Laws of the Hunt

by lilipadd

For offline purposes only :)

10. Fluttering Ashes

"D, Dragons? What nonsense!"

The knight looked at Eruhaben and raised his voice as if telling him not to speak nonsense.

However, his voice was shaking so much.

'…The palace-'

The palace right next to the Emperor's Palace was disappearing.

It did not get destroyed.

It did not crumble.

'Powder-'

The palace was turning into powder, into dust and instantly disappearing.

"Haaaa."

Eruhaben let out a short laugh and smiled.

"Whether my existence makes sense or not… Why is a punk like you making a judgment on them? Who do you think you are?"

Ooooooooong-

Gold dust sparkled around Eruhaben as they rumbled.

The knight felt as if his grip on his sword would release.

That wasn't all.

The eyes of everybody around them were shaking.

'…His pupils!'

The blond man… His pupils became long vertically.

"My goodness, h, he truly is a Dragon…?!"

Plop. A black mage, who had been using the staff in his hand like a cane to stay standing, ended up with one knee on the ground.

Black mages. They were people who used magic, albeit using dead mana.

Dragons who used mana as if they were born with the instinct to use it were creatures of legends and mythologies to them.

They had thought, 'oh she is a Dragon,' when the black-haired woman who was the Imperial Crown Prince's helper was introduced as a Dragon, but… Recognizing that and facing the strength of one was completely different.

"…Haaaaaaaaaa….."

Aphei let out a deep sigh.

She looked down at her hands. Her fingertips were slightly shaking.

Her eyes moved past her hand to the ancient Dragon in front of her again.

She was looking at his back.

This Dragon was angry.

Since he learned that the Dragons of this world went extinct because of the Hunters…

Since he learned that they made Aphei be born inside dead mana…

Since he heard that they took the traces of the dead Dragons, the corpses, and turned them into jiangshis…

This extremely dignified Dragon had been sharpening his anger.

And the moment the chains on this dignified Dragon were removed…

'Ah.'

Aphei's body started shaking as she recalled that moment.

It was trembling.

'Eruhaben-nim, please make a large explosion that will be visible from the central plaza. As for the rest, please feel free to do whatever you'd like.'

The Purifier did not give the ancient Dragon any specifics.

It was as if he knew what the ancient Dragon would do even without telling him anything.

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

The gold dust fluttered in the wind. The ancient Dragon looked around before calmly speaking.

"But why aren't there more?"

One of the palaces in the Imperial Palace was gone and there was a large explosion in the Imperial Palace Black Mages building that was a bit away from them.

Although Eruhaben asked, wondering why the amount of troops who had come to capture him was so little, he quickly found the answer.

'A large number of troops must have gone to the central plaza.'

He realized that the Huayans patriarch had pulled some kind of ploy.

But it didn't matter.

Today was a day he could do as he pleased.

"I've never been that nice of a Dragon."

Oooooo– oooooo–

A significant amount of mana fluctuated with Eruhaben at the center.

Suffocating pressure flowed out of him.

It was Dragon Fear.

"But it's about to get even worse today."

Eruhaben moved his hand.

The gold dust pushed forward toward the enemy like waves.

"S, stop him!"

"Fuck, deliver a message to the central plaza right away!"

One of the knights shouted to his subordinate.

"Let them know that the entire Imperial Palace might get destroyed! Go now!"

Eruhaben was speaking into Aphei's mind at that moment.

– Watch and learn.

The corners of Aphei's lips curled up.

Aphei started fidgeting even more thinking about watching Eruhaben destroy everything. However, Eruhaben was not done speaking.

His voice was cold when he spoke into her mind compared to when he spoke through his mouth.

– The way to make the enemy as angry as possible is to steal what they treasure the most.

'Hmm?'

Aphei tilted her head to one side.

Eruhaben didn't care and looked quite haughty as he swept the enemies away with the golden mana waves.

– I am going to act as if I am destroying everything out of anger before going to the underground tomb and looting it completely.

– Basically, we will steal and then run.

Eruhaben thought about Cale who told him to go to the Imperial Palace without giving him many specifics.

'Funny little punk.'

He was sure that Cale knew.

No matter how angry Eruhaben was, he would not destroy the entire Imperial Palace as long as there were Dragon corpses in the underground tomb.

Cale knew that Eruhaben would swipe those Dragon corpses first.

'He knows me too well.'

Eruhaben gently moved his hand.

"How weak."

He had recognized it since noticing that there were no sword masters.

This world…

Xiaolen…

Had been in decline since about 300 years ago.

Tap. Tap.

Eruhaben confirmed that there was nothing here that could make him stop walking and headed toward the basement of the Emperor's Palace without any hindrance.

However, he had a thought on his mind.

'It looks like all of the troops have been moved to the central plaza.'

The Imperial Palace and the House of Huayans… He was almost certain that the core of their forces were all at the plaza.

The ancient Dragon thought about the Emperor and the Huayans patriarch.

'They were strong.'

Although the average level of people was low, the strong individuals of this world were strong enough to the point that this Dragon could not guarantee that he could beat them.

The core of the forces following them… He was certain that all of them, especially the Hunters, would be quite strong as well.

'It doesn't matter.'

However, Eruhaben was not very worried.

'…That power-'

Beyond the walls of Precinct 9… The moment he felt the power that Cale had used against the lake with the black tree…

Eruhaben had a thought.

'I'll lose.'

He thought that he would definitely lose to Cale.

It wasn't that he couldn't guarantee a victory. The only thought on his mind was that he would lose.

'That was just half of your strength?'

'Yes, Eruhaben-nim.'

The smile on Eruhaben's face grew bigger as he recalled that conversation with Cale.

Eruhaben listened to Aphei following behind him and headed toward the underground tomb.

Bang, bang! Bang!

He just destroyed all of the traps along the way.

"I should take care of this quickly and head over to the plaza."

People all around the plaza were getting rowdy again.

However, the mood was clearly different from earlier.

"Why is there a fire at the Imperial Palace?"

"Is the Imperial Palace being attacked again?"

"What the, what the hell is going on?!"

Fear and chaos dominated the plaza.

This was affecting the candidates as well.

"How is this even a test-"

Some of the smarter candidates realized that this situation was no longer connected to the test. They also realized that taking the wrong step in this situation might put their lives in danger.

'…The arrow-'

It was because the sky above their heads was currently full of white arrows made of white magic that were giving off holy lights.

Click. Click.

Furthermore, the flying skeleton monsters were still in the shape of a Dragon flapping its wings in the air.

Clunk.

As for the people in the luggage carts that Zero had brought, they had completely cleared the black burlap sacks from their heads. The ropes tying their hands and feet were easily removed as well.

The knights and black mages of the Empire were still completely tense.

It was quite the explosive situation that might go boom at any moment.

"It was you."

The person who spoke at that moment was Reddock Huayans, the patriarch of the House of Huayans and the current instructor of the Emperor.

He slowly walked to the end of the platform.

"It was you. You were the one who caused all of this."

He looked down at Cale.

Cale met his gaze and started to speak.

"Yes, it was me."

It was such a clear admittance. As the Chief of Staff slightly flinched at his response…

Cale continued to speak.

"I am the one who purified the area outside of Precinct 9."

– Human, are you finally accepting the results of your actions? Good job! Letting people know about you is good!

'Haaaa.'

Cale barely held himself back from sighing at Raon's comments into his mind.

'Fuck.'

Although he had made the decision to reveal himself as the Purifier, Cale still did not like it very much.

