has fully submitted!]
“Ah, what a shame.”
*[The divine artifact has fully submitted!!]
“Hm.”
*[The divine artifact has really fully submitted!!!]
What a pity.
Cale felt regret but approached the dagger on the floor.
“Hm. Still no cracks.”
The dagger was perfectly intact.
As expected, among the God of Chaos’s divine artifacts, this
one must be particularly strong.
Ding-ding!
The mission notified him of the final task.
[Sub-Mission: Change the Divine Artifact’s Attribute to ‘None’!]
[Task: Make it recognize that its master is a ‘human.’]
This artifact existed for the God of Chaos.
The moment it left this place, the game system could change its
attribute to “None.”
“Hey.”
Cale picked up the dagger.
“Your master is me now.”
Brrrr—
As the dagger vibrated again—
“Shh!”
Cale gripped the hammer.
Brr, brr, brr!
The dagger reacted intensely.
“I’m your master, right?”
Brr, brr, brr!
“Oh, I can’t understand. If I’m your master, vibrate once.”
Brr!
“I’m your master, right?”
Brr!
The dagger accepted Cale as its master.
[The master of the divine artifact “Chaos dagger” has changed
from the God of Chaos to Cale Henituse.]
[Acquired a Legendary Item!]
Whoa.
Cale opened the item description window with a sigh.
[Chaos dagger (Rank: Legendary)]
[The original Chaos attribute has vanished, leaving only
immense holy power with no attribute.]
Cale gave a satisfied smile.
[Can this save the Blue Wolf?]
The divine Blue Wolf of the Beast People.
He had found a divine artifact to restore its divinity and make it
stronger.
Moreover, the Beast People of Apitoyu could now live as
complete Beast People.
[Lock should be brought back soon too.]
And Lock could be freed from his duties in Apitoyu, gaining
freedom.
Could he keep leaving the kids out there? He had to bring them
home.
Cale tucked the artifact into his pocket and pulled out another
parchment from his chest.
The Purification of Chaos.
[Sub-Mission: Acquire the Skill ‘Purification of Chaos’!]
[Task: In a sacred place beyond the God of Chaos’s gaze, tear
the Book of “Purification of Chaos”!]
The method to obtain it was truly simple.
He held the Book of Purification in both hands.
Rip, rip—
And tore it apart.
Like the Fear of Chaos, it tore too easily.
Cale stared into the air.
Ding-ding!
Ding-ding!
Two notifications sounded.
[Skill: Fear of Chaos (Legendary) has been activated.]
One was a reminder of the results of a previous task he hadn’t
confirmed due to being too busy.
The other was new.
[Acquired Skill: Purification of Chaos (Legendary).]
Swish.
Cale’s lips curled upward.
He had gained two of the five valuable powers from the God of
Chaos’s church.
And he still had three more in his pocket.
[I’ll take them all!]
Cale planned to acquire every single skill in turn.
The remaining powers.
Corruption, Joy.
[And the last one I haven’t read yet.]
The final power with unknown text.
Of course, Cale didn’t know that even the Pope of the God of
Chaos’s church couldn’t possess all five powers.
Especially the final, unreadable power.
No one had ever possessed it since the church’s founding.
“All done?”
Cale nodded at Alberu, who approached.
“Yes. I’ll stay in the Demon Realm for a bit, then head to the
Demon World.”
He needed to go to the Demon Realm to meet his companions
and the Witch of the Forest, the leader of the Dark Elves.
After that—
[Choi Jung Gun.]
He’d go to the Demon World to save him.
And, while at it, overthrow the Demon World.
A few hours later, Cale returned to the Demon Realm.
He faced the Witch of the Forest.
Rustle, rustle—
With the sound of the wind, the grass and branches around the
Witch of the Forest enveloped her.
“The ideal of the world has been perceived.”
The Witch of the Forest, leader of the Dark Elves, asked Cale.
“And you’re not human, are you?”
Heh.
Cale was taken aback.
But an even more shocking statement followed.
“You’re our creator, aren’t you?”
Ha.
Creator?
What nonsense was this?
Cale’s face was filled with disbelief.
“I’m going to lose my mind.”
Alberu’s low muttering nearby was ignored.
Chapter 2-425: Confrontation and Protection (12)
The Witch of the Forest.
She was utterly different from any Dark Elf Cale had
encountered so far.
Rustle, rustle—
Swaying branches coiled around her like living snakes,
writhing endlessly.
[Leaves.]
Her hair was as dark and beautiful as the night sky, but
unlike other Dark Elves, it was adorned—no,
sprouting—with leaves.
—It’s hard to tell if she’s a Dark Elf or a plant.
As Super Rock remarked, the Witch of the Forest’s
appearance was indeed peculiar.
[They say she has no name.]
She was simply called the “Witch of the Forest.”
“You’re the Creator, aren’t you?”
When the Witch of the Forest asked again, Cale stared
directly at her.
“…”
“…”
Her eyes were as dark as a moonless night.
It was said she couldn’t see anything.
Yet, she ruled over a territory and a race in this perilous
Demon Realm.
Cale’s lips slowly parted.
“No.”
“Hm?”
She had asked about a “Creator,” so he answered
honestly.
“I’m not the Creator.”
Cale’s voice carried a hint of incredulity.
“And I’m human.”
“Ha—”
The Witch of the Forest let out a sigh.
“You say you’re human? Not the Creator?”
She seemed utterly perplexed.
“Then why do I sense absolute power from you?”
“What?”
Cale, thrown off by the absurd question, retorted. The
Witch of the Forest pondered for a moment before
speaking.
Rustle, rustle, rustle—
Her emotions seemed to affect the surrounding leaves,
which trembled and fell.
“In truth, I have a secret I’ve never shared.”
“Hm?”
Cale’s face showed confusion. His original plan was to
form an alliance with the Demon Realm through the Witch
of the Forest, then head to the Demon World to rescue
Choi Jung Gun and divert the attention of the Five-Colored
Blood Family.
Thus, he had intended to leave this place to Alberu,
exchange brief greetings, and depart.
However, things took an unexpected turn. The Witch of
the Forest’s next words stopped him in his tracks.
“Since my earliest memories, I’ve been able to see the
essence of things.”
Rustle.
Her fingers didn’t extend; instead, a branch pointed at
Alberu.
“For example, this person is a ‘player.’”
Then the branch pointed to the sky.
“And this world is a game.”
Ugh.
Cale realized the Witch of the Forest was a variable, like
the Third Demon, the “Dark Phantom” Count Lupe.
“Not only that, I know this world is changing.”
“Hm.”
Alberu, standing nearby, let out a soft sigh.
“This world was originally made of numbers, combinations
of 0s and 1s.”
Cale was genuinely shocked by her words.
“Seeing the essence made surviving here easy. I could
always find bugs and solutions. But I only intended to play
the role the game assigned me, as long as it let me and my
race live in peace.”
Perhaps the Witch of the Forest was even more
remarkable than Count Lupe. She didn’t see a virtual
reality—she saw the system itself.
“But now, everything here feels more and more like a real
world to me.”
She extended her hand.
Rustle—
Branches coiled around her.
“These trees are real now too.”
The Witch of the Forest—this elderly woman—smiled
gently.
“This means my life is becoming real.”
She wasn’t born; she was created.
Her purpose was predetermined.
Her mission wasn’t fate but an assigned task.
Now, all of that was changing.
“I’m no longer a created being but have the chance to
exist by my own will.”
She could live a real life.
For the Witch of the Forest, who had spent endless years
alone imagining such a thing, it was now within reach.
“How could I miss this?”
She absolutely couldn’t let it slip away.
The Witch of the Forest wanted this world to become real.
But—
“You mentioned the God of Chaos, didn’t you?”
She didn’t want this world to fall into chaos.
“That night, when the God of Chaos appeared, I saw this
world become more real, but I also saw an immense
power trying to invade. That must be the power of the
God of Chaos.”
Thus, when she sent scouts, she dispatched not only her
trusted aides but also powerful warriors.
“At that moment, I realized that power was divine.”
That overwhelming presence.
A force that seemed capable of tearing through the
world’s walls.
“Starting a few years ago, I began sensing a similar
presence.”
Cale froze the moment he heard this.
[What?]
She had sensed a presence similar to the God of Chaos?
A glint flashed in his eyes.
“That presence grew stronger, more intense. A silent
frenzy, it reminded me of a storm yet to come.”
And that storm—
“It felt like an impending disaster.”
The Witch of the Forest had borne this fear alone.
She had never revealed her power to those around her.
She acted like an ordinary NPC.
“I knew only I could sense this disastrous presence, but I
couldn’t say anything.”
The reason was simple.
“Because I was born different. I realized that if I were
discovered, I might disappear.”
Ah.
Hearing this, Cale finally understood how to view the
Witch of the Forest.
She wasn’t a variable.
Nor was she an awakened being like Count Lupe.
The Witch of the Forest was simply a bug.
Born as a bug from the start.
From the very beginning.
“I was afraid of being discovered, of being replaced, so I
stayed cautious and silent.”
The Witch of the Forest had perfectly hidden herself.
She never revealed the world’s secrets to anyone,
enduring her inner turmoil alone.
She could only look around, unable to tell others their lives
might not be real.
But now, she knew she had to speak.
“That’s why I’ve always feared yet waited for the Creator’s
arrival.”
The Creator would surely understand her value.
“Despite that immense power growing, the Creator took
no action. That means the Creator either couldn’t locate
that power or was powerless against it.”
Her hand pointed in a direction.
“When this child came to me, I realized the Creator knew
of my existence.”
She pointed at Alberu Crossman. Alberu had come to her
with a mission to become the first emperor of the Dark
Elves.
And that mission was given by the system.
As was the Hero mission.
[Ah.]
Cale finally understood the full picture.
[The system, that guy—]
It must have been hiding from the Transparent Operator’s
gaze, working alone.
The Witch of the Forest looked at Cale.
“I sense the Creator’s power in you.”
“Ah.”
Cale now understood. The “Creator” she referred to was
the “system.” Rather than “God” or “world,” “Creator”
was perhaps a more fitting term for the system.
“You mean the ‘Red Hand,’ don’t you?”
The Red Hand.
The punishment that could be issued to those who broke
the game’s rules.
“The Creator shared its power with me.”
At Cale’s words, the Witch of the Forest reacted.
“Then, are you on the Creator’s side?”
“Yes.”
Cale answered briefly, then approached her.
“Witch of the Forest.”
The immense, frenzied power she had sensed—
“Which direction is that power coming from?”
She had realized its existence after sensing the God of
Chaos’s power.
“Where is the divine power you felt coming from?”
The Witch of the Forest had sensed divine power.
And that divine power could only be one thing.
The Absolute God.
Without a doubt, she was referring to that power.
Cale had been unable to pinpoint the Absolute God’s
location, but now he had a lead.
The Witch of the Forest spoke.
“The West.”
Her branches pointed westward.
An immense power was growing in the West.
“That presence kept growing but then stopped expanding,
only becoming more frenzied.”
The presence ceased expanding, but the aura within it
grew stronger.
Combined with the information that the Absolute God was
about to be born, what the Witch of the Forest sensed was
indeed the Absolute God’s aura.
“That frenzied terror is indescribable.”
Rustle.
Her leaves, branches, and fingers trembled slightly.
“I wanted to inform the Creator of this power, so I’ve been
waiting. I believed the Creator would recognize my value
and find me.”
The system didn’t know the Absolute God’s location.
The Transparent Company—no, the Transparent Blood
and Five-Colored Blood—had hidden the Absolute God’s
existence deeply.
It was their most important asset, so naturally.
But a bug knew.
“You found the right person, Lady Witch of the Forest.”
Cale asked her.
“That power belongs to the Absolute God. When that god
is born, this will no longer be the world you live in.”
“I see.”
The Witch of the Forest nodded calmly, as if she had
expected this.
“To pinpoint the exact location, I must leave this place and
head toward that presence. But I’ve never left the Demon
Realm.”
She feared being discovered, feared disappearing.
Though she didn’t say the rest, it could be inferred.
“You need a guide, don’t you?”
“Yes. And someone to hide my existence.”
Exactly.
The Witch of the Forest had to remain hidden.
The Transparent Blood Family’s operators.
If they discovered a bug, they would surely try to erase
her.
It was a miracle she had survived this long.
Despite hiding well, as one of the four leaders of the
Demon Realm, her status wasn’t low. The operators could
have easily detected her as a bug.
[But they didn’t.]
There was only one answer.
Cale looked into the void.
“You heard that, didn’t you?”
He asked the system.
[The system hid the Witch of the Forest.]
The system had deliberately preserved this bug.
It had even given Alberu a mission to utilize the bug.
“You should know the answer.”
A system like that would surely know what the Witch of
the Forest needed.
Zzt—
Cale’s vision began to distort.
[#$%$—]
Unreadable text appeared.
Under the Transparent Company’s strict surveillance, the
system had become more cautious and secretive.
Of course, its control was also stronger than before.
[#$%$ Mission: Escort the Witch of the Forest out of the
realm, hiding the bug #%#%]
It conveyed its intent to Cale with clearer language than
before.
“Alright, then issue the mission.”
Zzt—
The void distorted.
“Hm.”
Alberu seemed to sense something.
[Hero Mission!]
A prompt appeared before Alberu.
[Hero’s Companion Mission!]
The same appeared before Cale.
But the content was identical.
[Escort the Witch of the Forest to her destination.]
[Time Limit: None]
“Hm?”
“Ah?”
Choi Han and Rosalyn received the same “Hero’s
Companion” mission.
“Huh?”
Raon tilted his head.
[Hero’s Companion Mission!]
Of course, Raon received it too.
The companions of the Hero Alberu Crossman currently
included Cale, Choi Han, Rosalyn, and Raon—a total of
four.
“This place will be handled by me and Miss Rosalyn.”
“We’ll avoid the wanderers’ eyes and move discreetly. The
Dark Elves will fully cooperate.”
Alberu and Rosalyn, staying in the Demon Realm, said this.
Cale nodded and turned to leave.
“Let’s go.”
Eruhaben, Raon, Choi Han, and Heavenly Demon stood by
his side.
“First to the Seventh Demon Territory, then through
Apitoyu to the Demon World.”
The Demon World.
He had to meet Choi Jung Gun.
Of course, he’d pick up Choi Jung Soo along the way and
see his long-lost team leader, Soo Hyuk.
[But what have those guys been up to lately?]
They didn’t seem to be helping Representative Choi Sun
Hee on the Third Earth either.
They said they were investigating the God of Chaos, but
what exactly were they doing?
Cale frowned, leaving the Demon Realm for the Seventh
Demon Territory.
And there—
Flap, flap!
A baby dragon, smaller than Raon and mini-sized, flapped
its wings and flew over.
“Meow!”
Hong proudly said to Cale:
“Our youngest is flying so well now!”
On, standing nearby, smiled warmly at the mixed-blood
dragon Eden Miru.
“Hm.”
Cale noticed the disillusionment on Eden Miru’s face but
pretended not to see it. Instead, he greeted the human
standing quietly to the side.
“So, how’ve you been?”
Clopeh Sekka smiled brightly and replied:
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
His eyes gleamed.
“You’ve created another legend.”
Raon hurriedly shouted in Cale’s mind:
—Human! Clopeh Sekka’s eyes are all sparkly!
Cale, of course, knew.
Seeing Clopeh Sekka’s expression, brimming with a desire
to speak, his heart raced.
He was genuinely a bit scared.
Chapter 2-426: One Person, Two Stages, and the Chaos Demon
World (1)
Chapter 54: One Person, Two Stages, and the Chaos Demon
World
Cale had a lot he wanted to say to Clopeh Sekka.
“Ahem, I have a lot to talk to you about—”
“Yes, I have much to say as well.”
“!”
Clopeh’s unhesitating response made Cale suddenly want to
drop the topic.
“Hm.”
Cale hesitated.
But—
“He’s the right person for this.”
Ancient Dragon Eruhaben patted Cale’s shoulder and said.
“I think so too.”
Heavenly Demon patted Cale’s other shoulder in agreement.
Choi Han, though reluctant, nodded as well.
“Hm?”
“Huh?”
On and Hong tilted their heads in confusion, and Raon flapped
his wings, explaining to them:
“Our youngest, Eden Miru, needs his birth ceremony held twice
more in the Demon World!”
“!!”
The pupils of the mixed-blood dragon Eden Miru quaked. So did
On’s.
Hong’s eyes, however, sparkled.
“I wanna know if it’s gonna be two more cool things!”
Raon answered excitedly:
“It’s not exactly like a birth ceremony, but it’s gotta be grand
enough to fool even the Demon King and the Demon World!”
“I really wanna know what those two things are!”
Raon grinned widely.
Before returning to the Seventh Demon Territory, Cale’s group
had discussed “how to divert the wanderers’ attention” and
reached a conclusion.
Raon summarized the lengthy discussion in two sentences:
“One is the God of Chaos Church conquering the Demon
World!”
“Huh?”
Eden Miru flapped his tiny wings, looking incredulous.
“The other is Cale Henituse conquering the Demon World!”
“Ha.”
Eden Miru let out a scoff.
He looked at Ancient Dragon Eruhaben in disbelief.
“…”
But the Ancient Dragon only smiled and nodded.
Eden Miru turned to Cale.
Swish.
Cale averted his gaze, muttering softly:
“…It’s not real, just acting, acting!”
He emphasized the word “acting.”
He hurriedly added:
“It’s not a real fight, just exaggerated acting, and we’ll sneak
back at the last moment!”
He declared firmly:
“It’s really a simple plan!”
While avoiding Eden Miru’s gaze, Cale felt a chill. He looked up
and flinched.
“!”
Clopeh Sekka was already right in front of him.
“Lord Cale.”
His face was serious.
“You said ‘exaggerated acting,’ right?”
“Y-Yeah?”
Not real, just “exaggerated acting.”
“This time, I can use the power of the God of Chaos’s Saint, so
we’ll formally stage the God of Chaos Church targeting the
Demon World.”
Cale had previously posed as the secret force “Dark” of the God
of Chaos Church, planting seeds in the Demon World. The
Hunters wouldn’t find it suspicious.
[Because the God of Chaos Church tricked them in the New
World, trying to summon a god.]
They didn’t have time to think deeply either.
“On the other hand, I’ll personally take the stage, turning the
Demon World upside down, pretending to wage war against it.”
When the wanderer twins reported to the Five-Colored Blood
Family, Cale’s group would appear in the Demon World.
“This way, the Five-Colored Blood Family’s Hunters will have no
choice but to come to the Demon World to find us.”
They wouldn’t be found in the game.
Alberu and Rosalyn would evacuate the Dark Elves and then
vanish from the New World with the other companions. The
two would head to the Third Earth, cornering the Transparent
Blood Family.
[This way, the New World will—]
Cale looked at Eden Miru.
Flap.
Unlike his cute flapping wings, Eden Miru’s eyes were filled with
incredulity and weariness. Cale spoke:
“For now, the New World is in your hands.”
Of course, the ferocious Dark Bear, Dark Phantom Count Lupe,
and Pope Cassilia would assist.
But the most reliable was the eldest and most experienced,
Eden Miru.
“…”
Though Eden Miru didn’t fully grasp the situation, hearing that
Cale was entrusting the New World to him stirred complex
emotions.
“What, not confident?”
Cale asked with a stern face. Eden Miru scoffed:
“Of course I’m confident.”
When the chubby-bellied baby dragon spoke in a mocking tone,
Cale felt an odd sensation but chose to ignore it.
He pretended not to notice the cheeks that looked softer than
Raon’s.
[How much did the kids feed this guy?]
Eden Miru.
How much did this guy eat to get this chubby?
Cale didn’t know that former Dragon Lord Sheritt, On, and Hong
had been feeding Eden Miru the same way they fed Raon.
Nor did he know that the residents of the Seventh Demon
Territory adored their new lord, the Light Dragon Eden Miru,
like an idol.
The food they offered was enough to sustain the entire Seventh
Demon Cotton Candy Territory.
[Our boss is too cute!]
[Our adorable boss, see him? Born with the light! That holy
appearance! He must stay cute and holy!]
[The baby needs to eat well, sleep well, and play well! Don’t let
the boss do hard work!]
Of course, Eden Miru was unaware of this.
The ferocious Dark Bear had completely blocked the news.
Eden Miru simply couldn’t refuse the feedings, eating until full
and sleeping carefree.
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
Eden Miru didn’t respond, only showing a stiff expression.
Flap, flap, flap!
Of course, his wings flapped more vigorously. Seeing this, Cale
gave an incredulous look, but Eden Miru didn’t notice. He
simply stood firm as the leader of the Seventh Demon Territory.
“Hm. Anyway.”
Cale ignored Eden Miru’s demeanor.
He wondered how to handle this.
He turned to Clopeh Sekka and spoke.
“You said you saw what happened at the God of Chaos’s holy
site, so I’ll tell you what you need to do.”
“Hm.”
Clopeh listened obediently.
“The God of Chaos Church, my exposure. Everyone plans to
make it grand. And we want to stir things up across the Demon
World at the same time. Besides me, these companions here
will join in.”
Choi Han, Heavenly Demon, and Eruhaben.
They would all wreak havoc across the Demon World together.
“I need you to help plan, ensuring our actions are grand enough
to draw the enemy’s attention.”
Cale paused here.
“Heh.”
Then he looked at Clopeh and spoke.
Clopeh smiled faintly:
“Just let it flow naturally.”
“Hm?”
Cale couldn’t hide his incredulity at Clopeh’s words.
“No, this time it needs to be more exaggerated than usual, and
it’s acting!”
“Yes, just let it flow naturally.”
“Ha—”
Cale was speechless, but—
“Everyone can act freely, and it’ll come together naturally.”
Hm?
What?
Huh?
Heavenly Demon, Eruhaben, and Choi Han looked skeptical, but
Clopeh only smiled.
“He’s right.”
Eden Miru agreed.
“Exactly.”
On nodded too.
Clopeh added with a calm smile:
“However…”
His face took on a strange expression.
“When playing the God of Chaos Church conquering the Demon
World, we need to be mindful of some details.”
Clopeh hadn’t missed a single word Cale said.
[It’s not a real fight, just acting, and we’ll sneak back at the last
moment!]
[To the unsuspecting, in Clopeh’s eyes, Cale’s group excelled at
turning a “needle’s eye” into a “sinkhole.”]
[If they act freely, the Demon World will be turned upside
down.]
Lord Cale said to “act exaggeratedly.”
To the enemies in the Demon World—
[It might be a disaster.]
Cale Henituse would descend upon the Demon World,
becoming a catastrophe.
[But there’s one thing to watch out for.]
Clopeh immediately recognized the key to this operation.
[Lord Cale excels at everything he does.]
He wasn’t omnipotent, but somehow, he always did things well
from the start.
[There’s no need to worry too much about the aftermath when
Cale Henituse takes the stage.]
But the actions of the God of Chaos Church were a bit
concerning.
[If the God of Chaos Church’s actions are too convincing, it
could be problematic.]
Somehow, a new chaotic church faction might emerge in the
Demon World.
The demons might say they’re following a future Demon King
who will one day appear.
[Such people might turn to worship the God of Chaos.]
No, to be precise—
[They’ll worship Lord Cale, who plays the Saint of the God of
Chaos.]
At that moment, a voice transmission reached Clopeh’s ears:
—Looks like you’ve spotted a blind spot.
Clopeh’s gaze moved past Cale’s shoulder.
Behind Cale stood Eruhaben and Heavenly Demon.
When their eyes met, Eruhaben looked at him coldly. Clopeh
averted his gaze.
[Yeah, that Ancient Dragon probably doesn’t know.]
The dragon didn’t understand the issue with this operation.
Because dragons are inherently pure.
Clopeh looked at the one speaking to him.
[Heavenly Demon.]
The one who gained an aura before Choi Han but achieved his
own uniqueness before him.
The ruler of the Demon Cult and—
[A god.]
He was the god of the Demon Cult.
From the outside, it looked like blind worship, making him a
god to his followers.
So he noticed the blind spot.
—Cale Henituse’s actions might cause the God of Chaos Church
to spread in the Demon World.
Heavenly Demon locked eyes with Clopeh and sent another
transmission.
—Cale Henituse has the power to attract people. His actions
will surely lead to something good.
Cale Henituse would enter the Demon World, posing as the
God of Chaos Church, but he wouldn’t oppress the demons.
On the contrary, he might do something to save them.
That’s how his path had always been.
Intentionally or not, Cale Henituse was likely to achieve another
heroic feat.
[The probability of that is 100%.]
Clopeh was certain.
—Clopeh Sekka.
He knew what Heavenly Demon would demand.
—We can’t let the God of Chaos Church grow stronger because
of Cale Henituse’s actions.
Swish.
Clopeh’s lips curled upward.
[As expected of the Demon Cult’s leader.]
Heavenly Demon sent another transmission.
—You need to prevent that. That’s why I recommended you.
In Heavenly Demon’s view, no one in Cale’s group could handle
this as well as Clopeh Sekka.
Heavenly Demon recommended Clopeh because only he could
stop the God of Chaos Church from taking root in the Demon
World.
Swish.
Clopeh’s smile widened.
“You can trust and rely on me.”
He spoke his true feelings.
[Yes.]
You can trust me, leave it to me.
The God of Chaos Church wouldn’t grow.
Everything Cale did in the Demon World—whether
compensation or worship—would be—
[Entirely Cale’s!]
No one else could take what belonged to Lord Cale. All that was
his would go to him alone.
And that wasn’t difficult.
“Heh.”
Everything belonged to Cale!
Clopeh chuckled softly.
Cale, meanwhile—
[What the—]
Was terrified.
[Why is this guy laughing at the air?]
Cale was genuinely scared of Clopeh.
Even Ron seemed less frightening now.
[Hm.]
Before heading to the Demon World, they would stop by
Apitoyu to meet Ron and Beacrox.
Cale planned to take them to the Demon World.
Thinking of the two he hadn’t seen in a while, Cale felt mixed
emotions.
No, to be precise, discomfort.
But that feeling was quickly interrupted.
“I believe in you.”
Huh?
Because of what Clopeh said.
[What’s this guy talking about?]
Cale’s pupils quaked.
“Everything will go smoothly this time.”
Everything about Cale could only belong to Cale.
“What you believe in will surely come to pass.”
Clopeh was certain it would happen.
“Heh.”
Clopeh kept smiling, and Cale quietly stepped back.
He spoke to Eden Miru:
“We’re heading to Apitoyu first.”
“Oh, good, let’s go quick.”
Eden Miru glanced at Clopeh and urged Cale.
“Take him and go.”
Cale felt conflicted but left with Clopeh anyway.
Beep—
Arriving in Apitoyu, Cale stepped into the world once ruled by
the Purple Blood Family and dragons.
A message came through a video communication device.
<The God of Chaos Church has appeared in the Demon World?>
“What’s this now?”
Cale frowned.
“Heh heh.”
Clopeh chuckled softly:
“What you believe in will unfold as believed.”
His eyes gleamed.
“This way, it won’t be taken away—”
Raon, On, and Hong quietly distanced themselves from Clopeh.
Even Choi Han did the same.
Chapter 2-427: One Person, Two Stages, and the Chaos Demon
World (2)
[The God of Chaos Church has appeared in the Demon World?]
The message’s sender was Aurora, the leader of the Arbiters’
Alliance.
She was the sole surviving bloodline of the former Demon King
and the adversary of the current Demon King.
Cale needed to understand the details of this message.
Ding!
Another message followed immediately:
<Sender: **Choi Jung Soo**, currently out of contact. The
message suggests the communication was forcibly cut off.
Suspected emergency. Last transmission location estimated to
be the Demon World.>
Cale’s expression hardened.
He recalled past memories.
[I’ll send two people over soon.]
Choi Sun Hee, the representative of Sun Company on the Third
Earth and Alberu’s secretary.
Cale had told her he’d send Choi Jung Soo and Soo Hyuk to
assist.
He had, of course, sent messages to both of them.
[They replied that they understood.]
But neither had gone to the Third Earth.
Cale hadn’t had time to follow up.
[They’ll handle it anyway.]
Honestly, when it came to “executing tasks,” Cale considered
Choi Jung Soo and Soo Hyuk more reliable than the companions
he met during his time as Cale.
“Ha.”
Cale sighed.
A headache was brewing.
Before asking them to work on the Third Earth, he had
entrusted them with other tasks.
[The team leader was tasked with investigating the God of
Chaos.]
He had asked Soo Hyuk to gather related information.
As for Choi Jung Soo—
[The Demon World.]
He had asked Choi Jung Soo to investigate the Demon World.
Both had connections to the Divine Realm, giving them access
to more intelligence.
“…”
Over Cale’s shoulder, Choi Han saw the message and his face
darkened, about to speak.
But someone spoke first.
“Choi Jung Soo—”
It was Cale.
“Choi Jung Soo is in an emergency…?”
Cale’s lips curled upward.
Choi Han swallowed a sigh and stayed silent.
“We need to head to the Demon World immediately.”
Cale’s smile silenced everyone; no one reacted otherwise.
“Lord Eruhaben, please meet Ron and Beacrox in the back
courtyard.”
Apitoyu.
Cale needed a report, as he wanted to know how the world was
being rebuilt.
“Also, tell Lock the divine artifact will be handed over later, or
he can come to the Demon World to retrieve it.”
He also planned to pass the divine artifact to the Blue Wolf
through Lock.
“The portal can be checked when we return.”
The portal in the Black Castle.
It was said to have been perfected, and as the New World
became more real, its effectiveness had improved.
Cale wanted to confirm this.
If the portal was superior to the Purple Blood Family’s virtual
reality entrance, its utility would be immeasurable.
[We could leverage the power of various worlds.]
If they could summon all the strong allies Cale’s group had
helped across different worlds to the New World—
[We could overwhelm with numbers.]
Be it the Hunters, the God of Chaos Church, or the Demon
World, they could suppress them with sheer numbers.
[We could even get help from our world.]
Nameless 1.
Cale’s homeland, including the forces of the Roan Kingdom and
beyond.
Perhaps even summon some companions.
Though Cale wanted to confirm all these things—
“We’re heading out first.”
He had to bid farewell to Ancient Dragon Eruhaben and head to
the Demon World with the others.
Choi Jung Soo.
That guy was out of contact?
In the Demon World, while relaying information about the God
of Chaos Church?
“Haha—”
Cale couldn’t help but laugh.
—Choi Han! Choi Han!
Raon hurriedly sent a telepathic message.
—Our human is super, super angry right now! It’s like he’s
going to destroy everything!
Raon shivered again.
—Heavenly Demon! Heavenly Demon!
He spoke to the Heavenly Demon, whom he wasn’t very
familiar with.
—Choi Han and our human are both furious!*
In truth, Heavenly Demon and Eruhaben didn’t fully understand
Choi Jung Soo’s relationship with Cale, only inferring from
Cale’s actions.
“Human, human! Let’s go!”
Meow!
Meow!
The team with an average age of ten (excluding Eden Miru)
supported Cale’s decision. After replying to Aurora, Cale
headed straight to the Demon World.
“Welcome.”
Aurora, leader of the Arbiters’ Alliance, greeted Cale.
Seeing his expression, she immediately started walking.
“Let’s talk while we move. We’re heading to where Choi Jung
Gun is.”
Coton, the former vice-priestess of the War God, stepped aside.
Cale had no time to spare for her.
“Also, Mr. Soo Hyuk just sent a message.”
Aurora added.
The God of Chaos Church.
Soo Hyuk, who was investigating it, had sent a message.
And not to Cale, but to Aurora?
[Something’s definitely happened to Choi Jung Soo and the
team leader.]
Aurora pointed to the sky.
“Look, that’s the message he sent.”
Cale looked up.
“Hm.”
Raon reacted quickly.
“Human, it’s an eagle!”
A black eagle circled in the sky.
“There’s a letter tied to its leg.”
Aurora, walking, pulled a letter from her chest and handed it to
him.
“Wow! It’s the village chief!”
“Who are these people?”
Children ran out to greet Aurora.
They were villagers Cale’s group had previously saved from the
Demon King’s army.
They had built a hidden village with the Arbiters’ Alliance
members.
“Don’t bother the village chief, come here!”
“Oh, kids, sorry, village chief!”
The villagers, sensing the tense atmosphere, quickly took the
children away.
The adults knew Aurora’s true identity and the existence of the
Arbiters’ Alliance, so they were extra cautious.
They had been informed:
[The true saviors of this village are coming.]
So they were asked to be more vigilant about security.
The Demon King’s core force, the Demon King’s Army.
Among them, the Eighth Army was the central unit.
The Sixth Army, which stopped the Eighth, were the true
saviors of the village.
The villagers desperately wanted to help them.
“…”
Aurora only nodded slightly. Usually, she’d smile back even
when tired, but her seriousness now silenced even the children.
Rustle.
Rather than a letter, what Cale unfolded was a torn piece of
cloth.
<To be delivered to **Cale Henituse**.>
Soo Hyuk, no, Team Leader Lee Soo Hyuk’s handwriting.
No matter how many times he reincarnated, his handwriting
never changed.
It was even written in Korean.
[To avoid detection.]
The cloth was covered in words written in blood.
[Blood.]
Words written in blood.
How bad must the situation be for Soo Hyuk to do this?
“…”
As Cale read the contents, his expression grew increasingly
grim.
He even stopped walking.
<The **God of Chaos** Church has infiltrated the Demon
World.>
<Suspected presence of the Pope here.>
The New World had a Saint, and the Demon World had a Pope?
<Currently tracking a suspected Holy Knight Order (2 individuals
at **Choi Jung Soo**’s level, plus approximately 100 mid-tier
ability users), locating now.>
Two at Choi Jung Soo’s level? And 100 mid-tier ability users?
Here, “mid-tier” referred to Lee Soo Hyuk’s rough classification
from their old team days, dividing ability users into high, mid,
and low tiers.
Mid-tier would be—
[Roughly between early Beacrox and Rosalyn.]
Strong individuals in that range.
Over a hundred of them?
[And two at Choi Jung Soo’s level?]
Not the old Choi Jung Soo, but the current one.
“Ha.”
Cale was both shocked and enlightened.
[Tracking a force of this scale, the team leader could only act
covertly.]
Using magic tools or abilities might expose him, so sending a
message via eagle was safer.
<**Choi Jung Soo** is out of contact, please confirm.>
The team leader was also monitoring Choi Jung Soo.
<Transmission location can be confirmed via the eagle.>
The black eagle circling above the village.
Following it would lead to the last place the team leader sent
the message.
[There’ll definitely be a mark for the next location.]
The team leader was never careless.
Cale looked at the end of the message.
One of the two final sentences stood out:
<I’m fine.>
Pfft.
Cale couldn’t help but laugh.
“Same as ever.”
In his past life as Kim Rok Soo, he had received many similar
messages. In areas with monsters and poor communication, the
team leader always ended with this phrase.
I’m fine.
So Cale knew well:
“Something’s about to go wrong.”
Every time he received such a message, the team leader
returned injured.
Tap, tap.
Cale started walking.
Aurora spoke up:
“That’s where Choi Jung Gun is.”
The deepest part of the village.
A hidden building, shaped like a temple, obscured by trees.
Buzz, buzz—
Approaching the building, he could feel the fluctuations of a
magic array.
It was a protective array to shield Choi Jung Gun from chaos
corruption.
“After receiving Choi Jung Soo’s message, we also investigated
the God of Chaos Church’s traces.”
Aurora continued:
“But found nothing.”
After meeting Count Lupe, the Arbiters’ Alliance gained the
right to act as their trade guild’s proxy.
This was not only immense wealth but also an intelligence
network.
The intelligence network of a top Demon World trade guild was
formidable, yet it yielded nothing.
That meant—
“The depths of the Demon King’s Palace are unknown, but
ordinary demon nobles and the upper echelons know nothing
about the God of Chaos Church.”
She added:
“Of course, except for the rumors we spread about ‘Dark.’”
The rumors of the God of Chaos Church’s secret force “Dark”
were a different matter.
“But there’s one rumor.”
Cale looked at Aurora.
They had stopped in front of the sealed building housing Choi
Jung Gun, accessible only to a select few.
“Some villages and cities mention a ‘Gray Disease.’”
Gray Disease.
A glint flashed in Cale’s eyes.
“The Demon World’s mana is gray, so it’s assumed to be a
mana-related illness. But I think it needs deeper investigation.”
Gray Disease.
Hearing the name, Cale immediately thought of one thing.
“It reminds me of chaos corruption.”
No one refuted him.
Cale recalled the “Purification of Chaos” skill he had checked
before leaving the game.
Though he couldn’t use it like a skill outside the game, he
instinctively understood how to wield its power.
The prerequisite for using the skill was:
[Skill: Purification of Chaos]
[Requires a joint purification ritual.]
Just like the information Soo Hyuk found.
Purification of Chaos required a ritual.
[I know the ritual too.]
Cale knew that ritual.
“I’m going in.”
Tap, tap.
Cale stepped toward the building.
<I’m fine.>
The final sentence of the message:
<The **God of Chaos** seems to want to be the only god in
the untouched lands.>
The untouched lands.
The Demon World.
The Demon World awaited a Demon God.
Of course, bit by bit, the hands of gods were reaching that
world, with the Absolute God about to be born.
The God of Chaos.
Why it so desperately wanted to descend upon the New World.
Why it appeared in the Demon World—the answer was
becoming clear.
The God of Chaos Church.
A church existing wherever chaos reached. They wanted chaos
to taint the entire world.
“…”
Cale looked at Choi Jung Gun.
His body was grayer than before, with grotesque gray veins
bulging.
As if oozing pus.
Hiss—
His breathing was weaker than before.
Fainter.
It wouldn’t be surprising if he died at any moment.
Though Cale had arrived as early as possible before the
remaining deadline, Choi Jung Gun’s condition was dire.
“First,”
Follow the team leader and gather information.
Find Choi Jung Soo.
Work with the companions.
But first—
Cale looked down at Choi Jung Gun and said:
“Let’s start by saving you.”
Cale stepped out of the building and spoke to Aurora:
“Hold the ritual in the village.”
Purification of Chaos.
He had a hunch this power would be crucial in the future.
But he didn’t yet know what the purification ritual would bring
to the village and the Demon World.
Chapter 2-428: One Person, Two Stages, and the Chaos
Demon World (3)
Flap, flap.
“Human, why are we suddenly holding a festival in the
village?”
Raon tilted his head, flapping his wings as he asked.
Cale stood on a hill overlooking the village, surveying the
scene below.
‘Hm?’
When Cale proposed holding a festival, Aurora initially
couldn’t hide her surprise.
“A festival?”
“Something like a banquet will do.”
He added:
“It’s necessary.”
And Cale wasn’t just saying it.
Swish.
He took a gem from his pocket and handed it over.
“!”
Wealth enough to host a village-wide banquet and more.
Aurora grabbed the gem.
“We should be ready before evening!”
Entrusting the task to a serious-faced Aurora, Cale climbed
the hill with Raon to overlook the village.
“Lord Cale.”
But Clopeh’s voice from behind sent a shiver through Cale.
Choi Han, Heavenly Demon, On, and Hong.
His companions were enjoying a moment of leisure.
Finding Choi Jung Soo’s last known location.
Tracking Team Leader Soo Hyuk’s final contact point.
Cale planned to handle it himself.
‘I need to understand Choi Jung Soo and the team leader’s
methods.’
More precisely, the working style of “our team.”
Only then could he follow the markers.
‘Hm.’
Of course, Cale wasn’t the only one capable of this.
Glance.
Cale’s eyes subtly shifted to the side.
Choi Han sat quietly, gazing at the village.
‘Choi Han knows too.’
Because he had Choi Jung Soo’s memories.
He had glimpsed his life and inherited his power.
Choi Jung Soo’s White Dragon.
Choi Han’s Black Dragon.
Choi Han knew Choi Jung Soo’s team dynamics as well as
Cale did.
“Choi Han.”
“Here.”
“Choi Jung Soo is your responsibility.”
“Understood.”
Choi Han’s crisp response showed he had anticipated this
task.
‘I’ll find the team leader.’
Team Leader Soo Hyuk.
No, Lee Soo Hyuk.
He needed to catch up before that guy got into trouble.
‘Maybe—’
Perhaps, even if Choi Han and Cale split up to find Soo
Hyuk and Choi Jung Soo, they’d end up in the same place.
‘The God of Chaos Church.’
The answer lay there.
Cale’s face grew solemn.
“Lord Cale.”
Oh no.
He almost forgot about this guy.
Cale’s gaze shifted.
“Hm, hm?”
He awkwardly looked at Clopeh Sekka.
‘What’s he going to ask?’
What did this guy want to say?
‘Is it about the purification ritual? Or Choi Jung Soo or the
team leader?’
A strange tension surged.
Swish.
Clopeh Sekka gave a gentle smile.
Dressed in a white priest’s robe, he pointed downward.
“May I go help prepare the village banquet?”
Hm?
‘Quite, very—’
A very normal question?
“Uh, s-sure?”
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
With Cale’s permission, Clopeh smiled purely.
“Human, I want to help too! Preparing a banquet sounds
fun!”
“I want to join! I want to join!”
“I’ll take them and make sure they help properly without
causing trouble.”
Following Raon and Hong, On added the final word.
Cale looked at On and said:
“Help out without making a mess.”
Nod.
On’s reliable demeanor made Cale unconsciously smile
with relief.
Because On’s gaze had briefly lingered on Clopeh.
No trouble.
That was directed more at Clopeh Sekka than Raon or
Hong.
‘As expected, so smart.’
On was the smartest.
How was this kid so clever and wise?
Truly remarkable.
“270-degree Clopeh Sekka! Let’s go!”
“Yes, Lord Raon.”
Meow!
Raon, Clopeh, and Hong quickly descended the hill, with
On calmly following.
As Cale watched them go, he heard Choi Han’s voice.
“If it’s a ritual for the God of Chaos, why a banquet?”
The answer didn’t come from Cale.
“What?”
It was Heavenly Demon.
“Doesn’t seem like the God of Chaos Church would hold
festivals? Didn’t the ‘Night of Genesis’ sacrifice feel like a
festive atmosphere?”
“That involved ‘sacrifices.’ More like some kind of
indulgence.”
Choi Han frowned in rebuttal.
Heavenly Demon scoffed.
“The Demon Cult holds banquets too.”
The Demon Cult revered only strength.
Yet even they held festive banquets.
“…”
Choi Han fell silent.
Feeling the lively atmosphere of the village preparing for
the banquet, Heavenly Demon spoke:
“I’ve always found it strange.”
As the king and god ruling the Demon Cult,
Heavenly Demon had many questions about the God of
Chaos Church.
“Why is chaos always tied to negative things like fear or
corruption?”
Perhaps because they faced chaos as enemies.
In reality, the God of Chaos Church encompassed
everything.
“Then I saw joy. And now, a banquet of purification.”
Heavenly Demon nodded.
“Hm. This feels like chaos.”
Anything could exist, precisely because it was chaotic.
That was true chaos.
“If it were only pain and fear, they wouldn’t have so many
followers.”
Choi Han pondered for a moment and asked Cale:
“What about the purification ritual?”
His tone carried curiosity about the ritual and concern for
Choi Jung Gun.
“Hm.”
Cale thought briefly and answered honestly:
“It won’t be painful.”
Choi Jung Gun wouldn’t suffer.
“And it’ll be beautiful.”
If the ritual unfolded as he knew, the scene would be
breathtaking.
“Human!”
Moments later, Raon flew to Cale.
“They said the banquet preparations are done!”
Cale walked toward the village.
He looked up at the sky.
Dusk was approaching.
Perfect timing.
“Grandpa, what’s today about?”
The old man froze at his granddaughter’s question.
“Wow, can we eat all this?”
Seeing his granddaughter drool over the food-laden tables
in the village square, the old man couldn’t help but smile.
‘What’s going on?’
But his smile soon turned bitter.
His lifelong hometown.
Raided by the Demon King’s Sixth Army.
The village was destroyed, and they fled for their lives.
Escaping with his late wife’s portrait was already a miracle.
‘The current Demon King is kidnapping demons—’
After learning fragments of the truth, as long as the
current Demon King existed, they could only live in hiding.
‘These old bones are nearing the grave…’
But what about his son, daughter, and their families?
“Grandpa, Grandpa! When can we eat? Can’t we eat
now?”
How would these people survive in the future?
Join the Arbiters’ Alliance to fight the current Demon King?
For an old man who only wanted a peaceful life, the
current situation was a heavy burden.
“Father, are you okay?”
“Hm? Oh, I’m fine.”
He forced a smile at his daughter’s concerned question.
“If you’re not feeling well, you have to tell me.”
His daughter’s face was brighter today.
‘And that’s only natural.’
A sudden banquet.
Though the reason was unclear, Aurora, the village chief
and leader of the Arbiters’ Alliance, had covered the costs
and distributed sums far exceeding wages to every
household.
So his children were in better spirits.
They could temporarily forget the potential battles or
flights ahead.
‘This old man shouldn’t be frowning.’
The old man forced a smile.
At that moment—
“May I sit here?”
“Oh, of course…!”
The old man responded respectfully.
‘The priest…!’
A visitor who came to the village with Chief Aurora.
They weren’t demons.
But hearing they had repelled the Sixth Army and Viscount
Deschuran, he couldn’t help but feel goodwill and
gratitude.
‘A completely different aura.’
Especially the white-haired, green-eyed priest sitting
beside him, who had worked tirelessly to prepare the
banquet.
‘Since these people are hosting, it should be fine.’
It was said the banquet was for a purification ritual to heal
someone harmed by a certain church.
“Um, Priest-nim.”
The old man cautiously asked:
“Are you conducting the ritual?”
At the north side of the village square.
An altar was set up there.
“No.”
The priest’s blunt answer startled the old man.
The priest gave a holy smile befitting his status.
“It’s led by the one I follow.”
“Ah.”
The old man exclaimed.
This priest’s superior?
Priest. Church.
To an old man accustomed to awaiting a Demon God’s
arrival, these words were foreign yet intriguing.
“He’s here.”
At that moment.
From the north side of the village, where Chief Aurora had
set up strict security.
Several figures were approaching.
“Ugh!”
His granddaughter suddenly covered her nose.
“It stinks!”
Even the old man, with dulled senses, wrinkled his nose at
the pungent stench.
The foul odor made it impossible to look at the food.
Gag.
Someone retched.
The smell grew closer. People realized it came from a
coffin-like box.
‘Hm.’
The old man understood it held the person to be healed.
The coffin was covered in magic arrays.
Thud.
The coffin was placed on the altar.
Carried by mage demons, they opened the lid and
activated a mechanism to raise all but the base.
“Ugh.”
The old man groaned.
A body covered in white cloth was faintly visible.
The uncovered hand—
“Hm.”
He instinctively covered his granddaughter’s eyes.
‘My goodness.’
What was that grotesque thing?
Gray, decayed skin oozed pus, the stench overwhelming.
Bulging veins looked ready to burst.
‘A corpse.’
No, a body more terrifying than a corpse, rotting in real-
time.
The smell was intense.
It evoked an unknown fear.
‘Is it contagious?’
Some worried about infection.
Footsteps.
One person ascended the altar, standing before the cloth-
covered body.
“That’s the one.”
The priest whispered, and the old man looked at him.
‘Hm?’
He was puzzled.
‘…A priest?’
The man’s aura was far from a priest’s, more like a lazy
Demon King.
But the old man’s experience kept him from being swayed
by appearances.
‘Clear.’
Dark brown eyes.
Those eyes were pure as water, reflecting a wealth of life
experience.
‘Priest-nim.’
In contrast, the priest beside him had an indescribable
strangeness in his eyes.
Cale’s clear, transparent eyes gazed down at Choi Jung
Gun on the altar.
‘It’s serious.’
Despite being transported in a temporary magic array
coffin, Choi Jung Gun’s body began deteriorating rapidly
after leaving the array-protected building.
Huff, huff…
His faint breathing grew rapid.
Not a good sign.
More pus oozed from the foul stench.
A body graying to the point of decay.
Cale couldn’t delay any longer.
He closed his eyes.
‘Purification of Chaos.’
The required conditions.
Location.
Caster.
The location was a place hosting a festival.
Why did the purification ritual need a festival?
A banquet-level event would suffice.
As long as—
‘It’s a place where joyful chaos can reside.’
Chaos wasn’t only negative.
At festivals, we feel confusion yet also joy and happiness.
Joyful chaos truly exists.
“…”
Cale looked around.
Despite covering their noses, the place was filled with joy
and anticipation.
After months of exhaustion, the excitement of a banquet
to help them forget was immense joy.
—Cale, want me to step in?
The Dominating Aura spoke arrogantly, but Cale ignored it
completely.
He lifted the white cloth.
“Ah!”
“Ugh!”
Choi Jung Gun’s horrific state.
People were terrified.
“!”
“!!”
Cale’s act of placing his hand on Choi Jung Gun’s forehead
without hesitation was even more shocking.
“Huh?”
“Hm?”
“Ah?”
People sensed something unusual.
Dusk, with the sky dyed red by the setting sun.
The scarlet moment in the unlit village.
Rustle—
The sound of the wind.
“No.”
The old man shook his head.
“It’s the forest.”
The sound of wind through trees.
Why was it heard in the village?
And more—
“It’s the waves.”
The sound was also like ocean waves.
A wind carrying unknown sounds swept through the
crowd.
It blew toward the altar.
Eyes followed instinctively.
“Ah.”
The old man exclaimed.
From the wind came—
“…My wife.”
Her voice.
From some past moment.
Yes.
‘Marrying you was the best thing.’
Words she once said to him.
Those words came with the wind.
Fragments of forgotten memories from a weary life surged
forth.
‘What’s happening?’
What was he experiencing now?
The old man’s pupils, fixed on the altar, reflected a
scene—
A gray light, neither white nor black.
Yes.
A gray all too familiar to Demon World residents.
The Demon World’s mana was inherently gray.
Unlike the gray of the decaying body, a red-haired man
emitted a hazy, misty gray light.
The gray mist enveloped the old man.
Warmth.
The happiness of feeling like he owned the world when his
wife said those words returned.
Yes.
‘It’s solace.’
The old man shed tears unknowingly.
The tears held no sadness.
Memories awakened, his heart found solace, and the
exhaustion of reality was healed.
“Ah.”
The stench vanished.
His wife’s voice didn’t return.
Though it was unclear if it dissipated like a mirage or if he
suddenly recalled that memory.
It remained vivid in his heart.
Because the gray mist of that joyful moment warmly
enveloped him.
“Heehee!”
His granddaughter’s laughter rang out.
“Grandpa! I remember Mommy praising me!”
The old man smiled at his granddaughter’s words.
Yes, the memories had awakened.
“Ah.”
He exclaimed.
Tiny gray light particles bloomed from the gray mist.
From the old man.
From his granddaughter.
But the old man felt no pain.
Only joy.
Rustle—
The wind rose again.
The tiny gray lights scattered like fireflies with the wind.
They drifted toward the red-haired man.
His red hair, brighter than the sunset, fluttered in the wind
as he extended his hand.
The gray lights followed his fingers.
Cale placed his other hand on Choi Jung Gun’s forehead.
The gray light flowed along his arm, covering Choi Jung
Gun’s body.
The fear caused by chaos often evoked painful screams
and terrifying memories.
But Purification of Chaos was different.
It summoned joy.
This power became Cale’s aid.
Rustle—
The sound of wind, like a forest or the sea.
“As expected.”
Clopeh, watching Cale, associated the sound with ocean
waves.
The God of Chaos had once tried to engulf Cale like a gray
tsunami.
Clopeh had heard of that scene.
‘The power of the God of Chaos is like the sea.’
The sea, sometimes beautiful and terrifying, sometimes
calm.
Ever-changing.
That was chaos.
But—
The sea has its own rules.
Unlike chaos.
And the sea nurtures countless lives.
And—
‘Lord Cale is different from the God of Chaos.’
Yes.
‘Lord Cale is like the sea.’
A sea where chaos and order coexist.
A sea where life and death intertwine.
Cale’s life perfectly navigated everything.
Using chaos and order to save lives.
This was true—
“Harmony.”
And thus, beautiful.
“…Harmony.”
The old man unconsciously repeated the word he heard.
‘Harmony—’
Why did this word shake his heart so?
He gazed at the red-haired man.
The warm gray mist.
The same color as the Demon World’s mana.
This gentle power protected the demons.
A sudden thought:
Could this power come from the Demon God—
He caught himself at the absurd idea.
Rustle—
Cale looked down at Choi Jung Gun, silently thinking:
‘The final stage.’
The moment the gray light fully enveloped Choi Jung Gun.
Cale withdrew his hand and closed his eyes.
The purification to dispel corruption.
The final act began.
Chapter 2-429: One Person, Two Stages, and the Chaos Demon
World (4)
Rustle—
The sound of the wind caressed their ears.
The breeze passed through the crowd, blowing toward the
northern altar.
Rustle—
The gathered wind embraced the man on the altar, shrouded in
gray light.
“…”
Cale removed his hand from Choi Jung Gun and stepped back.
He spread his arms, raising both hands.
Rustle—
Choi Jung Gun’s body slowly floated upward.
The grotesque form was no longer visible.
The gentle wind and gray light created a mystical scene.
The stench had completely vanished.
Instead, people caught various scents:
The fragrance of spring fields.
The aroma of hometown trees.
The warmth of a mother’s embrace from childhood.
The scent of a favorite dish.
These scents, tied to joyful memories, struck their hearts.
Rustle—
The scene wasn’t grandiose.
Under the red glow of the sunset, the gray light appeared even
more serene.
‘It doesn’t match the name of chaos.’
Heavenly Demon thought this, but after looking around, he
changed his mind.
‘No, I was wrong.’
The people wore entranced expressions.
But those expressions were entirely different from those seen
at the Night of Genesis holy site.
Joy, delight, excitement, emotion.
Not intense.
Like a rising tide, the emotions silently seeped into their hearts.
They sank into it before they could even think.
‘This is chaos too.’
Everyone’s gazes turned to—
Cale Henituse and Choi Jung Gun.
Rustle—
Choi Jung Gun stopped rising.
Cale slowly opened his eyes.
His mouth opened.
Following the game’s skill prompt:
“Created beings—”
Created beings.
The corrupted body artificially tainted by the power of ‘Chaos
Corruption.’
“—shall ultimately fade.”
Shaa—
The wind stopped.
Woo—
In the lingering breeze, only Choi Jung Gun remained,
enveloped in gray light.
“…”
“…”
Silence fell.
Everyone stared at the man with red hair brighter than the
sunset’s glow.
No one could speak.
Though not dazzlingly ornate, the breathtaking scene held their
gazes.
Because the gray light warmed their hearts.
Cale’s mouth opened again.
Created beings shall ultimately fade.
“Return to the origin—”
Rustle—
The gray light slowly seeped into Choi Jung Gun’s body.
Cale watched calmly and continued:
“—as your original form.”
A sudden thought:
Like the inheritance from the beginning.
Like being born anew.
The God of Chaos Church seemed to value “the origin.”
Their holy site was named Night of Genesis too.
Did they believe “the origin” best embodied the form of chaos?
Cale pondered as he completed the ritual.
The final line came:
“Return to your true self.”
Created beings fade.
Return to their true essence.
Buzz!
From Choi Jung Gun’s body—more precisely, the gray light
seeping into it—a powerful wave erupted.
“Hm!”
“!”
The airflow from the wave tousled their hair.
No one turned away.
Rustle—
With a final flash of intense light, the gray light fully merged
into his body.
“Ah, his body—”
The gray, grotesque skin and bulging veins gradually restored.
Drip, drip.
His closed eyelids, nostrils, slightly parted lips, and ears—
Drip, drip.
Gray droplets fell.
The gray-tainted skin slowly regained its color.
Neither fast nor slow, Choi Jung Gun’s corruption was fading.
‘Strange.’
The old man felt a contradiction.
The gray on that man’s body had been nauseating and
terrifying.
Why was the gray light enveloping him so beautiful?
No, so warm?
The droplets falling now—
‘Not filthy at all.’
Drip, drip.
The gray droplets hitting the altar flowed down to the ground.
The gray drops seeping into the soil soon vanished.
Like ordinary water drops absorbed into the earth, they
disappeared plainly.
‘…Nothing special.’
Someone was being reborn.
The scene was neither grandiose nor dazzling.
Yet—
“Ah.”
Why did his heart race, unable to contain itself?
Drip, drip.
The droplets lessened.
Choi Jung Gun returned to normal.
Truly, as if nothing had ever happened.
‘What a marvel—’
Yes, a marvel.
Only this word could describe it.
‘Like a miracle.’
No, it was a miracle.
The old man had witnessed a few miracles in his life.
The miracle of life never arrived with fanfare.
No lavish prelude.
Like a sudden beam of light in ordinary life, a miracle came and
went quietly.
Yet it could change a life.
‘It was like meeting my wife.’
Meeting his wife by chance on a trip to a neighboring village.
That encounter was an unheralded miracle.
‘Unforgettable for a lifetime.’
Because it was a miracle.
‘And now too.’
Thud.
The final gray droplet fell.
No more drops.
“Ah—”
A healthy, unblemished man slowly descended back to the
altar.
Huff, huff, huff.
Even, steady breathing.
No longer grotesque or terrifying.
A living person, just like them.
“…”
The old man nearly shed tears.
Precious, happy memories were awakened.
The tiny gray lights from his body helped the man’s rebirth.
The process itself was a miracle.
Though not ornate, it was solemn and sacred, shaking the soul.
“…”
“…”
No one broke the silence.
They didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere.
“Village Chief.”
Only one person could break it.
It was Cale.
“Ah, yes!”
Aurora snapped out of it.
She knew Cale used the God of Chaos Church’s purification
power, yet felt an indescribable wonder.
‘This is chaos?’
So warm?
Unbelievable.
Yet undeniable.
‘As expected of an ancient, supreme god. Would it rely solely
on fear?’
She quickly responded to Cale:
“We need to move him, right?”
“Ah, yes. That’s necessary.”
Choi Jung Gun needed to be returned to the original building.
A thorough check was required.
Not just to confirm the corruption was gone, but also his overall
health.
Aurora caught Cale’s look and was about to act.
Someone moved faster.
It was Choi Han.
“I’ll carry him.”
“I’ll help too.”
Heavenly Demon stepped forward.
Choi Han had prepared a stretcher.
Cale looked at Choi Han. His gaze lingered only on Choi Jung
Gun.
“…”
The sleeping Choi Jung Gun.
Choi Han closely examined his restored face, biting his lip.
Pat, pat.
Cale patted his shoulder:
“Let’s go.”
“…Yes.”
Choi Han and Heavenly Demon lifted Choi Jung Gun onto the
stretcher.
—Human, is Choi Jung Gun purified?
From the tallest tree near the square.
Raon, On, and Hong appeared.
Cale nodded to them and said to Aurora:
“My ritual is done.”
“Ah! So the ritual is fully complete?”
“No.”
Cale shook his head.
His gaze shifted from the village chief to the surroundings.
‘Hm?’
He froze.
The people were staring intently at him.
‘They must all recall happy memories.’
The more he thought, the more unfathomable the God of
Chaos seemed.
‘Corruption, fear, joy, purification—’
It could manipulate various human emotions.
‘Ordinary gods have specific powers, but the God of Chaos
seems to have many.’
Like a multi-tool.
‘And it’s particularly fond of “the origin”?’
The purification incantation was so, as was the holy site’s
name.
Cale pondered:
‘What is the origin?’
Suddenly—
“Hm.”
Cale stiffened.
A vibration came from his chest.
He should have checked immediately, but he first addressed
the villagers:
“The ritual has one final stage.”
Indeed, the last step remained.
“Please enjoy the banquet and create happy memories.”
A festival or banquet would do.
The ritual’s final step required people to gather joyfully.
He turned to Aurora and said:
“This will do, right?”
“Yes, yes! Of course, it’s fine—!”
For some reason, Aurora’s voice was full of vigor, but Cale
didn’t care and addressed the villagers:
“Thank you for preparing today’s banquet and helping me with
the ritual.”
Thanks to them, he could perform the ritual to save Choi Jung
Gun.
‘Their joy truly helped.’
The God of Chaos drew power from human memories of
despair, fear, joy, and delight.
‘Thus, using the power of fear would plunge people into
unbearable pain.’
But the power of joy for purification had no side effects.
“Then, I wish you all a pleasant time.”
Cale gave a polite farewell and walked down from the altar
toward Choi Jung Gun’s location.
His figure vanished without lingering.
“…”
“…”
The people left behind gazed at his retreating figure.
Then someone broke the silence.
“Um—”
Theodore, the village’s eldest former chief, standing beside
Clopeh Sekka, holding his granddaughter, spoke:
“Which god does the Priest-nim follow?”
Though Aurora was the current chief, Clopeh had deliberately
sat beside the most trusted elder, smiling at him.
“Well.”
He chose not to answer directly.
“That person…”
As Theodore hesitated, his granddaughter suddenly asked:
“Priest-nim! Priest-nim!”
“Hm.”
“What was that gray just now?”
To the child’s innocent question, Clopeh gently countered:
“Which gray do you mean?”
“Ah!”
There were two grays.
“Both!”
The child was curious.
Everyone’s curiosity was piqued.
“The first gray,”
The ugly gray tainting Choi Jung Gun’s body.
“Was the ‘corruption’ power used by someone from the God of
Chaos Church.”
The God of Chaos Church.
The term struck the adults deeply.
The little girl quickly followed up:
“What about the pretty gray later?”
Under the increasingly attentive gazes, Clopeh, with the
sanctity of a priest, gently answered:
“That was the ‘purification’ power used by that lord just now.”
Aurora, listening, thought to herself:
‘So clever.’
Clopeh spoke only the truth.
But “corruption” and “purification” sounded like entirely
different powers.
Despite both belonging to the God of Chaos Church.
“Wow! Purification!”
The girl clapped, repeating the new word, then pointed
somewhere:
The path where Cale had vanished.
“Who was that uncle?”
“Oh no!”
Theodore hurriedly held his granddaughter tighter.
“Forgive us, Priest-nim, this child asks too much.”
“Haha. It’s fine.”
Clopeh chuckled.
The girl, breaking free from her grandfather’s arms, looked up
and asked:
“Is that uncle a priest too?”
“Oh, this child! Of course, he’s a priest—”
The old chief suddenly faltered.
“No, he is not a priest.”
Theodore’s gaze turned to Clopeh.
Clopeh gave a calm smile and said softly:
“Neither priest, nor pope, nor saint—he needs no title.”
With unwavering devotion,
‘Lord Cale will surely use this purification power often
henceforth.’
That was the situation.
This merit must not be credited to the God of Chaos Church.
Everything belonged to Lord Cale.
He did it.
Clopeh didn’t exaggerate, only stating facts.
“That lord is simply a being who acts as he pleases, serving no
god.”
That was Cale Henituse.
That kind of hero.
That kind of legend.
Thus—
“And I follow such a being.”
Following him.
Clopeh’s words were filled with sincerity.
“Ah.”
Former chief Theodore let out a long sigh.
That red-haired man.
He didn’t believe in gods, nor followed them.
A person acting solely by his own will.
Yet this priest, with the holiest aura, revered him as his faith.
‘The being a priest follows…’
…A god.
Yes, a god.
Thump, thump.
The old man’s heart raced.
‘The two grays I saw today.’
One was corruption, one was purification.
The former belonged to the God of Chaos Church, so the latter
naturally…
‘That warm gray—’
The power enveloping our happiness—
That gray was—
“…The Demon God…”
The old man murmured unconsciously, then snapped awake.
“Hm?”
Clopeh tilted his head in confusion.
“N-Nothing!”
The old chief hurriedly covered.
But everyone had heard.
Clopeh maintained his holy smile:
“Hm. Feel free to ask any questions.”
Aurora, watching the entire scene, inwardly facepalmed:
‘Is this really okay?’
Clopeh Sekka.
This guy was definitely scheming something.
Yet she couldn’t find fault—he hadn’t lied, and his demeanor
was impeccable.
He even seemed exceptionally sincere and gentle.
“Hm.”
Aurora decided to observe quietly.
‘It’s about the Demon God…’
Since that term came up, they had to act cautiously.
They needed to prevent unnecessary misunderstandings
among the villagers.
‘At least it happened within the village, so there’s room to
manage.’
Aurora was relieved it occurred in the village.
And Clopeh—
“Heh…”
He looked up at the crimson sky, giving a meaningful smile.
“Hm.”
On the way to Choi Jung Gun’s location, while walking with the
ten-year-old cats out of the villagers’ sight, Cale suddenly
stopped.
‘What?’
The vibrating object in his chest.
Cale took it out.
He hurriedly moved to a secluded spot.
Fear.
Purification.
Joy.
Corruption.
The parchment found by the God of Chaos Church.
A parchment written in text the system couldn’t parse.
@($*%
This parchment, seen in the system, had been vibrating until
just now.
‘…’
Now it was still.
But Cale knew exactly when it vibrated.
When he thought of one thing.
“The origin?”
Buzz!
The curled parchment trembled faintly in response.
“Heh.”
Cale’s lips curved into a dangerous arc.
“Human, you’re smiling so slyly, like a cat that stole a fish!”
Meow!
Meow.
Ignoring the questions from the children with an average age of
ten, Cale stared at the parchment, a glint in his eyes:
‘@($*%’
These unreadable characters.
They were likely “the origin.”
“‘The origin of chaos.’”
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
The parchment trembled violently, reflecting Cale’s deepening
smile.
It seemed he’d stumbled upon a treasure.
Chapter 2-430: One Person, Two Stages, and the Chaos Demon
World (5)
The Origin of Chaos.
“Human, why is that parchment vibrating?”
Cale shook his head at Raon’s question.
“I’m not sure. We’ll check it back in the New World.”
There was no need to mess with it in the Demon World.
‘If used in the game, the system would automatically generate
a skill.’
The New World.
It was truly convenient.
Cale’s lips curled slightly.
‘At any rate.’
Unlike corruption, fear, joy, or purification, this parchment only
now revealed its text.
‘It looks promising.’
His intuition told him.
This parchment was more significant than the previous four.
“Human’s smiling weirdly!”
“Feels like something’s about to happen!”
“But it’s always good for us, right?”
While calming the excited Raon and Hong, Cale tucked the
parchment away and quickened his pace.
His steps were notably brisk.
‘Choi Jung Gun.’
He would soon awaken from his slumber.
Though there was no system prompt like in the game to
confirm the skill’s result, Cale instinctively knew the corruption
in his body was gone.
‘Hm.’
Once he confirmed Choi Jung Gun was awake, if there was
anything to hear, he’d listen and then—
‘I need to find the team leader and Choi Jung Soo.’
Cale’s expression grew serious.
He didn’t even notice his steps speeding up.
“Pope.”
The God of Chaos Church. A high-ranking priest who devoted
his life to it trembled.
Crack.
The hand gripping his head tightened, nails digging into his
forehead, drawing blood.
“Pope, what should we do?”
At the question from the Supreme Holy Knight, the Pope,
seated, looked down.
The Supreme Holy Knight and the trembling, sobbing high-
ranking priest gazed up at him.
The Pope stared at the crying priest, stood, and spoke:
“Return to the origin, where all exists and nothing exists.”
As his words fell—
“Pope!”
The high-ranking priest screamed.
But the cry didn’t last long.
Crunch!
A massive gray arrow pierced his body.
The Supreme Holy Knight released his grip.
Thud.
The priest, impaled, collapsed to the side.
His pupils lost their light, death enveloping him.
“Returned to the origin.”
The Supreme Holy Knight said, approaching the Pope.
Rustle—
The high-ranking priest’s body rapidly turned gray, veins
bulging, before crumbling into dust and vanishing.
The Pope drew the curtains.
“I never expected the Saint to fall like this.”
Unconcealed grief flickered in the Pope’s eyes as an unfamiliar
landscape came into view.
The Demon World.
Its sky reflected in his eyes.
The red sunset was no different from his homeland or the
Demon World.
“…”
The Supreme Holy Knight didn’t respond, only kneeling on one
knee, head bowed, and said:
“Your orders.”
The Pope, back turned, spoke:
“The Book of the Origin is gone.”
To be precise, the four books—Corruption, Joy, Purification,
and Fear—were also gone, but that wasn’t the priority.
“We must retrieve the Book of the Origin.”
“Yes.”
The Pope turned, looking down at the knight:
“That person’s name is Cale Henituse, correct?”
“Yes. Based on the footage, it’s confirmed to be him.”
The Hunter Families’ “White Star Plan” was known to the God
of Chaos Church.
Additionally, they had the footage of the “Mad Cage” spread
across the Third Earth and testimonies from their believers.
“Hm.”
The Pope looked out the window again:
“The Five-Colored Blood Family sent a letter?”
“Yes.”
Anger flashed across the knight’s face.
“How dare they be so insolent—”
The Pope raised a hand, silencing him.
“…”
The knight shut his mouth, and the Pope calmly continued:
“To them, we betrayed them, so they can only hold us
accountable. It’s more restrained than I expected.”
The Pope seemed to understand why the Five-Colored Blood
Family and other Hunters didn’t strongly protest the God of
Chaos Church’s betrayal.
“The birth of the Absolute God is truly near.”
They must have realized it too.
“The New World is becoming a true world.”
That’s why the Five-Colored Blood, Transparent Blood, and
other Hunters didn’t protest vehemently.
“Will they stay quiet for a while?”
At the knight’s question, the Pope shook his head.
“They are Hunters, after all.”
Would Hunters ever spare their prey?
Having branded the God of Chaos Church as traitors, they
feigned civility while secretly plotting their elimination.
“They’ll surely investigate us covertly, aiming to eradicate our
influence in the New World.”
The Pope’s gaze turned to the window.
“But we’re in the Demon World.”
The knight spoke:
“Pope, the grand plan will surely succeed.”
The Pope’s lips curved into a smile.
“It must. First, we must show those who reached the Origin
World a world consumed by chaos.”
The Pope closed his eyes, then opened them.
“The Hunters will seek Cale Henituse.”
“Yes.”
The one obstructing the God of Chaos’s descent.
Cale Henituse, who had been a thorn in their side since the
White Star Plan.
The Hunters had no reason to spare him.
No matter what, they’d be more wary of him than of alliances
with the Demon World or the God of Chaos Church.
“We must find Cale Henituse before they do. Absolutely.”
“Yes.”
The knight bowed deeply and continued:
“I will retrieve the Book of the Origin.”
“It must be done. And—”
The Pope paused, then added:
“Cale Henituse must be captured alive and brought back.”
“Understood.”
The Supreme Holy Knight stood.
He bowed to the Pope’s back and left.
“…”
Alone, the Pope gazed at the Demon World’s scenery and
closed his eyes.
‘—My child.’
Gray pupils surfaced.
The God of Chaos.
Since the Divine Realm incident, the God of Chaos had sent no
oracles to the Pope.
Thus, the Pope acted according to plan.
But on the day the Saint fell, a long-awaited oracle arrived.
The god said:
‘—I wish to use Cale Henituse as my vessel.’
Realizing direct descent had failed, the God of Chaos decided to
descend through Cale Henituse.
“Preparations must be made.”
He turned.
Thud.
He spoke to a woman descending from the ceiling:
“Hasten our operations in the Demon World.”
Once the Supreme Holy Knight captured Cale Henituse, they
could use the chaos gathered in the Demon World to strip
Cale’s self, transforming his body into a vessel for the God of
Chaos.
The woman, wrapped in gray bandages and clothing, spoke:
“The Demon King may notice.”
“No matter. Even if he knows, he can’t stop it—”
Gazing at the red sunset, he said calmly:
“The corruption has already been sown in the Demon World.
All that remains is its bloom.”
Soon, the corruption of chaos would engulf the Demon World.
Then, the God of Chaos would descend, unstoppable by
anyone, not even gods.
At that time, it would use Cale Henituse’s body as its vessel.
‘Not just the Demon World, but the entire New World will be
under control.’
The Pope envisioned a Divine Realm dyed in blood, awaiting the
God of Chaos that would bring greater chaos.
His lips curved into a faint smile.
Beneath the sunset the Pope gazed upon—
On a plain covered in forests—
A young man appeared.
His eyes fixed on an ancient, small castle towering in the
distance.
“That’s it.”
The young man—Team Leader Soo Hyuk—slipped into the
forest’s shadows.
Drip.
Where he stood, fresh blood stained the ground.
The smell of blood made Soo Hyuk frown as he bandaged his
wound.
After ensuring it no longer bled, he vanished silently.
Of course, he left a marker that Cale Henituse, or Kim Rok Soo,
could recognize.
At that moment—
Rustle.
He sensed someone approaching.
Soo Hyuk’s eyes grew cold.
He waited for the coming night, slipping deeper into the
forest’s darkness.
Evading pursuers.
Suddenly, a thought struck him:
‘It’s been a while.’
This feeling.
As if, after a long time, he was once again Team Leader Lee Soo
Hyuk.
‘Come quickly, Kim Rok Soo.’
When that guy arrived, everything would have answers.
As always, the plans came from him.
But his smile soon faded.
‘…Choi Jung Soo.’
Why was that guy out of contact again?
‘Let’s wait for now.’
Do his job.
That was his role now.
Night fell.
The forest’s night was pitch black.
Soo Hyuk hid in the darkness, evading pursuers, gathering
intelligence.
Rustle.
Cale paused while flipping through reports.
Night had fallen, and under the faint glow of a magic lamp, he
studied data on the spreading “Gray Disease” in the Demon
World, then looked up.
“Awake?”
Choi Jung Gun opened his eyes.
“How’s your body?”
At Cale’s question, Choi Jung Gun didn’t answer, only gazing at
him quietly, scanning the surroundings.
A barren, temple-like building.
The magic array had dimmed, and Choi Jung Gun lay on a bed in
the center, with Cale sitting nearby, reading reports.
“Do you remember why you ended up like this?”
Cale’s voice was calm.
“Want some water?”
As he reached for a water bottle on the table, a voice came.
“I—”
It was Choi Jung Gun’s voice.
Cale looked at him again.
“I, I’m alive?”
Cale chuckled at his incredulous expression.
As expected of a Choi.
Just like Choi Jung Soo’s style.
And—
‘Like Choi Han too.’
Choi Jung Gun’s seemingly dazed eyes.
Those eyes were like a sharp sword.
Scrutinizing everything.
‘Yes, those eyes.’
He was suspicious of Cale.
Suspicious of the space itself.
“Why?”
Cale seemed to understand what he was doubting.
“Are you suspicious of me being here before you?”
Choi Jung Gun froze.
“Y-You…?”
He was puzzled by the formal address.
“You’re Choi Jung Soo and Choi Han’s elder, right?”
“E-Elder…?”
Ignoring Choi Jung Gun’s confusion, Cale said directly:
“Or should I call you senior?”
After the battle with the White Star, Cale had seen “Choi Jung
Gun” in memories within a sealed temple.
He had posed as a senior from Kim Rok Soo’s school.
That Choi Jung Gun and the events that followed were false
illusions.
But Choi Jung Gun as a school senior and the library memories
were real.
“Hm.”
Choi Jung Gun let out a soft chuckle after a moment.
But Cale didn’t give him a chance to catch his breath.
The village doctor had confirmed Choi Jung Gun’s body was
fully recovered.
“Choi Jung Soo went missing while investigating the God of
Chaos and the Demon World.”
“…”
Choi Jung Gun’s expression vanished.
In truth, Cale knew nothing about the Choi Jung Gun before
him.
For both, this was their true first meeting.
‘Choi Han.’
Choi Han, standing guard outside like a sentinel, surely wanted
to come in.
Perhaps he’d sensed Choi Jung Gun was awake and was
listening to their conversation.
But Cale needed answers now.
‘Why.’
Why was Choi Jung Gun nearly killed by chaos corruption?
And Choi Jung Gun had told Aurora that the Five-Colored Blood
Family’s leader was the First Wanderer.
“Do you have anything to tell me?”
Cale asked, and Choi Jung Gun answered:
“The First Wanderer wants to become the ‘First
Transcendent.’”
Transcendent?
“Cale.”
Choi Jung Gun’s expression grew complex.
“Do you think the Absolute God, that child, is ‘evil’?”
A subtle expression crossed Cale’s face.
Chapter 2-431: One Person, Two Stages, and the Chaos Demon
World (6)
The Absolute God.
A few had spoken of Them.
They had met the Absolute God and shared Their story.
“The world borne by the King’s Descendant is terrifying, devoid
of beauty, filled with fear.”
To confront the Blue Blood Hunter Family and the Blood Cult, I
had traveled to the Central Plains.
There, I met an old man named White.
He claimed to have eyes that saw through essences and had
seen a child harboring a world within.
The King’s Descendant.
Both the being revered by the Hunter Families and the child
soon to become the Absolute God.
White said that world was chilling.
“There was a child there.”
Additionally, Secretary General Kang Keun Mok had shared his
own encounter with the Absolute God.
He was a confidant of Han Jae Soo, the head of the Transparent
Blood Family and honorary chairman of Transparent Company.
As a child, he had seen the Absolute God.
“That child said they were hungry.”
“After removing their hood, that child—no, that
monster—grabbed people and ate, ate them.”
More precisely, it devoured human souls.
“All seven abysses were hidden in that child’s shadow. Those
abysses held countless souls. Honestly, I couldn’t even count
them.”
“But I felt it. Each of those abysses was like a separate world.
Yes, each one felt like a world.”
The seven human emotions.
Joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure, love, hatred, desire.
Each emotion corresponded to a distinct world.
Thus, it was a world of despair.
“Those seven worlds, that child hid in their shadow, trampling
them underfoot.”
Kang Keun Mok described the child—the Absolute God—who
trampled seven worlds.
His tone suggested something utterly terrifying.
‘Hm.’
Now, Choi Jung Gun, awakened from his coma, posed a
question to Cale.
“Do you think the Absolute God—that child—is ‘evil’?”
Cale could only give one answer.
“I don’t know.”
He truly didn’t.
“I haven’t met that guy yet.”
The Absolute God. Who was that guy? Only by meeting Them
could Their nature be judged.
“Of course, that guy’s done plenty of evil deeds.”
Take Kang Keun Mok’s account: devouring human souls,
imprisoning them in hellish worlds, treating it as mere
“mealtime” without hesitation.
That alone was horrifying.
“But was it intentional or forced? Done knowingly or
ignorantly? Or were They taught that way by the Hunters? I
don’t know.”
To that guy, it might truly just be mealtime.
If the Hunters taught Them so.
Thus, Cale could only answer:
“I can’t judge what kind of ‘evil’ that is.”
Since that was the truth, he couldn’t call Them good or neutral
either.
But to judge the nature of Their evil, perhaps only seeing the
Absolute God—the King’s Descendant—in person would reveal
it.
“…”
Choi Jung Gun was silent for a moment, listening to Cale’s
response.
Finally, he spoke.
“The King’s Descendant has no emotions.”
“What?”
Cale reflexively asked.
Choi Jung Gun didn’t respond, continuing:
“They might have had them once, but they’re gone now.”
A monster devouring the seven emotions had no emotions.
No, they had vanished.
“Only instincts remain, especially appetite, which seems
particularly strong.”
Appetite.
Hearing this, Cale recalled the phrase “mealtime.”
“Those emotions are the seven—”
“I know.”
“You do?”
Cale feigned understanding, and Choi Jung Gun paused.
“Please hurry.”
Cale urged him.
“I need to hear this quickly and go save Choi Jung Soo and Soo
Hyuk. Choi Han is waiting outside to rescue Choi Jung Soo too.”
Ah, hm.
Choi Jung Gun nodded dazedly.
Because Cale was right.
‘But I just woke up?’
And he was thirsty.
“Here, water.”
Cale timely offered water.
Choi Jung Gun propped himself up and took a sip.
“Hm.”
While drinking, he noticed his missing arm, froze briefly, but
soon moved his other hand as if it were nothing.
“Body’s in good shape.”
Cale assessed, watching Choi Jung Gun move freely and drink
without issue.
“Please get to the point.”
“Ah, hm. Alright.”
Having just finished his water, Choi Jung Gun had to continue.
“To become a god’s vessel, one must contain a world—”
“I know.”
“Huh?”
“I said I know.”
“Oh, uh. Alright, you’re sharp.”
“…”
“Hm, you’ve always been sharp.”
Cough, cough.
Choi Jung Gun cleared his throat and continued:
“Joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure, love, hatred, desire. By creating a
world with one of these emotions, one can become a god’s
vessel.”
A glint flashed in Cale’s eyes.
Choi Jung Gun went on:
“But that child contains seven worlds. That’s beyond what a
human can bear.”
“So they lost their emotions?”
“Exactly. To live trampling seven hells, they probably had to
abandon emotions.”
Choi Jung Gun added:
“I don’t know how that child lost their emotions or created
seven worlds—or hells.”
His gaze darkened.
“But They absolutely cannot become a god.”
He continued:
“Because They act only on instinct.”
Then he added:
“But because of that, They might become the most perfect
god.”
Complex emotions crossed his face.
But Cale had no time to empathize, as the situation was far
from calm.
So he bluntly shared his thought:
“The Absolute God. That guy’s practically a perfect puppet.”
Choi Jung Gun looked at Cale.
Then—
“You’re sharp as ever.”
He gave a thumbs-up.
Cale’s face twisted instantly.
It reminded him of Choi Jung Soo’s unreliable demeanor.
Cale reflexively retorted:
“Cut the nonsense, get to the point.”
“Ah, alright, alright!”
Choi Jung Gun complied.
Unlike Choi Jung Soo, he didn’t joke further, obediently
following Cale’s instructions like Choi Han.
“If someone bearing worlds of all seven emotions becomes a
god, They’d be immensely powerful. The name ‘Absolute God’
isn’t for nothing.”
A being bearing seven hells.
“Moreover, there’s a world made for that god?”
The New World, created for the Absolute God.
“The Hunters aim to establish a new Divine Realm with the
Absolute God at its head, reshaping the order of all dimensions.
They want to become gods themselves.”
At this, Choi Jung Gun looked directly at Cale and said:
“That’s what I think.”
Hm.
Cale’s expression shifted subtly.
“Because, looking at the ‘White Star Plan’ and their actions
against single-lifers, that’s the only conclusion.”
Based on the Hunters’ past actions, it was the only logical
inference.
“But not everyone is like that.”
Most Hunters followed the flow, but—
“Some have their own ambitions.”
Choi Jung Gun’s lips curled into a twisted smile.
“Though I was corrupted by chaos and injured by the Saint, I
wouldn’t have failed to escape.”
“The Saint is dead.”
“Huh, uh? R-Really?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.”
Choi Jung Gun let out a sigh but quickly composed himself
under Cale’s cold gaze, continuing:
“Anyway! What nearly knocked me out was the ‘Five-Colored
Blood Hunter.’”
The Five-Colored Blood Family.
A group of Wanderers, rumored to all possess a power called
“Inherent Nature.” (Uniqueness power)
“There are three in the Five-Colored Blood Family called the
‘Three Emperors.’ I was defeated by the third.”
This was critical information for Cale.
“Was he strong?”
“Yes. Honestly, I had no chance to fight back. That guy was
absurdly powerful, god-level.”
Choi Jung Gun defeated without a chance to resist?
Cale’s expression hardened.
“I clashed with him while tracking his actions and uncovered his
goal. That’s the key point.”
Choi Jung Gun paused, then spoke slowly, tension on his face:
“Transcendent.”
The term he mentioned earlier.
“The Five-Colored Blood are pursuing becoming
Transcendents.”
Cale closed his eyes.
He felt darkness descending.
For some reason, the word “rest” was drifting further away.
‘Ha.’
So annoying.
Why did these guys always have to stir up new trouble?
Why did they always cause problems?
It was infuriating!
“What’s a Transcendent?”
Cale couldn’t hide his irritation.
“No, why not just be gods? Why go for that?”
Might as well all become gods and fight it out in the Divine
Realm.
Could they stop bothering us?
Such thoughts surged.
Cale even wanted to flip everything.
—Want to flip it?
Of course, the Sky Eating Water’s serious words quickly calmed
Cale.
—Haha! Why not dominate even the gods?
Followed by the Dominating Aura’s ambitious whisper. Cale’s
irritation vanished instantly.
Ancient Powers.
These guys were definitely not normal.
Don’t get influenced.
Cale calmly said to Choi Jung Gun:
“Please continue.”
With a smile.
“Ah, alright! I’ll make it quick!”
Choi Jung Gun launched into a rapid explanation.
Spilling everything.
“Transcendent, as the name suggests, is a being that surpasses
everything. Not a god, yet equal to gods, unbound by any title!”
Hm?
Seeing Cale’s confusion, Choi Jung Gun sped up:
“A god’s divine role is crucial. For example, the God of Death is
powerful in death but limited in other domains, as other gods
govern those. So, unknowingly, they face many restrictions.”
Gods weren’t absolute.
“But Transcendents are unbound, freer than gods, possibly
even surpassing them! Of course, the conditions are extremely
difficult, and few know of them.”
In fact, Choi Jung Gun only learned of Transcendents this time,
unaware of their existence before.
“The Five-Colored Blood seem to know how to become
Transcendents and are trying to use the Absolute God as a
medium.”
Choi Jung Gun fled immediately after learning this.
But he was discovered.
“Knowing this, the Third Emperor wanted to kill me, but the
Saint suddenly had business with him, so I escaped.”
The Third Emperor intended to kill Choi Jung Gun completely
but failed.
Because the Saint appeared.
With members of the Transparent Blood Family.
“The Five-Colored Blood’s plan is secret even from other
families. That’s why they wanted to silence me.”
The Third Emperor told the Saint that Choi Jung Gun was just an
obstacle to the Divine Realm and needed elimination. The Saint
said he’d handle it and left.
“The Third Emperor might be looking for me now?”
Had Aurora not saved him, and had Cale’s group not arrived in
time, Choi Jung Gun would have been killed by the Third
Emperor and Wanderers after the Saint and Transparent Blood
group left.
“It’s already a miracle.”
Choi Jung Gun smiled.
Despite losing an arm, he survived.
“I can pass on intelligence while alive.”
And more detailed information about the Five-Colored Blood
Family he hadn’t yet shared.
By handing over this information, he could aid Cale’s group and
their allies in future battles.
“The Five-Colored Blood’s leader—the First Wanderer—might
be aiming to become a Transcendent.”
At this, Choi Jung Gun suddenly paused.
“Hm.”
Because Cale’s face grew serious.
“What’s wrong?”
At Choi Jung Gun’s question, Cale scratched his head and spoke.
“The Third Emperor might be in the Demon World?”
“Huh?”
“This is the Demon World.”
“Huh?”
Choi Jung Gun only now realized where he was.
“The former Demon King’s bloodline saved you and left a
message in Demon World script to find the ‘Thief of the Night.’”
“Huh?”
“Hm. Looks like we’ll meet the Third Emperor soon.”
“Huh?”
Ignoring Choi Jung Gun’s bewilderment, Cale continued
thinking.
‘Leaving that place for the Demon World might have been a
good thing.’
At least the Third Emperor would have a harder time finding
the Arbiters’ Alliance.
“Hm.”
Cale organized his thoughts.
First, focus on the essentials.
“So, right now, the Demon World has the Third Emperor, God
of Chaos Church leaders, us, and the Demon King’s forces?”
“Huh?”
Ignoring Choi Jung Gun’s question, Cale concluded:
“Right. The board is set.”
Cale nodded and continued:
“The Five-Colored Blood’s pursuit of Transcendents is unknown
to the Demon King and the God of Chaos Church, even hidden
from their ally, the Transparent Blood Family.”
“Huh? Uh, yes.”
Cale’s lips curved upward.
“Is that so? The Transparent Blood will be furious at this
betrayal.”
These guys stabbing each other in the back was laughable.
Of course, Cale planned to exploit this intelligence thoroughly.
“We need to make them completely chaotic.”
Cale’s smile lingered.
—You seem stressed.
He ignored Super Rock’s teasing.
Click.
As Cale stepped out after talking with Choi Jung Gun, he said to
Choi Han:
“You and Heavenly Demon go save Choi Jung Soo.”
“Alright.”
“I—”
Cale paused.
Besides Eruhaben, the dragon, and Beacrox who would arrive
later, his remaining companions were—
“We’re going with human!”
Meow!
Meow.
Average age: ten.
And—
“Heh.”
Clopeh Sekka, constantly smiling.
Team Leader Soo Hyuk. Cale suddenly wanted to meet him
alone.
Chapter 2-432: One Person, Two Stages, and the Chaos
Demon World (7)
“Human, should we follow that eagle?”
“That’s no ordinary eagle!”
Hearing Raon and Hong’s words, Cale looked to the sky
and said:
“Hm, let’s follow it for now.”
That way, they could find the place where Soo Hyuk left
his blood message and his markers.
“Catching up to Mr. Soo Hyuk might take days.”
Clopeh was right.
The eagle only appeared when Cale showed it the blood
message.
Cale tried showing it a map, but it didn’t react.
‘Guess we just follow the eagle.’
Teleportation magic was hard to use here.
“Tch.”
Cale clicked his tongue.
‘We need to hurry.’
The purification ritual and talking with Choi Jung Gun had
taken a day.
He had to find Lee Soo Hyuk quickly.
‘Does that guy think he’s still as tough as back then?’
Team Leader Lee Soo Hyuk.
Back then, he was a man of steel.
At his peak, no one could outlast him in stamina, not even
Choi Jung Soo.
But now?
‘He’s just a kid!’
Though nearly a teenager and a beastman, his physique
wasn’t fully developed.
‘And this guy dares to act alone!’
Cale’s expression grew increasingly irritated.
“…I won’t… let you off easy, seriously…”
His gritted tone startled Clopeh.
But it had no effect on the kids, average age ten.
“Human, let’s go!”
“We’ll be late if we don’t hurry!”
Raon and Hong urged Cale.
On:
“Are you okay?”
She looked at him with concern.
“Hm?”
As Cale looked puzzled, Raon answered immediately:
“Don’t worry! I’ll carry you with flight magic, it’s easy!”
Huh?
Cale’s face was incredulous.
They were worried he couldn’t keep up with the eagle?
“Don’t worry, On. I can carry him too.”
Clopeh said gently to On.
“Ha!”
Cale was both speechless and exasperated, but his
companions were serious.
They were also smoothly coordinating with the others:
“Choi Han, you guys be careful too!”
“Got it.”
“No need to worry about Choi Han! Heavenly Demon, Choi
Han’s acting is terrible, so leave dealing with people to
you!”
“…”
Choi Han was speechless.
“Don’t worry.”
Heavenly Demon stifled a laugh.
Aurora, the Arbiters’ Alliance leader, approached and
handed over a communication orb:
“This is the last orb that received a signal from Mr. Choi
Jung Soo. I cast a tracking spell on it; it’ll guide you to the
signal’s origin.”