'It's quite unsettling.'

He was going to leave this world once things were resolved but Cale oddly had this mysterious feeling.

It felt as if the God of Death was behind him laughing at him.

"Purify?"

Some people reacted to that word. The Emperor was one of them. Cale's eyes clouded over. The Chief of Staff started to speak immediately.

"Purify? What ridiculousness!"

He needed to stop that man's mouth from saying useless things.

The Chief of Staff motioned to the Knight Captain and the Captain of the Imperial Palace's black mages with his eyes.

The tip of a sword and a black magic spell were directed at Cale. There was no hesitation whatsoever.

– Human!

Raon shouted in shock.

– Cale!

The Super Rock flinched and urgently called out to Cale.

"…!"

On the roof of a building around the plaza…

The person who had been sitting on a roof as if he was a spectator suddenly had a bow as tall as himself.

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

An arrow that had left that bow was flying over.

It was aimed at Olivia.

Olivia looked up at the platform as soon as she noticed the arrow.

'!'

The Emperor was shaking his head and sighing while the patriarch was looking at Olivia with a stoic gaze.

Both of them looked as if they were merely killing a bug.

That was how nonchalant they looked.

Olivia turned her head.

The arrow was right in front of her now.

She heard the Purifier's voice.

"Choi Han."

Olivia closed her eyes.

Baaaaaang—!

She opened her eyes.

The arrow was broken into two and had fallen to the ground.

Olivia saw a violent black aura.

A swordsman was standing in front of her.

Cale's gaze headed up to the platform.

Reddock Huayans… The patriarch had also looked away from Cale and was speaking with a stoic gaze.

"Kill them."

It was at that moment.

Baaaaang!

There was a loud explosion and Zero frowned as he shouted.

"Fuck!"

One of the candidates…

The person who had spoken with envy and jealousy toward Zero… The person Zero had looked at as if the man was ridiculous was swinging his sword at him.

"What the hell? You're not a necromancer?!"

Zero saw the black spider webs on the candidate's skin start to disappear.

"…And?"

That candidate was a sword master.

Zero immediately figured out the situation.

"Ha, hahaha! There are Hunters all around us! The patriarch had planted people all around!"

His voice was buried.

Clang!

Baaaaang—!

There were sounds of weapons being drawn and clashing all over.

"Ahhhhh!"

"S, sword! Why do you have a sword?"

People all around the plaza were suddenly pulling out weapons, spells, or some other powers.

"…This is crazy."

Olivia's pupils started to shake.

Starting with a sword master, there were mages and black mages who seemed to be at the highest-grade, martial artists and archers who could channel their aura…

It was similar to 300 years ago.

It looked as if all of the strong individuals who were present throughout Xiaolen prior to the pollution of the land were gathered here.

'Are they the Hunters?'

The House of Huayans.

They were supposedly a Hunter household and known as the Black Bloods.

Were they the ones controlling such strong individuals?

'…Yes. Only then does it all make sense.'

Even thinking about it a little bit made it obvious that only an organization with this many strong individuals could make the Dragons go extinct and destroy this world.

'They also have their jiangshis.'

She heard that there were even jiangshis made with Dragon corpses down underneath the Imperial Palace.

Olivia's hands started to shake.

'…Everything is going to turn into a mess.'

Even if they won this fight against these Hunters they might end up with results that were no different from being the losers.

Numerous people would die.

Quite a lot of things might get destroyed.

"How foolish."

The calm voice from above the platform sounded oddly clear to her.

Olivia raised her head.

The Emperor let out a sigh and looked at her as if she was stupid.

How foolish.

The Emperor's words were directed at Olivia.

"Pfft."

Olivia laughed at that moment.

The Emperor's eyebrows slightly rose up. Olivia spoke at that moment.

"Will we lose?"

The Emperor didn't respond.

Someone else responded instead.

"Yes. You will lose."

Olivia's gaze moved. The Huayans patriarch. He was looking at Olivia as he raised his hand.

He then brought it back down.

Ooooooooong-

The arrows that filled the blue sky…

The arrows that were floating like the sun even higher than Mary's white skeleton brigade…

The arrows that looked holy as they glowed white started moving.

Dead mana that had turned white roamed around the patriarch's neck as he spoke.

"Do not stop the hunt."

The arrows started to move at that moment.

They were headed toward the Church of the Fire of Purification's members.

They were headed toward the white Dragon made of skeleton monsters.

They were headed toward the Agents of Destruction.

"Huh? Huh?"

"Why-"

They were also headed toward the candidates.

"What the hell? Why is it coming here?!"

"Watch out!"

They were headed toward the plaza and the entire capital.

The arrows started to descend.

Cale's gaze turned toward the patriarch.

The patriarch had a small smile on his face for the first time.

"It looks like I will gather all of the high quality sacrifices I need today. Thanks to you."

As the patriarch smiled as if to thank Cale…

Cale slowly reached his hand toward the sky.

He then said the following.

One corner of his lips was twisted up.

"Have you heard of a fiery thunderbolt in the middle of the clear sky?"

The cheapskate suddenly reacted in a loud voice.

– I don't! But I want to know!

Rumble-

Higher than Mary's skeleton brigade…

Higher than the descending arrows…

Up high in the sky…

The sky started to cry.

"Oh esteemed purifier."

The moment the Pope clasped her hands together…

A rose gold thunderbolt fell from the sky.

There were not a lot of thunderbolts like the arrows.

It was just a single fiery thunderbolt.

However, that was enough for Cale.

---

A single strand of red light with a golden glow fell from the sky.

It took a bit of time for people to figure out that it was a thunderbolt.

That was how swiftly it moved.

However, the moment that the swift thunderbolt crashed into a dead mana arrow that was giving off a holy white light…

Pss-

Clunk.

The Emperor jumped up from his seat.

The white light was destroyed.

Silently.

And so easily that it was unbelievable.

That was the beginning.

The red thunderbolt with the golden glow was not satisfied with swallowing just one arrow.

The rose gold thunderbolt swallowed another arrow next to it.

And then next to that. Then next to that one as well.

"…A spider web."

It resembled the black spider webs drawn all over the bodies of those who had overcome dead mana.

The rose gold thunderbolt spread out like a spider web.

Extremely quickly.

So quickly that the white arrows could not escape.

The white arrows that filled the air as they fell toward the plaza and the capital were swallowed by something even quicker than them.

"Ah…"

One of the Agents of Destruction gasped as they watched.

The sky was red.

The red current that was glowing gold thoroughly spread out like a spider web and appeared in the sky.

'No.'

That was not a spider web.

The intertwined rose gold light looked like a fine cloth.

It was like a red cloth glowing gold around the blue sky.

Plop.

The Agent blinked after feeling something touch his eye.

He reached out his hand.

Plop. Plop.

White ashes fell on his palm.

The ashes fell from the red cloth.

Slowly.

They resembled first snow.

"U, unbelievable!"

He turned his head after hearing the sudden shout. The black mages were gasping in astonishment while looking at the white ashes.

They reached out to grasp the white ashes in disbelief.

"How, how could something like this-"

One of the black mages was shaking. His voice was trembling as if he saw something completely unbelievable. His pupils were shaking as well.

However, there was something other than despair in his voice.

"…He purified dead mana…!"

Black mages and knights of Dark Elf origins all around the area started to speak as well.

It was as if they could not bear to remain silent about what they were looking at right now.

"It disappeared. All of the dead mana disappeared!"

"How does this make any sense?! This, this can't be real!"

"…There is a power that can destroy dead mana?"

One of the black mages shouted while clutching onto some white ashes.

"It's harmless! This is harmless to the human body!"

"Then that means that the dead mana was purified…!"

The person who was saying that turned to look toward the platform.

The white-haired man.

He was quietly standing there.

However, a mysterious aura could be felt coming from him.

Although he could not see anything, a strange pressure that made it hard to approach the man was coming out of his body.

It was at that moment.

Boom. Boom. Boom!

The bishops who were being dangled by the skeleton monsters fell to the ground one by one.

They then moved to stand behind the Pope.

They clasped their hands together like the Pope as well.

Plop.

They then knelt down on the ground and bowed.

"We greet the esteemed Purifier!"

The people in the area finally recalled that the Pope had called this person the Purifier earlier.

"What the hell? What the hell is going on?"

"He purified dead mana? Are you saying that the priest over there is capable of getting rid of dead mana?"

"I think so? The black mages are a mess right now! My goodness, then, then-"

The citizens of the Empire could not hide their chaotic state.

This man whom the Church of the Fire of Purification, an organization they believed deserved instant execution, was showing extreme levels of respect toward…

The Church of the Fire of Purification was calling that man the Purifier. Anybody would think that he was somehow related to the Church of the Fire of Purification.

The people who were uncertain about what to do heard more voices at that moment.

"We greet the esteemed Purifier!"

Mercenary Zero…

"We greet the esteemed Purifier!"

Starting with Zero, the Agents of Destruction all bowed deeply.

"Huh? Huh?"

One of the candidates who was watching could only stupidly go 'huh' as he pointed at the Agents of Destruction.

"W, why is that person…?"

"That's the First Imperial Prince!"

Another of the candidates gasped in astonishment.

There were two people who had not removed the black burlap sacks over their faces until the end.

The Agents of Destruction next to the two of them slowly removed the burlap sacks.

First Imperial Prince Sanders.

And… Fourth Imperial Prince Noi.

The two of them had their hands and feet tied up unlike the others.

Sanders looked up at the sky.

There were not many ashes falling down from the rose gold covering anymore.

However, one thing was certain.

The Huayans patriarch's white magic…

Although it was most likely not the patriarch's full strength, the Purifier was strong enough to easily get rid of such a large-scale spell.

'Yes, I saw it myself.'

The white sand desert.

Sanders slowly moved as he thought about that.

Boom!

He then knelt down and bowed deeply.

"I greet the esteemed Purifier."

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi didn't bow as deeply as Sanders but did bow to show his respects. Of course, his eyes headed toward Olivia for a moment before they moved elsewhere.

'Royal Father.'

The Emperor.

Noi had a sad smile on his face once he saw the Emperor and started to speak.

"Oh esteemed Purifier, please, please purify this land!"

The citizens of the Empire could not understand this situation at all.

They realized that the situation was slowly moving in a completely different direction from what they had thought.

Everybody turned to look toward the platform.

The leader of the Empire…

They couldn't help but look at the Emperor.

However, the Emperor was looking at someone else.

He was staring at Cale with a piercing gaze.

"…Dead mana… Turned into ashes…?"

He was blankly looking at Cale and the white ashes fluttering down around him like snow.

His pupils were shaking in disbelief.

Because he was someone who had dead mana in his body…

Because he was the Emperor who could honestly proclaim that he knew more about dead mana than anybody else…

He had been able to tell that dead mana was being purified the moment the rose gold thunderbolt made the first arrow perish.

Boom.

His heart was beating wildly.

The power to purify dead mana…

If such a power existed, then maybe…

'I might be able to survive!'

The Emperor knew all too well that he was dying.

His body was breaking down as it was unable to stand the large amount of dead mana he had absorbed.

'If I can use that guy's power to detoxify the dead mana in my body…!'

The Emperor realized it at that moment.

'This white-haired priest is responsible for everything.'

The incident in Precinct 9…

The attacks on the capital…

This priest was at the center of all of the incidents.

Tap.

The Emperor took a step forward.

"Instructor-nim."

He looked at someone's back.

Reddock Huayans…

The Emperor looked at Reddock's large back and asked.

"…Instructor-nim, why?"

The patriarch, his instructor, who had gone to Precinct 9… He should have realized the white-haired priest's powers based on the evidence that was left behind.

However, he had simply told the Emperor that the black tree was destroyed and had not said anything else.

'Why didn't you tell me?'

However, he did not manage to say that out loud.

It was because he knew that what the Huayans patriarch wanted was his death.

He turned his gaze to look at his daughter.

Olivia.

She was looking at the Emperor.

Her eyes were telling him something. They were telling him that it was the Emperor who had made the wrong judgment.

'No.'

That was not possible.

"Ugh."

The Emperor clenched his chest. A sudden pain swept through his body. He was familiar with this pain.

His dying body frequently filled with pain lately.

"Your Majesty!"

The shocked Chief of Staff came over and urgently supported him.

However, the Emperor was looking only at Reddock Huayans' back.

"Instructor-nim-"

He heard Reddock's voice at that moment.

"Ha!"

The Huayans patriarch looked up at the sky and let out a short gasp-like laugh.

He then calmly started speaking.

"My dear student."

Reddock shared his will with the Emperor without even looking back.

"It looks like it won't work."

'What does that mean?'

The moment the Emperor was confused…

"The preparations are complete anyway. It looks like we will have to change our plans."

Reddock Huayans then said the following.

"Please become a sacrifice."

The Emperor turned his head to the side at that moment.

Puuk.

There was a blade stabbed into his side.

It was a small dagger. However, the blade was covered in a thick black liquid.

The Emperor could instantly tell that this black liquid was extremely concentrated dead mana.

The Emperor who was already dying from excessive absorption of dead mana…

More dead mana was digging into his body once again.

"…Chief of Staff?"

The Chief of Staff was the one who stabbed him.

The Chief of Staff was someone associated with the Emperor's mother. He was the child of an attendant who had been by the Emperor's mother's side since she was young.

"Ugh!"

A painful groan burst out of the Emperor's mouth.

Aaaaaaah-!

Huff!

Gasps could be heard all around them.

However, the Emperor could not hear them.

Smile.

The Chief of Staff smiled as he tightened his grip around the dagger. He twisted the dagger.

It passed the Emperor's side and headed toward his heart.

"Please become a sacrifice."

The Chief of Staff whispered.

"You already know it, your Majesty. You know what your final role is to be. Please become a sacrifice and destroy this world. For us Hunters."

The Chief of Staff moved the hand that was holding the dagger without any hesitation."

However, during that short instant…

"Cough, ugh!"

The Emperor twisted his body and his eyes opened wide.

The Chief of Staff started to smile.

"Even if you resist-"

The Chief of Staff heard Reddock Huayans' voice at that moment.

"Shit!"

His voice sounded as if things were going seriously wrong.

The moment the Chief of Staff felt that this was weird…

"Hey Chief of Staff… Are you a Hunter too?"

He heard a young voice.

The Chief of Staff turned his head.

Dark blue eyes…

Long vertical dark blue eyes were looking at him.

The existence with those eyes then smiled.

"I'm taking the Emperor."

"…T, those eyes-?"

Only the eyes had appeared in the air.

Had he ever seen such eyes before?

The Chief of Staff soon had his answer.

The underground tomb.

The dead Dragons in there…

The corpses of those Dragons had those same kinds of eyes.

"H, how is a Dragon-?"

However, he could not finish his sentence.

"Ugh!"

He suddenly felt as if he could not breathe.