Heavenly Demon passed the orb to Choi Han.
“…North.”
The orb pointed north, and Choi Han’s gaze deepened.
‘This is my power, and Choi Jung Soo’s power.’
Choi Jung Gun.
Their meeting.
It was calmer than expected.
The first dragonslayer, Nerlan Barrow.
Choi Han inherited the first dragonslayer’s power, as well
as Choi Jung Soo’s White Dragon, making it his own.
‘Choi Han,
Choi Jung Gun’s words echoed in his ears.
‘I’m your senior, and Choi Jung Soo is your junior.’
On the surface, they seemed similar in age, but vast time
separated them.
And Choi Jung Gun’s next words:
‘Only you among us are a living human.’
At those words, Choi Han felt breathless.
Choi Jung Gun and Choi Jung Soo saw that he was still
alive.
‘Choi Jung Soo and I are no longer human, just
Wanderers.’
Choi Jung Gun said in a flat tone to Choi Han.
That he and Choi Jung Soo weren’t human either.
‘You’re a living human, and a single-lifer.’
He was also a single-lifer.
Those who, upon death, could inherit the position of
Wanderer or god.
The Hunters killed single-lifers to seize their power.
‘Perhaps you’re the only living single-lifer in our Choi
family.’
Choi Han, Choi Jung Soo, Choi Jung Gun.
All three were from Earth, Korea, the Choi family.
On the Earth where Kim Rok Soo lived, the Choi family was
nearly wiped out in the cataclysm, except for Choi Jung
Soo.
‘Single-lifers live extremely long, unless killed.’
Unless killed like Choi Jung Gun, they lived long.
Very, very long.
Long enough to grow weary.
Long enough to be bored.
‘Choi Han, as your senior, I’ll give you one piece of advice.’
Choi Jung Gun didn’t speak of the Divine Realm or Hunters.
He said coldly:
‘Live like an ordinary person.’
Choi Jung Gun resembled Choi Jung Soo more than Choi
Han.
Beneath light brown hair, his deep, fathomless eyes told
Choi Han:
‘You must live freely. You have to—’
Choi Han felt no warmth in his eyes.
‘I hope you at least live according to your own will.’
But there was still warmth.
Perhaps because of this, Choi Han’s response came
instinctively:
‘I’m already living that way.’
Choi Han had lived freely until now.
Looking away from the communication orb, Choi Han
glanced sideways.
Cale, looking surprised at the sky, shaking his head,
entered his view.
‘Yes.’
From Choi Jung Gun’s words, Choi Han sensed something.
For some reason, Choi Jung Gun seemed to want Choi Han
to live like a “human,” or not as a “single-lifer.”
As if he hoped he wouldn’t become a “Wanderer.”
So, as a human, he seemed to wish for him to live as long
as possible.
He didn’t say it outright, but it felt that way.
‘No need to worry.’
But Choi Han didn’t care.
Human, single-lifer, Wanderer.
Whatever.
No matter what.
‘I’ll live as I please.’
Within the bounds of not harming others, he’d live doing
what he wanted.
Choi Han learned this from Cale.
‘Of course, what Cale does is always about saving others.’
It had escalated to saving worlds and dimensions.
Yet Cale still had a side that did what he wanted.
‘Even if he’s beyond human.’
In truth, Cale possessed power beyond ordinary humans.
Yet, to anyone, he was “human.”
Of course, to those who didn’t know him fully, he was a
legend, a god.
‘It’s different.’
Looking at his life, he was more human than anyone—no,
more Cale.
Choi Han learned that way of living by Cale’s side.
So he planned to live that way too.
‘Hm.’
But now, watching Clopeh Sekka beside Cale, Choi Han
couldn’t hide his displeasure.
‘He’s someone who sees only his own beliefs.’
To Clopeh Sekka, Cale was above gods.
Choi Han could guarantee it.
Because he staked his life on him.
‘…He won’t do anything reckless, right?’
If Cale lost that way of living because of Clopeh, Choi Han
wouldn’t let him off.
“Your eyes are fierce.”
Heavenly Demon’s voice came.
“What?”
“Your gaze is sharp.”
Heavenly Demon smiled slightly, looking at Choi Han.
With Choi Han’s sour expression, Heavenly Demon said:
“You’re like that guy.”
“…What?”
No way, nonsense—
“You’re both following his back, aren’t you?”
“…”
Heavenly Demon pointed at Cale, leaving Choi Han
speechless.
“With Clopeh and the kids, Cale Henituse won’t lose his
way.”
Pat.
Heavenly Demon patted Choi Han’s shoulder.
“So don’t lose yourself either.”
Huff.
Choi Han sighed and nodded.
“Yes. You’re right.”
Shifting his gaze from Cale’s group, Choi Han checked the
map and the direction indicated by the communication
orb.
“…”
Heavenly Demon watched for a moment, then met Cale’s
eyes.
“Hm.”
Their eyes locked.
‘That guy’s gaze is sharp too.’
Heavenly Demon grinned, and Cale nodded, looking away.
Last night, while Choi Han spoke with Choi Jung Gun,
Heavenly Demon had a brief talk with Cale:
‘Hey, keep an eye on Choi Han.’
‘Why? Because of Choi Jung Soo?’
Heavenly Demon thought Cale was worried about Choi
Han losing control over Choi Jung Soo’s disappearance.
‘Hm. He’s mild-tempered, but when he snaps, he doesn’t
hold back. Keep a close watch.’
A mild-tempered guy.
The word made Heavenly Demon want to laugh again, but
he held it in.
‘Such an interesting guy.’
The god of the Demon Cult, Heavenly Demon. No one in
the Cult or the Central Plains could ask him to watch over
someone and keep them calm.
‘That’s why it’s fun.’
Heavenly Demon enjoyed traveling with them.
‘No banquet lasts forever.’
He couldn’t stay with them indefinitely.
He had the Demon Cult.
But since the Central Plains decided to aid Cale’s group,
Heavenly Demon could freely travel with them a bit
longer.
Clap!
Cale clapped his hands and announced:
“Let’s move!”
At dawn, Cale’s group split into two teams, heading north
and west.
Choi Han’s team went north, while Cale followed the eagle
west.
“…”
Aurora stayed in the village, watching them fade into the
distance.
She recalled the task Cale left her:
‘The Gray Disease might be chaos corruption. Gather
information.’
The God of Chaos Church was secretly spreading the Gray
Disease in the Demon World.
‘If the God of Chaos Church is spreading this disease in the
Demon World, we must stop it immediately.’
Aurora deeply agreed with Cale’s words.
“No matter how much—”
No matter her conflict with the current Demon King.
Her love for the Demon World was genuine.
The Demon World must not let chaos corruption spread to
ordinary demons.
“…”
Aurora’s expression hardened. It was time to move.
‘Oh, and.’
Cale had added a request:
‘Have you contacted my uncle?’
Cale smiled as he continued:
‘Tell him it’s time to pay up.’
Cale vividly remembered his mother’s family, the Thames
Family, and his uncle who stole his money and fled.
He even kept records to ensure he wouldn’t forget.
“Hm.”
Aurora tried contacting him but failed.
“No connection.”
For some reason, she couldn’t reach him.
He’d said he had a clear connection with Cale, but contact
was lost afterward.
“Should I look into it more—”
Aurora muttered softly.
She turned.
“Something wrong?”
“Chief.”
She sensed someone approaching and looked.
An old man drew near.
Former Chief Theodore.
“Has that lord left?”
“Him, ah, you mean Mr. Cale?”
“Yes.”
She gazed at him quietly and said:
“Yes. He’s gone.”
“Is it okay to ask about him?”
The old man’s question carried many implications.
Aurora answered:
“You’re wise; I trust you won’t ask further.”
“Hm. Understood.”
The former chief walked away without more questions,
heading home into the village, looking at the sky.
The darkness receded, and morning brightened.
‘Who was he—’
The red-haired man who created miracles.
An old man who wished to see him again.
“Father, was he—”
“He’s gone.”
No, the villagers.
The warm gray aura.
The miracle it created.
All of it shook the hearts of demons who left the village to
survive.
“Hm. The Gray Disease—”
Aurora didn’t notice this.
Satisfied with stopping the former chief’s questions, she
continued thinking:
“If the Gray Disease is chaos corruption, Cale can purify it.”
The Gray Disease was spreading.
If it became an epidemic, engulfing villages or cities with
chaos corruption—
“Could he save that many?”
Aurora sighed and moved.
She had to complete her assigned tasks first.
“Human, the eagle stopped!”
Raon pointed to a tree where the eagle folded its wings
and landed.
“Hm.”
Cale frowned and muttered:
“Put me down.”
“Yes, Lord Cale.”
Clopeh smiled and set Cale down.
Cale, carried on his back the whole way, felt complicated.
Tap!
Tap!
On and Hong nimbly leapt from the tree, On saying
doubtfully:
“No markers.”
If On said so, Hong and Raon found nothing either.
Clopeh hadn’t found anything either.
“Human, did you find something?”
But Cale, dutifully carried on Clopeh’s back over the long
trek, had observed the tree where the eagle landed.
When Kim Rok Soo worked under Team Leader Lee Soo
Hyuk, Korea had little left intact.
Wood, buildings—everything was ruined.
Leaving markers in such conditions?
There were ways.
“Here.”
Cale found a small notch under the tree.
A square stone with a crack.
Team Leader Lee Soo Hyuk, who could cut anything,
always left his markers on cement fragments or stones.
“It’s north.”
The marker pointed north.
They’d come west for half a day, now it was north.
‘Choi Han went north.’
Cale had a feeling.
‘We’ll meet.’
Circling around, they’d cross paths.
“Map.”
Swish.
Clopeh unfolded the map.
“Pick up the pace.”
This time, Cale took the lead.
Whoosh—
Wrapped in wind, Cale shot forward.
The west was a plain with forests.
Moving swiftly across the flat terrain, Cale stopped
periodically.
Each time, he found a tree with a diagonal slash and,
within a two-meter radius, a square stone.
The slash seemed like a marker, but the stone was the true
sign.
“Northwest.”
Whoosh—
“11 o’clock direction.”
Whoosh—
Cale stopped.
He marked a spot on the map.
“Seems like here.”
Cale’s gaze fixed on a point on the map.
“Diorail.”
Clopeh Sekka said calmly:
“The territory of Count Lyupe.”
A territory reportedly missing its lord, known in the New
World game as the domain of the dark-aligned Count
Lyupe, one of the three evils.
Now a commercial city and territory halted without an
owner.
Cale stared at the spot. Then his eyes shifted to the stone
in his hand.
“The blood’s dried.”
This time, the stone had blood.
Not a blood message.
“He’s injured.”
Team Leader Lee Soo Hyuk was hurt.
“Lord Cale, Diorail seems correct.”
The last marker Cale held was on a hill overlooking Diorail,
the central city of Count Lyupe’s territory.
Chapter 2-433: One Person, Two Stages, and the Chaos Demon
World (8)
Cale became one of the three hidden evil bosses.
The original boss there was the dark ghost Count Lyupe.
“Human, is that Count Lyupe’s territory?”
“Uh. It’s still his territory now.”
Count Lyupe.
Killed by the Demon King’s faction, he became an NPC in the
New World due to experiments by the Transparent Blood
Family.
“Lord Cale.”
Cale, crouched and hiding in a tree, didn’t turn toward the
voice. But Clopeh Sekka wasn’t fazed by Cale’s reaction.
“I heard that territory’s situation is quite complex.”
“Yeah. It’s complicated, isn’t it?”
Count Lyupe owned one of the Demon World’s three largest
merchant guilds, making him its richest figure.
—A rich guy!
The Fire of Destruction, the cheapskate, reacted, but was
ignored.
Aurora, from the Arbiters’ Alliance, had said:
‘Count Lyupe is indeed dead, but his body wasn’t found. His
status is closer to missing, which has caused many issues.’
The current Demon King’s faction aimed to consolidate power
by dealing with the Demon World’s richest figure, seizing his
wealth and merchant guild.
‘If Count Lyupe’s secret safe or the guild’s ownership certificate
was found by the current Demon King’s side, they’d have
wrapped it up cleanly.’
But the guild’s ownership certificate couldn’t be located.
The Demon King’s faction was barred from controlling the
Demon World’s strongest merchant guild.
‘Thus, Count Lyupe’s territory, Diorail, currently has no lord.’
In short:
‘The next lord hasn’t been chosen yet.’
The Demon King didn’t get what he wanted.
‘Or, if the next lord finds Count Lyupe’s secret safe, they’ll gain
control of the guild, which is why the Demon King hasn’t
appointed a lord.’
The excuse was that “the missing Count Lyupe might return.”
“Lord Cale, I heard Count Lyupe’s missing status is about to be
lifted.”
“Hm. Right.”
The lord’s position couldn’t remain vacant forever.
Thus, the current Demon King set a deadline for the missing
status.
“…About a month, I think.”
In roughly a month, the missing status would lift, declaring
Count Lyupe dead, and a new lord would be chosen.
“Yes. So Miss Aurora said that if a new lord is chosen in a
month, they’ll enter the lord’s castle.”
Count Lyupe’s secret safe.
It was in the lord’s castle.
That safe held the ownership certificate for the Demon World’s
top merchant guild.
‘Young Master Cale, based on my discussions with Count
Lyupe—’
Aurora had shared a rough plan with Cale to steal the
certificate.
‘Whether the new lord is a demon from the Demon King’s side
or not, the Demon King’s confidants guarding the lord’s castle
will be fewer now.’
They’d guarded the castle for years but couldn’t find the
certificate. With a new lord, they’d temporarily withdraw to
solidify that demon’s power.
If the new lord was the Demon King’s confidant, even fewer of
the Demon King’s allies would remain, as there’d be no reason
to stay.
“I heard one candidate is from Count Lyupe’s collateral family,
and another is from the Demon King’s beastman faction. These
two are expected to compete for the next lordship.”
Cale nodded, and Clopeh continued.
While Cale met with Choi Jung Gun, Clopeh had gathered
information about the Demon World from Aurora.
“Miss Aurora said the tension between these two factions is
greater than expected.”
“Surprising.”
Cale glanced at Diorail’s city walls, where the gate stood, and
the lord’s castle in the distance.
“It’s said to be due to the Lyupe family’s influence.”
Clopeh pointed east.
“As long as that river and trade routes exist, this city’s power
can’t be controlled solely by the Demon King’s authority.”
A massive river flowed east of the lord’s castle.
As wide as several rivers combined, its depths unmeasurable,
countless ships plied its waters.
And the territory’s north.
Wagons loaded with goods traveled a road as wide as the river.
“Mines, you said?”
“Yes. The northern part of Count Lyupe’s territory and nearby
lands have significant mines.”
Minerals from those mines passed through this city, spreading
across the Demon World via the river.
“Each mine has shares held by the Lyupe family. Many
merchant guilds involved in transport also hold shares.”
Because of this, the Lyupe family’s influence in Diorail was
considerable. The current Demon King, publicly advocating an
“open policy,” couldn’t openly suppress them.
“Hm.”
Cale’s gaze lowered.
“But the God of Chaos Church is in there, right?”
He gripped the square stone.
The blood-stained stone.
“And it’s a force large enough to include two top-tier holy
knights and upper-tier holy knights.”
If the Pope was in the Demon World, as suspected.
“What a mess.”
Diorail.
This wealthy commercial and mining city might now embody
chaos itself.
“One thing’s certain.”
Cale responded to Clopeh’s words.
“Yes. Whether it’s the Lyupe collateral family or the Demon
King’s beastman faction, someone’s allied with the God of
Chaos Church.”
“Exactly. Otherwise, a force with that much military power
couldn’t sneak in.”
Cale concluded:
“I need information.”
He recalled another piece of information from Aurora:
‘Count Lyupe said only one person knew the secret safe’s
location for a reason.’
Count Lyupe hadn’t told even his family where the safe was.
‘Some people are too greedy, so he couldn’t let them know,
fearing they’d do something else.’
Cale filed that away.
Then—
“Human, human.”
Raon, On, and Hong approached, whispering:
“Do you know the secret safe’s location, human?”
Clopeh’s eyes sparkled as he listened.
The kids, average age ten, were the same.
“Hm. I know.”
Cale’s answer made four pairs of eyes gleam wildly.
Raon said fervently:
“Save Soo Hyuk first! We’ll figure out how to open it later!”
Cale said casually:
“I didn’t say I’d open the secret safe.”
“Human, don’t lie to yourself!”
Ha.
Cale was stunned by Raon’s words.
‘Where’d he learn that?’
Regardless, Raon, On, and Hong quickly decided their roles:
“The castle will be crowded. Hong and I will gather
information.”
“Sister, I can approach merchants and steal information!”
On and Hong devised a plan based on what they’d learned from
Ron about gathering intelligence.
“Human, Clopeh. You two follow my lead.”
Raon would take charge.
“I’ll dye you both.”
He did what Cale would’ve asked anyway.
“It’s because we caused a stir at the Night of Genesis; the God
of Chaos Church likely has info on us! So we need to be
careful!”
Woo—
In the Demon World, Raon ignited black mana.
With his Present attributes, mana was always at his side.
Swish—
A gust passed, and Cale’s hood fell.
Black hair brushed his fingers.
“Been a while.”
Black hair, long absent.
Somehow, it reminded him of Kim Rok Soo’s days.
His body was only in its early twenties now, so it evoked that
life.
“Hehe. Looks good.”
Of course, Clopeh Sekka, also with black hair, was smiling
beside him.
Cale felt sour, but—
“Hihi! Both are my color!”
Hearing Raon’s words, he silently shut his mouth.
The kid said it was good; what could he say?
“Ho. Are you all family?”
“…Uh. I guess so.”
Cale answered hesitantly.
“My, black hair’s rare. A whole family with black hair, how
fascinating!”
The official said, raising a stamp.
Bang!
A city entry permit was handed to Cale.
Plus four identity tags.
“Hehe. Are you the cousin?”
Cale opened his mouth.
But Clopeh answered faster:
“Siblings.”
“!”
Cale was shocked.
The official and Clopeh continued:
“Is this the eldest brother?”
“Haha, hardly.”
“Really? Hardly?”
“Haha, no.”
Clopeh introduced himself as the eldest.
“This is the second eldest.”
He gently patted Cale’s shoulder.
“This is the third.”
On.
“Here’s the fourth.”
Hong.
On and Hong had black hair today too.
“And the youngest, the fifth—”
“Not here with you?”
“Haha.”
Clopeh just laughed.
—Human, I’m the youngest! Clopeh Sekka’s not bad, no, he’s
got some sense now! He even accounted for invisible me!
Hihi.
Raon was thrilled.
—He said we’re siblings! Hihi! Human and I have a big age gap!
Clopeh’s hilarious!
“Pfft.”
“Hihi.”
As On and Hong stifled laughter at Cale’s face—
“Ha.”
Cale sighed and naturally walked into Diorail.
With Aurora’s prepared identity tags, they entered the city
easily.
“Is the lord’s castle there?”
Cale asked Clopeh.
“Hm.”
Clopeh answered promptly.
“…?”
Cale’s gaze turned to Clopeh.
“What?”
Clopeh looked genuinely puzzled.
“…Nothing.”
“We’re acting now.”
On whispered.
Cale nodded at her words.
—Right. Human, Clopeh’s doing great! We’re surrounded by
enemies! It’s just us five! We need to act well and stay hidden!
If we want to save Soo Hyuk later, we need to do even better!
Raon defended Clopeh.
“Here’s the map.”
In a corner alley, Cale opened the map and studied Diorail’s
layout.
“Second eldest, the castle ahead is the lord’s castle.”
“…I know.”
Cale shot Clopeh a glance.
‘Is this guy having fun right now?’
He was.
‘Ha. Oh, heavens—’
Pretending to be Lord Cale’s brother!
A hero’s legend had all sorts of episodes.
‘Though this was usually Choi Han’s role.’
This time, it’s me!
Joy filled Clopeh’s eyes.
‘Pretend you don’t notice.’
Cale, somehow annoyed, avoided those eyes.
His gaze turned to the lord’s castle on the map.
A straight road from the south.
At its end stood the lord’s castle.
‘It’s said the Demon King’s people are gathered there now,
right?’
Their claim was that Diorail and the mining market stabilized
due to Count Lyupe’s absence.
“Hm.”
Cale’s gaze shifted to another part of the map.
Near the northern mines.
“Second eldest, that’s where the Lyupe family resides now.”
“I know.”
“I just wanted to tell you.”
“Shut up.”
“…”
After Clopeh quieted, Cale looked at a small ancient castle in
the northern territory.
The old castle.
Where the Lyupe family had lived for generations.
It was said the collateral family and their supporters, eyeing the
next lordship, were staying there.
“Let’s start here.”
“Why?”
Cale ignored Clopeh’s question.
“I’m curious why.”
On’s question prompted Cale to speak.
“This.”
He pulled out the blood-stained stone from his pocket.
A diagonal slash was carved on it.
“A stopover.”
Team Leader Soo Hyuk didn’t deem this the destination.
When he left this last marker—
He saw this as a stopover.
“Out the north gate, into the forest.”
If they chose the right path—
“The markers will continue. If wrong, we return to the city.”
Cale’s group, faces fully exposed, reached the north gate.
Then, entering the forest toward the old castle—
Cale approached a roadside tree.
“Got it.”
He found Lee Soo Hyuk’s marker.
“Urgent.”
He’d left it.
“He’s being chased.”
Cale’s gaze turned to the sky.
The sun was setting unnoticed.
Perhaps because of this, the wide road flanked by forests had
no wagons or people.
Only silence remained.
Swish—
A breeze blew. Cale was certain.
“Here.”
The team leader was in this forest.
“Find Soo Hyuk before nightfall.”
Though Cale now had the black hair of his Kim Rok Soo days—
He wasn’t the young Kim Rok Soo anymore.
Woo—
The golden top vibrated faintly.
Though the mana here differed from the world Cale lived in—
“Please help.”
Wind elementals were here too. The area was vast and tough,
but in a forest this size—
He asked the elementals:
“Find the person I’m talking about.”
Ahhh—
Swish—
Swish—
Multiple gusts shot into the forest.
The wind elementals searched for Soo Hyuk as Cale intended.
He also asked them one more thing:
“If there’s any other life besides him, let me know.”
Raon asked:
—Human, who else are you looking for?
Cale answered casually:
“The enemies too.”
Soo Hyuk.
The ones after the team leader.
He’d catch those guys too.
Cale’s eyes sank coldly, burning.
Swish.
Clopeh’s lips curved up watching him.
Woo.
His sword trembled faintly.
Like a snake stalking prey, a shadow of light guarding the
darkness, Clopeh’s sword waited for what would unfold.
‘You, protect him well.’
Choi Han had warned.
‘And you’re growing too.’
He’d also advised.
‘Because you’re a genius.’
And he’d acknowledged him.
Clopeh Sekka, certified by Choi Han for his sword talent.
With the desire—no, conviction—to become a true companion
to the hero this time.
“I’ll take the lead.”
“Hm.”
Clopeh entered the forest off the road.
The reason was simple.
Swish—
‘Something’s over here!’
A wind elemental guided Cale, and he pointed that way.
Swish—
The sound of wind enveloped Cale and his companions.
Tap, tap!
Under the sunset, Cale’s group slipped into the forest as night
fell.
Cale said:
“Raon. Send a signal to the sky.”
Clopeh spoke:
“Don’t the enemies know us?”
“Doesn’t matter. As long as they don’t know who we are.”
Seeing the signal, how would enemies know Cale had come?
They’d only think Soo Hyuk’s allies had arrived.
That much was necessary.
“Announce our presence.”
To enemies and allies.
To the God of Chaos Church’s people too.
To the team leader, annoyed by this mess.
“He should know we’re here.”
Cale said confidently.
Looking for you.
So enemies and allies wouldn’t focus on them.
Of course, Cale kept his eyes sharp.
Markers.
In this urgent situation, finding Lee Soo Hyuk’s markers, Cale’s
eyes worked harder than ever.
—Human, signal sent!
Woo—
After a brief tremor—
Beep—
A light pierced the forest, shooting into the red sky.
“Huff. Huff.”
Soo Hyuk, panting, leaned against a tree.
“Damn it. They’re relentless.”
Were the pursuers fanatics? So stubborn.
“My body’s still not tough enough.”
His post-reincarnation body was still weak.
‘Damn.’
If he hadn’t messed up, he wouldn’t be injured.
‘But seeing what they were doing—’
How could he hold back?
His emotions flared, exposing his hiding spot.
He always made these mistakes. His stubborn refusal to fix this
was an issue too.
“Huff. Ha.”
Soo Hyuk panted.
Beep—
Then—
A sound came from afar.
“!”
Soo Hyuk swiftly climbed the tree.
Then he looked to the sky.
“Ha, haha!”
A white dragon soared into the sunset sky.
Back when he was team leader, two people always came for
him.
Kim Rok Soo, finding markers and guiding.
And Choi Jung Soo, handling combat and destruction.
A white dragon rose to the sky.
But it wasn’t Choi Jung Soo’s.
“A mana dragon.”
A dragon made of mana.
Then—
“Raon.”
And only one person used it as a signal flare.
“Kim Rok Soo, you bastard—”
As expected, I knew you’d come.
Lee Soo Hyuk moved toward the signal’s direction.
That clever guy deliberately exposed his position.
Meaning he was ready to face enemies or allies.
“I called for help, time to move.”
Soo Hyuk tightened the bandages and torn cloth around his
wound, then moved swiftly.
Tap, tap, tap.
His steps over the trees were light.
Cale told his companions:
“From today, we’re Wanderers.”
Having exposed himself, Cale planned to act as a Wanderer to
the enemies and the God of Chaos Church.
“Are we fighting the Third Emperor, or—”
For a moment, Kim Rok Soo’s old team leader speech slipped
out.
“We’re the Third Emperor’s subordinates. Got it?”
“Got it!”
“Understood.”
“Yes, Lord Cale.”
From Hong, On, and Clopeh.
Raon said:
“Got it, human! We’re fighting the Third Emperor!”
Cale closed his eyes, reflecting.
Well said, well said.
“…No, we’re the Third Emperor’s subordinates.”
“Yes! Got it, human! We’re the Third Emperor’s subordinates!”
“…Yeah.”
Cale deeply felt his influence on the vocabulary of kids, average
age ten.
He kept his eyes closed.
Swish—
Heading into the night forest, toward the signal flare.
Companions and enemies began to move.
Chapter 2-434: One Person, Two Stages, and the Chaos Demon
World (9)
After Raon launched the white dragon into the sky—
Whoosh—
Cale focused on the wind.
East, west, south, north.
Winds surged from all directions, indiscriminate.
“Three people in the east!”
“One at 5 o’clock!”
“Three in the northwest!”
“One at 7 o’clock!”
“Three in the southeast!”
The wind elementals’ information flooded in like a tide.
Cale’s clothes fluttered in the breeze.
“So many people.”
Soo Hyuk.
To catch one team leader—
“About twenty people, scattered.”
Most were closing in on Cale.
Among them—
“One’s the team leader, another’s likely their leader.”
Someone to save, and someone to deal with.
“Characteristics of the ones at 5 and 7 o’clock.”
All moved in groups of three, except these two, who were
alone.
One had to be Team Leader Lee Soo Hyuk or the search team’s
leader.
‘Even injured, in his young body, ordinary fighters couldn’t
catch him.’
That’s why the search team’s leader sent groups of three after
Soo Hyuk.
“And he’s moving alone.”
The implication was clear.
“It means he’s confident he can catch an injured Soo Hyuk.”
Cale stepped forward slowly.
“The team leader’s injured, that’s obvious.”
Even with two top-tier holy knights, Soo Hyuk’s skill should’ve
kept him hidden while tailing.
But he was spotted—
“Because he got angry and lost control, right?”
Team Leader Lee Soo Hyuk must’ve seen something infuriating,
a scene he couldn’t tolerate, and lost his cool, exposing his
killing intent.
Or he accidentally let his presence slip.
That’s how the enemy found him, and now he was being
hunted.
“Always like this.”
Team Leader Lee Soo Hyuk always stirred up trouble.
He seemed calm, indifferent to everything, but harbored the
fiercest anger inside.
“That’s why no one could replace Lee Soo Hyuk.”
Cale and Kim Rok Soo had tried to take his place, but they
couldn’t become like him.
Kim Rok Soo only earned the unflattering nickname “Poison
Seed” (독종), never seen as a heroic figure like Lee Soo Hyuk.
“And I didn’t want to either.”
Cale looked to the sky.
The sunset painted the blue expanse.
“Been a while.”
Cleaning up Lee Soo Hyuk’s messes—long overdue.
“Since I’m doing Jung Soo’s share too, gotta step it up.”
With Jung Soo gone, Cale had to cover his part too.
“No.”
Not just Choi Jung Soo—he had more companions now.
Too many to help clean up the mess.
Cale smirked.
Whoosh—
The wind blew again, and he listened.
“5 o’clock is a young person!”
“7 o’clock is a middle-aged man!”
Crack.
Cale turned toward 7 o’clock.
“Everyone will arrive in ten minutes!”
Hearing the wind elementals, Cale said softly:
“On, Hong, please.”
No response came from On or Hong.
No meows, not even their footsteps.
Unnoticed by Cale, the two kids had grown again.
His lips curved slightly.
“As expected, things are different.”
Completely unlike the past—truly changed.
Cale realized he was now living as Cale Henituse.
He glanced aside.
The forest, shrouded in darkness.
Nothing visible in the shadows.
“Clopeh, got it?”
“Yes, Lord Cale.”
Clopeh’s voice came from the shadows.
He emerged, bowed slightly, and vanished again.
His figure, dyed with magic, blended almost perfectly with the
shadows.
The old Clopeh Sekka, once a guardian knight seeking legend,
now embraced hiding in shadow without hesitation, even
enjoying it.
“…”
Cale watched Clopeh fade, then stepped forward.
His expression was icy.
As always, he hated seeing companions hurt.
Then, Raon’s voice came:
—Human, wanna smash everything?
Cale froze.
—Hihi! Just kidding, human! I know now’s not the time!
Raon answered playfully.
“A little smashing’s fine.”
Cale replied casually.
—Oh!
Raon was surprised.
But Cale kept walking leisurely.
As Wanderers under the Third Emperor, why rush or hide
against mere holy knights?
His lips curved upward.
“Captain.”
Senior Holy Knight Sutton, leading the search team, met three
subordinates.
“Did you move because of the signal flare?”
“Yes.”
For a day and a half, Senior Holy Knight Sutton had been
hunting an intruder in this forest.
Whoosh—
Amid the wind, he looked up and sniffed.
“No blood scent yet.”
His attire, unfit for a holy knight, resembled a ranger’s.
In leather armor, he scanned the surroundings.
“Everyone’s converging here.”
His ears perked; the forest grew noisy.
Those quietly searching for the intruder, scattered across the
area, now rushed toward the flare, inevitably exposing
themselves despite caution.
“Paul, take two men back to headquarters.”
“Report now?”
“Yes.”
He took another deep breath.
“No blood scent.”
But for some reason—
“I feel blood’s coming soon.”
Sutton’s words froze Paul and the two holy knights’
expressions.
Sutton—
A holy knight of the God of Chaos Church with a special ability,
innately sensitive to blood scents.
Known as the “Blood Tracker.”
‘Having smelled the intruder’s blood, as long as he’s in the
forest, Captain will find him.’
Paul bowed:
“We’ll head to headquarters.”
“Good. They must’ve seen the flare too; they’ll send
reinforcements.”
Paul hesitated, asking:
“…Does Captain think we need more men?”
“We haven’t caught one intruder yet. This forest isn’t that big.”
Twenty holy knights dispatched, yet the intruder remained
uncaptured.
They’d smelled his blood several times but failed to seize him.
Sutton was cautious.
“The grand plan is near. If an intruder reaches the holy city
now, it’ll be troublesome. Especially with his allies here,
reinforcements are inevitable.”
“Hm.”
Paul couldn’t argue.
With holy knights busy on the “grand plan,” sending twenty
was the limit; more reinforcements would be tough.
“If it’s not enough, find Lord Teril.”
“!”
Paul shuddered.
“He injured the intruder; he’ll act.”
Teril, a top-tier holy knight surpassing senior ranks, one of the
top three, an existence Sutton could never defeat.
“…Yes, understood.”
Seeing cautious Captain Sutton mention Teril, Paul grasped the
gravity.
He said hurriedly:
“I’ll go now!”
“Good. Before more variables arise—”
Sutton stopped.
Whoosh—
Wind blew.
Sutton looked up, letting it brush his face.
He sniffed.
“…Damn.”
Something was off.
Not the forest’s scent.
A strange odor came with the wind.
‘East?’
No.
‘West?’
Not that either.
Not north or south.
‘All directions!’
Scents came from everywhere.
Sutton knew his peculiar ability was like intuition.
‘Danger.’
He sensed danger through scents.
He could sharply track a target’s scent, but this scent—
“Not one or two people—”
The intruder’s allies weren’t just a few in this forest.
He felt danger surging from all sides.
Goosebumps covered his body.
The scent grew thicker, signaling immense danger approaching.
Silent, stealthy danger.
What could it be?
Sutton ordered Paul:
“Back to headquarters, now!”
“Yes!”
Paul, sensing urgency, urged his men to hurry.
The subordinates were confused.
The forest seemed calm.
But Paul knew Sutton’s ability and didn’t delay.
Danger was coming.
Meanwhile—
At the opposite end of the forest from Sutton—
“Hm?”
The leader of a three-man holy knight team, moving swiftly,
stopped.
“Halt.”
He raised a hand, signaling his companions to stop, and looked
ahead warily.
In the dark forest, someone stepped out slowly.
Their pace was relaxed, unconcerned.
“Who’s there!”
The leader’s shout got no response; the black-haired man kept
approaching.
Swish.
His longsword hung low.
“The first offering.”
The black-haired man—Clopeh Sekka—smiled as he spoke.
“!”
“!!”
“…!”
A chill ran through the three.
Clopeh Sekka, trained by Heavenly Demon and Choi Han, had
mastered the aura of death mana.
Different from aura.
Yet similar.
A power like the shadow of light.
A swordsman wielding this force—
His killing intent seeped into the surroundings.
“…Mist…!”
Behind the black-haired man, mist surged like a tide.
Like waves swallowing the forest—
But not as violent as waves.
Silent.
The mist, spreading instantly like waves, enveloped them.
“Run!”
The leader judged quickly, but the mist was faster.
A holy knight, turning to flee at the order, collapsed mid-step.
“Ugh…!”
Paralysis poison.
“…Ah…”
Then, sleepiness hit.
Not peaceful sleep, but a fear-inducing mist evoking darkness
and death.
“…!”
“Ugh—!”
“No, don’t—!”
The three holy knights fell, struggling against paralysis and
sleep.
Footsteps.
The black-haired swordsman walked past them slowly.
Snick.
The leader looked up, seeing the man smile down at him before
moving on.
“Urgh—”
The leader finally succumbed, eyes closing.
Darkness enveloped him.
He fought to open his eyes but couldn’t.
Yet he wasn’t fully unconscious.
Even with eyes closed, he could hear.
A low voice came:
“How dare you betray us—”
The black-haired swordsman’s cold, scornful tone.
The last words the leader heard.
“I must—”
He clung to those words, vowing to survive and report them.
But he didn’t know—
“…”
Clopeh quietly watched the fully unconscious leader.
Rustle.
A deliberate sound came.
In the darkness, a silver cat’s bright eyes.
Then a red cat’s silhouette.
Clopeh nodded, then walked away.
The poison mist was spreading through the forest.
Footsteps.
Unlike Clopeh’s deliberate sounds, the poison mist, like On and
Hong, spread silently across the forest.
“…”
Clopeh’s lips curved up.
Pretending to be the Third Emperor’s subordinate.
This game was quite fun.
The mist reached the 7 o’clock direction last.
“Paul, hurry!”
Sutton, feeling the thickening danger, was covered in
goosebumps.
He urged Paul while turning swiftly, racing toward the flare’s
direction.
Woo—
His toes glowed with the God of Chaos’s divine power, gray
energy surging.
Hearing Paul’s retreat, he left one last order:
“I’m finding the scent’s source—”
But he stopped.
“!”
In the darkness, someone approached slowly.
“What?”
He couldn’t smell anything.
No danger signals.
“Why?”
Amid the forest’s scents, he couldn’t sense this approaching
person.
“An ordinary person couldn’t do this!”
Sutton only failed to sense danger or scents from those posing
no threat.
“Ah, it’s—”
As the figure clarified, they seemed frail, and Sutton thought he
understood why.
“Hm!”
But the next moment, he shuddered.
“Ugh!”
He clutched his nose.
A black-haired man.
In the forest’s shadows, his pupil color was indistinguishable,
only darkness visible.
The moment he locked eyes with Sutton—
“Ugh!”
Sutton was overwhelmed by a thick blood scent.
His body trembled uncontrollably.
Drip.
A nosebleed.
He couldn’t even smell anymore.
“Only a top-tier holy knight could…”
And only a leader among the God of Chaos Church’s holy
knights.
That oppressive presence—he’d only felt it facing a leader.
“No.”
Even stronger than that?
Because—
“I can’t smell anything.”
The blood scent drowned him.
His sense of smell seemed to vanish.
“Urgh, ah—”
“Ugh—”
Behind him, his three subordinates knelt or groaned.
Beyond the scent, this absolute pressure made them tremble.
“Different.”
Similar to the God of Chaos’s power, yet distinct.
Completely different.
But that absolute fear.
Footsteps.
The black-haired man approached slowly, asking:
“Why betray us?”
Not about chasing the intruder.
Not questioning Sutton’s identity.
Just: Why betray?
“What?”
Sutton was confused.
Whoosh—
Beyond the wind, another sound came.
“…Water?”
Waves.
The moment Sutton realized—
—Turn the arrow into a snake, right?
—Yes. Not a dragon, a snake.
Cale answered Sky Eating Water casually, recalling Choi Jung
Gun’s information.
‘What’s the Third Emperor’s power?’
A Wanderer, the third strongest in the Five-Colored Blood
Family Hunters.
Cale was curious about his power.
That unique trait, akin to ancient powers, was something Cale
needed to understand.
‘Hm. That power is—’
Choi Jung Gun answered.
‘Water dragon.’
He called it a dragon of water.
And added:
‘One of his subordinates has a snake. A water snake.’
Cale’s lips curved up.
Whoosh—
Two water snakes coiled and rose behind him.
“Traitors face only death.”
At Cale’s command, the two water snakes lunged at Sutton.
—Human! They totally fell for it!
Cale ignored Raon’s excited voice.
Meanwhile—
“Huff, huff.”
Soo Hyuk panted heavily.
He wasn’t running desperately.
“Haha! The little ones came too.”
He saw mist enveloping the forest.
It avoided the direction he headed, toward the flare’s
explosion.
The mist covered the entire forest, letting him finally catch his
breath.
He couldn’t help but laugh.
So did Cale.
“Water snakes… Third Emperor…!”
Sutton recognized the identity instantly.
Snick.
Cale smirked at Sutton.
—Hihi! Fooled them!
Raon laughed gleefully too.
Chapter 2-435: One Person, Two Stages, and the Chaos Demon
World (10)
“Go.”
Cale waved, and two water snakes lunged at Sutton and his
subordinates.
Boom!
A loud crash, and Sutton was knocked back.
“Damn it!”
He shut his eyes tightly.
He barely blocked one snake, but the other slipped past him.
No, one didn’t even bother with him.
“Aaaagh!”
“Ugh!”
“Argh!”
Screams from the three holy knights as the snakes engulfed
them.
Sutton whipped his head around.
Crash—
Water snakes, far larger than ordinary serpents, coiled around
the three, smashing through trees.
Boom!
“Urgh!”
“Cough!”
“…!”
The three holy knights were helpless, flung into trees like debris
in a tidal wave.
Two groaned in pain; one was already unconscious.
“…It’s fear!”
The three weren’t weak.
Especially Paul, a mid-tier holy knight, shouldn’t have fallen so
easily.
But fear—
The earlier oppressive presence had paralyzed their bodies.
“Urgh!”
Sutton groaned involuntarily.
No time to be distracted.
Boom!
Another snake attacked.
Swish!
Sutton’s body was pushed back slightly.
But he held his ground.
Buzz—
Woo—
His dual swords, now raised, glowed gray, shielding him from
the water.
“I can hold it!”
He could handle snakes of this level.
“!”
But then, Sutton realized something.
His body began to tremble.
His pupils shook, fear creeping onto his face.
‘The scent—’
Still nothing…!
Drip.
Blood flowed from his nose, soaking the cloth beneath his
leather armor.
The blood scent drowned out everything else.
“Ah.”
Sutton understood.
The black-haired man before him—
He was toying with him!
“…A mere disciple of the Third Emperor…!”
Daring to challenge the power granted by the God of Chaos
with such trivial strength!
Looked down upon by a Wanderer?
Sutton couldn’t stomach the humiliation.
Then—
Snick.
The black-haired man sneered.
“!”
Sutton’s eyes blazed with rage.
Buzz—!
The gray glow on his swords intensified.
Cale, watching, couldn’t help but—
Snick.
Smile again.
‘Oops.’
He should’ve been serious.
But he couldn’t resist.
—Hihi! They keep falling for it!
Hearing Raon, Cale couldn’t suppress his amusement.
Since entering the New World, Cale rarely toyed with enemies
like this.
The last time, against the White Star, he’d attacked from all
sides.
Now, he’d only laid small bait, not yet closing the net.
But watching enemies fall for it repeatedly was oddly satisfying.
‘Disciple, huh?’
Cale didn’t miss that detail.
The Third Emperor’s water dragon.
His subordinate’s water snake.
But that subordinate was a disciple.
‘Can inherent abilities be taught?’
A power that shouldn’t be transferable, yet he took disciples?
As Cale briefly pondered—
Crash!
A sound snapped him back.
—Human!
Raon called.
“Aaaagh—!”
Sutton cleaved a snake, charging at Cale through the gap.
Buzz! Buzz!
His swords’ gray glow was brighter than ever.
Of course, his nosebleed gushed too.
—Human! That guy’s gone crazy!
He looked terrifying.
Seeing Cale distracted, Sutton shouted:
“Mere weak power dares challenge the strength granted by the
God of Chaos?!”
But Cale’s expression was calm, almost scornful.
“Go.”
He waved nonchalantly.
“!”
Sutton’s back chilled.
Even without scent, his other senses worked.
“Urgh!”
He rolled to dodge.
Where he’d stood—
Boom!
With a massive crash, a snake swallowed the ground, shaking
the earth.
“!”
Sutton’s pupils trembled as Cale said calmly:
“Don’t forget, there’s more than one snake.”
The snake that attacked the three holy knights was still active.
Sutton slowly turned to Cale.
Meeting his wavering gaze, Cale’s lips curved up.
—Human! You’re smiling like a villain!
Right, he was playing the villain, not genuinely happy.
Cale stood firm.
—Human, knock out these holy knights?
Cale planned to deal with Sutton and his men quickly.
“No need to drag this out.”
His goals were clear:
Rescue Team Leader Soo Hyuk, make the God of Chaos Church
think the Third Emperor was involved, sow chaos, and deepen
the rift between the Church and Hunters since the Night of
Genesis.
Cale spoke:
Crash—
A water pillar shot skyward around him.
As Sky Eating Water prepared to unleash full power—
“Hm?”
Cale looked at Sutton and froze.
Sutton, chaotic from his nosebleed, suddenly changed
expression.
He grinned and asked:
“Who are you?”
Cale was genuinely shocked.
—Ah!
Raon was too.
—Human! D-Did we get found out?!
As Raon stammered, Sutton asked again:
“I asked who you are.”
He planted his swords in the ground, propping himself up, gray
light coiling around him, his presence growing.
“You’re not the Third Emperor’s disciple.”
Senior Holy Knight.
A rank not easily earned.
At forty, Sutton had climbed from the bottom.
Beyond swordsmanship talent, he had other strengths.
Faith in the God of Chaos.
Top three among holy knights.
The “Blood Tracker” ability.
And cold ruthlessness to maximize it.
“No disguise fools me; I see through it.”
His earlier panic and wavering were just to gauge the
opponent’s act.
‘Though I was genuinely startled at first.’
A sudden enemy.
That absolute dominating presence.
And the unprecedented “no scent” state.
“When you summoned water snakes, I thought you were the
Third Emperor’s disciple.”
But he soon noticed something off.
Sutton’s gaze fixed on the black-haired man.
“…”
The man looked at him coldly.
“You—”
He nearly guessed his identity.
“Are the First Emperor, aren’t you?”
“…!”
The man flinched.
Sutton saw his reaction and smirked.
Buzz—
More gray light surged from him.
As a top-three senior holy knight,
Blood Tracker.
Sutton held nothing back.
“First Emperor.”
The enemy before him.
“I didn’t expect to meet the Five-Colored Blood’s leader like
this.”
An untouchable powerhouse.
The black-haired man, Cale, spoke slowly:
“…Why think that?”
Cale’s expression grew serious.
‘How did he get that idea?’
What’s going on?
—This guy’s way off!
Raon was stunned.
Cale didn’t laugh, though.
He was genuinely curious.
—First Emperor? The original Wanderer?
The Five-Colored Blood Family’s leader, the First Wanderer.
A being pursuing transcendence.
Why bring him up?
“Ha!”
Sutton laughed briefly.
Cale’s serious expression and question confirmed his guess.
“I was right.”
As a senior holy knight, he knew leaders of various factions
intimately.
Sutton, a frequent tracker, memorized even deeper
intelligence.
He knew he might die here.
“The First Emperor can manipulate most natural forces.”
But he wouldn’t retreat or flee.
“Your presence isn’t something a Third Emperor’s disciple could
have.”
He’d die for the God of Chaos.
A man with a suffocating absolute presence.
“And you haven’t used your full strength.”
All the clues pointed to one answer.
“First Emperor, why disguise as the Third Emperor’s disciple?”
Buzz—
His swords vibrated, sensing their master’s resolve.
“Even if I die, you won’t touch the God of Chaos Church.”
Sutton knew of the Night of Genesis tragedy.
Thus, holy knights scattered abroad had gathered where the
Pope was.
He also knew two factions were involved.
“Wanderers.”
Specifically, the Five-Colored Blood Family.
The other was—
“Someone named Cale?”
A foreign entity who destroyed the White Star Plan.
But Cale shouldn’t be in the Demon World.
He didn’t even know the Demon World was tied to the Hunters
and God of Chaos Church.
Why would he come here?
‘There’s no way to reach the Demon World.’
So, the enemy was a Wanderer.
Only someone from the Five-Colored Blood could mimic the
Third Emperor’s disciple’s power.
“Ha, haha—”
Cale laughed.
Then said calmly:
“I’m not the First Emperor.”
“Ha!”
Sutton couldn’t help laughing.
He raised his swords, pointing at Cale.
“Reinforcements saw the flare; they’ll arrive soon. My job is to
stall you, First Emperor.”
“Is that so.”
Cale tilted his head.
“Aaaagh!”
Sutton roared, charging forward.
His body shot toward Cale like lightning.
Woo—
Gray light enveloped him, his dual swords like an arrow.
Clang—!
His swords aimed skyward, then swung toward Cale.
Sutton’s eyes locked on him.
“If I were the First Emperor, could you stall me?”
Cale asked calmly.
“Cough!”
Sutton coughed blood, forced to stop.
No, his trembling body couldn’t move.
“Urgh, ah…”
What—
How—
An absolute force pressed on him.
As if countless weapons targeted his body.
The overwhelming pressure made him feel one step would
mean death.
Instinct urged him to kneel and beg.
Thud.
He dropped to one knee.
Pure instinct, no reason left.
His body reacted to the man.
Bow.
Kneel, prostrate.
Thud!
His swords stabbed the ground for support, but his trembling
hands couldn’t hold him.
“…Ugh…ah…”
Sutton couldn’t lift his head.
For a moment, he thought:
“Is this what facing the God of Chaos feels like?”
Was divine majesty like this?
“Ah.”
Then, was this man godlike?
Was that reasonable?
The man before him—
“No.”
He couldn’t submit like this.
“No.”
I don’t know—
His mind blanked.
He just wanted to flee.
“…Urgh…”
Sutton’s world darkened.
Under this overwhelming presence, he was losing
consciousness.
A senior holy knight—
Unable to withstand this pressure?
Sutton fought desperately.
At least lift his head, see the man’s face.
He couldn’t submit like this.
“Ah.”
But he realized—
He couldn’t win.
Clang.
His swords slipped.
The world went fully dark.
Light faded—
Thud.
His body collapsed.
He passed out.
“…”
Cale watched, thinking:
“Ha? He really fainted?”
He was baffled.
—Hahaha! Knocked out with just presence!
Dominating Aura laughed triumphantly.
“No, is this really possible?”
Cale couldn’t believe it.
—Hahaha, of course it is!
Dominating Aura puffed up.
—We’re restraining it for humans, but our power can rival
gods! It can withstand divine majesty!
A force that could stand before the God of Chaos.
—That human faced it alone; of course he’d faint.
“Wow.”
Cale was amazed at Dominating Aura’s growth.
He hadn’t noticed his own strength, always facing tough
enemies.
“Now I can fight without lifting a finger?”
Knocking out enemies with minimal effort using Dominating
Aura made Cale want to laugh.
But—
—Human, we’re still acting!
Cale snapped back to composure.
He looked up.
“Ugh, ugh—”
“Haa—”
The conscious holy knights trembled, at a loss.
“You need to keep up.”
Cale unleashed the same presence on them.
Before they fainted, he said:
“This is the warning for betrayal.”
Thud.
The last two holy knights collapsed.
Cale turned to leave.
Footsteps.
Slow steps.
“Give me speed magic.”
“Got it, human!”
Whoosh—
With Raon’s speed magic, Cale dashed off.
“Acting’s all about the exit!”
Leave just enough chaos and bolt!
Cale ran full speed.
“Haa, haa.”
Even with wind and speed magic, sprinting left him panting.
Finally—
“…What did you do?”
“Haa, haa.”
Team Leader Lee Soo Hyuk—no, Soo Hyuk—lounged lazily.
Sprawled where the flare went off, Cale kicked his waist.
“What?”
Soo Hyuk looked at the sweating Cale, puzzled.
Cale, panting, said urgently:
“Run!”
“Ah.”
Soo Hyuk shot up.
One arm was bandaged, but Cale had no time to care.
“Lord Cale.”
Meow!
Meow!
Clopeh Sekka, On, and Hong returned timely. Cale signaled,
telling Raon:
“Teleport!”
“Got it, human! I’m ready!”
Buzz—
A black mana teleportation circle formed.
Snap!
Cale’s group vanished instantly.
A clean escape.
Soon after, the Pope received a report.
“…Enemies invaded the forest?”
“Yes.”
“Casualties?”
“…Only minor injuries, no deaths.”
The Pope’s eyes sharpened.
A top-tier holy knight bowed, reporting:
“Per Sutton and Paul, it was a warning from the First Emperor.”
First Emperor.
The term made the Pope’s gaze icy.
The Five-Colored Blood Family discovered our Church in the
Demon World?
“The grand plan is near.”
On the eve of a plan to engulf the Demon World.
*****
“Something interesting happened.”
Her cold, dangerous eyes made everyone bow.
“That Wanderer kid, didn’t he come to the Demon World?”
“Yes, Master! The writing left was in Demon World script.”
The Third Emperor stared silently at his disciple.
“…”
Under that gaze, the disciple closed his eyes and spoke:
“…I’ll catch him in two days.”
“Good. I trust you.”
The Third Emperor smiled, satisfied.
Nearby, two Wanderers watched.
Siblings with transparent-tier traits from the Five-Colored Blood
Family.
Cho and Ren.
“…”
“…Ugh, why am I here?”
Ren soothed her complaining brother, gazing at the Demon
World’s sky.
‘Investigate the God of Chaos Church.’
‘Assist the Third Emperor.’
Others handled Cale Henituse; the siblings came to the Demon
World with the Third Emperor.
*****
“Tch.”
Cale clicked his tongue. Soo Hyuk, biting an apple pie, grinned.
That smile made Cale snap:
“What’s so funny? Laughing with injuries?”
The kids, average age ten, immediately retorted:
“Human! You’re one to talk!”
“You spit blood and faint the most, and you’re scolding him?”
“Ha.”
On’s sigh shut Cale up.
Chapter 2-436: One Person, Two Stages, and the Chaos Demon
World (11)
Raon:
“Human, Soo Hyuk just hurt his arm, but you spit blood and
faint! Ever think about others’ feelings?”
Hong:
“Wonder where you get off saying that.”
Finally:
“…Ha.”
On sighed again.
Cale thought silently:
‘How are these kids so sharp-tongued?’
Raon and Hong’s vocabulary stunned him.
‘Well, they’re smart.’
They seemed better at talking than him.
Snick.
Then, a laugh.
“Hehe.”
Soo Hyuk, munching an apple pie, chuckled.
Meeting Cale’s gaze, he grinned brighter.
“…”
As Cale’s face nearly crumpled—
“Soo Hyuk.”
Raon said softly:
“Is now the time to laugh?”
Soo Hyuk froze.
Hong crept closer, patting his leg with a paw:
“Not the time to laugh.”
“…”
Soo Hyuk stopped laughing.
“Ha.”
On sighed again, and both Cale and Soo Hyuk lost their smiles.
Their expressions were awkward, subtle, but they had no
retort.
“We’ll be careful not to get hurt.”
On’s final words sealed it.
“…”
“…”
Neither said a thing.
“Learn to take care of your bodies.”
On’s follow-up left them speechless, shoulders slightly
hunched.
On said no more.
Because she saw—
“The bleeding won’t stop.”
“Hm! This is bad!”
On and Raon grew serious, and Cale’s expression darkened.
Soo Hyuk’s arm wound wasn’t deep, but the blood kept
flowing.
Just one cut.
A clean, shallow slice, showing Soo Hyuk had protected himself
even in a crisis.
“A top-tier fighter, right?”
“Hm.”
Soo Hyuk, eyeing the bleeding bandage, said:
“Got nicked by accident, and this happened.”
His lips were pale, his face ashen.
He seemed cold.
Despite the shallow wound.
“But no matter how we try, the bleeding won’t stop.”
Unstoppable blood flow—critical.
They couldn’t stay calm.
A glance.
Cale, with a heavy gaze, spoke:
“Hm. Swordsmanship or an ability?”
A wound that wouldn’t clot.
Was it the enemy’s sword technique or a special ability?
If swordsmanship, it might be a God of Chaos Church skill,
worth noting.
“Don’t know.”
Soo Hyuk shook his head.
“Too little data.”
Not enough information to judge.
“Hm.”
As Cale pondered—
“Where’s Jung Soo?”
At Soo Hyuk’s question, Cale answered without hesitation:
“Missing.”
“Choi Han went after him?”
“Yeah.”
“Demon World?”
“North. He mentioned the God of Chaos Church in the Demon
World, then lost contact.”
Their eyes met.
Demon World.
God of Chaos Church.
“They’re here?”
Then—
“Lord Cale.”
Clopeh emerged from the darkness, interrupting.
Cale asked:
“Took a while?”
Clopeh had been gone two hours.
“Sorry.”
But Cale wasn’t blaming him.
It took time, but understandable.
“Found a way?”
Where to take the injured Soo Hyuk?
Cale hesitated but decided quickly.
Diorail.
The lord’s castle was there.
‘The Demon King’s confidants are present.’
If Cale’s identity or the Arbiters’ Alliance was exposed, it’d be
tricky.
‘The God of Chaos Church and Hunters wouldn’t dare act
recklessly there.’
In the current climate—
The God of Chaos Church and Five-Colored Blood Wanderers.
Both had their own schemes.
‘The Demon King’s getting backstabbed.’
Hiding near the Demon King’s confidants was safest.
“Yes.”
Clopeh answered briefly, and Cale nodded.
Midnight.
Cale had Clopeh find a way into the castle with Soo Hyuk.
‘Diorail used to allow free passage at night.’
Since former lord Count Lyupe went missing, nighttime access
was restricted except for those with mining or commercial
permits.
Especially for outsiders like Cale’s group, entering at night
required thorough checks.
‘With the team leader—’
Best to sneak in quietly and find a place to stay.
So, Cale considered scaling the walls or having Clopeh find
another way.
“Follow me.”
Clopeh had a solution.
“Everyone’s tired, so I chose the most comfortable and useful
route.”
“Yes.”
Cale followed Clopeh silently.
Watching him lead confidently, Cale thought:
‘This guy really gets things done.’
Unlike Choi Han or Rosalyn, Clopeh excelled at these tasks.
—Should I use magic?
Raon, reading the mood, asked. Cale nodded coolly.
Raon’s magic was best for scaling walls or invisibility.
“…”
“…”
They walked in silence.
“…”
Cale was speechless.
Cough. Cough!
East gate.
A guard coughed.
Swish.
Clopeh handed over a small pouch.
Cough!
The guard glanced, grinning at his partner.
The partner grinned back, reaching out.
Creak.
A side gate opened.
A small door for guards.
Clopeh smiled respectfully and strolled in.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
Cale, Soo Hyuk, On, and Hong followed, dumbfounded.
Then—
“Ah, one sec.”
A guard pulled something from his coat.
A stack of papers.
“Here.”
“Thanks.”
Clopeh bowed, handing another pouch.
Cough! Cough!
The guards’ smiles widened.
“…”
Cale stared blankly, following Clopeh into the residential area.
Before an ordinary house, an old man stood.
Swish.
Clopeh handed another pouch.
“Hiss!”
The old man’s eyes widened. Clopeh raised a finger:
“Shh.”
Quiet.
Nod.
The old man nodded solemnly, handed over a key, and left.
He ignored Cale’s group.
—Human, what just happened?
Invisible Raon was baffled.
Creak.
Clopeh unlocked the door, ushering everyone inside.
The house had basic furniture but no lived-in feel.
“…You—”
Cale wanted to ask.
What did you do in two hours?
Where’d the money come from?
Then he remembered:
‘He’s filthy rich.’
Clopeh Sekka, heir to a prominent Paerun Kingdom family.
Gold, silver, or gems in those pouches—
So well-prepared, Cale was amazed.
“…How do you know those people?”
To Cale’s question, Clopeh smiled:
“A land without its lord for a year—”
No lord.
“Greed runs rampant.”
Diorail was corrupt, Clopeh said calmly.
“…Hm.”
Cale couldn’t argue.
It was logical.
Just—
—Human! First time seeing this approach!
He was shocked by Clopeh’s methods.
No one in Cale’s team operated like this.
“Spending more time and money for the safest, most
comfortable way is better.”
In two hours—
Clopeh had done a lot.
No, how’d he even arrange the return?
‘This guy’s incredible.’
Cale marveled.
—Human! Clopeh’s brain is amazing!
Raon was in awe too.
But the surprises weren’t over.
Swish.
The papers from the guard—three stacks.
Clopeh spread two on the table.
“Ha—”
Cale was floored.
Aurora’s translation magic activated, and Cale’s gaze shot to
Clopeh.
“You maniac—”
That’s all he could say.
—Human! It’s the lord’s castle patrol schedule!
Night guard details.
—Ha! And a staff list!
Names of people working in the lord’s castle’s departments.
The former was near-confidential; the latter could be obtained
with effort.
Both were hard to get now.
But vital to Cale.
God of Chaos Church.
Demon King.
Wanderers.
Essential for Cale, who aimed to pit these three against each
other on a grand scale.
“…”
Cale looked at Clopeh with mixed feelings. Clopeh, with a calm
smile, said:
He unfolded the final stack.
“For Lord Cale.”
Rustle.
The last stack.
“Ha!”
Cale was speechless.
“You’re a real maniac.”
A sincere compliment.
—Human! It’s the list of Count Lyupe’s collateral family in the
old castle!
The Lyupe collateral family colluding with the God of Chaos
Church.
Names of those in the old castle fell into Cale’s hands.
‘All this in two hours?’
Cale’s stunned gaze met Clopeh’s simple answer:
“Brought extra gems.”
Money.
That was the answer.
“Learned how to spend money as a kid.”
Sekka Family.
Clopeh had learned to wield money in his family and executed
it flawlessly.
Politics and wealth were inseparable, and Clopeh mastered it.
“Ha—”
Cale laughed.
“…”
Clopeh watched him quietly.
Reading the meaning in that gaze, Cale chuckled wearily:
“Good job.”
Clopeh’s eyes lit up. Seeing this, Cale added sincerely:
“Bringing you was the right call.”
“!”
Clopeh’s eyes brimmed with joy.
He heard sincerity in Cale’s voice.
“Hehe.”
He couldn’t help a soft laugh.
“Hey.”
Cale, looking at the papers, grinned too.
“Hihi! With the patrol schedule, stealing Lyupe’s vault is way
easier!”
“Hihi! Right! We can plan now!”
“Hehe, gotta analyze calmly.”
The kids, average age ten, were thrilled.
“…”
Soo Hyuk watched silently, gazing out the window.
‘So weird.’
These guys were so strange.
But he couldn’t say it.
Suddenly dragged to a bedroom by the kids, average age ten.
The only room with a bed.
Soo Hyuk was forced to lie down, tucked in obediently.
“The bleeding’s not stopping even with treatment.”
Clopeh’s gaze was too intense.
Fueled by Cale’s approval, he was fired up.
Blinking, he told Cale:
“I’ll find a treatment and more info.”
Clopeh’s eyes burned as he left.
His vanishing into the darkness was full of vigor.
Soo Hyuk stared blankly, hearing:
“So—”
Cale spoke.
“How’d you get hurt?”
He asked Soo Hyuk.
Soo Hyuk didn’t mince words:
“The God of Chaos Church is using chaos pollution to create
‘Gray Disease,’ aiming to engulf the Demon World.”
He cut to the core for Cale.
“They’re sowing seeds now, soon to erupt fully, pretending to
treat it while expanding influence. The starting point might be
Diorail, timed with the new lord election.”
“!”
On’s eyes widened.
“I saw a village destroyed by Gray Disease seed experiments
and lost control of my emotions.”
Soo Hyuk gave a wry smile, looking at his arm.
“Got hurt, haha!”
His smile faded as he asked Cale:
“Choi Jung Gun, Did you save him?”
Choi Jung Gun, tainted by chaos pollution—
Asking if Cale found a way to save him meant a cure for Gray
Disease existed.
Cale answered as if it were obvious:
“Yeah, saved him.”
Soo Hyuk’s lips curved up again.
Looking at his wound, his gentle gaze was unguarded.
With a lazy smile, he drawled:
“Can wreck those bastards’ plans now.”
Cale thought:
‘He’s pissed.’
Soo Hyuk—Lee Soo Hyuk’s eyes blazed with anger.
—Human, your eyes flipped 120 degrees too?
Cale’s eyes reddened slightly.
Kim Rok Soo survived alone; Lee Soo Hyuk and Jung Soo died.
Reunited at last, Lee Soo Hyuk was in a young body.
And that body was bleeding.
Seeing his pale face and smile, Cale’s heart raced.
—Hm.
Raon whispered to On and Hong:
—Our human’s gonna go on a rampage!
On and Hong nodded silently.
At dawn, Cale and Clopeh headed to the lord’s castle.
“Tell me if Choi Han contacts us.”
Of course, he reminded Raon.
“Second eldest.”
Clopeh, in character, said warmly:
Today, Cale and Clopeh Sekka posed as the current Demon
King’s confidants. They met someone and handled a task. If it
went well, they planned to boldly visit the old castle afterward.
Clopeh kept smiling, adding:
“Plenty of money, brought a lot.”
Then:
“Spend freely?”
Cale nodded at Clopeh’s words.
“Good! Big bro, spend away!”
“Hehe.”
A commercial city without its lord—
A place where rules and integrity vanished, rife with
competition and corruption.
For some reason, Clopeh Sekka, with subspace bags stuffed
with gems and gold—so much gold—laughed.
Cale’s eyes sparkled at Clopeh.
For the first time, he felt Clopeh was utterly reliable.
Chaotic Diorail.
And a wild, wealthy maniac, Clopeh Sekka.
Chapter 2-437: One Person, Two Roles, and the Chaos
Demon World (12)
Cale looked at Clopeh Sekka, thinking:
‘This guy’s a total maniac, isn’t he?’
Count Lyupe.
Even long missing, with his death nearly certain, many in
Diorail still awaited his return.
“So, uh, Mr. Kase?”
“Yes.”
“Everything you just said—you mean it?”
“Yes.”
“Cra—uh, no!”
The administrator facing Clopeh Sekka nearly blurted, “Is
this guy insane?” but barely held back.
Wiping cold sweat, he glanced around.
Everyone stared—not at him, but at this maniac.
Count Lyupe.
His commercial achievements extended beyond Diorail,
impacting the entire Demon World.
Diorail’s residents took greatest pride in the “New
Business Division.”
‘Want to start a business but lack capital? Come!’
‘Have capital and a clear goal but need a chance to shine?
Come!’
This mining city became a commercial hub thanks to this
division’s slogan.
“Phew—”
The sweating man.
He’d once been proud to work in the New Business
Division.
But since Count Lyupe’s disappearance, it had stagnated.
Not just the division—most castle departments, the
territory, merchant guilds, and mines—
All stalled, even regressing.
‘This can’t go on; we need the next lord!’
Thus, anticipation grew for the next lord, to be decided
within a month.
But—
“So—”
After a long pause.
“You want to buy a mine?”
“Yes.”
“…Not partial operating rights or mineral transport deals,
but the entire mine?”
“Yes.”
Kase.
The black-haired, green-eyed man gave a gentle smile.
Though plainly dressed, his posture and speech exuded
distinction.
Especially—
A glance.
A pouch on the counter.
Brimming with gems, spilling over.
Each gem looked priceless.
“Uh—”
A maniac wanting to buy a mine.
But he seemed filthy rich.
“Yes.”
Kase—or Clopeh Sekka—said warmly:
“Speak freely. I heard the New Business Division is the best
place to start a venture in this territory.”
“That’s true, but—”
True, sure!
But I handle small-scale startups!
This counter serves inventors, minor guilds, or merchants
taking on trivial territory tasks!
A mine?
I can’t authorize that!
Especially not that mine—
“Uh, the mine Mr. Kase wants is—”
“Yes, the Moraka Mine.”
“Ugh!”
The administrator gasped, stammering:
“Mr. Kase, d-do you know what that is—”
“Of course. It’s currently under Lord Gimon’s name, I
believe.”
“Ha!”
Knowing that and still asking?
The administrator and onlookers shook their heads,
sighing.
Moraka Mine.
It belonged to Lord Gimon, a candidate for the next lord.
The only representative from Count Lyupe’s collateral
family.
‘And it’s the richest mine in reserves.’
Gulp.
The administrator thought:
‘This is way above my pay grade.’
Drip.
Sweat rolled down his cheek.
“Is the money insufficient?”
Clopeh Sekka asked gently.
“Money’s no issue. Hm. How to prove it—”
He spoke leisurely as the division staff and aspiring
entrepreneurs stared dumbfounded.
Then—
Thud.
A soft sound. The quiet man beside Clopeh Sekka placed
another pouch on the table.
Swish.
He opened it.
Clatter—
“!”
Magic crystals poured out.
Top-grade, premium magic crystals—
“Haha, looks like my little brother’s impatient.”
Clopeh Sekka smiled fondly at Cale.
“Uh, t-that—”
The administrator tried to speak but stopped.
Creak.
He heard a chair move from the innermost office.
He turned, as did Clopeh Sekka and Cale.
A stern middle-aged man addressed Clopeh Sekka:
“We need to discuss this inside.”
Clopeh glanced at him, then at Cale.
His lips curved slightly.
He smiled at Cale and stood.
“Little brother, come along.”
“Yeah, bro.”
Cale followed Clopeh and the stern man to the inner room.
‘Current Demon King’s confidant, Terosa.’
The New Business Division’s head was Terosa’s
subordinate.
‘Lord Cale, the easiest way to approach Demon King
confidant Terosa is through the New Business Division.’
Last night.
After entrusting Soo Hyuk’s care to Hong, Cale and Clopeh
held a late-night strategy meeting.
Raon used plenty of magic, but they were well-prepared.
‘Thanks to Aurora.’
The God of Chaos Church—especially the Pope’s
presence—tied to Count Lyupe’s territory. Learning this
and the Gray Disease’s danger, Aurora fully backed Cale’s
plan.
‘Good thing Aurora prioritizes the Demon World over the
current Demon King.’
If Gray Disease erupted, the Demon King’s approval would
plummet.
The God of Chaos Church planned to exploit this to engulf
the Demon World, and Aurora could’ve profited.
But she chose to stop it.
‘I trembled with rage seeing the Demon King’s actions. I
won’t become that kind of demon.’
Learning the Demon King turned demon souls into New
World NPCs, Aurora vowed never to do the same.
“Mr. Kase.”
The stern man stopped at a door.
“Please wait here briefly. I need to discuss your proposal in
detail—”
Clopeh Sekka cut him off:
“Are you fetching Lady Terosa?”
“…!”
The man’s face stiffened. Clopeh smiled:
“I support Lady Terosa.”
Current Demon King’s confidant, Terosa.
Lyupe’s collateral representative, Lord Gimon.
Soon, one would become lord.
“…”
The stern man said flatly:
“We don’t keep those who reveal their intentions easily.”
A warning, but Clopeh just smiled:
“Who knows? I’m just a merchant chasing gold.”
His unabashedly greedy smile softened the man’s
expression.
“Wait here. The decision isn’t yours.”
“Very well. I look forward to good news.”
The man left, closing the meeting room door. Clopeh and
Cale entered and shut it.
Click.
They sat side by side on a sofa, silence enveloping the
room.
“Little brother.”
“Yeah.”
“You’ll follow big bro’s lead?”
“Yeah.”
No further talk.
Unsure if the room was bugged.
Click.
The door opened soon after.
Not the stern man.
A woman appeared.
Petite and frail, like a reed in the wind, her face indistinct.
“Pleased to meet you.”
Terosa.
She lacked a leader’s aura.
But her eyes changed that impression.
“You want to buy Lord Gimon’s mine?”
Her voice was clear and sharp.
Known for her sharp mind.
“Yes.”
Clopeh answered calmly, continuing:
“I heard the mine’s been idle for a year due to funding
issues. If I buy it, I’ll resume operations swiftly.”
Lord Gimon.
To secure the next lordship, he halted the mine’s
operations.
His mine, of average yield, caused issues by stopping.
A magic crystal mine, even mid-tier, was among the
region’s most valuable when focused on crystals.
“If you arrange a meeting with Lord Gimon, we can start
acquisition talks immediately.”
“Hm.”
Terosa studied the man calling himself Kase, then said:
“I’ve never seen you, nor do I know your background.”
She smiled faintly.
Soft, but her eyes were sharp, commanding respect.
Then—
Thud.
Cale placed a pouch of magic crystals on the tea table
between them.
Crystals spilled out.
“!”
Terosa’s eyes shifted.
Clopeh smiled:
“Do you see their value?”
“…”
Terosa paused, then spoke:
“…These are top-grade magic crystals. I’ve never seen such
quality.”
Where did they get these—
She swallowed the rest.
These crystals were from Cale’s first visited world, top-tier
ones from Xiao Leng.
Clopeh took a crystal from the pouch, placing it before her.
Thud.
“Proof of capability.”
He pulled a paper from his coat.
“Who.”
He placed it before Terosa.
“Where from.”
Clopeh smiled at her:
“You must want to know everything. Take a look.”
“…”
Terosa unrolled the paper.
“!”
She stood abruptly.
“You—”
“Count Lyupe had no heirs, right?”
He never married.
No children.
Thus, Lord Gimon, the closest blood relative, was the
strongest successor.
“I’m eligible.”
Clopeh Sekka smiled.
Terosa couldn’t.
“…”
The paper was a birth certificate.
It bore Count Lyupe’s signature and seal, proving this man
was his son.
Terosa was stunned; the signature matched ones she’d
seen over the past year, unmistakably genuine.
The seal, infused with unique mana, was even clearer
proof.
Last night. And dawn.
‘Human, I’ve lost count of how many teleports I’ve done!
Got this from Aurora! She met Count Lyupe in the New
World and prepared everything!’
The result of Cale, Clopeh, and Raon’s hard work.
“Come back after verification.”
“…”
Terosa’s smile vanished.
Clopeh gave an undeniable reason:
“What? Afraid you’ll suddenly lose the lordship?”
“!”
Terosa’s pupils trembled.
If this certificate was real, a true heir had appeared.
But Clopeh didn’t stop.
He spoke softly:
“You can’t lose the lordship, can you? To fulfill the Demon
King’s will.”
Demon King.
At that word, Terosa’s eyes calmed.
Clopeh and Terosa.
They locked gazes.
Clopeh recalled Terosa’s profile:
‘A loyal subject and follower of the current Demon King.’
Like a fanatic, she believed the current Demon King was
the first true demon god.
A famous tale.
‘Indeed. Fanaticism.’
To her, the Demon King was already a god.
Clopeh couldn’t help smiling.
‘Oops.’
He suppressed it.
It risked becoming a twisted grin.
“I don’t plan to reveal myself.”
Clopeh said calmly:
“Give me the money.”
He pointed at Terosa.
“And you become lord.”
He whispered:
“The Demon King’s will must be fulfilled, right?”
“…”
“…”
Terosa’s cold eyes glinted strangely.
Her lips curved slightly.
She smiled:
“How dare you speak of the Demon King’s will? What do
you know?”
She seemed angry.
And she was.
Daring to mention the Demon King before her.
But seeing Clopeh’s eyes, Terosa felt an inexplicable pull.
Clopeh answered:
“I don’t know, but you do.”
His earnest eyes.
A strange fervor within.
“Because only you walk his path.”
Terosa’s heart thumped.
His voice carried sincerity.
Their gazes locked, unyielding.
‘Wow.’
The second observer, Cale, thought:
If Raon were here, he’d say:
‘Human! Both their eyes are wide open!’
Cale stayed still.
‘One person, two roles? That’s not me—it’s Clopeh Sekka.’
Playing a Five-Colored Blood Wanderer.
And Count Lyupe’s sole heir, pulling it all off smoothly.
Cale watched Clopeh Sekka handle it, staying comfortably
on the sidelines.
This ease was a first.
Clopeh thought:
‘I know too.’
Like Terosa, the fanatic.
The path Cale walks. I, walking it with him, know what to
do next.
God of Chaos Church.
The Demon World.
Hunters.
Amid the chaos they’d create, only Cale’s path was clear.
The fervor deep in Clopeh’s eyes surfaced.
If Raon saw, he’d say his eyes spun 1245 degrees.
Sadly, Cale didn’t notice.
Chapter 2-438: …Can I Take It? (1)
Cale’s side had Clopeh Sekka; the Demon King’s side had
Terosa.
‘Why is this so entertaining?’
Cale watched their standoff with glee.
The two locked eyes in silence.
Their gazes were murderous.
Yet their faces wore calm smiles.
‘Wow.’
Two maniacs made it doubly fun.
If only he had an apple pie—no, popcorn—to munch while
watching.
‘Hm.’
But—
‘The silence is dragging.’
They just kept staring.
Cale mused in the quiet:
‘Can maniacs communicate with their eyes?’
Both equally unhinged, were their minds in sync?
‘No, probably not.’
Likely just scheming, holding their tongues.
Cale thought so.
He was wrong.
“Hehe.”
Terosa broke the silence, her tone even:
“You’re an interesting one.”
Her cadence shifted.
“Your eyes when you mentioned the Demon King held no
loyalty.”
When Clopeh Sekka spoke of the Demon King.
No respect or devotion in his gaze.
‘Like Lord Gimon.’
That insolent Lord Gimon.
Daring to covet land the Demon King desired.
He, too, showed no respect or loyalty.
“But oddly, I find myself trusting you a bit.”
Yes.
Despite that, this man called Kase felt oddly trustworthy.
The reason was simple.
“You trust me, don’t you?”
Clopeh’s lips curved slightly.
‘As expected.’
Weak in combat, but a top graduate of the Demon World Royal
Academy, his mind was razor-sharp.
Especially his near-terrifying intuition.
“Yes, I trust you, Terosa.”
Clopeh’s tone relaxed further.
“To you, the Demon King is a legend, a path.”
Indeed. To him, Cale Henituse was the path.
“You’ve given everything for that path—now and forever.”
My faith, my life, isn’t wrong—Cale’s path proves it.
So I’ve staked everything.
“I trust your life.”
Terosa, hearing Clopeh, felt conflicted.
She was brilliant.
‘Are you insane?’
She knew how others reacted to her.
She couldn’t miss it.
‘Hey, you’re too much. We’re just vassals; the Demon King is
our lord. Follow orders.’
Her loyalty to the Demon King.
Her faith.
She knew it was seen as near-fanatical devotion.
‘Ruthless for ambition.’
Some called her mad, others said she’d do anything to climb.
Terosa heard it all and understood their meaning.
She knew her image in others’ eyes.
‘Terosa, I’m tired of this world.’
But the Demon King was different—
‘I want a world that doesn’t tire anyone.’
The only one worthy of being a demon god.
The moment Terosa saw that longing in his eyes, she pledged
her life to him.
So she ignored others’ opinions.
‘But why—’
Why this stranger—
‘Why do your eyes seem to see through me?’
Terosa felt sincerity in Clopeh’s words and gaze.
So she answered:
“You’ve given everything for something, ignoring others’ stares,
haven’t you?”
Clopeh only smiled at her reply.
“Ha!”
Terosa laughed inexplicably.
Count Lyupe’s disappearance.
She knew he was dead, turned into a New World NPC.
As the Demon King’s confidant, she was privy to this.
Thus, she’d fretted over the missing ownership proof for
Lyupe’s merchant guild, delaying the lordship decision.
She couldn’t let the Demon King’s grand plan falter because of
her.
Yet this stranger suddenly brought her rare relief.
“You’re truly interesting.”
At Terosa’s words, Clopeh kept smiling.
A strange resonance enveloped her.
But her expression soon calmed.
“If the seal’s mana confirms it’s Count Lyupe’s, I’ll trust the
birth certificate.”
She had much to do, so she decided quickly.
Or rather, this decision would add to her workload—but she
didn’t mind.
“I’ll help you acquire Lord Gimon’s mine. However—”
She looked at Clopeh.
“I want Lord Gimon out of the candidacy.”
Her eyes shifted to him.
“And you must sign a statement renouncing your candidacy.”
Terosa didn’t trust Clopeh.
Her loyalty was to the Demon King alone.
She had to be cautious, thorough.
The Demon King’s future rested on his will alone.
“Very well, I’ll comply.”
Though Clopeh agreed readily, Terosa stayed wary.
She stood, glancing at Clopeh and his forgettable brother,
saying:
“Sooner the better, right?”
“We can arrange a meeting with Lord Gimon today.”
“Good.”
Terosa stepped out, telling her waiting subordinate:
“Prepare a rest area for them, then see me. Urgent matters to
handle.”
“Wait, please.”
Clopeh interjected:
“I need to fetch a few more siblings.”
“Oh. Bring them to the castle. I’ll arrange an escort.”
She paused, asking:
“You’re not blood siblings, are you?”
Clopeh smiled:
“We’re family bound by trust deeper than blood.”
Terosa nodded.
Not blood-related.
Count Lyupe’s bloodline was Kase alone.
That was enough to note.
“See you later.”
Terosa left first.
Click. Click.
As she turned away, her expression hardened.
‘Lord Gimon’s mine?’
Hmph.
This man came for it.
But that wasn’t his true goal.
‘Count Lyupe’s secret vault.’
He must want that.
To become master of the Demon World’s largest merchant
guild.
He said he wanted money. A mine wouldn’t satisfy him.
‘Clearly a maniac.’
Terosa planned to use him to find the vault.
‘Use him to topple Gimon and the Lyupe clan, and secure the
vault.’
Then become lord, bolstering the Demon King’s finances.
Her lips curved into a smile.
‘Finally, a lead.’
She ordered the knight outside:
“Summon Lord Mor.”
“The Third Army’s commander?”
“Yes. And send two guards to protect them.”
The Demon King’s Eight Armies.
The Sixth Army’s commander, Viscount Deschamps, was
currently missing.
But the Third Army’s commander was here.
He was due to leave soon—
‘He’s always slacking anyway; might as well give him work.’
A figure like the Third Army commander, ditching his army to
loaf, should earn his keep.
‘He’ll enjoy it.’
His quirky personality would relish escorting two ordinary
merchants.
‘He’s sharp too; he’ll handle it.’
The commander’s presence here was classified.
As long as his identity stayed hidden, he could infiltrate Gimon
and his clan’s core.
‘Perfect.’
Terosa embraced this sudden variable.
Meanwhile—
“Human, we packing and heading straight to the old castle?”
Back at the house, Cale stuffed sparse belongings into a spatial
bag, nodding:
“Yeah. Clopeh did great.”
Raon glanced at Clopeh.
Clopeh froze, his lips curving upward.
Cale, busy packing, missed his smile.
Raon asked:
“What about me?”
Cale was about to answer, but Clopeh cut in:
“Terosa might have us watched, so you should stay invisible
and follow.”
Cale shut his mouth.
‘Having someone speak for me is handy.’
Clopeh, this guy.
So useful.
“So we just follow like this?”
Hong’s question prompted Clopeh to smile:
“On, Hong, you can walk with us. You’re the fourth and fifth.”
Hong tilted his head:
“If sister’s fourth and I’m fifth, who’s third?”
“Lord Soo Hyuk.”
“Hm?”
Soo Hyuk, lounging with an apple pie, looked puzzled.
“I’m third?”
“Soo Hyuk, I’m dyeing your white hair black!”
Raon zipped over excitedly, using magic to turn Soo Hyuk’s hair
black.
Though his bandaged arm still bled, potions and medicine
slowed the worsening.
Cale glanced over, about to speak, but Clopeh beat him:
“Yes, you’re coming too.”
“No, that’s not the issue. I’m third?”
“Would you prefer being the youngest?”
Clopeh feigned confusion, leaving Soo Hyuk speechless.
Pfft.
Cale couldn’t help laughing, looking down at Soo Hyuk.
That gaze made Soo Hyuk open his mouth, then close his eyes.
“Really…”
His sigh went ignored.
Cale said:
“Clopeh will handle most dealings with other demons; we stay
low-key, avoid exposing ourselves.”
He asked Clopeh:
“Can you manage Terosa and the Demon King’s people?”
“Yes, leave it to me.”
Clopeh exceeded Cale’s expectations.
‘Maniacs do vibe together.’
Cale thought.
“Hehe.”
Clopeh chuckled softly, then said:
“Terosa’s still green. I overestimated her.”
“Hm?”
Cale asked, puzzled, but Clopeh replied casually:
“She’s shallower than I thought.”
He said no more.
Cale wanted to ask what “shallow” meant but held back.
‘Asking won’t get a good answer.’
Clopeh Sekka. Better to avoid deep talks with him.
From experience, Cale ignored Clopeh.
While Clopeh, packing for Cale’s comfort, recalled Terosa.
‘Her faith is too shallow.’
She claimed she’d give her life for the Demon King—
‘But it’s not enough.’
By Clopeh’s standards, far from enough.
‘She cares about others’ opinions.’
Swayed by external judgments and gazes.
That’s why his words comforted her.
‘Laughable.’
If she truly believed in her path, she’d never waver.
Clopeh’s gaze landed on Cale, checking Soo Hyuk’s bandage.
‘Lord Cale—’
By Cale’s side, Clopeh wasn’t blind to others’ views of him.
He knew he was seen as a maniac.
But he didn’t care.
‘I only see the gazes on Lord Cale.’
Cale, crossing countless worlds.
Those gazes held awe and respect.
And I walk with him.
Clopeh couldn’t suppress his surging heart.
“Haa—”
He took a deep breath, calming himself, then thought:
‘The secret vault.’
Terosa thinks I know its location, so she’ll have us watched.
This can be used.
Perhaps I can secure the vault for Lord Cale.
“Hehe—”
He laughed involuntarily—
‘Hm?’
He met On’s gaze.
Hong and Raon were staring too.
The kids, average age ten, eyed him.
“…”
Clopeh regained composure, and On sighed softly.
“The New Business Division’s head will guide you. These two
are my subordinates, ensuring your safety.”
Terosa sent two escorts.
A steady middle-aged man and a youthful man in his twenties.
“Pleased to meet you.”
“Pleased to meet you!”
Cale, beside Clopeh, watched the middle-aged knight’s formal
salute and the young knight’s lively greeting. The blond knight,
in uniform, grinned brightly.
Then, from afar, invisible Raon messaged:
—Human, that knight’s strong!
Raon meant the young knight.
Then:
—Sniff!
The Sound of the Wind reacted.
—Smells like a divine artifact! A God of Chaos Church artifact!
Cale, via Raon and the wind, concluded:
‘A divine artifact’s normal, but a rookie escort knight wouldn’t
have one.’
This young knight, identity unknown, was strong. His status was
likely unusual.
Someone casually carrying something Terosa didn’t have.
But this guy—
“Let’s take the carriage! I’ll drive! Looking forward to working
with you! Hehe!”
His laugh was goofy.
He seemed foolish.
—Human, that knight’s smile screams scam!
Yeah.
Unlike meeting Crown Prince Alberu Crossman, Cale’s instincts
rang differently.
‘Unlike me, that kid reeks of con artist!’
Cale’s eyes sharpened.
He couldn’t help himself:
“Looking forward to it too! Haha!”
—Human, why’s your laugh so scammy?
Oops.
He’d reacted instinctively.
The young knight, receiving the greeting, smiled—either
genuinely or idiotically—thinking:
‘This guy’s two-faced, so awkward. Dig info through him?’
Demon King’s Eight Armies.
The Third Army’s commander, “Hand of Backstabbing,” Mor,
smirked deeply.
Hand of Backstabbing.
His nickname came from his knack for betrayal, and he proudly
owned it.
“Haha!”
“Haha!”
Cale and Mor.
They laughed at each other.
Clatter.
Cale’s carriage rolled toward Lord Gimon’s northern old castle.
Within that castle lurked the God of Chaos Church’s Pope.
The Pope, eyeing Lord Gimon bursting in, asked curiously:
“Terosa sent someone to buy the mine? Surely her pawn. What
do we do?”
Lord Gimon was frantic.
“The Church’s knights suddenly gathered here; we can’t even
hide them! The lordship and grand plan are so close, damn it!
Why’s Terosa suddenly—”
The Pope, smiling, said to their allied Lord Gimon:
“The Demon King’s side sent someone to probe the mine?”
“Yes!”
A sinister smile crossed the Pope’s face.
*****
Two figures overlooked from a high mountain.
“Choi Jung Soo went that way?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
Choi Han, clutching Choi Jung Soo’s marker, gazed at the distant
southern old castle.
The Heavenly Demon, arms crossed, also eyed the castle:
“Should I infiltrate?”
“Seems the God of Chaos Church has a foothold there. We
shouldn’t rush in.”
“Hm. Disguise?”
Disguise.
Choi Han, hearing the Heavenly Demon, checked a map.
“Diorail.”
“Hm?”
“The city below that castle is Diorail. Count Lyupe’s city,
apparently.”
Choi Han sighed, deciding:
“Let’s sneak into the castle first. Possible?”
“Piece of cake.”
The Heavenly Demon and Choi Han sped south.
Their destination: Lord Gimon’s old castle.
Chapter 2-439: …Can I Take It? (2)
Cale’s carriage rolled toward the old castle.
Clatter.
His gaze swept the forests flanking the road.
—Human, hidden gazes in the distance! Three o’clock, seven
o’clock!
Invisible Raon warned.
Cale glanced beside him.
—Wow.
Super Rock marveled.
—You noticed too.
Cale wasn’t inside the carriage.
Clatter.
He sat deliberately in the driver’s seat.
The reason was simple.
—Sniff!
The Sound of the Wind caught the scent of a divine artifact.
It pointed to the blond knight with the goofy smile, claiming to
be a rookie.
That knight took the driver’s seat, and Cale, citing the “stuffy
interior,” sat beside him.
‘Three o’clock, seven o’clock.’
And now.
This “rookie knight” was casually turning his head.
—Human, nine o’clock too!
Nine o’clock as well.
Each time Raon reported a hidden gaze, the knight’s eyes
drifted there.
Seamlessly natural.
A rookie’s demeanor.
‘He’s good.’
This knight wasn’t simple.
‘Oh.’
Then he glanced at Cale nonchalantly.
“Why’re you staring?”
A friendly face, a friendly question.
Cale answered just as warmly:
“Just feels a bit odd.”
“Hm?”
The knight, calling himself Rom—actually Mor, Third Army
leader, one of the Demon King’s daggers—looked at Cale,
puzzled.
‘This goofy-looking guy—’
This second brother. Handsome but dumb, agreed instantly to
sit in the driver’s seat.
‘Kase. That one’s tricky.’
Terosa had warned that Kase, claiming Count Lyupe’s bloodline,
was tough.
So he thought to toy with this fool.
‘Odd?’
Me?
Did this guy catch my act?
A strange heat flickered in Mor’s pupils.
“Doesn’t it feel odd to you, knight?”
The “Hand of Backstabbing” felt a chill as this dumb second
brother’s words cut through.
‘It’s not about me being odd.’
This handsome, serious-faced guy said something felt off.
“What’s odd?”
Mor asked, playing the good knight.
The second brother scanned the surroundings quietly and
answered:
“The forest’s too quiet.”
Mor paused.
‘This goofy guy—’
Hm.
‘Pretty sharp, huh?’
The forest was eerily silent, even in the afternoon sun.
Mor knew why.
‘There are eyes watching this carriage.’
At first, he thought they were Lord Gimon’s spies.
This carriage carried Kase, barging in to buy Gimon’s mine.
But that’s weird, isn’t it?
Mor’s sharp reaction to the second brother’s words had a
reason.
‘The watchers are highly skilled.’
Lyupe’s clan controlled strong forces, so their skill made sense.
Their retainers included many elite knights.
But unless they were upper-tier Third Army regulars, spotting
them was tough—even for mere surveillance, they were
exceptional.
‘That many forces under Gimon’s command?’
Using such manpower just for watching?
‘Suspicious.’
He couldn’t shake the uneasy thought.
‘And—’
This guy beside him.
‘Need to be cautious.’
Cold despite his careless look.
Can’t judge by appearances.
Hand of Backstabbing. True to his name, Mor reset his mindset.
Then—
“Uh, you know.”
The handsome but dumb guy hunched his shoulders, saying:
“There’s a ghost story lately. Heard it?”
“Huh?”
Mor blinked.
‘Ghost story?’
That’s a thing?
“Y-You haven’t heard?”
“Nope. Don’t know it.”