He couldn't put any strength into the hand that was holding the dagger.

'…Poison…!'

Where had poison suddenly come from?

The Chief of Staff lowered his head.

There were white ashes on top of the platform as well.

However, the white ashes underneath his feet were a bit different.

'Smoke?'

White smoke was roaming around his feet along with the white ashes.

"Ugh!"

The Chief of Staff looked toward Reddock Huayans.

Ooooooooong-

White steam appeared around the patriarch.

It was white dead mana.

A strong aura gathered around him and the patriarch immediately tried to move toward the Chief of Staff, no, the Emperor who was a sacrifice he needed to make sure to kill.

Crack. Crackle.

However, he could not move.

The moment he turned around toward the Emperor…

He felt a strong aura behind his back.

"…!"

Reddock Huayans' pupils started shaking violently.

The Chief of Staff had never seen the patriarch looking so shocked before.

However, the Chief of Staff could understand what the patriarch was probably feeling right now.

The Chief of Staff's body was turning stiff from paralyzing poison.

His eyes were not even looking at the patriarch's white dead mana.

Fire.

No, a thunderbolt.

This man they called the Purifier…

A large fire, no, a large thunderbolt was shooting out of the man's body.

That aura was extremely violent.

However, it just wrapped around the Purifier's body and crackled.

It even looked beautiful.

"Ugh!"

Boom.

The Chief of Staff's body fell off the platform."

"E, ugh, Emperor-!"

He reached his hand toward the Emperor but the Emperor was already out of his reach.

"Hmm."

A young boy who was wearing a completely black outfit including a mask… Sui Khan groaned before picking the Emperor up and flying into the sky.

Flap.

The two black wings that appeared on his back took him up into the air.

"…!"

The Huayans patriarch looked at the Emperor for a moment but he soon had to look forward again.

"Where are you looking?"

The Purifier took a step forward.

"I was trying to do things peacefully and amicably, but…

Pfft."

Cale let out a short chuckle before walking toward Reddock Huayans as he spoke to Choi Han, the Pope, Mary, and the others.

"Capture all of the Hunters."

At that moment…

Tap.

Cale stomped his foot.

Swoooooooosh.

The moment whirlwinds gathered around his ankles…

"!"

Cal instantly arrived in front of the patriarch's face.

He looked toward the Patriarch as he spoke.

There was something he really wanted to say to the patriarch.

"Why are you Hunters destroying my hyung-nim's house?"

'Why did you destroy the Roan Palace?

Hmm?

And why did you mess with the king?'

"Why do you keep messing with our neighborhood, hmm?"

A fiery thunderbolt that left Cale's hand attacked the Huayans patriarch.

He then started to smile.

"That's why I came here."

Baaaaaaaaaang-!

A loud explosion filled the plaza.

---

The rose gold thunderbolt flashed and made the people looking at the platform see red.

The Huayans patriarch's white light flashed after that.

"Ugh!"

The Huayans patriarch let out a short groan.

However, he was not pushed back.

"Good, it wouldn't be fun if you were pushed back so easily."

Tap.

Cale gently landed on the platform. He asked in a light tone.

"But it hurts a bit, doesn't it?"

Crackle. Crack.

There were still currents crackling around the Huayans patriarch's hands. It looked as if he did not manage to nullify all of it.

'Something is weird.'

Cale was sneering at him but thought that it was weird.

'He should be able to easily block something like this.'

This was someone that even the ancient Dragon was uncertain about defeating.

Then he should be able to get rid of a thunderbolt of this strength easily.

But he ended up with some injuries?"

"Oh my."

Cale quietly clicked my tongue.

"You used your dead mana elsewhere."

The patriarch did not use his powers to block Cale's attack. Most of his strength was used elsewhere.

The thing that he would use his strength on…

Smile.

The patriarch started smiling.

He brushed back his messed up white hair as he spoke.

"Too late."

Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Someone's scream echoed in the air at that moment.

It sounded more like a shout than a scream.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

The Emperor's whole body was twisting.

His eyes became black.

It truly had happened suddenly. Within a few seconds, the Emperor followed up the shout with an order.

"…R, rise-"

However, that was all he managed to say.

"Ugh!"

Sui Khan's fist landed a strong punch on the Emperor's stomach.

"No choice."

Sui Khan had wanted to take the Emperor safely if possible, but that was no longer an option.

"Ugh. Ooo…"

Sui Khan once again punched the groaning Emperor who looked as if he was going to say something and made him faint.

"Gasp."

The Emperor gasped for breath as he fainted.

Sui Khan then confirmed it. He made sure that the Emperor had fainted.

Sui Khan had knocked the Emperor unconscious as soon as he grabbed him and flew up. However, he had still woken up.

The Huayans patriarch must have done something.

'…They said that the Emperor would die if his whole body turns black, right?'

The Emperor's eyes had turned black the moment he shouted. And now his body was dyed black up to his neck.

It had not taken very long.

It had all happened in a few seconds.

"…This is not good."

His body was continuing to turn black despite being unconscious.

It was slower than when he was awake but the Emperor's whole body would eventually turn black.

"Mm."

Sui Khan got chills on the back of his neck at that moment.

His instincts were telling him something.

"Something is headed this way."

Boooooooom-!

There was a loud explosion, and…

"Oh my."

Baaaaaaaaaaang—!

The plaza fountain exploded with a loud noise.

Something then shot up from there.

"It's a snake."

It was no ordinary snake.

The large snake's head alone was a couple meters long.

Its body was black.

That snake was covered in bones instead of scales.

Baaaaaang—!

The snake continued to shoot up from the ground.

"W, what is that?"

"Gasp."

The chaos among the people in the plaza amplified with the sudden appearance of a large monster.

It could not be helped.

The snake had two large fangs.

Chhhh. Chhhh.

And everything that touched the black liquids that dripped from those fangs melted away.

"I, is that perhaps the Emperor's power…?!"

One of the candidates shouted the thing that many people were thinking.

"We need to evacuate the people."

Second Imperial Princess Olivia grabbed the Fire of Purification's Pope's arm and commented.

"It comes before hunting the Hunters."

Olivia continued to speak after making eye contact with Zero in the distance.

"That monster doesn't look like it will stop because the Emperor fainted!"

She felt as if that would be the case.

And she was correct.

"Looks like I'll need to clean up a bit first."

The moment the Huayans patriarch fixed his sleeves and calmly commented… The snake moved according to his will.

"Screeeeeeeeeech-!"

The black skeleton snake started to move as it screeched.

However, it was different from moving in a direction.

The snake just moved.

It looked as if it wanted to destroy everything in the plaza.

The large snake moved as if the only thing on its mind was the mission to destroy anything and everything in its way.

"Run!"

"Shit, how long is that thing?!"

The snake never seemed to end as more of its body came up from underground. It looked over 20 meters long.

"It's even larger than the Dragon!"

The plaza had turned into pandemonium as someone shouted.

Nobody dared to move despite all of the chaos until moments ago, but…

Everybody was trying to run away from here now.

That brought more chaos to the area.

"Don't push me!"

"Ugh! Move! I said move!"

Chhhhhhhhh-

The poison dripping from the snake's fangs melted away the path that it traveled.

"It's getting faster!"

The snake's movements were slow at first. However, it quickly started speeding up.

There was someone who was moving slowly even during all of this.

"Who are you?"

Reddock Huayans calmly asked.

The person standing across from him, this so-called Purifier, started speaking.

"Wow. You put up such a great act until now. Is it really okay to openly try to kill everybody like this?"

The Huayans patriarch shrugged his shoulders.

"I might as well change my plans accordingly as things have ended up like this. But you seem quite relaxed. Is it because you trust your friends? Although your team's necromancer is skilled, she is not skilled enough to defeat that thing."

The patriarch heard a brusque response back.

"What kind of nonsense are you spewing?"

Cale opened his mouth to speak.

"Take the Emperor to the Imperial Palace. And tell them to do as they please."

– I understand, human!

Cale felt Raon flying away as he spoke to the Huayans patriarch.

"I just need to deal with you."

"…What?"

Cale didn't care about the patriarch's confusion as he walked toward him and opened up his hands.

Crackle. Crackle.

Rose gold thunderbolts roamed around him and caused a gust of wind.

"…!"

The patriarch could see something behind the mixed current and wind.

Numerous black bones shot up into the air.

Black bones. Black bones, bones that were fortified with dead mana, were extremely difficult to handle.

Furthermore, there needed to be a necromancer skilled enough to handle that much dead mana.

A dragon was being created.

It was easily over 20 meters long.

And somebody stepped on top of that black dragon.

"Mm!"

The Huayans patriarch noticed Cale charging toward him.

Cale continued to speak with a smile on his face.

"The two of their combination is quite strong. They can pretty much defeat anything."

Mary who was controlling the black dragon and Choi Han standing on top with his sword in his hand…

Most of Cale's group was used to fighting on their own. However, this pairing was one of the ones who had worked together the most and were, as a result, quite strong.

Furthermore, Mary and Choi Han had sparred against each other quite a bit as well, making their understanding of each other's powers quite deep.

Their understanding of each other basically matched On, Hong, and Raon's understanding of each other but this pairing's destructive power was beyond compare.

– Hey Choi Han, Mary! The human said to do as you please.

Choi Han looked down at the black bones of the black dragon he was standing on as he spoke.

"Then, let's take care of that snake. Let's also capture all of the Hunters."

Choi Han calmly faced the black snake.

"It is weak compared to the unranked monsters."

This was his honest assessment.

Choi Han saw it at that moment.

Almost as if it was a signal to get started…

Baaaaaaaaaang—!

Rose gold light crashed against white light to create a burst of light.

Choi Han and Mary started to move.

As for the people in the plaza, they could not look directly as the white light and rose gold light burst in front of them.

The way the lights flashed as they clashed and changed form as if to wrap around each other was both beautiful and scary.

"Who are you?"

Rose gold thunderbolts crackled around Cale.

Crackle. Crackle.

Cale's baggy priest robe fluttered.

The area around him became dyed rose gold.

"You have no intention of responding? Why are you saying that I messed with your hyung and your hyung's house?"

Oooooo– oooooo–

Reddock Huayans… The air around him rumbled and an intangible power was gathering.

It was most likely dead mana.

The moment white light gathered in both of Reddock's hands…

"And you want to go against me for such a stupid reason?"

Cale lightly snapped his fingers the moment the Huayans patriarch spoke.

Snap!

A rose gold thunderbolt charged toward the Huayans patriarch.

It flew toward the patriarch who was asking Cale what he did not understand. Cale responded back.

"Stupid reason?"

The Super Rock cautiously commented.

– Cale, don't get angry.

The Super Rock was reading the emotions slowly fluctuating behind Cale's eyes.

The Super Rock was nervous after realizing that Cale was truly angry right now.

Cale quietly mumbled to himself.

"I really can't understand this."

'If they left us alone, I would just quietly live a slacker life.

Why won't they leave us alone?'

However, he could not sit back and do nothing while they messed with him or his people.

The destroyed Royal Palace, the burning fire… The people who died…

Cale clearly remembered all of it.

Cale did not think he was that good of a person, but looking past good and evil, who would be able to sit still when the place they consider their home, the place they plan on living in from now on, was being attacked?

Baaaaang! Bang! Baaaaang!

Loud explosions could be heard as the rose gold light and white light clashed.

The lights crumbling as they clashed were so blinding that people could not see what was happening inside.

"Hey, Hunter."

Actually, only the white light was crumbling.

The rose gold light continued to swallow the white light.

Cale asked from within the crumbling light.

"You know about Roan, right?"

The Huayans patriarch's eyes clouded over.

"Ha, you're from there?"

The patriarch made a large motion with his hand.

A large amount of white light made the shape of a crescent moon as it split the area in between Cale and the patriarch.

Pop-!

It sounded like a balloon bursting as the white crescent moon burst and created a gust of wind that pushed both Cale and the patriarch back.

The Huayans patriarch shook his tingling hands as he spoke.

"That is where the test subject died. Does that mean that you are the person who killed the test subject? Pfft."

He brushed back his messed up white hair.

"Cale Henituse. I think that was your name."

The person who killed the test subject.

Cale could tell that the test subject was referring to the White Star. That was who Cale had faced in Roan.

Cale spoke as if he was amazed.

"Oh. Even a patriarch knows of my name?"

"I am aware of it."

The patriarch nodded his head.

"I am also aware of the extent of your powers."

Reddock started smiling.

'They said that he uses a few powers of nature. He supposedly has a fire he used against dead mana, right?'

There was more information about Cale than expected.

Of course, he had only read about it and had never seen it in person, which was why he didn't immediately think of Cale after seeing the rose gold thunderbolt.

'Pfft.'

However, it would not be a problem now that he was aware.

'A fire power of that level…'

If it was just enough to go up against the White Star…

If the fire power was strong enough to do that…

The amount of power Cale was showing right now made sense.

'However, it is unable to reach my level.'

Reddock Huayans made a judgment about Cale's strength and that gave him some breathing room.

'The white sand desert. That is the limit of this bastard's powers.'

He was able to assess Cale's level now that he knew his identity.

"The person who saved the world."

The Huayans patriarch looked at Cale as if he was happy to see him.

'Hmm?'

As Cale scowled in response… The Huayans patriarch continued to speak.

"Good. Very good."

The Huayans patriarch's demeanor suddenly changed.

"Although the value of karma you have is not at the level of a world… It should be beyond that of a human."

He closed his eyes and then opened them again.

It was as if he was enjoying something.

"I wasn't using my powers properly because all of the lives here were precious sacrifices I couldn't waste. However, the situation has now changed."

The Huayans patriarch smiled. He truly seemed excited. He truly seemed happy.

"It, it should work if I capture you and commence the ritual."

Oooooong– oooooo–

Reddock Huayans… The aura he channeled made the ground move up and down.

Crack, crack.

Cracks appeared on the platform and the terrain around it started to crack as well.

It was as if the density of the air was changing. The air changed so much that most people would feel as if they were suffocating.

"You didn't think that the puny amount of strength you saw was all I had, did you?"

The Huayans patriarch reached his hand out from the center of it.

White light gathered around his hand.

It looked like a thunderbolt…

Or maybe a spear.

He looked like the strongest gods in mythologies or the heroes of lore.

The white light looked so blinding and holy.

"Haha-"

Cale laughed as he watched.

He then looked at the Huayans patriarch as he spoke.

"Of course not. I hope you didn't think that the puny amount of strength you saw was all I had either."

Cale slowly unsealed the power of the Fire of Destruction.

A rose gold fiery thunderbolt shot up from his body.

It was beautiful.

It also looked holy. However, it was full of a violent force that looked as if it would destroy anything and everything.

The red current that shot up from him looked just as strong as the Huayans patriarch's white light.

– Cale, I'm going to go past fifty percent?