Mor felt oddly annoyed by the guy’s pitying look.
The fool said with a sympathetic tone:
“Oh, you’re all about sword training, so you’re out of the loop.”
What the hell?
Why’s this so irritating?
Mor could play dumb for his goals, but this guy’s tone was
uniquely grating.
But the next words stunned him.
“The Gray Disease ghost story.”
—Human, is there such a ghost story?
Cale ignored Raon’s quip, continuing to bait this unknown
enemy.
“When the forest goes quiet, Gray Disease breaks out in the
villages below.”
Cale spun a tale on the spot.
“Those with Gray Disease turn gray all over, dying in agony.”
Whoosh—
Wind from the forest swirled around Cale and Mor.
Meanwhile, the carriage neared the old castle.
Cale’s voice, carried by the wind, reached Mor’s ears.
“No medicine works; only death awaits.”
Gulp.
Cale swallowed, feigning fear, hunching his neck.
“It’s spreading in the south now.”
“…Is there really such a disease…?”
Why no reports?
Mor’s expression hardened.
“Yeah. A village we passed said the next village was wiped out,
a ghost town.”
An entire village dead.
The words jolted Mor.
‘Was it the Demon King’s army?’
The missing Sixth Army leader, Deschamps, and other Demon
King forces razed villages for test subjects.
But the news never leaked.
Secrecy was tight.
‘Gray Disease?’
But this Gray Disease didn’t match the Demon King’s army’s
style.
‘True or not?’
Was this ghost story real?
‘At least this fool has no reason to lie.’
The story itself seemed legit.
“So I get scared seeing such quiet forests lately. What if I catch
Gray Disease?”
Shivering, the second brother exclaimed, “Ah,” as if
remembering:
“They say villagers saw suspicious people enter the village that
vanished from Gray Disease.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah!”
“Who?”
Mor leaned in, intrigued by the excited second brother.
“Village hunters spotted them in the woods by chance. Knights
in gray robes, they said.”
Mor thought:
‘For a ghost story, it’s pretty detailed.’
Knights in gray robes, a disease named for a specific
color—Gray Disease.
‘…Bodies turn gray, disfigured?’
Gray-robed knights moving, not killing with swords but
spreading disease in villages?
A bizarre ghost story.
But why—
‘Uneasy.’
Mor’s discomfort grew.
‘What did I miss?’
He sifted through his memories.
“Anyway, because of that story, I’m scared of gray smoke lately.
Sure, our great mana is gray, but turning gray and disfigured…”
The second brother’s muttering reached his ears.
“Gray feels creepy for the first time. You too, right, knight? The
Demon World’s symbol, gray, used like that—”
“Ah!”
Mor finally recalled.
Gray.
Not Demon World mana, but another gray.
And it tied to his role as Third Army leader.
‘Viscount Deschamps!’
Sixth Army leader, missing Viscount Deschamps.
His surviving soldiers mentioned a group called “Darkness.” (TL
note: or ARM)
Said to be the God of Chaos’s secret force.
‘And the God of Chaos—’
It’s gray, right?
‘Gray Disease.’
If his current theory was correct—
‘The God of Chaos Church did this!’
God of Chaos Church, Hunter Families, Demon King.
As a leader, Mor knew of their alliance.
‘…Really—’
Flames sparked in Mor’s pupils.
‘Did the God of Chaos Church dare defile the Demon World?’
Rage surged.
“Uh, uh—knight!”
The second brother grabbed his shoulder, lifting his hand.
As Mor’s brows twisted—
“Don’t, the carriage!”
The second brother’s follow-up snapped him to attention.
His anger flared, and he gripped the reins tightly.
“Ah, sorry!”
Mor slipped back into his role.
He opened the carriage’s rear window, apologizing to those
inside and excusing himself to Cale with a sheepish look:
“To protect the Demon World, I became a knight. Hearing this, I
got mad for a moment.”
“Oh, yeah. Understandable.”
The second brother nodded vigorously, looking scared.
That calmed Mor.
‘Seeing this goofy face somehow soothes me.’
He whispered to the second brother:
“Some weird ghost stories out there, huh?”
“Yeah. Anyway, passing through a quiet forest like in that story
scares me. Haha.”
The second brother laughed awkwardly, eyeing him. Mor found
his words odd.
‘…A forest quiet like in the ghost story?’
Right.
This forest was too quiet.
Mor had thought it was Gimon’s watchers.
He hadn’t shown he noticed, but their persistent gazes
unnerved him.
‘This—’
His mind spun with complex conspiracies.
‘Maybe—’
A thought he hesitated to voice.
‘Is the God of Chaos Church with Gimon?’
Come to think of it, he’d heard the Hunters and God of Chaos
Church clashed in the New World recently.
‘They said the Church betrayed—’
Mor, the backstabbing expert.
The word “betrayal” stuck in his mind.
‘Did those bastards really reach into the Demon World?’
Daring to stab us in the back?
Mor’s eyes cooled.
Clatter.
The carriage neared the old castle.
Mor, eyeing it, thought:
‘No one knows this face.’
He was in “disguise” mode.
Hand of Backstabbing owed much to his disguise skills.
‘I’ll infiltrate and investigate.’
Initially here for Count Lyupe’s secret vault, posing as a rookie
knight.
Now he’d hooked a bigger fish.
‘If the God of Chaos Church’s dogs are in that castle, we’ll
backstab them.’
Mor tensed, excitement surging.
He licked his lips unconsciously, smiling.
“…”
Cale caught his expression.
A rookie knight, yet radiating danger.
—Cale.
Super Rock said softly:
—The best fight is letting enemies tear each other apart.
Clatter.
The carriage reached the old castle.
Someone awaited them.
“I’m the steward, Sytriss.”
A woman bowed.
—Sniff!
The wind’s voice reacted again.
—Smells like a divine artifact! A God of Chaos Church artifact!
Cale’s eyes sharpened.
—Human, this steward’s strong! As strong as that rookie
knight!
Raon’s assessment made Cale suppress a smirk.
“Pleased to meet you! I’m Rom, a knight from the lord’s
castle!”
“Hand of Backstabbing” Mor, seeing Sytriss, knew instantly:
‘Strong.’
Absurdly strong.
Flawless.
‘Gimon, that bastard, is definitely colluding.’
Now to confirm if it’s the God of Chaos Church.
Mor’s gaze calmed.
“Follow me. I’ll guide you.”
Steward Sytriss.
Seeing Mor, she knew:
‘The Demon King sent a powerhouse.’
This man was unfathomable.
His disciplined posture told her.
She closed and opened her eyes.
The Pope’s orders surfaced in her mind.
Lord Gimon threw a fit hearing Terosa sent someone.
The Pope ordered her:
‘Sytriss.’
Dropping from the ceiling, bowing before him, he said:
‘The Demon King’s side will use the mine issue to probe here.
Handle it. And—’
As the Pope’s shadow, always hiding her face with gray
bandages—
She existed for moments like this.
Revealing her true self.
‘Kill if suspicious.’
When it was time to kill.
“…”
“…”
Mor and Sytriss.
The Demon King’s Third Army commander versus the God of
Chaos Church.
Hand of Backstabbing and the Pope’s shadow, sizing each other
up.
In a brief seconds-long stare, both assessed the other.
—Human, no one’s looking at you!
Cale savored the scene, pleased.
‘Ah.’
Solving things without stepping up!
Isn’t this the joy of a slacker?
—…That’s not what slacker means, is it?
Cale ignored Super Rock’s jab.
He was in high spirits.
Chapter 2-440: …Can I Take It? (3)
Brr, it’s chilly.
Cale listened to the exchange between Sytriss and Rom ahead,
thinking.
Rom, the mysterious Demon King faction artifact-bearer, said:
“Steward, this old castle in Moraka, my first time seeing it,
looks solid! I bet nothing inside leaks out, huh?”
Spill it—what’s going on in there?
Steward Sytriss, wielder of a God of Chaos artifact, replied:
“Its storied history forged its strength. No outsider can breach
it.”
No room for meddlers like you. Shut up and behave!
Their words glinted with icy blades.
‘Ah, delightful.’
Cale watched the steward and rookie knight eye each other, a
pleased smile creeping up.
Then—
“We’re here.”
Sytriss halted, speaking.
“Please rest here.”
A small annex prepared for Cale’s group.
Steward Sytriss.
Rookie knight Rom.
Both turned to Clopeh.
“…”
Clopeh scrutinized the annex.
—Human, this annex is old!
It was far from the main castle.
Hardly a place for guests.
A clear snub.
‘Or to keep us at a distance.’
Cale gauged the gap between the annex and main castle,
grasping Lord Gimon’s intent to isolate them.
—Human, lots of hidden gazes!
Inside Moraka Castle.
The moment Cale’s group entered, enemy eyes surrounded
them.
Especially—
“…”
“…”
Sytriss and Rom.
Both were watching.
Particularly Clopeh.
Cale’s gaze shifted to him.
“Steward.”
Clopeh spoke.
As all eyes focused on him—
“Is the food here the same as in the main castle?”
Pfft.
Cale nearly laughed.
—Human, Clopeh Sekka knows what’s important!
Raon heartily agreed.
“…”
Sytriss froze briefly.
Rookie knight Rom stared at Clopeh like he was a curiosity, then
looked away.
Sytriss quickly replied, composed:
“…Yes, the food’s the same.”
“Good. Can we rest now?”
“You may.”
“When can we meet Lord Gimon?”
“He may summon you tonight.”
“Very well.”
Clopeh strolled to the annex, gripping the door handle.
“No need for internal notifications.”
“Understood.”
As Sytriss nodded obediently—
Clank.
Clopeh, opening the door, didn’t glance inside. He turned to
Sytriss.
“No listening devices inside, right?”
“!”
Sytriss froze, staring at Clopeh.
Clopeh offered a gentle smile.
Then told Sytriss:
“No need for you now. You may go.”
A clear dismissal.
His tone stayed warm.
“…”
Sytriss, speechless, bowed respectfully and left.
“Inform the attendants outside if you need anything. Until
later.”
Clopeh, confirming her departure, turned to the New Business
Division head.
“…”
In their locked gaze, the head spoke slowly:
“Mr. Kase?”
“We’ll take the second floor; first floor’s yours.”
Clopeh drew a line, barring approach, even opening the annex
door to check inside.
Then looked at Cale and the others.
“Siblings, it’s clean inside. Come in.”
He smiled, beckoning. Cale followed naturally.
—Human, it’s old but well-maintained!
Hearing Raon’s assessment, Cale climbed to the second floor.
A glance.
He flashed a goofy grin at Rom, the rookie knight watching from
the first floor.
And Rom—no, Third Army leader Mor—silently eyed the five
siblings, then turned away.
“…”
“…”
His gaze darkened.
A magical transmission from the New Business Division head
had sounded.
A skilled high-tier mage, no wonder he was Terosa’s right hand.
—Listening device at nine o’clock.
That spot was visible the moment the annex door opened.
‘Kase, was it?’
He must’ve sensed the magical listening device to say that to
Sytriss.
‘No listening devices here, right?’
Heh.
Mor suppressed a cold smirk.
‘Underestimated him.’
Lord Gimon’s Moraka Castle.
If the God of Chaos Church was stirring trouble here, it was a
headache.
But Kase was the real threat.
‘The second brother’s a fool; the eldest is something else.
Worthy of Lyupe’s blood.’
As Mor’s hand tightened behind his back, his face frosted
over—
Tap.
Clopeh reappeared on the second floor.
He stared at the New Business Division head, voice clear:
“Remove all listening devices.”
He returned to his room casually.
“!”
“…!”
As the head and middle-aged knight’s faces shifted—
‘Well, look at that?’
A glint sparked in Mor’s eyes.
Kase had seen through the head’s mage identity.
‘Knowing it all but playing ignorant?’
After noting the annex’s age and distance from the main castle,
he set this trap calmly.
No—
‘This is a warning.’
To Terosa.
To Lord Gimon.
‘…Truly Lyupe’s blood.’
Mor clicked his tongue.
Eager to uncover Gimon’s schemes—
But Kase…
He oddly wanted to recruit him.
‘Meticulous.’
Deeply cunning yet elegantly composed.
For Mor, who loathed crude plots and loved dramatic betrayals,
Kase was a dream talent.
‘It’s tempting.’
He’d find a way to pull him into the Third Army later.
As Mor’s lips curled into a sly smile—
“…I’ll disable them.”
The high-tier mage head destroyed all detected listening
devices.
“All listening devices are disabled. The New Business Division
head is a mage capable of destroying them.”
“Hm.”
Sytriss set down the latest intercepted intel.
“…They’re not to be underestimated.”
Terosa’s rookie knight warranted caution, but Kase was no
ordinary foe.
“Inform Lord Gimon to meet Kase tonight.”
“Yes.”
“Probe their true intentions.”
“Understood.”
Sytriss turned to the floor-to-ceiling window.
Her new steward’s office overlooked the annex.
Staring at the now-unmonitored annex, her eyes chilled.
“…They even spotted devices set by the Church’s top mage?”
The head had such skill?
The mage serving the Pope, who set those devices, was
supposedly peak-level.
“Unless—”
Ah.
Sytriss shot up.
She pressed against the window, pupils narrowing.
“Time to reassess.”
A demon of unimaginable power.
A mage possibly at legendary rank.
Such a figure, infiltrating in disguise.
Using Kase as a front.
Were they truly just Terosa’s pawns?
Perhaps a different angle was needed.
“…Not Terosa’s underlings.”
These infiltrators, using Kase’s name, were likely above Terosa.
Who in the Demon World could make Terosa bow?
Such a powerful figure—
“…The Eight Armies.”
The Demon King’s eight blades.
Only that caliber made sense.
“Ha.”
It clicked.
“…How dare they—”
A ghostly flame lit Sytriss’s eyes.
The God of Chaos Church’s grand plan in the Demon World was
near.
But the Demon King’s sword had come to obstruct it.
Unsure which of the eight blades—
But—
“Whoever comes, they shall return to the origin.”
Death.
The path back to the beginning was their fate.
“These guys, with someone formidable out front and knives at
their backs.”
Causing chaos with Kase upfront, then targeting the God of
Chaos Church with blades from behind.
She whispered to the void:
“Report to the Pope.”
The Demon King’s claws had arrived.
They wouldn’t know what’s here.
So they came disguised, to spy.
If so, she’d welcome these tigers into the den.
“One of the Demon King’s eight dogs is here. Request a Temple
Knight Commander.”
With death.
No reason to delay it.
If they’d caught the scent, eliminate them swiftly.
“Tomorrow night. Tell him to strike then.”
Sytriss’s lips curved into a deep smile.
A subordinate’s voice came from the ceiling:
“Captain, His Holiness is recalling the Wanderer pursuit team.”
Ah.
Five-Colored Blood Hunters.
After an attacker—suspected to be the Third or First
Emperor—freed a prisoner, he vanished with his pursued men.
This emboldened the Church, with the Pope claiming a meeting
with the First Emperor and assigning top knight Sutton to lead
the chase.
‘Sutton’s unmatched at tracking…’
Especially blood scents.
Master tracker Sutton led a sizable force to scour the area.
The Pope summoned them back.
“Understood. Tell His Holiness they’ll all arrive by tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
Tomorrow night.
To crush the Demon King’s blade, all forces must gather for a
clean sweep.
“…Turtles in a jar.”
Sytriss, overlooking the annex, smiled wider.
Raon twirled nimbly in the air, spreading his wings:
“All listening devices even the head missed—I cleared them!
Now we can talk freely!”
Devices set by a top mage weren’t all caught by the head.
Raon handled the rest.
“Thanks to Lord Raon’s timely warning.”
Raon had tipped Clopeh about the devices.
“Hihi. Nice work, Clopeh Sekka! You’ve been stellar lately!”
“Thank you, Lord Raon.”
Clopeh replied earnestly, bringing a cushion for Raon’s seat.
He poured lemon tea for Cale, setting a cookie bowl before
him.
Crunch. Crunch.
Cale accepted the service naturally, asking:
“That steward—you know anything?”
“Yes. Likely a God of Chaos Church member, unfathomably
strong.”
“Good. The rookie knight?”
“He seems stronger than me. Also, when I mentioned listening
devices, the head glanced at him. He’s likely not Terosa’s
subordinate.”
“So?”
“Probably Terosa’s superior—”
Clink—
The teapot grazed the cup as Clopeh reported calmly:
“Possibly one of the Eight Army leaders.”
“Who exactly?”
“I checked all appearance traits; no match, but one fits that
disguise style.”
Cale signaled Clopeh to hurry. Clopeh replied coolly:
“‘Hand of Backstabbing,’ synonymous with betrayal. Likely
Third Army commander Mor.”
Cale nodded, saying only:
“Nice.”
“Thank you.”
Clopeh, genuinely pleased, glanced at Soo Hyuk eating an apple
pie on the bed, saying:
“Lord Soo Hyuk wasn’t spotted, so no trackers seem among the
surveillance team.”
“Yes. They’re searching nearby for Wanderers.”
Cale eyed Clopeh:
“You’re planning to pit them against each other, aren’t you?”
God of Chaos Church’s Sytriss and Third Army leader Mor.
Pointing at them, Cale asked. Clopeh countered matter-of-
factly:
“Didn’t Lord Cale tell the Gray Disease ghost story for that?”
True.
Cale smiled sincerely:
“You’re a joy to watch at work.”
“…Thank you…!”
Clopeh beamed, reining in his excitement.
He’d been truly happy lately.
“When meeting Lord Gimon, I’ll dig for info through him,
creating a scenario for conflict.”
“Good. Do it.”
“And during their fight, we can scout the castle, find Choi Jung
Soo, and ruin the enemy’s plans.”
“Exactly. That’s my thought.”
Cale looked at Clopeh, pleased for the first time.
“Here.”
He offered Clopeh a cookie.
Crunch. Crunch.
Clopeh, eating it, felt utterly reliable.
‘With him around, could I become a slacker?’
Cale couldn’t help envisioning a blissful future.
Watching him, Raon tilted his head, sending a magical whisper
to On and Hong:
—Our human and Clopeh are teaming up; we might spark a
huge fight in this castle! Protect human and Soo Hyuk from
harm!
Meow!
Meow!
On and Hong nodded.
“Hm.”
Soo Hyuk felt a chill, rubbing his neck.
A feeling akin to what Choi Jung Soo and Kim Rok Soo felt
before trouble. Team leader Soo Hyuk instinctively gripped his
sword sheath.
Three days later, Moraka Castle would collapse in ruins.
No one yet foresaw this future.
Hours later, between dusk and night.
“Come.”
Lord Gimon eyed Clopeh Sekka and Cale approaching with a
mocking gaze.
“Pleased to meet you, Lord Gimon.”
Chapter 2-441: …Can I Take It? (4)
“Pleased to meet you, Lord Gimon.”
Clopeh Sekka bowed respectfully to Gimon.
Cale followed suit, scanning the surroundings.
The main castle.
Around dinnertime, Cale entered the main castle late in the
evening, only meeting Gimon near nightfall.
It was in a dining hall, after all meals were done.
Uncleared dishes remained, and Gimon sat alone at the head,
greeting Cale and Clopeh.
‘The steward’s here too.’
Steward Sytriss. No one else was visible.
—Human, I sense movement on the ceiling!
With invisible Raon present, Cale felt at ease.
‘…No trace of the God of Chaos Church.’
Cale hadn’t explored much of the main castle, and heavy
surveillance likely surrounded them.
No clear signs of the God of Chaos Church yet.
They were surely hidden somewhere in the main castle or
Moraka Castle.
“…”
Since his initial “Come,” Gimon hadn’t spoken.
He just stared at Clopeh.
Clopeh, speaking politely with a gentle smile, met Gimon’s
piercing gaze.
“I’m Kase, and this is my brother—”
“Stop.”
Gimon cut Clopeh off.
He grabbed a fork from the table, set with several dishes, as if
multiple people had eaten. Pointing at Clopeh, he spoke:
“Cut the nonsense. You want to buy the mine?”
Lord Gimon.
Cale’s first time seeing him.
After Count Lyupe’s disappearance, when the Demon King’s
side eyed Diorail, Gimon rallied the Lyupe clan to form a
counterforce.
‘And allied with the God of Chaos Church.’
What kind of demon was he?
Cale had a reason for tagging along with Clopeh.
“Yes, my lord. I intend to purchase the mine—”
Clopeh spoke deferentially, but Gimon interrupted again:
“You.”
He didn’t seem crude, just impatient.
Frowning, he glared down at Clopeh:
“How’d you sway Terosa?”
“…Hm?”
“Buy the mine? That’s not why her demons sent you. That
crazed fanatic.”
Irritated, scornful, and angry, Gimon slammed the fork down,
shattering a dish.
Crash! Crash!
He spoke:
“Look.”
Crash!
“Think I’m a fool?”
Crash!
“You think you can take what’s mine with this?”
Crash! Crash!
Had he trained in swordsmanship?
Clang.
The final dish cracked under the fork.
‘Whoa.’
Cale noticed Gimon’s anger wasn’t just aimed at Terosa and
Clopeh.
‘The God of Chaos Church.’
He was furious at them too.
His gaze flicked not only to Clopeh but briefly to Sytriss.
Especially when he said “fanatic,” his eyes darted from Sytriss
to Clopeh.
“…”
Sytriss stood expressionless, silent.
“Hoo—”
Gimon exhaled deeply, trying to quell his rage.
He tossed the fork aside.
Clang—!
It rolled across the marble floor, but Gimon didn’t care. He
asked Clopeh:
“Terosa. I’m curious how that demon got you on board. No
answer?”
Softer than before, but his face still betrayed irritation and
anger.
He seemed choleric.
“Lord Gimon.”
Clopeh smiled.
“I’d love to answer your question.”
“Ha!”
Gimon scoffed, exasperated by Clopeh’s leisurely demeanor.
Then Clopeh, unfazed, spoke calmly:
“I told Terosa I’m Count Lyupe’s sole bloodline.”
“!”
Silence fell.
Gimon, speechless, gaped at Clopeh.
Sytriss, her gaze on the air, turned to Clopeh.
“…!”
She froze.
Kase. Because the second brother beside him was staring at
her.
When their eyes met, the second brother flinched, lowering his
head.
Clopeh, glancing at the bowed Cale, faced Gimon.
Swish.
Clopeh’s lips curved upward.
Cale, head down, smirked.
He hid his grin.
‘Clopeh.’
Before coming here.
Cale, leaving everything to Clopeh, made one suggestion:
‘When we meet Gimon tonight, don’t just probe him. Why not
shake up both Gimon’s side and the God of Chaos Church?’
‘Rattle Gimon too, ha!’
Clopeh instantly grasped why Cale suggested this.
He recalled Raon’s words from meeting Aurora last night:
‘Lord Cale, thanks to you, I noticed details I’d missed.’
Clopeh, keeping Cale’s teachings in mind, faced Gimon.
“You’re Uncle’s sole bloodline?”
Gimon was Lyupe’s nephew.
“Yes.”
Clopeh’s answer was brief, unwavering.
“Shall I show you the birth certificate?”
Clopeh strode forward, standing beside Gimon.
Up close, he loomed over him.
“…”
Gimon’s gaze trembled as he looked up at Clopeh.
Sytriss moved to Gimon’s side, her composure slipping.
Panic flashed across her face.
‘Lyupe’s bloodline?’
Her mind raced.
If Kase was truly Lyupe’s heir, and Terosa, the Demon King’s
confidant, backed him—
‘Legitimacy and power. Gimon would be out.’
Support for Gimon from the Lyupe clan would plummet.
‘…Trouble.’
Sytriss didn’t care about Gimon’s fate.
The brat was a nuisance; who cared if he lived or died?
‘The grand plan is so close…!’
Gray Disease was set to erupt across the Demon World.
The God of Chaos Church planned to emerge as heroes, the
sole solution.
‘And it starts in Diorail…!’
A commercial and logistic hub, rumors from here would spread
fast.
‘A city the Demon King doesn’t control.’
For these reasons, the Church chose Gimon.
‘This is annoying.’
Yet Terosa had sent the Demon King’s blade here.
‘A bloodline of Lyupe as a front for that blade?’
Kase was a dagger too.
Diorail’s power balance could shift.
‘Stay calm.’
Sytriss steadied herself.
“This is the birth certificate.”
Clopeh opened it, placing it on the table.
“Oh, it’s a bit dirty.”
With broken dishes and a messy table, he hesitated to set it
down.
“Hold it and see.”
Instead, he handed it to Gimon.
“Here, Lyupe’s mana seal. You can verify its authenticity as
much as you like. Terosa already did and sent me here.”
Gulp.
Sytriss swallowed, eyeing the seal.
She didn’t know if it was Lyupe’s, but the mana imprint felt
genuine.
“…”
Gimon’s hands trembled, holding the certificate.
His anger faded, his pupils shaking aimlessly.
‘Gods.’
Sytriss saw Gimon’s devastation.
‘Right, he’s Lyupe’s nephew. This must be a shock.’
Gimon’s mouth opened.
“Crazy, crazy—”
His voice quivered.
Pat.
Clopeh placed a hand on his shoulder, patting lightly, pointing
at the certificate with his other hand. He said kindly:
“Don’t you know your Uncle’s mana?”
“…”
Gimon slowly turned.
He looked up at Clopeh.
Seeing Clopeh’s smile, Gimon’s lips trembled, his eyes
wavering.
‘Gods.’
Sytriss barely suppressed a sigh at his state.
Gimon had been restless since hearing Terosa was sending
someone, rushing to the Pope.
His impulsive, choleric nature was exploitable, but this
distraction was problematic.
‘He’s still an ally.’
Gimon.
Master of this castle, where the God of Chaos Church lingered.
He was still useful.
“Mr. Kase.”
Sytriss called Clopeh lowly, a warning, pushing his hand off
Gimon’s shoulder.
“My lord.”
She gently gripped Gimon’s arm.
To snap the fool out of it.
Slap!
“Don’t touch me!”
Gimon shouted, shoving her hand away.
He shot up from his seat.
“Unbelievable, unbelievable!”
Clutching the certificate, he said:
“I need to verify this! You, Uncle’s bloodline? Someone like
you?”
Clopeh shook his head.
“That’s difficult. The certificate might get damaged, no?”
“…What?”
Gimon fumed.
“How dare you treat me like—”
Clopeh strode toward him.
He snatched the certificate back.
“For verification, bring an appraiser later.”
Clopeh, unsmiling, stared at Gimon.
“…”
Gimon fell silent.
He stared blankly at the certificate.
“…”
Clopeh, watching him, shifted his gaze.
He locked eyes with Sytriss.
‘Hm.’
Sytriss realized Clopeh Sekka was no small threat.
Unlike the cowering second brother, this man’s unsmiling aura
was chillingly cold.
“Steward, the lord seems unwell for talk. We’ll take our leave.”
Clopeh tucked the certificate away, speaking softly:
“I have ample funds for the mine. If you wish to discuss the
certificate’s authenticity or the purchase, find me alone.”
Then—
“Hey, you—”
Gimon spoke.
“Why reveal your existence—”
He paused, continuing:
“Why tell me your true identity?”
Clopeh gazed into the air briefly.
—Clopeh, our human’s words were delivered perfectly.
Clopeh shifted his gaze, meeting Gimon’s.
“Count Lyupe said this.”
He smiled gently again:
“Bloodlines are trustworthy.”
Gimon’s gaze grew complex, his body trembling.
“Terosa and the Demon King’s side surely harmed Lyupe. I can’t
aid such people. As Lyupe’s bloodline. Right?”
Clopeh’s gaze was faint.
“Isn’t that why you fight the Demon King’s side, Lord Gimon?”
“…”
Gimon said nothing.
Clopeh signaled Cale to leave, heading for the door.
His final words before exiting:
“My lord, I hope we share a fine meal next time. Such
treatment is rare.”
Sytriss sensed composure in Clopeh’s smile, overlooking Gimon.
Wasn’t that a victor’s smile?
Meanwhile, Gimon, head bowed, clenched his fists, trembling
slightly.
As if suppressing rage.
Sytriss missed the tears welling in Gimon’s lowered eyes.
Holding back tears, Gimon never looked up.
“That’s all, then.”
Unlike their entrance, after Clopeh and the others left
leisurely—as if the castle were his—Sytriss spoke:
“Lord Gimon.”
Gimon raised his head.
Sytriss, seeing his numb eyes, offered an answer.
No, an answer for the God of Chaos Church.
“He’ll die too.”
Birth certificate?
Real or not, once that bloodline was gone, it was over.
“…!”
Gimon’s pupils trembled.
Sytriss gripped the smug Gimon’s hand tightly.
She spoke slowly:
“We’ll handle it. Just stay put.”
His gaze calmed from its shaken state.
But he avoided Sytriss’s eyes.
Sytriss smiled at this.
Yes. That’s fitting for him.
“Then—”
Gimon spoke:
“The Demon King killed Uncle, right?”
“Yes. Exactly.”
Sytriss answered without hesitation.
“…Right.”
Gimon’s body slumped, collapsing into the chair.
Sytriss patted his shoulder, saying:
“Tomorrow night, Terosa’s demons, including Kase’s group, will
die. So rest easy. Tonight, tomorrow night, every night after.”
Gimon looked up at her.
“Ha, haha—”
A laugh escaped his lips.
Sytriss, facing it, smiled deeply.
The puppet’s laugh sounded pleased.
“Haha—”
Gimon kept laughing.
When Kase showed the certificate.
A child’s voice echoed.
—Gimon. Count Lyupe lives.
—The mana in the certificate is proof.
The next morning.
Cale, well-rested for once, awaited breakfast, recalling Count
Lyupe’s words via Aurora, leader of the Arbiters’ Alliance:
‘Gimon was the child who followed me most. Him allied with
the God of Chaos Church? Unbelievable.’
Lyupe distrusted some clan members, citing their unpredictable
greed.
‘Gimon lost his family young and was raised by me until
adulthood. He inherited Moraka Castle and the mine. Strange.’
Knock. Knock.
A servant from the main castle arrived with breakfast.
The second-floor dining room filled with food. After everyone
left, an old man remained.
He approached Clopeh.
“Pleased to meet you.”
Clopeh asked the bowing man:
“Who are you?”
“The steward.”
Clopeh and Cale’s eyes met.
Clopeh spoke:
“He’s really here.”
Not Sytriss, but the true steward.
The original manager of Moraka Castle.
One of Lyupe’s aides for young Gimon. Reportedly sidelined
when Gimon pursued the lordship.
Yet he called himself steward. By Gimon’s will.
‘As expected.’
Gimon might not have betrayed Lyupe.
Facing the elderly steward, Clopeh asked:
“How’d you evade the God of Chaos Church’s eyes?”
“!”
The steward’s eyes widened.
God of Chaos Church. Even the Demon King’s side sought
unknowns.
But the steward didn’t speak lightly.
Pleased, Clopeh said coolly:
“What do you have to say?”
The true steward realized, despite Clopeh’s polite tone, his
noble air was his true self.
“…Be careful tonight.”
“So the God of Chaos Church plans to kill us.”
“…!”
Facing the silent steward, Clopeh looked at Cale.
Nod.
Cale signaled, and Clopeh spoke:
“God of Chaos Church or Demon King’s side. To them, you and I
are pesky variables.”
Clopeh, seated at the head, glanced left.
The true steward followed his gaze.
There sat the supposedly goofy second brother.
“Tell Lord Gimon.”
Clopeh’s faint voice reached his ear:
“To meet Lyupe, seek the one who saved him.”
Cale smiled at the steward.
He straightened his tense shoulders.
The second brother, leaning on the chair’s armrest, eyed the
steward.
From his faint expression and gaze, the steward felt it.
If Kase had a noble’s gaze—
This second brother.
His eyes resembled someone seen from afar long ago.
‘Right, like him.’
The former Demon King.
Indifferent yet all-seeing.
This man was no fool.
Rather, his gaze was infinitely cold and deep.
Cale hadn’t acted against the God of Chaos Church yet. They’d
harmed team leader Lee Soo Hyuk and Choi Jung Gun, and
possibly Choi Jung Soo.
He was biding his time, recording it all.
“Steward.”
Cale used a hint of his dominating aura on Gimon’s eyes and
the steward.
A pressure filled the space.
At its center, Cale delivered his message:
“Where’s the Pope?”
Cale smiled lightly, a rare ease, watching the trembling steward.
Chapter 2-442: …Can I Take It? (5)
“That’s—”
Where’s the Pope?
The steward couldn’t answer Cale’s question.
“I can’t say.”
Yet, in his final response, Cale’s lips curled into a satisfied
smile.
He pressed further:
“Does Lord Gimon know about Gray Disease?”
“…!”
The steward’s eyes trembled.
He stayed silent again.
Cale leaned back, retracting his dominating aura.
“Go.”
Cale dismissed the steward.
The old man gazed at Cale, struggling to steady himself.
Meeting Cale’s eyes, Cale added:
“Go see Lord Gimon.”
His tone was light, weightless, but the steward barely
controlled his trembling, bowing deeply.
He cautiously reached the door, grasping the handle.
“Ah.”
Cale’s voice came from behind.
“Chaos can be purified.”
The steward took a deep breath.
Click.
He left the lounge slowly.
“…”
Clopeh, by the window, watched the true steward blend
with other servants, heading from the annex toward the
main castle. He spoke:
“Lord Cale.”
“Hm.”
“The system isn’t as broken as we thought.”
Cale’s lips twitched, nodding with satisfaction.
“Right. At least, Gimon seems to hold Moraka Castle’s
reins.”
Servants and the steward were acting under Gimon’s
orders to evade the God of Chaos Church’s eyes.
The steward’s loyalty to Gimon was clear.
At least in Moraka Castle, Gimon hadn’t been fully
stripped of control by the Church.
“A more useful guy than expected.”
Cale’s words made Clopeh smile. He recalled Cale’s recent
questions:
‘You asked about the Pope.’
And another:
‘You mentioned Gray Disease.’
As expected, Cale didn’t see Gimon as an ally.
Curious how things would unfold, Clopeh felt a thrill.
“Clopeh.”
Cale’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
Meeting Cale’s gaze, Clopeh felt a chill for some reason.
Cale’s mouth opened slowly:
“Stop overthinking and eat.”
Cale, irked by Clopeh’s glinting eyes, tossed the remark
and focused on his meal.
“So good!”
“Better than yesterday.”
“Hehe, tasty! Clopeh, eat too!”
Clopeh chuckled at the kids—average age ten—and
returned to his seat, picking up a spoon.
A glance.
His eyes briefly met Cale’s.
‘As expected.’
Lord Cale was not to be underestimated.
For a moment, Clopeh had treated this like a story,
intrigued as if it were fiction.
Cale’s reminder grounded him in reality, making it
impossible to view the world as mere entertainment.
‘Truly different.’
This man was unique.
“Hehe.”
Clopeh chuckled softly, starting to eat.
‘…That maniac won’t cause trouble, right?’
Cale frowned, watching him.
Then he noticed Soo Hyuk staring at him and Clopeh.
“What?”
Soo Hyuk sighed:
“Just eat.”
At that, Cale dove into his meal without another word.
The food was indeed better than yesterday.
A satisfied smile curved Cale’s lips.
Knock. Knock!
At the crisp knock, Gimon shot up from his seat.
Seeing the elderly steward enter, he couldn’t hide his
anxiety.
“—”
But he couldn’t speak.
A holy knight glanced inside through the open door.
“I brought morning tea.”
The steward closed the door calmly, setting out tea and
snacks on the table.
Tap. Tap.
His movements were natural, elegant, not deliberately
loud.
“…”
Gimon didn’t sit, watching the steward with unmasked
urgency.
“Overworrying isn’t good.”
The steward said, but—
Gimon spotted a pen and paper tucked beneath the cookie
basket.
Since the Church might rummage through his study, pen-
and-paper talks were common. The steward sourced them
and disposed of them immediately.
‘The Church treats me well on the surface, but their
surveillance tightens.’
Monitoring and control under the guise of protection.
Luckily, no eyes watched inside the room.
This was Lyupe’s old room, fortified with top-tier defensive
magic to shield young Gimon from assassination before
inheriting Moraka Castle.
Thus, posting a holy knight at the door was the Church’s
best move. They believed they controlled the castle fully.
Meanwhile, Gimon, aware of their motives, acted more
brashly and hastily.
To deceive them.
Crunch.
He munched a cookie loudly, writing:
<What’s up?>
The steward replied:
<The **God of Chaos** Church and Gray Disease are
known to all.>
“…!”
Gimon stopped chewing.
‘The Pope knows about Gray Disease?’
Kase?
Gimon couldn’t believe it.
It was something even the Demon King didn’t know.
‘A scarier guy than the Demon King.’
Gimon regretted allying with the Church.
After Lyupe’s disappearance, Diorail fell into chaos.
Terosa, the Demon King’s confidant, seized the chance to
gain a foothold, aiming to swallow Diorail.
Seeing this, Gimon assumed Lyupe, unaffiliated with the
Demon King, was killed by them.
The God of Chaos Church approached.
They told Gimon that Lyupe’s clothes and belongings were
found, proof he was killed by the Demon King’s side.
‘I shouldn’t have taken their hand.’
Gimon allied with the Church to protect Diorail, curb the
Demon King—or, frankly, to avenge Lyupe, his only kin
among peers.
They seemed poised to topple the current Demon King.
‘Though Uncle was tied to the former Demon King’s
remnants.’
As Gimon, he couldn’t reach them, nor had reason to ally
with a faction that failed to protect Lyupe.
‘…Gray Disease…’
A month ago, Gimon noticed a surge of holy knights
moving across the Demon World, learning of Gray Disease.
‘No way.’
To be precise, the Church provided the information.
And—
‘What’s it like?’
The Pope asked gently:
‘Gray Disease, for demons reliant on gray mana, is it truly
an obvious illness?’
Gimon couldn’t lash out at the Pope.
He couldn’t speak.
‘Diorail won’t let anyone die from Gray Disease.’
Not that they wouldn’t catch it, but they wouldn’t die.
‘The first place chaos’s power saves is Diorail.’
The Pope said, asking Gimon:
‘My lord, you wouldn’t betray us, would you?’
He smiled gently:
‘The moment you tell the Demon King, Diorail will be
engulfed by Gray Disease, and all will die.’
His voice was a rebuke to Gimon for foolishly grasping the
wrong hand.
‘Lord Gimon, even the Demon King can’t cure Gray
Disease.’
Gulp—
“Ah.”
The sound of tea pouring snapped Gimon back.
He realized he was sweating, breathing heavily.
The steward, like a grandfather from childhood, offered a
cup of hot tea.
Gimon sipped it.
As warmth spread—
<Lord.>
The steward wrote:
<The second brother is the leader.>
Second brother?
That fool?
<Also, cat tribes and a dragon.>
…!
Gimon’s eyes widened, bloodshot.
Kase.
Who was that guy?
<The second brother saved Lyupe, they say.>
No, the second brother. Who was he?
How could someone like that hide their presence so
completely?
Gimon got goosebumps.
Unlike facing the Pope, he was stunned.
Then, the steward’s next note:
<Chaos’s purification. They say it’s possible.>
“Ah.”
Gimon gasped.
He shoved a cookie in his mouth, swallowing roughly.
He had to do something.
‘Purifying chaos is possible?’
The Pope’s “chaos power” to save Diorail was
‘purification.’
He claimed to collect all Gray Disease in Diorail via
‘purification,’ making Diorail the first God of Chaos temple
site.
Gimon’s throat burned.
He gulped hot tea like it was cold water.
“Ha, haha—”
He laughed.
The Demon King and the God of Chaos Church.
His head pounded between these forces. Avenging Lyupe
felt like a luxury.
Then a new player emerged.
‘The one who saved Uncle.’
Aware of the Church.
And the Demon King’s side, arriving here.
“Wow—”
Gimon exclaimed purely:
“Terrifying.”
Truly terrifying.
The Church and Demon King’s side didn’t yet grasp Kase’s
true power.
They were wary but missed the real dagger behind him.
“Wow. Really.”
He just marveled.
The steward wrote again:
<Save them tonight?>
Gimon, eating cookies more leisurely, wrote:
<Uncle chose them, not the Demon King or Chaos
Church.>
Meaning, we don’t save them.
<What do they want?>
The steward answered:
<The Pope’s location.>
Gimon nodded, pulling a small parchment from a drawer’s
gap.
The steward accepted it sternly.
A map of Moraka Castle’s interior.
It marked the Church’s positions.
Later—
“I need new bedsheets.”
Servants headed to another building.
A middle-aged woman slipped the parchment to Cale.
Swish.
Cale scanned the map, speaking:
“Well done.”
His words to Gimon were relayed via the woman and
steward.
Cale tapped the new sheets, saying:
“Gonna sleep well tonight, right?”
The message—that he’d sleep quietly tonight—would
reach Gimon.
Tonight.
The God of Chaos Church aimed to kill Cale’s group and
the Demon King’s forces.
Munch. Munch.
Cale, gazing at the sunset-tinged window, swallowed a bite
of steak.
Eating well, sleeping well, living healthily since yesterday.
Was this a slacker’s life?
—Human, why’s your face so wistful?
Cale ignored Raon’s question, savoring the leisure.
But the dining table was far from relaxed.
“Mr. Kase.”
The New Business Division head glanced at the goofy
second brother, then locked eyes with Clopeh Sekka.
Tonight.
The three Demon King agents assigned by Terosa dined
together.
The reason was obvious.
“What did you discuss with Lord Gimon yesterday?”
Clopeh elegantly ate a bite of steak, setting down his fork
and knife.
He dabbed his mouth lightly.
The entire motion was graceful, practiced.
“Oh.”
A demon reacted.
Not the head or the middle-aged knight.
The Demon King’s Third Army leader, Hand of
Backstabbing. Mor marveled:
“Like a noble. No way you’re a merchant.”
His chilly gaze flicked to Clopeh.
Clopeh, glancing at Cale staring out the window and the
invisible Raon somewhere, thought of On, Hong, and Soo
Hyuk eating comfortably upstairs. He spoke:
“General Mor is indeed sharp.”
Mor, posing as rookie knight Rom, smirked wider.
“Yes. Something’s off.”
He was in a foul mood.
Yesterday and today, covertly observing Moraka Castle
and Kase, he felt one thing:
“What about you?”
He asked:
“Planning to stab me in the back?”
The dining room’s air turned frigid.
The head and middle-aged knight struggled to breathe,
frozen.
Clopeh, gracefully lifting a wine glass, addressed Mor:
“Count Lyupe, my father, said—”
His voice was refined.
Less merchant, more highborn noble, steeped in strict
etiquette, poise, and presence.
Thus, others now saw him as Lyupe’s true bloodline.
Clopeh, meeting Mor’s gaze, spoke:
“If I die, it’s the Demon King’s doing.”
Mor’s eyebrow twitched.
As his smirk deepened, Clopeh smiled, continuing:
“So I brought you to the God of Chaos Church’s lair. My
own revenge. Just to see you all perish?”
In that moment—
“Ha, haha—”
Mor burst into laughter.
Oddly, it was a relieved, almost pleased smile.
He didn’t mind backstabbing others, but being stabbed
himself was worse than death.
Seeing his hearty laugh, Cale thought:
‘Tonight’s fight will be chaotic. A total mess.’
Satisfied.
Cale, feigning intimidation by Mor’s presence, smiled
inwardly.
—Human, you don’t look scared!
At Raon’s words, Cale hunched his shoulders, bowing his
head to fake fear.
Night was falling.
Chapter 2-443: …Can I Take It? (6)
Night was yet to fall.
General Mor spoke casually:
“Well, it’s odd.”
He dropped his fork with a clink, leaning back. No trace of the
rookie knight remained.
Instead, he exuded the reckless air of a seasoned mercenary.
“If the God of Chaos Church is here, the holy city’s defenses are
too tight.”
While scouting Moraka Castle, Mor noticed something.
No Church clergy were visible.
Soldiers patrolled the annex and main castle, showing mid-tier
strength.
But the gazes tailing him were highly skilled, some likely senior
holy knights.
“They’re more cautious than I am.”
Mor couldn’t move freely. If he chose, he could hide and scour
the castle’s corners.
But combat seemed imminent.
‘Instinct.’
This castle held a foe too strong for him alone.
Mor trusted his years-honed gut.
“Though I knew the God of Chaos Church betrayed the Hunter
Families, I didn’t expect us to get backstabbed.”
Dare to betray the Demon King?
Mor smiled, but his anger was unmasked.
He fixed on Kase:
“Are they planning to stab me in the back?”
His lips curled into a sharp, mocking smirk.
“That ghost story, Gray Disease. You said it on purpose, didn’t
you?”
The more he thought, the stranger it seemed.
The second brother, trembling and timid, told a ghost story to a
stranger knight on their first meeting?
‘That doesn’t add up.’
Human actions have consistency and motive.
What if Kase ordered his brother to do it, overcoming fear to
bait Mor?
‘That makes more sense.’
A spider’s web.
It felt like being ensnared in someone’s design, a puppet pulled
in one direction.
“You set this up, didn’t you?”
It all started when Kase appeared before Terosa.
Clopeh stayed silent, sipping his wine leisurely.
Watching, Mor sank into thought. No, he organized his
thoughts.
“If he knew we killed Lyupe, he’d be furious. He’d want
revenge.”
Gulp.
The New Business Division head swallowed.
Mor’s words just admitted Lyupe’s death was the Demon King’s
doing.
“Lord Mor—”
“What? Did I say something I shouldn’t?”
He smiled faintly, pointing at Clopeh:
“Denying it before someone who’s already sure we did it just
makes us look pathetic.”
Mor spoke calmly:
“Yes. Lyupe, who didn’t support the Demon King, was an
eyesore. We killed him. His wealth was a concern—and
tempting.”
The head closed his eyes tightly, then opened them, glancing at
Clopeh.
But Clopeh and Mor remained composed.
‘How can they be like that?’
The head thought, but Mor seemed to accept Clopeh’s reaction
as natural.
Someone weaving such a scheme wouldn’t show emotion
easily.
“If it’s Lyupe, he’d have prepared for his death. At least he hid
his sole bloodline well.”
Mor pieced it together.
Kase framed Lyupe’s death as the Demon King’s act, resolving
to take revenge.
“But it’s odd.”
Yes, many things were strange.
He continued calmly:
“How much did Lyupe know about the God of Chaos Church?
No.”
Seeing Clopeh’s expression, Mor corrected himself:
“How do you know about the Church? And Gray Disease?”
Even the Demon King’s vast forces missed it—something so
covert. How did one man know?
“You—or who’s behind you?”
Mor asked, suspecting he knew the answer.
‘Aurora.’
Lyupe didn’t support the current Demon King and was
suspected of aiding Aurora, the former Demon King’s bloodline.
Lyupe’s death was likely hastened.
Aurora.
If it was her, she might know about Gray Disease and the
Church, unnoticed by the current Demon King.
Wasn’t the Church’s secret group “Darkness” uncovered at the
Demon King’s castle?
Unsure if Aurora didn’t know about him.
Mor ordered Clopeh:
“Answer.”
Whoosh—
A faint breeze swirled around him.
An eerie, chilling wind.
—Ahem!
Cale, observing casually, felt the Sound of the Wind react.
—Smells like another divine artifact! What god’s gone extinct
now?
As the thief’s excitement surged—
Clopeh spoke.
Mor decided if Clopeh didn’t say “Aurora,” he’d kill him first.
Then Clopeh said one word:
“Hunters.”
…!
Mor froze, no reaction.
Swish.
—Human, even your bowed head looks like a scammer’s grin.
Be careful!
Cale hid his barely-contained smile.
Choi Jung Gun.
To capture Choi Han’s elder, the Five-Colored Blood Hunters, a
Third Emperor Wanderer, would surely chase to the Demon
World.
Choi Jung Gun knew their coveted goal, the “Transcendent.”
‘They’re likely in the Demon World now.’
How to handle them?
To keep them from Choi Jung Gun?
‘The answer is the God of Chaos Church and the Demon King.’
He’d posed as a Five-Colored Blood Wanderer before the
Church.
Now, shouldn’t the Demon King’s forces learn of the
Wanderers?
They’d naturally handle them.
‘Then the Wanderers won’t have time for Choi Jung Gun.’
The Demon King’s army would pursue them until they left the
Demon World.
“…Hunters?”
“Yes. Hunters approached, giving me evidence and info on my
father Lyupe’s death by the Demon King. They also told me
what the God of Chaos Church is doing.”
Mor didn’t look away from the calmly speaking Clopeh.
“They promised me the lordship after Lyupe.”
Revenge and power.
The Hunters assured Kase.
This convinced Mor more than buying a mine.
“One thing they wanted from me.”
Clopeh continued with a serene smile:
“Revenge freely. Just use the God of Chaos Church.”
He shrugged:
“Any reason to refuse?”
Clopeh sipped his wine again.
The head and middle-aged knight stared, seeing no reaction.
“Ha!”
Mor’s presence was formidable.
“No one’s trustworthy.”
He said lightly, but his gaze deepened.
Mor, dubbed Hand of Backstabbing for his betrayals.
To him, betrayal was a game.
But—
‘Betraying left and right, even the Demon King?’
The Church and Hunters were untrustworthy from the start.
They allied only to counter the gods and divine realms.
But to dare—
‘Not elsewhere, but betray us in the Demon World?’
His gaze locked on Clopeh:
“Courting death?”
Clopeh replied:
“You’re quick.”
The head and middle-aged knight paused, gauging Mor’s
reaction.
Mor’s demeanor was calm.
“True. You’re spilling this to save your skin.”
Mor voiced his deduced answer:
“The Church plans to take us all out, you included.”
“Exactly.”
Clopeh smiled:
“General Mor must protect us, then.”
“Why should I?”
At the question, Clopeh glanced aside.
Mor followed, seeing the second brother rise hesitantly.
Swish—
Cale drew a parchment from his chest, placing it lightly on the
table.
—Human, your acting’s top-notch!
Mor stared at the parchment, signaling the middle-aged knight,
who retrieved it.
Rustle—
Mor unrolled it without hesitation.
“…!”
A Moraka Castle defense map, marking the Pope’s location,
shocked him.
“Weren’t you curious what we discussed with Lord Gimon?”
Clopeh’s composed voice echoed.
“Gimon and this castle’s people are on our side.”
“…Our?”
“Yes. From you to us—we’re allies now.”
In Clopeh, Mor saw the Demon King’s high officials and
scheming nobles.
A man who could shift stances for profit, beyond revenge or
power.
“How do we survive without cooperating?”
Clopeh extended an olive branch, calling it survival.
Mor could only sneer:
“In the end, I face the Church with the Pope alone. The moment
I report to the Demon King’s castle and Diorail, war between
God of Chaos church and the Demon King will erupt.”
“…”
“Then you reap the benefits.”
“Don’t you want that?”
Facing Clopeh’s persistent smile, Mor shook his head.
“No.”
At that moment—
Mor recalled his best move.
“My turn.”
He ordered the head, a mage:
“Gather all forces here, fast. Before midnight.”
“…Yes!”
With Diorail’s lord selection looming, troops were already on
standby.
“Request reinforcements from the Demon King’s castle.
Teleport the Third Army.”
Long-range mass teleportation was costly, but this Third Army
leader was resolved.
With the Demon King’s castle involved, Mor had no
reservations.
He slammed the map on the table, smirking at Clopeh:
“If they’re targeting us, it’s tonight.”
No mercy.
“If they want a sneak attack, we’ll strike back.”
Mor flashed a confident grin at Clopeh:
“Stay put. I’ll spare you tonight.”
After tonight…
A cruel smile curved Mor’s lips.
Clopeh, maintaining his perfect smile, asked:
“You’ll take on the Pope?”
“…”
Mor’s smile vanished.
“Would the ‘Hand of Backstabbing’ fight just to survive?”
Clopeh stated firmly:
“If it’s you, you’ll strike the enemy’s heart—I’m certain.”
Ha!
Mor scoffed:
“This guy, really—”
He finally admitted:
“You get me, don’t you?”
One of the Demon King’s eight blades.
Commander of the Third Army—Mor.
He had no intention of merely defending.
He aimed to crush the Church for daring a sneak attack.
Gray Disease.
If true, the Church had to be obliterated. The best way? Take
out their leader—the Pope.
The map marking the Pope’s location made it an obvious choice
for Mor.
Clopeh nodded slightly to the smiling Mor:
“Then I leave it to you.”
“Hm.”
Mor nodded easily, accepting the request.
—Human, human, how did this all connect?
Raon marveled to Cale:
—It’s so tangled! But it’s good for you, right?
Right.
Tonight.
The God of Chaos Church didn’t know their enemies had intel
on Gray Disease or had allied with Gimon.
They’d underestimate and attack recklessly.
The Demon King’s forces would scramble, underprepared, to
storm the castle.
‘Find Choi Jung Soo, a cure for the team leader, stop Gray
Disease.’
Then watch the Demon King’s army and Church slaughter each
other and slip away.
‘Too easy.’
Compared to past missions, tonight’s events were a breeze.
—Human, but if the lord’s castle’s troops are pulled here, it’s
undefended, right?
Raon said innocently:
—Then sneaking into the lord’s castle to loot the secret vault is
easy!
As expected, Raon was brilliant.
Truly the greatest dragon.
Night fell.
Moraka Castle was quieter than ever.
Eerily so.
Deep within the castle:
“I trust you.”
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
A top-tier holy knight rose, ready to execute the order to
annihilate the enemy.
At the same time:
“General Mor, troops are nearing the forest.”
Mor, in armor for the first time in ages, gripped his weapon.
Stretching his neck, he finished warming up and spoke:
“The moment the enemy attacks Moraka Castle, I go straight
for the Pope.”
The Demon King’s blade was unsheathed to slay the Pope.
Finally:
“Human, it’s been a while since I wore this!”
Cale, in simple stealth attire, led the kids—average age ten—to
the window.
“Smooth travels.”
Clopeh saw them off.
“Been a while.”
Cale turned at the voice.
Team leader Soo Hyuk smiled calmly.
“Yeah, it has.”
Working with the team leader to find Choi Jung Soo—it had
been a while.
Rustle—
“Choi Han, something’s off with the vibe.”
The Heavenly Demon, eyeing Moraka Castle, said. Choi Han
nodded quietly in agreement.
Chapter 2-444: …Can I Take It? (7)
The annex where Cale stayed was old and cramped.
Swish—
“Quite a windy night, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
Cale nodded at Soo Hyuk’s murmur, his gaze fixed below.
Moraka Castle’s highest point.
Cale stood atop the main castle’s highest tower, arms crossed,
unmoving.
“Human, shouldn’t we hurry to find Choi Jung Soo?”
Raon glanced at Soo Hyuk’s arm.
Despite the black night attire and bandaged wounds, a faint
bloodstain seeped through.
Though Soo Hyuk’s complexion had improved, it was still pale.
The shallow, persistent wound kept bleeding.
Meow—
Hong rubbed against Soo Hyuk’s leg.
Soo Hyuk stroked his back, saying:
“Raon.”
“Hm?”
Caught sneaking a peek, Raon jolted.
Soo Hyuk gazed at the starry sky, speaking softly:
“Everything has its moment.”
Raon, following his gaze, was captivated by the Demon World’s
dazzling night sky.
“Of course, then—”
Soo Hyuk continued, and Raon’s eyes shifted to Cale’s back.
Watching Cale, Soo Hyuk smiled warmly.
Everything has its time.
“Sometimes you wait for it, but sometimes, you make it
happen.”
Tonight was the latter.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Clopeh looked up at the knock.
Clang!
Before he could answer, the Third Army commander, “Hand of
Backstabbing” Mor, appeared.
“Your siblings are relocated?”
Clopeh smiled, extending his hands:
“Just tie me up?”
“…Hopeless guy.”
Though Mor promised to spare him, he hadn’t specified how.
Someone with secrets couldn’t roam free.
Despite Clopeh’s lack of martial strength, basic caution was
needed.
“I live, you live.”
Mor bound Clopeh instantly.
Clopeh watched his hands and feet get tied, then saw Mor
leave him with the middle-aged knight. He called out:
“General Mor.”
To the man heading to seize the Pope, Clopeh said earnestly,
facing his cold glare:
“When the path is unseen, follow the light’s direction.”
“…No time for your nonsense.”
Mor scoffed, melting into the darkness.
He blended into the corridor’s shadows, as if becoming shadow
itself.
Clopeh stared long after him, then looked up at the ceiling.
“Behave, and you’ll survive tonight.”
The middle-aged knight warned, shutting the corridor door.
In the space with just the knight and prisoner, Clopeh gazed at
the ceiling:
“Do you believe in the Demon God?”
The knight froze.
“A legend will unfold tonight.”
“…Stop spouting nonsense.”
The knight’s gruff tone hid a faint tremor.
Clopeh smiled at the ceiling.
His face wasn’t that of a merchant or Lyupe’s dignified heir.
His joyous, thrilled smile felt oddly menacing, unsettling.
“Is Lady Terosa coming today?”
“…”
“No? With General Mor moving and Terosa’s forces reportedly
nearby, she should be here.”
“…”
The knight stayed silent.
Yet his gaze couldn’t leave Clopeh.
Then—
“!”
Commotion erupted outside.
BOOM—!
An explosion echoed from afar.
BOOM!
BOOMMM—!
The blasts grew closer.
“Hahaha—”
Clopeh laughed.
Still staring at the ceiling, his smile widened endlessly.
“Many will witness tonight.”
His eyes brimmed with joy.
“A true legend.”
“!”
At that moment, the knight met Clopeh’s gaze.
As Clopeh, who’d been looking upward, lowered his eyes to
him—
“…!!”
The knight couldn’t speak.
Somehow, Clopeh stood inches from him.
Clang—
A strange aura swirled in Clopeh’s bound hands.
The manacled chains snapped, but the knight had no time to
notice.
Swish!
Clopeh swung the chains.
“Urk!”
The chains wrapped the knight’s neck.
‘Death mana…!’
An unusual aura, an alien deathly power.
Not of the Demon World.
The knight realized too late.
“Urk, cough!”
His body slumped.
Clopeh loomed over the unconscious knight, rifling through his
belongings.
Blink.
A small magic orb.
Clopeh picked it up, speaking:
“Lady Terosa, right?”
As Raon had once revealed, the knight carried a communication
orb.
“You believe the Demon King will become a Demon God, so you
follow him?”
Clopeh relayed a truth to Terosa:
“That won’t do.”
You think Cale will become a god, so you follow him?
No.
A god?
What does that matter?
“You must believe in his existence itself.”
Lord Cale.
He already walked his own path.
Creating a legend.
“If you’re lucky, you’ll learn of his existence tonight. Beyond
family ties, a being truly worth following.”
—…
No sound or image came from the orb, but it was clearly active.
Clopeh released it.
Clang—!
The orb shattered.
Clopeh reached out, unfazed.
Swish.
The starlit corridor, steeped in darkness, came into view.
BOOM—!
CRASH—!
It was noisy outside.
But Clopeh stepped slowly into the corridor’s silent darkness.
“The stronger the light, the deeper the shadow.”
Covertly, surpassing even Ron, Clopeh erased his presence,
hiding his power.
He was a shadow.
The kind that lingers beside the light, orbiting it.
He had to reach the light’s side swiftly.
“Haha—”
With a fleeting smile, Clopeh walked his path.
BOOMMM—!
As the explosions began, Cale’s eyes glinted.
Numerous forces approached the castle.
The Demon King’s army from Diorail’s domain, as if freshly
scraped from its ranks.
At the rear, flashes of teleportation magic flickered—small,
intermittent.
One, two—the Third Army seemed to arrive.
—Cale. So many.
Terosa’s Demon King army, gathered from Diorail.
A large number.
‘Not pushovers either.’
Terosa.
She’d hidden such forces to block Gimon’s lordship.
Ding-ding-ding—!
Moraka Castle’s bells rang, shattering the night’s silence.
The quiet castle was gone.
Fires sparked around.
—Cale. Holy knights.
Somewhere, holy knights emerged, charging the gates.
—They must think hiding’s pointless now.
As Super Rock said.
Seeing Terosa’s army and the Third Army arrive, the Church
saw no reason to conceal.
“Mor’s probably moving now.”
“Yes.”
Cale sensed Soo Hyuk’s movement behind him.
Watching Soo Hyuk rise, flanked by the kids—average age
ten—Cale stayed still.
—Sniff!
As the Sound of the Wind caught a scent—
Cale’s gaze shifted to the rear garden behind the main castle.
BOOM—!
A massive tremor came from there.
“Now’s our time to move.”
Wind swirled around Cale’s ankles. He dropped fearlessly from
the rooftop.
Cale at the center.
Soo Hyuk naturally led the front.
On and Hong flanked Cale.
Raon guarded the rear.
A smaller castle in the main castle’s rear garden, a third its size.
The Pope was there.
And General Mor had gone there.
BOOM!
Another tremor.
It started from the garden.
—Sniff! I smell it! A divine artifact’s scent!
Mor used a divine artifact, triggering the Sound of the Wind.
Cale spoke:
“If Choi Jung Soo lost contact, someone stronger caught him.”
“Likely a top-tier holy knight,” Soo Hyuk said, recalling the one
who wounded him.
That knight’s strength was top-tier.
“Not the one who hurt me.”
Soo Hyuk’s injury came from a reckless moment, losing control
and escaping. If serious, Choi Jung Soo couldn’t have been
caught.
“Only a top-tier holy knight could do it.”
If Choi Jung Soo was captured.
“Or, like Choi Jung Gun, tricked by some ploy.”
Either way—
“Choi Jung Soo’s in the building with the Pope.”
“Yes. They wouldn’t just release a Wanderer from the Church.”
“Whether Five-Colored Blood or God of Balance Wanderers,
the Church wants to trap Choi Jung Soo for information.”
“Right. They won’t kill him.”
Cale and Soo Hyuk judged Choi Jung Soo was alive, caught by
the Church.
Their exchange was emotionless.
The kids—average age ten—exchanged glances.
But Cale and Soo Hyuk stayed calm when rescuing teammates.
Lives were at stake.
“The garden castle has five floors—three above, two below
ground.”
Tap.
Landing lightly on a castle rooftop overlooking the garden, Cale
spoke:
“Gimon’s map only covers the first and second floors.”
The third floor and underground levels were unknown.
“The third floor holds the Pope, guarded by holy knights
underground.”
“Choi Jung Soo’s among them.”
“Yes.”
Soo Hyuk, beside Cale, said casually:
“So you pulled in Mor?”
“Yes.”
BOOM!
Another massive tremor. Cale calmly watched the ravaged
garden.
The scenic garden was gone.
At its end, Mor stood on the path to the smaller castle.
“Not the one who hurt me.”
“I figured.”
The one who hurt Soo Hyuk—wasn’t he outside, hunting Soo
Hyuk, assumed rescued by the First or Third Emperor?
Top-tier holy knights couldn’t handle Five-Colored Blood
Wanderers.
‘Info the Demon King’s side doesn’t have.’
Terosa’s army and the teleported Third Army now surrounded
Moraka Castle.
More forces from the Demon King’s castle might arrive over
time.
‘So Mor moved to target the Pope.’
Time was on their side.
But they didn’t know about the holy knights roaming outside,
hunting Five-Colored Blood Wanderers.
‘Those forces will hit Terosa’s army from behind.’
A bloody battle would erupt.
“Of three top-tier holy knights, one’s with Mor.”
And—
“Another’s with Terosa outside.”
The last—
“The strongest holy knight’s likely with the Pope.”
“Probably.”
Third Army leader Mor.
If he defeated the top-tier holy knight that’s with him, he’d
reach the Pope, guarded by another top-tier knight.
That prediction was correct.
“You want me to stay?”
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
The top-tier holy knight, meant to kill Mor, stayed with the
Pope.
“Is there anyone more noble than Your Holiness here?”
His tone was stiff, his face unwavering.
“Besides, that child is enough.”
The top-tier holy knight would kill Mor—a certain future fact.
Meanwhile, the Pope gazed out the window.
“Strange.”
He said calmly:
“No matter how I think, this situation isn’t just the Demon
King’s forces at work.”
The Third Army leader arriving suddenly, the Demon King’s
army storming in tonight?
And they never saw it coming?
Something was off.
He turned:
“Sytriss. Someone’s pulling strings.”
Steward Sytriss, in ornate attire, knelt on one knee, looking up:
“A variable?”
“Yes.”
Sytriss reported expressionlessly:
“This mission’s starting point was a merchant named Kase.
Lyupe’s bloodline.”
The Pope asked calmly:
“You think that’s the start?”
“If not this mission, but another event, the first variable lies
elsewhere.”
“What?”
“Wanderers.”
The top-tier holy knight’s face shifted, stepping forward:
“Five-Colored Blood Hunters appeared recently.”
He raised his voice at Sytriss.
Beyond martial prowess, he wielded a God of Chaos artifact.
With the Saint gone, he rivaled the top-tier holy knight, second
only to the Pope.
“Does Sytriss think Five-Colored Blood is behind everything?”
It made sense.
“…Night of Genesis, revenge for the holy land’s events?”
Night of Genesis.
The attempt to bring the God of Chaos to the new world failed,
exposed by Five-Colored Blood Hunters.
Perhaps they aimed to disrupt the Church’s plans in the Demon
World.
Then—
“No.”
The Pope spoke:
“This is part of a process.”
His gaze met Sytriss:
“Five-Colored Blood Hunters aren’t the first, either.”
“Correct.”
Sytriss nodded, eyeing the top-tier holy knight. The Pope did
too.
The knight recalled an older event.
Not recent.
“…Another Wanderer.”
A Wanderer he’d captured.
Five-Colored Blood or God of Balance’s envoy—identity
unknown, locked up for interrogation.
As the knight’s gaze calmed, Sytriss said evenly:
“He’s the start of all variables.”
A brown-haired Wanderer.
The Pope ordered Sytriss:
“Bring him.”
“Yes.”
BOOM!
Another tremor shook the annex castle from the garden.
The Pope added:
“If things go awry, use the artifact.”
Sytriss’s eyes glinted:
“That would render him useless.”
“For the grand plan, a Wanderer’s value can be sacrificed if
they hinder it.”
“Yes.”
The Pope added:
“Capture Kase.”
“Yes.”
Sytriss left the third-floor banquet hall where the Pope stayed,
heading underground.
She signaled her subordinate, who moved to seize Kase.
Her hand reached into her chest.
Hum—
As if responding to the Pope’s order, the artifact trembled
faintly.
The Wanderer caught by the top-tier holy knight.
Today, he’d lose his mind, plunged into a gray, chaotic world.
‘He’ll spill everything he knows.’
Though Sytriss knew someone’s volatility would vanish, she
acted swiftly, coldly, for the mission.
Completing it mattered more than a Wanderer.
BOOM!
Seeing Mor clash with the top-tier holy knight again, Cale
spoke:
“Start from the basement.”
To save Choi Jung Soo.
Cale dove toward the garden.
—Invisibility!
All were cloaked by Raon’s magic.
Meow!
Meow!
On and Hong yowled once, then moved so stealthily no trace
remained.
“I won’t look back—keep up.”
Soo Hyuk, with a copied map, led swiftly.
His steps targeted blind spots.
Swish—
Cale followed, wind trailing like a shadow.
With Mor, the Church’s focus on the Demon King’s army, and
others searching for Clopeh Sekka—
Tap. Tap.
As Sytriss entered the second basement, heading for the
Wanderer—
Cale, at the heart of all variables, infiltrated the annex castle
where the Pope resided.
Entering the first basement.
“Let’s begin.”
At his words, On and Hong hid in the shadows, meowing briefly.
Meow!
Meow!
“What, what’s—!”
“Urk, urgh!”
“Cough, cough—!”
Mist and poison flooded the first basement, engulfing the
Church’s guards at the entrance.
In the fog, Cale and Soo Hyuk advanced fearlessly toward the
second basement.
Chapter 2-445: …Can I Take It? (8)
Hum—!
Cale descended the stairs from the first to the second
basement.
He gauged the tremors felt from outside.
‘Stronger than before.’
Third Army leader Mor versus a top-tier holy knight.
Their battle had intensified.
‘…Mor’s weaker than I thought.’
By now, Mor should’ve defeated the knight, ensuring no one
else dared enter the building.
That was Cale’s plan.
After rescuing Choi Jung Soo, Mor would search the chaotic
building for clues to stop Gray Disease.
‘Are top-tier holy knights that strong?’
But—
The one who injured Soo Hyuk was likely a top-tier knight, as
was Choi Jung Soo’s captor.
‘They’re strong.’
Clearly, they hadn’t even gone all out.
“Cale. As expected, huh?”
Cale responded to Soo Hyuk’s voice:
“Yeah. Weak.”
Hiss—
Mist enveloped the area.
The poisonous fog that consumed the first basement now crept
down the second basement stairs.
Unaffecting Cale, the toxin paralyzed or knocked out all holy
knights guarding the first basement.
‘The guards here are weaker than expected.’
Perhaps the stronger knights were outside—hunting Five-
Colored Blood Wanderers, fighting the Demon King’s army, or
defending the Pope.
Weaker ones were left to guard the prison-like basement.
‘No Gray Disease clues on the first basement.’
Cale concluded this after swiftly checking and noting the
prison’s interior.
“Ugh—”
“Ah, ahh!”
Groans echoed, some knights too weak to groan, trembling.
Cale’s emotionless gaze swept over them.
“They’ve gotten better.”
He muttered suddenly.
Tap. Tap.
With light steps, Hong appeared in the mist, grinned, and
vanished again.
The Sichuan Tang Clan’s Nine Kings poison—Hong had
absorbed it well.
On’s mist had grown stronger too, but Hong’s progress was
notable.
‘Need to check on them later.’
He’d soon see Ron—maybe discuss On and Hong in detail then.
“Hm.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Cale shook his head at Soo Hyuk’s question.
Ron and Beacrox. He’d have to tell them about himself
eventually.
Cale cut off the deepening thought.
—Human!
Soo Hyuk, leading, raised a hand.
—The second basement entrance has magic! Top-tier! It’s a
locking spell!
Raon signaled.
‘Found it.’
Second basement.
—Human, I can break this lock! It’d take a dragon or Rosalyn’s
level to undo it! But is there such a skilled mage in the God of
Chaos Church?
Choi Jung Soo was likely here.
No, this place held many secrets.
The weak first-basement guards might’ve relied on the second-
basement lock.
BOOM—!
The outside tremors peaked, the floor shaking.
They were closer.
General Mor was nearing the mansion.
As Cale’s eyes glinted—
—Human, to undo this quietly, I need about five minutes!
Hearing Raon, Cale paused briefly.
“…”
As eyes turned to his silence, he spoke slowly:
“Do it fast.”
Five minutes.
Too long.
They couldn’t be found before Mor reached the building.
If Choi Jung Soo was injured, escaping with him was priority.
“Got it, human! Everyone, step back!”
Cale watched Raon’s back, the locked door beyond his wings.
—Sniff! Sniff! Sniff!
The Sound of the Wind sniffed fiercely.
‘Hm!’
Cale frowned involuntarily.
The Sound of the Wind sounded different.
Its hoarse tone was urgent.
Excited yet anxious.
—There’s a scent inside! A smell!
A divine artifact’s scent.
—It’s strong!
—I don’t want this artifact!
—I want to smash it!
A first.
The Sound of the Wind reacting this way.
—This needs smashing! It stinks!
—Disgusting!
At that moment, Cale spoke:
“Raon.”
“Hm?”
“Break it directly.”
Raon turned, startled by Cale:
“Oh, okay, human!”
If Raon acted, it’d be like Cale was about to storm the door.
Raon sensed the urgency.
Hum—
Black mana rippled.
—Sniff, ugh, this stench is vile!
—You gotta smash this artifact!
As the Sound of the Wind roared louder than ever—
A chill sank around Cale.
—I didn’t expect this scent!
The Sound of the Wind recognized this artifact.
It used that phrasing deliberately.
Recently, the Sound of the Wind had encountered two artifacts:
General Mor’s.
And Steward Sytriss’s.
Mor was above ground, so this was Sytriss’s.
And Choi Jung Soo was likely here.
The Sound of the Wind calling an artifact “disgusting” and
urging its destruction was unprecedented.
Sytriss might’ve used it on Choi Jung Soo.
Though speculative, Cale, reading the flow, reached near-
certain conclusions.
‘Must hurry.’
Suppressing impatience, Cale assessed his body.
If things went south, in a crisis—
He’d unleash every ancient power, no matter what.
From Soo Hyuk to Choi Jung Soo.
The God of Chaos Church.
These bastards couldn’t be let off.
Contrary to the icy aura around him, Cale’s eyes sparked with
fire.
Seeing this, Soo Hyuk’s expression hardened.
‘What happened?’
Something Cale noticed that he hadn’t.
‘Kim Rok Soo—no, Cale’s going berserk?’
Despite being a rookie, so weak, Kim Rok Soo charged recklessly
when enraged.
Seeing those eyes, Soo Hyuk instinctively reached for his
scabbard.
If it came to that, he’d step up.
“Won’t you speak, even now?”
Sytriss awaited the Wanderer’s answer, chained rigidly to the
wall.
“…”
The Wanderer, eyes closed, said nothing.
Drip.
Blood dripped from his leg.
Dozens of wounds marred his body, save his face.
‘Not a word, even injured.’
These weren’t mere cuts.
Wounds from blades dipped in chaotic holy water caused
excruciating pain.
Step. Step.
Sytriss approached.
The man, bound to the wall, couldn’t move.
A gag muffled his mouth.
“Open your eyes.”
That was the condition.
The price for spilling everything.
“Then you won’t endure this pain anymore.”
She stopped a step away.
Clink.
A small urn sat on a stone table.
Gray liquid filled the wide-mouthed vessel, a short blade
submerged within.
“The greatest pain you’ve ever felt.”
She gripped the blade.
“Want to feel it again?”
Sytriss wanted him to submit.
If needed, she’d use the Pope’s artifact, but that was a last
resort.
One final chance before that.
Press.
The blade touched the Wanderer’s exposed skin between his
collar.
Half an inch deeper, he’d relive “life’s greatest pain.”
“First to endure dozens of these… Are all Wanderers this
special?”
She secretly admired him.
“Most call this pain ‘like dying’… But you’ve already died once.”
The Wanderer should’ve died.
Their worst pain is often tied to death.
This man was likely no exception.
“But now… why are you smiling?”
Despite the gag, he smiled.
Drool dripped messily—
Yet his laugh mocked Sytriss.
“You’re not one to end yourself.”
So she removed his gag.
For this final ultimatum—
To the still-closed-eyed, unresponsive man, Sytriss offered:
“Speak what you know. Or be trapped forever in pain worse
than death—dozens? Hundreds? Thousands? Why bother?”
Her calm voice echoed in the cell—
“Hah.”
The Wanderer laughed.
“Ha… hahaha—”
He couldn’t hold it back.
Sytriss saw it as laughable arrogance.
Mere death throes.
No pain surpassed death.
“Even repeating death’s moment doesn’t faze you?”
Then—
His laughter turned to words.
A hoarse voice.
Wanderer Choi Jung Soo spoke:
“…You don’t get it.”
“What?”
“You don’t know me at all.”
Right.
Choi Jung Soo knew they were clueless.
If this blade caused not physical but emotional pain—
He might’ve spoken already.
Watching his kin die—
That pain still haunted him.
But facing death himself—
‘Someone saved me.’
No, more precisely—anyway.
Back then, wasn’t it Kim Rok Soo who saved him?
“…Fools.”
You know nothing.
That was his first attempt to defy fate.
Would he kneel now, feeling that pain dozens of times?
Never.
That’d betray his past self.
Choi Jung Soo would endure pain over submission.
“…Stubborn.”
“Right, you got that.”
Hoo.
Sytriss sighed.
She gave up reasoning with this laughing lunatic.
She drew the artifact from her chest.
A small music box.
“You’ll regret this.”
“I’ll never regret this.”
His voice was hoarse, broken, but his spine stayed straight.
Sytriss admired his resolve, but duty came first.
“Regret or not, we’ll see.”
She fell silent.
Stab.
Instead, she drove the dagger deeper.
Drip.
Blood fell.
“…”
Choi Jung Soo bit his lip.
Enduring pain, not overcoming it.
Drip.
As blood touched the music box’s closed-eye statue—
Zing!
The eyes opened.
The music box began turning.
The eye statue spun slowly, returning.
♩♬♪
Eerie music flowed.
“!”
Choi Jung Soo froze.
Eyes closed, unsure what happened, but the music sent chills
through him.
‘This—’
This music.
‘Isn’t it music?’
Yes. Though recognized as music, it wasn’t.
He couldn’t identify it.
But he felt something binding him.
‘Ah.’
A gaze.
Something’s gaze restrained him.
Eyes closed, only darkness, but Choi Jung Soo sensed a pursuing
stare.
Above?
Below?
Left? Right?
No.
All directions.
Countless gazes from every angle.
Not one.
Like suffocating darkness, intensifying stares closed in.
Growing nearer.
♩♬♪
The music continued.
Yet he heard less and less.
His sense of smell faded.
His body felt eroded by relentless gazes.
‘!’
Choi Jung Soo realized something major was happening to him.
“…”
Sytriss watched impassively.
The music filled the cell.
She heard it, unaffected.
As the artifact’s master.
But non-masters hearing it would feel extreme chaos.
Those offering ‘blood’ would sink into chaos.
A swamp with no escape.
‘Lose your mind.’
When the music ended—
He’d become a puppet for the artifact’s master.
♩♬♪
The Wanderer’s face paled.
His eyelids twitched.
‘It’s almost over.’
Sytriss predicted the outcome from his reaction.
Her mouth opened:
“Open your eyes.”
Not yet.
Not fully consumed.
But his trembling eyelids showed he’d soon obey.
“Open your eyes.”
Hah. Urgh.
His breathing grew louder.
He fought not to open his eyes.
♩♬♪
The music swelled.
The final step.
He was her puppet now.
Sytriss spoke:
“Open your eyes.”
Then—
“!”
The Wanderer’s eyes snapped open.
Swish.
Sytriss’s lips curled upward.
Taming the defiant was thrilling.
The stronger her foe, the more exhilarating.
She wanted to see the broken Wanderer—
“!”
She froze.
A massive aura hit as he opened his eyes.
BOOM—!
A deafening roar came from the cellblock’s end.
From the entrance door.
But before the roar, an overwhelming aura.
Sytriss trembled at the presence from the corridor’s end.
♩♬♪
The music played on.
But—
“Ke, kha, keugh, ha, hahaha—!”
The Wanderer laughed.
Struggling in chaos, barely able to laugh.
Sytriss turned to him instinctively.
He should’ve felt the chaos’s consuming gaze.
He seemed terrified of losing his mind—yet joyful.
His eyes were vivid.
His body and face twitched, exhausted by chaos’s fear.
Those vivid eyes held fierce conviction.
“…Late—”
His words were incoherent.
Choi Jung Soo couldn’t speak clearly.
Though his eyes were open—
He saw nothing.
Not reality.
Only countless eyes staring from every direction.
Hundreds, thousands, watching him.
Their gaze held madness-inducing power.
Choi Jung Soo felt himself engulfed in chaos.
This could lead to something worse than death.
But—
‘Late, you bastard!’
Goosebumps rose.
♩♬♪
The music’s coldness wasn’t from those countless eyes.
A familiar aura.
Bolder than usual.
Seemingly similar to chaos’s fear, but different.
It brimmed with dominating intent.
‘…This guy!’
Kim Rok Soo.
Cale.
His friend was here.
Chapter 2-446: …Can I Take It? (9)
“Human, I’m smashing it!”
With Raon’s words, the entrance door, sealed by locking magic,
shattered instantly.
CRASH—!
The door splintered in a cacophony of breaking wood.
As Raon’s magic took effect, amid the shattering noise—
—Sniff, ugh!
The Sound of the Wind groaned, recoiling from a nauseating
stench.
‘Chaos.’
Cale felt a familiar aura, one he’d encountered several times
before.
The moment he sensed it, he unleashed his Dominating Aura.
“Hm.”
Soo Hyuk, beside him, looked at Cale before the breaking door,
drawn by the overwhelming presence.
Though familiar with Cale’s aura, this felt different.
‘He’s grown stronger.’
Far stronger than before.
Through Clopeh Sekka, Soo Hyuk had heard about the “Night of
Genesis” at the God of Chaos Church’s holy land.
Whatever Cale experienced there had made him more
powerful.
“…”
Goosebumps rose on Soo Hyuk’s arm.
The feeling from facing gods in the divine realm—why did it
resurface now?
‘This guy—’
Soo Hyuk grinned.
Cale had truly grown.
His lips curled into an involuntary smile.
‘!’
But his expression soon froze.
Cale’s immense aura enveloped his allies, controlling the space
and extending beyond the shattered door.
It delicately shielded his companions without dominating them.
Its purpose wasn’t control—it was protection.
“…”
Soo Hyuk realized why.
An aura seeped through the broken door.
♩♬♪
Faint music echoed.
‘Not ordinary music.’
Though it sounded like music, no melody was discernible.
One thing was clear—
‘It’s dangerous.’
The moment it reached his ears, Soo Hyuk felt a fleeting
dizziness.
“Hm.”
He staggered briefly.
But the sensation vanished.
Cale’s invisible aura was consuming the space.
The music’s strange power couldn’t pierce it.
‘Must be the God of Chaos’s power.’
Likely an artifact.
And Cale Henituse was blocking it.
‘No.’
Not just blocking.
‘He’s pushing it back.’
Soo Hyuk watched Cale’s back as he approached the door, his
aura surging deeper into the corridor.
Step.
But when Cale paused—
Soo Hyuk steadied himself.
Looking at Cale’s back, he said:
“I’ll protect them.”
He scooped up On and Hong in their cat forms.
They seemed briefly dizzy but stable.
Step.
Cale moved again.
Raon followed closely.
Cale didn’t look back.
Soo Hyuk understood why.
‘He’s anxious.’
He could guess Choi Jung Soo’s predicament.
And—
‘He’s furious.’
Cale’s bloodshot eyes, evident before breaking the door, now
made sense.
Soo Hyuk had prepared for trouble, but—
‘No need.’
His own eyes cooled.
Without On and Hong, he’d be right behind Cale.
Holding the cats, he followed slowly, watching Cale’s distant
figure with a subtle emotion.
‘…So reliable.’
When Soo Hyuk—Lee Soo Hyuk—first met Cale, he was a
scrawny, fragile-looking kid.
Only his bright eyes stood out.
And that kid—
‘Still looks frail.’
Had become this strong.
Even making Soo Hyuk feel he could trustingly guard his back.
“I’m fine!”
“Put us down.”
Of course, he wouldn’t just watch.
Soo Hyuk set On and Hong down, leading them toward Cale.
His gaze, past Cale’s shoulder, locked on the cell at the
corridor’s end.
“…”
Choi Jung Soo, chained to the wall, came into view.
Soo Hyuk’s hand instinctively gripped his sword hilt.
Step. Step.
Cale’s eyes were fixed on Choi Jung Soo.
♩♬♪
The corridor, breached by the broken door.
Cells lined both sides.
At the end stood a solitary cell.
Dim torches barely lit the interior.
♩♬♪
Choi Jung Soo was chained spread-eagle to the wall.
Covered in wounds.
None fatal, but clearly from interrogation, causing immense
pain.
‘Choi Jung Soo, you—’
And that guy.
Was grinning.
His expression was eerily strange.
His body twitched, unable to speak.
Worse—
‘Eyes open, but he can’t see.’
Despite open eyes, Choi Jung Soo saw nothing.
Even meeting Cale’s gaze, his focus was absent.
“…Smiling like you hit the jackpot.”
But Cale knew—that smile was for him.
♩♬♪
Amid the music, that face grinned precisely toward Cale’s
approach.
“…”
Cale’s pace didn’t quicken.
His aura only grew heavier.
—Yes. Unleash it!
The Dominating Aura’s words didn’t reach Cale.
♩♬♪
The music grew clearer as he closed the distance.
—Terrifying and disgusting!
The Sound of the Wind trembled unreservedly.
‘Right.’
This aura was nauseating.
The moment the music hit, sensing what its melody held—
Cale deployed his Dominating Aura.
Perhaps because he wielded some chaos power, he instantly
grasped how this aura worked.
‘Chaos.’
It plunged listeners into chaos-induced fear, triggering extreme
dread.
So Cale unleashed his aura.
Like at the “Night of Genesis” holy land.
When chaos tried to invade, he spread his presence
overwhelmingly.
Crushing every wisp of chaotic aura.
Shielding Soo Hyuk, On, and Hong from harm.
‘The God of Chaos Church bastards—’
Raon, having faced the God of Chaos, was least affected by
such artifacts.
But young On and Hong, and Soo Hyuk, weakened by injury
despite appearances—
They nearly suffered mental damage from chaos’s erosion.
“Makes my blood boil.”
Cale walked toward the corridor’s end.
No anger showed on his face.
He just stared at Choi Jung Soo.
—Hm.
The Dominating Aura murmured.
—Like facing the God of Chaos himself?
Rustle—
The Dominating Aura was unprecedentedly fierce.
♩♬♪
It crushed the chaotic aura leaking from the music.
Second basement.
Not just controlling the prison space, it began to consume it.
Cale’s aura touched everything, suppressing all existence.
♩♬♪
The music box playing the tune.
Cale spared it no glance.
He headed straight for Choi Jung Soo.
Creak—
Expressionless, he pushed open the locked cell door, stepping
in calmly.
No anger in his clenched fists.
♩♬♪
Only when he stopped before Choi Jung Soo did Cale fully hear
the melody.
“…Ca—”
Choi Jung Soo couldn’t form a full syllable.
But he seemed to sense Cale’s presence. Cale’s lips parted:
“Yeah. I’m here.”
His gaze left Choi Jung Soo.
This entire space.
♩♬♪
Though his Dominating Aura controlled the music-filled second
basement—
Choi Jung Soo still couldn’t see Cale.
He was trapped in fear.
Teetering on a cliff, barely holding on.
Cale, looking beyond Choi Jung Soo, spoke:
“That it?”
Steward Sytriss, clutching the artifact, knelt trembling.
Barely keeping from collapsing.
Her state mirrored Choi Jung Soo’s.
Her eyes met Cale’s.
“!”
Her breath stopped.
How did this happen?
What was going on?
She couldn’t even form thoughts.
When she received this artifact—
Becoming its wielder—
She’d briefly faced the God of Chaos.
Or rather, endured its gaze.
She’d never forget that moment.
The God of Chaos.
The embodiment of the world, where she was less than dust,
not even a faint candle.
She felt fear and awe before that absolute being.
But now—
‘Why can’t I feel that fear?’
An aura similar yet utterly different—no, fundamentally
opposite—oppressed her.
An aura trying to dominate her.
It wasn’t strong at first.
But as footsteps neared, it grew ferocious, its clear intent
unmistakable—
This man was burning with rage.
And that rage targeted her.
“Time to answer.”
Cale said calmly, looking down at her.
Sytriss couldn’t speak.
But instinct screamed she must respond.
Or she couldn’t predict what this dominator would do.
Terror stripped her of thought.
“Urk, ah—”
Only meaningless sounds escaped.
Tears streamed down her face.
She wanted to beg for mercy.
No. Was this man human?
He looked human.
How could a mortal exude near-divine pressure?
Black hair, deep brown eyes—
“!”
Sytriss, studying his appearance, realized.
His true identity—
The second son.
Kase’s brother.
That timid, cowering second son!
It was him!
“Ah, ah—”
Still no words formed.
Trembling broke her thoughts.
Because—
“The God of Chaos Church has some guts.”
The man loomed closer, his suffocating aura intensifying.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
Her teeth chattered in fear.
Her hands trembled uncontrollably.
“!”
Because of this—
She watched helplessly as Cale took the artifact from her
hands.
He spoke to her, met her eyes.
Took the artifact.
All fluidly, in seconds.
To Sytriss, it felt eternal.
Powerlessness overwhelmed her.
Without fighting, his aura alone immobilized her.
—Hmph!
The Dominating Aura snorted.
—A power rivaling the God of Chaos. What’s a mere artifact
wielder? But Cale can’t overdo it! His eyes are bloodshot; he’s
not listening!
Cale indeed ignored the Dominating Aura.
—Sniff! This must be destroyed! Ominous thing!
The artifact Sytriss held.
Now in Cale’s palm.
“…!!”
Despair froze on Sytriss’s face.
Cale, seeing this, loosened his fingers.
The artifact fell to the ground.
♩♬♪
Only then did she realize—the artifact was still playing music.
She’d forgotten even that.
Thud.
The artifact hit the floor.
Then—
Crack!
Cale stomped on it.
Crack! Crack!
He crushed it like a cookie.
♩♬♪
The music played on, the crystal eye statue still spinning.
“Ugh, so annoying! Why’s it so tough!”
Cale grabbed the wreckage and smashed it against the cell wall.
Clang!
He kicked the fallen fragments.
‘Is this possible?’
Despite her fear, Sytriss gaped at the unbelievable scene.
How could he treat an artifact like that?
Touch it barehanded?
Wasn’t he a human, not a god?
Creak—
The artifact finally shattered.
Sytriss stared blankly.
Crack—
The crystal eye statue cracked first.
♩♬—
The music weakened.
“Want me to cut it?”
Cale shook his head at Soo Hyuk’s offer.
“This thing’s aura is ominous; touching it risks the corruption of
chaos.”
With his Dominating Aura at full power, Cale was fine, but it
was too dangerous for others.
“Human, I’m here too.”
Raon, quietly watching Cale’s rage, stepped forward.
Buzz—
His front paws glowed with mana.
“Oh.”
Cale nodded approvingly at the dragon.
“Hehe!”
The broken artifact—
Hit by Raon’s magic.
BOOM!
It turned to dust in a small explosion.
“Hehe! First time breaking an artifact!”
Raon danced joyfully.
“…”
Sytriss, trembling on the ground, looked up dazedly.
Such a precious, dangerous artifact—destroyed so easily?
Kase’s brother… What was this second son?
Her thoughts shattered.
She felt plunged into chaos itself.
Step.
As the music stopped, Choi Jung Soo heard footsteps.
The thousands of eyes staring at him.
They blurred.
In their place—
Another pair of eyes.
His trembling ceased.
Fear faded.
“You okay?”
Deep brown eyes asked flatly.
Seeing those eyes, laced with worry despite their impatience,
Choi Jung Soo found words.
His face crumpled:
“It hurts so bad.”
He’d endured so long; it really hurt.
Who else could he say this to?
“Sigh.”
Cale exhaled.
Who else but a friend?
“You haven’t changed a bit.”
Hearing Cale’s mutter, Choi Jung Soo smiled.
Kim Rok Soo or Cale—neither had changed.
‘He’s gotten stronger.’
The Dominating Aura.