Of course, Cale was only using about half of his strength right now.

– Keke. Let's rough him up! We will totally overwhelm him! Is there a need to always fight until you bleed? We will just easily squash him this time! Kahahaha!

Cale channeled even more of his power as he listened to the Fire of Destruction's crazed voice.

"Are you an idiot?"

He walked toward the white light.

"What?"

Cale sounded frustrated as he responded to the scowling Huayans patriarch.

"You are too far in the losing end in compatibility."

This holy-looking white light…

It was turning instantly into ashes the moment it touched Cale's rose gold light.

"It doesn't work against me no matter how much dead mana you use. You can't understand that?"

Cale shook his head as if he was frustrated.

– I'm going to use sixty percent?

The Fire of Destruction cautiously asked and the rose gold light became stronger than the white light.

---

Like the first time seeing the calm ocean… The radiance that the calmness that makes you unable to fathom its depth gives you…

This white light resembled that.

On the other hand, a violent and dangerous power that looked as if it would burn its whole body without caring about breaking at any moment…

This rose gold light resembled that.

"What are you looking at?! Run!"

An Agent of Destruction shouted almost as if ordering people around.

"B, but…"

A citizen of the Empire who was running far, as far away from the plaza as possible could not help but look back.

The fight between light against light…

They could no longer see the people causing those lights.

"But, my ass!"

"The Duke-nim-"

"Haaaa, you are so frustrating! Isn't it obvious?! Can't you tell who is trying to protect you?!"

"I know, I know, but-"

"But what?! What's the problem?! Hurry up and move! Otherwise both you and I are going to die from the aftershock of that fight!"

The citizen scowled and shouted after being urged by the Agent.

"The Duke is being pushed back!"

"What?"

"The Duke is being completely manhandled!"

"Huh?"

"It's just swallowing it!"

The light resembling the ocean was being swallowed by the fire.

The Agent subconsciously turned back. He looked at the same place that the citizen had been looking at until just moments ago.

The rose gold light was moving.

It was moving while consuming the white light.

"How…"

Reddock Huayans could see the white light being pushed back by the rose gold light as soon as they touched.

He could see the faint blue pebbles that were slowly rising from the rose gold light completely swallowing up the white light.

"…According to my calculations-"

Thinking about the report about Cale Henituse's powers and using the white sand desert as foundation…

Reddock Huayans' strength should be strong enough to defeat Cale Henituse.

'Even if it is disadvantageous when it comes to compatibility-'

The Huayans patriarch had used enough strength to overcome that disadvantage and still swallow up the rose gold light.

He had condensed…

And condensed once more to make this white light extremely concentrated.

The power concentrated within this white light was beyond that of the white sand desert despite how it looked.

He was sure of it.

"But why-"

"Why are you being pushed back?

Pfft."

The Huayans patriarch could see Cale Henituse chuckling.

Cale was smiling with a rose gold light wrapped around him.

This tired smile did not fit the violent power surrounding him.

"That's because you are weak?"

"What fucking bullshit!"

The Huayans patriarch's hand moved.

Arrows shot out from the white light following his movement and headed toward Cale.

'My house has made this! This white magic that we created just for this world! There is no way that this great magic would be pushed back by that puny power!'

Dead mana. The great way to erase the black light from it and make it glow white…

"Why is it bullshit?"

Cale gently moved his hand.

Crackle. Crack!

A current that shot out from the rose gold light surrounding Cale smashed against the arrows.

Baaaaang—! Baaaaang!

There were multiple explosions as all of the arrows disappeared.

However, the current remained.

Baaaaaaaaaang—!

The current attacked the white light.

"Ugh!"

The Huayans patriarch was pushed back three steps because of the explosion. He had cast a shield but it was destroyed.

He was pushed back from the aftershock.

'I was pushed back?'

It was just a small scale impact but it made it clear about the results of this battle.

'That power is stronger than me.'

Reddock's pupils started to shake. It could not be helped.

'Nameless 1.'

The test subject in that world named the White Star…

That experiment had failed.

The Hunters naturally tried to figure out the cause of the failure and had managed to gather lots of information.

Cale Henituse.

The conclusive reason for why the White Star test subject became useless.

Of course they had gathered information on the strength of this reason.

"H, he should not be able to defeat me."

According to the information, there was no way that Cale Henituse could defeat him.

'That is why I didn't pay much attention to it.'

Cale was nothing to worry about.

The Hunters had believed that Cale Henituse's level of strength was within their control.

That was why he had ignored Cale.

Nobody would pay any attention to a puny ant that they could crush at any moment.

'Yes, that is how it is supposed to be.

This bastard should not be able to use this much fire power.

But he is able to do so?

The information that 'those Hunters' gathered was wrong?'

There was no way that those Hunters would give out false information.

Then there was only one conclusion.

Astonishment was visible on the Huayans patriarch's stoic face as he looked at Cale Henituse.

"…You were hiding your full strength?"

'Hmm?'

Cale was confused for a moment.

'But I didn't?'

Cale had not hidden his full strength.

– He even went to the white desert. Hide your power?! You basically used it whenever you needed to after getting here! Kahahaha! Because you won't faint! Kahahaha!

Cale easily ignored the crazed words of the cheapskate.

He focused on the patriarch instead.

'Something is weird.

Why does he look so scared?'

The patriarch looked extremely wary and did not dare to attack Cale.

His eyes were wide open as if he was trying to observe each and every one of Cale's movements.

"…You should not be able to use this much power."

'That is true.'

Cale easily accepted the words that the patriarch struggled to get out.

'I find it to be odd as well.'

Cale had also never imagined there to be a world where the Fire of Destruction would be so efficient.

'That is why I find it so fishy.'

He heard the silent Super Rock's voice at that moment.

– The shadows become bigger as the light gets stronger. Its reaction to dead mana seemed to become a greater power in this world.

– The world is always trying to achieve balance.

The Super Rock quietly added on.

-That is why balance is so scary.

The cheapskate chimed in as well.

– Kahahaha! Anyway, let's enjoy it to the fullest since it is a good thing!

Cale slightly shook his head at the cheapskate's thoughtless words. However, he kept his gaze focused on the Huayans patriarch.

He didn't know what that man might try to do.

"Ha!"

The Huayans patriarch must have misinterpreted Cale shaking his head as he let out a sigh-like scoff.

"Yes, you must think that I am foolish!"

'Mm.'

Cale slowly prepared to move.

The Huayans patriarch looked dangerous.

The Huayans patriarch spoke as if to console himself as Cale tried to become as alert as possible.

"Your main power is not the fire power. That is not the power you use the most. So if your fire power is at this level, the other powers must be extremely strong."

'Hmm?'

"That is why you probably think I am nothing. Haha, I truly do look like a fool right now. You were not someone we should have ignored like that. Yes, that is why you crossed dimensions to come here and attack me."

'Wait a minute…?

I did look down on you but only my fire power has become exaggerated. The rest remained the same?'

Cale kept his mouth shut as he had no reason to correct an enemy's misunderstanding.

"You, Cale Henituse. You must be aiming for the other patriarchs as well?"

The Huayans patriarch's sleeves fluttered.

"That should be entertaining. The other bastards will probably not care about your existence or think the same way I did even if they do know about you!"

"Are you done?"

"…!"

Cale charged forward.

The Sound of the Wind he had prepared earlier was already around his ankles.

"Did you think I would not notice you trying to stall?"

"Ugh!"

The Huayans patriarch's hands urgently started to move.

It looked as if his hands were moving to create a seal to cast a spell.

"We were watching you this whole time. Isn't that right?"

Cale calmly spoke to someone.

The Huayans patriarch got chills on his back. That question did not seem directed at him.

It was at that moment.

"…!"

Under his feet…

The Huayans patriarch felt a stealthy power shooting up from below him.

It was a power he had not felt because his attention was on Cale Henituse's rose gold light.

"Shit!"

The Huayans patriarch stopped his seals and stretched both hands toward the ground.

"Hehe, I'm faster!"

He heard a young voice before a black magic circle appeared on the ground.

It resembled a shadow that appeared because of his white light.

Chhhhhhhhhhhh-!

Black vines shot up from inside the black magic circle. They resembled the vines of the large black tree that existed outside of Precinct 9.

The vines that shot up wrapped around the Huayans patriarch's feet and moved up.

"…!"

The patriarch's eyes opened wide but his movements were calm.

He immediately cast another spell.

Swords glowing white appeared. The mana swords cut through the air to slice the black vines.

Pssssssssss-

However, they all disappeared.

They disappeared without any explosions or commotion.

Tap. Tap.

The Huayans patriarch could see Cale Henituse riding the wind to approach him.

Sssss— ssssss–

All of the white light touching Cale's rose gold light disappeared as Cale got closer.

They turned into white ashes and fluttered into the air.

It was as if the fire was creating snow.

"Fuck!"

Reddock Huayans tried to run.

The sacrifices and the preparations for the ritual were complete.

'I just needed to put it into action!

It was a miscalculation!'

He realized his mistake.

He thought that he was a step forward and could suppress the enemy because he had information on the enemy.

However, that was a big mistake.

The information, everything he knew about the enemy had been wrong.

The person in front of him had such a destructive power that he could not handle.

Furthermore, he had other powers of nature beside this fire power that were just as strong.

'Fuck!'

This would be a big threat not just to him but his family and the entire Hunters organization.

Crack, crackle.

The vines continued to bind him.

They clung to him despite being destroyed by the white light. They did everything they could to hold on.

Of course, the patriarch was trying to cast a teleportation even in his current state.

However, he could tell that it was useless.

A path was created within the white light.

It was naturally a path only opened to the person charging forward with the rose gold light.

The Huayans patriarch felt a hand grabbing his neck through the white ashes fluttering in the air.

He then saw a smiling face.

Pss-

His shirt burned away into ashes after touching the current.

"As expected, the teleportation was a feint and this was what you were really trying to do, wasn't it?"

The patriarch's body was being dyed black.

It was like the Emperor earlier.

However, it was different in some aspects.

The Huayans patriarch's eyes were focused.

"Hmm."

Cale could fathom the identity of this state.

"Is it some kind of overload? A final card to let out all of your power?"

The Huayans patriarch could not speak while being choked. Cale Henituse, this guy's gaze was so cold.

"If I can purify you, all of the strength you have gathered until now will disappear. Right?"

However, his voice was extremely friendly.

– Cale! You can't purify dead mana that has seeped into a person or living creature and become a part of them!

Cale ignored the cheapskate and looked into the patriarch's eyes as he spoke in a warm voice.

"I'll tell you something about my power that you guys don't know about. The hidden secret behind this fire power of mine."

The Huayans patriarch's pupils started to shake.

He realized what Cale was saying.

"N, no way, you are capable of purifying people infected by dead mana?!"

Cale smiled after hearing the astonished voice.

"Are you curious to see if it is possible or not? Should I tell you? All of the information you had until now has been wrong. So I really want to show it to you. I want to show you my true power."

He then added.

"But then what would happen to you? What would you be without dead mana?"

The Huayans patriarch felt intense pressure as Cale smiled.

A Hunter who has lost all of his strength… Being a regular person… It was something the Huayans patriarch didn't even want to imagine. He would rather die.

'He's serious!

This bastard is seriously trying to purify me.'

The Huayans patriarch couldn't help but look at Cale as if he was crazy. He was scared.

'Is he telling the truth? Can he really purify the dead mana that a person has absorbed?'

The cheapskate chimed in again.

– Cale! I told you that you cannot purify black mages or necromancers who have already fused with dead mana! Even people who are poisoned! I tried it before! That was why I burned up all of the dead mana and tried to burn the entire continent!

– Ah, come on.

It was rare to hear the Super Rock sound so annoyed.

– Be quiet! Can't you tell?! Cale is threatening Huayan's patriarch right now.

– …Is that what he is doing?

Raon spoke energetically while the cheapskate sounded embarrassed.

– Human, you smiling like that look so reliable right now!

Cale ignored Raon and the ancient powers as he channeled a rose gold current into the hand that was not choking the Huayans patriarch.

"Now then, shall we give it a try?"

He moved the hand with the rose gold current toward the Huayans patriarch's upper body which was dyed black.

---

The Huayans patriarch watched the approaching hand before suddenly recalling the title the Pope of the Church of the Fire of Purification used to address Cale.

The Purifier.

The Pope and the church were treating Cale Henituse like a god.

However, the Huayans patriarch remembered the information about this person.

'I don't know about the other patriarch bastards, but I definitely read it!'

He made himself remember even the smallest bits of information because he believed that he always needed to be one step ahead.

According to that information, this Cale Henituse had stopped that test subject, the White Star, but he was just a regular person who got lucky and gathered multiple ancient powers. He was someone who was trash in the past.

'…No. That information could have been lies.'

All the information he had about this person had been wrong until now.

All sorts of thoughts filled his mind after realizing that everything he knew had been wrong.

'This bastard has such an amazing power. Maybe he really will purify all of my dead mana and turn my body into that of a regular person. Maybe he will take away my powers as a black mage and make me a powerless and useless regular person.'

In that case…

'Am I even able to stop this bastard?'

Even if he overloaded, it was highly likely that they would be evenly matched.

'Then what about my followers? Would my entire faction be able to stop this bastard and his friends?'

It was at that moment.

Boom-!

Cale's hand stopped. He calmly commented.

"They're fast."

The Huayans patriarch turned to look.

He had the same thought as well.

'…So fast.'

The black skeleton snake's head fell to the ground.

The black bone was cleanly cut.

The large snake's body then leaned to one side.

Boooooooooooooooom-!

There were strong rumblings as the fallen black skeleton snake's body twitched. It seemed to be trying everything it could to move again.

However, a large black Dragon descended on top of it.

Boom-!

The black Dragon stomped on the twitching headless black skeleton snake and calmly lowered its head.

A person stepped down to the ground from the head of the Dragon.

It was Choi Han.

Chh.

He shook his sword and the dust on his blade scattered.

"Mary, we don't have time to rest."

Choi Han looked into the sparkling eyes of the black Dragon before looking around the plaza.

Amidst the citizens of the Empire who were running away…

The Hunters, the subordinates of the Huayans patriarch, were also running away.

"Wow, amazing!"

Zero commented leisurely before approaching Choi Han. Choi Han slightly frowned after turning his head.

"What's wrong? Isn't it cool?"

Zero's entire body was covered in blood.

He was not injured at all. He was covered in other people's blood.

"Keke. You guys, all of you are strong."

Zero's pupils were shaking.

"Very strong."

Choi Han looked away after seeing the slightly crazed look in Zero's eyes.

He had no time to pay attention to this guy.

"What is the current situation?"

He simply spoke to gather information about the current situation.

"Ugh! I thought you were an innocent little bastard, but you are the most intense."