Though not aimed at him, it was fiercer than ever.
“Urk! Cough!”
He saw his interrogator faint, eyes rolled back.
‘Pretty pissed off, huh.’
At times like this, Cale—Kim Rok Soo—smashed everything. A
rear supporter with a knack for destruction. Would he do it
now?
Chapter 2-447: …Can I Take It? (10)
Seeing Choi Jung Soo’s inexplicably bright grin, Cale’s anger
flared.
“Hey.”
“Hm?”
He snapped at Choi Jung Soo:
“Stop smiling.”
“Heh, hehehe—”
Instead, Choi Jung Soo laughed harder.
Raon, On, and Hong grew serious.
“Human, something’s wrong with Choi Jung Soo!”
Meow—!
“…It’s bad.”
Cale turned to the kids—average age ten—and said:
“Team leader.”
“Got it.”
Soo Hyuk approached Choi Jung Soo.
Shing.
He drew his sword.
“Uh, hey!”
Choi Jung Soo’s laughter stopped.
“Team leader! You gonna hit me? I mean, smacking me with
the scabbard’s one thing, but why draw the blade? Huh?”
His face paled—
Slash!
Sword light flashed.
Slash! Slash!
The chains binding Choi Jung Soo were sliced like paper.
“Phew, thought you were gonna beat me.”
Choi Jung Soo, freed, grinned again.
Then—
“…”
A chill hit him as he met Soo Hyuk’s gaze.
Soo Hyuk stared intensely.
Somehow, the teenage Soo Hyuk’s face overlapped with the
thirty-something Lee Soo Hyuk.
Choi Jung Soo shivered as Soo Hyuk said softly:
“I never said I wouldn’t hit you.”
His voice was eerily flat.
Choi Jung Soo shut his mouth.
He realized Team leader Soo Hyuk was genuinely angry.
And Cale—
‘He’s livid.’
Cale’s glare at Choi Jung Soo looked ready to deliver a hundred
smacks to the back of his head.
Choi Jung Soo recalled when employee Kim Rok Soo once
bashed a guild leader’s head while he was unconscious.
Not exactly “while unconscious.”
He just swung regardless of the guy’s state.
That day, the guild leader’s greed had critically injured a
teammate, so no one stopped Kim Rok Soo. Recalling this, Choi
Jung Soo stayed silent.
‘Hm?’
He met the eyes of the average ten-year-olds.
Raon, On, and Hong huddled together.
Even On seemed restless, none daring to approach him.
‘Ugh…’
Choi Jung Soo swallowed a bitter smile.
His condition was abnormal.
Though the illusions had faded, the pain from those oppressive
gazes lingered.
Dozens of wounds brought near-death agony.
The pain’s afterimage haunted him, rekindling those memories.
That’s why Choi Jung Soo acted flippant, and Soo Hyuk and Cale
played along.
“Choi Jung Soo.”
Raon crept closer, abloodg cautiously:
“Not hungry?”
Choi Jung Soo nearly laughed.
Abloodg about hunger now—Raon reminded him of Cale, and
thus Soo Hyuk.
Some things never fade.
Choi Jung Soo felt the world’s permanence, and the pain’s
afterimage began to dissipate.
Slash!
Meanwhile, Soo Hyuk carefully cut the excessive chains
wrapping Choi Jung Soo like a dumpling.
He could’ve severed them all at once but was cautious to avoid
burdening Choi Jung Soo.
Soo Hyuk knew this, Choi Jung Soo knew, and Cale knew, so no
one rushed him.
BOOM—!
Tremors from afar now reached the building.
Perhaps at the entrance.
But they had no time to care.
“Hey, Cale.”
Choi Jung Soo, though, found it worth noting:
“I was caught by the strongest holy knight here.”
He spoke rapidly:
“Way stronger than me. Couldn’t win.”
Raon, On, and Hong looked puzzled at his sudden speed of
speech.
His body still trembled. He could’ve waited to calm down.
The kids thought this, but oddly, Cale didn’t stop him.
“…”
He just listened silently.
Choi Jung Soo continued quickly:
“I overheard that knight report to the Pope. You know Gray
Disease, right? With your skills, you’ve probably figured it out.
It is an infection with corruption of chaos.”
He urgently shared more:
“The knights planted seeds everywhere. They tested
germination in a few villages. Those experiments gave them
some understanding of Gray Disease.”
Cale’s gaze lingered on the kids but absorbed every word.
“The Church has an artifact called ‘Chaos Carried by Wind.’ It
can make all chaos seeds sprout at once.”
How to spread Gray Disease across the Demon World?
“Top-tier knights tested it, confirmed it works, and planned to
give it to the Pope. It’s hers anyway. The seeds won’t sprout
unless she uses the artifact.”
The Church had countermeasures ready:
“Even with the artifact, it’s not an instant bloom.”
The terror of Gray Disease looming over the Demon World.
“Like the ‘wind’ in its name, it’s a phased spread. They set
stages—one region’s seeds sprout, triggering the next, like
dandelions drifting on the wind.”
Diorail City.
A hub of commerce and mining.
A city of money and logistics, with countless daily visitors—Gray
Disease would start here, sweeping the Demon World like
wind.
“So from the Pope—”
Choi Jung Soo stopped.
Soo Hyuk paused cutting chains, staring at the underground
corridor beyond the cell.
The shattered entrance.
Soo Hyuk focused there.
“Something is coming.”
Something approached.
Cale and the kids—average age ten—looked at the dimly lit
corridor.
The broken entrance.
Crunch.
As footsteps crunched the entrance’s rubble—
Buzz—
Raon summoned black mana.
Soo Hyuk stepped in front of Choi Jung Soo.
Choi Jung Soo, covered in dozens of wounds like graffiti, only
now sluggishly noticed the visitor Soo Hyuk had sensed.
His condition was indeed off.
At any moment—
‘He could pass out.’
Knowing this, Cale let him ramble.
Choi Jung Soo, aware he might collapse, poured out everything.
Information delivery.
Lee Soo Hyuk’s team always prioritized relaying intel to Kim Rok
Soo.
Creak.
The footsteps stopped.
Choi Jung Soo looked up.
‘Ah…’
He swallowed a sigh.
His vision blurred.
He could barely see.
‘…I’m about to faint.’
As consciousness waned, the Team leader’s voice reached him:
“It’s Clopeh Sekka.”
Likely meant for him.
‘Ah…’
Relief enveloped Choi Jung Soo.
His vision blurred further.
Unlike the pain’s dizzying whirl, this was calm darkness.
His body relaxed.
Cale’s indifferent voice drifted:
“Sleep.”
Yeah.
He could sleep now.
He’d said everything.
If he could’ve helped or escaped alone, he would’ve—
But he couldn’t.
Hearing approaching footsteps, Choi Jung Soo used his last
strength:
“Sor…ry—”
His words cut off as he sank into the blurring dark.
He was truly fainting.
But before losing consciousness, a thought flashed:
‘…Wait, more than one set of footsteps?’
He couldn’t think further.
His mind and body, strained by pain, surrendered to hard-won
peace.
“…”
Choi Jung Soo passed out.
Soo Hyuk, seeing the slumping body, swung his sword.
Slash! Slash! Crack!
The remaining chains broke, and Choi Jung Soo’s body fell
forward.
“…”
The one who stepped forward to catch him silently studied his
body.
From old scars to fresh wounds.
After scanning every injury, he looked at Cale:
“The God of Chaos Church did this?”
The question came from Choi Han.
Cale nodded:
“Yeah.”
Choi Han’s face went expressionless.
Cale glanced at the two with Choi Han—Clopeh and the
Heavenly Demon.
Clopeh explained:
“Found them on the way, brought them along.”
Knowing Cale’s plan, he navigated to the second basement.
The Heavenly Demon, under Cale’s gaze, said:
“Choi Han traced Choi Jung Soo here recently. We were
investigating when we saw today’s battle and slipped in during
the chaos.”
The Heavenly Demon’s eyes flicked to Choi Han’s back.
‘…Such killing intent.’
Though Choi Han was expressionless, his back, holding Choi
Jung Soo, radiated menace.
‘His only nephew?’
During their journey, the Heavenly Demon learned of their
bond.
Though Choi Han looked younger, as a Wanderer, there was
likely more to it, so he didn’t pry.
‘His brother’s son.’
That was the only explanation.
This sole bloodline was in rough shape.
‘The God of Chaos Church messed up big.’
Dozens of shallow wounds covered him, no broken bones or
organ damage—
‘Only an outsider would say that.’
The Heavenly Demon stayed silent.
Not just Choi Han, but Soo Hyuk and Cale shared the same
aura.
“Cale.”
Soo Hyuk, watching Choi Han and Choi Jung Soo, spoke:
“Stop Gray Disease now?”
The plan was to rescue Choi Jung Soo and gather Gray Disease
intel.
They had to stop the Church’s plot and prevent demon
generals’ deaths.
“Clopeh.”
Instead of answering, Cale asked Clopeh:
“Ground situation?”
“The top-tier holy knight and Third Army leader Mor are still
clashing. Mor has the edge, fighting at the building’s entrance.
If it drags on, he’ll likely win.”
“And then?”
“Mor will die.”
Cale’s eyes narrowed.
Clopeh analyzed:
“Even if he wins, the Pope’s surrounded by many knights. No
need for the top-tier one; others can kill an exhausted Mor.”
Though that’d serve a purpose—
‘The top-tier knight’s surely with the Pope.’
Clopeh worried about facing the Pope.
‘Weaker than expected, this “current Demon King’s blade.”’
The Pope’s top-tier knights seemed sharper.
“No.”
Cale suddenly countered.
“What?”
As Clopeh blinked, Cale said confidently:
“Mor hasn’t gone all out.”
“…Really?”
The Sound of the Wind told Cale:
—Mor’s holding back an artifact! Don’t know what, but he’s not
using full power! Sniff… no artifact scent at all.
Mor had a trump card.
The implication was clear—
‘Saving it for the Pope.’
Cale ordered Clopeh:
“Go now, help Mor.”
The plan changed.
“Get Mor to the Pope.”
Minimize their losses, focus on the Pope.
They couldn’t ignore the Pope’s artifact.
Nor let Gray Disease spread across the Demon World.
‘Better to seize the Pope’s artifact and negotiate with the
current Demon King.’
Cale faced the Transparent blood, Five-Colored blood Hunter
Families, and the God of Chaos Church.
‘No more walking with these bastards.’
Not just Choi Jung Gun, but Choi Jung Soo and the team leader
were hurt by them.
No mercy now.
As Choi Jung Soo sensed, Cale was enraged, determined to
make them pay tenfold.
The Church had to be crushed.
The only remaining entity—
The current Demon King.
No need to waste time fighting his forces.
Cale had Aurora, the former Demon King’s sole heir. Aligning
with her to negotiate was wiser.
The current Demon King wouldn’t want Gray Disease ravaging
the Demon World.
‘If he values power over demon survival—’
Then no deal was possible.
Cale couldn’t use the Pope’s artifact to slaughter demons.
‘Anyway—’
The Pope couldn’t be ignored.
“Clopeh, you’re the only one whose identity isn’t exposed.”
The Heavenly Demon, Cale, Choi Han, Raon—all appeared in
the Night of Genesis footage.
On and Hong were too young for a battle zone.
Cale asked firmly:
“You’re strong, right?”
Clopeh’s lips curled.
Those eyes.
He knew them well.
‘Same eyes I saw in Henituse territory.’
When Clopeh, a guardian knight riding a wyvern, aimed to
destroy Henituse—
He met Cale Henituse with those eyes.
They crushed his ambition, protected Henituse, and saved the
Roan Kingdom.
The eyes of a hero in fury.
A gaze of resolute determination.
Ah.
Clopeh realized—
Today, another legend will be written.
“I’ll bring Mor to the Pope.”
Clopeh drew his sword naturally.
“Going ahead.”
No reason to hesitate.
His footsteps echoed firmly.
BOOM—!
The battlefield’s aura at the building’s entrance hit him.
The mastermind behind the Third Army.
The one aiming for Mor’s neck.
He’d drag them to the Pope.
‘Since it’s Lord Cale’s order.’
He’d fulfill it, even at the cost of his life.
Clopeh smiled brightly, striding to the ground’s battlefield.
“What do we do?”
The Heavenly Demon asked Cale.
The group staying was formidable.
“…”
Choi Han, shifting his gaze from Choi Jung Soo, watched Cale
silently.
Cale met his eyes briefly, then reached down.
“Hey.”
He grabbed Sytriss’s neck, whispering:
“I know you’re awake.”
Sytriss’s body trembled slightly.
This being, who suppressed even the God of Chaos’s power in a
artifact—
Human, god, or something else?
Unfathomable.
His chillingly calm voice commanded:
“Lead me to the Pope.”
The rage simmering in his calm felt like it was choking Sytriss.
Chapter 2-448: …Can I Take It? (11)
Cale slowly opened his eyes, speaking to the trembling Sytriss:
“You’ve guessed who I am, haven’t you?”
Through their exchange, Sytriss had pieced together his
identity.
Cale Henituse.
The man dismantling Hunter Families, thwarting their plans in
every dimension.
“…To think he’s in the Demon World—”
She hadn’t anticipated his reach extending here.
More crucially—
“Far more terrifying than imagined.”
Unlike the footage from New World, facing his aura in reality
was horrifying.
“Ah—everything—”
But another reason fueled her dread.
“All… utterly wrong.”
She and the God of Chaos Church’s assumptions were
mistaken.
The variable.
They’d misjudged this existence from the start.
And these errors were likely orchestrated by Cale Henituse.
“We… knew nothing.”
Unwittingly, they’d let the enemy creep to their doorstep.
Neither the Pope nor the top-tier holy knights suspected.
They only guarded against Five-colored blood Wanderers and
the Demon King’s forces.
Oblivious to the true threat.
“Ah—”
Despair swallowed her.
Seeing her quivering lips, speechless, Cale murmured softly:
“I want to reach the Pope as discreetly as possible. No, I must.
You’ll guide me.”
His tone softened slightly.
Yet Sytriss felt the oppressive aura intensify.
Clack. Clack. Clack—
Her teeth chattered in fear.
Opening her eyes, she’d assessed her surroundings.
“If you cause any disturbance, you’ll bear the consequences.”
Cale’s voice remained gentle, but a violent aura surged around
him.
“The God of Chaos isn’t here. But I—”
The hand on her neck tightened.
“—am right behind you. Remember that.”
The threat of death was palpable.
“My advice to you.”
From the overwhelming pressure at her back—
“Plenty of people here want you dead.”
From the gazes looking down—
Sytriss realized this was a death trap.
“Get up.”
Cale watched her stagger upright, casually picking up the
artifact’s shattered fragments from the corner and stuffing
them into his spatial bag.
—Sniff! Just toss that junk!
It might still be useful.
Ignoring the Sound of the Wind, Cale ordered Sytriss:
“Lead the way.”
As she stumbled forward, Cale saw Choi Han carrying Choi Jung
Soo on his back and turned to Raon:
“Contact Miss Aurora, have her take Choi Jung Soo.”
“Got it, human!”
Raon responded instantly, but Cale added:
“Don’t let Choi Jung Gun know yet.”
Choi Han flinched.
Their eyes met.
Cale smirked, explaining:
“A guy who just regained his senses has enough on his plate.”
Though Choi Jung Gun, purified of chaotic corruption, was in
good condition, he couldn’t jump into this battlefield.
If he saw Choi Jung Soo’s state, he’d lose it.
“Plus, if Wanderers spot Choi Jung Gun, it’ll complicate things.”
Following Sytriss, Cale organized his thoughts.
The top-tier holy knight, far stronger than Choi Jung Soo, and
the many knights guarding the Pope—no need to confront
them head-on yet.
“Clopeh Sekka.”
Before you bring Mor to the Pope—
“We won’t move on the Pope yet.”
When Mor clashes with the top-tier knight—
At that moment—
If the Pope’s guard shows the slightest gap—
“Time to crack that bastard’s skull.”
Come to think of it, the God of Chaos’s saint, the Pope, even
that damned god—
“All just eyesores.”
Their actions were nauseating.
“Human.”
Raon sidled up, gauging Cale’s mood.
“What?”
Cale’s casual yet familiar gaze made Raon grin, voicing his
thought:
“Let’s smash them all!”
“Hm?”
Cale paused briefly.
But Raon, seeing Cale’s usual demeanor despite his earlier rage,
relaxed and said:
“Crush the God of Chaos Church! With the Pope and top-tier
knights here, taking this place down ends the Church!”
“Great idea! I wanna smash too!”
Hong eagerly backed Raon. On, meeting Cale’s eyes, said
calmly:
“Sounds good.”
Supporting her brothers.
Sytriss’s face paled further as On continued:
“Besides, wasn’t that your plan all along?”
Cale was speechless.
On, reading his silence, smirked playfully.
Meow—
A tuneful cat call sounded.
The kids—average age ten—clearly recalled when Ron returned
without an arm, and Cale led the Whale Tribe to crush
“Darkness/ARM” at sea.
“Spacing out? Move faster.”
It’s the same as it is now.
Though Cale’s tone was normal, his violent aura terrorized the
stumbling Sytriss, urging her on.
No ally stopped him.
Sytriss, fully suppressed, barely moved forward.
But a defiant spark lingered in her eyes.
‘Lord Pope.’
If she led them to him, she’d survive.
From chaos, a sole light would emerge.
Yes, she could live.
The Church’s grand cause wouldn’t falter; the God of Chaos’s
desire would be fulfilled.
‘Cale Henituse!’
Since the God of Chaos craved his body!
Offer this sacrifice to the god awaiting descent—
To the Pope!
Sytriss’s eyes burned with resolve.
—Human.
Raon’s magical voice transmitted.
—There’s arrogance in that steward’s eyes.
Cale’s lips twisted into a smirk.
BOOM!
Third Army leader Mor of the Demon King’s forces.
He stepped back, shaking blood from his sword.
Drip. Drip.
Blood splattered like paint.
“Hoo—”
He exhaled deeply.
“Tough one.”
The top-tier holy knight guarding the door lowered his shield,
responding:
“You cannot pass.”
His voice was flat, his face expressionless.
Mor couldn’t break this knight.
“Damn it.”
Though one of the Church’s three top-tier knights, Mor
expected an easy win.
He was a top-ten powerhouse under the current Demon King,
renowned in the Demon World.
Yet this holy knight—from a minor cult worshiping an ancient
god, not a major faith like the God of the Sun—held him back.
Mor grinned: “A guy getting pummeled dares say that? I’ll
breach that door soon.” He taunted, eyeing the closed door
behind the knight.
The holy knight was unmoved: “You won’t. You haven’t yet.”
Hum—
A strange wail emanated from the knight’s shield.
The gray shield bore no scratches.
No cracks, no breaks—
Just resolute endurance.
Though Mor’s sword forced the shield-bearer back to the
entrance—
“I’m not exhausted.” The holy knight stated calmly. “But you
are.”
True.
Mor was covered in minor wounds, sweat-soaked.
Realizing he couldn’t break the shield, he targeted surrounding
holy knights to slip into the building.
His blade dripped with their blood—
“…”
“…”
Injured holy knights retreated silently, showing no pain or fear,
while replacements faced Mor fearlessly.
‘Too many.’
The Pope’s guard exceeded expectations.
BOOM! BOOM!
Terosa’s Demon King army assaulted Moraka Castle, meant to
pin down knights.
‘Why can’t the army break through?’
Unaware that holy knights mistook Cale and Soo Hyuk for
Wanderers and attacked, Mor grew frustrated by the
stalemate.
‘Not yet.’
He couldn’t go all out.
‘The seal can’t be broken.’
He had to endure.
His family’s heirloom artifact—
It always saved him in dire straits.
‘Must save it for the Pope.’
Only when facing the Pope—
That was the moment to use it.
“You can’t break this shield,” the holy knight declared. “Neither
the shield nor the door.”
Mor’s face twisted.
His exhausted self was—
Step.
Step. Step.
Surrounded by approaching holy knights.
Dozens of blades thirsted for his flesh.
Thud!
The holy knight slammed his shield down, leaning against the
towering barrier, proclaiming:
“No one breaks the shield granted by chaos.”
When bestowed this chaos-infused shield—
Ascending to top-tier status—
He knew:
This chaos shield was unbreakable.
‘Damn it!’
Mor knew too.
The shield—
Touching its gray surface triggered illusions.
A chaotic battlefield, countless blades assailing him.
Though illusions, they couldn’t be ignored—
Other holy knights will attack in the gaps.
Illusions mixed with reality—
Driving Mor near madness.
Dodging lesser attacks only hastened his fatigue.
‘And it’s too hard.’
The shield was absurdly tough—
No, growing tougher.
Why?
What strengthened it?
“You’ll die here.”
Damn it.
Mor couldn’t refute the holy knight’s verdict.
Hand of Backstabbing.
Known as the “Hand of Backstabbing,” Mor dominated even
fair duels.
Yet now, surrounded, fighting alone felt unprecedentedly
grueling.
Despite countless similar battles.
Betrayal was routine; being encircled was familiar.
Why did this feel so unsustainable?
“Hah… hah…”
He hadn’t noticed his breathing quicken.
His gaze drifted to the shield.
That unbreakable shield.
No flaws in sight.
“…”
The holy knight, seeing Mor’s wavering expression, gained
certainty.
‘As expected… he’ll kneel.’
Those who bow before the holy shield never break it.
This shield was impervious to those with unwavering faith in
chaos.
With stronger belief than Mor, he’d never lose its protection.
To the faltering Mor, the knight declared:
“You’re not permitted past this door.”
Damn it!
Fucking hell!
Mor’s face contorted, pondering his final move.
No pretense.
True anguish crossed his face.
The holy knight continued calmly:
“This door—”
His lips curved for the first time.
A smile.
A near-mocking sneer.
“—will never open for you.”
At that moment—
Creak—
An impossible sound came from behind.
The door opened.
Then—
“!”
The holy knight felt a chill.
An indescribable eerie aura.
It raised goosebumps.
He instinctively grabbed the grounded shield, spinning around.
Creak—BANG!
The door burst open.
The opener spread his arms, smiling brightly:
“General Mor! Door’s open!”
A black-haired, green-eyed youth.
Mor, staring at Kase—whom he’d ordered imprisoned—gaped
dumbly.
“You… how?”
How was that brat here?
Beyond the open door, fallen knights came into view.
Blood dripped from Clopeh’s sword.
Sometimes a merchant.
At times a refined high noble.
Now, smiling with a sword, he was a frenzied swordsman.
“By the way.”
Clopeh Sekka’s gaze shifted calmly amid the chaos.
It locked on the shield-bearing knight.
The top-tier holy knight.
Clopeh had overheard his proclamation from inside.
That resonant, resolute, confident voice.
Hard to miss.
“That’s a shield, right?”
Clopeh’s smile deepened.
“I heard from the inside—that it’s an unbreakable shield?”
The knight had declared:
‘The holy shield granted by the God of Chaos cannot be
broken.’
Facing the sudden internal enemy, the knight spoke:
“Who are yo—”
Clopeh didn’t care to hear.
He had a question:
“Who… permitted you to use that name?”
The knight froze: “What?”
“Unbreakable Shield?”
Aura surged around Clopeh.
Aura sparked by death mana, resonating with his emotions,
grew denser, colder.
Not wild, but profound, icy.
Like shadows cast by the brightest light.
“Did the God of Chaos himself allow you to call it that?”
—Daring to call it the Unbreakable Shield?
The shield tied to Cale’s first legend, the core of countless
epics?
A knight borrowing a sliver of the God of Chaos’s power dares
usurp that great name?
“Hahaha—”
Clopeh burst into laughter.
As it stopped, his gaze pierced the knight—or rather, the gray
shield.
“That shield must be smashed.”
Unbreakable Shield.
A title only Lord Cale deserved.
So that shield had to break.
“It must.”
The knight, watching Clopeh’s murmur, swallowed hard.
Those eyes held an undeniable truth beyond certainty.
Their owner declared calmly:
“That shield will break. Inevitably.”
Swish—
Pale aura flowed along Clopeh’s blade.
Pure white aura.
The white shadow hidden in Cale’s light, no longer concealed.
Chapter 2-449: …Can I Take It? (12)
“!”
“…!”
Even the top-tier holy knight couldn’t hide his shock as pure
white light burst from Clopeh Sekka’s blade, confronting Third
Army leader Mor.
The pitch-black night.
Moraka Castle blazed with lights from the ongoing battles, but
this radiance was utterly distinct from that pure white.
Unblemished, supremely pristine white light.
To the unaware, it might captivate, drawing prolonged gazes.
“Lunatic…!”
But General Mor spat in shock.
“Using death mana—!”
That white light harbored death mana.
And its glow wasn’t wholly sacred or beautiful.
Beneath the purity lurked an unsettling darkness, a shadow.
A foreboding only swordsmen teetering on life’s edge could
sense.
‘Damn, he’s not a demon!’
Mor’s scalp tingled.
That guy, Kase, wasn’t a demon.
The moment he saw his aura, Mor realized he was human.
How was a human in the Demon World?
Was he from the Aurora Arbiter Alliance?
Questions surged, but something else stunned him more.
‘How can a living human wield death mana like that?’
To living humans, death mana was poison.
Unfamiliar with the Heavenly Demon’s techniques, Mor saw
Clopeh, a human wielding death mana, as beyond mortal limits.
Above all—
‘Madman!’
Yes. A complete lunatic.
The sword-wielder was neither merchant nor noble.
Especially now, laughing at the knight’s shield, he was clearly
deranged.
“Ugh.”
Mor swallowed hard.
Their eyes met.
Over the top-tier knight’s shoulder.
Clopeh gave Mor a refined smile.
“General Mor, I’ll ensure you reach the Pope safely.”
In that instant, Mor understood.
Swish—!
As the white light blazed brighter.
As Clopeh’s steps, blade, and gaze targeted the knight—
‘This…!’
The tide was turning…!
Kase’s white aura far exceeded Mor’s expectations.
The ominous feeling from that light alone made him grip his
scabbard tighter.
Sword Saint.
Kase had reached the peak of this realm—or beyond.
If such a powerhouse hid his strength, Mor’s failure to notice
was excusable.
After all—
‘Decades of relentless sword training!’
His steps toward the shield.
His fluid movements.
His steady arm.
His unwavering sword tip.
Wielding the blade like an extension of himself.
Kase.
This lunatic was a true swordsman.
A prodigy who’d scaled such heights at such a young age.
BOOM—!
Shield and sword clashed.
Mor’s face tensed, but the knight remained calm.
Hum—Hum—
The gray shield trembled, emitting an eerie wail.
Gray mist rose from its surface.
A sudden burst of fog.
Impossible to dodge.
The knight’s eyes glinted.
His green eyes, stirred by a strange heat, now reflected the gray
mist.
Even holding one’s breath, once the mist touched—
‘Illusions appear.’
A battlefield.
A slaughterhouse of utmost carnage.
Countless undead swarming to claim your life.
This illusion—
‘Resist it briefly, and you’ll still collapse.’
Thus, the shield never broke.
As foes drowned in illusions, lost their edge, and succumbed to
chaos—
The shield grew stronger.
Because its wielder believed in victory.
Top-tier holy knight.
As long as he believed the shield was unbreakable, as long as he
didn’t see defeat—
‘It won’t shatter!’
The chaos-infused shield would never fall.
This was the truth, an iron rule.
The knight’s lips curved faintly.
He was curious how this man’s eyes would change, lost in the
battlefield illusion.
“…!”
The knight froze.
Mor, watching, gasped:
“Lunatic, he’s laughing—!”
Clopeh Sekka.
He was laughing.
In the battlefield illusion engulfing him—
Dozens, hundreds—no, countless blades filled his vision,
stabbing toward him.
A killing field rushing at him.
Under a gloomy sky.
On barren earth.
No allies in sight.
This wasn’t an ordinary illusion; it overwhelmed sight, sound,
smell, touch, and instinct with a chillingly real battlefield
atmosphere.
“Haha—”
Yet Clopeh laughed.
The knight assessed calmly:
‘He knows it’s an illusion, feigning composure.’
The illusion appeared seconds after the shield-sword clash.
No matter how real, it was just an illusion.
That’s why he seemed calm at first.
‘But laughing through it is a first.’
Still—
‘Turn the illusion real.’
He wouldn’t laugh then.
As the illusion faded—
Clopeh’s blade aimed at the knight again.
BOOM—!
The second clash.
“Damn it! Kase, watch out!”
Mor roared, charging the holy knight’s back as he fought
Clopeh, but other holy knights blocked him.
Clang! Clang!
“Bastards!”
Mor was tangled with fodder, but that wasn’t the issue.
“Half of them…!”
Half the knights attacking Mor turned to Clopeh.
The same situation Mor faced as his odds dwindled—
In those seconds of illusion—
Real killing blows targeted Clopeh.
Lethal strikes, hard to distinguish.
Smirk.
The knight’s lips curled.
“!”
Clopeh suddenly shifted his blocking sword to another
direction.
Clang! BOOM—!
Amid continuous blasts—
White aura parried dozens of attacks from all sides.
‘He’s different.’
Unlike Mor or anyone before—
He was strong enough to discern real attacks and barely block
them.
“Keep attacking!”
The knight shouted.
He charged Clopeh with his shield.
BOOM—!
Clopeh was pushed back, and knights seized the gap, encircling
him.
The knight, seeing this, was certain:
‘He’s hesitating.’
Compared to his first shield strike—
Now, shaken by unpredictable real attacks, his hesitation would
erode his confidence.
As his odds faded—
‘The illusion becomes more real.’
The knights’ real attacks grew harder to dodge.
‘The shield grows stronger.’
The illusion’s power intensified.
In this vicious cycle—
‘He’ll lose all confidence in victory.’
Only the unbreakable shield would remain.
The knight trusted past experience:
‘Even the Grand Holy Knight believed in this divine power.’
This force cornered Third Army leader Mor.
He swung his shield at Clopeh, who barely blocked, aiming to
end it before Mor struck from behind.
This shield strike carried conviction.
Absolute belief in victory.
“Arrogant—”
The shield clashed again.
He couldn’t suppress his emotions.
Though striving for calm, boiling rage erupted.
“Arrogant fool, daring to shatter the divine power granted by
His Majesty Chaos…!”
BOOM—!
Another fierce collision.
“!”
The knight’s smile froze.
His pupils trembled.
No time to react.
BOOM—!
White aura assaulted the shield ferociously.
Surrounding blades struck at the gap—
Swish!
But Clopeh’s white aura ignored them.
Instead—
BOOM—!
It struck the shield harder, with fiercer momentum.
Relentless, heedless of incoming attacks, this brutal white aura
forced the knight to hastily raise his shield.
‘But…!’
BANG!
‘He should be trapped in a deadly battlefield illusion!’
BOOM—!
‘Normal people attack me in the gaps when illusions fade!’
Illusions hid the shield.
Only when illusions paused did real attacks briefly stop.
BOOM—
Why could this Sword Saint keep attacking?
BOOM—
His ceaseless sword forced other knights to avoid the shield-
sword clash zone.
Swish! Swish! Swish—!
The shockwaves from white aura and shield grew wilder.
Knights pressed their assault.
Slash!
Slash! Slash!
Clopeh dodged only fatal wounds, ignoring lesser cuts.
BOOM—!
He struck with fiercer force.
‘The illusion, no—’
He should be struggling in death’s chaos abyss! Why—
The knight couldn’t believe it.
In a shield swing’s gap, he saw Clopeh’s face.
“Lunatic…!”
He was smiling.
Clopeh Sekka swung his sword, grinning.
And—
‘He can’t see…!’
Though his eyes were open, he only saw the brutal battlefield,
not the shield.
Absolutely.
Yet he smiled in that carnage.
With utter bliss.
BOOM—!
The knight realized why he could keep attacking the shield.
It helped locate the shield.
‘More importantly—’
Why no fear?
Why could he still smile?
The knight nearly stopped to ask this madman why.
BOOM—
Impossible.
Slash! Slash!
Despite accumulating minor wounds, the crazed attacker kept
striking the shield.
BOOM—
“Damn it!”
The knight cursed for the first time.
Again!
White aura hit the shield.
Tireless, endless.
BOOM—
In one deafening clash—
Crack.
The knight heard an unbelievable sound.
‘Hm?’
What was that?
No time for doubt.
BOOM—
The assault continued.
Crack.
That faint, almost inaudible sound came again.
The knight’s pupils shrank.
A warm voice spoke:
“It’s breaking.”
The knight slowly lowered his shield.
On its other side, Clopeh halted his sword.
The other knights, paused in their attack, were equally shocked.
Their gazes met above the shield.
Clopeh smiled:
“You thought about running, didn’t you?”
Ah.
The top-tier holy knight realized why he’d briefly considered
not swinging his shield again.
The insight struck like lightning.
“Me… wanting to flee?”
Me, wielding the shield granted by the God of Chaos, wanting
to flee?
“Why?”
He couldn’t dodge the answer rising within.
It surfaced naturally.
Because he saw no hope of victory.
He felt this man would never flee or fall.
“No. That’s not it.”
Victory or defeat didn’t matter.
This lunatic had said:
“That shield is destined to break. Undoubtedly.”
Yes.
This madman, unconcerned with victory, would truly shatter
the shield.
The confidence to smile through a corpse-strewn battlefield,
charging through barrages—something the knight lacked.
Such a lunatic couldn’t be beaten.
“Heh.”
The lunatic approached, smiling.
He asked:
“Have you ever fought bearing dozens of lives?”
No.
That wasn’t enough.
“Hundreds of thousands, millions, an entire world’s lives—have
you fought shouldering those?”
The knight didn’t understand his ravings.
Clopeh had no intent to clarify.
“Seems like you don’t know. You.”
You.
“You’ve never seen such a sight.”
Clopeh pitied the knight.
‘But I have.’
Cale Henituse.
He’d seen him fight for Henituse’s people.
Witnessed him battle the White Star for the Roan Kingdom and
an unnamed world.
Sometimes, countless hopes rested on Cale alone.
Too many eyes expected him to solve everything.
Bearing those gazes, he fought on the edge of life and death.
Against endless enemies.
Clopeh had watched his path closely.
Earnestly observed every battlefield the hero conquered.
‘Utterly suffocating.’
A battlefield with dozens of blades?
Compared to the pressure of a world’s hopes, pushing past
limits against new foes, it was nothing.
That was true terror.
‘I follow the one walking that terrifying path.’
How could he fail the mission given by that light?
‘Never.’
Clopeh moved.
Swish—
His white aura revealed its yearning like never before.
As a follower of one bearing such burdens.
As the shadow of one daring to face gods and demons.
How could he lose to a coward relying on illusions?
“Cowards.”
Clopeh had long decided to offer everything for reality.
These current trials—
Compared to times he couldn’t move—
Compared to years missing legendary births—
They were trivial.
Slash.
Smiling warmly, Clopeh swung his sword, addressing someone
behind the knight:
“Stalled long enough, right?”
Mor, having dispatched all knights, stood shocked.
“Ha, haha! Right, you lunatic!”
At Mor’s shout, the knight snapped alert but had no time to
turn.
Swish—
White aura surged like a giant python toward his throat.
If bitten, the venomous shadow within the white would be
lethal.
Was it death mana?
Or the wielder’s nature?
Under this ominous premonition, the holy knight raised his
shield again.
Hum—
Mor’s sword whistled behind him.
Fear flashed across the holy knight’s face.
Then—
BOOM—
Shield and white sword clashed fiercely.
Crack—
Like a python’s bite, cracks spread across the shield like white
wounds.
Clopeh kept his promise.
“Will Clopeh Sekka make it in time?”
Cale answered the Heavenly Demon’s question matter-of-
factly:
“Yeah, he’s reliable.”
Chapter 2-450: …Can I Take It? (13)
Yeah, he’s reliable.
The moment Cale’s words reached the Heavenly Demon’s
ears—
“…”
He lowered his head.
Vibrations pulsed through the floor.
Unlike before, these were intense tremors from violent
impacts, growing closer.
Smirk—
The Heavenly Demon’s lips curled.
Someone was charging upward from the lower floors,
obliterating obstacles with staggering speed.
BOOM—!
Faint collisions echoed from below.
“Second floor.”
Clopeh and General Mor seemed to have breached the gate
and were storming the second floor.
“…”
Looking at Sytriss’s ashen face, Cale muttered:
“You're not very good at it, are you?”
“…!”
Sytriss was speechless.
She still hadn’t reached the Pope’s chamber.
“No. Maybe you’re competent.”
She swallowed nervously.
Cale followed Sytriss forward.
‘I, as the Pope’s shadow, oversee the intelligence unit.’
The Pope reportedly valued intelligence highly.
‘Since secrecy is the lifeblood of intelligence, after seizing this
rear castle, a dedicated intelligence route for the Pope was
established.’
To evade Moraka Castle’s eyes and Lord Gimon’s scrutiny, a
secret passage was built for the God of Chaos Church’s
intelligence exchanges.
“…”
Cale was navigating this passage.
If the first and second floors had covert paths between rooms,
the third was different.
Cale moved in a low crouch.
‘This path ends at the ceiling of the Pope’s room.’
Sytriss didn’t hasten.
She advanced slowly, scanning her surroundings.
Though frustrating, her route avoided other enemies.
“Too slow.”
The Heavenly Demon’s casual critique made Sytriss flinch.
She hurriedly checked Cale’s expression, explaining in a hushed,
cautious voice:
“To evade the Church’s eyes, we must move covertly. As long as
we arrive before General Mor, it’s fine, right?”
Fair point.
“And—”
She hesitated, then, meeting Cale’s gaze, continued shakily:
“The top-tier holy knight’s perception surpasses human limits.
We must be extremely careful.”
Hm.
The Heavenly Demon nodded slightly, as if convinced, but a
subtle smile played on his lips, hinting at interest in the knight.
Cale paid it no mind.
“Move.”
“Yes.”
At his command, Sytriss pressed on.
Dark currents swirled in the depths of her eyes.
‘They noticed the traces I left…!’
En route, under the guise of “ensuring safety,” she’d left signs
her subordinates could recognize on the first and second floors.
‘The third floor is empty.’
The space between the roof and third-floor ceiling, akin to an
attic.
By now, it should’ve been packed with guards protecting the
Pope.
Especially with the Pope’s life at risk, her subordinates
should’ve fortified this area like a fortress.
‘Because we’re shadows.’
The Pope’s shadows.
Before intelligence, their primary duty was to protect the Pope.
To die before the Pope fell—that was their and Sytriss’s
mission.
‘My intel reached them…!’
She’d left encrypted messages.
Simple in meaning.
The first:
<Container. Third-floor ceiling. Center.>
The Pope would understand instantly, withdrawing all guards
before her arrival.
‘The top-tier knight likely sensed this place too.’
Through regularly spaced holes in the ceiling, the Pope’s room
came into view.
Sytriss confirmed Cale’s group was also peering below.
Thump. Thump.
Her heart pounded.
Not from fear.
‘The path is open…!’
The Pope and top-tier knight, surrounded by knights in
formation.
None looked up at the ceiling.
‘They won’t be spotted!’
Cale Henituse.
He mustn’t suspect their plan.
She recalled the second encrypted message left on the second
floor.
Equally concise:
<Demon King. Bait.>
Demon King—
Third Army leader Mor.
Meaning he was bait.
This alone would let the Pope and knight deduce Sytriss was
acting under Cale’s orders as a hostage, revealing Cale’s
strategy.
The Pope was exceptionally sharp.
BOOM—!
The tremors below grew closer.
Mor, the bait, was nearing.
Swish.
Sytriss raised her arm.
Signaling all to prepare.
The Heavenly Demon peered through the holes.
RUMBLE—!
Mor was almost here.
The Pope’s gaze shifted to the door; the top-tier knight
signaled.
Several knights reinforced the entrance.
All attention was on the approaching tremors.
‘Must endure.’
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Sytriss fought to calm her racing heart, repeating inwardly:
‘Must endure.’
She suppressed the laughter threatening to burst.
Recalling the terror in the second-basement cell, she refused to
relive it.
Thus, Cale Henituse—
‘Must die.’
He’d stolen her cherished artifact and power.
He deserved punishment.
The solution was at hand.
‘Cale Henituse, you’ll be the vessel for the God of Chaos.’
Stealing others’ treasures demanded a tenfold price.
Sytriss awaited General Mor’s arrival.
BOOM—
Closer.
RUMBLE—
When he stormed in to attack the Pope—
‘Cale expects the top-tier knight to target Mor.’
But she predicted the opposite.
The Pope was formidable.
His devotion to the God of Chaos surpassed self-preservation.
Would he ignore the god’s vessel so near?
‘When Mor arrives, the Pope will act.’
To seize the sacrifice, Cale Henituse.
Sytriss stifled her ecstatic heartbeat and near-bursting laughter.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Her heart raced.
BOOM—!
With a thunderous quake—
“Argh—!”
“Gah!”
“Urk!”
Screams erupted from the corridor outside the Pope’s room.
Mor had arrived.
He was charging here.
‘Time to prepare!’
Sytriss saw Cale’s group exchanging glances.
They’d strike when Mor appeared, aiming to steal the Pope’s
artifact, Chaos Carried by Wind.
CLANG! BOOM! BANG!
“Gaaah—!”
“Wah!”
Screams and crashes intensified.
THUD!
Something hit the door.
No—
THUD! THUD!
Trying to break through.
“Hold it!”
“Stand firm—!”
Knights inside guarded the door, protecting the Pope.
THUD! BOOM! THUD! THUD!
The impacts grew fiercer.
“Urgh!”
“Ugh!”
Amid the knights’ groans—
“Step back.”
The top-tier knight issued a calm order.
Standing before the Pope, his sword pointed at the entrance.
“…”
“…”
The knights exchanged glances, then retreated in unison.
Sytriss’s heart pounded harder than ever.
When that door opened—
She’d survive.
Cale Henituse would be in peril.
The God of Chaos would claim his vessel.
Feeling Cale’s aura, she’d feared he transcended humanity—
‘But the Pope is the same.’
Yes. The Pope also surpassed mortals.
Sytriss judged the top-tier knight’s strength rivaled the Five-
Colored Blood Family’s Third Emperor.
And—
‘There’s me.’
Though shaken by sudden pressure earlier—
Her power wasn’t negligible.
Sytriss managed her tension, awaiting the moment to subdue
the vessel.
Then—
BOOM!
Something slammed the door the knights had vacated.
Likely Mor’s sword.
With no one blocking—
BOOM!
At the second impact—
CRASH—!
The door shattered.
But Sytriss didn’t look.
Instead—
‘As expected!’
Her gaze locked on another.
The top-tier knight.
He swung his sword.
At the ceiling.
Precisely, the dome’s center.
‘Because Cale Henituse is there!’
Ecstasy flashed across Sytriss’s face as she turned to Cale.
At that moment, she glimpsed something odd below the
ceiling.
CRASH—
With the door’s splintering, a shield flew into the room.
A dull gray-iron shield, pierced at its center.
‘Huh?’
Then, the figure entering—
‘Not Mor?’
Not Mor.
Kase—
No, Cale Henituse’s follower!
“I’ve come to deliver someone.”
Before the words settled—
“You lunatic!”
Amid Mor’s panicked curses, Clopeh grabbed his neck, flinging
him forward.
As Mor’s body sailed, Clopeh spoke in a warm, steady tone:
“I’ve now brought you into the Pope’s presence.”
Sytriss, stunned by the unexpected scene, finally noticed the
knight’s gray sword-light surging toward the ceiling’s
center—where Cale was.
‘Cale—’
She turned to Cale Henituse.
All this unfolded in mere seconds.
Then—
“!”
Sytriss froze.
Deep brown eyes.
Calm pupils already fixed on her.
Cale Henituse smirked, speaking with amusement:
“I knew it would end up like this.”
On the first floor—
—Human, that steward’s expression and actions are suspicious!
On the second floor—
—Weird, why do the corridor knights seem to avoid us
deliberately?
Entering the third floor—
—Human, why’s the ceiling empty?
—Too strange.
Messages from Raon and the Heavenly Demon.
Plus On, Hong, Choi Han, and Soo Hyuk’s glances.
Cale had sensed the anomaly.
—Preparations are complete.
—I knew it would end up like this!
The ancient powers declared loudly.
Especially—
—Don’t overdo it. Just hold on as long as you can today.
The Crybaby Old Man, with heart vitality and regeneration,
spoke calmly.
—To avenge friends and family.
The Crybaby Old Man, who missed the deceased and lamented
his own shortcomings all day long, was actually the angriest
among the ancient powers during his stone-tower days.
—“So what if I faint?”
When the Crybaby Old Man said this—
BOOM—!
With a deafening roar, gray light shattered the ceiling.
“…!”
Sytriss, pinned by Cale’s gaze, saw someone approaching.
The Heavenly Demon, grinning gleefully, his palm surging with
dark red inner energy, aimed for her throat.
Over his shoulder, she saw another scene.
“Ah.”
The ceiling’s center was collapsing. No, the entire dome was
crumbling.
The sturdy stone-and-wood dome disintegrated like paper.
Yet Cale’s position—and his surroundings—remained
unscathed.
Buzz—
In place of the ceiling, radiant silver shield wings glowed
brilliantly.
“We’ve got you covered.”
“No need to worry.”
“Just trust us!”
As On, Hong, and Raon guarded the unconscious Choi Jung
Soo—
Tap!
Tap! Tap!
With light steps, Choi Han and Soo Hyuk moved.
Hum—Hum—
Choi Han’s sword, blazing with ferocious black aura, morphed
into a black dragon, targeting the top-tier knight. His eyes were
calmer than ever.
Then—
“…”
Team leader Soo Hyuk’s sword followed, devoid of any aura.
Capable of cutting anything, it needed no enhancement.
“Ah, the real deal’s different.”
Clopeh, smiling brightly, unleashed unprecedented white aura.
He moved with its flow—
Toward Cale, who’d retracted his shield, advancing on the
Pope.
The Pope, guarded by knights, faced Mor.
Cale approached him.
Hum—Hum—
His Dominating Aura swept the room.
Those who dared touch what he cherished should brace for
ten-fold retribution.
Chapter 2-451: …Can I Take It? (14)
BOOM—!
The top-tier holy knight’s gray light pierced the ceiling.
Amid the collapsing dome’s gaps, a silver shield emerged.
Gray and silver-white.
Similar yet starkly different colors.
The silver radiance unfurled sacred wings, like a divine knight’s
shield.
“!”
“…!”
In an instant, the knights’ gazes were seized by the shield.
Its indescribable sanctity—
A shield that had protected countless lives, bearing their
weight, held a power that captivated onlookers.
In that fleeting moment—
A black-haired figure pierced through the shield array.
“Oh?”
The Pope’s lips curled into a smile.
The approaching black-haired man, though his hair color
differed from prophecy—
“Cale Henituse.”
The Pope beamed kindly at the sacrifice, the vessel for the God
of Chaos.
He resembled a common, gentle old man, his rustic face
radiating not chaos but benevolence.
“You came willingly. Excellent.”
He smiled as if greeting a grandchild.
The vessel needed for the God of Chaos’s descent, the source
of all variables, had walked into the trap. As Pope, he was
overjoyed.
“…Even the Primordial Chaos is felt.” (TL note:
Primordial/Origin/Genesis)
Sensing the God of Chaos’s artifact, the Primordial Chaos, from
the vessel—
Both treasures delivered themselves.
The Pope couldn’t suppress his smile.
He didn’t hide his emotions:
“Truly delightful—”
But—
“—!”
His smile froze.
As the silver shield dissipated—
Cale Henituse, descending through the collapsing dome, rode
the wind.
“Whoops.”
The aura erupting from him—
An intangible pressure swelled like a mountain.
As if a rock-formed peak crushed toward the Pope, an
overwhelming, suffocating force swept in like a calamity.
“Urgh!”
“Gah!”
Knights buckled under the dome’s oppressive might, their
knees giving way.
This mountain-like, catastrophic, despair-inducing aura chilled
them to the bone.
The Pope, surrounded by knights—
“Ah.”
He sighed softly.
He’d witnessed the Night of Genesis through footage.
The Cale Henituse back then…
“No wonder he could face a god—”
No wonder the Saint couldn’t defeat him!
No wonder the God of Chaos chose him as the vessel!
Goosebumps rose on the Pope’s arms.
That aura seemed to crush him—no, to dominate him entirely.
He glanced at his withered arm, fear trembling on aged skin
after ages.
His lips twitched.
When he looked up—
“!”
Cale’s pupils narrowed.
The old man, hands clasped behind in a loose priestly robe,
small in stature, was laughing.
But Cale had no time for that smile.
—Trouble.
The Indomitable Super Rock sighed.
—What’s this? How’s the Pope using that power!
The Dominating Aura fell into chaos.
Rustle—
An aura flowed from the Pope.
—It’s chaos!
Indeed, chaos.
But—
—What the hell is that!
Different.
Every God of Chaos Church member Cale had faced—priests,
knights, or the Saint—emitted the same gray energy.
But the Pope’s chaos—
“It’s ever-changing.”
Light and dark interwoven, shades blending.
Like pigment spreading on rice paper, the chaos bursting from
the Pope shimmered in myriad gray tones.
—…This is…
The Super Rock murmured.
—…Like a living thing—
The chaos flowing around the Pope pulsed like a living entity,
releasing shifting grays.
—Cale!
The Dominating Aura grasped the truth.
—That’s not the God of Chaos’ chaos!
Cale realized it too.
—Same source, different essence—it’s his own chaos!
Correct.
The Pope’s personal chaos.
He’d made chaos his own.
—Regardless.
Cale focused on his mission.
The Sky-Eating Water snapped sharply:
—They’re all punks who need a beating.
Cale agreed wholeheartedly.
Swish—
A water spear shot from his hand, aiming for the Pope’s throat.
BOOM—!
An explosion rocked the hall.
As water elements burst—
“Argh!”
“Guh!”
Knights around the Pope scrambled to dodge.
General Mor, the Demon King’s blade and Third Army leader,
stood stunned:
‘Why’s this happening?’
Buzz—
The artifact in his arms trembled.
Unknown even to the Demon King, this secret heirloom of the
Mor family, mistaken as a mere weapon, was a divine artifact.
Now it vibrated fiercely.
Mor’s gaze involuntarily shifted to Cale—
The young man charged through lingering mist and dust,
rushing the Pope again.
The sight was too much for Mor to linger on.
“Damn it!”
He raised his sword to block, but his body slid back.
Through his skyward blade, he saw the top-tier knight’s
expressionless face.
A black dragon and a youth—Choi Han’s black dragon
sword—lunged at the knight.
But Choi Han’s focus was on Cale.
‘…The Pope!’
That aura made Choi Han shudder, a rare sensation.
Though Cale facing the Pope alone made sense, and he could
assist after handling the knight—
Choi Han sensed something off:
‘Too composed…’
The knight wasn’t fighting full force, dodging casually, showing
no intent to protect the Pope.
“…”
As their eyes met, the knight said calmly:
“I am the Pope’s guardian—”
He bore dual roles:
“—and his restrainer.”
Choi Han caught a dangerous glint in that smile, but Cale had
already acted on instinct.
From the hand that threw the water spear—
Whoosh—
Red gold thunderfire sparked, ready.
Through the mist, it struck where the Pope had stood.
Crackle! Snap!
The crimson flames, capable of incinerating all, forced knights
to retreat.
This anomaly alerted Cale—
These seemingly devout knights neither shielded their lord nor
blocked attacks with their bodies, merely stepping back subtly.
‘…Fear.’
They feared the writhing gray energy more than the
Dominating Aura.
Cale grasped the root of their fear.
Tap.
His toes touched the ground at the edge of the water spear’s
crater.
As the mist cleared, revealing the Pope—
“…!”
Cale saw something bizarre.
—Impossible!
The Sky Eating Water shouted in disbelief.
The Super Rock sighed:
—Good grief.
Writhing gray.
Unlike the God of Chaos, it had no eyes.
Instead—
Mouths.
Countless mouths.
Gray tendrils, like a coiling python, surrounded the Pope as a
shield.
The gray mist was filled with mouths, devouring the water
vapor and streams.
All were Cale’s water spears from the Sky Eating Water.
Swish—
The Pope raised a hand, the shield dissipating, gray aura
wrapping him like a robe.
He spoke:
“In chaos, all things can exist.”
Good and evil, joy, despair, sorrow, delight.
Because all could exist, it was chaos.
“Thus, chaos can devour all.”
Chaos could encompass and consume everything.
“When the God of Chaos gazes upon all—”
His sight was all-encompassing.
The world was filling with chaos.
Thus, the Pope understood his mission.
“I am the messenger of His will, offering chaos as sacrifice.”
He needed mouths.
To convey His will with words, to offer chaos through
consumption.
The God of Chaos’s granted power and sight weren’t enough.
So, he received an oracle and created his own chaos.
This was his form—
Writhing chaos.
The Pope himself.
His essence was a mouth for the God of Chaos.
The Pope stepped forward.
The chaotic mouths, draped like a robe, lunged at Cale’s
crimson thunderfire.
They craved to devour.
They’d never seen such an existence.
The mouths joyfully consumed the earlier water, a first-time
delicacy.
“Truly… a vessel laden with delights.”
The Pope saw:
“A vessel building an entire world—”
He understood why the god coveted him.
Aspiring to be the god’s mouth, the Pope had no desire for
power or glory.
He acted only for the god.
Thus, he rejoiced.
Creak—
The old man stepped again.
The gray lips opened and closed.
“Come—”
His kind face spread its arms.
“Come closer.”
He approached Cale.
And Cale—
—This lunatic!
Hearing the Fire of Destruction’s horrified shout, he swung his
arm.
Crackle—!
Crimson thunderfire.
Lightning to purify death mana struck the Pope.
BOOM—!
Another explosion shook the hall.
Creak.
Cale staggered back.
—This guy’s an absolute maniac!
The Super Rock didn’t hide its disgust.
—Damn it! Hell!
The Sky Eating Water raged.
Chomp. Chomp.
Amid the bursting thunderfire, gray mouths devoured lightning,
flames, and smoke.
As if savoring a supreme delicacy.
As the dust settled, the Pope advanced again.
—Damn it! That chaos isn’t the God of Chaos’! Need time to
analyze!
The Sky Eating Water roared. It had faced chaos with the
Dominating Aura and Super Rock, gaining purification and
victory.
But this chaos wasn’t the god’s.
Though from the same source, it was the Pope’s.
Thus, those mouths could consume Cale’s ancient powers.
Creak—
The Pope advanced again.
Cale stood still.
“Come closer.”
The Pope beckoned Cale—the vessel.
A vessel nurturing a world was too precious.
Then—
Creak.
Cale stepped toward the Pope.
No retreat.
—Cale.
The Super Rock spoke urgently.
—Those mouths have a limit.
Countless mouths, but the vessel holding them had a cap.
That vessel was the Pope.
—Cale, our powers aren’t what they were.
Not enough to defeat a god, but akin to a calamity’s might.
—Bursting those mouths, that vessel… it’s not impossible,
right?
The Super Rock reasoned.
Unlike the God of Chaos, the Pope’s capacity for consumption
had limits.
Whoosh—
Water surged in Cale’s left hand.
Crackle—
Crimson lightning coiled in his right.
Two distinct powers bloomed.
The Pope smiled.
Unlike the devouring mouths, he spoke:
“Testing whose limit is deeper?”
Gray mist seeped from his lips.
As the living gray fog spread, the old man asked kindly:
“Do you truly think… you’ll win this contest?”
The God of Chaos Church.
Lurking across countless dimensions and worlds, chaos was
omnipresent.
The Church had only one Pope.
The sole Pope across myriad worlds.
Did Cale Henituse grasp what that meant?
The Pope was also a vast vessel.
Just on a different path from Cale.
“It’s been ages… since I tested my limits.”
The Pope smiled gently.
Purely because all was intriguing.
After all, a variable’s end led to a shortcut.
Whoosh—
Crackle—
As water and fire intertwined, air currents swirled at Cale’s feet.
Gray fog gathered under the Pope.
As Cale stepped—
Whoosh!
His body shot forward like an arrow.
The Pope spread his arms, advancing.
To consume all—
“Chaos, embrace everything!”
As his smile deepened—
“!”
The Pope saw water and fire vanish.
“I—”
Silver light replaced them.
Cale, accelerated by wind, gripped shimmering silver threads
forming a handle.
Fire blazed in his eyes.
“Who…”
“Would feed you willingly?”
Feeding his crew was taxing enough—why feed this Pope
bastard?
—Ha!
The Super Rock exclaimed as Cale refused to satisfy those
mouths’ desires.
The most incensed reacted—
—Unforgivable!
The Crybaby old man, enraged by harmed companions and
family.
The Glutton Priestess within him burned silently.
—Eating… shouldn’t be like this!
To the Glutton Priestess, “eating” was a faith upheld until
death.
She, who consumed even death-mana-tainted soil, wouldn’t
tolerate these gray lips.
Cale felt the same.
“Eat, my ass!”
What’s “eating”?
Cale had sworn:
Anyone daring to touch what he cherished would face a
thousandfold reckoning.
Hum—Hum—
A silver shield materialized in Cale’s hand.
It faintly resembled the knight’s illusion-wielding shield.
But wholly different.
Cale raised the shield.
Then—
BOOM—!
He slammed it into the writhing gray fog’s countless mouths.
“Heh.”
Cale laughed.
“Beating lots of things feels great!”
Enough hits, and those mouths would shut.
Cale shrank his usually massive shield to just cover his front.
The Indestructible Shield.
Not a speck crumbled.
The gaping mouths consumed nothing, instead taking the
shield’s brutal blows.
Buzz—
Radiant silver light refused to let a single gray lip taint it.
The regenerative power, heart’s pulse, the ancient tree facing
the intolerable, the Indestructible Shield—all more vibrant than
ever.
And Cale felt—
Only beating this Pope toothless would satisfy him.
Hum—Hum—
Cale swung the weightless shield, winged as it was.
It gleamed brighter, growing sturdier with its master’s will.
Raon, watching, shouted:
“It’s Mom’s way!”
Former Dragon Lord Sheritt.
The shield-wielding dragon loved smashing foes with it.
The best defense was a preemptive strike.
BOOM! BOOM—!
Feet riding the wind, shield in hand, Cale charged ferociously.
His heart pumped maximum power, his stance akin to Kim Rok
Soo, once helplessly charging with a metal plate.
But now—
Cale wielded the Indestructible Shield.
Chapter 2-452: …Can I Take It? (15)
A slender silver thread connected Cale’s hand to the silver
shield.
Yet the shield danced freely with Cale’s will.
Whoosh—
Riding the wind, Cale swung the shield at the Pope, arms
spread wide.
The shield wasn’t heavy.
BOOM—!
Forged not of steel or any worldly substance, it moved by Cale’s
intent.
—Eating isn’t like that!
The Glutton Priestess.
This shield embodied her power, a manifestation of her will.
Rustle—
The Pope’s arms—spread as if to embrace Cale—suddenly
moved.
The silver shield flipped again.
BOOM—!
The Pope’s crossed arms clashed with the shield, resounding
loudly.
But this collision caused no explosion.
No shattering, no dust.
Chomp. Chomp.
No. Precisely, each clash between Cale and the Pope cracked
the marble floor, raising dust—
Chomp. Chomp.
Yet the dust vanished before scattering, devoured by countless
open mouths. The pressure and gales from their battle forced
knights back, but no speck obscured their view.
Chomp. Chomp.
Countless voracious mouths surrounding the Pope devoured all
battle debris.
“Disgusting.”
The Heavenly Demon sneered at the grotesque sight.
“Urgh—”
He held Sytriss, the steward, by the neck.
“Gah!”
The Heavenly Demon had struck like an arrow. Though Sytriss
resisted fiercely, she couldn’t escape his grip. He never
squandered a seized advantage.
“…!”
Sytriss thrashed to break free, but her arms were broken, dark
red aura strangling her body.
“…”
The Heavenly Demon focused on the Pope’s every move.
Chomp. Chomp.
The nauseating mouths, like a priestly robe or cloak, enveloped
the Pope in mottled gray mist. The gray fog consumed
surroundings, expanding its domain.
“…”
The Heavenly Demon shifted his gaze.
“Can’t kill her yet.”
“!!”
His words widened Sytriss’s eyes.
Meeting his gaze, she trembled.
He leaned close, whispering:
“Why hold back?”
“!”
“Why keep pretending?”
“…”
Sytriss’s eyes dimmed.
“Inquisitor!”
The top-tier knight, battling Soo Hyuk and Choi Han, shouted:
“His Holiness says you may open your eyes!”
At those words—
“!”
The Heavenly Demon released Sytriss’s neck, stepping back.
Her broken arms hung limp as she stood still.
Her eyes remained closed.
“…”
But a third eye opened on her forehead.
A gray eye, not hers, appeared.
“I am the vessel bearing the Lord of Chaos’s gaze.”
Sytriss, with only the third eye open, spoke calmly.
“No living thing escapes the web of sight.”
The Heavenly Demon sensed an eerie anomaly.
That third eye.
As if the entire scene reflected in it, and himself at its center,
were ensnared in a web. She intoned like a prophet:
“Henceforth, what you see is not your choice. Only the vistas
granted by chaos enter your eyes.”
The Heavenly Demon’s brow twitched.
Then—
His lips curled.
“Don’t be so sure about that.”
He’d thought this would be dull.
Perfect timing.
As the Heavenly Demon, he felt little attachment or concern for
Cale’s allies.
Though fighting alongside Cale and fond of him, his true loyalty
was to the Demonic Cult.
But he wouldn’t waste this moment.
Chomp. Chomp.
The Pope’s dense, revolting mouths—
Hum—Hum—
The Heavenly Demon always pondered how to wield and evolve
his dark red aura, capable of forming mist.
Now, he found inspiration.
The Pope.
His vibrant gray mist.
The Heavenly Demon looked at himself.
Not in the cult’s majestic robes, but rough black clothes to
disguise as “Darkness/ARM.”
He didn’t miss his grand attire.
“Fits me.”
Without a dark red cloud-sea sky, fighting in cloud armor
sounded fun.
I act for the heavens.
I am the cult’s heaven, the Heavenly Demon himself.
Hum—Hum—
As his dark red cloud-sea began to morph with a low wail, no
one else heard the subtle sound.
BOOM—!
Cale’s silver shield struck the Pope at stunning speed, roaring
deafeningly.
Swish!
The Pope, blocking with crossed arms, slid back from the
impact.
“…”
He stared at the distance he’d been pushed.
“I, retreating—”
His words cut off.
BOOM—!
The silver shield struck again.
Chomp—!
The mouths—
Whoosh!
Clashing with the shield, they briefly closed.
—Cale, so fast.
As the Super Rock noted, Cale moved at astonishing speed.
Feet like the wind.
His body—
—No problem!
The Crybaby old man worked harder than ever.
—I can hold on!
Hearing him, the Super Rock quieted. Cale, silent, swung the
shield at the Pope.
Whoosh—!
The Pope was forced back.
Whoosh!
Cale and the Pope. No one could approach them.
Nor could they.
Their auras suppressed everything around.
—Why!
The silver shield blazed with unprecedented ferocity.
The Glutton still raged.
No, her fury grew.
—Why!
Her sentiment echoed Cale’s.
Whoosh—!
—Why! Won’t they shut up!
Whoosh!
The Pope’s arms had become a gray mist shield.
Though briefly fading when struck, it never vanished.
The countless mouths only closed momentarily, reopening to
devour—
The air.
Flying dust.
Cracked marble fragments.
Everything in sight.
—Eating shouldn’t be like that.
The Glutton Priestess didn’t hide her anger.
But her voice weakened.
“…”
Cale’s expression hardened.
The Pope, though retreating, remained composed.
His chaos power undiminished, mouths still howling hungrily.
“A shield, such a foolish weapon.”
It couldn’t crush.
Couldn’t cut.
Just brute force collisions.
“Looks quite delicious.”
The Pope savored the power, licking his lips.
From the shield, he sensed a forest’s essence beyond mere
trees, nature’s fragrance.
‘And vitality.’
The pulsing heart’s vitality was palpable.
Utterly tantalizing.
Offering it to the God of Chaos would be joyous.
“Ah.”
The thought immersed the Pope in delight, a smile forming.
Crack.
More mouths surged, dense and chilling, yet he didn’t stop for
consumption.
—Cale.
The Sky Eating Water spoke stiffly:
—I still can’t understand that chaos.
The Pope’s aura.
The Cheapskate added:
—Right. To purify, we’d need to touch that chaos.
Though Cale had the Chaos Purification skill, it only cleansed
chaos-tainted objects.
It couldn’t purify this “chaos” fundamentally.
This chaos, unlike the God of Chaos’, was the Pope’s alone.
BOOM—!
The shield clashed fiercely with the Pope’s chaos again.
—…
The Glutton Priestess fell silent.
The silver light dimmed slightly.
“Your momentum’s waning.”
The Pope’s calm voice reached Cale.
“To counter this power, those swordsmen might be better.”
His gaze briefly flicked past Cale’s shoulder.
Likely Choi Han or Soo Hyuk.
Cale didn’t look back.
He raised the shield again.
—Human, need help?
To Raon’s query, Cale shook his head.
Whether Choi Han, Soo Hyuk, Raon, or the Heavenly Demon—
Their powers would be devoured by the Pope.
Cale vaguely realized there was only one way to face him.
‘Don’t get devoured by that chaos, those mouths.’
Avoiding their influence was the only way to approach the
Pope.
He knew it was the answer.
He raised his shield again.
“Not bored?”
To the Pope’s kind, smiling question, Cale answered with a
swing.
BOOM—!
The roar echoed as Cale assessed himself.
‘Heart’s fine.’
Full of vitality.
He hadn’t used grand moves, just shield swings—no risk of
fainting yet.
—…
The Glutton Priestess remained silent.
The silver light weakened further.
“Your power’s fading.”
As the Pope spoke, his kind smile turned sinister.
Cale raised and swung the shield again.
To others, his stubborn, seemingly futile actions repeated
pointlessly.
BOOM!—
Then—
“!”
The Pope froze.
Seeing this, Cale spoke:
“Hungry?”
As the Pope’s trembling gaze fell to his arm, the Glutton
Priestess whispered:
—Yeah. I’m hungry.
The Cheapskate and The Super Rock shouted:
—As expected!
—Right, you ate even vitality!
In their cheers—
—Slurp.
The Glutton Priestess gave a tasting verdict, judging the flavor.
—Worse than death mana or tainted soil.
Cale’s lips curled.
Some might call it reckless, but this gave him the answer.
“…”
The Pope looked at his arm.
Specifically, near his wrist.
The gray there had faded.
Not repelled by the shield—it was gone.
No, devoured.
“…How…”
The Pope was stunned.
“…How can you mimic my power…?”
His shocked question made Cale scoff.
Snort.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
He found it absurd.
This reaction is understandable.
“She’s always been good at eating.”
Cale eyed the heart etched on the shield, smirking crookedly.
Though different now, the shield had once consumed vitality.
No, contained it.
Despite claiming hunger.
Cale refused to let the Pope take anything.
He also wanted to understand the Pope’s chaos.
The Sky Eating Water had shouted:
‘Damn it! That chaos isn’t the god’s! I need time to analyze!’
Time to discern.
And the Glutton Priestess kept saying:
—Eating isn’t like that.
Right, just like now.
Eating wasn’t like that.
To her, consumption wasn’t an act of theft.
The death mana** that nearly engulfed a continent—she’d
absorbed it through trees, making it edible.
Whoosh—
A breeze coiled around Cale’s toes.
—Can’t eat too much. Eating wrong things could cause issues.
It’s not like death mana.
Listening to her, Cale shattered the ground.
—You might get tainted.
The Glutton Priestess had died consuming tainted soil.
—I’ll hold on!
But now, with the Crybaby old man, it was different.
—And we can purify it! Cale’s got Chaos Purification!
The Crybaby old man’s words aligned with Cale’s thoughts.
—Of course, it’ll hurt you.
The Crybaby old man saw through Cale.
—You’d rather suffer than see others hurt, right?
Cale didn’t answer, as always.
BOOM!
He swung the shield.
BOOM! BOOM!—
Relentlessly—
BOOM!
Unceasingly—
BOOM!
Then—
“Argh!”
The Pope watched his chaos power, his gray, fade.
The shield lost its silver.
No, it gained gray over the silver.
—Cale, it’s starting to invade!
Cale’s hands faintly grayed.
Yet—
Cale smiled.
—I can still keep eating!
The Glutton Priestess’s voice regained strength.
BOOM!
BOOM—!
Though the shield’s silver was overtaken by dark gray, it didn’t
break.
It pressed forward.
Step. Another step.
Unknowingly, Cale no longer relied on wind, but was moving
forward purely on his feet.
“Argh!”
Finally—
The Pope lost the gray cloaking his arms. Like Cale’s shield, the
barrier shielding him—
The barrier was devoured.
As the mouths fled to other parts of his chaos, a fleeting gap
appeared.
“!”
In that instant, the Pope saw the shield charging relentlessly.
He hurriedly re-wrapped his arms in chaos, but the shield was
faster.
It never paused.
“Ah!”
The Pope watched as the newly formed chaos was devoured
again.
The shield dimmed further.
“!”
The shield struck his unprotected arm precisely.
BOOM—!
“Gah!”
Amid the thunderous roar, the Pope groaned in pain for the
first time. His arms twisted unnaturally, snapping as agony
forced him to his knees.
Through the shield, he met Cale’s cold gaze.
Cale spoke:
“First hit.”
The Pope had only just begun to take his beating.
Chapter 2-453: …Can I Take It? (16)
Cale flashed a refreshing smile.
“How—how could—”
The Pope, looking up at Cale, stammered.
“How could this be—”
How could this be possible?
But he couldn’t finish the sentence.
BOOM—!
Cale gave him no chance.
The Pope’s nonsense wasn’t worth attention.
“Urgh!”
The Pope raised his arms to block, but seeing the shield
devouring his chaos, he instinctively rolled away.
CLANG!
The shield struck the ground, roaring deafeningly.
—Cale, doesn’t it hurt?
The Super Rock asked worriedly.
—It’s not the God of Chaos’ chaos, but once it enters your
body, it’ll cause chaos corruption. I’m analyzing the Pope’s
chaos traits! But I need some time!
The Sky Eating Water began probing.
“Human!”
Raon shouted.
“Your hands are turning gray!”
Cale’s hands were gradually graying, the hue spreading to his
wrists.
“Human, you’re being corrupted!”
To Raon’s anxious cry, Cale responded:
“It’s fine.”
To the Super Rock’s question of pain, the Sky Eating Water’s
need for time, and Raon’s concern—
Cale answered calmly, “It’s fine.”
The shield swung again.
BOOM—!
“Guh!”
The Pope desperately raised his one functional arm, unleashing
chaos power—the other seemed broken, immobile.
BOOM—!
“Ah!”
Even that arm’s chaos was devoured by the shield, striking him
heavily. The shield’s surface was now fully gray, no silver left.
But Cale was unscathed.
—I can still eat!
The Glutton Priestess was adapting as she consumed.
—Cale, I’ll do my best to stop the corruption’s spread!
The Crybaby Old Man showed unprecedented resolve, blocking
the gray from creeping past Cale’s wrists up his arms.
‘It's different.’
Cale clearly felt this corruption spreading in him was unlike Choi
Jung Gun’s case.
‘I can handle it.’
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Feeling an unprecedentedly fierce heartbeat, he knew his body
was resisting. Though the gray made veins bulge on his hands,
striving to claim more—
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Compared to the corruption the shield absorbed, the gray
stalled between his wrists and elbows.
“Swallowing chaos and resisting corruption?”
A shocked voice came from behind, likely an enemy, but Cale
ignored it. His allies would handle it.
He had one target.
One to thrash.
The Pope.
BOOM—!
The shield’s assault didn’t stop. As the Pope barely formed a
gray barrier and shouted “Attack!” to the knights—
BOOM—!
Cale, devouring the Pope’s chaos, swung again, his smile
deepening.
Hum—Hum—
No silver remained on the shield. But hearing the Crybaby Old
Man’s words, Cale couldn’t help but laugh.
—Cale! You can hold on!
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The heart’s vibrant vitality.
Its regenerative power.
And life force.
—Your blood now carries the “plate.”
The plate, once shattered to dust, now flowed in his blood.
—Your plate was always vast enough to hold us all.
He’d thought avoiding its shattering was enough.
—And the blood carrying the plate flows through your heart.
Well, damn.
Cale marveled inwardly.
The heart’s vitality.
This power had grown unknowingly.
In hindsight, it was always immense.
Without it, Cale couldn’t have endured every trial.
Endurance.
Like the Indestructible Shield blocking something, it was the
heart’s forte.
—First time realizing this.
The Crybaby Old Man, infusing greater vitality body-wide,
spoke.
—Keeping your plate untainted by chaos.
—Keeping your blood uncorrupted.
—Keeping your plate from collapsing.
His voice was stronger than ever, free of tears or regret.
—You can hold on.
Though Cale, who had been injured from overusing powers,
only regenerating wounds so far, the Old Man now realized he
could block external forces invading Cale.
His realization was Cale’s too.
“Haha—”
The Pope stared at the laughing Cale like he was mad, but Cale
found it genuinely funny.
“As expected, persistence finds a way.”
As long as you lived, a path would emerge.
—Bear the pain a bit!
As the Old Man said, Cale was in pain.
Quite a lot, honestly.
But his mood was beyond calm—frankly, joyful.
“Protect His Holiness!”
Clang!
Clang, Clang!
Holy knights, previously pushed back from Cale and the Pope’s
clash, now closed in without gaps.
Though fear marked their faces, they charged with desperate
resolve.
‘The Heavenly Demon too.’
Handling Sytriss.
‘The top-tier knight too.’
His allies supporting there.
All seemed unable to aid Cale due to unfavorable odds.
‘They’re strong.’
These core Chaos Church figures matched their status.
Far stronger than the Saint.
BOOM! BANG! BOOM—
Amid explosions from the knight’s direction, even with Choi
Han, Soo Hyuk, and Mor, they were at a disadvantage.
Cale wanted to check, but he needed to stay focused on the
Pope.
—Cale, watch for the knights’ attacks.
Heeding the Super Rock, Cale charged the Pope with his shield,
staying alert to his surroundings.
CLANG!
As Cale launched toward the Pope—
“Come!”
The Pope shouted.
“Chaos!”
Several knights roared, charging.
Cale focused on everything.
—Human, I’ll support you with magic!
Nodding to Raon’s offer—
BOOM—!
Cale saw two knights block his shield.
And the scene beyond.
“…!”
Cale was speechless.
“Chaos!”
“Chaos!”
The two knights shouting, leading the charge—
But they didn’t rush to Cale.
They ran to the Pope.
‘Come!’
Recalling the Pope’s order—
“No way—”
Shock crossed Cale’s face.
“Heh.”
The Pope, with a kind smile, barely raised one arm, beckoning.
Then—
“Chaos!”
“Chaos!”
Into the gray veil of countless lips—
Creak.
Two knights leapt in.
And—
Chomp. Chomp.
They were devoured.
Swiftly.
‘Ah.’
Cale realized their fearless yet terrified resolve wasn’t for him.
They were the Pope’s fodder.
Chomp. Chomp.
The gray grew more vibrant, lips opening and closing joyfully.
Yet still ravenous.
“Come!”
The Pope’s expression turned gleeful.
Despite broken arms and wounds, he felt no pain.
Only “hunger.”
Chomp. Chomp.
Watching the vibrant gray writhe, the Pope looked satisfied.
As long as his body held on and gray remained, he could claim
the vessel. (TL note: in the raw, ‘Vessel’ is the same word as
‘Plate’)
Sacrifices were plentiful.
“Come!”
He roared again.
“For chaos!”
“For chaos!”
Knights answered with tragic cries, rushing forward.
—Cale, we can’t ignore this!
The Super Rock’s voice grew grave.
—I want to crush that bastard!
The Sky Eating Water spat fury.
—…That doesn’t deserve to be called food.
As the Glutton’s flame of anger reignited—
Cale swung his shield.
BOOM—
But more blocked him.
“For chaos!”
Not the Pope, but knights stood in his way.
Buying time for the Pope to feed.
“Go on, come!”
More knights leapt to the Pope.
—This is bad!
As the Super Rock panicked—
Cale, with dead-calm eyes, spoke:
“Too late.”
With that—
Clang—
A sword unsheathed.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
“Aaah!”
“Urgh!”
“Guh!”
The knights rushing toward the Pope collapsed.
Between the Pope and knights—
A figure appeared leisurely.
Not Sytriss, facing the Heavenly Demon.
Not the children, averaging ten years old, guarding Choi Jung
Soo.
Not Choi Han or Soo Hyuk, fighting the top-tier knight.
One chasing light.
Seeking a mission.
“I’m late, Lord Cale.”
Smiling brightly, Clopeh met Cale’s smile.
Then—
“Handle the knights.”
Ordering him to stop dozens alone.
Cale commanded.
Clopeh, with a joyful expression, replied:
“It will be my honor.”
For Cale’s orders, he could do anything.
As he accepted, Clopeh saw Cale leap.
Whoosh—
Air swirled at Cale’s feet.
“Stop him!”
“Block him!”
As knights desperately formed a shield wall—
“Good work.”
Cale left those words.
He released the silver thread linking the shield.
Hum—Hum—
As the gray shield vanished—
“Huh?”
“…!”
Knights froze at the change.
Whoosh—
Cale, riding the wind, leapt over their heads.
Like an arrow, he shot forward.
Straight at the Pope.
“!”
No shield, defenseless.
Cale charged with his flesh-and-blood body.
Shock flashed across the Pope’s face.
—Good. Cale can hold on!
The Crybaby Old Man grasped Cale’s will.
This body could endure even if chaos consumed it.
Enough to cleave through chaos.
Though chaos teemed with countless fangs.
Whoosh—
Crimson thunderfire enveloped Cale.
The unquenchable flame.
The Cheapskate assured:
—It won’t go out until you reach your target!
The Pope’s face twisted, eyeing the approaching Cale.
“How dare—!”
Before he could react, Cale, riding the wind, was terrifyingly
fast.
He charged heedlessly.
“Guh, urgh!”
The Pope unleashed chaos at Cale.
Like the God of Chaos’ chaos tide, a turbulent wave surged.
Teeming with mottled gray and countless fangs.
Cale plunged into the chaos tide.
Swish—Swish—
In an instant, the world seemed gray.
Chomp. Chomp.
Countless fangs opened wide in the tide.
But—
BOOM—
They bit only crimson thunderfire.
“Ah.”
Clopeh’s lips curled in ecstasy.
In the towering gray tide—
Crimson light shone clearly.
It rode the wind, tearing through, charging forward.
—It’s fine! I can block corruption to the limit! I can hold on!
Cale’s body resisted the corruption.
His hands, like ripping cloth, tore the gray tide, carving a path.
With graying hands, he pressed forward, and forward.
Finally—
“Ah.”
The gray corruption spread past his wrists, neared his elbows.
With those grayed arms—
Tearing the chaos tide again—
BOOM—
The crimson fire still blazed.
Despite countless fangs craving it, the fire stood unyielding.
The fire that purified death mana wouldn’t fall to mere tide
waves.
“I see it.”
Tearing through the tide, Cale found light.
He saw the Pope trembling under it.
His pupils drowned in fear.
Like prey cornered by a beast.
“How—how could—”
How could a human resist chaos?
Even the slightest trace of chaos would bring pain worse than
death—
How could he wield such immense power to defy countless
fangs?
His question didn’t continue.
“Got you.”
Cale seized the Pope’s neck.
The Cheapskate shouted:
—Start purifying!
Crackle!
The crimson thunderfire in Cale’s grayed hand—
“Right. Purification starts now.”
BOOM—!
Struck the Pope directly.
“AAAAH—!”
Cale remembered Choi Jung Gun, Soo Hyuk, and Choi Jung
Soo’s pain.
Not one, but three allies!
Choi Jung Gun nearly died, Soo Hyuk fought bleeding with
unhealed wounds, Choi Jung Soo bore dozens of scars.
“Ugh, AAAH—”
The Pope, who only devoured, now screamed unprecedentedly.
Serving the God of Chaos, he’d never felt a sensation beyond
“hunger.”
Though hunger overcame his broken arms’ pain, this agony was
unimaginable.
Facing him—
—One more time!
At the Fire of Destruction’s request, Cale struck again with
thunderfire.
Tearing the chaos shielding the Pope.
“GAAAH—!”
His piercing wail echoed.
Cale faithfully delivered tenfold retribution.
—Our human’s eyes must’ve spun 367 degrees!
Cale ignored Raon’s quip.
—Sniff.
The Sound of the Wind continues searching for the Pope’s
artifact, Chaos Carried by Wind.
Even when enraged, Cale never forgot his goal.
Chapter 2-454: …Can I Take It? (17)
The Pope’s screams persisted.
“AAAAH—!”
The Cheapskate spoke calmly:
—Oops, sorry. Looks like I can’t purify chaos yet. Hehe.
Mimicking Raon’s cute tone, he continued:
—Just attacking for now. Hehe.
Cale’s face twisted at the Raon-like giggle.
—S-Sorry!
The Cheapskate apologized hastily, but Cale wasn’t bothered by
that.
‘His body’s unharmed?’
Despite enduring the full force of thunderfire, the Pope’s body
showed no burns.
His arms were broken, but his skin remained intact.
‘What’s going on?’
Cale intensified the lightning.
“AAH—!”
The Pope wailed in agony.
BOOM—
Crimson flames blazed, engulfing the Pope with purifying
lightning, whether it cleansed chaos or not.
“Ah—”
“…”
Everyone around fell silent.
The knights witnessing this forgot to attack Clopeh, approach
Cale, or protect the Pope, staring dumbfounded.
The Pope’s chaos.
His gray tide, a self-inflicted chaos reminiscent of the God of
Chaos.
More terrifying were the devouring fangs within.
Yet someone surged against it, unscathed amidst countless
teeth.
Even with arms tainted by chaos, he was unharmed.
Most crucially—
“Urgh—”
“…Ah…”
The man, bathing himself and the writhing Pope in crimson
thunderfire, exuded a terrifying presence.
A Dominating Aura rivaling the Pope’s erupted from Cale.
He seemed like another—
“…Ah. A legend—”
Clopeh’s lips curved into a radiant smile.
Cale wasn’t focusing anywhere specific but radiating his aura in
all directions.
‘Ah. So this is it—’
Lord Cale’s aura was overwhelmingly crushing.
It hadn’t seemed this intense before.
‘No limits.’
Lord Cale was ever-growing.
What a staggering miracle!
Clopeh couldn’t suppress his brilliant smile.
“!”
But he sensed something approaching against the aura.
‘A sword!’
Feeling the sword’s energy, Clopeh whipped his head around.
A longsword aimed at Cale.
Clopeh moved instantly but realized:
‘Can’t block it.’
Instinct told him—he lacked the strength to intercept.
‘My aura will be cut.’
As a strong warrior, he recognized a stronger foe.
Buzz—Buzz—
An ordinary iron sword cloaked in gray mist.
Its unremarkable blade carried a will to claim Cale’s life.
‘No, killing intent.’
Not just that.
‘Madness?’
Something viscous, sinister, indescribable filled the sword.
“…”
Cale froze, expression dazed.
He even tilted his head, lost in thought.
‘Trouble!’
Clopeh’s heart raced.
‘Too late!’
Cale, restraining the Pope, still exuded immense aura, but his
arms were chaos-tainted.
Chaos corruption.
Knowing the top-tier knight’s tainted-body rumors, Clopeh
understood the danger.
He had to protect Cale from this sword.
‘This is a vassal’s duty!’
Heroes weren’t born alone.
Companions, vassals, stood by them.
Clopeh lunged at the sword.
“!”
He froze mid-step.
“Ah. Right.”
Clopeh recalled childhood fairy tales.
Fictional heroes always had mighty companions.
He’d dreamed of being a guardian knight, serving as vassal or
wyvern rider.
‘But Lord Cale has companions.’
A great dragon with infinite potential!
BOOM—!
A black shield intercepted the sword’s roar.
A petite figure emerged behind Cale, facing the blade.
“No sneaking up on our human’s head!”
A majestic, roaring dragon.
The young dragon, cheeks puffed, eyes brimming with resolve.
And it wasn’t alone.
CRASH!
Layered shields shattered under the sword.
Facing the blade’s light—
Hum—Hum—
Another black dragon (Yong) leapt into the fray.
Another black dragon by Cale’s side.
‘…Choi Han!’
Clopeh’s eyes sparked with strange fire.
Jealousy mixed with acknowledgment.
Two black dragons.
Raon and Choi Han.
Always by Cale’s side, unlike Clopeh, who followed orders.
They were companions.
Clopeh knew his place. To him, Cale was a lord; to them, family.
He recognized the vast difference but felt no greed.
‘Right. I’m not jealous.’
His gaze darkened.
But he had to admit—
Their presence let Cale act without worry.
However—
‘It's not that simple.’
BOOM!
The black dragon clashed fiercely with the gray-mist sword.
—Cale. Choi Han’s being overwhelmed.
Despite seeming distracted, Cale grasped the battlefield.
He frowned slightly.
‘Choi Han’s being overwhelmed?’
As the Super Rock said—
The top-tier knight.
The floating sword pushed Choi Han back.
‘Haa… haa…’
Choi Han’s breathing grew ragged.
‘Hoo—’
Meanwhile, Soo Hyuk exhaled, easing his taut muscles.
Hiss—
A sword hovered before him.
Unlike the floating blade facing Choi Han, this was held by its
owner.
Smirk.
Behind clashing blades, the top-tier knight smiled at Soo Hyuk.
‘Quite a unique swordsmanship.’
As he said, Soo Hyuk could ‘cut anything.’
‘Can’t cut it.’
But this man’s sword resisted.
Initially unclear, Soo Hyuk now understood.
‘A sword without substance…?!’
The top-tier knight.
His sword lacked physical form.
Though it appeared an ordinary iron sword, when gray aura
enveloped it, it ceased to ‘exist’ in this world.
An uncuttable, otherworldly thing.
‘You—’
Through clashing blades, Soo Hyuk glimpsed his essence.
‘…Not alive.’
The top-tier knight wasn’t a living being.
Nor a dead corpse.
‘On the boundary.’
He was neither alive nor dead.
Existing in a liminal seam.
‘Impressive.’
The knight didn’t hold back in praising Soo Hyuk.
‘I was born on the boundary.’
Life and death.
Seemingly distinct, yet their overlap held a gray zone.
‘To be precise—’
He deflected Soo Hyuk’s sword, stepping back.
Skid—
Soo Hyuk was knocked back.
The knight moved toward Cale.
But Soo Hyuk didn’t dare attack his back.
The knight was flawless.
A rash attack risked not just himself but everything behind.
‘I was born in chaos.’
His birth wasn’t tied to any dimension or world.
A human birthed in the God of Chaos’s palm.
Forever walking the life-death seam.
‘Your trait doesn’t work on me.’
Even the ability to cut anything failed if ‘anything’ didn’t exist.
The knight claimed nothing.
Name.
Age.
Family.
Affiliation.
He truly owned nothing.
Lingering on a boundary that could be anything, anywhere.
A poor match for Soo Hyuk.
Plus—
“Your bleeding won’t stop.”
As the knight noted, blood gushed from Soo Hyuk’s arm.
“The worsening bleeding suggests that the child has arrived.”
Indeed, Soo Hyuk’s wound, tightly bound, was splitting.
This signaled the top-tier knight who’d scarred him was nearing
Moraka Castle.
It also meant the Demon King’s army was retreating.
As time passed, Church forces surged like a tide, putting Cale’s
side at a disadvantage.
“Something’s off.”
Hearing the knight, Soo Hyuk glanced at the panting Mor.
Mor, side deeply slashed, looked equally baffled, unable to
grasp the situation.
The top-tier knight casually added to the vigilant Soo Hyuk,
stepping back:
“That child is a more fitting opponent for you.”
With that, he looked away.
Soo Hyuk wasn’t worth his attention. Only another intrigued
him—
“Interesting.”
He recalled his floating swords.
Gripping both ordinary iron swords, his gaze locked on a figure.
“Haa… haa…”
Choi Han, panting heavily.
His torment wasn’t physical pain.
“Though a precious gem is forming—”
Creak. Creak.
The knight stepped toward Choi Han, blocking Cale’s path.
“Damn it!”
Soo Hyuk clenched his teeth, holding back.
Neither the top-tier knight nor the approaching knight who’d
wounded him was his greatest concern.
“Choi Jung Soo!”
While Raon protected Cale, leaving a gap—
The spot On and Hong guarded now relied on Soo Hyuk alone.
Behind him lay the unconscious Choi Jung Soo, On, and Hong.
“…I’m falling behind.”
Soo Hyuk’s gaze darkened.
Cale had improved.
Choi Han had improved.
Even the Heavenly Demon had improved.
Everyone was moving forward with Cale—while Soo Hyuk
remained stagnant.
“I’ve grown too complacent.”
Gripping his sword, he stared at the scarred Choi Jung Soo.
Choi Han, too, tightened his grip, facing the top-tier knight.
“Haa… haa…”
His breathing grew heavier, suffocating.
“Damn it!”
A curse nearly escaped.
“Despair and hope, huh.”
The knight studied Choi Han’s black aura with interest.
“So young, yet steadfast on this path. Remarkable.”
He clearly discerned Choi Han’s power’s essence.
Chapter 2-455: …Can I Take It? (18)
However—
“Too contradictory.”
The top-tier knight saw through the fatal flaw in Choi Han’s
power.
His steps toward Choi Han were unhurried.
“You must sense it too—clinging to two opposing attributes will
limit your growth.”
Choi Han’s pupils trembled.
He’d never doubted the power forged through his life.
“It’s just slow progress.”
While the Heavenly Demon had already honed his unique trait,
Choi Han couldn’t even conceptualize his.
Though fostering a unique aura was a remarkable feat, he hid
his anxiety from his comrades.
But now, facing the knight, the word “limit” pierced his mind.
“If you can fully bloom, your unique trait will surpass the
Transparent level and reach the Colorful level.”
The top-tier knight smiled.
“But if you greedily hold onto both at the same time, your
arrogance will ultimately stifle your ability to bloom.”
His gaze flicked briefly to the Heavenly Demon.
Engaged with Sytriss, the steward.
BOOM!
BOOM—!
Explosions erupted as Sytriss and the Heavenly Demon fought,
too engrossed to notice anything else.
Though the Heavenly Demon seemed at a disadvantage, his
dark red blood-cloud surged, gradually shifting the tide.
Choi Han’s eyes followed the knight’s glance.
He saw the Heavenly Demon’s smiling face, reveling in his
growth.
“A unique trait belongs only to those who define their existence
clearly.”
“…”
Choi Han bit his lip, hearing the knight’s words.
His unyielding black sword aura—
It bore the path of a life holding hope amid despair.
This was Choi Han’s pride in his existence.
Yet, facing the top-tier knight, that aura wavered.
The knight’s plain iron swords, cloaked in faint gray mist, was
steadier than Choi Han’s black dragon (Yong).
The top-tier knight.
His certainty surpassed Choi Han’s.
His swordsmanship was superior.
His aura steadier.
His technique was more refined.
‘He must’ve lived longer than me.’
Though not a single-lifer like Choi Han, the knight, born of
chaos, outstripped him in experience and years.
He called everyone “child.”
‘Strong.’
Indeed, strong.
The top-tier knight was the strongest swordsman Choi Han had
ever faced.
Certainty of self.
A unique approach to life.
Understanding of power.
Years spent with the sword.
He excelled in all.
Such a foe was rare.
Until now, Choi Han had always surpassed enemies in some
aspects, holding his path firm.
“Hm. Though His Holiness’s vitality is as tenacious as chaos—”
GAAAH—
Amid the Pope’s screams, the knight aimed both swords at Choi
Han.
“I must save him.”
Because he didn't originally think that the Pope would lose to
Cale.
The Pope’s hungry followers, driven by immense greed, seemed
unbeatable.
He thought the Pope would seize Cale as a vessel for the God of
Chaos.
Yet Cale, tainted by chaos, pressed forward and even captured
the Pope.
‘If even an unrestrained Pope falls…’
As the top-tier knight, he had to act.
“You can’t stop me. Unblooming swordsman and dragon.”
He spoke calmly.
Choi Han froze.
His gaze passed the knight to an approaching figure.
“!”
His pupils shook.
The knight gave a faint smile, charging at Choi Han.
BOOM—!
With a roar, his two swords were blocked.
“Heh.”
One stopped before a smiling Clopeh.
“…”
The other before a stern Choi Han.
Choi Han looked at Clopeh.
He’d seen him recklessly charge here, ignoring all else.
The arrived Clopeh—
“So strong.”
Blood trickled from his lips.
“Pretty fast, though.”
The knight flicked his sword lightly.
“Guh!”
Clopeh groaned, knocked back.
His white aura was mostly slashed.
Crack.
His sword cracked.
Choi Han knew it was the Sekka family’s prized blade.
Yet it nearly split in two.
Thanks to it, Clopeh lived.
“…”
Choi Han saw Clopeh’s battered body.
Wounds from luring Mor.
From blocking knights rushing to the Pope.
From breaking through to reach here.
Now, blocking the top-tier knight’s sword, he bled from internal
injuries, his face deathly pale, blood dark.
His death-mana-tainted body, though controlled, was in
trouble.
“Another nuisance.”
The knight’s gaze on Clopeh was more dismissive than toward
Choi Han or Soo Hyuk.
He barely acknowledged his approach.
With a casual swing—
“Urgh!”
Clopeh rolled awkwardly to dodge.
BOOM!
The ground where he stood shattered under gray mist.
Clopeh rose, gripping his broken sword, and spoke warmly:
“No one stops Lord Cale’s path.”
Choi Han thought:
‘Lunatic.’
A complete lunatic.
An undeniable one.
Seeing Clopeh, Choi Han realized his state.
‘I’m unharmed.’
No injuries.
Just dust.
“Ha!”
I’m the most unharmed?
The realization left him speechless.
Clang!
Those who hurt Choi Jung Soo and Choi Jung Gun were
unforgivable.
He’d been ready to give everything.
Why am I unharmed?
Has this happened before?
Since gaining this aura, he hadn’t been injured.
Even against the Blood Demon in the Central Plains.
‘This aura.’
It kept him standing, uninjured.
But—
‘Is this what I want?’
This faint aura, barely coating his blade.
Is this all it can do?
“No.”
In the dark forest, perhaps one has to survive like that in order
to protect and safeguard oneself.
But out in the outside world, Choi-Han becomes something
more than that.
When he gained this power, he wanted to be the first to step
forward and protect others.
Still did.
So why—
‘Clopeh’s battered, but I’m unharmed?’
Lord Cale was also badly injured.
Soo Hyuk, even the Heavenly Demon—all worse off.
Only I’m unharmed.
This might not be a bad thing.
Cale or Raon would be relieved.
‘…Unacceptable.’
Yes.
Unacceptable.
He wanted to be the sword standing in front of Cale.
Buzz—Buzz—
The black aura around Choi Han trembled, flickering.
“Not good.”
The knight sensed the shift.
“I can’t let you bloom.”
As a member of the Five-Colored Blood Family and a supreme
paladin with power rivaling the Three Emperors, he was far
from pleased to see another powerhouse of this caliber
emerge.
“It must be cut off before it blooms.”
Ignoring others, he charged straight at Choi Han.
Tap!
As he lunged—
“…”
Choi Han retracted all black aura, facing the knight with pure
flesh.
Erasing his wild black dragon aura, he coated his blade with the
reclaimed flames.
The knight had said:
A unique trait belongs only to those who define their existence
clearly.
The Heavenly Demon—
Claiming (or being) the cult’s sky, he created matching cloud-
mist.
So what’s my desire?
Whether clinging to hope in despair or forging a path, Choi Han
stripped away pretense, reaching his core:
I—
He traced the foundation of his journey.
‘I, that’s right—’
As he’d just thought.
‘I want to be the sword on the frontline.’
That's right.
To protect my companions, friends, and family,
To defend our homeland and the place we call home,
To safeguard everything around us as a fellow human—
He will stand at the forefront and face every enemy.
Buzz—Buzz—
Choi Han’s sword trembled.
“!”
The knight’s pupils shook.
Their blades were unavoidable.
“…Tch, it’s obviously not fully bloomed yet.”
BOOM—!
A faint but fierce black flame surged wildly.
And—
It didn’t retreat.
Choi Han and the knight’s swords clashed, neither yielding.
Choi Han held his ground.
“…I miscalculated.”
The knight sighed, sweat beading on his brow for the first time.
Behind the sword bearing faint black flames, Choi Han’s gaze
made him mutter:
“I awakened a beast.”
Clopeh, watching, smiled faintly:
“It’s been a long time.”
He hadn’t seen Choi Han like this in ages.
At that moment—
“…Dragon Knight.”
The black-haired sword master who rode a bone dragon to
defend the Henituse territory.
When Cale held his shield, this man vowed to crush all
obstacles ahead.
He stood here now.
Clopeh chuckled:
“Tame, my ass.”
For the first time, he refuted Lord Cale’s assessment:
“He's clearly the craziest one.”
Choi Han.
The craziest person in Clopeh’s eyes.
“…”
When Choi Han received Cale’s sword and protected something
properly for the first time—
He was back to that moment.
Chapter 2-456: …Can I Take It? (19)
Choi Han faced off against the top-tier knight.
But the standoff broke quickly.
CLANG!
The knight stepped back, slashing at the gap.
Choi Han leapt back too.
“…”
The knight stared at his palm.
A rare numbness tingled.
‘Not fully mastered his unique trait yet.’
If earlier it was just a “seed” showing signs, now that seed was
restless, ready to sprout.
Yet no real breakthrough.
Even so—
‘Such power.’
The knight couldn’t fathom what unique trait this contradictory
blend of despair and hope would give birth to.
‘Intriguing.’
Neither pure despair nor mere hope, but something new.
A unique trait requiring such long refinement.
Beyond the Colorful level, he sensed ‘something extraordinary’
emerging.
Hum—Hum—
The knight’s face grew stern, the gray mist on his blade thicker
than before.
Its form was hard to discern.
That was his true nature.
“Come.”
With his declaration, Choi Han, cloaked in faint aura, charged
again.
No fear of death in his figure.
Only the enemy in his eyes.
‘Still far off.’
In the heat of battle, Choi Han’s mind grew colder.
‘Slim chance of winning.’
He couldn’t defeat this knight with his strength.
So he had to endure.
‘And it’s a chance.’
He faintly felt clashing with this knight could deepen his trait’s
understanding.
A chance to grow stronger.
‘But not now.’
He knew what mattered.
“Back off!”
He shouted at Clopeh, who wanted to help.
That guy would die or be gravely injured if he kept fighting.
No, the knight would likely kill him.
He couldn’t witness that.
‘Right.’
No one else could get hurt.
Hum—Hum—
His black aura trembled, buzzing.
The sound evoked a beast, or something greater—like a
dragon’s roar.
BOOM—!
Choi Han clashed with the knight again.
He roared:
“You bastard!”
Fury blazed on his face.
Smirk. The knight smiled.
“Don’t forget your duty.”
Blocking Choi Han’s sword were the knight’s palms.
Gray-mist-wrapped hands held the blade.
His two longswords—
“Clopeh! Human!”
One aimed at Clopeh, the other at Cale.
“Take the soil from a sprouting seed, and it collapses.”
The knight knew Choi Han would grow stronger fighting him.
So he’d destroy his pillars.
A simpler, effective method.
“!”
Choi Han went speechless.
One sword at Clopeh.
Another at Cale.
Despair crossed his face, too late to intercept.
“I’m here!”
Raon appeared.
In the Henituse battle, he was the steadfast shield behind or
beside them.
Hum—Hum—
As the swords struck, shields formed before Clopeh and Cale.
BOOM—!
The gray-mist swords clashed with the shields.
Raon’s shields cracked.
But the young dragon hastily formed new ones.
As long as they regenerated, he could hold on.
As long as those inside stayed unharmed.
He knew this deeply.
“Ah!”
But Raon’s eyes widened in shock.
A detail he missed.
“This is bad!”
Choi Han realized too.
“Lord Cale!”
He instinctively shouted Cale’s name.
Cale, standing still, turned his head.
A sword.
It seemed to fly at Cale.
But it didn’t.
“How cunning.”
As Cale spoke—
BOOM—!
A deafening roar erupted.
A gray-covered shield appeared.
It blocked the sword.
“Urgh, ugh—”
The shield protected the Pope.
The sword aimed to kill him.
“What are you doing?”
To Choi Han’s question, the knight smiled:
“Didn’t I say? I’m here to save the Pope.”
Spreading his arms, he recalled his swords, stepping toward
Cale and Choi Han.
Thud!
Unlike before.
Gray mist swirled around him—
A being born with chaos, the Church’s strongest, rivaling
Colorful level wanderers, declared with a smile:
“Death is salvation. It is the path to liberation from this world's
chaos.”
The top-tier knight.
A fanatic crazier than Clopeh, devoted to the God of Chaos.
“…Damn—”
Despair crossed Choi Han’s face.
"Something's wrong with the top-tier knight! He must not
touch our human or our families!
As Raon roared with resolve—
—Sniff.
Only Cale’s expression grew subtle.
He’d noticed something odd earlier.
—Sniff! No hidden pouch either!
The Sound of the Wind, frantically searching for the artifact,
struggled.
‘As long as we find it, we can run away!’
The Pope was battered enough.
Choi Jung Soo and Soo Hyuk were in bad shape.
Neutralize the knight who hurt the team leader, and they could
leave.
No need to clash head-on with the knight.
But while searching—
—Sniff.
Nothing.
—Sniff. It’s definitely here.
The Sound of the Wind confirmed the Pope had it.
Yet she found nothing.
—Sniff… Oh?
A surprised exclamation.
A shocking discovery.
—I found the Chaos Carried by Wind’s location.
As the knight’s sword aimed at the Pope.
As the shield blocked it—
Cale got his answer.
Gazing at the trembling Pope, wrapped in crimson lightning, he
heard:
—The artifact reacted just now.
The Sound of the Wind informed him.
—In the Pope’s heart.
Not a hidden pouch near the heart.
The artifact was inside the heart.
Precise coordinates.
Watching the writhing Pope and the knight’s zeal, Cale
concluded.
“Hey.”
He whispered to the trembling Pope.
“Chaos Carried by Wind… there's more than one way to
activate it, right?”
The Pope's pupils suddenly turned to Cale.
Cale asked softly:
“One of the ways is to pierce your heart? No… it's your death?”
The Pope’s reaction confirmed it.
“Did I get it right?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Cale caught the subtle
emotional fluctuations on the Pope's face. Cale sighed.
‘If it’s in his heart… how do I take it?’
A tricky problem.
Worse, another realization—
If the Pope’s heart was pierced, his death would unleash a gray
plague on the Demon Realm.
‘This is tough—’
Mid-thought, Cale froze.
“…!”
His gaze shot to the window.
Beyond Moraka Castle’s walls.
The looming forest.
Yes, from there.
—Cale!
The Super Rock warned.
BOOM—
The ground trembled.
—Cale, something’s coming!
The Dominating Aura urged.
Cale sensed an approaching presence.
From the forest encircling Moraka.
Drawing closer.
A massive aura surged.
‘What’s this?’
Its pressure rivaled the top-tier knight at full power.
No.
‘Stronger.’
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Cale’s heart pounded.
Instinctive danger response.
—Hm.
The Sky Eating Water gulped.
—Water.
As she spoke—
The top-tier knight sighed.
“One of the Three Emperors is here.”
Ah.
Cale exhaled softly.
The Three Emperors.
Wanderers of the Five-Colored Blood Family.
One of three with Colorful level unique traits.
An Emperor had arrived.
His unique trait manifested as a water dragon.
‘Wow.’
Cale suddenly felt a splitting headache.
Things suddenly got complicated.
‘Why now?’
He’d expected the Emperors to come for Choi Jung Gun in the
Demon Realm.
But so soon?
Choi Jung Gun wasn’t even here.
Only Cale’s group.
Cale planned to stir chaos in the Demon Realm, drawing
wanderers’ attention from the New World.
Using that distraction to solve the Transparent Blood issue on
Earth-3, then find the Absolute God.
But he hadn’t even started the chaos yet.
As soon as he exerted his power, he instantly attracted the
other party. This is really strange.
‘Ah.’
He guessed why.
‘The Demon King.’
Demon King, Hunters, Church of Chaos.
Allies sharing intelligence likely brought the Emperor.
‘Damn.’
A miscalculation.
He’d hoped to pit them against each other.
But now he’s at risk of being surrounded.
‘Should we escape?’
But where is the chance to escape?
Even with Raon’s teleportation, can we buy time in front of the
top-tier knight?
And what about the artifact in the Pope bastard’s heart?
Apart from injuring the Pope, we haven't really dealt a serious
blow to the opponent yet.
—Cale.
As Cale’s face darkened—
—Sniff.
The Sound of the Wind whispered.
—There is a bead of energy dormant in the heart. It is
estimated that an explosion will be triggered.
In fact, her voice was barely audible.
—It is just lodged in the heart. It is not completely fused with
the heart. It should be able to be separated from the Pope's
heart.
Amid her words—
BOOM—
The tremor grew closer.
The Emperor approached.
Faster.
Like it’d crush everything.
But—
—…Heart?
When hearing the word "heart", someone who was not Cale
reacted.
—…Energy in the heart…?
Cale suddenly froze.
‘…Crybaby?’
Vitality of the Heart.
The Crybaby old man reacted to “heart.”
—I'm so hungry.
The Glutton Priestess growled hungrily.
“Hm?”
Cale’s eyes glinted.
He sensed an answer.
Without killing the Pope, just extract the energy from his
heart—
“…it might actually work?”
The Crybaby old man, excited, said:
—Cale! Can I, can I finally become stronger too?
Hm?
Cale was stunned.
He hadn’t considered that at all.
—I, I also want to drink the elixir. I, I also want to eat delicious
food, and I also want to become stronger...!
The old man spoke cautiously:
—…Can I take it?
Hm?
—Big sis.
The Crybaby old man said to the Glutton Priestess:
—Can’t we eat that heart’s energy?
Ah.
Cale stood dazed.
In fact, that question was originally part of Cale's plan.
‘This—’
Things seemed to be taking a strange turn.
—You can eat it.
The Glutton answered hungrily.
—Now the shield is stained with chaos, so it is feasible.
The glutton also taught the method:
—If you stick the shield into the Pope's chaos and then pull it
out, the energy in the heart should be drawn in. This way, you
can temporarily use the shield to store that energy before
clearing the chaos in the shield.
Oh.
Store it in the shield?
Cale thought of his Embrace power.
But the Glutton offered a simpler way:
—If I were to lead them, those mouths would spit out the
energy in the heart.
Calmly, she added:
—Because they get scared when they see me eating.
Oh.
Cale exclaimed.
The Glutton seemed especially cool now.
The Cheapskate reacted:
—If this keeps up, Cale’s going to end up snatching all of the
God of Chaos’s artifacts! He already took everything from the
Holy Land—the Primordial’s Night—even the broken dagger!
Haha!
(TL note: previously translated as Night of Genesis)
Uh.
Come to think of it.
That's true.
At this rate, he’d take all the Church of Chaos’s artifacts.
‘…Is it really okay for me to take all of it?’
Is that allowed?
—S-Sis, store it in the shield first, and if it’s fine, we can share it
later, okay? I want to be stronger, too!
Cale ignored the Crybaby for now.
BOOM—
The Emperor was closing in.
The top priority now is to turn the situation in Cale's favor.
“…”
Cale’s gaze locked on the Pope.
The Pope was suddenly stared at by Cale as if he were looking
at a treasure, and he began to feel a strange fear.
“Ugh, urgh—”
Writhing in pain, but felt ominous because of Cale's strange
look.
Buzz—Buzz—
The Chaos Dagger in Cale’s possession vibrated.
The Pope wasn’t the only one devouring and emitting chaos.
Now—
[Chaos Dagger (Grade: Legendary)]
[Its original chaos attribute is gone, leaving only vast,
unattributed divine power.]
Though only pure divine power remained, and it recognized
Cale as its master—
Buzz—Buzz—
It stirred, sensing something delicious.
—No, that’s mine!
The Crybaby protested fiercely.
Cale just felt his head buzzing.
“Be quiet.”
His command silenced the ancient powers and the artifact.
All eyes focused on him.
With Cale gripping the Pope’s neck, attention was inevitable.
Especially with the Emperor’s arrival, allies looked to their
leader, enemies to their foe’s leader.
At that moment—
“Hey.”
Ignoring the gazes, Cale spoke.
To the Pope:
“Release more chaos.”
“…Ugh, huh?”
The Pope, wracked by crimson light, struggled as Cale calmly
stated his demand.
“Use the power of chaos on me.”
Enough to embed the shield deeply.
“As much as possible. Like that wave tide earlier.”
The Pope’s pupils trembled.
Understandably so.
After all, the enemy who was strangling his neck suddenly
asked to be attacked with full force.
As his eyes were truly filled with chaos—
“Hurry up.”
Cale gave him a murderous look with an impatient tone.
The Pope trembled involuntarily and began to mobilize the
power of chaos.
“Heh.”
Cale smiled when he saw this.
The enemy's face turned pale instantly.
But Cale found it amusing.
Regardless—
‘I’ll drain the Church of Chaos completely dry.’
At this moment, Cale’s heart was pounding at the realization
that he had seized all of the God of Chaos’s key artifacts, and
might even be on the verge of ruining the God of Chaos
entirely.
Chapter 2-457: The Gray Shield (1)
Chapter 56: The Gray Shield
The Pope ignited chaos.
Chomp. Chomp.
Countless mouths reappeared.
And Cale—
“Not enough!”
He grabbed the Pope’s collar, shaking him.
“Why only this much chaos?! Keep pouring it out!”
“Ugh, urgh…”
The Pope, with a chaotic gaze beyond confusion, swayed dizzily.
“…”
“…”
The knights, even the top-tier knight—
And—
“Human, what are you doing?”
Even allies, including Raon, stared at Cale in disbelief.
“Hey!”
Cale pressed the Pope.
“Why so little chaos?! Make a tide like before!”
“Ugh, urgh—”
The Pope couldn’t comprehend.
Neither could enemies nor allies.
BOOM—
A violent tremor shook the ground, making everyone but Cale
and the Pope glance out the window.
—…Dragon!
Cale was no exception.
The Sky Eating Water reacted sharply, forcing him to turn
toward the window.
The rear garden housed a small castle-like annex.
From here, the main castle blocked the outer walls from view.
The Church’s forces were likely clashing fiercely with the
attacking Demon King’s army.
Raon muttered dazedly:
“A dragon…”
Beyond the main castle, a dragon’s silhouette rose.
—Same as the one in the Central Plains.
As the Super Rock noted, it wasn’t a Western dragon from the
Nameless World or Apitoyu.
It resembled an Eastern dragon.
Like the Black Yong and White Yong in Choi Han and Choi Jung
Soo’s swords, this massive dragon soared from behind the main
castle.
It hadn’t reached the walls yet—
But—
—Overwhelming presence.
As the Super Rock said, its size was visible even from here.
BOOM—
The ground’s tremors showed it was rapidly approaching.
A blue dragon.
Not a mere energy phantom.
It exuded a living being’s vivid aura.
Scales glinted blue, its horned head bore glowing eyes.
This dragon, soaring alone in the night, radiated divinity.
“The Dragon King. The Third Emperor has indeed arrived.”
Cale caught the top-tier knight’s low murmur.
Dragon King—
Likely referring to this blue dragon.
“A calamity has come.”
His next words left Cale speechless.
BOOM—
The tremors intensified, rattling the windows.
‘Damn.’
Cale realized.
‘Beyond imagination.’
He’d thought dealing with the Five-Colored Blood Family after
resolving Earth-3’s Transparent Blood would be around the
same level.
But this was a delusion.
—Not a god, so why…!
The Sky Eating Water’s voice, laced with anger and despair,
exploded in his mind.
—Why is he so powerful even though he is not a god?
The three strongest members of the Five Color Blood Family
who possess the Colorful level unique traits.
Three Emperors.
They are close to God and must not be regarded as mere
wanderers.
And what does "transcendence" mean for the first emperor
among the Three Emperors who was the first wanderer?
At this moment, Cale fully understood the heavy weight that
surpassed everything.
Hum—Hum—
Between the dragon’s horns, a figure faintly appeared.
“…The Third Emperor.”
So he was an Emperor.
Approaching Moraka Castle.
“…”
The Emperor looked down.
“Pathetic.”
His verdict on Moraka’s walls and main castle.
“The Church of Chaos is pathetic.”
His gaze shifted sideways.
With a hand gesture—
Whoosh—
A water pillar lifted someone skyward.
“Urgh—”
A high-ranking knight, one who chased Soo Hyuk and met Cale.
The Emperor spoke:
“Someone imitating the First Emperor is here?”
“Guh!”
The knight, with dozens of fractures, couldn’t answer, barely
clinging to life.
The Emperor didn’t care for his response.
“The Demon King mentioned something interesting, so I came.
But I heard even more intriguing news.”
He came to the Demon Realm for Choi Jung Gun.
Lacking a clear path, he’d contacted the Demon King for intel.
He needed to find Choi Jung Gun quickly.
To kill the wanderer who knew the “Transcender’s” secret.
“Last time, the Church of Chaos failed to clean up.”
Due to the Church’s Saint, he couldn’t act fully, letting Choi
Jung Gun escape with “chaos corruption.”
“Ren.”
“Yes, Lord Emperor.”
Wanderers Cho and Ren, with Transparent level traits, stood
before him. He continued:
“Doesn’t this feel familiar?”
Ren nodded, grasping his hint.
“Like the ‘Primordial Night.’”
The wanderers’ ambush on the Church of Chaos’s holy land,
“Primordial Night,” in the New World.
And the Church’s schemes in Moraka Castle.
Both battles had something off.
When Cho and Ren attacked Primordial Night, they sensed
someone’s interference.
“They’re meddling again.”
The same thing is happening here.
Behind the Church and Demon King’s clash, something
intervened.
“Right. It seems there are some fake wanderers pretending to
be the First Emperor.”
Like those who once posed as the Church to deceive Cho and
Ren.
Now reversed.
“He's called Cale Henituse, right?”
“Yes. That person seems to be here.”
Ren’s eyes gleamed.
She must help the Three Emperors find Cale.
“Interesting.”
The Emperor’s lips curled.
“Thought he was in the New World, but here he is.
Fascinating.”
Despite his smiling tone, his eyes glinted coldly.
“…Really, very cunning.”
Daring to impersonate the Five-Colored Blood Family, the First
Emperor?
“We need to get rid of these rats before we go find Choi Jung-
gun.”
He decided to act personally.
The Emperor, obsessive about his goals, wouldn’t let Choi Jung
Gun, tainted by chaos, live without confirmation.
This time is no exception.
He will never tolerate any troublemakers.
“…”
His gaze turned toward the Moraka Castle below.
The castle was brightly lit, and living creatures could be seen
running around.
He doesn't know if they are followers of the Church of Chaos or
Demon King.
But Cale Henituse and his team must be among them.
“Crushing this shoddy toy won’t even delay me.”
He decided to raze this crude castle.
Total destruction would kill everyone.
Even if—
Someone survived, fleeing the ruins.
“Killing someone escaping would be fun too.”
A cruel smile curved his lips.
“…”
Ren, watching, stayed silent.
The Emperor, a different-tier powerhouse, could destroy
Moraka instantly.
Perhaps the Church of Chaos would fall today.
Colorful level unique trait.
That power was godlike.
Neither the Church nor Demon King’s army grasped the Three
Emperors’ true strength.
‘That’s why the Church tries betrayal and tricks.’
Per the God of Chaos’s wishes.
But the god didn’t know the Emperors’ power.
He thought only gods were supreme.
Not true.
‘The Three Emperors are proof.’
The Five-Colored Blood wanderers knew their greatness.
Not gods, but near-divine, their future world was unimaginable.
‘Ugh…’
Ren suppressed a sigh.
‘…Cale Henituse…’
Seeing him, she thought of the First Emperor.
Though the Third Emperor raged at Cale’s imitation, Ren
couldn’t shake other thoughts.
'I'm afraid it's not that simple.'
Cale Henituse.
There was something different about him.
His gaze, confronting the God of Chaos’s pupils directly.
Similar yet distinct from the First Emperor.
Weaker, yet—
‘Why does it make me feel so uneasy?’
She cut off her thoughts.
“Advance.”
At the Emperor’s command, the massive blue dragon moved.
Whoosh—Whoosh—
Waves roared.
Yet no tide or droplet appeared.
But the sound evoked a tsunami’s terror.
“Lord Gimon!”
Moraka’s lord, Gimon, watched breathlessly, urged by his true
steward to decide.
He hesitated.
“Lord, you must flee now!”
The old steward was firm.
“Or you’ll die!”
Gimon spoke:
“What about the others?”
“…!”
The steward fell silent.
“Fleeing is easy! But what about the servants? The staff? The
demon kin? The residents?”
Moraka housed more residents than Church followers.
In this midnight chaos, they were surely panicked.
“Lord, there’s no time to hesitate.”
The steward pointed outside—to the blue dragon nearing the
walls.
“The fortress will collapse.”
“Damn it!”
Gimon, feeling lost, bit his lip and decided.
“Go!”
He rushed from the main castle’s office, pointing.
“To the rear garden!”
In Moraka, only one might side with him.
Cale Henituse.
He’d saved the Count.
Maybe he had a way.
“I can’t just flee!”
Moraka’s demon kin.
Avenging Count Lüppe.
The territory risked crumbling.
He couldn’t sit idle.
“Follow me!”
Gimon raced to Cale, anger surging—not just at enemies, but at
himself for poor choices and failing to stop the Demon King
from taking the Count.
That anger faded, leaving resolve.
Manipulated by all sides, he wouldn’t flee pathetically.
Not alone.
His steps quickened with determination.
At that moment—
“Urgh—!”
The Pope, seizing Cale’s distraction by the dragon, unleashed all
his chaos.
Cale, focused on the dragon, let his thunderfire weaken.
The Pope wouldn’t miss this.
“As you wished, fool!”
Crackle! Crackle!
A gray tide surged at Cale.
As he stood directly before the Pope, it crashed like a vertical
cage.
“!”
The Pope’s body froze.
“Heh.”
Cale smiled.
“As expected.”
Feigning distraction, he grinned, satisfied.
Crackle—
Facing the tide of countless mouths, he raised his shield.
Buzz—Buzz—!
As the gray-tainted shield trembled—
Crackle!
All mouths halted.
The Pope shuddered under Cale’s gaze.
His eyes gleamed.
“Farewell.”
Before the words settled—
“Wait, are you—”
The Pope realized Cale’s intent.
“Trying to kill me?!”
He laughed.
“Go ahead, kill me!”
Both smiled.
“This is bad!”
The top-tier knight sensed danger, rushing at Cale—
BOOM!
Choi Han blocked his path.
“Ugh…”
The knight, stalled by Choi Han’s fierce aura for a moment—
Buzz—
The shield—
Pierce!
Stabbed deep into the gray tide.
The Pope heard Cale’s whisper:
“I’ll enjoy this.”
What?
He tried to speak but froze.
Thud!
His heart pounded.
No—
Not a heartbeat.
The chaos energy in his heart rioted.
Chaos Carried by Wind.
It thrashed wildly.
If it erupted, he’d die, but a gray plague would sweep the
Demon Realm, fulfilling the God of Chaos’s vision.
‘Ah—’
Yet it didn’t erupt.
He realized.
“This, This bastard—”
Cursing for the first time, he glared at Cale.
But he was powerless.
Gulp.
The Glutton acted.
“Eating now.”
When the Glutton decided—
Thud!
The Pope felt the heart’s energy surge.
“Guh—!”
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
Then—
“Ah…”
“…!”
All saw a bizarre sight.
Chomp. Chomp.
The devouring mouths—
One, two—
Screech—
Wail—
Cried out in agony.
“Human!”
Cale’s arms grayed deeper, past his elbows toward his
shoulders.
As Raon shouted in shock—
—Found it.
“Found it.”
Cale’s lips twisted.
He smiled.
AAAH—!
AAAH—!
Countless mouths let out shrill screams.
Then—
“Guh!”
The Pope began to struggle.
The energy residing in the heart begins to become restless.
Because it is the divine artifact of the God of Chaos.
That energy contained chaos.
It rushed towards the being that was eager to devour chaos.
AAAH—
AAAH—
Horrific wails filled the space.
The gray tide churned.
Most couldn’t see within.
But one thing was clear—
The mouths cried for help.
None dared approach.
“Heh.”
In the gray tide—
A human’s laugh, eroded by gray.
Not holy.
Not beautiful.
Not tragic.
Just chilling screams and nauseating visuals.
The scene ended swiftly.
“Guh!”
The Pope spat blood, collapsing.
The gray tide crumbled.
The mouths vanished.
Only Cale stood, stroking his shield.
Gray spread from his shoulders to his collarbone.
Yet he smiled, satisfied.
—I'm full.
The Indestructible Shield.
Despite the gray taint, its heart pattern remained vivid.
A round gray orb nestled in the center.
—I’ll keep it safe.
Chaos Carried by Wind.
The Glutton was very satisfied.
—But, Cale.
She spoke softly.
—I've been tainted by chaos.
Indeed.
Cale was too.
Chaos’s corruption.
Both shield and Cale were just enduring.
He pretended the pain didn’t exist.
—We can hold on! Just have to purify it!
Vitality of the Heart. The Crybaby old man had said.
Cale agreed.
—Cale.
But the situation was dire.
The Glutton warned softly.
—It will be hard to resist
The blue dragon.
Facing a beast coming to raze Moraka, she stated plainly:
—Tainted by chaos and holding a divine artifact, we can’t block
it with full strength.
She added:
—But we still have to block it, right?
Cale sighed in reply.
Hearing it, the Glutton gave a wry smile, saying helplessly:
—Otherwise everything will collapse.
She was unusually lucid today.
Cale glimpsed Lord Gimon rushing from the rear garden to the
annex.
The giant blue dragon was clear in the distance.
Ugh.
If that thing hit, the walls would collapse instantly.
“It's a bit difficult for us to escape on our own.”
Holding the grayed shield, Cale spoke to his allies for the first
time since the battle began.
“Let’s make this quick.”
Thud.
Kicking the unconscious Pope, he nodded at the top-tier knight.
“Do you want to escape? Or continue to fight?”
This was the first thing Cale said to the top-tier knight.
Chapter 2-458: The Gray Shield (2)
Escape? Or keep fighting?
“Heh.”
The top-tier knight let out a sigh-like chuckle.
“Escape from whom?”
Cale pointed out the window in response.
“Those guys.”
The blue dragon was visible outside.
By “those guys,” Cale clearly meant both the Demon King’s
army and the Five-Colored Blood Family.
“Keep fighting—means with you?”
“Yep.”
Cale pointed at himself.
“It means fighting us.”
“Hm.”
The top-tier knight lowered his sword, pausing before speaking:
“We could join forces against them.”
Ha.
Cale let out a scoff.
He had to judge the situation calmly.
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Though the Church of Chaos was trying to backstab both the
Hunters and the Demon King, they’d failed both times.
“To you, I’m the biggest obstacle. You’d take me out first,
right?”
An external enemy takes priority over internal issues.
‘For the knights, retreating now is the best move.’
From Cale’s perspective, the top-tier knight withdrawing with
his knights would be the most advantageous.
‘It could turn into a three-way siege otherwise.’
If the Church of Chaos retreated, Cale could buy time for other
preparations.
“Hm.”
The top-tier knight scanned his surroundings.
A subtle smile played on his lips, deliberately stalling.
‘Quite the dilemma.’
Retreating felt unsatisfying.
‘The grand plan is already derailed.’
The scheme for the Demon Realm had collapsed.
So—
“What’s there to be unsatisfied about?”
At Cale’s question, the knight only smiled.
Seeing that smug expression, Choi Han couldn’t help but clench
his lips.
BOOM—
The dragon drew closer.
Then—
BOOM!
The castle trembled.
If this continued, the enemy would overrun them.
Choi Han couldn’t hide his unease.
At that moment—
“Didn’t you originally have two plans?”
Cale’s voice was chillingly calm.
He pressed his foot on the unconscious Pope’s head,
continuing:
“First, control the Demon Realm with the gray plague.”
And the other.
“Second, offer me as a sacrifice for the God of Chaos’s
descent.”
“!”
The top-tier knight’s pupils constricted.
Cale looked at him, lips curling:
“Planning to botch the second one too?”
Tch.
The knight let out a heartfelt sigh:
“You’re threatening me with yourself?”
Cale shrugged:
“Less a threat, more looking out for you.”
That crooked smirk was infuriating.
“If I can’t escape and they catch me, what then?”
The Demon King aside, the Five-Colored Blood wanderers
would surely kill Cale.
He’d destroyed three of their families.
“I’d die horribly in their hands.”
His allies’ faces shifted, but Cale calmly told the knight:
“Then your second plan will fail too, right?”
Cale hit the mark.
“You need me alive. Intact. For the God of Chaos. It’s your last
mission.”
Well, damn.
The top-tier knight sighed deeply.
The God of Chaos’s direct command was clear—Cale Henituse
had to be sacrificed
All other plans had crumbled.
And now, being used like this?
Cale demanded confidently:
“So, to keep me alive—move.”
Even the Heavenly Demon and Sytriss, the steward locked in
combat, paused to watch.
Sytriss, especially, looked unconvinced.
Her third eye stared at Cale in disbelief.
The problem was—
‘He’s not wrong.’
Every word Cale Henituse spoke was true.
He pressed his foot harder.
Crack.
“Urgh, guh.”
Amid the unconscious Pope’s pained groans, Cale continued
unfazed.
“Or should I die here?”
Tch.
The Heavenly Demon marveled.
Textbook-level threat.
“You think I’m scared of death?”
The Heavenly Demon saw madness in Cale’s eyes.
‘He’s serious.’
This guy wasn’t afraid of death.
Exactly.
That was obvious.
‘Survival matters, but fearing death is another thing.’
Facing Cale’s earnest threat, the Heavenly Demon was
speechless. Then—
Cale didn’t miss the sneaky observer, an expert in betrayal and
ambushes.
“And General Mor.”
“!”
Caught trying to slip away, Mor froze.
Hehe.
Cale smiled at him:
“I drained the Pope’s power, you know?”
Kindly explaining the situation.
“So if I die, my heart stops. Got it?”
Another layer of threat.
“The gray plague will sweep the Demon Realm.”
Just as the Pope’s death would trigger it, so would Cale’s.
He upped the ante:
“There’s no Pope or Saint left to purify the plague now, right?
And you really think the Church of Chaos will help the Demon
King’s army—the ones who killed their precious
sacrifice—purify it?”
“…!”
Mor’s mouth gaped.
What kind of lunatic was this?
The thought hit him instantly.
But Cale savored the moment.
You guys threaten people all the time—So why can’t I?
“General Mor. If that happens, the current Demon King will
cause countless demon deaths. Do you think you can suppress
that information?”
He gestured to his allies.
“Even if I die, my comrades will spread proof it’s the Demon
King’s fault. Clopeh Sekka.”
Cale called Clopeh.
Clopeh, as if it were obvious, pulled out a recording device.
"All conversations have already been recorded."
Although there was no video footage of the battle, the entire
audio process was recorded.
“!”
Mor was stunned again.
This maniac recorded during such a chaotic fight?
How did Cale Henituse know and command Clopeh so
naturally?
It was suffocating.
Of course, Choi Han and the kids averaging ten years old looked
at Clopeh with pale faces, but he showed no shame in his pride
for serving Cale.
“Haha!”
The Heavenly Demon laughed, finding it amusing.
After all this fighting, it came to this.
But it was a good show for us, and we could only laugh.
Hehe.
Cale smiled calmly:
“You have to keep me alive.”
A commanding certainty.
Also the truth.
Cale ordered the top-tier knight:
“So, retreat now.”
He added:
“Take the third-eye kid and the knights, and draw the enemy’s
attention while you’re at it.”
Thud. Thud.
Kicking the Pope’s body, he said:
“Who knows? Maybe I’ll stay as a healthy sacrifice and spare
the Pope?”
“Ha! This is—”
The top-tier knight was speechless.
No, he knew what to say.
Just hard to voice it out loud.
Cale, unhesitant, shifted his gaze to Mor:
“As for Mor, go quietly and stop the Demon King’s army from
attacking us.”
From “General” to neighborly orders, Mor was speechless too.
“That’ll give the Demon King a chance to talk to me. Don’t you
want to eliminate the gray plague’s source? Only I can do that,
right?”
Wow.
Mor marveled inwardly.
Cale waved them off.
“Go on. Move.”
“…”
“…”
They stared in silence.
Cale frowned at their sluggishness.
“What?”
He grew impatient.
“Want to fight? You want to fight now?”
I’m busy as hell.
Why are these people so slow and stupid?
Cale threw out one last line:
“Want to see me die?”
Mor shut his eyes, then opened them sharply.
This guy wasn’t evil or saintly—
‘Chaos.’
Pure chaos.
A lunatic like chaos itself.
“Haha!”
The top-tier knight laughed, finally speaking:
“This time, I’ll follow your lead.”
He signaled Sytriss and the other knights, continuing:
“Cale Henituse. Next time, I’ll come for your healthy body.”
Choi Han glared murderously at the knight, who glanced at him
and ignored it. Choi Han bit his lip, the look saying, “You’re far
off.”
He lost today.
The fact burned in his mind.
‘Next time—’
He’d surpass him.
Though Choi Han vowed silently, the knight didn’t care.
“Eat well, sleep well, stay healthy in mind and body.”
With that, the top-tier knight turned to leave.
‘That lunatic’s abnormal too.’
Mor watched the knight, laughing off Cale’s threat, thinking he
was no ordinary man either.
Then—
“Oh, don't worry about my health. By the way...only you guys
can go”
“Hm?”
The top-tier knight who was leaving the scene in style suddenly
stopped and looked back. Cale smiled and pointed at Soo Hyuk:
“Our team leader.”
“Leave the top-tier knights who did that to him.”
Even now, Cale didn’t forget:
“If you take them too, shouldn’t I just die?”
“…”
The top-tier knight sighed and continued walking.
Tacit agreement.
He turned his back to the crowd and said:
"I can't take them with me anyway."
To keep Cale alive, he shared a grim truth:
“They probably faced the Third Emperor head-on. There’s no
way those guys are coming back alive.”
“…”
Cale’s expression grew subtle.
Those Church of Chaos knights, hunting Cale and Soo Hyuk who
were pretending to be the First Emperor—
The top-tier knight was certain:
Caught between the Demon King’s army and wanderers,
they’re done for.
—Cale. It seems that the Third Emperor is very strong.
Hearing the Super Rock's voice, Cale didn’t reply, just stared at
Mor.
“Ahem.”
Mor faked a cough, inching away.
“Let’s go together.”
Clopeh sidled up, giving Cale a “Did I do well?” look.
“What?”
Cale frowned, and Clopeh froze.
“Huh?”
Cale beckoned the flustered Clopeh.
BOOM—
The dragon finally touched the walls.
A mere touch.
The castle trembled.
Crackle. Crackle.
Cracks appeared in the walls.
Amid this, Cale proceeded methodically.
“I’ll do it?”
“Yep.”
The Heavenly Demon took Clopeh’s place. Clopeh watched him
with regret as the Heavenly Demon patted his shoulder:
“Can’t overwork the injured.”
“!”
Clopeh’s pupils shook.
Shocked, he looked at Cale, who said flatly:
“Rest.”
Ah—
Clopeh’s face lit with emotion, but Cale didn’t care.
Didn’t even glance.
“Lord Cale.”
“I know.”
Cale understood Choi Han’s unspoken words as he approached.
“Tie this guy up.”
Handing the Pope to Choi Han, he pushed open the window.
—I’ll witness General Mor and the top-tier knight’s actions
myself.
Hearing the Heavenly Demon’s voice, Cale—
Whoosh—
Leapt out the window.
Tap.
His feet hit the rear garden’s ground.
“Cale Henituse…!”
Moraka’s lord, Gimon, with his aged steward, blocked Cale’s
path.
Thud. Thud.
Cale patted his shoulder, passing by.
“I’ll buy time. Gather everyone quickly.”
He added:
“Large-scale teleportation magic is coming.”
Gimon’s eyes widened, seeing Cale’s chaos-grayed hand. As
Cale passed, a young dragon appeared before him.
“Lord Gimon! Move fast!”
Hum—Hum—
Vivid black mana, unlike the Demon Realm’s, rose from Raon.
The rear garden.
Mana for teleportation gathered on the vast land.
“Ah!”
Gimon’s joy turned grim.
BOOM—!
A different tremor hit.
“Ah.”
Parts of the walls were collapsing.
The blue dragon could reach the main castle and annex in
moments.
“Human!”
Cale waved casually at Raon’s call.
Raon was the only ally who could cast magic now.
“Focus on teleportation.”
Cale said, leaping off the ground.
“I’ll hold them off meanwhile.”
Right.
Neither the Demon King’s army nor the Church of Chaos could
attack him now.
The Third Emperor was strong, but holding them off
temporarily should be doable, right?
Fwoosh—
Cale soared with the wind.
Choi Han followed.
On, Hong, Soo Hyuk, and Choi Jung Soo stayed—gestured by
Cale to remain.
“Been a while since we fought side by side.”
“Yes, Lord Cale.”
Noting resolve beneath Choi Han’s tame face, Cale smirked and
landed calmly.
Tap.
He landed atop the walls.
Slightly away from the collapsing section.
“…”
“…”
Cale locked eyes with the Emperor.
—…Cale.
The Cheapskate whispered.
—Lots of other wanderers too, huh?
Yep.
Besides Cho and Ren, other wanderers gathered around the
Emperor.
—We’re outnumbered.
The Cheapskate said nervously.
—And the Emperor looks insanely strong. That blue dragon’s
tough to block.
Anyone could see the dragon’s terrifying power.
Plus, wanderers Cho and Ren—Cale recalled their fire and ice
abilities.
Even Choi Han would struggle against both.
Whoosh—Whoosh—
Waves sounded despite no water.
Water serpents appeared beside the dragon, unblocked by the
walls.
Countless giant snakes, each over five meters, hissed, eyeing
Cale.
—…Ugh.
The Cheapskate groaned.
—This is bad.
Tch.
Cale let out a silent laugh.
Speechless for a moment.
The Emperor smirked and asked:
“Are you scared?”
As if responding, the blue dragon opened its maw.
ROAR—!
A ferocious roar shook the sky.
The Emperor, in flowing robes like a martial sect elder, hair
neatly tied, beard fluttering, exuded authority. The Eastern blue
dragon behind him, glaring at Cale, added to the pressure.
—That… that dragon… looks crazy strong…
The Dominating Aura whispered timidly.
—Human!
Raon’s voice came again.
‘No.’
Involving Raon might ease things.
But no one else could handle teleportation.
That wouldn’t do.
Cale shook his head, signaling Raon to continue.
But—
—Human!
Ignoring him, Raon spoke.
—I’ve contacted Goldie Gramps! He’s on his way over after
hearing the news!
Hm?
Cale froze.
The Demon Realm.
Its gray mana differed, but Raon’s “present” attribute let him
use magic freely.
Mages from other worlds might struggle with the Demon
Realm’s mana, needing time to adapt or losing their casting
ability entirely.
‘Right, mages might.’
Cale’s eyes caught the blue dragon’s massive form.
It could collapse walls with a hit.
But he’d seen a bigger dragon.
Truly massive.
Insanely strong.
The oldest.
And rejuvenated.
Whoosh—
Magic activation sounded behind.
—Human, the Arbiter Alliance's Aurora says they’ll teleport
people to these coordinates!
Raon didn’t name who, but Cale knew.
“Heh.”
Cale’s lips curved.
The Third Emperor saw the crooked smile.
Cale stood sideways and suddenly blurted out something.
Answering the “Are you scared” question:
“Scared, my ass!”
Think you’re the only one with a dragon?
I’ve got one too!
And a stronger one for raw combat!
A familiar voice came from behind:
“Young master, you are stained with gray.”
“What a farce.”
Ron’s chilling tone and Beacrox’s flat voice.
And the presence beside Cale and Choi Han, needing no
words—
Glaring arrogantly at the blue dragon.
Upon seeing it, he spoke:
“What’s this? A fake—not even a real dragon?”
Ancient Dragon Eruhaben.
He sneered disdainfully at the Emperor, asking:
“What are you staring at? Are you the one who messed up our
kid like this?”
Ah.
Very nice.
Cale’s mood gradually calmed down.
Chapter 2-459: The Gray Shield (3)
At this moment, the ancient dragon Eruhaben was seething
with irritation.
“What’s that?”
He shot a sidelong glare at the Third Emperor.
“Hm?”
As the silent opponent opened his mouth to speak, Eruhaben
didn’t give him a chance.
“What are you staring at? Speak if you’ve got something to
say.”
Oops.
Cale, watching Eruhaben with an expression of awe and
disbelief—this dragon didn’t give others a chance to speak, yet
urged them to hurry up and talk.
“…”
Of course, Cale pretended not to notice Ron’s silent, mocking
gaze from behind.
“Hey, Choi Han.”
Beacrox leaned in and whispered to Choi Han.
“The Young Master, what’s wrong with his arm? It looks
painful.”
“…”
Thankfully, Choi Han wisely kept his lips sealed.
Truth be told, he couldn’t have gotten a word in anyway.
“…”
The Third Emperor.
Beside him stood five wanderers.
Two of them were Cho and Ren.
The other three appeared to be the Third Emperor’s
subordinates.
“…”
Unnoticed, Beacrox had moved to stand beside Choi Han. He
hadn’t expected Choi Han to respond.
Because his gaze, too, was locked on the enemy.
“…”
Beacrox’s back was drenched in sweat.
‘They’re strong.’
These enemies seemed to have reached a certain realm—a
height that someone like him, not yet a swordmaster, could
never hope to attain.
Suddenly.
Beacrox’s gaze briefly flicked behind him.
“…”
He saw Sui Khan standing in front of Choi Jung Soo, On, and
Hong.
Blood trickled down his arm.
His face was deathly pale.
‘You can become strong even without an aura.’
Recalling Sui Khan’s words, Beacrox gripped his greatsword
tightly.
The kind of power that could cleave through anything.
Though Beacrox would one day wield it, that day wasn’t today.
Even so, he stood by Choi Han’s side.
Because he knew he had to contribute, however small his
strength.
“This imposter dares to act like a dragon?”
The ancient dragon was still prattling on.
Cale deeply felt:
Dragons were indeed ferocious and ill-mannered.
“You call that a dragon?”
Eruhaben launched into a verbal barrage the moment he
appeared.
“Indeed, it is a dragon.”
The Third Emperor finally seized an opening to speak.
He had tried several times but was cut off until Eruhaben’s
tirade paused.
Then he countered:
“Is your stalling done?”
Hmph.
Choi Han swallowed hard.
The ancient dragon Eruhaben.
Despite seeing the state of Cale, Choi Han, and the others, he
deliberately provoked the enemy’s nerves—
All to buy time.
‘Now is the moment we must truly hold our ground.’
Choi Han tightened his grip on his sword.
At that moment.
To the question, “Is your stalling done?”
“No!”
“Not at all.”
Cale and Eruhaben answered in turn.
Shamelessly.
In perfect unison.
“…”
“…”
Man and dragon locked eyes for a moment before turning to
glare at the Third Emperor.
Cale spoke first:
“Right now, no one wants to fight except you. Can’t you just let
us go?”
He demanded boldly.
The ancient dragon went further:
“Let’s chat some more.”
Openly declaring his intent to keep stalling.
“…”
Choi Han and Beacrox burst into incredulous laughter.
“Heh.”
Ron chuckled calmly.
But his eyes had already grown heavy.
Standing behind the castle wall, he surveyed the entire
courtyard below.
Wooo—
Raon’s teleportation circle was nearing completion.
But.
“Butler! The annex is empty!”
“There’s still someone on the third floor!”
“Kitchen staff are almost here!”
The demonkin of Moraka Castle hadn’t fully gathered.
“Damn it!”
Lord Gimon, anticipating a clash tonight between the Church of
God of Chaos, the Demon King’s army, and Cale, had ordered
the servants to stay quiet and hide.
This now delayed the evacuation.
Ron wasn’t the only one who saw this—
The enemy knew it too.
Surveying the scene, the Third Emperor spoke leisurely:
“An interesting group.”
His gaze swept over them one by one:
“A single-lifer bearing the seed of a unique trait.”
Choi Han.
“A dragon whose lifespan has ended yet rejuvenated.”
Eruhaben.
“That young dragon is quite intriguing too. I’d love to study it
closely.”
Beacrox noted, expressionless, that he’d been overlooked.
“And most importantly.”
The Third Emperor fixed his gaze on Cale.
“You intrigue me the most.”
He continued:
“I’d heard tales from the White Star Project. But for someone
capable of having a plate of divinity to appear again—it’s
astonishing.”
Wanderer Ren flinched at his words.
‘A plate of divinity?’
That meant—
One who could bear a god.
Or become a god themselves.
Wasn’t this exactly the kind of absolute god the Hunter families
sought to create?
‘…I see the shadow of a Transcendent in him?’
Ren’s gaze grew darker.
‘Ugh.’
An ominous premonition stirred.
‘What’s wrong?’
To Cho’s silently mouthed question, Ren shook her head.
‘Don’t dwell on it.’
For now, she was merely a pawn under another’s command.
As long as her younger brother was safe.
as long as Cho didn’t die.
Ren couldn’t care less about anything else.
She simply remained silent.
“The Church of God of Chaos and the Demon King’s army’s
strange actions—are you behind them?”
For now, she need only follow the Third Emperor’s orders.
“Interesting.”
The Third Emperor waved his hand.
In that instant, the Blue Dragon reared its head.
Its body and head stretched skyward, as if ready to ascend.
The Third Emperor stood between the dragon’s twin horns.
“Obstacles should be eradicated.”
A faint smile curved the Third Emperor’s lips.
“But interesting things… those can be taken.”
Cale Henituse.
And a few others.
Very intriguing.
Worth taking for study.
He’d come only to kill Choi Jung Gun, but this unexpected
amusement was a bonus.
He decided to savor this game.
“Those arrogant eyes, though, need fixing.”
He knew exactly why these people dared to stand against him.
“A hero’s game, how amusing.”
He willingly embraced the role of villain.
“Go.”
He waved lightly.
Crash—
With the sound of crashing waves, the Blue Dragon moved.
Its scales gleamed with light.
In the pitch-black night, that blue radiance—more beautiful
than stars or moon—shimmered like sunlight on a sparkling
sea.
Roar—
The Blue Dragon’s bellow was ferocious yet carried an
overwhelming majesty that stole breath.
—Ah.
Sky-Swallowing Water let out a sigh.
The sigh held a sense of deprivation.
Cale quickly grasped why.
—It’s water.
That Blue Dragon was water itself.
—Be it sea, rain, or any form, it is the embodiment of water.
It bore the essence of nature, its mere presence evoking
divinity.
This was the power of the Third Emperor’s unique trait.
Hiss—
Crash—
Then, the three water serpents of his accompanying wanderers
charged forward.
Boom!
The three serpents slammed into the castle wall.
Yet the Blue Dragon still gazed skyward, as if to tear the sky
apart.
“Water never stops.”
At the Third Emperor’s words, the Blue Dragon moved.
The Third Emperor smiled, and so did the dragon.
As if they were soul-bound allies, sharing the same emotions.
Cale watched, a subtle feeling stirring within.
It was like his own dialogues with ancient powers.
—Cale.
At that moment, the Glutton Priestess softly called to him.
But Cale had already acted before her voice.
Wooo—Wooo—
A shield appeared.
A shield with wings.
All witnessed it gradually expanding.
“!”
“…!”
Ron and Beacrox froze at the sight.
The shield was gray.
And worse—
“The trees are already corrupted by filth!”
As the Third Emperor said, it was tainted by chaos, lifeless.
Snap!
Beacrox saw Choi Han surge forward from his side.
No matter what, Choi Han refused to let Cale overexert himself
again.
That Blue Dragon—
Just looking at it, its strength was immeasurable.
“It’s too strong… Lord Cale’s water power can’t compare.”
Lord Cale’s water power, Sky-Swallowing Water, was already
formidable among ancient powers.
Yet the Blue Dragon’s calm exuded an even more suffocating
force.
“So I must block it first!”
Hadn’t he vowed to be the frontline sword?
Choi Han resolved to keep that promise.
Boom!
But he was forced to halt.
“Ugh!”
He glared at the water serpent blocking his blade.
The wanderer behind it smirked.
“Mere seed, don’t get cocky.”
Choi Han’s face held neither despair nor rage.
He’d never planned to overreach.
From the start, he knew his weakness but chose to stand at the
forefront.
But—
“Lord Cale!”
He couldn’t let Cale bear this alone.
If Cale had faced that water dragon alone, what price would he
have paid?
Wooo—Wooo—
As the faded gray shield enveloped Moraka Castle—
Boom!
A roar unlike any before thundered through the sky.
“Ah—!”
“Ugh!”
All fleeing people curled up, clutching their ears.
Even Therosa, aide to General Mor of the Demon King’s Third
Army—hesitant to retreat—stumbled from the shock.
A top-tier knight, retreating, turned and saw it.
“A dragon.”
The Blue Dragon, radiating brilliant light.
And before it, another dragon.
A golden dragon, wreathed in shimmering platinum dust, larger
than the water dragon.
Whoosh!
The dragon spread its wings, its massive form standing before
the gray shield.
Cale’s gray shield remained untouched.
Because a dragon guarded it.
“…”
“…”
The Third Emperor’s Blue Dragon.
And the ancient dragon Eruhaben.
The two locked eyes.
A moment later—
Boom!
Their massive forms collided.
Boom! Bang! Boom boom!
Amid the thunderous roars, the earth quaked, and the
surrounding forest was leveled.
“Ugh!”
“Retreat!”
The Demon King’s army began to flee.
The Third Emperor’s water serpents also fell back, avoiding the
clash.
This wasn’t just a collision of titans.
Crash—
The sound of waves echoed.
The water dragon opened its maw.
Roar—
With a bellow, water surged around it, rushing toward
Eruhaben.
Like a raging storm seeking to engulf the ancient dragon.
“Insolent!”
With that cry—
Crash!
Eruhaben beat his wings fiercely, platinum dust swirling around
him, drawn into the storm. To onlookers, it seemed he was
being consumed.
Boom! Bang! Boom boom!
Countless platinum particles began exploding in sequence.
—As expected, that dragon’s attribute is extraordinary.
As the Super Rock had said, Eruhaben fought not with mana-
driven magic but with his own attribute and a presence that
could overwhelm all.
Crash—
The forest unleashed waves to destroy the castle.
Boom! Bang! Bang bang!
The trees forming the forest turned to dust, exploding and
striking the Blue Dragon’s scales.
Roar—
The Blue Dragon and Eruhaben clashed repeatedly, tearing at
each other with massive bodies.
The shockwaves made the gray shield tremble faintly.
‘It's too weak.’
Cale stared at the gray shield, shaking under such aftershocks,
his face stiff.
‘It wouldn’t hold against a direct hit from that Blue Dragon.’
Especially since this dragon was terrifyingly powerful.
‘Its recovery is astounding.’
Boom!
The Blue Dragon, clashing with Eruhaben.
Though Eruhaben’s claws tore its scales—
Crash—
With the sound of water, those scales instantly reformed.
—Cale. It’s water. Not a true dragon.
Water could never be severed.
It wouldn’t collapse.
It wouldn’t break.
It merely flowed.
Though this water dragon had a form—
Its body was water itself, recovering instantly from any
explosive attack.
—The ancient dragon can’t hold on much longer.
Eruhaben was exhausting himself at an alarming rate.
Though he wasn’t panting heavily—
“Haa… haa…”
Those fighting before the gray shield—
Ron, Beacrox, Choi Han—their breaths grew ragged.
Cale quickly understood why.
—The humidity is unbearable.
Beyond the gray shield—
The air around the water dragon had become like an
underwater realm.
Like paper slowly soaked.
The air grew heavier, wetter.
Breathing became harder.
Choi Han muttered unconsciously—
As if—
“The sea…”
It felt like being dragged beneath the ocean’s depths.
Chapter 2-460: The Gray Shield (4)
Choi Han stared at the increasingly ferocious water serpents,
utterly unsure how to counter them.
Crash—
The sound of waves grew distant.
Not because the tide was receding.
But because he was sinking into water, the sound was fading as
he submerged.
Despite being surrounded by forest.
Choi Han felt his body being soaked.
'What exactly—'
What was the Third Emperor’s unique power?
(TL note: changed from 'Unique Trait' to 'Unique Power' as this
chapter gives more context)
What kind of water was this?
It didn’t seem like ordinary water.
Choi Han recalled words from the top-tier knight:
'It’s the Dragon King. The Third Emperor himself has come.'
Dragon King.
A figure from childhood fairy tales.
The ruler of the seas.
The Blue Dragon opened its massive maw again.
Roar—
Its bellow sent ripples through the air.
It wasn’t an illusion.
Blue water droplets appeared, rippling outward.
Centered on the Blue Dragon, a blue water band formed,
expanding relentlessly.
As if to drown everything in a flood.
The Blue Dragon smirked arrogantly at the water band.
Then lunged at Eruhaben.
With supreme arrogance.
Boom!
And then—
“Ugh!”
Eruhaben was forced to retreat.
His platinum dust surged toward the water dragon but—
“It’s being swallowed!”
The water vapor around the dragon devoured the dust.
The dust, engulfed by water, lost its will.
No longer responding to Eruhaben’s control.
And—
“Even striking the Blue Dragon’s body only makes a sound, no
real impact.”
Its form rippled like hitting water, with no solid contact.
Yet the dragon clearly existed.
Eruhaben’s brow furrowed.
Choi Han, mid-battle, glanced at his sword. The Black Yong was
gone, leaving only faint black aura coiling around the blade.
He looked up at the radiant Blue Dragon.
“...Dragon King.”
The moment the word slipped out.
“Hm.”
Someone above looked down at Choi Han.
Snicker—
The Third Emperor laughed.
“Calling me?”
“…!”
Choi Han froze.
Even as the Blue Dragon and Eruhaben clashed fiercely, the
Third Emperor, perched between the dragon’s horns, remained
utterly composed.
He reacted to Choi Han’s words.
Dragon King.
To that term.
“Ah.”
Choi Han stiffened, speechless.
Because he’d meant the Blue Dragon, evoking the Dragon
King’s sea.
But the Third Emperor’s aura was off.
No. It was entirely different.
'They’ve turned blue…!'
The Emperor’s eyes had become a deep azure.
No, the color of water.
The moment those indescribable eyes changed.
“Heh.”
He stood, chuckling.
“You’re calling this child the Dragon King, aren’t you?”
Stroking the Blue Dragon’s horn, his gaze fell on Cale.
When all focused on the dragon, this human alone watched
him.
Meeting those wary eyes, the Third Emperor’s smile deepened.
“I am the Dragon King.”
He clapped lightly.
Clap!
Those still present felt a cool, almost refreshing sensation.
Like plunging into the sea or a valley stream.
“Is the Dragon King in your world also the master of the seas?”
He asked Choi Han with interest, then turned away without
lingering.
Fixing his gaze on Cale, he said:
“But you see, I’ve always been skilled at taming dragons. Being
a Dragon King suits me just fine.”
Eruhaben’s face hardened.
Whether he accepted it or not, the Dragon King Third Emperor
waved dismissively.
Drip, drip.
It began to rain.
But not ordinary rain.
“It’s salty.”
Salty raindrops fell.
And—
Drip, drip.
Each time the salty rain struck the gray shield, it trembled.
Then—
Crash—
With the sound of waves.
Gurgle, gurgle.
Choi Han, battling water serpents in the forest, saw water
pooling past his ankles.
The Blue Dragon.
No, water surging from the Dragon King was eroding everything
at an alarming rate.
The water was excessively salty.
“Pity there’s not even a decent river here.”
The Dragon King Third Emperor spread his arms.
With his motion, the water churned.
Seawater surged in all directions.
At a terrifying speed.
A colossal deluge—
Gurgle.
The water reached Choi Han’s knees.
The sea swept over the forest, rapidly encircling Moraka Castle
and rising.
Crash—
Visible waves materialized.
The salty rain no longer fell in drops but poured in a blinding
deluge.
As sounds and vision blurred.
Only the Dragon King Third Emperor’s voice remained clear.
Pity there’s no decent river here.
“I am the sea. The sea is me. What is there to fear?”
The Dragon King Third Emperor declared himself to be the sea
itself.
Cale’s face grew stiffer.
—Human!
Cale looked down from the castle wall.
Water always seeps into the earth.
—The water’s seeping in!
Seawater was infiltrating the castle through the soil at the
wall’s base.
Salty water.
—The earth’s absorbing it! But soil soaked in seawater slows its
reaction to mana!
The moment Raon shouted, Cale’s expression froze.
His gaze snapped to the Third Emperor.
The Emperor smiled and declared:
“Wherever my seawater touches, that is my domain.”
A unique power at the Five-Colored level.
(TL note: Changed from "Colorful Level" to "Five-Colored Level"
to match the established household name.)
It far exceeded Cale’s imagination.
Utterly unlike the ancient powers he knew, like Cheapskate or
Sky-Swallowing Water.
—Human, the water’s rising! It’s heading for the teleportation
circle!
Seawater soaked into the earth was surging upward.
Gurgle, gurgle.
Those running to Raon’s teleportation circle had shoes and
pants soaked.
“How many more times left!?”
Cale’s voice rose instinctively, and Raon, barely hearing,
replied:
—One more!
One more activation, and everyone could escape.
Just a little longer.
But Cale felt uneasy.
‘That guy definitely knows this.’
The Third Emperor, watching from above.
He couldn’t be unaware of this.
Yet he remained calm.
—And next time, we just need to teleport our people!
Hearing Raon’s follow-up, Cale realized.
“Ah.”
The Third Emperor said he’d eliminate obstacles.
Not the demonkin of Moraka Castle.
Only Cale’s group.
He didn’t care if others escaped.
“A trap only needs to ensnare its prey.”
The Third Emperor said with a smile.
“Drain the water from the ground!”
“Don’t let the sea near the teleportation circle!”
“Meow!”
“Meow!”
Amid Hong and On’s cries and the group’s shouts, Cale felt the
air inside the gray shield grow heavy.
Breathing became as hard as being submerged.
Below the wall.
Seawater seeping through the soil was spreading through the
air, consuming everything.
—Human! The flow of magic in the air is slowing! It’s not
responding well! No, it responds, but it’s sluggish! I need time
to adapt to restore it!
Crash—
The gray shield struggled under the torrential rain.
The Third Emperor was casually rendering all defenses
meaningless.
Earth and sky.
He was building his domain across all realms.
‘Is this really an ancient power?’
Cale began to grasp the true value of unique powers.
No. He understood the might of a unique power at the Five-
Colored level.
The meaning of “near-divine” became clear.
Then what of true gods?
What strength was needed to face such a being?
Wasn’t that battle beyond imagination?
And most importantly—
‘What do we do?’
Two teleports.
No. The final one was coming.
Then it was their turn, if they could hold out.
‘Can we do it?’
Could they escape when the air itself was under the Third
Emperor’s control?
With these thoughts, Cale’s gaze remained fixed on the Third
Emperor.
The Emperor laughed gleefully at the defiant eyes and spoke:
“This is a domain.”
His words rang directly in Cale’s ears:
“Unique power is a ‘definition,’ a ‘domain.’”
He was teaching Cale the truth.
“When you define your power and establish its domain, all
things become possible.”
For this amusing opponent who created this game, he didn’t
mind offering a lesson.
Since they’d soon be in his grasp.
Since death awaited them.
‘Ancient powers have clear limits.’
Cale Henituse could never wield a unique power at the Five-
Colored level.
So he generously revealed a realm his opponent could never
reach.
“I am the sea.”
He defined himself thus.
“I am the sea. Wherever I am, the sea exists.”
Since I am the sea.
This place is the sea.
Because I am here.
The Third Emperor smiled.
“Before the sea, all is futile.”
Forest. Castle. Earth.
Why would they matter?
“Just let it all be swept away and drowned.”
The Dragon King spread his arms.
“Follow the way of the sea.”
That is, my way.
“Sink.”
As his words fell.
Crash—
A colossal flood surged from the water dragon.
Sky and earth.
Every corner was rapidly filling with seawater.
Especially where the Dragon King stood, the water rose at a
terrifying pace.
The towering waves churned into a raging tide.
No, it was more like a tsunami.
‘It’s crashing down.’
The tsunami’s height climbed, leveling with Moraka’s walls.
Water serpents rode the waves, soaring.
Crash—
With the tsunami’s force, they bore down on the walls, the
entire castle.
Gurgle, gurgle.
In the areas near the walls, the water had already risen past
knees.
Soon, even the rear garden where Raon was would be
swallowed by the flood.
That place would become the Dragon King’s domain.
In that water, even magic would be unusable.
—Cale!
The Glutton Priestess’s voice trembled.
The gray shield was indeed fragile.
‘Even Lord Eruhaben’s movements are slowing.’
The ancient dragon facing the tsunami.
Beacrox and the dragon were nowhere to be seen.
Choi Han was desperately chasing the water serpents.
Everyone was gasping for breath.
What should I do now?
“So, this is what they call the sea.”
Cale reached out.
He didn’t touch the gray shield.
Cold.
Rough.
His palm rested on the castle wall.
Though parts had collapsed, it still stood firm under Eruhaben’s
protection.
The wall that would soon face the tsunami and the impact of
Eruhaben.
Yes.
Stone.
This was stone.
Cale’s gaze turned to the castle.
The seawater had seeped through the ground.
But that was only in the soil foundation.
Not the stone structures.
Cale spoke:
“How about it?”
The being responding to his question appeared.
As always, whenever facing immense power,
It was this one who stood at the forefront.
—Cale.
The Super Rock spoke.
—Everywhere is stone.
Indeed.
The walls were stone. The castle was stone.
This place was full of stone.
As Cale stared at the rough, gray rocks, a glint sparked in his
eyes.
—Even if the sea unleashes monstrous waves,
The Super Rock began to move with Cale’s will.
—There are reefs that remain unshaken after a thousand years
of crashing tides.
The bricks of the walls, every stone around Cale, began to
tremble.
The gray entities remain untainted by the waves.
—Can’t we hold out for just a few minutes?
Exactly.
Cale smiled at the Super Rock.
He opened his mouth.
To his exhausted, battling comrades, he shouted:
“Everyone, get behind me!”
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The waterlogged earth began to quake.
The tremor surged from deep underground, shaking every brick
and stone of the walls.
Creak. Creak.
The stones were moving.
To form a gray shield to withstand the sea.
Chapter 2-461: The Gray Shield (5)
Water surged in the heart of the forest.
Not just any water—seawater was rising.
The deepest pools already submerged treetops.
Crack! Crack!
Trees snapped and toppled one after another.
“Ugh!”
Soldiers struck by falling branches realized in horror that the
seawater, once knee-high, now reached their thighs.
The air grew thick and murky, making breathing a struggle, with
a salty tang stinging their tongues.
It was as if the entire world was transforming into a sea.
“Run! Don’t stop!”
The normally composed demon Therosa raised her voice in
desperation.
“If you want to live, escape!”
The Demon King’s army scrambled frantically toward the
forest’s edge, fleeing in the opposite direction of Moroka
castle.
“General Mor!”
Therosa called out to General Mor, who stood motionless.
This was the comrade who had quietly urged her to retreat in
the face of the gray plague.
“…”
Mor didn’t respond. He stared at the seawater now lapping at
his waist, then glanced back.
The water wasn’t surging toward them.
It was merely the overflow flooding the forest.
The true tide—
‘Cale Henituse.’
It was rushing toward Moroka castle, where he stood.
The Third Emperor didn’t spare a glance for the fleeing Demon
King’s army. Their lives meant nothing to him.
“…Madman.”
Mor had never truly witnessed the might of the Five-Colored
Hunters, especially "the Three Emperors." But the “sea” before
him shattered his understanding of individual power.
The Demon King—
No, this was the power of a god.
A force rivaling the Demon King and the gods themselves.
And Cale Henituse, about to face this power head-on—
‘He’ll die, won’t he?’
What about the gray plague?
Mor could not escape in peace.
Buzz—
The divine artifact in his arms thrummed violently. Strangely,
he found himself unable to abandon Cale and escape alone.
‘I feel like—’
His instincts, honed through countless betrayals, stirred.
They whispered to him.
‘Something’s there.’
Cale Henituse.
That man’s eyes hadn’t lost their spark yet.
“Seal it off.”
At the Third Emperor’s command, a colossal wave roared
toward Moroka castle.
The tsunami’s thunderous crash drowned out all other sounds.
All that could be heard was the raging tide.
All that could be seen was a towering wall of water, poised to
swallow the castle.
All that could be felt was the tremor as the tsunami bore down
on Moroka.
“General Mor! If you don’t want to be swept away and die,
move!”
Therosa’s shout rang out.
Mor knew this was a force no human, not even Cale Henituse,
could withstand. Reluctantly, he began to move.
Ears, eyes, senses—
With every sense consumed by the sea, who could stand
against it?
Yet Mor’s steps remained heavy.
Hum—
Perhaps it is because the “Last Trace” of the “Nameless God”
trembling in his arms?
“!”
Then it happened.
BOOM!
Even submerged in seawater, another presence made itself
known.
He looked down.
The water, now past his waist and nearing his chest.
Beneath its surface.
That’s right.
In the deepest depths—
‘From the depths of the earth—’
Yes.
Something was stirring.
And that power—
‘The Demon King—’
For some reason, the Demon King came to his mind.
In that fleeting moment—
“Everyone, get behind me!”
Cale Henituse’s voice exploded.
Crack! Crack!
General Mor and every living soul heard the earth split apart.
“It… it worked…!”
Even Lord Gimon, searching for the last demons to guide them
to the teleportation circle, froze at the tremor.
A clear voice rang out:
“This is our human’s doing!”
Raon shouted as he activated the teleportation spell.
The air, saturated with seawater, and the ground, barely spared
around the magic circle, slowed the flow of mana where the
sea encroached.
But Raon didn’t despair.
“It’s stone!”
He gazed at the forms breaking through the muddy garden soil.
Covered in mud, their shapes were indistinct, but they were
unmistakably stones.
From beneath the earth.
Stones buried deep were rising.
Rumble! Rumble!
Raon knew these were the stones summoned by their human.
When everyone in Death Valley faced danger from the dragon
half-blood posing as Eden Miru.
When Raon was still growing, barely conscious.
These stones had appeared before them.
When the White Star sought to destroy the white castle, where
his mother slept.
The shield that protected that castle in the end was these
stones.
Rumble! Rumble!
The castle began to quake.
From Moroka’s walls to its inner buildings, everything
trembled.
“Whoa!”
“What’s happening?!”
Amid the panicked crowd at the teleportation circle, fearing
another wave of death, Raon declared loudly:
“Don’t worry!”
He looked at On, Hong, Sui Khan, and Clopeh Sekka rushing
toward him, his gaze drifting over their shoulders—
To the solitary figure of Cale standing atop the castle wall:
“It’s a shield!”
Rumble! Rumble!
The tsunami loomed closer.
The Blue Dragon and its army of water serpents.
Before them, the castle walls were rising.
Rumble! Rumble!
No.
Stones buried deep in the earth were surging upward.
The ground.
All directions.
Every angle was enveloped by rising rock layers.
At an astonishing speed, the stones formed a dome over the
castle just before the wave could crash down.
“Hoo.”
Cale exhaled deeply.
—…Damn it!
His heart pounded fiercely, the Crybaby old man whimpering
curses.
—…
The Shield remained silent.
But Cale pressed his hands harder against the wall:
“Bring it on.”
Choi Han closed his eyes tightly.
Thud.
Pushed by the tsunami, he slammed into Moroka’s wall.
He couldn’t face entering the castle.
‘Again—’
Once again, he was forcing Cale-nim to overexert himself.
Even knowing it was unavoidable—
“Hey.”
Choi Han felt someone grab his collar, climbing the wall.
It was Beacrox.
“Don’t let your obsession… become a burden.”
Don't let your determination to fight to the end hinder Young
Master Cale.
Choi Han knew he was right and shut his eyes.
But then he opened them, shook off Beacrox’s hand, and began
climbing.
He had to enter before the dome sealed.
Flap!
A massive beating of wings sounded.
“Ugh!”
“!”
Claws of an ancient dragon snatched them by the napes.
Whoosh!
The dragon tossed them inside the dome.
Thud.
Thud.
Landing lightly, they saw Ron standing silently by Cale’s side.
His deep gaze fixed on Cale’s back.
Cale, hands pressed against the wall, panting, looked to
Eruhaben.
The dome was nearly complete.
But—
‘The waves are faster.’
The tsunami’s speed was naturally superior.
The ancient dragon knew this.
“Don’t worry.”
Eruhaben shouted, facing forward.
The approaching wave.
The Blue Dragon and water serpents behind it.
And the arrogant fool claiming to be the Dragon King—
“Getting hurt is not an option.”
Cale’s stubborn voice made Eruhaben laugh.
“Haha! The guy who gets hurt the most actually dares to say
that!”
He spread his wings.
‘Just once.’
If he could stall the tsunami for even a moment.
The rest was up to Cale.
Though it’d be hell for that unlucky kid.
‘This is all I need to do.’
Eruhaben faced the smirking Blue Dragon and Dragon King,
those mocking his futile struggle.
He opened his jaws.
Crack.
Someone kicked off the wall, daring to leap onto Eruhaben’s
back.
“Haha!”
Eruhaben laughed loudly.
“Okay. Let's give it a try!”
“I'm sorry.”
Choi Han raised his sword.
Wooosh—
A violent black sword aura surged.
The power within it coalesced into a Black Yong.
Choi Han’s most ferocious force.
Wooosh—
Platinum dust gathered around Eruhaben.
“Go.”
The ancient dragon’s wings beat fiercely.
Choi Han swung his sword.
Rumble!
The Black Yong charged toward the tsunami.
Insignificant compared to the massive wave.
But it gleamed with platinum light.
Countless sparkling particles made the black aura shine
brighter.
Like a Black Yong bearing light, diving into the sea.
“Haha. It's a futile effort.”
The Dragon King waved his hand with a laugh.
The tsunami surged faster toward the Black Yong.
The entire sea was moving.
The Black Yong would be swallowed by nature.
“!”
But the Third Emperor froze.
The Black Yong.
It didn’t charge at the tsunami.
But it soared into the sky.
After soaring to a higher position than the tsunami, it dives over
the waves.
The target is directly pointed at—
“Insolent!”
The furious Dragon King waved his hand.
The Blue Dragon lunged, claws bared, at the Black Yong.
BOOM!
Amid the deafening clash—
—Cale.
At the Super Rock’s call, Cale exhaled.
Though Eruhaben and Choi Han gave their all for just a
moment’s distraction—
Crack.
Crack.
“Cale. We’re behind you.”
“Cale-nim.”
Hearing Eruhaben and Choi Han behind him, Cale closed and
opened his eyes.
Darkness.
Not from the night.
Cale looked up.
The dome’s skylight.
As the last stone was about to be placed, moonlight and
starlight poured down.
But it too was about to close.
The moment the last stone sealed the dome—
Crash!
He saw water.
The tsunami.
As it crashed down—
Boom!
The dome is completely closed.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Cale felt the teleportation circle’s light behind him.
—It’s here.
At the Super Rock’s words, Cale shut his eyes tightly.
His hands pressed firmly against the dome’s inner wall.
Rumble!
The sea engulfed the dome.
The stone was thick, unyielding.
The sturdiest rock shield yet.
‘It’s dissolving.’
He could feel the stone crumbling.
The erosion was palpable, layer by layer.
The dome shuddered.
The tsunami battered it from all sides, a lone reef in a stormy
sea.
The dome trembled violently.
Inside, pitch-black, Cale saw nothing even with eyes open.
—Cale! We must hold on!
For the first time, the Super Rock urged him to endure.
—Don’t lose consciousness!
The stone was dissolving rapidly.
Cale heard his deafening heartbeat.
His open eyes saw only darkness.
His palms felt only the cold stone.
The tsunami’s roar drowned out all sound.
‘Damn it!’
Was he pushing too far?
The pain grew unbearable.
Cale kept pulling stones from the surroundings to reinforce the
dome.
But they eroded as soon as they formed.
He couldn’t stop.
‘Damn it!’
His chaos-tainted arms throbbed painfully.
Soon, he might not even hold the dome.
No.
—Stay conscious!
Right. A moment’s lapse, and he’d faint.
—Argh, damn it!
His heart was beating wildly and he cursed.
—This is simply a natural disaster. This scale of seawater—
As the devouring flood brought despair—
“!”
A spark lit in Cale’s eyes.
He had originally—
never even considered fainting.
never once thought about running away.
Nor intend to conquer this sea.
The Third Emperor.
Judging from this guy, he is as powerful as a god.
So he decided—
Just do it first, then think about it later.
Even in pain, Cale kept his eyes open.
There was something he had to confirm in this darkness.
Behind him.
The only light in the dark cast a faint glow on the dome’s inner
wall.
Crash!
Despite the raging tide outside, that light remained silently
visible.
Whoosh!
Teleportation magic.
Darkness was also light.
The moment that glow met his eyes—
“Human, it's time for us to go now!”
At Raon’s words—
The final teleportation.
The moment he realized only escape remained—
“Young Master.”
The one who’d stayed closest to him.
Cale felt Ron’s hand on his shoulder.
The one who touched his gray-tainted shoulder without
hesitation.
“Please allow me to escort you.”
At Ron’s words—
Cale opened his mouth.
“Cough!”
Blood spilled first.
‘Damn it!’
He couldn’t form words.
But Ron understood.
Being closest, he heard clearly.
“I’ll escort you at the right moment.”
Cale nodded.
Only then did he realize how hard nodding was.
Ron wiped the blood from Cale’s lips with a handkerchief.
But the blood flowed too freely to be stemmed.
“Ten seconds!”
A mana-infused shout cut through the sea’s storm.
A resolute voice.
Cale felt Ron move.
—Cale. It’s time to go.
“Young Master.”
Cale couldn’t lift his hands from the wall.
The moment he did, the dome would collapse.
Cracks would form.
This tsunami was that ferocious.
Even millennia-old stones would turn to sand.
This was the sea’s power.
And now, it poured relentlessly onto the dome’s stones.
Cale had to hold on, but—
“Five seconds!”
There was a moment he had to let go.
Now.
This instant.
As Cale’s hands left the wall—
Thud!
Ron scooped him up and leaped from the wall.
He immediately raced toward the rear garden.
Choi Han and Eruhaben guarded them on both sides.
In Ron’s arms, Cale gazed at the dome.
Crack—
The stones cracked.
'That lunatic!'
The Dragon King’s power was absurd.
Even a sea god couldn’t match this.
Drip.
Seawater seeped through the cracks.
Soon, it would flood the dome.
But Cale tore his gaze from the ceiling.
Wooosh—
A black light.
The teleportation circle.
Up ahead, he saw Raon reaching out a front paw toward him.
“Three seconds!”
Two seconds!
One second!
At the last moment, Raon held the hand covered with dirt and
stone chips.
Cale closed his eyes.
Before darkness and unconsciousness took him, he heard three
sounds.
Rumble!
The stones finally shattered.
Crash!
Seawater poured in.
But before the tide could flood the gray shield’s interior—
Whoosh!
With a faint sound, black light enveloped Cale and his group.
Crash!
The dome collapsed entirely.
The massive stone walls crumbled into rubble.
Like a stone tomb.
But beneath that rubble, nothing remained.
There were no casualties.
The gray shield had sacrificed itself but protected what
mattered most.
Chapter 2-462: Come on, Let’s Make a Deal (1)
Chapter 57: Come on, Let’s Make a Deal
“…”
The Third Emperor Dragon King landed atop a mound of stones
resembling a tomb.
He waved his arm.
Boom—!
A whirlpool of water instantly cleared the surrounding rubble.
“…”
His rigid expression never softened.
“It… held up…?”
A massive stone tomb.
The collapsed Moraka castle.
Once the rubble was cleared, it was empty inside.
Everyone had escaped.
He reached out.
Crash—
A few stone fragments fell into his palm with the water’s flow.
He gripped them tightly.
Crack!
The stones shattered.
Such fragile things—
“It held up?”
Daring to withstand the power of the sea?
This power was far from weak.
Among water-based powers, it was deemed “five-colored level”
and earned the First Emperor’s recognition, granting him a
shared title of Emperor.
‘Third Emperor.’
The First Emperor had once said:
‘The Five-Colored-level unique power is a power comparable to
the divine.’
Yes, that’s exactly what he had said.
With this unique power, his water-based divine-like power
could rival the gods. Depending on the situation—whether
facing fire or lava—he could even surpass certain deities with
ease.
In a world where the First Emperor had become a transcendent
being, he had never felt inferior when facing those arrogant
gods.
‘And yet, that kid blocked it.’
Cale Henituse.
He hadn’t defeated him.
He had merely blocked him.
But the Third Emperor couldn’t believe it.
“How could he block me with mere ancient powers?”
It was simply impossible.
‘Just inherited power.’
Ancient powers.
They weren’t his own.
They were inherited from others.
Thus, they could never surpass a self-awakened unique power.
Their limitations were obvious.
Someone else’s power would inevitably restrict one’s growth.
That was only natural, wasn’t it?
‘But how did that guy—’
Could he possess a power capable of resisting the Five-Colored-
level unique power?
And—
“With a body tainted by Chaos?”
It was clearly a body corrupted by Chaos.
The Dragon King Third Emperor’s gaze shifted to one side.
“Isn’t that right?”
Under his scrutiny, the wanderers lowered their heads in
silence. The Dragon King Third Emperor, with his long,
immortal-like white beard and hair, stood with his white locks
trembling slightly.
‘He’s furious.’
The wanderer Cho realized the Dragon King was seething with
rage.
‘Well, he went all out to show off his power, only for them to
escape. Anyone would be pissed.’
Though it was secretly satisfying to see this guy—who always
regarded himself as one of the Three Emperors and acted so
high and mighty—get humiliated, Cho didn’t let it show.
‘Stay quiet!’
His sister, the wanderer Ren, kept signaling him with her eyes
to avoid any reckless moves.
‘Mm.’
Besides, Cho himself felt no inclination to act out, sensing
something off.
‘Something’s wrong.’
The Dragon King’s furious demeanor, his stance as he
unleashed a tsunami-like assault—
It should have been terrifying.
After all, he himself wielded fire and lava power.
As someone caught between the Dragon King and his
subordinates in terms of elemental affinity, Cho had always
cowered in fear.
‘But today feels strange.’
Even witnessing the Dragon King manipulate the power of the
sea—
‘I’m not scared at all!’
To be precise, he felt this guy wouldn’t get his way.
Why?
‘…That kid—’
He had a gut feeling that Cale Henituse wouldn’t go down
easily.
‘Yeah, Cale Henituse.’
That guy wouldn’t lose.
The one who had faced the God of Chaos head-on.
That chilling aura he exuded—
Cho knew he wasn’t as clever as his sister Ren.
He was impulsive and shortsighted.
But he trusted one thing:
‘Instinct.’
His instincts were screaming.
Cale Henituse—
That guy was going to cause a massive stir.
‘And he absolutely won’t lose.’
He had a premonition that crossing him in the future would be
a terrible idea.
Tick.
Cho’s gaze met Ren’s.
At that moment, the siblings realized they were thinking the
same thing.
And their shared premonitions were always 100% accurate.
“…”
“…”
After a brief glance, they both silently lowered their heads.
The Dragon King Third Emperor’s anger and confusion were
now directed elsewhere.
“Demon King’s forces.”
The highest-ranking general of the Demon King’s army, the
Third Army Commander—
General Mor, the “Backstabbing Hand.”
A master of strategy, he had been waiting here for some time.
“Yes, Lord Third Emperor.”
He bowed respectfully to the Dragon King, who couldn’t even
be bothered to remember his name.
Having witnessed the Third Emperor’s power firsthand—
‘Heh.’
This scene was just too amusing.
‘He looks so pathetic getting worked up.’
The sight of this arrogant figure, enraged because his prey
escaped unscathed—
‘Serves him right.’
Though not to the point of deliberately drowning the Demon
King’s army,
If Mor and Therosa hadn’t ordered a retreat in time, this
bastard would’ve let the Demon King’s forces perish to achieve
his goal.
‘Tch, now he’s panicking?’
In the Dragon King’s eyes, ordinary demons probably weren’t
even worth a pebble.
‘The show’s about to start.’
The Dragon King’s voice rang out:
“You brought the Demon King’s army here?”
“Yes.”
“And you fought both the Church of Chaos and Cale Henituse in
the castle?”
“Yes.”
“How did it go?”
Mor had no reason to lie.
After all, Cale had never asked him to keep anything secret.
Their agreement was solely about the “Gray Plague
Transaction.”
So—
“Cale Henituse teamed up with the Church of Chaos’s High
Priest.”
A little embellishment wouldn’t hurt, right?
“…What?”
To Mor, the High Priest and the Church of Chaos were far more
detestable than Cale.
They dared to scheme against the Demon Realm and backstab
him.
“The High Priest fled with his priests to save Cale Henituse’s
life.”
That was true.
Though it was because Cale had coerced them with his own life.
“…Why only mention the High Priest? Where’s the Pope?”
“Oh, the Pope’s nearly dead. Maybe already gone.”
“What?”
Mor, an expert in betrayal, despised both the Church of Chaos
and the Hunter Families for stirring trouble in the Demon
Realm.
He’d already prepared countermeasures without realizing it.
It had become second nature.
“The High Priest tried to assassinate the Pope.”
“…That person tried to kill the Pope? Really?”
Whoosh—
A violent whirlpool of water surged around the Dragon King.
The threat was clear: One lie, and your life is forfeit.
But Mor was calm.
Because it was all true.
“Absolutely certain.”
“…”
Whoosh—
The water’s intensity subsided.
The Dragon King detected no trace of deceit.
“But it was Cale Henituse who cornered the Pope.”
“Oh?”
“He’s ridiculously strong.”
Heh.
The Dragon King sneered.
“Praising that kid’s strength to my face? You’ve got guts.”
Facing a furious lion whose prey had slipped away, Mor
responded calmly:
“I can’t lie, can I? He’s powerful. Even though he’s tainted by
the Pope’s Chaos, the Pope still lost to him.”
“…Hm.”
Seeing Mor’s unshaken demeanor, the Dragon King cooled
down.
“I see.”
He nodded.
“If he can suppress the Pope, his strength is undeniable. And to
convince a top-tier Holy Knight to betray the Pope and join
him? That guy’s mind is something else.”
This wasn’t the truth.
But Mor just stood there silently.
“If it’s an opponent of this caliber, I may have underestimated
him.”
The Dragon King’s mood oddly improved.
He spoke:
“I need to meet the Demon King.”
Even if they used teleportation, they shouldn’t have left the
Demon Realm yet.
“Yes, I’ll guide you.”
Seeing how casually he brought up the Demon King, Therosa
was annoyed, but General Mor remained respectful toward the
Third Emperor. The Third Emperor gave a satisfied smile.
Then, his gaze shifted to the side—
Before dealing with Cale Henituse, there was the person his
subordinates had captured.
“The top-tier Holy Knight escaped, so that guy must know the
most now.”
A bound top-tier Holy Knight lay on the ground.
General Mor recalled Cale’s conversation with the Holy Knight:
‘Our team leader. Leave the top-tier Holy Knights that did this
to him.’
It was this guy.
This fallen Holy Knight might prove useful in future dealings
with Cale Henituse.
‘Hm.’
General Mor lightly touched the back of his neck.
Hidden under his collar was something dark red, clinging to his
skin.
‘He said it’s to track me?’
That guy called Heavenly Demon.
When he left with the top-tier Holy Knight, he secretly placed
this on Mor.
‘The Heavenly Demon will come for me eventually.’
That’s why he left the mark.
‘No.’
Cale Henituse and his group would likely come knocking soon.
“I’ll take you to the Demon King’s castle.”
They’d definitely come to see the Demon King.
Woo—woo—
The divine artifact in his possession stopped vibrating, and
General Mor looked forward to his next encounter with Cale
Henituse.
Meanwhile, the wanderer siblings, Cho and Ren, observed the
Third Emperor’s actions. Cho picked up a shattered stone and
tucked it into his pocket, earning a meaningful glance from Ren.
The empty temple.
Those who left this place were busy scheming for their own
interests.
Upon arriving at the Demon King’s castle, General Mor
immediately met with a certain figure.
“That's how it turned out?”
Tap, tap.
The person, who had been boredly staring out the window,
turned to look at Mor.
“What was Cale Henituse like when you met him?”
General Mor answered his lord, the “Slothful Demon King,”
candidly:
“When you met the God of Chaos and the First Emperor, you
said they were ‘quite interesting,’ didn’t you?”
Seeing a spark of intrigue in his lord’s lifeless eyes, Mor grinned.
“If you meet Cale Henituse, you’ll find him even more
interesting.”
A flicker of curiosity crossed the Demon King’s slothful
expression.
The only thing that could shake him from his boredom was
encountering a worthy opponent.
---
‘What the hell is this?’
Cale looked around, utterly baffled.
After grabbing Raon’s front paw to activate the teleportation,
he’d passed out.
When he opened his eyes, the scene before him was
completely unexpected.
“Where is this?”
It wasn’t the usual encounter with a god.
“It’s clearly a dream.”
Cale sat up in bed, scanning his surroundings.
It was a simple tent.
Though carefully constructed, it was obviously a temporary
camp set up during a march.
“Hm?”
Cale looked down at his hands.
‘These aren’t my hands.’
He sensed something was off.
This body—it wasn’t his.
‘Hey, hey!’
Even his ancient powers didn’t respond.
‘There’s not even a mirror in this tent!’
Cale was pondering how to handle this situation when he
quickly realized whose body he was inhabiting and what was
happening.
“Your Holiness, I’m coming in.”
A voice called from outside the tent.
Then, Chief Steward Sytriss entered.
She bowed and reported:
“We’ve located the Chaos Carried by Wind.”
Whoa.
Cale understood—he was in the past memories of the ‘Pope.’
Why was this happening?
There were several reasons.
‘Tainted by the Pope’s Chaos.’
And another reason.
‘The Chaos Carried by Wind, now held by the Shield.’
The interplay of these factors likely created this dream.
Though it was a dream, it was probably a real event from the
past.
“Allow me to guide you.”
“Mm.”
For now, Cale played the role of the Pope, following Sytriss.
Why was he having this dream?
He’d find out by going along with it.
As always, the dream would eventually end. Cale relaxed and
calmly acted as the Pope.
---
“Haah… haah…”
The heavy, ragged breathing silenced everyone.
It was so faint it seemed it could stop at any moment, yet it
struggled desperately to persist.
Finally, someone couldn’t hold back:
“Goldie Gramps! The human’s acting too weird! I’ve never seen
this!”
“It’s my first time seeing it too! It’s so worrying!”
Amid Raon and Hong’s cries, On tried to soothe them, but her
eyes were filled with worry too.
The children, averaging ten years old, stared at the bed—
Cale was gasping in pain, his body from the shoulders down
entirely gray.
He was burning up, sweat pouring from him. Ron wiped his
forehead with a towel and said:
“Bring some water.”
“Yes, Father.”
Beacrox, seeing Cale potentially dehydrated from excessive
sweating, hurried to fetch water.
In the past, when Cale coughed up blood and fainted, he’d fall
into a deep sleep, and no one knew when he’d wake.
But now, he was groaning in pain like someone with a high
fever.
“What’s happening to him…”
Eruhaben anxiously bit his lip.
Knowing Cale’s body had become a vessel for Chaos, he didn’t
dare touch him. Aware that Cale’s body could dissolve into
blood at any moment, Eruhaben could only stand by.
“…”
Choi Han had been sitting silently in a corner, staring at Cale
without a word.
Raon scanned the group, biting his lip hard and puffing out his
cheeks—
Anything to keep himself from crying.
Holding back a sob, he spoke:
“Human, I prepared lots of apple pies—wake up soon—”
But he stopped mid-sentence.
“?”
He tilted his head.
Seeing Cale’s lips move, everyone froze.
All eyes turned to Cale.
“Haah… haah…”
In the midst of his feverish, pained gasps, Cale suddenly
mumbled incoherently:
“…Whoa… Damn it…”
Raon, On, and Hong—the children averaging ten years
old—immediately looked relieved.
Chapter 2-463: Come on, Let’s Make a Deal (2)
“…Woah… Damn it…”
Cale could only mutter this under his breath.
“Hm?”
When Sytriss turned back, Cale shook his head.
“It’s nothing.”
Though he didn’t know the Pope’s usual demeanor, he put on a
stern expression.
“Yes, sir.”
Sytriss bowed respectfully and resumed leading the way.
There was a reason she hadn’t clearly heard Cale’s words.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
They were heading toward a cave.
The roaring wind from the cave was so loud it drowned out
Cale’s voice.
‘The Chaos Carried by Wind is in there.’
Through this dream, Cale was witnessing the Pope’s past
experience of acquiring The Chaos Carried by Wind—the divine
artifact.
‘I thought it was originally held by the Church of Chaos.’
Whoosh—
The desolate cave, perched on a rugged mountainside, was
surrounded by barren land.
Even if anything grew here, the fierce winds would likely shred
it to pieces.
Sytriss stopped at a distance from the cave.
“Your Holiness.”
A top-tier Holy Knight guarding the cave approached the Pope.
“Shall I retrieve it?”
Cale glanced at the Holy Knight, then shifted his gaze to the
cave.
An ordinary Holy Knight likely couldn’t enter that place.
“Mm. Go retrieve it.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Holy Knight, face stern, strode toward the cave.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
The wind tousled his hair, but his body remained steady.
Watching his retreating figure, Sytriss spoke:
“As a top-tier Holy Knight, he shouldn’t be affected by the Wind
of Chaos.”
“Indeed.”
Cale responded casually.
Sytriss stole a glance at him, a faint smile on her lips, betraying
a hidden anticipation.
“Now we’ve gathered all the divine artifacts.”
Cale’s gaze turned to her.
Her eyes reflected the Pope’s impassive face.
Sytriss continued in a meaningful tone:
“Are you heading to the Demon Realm?”
Ah.
So, after obtaining this divine artifact, the next step was the
Demon Realm.
“Mm. It’s time. We need to carry out the grand plan. The
Demon Realm must be cloaked in Chaos.”
Cloaked in Chaos, my ass.
No way in hell.
But Cale gave a roughly plausible response.
Sytriss replied:
“Hehe. Exactly. The Demon Realm and the New World. All will
be covered in Chaos.”
The New World wouldn’t be cloaked in Chaos either.
Because Cale had already turned the Holy Land upside down.
“But, Your Holiness, are you just going to let the Heavenly
Realm be?”
Hm?
What’s this all of a sudden?
Cale looked at Sytriss, puzzled.
Noticing the confusion on his face, Sytriss hurriedly bowed and
answered:
“Of course, the Heavenly Realm wouldn’t dare oppose the God
of Chaos. But aren’t they always so cunning?”
“Why do you think that?”
Cale asked, his face expressionless.
The Heavenly Realm.
The inhabitants of the Celestial World, alongside the Divine
Realm and the Demon Realm.
Cale knew little about them.
‘It’s said the ancient powers were eradicated by the Heavenly
Realm.’
Aurora, the leader of the Arbiters’ Alliance and the sole heir of
the former Demon King, had once said:
‘Their own power. The Heavenly Realm calls it “unique power.”’
When some ancient humans began to possess this power:
‘The Heavenly Realm believed it would eventually threaten
them. Or rather, they felt humans were encroaching on their
domain.’
So they made a pact with certain gods.
‘To ensure humans could no longer gain that power.’
Aurora didn’t know the specifics of the pact.
‘As a result, while ancient powers remained, humans could no
longer naturally possess unique power.’
But there was a flaw in this pact.
‘Choi Han and the Heavenly Demon.’
Two humans who had developed unique power.
‘Though Choi Han can’t yet be said to have fully mastered it.’
Still, both undeniably possessed it.
“Those Heavenly Realm beings act kind on the surface but hate
having their authority challenged, don’t they? That’s why they
dare defy the God of Chaos’s orders and propose a deal
instead.”
A deal?
A glint flashed in Cale’s eyes.
“Indeed. They dare propose a deal.”
Cale spoke to Sytriss in a suggestive tone, as if encouraging her
to badmouth the Heavenly Realm more.
The loyal Sytriss took the hint and continued, clearly harboring
disdain for them:
“They waver between the God of Balance and us, ultimately
choosing to ally with us. Such arrogance.”
The Heavenly Realm allied with the God of Chaos?
Cale’s suspicions grew.
The God of Death hadn’t mentioned this, had he?
He tested the waters:
“But that’s not good for the God of Balance, is it?”
“Indeed.”
Sytriss sneered.
“The God of Balance probably doesn’t even know they’ve been
betrayed, still ordering the Heavenly Realm around like
servants.”
“So the Heavenly Realm secretly allied with us.”
“Yes. When the time comes, the God of Balance will be
backstabbed by the Heavenly Realm and lose everything.”
Sytriss chuckled softly, clearly delighted at the thought of such
a future.
At this, Cale recalled something.
‘The God of Death.’
The damned god’s words resurfaced in his mind.
‘I might die.’
He’d said he could perish within six months.
Cale had assumed it was because the Hunters had found a way
to kill gods, teaming up with the God of Chaos to eliminate the
God of Death.
‘This might be tied to the Heavenly Realm.’
If the Heavenly Realm was secretly allied with the God of Chaos
while pretending to work with the God of Balance, ready to
betray them—
‘This is bad.’
If the faction led by the God of Chaos and the God of War
prevailed, the opposing gods could suffer a devastating blow.
‘I need to inform the God of Death.’
Right.
I have no reason to get involved in the disputes between the
Gods and Heavenly Realms.
Passing along this information should be enough.
‘Yeah! Why should I get mixed up in a war between gods!’
Though it was a pity he couldn’t see the God of Death get taken
down.
Though the God of War was an enemy to the Sky Eating Water.
That wasn’t a reason to dive into a divine conflict!
“Exactly. It’s none of my business.”
“Hm?”
Oops.
He’d forgotten Sytriss was still listening, too caught up in
reassuring himself internally.
“…”
Cale didn’t know how to respond and just stared at her silently.
Sensing his gaze, Sytriss suddenly exclaimed, “Ah!” and replied
energetically:
“Yes, sir. We just need to proceed with the grand plan.”
“Right. Those Heavenly Realm beings are truly arrogant.”
“Exactly. Daring to talk about deals. In the end, they want to
destroy the Demon Realm themselves while claiming to erase
the wanderers’ unique powers. Utterly ridiculous.”
Unique power.
The term made Cale shift his gaze from Sytriss.
Looking at the cave, he said nonchalantly:
“Not all wanderers have unique powers. You’re quite sensitive
about this.”
Choi Jung-gun and Choi Jung-soo, both wanderers, have no
unique powers.
So far, the only wanderers with unique powers he’d
encountered were from the “Five-Colored Bloods.” There were
likely others, but he hadn’t met them.
“True. But the Heavenly Realm sees unique powers as their
grand privilege, so they can’t stand the Five-Colored Bloods
acting so high and mighty.”
“Fair enough. So they want to use us to destroy the Five-
Colored Bloods.”
“Exactly. The Demon Realm and the Five-Colored Bloods—a
two-birds-one-stone plan. Their unease is understandable,
though.”
Sytriss followed Cale’s gaze toward the cave and continued:
“The pact’s power is weakening, isn’t it?”
The pact.
The oath made by several gods and the Heavenly Realm to strip
humans of unique powers.
‘It’s weakening?’
A spark flickered in Cale’s eyes.
He finally understood why Choi Han and the Heavenly Demon
could manifest unique powers.
“Indeed. I’ve heard it’s weakening.”
“After all, the God of Justice broke the barrier of the Pact of
Possibilities and escaped, didn’t they?”
“Mm.”
The five ancient gods.
Hope. Balance. Chaos. Justice. Injustice.
Among them, the God of Justice had left a note and vanished.
<The Divine Realm is full of injustice. I shall bring down the
hammer of justice.>
Cale realized what the God of Justice had done before leaving
that note.
‘They broke the pact and ran.’
That god was a troublesome one too.
‘Especially since the God of Justice is tied to the first
wanderer—the First Emperor.’
The first wanderer was the head of the Five-Colored Bloods, the
First Emperor.
The God of Death had hinted that this god might have
entrusted the First Emperor with the mission to kill gods.
‘In any case, the God of Justice isn’t aligned with anyone.’
Not with the God of Balance, nor the God of Chaos’s faction.
Just a loose cannon causing trouble.
‘I absolutely can’t get involved with them.’
Cale resolved to steer clear of the God of Justice.
“But, Your Holiness.”
Cale was about to respond to Sytriss when a sound from the
cave interrupted him.
Whoooosh—
The wind grew fiercer.
Boom!
A deafening roar echoed.
“The top-tier Holy Knight seems to have secured the artifact!”
“I see.”
Cale had a gut feeling.
‘The moment that artifact is in my hands, this dream will end.’
So the dream was nearing its conclusion.
Thus, Cale spoke:
“What were you about to say earlier?”
Sytriss had indeed called out to him.
“Oh, it’s nothing important.”
“Tell me.”
“Yes, sir.”
She glanced at his expression cautiously and said:
“Well… after the negotiations with the Demon Realm, the seeds
will remain, right?”
Cale’s expression froze.
Sytriss flinched and hurriedly added:
“O-Of course they’ll remain! As long as those seeds exist, we
can plunge the Demon Realm into Chaos anytime.”
She added, reading his mood:
“But… in rare cases, among people implanted with seeds, those
highly compatible with Chaos might trigger the seeds
themselves, spreading Chaos around them, right?”
Damn it.
Cale sighed inwardly.
In this dream, amid talk of the pact, the Heavenly Realm, and
the God of Justice, he’d heard something far more critical.
Seeds.
The seeds spread throughout the Demon Realm to infect it with
the Gray Plague, hidden within the “Demonized.”
Even without The Chaos Carried by Wind, there was a slim
chance they could spread the plague on their own.
“Damn it.”
Cale swore unconsciously.
“Hm?”
As Sytriss stared at him, dumbfounded—
Creak, creak.
The top-tier Holy Knight emerged from the cave.
He held a pearl containing The Chaos Carried by Wind in both
hands.
“Hey.”
Cale looked at the Holy Knight and spoke to Sytriss:
“Yes?”
She was startled by the Pope’s unusual tone.
“Just one question.”
With the dream about to end, Cale asked the most pressing
question.
Based on all the information he’d gathered:
The God of Chaos was allied with the Heavenly Realm.
The Heavenly Realm wanted to destroy the Demon Realm and
the Five-Colored Bloods.
The God of Justice had tampered with the pact.
With this in mind, Cale asked the question most vital to him:
“What happens if the Heavenly Realm discovers a human with a
unique power?”
Faced with a Cale who seemed utterly unlike the Pope, Sytriss
hesitated.
“Speak.”
Under his firm tone, she stammered:
“They’d… definitely kill that human.”
Choi Han and the Heavenly Demon.
Humans who possessed or were on the verge of possessing
unique powers.
“Good.”
That was all Cale needed to confirm.
“Your Holiness.”
The top-tier Holy Knight approached with the artifact, and Cale
naturally extended his hand.
The Holy Knight placed the pearl in his palm without hesitation.
Crack.
The pearl cracked instantly.
Cale felt the dream world begin to collapse.
At the same time, a voice rang out:
—I’m full.
It was the Gluttonous Priestess.
—I ate too much Chaos.
In truth, she had just absorbed the Chaos Water condensed
from 43 rituals at the Holy Land’s “Primordial's Night.”
It would take at least five more months to digest that.
Now, she’d devoured the Pope’s Chaos and even the artifact
meant to be sealed.
Cale’s lips moved:
“Wait—”
He wanted to say to digest it slowly.
But before he could finish—
“Ugh!”
Cale instinctively took a deep breath.
“So hot.”
His entire body was burning.
Like a severe fever, his body felt like a fireball, and breathing
was difficult.
“Human!”
Raon’s voice rang out.
“Young Master.”
Ron’s voice followed. Only then did Cale realize he’d opened his
eyes.
He was back in reality.
But his body was scorching, and he felt dizzy.
“Haah… haah…”
His breaths came out uncontrollably rapid.
Cale tried to sit up but failed due to sudden dizziness. As his
arms flailed unconsciously—
“Young Master.”
Ron supported him.
“Cale, purify yourself first.”
Only then did Cale take in his surroundings.
He looked down at his body.
His arms, corrupted by Chaos, came into view.
From his shoulders to his collarbone, everything was gray.
That’s why it hurts.
Yes, it hurt a lot.
“But that’s not the main issue…”
The burning fever and dizziness weren’t caused by the Chaos
corruption.
Cale—Kim Rok Soo—had experienced this before.
‘Record.’
Or ‘Instant.’
Whenever he used Kim Rok Soo’s abilities, he’d get feverish and
dizzy.
He vaguely guessed the source of this side effect.
“…The corruption… isn’t the problem…”
As he gasped out those words—
—Correct.
The Super Rock sighed and responded.
—It’s indigestion.
“!”
As Cale’s eyes widened, the Gluttonous Priestess spoke in a
melancholic tone:
—I’m too full. My stomach’s bloated and uncomfortable.
The Gluttonous Priestess had indigestion.
But why am I the one with the fever and dizziness?
To his question, the Super Rock replied calmly:
—How would we know what side effects the Glutton’s
indigestion would cause you?
Hm.
That made sense.
—And you’re lucky it’s just this. The Crybaby and I are fine.
For Cale, who had overexerted himself, this was indeed
fortunate.
He had no counterargument, but this feverish, dizzy state was
truly unpleasant.
—But don’t worry. It’s just overeating. You’ll recover soon.
A small silver lining in the misfortune?
As Cale thought this, Raon approached with an apple pie.
“H-Human! Eat something! You’ll feel better if you—”
Raon stopped mid-sentence.
The moment Cale glimpsed the glossy shine of the apple pie, his
stomach churned.
The bloated feeling turned into intense nausea.
“Ugh—”
He turned away from the apple pie and vomited.
He couldn’t hold it back.
Thud.
Raon was so shocked he dropped the apple pie.
“W-Wah, our human is really, really sick!”
Meowaaaah!
Raon and Hong’s panicked cries filled the room.
Amid the chaos, Cale, fighting dizziness, tried to explain.
It’s just indigestion.
It’ll be fine once it’s digested.
He was about to say this.
But—
Knock, knock.
Urgent knocking interrupted, and Aurora, the leader of the
Arbiters’ Alliance, burst in.
The sole heir of the former Demon King announced with a
tense expression:
“The Demon King requests a meeting.”
Thus, Cale had to drag his weakened body to meet the Demon
King.
Chapter 2-464: Come on, Let’s Make a Deal (3)
"The Demon King requests a meeting."
Aurora, the leader of the Arbiters’ Alliance, burst into the room
and blurted out the news in a rush. But the moment she saw
Cale awake, her words faltered.
"You’re awake! The Demon King’s forces are heading toward
our secret base—"
Her sentence cut off as she took in Cale’s condition and fell
silent.
Though it had already been confirmed that Cale was running a
high fever while unconscious, something was wrong.
‘He’s supposed to improve after waking up...’
Contrary to the Ancient Dragon’s prediction, Cale’s condition
seemed worse.
His cheeks were flushed red, his breathing heavy and labored.
Cold sweat drenched his body, and he couldn’t even sit up
properly due to dizziness. His state was unmistakably dire.
"Hm."
Faced with this version of Cale, Aurora was momentarily at a
loss for words.
She knew the reason for his pitiful condition all too well.
‘Of course... this isn’t a normal situation.’
Cale’s body had been tainted by the Pope’s power of Chaos and
had absorbed a divine artifact capable of triggering the gray
plague. On top of that, he had single-handedly faced the
catastrophic sea power of the Third Emperor Dragon King to
buy time for others to escape.
So when Cale was brought back, vomiting blood and
unconscious, no one could say a word. They could only pray for
his safe recovery.
"...The Demon King—"
Cale’s strained voice broke through his labored breathing.
"...What about him...?"
Even unable to form complete sentences, his bloodshot eyes
locked onto Aurora with precision.
‘Ah.’
She nearly let out a sigh.
Even in this state, he was still focused on matters involving the
Demon King.
What should she do?
After glancing around and receiving a nod from Eruhaben, she
began to explain in detail, sparing Cale the effort of speaking
further.
"We have secret bases in the Demon realm’s major cities. One
of them received a message from the Demon King."
Aurora’s expression twisted suddenly—because the Demon
King’s forces had discovered one of the Arbiters’ Alliance’s
hidden strongholds.
Her face remained stiff as she continued.
"The base was exposed due to a special incident in that city.
The Alliance has classified it as top-secret intelligence. During
the investigation, our operatives were accidentally exposed,
leading to the current situation."
Cale listened in silence.
He understood that this wasn’t irrelevant information.
Events classified as top-secret by the Arbiters’ Alliance were
rare.
"...In that city, a demon infected with the gray plague was
discovered."
"!"
Choi Han’s pupils were constricted.
The gray plague?
Hadn’t Cale-nim absorbed the divine artifact to prevent its
outbreak?
"The city is currently under lockdown. According to our agents,
the disease hasn’t shown signs of being contagious yet. But we
can’t predict if it will mutate in the future."
Aurora hesitated before continuing:
"As a result, the Demon King has personally invited Cale
Henituse to that city. He says he will meet you in person."
The Demon King—the one who viewed everything with jaded,
indifferent eyes—had taken the initiative to request a meeting
with Cale.
Aurora, knowing the Demon King’s cruel and heartless nature,
was stunned. Yet, a question gnawed at her. Looking at Cale’s
frail state, she hesitated but, as a demon, felt compelled to ask:
"...Wasn’t the gray plague already stopped?"
Choi Han, who had been lurking in the corner, stepped forward
and spoke:
"We saw with our own eyes that Cale-nim absorbed the divine
artifact."
Aurora turned to Choi Han and froze. His piercing gaze, sharp
enough to make one’s heart skip a beat, carried an
unmistakable warning: ‘Anyone who dares blame Cale-nim will
regret it.’
Just as Aurora was taken aback by his intensity...
"...How many days have passed?"
Cale finally spoke.
Raon, who was picking up pieces of scattered apple pie on the
bed, answered reflexively:
"It’s been 2 days, 3 hours, 45 minutes, and 9 seconds!"
Ron, the butler, supported Cale, helping him lean against the
bed headboard.
Cale nodded at Raon’s response and continued:
"Ha... I had a dream."
He recalled words spoken by Sytriss, from the Pope’s memories
in his dream:
‘In rare cases, among people implanted with seeds, those highly
compatible with Chaos might trigger the seeds themselves,
spreading Chaos around them, right?’
Between his ragged breaths, Cale’s hoarse, broken voice
reached everyone’s ears:
"They say demons with a strong affinity for chaos can make the
seed sprout on their own... and even use chaos to pollute their
surroundings."
"Hm."
Most of those present understood immediately.
Eruhaben, standing by Cale’s side, spoke:
"The Church of Chaos is truly vile. They never intended to
eradicate the gray plague. They want to spread a plague across
the Demon realm."
The church aimed to use the gray plague to propagate their
Chaos faith in the Demon realm. Even without the divine
artifact, they planned to disrupt the Demon realm with chaos.
"So, the seed that appeared in the major city is one such case."
"Hm."
Aurora added after a moment’s pause:
"Using chaos to pollute surroundings... that likely means it’s
contagious, right?"
"Probably."
Cale nodded faintly.
—I ate too much.
—It’s still far from being digested.
Amid the voices of the Glutton Priestess and the Super Rock,
Cale thought to himself:
I have to go to that city.
Not to meet the Demon King, but to deal with the sprouting
gray plague in the major city as soon as possible. With a city of
that size, the consequences of inaction could be catastrophic.
Only I can purify chaos right now.
It had to be Cale, who could wield the power of chaos
purification.
And if I’m going to make a deal, I’ll have to meet the Demon
King anyway.
There were still plenty of scores to settle with that guy...
"...I have to go."
The moment the words left his mouth, Eruhaben immediately
objected:
"That’s a secondary matter."
He stated firmly:
"Purify your body first. Meet the Demon King after you’ve
recovered."
The other companions silently agreed.
Aurora’s expression stiffened, but she couldn’t argue.
He’s already sacrificed so much. How can we ask him to give
more?
The Demon King—even a being as cruel as him—hadn’t
attacked after discovering the Arbiters’ Alliance’s base. Instead,
he had "requested a meeting." This wasn’t out of respect for
the Alliance, but for Cale himself.
That’s how it should be.
The Demon realm, standing tall amidst the subtle disdain and
oppression of the Divine and Heavenly Realms, never betrayed
those who showed it kindness—at least, that’s what Aurora
firmly believed.
If the Demon King is an exception—
She wouldn’t stand idly by.
As she steeled her resolve as a demon—
"No."
Cale’s weak but resolute voice cut through.
"I’m going to the city."
"But—!"
Choi Han started to protest, but Cale was quicker:
"This state isn’t because of the chaos corruption."
In the tense silence, Cale met the worried gazes of his
companions with calm honesty:
"It’ll get better with time."
It was just indigestion.
"Well, uh..."
He chose his words carefully:
"It’s a side effect of overusing my powers."
Exactly. No need to lie.
Cale spoke candidly to his concerned companions:
—Right. Eating too much caused this.
The Glutton’s job is to eat, after all.
So it’s technically an overuse of power.
—It’ll be fine once the Glutton digests it. Just a matter of time.
During the brief silence as Cale listened to the Super Rock’s
explanation—
"How is that possible?! How could someone tainted by chaos
be completely fine—"
Choi Han suddenly burst out.
Cale stared at him, stunned.
What’s wrong with this kid’s eyes?
He was reminded of their first meeting—Choi Han, the boy
from Harris Village, consumed by vengeful fury, arriving at the
Henituse estate. The same sharp, blazing eyes from back then
were staring at him now.
Why had this docile guy suddenly reverted to that state?
Without thinking, Cale blurted out:
"Are you okay?"
Choi Han’s expression twisted instantly.
His mouth opened, but no words came out. He bit his lip.
What’s going on?
Cale observed Choi Han’s state while responding:
"You’re right, the tainted parts are a problem."
Haa—
He took a deep breath.
The dizziness had eased slightly, but his condition was still poor.
No telling how long this weakness would last.
"It does hurt."
The parts tainted by chaos were naturally painful.
"So it needs to be purified. But most of what you’re seeing now
isn’t related to the chaos corruption. It’ll pass with time."
He couldn’t exactly give the Glutton Priestess digestive
medicine, could he?
Since she said it would digest naturally, they just had to wait.
"I plan to purify the infected demons in the city while
simultaneously purifying myself."
As Choi Han opened his mouth to argue again, Cale said firmly:
"In my current state, this is the best solution."
Ron, standing quietly to the side, spoke up:
"Young Master, are you worried that you don’t know when
your body will recover, and you might not withstand two
separate purifications?"
"Exactly."
Ron understood completely.
Cale’s current indigestion had no clear timeline for recovery.
Though his instincts told him it wouldn’t take too long...
I need to stop the gray plague and purify myself as soon as
possible.
Doing both at once would be more efficient.
Of course, the pain in his body would persist for a while.
What’s a little pain?
Compared to the agony of using Instant or the shattering of his
Plate, this was nothing.
If purifying his body first left him too weak to handle the gray
plague in time, it could lead to even worse consequences.
"Please contact the Demon King and tell him I’ll meet him."
Cale said to Aurora. She met his gaze but couldn’t respond
immediately.
Puzzled, Cale watched as her stiff face softened, and she
replied:
"Understood. I’ll make the arrangements."
She slowly bowed her head.
"...Thank you, truly."
"Huh?"
What was that about?
Cale was confused, but Aurora straightened up, her expression
solemn:
"From now until your meeting with the Demon King, the
Arbiters’ Alliance—no, I will personally guarantee your safety."
"Oh, sure, whatever."
Having the Arbiters’ Alliance’s support was a good thing.
To Aurora, who seemed overly dramatic, Cale added:
"Tell the Demon King I’ll head there soon and to prepare for the
purification. Also, let him know I don’t want to waste time on
pointless games."
Exactly.
With a fever and dizziness, he had no patience for mind games.
Purifying his body sooner would at least ease the pain.
Maybe it’ll even help the Glutton’s indigestion.
After all, his current state was due to swallowing chaos. If Cale
purified the chaos in his body, the Glutton Priestess might feel
better too.
It wasn’t a baseless theory.
Of course, he wasn’t certain, so Cale prioritized addressing the
gray plague in the city over focusing solely on himself.
Besides, the Demon King has no choice but to listen to me.
As long as Cale held the divine artifact, the Demon King
couldn’t act recklessly and had to follow his terms.
The situation was entirely in Cale’s favor.
When we negotiate later, I’ll make sure to settle the score for
this purification, too. I’ll milk him for everything he’s worth.
Cale planned to extract ample compensation for the suffering
and losses he’d endured.
"...Understood. I’ll convey your message."
Aurora left the room with a solemn expression. Cale turned his
attention back to his companions.
"Where are the others?"
A few were missing.
"They’re being treated for their injuries."
Team leader Lee Soo Hyuk, Choi Jung Soo, and Clopeh Sekka
were absent.
Thinking of their wounds, Cale’s brow furrowed.
"Ugh, no idea when I’ll recover—"
He muttered in complaint, then froze as he looked up.
"...Why are you all staring at me like that?"
The children, averaging ten years old.
Raon, Hong, and On were staring at him intently. Cale blinked.
"...Human, you can’t eat?"
Raon held out a piece of apple pie.
Seeing his drooping eyes, Cale reached for it but...
"..."
In the end, he silently turned away.
"Young Master, shall I prepare some lemon tea?"
"...Yeah."
Tea might be better than food.
His stomach was too unsettled to eat anything.
The children, averaging ten years old, stepped back from Cale
and gathered in the corner, whispering.
Though Cale couldn’t hear them, he chose to ignore it.
As long as they weren’t crying, he was grateful.
"Something big happened."
"It’s a huge problem."
"We need to study these side effects."
Seeing Cale in an unusually weakened state, the children held
back their tears.
"It’ll get better with time"—wasn’t that just admitting there
was no solution?
They couldn’t let this happen again.
Now wasn’t the time to just worry.
They had always relied on Cale’s idea of solving problems.
This time, they’d figure it out themselves.
"It’s all chaos’s fault."
"Right! The wanderer’s to blame too!"
"...We can’t let this slide."
"Yeah, the God of Chaos, the Five-Colored Bloods, the Demon
King—we’ll take them all down."
"I’ll spread all my poison!"
"...First, we need to get stronger. Strong enough to take down
the Three Emperors ourselves."
Of course, if Cale heard their conversation, his head would spin
even more. But for now, he was oblivious.
"Young Master, rest for now."
Ron, with a gentle smile, eased Cale back onto the bed.
"Mm."
Cale let out a small hum. Ron chuckled and said:
"Young Master’s been a troublemaker since he was little."
In a low, warm laugh, he continued:
"Of course, the current Young Master causes even bigger
trouble, giving this old servant quite a headache."
"!"
Cale’s eyes widened instantly.
The current Young Master.
The moment he heard those words, Cale was speechless, his
chest tightening with a mix of shock and realization.
He knows, doesn’t he?
No, just how much did this terrifying old man figure out?
"Hehe."
Ron gave a warm—no, almost assassin-like—smile.
Cale instinctively shrank back.
Seeing Cale’s shaken expression, Ron couldn’t help but laugh.
"Focus on recovering for now."
Since Beacrox wasn’t back yet, Ron went to prepare the lemon
tea himself, adding before he left:
"Such a worrisome Young Master."
Cale snuck a glance at Ron’s expression.
Indeed, his current state was far from normal.
"Choi Han."
Before leaving, Ron called out to Choi Han.
"..."
Choi Han looked over silently. Ron gestured toward the door:
"Care to lend a hand?"
"..."
Choi Han frowned but followed.
"Young Master, get some sleep before we head out."
As Ron closed the door, he saw Cale immediately close his eyes,
pretending to sleep, and let out a soft chuckle.
Click.
The door shut. Ron headed to the kitchen, speaking to Choi Han
trailing behind:
"We need to get stronger, don’t we?"
"..."
Choi Han remained silent. Ron continued:
"Has the Heavenly Demon arrived yet?"
"...Why?"
Choi Han finally spoke, only to see a cold smile spread across
the old man’s gentle face.
"I’m a bit curious about the ‘unique power.’"
"..."
Choi Han quietly studied Ron.
Ron, with his back to Cale—
Cale probably hadn’t seen his expression.
But Choi Han, standing close, saw it clearly in the dim light.
That face was filled with urgency and desperation.
"Will you tell me?"
Ron’s question prompted a nod from Choi Han.
Then he answered:
"We can’t keep letting Cale-nim get hurt alone."
Ron’s silence was his agreement.
At their destination stood Beacrox.
***
"...You—"
Mor, one of the eight loyal swords under the Demon King and
commander of the Third Army.
Known as the "Backstabbing Hand," this general, famed for
striking from behind, suddenly found himself at a loss for
words.
Cale Henituse.
Upon hearing that Cale had arrived with Aurora and his group,
General Mor had come out to greet them personally.
He still couldn’t forget those eyes—unyielding even in the face
of the Third Emperor Dragon King’s tsunami.
Those vivid, blazing eyes that refused to waver in any adversity.
And the stone shield he had created.
That shield, willing to shatter itself to protect everything.
Mor could never erase that scene from his mind.
"...Why are you—"
But why was Cale Henituse now—
"Why do you look like you’re on the verge of death?"
Seeing Cale, frail and slumped in a wheelchair, General Mor
was rendered speechless.
Meanwhile, Cale, suffering merely from indigestion:
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
He frowned, clearly displeased by Mor’s tone.
"Haa... haa..."
Though he was breathing heavily, sweat beading on his
forehead, slumped powerlessly in the wheelchair, his face pale
as paper.
In any case, Cale had arrived at the great city of Thalia to meet
the Demon King.
Chapter 2-464: So, Make an Offer (3)
"The Demon King requests a meeting."
Aurora, the leader of the Arbiters’ Alliance, burst into the room
and blurted out the news in a rush. But the moment she saw
Cale awake, her words faltered.
"You’re awake! The Demon King’s forces are heading toward
our secret base—"
Her sentence cut off as she took in Cale’s condition and fell
silent.
Though it had already been confirmed that Cale was running a
high fever while unconscious, something was wrong.
‘He’s supposed to improve after waking up...’
Contrary to the Ancient Dragon’s prediction, Cale’s condition
seemed worse.
His cheeks were flushed red, his breathing heavy and labored.
Cold sweat drenched his body, and he couldn’t even sit up
properly due to dizziness. His state was unmistakably dire.
"Hm."
Faced with this version of Cale, Aurora was momentarily at a
loss for words.
She knew the reason for his pitiful condition all too well.
‘Of course... this isn’t a normal situation.’
Cale’s body had been tainted by the Pope’s power of Chaos and
had absorbed a divine artifact capable of triggering the gray
plague. On top of that, he had single-handedly faced the
catastrophic sea power of the Third Emperor Dragon King to
buy time for others to escape.
So when Cale was brought back, vomiting blood and
unconscious, no one could say a word. They could only pray for
his safe recovery.
"...The Demon King—"
Cale’s strained voice broke through his labored breathing.
"...What about him...?"
Even unable to form complete sentences, his bloodshot eyes
locked onto Aurora with precision.
‘Ah.’
She nearly let out a sigh.
Even in this state, he was still focused on matters involving the
Demon King.
What should she do?
After glancing around and receiving a nod from Eruhaben, she
began to explain in detail, sparing Cale the effort of speaking
further.
"We have secret bases in the Demon realm’s major cities. One
of them received a message from the Demon King."
Aurora’s expression twisted suddenly—because the Demon
King’s forces had discovered one of the Arbiters’ Alliance’s
hidden strongholds.
Her face remained stiff as she continued.
"The base was exposed due to a special incident in that city.
The Alliance has classified it as top-secret intelligence. During
the investigation, our operatives were accidentally exposed,
leading to the current situation."
Cale listened in silence.
He understood that this wasn’t irrelevant information.
Events classified as top-secret by the Arbiters’ Alliance were
rare.
"...In that city, a demon infected with the gray plague was
discovered."
"!"
Choi Han’s pupils were constricted.
The gray plague?
Hadn’t Cale-nim absorbed the divine artifact to prevent its
outbreak?
"The city is currently under lockdown. According to our agents,
the disease hasn’t shown signs of being contagious yet. But we
can’t predict if it will mutate in the future."
Aurora hesitated before continuing:
"As a result, the Demon King has personally invited Cale
Henituse to that city. He says he will meet you in person."
The Demon King—the one who viewed everything with jaded,
indifferent eyes—had taken the initiative to request a meeting
with Cale.
Aurora, knowing the Demon King’s cruel and heartless nature,
was stunned. Yet, a question gnawed at her. Looking at Cale’s
frail state, she hesitated but, as a demon, felt compelled to ask:
"...Wasn’t the gray plague already stopped?"
Choi Han, who had been lurking in the corner, stepped forward
and spoke:
"We saw with our own eyes that Cale-nim absorbed the divine
artifact."
Aurora turned to Choi Han and froze. His piercing gaze, sharp
enough to make one’s heart skip a beat, carried an
unmistakable warning: ‘Anyone who dares blame Cale-nim will
regret it.’
Just as Aurora was taken aback by his intensity...
"...How many days have passed?"
Cale finally spoke.
Raon, who was picking up pieces of scattered apple pie on the
bed, answered reflexively:
"It’s been 2 days, 3 hours, 45 minutes, and 9 seconds!"
Ron, the butler, supported Cale, helping him lean against the
bed headboard.
Cale nodded at Raon’s response and continued:
"Ha... I had a dream."
He recalled words spoken by Sytriss, from the Pope’s memories
in his dream:
‘In rare cases, among people implanted with seeds, those highly
compatible with Chaos might trigger the seeds themselves,
spreading Chaos around them, right?’
Between his ragged breaths, Cale’s hoarse, broken voice
reached everyone’s ears:
"They say demons with a strong affinity for chaos can make the
seed sprout on their own... and even use chaos to pollute their
surroundings."
"Hm."
Most of those present understood immediately.
Eruhaben, standing by Cale’s side, spoke:
"The Church of Chaos is truly vile. They never intended to
eradicate the gray plague. They want to spread a plague across
the Demon realm."
The church aimed to use the gray plague to propagate their
Chaos faith in the Demon realm. Even without the divine
artifact, they planned to disrupt the Demon realm with chaos.
"So, the seed that appeared in the major city is one such case."
"Hm."
Aurora added after a moment’s pause:
"Using chaos to pollute surroundings... that likely means it’s
contagious, right?"
"Probably."
Cale nodded faintly.
—I ate too much.
—It’s still far from being digested.
Amid the voices of the Glutton Priestess and the Super Rock,
Cale thought to himself:
I have to go to that city.
Not to meet the Demon King, but to deal with the sprouting
gray plague in the major city as soon as possible. With a city of
that size, the consequences of inaction could be catastrophic.
Only I can purify chaos right now.
It had to be Cale, who could wield the power of chaos
purification.
And if I’m going to make a deal, I’ll have to meet the Demon
King anyway.
There were still plenty of scores to settle with that guy...
"...I have to go."
The moment the words left his mouth, Eruhaben immediately
objected:
"That’s a secondary matter."
He stated firmly:
"Purify your body first. Meet the Demon King after you’ve
recovered."
The other companions silently agreed.
Aurora’s expression stiffened, but she couldn’t argue.
He’s already sacrificed so much. How can we ask him to give
more?
The Demon King—even a being as cruel as him—hadn’t
attacked after discovering the Arbiters’ Alliance’s base. Instead,
he had "requested a meeting." This wasn’t out of respect for
the Alliance, but for Cale himself.
That’s how it should be.
The Demon realm, standing tall amidst the subtle disdain and
oppression of the Divine and Heavenly Realms, never betrayed
those who showed it kindness—at least, that’s what Aurora
firmly believed.
If the Demon King is an exception—
She wouldn’t stand idly by.
As she steeled her resolve as a demon—
"No."
Cale’s weak but resolute voice cut through.
"I’m going to the city."
"But—!"
Choi Han started to protest, but Cale was quicker:
"This state isn’t because of the chaos corruption."
In the tense silence, Cale met the worried gazes of his
companions with calm honesty:
"It’ll get better with time."
It was just indigestion.
"Well, uh..."
He chose his words carefully:
"It’s a side effect of overusing my powers."
Exactly. No need to lie.
Cale spoke candidly to his concerned companions:
—Right. Eating too much caused this.
The Glutton’s job is to eat, after all.
So it’s technically an overuse of power.
—It’ll be fine once the Glutton digests it. Just a matter of time.
During the brief silence as Cale listened to the Super Rock’s
explanation—
"How is that possible?! How could someone tainted by chaos
be completely fine—"
Choi Han suddenly burst out.
Cale stared at him, stunned.
What’s wrong with this kid’s eyes?
He was reminded of their first meeting—Choi Han, the boy
from Harris Village, consumed by vengeful fury, arriving at the
Henituse estate. The same sharp, blazing eyes from back then
were staring at him now.
Why had this docile guy suddenly reverted to that state?
Without thinking, Cale blurted out:
"Are you okay?"
Choi Han’s expression twisted instantly.
His mouth opened, but no words came out. He bit his lip.
What’s going on?
Cale observed Choi Han’s state while responding:
"You’re right, the tainted parts are a problem."
Haa—
He took a deep breath.
The dizziness had eased slightly, but his condition was still poor.
No telling how long this weakness would last.
"It does hurt."
The parts tainted by chaos were naturally painful.
"So it needs to be purified. But most of what you’re seeing now
isn’t related to the chaos corruption. It’ll pass with time."
He couldn’t exactly give the Glutton Priestess digestive
medicine, could he?
Since she said it would digest naturally, they just had to wait.
"I plan to purify the infected demons in the city while
simultaneously purifying myself."
As Choi Han opened his mouth to argue again, Cale said firmly:
"In my current state, this is the best solution."
Ron, standing quietly to the side, spoke up:
"Young Master, are you worried that you don’t know when
your body will recover, and you might not withstand two
separate purifications?"
"Exactly."
Ron understood completely.
Cale’s current indigestion had no clear timeline for recovery.
Though his instincts told him it wouldn’t take too long...
I need to stop the gray plague and purify myself as soon as
possible.
Doing both at once would be more efficient.
Of course, the pain in his body would persist for a while.
What’s a little pain?
Compared to the agony of using Instant or the shattering of his
Plate, this was nothing.
If purifying his body first left him too weak to handle the gray
plague in time, it could lead to even worse consequences.
"Please contact the Demon King and tell him I’ll meet him."
Cale said to Aurora. She met his gaze but couldn’t respond
immediately.
Puzzled, Cale watched as her stiff face softened, and she
replied:
"Understood. I’ll make the arrangements."
She slowly bowed her head.
"...Thank you, truly."
"Huh?"
What was that about?
Cale was confused, but Aurora straightened up, her expression
solemn:
"From now until your meeting with the Demon King, the
Arbiters’ Alliance—no, I will personally guarantee your safety."
"Oh, sure, whatever."
Having the Arbiters’ Alliance’s support was a good thing.
To Aurora, who seemed overly dramatic, Cale added:
"Tell the Demon King I’ll head there soon and to prepare for the
purification. Also, let him know I don’t want to waste time on
pointless games."
Exactly.
With a fever and dizziness, he had no patience for mind games.
Purifying his body sooner would at least ease the pain.
Maybe it’ll even help the Glutton’s indigestion.
After all, his current state was due to swallowing chaos. If Cale
purified the chaos in his body, the Glutton Priestess might feel
better too.
It wasn’t a baseless theory.
Of course, he wasn’t certain, so Cale prioritized addressing the
gray plague in the city over focusing solely on himself.
Besides, the Demon King has no choice but to listen to me.
As long as Cale held the divine artifact, the Demon King
couldn’t act recklessly and had to follow his terms.
The situation was entirely in Cale’s favor.
When we negotiate later, I’ll make sure to settle the score for
this purification, too. I’ll milk him for everything he’s worth.
Cale planned to extract ample compensation for the suffering
and losses he’d endured.
"...Understood. I’ll convey your message."
Aurora left the room with a solemn expression. Cale turned his
attention back to his companions.
"Where are the others?"
A few were missing.
"They’re being treated for their injuries."
Team leader Lee Soo Hyuk, Choi Jung Soo, and Clopeh Sekka
were absent.
Thinking of their wounds, Cale’s brow furrowed.
"Ugh, no idea when I’ll recover—"
He muttered in complaint, then froze as he looked up.
"...Why are you all staring at me like that?"
The children, averaging ten years old.
Raon, Hong, and On were staring at him intently. Cale blinked.
"...Human, you can’t eat?"
Raon held out a piece of apple pie.
Seeing his drooping eyes, Cale reached for it but...
"..."
In the end, he silently turned away.
"Young Master, shall I prepare some lemon tea?"
"...Yeah."
Tea might be better than food.
His stomach was too unsettled to eat anything.
The children, averaging ten years old, stepped back from Cale
and gathered in the corner, whispering.
Though Cale couldn’t hear them, he chose to ignore it.
As long as they weren’t crying, he was grateful.
"Something big happened."
"It’s a huge problem."
"We need to study these side effects."
Seeing Cale in an unusually weakened state, the children held
back their tears.
"It’ll get better with time"—wasn’t that just admitting there
was no solution?
They couldn’t let this happen again.
Now wasn’t the time to just worry.
They had always relied on Cale’s idea of solving problems.
This time, they’d figure it out themselves.
"It’s all chaos’s fault."
"Right! The wanderer’s to blame too!"
"...We can’t let this slide."
"Yeah, the God of Chaos, the Five-Colored Bloods, the Demon
King—we’ll take them all down."
"I’ll spread all my poison!"
"...First, we need to get stronger. Strong enough to take down
the Three Emperors ourselves."
Of course, if Cale heard their conversation, his head would spin
even more. But for now, he was oblivious.
"Young Master, rest for now."
Ron, with a gentle smile, eased Cale back onto the bed.
"Mm."
Cale let out a small hum. Ron chuckled and said:
"Young Master’s been a troublemaker since he was little."
In a low, warm laugh, he continued:
"Of course, the current Young Master causes even bigger
trouble, giving this old servant quite a headache."
"!"
Cale’s eyes widened instantly.
The current Young Master.
The moment he heard those words, Cale was speechless, his
chest tightening with a mix of shock and realization.
He knows, doesn’t he?
No, just how much did this terrifying old man figure out?
"Hehe."
Ron gave a warm—no, almost assassin-like—smile.
Cale instinctively shrank back.
Seeing Cale’s shaken expression, Ron couldn’t help but laugh.
"Focus on recovering for now."
Since Beacrox wasn’t back yet, Ron went to prepare the lemon
tea himself, adding before he left:
"Such a worrisome Young Master."
Cale snuck a glance at Ron’s expression.
Indeed, his current state was far from normal.
"Choi Han."
Before leaving, Ron called out to Choi Han.
"..."
Choi Han looked over silently. Ron gestured toward the door:
"Care to lend a hand?"
"..."
Choi Han frowned but followed.
"Young Master, get some sleep before we head out."
As Ron closed the door, he saw Cale immediately close his eyes,
pretending to sleep, and let out a soft chuckle.
Click.
The door shut. Ron headed to the kitchen, speaking to Choi Han
trailing behind:
"We need to get stronger, don’t we?"
"..."
Choi Han remained silent. Ron continued:
"Has the Heavenly Demon arrived yet?"
"...Why?"
Choi Han finally spoke, only to see a cold smile spread across
the old man’s gentle face.
"I’m a bit curious about the ‘unique power.’"
"..."
Choi Han quietly studied Ron.
Ron, with his back to Cale—
Cale probably hadn’t seen his expression.
But Choi Han, standing close, saw it clearly in the dim light.
That face was filled with urgency and desperation.
"Will you tell me?"
Ron’s question prompted a nod from Choi Han.
Then he answered:
"We can’t keep letting Cale-nim get hurt alone."
Ron’s silence was his agreement.
At their destination stood Beacrox.
***
"...You—"
Mor, one of the eight loyal swords under the Demon King and
commander of the Third Army.
Known as the "Backstabbing Hand," this general, famed for
striking from behind, suddenly found himself at a loss for
words.
Cale Henituse.
Upon hearing that Cale had arrived with Aurora and his group,
General Mor had come out to greet them personally.
He still couldn’t forget those eyes—unyielding even in the face
of the Third Emperor Dragon King’s tsunami.
Those vivid, blazing eyes that refused to waver in any adversity.
And the stone shield he had created.
That shield, willing to shatter itself to protect everything.
Mor could never erase that scene from his mind.
"...Why are you—"
But why was Cale Henituse now—
"Why do you look like you’re on the verge of death?"
Seeing Cale, frail and slumped in a wheelchair, General Mor
was rendered speechless.
Meanwhile, Cale, suffering merely from indigestion:
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
He frowned, clearly displeased by Mor’s tone.
"Haa... haa..."
Though he was breathing heavily, sweat beading on his
forehead, slumped powerlessly in the wheelchair, his face pale
as paper.
In any case, Cale had arrived at the great city of Telia to meet
the Demon King.
Chapter 2-465: So, Make an Offer (4)
Many thanks to user u/whyjam on r/TrashOfCountsFamily
subreddit for sharing the raw with us! These early chapters
wouldn’t have been possible without u/whyjam!
Gasping for breath, Cale quickly scanned his surroundings.
“We’re inside the lord’s castle of the city of Telia.”
Aurora responded to his unspoken question with a polite tone.
Her gaze shifted from Cale and met General Mor’s eyes.
But that wasn’t all.
They were in the middle of the lord’s castle garden, surrounded
by Demon King’s forces stationed at various points, all directing
sharp glares their way.
‘Because of me, no doubt.’
Aurora.
The last and only bloodline of the former Demon King, as well
as the leader of the Arbiters’ Alliance.
From the Demon King’s perspective, Aurora was a rebel, an
enemy that needed to be eliminated.
It was understandable why their hostility was palpable, but
they were making a grave mistake.
To correct that misconception, Aurora opened her mouth.
“Interesting.”
But someone spoke before she could.
The ancient dragon, Eruhaben.
He surveyed the surroundings with an arrogant expression, his
eyes brimming with undisguised irritation and disdain.
“Such impudent glares.”
The ancient dragon was on edge.
He was in an extremely foul mood.
‘Dragon King.’
That so-called Third Emperor, who wasn’t even a dragon yet
dared to call himself the king of dragons and the sea, claiming
mastery over dragons.
Not only had they failed to deal with him, but they couldn’t
even handle that blue dragon and his tsunami properly.
On top of that, Cale, who had stood his ground to block it, was
now in terrible condition. They said he’d recover with time, but
Eruhaben was worried things might worsen, making everything
around him feel grating.
“Hah. Impudent, you say?”
In response to the ancient dragon’s words, a demon stepped
forward.
Thud!
Holding a massive spear, he appeared to be someone of
considerable rank.
Aurora naturally knew who he was.
The leader of the Second Army.
Known for his fierce loyalty to the Demon King.
“Enough.”
But a hand blocked his path.
General Mor didn’t even glance at the one who stepped
forward.
“Mor. Are you blocking my way?”
To the Second Army leader’s words, Mor replied calmly:
“They are guests invited by the Demon King. Who are you to act
like this?”
Under Mor’s cold gaze, the demon who had stepped forward
clicked his tongue.
As if disappointed at missing a good opportunity, he drew
Mor’s attention, but then quietly stepped back.
The Demon King.
He couldn’t go against his orders.
Instead, he glared at Aurora and spat out:
“To think I’d have to watch a sneaky rat skittering around the
house. What a pity.”
But Aurora’s expression didn’t waver in the slightest.
It was as if she hadn’t heard a thing.
However, Choi Han’s brow furrowed, and Eruhaben was about
to speak again. But the ancient dragon closed his mouth.
Because he saw Cale open his.
“Hey, Mor.”
To be honest, Cale just wanted to rest right now. He was
irritated and exhausted.
So he asked:
“Do you guys have a lot of time on your hands?”
Despite his feverish face, his cold gaze turned to Mor.
Mor involuntarily swallowed.
The image of Cale facing the Third Emperor Dragon King flashed
in his mind.
When he crushed the Pope, his eyes had that same look.
A tired, pained, small voice echoed through the garden.
“Do you want to see everyone die?”
Cale tilted his head, leaning back in his wheelchair, and stared
at the Second Army leader.
Looking at him, he asked Mor:
“Should we head back?”
Tension instantly crossed Mor’s face.
If Cale left, they wouldn’t be able to stop the Gray Plague.
After learning about the Gray Plague, the Demon King’s side
had no choice but to immediately lock down the major cities.
That’s how vicious the plague was.
Cale quietly surveyed his surroundings.
He looked sick and exhausted, but his eyes were sharp and
clear.
The area fell silent, and only then did Cale turn back to the
Second Army leader and speak:
“When you don’t know the situation, lack tact, and overstep
your place, that’s what’s called impudent.”
Then, without lingering, he shifted his gaze to Mor.
“Lead the way.”
The corner of Mor’s mouth curled slightly.
‘It’s definitely him.’
He looked like he was barely clinging to life, but this was the
same guy who had taken control of the Church of Chaos that
night and faced the Dragon King.
Mor glanced around.
Several demons stepped forward, passing the Second Army
leader.
They were all from the Third Army, Mor’s direct subordinates.
Though less skilled than their leader, each one was as sharp as
a honed blade.
“They’re waiting.”
Step.
As Mor moved forward, the Third Army formed a protective
formation around Cale’s group, escorting them.
Cale watched silently, then gestured to Ron.
Creak.
Ron pushed Cale’s wheelchair.
Eruhaben, Choi Han, and an invisible Raon followed.
Aside from the injured and those tending to them, this was the
group accompanying Cale.
Of course, Aurora kept pace right behind Cale, alongside Ron.
The Arbiters’ Alliance had sent only Aurora today.
‘That guy’s here too.’
And there was an unexpected figure.
Duke Gimon, the lord of Moraka Castle.
The one who had allied with the Church of Chaos was here.
With a stiff expression, he walked alongside Choi Han.
General Mor gave him a quick glance before moving forward
again.
His gaze turned to the lord’s castle.
Nod.
With a slight nod, a curtain in one of the windows closed.
Thus, Cale’s group entered the lord’s castle of Telia.
“Hm.”
The Second Army leader let out a low grunt but did nothing
more, merely watching.
The Third Army, led by Mor, carried an air of grim
determination.
They were genuinely protecting Cale’s group.
And for good reason.
Their lives had been saved.
Though the Dragon King’s sea wasn’t aimed at the Demon
King’s army, he hadn’t cared whether they lived or died.
If General Mor hadn’t ordered an evacuation, they would’ve
been swept away.
If Cale hadn’t let Mor go, they never would’ve found out—and
countless lives would’ve been lost.
Thus, the Third Army escorted Cale’s group with genuine intent.
Creak.
The sound of footsteps and the wheelchair filled the quiet
space.
Cale surveyed the eerily silent castle and spoke.
“Is this it?”
It should’ve been a grand meeting hall.
A large hall with a firmly closed door.
The Demon King was said to be beyond that door.
“Yes.”
Mor answered, looking at the figure standing before the door.
The leader of the First Army, the Demon King’s personal guard,
among the eight armies.
She glanced at Mor, then at Cale over his shoulder, and
nodded.
She signaled to the surrounding guard demons.
The door would soon open.
Choi Han silently observed the First Army guards, whose
presence was sharper than any other demon army.
He was still on edge.
Both sides were tense.
But no one spoke first.
Creak—
Because the grand hall’s door was opening.
Mor swallowed, taking in the scene.
Then, Cale’s indifferent voice came from behind.
“What about the wanderers?”
What?
This guy’s about to meet the Demon King.
The ruler of the Demon Realm, a realm on par with the Divine
and Heavenly Realms, was beyond that opening door.
And he’s asking questions now?
At such a casual, almost mundane question, Mor had no choice
but to answer:
“They left yesterday. Said they had to track their targets and
would stay in the Demon Realm longer.”
The Third Emperor Dragon King’s group had left the Demon
King’s castle.
Their targets were no longer just Choi Jung-gun.
Cale’s group was likely among them now.
“Oh.”
Cale’s lips curled into a smirk.
Creak—
Mor stepped back.
Beyond the opening door, Cale saw a single table and chair in
the vast hall’s center. Smirking, he looked at the figure seated
there and said:
“The Demon King must have a big heart, letting someone who
turned a whole castle to ruins and caused chaos in the Demon
Realm walk free.”
Shock crossed Mor’s face as he stepped back, but Cale didn’t
care.
The Demon King and Cale.
The two locked eyes.
Creak.
Ron pushed the wheelchair, moving into the hall.
But Ron couldn’t proceed.
Swish.
The Demon King, leaning back in his chair, raised a hand.
Ron wanted to move forward, but the air itself pushed him
back.
Eruhaben and Choi Han’s faces hardened instantly.
That single gesture.
With one motion, they felt the Demon King’s immense power.
The King of the Demon Realm.
In a world without gods or emperors, the sole supreme ruler of
the vast Demon Realm.
They could feel the weight of that title.
Neither the ancient dragon nor Choi Han could move.
Drip.
Sweat beaded on Choi Han’s forehead. Ron’s face turned pale.
Though Eruhaben stood with a calm expression, he realized one
thing clearly in that moment.
‘I’m weak.’
Before the Demon King, the ancient dragon knew no amount of
struggle would let him win.
He hadn’t even felt this way facing the Third Emperor.
Even as the Divine and Heavenly Realms looked down on the
Demon Realm, it endured because of this overwhelmingly
powerful Demon King.
‘The Demon King alone makes an army unnecessary.’
The Demon King’s eight blades? The eight armies?
They were utterly unnecessary to him.
Eruhaben admitted he had gravely misjudged the Demon King.
Not just a king or emperor of a nation.
That wasn’t the level of the Demon King.
In the Demon Realm, they said the Demon King might become a
demon god in the future, and they followed him.
If his strength was the reason, it made sense.
This guy was truly at the level of a god.
No one could speak, and as the Demon King gazed at them with
ennui—
“Haa.”
Cale let out a sigh.
—Human, the Demon King seems strong!
Ignoring Raon’s bright voice, Cale spoke:
“This is getting tedious.”
He could feel the Demon King’s strength.
Because he’d faced the Third Emperor, the God of Chaos, the
God of Balance, and others.
The Demon King was a powerhouse on their level.
‘Maybe even on par with Chaos or Balance.’
He might even surpass the Third Emperor, approaching the
level of the ancient gods.
‘I have no idea why someone like him is being swayed by the
Hunters and the Church of Chaos.’
But that wasn’t Cale’s concern.
No matter how strong the opponent was, Cale was clear on the
most important thing.
Back in his days as Kim Rok Soo.
He wasn’t strong.
Yet he rarely feared facing the powerful.
Especially in situations like this, Cale tended to act even more
recklessly.
Why?
“Let’s stop with the pointless posturing.”
Cale tilted his head to one side and asked the Demon King:
“Am I going home?”
“…!”
The Demon King’s eyes widened slightly.
A smile formed on his lips.
As if he’d discovered something utterly intriguing.
The First Army leader and General Mor were shocked by the
Demon King’s reaction and, at the same time, by Cale’s brazen
attitude.
The tension surrounding Cale’s group dissipated rapidly.
His nonchalant yet defiant, utterly scoundrel-like demeanor.
-Human, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you like this!
Raon spoke in a slightly brighter tone, but Cale, unfazed, stared
at the Demon King with an expression that could be deemed
irreverent.
‘What?’
You think staring like that will do anything?
The Demon King’s smug, leisurely smile was getting on his
nerves.
Demon King bastard.
Cale didn’t particularly like the Demon King.
Beyond the Count Lupé incident, the Demon King’s forces had
attacked a village and sent its demons to the Transparent Blood
Hunters as test subjects.
Their bodies died, and their souls lived on as NPCs in the New
World, stripped of memories.
The king ruling the Demon Realm had done this, and Cale
remembered it clearly.
‘Would a bastard like that care about the Gray Plague?’
Probably not.
A guy like this likely didn’t care how many demons died.
‘That’s why I brought Aurora and Duke Gimon.’
The Demon King’s forces had carried out that village attack in
secret.
Because if it were exposed, the Demon King would lose
authority, legitimacy, and support.
‘The Gray Plague is the same.’
The Gray Plague couldn’t be hidden. Left unchecked, it would
spread across the Demon Realm, drawing all attention to it.
And Aurora and Duke Gimon, who knew the full context, were
here.
Even if they lost their lives here, their allies were scattered
throughout the Demon Realm.
Would the Demon King overlook that?
He might not care about demon lives, but he cared about his
position.
‘So he can’t abandon me.’
What’s the use of being strong?
When someone has dirty secrets, and you hold their
weakness—
‘No matter how strong they are, there’s no reason to fear
them.’
Unlike the God of Chaos or the Five-Colored Blood Hunters,
Cale acted with even more confidence, unafraid for his life.
“By the way, you heard from General Mor, right?”
He pointed to himself.
Feverish and breathing heavily, he said boldly:
“If I die, the Demon Realm will be consumed by the Gray
Plague.”
Cale asked again:
“Am I going home?”
The Demon King said nothing, but his hand slowly lowered.
Cale spoke to Ron:
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
Creak.
The wheelchair moved into the grand hall.
Creak.
Inside the hall, demons who appeared to be the Demon King’s
advisors and guards stood.
All were positioned behind the Demon King, seated at the
center.
Creak.
Cale’s wheelchair stopped.
The Demon King, seated in his chair.
A table before him.
Cale stopped in front of that table.
Leaning back in his wheelchair, he said to the Demon King:
“You invite a guest and don’t even prepare a chair? What kind
of manners are those?”
Tired of the pointless power plays, Cale cut to the chase:
“Only I can solve the Gray Plague.”
Of course, Cale intended to purify the Gray Plague.
No matter how the Demon King responded.
But he didn’t let that show.
To a guy like the Demon King, it was better to seem like a
similar kind of bastard.
‘So—’
They were meeting under the pretense of a deal.
But in this situation, Cale was the one holding all the cards.
If the Demon King wanted a share of what Cale had:
“Make an offer.”
To the Demon King.
“What can you give me?”
What can you offer me?
Cale’s indifferent eyes observed the Demon King.
As if scrutinizing him.
It was a look the Demon King had never encountered in his life.
Chapter 2-466: So, Make an Offer (5)
Many thanks to user u/whyjam on r/TrashOfCountsFamily
subreddit for sharing the raw with us! These early chapters
wouldn’t have been possible without u/whyjam!
Silence settled over the room.
Make an offer.
What can you give me?
When Cale uttered those words, the Demon King’s
subordinates couldn’t hide their shock.
The face of the demon who appeared to be an advisor paled.
Tap. Tap.
The Demon King tapped the armrest of his chair with his
fingers.
His gaze moved past Cale, landing on someone behind him.
General Mor’s eyes widened as their gazes met.
The Demon King was smiling.
“Interesting.”
Mor recalled the words he’d spoken to the Demon King.
‘What was Cale Henituse like when you met him?’
His response to the Demon King’s question:
‘If you meet Cale Henituse, you’ll find him even more
interesting.’
Even during negotiations with the wanderers or the God of
Chaos’s forces, the Demon King had never called anything
“interesting.”
He’d treated even the Third Emperor Dragon King with
indifference.
“Indeed.”
The Demon King’s gaze returned to Cale.
The corner of his mouth twitched upward slightly.
“What do you want?”
At those words, the expressions of the Demon King’s vassals
shifted. That alone made it clear this was an extremely rare
reaction from him.
Especially the advisor standing just behind the Demon King—his
face grew even paler.
“You’re asking the wrong question.”
But Cale’s response was no less audacious.
With a crooked smirk, he replied:
“What do I want? That’s for the one who wants something to
propose. We’re not in a rush.”
Shrugging, Cale exuded an air of complete ease.
“Your Majesty.”
Finally, the advisor stepped forward.
He signaled to the First Army leader standing at the hall’s
entrance.
Receiving his cue, the leader motioned to her subordinates, and
the hall’s entrance doors began to close slowly.
“Given Lord Cale Henituse’s poor condition, we’ll first guide you
to a comfortable place.”
Creak—
As the doors closed, the advisor flashed a friendly smile at Cale.
“We’ll also prepare a proposal that will satisfy Lord Cale
Henituse.”
As if he’d never paled, his demeanor was calm and natural.
‘He’s stalling.’
Cale saw through the advisor’s attempt to defuse the situation,
which had tilted in Cale’s favor, and delay negotiations.
‘Why would I let that happen?’
Cale had no reason to play along with the advisor’s tactics.
He had plenty of ways to pressure them.
The Gray Plague is probably spreading as we speak. Aren’t you
being a bit too relaxed?
A single line like that would be enough to rattle them.
Cale opened his mouth.
But the Demon King spoke first.
“Fine. I’ll make the first offer.”
The advisor, startled, hurriedly opened his mouth.
“Your Majesty—”
But his face turned white.
The Demon King raised his hand.
“Ugh.”
The advisor swallowed hard as the Demon King’s gesture
pushed him back.
The vassals immediately bowed their heads, and the First Army
knights, who had been closing the doors, froze and held their
breath.
Cale noticed the mix of awe and fear in the eyes of the Demon
King’s subordinates.
Then, the Demon King spoke.
“What might you want?”
His languid voice reached Cale’s ears.
“Shall I end our alliance with the Hunter Families?”
Eruhaben and Choi Han’s eyes widened.
As Cale remained silent, the Demon King spoke again.
“Aurora.”
Aurora flinched, but the Demon King didn’t spare her a glance,
addressing Cale instead.
“Shall I hand the next throne to her?”
The expression drained from Cale’s face.
As the advisor and vassals’ faces grew even paler—
“Or perhaps I should reveal the orders I gave to attack villages
and hand demons over as test subjects, and apologize for it?”
Aurora and Choi Han’s shoulders twitched slightly.
The other demons’ faces grew even more ashen. The advisor, in
particular, couldn’t hide his dismay.
In the silence, only the Demon King spoke.
“Why?”
He leaned deeper into his chair.
“Cale Henituse, you already know about this, don’t you? It
seems you were the ones who attacked the Sixth Army last
time.”
The Demon King’s Sixth Army. When Viscount Deshuran
attacked the village, Cale’s group had stopped them and
detained the Sixth Army leader.
“Oh.”
The Demon King remained nonchalant.
“When we interrogated the Church of Chaos’s Holy Knight you
helped us capture, they said they didn’t attack the Sixth Army.
Based on that information—”
Slowly, his voice dripped with boredom, as if this explanation
was utterly tedious to him.
Yet the smile on his lips never faded.
He looked only at Cale.
“What else should I offer? Money? Land? Power?”
The Demon King spoke evenly.
“I can give you anything. So, purify the Gray Plague.”
A brief silence followed his words.
No one could speak in that short pause.
Amid it, Cale, who had been silently observing the Demon King
with an expressionless face, opened his mouth.
“I misjudged you.”
He’d thought the Demon King was someone who cared little for
demon lives but was obsessed with his position.
“You don’t care what happens to the Demon Realm or its
demons.”
This guy was truly insane.
Cale’s gaze shifted past the Demon King’s shoulder.
“Most of the work seems to have been done by your vassals.”
The advisor, meeting Cale’s eyes, couldn’t hide his unease.
“And you just let it happen.”
Why?
“Because it would create a more interesting situation.”
The Demon King made no response to Cale’s indifferent stare.
The Demon King of Sloth.
Cale realized “Sloth” was the perfect word to describe the
demon before him.
‘Fighting the former Demon King’s forces to become the
Demon King.’
Collaborating with the God of Chaos’s forces and the Hunter
Families.
It wasn’t to strengthen the Demon Realm or solidify his power.
Cale made his judgment about the Demon King.
This wasn’t the type of ruler who would do anything to protect
their power.
Instead, this guy—
‘His eyes are dead.’
During his time as Kim Rok Soo, he’d met leaders of various
organizations as a team leader.
He’d seen eyes like these before.
One of the heads of Korea’s top three guilds had eyes like this.
So did the chairman of a major corporation that thrived during
the cataclysm.
“You’re fighting sloth.”
“—!”
For the first time, the Demon King’s eyebrow twitched.
Unfazed, Cale continued.
“That’s why you crave chaos and war.”
Because that’s when he feels something.
The only times he feels alive are in moments of chaos and war.
‘Guys like this do a lot of crazy things.’
Cale closed his eyes.
He was still feverish, his head dizzy.
“To think I tried to have a conversation with a lunatic like this.”
Sigh.
A sigh escaped him naturally.
The advisor, General Mor, the First Army leader, and others
looked at him with shocked expressions.
The Demon King of Sloth.
The demons following him believed he was the most likely to
become a demon god.
He was stronger than any previous Demon King.
To such a powerhouse—
“There’s no way a normal conversation would work with a
screw-loose guy like you.”
Cale spoke without restraint.
Something no one in the Demon King’s castle would dare do.
Because even the slightest insolence would lead to the Demon
King killing the offender.
That’s why the First Army leader found it strange.
‘Why is he letting such disrespectful words slide?’
No.
He seemed even more intrigued.
It had been years since she, as a member of his personal guard,
had seen the Demon King this interested in anything.
Then, Cale threw out casually:
“You find me interesting, don’t you?”
The Demon King’s smile deepened.
But his eyes remained filled with sloth.
Cale didn’t care.
‘Yeah, back when I was Kim Rok Soo, the guild leader and the
corporate chairman found me interesting too.’
Why?
‘No idea.’
Those people were impossible to understand.
Each had their own bizarre reasons for finding Kim Rok Soo
intriguing.
The Demon King spoke.
“Yes. You’re interesting.”
Because everything was tedious to him, the Demon King could
see certain things clearly. That’s why he grasped Cale’s essence
immediately.
“I can tell from looking at you. You don’t move for power,
wealth, or fame.”
Unlike the God of Chaos or the First Wanderer, Cale Henituse
was different.
Because everything was bothersome to him, the Demon King
saw clearly.
“You want to purify the Gray Plague quickly, don’t you?”
He’d already seen through Cale’s hidden intentions.
“You want to make the world, your surroundings, peaceful,
don’t you?”
He’d caught that sincerity too.
“That’s why you struggle so desperately, isn’t it?”
Pfft.
The Demon King let out a chuckle.
As the demons gaped in shock, Cale’s group wore strange
expressions.
They looked at Cale’s back with indescribable faces.
Cale, sitting in a wheelchair, breathing heavily, facing the
Demon King.
His back seemed unusually large.
‘What the—’
And General Mor. He felt an odd stirring in his heart, sensing
the divine artifact in his possession vibrating.
The image of the Third Emperor Dragon King and the Demon
King, indifferent to whether demons lived or died, came to
mind.
So did the memory of Cale going all out for a single comrade.
As the inheritor of a divine artifact passed down through his
family, Mor had followed the Demon King of Sloth, believing
him the only one who could become a demon god. But now,
Cale’s struggling figure stood out more.
While Mor’s gaze fixed on Cale, the Demon King’s voice
continued.
“You’re very strong.”
Oh.
The First Army leader let out a gasp.
It had been a long time since she’d heard the Demon King call
someone strong.
Those he acknowledged as strong were truly powerful.
They were beings she couldn’t even hope to defeat.
‘Gods.’
Gods, those close to godhood, or those with the potential to
oppose such beings.
To them, the Demon King called strong.
‘There’s a reason he’s letting him live.’
There was a reason the Demon King tolerated this human’s
disrespectful words.
‘But him?’
This frail-looking person was that strong?
Sure, he’d withstood the Third Emperor’s sea once, but wasn’t
that just barely surviving and escaping?
And yet he’s strong?
‘How much potential does he have?’
As the First Army leader and the advisor’s gazes grew heavy—
The Demon King declared, looking at Cale.
You’re very strong.
“But your enemies are even stronger.”
Cale knew that too.
“And yet you fight fiercely.”
And within that fierceness, his desire was simple.
“But all you want is to rest.”
I hate this sloth.
While this guy just wants to take care of everything and rest.
I can see that.
Because I’m the Demon King of Sloth.
“Truly interesting.”
We’re opposites.
The Demon King craves chaos,
While this guy wants to eliminate it.
Not for some grand cause.
Not to maintain power like the God of Balance.
Just for his own peaceful days.
He wants to rest.
That desire was clear as day to the Demon King.
While he felt suffocated by sloth.
The Demon King stared at Cale, whose inner thoughts had been
exposed.
What would this guy do now?
And soon, Cale responded to the Demon King’s words.
“Fine. Let’s make it even more interesting.”
“…What?”
Make it more interesting?
The Demon King’s eyes widened.
And Cale grinned brightly.
Back when I was Kim Rok Soo, when I said things like this to
guys like him, they always made that face. It’s really fun to
watch.
Cale laid out the reality for the Demon King, who acted like he
knew everything.
A reality that would be very interesting.
“Hey.”
He didn’t even call him Demon King anymore.
Guys like this love it when you act brazen and reckless.
“The God of Chaos has teamed up with the Heavenly Realm.”
“!”
The Demon King’s eyes widened.
“The Heavenly Realm’s goal includes crushing your Demon
Realm.”
The advisor and vassals’ faces hardened.
They looked as if they’d encountered the enemy of a lifetime.
“And the Five-Colored Bloods? They’re planning to put the
Heavenly Realm, Demon Realm, and Divine Realm all under
their control.”
Cale spoke without hesitation.
You think you’re at the center of creating chaos, Demon King?
You’re getting backstabbed right now.
You’ll have to scramble to survive.
“And the Five-Colored Bloods seem to have found a way to kill
gods too.”
Come on, Demon King.
The chaos you want is right in front of you.
“How’s that? Interesting, right?”
Cale shrugged and added:
“Oh, it must’ve been boring until now.”
He said to the arrogant Demon King:
“Because you didn’t know.”
You were the only ones in the dark.
—Human, you act like you know everything when you don’t
know much!
Seven-year-old Raon always spoke the truth.
“Demon King, are you still bored?”
For the first time, Cale saw the Demon King’s mouth close.
His lips no longer smiled.
But his eyes, for the first time, were smiling.
“Cale Henituse.”
He leaned forward, away from the chair’s backrest, toward
Cale.
“I’ll propose the terms of the deal.”
He could finally offer an equal deal.
Cale Henituse.
This guy and I aren’t opposites.
Or perhaps we are, but at least this guy can give me what I
want.
Thus, the Demon King stated what Cale wanted.
“For the peace you desire, I’ll fully cooperate with you.”
He could feel the advisor and vassals stirring behind him, but
the Demon King didn’t care.
In truth, for his own sake and for the Demon Realm, he needed
to break free from his sloth. Contrary to Cale’s expectations,
the Demon King, in his own way, was thinking of the Demon
Realm.
‘Especially if the Heavenly Realm is involved, we can’t stay like
this.’
Hearing this new information, the Demon King had no choice
but to speak to Cale with sincerity—considerable sincerity.
To become a demon god,
The Demon King had to break free from the chains binding him.
The Demon King of Sloth was, in his own way, struggling to
escape those chains.
No one knew that.
That, too, was part of his chains.
‘No.’
He didn’t know what chains bound him, but someone who saw
through his essence was standing before him.
‘You’re fighting sloth.’
Yes, truly fighting.
That’s why the Demon King proposed this deal.
He said to Cale:
“For the peace you desire, I’ll fully cooperate with you.”
But in return,
“You have to keep me entertained until then.”
Somehow, I feel like you might give me the key to breaking free
from these chains.
Even though you’re breathing heavily, looking exhausted.
If it’s you, who struggles so desperately to secure your peace,
Who dives headfirst into chaos and turmoil to achieve it,
You might give me the answer to escaping my sloth.
And his opponent—
Pfft.
Didn’t hide a scoff.
“What nonsense. Why should I entertain you? I don’t have time
to play with you.”
Cale’s confident smile met the Demon King’s eyes.
“But I’ll keep making a mess without rest.”
I’ll set the stage.
“If you’re bored, come play.”
Find your own fun.
“Of course, if you get beaten up while playing, that’s on you.”
You might get thrashed by us. Or you might destroy each other
fighting amongst yourselves. You’ve done so many vile things,
after all.
‘And the peace I want?’
That’s for the Demon Realm to return to the moderates, with
Aurora as the Demon King.
That’s how my surroundings will stay peaceful.
The Demon King knew this and spoke accordingly, and Cale,
knowing it too, could mention everything so casually.
Finally, the Demon King spoke.
“Haha—”
Laughter spilled from his mouth.
His eyes, his lips, his entire face smiled for the first time in ages.
“You’re saying you’ll create a stage where I might die?”
For the Demon King, it was an irresistible deal, devoid of any
trace of boredom.
“Excellent.”
The Demon King was satisfied, and Cale thought to himself:
Crazy bastard.
The Demon King was a lunatic.
Make him fight the Heavenly Realm, who might target Choi Han
and the Heavenly Demon?
Or the God of Chaos?
Or the Five-Colored Bloods?
Instead of boredom, he’d be trembling with fear, wondering
when he might die.
Crossing the line between life and death, he’d want to rest even
for a moment, let alone feel sloth.
“…”
Dreaming of a slacker life, rolling around in bed, Cale couldn’t
help but chuckle.
—Human, that laugh looks really creepy!
He lightly ignored Raon’s words.
He pretended not to notice the Demon King’s hesitation.
Cale just laughed.
Unaware that the Demon King thought this human was quite
the lunatic too.
Chapter 2-467: So, Make an Offer (6)
Many thanks to user u/whyjam on r/TrashOfCountsFamily
subreddit for sharing the raw with us! These early chapters
wouldn’t have been possible without u/whyjam!
Having concluded his deal with the Demon King, Cale
immediately stated his demand.
“First, let’s deal with the Gray Plague.”
“The path to the peace you desire?”
“Yeah.”
Cale answered the Demon King’s question without hesitation.
The advisor, General Mor, the First Army leader, and others
looked at him with peculiar expressions.
The Demon King gestured to the advisor and said:
“Do as they wish.”
“…Yes, sir.”
The advisor didn’t bother mentioning that Cale’s demand was
already the top priority for the Demon King’s castle.
He felt as though Cale’s piercing gaze had already seen through
his intentions.
To Advisor Ed, that gaze seemed to reproach him for trying to
make a favorable deal while ignoring the lives of demons.
But Ed’s expression soon returned to calm. He had already
resolved to become a demon in every sense.
‘If I can just get revenge on the Heavenly Realm.’
He would do anything.
Even if it meant demons using other demons as test subjects.
The Demon King glanced at Ed briefly, but Ed, unaware, spoke
to Cale:
“We’ll proceed immediately. However, it might be difficult right
now.”
Ed pointed to the window.
Cale’s gaze followed, looking beyond the window.
The sun was setting.
“Let’s do it when the day breaks tomorrow.”
Why specifically?
Cale wondered, but the next words sparked a glint in his eyes.
“It’s not just the Three Calamities.”
One of the Three Calamities was the contamination of Chaos.
“We’ll head to the quarantine zone with the infected and
explain there.”
The advisor’s gaze shifted to General Mor and the First Army
leader.
“I’ll handle it.”
General Mor raised his hand and stepped forward instinctively.
The First Army leader looked at Mor with an odd expression.
Mor, who usually avoided troublesome tasks and reveled in
scheming behind others’ backs, was stepping up without
hesitation—something surprising.
Under the puzzled gazes of several demons, Mor kept his
mouth shut, waiting for the advisor’s response.
“Very well. Since General Mor is familiar with them, I’ll leave it
to you. You’ll likely explain better too. I’ll prepare accordingly.”
Then, the Demon King spoke.
“Siz, you go too.”
The First Army leader froze.
‘Me too?’
She nearly blurted out the irreverent question.
Siz looked at the Demon King, who wasn’t meeting her gaze,
and bowed.
“Yes, sir.”
Meanwhile, Mor flinched under the Demon King’s stare.
‘Why?’
Why is His Majesty looking at me like that?
As he wondered, puzzled—
Grin.
The Demon King’s lips curled, and he nodded with an amused
expression.
‘What’s that about?’
Mor felt uneasy but bowed his head, avoiding the Demon King’s
gaze. It felt awkward to keep meeting his eyes.
At that moment, Mor didn’t yet understand the meaning of
that discomfort.
Wooong—
He only felt the vibration of the divine artifact.
Meanwhile, the Demon King ignored the spark in Mor’s eyes
and turned away from him, looking at Cale.
“See you later.”
Cale asked:
“Tomorrow, then?”
The Gray Plague purification ritual.
Was the Demon King attending it?
“I don’t know.”
The Demon King’s face returned to boredom.
“If I feel like it.”
Choi Han’s eyes twitched slightly at the words.
A ritual to save demons, and he’d only come if he felt like it?
Was that something the leader of a world would say?
But unlike Choi Han, Cale, being closer to the Demon King,
noticed something in his expression and held his tongue.
‘There’s something more.’
The Demon King’s attitude wasn’t just what it seemed on the
surface.
Cale spoke to General Mor, who was approaching.
“Lead the way.”
Mor nodded and cautiously added:
“But don’t you need to rest?”
Cale’s face was flushed red with fever. His attendant kept
wiping his forehead, but cold sweat still beaded there.
And his heavy breathing.
He looked in terrible condition.
Mor’s words carried genuine concern, but Cale replied curtly:
“Is now the time to rest?”
I want to rest too!
'But aside from the Gray Plague, I need to purify my body and
rest first!'
—I’m bloated.
The Gluttonous Priestess was still suffering from indigestion
due to overeating.
—…Poor thing.
Ignoring the Cheapskate’s pity, Cale ordered Mor:
“Lead the way.”
Mor stared blankly at Cale’s resolute demeanor, then quickly
moved under his sharp gaze.
Despite his weary appearance, those eyes were strikingly vivid.
The unyielding gaze that didn’t waver even before the Demon
King was unforgettable.
Creak.
Ron pushed the wheelchair, and Cale, accompanied by his
group, General Mor, and First Army Leader Siz, moved forward.
The Demon King watched Cale’s retreating figure silently, then
leaned back in his chair, gazing at the ceiling.
Creak, thud!
The hall’s doors closed.
Neither the Demon King nor Cale could see each other
anymore.
Creak. Creak.
Seated in his wheelchair, Cale exited Telia’s lord’s castle.
“It’s quiet.”
As the ancient dragon Eruhaben said, it was silent.
“Even though this is a marketplace.”
Despite being right next to Telia’s central plaza, the city’s
largest market.
Cale spoke.
“Are the plaza and market both under lockdown?”
“Yeah.”
Mor responded.
The central plaza was bathed in the glow of the sunset. The sky
was turning navy blue as night approached in the direction of
the market.
“The first Gray Plague victim was a fruit merchant.”
Everyone focused on Mor’s words while scanning their
surroundings.
No one was around.
Aside from the Demon King’s forces, not a single civilian was
visible.
The city felt dead.
“At midday, the fruit merchant’s eyes turned gray, and
suddenly his face and arms were stained gray, with veins
bulging.”
Ugh.
Eruhaben let out a low groan.
He’d heard from Cale that those highly compatible with Chaos
could trigger the seeds themselves, causing the Gray Plague to
erupt.
‘A regular merchant.’
But for it to be an ordinary merchant.
“There must’ve been a lot of witnesses.”
“Exactly.”
Mor responded to Cale’s words and continued.
“It happened so quickly that nearby merchants and civilians just
stared in shock.”
Indeed, who could react swiftly when their neighbor’s body
suddenly changed like that?
“But in that short time, the merchant’s entire body turned gray,
his veins twisted, and his skin began to rot.”
A foul stench reportedly engulfed the area instantly.
“And then his body exploded.”
“What?”
Cale momentarily doubted his ears.
Mor repeated:
“The merchant’s body exploded.”
Cale was speechless for a moment.
“Seeds.”
Mor continued with a grim expression.
“There’s a reason the Church of Chaos called them seeds. When
the seed germinates, the infected are quickly consumed by the
Gray Plague, their body swells, and then explodes, scattering
the seeds everywhere.”
That was why the Demon King’s side had urgently locked down
the city and requested a meeting with Cale.
“Scattering seeds, how?”
Aurora, who had been silent, spoke up.
Beside her, Duke Gimon trembled as he listened. This was the
future that could unfold in his own castle and territory.
“When the merchant’s body exploded, the debris from the
blast hit the surrounding demons.”
“Damn.”
Eruhaben let out a groan and closed his eyes tightly.
“Everything stained gray covered nearby merchants and
civilians, and those it touched became infected with the Gray
Plague.”
Hoo.
Mor sighed briefly before continuing.
“Fortunately, aside from the initial merchant, the secondary
infected haven’t spread the plague as quickly. None have
exploded yet.”
He added:
“It’s believed only demons with implanted seeds progress that
rapidly. However, at the current rate—”
Mor looked at the setting sun.
“Tomorrow night. If it passes midnight, they’re predicted to
explode too.”
That’s why Mor was grateful that Cale would perform the
purification ritual tomorrow morning.
It explained why the advisor didn’t stay to monitor Cale and
instead went to prepare the ritual immediately.
“How many?”
At Cale’s question, Mor answered:
“There are 51 secondary infected.”
Ugh.
Aurora let out a groan.
That’s a lot.
More than expected.
“A single drop of the merchant’s blood was enough to infect
someone.”
At that, everyone’s expressions hardened.
The Gray Plague.
Its infectivity was beyond imagination.
“Even those who haven’t shown symptoms but were
nearby—about 150—are currently quarantined separately.”
Moreover, the location was the largest market, right next to the
central plaza, at a well-known fruit stand where many people
passed through.
It was midday, the busiest time for the market, so it was
fortunate that only this many were infected. It was only
possible because it wasn’t an especially busy day.
“What happens at night?”
At Cale’s question, Mor stopped walking.
The market was eerily quiet.
All the shops were closed, without a single light.
No, there was light in one place.
<Sunshine Fruits>
Unlike other shops, one was in disarray, its door open as if an
explosion had occurred.
A bit further past that shop, another building came into view.
<Telia Merchants’ Guild>
“The Merchants’ Guild building is being used as the quarantine
zone.”
Demon King’s forces stood guard outside with icy
determination.
They bowed to Mor and Siz and stepped back quietly.
Mor opened the guild’s entrance door, then turned to explain:
“For reference, there’s no issue with infection unless you’re
directly touched, so you don’t need to worry about contagion.”
At midday, when the Gray Plague first erupted and secondary
infections occurred—
“All the infected had their eyes turn gray before losing
consciousness and collapsing.”
Demon mages and the Demon King’s forces, fully covered,
moved the infected to the Merchants’ Guild building.
“If we hadn’t known about the Gray Plague, we would’ve been
scrambling in that situation.”
But thanks to Cale, General Mor had reported the Gray Plague
to the Demon King’s castle, enabling a relatively swift response.
‘I’m grateful.’
Mor didn’t voice this to Cale.
“But many must’ve witnessed the Gray Plague.”
At Cale’s next words, Mor and First Army Leader Siz’s
expressions hardened.
“Yes, the city’s under lockdown, but the news will spread
somehow.”
The city’s residents were already aware of the disease and
gripped by extreme fear.
Even if they tried to downplay it, with the Demon King himself
here and his direct forces controlling movement and urging
people to stay indoors, the residents had no choice but to be
terrified.
And no matter how much they tried to contain it, the news
would spread beyond the city.
‘That’s why the initial response is critical.’
Mor glanced at Cale.
That was why the Demon King’s side had to treat Cale with
respect.
“But what does night have to do with it?”
At Cale’s continued question, Mor stepped into the Merchants’
Guild.
The corridor was lit, with windows on both sides revealing the
inner rooms.
That’s why this place was chosen as the quarantine zone.
“Well, um.”
Mor hesitated before speaking.
“The Gray Plague and night.”
“At night—”
His words were cut off.
Bang!
A loud crash shook the corridor’s glass windows.
Mor muttered involuntarily:
“Night has come.”
The sunset had faded, and night had arrived.
Wooong—wooong—
The magically reinforced glass windows.
Beyond them—
No, against the glass, two hands were visible.
Bang! Crash! Bang!
The hands pounded on the glass.
Thud!
Finally, a figure slammed its forehead against the window,
staring into the lit corridor.
Cale’s eyes met theirs.
A demon with gray-tinted eyes.
Its upper body was gray and rotting, baring its teeth and
growling like a savage beast.
Like a predator eyeing prey.
Ugh.
“Damn—”
As his companions let out groans and their faces hardened—
Night had fallen.
Bang!
Crash!
Thud, thud, thud!
From the rooms lining both sides of the corridor, the sounds of
pounding on glass, doors, and walls echoed.
“All secondary infected.”
Mor said with a grim face.
“They turn like that at night.”
Cale, still gazing at the gray-eyed infected, thought:
‘Like zombies.’
They resembled zombies in some way.
Bang! Crash!
Thud!
With deafening roars, the secondary infected began to wail.
The more they howled, the paler Aurora and Duke Gimon’s
faces became.
In their minds, they imagined these infected overtaking the
Demon Realm. As leaders of their factions, the worst-case
scenario loomed vividly.
As Siz and General Mor’s faces hardened too—
“It’ll work.”
Cale’s indifferent voice reached them all.
Despite his feverish face and heavy breathing, he looked at the
infected.
—Cale, it won’t be difficult.
The Super Rock was speaking.
“I can purify them all tomorrow.”
Cale instructed Mor:
“Prepare a feast for tomorrow morning.”
The purification of Chaos.
It was time to bring joy amidst the Chaos.
Tomorrow, it would be time to purify the infected and the
contamination within his own body.
And that time came soon.
As the sun rose and the Gray Plague infected, who had wailed
all night, lost consciousness again—
The central plaza.
Everyone in Telia’s castle gathered there.
The subdued residents.
The families of the infected.
The demons working in the lord’s castle or sent from the
Demon King’s castle.
And before them, a small banquet table was set.
Their gazes fell on the platform in the plaza’s center, where
somethings lay on stretchers, covered in cloth.
They couldn’t utter a word.
Surrounded by the Demon King’s forces, whose dagger-like
presence and stern faces made them wary, they only glanced
around.
Despite the banquet table, there wasn’t a hint of festivity in the
air.
Creak.
A red-haired man in a wheelchair entered.
Cale looked up at the clear blue sky, then down at the demons
below, all trembling with fear and dread.
Chapter 2-468: So, Make an Offer (7)
Many thanks to user u/whyjam on r/TrashOfCountsFamily
subreddit for sharing the raw with us! These early chapters
wouldn’t have been possible without u/whyjam!
The wide platform in the central plaza resembled a stage.
Standing atop it, Cale slowly surveyed the plaza.
‘They’re filled with fear.’
The residents, the officials from the Demon King’s castle, even
the Demon King’s forces standing guard.
Their eyes held fear for different reasons.
—Cale, you’re at least prepared to perform the purification.
As the Super Rock said, it was true.
The purification of Chaos.
What was needed was the caster and a place where the festival
could unfold.
To be precise, the place needed to be “a seat where Chaos of
Joy could reside.”
—There’s no joy here now.
Indeed, not a trace of joy was visible.
—But the seat for joy has been prepared.
The banquet table before the countless residents filling the
plaza came into view.
‘Preparing this in just a day is impressive.’
Though not extravagant, it was a table worthy of being called a
banquet. The Demon King’s advisor must have worked hard to
arrange it.
Cale turned his head.
No need for long words.
Nod.
At his gesture, General Mor led a few subordinates onto the
platform.
One by one, they removed the clothes covering the stretchers.
“Hic!”
Someone gasped.
Starting with those closest to the platform, more and more
people realized what lay on the stretchers.
To be frank, they were shocked because their worst guesses
were confirmed.
“My daughter—!”
A man’s anguished cry rang out, followed by others.
“Honey!”
“Father!”
“Mom!”
Demons leapt from their seats across the plaza.
They were the families of the 51 secondary infected.
“My God, it’s real!”
“…Tch, this is bad, we’re doomed!”
“Crazy. The rumors were true?”
Most residents, who had only heard rumors, felt shock and fear
seeing the infected—unconscious, their bodies stained gray,
veins bulging grotesquely, some parts appearing to rot.
“…I-If their whole body turns gray,”
A demon, recalling what they’d heard from someone at the
market, muttered unconsciously:
“If they explode, everyone gets infected—”
His face turned white with terror.
“What kind of nonsense is that? Explode?!”
A demon who had leapt up glared at the one who spoke.
“That won’t happen! It can’t!”
His bloodshot eyes screamed as he wailed.
Because his daughter was among those on the platform.
“N-No, I—”
The demon who had spoken inadvertently froze under the
sudden attention. The man couldn’t say more to him.
Instead, he looked around, venting his frustration.
“No! My daughter won’t die!”
But his face held fear and despair, not conviction.
He’d heard how the fruit merchant died and already guessed
how his daughter might meet her end.
How agonizing those days spent confined at home must have
been.
He wanted to see his daughter, but they wouldn’t let him.
‘There’s a risk of infection.’
That’s what they’d said.
Then—
“Hey, doesn’t that mean we could get infected by them? Why
did they call us here?”
Someone’s quiet words stirred the crowd.
A new fear took root in the demons’ eyes.
For the past three days, they couldn’t leave the city, forced to
stay locked in their homes.
Contact outside the city was forbidden.
Yet the rumors—the truth—had spread.
“A terrible plague broke out in this city, and the Demon King’s
castle sent an army to lock it down.”
“N-No way—”
Shock crossed someone’s face.
“Are we all—”
He couldn’t finish.
He couldn’t bring himself to say it. He hurriedly looked around.
The Demon King’s forces, exuding a murderous aura.
‘No way—’
Beyond locking down the city, were they planning to kill
everyone?
To prevent the plague from spreading across the Demon
Realm?
The thought crossed his mind.
“Don’t indulge in pointless fantasies.”
A chilling voice interrupted.
The demon flinched, seeing the man sitting beside him.
A man in a hood.
His cold gaze made the demon freeze. But he soon spoke with a
hardened expression:
“Pointless fantasies? This is—”
His voice was drowned out.
“No! It’s not true! My daughter won’t die!”
“Father!”
“I-I have to save Mom!”
“Waaah—!”
The cries of families.
“Hey, shouldn’t we escape?”
“What’s going on? Why did they bring us where they are?”
Voices rose with anxiety and fear.
The plaza was filled with chaos.
“Damn it!”
And the demon who suspected they’d all be killed stood up.
He couldn’t stay here any longer.
“Sit down.”
Duke Gimon, the hooded man beside him, spoke.
“What?”
“Soon—”
He paused.
He knew the purification ritual would soon begin.
He didn’t understand why Cale Henituse was silently watching
this scene instead of starting the ritual immediately, but—
He was here in the plaza because he wanted to witness this
purification.
‘It was a miracle.’
In the village where the Arbiters’ Alliance stayed, where Aurora
was the chief, an elder named Tedric had told him about Cale’s
purification ritual.
‘It was like—’
With a wistful yet gentle smile, as if lost in a happy dream, the
elder had said:
‘Yes. It was like peace.’
To Gimon, heading to Telia with Cale, the elder had added:
‘You’ll feel the warmth of this world.’
What did that mean?
“What? What’s happening soon? You seem to know what’s
going on! Speak!”
Gimon opened his mouth as the demon yelled at him for
pausing, and others glared fiercely.
He wanted to say a miracle was coming.
But—
He stopped.
‘What’s that?’
In the chaotic plaza, a sound emerged.
Shaaaa—
Waves?
Shaaaa—
No, was it wind?
The sound of wind blowing through a forest.
‘No way.’
There was no sea or forest here.
Then what was this sound?
‘It was a miracle.’
The elder’s voice echoed in Gimon’s mind again.
Instinctively, he turned toward the source of the wind, the
waves.
Others did the same.
Shaaaa—
Those wailing, raising their voices in fear, or trembling in
silence—
They all fell quiet at the refreshing, beautiful sound of nature.
And they turned their heads.
Shaaaa—
They saw gray mist flowing from the red-haired man.
The mist wasn’t dull.
It felt warm just looking at it.
Unlike the gray that grotesquely stained their neighbors,
families, and friends.
Gray mist carried by refreshing waves and the gentle breeze of
a forest.
The mist enveloped them one by one.
“Ah.”
Gimon’s eyes widened.
‘Gimon.’
A voice.
A terribly missed voice called out.
‘You don’t need to grow up grandly or well. Let go of that
burden.’
In his childhood, when Gimon was overwhelmed by the
pressure of inheriting Moraka Castle.
‘Gimon, just grow up as yourself.’
A voice, indifferent yet filled with concern for him.
“Ah—”
Count Lupé—
Uncle—
Hearing that voice, Gimon had felt certain that even if he didn’t
inherit Moraka Castle, Count Lupé wouldn’t abandon him.
How happy he’d been then.
To feel he had a true family.
‘This is it—’
Gimon understood what miracle was unfolding.
He could’ve looked around, but he didn’t.
He couldn’t miss this moment, when a precious memory came
vividly to life.
He had to savor it a little longer.
‘But Gimon, you’ve grown quite a bit.’
Count Lupé, who told him to grow as himself, stroking his head.
His voice and touch seemed to come alive again.
For the first time since Count Lupé’s disappearance, Gimon felt
something.
It could be described as peace, joy, and excitement.
And his weary body felt at ease.
A comfort brought by memory.
‘No.’
This wasn’t from memory.
Gimon slowly opened his eyes.
“Ah.”
He let out a gasp.
The plaza, once filled with chaos and fear, teeming with
residents.
Now enveloped in gray mist.
Through the mist, the demons’ faces were visible.
“Ugh.”
“Ah, ahh—”
Some smiled, some cried, some closed their eyes.
And they were joyful.
Fear had vanished from them.
Instead, countless indescribable emotions bloomed on their
faces.
Happiness, excitement, joy, awe.
They were too absorbed in savoring these emotions to notice,
but soon, like Gimon, they let out gasps.
Shaaaa—
Gray specks rose from them one by one.
Tiny, shimmering specks flowed into the gray mist.
The mist, wrapped in those sparkling specks, resembled a gray
Milky Way.
Shaaaa—
And the gray Milky Way moved.
The breeze that had passed through them returned, heading
back to where it began.
The residents.
The officials from the Demon King’s castle.
Even the Demon King’s forces.
All stared, entranced, at the warm gray mist that had
enveloped them and the gray specks that emerged from them,
merging into the mist.
And the man at the destination of this gray Milky Way.
A man now standing from his wheelchair.
His pale face and heavy breathing made it clear that even
standing was a struggle.
A red-haired man, clad in wide robes like a priest’s, covering his
entire body.
The gray mist—no, the gray Milky Way—surrounded him.
Shaaaa—
As he raised his hand, the gray mist, carrying countless specks,
flowed toward the 51 infected.
Demons with closed eyes, their bodies rotting.
The Milky Way settled over them.
The red-haired man, Cale, spoke.
“What was created shall soon vanish.”
The grotesque forms of the demons were no longer visible.
They were enveloped in the beautiful gray Milky Way.
“As it was passed down from the primordial time.”
No stench of rot.
The scent of flowers.
The smell of delicious food made by a mother.
The fragrance of a grandmother’s clothes.
The scent of a forest from a trip with a father.
Each person’s favorite scent lingered at their nose.
The hearts of those watching pounded.
Not with fear, but with joy and anticipation.
Something was happening now.
This something in the plaza sparked anticipation.
“As you were born.”
Cale spoke calmly, his face indifferent.
General Mor, watching him, was entranced.
The advisor, who had come to observe, and the Demon King’s
vassals too.
Even First Army Leader Siz, secretly watching from a rooftop
overlooking the plaza.
They all just watched.
It wasn’t flashy.
Nor overwhelming.
Just a breeze and a mist that could scatter at any moment.
Yet the scene created by these two was so holy, so sublime.
In the silence, emotions hotter, more turbulent, and
overwhelming than ever stirred the plaza.
This, too, was Chaos.
The Chaos of Joy.
In it, Cale spoke.
“It shall return to its true form.”
The gray Milky Way seeped into the infected and Cale’s body.
“Ah—”
“M-Mother—”
“My daughter, my daughter!”
Drip. Drip.
The infected bodies floated, and gray droplets fell from them.
Their grotesque forms were returning to normal.
Warmth returned to their dying faces.
They were coming back to life.
Shock and joy spread across the demons’ faces.
They suppressed the cheers threatening to burst out.
Those calling their families’ names clamped their mouths shut.
Drip, drip.
Like a gentle drizzle.
The gray droplets quietly fell from the infected.
Everyone waited until the quiet scene concluded.
Thud.
The floating bodies settled back onto the stretchers.
Their forms were as their families, neighbors, and friends
remembered them.
No one could easily speak.
It all felt like a dream.
An experience they’d never had in their lives.
“Hoo—”
Then, Cale let out a deep breath.
—Cale, only half your left arm was purified. The Pope’s Chaos is
more stubborn than expected.
From his arms to his collarbone. Only part of the contaminated
body was purified.
It wasn’t fully cleansed.
Hearing the Super Rock, Cale felt a pang of regret but spoke the
final words of the purification ritual.
“One final step remains in this ritual.”
Despite his pale complexion and the cold sweat pouring from
him.
Still, his stomach felt less bloated than before.
—I think I’m digesting a bit!
At the Gluttonous Priestess’s words, Cale, somewhat satisfied
with his improved state, smiled faintly and said calmly:
“Enjoy the feast and build happy memories.”
With that, Cale walked down from the platform without
lingering, not sitting back in his wheelchair.
His stomach felt better, so it seemed fine.
“Ugh.”
But it was a mistake.
His body swayed.
He felt dizzy.
—It’s not fully digested yet!
The Super Rock said urgently.
Cale had walked thinking he was better, only to feel irritated by
his dizzy state.
His face hardened. But—
‘A few more times, and I’ll be fine.’
The seeds remained, their locations confirmed in the Pope’s
dream.
Purifying the contamination alongside those seeds would heal
him.
‘At least I’ve confirmed this is the right direction.’
Finding a way to resolve the Gluttonous Priestess’s indigestion
was satisfying enough.
Cale, stumbling down the stairs, spoke to the one who caught
his arm.
“Thanks.”
General Mor looked at Cale with an indescribable expression.
And then—
The Demon King, watching Cale, spoke.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, sir.”
First Army Leader Siz hurriedly followed the Demon King as he
turned away, her gaze briefly lingering on Cale before falling.
The Demon King and Siz.
The two demons who had secretly observed the ritual
vanished.
The Demon King moved away from Cale quickly, looking down
at his hand.
It was trembling faintly.
As if he’d recalled something he shouldn’t.
For the first time, an emotion other than sloth crossed his face.
But no one saw it.
Waaaaah— Waaa—
Soon, cheers of joy erupted in the plaza.
And a true feast, a festival, began.
A seat where the Chaos of Joy resided.
Chapter 2-469: The Gray Rain Falls (1)
Chapter 58: The Gray Rain Falls
Many thanks to user u/whyjam on r/TrashOfCountsFamily
subreddit for sharing the raw with us! These early chapters
wouldn’t have been possible without u/whyjam!
Telia, one of the few major cities in the Demon Realm.
As midday passed, the sunset faded, and night approached.
Waaaa—
Hearing the cheers from outside, General Mor glanced out the
window.
“It’s still lively out there.”
Instead of responding, the others briefly turned their attention
outside.
From the meeting room window, high up in the lord’s castle,
they could see lights flickering on one by one in the central
plaza, the nearby market, and other areas. Demons were
laughing and chattering.
Duke Gimon stared blankly at the scene.
But a cold voice snapped him back to reality.
“Let’s settle the matter of Count Lupé like this.”
The Demon King’s advisor, Ed.
At his words, Gimon turned his head. Seeing Ed’s impassive
face, Gimon’s lip curled slightly. He wanted to say something,
but someone spoke first.
“Then we’ll take it that the Demon King’s attacks on Count Lupé
will cease.”
Aurora, from the Arbiters’ Alliance, spoke in a chilling tone.
“Attacks? How could His Majesty attack his own vassal, Count
Lupé? Your choice of words is inappropriate.”
At Ed’s immediate retort, Aurora let out a scoff.
“We’ve come this far, so let’s drop the fake politeness.”
Her fierce gaze met Ed’s, and he, too, let out a deflated scoff.
“Fine. Let’s do it your way, traitor.”
At his words, Aurora’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
A tense silence settled between them.
But Aurora’s next words darkened Ed’s expression.
“There will be no more offering of demons as test subjects to
the Five-Colored Bloods.”
Her eyes moved to the documents before her.
This morning, as soon as the sun rose, Cale performed the
“purification.”
Afterward, Aurora took over from Cale, relentlessly negotiating
in this meeting room with only Ed, Gimon, and General Mor
present.
“Furthermore, you will not provide troops or any tangible or
intangible value to the God of Chaos or the Hunters.”
This meant that when Cale fought the Five-Colored Bloods in
the New World, the Demon Realm could not aid them.
“Additionally, it will be publicly declared that Duke Gimon will
succeed Count Lupé, and you will actively cooperate in this.”
Gimon, because of Count Lupé, was now allied with Cale. His
influence needed to grow.
“And the Demon King’s side will refrain from conflict with the
Arbiters’ Alliance until all Hunter families are eradicated.”
Since Aurora was also an ally, Cale had secured time for them
to endure in the Demon Realm. Moreover, Aurora held
evidence of the Demon King’s heinous acts.
“However, the Arbiters’ Alliance will also refrain from conflict
with the Demon King’s side until all Hunter families are
eradicated.”
Of course, Aurora agreed to halt attacks on the Demon King.
This wasn’t a bad deal for them either.
It gave them time to expand their forces and grow stronger.
Since Gimon was on Cale’s side and aligned with Aurora, she
had gained a foothold to further expand her influence.
The Demon King’s side could no longer openly challenge them.
Aurora stopped reading the lengthy negotiation document.
She looked at Ed’s grim face.
“Why the long face?”
Her lips curved upward.
“Isn’t this what your Demon King wanted?”
Since the Demon King had agreed to act for Cale’s peace
whenever possible, Ed’s options were limited.
Ed closed his eyes, then opened them.
Thud.
Aurora slid a map across the table toward him.
Copies of the map had already been distributed to Ed’s
subordinates.
“Contact us as soon as you confirm.”
Ed’s gaze fell on the map.
‘Seeds.’
It marked the locations where the Gray Plague seeds were
spread.
Cale had given it to them, and Ed’s subordinates were already
contacting or dispatching to those regions with copies of the
map.
Creak.
Aurora stood, and Gimon followed.
Ed bit his lip.
Aurora, who had operated in the shadows, and Gimon, a
nobody until now.
As of this moment, they were untouchable by the Demon King’s
side, and their influence would only grow.
They would likely become seeds of discord in the future.
“See you next time.”
Aurora and Gimon left the room first.
“Hoo.”
Ed, left behind, leaned back in his chair and sighed.
His gaze turned to General Mor.
“Why the face?”
Mor was still staring out the window, his expression dazed.
“No idea.”
At Mor’s reply, Ed clicked his tongue and let out a sigh,
revealing his thoughts.
“…Why does His Majesty react so strongly to that human’s
words?”
At that moment—
“You haven’t experienced it, have you?”
“Huh?”
Ed, turning to Mor, flinched.
Mor, with the setting sun at his back, stared at him.
A strange glint flickered in his eyes.
Was it intrigue, madness, or curiosity? It was something
indefinable.
“Advisor.”
Mor spoke softly.
“Your role is to effectively carry out the direction His Majesty
has decided.”
“…Who doesn’t know that?”
Grumbling, Ed nodded.
“I know what His Majesty wants. He desires a war to dispel his
sloth. But that human—”
“Advisor.”
Mor spoke softly again.
“You still don’t know that human.”
“What? I don’t know Cale Henituse?”
How could he not?
He saw him face the Demon King.
He witnessed the purification.
He’s an extraordinary being.
“Advisor, you’ve been so focused on the Hunters lately that
your perspective has narrowed.”
Creak.
Mor stood, patted Ed’s shoulder, and said:
“You’ll understand eventually.”
Ed called after Mor as he headed out.
“What don’t I know?”
Cale Henituse.
He’s a great human.
That much is acknowledged.
But he’s not a god or a massive force.
There’s not much he can do.
“Mor. I’d like an answer.”
As Mor seemed about to leave without responding, Ed spoke
again, frustrated.
Before opening the door, Mor turned to look at Ed.
Beyond Ed’s shoulder, he saw demons truly enjoying the
festival, sharing joy.
“Cale Henituse.”
Mor shared his realization.
“He’s a hero.”
Ed looked at him, exasperated, as if to say, Who doesn’t know
that?
Ignoring the reaction, Mor stepped outside.
He heard Ed muttering something, but—
That stubborn, narrow-minded guy who only follows the
Demon King—
“He still doesn’t get it.”
A hero.
Cale Henituse is a true hero.
He’s alone, yet not alone.
Wooong—wooong—
Feeling the divine artifact vibrate in his chest, Mor stepped out
of the castle, blending into the demons still reveling in the
festival despite the night.
To him, cloaked in a robe and hood, the demons’ voices
reached his ears.
“It was a miracle!”
“I heard the Gray Plague was caused by the Church of God of
Chaos?”
“But he’s not a priest, right?”
“Yeah, yeah! They say he’s just someone who can perform such
purifications!”
“It was beautiful. It’ll be a memory I’ll never forget!”
The demons were recalling and discussing that sacred moment,
one they’d rarely experience in their lives.
The space, rigid with tension until yesterday, was now filled
with warmth and joy.
In recent years, Mor hadn’t felt such an atmosphere anywhere
in the Demon Realm.
“But is he okay?”
“Yeah, he was staggering when he came down earlier.”
“It’s not an easy task. It’s not even divine power from a god;
using such healing abilities must take a toll on his body.”
There were no demons afraid to speak of Cale Henituse.
They talked about him freely.
Yet no one dared speak of the Demon King so casually.
It wasn’t just his strength or fearsomeness—it was because he
might become a demon god.
“But that gray color—”
“Yeah.”
“It felt strange.”
“Right? You felt it too?”
“Yeah, the Demon Realm’s mana is gray too, but being
enveloped in that gray… well.”
“I get what you mean, but don’t say more. The Demon King’s
forces are around.”
“Right.”
Their hushed conversation reached Mor’s ears.
The Demon King, a being who might become a demon god.
His forces.
What words couldn’t be spoken in their presence?
Mor didn’t approach to question them.
Wooong—wooong—
He only felt the vibration of the divine artifact.
A divine artifact passed down through his family.
It belonged to a forgotten god.
That god must still exist.
Gods don’t perish.
But being forgotten was akin to losing power.
“…The god who stands with heroes.”
That god, sealed somewhere in the Heavenly Realm.
A god who vanished after a pact with the Heavenly Realm and
other gods.
Mor, the sole survivor of a family descended from the hero who
saved the ancient Demon Realm, hadn’t spoken that name—a
name whispered only within his family—in a long time.
“…O God of Sacrifice.”
In the noisy festival of the central plaza, no one could hear
Mor’s voice.
A man who enjoyed scheming and striking from behind.
A man who vowed never to believe in that god, who followed
the Demon King destined to become a demon god.
He couldn’t stop his heart from stirring.
“That’s strange.”
Cale tapped the mirror, holding a teacup in his other hand.
“Human, You can't contact the God of Death?”
“Nope.”
Before coming to Telia, Cale had found a moment to send a
message to the God of Death.
‘Let’s meet.’
It seemed too important to convey via message, so he’d asked
to meet face-to-face, but there was no reply. Not even read.
“Hmm.”
Cale pondered briefly.
At his side, Raon quietly offered a piece of apple pie.
A very finely cut piece.
Cale absentmindedly picked up the tiny piece and popped it
into his mouth.
“!”
A spark lit up Raon’s eyes. The young dragon’s dark blue eyes
saw that Cale’s left arm, half-gray before, had returned to
normal.
The purification of Chaos.
During the ritual, the human didn’t faint.
And he could purify his own body.
That information was deeply etched in the young black
dragon’s mind.
“I’ll try sending another message.”
Unaware, Cale left another message.
“Fine.”
What’s the point of seeing the God of Death’s face?
Just make sure he doesn't die in six months.
‘The Heavenly Realm betrayed the God of Balance. They
teamed up with the God of Chaos.’
Satisfied with the concise, critical message, Cale turned off the
divine artifact’s screen.
He sank deep into the sofa.
“Human, so we’re dealing with the seeds first?”
“Yeah.”
Deal with the seeds of contamination of Chaos.
‘That’ll probably require a trip around the Demon Realm.’
First, he needed to restore his body to normal here.
‘Anyway, since the Five-Colored Bloods know we’re here, they
won’t look for us in the New World.’
In the meantime, preparations to fight the Five-Colored Bloods
would be underway in the New World.
His allies in Earth-3 would be planning and preparing to take
down the Transparent Bloods.
‘After handling things in the Demon Realm.’
Then take down the Transparent Bloods, seize Transparent Co.,
Ltd.
Next, find the one destined to become the Absolute God in the
New World, prevent it, and deal with the Five-Colored Bloods’
wanderers.
“Wow.”
Cale, refining his plan, couldn’t help but let out a sigh of
admiration.
“The plan is clean and simple.”
But would it go as planned?
Especially facing the Absolute God and the Five-Colored Bloods’
wanderers—would that be possible?
‘To be honest.’
Cale’s expression turned cold.
‘With our current strength, we’d all die.’
Even against the Third Emperor Dragon King, Cale had only
managed to endure and escape.
Could they fight and defeat the Five-Colored Bloods?
‘This won’t do.’
He needed a strategy.
Munch, munch.
Popping another piece of apple pie into his mouth, Cale sank
into thought.
“Hehe.”
Raon laughed brightly at the sight.
Still dizzy, weak, pale, and feverish.
‘But the human is definitely getting better!’
Raon could see Cale improving.
Relieved, Raon flapped his wings and said:
“Are they all coming soon?”
“Yeah, they’re all coming.”
Only Raon and Cale were in the room.
The rest of the group had gone to meet the arriving party at
Telia’s castle.
“Then Sui Khan’s getting fixed today?”
“Yeah.”
Among them was Team Leader Sui Khan.
‘Aurora said she’d bring him soon.’
In the last battle at Moraka Castle, the Church of God of
Chaos's top-tier Holy Knight and several others were captured
by the Demon King’s forces.
To be precise, they were handed over by the Third Emperor
Dragon King after he went on a rampage.
Among them was the top-tier Holy Knight.
‘They said he’s needed to heal the team leader’s wound.’
The Holy Knight who injured the team leader and ensured the
wound wouldn’t heal.
Cale would meet him soon, and Sui Khan, arriving afterward,
would receive treatment.
“Hehe, everyone’s coming together!”
Raon’s joy was short-lived.
Knock, knock, knock.
A knock sounded at the door.
“Human, it must be Aurora!”
Raon’s face lit up with excitement, and before Cale could say
anything, Raon flew to open the door.
“?”
Raon tilted his head, eyes wide.
Cale’s mouth opened.
“What?”
His brow furrowed.
“Sorry, but—”
It was General Mor.
He hurriedly entered and spread out a map.
The map showed the locations of the seeds, marked by Cale
with red dots.
Ten in total.
Two of them, close together, were circled.
Cale felt a wave of unease.
‘No way—’
Had more seeds germinated?
Even without the “Chaos Carried by Wind,” they were sprouting
this easily, this quickly?
Then why were divine artifacts needed?
His mind grew cluttered.
“These two places have seeds that germinated.”
The expected words came.
Cale’s face hardened.
“And the Third Emperor is there.”
What?
Cale’s gaze snapped to Mor.
With a grim expression, Mor said:
“The Third Emperor caused the seeds to germinate.”
What’s that supposed to mean?
And what crazy stunt is the Third Emperor, who was hunting for
me and Choi Jung-gun, pulling now?
“Hmm.”
As Cale’s mind reeled from the sudden situation—
—I’m hungry. I think I’m digesting.
The Gluttonous Priestess’s indigestion eased slightly, and she
began to perk up. Though the indigestion wasn’t fully gone.
Starting from the Chaos in the 43rd ritual at the New World’s
holy site, Primordial Chaos, to the Pope’s Chaos.
The Gluttonous Priestess had devoured all the Chaos essence
held by the Church of God of Chaos.
—Hmm. But my body feels itchy. Why is that?
Hungry, yet itchy.
—It feels like leaves are sprouting.
The Unbreakable Shield.
The wood-attributed Gluttonous Priestess conveyed a
sensation she’d never felt before to Cale.
—Chaos is tasty. I’m hungry.
Cale sighed, hearing the Gluttonous Priestess say she was
hungry despite her lingering indigestion.
He reluctantly reached out.
Munch, munch.
Eating apple pie, he asked Mor, as Raon’s eyes sparkled:
“What did the Third Emperor do to make the seeds sprout?”
And added:
“Do I need to go right now?”
Mor answered the latter question first.
“Yes, please. We might have to wipe out both cities. Oh, the
Demon King plans to drive the Third Emperor out of those
cities.”
Wooong—
Ignoring the vibration of the God of Sacrifice’s divine artifact,
Mor awaited Cale’s response, a strange tension gripping him.
“Ugh.”
Cale let out a sigh.
As Mor flinched at the sound, Cale spoke in an indifferent tone:
“Let’s hear it on the way.”
He stood immediately.
“Ugh.”
But standing so suddenly made him dizzy, and his body swayed.
Mor caught Cale again, his face resolute as he said:
“…You really are—”
“What? I’m what? Ugh, my head.”
Cale accepted Mor’s support as if it were natural. Having been
helped by Ron, Choi Han, and others so often, it felt familiar
now.
Mor looked at Cale silently.
—Human, Mor’s eyes are weird! It’s like a mix of Clopeh and
Choi Han!
What’s that supposed to mean?
Cale brushed off Raon’s comment.
As if it were obvious, he instructed Mor:
“Call my companions.”
The legend of the “Gray Rain” that would envelop the Demon
Realm and the hearts of its demons was about to begin.
Of course, Cale had no way of knowing this.
At that moment, the injured Sui Khan, Choi Jung-soo, and
Clopeh Sekka arrived at Telia’s lord’s castle.
Chapter 2-470: The Gray Rain Falls (2)
Many thanks to user u/whyjam on r/TrashOfCountsFamily
subreddit for sharing the raw with us! These early chapters
wouldn’t have been possible without u/whyjam!
More seeds had germinated.
And in two neighboring cities, no less.
Time was of the essence.
“That’s really amazing!”
Even in the midst of this, Cale had to do what needed to be
done.
“I think it’s amazing too!”
As Hong chimed in, Raon spoke with even more conviction, his
tone brimming with energy.
“They’re all beat up, yet they’re looking at each other with
pathetic eyes!”
“!”
“……!”
“!!”
Cale.
Choi Jung-soo.
Sui Khan.
The three flinched at Raon’s words.
Whether they reacted or not, one person remained serene.
Raon noticed this too.
“Of course, Clopeh Sekka is different!”
Raon didn’t explain what was different. He just edged away
from Clopeh, who was gripping a video recording device tightly,
staring at Cale with fervent eyes.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Cale, Choi Jung-soo, and Sui Khan fell silent for a moment.
Click.
The door opened, and Ron entered, pushing a tray with a
teapot and cups.
Pour—
As Ron poured lemon tea into the cup in front of Cale, Cale,
glancing at him, froze. There was something off about this
menacing old man’s gaze.
When he noticed it—
“Young Master.”
Ron said with a benign smile.
“I know you’re deeply concerned about the injuries of your
longtime friends, but time is short. Shouldn’t we wrap this up
and move to the other cities?”
“…”
Cale’s shoulders jolted noticeably.
His pupils trembled slightly.
Cale said nothing, and Ron, smiling gently, left the room.
“Cale.”
Sui Khan, with an odd expression, spoke bluntly.
“You didn’t tell him?”
Cale remained silent, and Choi Jung-soo, watching, added
casually:
“Looks like you got caught.”
Grinning with small wounds still visible across his body, his
expression was clearly teasing Cale.
‘Your longtime friends.’
Cale, startled by the phrase, glanced at Clopeh.
“Heh.”
This guy was smiling too.
Smiling like Ron.
Cale’s mood soured instantly.
“…Damn it.”
He was just annoyed.
‘I was going to handle some things first and talk calmly later.’
With too many sharp-witted people around, everything was
getting exposed without him saying a word.
‘Is this okay?’
Cale had his doubts, but for now, following the menacing old
man’s advice seemed right.
“Choi Jung-soo and Team Leader, stay here and recover.”
“I’m fine, though?”
Despite the still-fresh scabs on his visible wounds, Choi Jung-
soo smiled brightly, speaking in a friendly tone. Cale ignored
him as if it were only natural.
“Cale-nim, what about me?”
At Clopeh’s question, Cale answered matter-of-factly:
“You’re coming with me.”
“Yes, sir.”
Clopeh’s body was scarred from fighting the Church of God of
Chaos, but he’d recovered considerably.
Not fully, but—
“Heh, I’ll be useful, won’t I?”
Cale had realized while working with Clopeh this time that the
man was useful in many ways.
Exactly.
Cale clicked his tongue at the sight of Clopeh’s still-healing arm
wounds but didn’t order him to rest.
Choi Jung-soo, watching quietly, smiled and said:
“Clopeh and I are in similar shape, so why can’t I come along?”
His smile faded, and he spoke with a hardened expression:
“Because I’m a wanderer?”
Cale didn’t answer.
“Maybe the Third Emperor’s forces, since they’re wanderers
too, might recognize me?”
Choi Jung-soo said with a grim face.
But—
Pfft.
Cale let out a laugh.
Choi Jung-soo froze at the sound.
Instead, Sui Khan spoke.
“Jung-soo.”
His languid tone carried a firmness that drew attention.
“Look in a mirror.”
Confusion crossed Choi Jung-soo’s face, and Sui Khan answered
calmly:
“Your eyes are still messed up.”
“…”
Choi Jung-soo had endured significant mental attacks from
Sytriss of the Church of God of Chaos through a divine artifact.
The greatest pain, the moment of death—he had to relive and
feel it countless times.
That was a wound deeper than physical ones.
“Cale, I’ll take care of Jung-soo and bring him along.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
Watching Sui Khan and Cale converse casually, Choi Jung-soo
ran a hand over his face. Even now, whenever he slept, he was
haunted by nightmares of that moment of death, forced to
relive it dozens of times because of Sytriss.
‘I thought I hid it well.’
Even Choi Han and Choi Jung-gun didn’t seem to notice.
So why did the team leader and Kim Rok-soo see through him?
Pfft.
Oddly, Choi Jung-soo let out a laugh, feeling his tense shoulders
relax slightly.
He leaned back in his chair.
He realized why the busy Cale Henituse had arranged this
moment.
It wasn’t for Team Leader Sui Khan, who would soon begin
treatment.
“Ugh.”
Choi Jung-soo sighed and said nonchalantly:
“Can’t hide anything, huh.”
With a relaxed smile, filled with newfound camaraderie, he
lowered the hand covering his face and looked at his two
comrades—his family.
“…”
And he flinched.
Cale and Sui Khan.
Neither was looking at him.
They didn’t even seem to care.
“Team Leader.”
They were having their own conversation.
“Yeah.”
“He seems stirred up.”
Cale looked at Sui Khan with a rather cheeky tone.
Grin.
Sui Khan, lips curling, didn’t deny it.
“Cale.”
“Yes.”
“Leave Beacrox behind.”
A strange smile formed on Cale’s face.
Team Leader Sui Khan.
No, Lee Soo-hyuk.
This man was the first “strong” person Cale had ever seen in his
life.
Not just because of physical strength.
In many ways, he was a strong person.
“Cale.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
For the first time in a while, Cale responded to Sui Khan with
the heart of employee Kim Rok-soo.
“This unique power thing.”
A curious glint flickered in Clopeh Sekka’s eyes as he listened
quietly.
“Doesn’t it feel similar to our abilities?”
The ability users who appeared on Kim Rok-soo’s Earth.
The powers they wielded.
Kim Rok-soo had the power of Record and Instant, among
others.
“Well…”
But Cale didn’t affirm his words.
“I suppose, if you think about it, magic and aura aren’t much
different from abilities.”
Powers held by only a select few.
Magic, aura, abilities, ancient powers.
“Hmm.”
Sui Khan looked at the ceiling and said bluntly:
“It feels like unique power is above all of those.”
He calmly shared his thoughts.
“Like a power that transcends humanity—”
Team Leader Sui Khan had realized something while working
with Cale in the Demon Realm.
“I need to get stronger.”
He wasn’t the Heavenly Demon or Choi Han.
But he had his own power, and he’d found a clue to make it
stronger.
While delayed as an injured party, unable to join Cale in Telia
immediately, he’d reflected.
And reached a conclusion.
“The top-tier Holy Knight. Can I do whatever I want with him?”
The smile on Cale’s lips deepened.
‘The team leader’s made up his mind.’
A man with the ability to cut through anything.
And the top-tier Holy Knight who injured Sui Khan, now a
prisoner. Cale hadn’t seen his face or his abilities clearly, but
that man had the power to prevent wounds from healing.
Whether it was the God of Chaos’s power or something else
was unclear.
‘They’re a good match.’
Sui Khan’s ability and that power were compatible.
If Sui Khan could acquire that power, who knew how he’d
grow?
“Beacrox, I’m counting on you.”
“Yeah.”
Moreover, Sui Khan wanted Beacrox by his side.
The team leader seemed intent on passing down his ability to
Beacrox—or rather, awakening it. He must have seen a “seed”
in Beacrox to inherit his sword.
‘Right.’
Cale acknowledged reality.
‘We all need to get stronger.’
Now was the time for everyone to grow stronger.
So he quite liked Sui Khan’s idea.
Cale didn’t say much.
“I trust you.”
“Yeah.”
Choi Jung-soo watched them with a relaxed expression.
Meanwhile, Clopeh observed Sui Khan and Cale with a
hardened gaze.
‘I could fall behind like this.’
Cale-nim doesn’t abandon his comrades.
But if his abilities couldn’t keep up, he wouldn’t stay closest to
Cale-nim.
Clopeh could never accept that.
Once he set a goal, his eyes burned fiercely with focus.
Sui Khan and Cale glanced at Clopeh with uneasy expressions.
They didn’t notice Choi Jung-soo’s hands, hidden under the
table, clenched tightly into fists.
Choi Jung-soo had no intention of falling behind either.
“Hmm.”
Raon watched the scene, then hesitated.
“Human.”
He cautiously called out to Cale, who answered automatically,
as if he could read the young dragon’s thoughts.
“A seven-year-old just needs to eat well, sleep well, and play
well.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Hehe!”
As Raon giggled brightly, Cale gave Clopeh a look.
“Let’s go.”
Click.
He opened the door, and General Mor, waiting in the hallway,
approached with an urgent expression.
“Lead the way.”
Cale headed for the twin cities of Midi and Mika.
Very discreetly.
“The Third Emperor, that bastard’s insane!”
As Cale moved toward Midi, one of the twin cities, he asked
Mor how this situation had come about.
Mor’s voice rose.
“You may or may not know, but Midi and Mika are historically
significant cities. They’ve existed since ancient times.”
“I know. They have a ruin dedicated to a demon god, right?”
“Exactly. The ruin lies between Midi and Mika.”
Midi and Mika were longstanding cities with large populations,
thriving in commerce, culture, and other fields, consistently
ranking among the top. Individually, they weren’t massive, but
their active exchange and growth together earned them the
title of sibling cities.
“No idea why that crazy Third Emperor went for the ruin.”
At Mor’s exasperated words, Cale responded:
“But it makes sense why the Church of God of Chaos planted
seeds there.”
“Yeah. It’s a place that holds traces of a demon god.”
Both Mor and Advisor Ed, upon receiving the map of seed
locations from Cale, had immediately understood why Midi and
Mika were targeted and sent demons there.
But the Third Emperor’s group had already arrived, stirring
things up while searching for Cale and the Church of God of
Chaos.
“There’s a clan that guards the demon god’s ruin. They manage
its affairs and protect it.”
“Hmm.”
Cale let out a low groan at the mention of a clan guarding the
ruin.
‘I can see where this is going.’
He felt a familiar cliché coming on.
Mor continued.
“The Third Emperor tried to enter the ruin, and the clan
blocked him. But one of the clan’s children was a seed.”
“…Damn.”
Cale groaned.
“And that clan has a priest who serves generation after
generation.”
Cale asked casually:
“Was that child the next priest candidate?”
“!”
Mor looked at Cale in surprise.
“How did you—”
“Hmm.”
Instead of answering, Cale gazed into the distance.
His guess was correct.
But—
‘This is annoying.’
It pissed him off.
Why a child, of all things?
And why was the Third Emperor messing with someone else’s
ruin? A historically significant ruin of a nation, no less. Why was
he meddling?
“No one knows what the Third Emperor did to the child with
the seed. But the seed germinated, and it’s believed many of
the clan, as well as numerous demons visiting the ruin, were
infected.”
Mor’s expression hardened.
“And the two cities fell into chaos.”
The Demon King’s side, arriving just a moment too late, tried to
contain the situation.
But Midi and Mika were engulfed in extreme chaos.
“…Because—”
He sighed.
“There’s a legend that the Demon Realm’s downfall begins
when the ruin collapses.”
And now, the clan that had guarded the ruin for generations
was on the verge of collapse.
For the two cities that saw the ruin as their pride and
sanctuary, chaos was inevitable.
“And a few demons, not yet quarantined, returned to the two
cities.”
While trying to calm the rampaging Third Emperor, they failed
to stop some demons from returning to their hometowns in the
two cities.
As a result—
“They saw the reality of the Gray Plague.”
The demons who arrived in the two cities soon manifested the
Gray Plague, losing consciousness.
And as night fell, they awoke, revealing their ferocity.
“Right now, it’s pandemonium there. They’re saying the ‘Gray
Curse’ that will destroy the Demon Realm has appeared.”
With that, Mor moved Cale’s wheelchair onto a magic circle.
Fwoosh—!
A bright light enveloped them, and Cale, Mor, and the group
headed to Midi.
The light soon faded, and Cale saw someone waiting for him in
Midi.
“Cale Henituse.”
The Demon King spoke calmly.
“I’m about to go meet the Third Emperor.”
To drive the Third Emperor Dragon King out of the ruin.
“Will you join me?”
Thud.
The Demon King tossed a robe, which landed gently on Cale’s
lap as he sat in the wheelchair.
“It’s a robe that conceals your presence.”
Chapter 2-471: The Gray Rain Falls (3)
Many thanks to user u/whyjam on r/TrashOfCountsFamily
subreddit for sharing the raw with us! These early chapters
wouldn’t have been possible without u/whyjam!
Cale glanced at the robe on his lap, then looked back at the
Demon King.
“…...!”
Over the Demon King’s shoulder, he saw Advisor Ed take a
sharp breath.
“Is this thing valuable?”
At Cale’s question, the Demon King answered indifferently:
“No.”
Cale’s gaze cleanly ignored the Demon King and turned to
Advisor Ed.
“…It’s one of the five treasures passed down through
generations of Demon Kings. A robe that even gods cannot
discern the wearer’s abilities.”
Hearing this, Cale looked at the surprised faces of Ed and
General Mor, then said to the Demon King:
“Lend it to me for a bit.”
“!”
“!!”
Regardless of Ed and Mor’s shock, the Demon King remained
calm.
“Do as you please.”
“Oh.”
Cale let out an admiring chuckle, and the Demon King, ignoring
it completely, walked past him.
“Follow me.”
A robe that could conceal one’s abilities even from gods.
Cale tucked it tightly against his chest and followed the Demon
King.
In his wheelchair, of course.
General Mor and Advisor Ed.
The two demons’ faces were stiff.
Even these two, skilled at masking their emotions, couldn’t hide
their feelings.
“Hmm.”
The Demon King fell into thought.
His gaze turned to First Army Leader Siz, kneeling before him.
“The Third Emperor said he can’t come here?”
“…My apologies, Your Majesty.”
Siz bowed even lower.
In the grand meeting room of Midi’s lord’s castle, the Demon
King, intending to summon the Third Emperor Dragon King,
looked down at the empty room and spoke.
“What did he say?”
First Army Leader Siz, with a hardened expression, replied:
“He wants to enter the ruin.”
General Mor couldn’t hold back and blurted out:
“That insolent bastard—!”
To cause chaos in the ruin and the cities of Midi and Mika, and
now act like this?
Advisor Ed’s hands trembled.
For Ed, who believed the Demon King of Sloth was destined to
become the sole demon god and elevate the Demon Realm
above the Divine and Heavenly Realms, the Third Emperor’s
actions were not just arrogant—they crossed a line.
“Your Majesty—”
Ed stepped forward.
But the Demon King’s words stopped him.
“Interesting.”
The Demon King’s eyes didn’t smile. Only his lips curved as he
spoke, then turned his head.
To the figure in the wheelchair, wrapped entirely in a robe, face
and body hidden, he asked:
“What do you think we should do?”
From the depths of the hood, an unseen mouth opened.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Cale said brusquely:
“Aren’t you going to save the demons?”
The expressions of Mor, Ed, and Siz shifted subtly.
“Indeed.”
The Demon King’s smile deepened.
He slowly rose from his chair.
Each movement carried a sense of sloth and boredom, yet his
steps were oddly light.
“The Third Emperor is at the ruin, you say?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Demon King began walking. Ed’s face grew resolute,
sensing the Demon King was yielding a step to the Third
Emperor.
Then—
“No time to waste.”
Cale gestured for Mor to push his wheelchair and continued:
“Let’s move quickly. No need for theatrics.”
With a stern face, Mor pushed Cale’s wheelchair, overtaking
the Demon King. The Demon King let out a soft chuckle and
quickened his pace.
A spark of intrigue toward Cale flickered in his eyes.
Ed, struggling to hide his odd expression, followed.
When the Demon King’s steps halted, he faced the Third
Emperor.
The Third Emperor Dragon King, stroking his long white beard,
kept his mouth firmly shut.
Truthfully, he was flustered.
‘He came?’
The Demon King came here himself?
‘Why?’
The Third Emperor had met the Demon King a few times, but
never had he seen him take direct action like this.
Keeping his mouth shut, he sat in a chair, not even greeting the
Demon King.
At the ruin’s entrance.
The area bordered the entrance to the village of the clan
guarding the ruin.
But now, aside from the Third Emperor’s subordinates and the
Demon King’s group, not a single demon was in sight.
The village entrance was filled with silence.
Yet deep within the village, faint cries could be heard.
Or perhaps the anguished screams of someone grieving.
Regardless, at the entrance, the Third Emperor sat in a chair
brought by his subordinates.
He hadn’t entered the ruin.
More accurately, he couldn’t.
—Cale, that demon looks like a priest.
Crackle, crackle—
The ruin consisted of stone structures resembling buildings.
With no walls or fences surrounding it, Cale could clearly see
inside.
But at the ruin’s four cardinal directions—east, west, south, and
north—stood wooden towers.
A strange aura, emanating from those towers and the staff of a
demon standing at the entrance, enveloped the ruin, blocking
the Third Emperor’s approach.
The priest, eyes closed.
The elderly woman, without looking at the Third Emperor, the
Demon King, or anyone else, stood guarding the entrance.
‘The Third Emperor can’t enter the ruin.’
Cale recalled what Mor had told him.
‘The demon god no longer exists, but he was certainly real.’
The proof was the wooden staff in the priest’s hand.
‘As long as that staff, passed down from ancient times, protects
the ruin, even the Demon King can’t enter without permission.’
‘Of course, someone as powerful as the Third Emperor could
destroy the barrier. But the moment he does, the ruin would
explode.’
The barrier created by the four wooden towers and the priest’s
staff.
It was both a protective barrier and an explosive trap.
‘The only way to enter the intact ruin is to have the barrier
lifted.’
That’s why the Third Emperor had tried to use the clan as
hostages to pressure the priest.
‘It’s still a guess, but in that process, the child who was the next
priest candidate was overwhelmed by extreme fear.’
They suspected that fear had caused the seed of Chaos to
germinate.
As Cale looked at the elderly priestess, dried blood vivid on her
lips—
—Cale.
The Gluttonous priestess suddenly called out.
‘Yeah?’
Cale flinched.
Lately, whenever the Gluttonous priestess spoke up, something
happened.
So he instinctively braced himself.
—I smell wood from that priestess.
Huh?
Cale paused, looking at the priestess again.
“…”
What?
Cale flinched again.
The elderly priestess was slowly opening her eyes, staring at
him.
The Demon King stood at the forefront.
Behind him were Ed and Siz.
And behind them, Cale and Mor.
Yet the old woman was definitely looking at Cale.
Cale, his face and body hidden by the hood.
‘Hmm.’
This feels a bit unsettling.
As Cale’s expression hardened—
“Third Emperor.”
The Demon King spoke.
Still standing, he looked down at the Third Emperor.
At his call, the Third Emperor flinched, glancing at him.
But his eyes were filled with irritation, annoyance, and anger at
facing a troublesome situation.
‘How dare he…!’
Ed’s anger flared at the sight.
But he grew even angrier at the glares from the Third
Emperor’s subordinates.
Then—
“Why so serious?”
The Third Emperor said with a smirk.
He still used respectful language toward the Demon King.
‘This guy who’s not even a god—’
Of course, inwardly, he looked down on him.
The Third Emperor.
His power was near or equal to a god’s.
Thus, he had no desire to properly respect a Demon King who
hadn’t reached divinity.
“If you called me, state your business.”
The First Emperor, the first wanderer, had told him to treat the
Demon King properly, so the Third Emperor used polite speech,
albeit reluctantly.
He didn’t care about the displeased expressions of the Demon
King’s subordinates.
No need to pay attention to insignificant things.
The Demon King responded to his behavior.
“I won’t hold you accountable for past actions.”
“…What?”
For a moment, confusion flickered in the Dragon King’s eyes.
He couldn’t immediately grasp what the Demon King meant.
“However—”
The Demon King continued, unfazed by his reaction.
“I will hold you accountable for this.”
“Ha!”
The Third Emperor was dumbfounded.
The ruin.
He’d come here on a whim, unsure where to find Cale Henituse
and Choi Jung-gun.
Of course, the First Emperor’s words had piqued his curiosity.
‘The demon god’s ruin. I’m curious about it. If a demon god
truly existed, it would be the first god to perish.’
That sparked his interest, leading him here.
But how dare—
‘They blocked me.’
A mere demon dared to stand in his way.
Even the Demon King couldn’t dictate his actions, yet these
insignificant beings blocked him.
That enraged the Third Emperor.
He wanted to enter and destroy the ruin.
Then something unnecessary happened.
‘Urgh, ughhh—’
Suddenly, a child erupted with the power of Chaos, spreading it
around.
The Third Emperor recognized it as the same trick the Church of
God of Chaos had tried in Moraka Castle.
So he was baffled now.
“Accountable? I’ve done a service, haven’t I?”
If anything, he deserved praise.
Thanks to him, hadn’t the God of Chaos’s scheme been
exposed?
“Ha!”
Laughing in disbelief, another chuckle escaped him.
“…”
Then his eyes widened.
His laughing face froze.
Thud.
The Demon King had reached him in an instant.
He hadn’t even noticed.
It was truly instantaneous.
Impossible to comprehend how it happened.
The Demon King, who had been a few steps away, was now
right in front of him.
Tap. Tap.
He slowly patted the Third Emperor’s shoulder.
Cale’s eyes, hidden under the robe, widened too.
—Cale, that’s like Instant!
What was his power?
Hearing the Fire of Destruction’s surprised voice, Cale stared at
the Demon King.
The Demon King of Sloth.
A being who controlled his surroundings with mere
presence—what power did he wield?
From what Cale had learned, in the war against the previous
Demon King, the current one was called the “God of Battle.”
A being specialized in combat.
One who rendered enemies powerless.
That was said to describe him.
Cale was curious.
‘Pretty impressive, huh.’
That wasn’t Instant.
The Super Rock chimed in:
—A decent movement.
The Demon King, without emanating any aura, had stolen the
attention of both the Third Emperor and Cale with just his
movement.
It was an extraordinary physical ability.
‘Is he human?’
No, a demon.
But even for a demon, was this possible?
As Cale marveled at the Demon King’s power—
‘Don’t underestimate the Demon King. Be cautious.’
The Third Emperor recalled the First Emperor’s words and
pushed the Demon King’s hand away.
But it wouldn’t budge.
It was a formidable strength.
“Third Emperor.”
The Demon King spoke softly.
Looking down at him.
His voice seemed to settle over the Third Emperor’s head.
“You are not a god.”
“…”
The Third Emperor’s eyes widened.
He understood the meaning of the Demon King’s words.
‘If you’re not a god, you’re no match for me.’
He wanted to deny it.
But—
“Didn’t the First Emperor tell you to be cautious of me?”
“You’re no match for him.”
Tap.
Patting the Third Emperor’s shoulder lightly once more, the
Demon King lowered his hand.
He stepped back leisurely, looking at the priestess. Noticing her
gaze on Cale, he spoke:
“Stop being stubborn and step aside. I know the First Emperor
is curious about this place, but even I can’t enter without
permission.”
His eyes turned to the Third Emperor.
The Third Emperor’s crumpled face froze.
“Leave this place.”
The Demon King’s eyes, uttering those three words.
They held nothing.
Only pure killing intent.
A killing intent devoid of anything else.
It conveyed only the will to kill the Third Emperor.
Gulp.
The Third Emperor swallowed hard.
‘This guy’s not below a god?’
Having met many gods, he could tell.
The Demon King.
This guy was at the level of a god.
Not a god, but undoubtedly at the level comparable to one.
‘Then why hasn’t he become a god?’
The Demon Realm.
Compared to the Divine and Heavenly Realms, it couldn’t wield
such power. Yet, unlike many terrestrial dimensions, it had
maintained its singular form for countless years.
The pinnacle of that realm.
The Demon King.
That name was far from trivial.
There’s a reason the Divine and Heavenly Realms can’t touch
the Demon Realm lightly.
Shaaaa—
The Third Emperor, also near god-level, grew serious, an aura
swirling around him.
He couldn’t just back down from the Demon King like this.
A strange tension arose between them.
Different from before.
Then, the Demon King spoke.
“Now we can talk.”
He stepped back, and the tension dissipated. He gestured to Ed.
Understanding the Demon King’s intent to send the Third
Emperor away and quickly treat the demons, Ed stepped
forward with a stern face.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Guide him to Mika City.”
One of the Dragon King’s subordinates stepped forward.
“You handle it.”
The Third Emperor Dragon King delegated the matter to his
subordinate.
Now, the Dragon King would go to Mika City, leave the area,
and discuss what to do next.
‘Pointless.’
Mor suddenly thought this power struggle was utterly
pointless.
Even now, cries echoed from the village.
‘Your Majesty.’
Mor understood the Demon King’s sloth a little.
But more vividly than the sloth in the Demon King’s eyes,
someone else’s vibrant gaze came to mind.
Cale Henituse, who said not to waste time.
Mor’s gaze instinctively turned to him.
‘Huh?’
And he froze.
‘What?’
Cale Henituse was looking down.
Without even glancing at the Dragon King, he was suddenly
staring at the ground beneath his wheelchair.
‘What’s going on?’
Mor wondered why he was acting like that.
But Cale’s back blocked his view of the wheelchair’s base,
specifically near Cale’s feet.
Rustle, rustle.
The ground touching Cale’s wheelchair.
Roots sprouted from it.
Very subtly.
Unseen by others.
And from those roots, leaves grew, swaying gently.
Despite no breeze.
—Cale.
The Gluttonous priestess reacted.
Cale couldn’t ignore it.
—That priestess is calling you.
As the Gluttonous priestess said—
—The wooden towers are calling you too.
The elderly priestess was staring at Cale with fervent eyes.
The wooden staff in her hand.
It was embedded in the ground.
And that staff, like a living tree, sprouted leaves identical to
those at Cale’s feet.
‘What?’
Why is that old priestess staring at me so intensely?
Cale couldn’t hide his unease under the priestess’s gaze—it was
the look one might give a winning lottery ticket.
Like someone who’d struck it rich, her eyes sparkled—no,
blazed—as she looked at him.
Rustle, rustle.
The leaves at his feet swayed, though there was no wind.
—Cale.
The Gluttonous priestess spoke bluntly.
—Want me to translate what the leaves are saying?
Huh?
No.
I don’t think you need to?
—The savior has come!
Wow.
—That’s what the leaves are saying. I’m off to digest now.
The Demon King moved, and the Dragon King followed.
As they left to talk, no one paid attention to Cale and Mor, left
alone.
“Hmm.”
Cale let out a low groan.
“What do we do?”
As Mor cautiously asked—
Another figure who remained spoke, breaking the silence.
The priestess.
“I’ve been waiting.”
Her gaze turned to Cale.
Mor flinched as she released the staff embedded in the ground
and bowed deeply to Cale.
Her movement was polite, filled with earnest sincerity.
The priestess spoke to Cale in a desperate voice:
“Savior, please let the gray rain fall.”
Cale flinched.
Mor did too.
Chapter 2-472: The Gray Rain Falls (4)
Many thanks to user u/whyjam on r/TrashOfCountsFamily
subreddit for sharing the raw with us! These early chapters
wouldn’t have been possible without u/whyjam!
“Savior, I am Timorang, the priest of the Graywood Clan.”
Hmm.
Cale wasn’t particularly inclined to show respect to elders.
“It’s an honor to meet you like this.”
But when the old woman before him, who looked well over
eighty, had dried blood on her lips—
“Uh, ma’am—no, Priestess.”
Cale found himself speaking politely despite himself.
“Savior, you may call me Timorang.”
No way. How could he casually call someone who looked well
over eighty by their name?
Sure, he might call Choi Han, Choi Jung-soo’s uncle, by his name
and speak informally, but that was different. This was another
matter entirely.
Cale had a lot to say but held back, speaking calmly:
“Uh, I’m not a savior.”
He had to correct that first.
“Hoh.”
But the priestess smiled for the first time.
Fine wrinkles formed around her eyes.
Her stern face softened with a hint of peace, and she asked
Cale:
“Savior, do you wish to be guided to where my clan, afflicted by
Chaos, awaits?”
Ugh.
I said I’m not a savior!
This grandma isn’t listening!
A trace of irreverence crept onto Cale’s face as he opened his
mouth:
“Yes, please guide me.”
Whatever the case, Cale needed to check on the demons
infected with the Gray Plague first. He had to assess their
condition.
“Hoh.”
The old woman let out another meaningful chuckle, pulled her
wooden staff from the ground, and began walking.
Rustle.
The vibrant leaves on the staff briefly caught Cale’s attention.
“It smells like wood.”
At Cale’s offhand remark, Priestess Timorang paused
momentarily, then continued walking, leaving a single
comment:
“It is the trees that protect the land.”
Her words struck a deep chord in Cale’s mind.
‘Didn’t they say the Graywood Clan guards the demon god’s
ruin?’
So why did she say they protect the land?
Cale felt something odd but kept his mouth shut.
“Priestess.”
General Mor, who had been silent, spoke up.
“I heard you’ve been preventing us from examining the
infected clan members. You need to lift that—”
But Mor’s words were cut off.
“Shut your mouth.”
The priestess’s gaze turned fierce.
It was reminiscent of how she had stood firm, not sparing a
glance for the Third Emperor Dragon King or the Demon King.
“…”
Mor flinched and closed his mouth.
Though he was the leader of the Third Army, the clan’s
priestess was a figure revered by demons.
The priestess glared at Mor sharply and shouted:
“How dare someone carrying the trace of another god step foot
here and open their mouth!”
“!”
Mor’s face paled further. He instinctively looked at Cale.
Cale was staring at him, and his mouth opened:
“Oh. I know you have a divine artifact. Not sure which god,
though.”
“!!”
Mor’s pupils shook violently.
He knows?
That I have a divine artifact?
How?
The priestess, staring at Mor’s face, scoffed.
“Hmph, how laughable. I thought the ‘Backstabbing Hands’
meant striking others from behind, but it turns out you’re too
busy striking your own head to see what’s in front of you!”
Then she spoke politely to Cale:
“Savior, we have been waiting for your arrival.”
Her staff sliced through the air.
Rustle—
A breeze stirred.
At the ruin and the nearby village entrance, every tree’s leaves
began to sway.
Shaaaa—
The sound of rustling leaves.
Tap, tap, tap—
After a brief silence, light footsteps began to approach.
“We will cooperate fully, so do not worry.”
The demons of the Graywood Clan opened the village gate,
allowing Cale to enter.
“Priestess.”
“Yes, Savior.”
Seeing the clan members greet him as if they’d been waiting,
Cale asked the priestess:
“Do you see the future?”
It was a casual question, thrown out on a hunch.
‘I mean, it makes sense, doesn’t it?’
She was a priestess, and she seemed to know about Cale’s
existence.
Based on his past experiences, he had a feeling about this.
“As expected, you know. Truly remarkable.”
The priestess spoke with great admiration, her face full of awe
as she addressed Cale.
‘That’s a bit much.’
Cale thought her reaction was excessive. But the priestess
maintained her demeanor.
“I don’t see all futures.”
Cale responded, feeling like he understood.
It was just a guess, but it seemed right.
“So you see only certain futures?”
“Yes. That’s correct. I see glimpses of the future through
dreams. And I saw you, Savior, bringing the gray rain to this ruin
and the two cities. Please forgive me for not being able to
provide more details and only sharing this much.”
“Hmm.”
Gray rain.
Cale knew that when he used the “purification of Chaos,” gray
droplets would emerge from those infected by Chaos in the
final stage.
‘But that’s called rain?’
It wasn’t exactly rain.
‘Hmm.’
Cale pondered.
But since no answer came—
‘Must be a prophetic dream, so it’s symbolic.’
Anyway, since he’d be performing the purification and the gray
droplets would appear, the priestess’s foresight seemed highly
accurate.
“Got it. Let’s head to the infected first.”
Not wanting to drag things out, Cale prioritized visiting the
patients.
“Yes, Savior.”
The elderly Timorang gestured to a clan member.
He began guiding Cale and Mor.
“Oh, my companions will be here soon.”
“Yes, understood.”
The priestess signaled another clan member to handle Cale’s
request and followed behind him.
‘This will be my final foresight.’
Recalling her last dream, Timorang pictured Cale’s back, hidden
by Mor.
‘It was the most vivid dream I’ve ever had.’
The priests of the Graywood Clan had always possessed a
special power.
The ability to see the future.
And most of those visions came when great events loomed
over the clan or the ruin.
Great events, naturally, meant calamities or
disasters—unpleasant things.
‘Gray—’
This time, her dream hadn’t shown the Third Emperor. If it had,
she could have prepared and prevented the clan’s troubles.
No, even before that, the dream hadn’t shown the seed being
planted in the next priest candidate or the Church of God of
Chaos’s schemes. If it had, she could have stopped it.
‘But the dream showed the savior and the gray rain.’
The dream wasn’t clear.
It was filled with countless symbols and metaphors.
But this dream was the most vivid of her life.
‘A cloudy, dark sky, gray rain falling on the ruin, Midi, and
Mika.’
And atop the tallest building, the bell tower, stood a red-haired
man who brought it all about.
Demons shouting “savior” toward him.
The savior who saved the ruin and the two cities.
Priestess Timorang could finally move her weary body with a bit
of relief.
Maintaining the sealing barrier against the Third Emperor
Dragon King for two full days was no easy task.
The Graywood Clan’s village.
Deep within, at the clinic.
The two-story building was now filled with infected demons.
“Here’s the patient list.”
It was still daytime, and those whose bodies were turning gray
lay in a deep sleep.
In the only empty examination room, away from the patients, a
clan healer and an official dispatched from the Demon King’s
castle handed Cale documents, unable to hide their anxiety.
Flip, flip.
Cale skimmed through the patient list.
In the quiet room, Mor stood behind him, glancing at the
papers.
Nod, nod.
The priestess, escorted by a clan member, had fallen asleep in a
chair in the corner.
No one blamed her.
At an age where she should have long retired, with no
successor in sight, she continued as priestess. The candidate
who finally appeared had died when the seed germinated.
Thus, the priestess had stepped forward again, facing the Third
Emperor and his subordinates alone while keeping her clan
back.
Who could fault her for sleeping now?
Flip, flip.
As the papers turned quickly, the official, watching cautiously,
spoke:
“We’ve moved all those who showed symptoms and went
berserk in Midi and Mika to this clinic.”
Over two hundred infected demons filled every corner of the
two-story building.
“Hmm.”
Cale let out a low groan.
“Those suspected of potential infection are currently isolated in
quarantine facilities in Midi and Mika.”
A small relief, perhaps.
The Demon King’s castle officials, arriving late after the Third
Emperor’s actions, had at least acted swiftly in follow-up
measures.
“Then we can perform the purification here tomorrow
morning.”
Since it was afternoon now and there were no urgent patients,
the infected who might rampage tonight would calm down by
sunrise.
That’s when the purification could happen.
Cale concluded, closing the documents.
But he added one thing:
“All of this assumes the Third Emperor Dragon King leaves by
tonight.”
“…Yes.”
The official answered with a resolute expression, and Mor
nodded.
With the Demon King stepping in, the Third Emperor would
soon leave.
—Now your other arm will be purified too.
Cale didn’t react much to the Super Rock’s hopeful words.
His indigestion had eased, but—
‘I just wish this dizziness would go away.’
It was annoying to keep staggering and needing support.
“Let’s hold out for tonight.”
Cale said, handing the documents to the clan healer, and a
bright light flickered across the faces in the room.
Perhaps it was hope.
Mor watched silently.
“…”
Then he flinched and turned around.
It wasn’t just him.
‘What?’
Cale also started, turning his gaze to one side.
Something strange stirred in the air.
“Gasp!”
There, the priestess, enveloped in gray smoke, woke with wide
eyes.
The warrior and healer beside her hurriedly knelt.
“Foresight…!”
At the healer’s words, Cale instantly grasped the situation.
‘Foresight?’
His face hardened.
‘Foresight at a time like this?’
Things were progressing smoothly, ready to be handled, and
now foresight struck.
Cale’s face crumpled.
A chill ran down his neck.
This didn’t feel good.
“Night—!”
Priestess Timorang was drenched in sweat.
Trembling, she spoke.
The gray smoke began to dissipate.
Before it vanished, she had to voice what she saw.
The gray rain.
The dream she saw today was clearer than that.
She realized.
The gray rain was merely a prelude to this calamity.
“At night, the city will be shrouded in gray, and gray monsters
will try to devour the demons!”
Oh.
Cale let out a sigh.
The priestess’s words continued:
“The city will burn, the demons’ screams will fill the
heavens—!”
Her gaze turned to Cale.
“A red-haired man climbs the bell tower, but it’s shattered by a
blue dragon!”
Trembling, she continued:
“The gray rain doesn’t fall, morning comes, and the city is
covered in gray ashes—”
Her body shook like a trembling aspen, and then—
“Priestess!”
She collapsed.
Splatter. Blood trickled from her mouth.
“…Such a detailed foresight, I’ve never heard something like
this before.”
The clan warrior supported the priestess, and the healer,
trembling, spoke to Cale.
In that moment, the experienced healer felt compelled to tell
Cale:
Don’t ignore this foresight.
The priestess had revealed so much, disregarding her own
health.
Cale’s gaze, watching the unconscious priestess, turned to the
official.
“…”
The official shrank under his cold stare, and Cale spoke:
“Is this accurate?”
He held up the documents.
“Midi and Mika. The infected and suspected infected. Are you
sure you’ve secured them all accurately?”
Damn it.
Cale swallowed the harsh words rising in his throat.
He fully grasped the situation from the priestess’s words.
The foresight was that precise.
‘It’s tonight.’
In one of the two cities, Midi or Mika, an infected would appear
and go berserk.
And when they tried to stop it, the Third Emperor Dragon King
would appear.
“Damn it.”
Cale finally let his frustration slip.
“…Tch, this—!”
Mor’s face paled, and Cale said coldly:
“What are you doing?”
“Huh?”
“Standing there like that?”
Cale chose action over worry.
If it was tonight, it was still afternoon. There was time.
With the foresight, they could prepare.
‘Right.’
It was doable.
Compared to the hardships he’d overcome before—
“Priestess!”
At that moment, the priestess, thought to be unconscious,
struggled to open her eyes.
When her gaze met Cale’s, she spoke her final words before
losing consciousness again:
“You must-! You must endure and survive—!”
What?
Cale’s expression hardened.
—This is ominous.
As the Super Rock said, the priestess collapsed with those
foreboding words.
Feeling deeply uneasy, Cale heard the Gluttonous Priestess
murmur softly:
—My body’s itchy.
As if something was about to sprout, the Gluttonous Priestess
whined about the itching sensation. Her stomach felt heavy, yet
strangely, she was hungry.
Something was missing. To digest, she needed something more.
No, she just wanted something refreshing to endure this
heaviness.
But she didn’t know what.
At that moment—
—I’m hungry.
The Gluttonous Priestess whined again, but Cale didn’t hear.
Right now, Cale was—
“Damn it, let’s head back to Midi City immediately!”
Time was of the essence.
It felt doable, yet Cale couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.
Chapter 2-473: The Gray Rain Falls (5)
Many thanks to user u/whyjam on r/TrashOfCountsFamily
subreddit for sharing the raw with us! These early chapters
wouldn’t have been possible without u/whyjam!
Priestess Timorang. The prophecy she uttered before losing
consciousness:
“At night, the city will be shrouded in gray, and gray monsters
will try to devour the demons!”
“The city will burn, the demons’ screams will fill the
heavens—!”
“A red-haired man climbs the bell tower, but it's shattered by a
blue dragon!”
“The gray rain doesn’t fall, morning comes, and the city is
covered in gray ashes—”
This message was swiftly relayed to the leaders in Midi and
Mika.
Advisor Ed, the Demon King’s strategist, paled upon reading the
note from his subordinate. For a moment, his head spun.
But his expression soon calmed.
Click.
Re-entering the room, his face was as composed as ever.
“Did something happen?”
The Third Emperor Dragon King asked with a smirk, and Ed
replied nonchalantly:
“The priestess guarding the ruin has fainted.”
It was the truth.
He couldn’t afford to tell a hasty lie.
“Hmph.”
The Third Emperor snorted, turning away from Ed with a bored
expression.
Then, meeting the Demon King’s steady gaze, he clicked his
tongue.
“Tch.”
Rising from his seat, he said:
“Out of respect for our alliance, I’ll leave this place.”
The negotiations were already concluded.
There was no need to drag things out.
“Given the Church of God of Chaos has betrayed us, shouldn’t
we work together?”
Grin.
With a raised corner of his mouth, he added:
“So, keep your word about helping me find Cale Henituse and
the wanderer I mentioned.”
“Of course.”
The Demon King, leaning back in his chair, spoke leisurely:
“As long as our alliance holds, we won’t be the ones to betray
first.”
The words of a world’s leader carried weight.
Satisfied, the Third Emperor smiled and rose without lingering.
“Then I’ll take a look around the south, which I haven’t seen
yet, and leave the Demon Realm.”
He added:
“Of course, I won’t attack any demons.”
Leading his subordinates, he headed for the door.
Ed signaled with his eyes, and the Demon King’s First Army
followed to ensure they left properly.
Click.
When the door closed, leaving only the Demon King and Ed, the
Demon King spoke:
“A Transcendent…”
Cale Henituse had shared information:
‘The First Emperor seeks to become a Transcendent.’
The Demon King hadn’t heard this from the wanderers.
“Tch.”
“A relationship that began with deception—how can we
cooperate?”
The wanderers had started with betrayal.
The Church of God of Chaos had betrayed them too.
There was no trustworthy alliance left.
“What’s the matter?”
The Demon King asked, and Ed, with an urgent expression,
relayed the priestess’s prophecy.
“Two things.”
Having heard everything, the Demon King spoke in a bored
tone, laced with sloth and ennui:
“First, in Mika or Midi, there’s either a hidden infected or
someone hiding an infected.”
They would rampage at night, plunging the city into fear and
chaos.
“Second, the Third Emperor hasn’t left.”
The prophecy of a blue dragon attacking Cale.
It meant the Third Emperor was defying the Demon King’s
words.
“So, what does Cale Henituse want?”
Ed answered immediately:
“He requests unconditional cooperation until sunrise
tomorrow.”
“Have the Demon King’s forces and officials in Midi and Mika
follow Cale Henituse’s orders.”
“…Yes.”
“And you, assist him.”
“Understood.”
Creak.
The Demon King rose from his seat.
“Anything else?”
Ed shut his eyes tightly.
The contents of the note were hard to voice.
But he had to say it.
Cale Henituse’s judgment seemed undeniably correct.
“He asked Your Majesty to keep an eye on the Third Emperor.”
Haha—
Laughter spilled from the Demon King’s lips.
To secretly follow and monitor the Third Emperor?
Well, he was the only one here capable of tailing him discreetly.
The Third Emperor, a powerhouse Cale couldn’t handle, was to
be restrained by the Demon King’s side.
“He wants me to take responsibility for the Third Emperor.”
And when the Third Emperor acted out, the Demon King would
be the one to suppress him.
“Tell him I’ll do it.”
The Demon King agreed casually.
“Monitor him discreetly, right?”
“Yes. He wants it kept quiet.”
If the Third Emperor sensed anything amiss, it would
complicate things.
The Third Emperor needed to lose interest in the city without
noticing.
Ed bit his lip, seeing a faint spark of intrigue in the Demon
King’s otherwise bored eyes.
But the Demon King’s gaze was already on the Third Emperor,
heading out of Mika City’s lord’s castle.
Soon, the Demon King vanished.
But in that moment—
As he followed the Third Emperor, he missed the expression on
his face.
Grin.
A smile spread across the Third Emperor’s lips.
“Interesting.”
His words prompted a reaction from First Army Leader Siz,
trailing closely, but the Third Emperor and his subordinates
paid no mind.
He merely chuckled softly, leaving Mika City with his entourage,
unaware of the Demon King following.
But he thought:
‘Something’s about to happen here.’
The Third Emperor was sharper and more perceptive than he
appeared.
He trusted his instincts, though they sometimes led to
mistakes, like letting Cale Henituse escape.
‘The Demon King himself came to the city.’
This wasn’t just about the Church of God of Chaos or the Gray
Plague.
Concluding as much, the Third Emperor Dragon King stroked his
long beard, his smile deepening.
His subordinates followed, as always, assisting him.
The same subordinates who’d been with him at the ruin.
But two were missing.
Two who hadn’t been with him from the start.
“Sis.”
“What?”
“Doesn’t it feel like the Third Emperor thinks we’re his slaves?”
The wanderer siblings, Cho and Ren.
Sent to the eastern Demon Realm to find Choi Jung-gun, they’d
belatedly arrived near Midi City.
“No, really. He’s off sightseeing at the ruin with his lackeys, and
now he wants us to sneak into Midi and snoop around?”
“…He must have his reasons.”
“Ugh.”
Cho sighed, venting frustration, but Ren felt this was for the
best.
‘Being near the Third Emperor isn’t good.’
It was better to act separately under his orders.
Ren led Cho, stealthily infiltrating Midi City.
No guard was skilled enough to notice them, so they slipped in
effortlessly.
Their orders were simple:
‘Investigate Midi and Mika, and report anything unusual.’
A note, sent secretly by the Third Emperor’s subordinate before
negotiations with the Demon King began, was in Ren’s hand.
As the Third Emperor left Mika City—
Drip.
A few droplets fell from his fingertips.
Subtle droplets, unnoticed by anyone.
They carried the scent of the sea.
The droplets, imbued with the sea, seeped into Mika’s soil.
They moved toward the most crowded place.
Mika’s barracks, where the lord’s forces and the Demon King’s
army gathered.
Rustle—
At that moment, though the priestess remained unconscious—
Rustle—
The vines on the four wooden towers guarding the demon
god’s ruin swayed.
As if sensing something wrong seeping into the ground.
Meanwhile, in a room at the highest point of Midi City’s lord’s
castle, Cale looked out the window and asked the person
entering:
“Did the Demon King follow him?”
“Yes.”
Ed frowned briefly at Cale’s casual address of the Demon King
but continued calmly.
He had to follow Cale’s orders today.
“The Third Emperor and his subordinates left Mika City,
heading south. At their pace, they should be out of the area by
tonight.”
“…Advisor.”
Cale asked quietly:
“Were only his subordinates with the Third Emperor?”
“Yes, that’s—”
Ed, answering casually, saw a glint in Cale’s eyes that turned to
alarm.
Cale asked again:
“The wanderers Cho and Ren. You’re aware of them, right?”
The Demon King’s strategist wouldn’t be ignorant of the Five-
Colored Bloods’ powerhouses.
Ed quickly spoke, his tone calm but rapid:
“We confirmed they were in the east, and as of two days ago,
we verified their location.”
“And now?”
“We don’t know.”
The Gray Plague had kept them too busy to track the siblings
properly.
As a strategist, Ed hadn’t connected the siblings to this incident.
But after the prophecy—
“We can’t overlook a single variable.”
Cale ordered Ed:
“Find the siblings’ location. And prepare for the possibility
they’ve entered this city.”
“Yes.”
Cale had already considered the chance they were here.
Thus—
“Choi Han, Eruhaben-nim.”
“Yes, Cale-nim.”
“Got it. We’ll handle it.”
He assigned the search to Choi Han and Eruhaben, who had
faced the wanderer siblings before.
“Search as discreetly as possible before nightfall.”
“Yes, Cale-nim.”
“Understood.”
They’d spot the siblings or any intruder.
“Have the city guards and the Demon King’s search teams
follow these two’s orders.”
“Yes.”
Looking out the window, Cale saw the bright sunlight and clear
blue sky. Beyond Midi City and the ruin, he gazed at Mika City
in the distance.
He ordered Ed:
“Don’t make a fuss with the investigation.”
There might be wanderers in the city.
“But don’t be overly cautious either.”
Above all, resolving this before night was the priority.
“Keep a minimal team to track the Third Emperor’s connections
and the wanderers. Use all forces and officials to scour every
corner of the city. Involve the citizens if needed.”
Ed’s expression wasn’t pleased.
Cale, noticing, said indifferently:
“I heard Midi and Mika supported the previous Demon King.”
In truth, Cale found it odd.
The Demon King, a figure destined to become a demon god.
Yet the priestess didn’t even greet him.
That was strange.
Now, the situation made sense.
The priestess’s refusal to allow the current Demon King into the
ruin, her lack of courtesy—it all had a reason.
The lords of Midi and Mika had supported the previous Demon
King.
The current Demon King’s forces had killed them and many
demons in these cities.
True, they were soldiers, not civilians, but the scars remained
deep.
These cities didn’t welcome the Demon King.
No, they didn’t trust him.
Cale learned this belatedly through information from Aurora of
Arbiters' Alliance.
‘Now I understand why the prophecy came.’
He’d thought the Demon King’s officials had handled things
properly, but no.
He hadn’t seen the lords here.
Two cities run by officials dispatched from the Demon King’s
castle, without lords.
This was why Count Lupé’s domain opposed having a Demon
King’s official as lord.
Though the Demon King’s side invested heavily in these cities’
welfare and management—
‘The resentment is strong.’
A deep, unspoken resentment toward the current Demon King
filled these cities.
Few citizens here would sincerely follow the Demon King’s
officials.
This, too, was a consequence of the current Demon King’s
actions.
To claim his throne, he’d spilled too much blood and made too
many enemies. Even after taking it, his sins piled up.
But—
“Advisor.”
Cale had to do what needed to be done.
Frankly, the rest wasn’t his concern.
Focused on the task at hand, Cale was resolute:
“We must do our job properly.”
“Yes.”
Ed’s response was equally firm. Regardless of circumstances,
the job had to be done.
“Search everywhere as quickly as possible.”
“Yes.”
They had to find the infected or suspected infected.
“It might not be just one or two.”
A city overrun by gray monsters?
That wasn’t possible with just a couple.
What was going to happen?
He didn’t know.
But something was clearly about to unfold.
“Ron, Clopeh.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
Ron, with his benign smile, and Clopeh, whose eyes weren’t just
sparkling but blazing.
Clopeh Sekka, that guy, wasn’t even fully healed—why were his
eyes so vivid?
Feeling oddly burdened by them, Cale looked away and said:
“You two handle the search.”
The Heavenly Demon hadn’t arrived yet, and Choi Jung-soo, Sui
Khan, and Beacrox weren’t here either.
Cale assigned tasks to his present companions, and they moved
quickly.
They all understood the urgency.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Cale met three pairs of eyes looking up at him.
On, Hong, Raon.
The average 10-year-olds stared at him.
Cale said firmly:
“You guys are with me.”
Meow!
Meow!
“Trust us, human!”
The average 10-year-olds declared resolutely.
Cale looked at them uneasily before gazing at Midi’s tallest
tower.
The bell tower.
Mika had an identical one, they said.
They were called the twin bell towers.
According to the prophecy, Cale would climb one of them.
Where would the explosion happen?
Mika?
Midi?
Cale didn’t know.
Midi and Mika.
At their center lay the ruin.
The only ruin tied to the demon god, it drew many demon
tourists.
Thus, the inn industry thrived in Midi and Mika.
“Huff, huff.”
A long-term guest.
An old man who planned to spend a week here to honor the
demon god at the ruin.
He lay unconscious on his bed, breathing heavily.
Having come alone, he’d witnessed the battle at the ruin and
rushed back to his inn room in a panic.
The sight of a young demon’s body bursting.
To forget it, he’d locked himself in his room to calm his mind.
“Huff, huff.”
Thus, he hadn’t met the demon officials searching for those at
the scene.
The innkeeper didn’t even know he’d been there.
And this morning—
The old man saw his toes turning gray and lost consciousness.
Despair, endless despair, had overwhelmed him.
“Huff, huff.”
His body, gradually rotting gray.
Having lost his family, he’d come to the ruin for solace, but no
one sought him.
“Huff, huff—”
The infection began in a suspected infected.
It spread unusually fast.
It was at his toes this morning, but now it covered his chest.
Before sunset, his entire body might be gray.
“Huff, huff.”
A five-story, large inn.
In a room at the far end of one floor.
The old man lay asleep.
What form he’d take when he awoke at night, no one knew.
“Ah, ah—”
And another person.
He looked at his sleeping wife and child before leaving the
room.
In a living room with windows shut tight, blocking all light.
“…Damn it!”
He clutched his hair with both hands.
His wife and child, who’d gone to see the ruin.
Both had collapsed in a horrific state.
“Damn it!”
And every night, they woke, screaming.
He’d bound them tightly to restrain their fits, but he didn’t
know how much longer he could hold out.
‘Should I go to the lord’s castle?’
Should he go now and tell them?
That his wife and child seemed infected?
“No.”
He couldn’t.
What kind of man was the Demon King?
Hadn’t he burned their hometown to ashes because it housed
key subordinates of the previous Demon King?
He’d heard the infected and suspected infected were being
taken somewhere secretly.
“…No way!”
If they were taken—
“No way!”
He didn’t know what would happen to his wife and child!
Having barely escaped their hometown to settle here!
‘Honey, we can’t trust the Demon King’s people!’
His wife’s last words before collapsing echoed in his mind.
He felt the same.
He couldn’t trust the Demon King’s people.
“Sob!”
The man sank to the floor in the living room, tears streaming.
His wife’s neck was now gray.
And his child—
His precious child was gray up to their chin.
‘What do I do?’
Crouched in the darkness, the man thought and thought about
what to do.
Midi and Mika.
In the bright afternoon sun, in hidden corners, those turning
gray emerged.
“Sob, sob—”
The crying man.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door.
Startled but prompted by persistent knocking, he opened it to
see a priest.
A man in a loose gray priest’s robe.
White hair, green eyes.
With an elegant smile, he spoke:
“Is there anyone in need of purification?”
It was Clopeh Sekka, out on the search.
And—
“This inn’s quite large.”
Ron Molan, running an inn that love, hope and adventure.
He entered, speaking:
“Which rooms have had their doors closed for days?”
He, too, was searching.
But time and manpower were sorely lacking.
Hidden from others’ eyes, distrusting the Demon King’s castle,
the breathing of those turning gray grew rougher.
As of 7/20/25, we've officially caught up with the latest Korean
update—thanks to the generosity of u/whyjam on
r/TrashOfCountsFamily subreddit! Thank you so much!
As always, if anyone’s willing to purchase the Korean raw and
share it when a new chapter drops, we’d truly appreciate your
help.
Feel free to DM me on Reddit. I’ll leave the Kakao and Reddit
links here!
Chapter 2-474: The Gray Rain Falls (6)
Whirr—
The mana orb emitted a gray glow.
“Midi City reports one infected found! In critical condition, an
elderly person was discovered in an inn!”
Whirr—
“Midi City, another infected found! Early-stage infection,
relatively stable, being moved to quarantine immediately!”
Whirr—Whirr—
The mana orbs flashed incessantly, relaying updates from
across the two cities.
Advisor Ed’s expression grew increasingly grim.
Scribble, scribble.
The officials from Midi, Mika, and the Demon King’s castle,
documenting the incoming reports, paled as well.
Emergency Response Headquarters.
The name given to the vast meeting hall in Midi’s lord’s castle.
Normally empty and desolate, it now radiated a tense, almost
warlike atmosphere, as if bracing for battle.
Whirr—Whirr—
The mana orbs continued to vibrate.
All the officials thought the same thing:
‘Too many!’
Far more than expected.
The death of the child bearing the seed at the ruin.
The many demons infected as a result.
‘Thought the number of infected at the Graywood Clan village
was already high!’
Over two hundred were considered significant.
But the Demon Realm’s most popular ruin wasn’t like Telia
City’s fruit shop—it drew crowds on a different scale.
And above all—
‘They hid too much.’
Midi and Mika.
The demons here distrusted the Demon King’s castle far more
than Ed had realized, hiding their illnesses or those of their
loved ones.
‘The number of infected people has increased.’
As a result, the number of infected had grown.
This was new information.
Ed spoke:
“This proves the infected can spread the disease to demons
without dying.”
He continued in a calm tone:
“Saliva, blood—any contact with these can infect another
demon who absorbs it.”
In Telia City, no additional infections had occurred.
Perhaps because Cale purified the suspected infected before
their condition worsened.
But this time, those hiding the infected or suspected
infected—their guardians or acquaintances—had also become
infected.
Mostly from absorbing saliva or blood while restraining infected
demons during their nightly fits.
“…The Three Calamities.”
One of the three calamities feared across the Divine, Heavenly,
and Demon Realms.
The Contamination of Chaos.
Ed’s stern face showed no sign of easing.
“It’s called the Gray Plague, but it’s the Contamination of
Chaos. This is the natural outcome.”
Trying not to dwell on the despairing situation, Ed spoke:
“We may not identify all the infected before sunset.”
He looked toward the window.
The meeting hall.
A massive window overlooked Midi City’s skyline.
There, Cale stood, gazing at the city.
Cale was silent.
But inside—
‘Damn it!’
His mind was loud.
‘This is practically zombies!’
It really felt like zombies.
First jiangshi, now zombies!
‘Damn it!’
They might not find all the infected by sunset?
If one of them exploded, especially in a crowded area—
—Cale, it’s horrific.
As the Super Rock said, something horrific would happen.
That’s why the priestess, even as she lost consciousness, had
relayed her dream’s prophecy to Cale.
Knock, knock, knock—
Another official rushed in, saying urgently:
“We’re preparing food, but we don’t have enough!”
Food for a festival or feast.
They’d secured enough ingredients for the purification ritual,
but there wasn’t enough time to cook them.
It wasn’t a small amount of food—it was enough for a festival
to cover two cities and the ruin.
“We’ve discreetly brought in cooks from the domain, but we’ll
need more people to meet the quota by sunset. We’d have to
involve more citizens—”
Ed interrupted:
“No.”
Bring in more than a certain number of citizens to the lord’s
castle?
“It’ll get noticed.”
They were already cautiously deploying forces, discreetly
searching for the infected.
‘The Third Emperor.’
This was due to the prophecy that the Third Emperor might
appear.
Of course, preventing the chaos at night was more critical, so
they were searching discreetly but quickly.
“The purification ritual must not be exposed.”
If the ritual was discovered, it would cause trouble.
It could even reveal Cale’s alliance with the Demon King.
“We must stay discreet until we find the Third Emperor’s
subordinates.”
“But for the purification—”
The official, who had witnessed the purification in Telia City,
spoke to Ed.
That beautiful, sacred scene.
If it happened here, everything would be resolved.
He wanted to believe that.
“Do what you can.”
At Cale’s words, all eyes turned to him.
—Human, Goldie Gramps and Choi Han haven’t found them
yet!
Cale pondered.
Based on the prophecy and the information so far:
‘Tonight, a zombie horde will destroy the city.’
And the Third Emperor would interfere.
‘But I don’t know the process.’
He hadn’t grasped the full cause.
Especially since he could no longer trust the Demon King’s
castle’s authority over these cities.
Everything had to start from zero.
‘Where, how, when—’
Cale paused his thoughts.
“Lord Cale.”
Ed addressed him with a title, saying:
“Rather than performing the purification before sunset,
wouldn’t it be better to endure tonight and conduct it all at
once tomorrow? And we should search more discreetly,
avoiding exposure.”
Honestly, Ed thought this was the better approach.
‘There’ll be casualties overnight, but…’
He glanced around, confirming everyone in the headquarters
was either an official from the lord’s castle or directly from the
Demon King’s castle, and continued:
“It’s better to purify after everything’s sorted.”
Tonight, without exposing their alliance to the Third Emperor.
‘Even if the infected rampage and try to overrun the city—’
Coldly speaking, they could be killed before that.
If it happened unexpectedly, they’d face chaos without
preparation.
But with Midi and Mika’s forces, plus the Demon King’s army,
they could handle the infected.
If they covered their bodies to avoid infection, the night could
pass more easily than expected.
With luck, they might restrain the infected without killing them,
saving them.
Ed couldn’t shake the thought that this was more efficient.
Silence fell over the headquarters.
Most here were sharp-minded and understood the truth
behind Ed’s words.
“Advisor—”
The official in charge of food procurement spoke again.
Ed looked at him intently.
The official clenched his fists, unable to speak, then lowered his
head under Ed’s cold gaze and said:
“I’ll head to the kitchen to continue the work.”
“Good.”
At Ed’s dry response, the official turned toward the door.
His face, head bowed, was contorted.
‘He doesn’t know.’
Advisor Ed.
Focused solely on the Demon King and the Demon Realm.
More precisely, the Demon King who would become a demon
god and make a Demon Realm greater than the Divine and
Heavenly Realms.
Ed held vast knowledge and was brilliant, but—
‘This is my hometown—’
Midi City.
Ed didn’t know it was this official’s hometown.
Even after working by his side for over five years.
‘Damn it!’
The Demon King’s castle!
The words of Midi’s elders echoed in the official’s heart.
The Demon King’s castle couldn’t be trusted.
‘Yes, the advisor is trying to minimize damage and maximize
benefits.’
His proposal wasn’t bad.
With only two hours until sunset, limited time, limited
manpower, and a hostile environment, this might be the best
option.
‘But still—’
Anger surged within him.
Betrayal.
What should he do?
‘If he’d at least say we should try our hardest—’
If he’d just said that!
The official, gripping the doorknob to leave, felt his face shift
from anger to cold resolve.
Then—
“Advisor, there’s a flaw in what you just said.”
Cale’s indifferent tone reached his ears.
“…What?”
As Ed, face stiff, questioned him, Cale spoke, looking out at the
city:
“The priestess saw night.”
So what?
To Ed’s questioning look, Cale said:
“But can we assume the mass infection starts at night?”
“!”
Cale had been thinking while standing here.
A zombie horde suddenly appearing at night?
Did that make sense?
“It’s most likely that before night, before sunset, an infected
explodes somewhere, causing a mass infection.”
Yes, a few infected escaping from homes or inns wouldn’t cause
such a situation.
“Where are large groups gathered right now?”
As Cale said this, Ed couldn’t respond.
Cale answered instead:
“Here at the lord’s castle, and the barracks.”
If someone exploded in those places, a mass infection would
occur.
That would create a situation fitting a zombie horde.
“And we’ve confirmed a new infection route.”
Searching only for those infected at the ruin wasn’t enough.
“Since saliva and blood can spread it, check the non-infected in
the clinics and quarantine zones too.”
Telia City had been lucky.
“Hurry. I’ll go purify at the ruin first and look for the Third
Emperor’s subordinates.”
“—But that might alert the Third Emperor!”
Cale shook his head at Ed’s words.
“My companions haven’t found them yet. We need bait to
draw out the Third Emperor’s subordinates. It’s better to do
that before sunset.”
If Cale started purifying at the ruin, the energy would attract
the Third Emperor’s connections.
Catching them now was better for the situation.
—Human, don’t worry! I’ll definitely find the Third Emperor’s
subordinates!
Right.
Rather than waiting, Cale preferred setting the stage and
controlling the situation.
With no hesitation, Cale left the emergency headquarters.
Whoosh—
A gust of wind pushed his wheelchair.
Raon’s magic.
“I’ll take one of these.”
Cale grabbed a mana orb as he passed.
“Contact me immediately if anything urgent comes up.”
He headed for the door.
One official stared at him, but Cale had no time to notice.
As the startled official stepped aside, Cale grabbed the
doorknob, then paused, raising a hand.
“Oh.”
Turning back to Ed, he delivered his final message.
He didn’t like this advisor.
Something about him felt off. Cale understood him, but
something didn’t sit right.
“Advisor, from now on, we will follow my plan.”
The advisor’s lord, the Demon King, had said so.
“I have full authority.”
Until tomorrow morning, follow my orders.
“So do as I say.”
Oh.
Saying this, Cale realized what bothered him.
The Third Emperor.
That dragon king was incredibly strong.
But the advisor didn’t seem to know.
“And no matter what, we can’t let demons die just to avoid the
Third Emperor’s notice, can we?”
The Demon King was also incredibly strong.
“!”
“!”
“!!”
Amid shocked stares, Cale spoke his true feelings.
The Third Emperor? He wasn’t confident he could beat him.
‘But so what?’
The Demon King would handle him.
Cale wasn’t going to face the Third Emperor.
The Demon King would.
And if their alliance was exposed, so what?
It might limit Cale’s options, but it would also break the Demon
King’s ties with the wanderer family, which wasn’t bad for Cale.
Right.
Be cautious, but don’t be scared.
“How strong is the Demon King?”
Whether they followed him or not.
Cale felt it clearly.
The Demon King, most likely to become a demon god.
“It’s good to avoid the prophecy as much as possible, but trust
the Demon King too.”
That guy, always striking poses.
How ridiculous would he look if he let the Third Emperor slip?
“Even in the worst case—”
If a zombie horde appeared.
If the Third Emperor showed up.
“The Demon King will handle him. If that happens, I can purify
all the infected even in the middle of the night.”
The purification ritual didn’t strain his body.
It actually made him feel better.
“I’ll purify all night if I have to.”
It’d be tiring to stay up, but his body might feel great.
The Gluttonous Priestess’s indigestion would likely clear up
significantly.
For his own sake—
“No demon will die.”
How could he let demons who’d help his digestion die?
“So just do as I say.”
With that, Cale left the headquarters without hesitation.
The official, staring blankly at the open door, turned.
Ed’s face was blank too.
The official, watching, soon left the headquarters, his steps
forceful.
He looked out the corridor window.
Two hours before sunset, the blue sky.
It reminded him of the sky after Telia’s purification ritual.
And in the corridor, Cale Henituse moved in his wheelchair.
‘Right. I’ll do my best too.’
A non-demon, with that frail body, was willing to purify all
night.
“…It’ll be okay…!”
Yes, it would!
As he steeled his resolve—
Creak.
Cale’s wheelchair stopped.
The official saw a knight rushing from the end of the corridor.
‘Huh?’
Something felt ominous.
Hope turned to unease.
Bang.
The headquarters’ door flew open.
Ed shouted, face urgent:
“Mika City, an infected in the barracks! The infection’s
progressing rapidly from early to critical! At this rate, it might
explode soon!”
Damn it.
Cale had to hurry to Mika’s barracks.
‘Of course it wouldn’t be easy!’
His face crumpled.
“Right, let’s purify everything!”
From now on, he’d purify everything in sight.
A festival atmosphere? With enough people, they could make it
work somehow.
If they survived, they’d probably celebrate anyway!
—I'm thirsty.
In his urgency, Cale didn’t hear the Gluttonous Priestess.
The wanderer siblings, Cho and Ren.
Having lived long, they were quite cunning. Ren, especially, was
sharp.
Her eyes, though she tried to hide it, noticed the increasing
number of soldiers.
So, after leaving the ruin and heading to Mika, she grabbed one
soldier.
He was tasked with guarding the ruin.
Cho held the soldier’s foot, shoe removed, revealing gray.
“…Contamination of Chaos?”
A glint sparked in Ren’s eyes.
This soldier, dispatched from the lord’s castle to guard the ruin,
hadn’t known he was infected.
He hadn’t noticed the infected’s blood seeping into a small cut
on his hand while moving an unconscious infected.
“…This is odd.”
Ren’s gaze shifted from the lord’s castle to the ruin. She moved
in the direction the soldier was heading.
“He said he was going to the barracks, right?”
“Yeah, something about a full investigation.”
The siblings headed for Mika’s barracks.
At that moment—
“Huhu, you won’t regret coming to the clinic.”
“Thank you, Priest.”
“Huhu.”
Clopeh Sekka. He smiled as he brought a suspected infected to
the Graywood Clan’s village clinic near the ruin.
Whirr—
A message arrived.
‘Anyone free, head to Mika’s barracks!’
At Cale’s message via Raon, Clopeh naturally set his next
destination as Mika’s barracks.
And heading there were the wanderer siblings, Cho and Ren.
“C-Can I be saved?”
At the demon’s question, Clopeh, despite his busyness,
answered with a holy expression and gentle tone:
“Yes, my lord will purify everything. Trust in him.”
Smile.
Clopeh’s face was full of joy.
‘Another legend is being forged.’
Another legend for Cale-nim.
He’d do anything for it.
Under his wide priest’s robe, Clopeh gazed proudly at the scars
slowly healing on his body, smiling.
“What’s this?”
Heading to Mika’s barracks, Cale felt an odd chill at the back of
his neck.
No, he felt uneasy.
As of 7/20/25, we've officially caught up with the latest Korean
update—thanks to the generosity of u/whyjam on
r/TrashOfCountsFamily subreddit! Thank you so much!
As always, if anyone’s willing to purchase the Korean raw and
share it when a new chapter drops, we’d truly appreciate your
help.
Feel free to DM me on Reddit. I’ll leave the Kakao and Reddit
links here!
Chapter 2-475: The Gray Rain Falls (7)
The infected with the Gray Plague.
Who currently knows the most about them?
“Argh—!”
“Don’t push!”
Likely those who’ve gathered the most information on the
infected.
The demons in the Emergency Response Headquarters.
Then who would be the most terrified?
“Crazy, what’s happening!?”
“It’s going to explode soon!”
Those who’ve had the most contact with the infected,
witnessing their changes up close.
Mika City’s barracks.
There, terrified soldiers were in disarray.
“Damn it!”
General Mor let out a coarse curse despite himself.
Due to the prophecy looming over Mika and Midi, he’d left
Cale’s side to command the soldiers.
“Calm down!”
He shouted, but the chaos didn’t subside.
It couldn’t.
“Ugh, ugh—!”
Moments ago, they’d planned to check for infections before
dinner.
But a cook distributing food suddenly clutched his head,
writhing.
“!”
Wearing boots and an apron, covering his body, his hand
turned gray in an instant.
The atmosphere among the domain’s soldiers shifted rapidly as
panic set in.
“Move!”
A knight from the Demon King’s castle, overseeing the area,
rushed to the cook and yanked off his shoe.
It was gray.
And rotting at an alarming rate.
The knight overheard another cook, terrified, shouting:
“Ugh, It wasn’t like this just before!”
That cook, in charge of managing the kitchen staff, swore he’d
checked thoroughly.
Everyone nearby grasped the implication.
“Everyone, fall back!”
The knight shouted, moving to lead the soldier away.
“Urk!”
But the cook began convulsing.
“!”
The knight’s eyes widened.
The gray had spread past the cook’s collarbone to his lower
jaw.
The Contamination of Chaos was taking hold.
‘It’s fast!’
Faster than any case he’d heard or seen.
“Urk!”
The cook’s convulsions worsened.
A stench oozed from the rotting gray skin.
“!”
The knight retreated hastily.
His current attire couldn’t protect him from the infection.
“Raaargh—!”
At that moment, the barracks descended into terror.
The infection’s rapid spread was evident to all.
“It’s going to explode!”
Someone’s shout became the catalyst.
The Demon King’s dispatched soldiers and knights remained
somewhat calm, but Mika’s local soldiers succumbed to fear
and chaos.
“No—!”
How did the infected act?
By day, they slept like corpses, their bodies rotting.
At night, they turned monstrous, losing reason, roaring, and
attacking the uninfected.
They’d seen it.
They’d heard purification was possible, but Mika’s soldiers
didn’t trust the Demon King’s forces enough to believe it.
“Argh—!”
“Move, get out of the way!”
Soldiers, abandoning their trays, tried to flee.
Amid the chaos—
Boom!
The ground shook.
Some fleeing soldiers tripped or froze in shock.
They looked toward the source.
“Calm down.”
General Mor was there.
Leader of the Demon King’s Eighth Army, known as the
“Backstabbing Hands.”
His piercing gaze made the soldiers swallow and halt.
But—
“Raaargh—!”
The cook’s body was now gray up to his mouth and nose.
“Everyone, follow orders and retreat!”
Mor shouted to the soldiers.
At his gesture, the knights split—some directing the soldiers’
retreat, others surrounding the cook.
They covered their faces except their eyes with cloth and wore
gloves.
“Subdue him!”
Mor ordered, frowning.
‘Damn it!’
No way.
The chaos had spread gray to the cook’s eyes.
This happened in mere minutes!
‘It’s horrific!’
The Gray Plague was truly horrific.
It didn’t follow the same pattern for everyone, affecting each
differently.
It was hard to counter.
A series of variables.
“Raaargh!”
The cook writhed in agony.
Unlike typical infected who fainted quietly, he resembled the
first infected.
“Cale Henituse!”
Mor couldn’t help but mention his name.
An aide blurted urgently:
“We’ve sent an emergency message to Midi’s lord’s castle!”
Damn it!
‘Midi City, of all places!’
It’d take time for him to get here!
“General!”
A knight restraining the cook spoke grimly.
Mor looked at him, and the knight shook his head.
“If we mishandle this, who knows what’ll happen!”
One eye was gray, the skin rotting rapidly.
If his body exploded during restraint, the situation could
become catastrophic.
“Follow orders and retreat!”
“To the east!”
“You, to the 9 o’clock position! Line up!”
“Grab the fallen and go!”
Orders rang out as soldiers fled.
But there were too many.
Too many soldiers in the barracks.
Mealtime and the full inspection had gathered too many.
Worse, unaware soldiers kept pouring in, adding to the chaos.
“What’s going on?”
“Damn it! An infected? Move!”
This was Mika City.
Not even the Demon King’s soldiers, but a hostile place.
The soldiers were even less obedient.
“Damn it!”
Mor finally moved.
Thud!
He stepped between the cook and the knights.
“Fall back!”
Looking at the cook, he shouted:
“I’ll take him!”
No combat mages were here.
If they were, they could’ve shielded something.
They were all out searching for the citizens.
‘This is the only way.’
Mor decided to move the cook.
“General, rather than handling the cook—”
A knight protested, but Mor raised his voice:
“Don’t talk nonsense!”
Mor, skilled in betrayal, was adept at reading situations.
‘Kill the cook here?’
What would the fleeing Mika soldiers think?
They were terrified, yet if he killed the cook without trying to
save him—
They’d say the Demon King’s castle didn’t care—and killed him
without even trying to save him.
After all, the castle had killed their surrendered soldiers before.
‘This is karma.’
Mor had to act differently.
“I’ll take him to Midi City. We’ll fix him there!”
He shouted loudly amid the chaos.
So the fleeing could hear.
So everyone could hear.
But his true thoughts differed.
‘I’ll try, but if it doesn’t work—’
He’d do as he said.
But if it failed—
‘No choice.’
He’d let the cook explode somewhere empty.
‘There’s no time.’
Whoooosh—
Power surged through Mor’s body.
He reached for the cook.
To grab the convulsing cook and leave.
To at least get to a place without demons.
“Raaargh—!”
To the writhing cook, his gray eyes consumed by chaos, the
remaining eye burning.
Seeing the fear and pain in his eyes, Mor bit his lip.
Whoooosh—
The divine artifact in his pocket reacted, but he ignored it.
He reached out.
Just before grabbing the cook’s collar—
Flash!
Mor froze.
His gaze turned toward the sound.
A black light burst from a magic circle.
A teleportation circle.
—Human, we're not late!
Hearing Raon’s invisible voice, Mor saw a wheelchair on the
circle.
Cale Henituse.
Hope sparked in Mor and his knights’ faces.
“Nice.”
Cale spoke indifferently, meeting Mor’s gaze.
He surveyed the surroundings.
The space was filled with chaos, fear, and panic, but there was
only one infected.
And—
“The current state is good.”
He repeated to Mor and the knights.
“Keep it that way.”
Seeing Cale amid the chaos, Mor, the knights, and the Demon
King’s soldiers from Telia showed hope and joy.
‘This is enough for a festival.’
There’s food, right?
Plenty of food around.
Trays were scattered in the chaos.
“We can have an early dinner happily.”
Well, of course—
“Raaargh—!”
He’d never tried purifying someone in a fit like this.
But with only one—
‘Trying it now, before night, isn’t bad.’
This situation was perfect for purification.
Whoosh—
A breeze rose.
Like the sound of waves.
“Ah.”
A knight gasped.
He closed his eyes.
It came rushing.
A nostalgic scent.
The scent from Telia City.
A breeze evoking joyful, happy moments.
No, a wave of gray mist?
Warm, clear, and filled with yearning, the gray mist spread from
Cale.
“Urk—”
The convulsing infected paused.
The moment the gray mist touched him—
As chaos, fear, and pain consumed his eyes, he looked at Cale.
A red-haired man in a wheelchair, pale.
The gray impurity flowing from him was different.
“..…!”
“!”
Fleeing soldiers, those running with their backs to the cook,
stopped at the breeze, the sound of waves, the gray mist.
They felt the same as Mor and the knights.
Unlike the Gray Plague.
In this gentle gray, they recalled precious, joyful memories, not
fear.
The extreme fear didn’t vanish, but a fragment of memory,
when joyful, brought warmth to their fingertips.
“Ah.”
Someone’s legs gave out, collapsing.
He saw the gray light rising from himself.
Tiny gray particles.
The particles rising from each soldier shared the same light and
size.
It was no different for Mor or the knights.
The lights rode the gray mist toward Cale.
Creak, creak.
Cale, rolling his wheelchair toward the cook, directed the mist
to him.
“—!”
The convulsions stopped.
Still unable to fully comprehend, his eyes, losing reason yet
holding human emotion, desperately looked at Cale.
Cale grabbed his hand.
Cale and the cook.
Around them, the gray mist—no, the gray Milky Way—settled.
“What was created shall soon vanish—”
Cale’s voice continued.
Only his voice filled the space.
When all the words were spoken—
“—It shall return to its true form.”
The gray Milky Way seeped into Cale and the cook.
“Ah—”
With a short gasp, the cook closed his eyes, losing
consciousness.
His body slowly floated upward.
As always—
Drip, drip.
Clear gray droplets fell to the ground, vanishing.
The catalyst for horrific chaos and fear disappeared.
The cook, with a peaceful face, slept.
“…...”
“…...”
No one spoke.
Even the Demon King’s soldiers who’d seen this in Telia.
And Mika’s local soldiers witnessed it for the first time.
None dared open their mouths.
Thud.
Mor caught the cook’s falling body, staring in awe.
He turned to Cale.
“!”
And flinched.
Cale’s brow was furrowed.
He didn’t look pleased.
‘As expected—’
Did purifying a convulsing infected have side effects?
Mor’s face stiffened.
And Cale—
—That light looks refreshing.
He heard the Gluttonous Priestess’s whining.
—My stomach’s stuffy. I want to eat something refreshing.
What’s with her?
Cale felt uneasy, noticing she was unusually talkative today.
However, as he saw that another part of his arm had turned a
bit more gray, he lifted his head and looked at Mor.
“!”
Mor flinched.
‘What’s with him?’
Why was he acting like this? But it wasn’t Cale's concern.
Cale wanted to stay calm for the final purification stage.
“Dinner might be tough.”
His voice was directed at Mor, but everyone heard.
“But we can still have a joyful dinner, right?”
It could be a small festival.
With joy in their hearts, they’d feel its lingering warmth.
“Gotta eat comfortably.”
Yes, exactly.
Eat comfortably.
As Cale nodded in satisfaction—
“…...”
“…...”
The wanderers, Cho and Ren.
Having sneaked into Mika’s barracks, they froze.
The gray mist had reached them.
And the memories and gray light it brought.
They couldn’t think.
A precious memory from before they became wanderers
resurfaced.
“…...”
Cho’s hand trembled.
Ren held her brother’s hand.
Her hand trembled too.
Living as wanderers, they’d never been happy.
Just surviving.
But now, memories of joy and happiness resurfaced.
“…...”
“…...”
Unable to speak.
At that moment.
“Hm.”
Cale smiled.
The same laugh—
“Ho.”
“!”
“!!”
Came from above Cho and Ren.
A young, bright, bold voice.
“Found you.”
Cho and Ren looked up.
The two wanderers saw deep blue eyes.
The young black dragon, still invisible except for his eyes, stared
at them.
“Ehehe.”
And laughed.
“Not missing you this time.”
The black dragon spoke boldly.
“Thanks.”
The siblings, caught off guard, let their defenses down.
A figure appeared before them.
Srrrng.
Choi Han drew his sword, looking down at them.
“Huhu.”
“It's been a while.”
Clopeh on the left, Eruhaben the ancient dragon on the right,
approached.
The siblings had taken the bait perfectly.
The Third Emperor Dragon King’s connection was finally found.
—Human, we got them!
At Raon’s report, Cale smiled faintly, looking at the sky.
His face soon hardened.
The hot sun was sinking.
Dusk was coming.
The sunset wasn’t far.
As Cale’s face stiffened—
“…...”
“…...”
Cho and Ren’s faces hardened too.
Choi Han approached them.
Whoooosh—
His sword carried a black aura.
The siblings, with their unique powers, were stronger than Choi
Han.
He couldn’t let his guard down.
He had to take them down swiftly.
As Choi Han prepared to strike—
“P-Please—”
Cho, Ren’s brother, scrambled forward on his knees toward
Choi Han.
He shook off his sister’s hand.
And grabbed Choi Han’s pant leg.
“Please show it again!”
His dazed face held a new, deep emotion.
“!”
Choi Han paused.
“Please show it to us again! That thing just now!”
Cho wailed.
Ren said nothing. She knew what scene her brother had seen.
“Please, show us our mom’s face! Show us! No, please let us
hear her!”
Cho clung to Choi Han, pleading desperately.
“…...”
Choi Han hesitated.
“Huhu, as expected.”
Clopeh, with a meaningful smile, chuckled softly.
Chapter 2-476: The Gray Rain Falls (8)
Cale was satisfied with capturing the wanderer siblings, Cho
and Ren.
“What’s with him?”
But he was bewildered.
Cho, the younger sibling, approached Cale and abruptly
collapsed onto the ground.
“Hey!”
Then grabbed Cale’s pant leg.
“Please show me that thing again!”
He started throwing a tantrum.
Cale was dumbfounded.
“Hey, aren’t you going to let go?”
He tried to shake Cho off his pant leg.
“Ugh, seriously!”
Cho was strong, and Cale was weak.
“…...”
Ren, with a complicated expression, simply watched the scene.
But her face suggested she was too dazed to respond properly
even if spoken to.
“Why’s this kid acting like this?”
Finally, Cale turned to Eruhaben.
“Hoo.”
The ancient dragon sighed, shaking his head.
“They came willingly when I said I’d bring them to you.”
Cho and Ren, the wanderers, each possessed Transparent level
unique powers, and together, their power rivaled the Five-
Colored level.
Even without knowing all the details, Cale knew the siblings
were very strong.
Honestly, Choi Han, who hadn’t fully awakened his unique
power, Eruhaben, unable to use magic, young Raon, and the
current Clopeh couldn’t defeat them.
‘But we planned to hold them off until the Demon King’s
castle’s forces could join to capture them.’
Before sunset, stopping these siblings would eliminate a major
variable.
The sun was about to set.
“Hmm.”
Eruhaben spoke with a troubled look.
“They seem to really want to see their mother.”
Huh? mother?
Cale, puzzled, looked down.
Cho, clinging to his pant leg, throwing a tantrum—an
unpleasant sight, given his large frame.
—Hmm. Human, hmm. Never mind!
Cale thought it odd that Raon wasn’t urging him to destroy
anything.
“Did you see your mother earlier?”
At Cale’s question, Cho froze, looking up at him.
Now sprawled on the ground, he was throwing a full-blown fit.
“…Show it.”
He spoke with a serious face.
His voice carried desperate, fervent hope.
Cale, staring quietly, responded to that hope.
“How about no?”
“…...”
“You’re wanderers, aren’t you?”
Cho couldn’t respond.
It was true he was a wanderer.
“If I show it again, will you betray the Five-Colored Bloods?
That’s not happening either.”
Cale’s words touched on something not easily decided. To be
blunt, betraying their household for a fleeting illusion was
absurd.
“…...”
Cho said nothing.
But his grip on Cale’s pant leg tightened, trembling.
“…...”
Ren quietly watched her brother’s hands.
Her brother likely heard the same voice and saw the same
scene as her.
Before their wretched life began, a fleeting moment of
happiness.
“Cale Henituse.”
She knew that no matter how childish or tantrum-prone her
brother was, he’d follow her words.
He couldn’t defy her.
That’s why the household’s higher-ups gave her orders.
Knowing this, Ren spoke.
“For this matter, I’ll follow your will. So, show it one more
time.”
“!”
Cho, shocked, looked at his sister.
Cale, with a calm expression, looked at her and said:
“What’s my will?”
“…Your will is to purify the Contamination of Chaos left by the
Church of the God of Chaos, without any interference.”
Ren’s gaze slowly shifted from Cho to Cale.
“I won’t contact the Third Emperor, and I won’t tell anyone you
wield the power of the God of Chaos”
As children, they lost everything.
They lived fleeing until adulthood, then died.
And became wanderers.
Even in the Divine Realm, they had only each other.
To survive, they had to grow strong.
That made life easier, more comfortable.
But they remained wretched, never finding happiness.
They’d lost the way to happiness too young.
Ren stepped forward, extending both hands.
“If you don’t trust me, bind me.”
Her gaze turned to her brother.
The Five-Colored Bloods misunderstood one thing.
They thought Cho listened to her?
In truth, she was the one who would do anything for her
younger brother.
Truly—anything.
Her life, her existence—she’d give it all.
In the gray mist, Ren saw her mother, father, and her brother’s
happy, innocent smile and voice.
If I could reclaim that….
You can kill me.
So,
“Please show it one more time.”
To Cho.
To her brother.
To the brother who died before her, holding her tightly.
Let that child feel happiness again.
For Cho and Ren, the fleeting joy they saw in Cale’s purification
was the only memory that had ever shaken their lives.
“…...”
Cale looked at them quietly, then spoke.
“Choi Han, bind them.”
He pointed to the wanderers.
“Tie them so they can’t move a muscle. And Clopeh, you watch
them.”
“Yes, Cale-nim.”
Choi Han moved, and Clopeh gave a faint smile.
“Cale-nim, my strength can’t defeat them.”
Cale, turning his wheelchair, spoke indifferently.
“Until tomorrow morning—no, for as long as I’m in the Demon
Realm, I’ll keep purifying. If you want to see it, you’ll have to
follow me.”
Cho and Ren watched Cale’s back.
“Just make sure they don’t contact anyone else. If they escape,
report to me immediately.”
Cale added:
“Oh, and right now, I’m the only one who can perform the
Church of the God of Chaos’s purification ritual. Leave me, and
you probably won't be able to see it?”
“…...!”
Cho’s pupils shook, and Ren, seeing this, sighed.
“Bind us quickly. Power restraints, anything.”
She willingly accepted shackles.
Of course—
‘Once this is over, we’ll escape.’
She could easily break free if she chose.
Watching Cale approach General Mor, Ren locked eyes with
Clopeh as he bound her while Choi Han tied Cho.
“!”
She froze.
His eyes were strange.
“Can you swear to the God of Death that you meant what you
said to Cale-nim?”
There was a reason Cale entrusted them to Clopeh.
He was thorough, unmoved by sentiment or sob stories.
Rather, he’d exploit them.
“By the way.”
Clopeh asked in a gentle tone.
“What’s good about being on the First Emperor's side?”
“…...?”
“It doesn’t seem like he can even create happy memories for
you guys.”
“……!”
A master of betrayal and scheming, Clopeh began speaking
casually. The atmosphere differed from when, as a guardian
knight, he was imprisoned and Mary spoke of Cale’s greatness.
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Despite Ren’s stern expression, Clopeh smiled.
A clever, sharp woman. She wouldn’t fall for his obvious ploys.
‘But if I just keep talking.’
And—
‘You'll understand soon enough when you see it.’
Cale-nim’s greatness.
The meaning of the legend he was forging.
Those by Cale-nim’s side faced hardship and injury, anxiety and
unhappiness, but they never considered themselves wretched.
Unlike the siblings before him.
“Huhu.”
Clopeh felt this more clearly than anyone.
“…...”
“…...”
As Cho and Ren looked at Clopeh uneasily, Eruhaben asked:
“Did the Third Emperor plant another spy here?”
Ren shook her head.
“As far as I know, it’s just us. And the Third Emperor wants to
know what’s happening with the Demon King.”
She spoke honestly, handing over her messenger bird.
If she was cooperating, it was better to do it properly.
This group had plenty of cunning, clever people.
“Hmm.”
Eruhaben accepted her words as truth.
But—
‘Just in case, we’ll keep searching.’
He and Choi Han decided to continue.
Because Cale hadn’t told them to stop.
Cale wasn’t fully at ease yet.
***
“Hoo.”
A smile formed on the Third Emperor’s lips.
He slightly lifted his wide, sage-like sleeve.
Ten droplet-shaped marks.
One vibrated faintly.
“Hmm.”
He closed his eyes.
As if savoring a meal.
“Ah.”
A gasp escaped.
Mika City.
The seawater he left beneath the ground as he departed.
The seawater, absorbing liquids seeping into the earth.
It met a certain liquid.
Similar to ordinary energy but subtly different.
It had a unique form.
The droplet was gray.
“Ha, haha—”
Laughter spilled from the Third Emperor.
He was often said to be sharper than he looked.
The Contamination of Chaos found at the ruin.
A calamity called one of the Three Calamities.
The Demon King’s subtle attitude, and the Third Emperor’s
banishment.
And now, the gray droplet.
He knew its significance.
Having lived long and been close to the Church of the God of
Chaos, he already knew their powers very well.
From the liquid absorbed by his seawater, he inferred several
things.
“The Demon King has embraced the Church of the God of
Chaos.”
“What?”
Purifying the Contamination of Chaos meant the Church’s pope
was active.
The saint was dead.
In that situation, the missing pope being in the Demon King’s
hands meant—
It wasn’t a cooperative relationship.
‘The Church tried to stab the Demon Realm in the back.’
Yet the pope purified?
The implication was simple.
“The Demon King swallowed the Church.”
How, he didn’t know.
But the Demon King had leashed them, placing them at his feet.
That’s why the Church was performing purifications again.
“And he hid it from me, from our household.”
After agreeing not to betray each other.
“This is interesting.”
He thought the Demon Realm and Demon King had quietly
stepped back from ambition.
“Scheming to expand their influence behind the scenes?”
Hmm.
The Third Emperor fell into thought.
What to do about this?
“…The clever siblings won’t cut it.”
Cho and Ren, the wanderers.
Foolish kids who thought they had only each other.
Easy to manipulate, but—
They were unlikely to accomplish much.
Tap, tap.
He casually tapped the droplet on his arm, the same spot as
before, and lowered his sleeve.
“Let’s go.”
He turned back toward Mika City.
“Third Emperor, you’re returning?”
“Yes.”
Answering his subordinate, he moved quickly toward Mika.
Far off, someone leaning against a tree straightened.
Swish, swish.
The Demon King brushed a leaf off his shoulder and looked at
the sky.
Dusk was slowly rising from the horizon.
The sky would soon turn red.
Tap.
Lightly stamping his foot, he vanished into the tree’s shadow
with a faint sound.
But his direction was the same as the Third Emperor’s.
“!”
The Third Emperor stopped.
“…”
His subordinates halted in surprise, about to speak but silenced
by his expression.
A tense silence fell.
“Come out.”
The Third Emperor spoke.
“!
“!!”
His subordinates saw a tree’s shadow move strangely by the
path.
Moving opposite the sun’s direction.
The shadow stretched, grew massive—
Rustle—
Someone emerged.
The Demon King.
“!”
Too shocked, the subordinates couldn’t speak.
“Ha!”
The Third Emperor let out a stunned laugh.
“You followed me.”
He was angry at himself for not noticing.
And he keenly felt the Demon King’s strength.
“Are you blocking my path?”
The Demon King stood silently in his way.
The Third Emperor’s face twisted.
Rustle—
Leaves fluttered, but no one moved or spoke.
A suffocating tension rose.
Yet the Demon King stood with a bored expression.
Unlike the Third Emperor’s contorted face, his eyes held a
subtle glint.
Tap, tap.
The Third Emperor tapped his sleeve.
The same spot as the droplet.
Known for his cleverness, he had a plan.
Beneath Mika City’s barracks, the seawater droplet deep in the
ground began to move at its master’s command.
It transformed into a tiny thread-like snake.
Slither—
The snake headed in one direction.
The Demon God’s ruin.
Near the Graywood Clan.
Toward the clan’s village clinic.
Caught by the Demon King, the Third Emperor had no intention
of yielding.
With subtle power, he knew how to sow chaos among enemies
and exploit it.
***
“I’ll start the purification at Graywood Village immediately.”
As the chaos in Mika’s barracks settled, Cale arrived at
Graywood Village and outlined his plan.
“I’ll keep purifying without rest.”
Mika, Midi, the ruin—wherever.
He’d purify everything before trouble erupted.
“It’s not particularly taxing.”
Cale said, still in his wheelchair.
Instead of Ron, Clopeh handed him a teacup.
Soon, the second purification would unfold here.
With sunset, the last ritual before night.
Cale sipped the lemon tea.
“!”
And paused.
—Not this water!
The Gluttonous Priestess whined.
But it wasn’t mere whining—something felt off.
—I’m so stuffy, I want something refreshing!
Her voice carried desperation.
—It’s just like when I ate too much dirt and got thirsty!
Huh?
Cale’s heart sank.
‘She died eating dirt, didn’t she?’
She died eating dirt tainted with dead mana.
It felt the same as when she was thirsty then?
Didn’t that mean it was like just before she died?
—Something refreshing!
—It’ll help me digest properly and grow!
—I feel like leaves will sprout!
Cale couldn’t fully understand the Priestess’s words.
But—
—Chaos—!
She spoke about her desire more clearly than before.
—Refreshing water with power like chaos! And clean! Not dead
mana or chaos, but the power of nature!
Ah.
As Cale pieced something together—
Super Rock spoke quietly.
—Cale, it sounds like the Glutton needs a power equal to the
chaos she’s holding to fully digest it. Like the power of nature.
Hmm. That's energy as well, right?
Cale suddenly thought of someone.
“…Uh, hmm. Where’s the Third Emperor right now?”
His unique power is the sea, isn’t it? Salty, but isn’t it a pure
power of nature rivaling a god’s?
“What?”
As everyone looked puzzled at Cale’s sudden question—
Knock, knock, knock.
A Graywood Clan warrior entered.
With the priestess unconscious, he was her proxy.
“Preparations are complete.”
Creak.
Clopeh pushed the wheelchair as Cale made his way to the
Graywood Clan’s clinic.
Chapter 2-477: The Gray Rain Falls (9)
The sun was setting.
At the Demon God’s ruin, the faces of the Graywood Clan
demons guarding it were tense.
Night would soon arrive.
And with it, the prophecy would begin.
The priestess’s prophecy was always shared with the entire
clan, a strict rule to ensure someone survived to pass it to
future generations in case of calamity.
Rustle—
Leaves fluttered in the wind.
Rustle—
The many trees surrounding the Graywood Clan village.
The four wooden towers guarding the Demon God’s ruin and
their surrounding trees.
Leaves everywhere shook violently.
“…”
The warrior chief, standing in for the unconscious priestess,
looked up at the sky.
“Warrior Chief, it looks like rain.”
The sunset sky was red but clear.
Yet the fierce wind signaled that ominous rain clouds were
approaching.
“…We’re nearing the prophecy.”
At his subordinate’s words, the warrior chief closed his eyes,
then opened them and stood.
“He’s coming.”
The one the priestess called the savior.
Cale Henituse.
He arrived at the wide clearing before the clinic.
“Open the doors on my signal.”
Leaving those words with his subordinate, the warrior chief
hurried to Cale.
“Cale-nim, everyone has been waiting.”
At Clopeh’s words, as he pushed the wheelchair, Cale didn’t
respond but spoke to the approaching warrior chief.
“Let’s start immediately.”
The time of the red sunset was fleeting compared to the
approaching night.
They had to complete the second purification here before then.
“Looks like preparations are done.”
Cale’s gaze swept over the Graywood Clan demons.
The clearing was filled with people ready for their own festival.
Though their faces held worry and fear, not the excitement or
joy of a celebration.
“Yes, we’ll open immediately.”
The warrior chief surveyed the surroundings like Cale, then
moved away with a resolute expression.
Cale signaled General Mor.
“……”
Mor signaled the surroundings.
“……”
“……”
Some of the local forces and the Demon King’s forces that had
accompanied Cale withdrew from the clinic and the Graywood
Clan’s territory.
“Hmm.”
“……!”
The clan demons showed slight unease.
Each adult was a skilled archer and warrior, but facing soldiers
brought pressure.
Especially since they’d hastily prepared food and trinkets for a
post-purification festival as instructed, the soldiers’ presence
made them anxious.
“Brother.”
One clan demon spotted a familiar soldier who frequented the
area.
“You—”
“Brother, it’ll be fine.”
Unlike his armed appearance, the soldier’s face held a smile of
joy and calm.
No fear.
“He’ll heal everyone.”
The gazes of nearby clan demons turned to him, and the soldier
looked only at Cale, saying:
“And happiness will come too.”
They wanted to ask what he meant, but there was no time.
The warrior chief’s gesture.
Graywood Clan warriors moved.
Clank!
The clinic’s locked door.
For days, only authorized entry was allowed, and it had been
reinforced, sealed tight.
Now it swung wide open.
“!”
Though forewarned, the clan demons swallowed hard.
But the warriors moved without hesitation.
No, they hurried.
Before nightfall.
All the clinic’s windows.
Boarded with wood and iron.
Clank.
Thud!
Crash.
Everything blocking the first and second-floor windows along
the outer walls was broken, removed, or opened.
The process was swift, as if pre-planned, and the warrior chief
addressed the clan demons:
“Move to your assigned positions.”
Following instructions, the demons filled the clearing and
surrounded the clinic.
The clan alone wouldn’t have sufficed, but with the Demon
King’s and local forces, the area quickly teemed with people.
Amid the brief chaos—
“Hmm?”
A demon opening the clinic’s rear back door paused.
“What?”
He saw something brush past his feet, entering the clinic. He
couldn’t believe his eyes.
Partly due to the frenzy, but—
A snake?
A transparent, tiny thread-like snake had slipped past him into
the clinic.
“?”
He looked at the clinic corridor.
No trace of the snake.
“Hmm.”
“What’s wrong?”
“No, nothing!”
The warrior thought he’d imagined it.
Such a small, transparent snake was hard to discern.
Soon, the rear door area filled with demons.
The warrior stepped back.
Drip, drip.
He didn’t see droplets forming and falling from the corridor
ceiling.
Nor did he know they were salty.
“Check inside.”
At Cale’s order, Choi Han entered the clinic.
But the droplet had already seeped into a ceiling crevice.
Whoosh—
The sound of wind entered the fully opened clinic.
Perhaps because of it—
Slither—
The transparent thread-like snake moved to the second floor,
toward a sleeping patient.
A demon infected up to his nose.
Ooze dripped from his body.
Slither—
The snake touched the ooze.
Like when it absorbed Cale’s gray droplet, the snake’s body
gradually turned the ooze’s gray.
It grew slightly larger.
Then quietly moved, leaving the spot.
But it couldn’t fully escape.
—Human, let’s go!
Whoosh—
Wind enveloped Cale’s body.
Leaning on his cane, Cale’s body floated into the air.
—Is this spot alright?
“Yeah.”
Cale slowly descended onto the clinic’s roof.
The snake froze.
The master of the gray water.
It sensed him above.
The snake, without reason, didn’t know who he was. But
instinctively, it knew to avoid the gray water’s master, as its
own master commanded.
“……”
From his high perch, Cale looked down.
Everyone looked up at him.
And beneath his feet, the clinic.
All its doors were open.
The demons saw inside.
“……”
“……”
No one spoke easily.
The Demon King’s and local forces sealed their lips at the
horrific sight of sleeping infected.
Clan demons, with family, friends, and acquaintances inside,
couldn’t approach despite seeing them, silently swallowing
their anguish.
Their fear lessened slightly.
Because they realized their loved ones were there, and
someone had come to save them.
At night, they’d become monsters.
Their family, siblings, friends would attack them.
Knowing this, they’d avoided the clinic for days.
Some wanted to see their faces, even once.
But even that was hard.
Today, they saw them.
They faced them without turning away.
“……”
“……”
Strange emotions settled over the clearing and clinic.
Fear and dread.
Relief and longing.
Regret and sorrow.
Hope and anticipation.
A mix of emotions.
Whoosh—
They heard the wind, the waves.
They looked up.
The sky was redder than ever.
Beneath it, a red-haired man, even redder than the sky, stood.
Though ominous, the wind and waves from him inexplicably
calmed their hearts.
“Ah.”
Gray flowed from him.
A warm hue.
The mist soon covered their vision, replacing the blood-red sky.
“Ugh.”
“!”
They saw and heard something nostalgic with their ears and
eyes.
Precious memories of joy and happiness.
Fragments of those memories rose from everyone.
“Ah.”
“Ah—”
Small gasps burst forth.
Someone saw their child in the clinic, held in their arms.
Another saw the peaceful village, free from attacks.
A scent arose.
Everything felt in those joyful moments enveloped them.
The tension gripping their bodies faded.
The warm gray wrapped them like a blanket.
A wistful emotion settled on their faces.
Slither—
The gray thread-like snake slipped into the ground, avoiding the
gray mist.
As everyone looked up at the red-haired man enveloped in gray
mist, the snake vanished to fulfill its command.
Perhaps someone could have noticed the stealthy snake.
Because someone had seen it before.
“Ah, ah—Mom—”
“Hmm.”
But those who saw it stood bound hand and foot.
The wanderers, Cho and Ren.
Cho, staring into the air, felt childhood memories he’d
forgotten.
Among countless hardships, a faint fragment of joy, buried
deep, now vividly resurfaced, heard, felt, and smelled.
His body trembled.
Ren, too absorbed in the mist’s visions, couldn’t check on her
brother.
Choi Han and Eruhaben, watching for the Third Emperor spies
and monitoring the clinic, were busy.
“…”
Cale, gauging the sunset and the infected inside, hurried to
purify.
‘Damn it.’
Despite the vivid sunset, he saw the sky darkening in the
distance.
Storm clouds.
Darker than night, they were coming.
‘I need to hurry.’
Whoosh—
Tiny gray particles rose.
The sunset and distant storm clouds.
The gray light rising between them made the demons’ eyes
sparkle.
They saw hope amid a despairing prophecy.
“……”
Ron, arriving late from Midi, paused.
Rustle.
On and Hong approached him.
On cautiously spoke.
“I think I saw something.”
“Hmm?”
On, Hong, and Ron’s gazes turned to Cale on the clinic roof.
Raon, likely invisible, was probably there.
“I think I saw a gray snake slip from the clinic into the ground.”
On had been closely watching Cale’s gray mist.
Cale hadn’t assigned On and Hong tasks, so On observed
everything from a tree with a clear view of the clinic.
Mist.
Gray mist holding chaos.
It wasn’t ordinary mist.
It evoked precious memories, a splendid mist.
On wanted to wield it herself, so she observed first.
She’d deliberately taken Hong outside the mist’s range to
watch.
That’s why she saw something fall from a window, avoiding the
mist.
A snake.
And—
“It was water.”
The snake turned into liquid and seeped away.
On had learned from Ron.
Never miss small details.
Always scrutinize your surroundings.
The weaker you are, the more vigilant you must be.
To help comrades, do everything you can.
On always reflected on and practiced Ron’s teachings.
“Water—”
Hearing On’s information, Ron spoke.
“Hong.”
“Yes!”
Hong looked at Ron with a determined face.
“On and I will find that water snake.”
On added:
“I saw the direction it went.”
Ron told Hong:
“As soon as the Young Master’s ritual ends, relay what you
heard.”
They couldn’t disrupt the ritual.
“Got it! Leave it to me!”
Hong answered boldly and looked at On.
On nodded, ready to move.
As the siblings exchanged a glance—
Ron locked eyes with someone.
Choi Han.
On and Ron headed toward where the water seeped.
“What’s up?”
Choi Han approached and asked.
“A water snake.”
Ron’s single phrase sufficed.
“It headed toward Midi but seeped into the ground. We don’t
know where it went.”
Water snake.
Choi Han’s face hardened, thinking of the Third Emperor.
“…I’ll go to Mika.”
Choi Han moved in the opposite direction from On and Ron.
On, running, glanced at the sky.
Storm clouds, dark gray, covered Midi’s sky, overshadowing the
sunset.
Drip, drip.
Rain fell, not yet reaching the ruin.
On hurried.
“On.”
Ron’s voice reached her.
“The more urgent the situation, the calmer you must remain.”
Another lesson.
A glint flashed in On’s eyes.
She heard wind behind her.
Whoosh—
A refreshing breeze.
Amid it, Cale’s faint voice.
“—It shall return to its true form.”
Another gray milky way seeped into Cale and the entire clinic.
Through open doors and windows, demons saw loved ones,
acquaintances, and family float, surrendering to the gray milky
way.
Drip, drip.
Drip, drip—
Gray droplets fell.
“Ah.”
Tears fell from a watching demon’s eyes.
Their child’s body was purified.
“Brother, didn’t I say not to worry?”
The local soldier grinned, his eyes clear and bright.
“You’re right, no need to worry.”
The priestess’s final prophecy seemed despairing, but the
savior she named performed a miracle before their eyes.
The demon looked around.
Demon King’s and local soldiers showed no fear of the
approaching night or storm clouds.
Happiness and joy. Holding precious memories, they hadn’t
forgotten the feeling.
They’d eaten heartily.
Their bodies and hearts brimmed with strength.
They had the resilience to endure tonight.
Above all—
“They call him the savior in the Graywood Clan, don’t they?”
“Yes.”
The one called the savior would purify all night.
What was there to fear?
Drip.
“Huh?”
“Hmm?”
The demons around the clinic felt raindrops from the storm
clouds covering the sunset.
But they smiled.
The rain didn’t feel cold.
Drip, drip.
Cale felt the raindrops too.
—Your arm’s almost fully purified. Only one of your shoulders
and upper body remain!
Super Rock quickly updated.
—I'm stuffy. Something refreshing.
As the Gluttonous Priestess craved something refreshing—
“……”
Cale felt the raindrops on his skin, now pale from gray,
unusually cold.
A chill ran through him.
No, his nape prickled.
“A gray water snake?”
“Yes!”
Hong climbed the roof, reporting to Cale as the ritual ended.
“Damn it.”
Cale’s eyes twitched.
A gray water snake.
Not just any water snake.
Gray meant—
Purification or contamination.
And Cale was sure it was the contamination.
—Cale, if that snake bursts-!
They knew infection spread through saliva, ooze, or liquid.
If the snake was the Third Emperor’s seawater—
“This is crazy!”
Cale realized what variable could trigger the priestess’s
prophecy.
“Raon! Tell Ron, On, and Choi Han!”
And the most important of all.
“Don’t touch the snake if they find it!”
He couldn’t let his comrades get infected.
And—
“General Mor! Alert both cities! Avoid any gray snake and gray
water!”
After relaying to Mor, Cale headed to Midi.
Whoosh—
The rain grew heavier.
After sunset, with night arriving, the sky, covered by storm
clouds, was simply dark.
‘Damn it!’
Why did it have to be the gray water snake and the rain!
Everything told Cale tonight wouldn’t be easy.
Chapter 2-478: The Gray Rain Falls (10)
Cale headed toward Midi City.
He could see the demons staring at him intently.
The Graywood Clan demons, the local forces, and the Demon
King’s army.
Cale paused briefly.
Whoosh—
The rain poured down.
Looking at the sky, he could feel it would intensify.
“Raon.”
—Got it!
Cale spoke.
Hum—
His voice, amplified by Raon’s magic, spread around.
“The final part of the ritual is enjoying a festival together.”
Yes, that’s what he’d said.
So, despite the awkwardness, the Graywood Clan had prepared
a festival.
Though it was raining and the weather was poor, the joy they’d
gained was enough to enjoy a festival even in the rain.
“And the ritual isn’t over yet.”
The demons’ expressions changed at Cale’s words.
“I’ll keep purifying all night.”
Cale declared.
The purification wasn’t finished.
And he would continue.
“There are many lives to save.”
Because so many demons needed saving.
The demons, grasping his meaning, showed different
expressions.
The Demon King’s army, the local forces, and the Graywood
Clan, each adult a skilled archer or warrior.
A strange atmosphere swirled among them.
It was resolute and solemn.
Cale told them:
“The festival will be held after everything is done.”
Until then—
“Let’s do this together.”
That was enough.
The demons’ momentum shifted.
Seeing them, Cale signaled General Mor.
Thud!
Mor stomped, standing at the clearing’s center.
“From now on, the army enters wartime readiness!”
Hearing this, Cale turned toward Midi.
Pat, pat.
Hong followed at his side.
On and Ron might be in danger.
Pat, pat.
Hong’s steps were faster than ever.
“Cale—”
“Eruhaben-nim, go to Mika.”
“Understood.”
Eruhaben, approaching, moved away.
He headed where Choi Han had gone.
“…...”
Cale confirmed Clopeh following.
“!”
“…...”
The wanderers Cho and Ren, trailing Clopeh, froze when their
eyes met Cale’s.
Cho looked dazed, as if in a dream.
Ren, however, spoke immediately.
“The water snake, it’s the Third Emperor’s power.”
Having overheard and pieced things together, she was frantic.
“We didn’t know! We really didn’t!”
Cale responded with a cold expression.
“You’d better think carefully before acting from now on.”
It was less advice, more a chilling warning.
Ren couldn’t respond.
Cale had already turned away.
Whoosh—
He sped through the rain, moving faster.
Ren’s mouth opened, speechless.
Then—
“Ren-nim.”
Clopeh chuckled softly.
Yes, he was laughing at such a moment.
When Ren registered this—
“Prove your worth.”
“!”
Ren’s pupils shook.
“If you prove your worth enough to cover your mistakes,
happiness won’t leave your side.”
Just as a legend unfolds before me.
Clopeh turned from Ren’s complex expression.
His smile deepened.
“Cho-nim seems to understand.”
Cho’s dazed face.
A vivid glint shone in his eyes.
Whoosh—
In the pouring rain, Clopeh, watching Cale’s retreating back,
spoke as he followed.
“You two, betraying the Hunter household isn’t hard.”
His smile vanished.
With a blank face, he told Cho and Ren:
“But betraying your heart, your happiness, your
emotions—that’s painful.”
Ren, seeing the strange fervor in Clopeh’s eyes, couldn’t speak.
Though weaker than her, he seemed ferocious.
And Cho—
“……”
He silently let his eyes shine.
“Huhu.”
Clopeh smiled again, quickening his pace.
“You’ll need to follow Cale-nim diligently today. That’s how
you’ll see the memories you want.”
Clopeh led Cho and Ren toward Cale. Even then, his senses
were sharp.
Ensuring Cho and Ren didn’t act out of line was Cale’s order,
one he couldn’t disobey.
Cale, having entrusted Cho and Ren to Clopeh, spoke to Raon.
“Video communicator.”
“Got it!”
Hearing Raon’s invisible voice, a video communicator floated
before Cale.
It connected instantly.
—Lord Cale?
The Demon King’s strategist, Ed.
“Is the Demon King reachable?”
—Hmm. Why—
Hah.
Cale sighed.
This strategist really doesn’t get it.
“Ed, I’m not the one who needs to explain reasons right now.”
Cale’s voice was cold.
And firm.
—There’s been no contact.
He only understands after being told once.
“A water snake from the Third Emperor was spotted.”
—Hmm!
“And it’s heading to the city, carrying the Contamination of
Chaos’s ooze.”
—!
Cale didn’t look at the communicator’s screen. He stared only
at Midi’s distant walls.
“Step up fully now.”
Ed’s eyes widened on the screen.
He understood Cale’s meaning.
The water snake, the Third Emperor, and the rain.
That was enough for his sharp mind to know what to do.
—Focus on finding the water snake, avoiding rain, and
identifying the infected.
“Yes, I’m counting on you.”
Ed’s lips moved briefly.
Cale, running through the rain, seemed to be in a dire situation.
—Good luck.
With that, the video cut off.
Soon—
Hum, hum—
In Midi and Mika—
A magical voice began to resonate across both cities.
Strategist Ed acted swiftly.
—The Gray Plague spreads through liquid. Tonight, citizens,
please stay indoors.
His voice reached both cities.
—Report infected or suspected cases to the lord’s castle
immediately. That’s how they can be saved.
The Third Emperor.
He’d already caught on.
Though unclear how much he knew, the water snake’s actions
suggested he was clashing with the Demon King.
Ed and Cale realized this, shifting their approach.
They brought their covert plans into the open.
Of course, Ed worried about citizen backlash and city chaos.
And whether they’d listen.
“Ed-nim!”
An official reported quickly.
“General Mor’s Demon King’s army, joined by local forces and
the Graywood Clan, is mobilizing!”
Ed’s expression changed.
“And all Graywood Clan infected have been purified!
Purifications will continue all night!”
The Demon God’s ruin.
Guarded by the Graywood Clan.
They were aiding the Demon King.
Even temporarily, their support would keep Mika and Midi’s
citizens from outright rebellion.
Because the fearless priestess, who wouldn’t even greet the
Demon King, and her clan were siding with them this time.
“Tonight!”
Ed raised his voice.
“We hold the line tonight! Stay sharp!”
He added:
“Follow Lord Cale’s orders first! Monitor and support his
condition! Understood?”
““Yes!””
At that moment, General Mor also raised his voice.
His orders differed slightly.
“The Third Emperor. An external enemy may attack both cities!
Prepare defenses thoroughly!”
Though the Demon King was likely fighting the Third Emperor—
He hadn’t forgotten the prophecy.
The prophecy foretold a water dragon appearing here.
Meaning the Third Emperor was coming.
Mor didn’t want to consider the Demon King’s defeat, but he
had to prepare.
He was a general.
So—
“Lord Cale and his comrades are protecting the city! We must
at least stop external enemies, understood?”
Blocking external threats was his duty.
Whoosh—
In the rain, everyone moved swiftly.
It was night, but they couldn’t sleep.
Whoosh—
No, sleep didn’t come.
They were more alert than ever.
Whoosh—
Cale’s body stopped.
The city wall.
“Raon.”
Whirl—
His body soared upward.
No time to enter through Midi’s gate.
He planned to enter via the wall.
Ron and On.
They were nowhere in sight.
Where had they gone during the purification ritual?
Whoosh—
Rain, storm clouds, and night obscured the city within the walls.
Everything was dark.
‘I can’t sense it.’
No trace of chaos’s aura.
If Cale could sense the Contamination of Chaos, he’d have
already found all infected and resolved this.
He couldn’t sense the aura or contamination of the Church of
the God of Chaos.
So, Cale had to think.
Ron and On.
Had they already entered the city?
Climbed the wall?
Gone through the gate?
Ron had been scouting Midi with the local forces all day.
Midi’s forces would recognize and let him in easily.
If Ron moved, there’d be signs—
“No.”
Cale, rising to see inside the wall, shook his head.
No time to linger.
He had to think and act immediately.
Ron and On.
Both were sharp, but Ron was different.
He had experience and knew more.
‘Yes.’
He knew how villains moved.
He’d chased “ARM” alone.
Yet Ron, running toward the direction Hong indicated, wasn’t
visible at the wall.
Why?
Whoosh—
Rain soaked Cale’s body.
He turned his head.
“Water.”
The Third Emperor.
That water snake carried chaos.
His thread-like snake.
Why?
‘To infect.’
To spread chaos, it was tainted with it.
There was no other reason.
Cale worried that the snake might spread chaos in the rain.
But—
“The river.”
The small river supplying Midi’s drinking and living water.
If the snake seeped into it?
‘Ron would go there.’
Ron would head where water was.
Cale’s gaze fixed somewhere.
Midi and Mika’s maps were already in his head.
“Raon.”
Cale pointed.
“Found it!”
With Raon’s words, Cale and Hong’s bodies shot toward a spot.
Where Cale pointed.
A stream on the city’s outskirts.
Too small for a river, but deep with ample water.
It supplied the residents.
There, Ron and On were visible.
“A snake!”
Ron commanded the soldiers.
He didn’t act alone.
“Find the gray snake! Shout if you spot it! And never approach
it!”
His voice, loud even in the rain, was clear.
Meow!
On raced along the riverbank.
Ron and On.
Hearing the lord’s castle’s broadcast, they knew everyone
would soon focus on finding the gray snake.
So, they began searching the most likely spot.
Whoosh—
“……”
Damn it.
Ron swallowed a coarse word. Unlike his thoughts, his
expression was calm.
Night and rain.
The intensifying rain, like a storm, and the darkness made it
hard to see.
How could they find that tiny water snake?
‘I’m too old.’
He keenly felt his age.
His rain-soaked body grew heavy.
His aging eyes, dimming, doubted they could spot a snake at
night.
‘Truly, I’m old.’
Lately, he felt it more.
His body was aging.
He had told Choi Han that they needed to grow stronger, but
could he?
As others advanced, Ron struggled to stay in place.
He couldn’t say he was old in front of Eruhaben, but a human
body aged quickly.
Pat, pat!
On ran ahead.
Ron’s face hardened, following her.
On was faster.
Faster than him.
Her eyes were vivid.
Like Ron in his youth.
On had remarkable talent.
Perhaps she’d surpass him in this field.
Whoosh—
The young master’s path would grow more perilous.
On would try to follow.
Could he keep up?
He knew Beacrox struggled to gain new strength.
‘That’s the world.’
Aging taught him the world’s cruelty.
But Ron wasn’t one to yield.
The Molan family’s fall.
Surviving as a fugitive.
Beacrox and his survival taught him what it meant to live fully.
“There!”
On’s voice rang out.
“Grandpa, there!”
Damn.
He’d let his mind wander at a critical moment.
Ron dismissed useless thoughts.
He looked at On.
Her front paw pointed far ahead.
“I see something whitish! It looks like a snake!”
A bridge crossing the stream.
On shouted toward it.
Ron looked to where she pointed.
He had keen eyesight.
But no aura or mana.
“…...”
On’s direction.
He saw nothing.
Maybe something whitish.
But—
‘I can’t see it.’
Ron bit his lip.
His expression quickly calmed, his voice steady.
“We’ll approach.”
“Yes!”
On’s paws gained strength, her eyes brimming with life.
Finally, she was doing something!
Tension and anticipation filled the girl’s eyes.
She raced toward the whitish figure.
Ron followed.
“We’ll take the shortest route!”
They were at the stream’s upper reaches.
Rocks lined the bank.
Rocks rose from the stream.
Jumping across them would reach the bridge quickly.
On felt tension rise.
If that whitish thing leaped into the bridge and vanished, the
consequences would be dire.
Pat!
On headed to the bank.
Instead of accomplishment, another feeling rose.
‘Consider every possibility.’
Ron’s advice echoed.
‘Don’t miss small details.’
As Ron taught, On considered every scenario.
And—
‘To help comrades, do everything you can.’
She acted with all her might, choosing the best course.
Pat!
Stepping on a bank rock, On eyed the stream’s rocks, mapping
a route.
The path was clear.
She tensed her legs.
“On!”
A voice called her.
“!”
From above.
She looked up.
Cale, Hong, and Raon were there.
And Cale’s urgent face.
“The ground!”
Hearing him, On froze.
Ron’s advice resurfaced.
‘Always scrutinize your surroundings.’
Had she watched her surroundings?
Hadn’t she only looked ahead?
‘The weaker you are, the more vigilant you must be.’
Ah.
On looked down.
The stream’s upper reaches.
Rocks on the bank led to the stream’s center.
She felt a chill through her rain-soaked body.
Instinct.
Danger was coming.
Through the fierce rain, between the rocks—
A water snake burrowed up from the ground.
On realized it locked eyes with her.
What should she do?
At this moment, what should she do?
Run?
Or stop the snake from reaching the stream?
But how?
“!”
On was shocked.
The water snake.
The gray snake had seen her.
“Ah.”
It might dissolve into nothing.
She realized instinctively.
Not the stream—it could melt into the rain.
Then the rainwater?
The water seeping into the ground?
If the snake vanished underground again?
‘We can’t catch it.’
On realized the snake would be harder to catch if it hid now.
And more dangerous.
So, now—
“I have to stop it.”
On instinctively stretched out her paw.
Yes, it might contaminate her a bit.
But purification could fix it.
But On forgot one thing.
Even if it was a water snake—
Its source was the Third Emperor.
And he wielded a water dragon.
This wasn’t actually a snake.
Kiyaa—!
As the gray snake’s mouth opened—
“!”
On’s eyes widened.
Swallowing rainwater, the thread-like snake grew instantly.
Its size matched On’s cat form in a flash.
And it lunged at her, baring its fangs.
“!”
On’s eyes widened.
“Didn’t I say to always scrutinize your surroundings?”
The gray snake’s sharp fangs stopped before On.
Instead, they bit into something else.
“Ron—!”
At Cale’s shout—
On saw Ron shielding her.
The gray snake’s fangs were embedded in Ron’s arm.
“And always consider every possibility.”
Ron’s calm voice.
And On saw—
BOOM—
The gray snake, biting Ron, exploded.
Gray contamination burst everywhere.
But it didn’t reach On.
He called himself old, but to On, Ron’s back was vast, her
mentor standing tall before her.
Chapter 2-479: The Gray Rain Falls (11)
It was night.
The moon and stars were obscured by storm clouds.
Heavy rain poured.
The wind blew fiercely.
But in On’s eyes and ears, nothing else registered.
“—!”
Words wouldn’t come.
“Ron—!”
“Grandpa Ron!”
Cale and Raon’s cries.
“Grandpa—!”
Even her brother Hong’s cry.
On wasn’t mistaken.
Time seemed to stop, or flow agonizingly slowly.
Slowly.
One arm raised, bitten by the gray snake.
The other arm moving to shield On behind him.
And—
“And always consider every possibility.”
A calm, detached voice.
Far from the kindness Cale showed, or the warmth Eruhaben,
Choi Han, Rosalyn, or others directed at her and Hong.
Yet, strangely, On felt at ease with Ron.
Just… at ease.
In that frozen moment, his voice reached her ears clearly.
‘Ah.’
On couldn’t speak.
Her mind went blank.
The gray snake, swollen with rainwater.
The water, carrying contamination—
BOOM—
It exploded.
It engulfed Ron.
It happened in an instant.
Crash—!
Ron’s body was pushed back by the explosion’s force.
Thud.
On’s body touched Ron’s back.
After the explosion, a brief silence fell.
Whoosh—
The rain and wind were deafening.
Yet On felt only suffocating silence.
“…...”
She couldn’t speak.
What happened to Grandpa?
She couldn’t even think of it.
Her body froze, unable to move.
Whoosh—
The rain soaked her, making her feel cold.
It was different.
This was truly different.
It wasn’t like Cale getting hurt.
Suddenly, On noticed Ron’s back—larger than her, yet
somehow frail.
Unchanged.
Yes, Cale and Choi Han had grown.
Even On and Hong had grown, but that back remained the
same.
The same as always, greeting them at the mansion.
“Ah.”
On’s legs gave out.
Ron wasn’t strong.
That realization hit her.
Her body swayed unknowingly.
Then—
“On.”
Ron’s voice came.
A muffled tone.
“!”
On’s eyes widened.
‘Could it be?’
She looked up.
Her swaying legs steadied.
Ron was visible.
“The weaker you are, the more thoroughly you must prepare.”
His usual lesson.
Whoosh—
His rain-soaked arm was visible.
The bite mark from the water snake.
His clothes were torn.
Not just his arm.
Whoosh—
Part of his upper body was shredded by the explosion.
‘Huh?’
But beneath the torn clothes—
‘Metal?’
A thin metal arm guard was visible, covering parts of his torso.
The metal was dented, and his body seemed impacted.
‘It’s not severe.’
Not a critical injury.
And the contamination—
It hadn’t entered his body.
“!”
Realizing something, On looked up further, seeing Ron’s face.
His voice sounded odd because a thick cloth covered his face.
A handkerchief wasn’t enough to wipe Cale’s blood, so Ron
always carried a cloth with him instead.
With his unbitten arm, he’d pushed On back, then covered his
face.
His face was shielded by the thick cloth.
“Ah.”
A gasp escaped On.
The weaker you are, the more thoroughly you must prepare.
Ron’s teachings were unchanged.
He’d always said it.
The weaker you are, the more vigilant you must be, using every
means.
As a former assassin or informant, this was how Ron faced the
strong.
While others grew stronger, Ron prepared meticulously to keep
up.
That was how he lived.
“!”
And On realized.
He was strong.
Ron’s way of living was strong.
This way held strength too.
For On, who’d been watching Cale and Choi Han’s methods,
this was a profound shift.
“And—”
The moment On and Ron’s eyes met—
“!”
Ron moved swiftly.
His eyes told her.
Follow.
On understood and moved.
Her chilled body?
Her weakened legs?
Those vanished instantly.
Mimicking Ron, On’s movements were swift and precise.
“!”
As On realized she was moving away from the rocks, off the
riverbank—
Ron’s voice reached her.
“Never let your guard down before a strong enemy.”
On understood his meaning.
“And don’t forget the enemy’s purpose.”
From Ron’s next words, the sharp On realized much.
The gray snake that tried to attack her.
It grew, swallowing rainwater.
It bit Ron and exploded.
Its massive body.
But it was water.
Water near rain and a river.
Would it truly vanish by exploding?
No.
After eliminating Ron and On as obstacles—
Slither—!
A water sound, distinct from the rain.
Not the river’s sound.
Without looking back, On followed Ron’s back, moving quickly.
Ron taught her.
“And don’t forget the power we have.”
As Ron spoke—
Thud!
On looked back.
It was safe to look now.
“You vicious old man! Why scare us like that!”
Cale’s voice—angry, laughing, or relieved—pierced the rain.
And—
“Sis!”
Hong ran up.
“Grandpa!”
Raon flew in.
“Oops!”
Raon paused, then flew to Cale.
Beyond Cale’s shoulder, On saw—
Slither, slither—!
The exploded water was reforming.
Absorbing surrounding rainwater.
It was no longer just a snake.
Beyond Cale, growing rapidly with rainwater, it surpassed him.
“Ha! This isn’t a snake—it’s a water dragon!”
Cale realized what it was.
“Human, it’s the Third Emperor’s dragon! A tiny version!”
As Raon said.
Compared to the water dragon they’d seen before, it was
absurdly small, but it was growing, resembling that dragon.
Now he understood.
Why this thread-like snake was so hard to detect.
Why it was so cunning.
Why it could explode and transform so powerfully.
‘A water dragon.’
Thinking of it as a smaller version answered everything.
—Cale, could it grow into the dragon from the prophecy?
Super Rock spoke.
—It’s carrying the Contamination of Chaos! It feels like a clone
of that water dragon!
Sky Eating Water said urgently.
Staring at the rain-fueled water dragon, Cale shouted:
“Ron! Wipe it off or wash it away now!”
How shocked he’d been seeing the gray snake attack On.
Then seeing Ron block it, he was shocked again.
He was relieved by Ron’s preparation.
But contamination in flowing water could spread unpredictably.
Cale warned Ron.
Then glared at the water dragon.
‘Damn Third Emperor!’
This guy was complicating things, nearly harming Ron and On.
No, Ron’s too old to be running in this rain, despite his
fierceness.
Doesn’t he know to respect elders?
And On?
By Earth standards, she’s just a kid in elementary school.
A kid nearly got contaminated.
Does that make sense?
One corner of Cale’s mouth curled into a crooked smirk.
Third Emperor, you’re definitely getting a beating from me.
As a fiery glint sparked in Cale’s eyes—
“Yes, Young Master. I’ll follow your orders. But who’s the
vicious old man?”
“!”
Cale’s pupils shook, and he pretended not to hear.
He had no choice.
He didn’t want to answer, and there was no time.
Truly.
He couldn’t take his eyes off the chaos-tainted water dragon.
Now closer to a dragon than a snake, it opened its mouth.
Roar—!
Its target was Cale.
The gray water dragon bared its fangs at him, his comrades,
and the nearby soldiers and knights.
“!”
“Human, I’ll block it!”
As the knights and soldiers—
And On, Hong, and Raon were shocked—
Boom!
The water dragon stomped briefly, then charged at them.
“F-Fall back!”
“Dodge!”
“Human, I’ll put up a shield!”
Meow!
Each prepared to face the dragon in their way.
“Hong.”
Then, Cale snorted.
Roar—
The water dragon, charging at Cale, suddenly twisted.
“Human, it’s heading for the river!”
The river.
Its growing body, fueled by rain—what if it reached the river?
“No way!”
As knights and soldiers cried out desperately—
“I knew it.”
Cale’s calm voice cut through the rain.
He reached toward the river.
“!”
“…...!”
The soldiers and knights nearby.
The Demon King’s army and local forces, rushing toward the
commotion.
The demons in nearby residences, watching silently.
None saw the small water dragon charging toward the river.
Whoosh—
A water sound, distinct from the rain.
“This much is doable, right?”
Cale asked, and Sky Eating Water answered.
—Of course.
The gray dragon, feeling like a clone of the water dragon.
—One-tenth.
Sky Eating Water, having seen the water dragon, judged its
strength.
—It’s one-tenth of the water dragon.
That much—
—Is easy.
Splash—
The river’s waters parted.
The river, swollen by heavy rain.
Something surged from the parted waters.
—I know from being trapped—nothing beats this.
Clank—
Five chains rose.
Water chains.
They swiftly ensnared the water dragon leaping toward the
river.
—!
The gray dragon’s body writhed.
It knew instinctively.
This wasn’t ordinary water.
Not water it could control…!
It couldn’t merge.
It couldn’t absorb.
It was weaker…!
Clank—
Roar!
The water chains constricted the gray dragon.
It roared, struggling to break free.
It tried to reach the river.
But its body, suspended in the air, was bound by the chains.
Roar—!
The gray dragon thrashed.
It tried to grow, absorbing more rain.
Snort.
Cale sneered.
If he couldn’t find it, fine—but he wasn’t weak enough to fail
against a gray dragon one-tenth the water dragon’s strength.
Hadn’t he blocked the Third Emperor’s power before?
Roar—!
The gray dragon roared, glaring at Cale.
Smirk.
Cale grinned.
“Got a clever plan?”
The gray dragon’s body began to collapse.
It planned to evade the water chains, turning into droplets to
fall into the river.
Cale wasn’t one to miss such an obvious trick.
—Thirsty.
Cale finally answered.
“Alright. I’ll give you water. This is it, right?”
A fleeting doubt—could the Gluttonous Priestess handle salty
seawater?
—It’s fine!
If she wanted it, shouldn’t he give it?
Hum—
A gray-tinted shield appeared.
Not the silver shield.
Whoosh—!
Its two wings unfurled.
The shield—
Crack!
It struck the gray dragon, resisting in the chains, now trying to
escape.
Its massive wings enveloped the gray dragon.
Roar—
The gray dragon screamed.
—I’ll drink well.
As chaos had seeped into the gray shield, water began to seep
in.
—Gulp, gulp.
The Gluttonous Priestess’s drinking sounds echoed.
Roar—
The gray dragon wailed desperately.
Its body shrank.
As it did, Sky Eating Water tightened the chains, aiding the
shield.
“…...”
Cale, arms crossed, watched silently.
Roar—
The gray dragon’s cries faded.
And finally—
—I drank it all!
The moment the Gluttonous Priestess spoke—
Drip, drip.
The water chains released, and the ordinary rainwater the gray
dragon had absorbed flowed into the river.
“Oh.”
Cale marveled.
A glint shone in his eyes.
‘One-fifth.’
The gray-tinted shield.
One-fifth of it had turned silver again.
—Ugh. Salty.
The Priestess complained.
—But refreshing. I want more.
A glint sparkled in Cale’s eyes.
The shield, with a heart etched on it.
Leaves were sprouting on it.
Only on the silver parts.
‘Something’s changing.’
The Unbreakable Shield. The tree’s power was shifting.
And it felt like a good change.
Smirk.
A deep smile formed on Cale’s lips.
***
“!”
The Third Emperor hurriedly stepped back, rolling up his sleeve.
Ten droplets.
One was gone.
Only nine remained.
These weren’t mere markers.
They were his clones.
Infused with his power.
Each tiny droplet held a sea.
‘Gone?’
Without a trace?
Because it vanished, he couldn’t read its memories.
His face slowly lost expression.
He raised his hand.
Boom!
Water shattered, and he stepped back again.
He saw the Demon King staring at him.
But the Demon King wasn’t his concern now.
‘How dare they!’
His clone was gone?
Who dared do such a thing?
A chilling aura surrounded the Third Emperor, and he spoke.
“Disciples.”
He addressed his subordinates.
Watching him, he gave orders.
“Stop him.”
He pointed at the Demon King.
Stop him, even at the cost of your lives.
Because he needed a small opening.
The Third Emperor had to catch and kill whoever destroyed his
precious dragon.
‘But if I can’t go.’
If the Demon King wouldn’t let him move.
“…...”
He looked at his arm.
Even if he couldn’t move, if he could create a brief distraction
to evade the Demon King’s gaze, sending his clone, the water
dragon, wasn’t a bad idea.
Not just one-tenth of his power, but all of it.
***
—Not enough.
The Gluttonous Priestess whined to Cale.
“How many more?”
Cale asked.
She answered.
—Five more!
Five more drinks, and she’d feel truly refreshed.
A smile formed on Cale’s lips.
The Pope’s chaos.
The chaos essence from the 43rd ritual.
Even the divine artifact, Chaos Carried by Wind.
The shield had consumed so much.
What would happen if it digested it all?
“Five, huh—”
Cale’s gaze shifted.
“Huff, huff—!”
General Mor, rushing over late.
Cale spoke to him.
“General Mor.”
“?”
“Is there no way to contact the Demon King?”
“…Huh?”
“I have something to say.”
The Demon King, likely fighting the Third Emperor.
Cale had a request for him.
—Strangely, it seems like only half of the prophecy will come
true.
Cale ignored Super Rock’s words.
—Hmm.
Sky Eating Water seemed uneasy.
“I’m thirsty.”
“Human, laughing like that makes it feel like everything’s gonna
break!”
Cale ignored Raon, scanning the surroundings.
The night was just beginning.
It felt like a night different from what he’d expected.
Thinking of crushing the Third Emperor, Cale felt a rare,
refreshing joy.
(A new cover artwork just dropped!)
Chapter 2-480: The Gray Rain Falls (12)
The unconscious priestess, Timorang, had said:
“At night, the city will be shrouded in gray, and gray monsters
will try to devour the demons!”
“The city will burn, the demons’ screams will fill the
heavens—!”
“A red-haired man climbs the bell tower, but it's shattered by a
blue dragon!”
“The gray rain doesn’t fall, morning comes, and the city is
covered in gray ashes—”
A truly horrific prophecy.
But Cale’s impassive face was reflected in the eyes of those
around him.
“What? Is that not okay?”
Whoosh—
At the moment when the worst calamity might unfold, when
the prophecy might come true—
The issue of the gray snake, the trigger, was resolved.
No, the gray snake was devoured by the man before them.
“Ed.”
Whoosh—
Strategist Ed, who had rushed to the scene upon learning a gray
snake was spotted in Midi, was soaked, having forgotten an
umbrella.
“…Lord Cale.”
With a stern face, he summarized Cale’s recent plan briefly.
“You’re going to draw out the Third Emperor and perform the
purification ritual at the same time?”
“Yes.”
The calm voice didn’t prompt a response from Ed.
“That’s insane!”
Cale’s gaze turned sideways.
There stood Cho and Ren, the wanderers, arriving late with
Clopeh. It was Cho who spoke.
“The Third Emperor—no, instead, you’re going to face that
water dragon? Is that even possible? The Third Emperor is
strong, but that water dragon is just as formidable!”
Cho was earnest.
‘He can’t die!’
This man, who showed everyone their moments of happiness,
couldn’t die.
Desperation filled Cho’s eyes.
Snort.
Cale let out a soft chuckle, his gaze shifting to Ed and General
Mor.
Especially lingering on Ed.
“The plan you mentioned. We’ll execute it.”
Hah!
Cho let out a stunned gasp. But Ed’s eyes were unwavering.
At this point, doubting Cale Henituse’s judgment?
Impossible.
When something happens, following the leader is always the
most efficient option.
Whoosh—
Rain poured, but it didn’t touch Cale.
Already drenched, he was shielded from the rain by an invisible
black dragon’s magic.
Yet Cale’s face was pale.
His lips were blue.
“…...”
Ed looked at him, then turned away.
And headed straight to Midi’s lord’s castle. Having said he’d
execute the plan, all that remained was to act.
“Knights and soldiers, listen!”
General Mor sprang into action.
“Go to every quarantine facility in Midi and Mika and announce
that purification rituals for all infected and suspected cases will
be performed!”
“Yes, General!”
“Yes!”
The local forces, knights, and Demon King’s army responded
with resolute expressions.
They weren’t close enough to hear Cale through the heavy rain.
But knowing he’d continue the purification ritual despite the
stormy night, their resolve hardened.
“Hurry!”
At Mor’s command, soldiers moved swiftly.
In the rain, distinctions between local forces and the Demon
King’s army blurred.
“Satisfied?”
Mor, watching, turned to Cale with a stern face.
“Yeah.”
Cale smiled at Mor’s question.
“Let’s move to the nearest quarantine facility.”
Quarantine facilities dotted Midi and Mika.
It was unavoidable.
To avoid the Third Emperor’s eyes and keep things discreet
from citizens, they opted for multiple facilities under strict
surveillance rather than gathering many in one place.
“……”
Mor stared at Cale without moving.
“What?”
Cale asked nonchalantly.
“Worried the infected will go wild at night? I’ll purify them
before that, so don’t worry.”
“No, I—”
Mor couldn’t continue.
“Haa.”
He sighed, then shifted his resolve.
‘Will you be okay?’
Facing the water dragon and performing the ritual—can you
handle both?
Mor wanted to ask, but swallowed it.
He recalled the local and Demon King’s forces looking at Cale
with hopeful eyes.
Whoosh—
Despite the prophesied night, despite the ominous storm, those
running through the rain had bright expressions.
That sight silenced Mor.
‘What’s with him?’
Cale, puzzled by Mor’s wistful, sad expression, relaxed at Super
Rock’s words.
—Cale, you’re planning to recover as much as possible before
the water dragon comes, right?
Cale nodded, easing his expression.
His upper body near the collarbone.
The contamination wasn’t fully purified.
His skin was still gray.
‘To face the water dragon, I need to purify my body as much as
possible.’
Of course, after the storm passed.
‘When the infected are all calmly asleep, purifying them and
recovering is an option.’
Then, devise a way to steal the water dragon’s power.
‘But how?’
How to draw out and consume the Third Emperor’s water
dragon?
‘Now’s the time.’
While the Demon King fights the Third Emperor.
While the Third Emperor schemes in these cities.
This is the best moment to isolate the water dragon.
And—
“Ron.”
“Yes.”
“Rest.”
“…Yes, Young Master.”
Just in case, Ron was sent to the rear.
“The rest of you, help me today.”
Choi Han, Eruhaben, the average-10-year-olds, and even Clopeh
nodded.
Having seen and fought the water dragon, their presence made
Cale’s decisions easier.
And—
“Hey.”
“Huh?”
The wanderer siblings. Cho froze, and Ren looked at Cale.
“No answer from you two?”
“!”
Cho, who wielded lava-like fire.
Ren, who controlled ice.
Looking at Ren, Cale said:
“Planning to never see it again?”
As Ren struggled to respond—
“Freeze it.”
“…What?”
Cale approached Ren.
He placed both hands on her shoulders.
A gentle smile hung on his lips.
But Ren keenly felt the fierce fire in his eyes.
‘He’s angry.’
Cale Henituse was furious.
Suddenly, Ren’s gaze flicked to Ron, then back to Cale.
He wasn’t openly raging, but quietly furious over his comrade’s
injury.
‘Ah.’
He’s not just trying to siphon the water dragon’s power.
He wants to strike back at the Third Emperor.
As Ren’s eyes focused—
“When my comrades hold off the water dragon for a moment.”
Ren knew what she had to do.
“Freeze it.”
Freeze it.
“Freeze the water dragon.”
As Ren swallowed nervously—
Recalling the three strongest Five-Colored Bloods, including the
Third Emperor.
“Your ice is strong, right?”
At Cale’s words, Ren closed and opened her eyes, answering:
“Then you’ll keep showing it?”
The happiness?
Cale responded, smiling.
“As long as I’m purifying the chaos seeds in the Demon Realm,
you can keep following.”
Ren spoke immediately.
“I’ve never faced the Third Emperor’s water dragon. Honestly,
I’m not confident. Its power is above mine.”
Her ice froze moisture, but the Third Emperor’s unique power
was the sea itself, at Five-Colored level.
“So, are you doing it or not?”
There was only one answer.
“I’ll try.”
For her brother Cho, Ren would do anything.
Easier than death—there was no reason not to.
“No, I’ll definitely do it.”
At the purification ritual in the Graywood Clan’s clinic, not
Mika’s barracks—
Cho seemed to see the same joyful moment.
But Ren was different.
‘Cho.’
After seeing the illusion in Mika’s barracks, Cho’s joyful voice
echoed in Ren’s ears.
She realized she’d felt happiness then.
She wanted to relive and never miss this moment.
“Good. While you freeze it—”
Cale’s lips curled.
“I’ll devour that water dragon.”
Cale felt a stirring within him.
Hard to describe, but—
—Thirsty.
—…...
The Unbreakable Shield and the Sky Eating Water.
The tree and water longed to meet the water dragon more than
ever.
“Let’s go.”
Cale moved.
Whoosh—
Rain fell, wind blew, and the sky was dark.
The first Midi quarantine facility.
“Roar—!”
“Ugh, aaah—!”
Infected, screaming and convulsing.
Few in number, but—
Clank.
Slide.
All windows and doors opened, revealing their monstrous
forms.
Gray-tinted bodies, acting as if they’d attack any living thing.
“…...!”
“!!”
Residents near the facility.
Suspected infected gathered at the entrance.
All shuddered in fear at the sight.
Whoosh—
But when another wind sounded—
Swish—
Or waves—
The Demon King’s and local forces surrounding the facility and
suspected infected showed no fear, no mere sorrow.
Nor were they just resolute.
Instead, a brightness enveloped them.
Those gripped by fear felt something—joy or
anticipation—washing away their terror.
Whoosh—
And they saw a man before the infected and suspected, now
monstrous.
Though soaked, no rain fell on him.
A black umbrella floated above.
—Human, don’t get wet! You’ll catch a cold!
A red-haired man under a black mana umbrella.
Pale face, a towel over his shoulders.
Whoosh—
The ominous rain’s sound faded.
Passing the river by the residences, Cale entered the first
quarantine facility.
A facility in a residential area.
Frightened by the storm, darkness, or this unknown situation,
residents peered out without opening windows.
Whoosh—
They heard it.
Wind and waves.
And something flowing in.
It resembled nostalgic, joyful memories.
Click.
Someone opened a window.
Gray mist reached them.
Spreading to the facility and surroundings.
Whoosh—
Despite the rain, the gray mist didn’t dissipate.
“Ah.”
Vivid memories of joy erased vague fear and dread.
Warmth spread through their bodies.
Gray particles rose from them, gathering toward Cale and the
facility.
A radiant gray milky way, undimmed by rain or darkness.
When it faded—
Drip, drip.
The monstrous neighbors, acquaintances, and family were
gone.
They returned to their original forms.
Drip, drip.
Gray droplets they shed mixed with the rain, seeping into the
ground.
“……”
“……”
No one spoke easily.
Their gazes fixed on the red-haired man under the black mana
umbrella.
***
The Demon King looked at his hand.
One ring glinted.
Tap.
Touching it, a voice came.
—Send the water dragon.
The bored Demon King’s eyes sparkled.
Whoosh—
It's raining here now too.
He now understood why the Third Emperor had been waiting
for an opening.
The water dragon.
Creating a gap to send it.
Not difficult.
He hadn’t used his full strength yet.
This fight had been dull.
But now, it might get interesting.
Not by him, but by someone else.
***
Cale spoke.
“Next.”
The gray near his collarbone had faintly faded.
More purification was needed.
Many quarantine facilities remained.
The red-haired man, under the black mana umbrella, moved
on.
Whoosh—
Swish—
The gray milky way bloomed across the cities.
In a world blurred by rain and darkness, those peering out saw
a vivid light.
Chapter 2-481: The Gray Rain Falls (13)
The black umbrella passed by.
Following its gaze, there were demons consumed by the Gray
Plague, reduced to horrific forms.
Their cries resembled predators hunting the prey.
Thus, even those gripped by fear—
Whoosh—
The warm gray mist, distinct from the dark rain’s sound, and
the beautiful milky way it formed brought peace.
Pop!
“…...”
A house’s light flickered on.
Wanderer Ren looked back.
Cale Henituse under the black umbrella.
The path she followed him on.
Never resting, never slowing—relentlessly walking.
Along that path, lights began to glow in the city shrouded by
darkness and storm.
A path of light was forming.
Clank.
Clank.
One by one, windows opened to peer outside.
Whoosh—
Though the storm entered homes, the demons willingly faced it
to witness the miracle beyond.
Creak—
Some even stepped outside.
They watched or slowly followed the moving figure.
“……”
Like her brother Cho, who followed Cale as if entranced.
Cho’s face seemed to be dreaming.
His dazed expression looked almost foolish.
‘He’s energetic.’
Even when venting anger and frustration, those lifeless eyes are
now sparkling.
‘And—’
Cale Henituse.
Only his back was visible, leading the way.
Purification.
An endless purification.
Does he ever get tired?
‘No.’
His face remained pale.
He occasionally stumbled.
Refusing a wheelchair, he kept walking.
‘He’s enduring it.’
He was pushing through the exhaustion.
Honestly, Ren couldn’t help but admire Cale’s will, growing
stronger as he pressed forward.
“That is the path of a legend.”
“!”
Ren flinched, looking beside her.
Clopeh Sekka, smiling, stared at her.
He whispered softly.
So quiet it could be drowned by the rain. But as Clopeh
monitored Cho and Ren, his voice reached the siblings.
“Cale-nim has walked countless paths. And wherever he goes,
light, joy, and peace follow.”
“Stop spouting nonsense. I don’t want to hear it.”
Ren replied coldly, but her heart was conflicted.
Since running from home, she hadn’t looked back.
She couldn’t face the burning, collapsing house.
She didn’t want to see the enemies chasing her.
Nor face the blood-soaked path she’d walked.
“Hey.”
But her brother was different.
“If I follow him, will I see more good things?”
Cho’s gaze was fixed on Cale.
“Not ‘him,’ but Cale-nim.”
“Just answer me.”
Cho pressed, and Clopeh replied readily.
“You’ll know if you keep following.”
Huhu.
No one responded to his low chuckle.
As he said, they’d find out by following.
Whoosh—
“The last Midi quarantine facility.”
At General Mor’s words, Cale performed the purification ritual
at Midi’s final facility.
Whoosh—
As if everything was returning to its true form, gray droplets fell
at the ritual’s end, seeping into the ground.
—Cale. About four-tenths remain.
Not much.
Though he’d cleared multiple facilities, no place had more than
three infected. Some had none, so he skipped them.
It made sense.
Creak, bang!
Cale, walking, looked at a suddenly opened door.
An ordinary two-story house.
Its front door swung open.
A woman rushed out.
Beyond, a man’s silhouette in the dark.
“Grr—!”
He was holding back a boy.
No, a gray infected.
“Please save my son—!”
Those who didn’t trust the Demon King’s castle and hid
emerged one by one.
The boy’s mother, having seen the miracle, could only rely on it.
“My husband too—”
Her husband was wounded.
By their son’s attack.
Seeing his arm turn gray, the mother ran to Cale.
“Move them to the quarantine facility first—”
General Mor tried to block the frantic mother.
Though she hid due to distrust, they couldn’t prioritize
someone who ignored searches and the situation’s severity.
So many families anxiously watched the infected and suspected
at the facilities.
Everything had to follow order.
“…...!”
But Mor sighed and stepped back.
Whoosh—
The sound of waves or forest wind.
Purification.
Another miracle unfolded.
“Ah. Aah—”
The mother knelt, bowing to Cale in gratitude.
“Thank you, thank you—!”
Cale said nothing, moving on.
—Not enough.
Super Rock spoke.
—Even after purifying all of Mika, I’m not sure you’ll fully
recover.
Having purified hundreds in Telia and the Graywood Clan, the
effect was immediate, but small-scale rituals didn’t help Cale
much.
—But you’ll keep going, right?
As Super Rock said, Cale continued purifying without rest.
From Midi to Mika.
Mika already had many waiting for him.
Whoosh—
After another purification, the wind and wave sounds ceased.
When the gray-tinted milky way purified the demons and
Cale—
“Savior, thank you! Thank you!”
A family member of an infected shouted from beyond the
soldiers’ perimeter.
“…...”
Cale stopped for the first time.
His gaze turned to the demon who spoke.
Earnestly, sincerely, he said:
“I’m not a savior.”
Yes, he had to deny it early.
Letting it slide now will only cause trouble later.
Satisfied seeing the demon, speechless and covering their
mouth, Cale moved on.
“…How can that be?”
The remaining Mika citizens, watching Cale leave, marveled.
They’d heard of the events at Mika’s barracks.
They knew why the Graywood Clan called him a savior.
And he proved it with his actions.
While the Demon King, said to be in the city, was nowhere to
be seen, Cale faced the stormy, dark night alone, revealing a
radiant gray light.
Wherever he walked, the horrific plague vanished.
“How is he not a savior?”
The demon was moved by his humility.
“…Demon God—”
Could the Demon God have sent such a person?
A devout demon called out to the Demon God unknowingly.
“Huhu, that person doesn’t follow any god’s will.”
A white-haired, green-eyed man said with a gentle smile.
“That person is simply someone who walks his own path while
carrying out his own will.”
He moved toward Cale with two others, leaving.
The demon and those nearby pondered his words.
‘Another god’s will?’
Which god, then?
‘Wait, no, he’s carrying out his own will?’
…...!
A profound thought bloomed in their minds.
But Clopeh was already gone, and the remaining demons could
only cautiously discuss it.
Because they’d already seen a miracle.
Whoosh—
As the black umbrella created gray milky way, and demons
raised hands to the path of light filling both cities—
“Five places left.”
At Mor’s words, Cale paused.
“Haa.”
He looked up, sighing.
“!”
“…...!”
Those nearby closed their mouths.
‘He must be exhausted.’
‘Is he tired?’
Mor, Cho, and Ren thought he was weary.
—Cale, it looks like you won’t be purifying everything today.
But Cale wasn’t tired.
Frankly, even though he was soaked by the rain while searching
for Ron, he felt healthier than he had in a long time.
Compared to when he was using a wheelchair, his body now
felt light.
“…...”
Wanderer Cho, watching with an odd expression, spoke.
His voice was quite sorrowful.
“Hey, don’t you need to rest?”
Cale’s gaze turned to Cho.
“!”
Cho flinched.
“Why, what? Hey, I just—”
But he couldn’t continue.
‘He’s not looking at me?’
Cale Henituse wasn’t looking at him.
‘Behind me?’
He was looking over Cho’s shoulder.
—Human!
Meow!
Meow!
The average 10-year-olds.
Raon’s voice rang out.
Then, On and Hong appeared, leaping between rooftops.
Their faces were grave.
Smirk.
Cale’s lips curled.
“It’s time.”
Choi Han and Eruhaben weren’t at his side.
—Human, it’s from the Goldie Gramps' side!
Whirl—
Wind swirled around Cale’s ankles.
He lightly kicked off the ground.
Tap.
The large towel on his shoulders fell.
But the black umbrella stayed.
—A huge torrent is coming that way!
—Human, it’s crossing mountains, breaking them!
At Raon’s words, Cale’s eyes blazed.
The anger he’d suppressed while doing his duty.
Ron wasn’t here.
That fierce old man, throwing himself to save little On.
‘Truly fierce.’
Ron.
Cale thought he could never outdo this old man.
He recalled Ron, arm severed by mermaids and Arm while
chasing them.
That memory reminded Cale of something.
‘Yes.’
Arm.
They were tough to face at first.
But one by one.
One by one, he toppled those enemies, even the White Star.
“Heh.”
—Human, don’t laugh weirdly! No, now’s the time to laugh like
that! Heh!
Whether Raon mimicked his laugh or not, Cale headed for
Eruhaben.
“Follow me.”
Before moving, he looked down from the roof, commanding.
“Yes, Cale-nim.”
Clopeh smiled, and soon he, Cho, and Ren would follow.
Cale ignored them, heading for Eruhaben.
The ancient dragon stood outside Mika’s walls, on the path to
the gate.
Waiting for the water dragon, unsure which city it would
approach.
“Heh, haha—”
Cale laughed.
Not from joy or excitement.
But—
‘Yes, let’s do it as always.’
When had he ever avoided an enemy just because they were
too strong?
One by one. Find their weakness, or create one, and bring them
down.
‘…Third Emperor.’
You’re first.
I’ll take you down first.
—I’m thirsty.
I’ll take your great power.
—The sea-
I’ll study your power and defeat you.
Tap!
Cale stood atop the wall.
Rumble—
Different from the rain.
A violent sound, shattering everything, approached from afar.
Roar—
Too powerful for a beast, a chilling cry echoed.
But no beast or anything was visible.
Rumble—
Only water was seen.
In the fierce storm.
A distant mountain.
Breaking trees, grass, everything, carving its path toward
here—a massive river.
—It’s the sea.
As Sky Eating Water said, it wasn’t a river.
The sea.
The sea approached.
Roar—
Furious over its lost clone.
The approaching sea.
It rose before Mika’s walls, on the path to the gate.
Roar—
A dragon.
The sea, thought to be a river, became a dragon.
“Looks tasty.”
Cale said, and—
Thud.
He sat on the wall.
Arms crossed.
It wasn’t his turn yet.
“I’ve been waiting.”
Someone had waited longer for this.
The water dragon stared at a figure before Mika’s gate.
Swish, swish—
Platinum dust shone vividly in the rain.
Step, step.
Ancient Dragon Eruhaben.
He walked toward the water dragon.
His form changed.
From human to dragon.
Whoosh—!
A massive dragon spread its wings, staring at the water dragon.
Eruhaben still remembered the water dragon he couldn’t stop,
longing to face it again.
The dragon spread its arms, smiling.
“Come, you fake.”
A ferocious smile aimed at the enemy.