Zero responded cheekily before moving his blood-covered disheveled head back. His gray eyes headed down to the black skeleton snake that was slowly stopping its movements underneath the black Dragon.

"The church and Imperial Princess Olivia decided to focus on evacuating the civilians. A portion of the forces will then head to the Imperial Palace with Imperial Princess Olivia at the center."

Zero pointed to himself.

"And we are hunting the Hunters. The battle-focused believers are with us as well."

"And the Pope?"

He did not see the Pope nor priest Durst.

"I am here because I have a message to deliver regarding that."

There had been a reason that Zero, who had been fighting like a crazed maniac, had approached Choi Han and Mary.

"All of the Hunters ran away to the Huayans' Estate. Their plan seems to gather there to fight."

"…And?"

"A lot of civilians would get injured if we fight here. The surrounding area will also turn into a mess. We decided to gather them in one area before fighting them."

Zero let out a short sigh.

"We were able to handle most of the Huayans' forces. However, those Hunter bastards were very strong. We could not deal with excessively strong individuals such as the sword master."

"They also ran away?"

"Yes. I think there must be something in the Huayans Estate they need to protect."

Zero reached his hand toward Choi Han and Mary.

"So, come with me, and let's fight together. I'm sorry I have to ask this of you, but I hope you guys can handle their sword master and other strong individuals."

"Did they suddenly run away?"

"No."

Zero pointed toward the platform.

"They started running the moment the Huayans patriarch was captured by our esteemed Purifier. We would have had a lot of casualties if they had not done so."

He snickered before smiling.

"They must have thought it was a lost cause and ran off after seeing their leader in such dire straits."

"No…"

"Huh?"

Choi Han shook his head.

Zero's face stiffened after seeing the look on Choi Han's face.

"…Why do you have such an expression on your face?"

Mary had already reached her hand toward the black Dragon as he asked in confusion.

The black Dragon flapped its wings again as it prepared to fly up once more.

"Zero."

Choi Han's voice was low.

"The Hunters are not running away."

Although he had not gotten a thorough look, Choi Han had seen a sword master, as well as an archer and a martial artist of similar strength.

Of course, there were different levels among sword masters so none of them were strong enough that Choi Han was scared of losing to them.

However, if it were Hunters who were so strong…

"They just need to make an offering of karma."

Then they could run away.

They could go to a different dimension.

That act of offering karma was the thing Cale and his group was most worried about.

Things would become complicated if they ran away to a different dimension.

'Cale-nim definitely told the church members to immediately do whatever they needed to do to stop any Hunter who talked about making an offering of karma and reporting it to him.'

In that case, these Hunters who were supposedly running away-

"They are not running."

They were heading into the Huayans' Estate?

'Then there is something there!'

Choi Han had looked around the Estate with Aphei.

'But there might be something that Aphei doesn't know, something only the Hunters know about!'

It was something that would make them move as soon as the Huayans patriarch was captured by Cale!

'This is not good.'

He had a bad feeling about this.

"Mary, I will go report this."

"I understand. I will immediately head to the Estate."

"Huh, huh? What the hell?"

Zero flailed around. However, the black Dragon had already grabbed him by his back and flew up.

Choi Han watched Mary head toward the Estate before quickly heading to the platform.

Cale. He thought he should report the situation to Cale.

Choi Han then saw Cale clutching Reddock Huayans' hair.

The hand that was grabbing the patriarch's hair had a rose gold light that looked as if it would melt everything away surrounding it.

"U, ugh-"

Reddock Huayans couldn't help but groan.

His eyes were trying to look at the top of his head. He was trying to look at Cale's hand that was clutching his hair.

Cale spoke in a gentle tone.

"Reddock Huayans. Don't worry."

A warm smile appeared on his face.

"I don't have any intentions of killing you. I will definitely keep you alive."

"…!"

Reddock scowled. Cale's smile became even wider. No, it became brighter.

'I can't kill him. I have so many things to ask.'

Cale had quite a lot of things to ask the Huayans patriarch.

Why did they attack the Roan Kingdom?

What happened to the king?

Why did they burn down the Duke's Estate and what did they do with the first young lady and the youngest young lady?

Cale continued to clutch the Huayans patriarch's hair as he whispered in a gentle voice.

"I will definitely take you around with me."

'Along with the Blood Cult's Number 7.'

Shaaaaaaa-

The Huayans patriarch's white light was disappearing with the wind.

Instead, white ashes that were fluttering out of the rose gold light filled the air above the plaza.

– Human, you have that reliable smile on your face again!

Cale ignored Raon's voice as he commented.

His face was stoic again.

"Should we try it now?"

Crackle.

A current crackled as Cale let go of the patriarch's white hair. His hand slowly moved toward the patriarch's shoulder which had become dyed black.

"…!"

The Huayans patriarch's eyes were full of astonishment and fear, yet they could not look away from the approaching rose gold light. Furthermore, he felt suffocated by Cale's presence which was pressuring him.

Crack.

"Ugh!"

A current flowing out of the rose gold light slightly touched his shoulder.

The Huayans patriarch opened his mouth.

"S, stop-!"

Cale stealthily smiled as the patriarch shouted.

– Cale, you got him.

He slightly nodded his head at the Super Rock's comment.

– Human, gramps said he finished looting the tomb! He said he teleported all of the jiangshis! As expected, Goldie gramps and the timid Aphei are both amazing!

He listened to Raon's report and…

Warmly asked the patriarch.

"Why? It is good to be purified. Hmm?"

"You, you crazy bastard-!"

Reddock's eyes filled with murderous intent.

"Do you think that I don't know your scheme?!"

'It sure feels like you don't.'

"I will no longer be fooled by your wicked schemes of hiding your strength!"

'…See? He still doesn't know.'

"I will never tell you anything even if you purify me! And do you really think that everything will be over once you kill me?! Keke."

Reddock quietly chuckled as the corners of his lips twisted up.

"The plans for the ritual are already starting! Although I may die, this world will perish!"

Cale then heard Choi Han's voice.

"Cale-nim!"

He looked at Cale's back as he spoke.

"The Hunters are apparently running away to the Huayans' Estate! Our allies seem to be planning on gathering the Hunters there before fighting again, but I think that something is weird!"

"Kekeke-"

Reddock laughed.

"Although I may be weaker than you, you should not have looked down on our tenacity."

He smiled at Cale. He seemed to be sneering.

"The black tree. Did you really think that was the end? Kehehehe-!"

He looked at the black vines binding him as he shouted.

"This entire land needs to be dyed black in order to destroy the world!"

Boooooooom-!

An intense rumbling that could not be compared to any of the rumblings until now shook the entire capital.

– Human!

Cale heard Raon's shocked voice.

"…Shit…!"

Choi Han let out a deep groan.

Something black had shot up from what seemed to be the Huayans' Estate.

It resembled mud.

It was a large black thing that he could not make out properly. Just seeing it made him feel discomfort and dread.

Most importantly, it was extremely large.

That black thing continued to shoot up.

It looked as if a large hill was being created in real-time.

No, it was not a hill, but more like a mountain.

That mountain slowly turned toward the Imperial Palace and continued to grow larger.

"Reddock Huayans."

The patriarch smiled after hearing Cale calling out to him in a low voice.

'I can finally see this bastard's shocked face!'

"That black thing, there are more of them, aren't there?"

"Kekeke, that's right! Those things will start moving from all around this world very soon!"

Aphei did not know about this. She was not a Hunter, but rather just a pawn for the Hunters.

The patriarch realized that Cale was the one who had infiltrated his place. As a result, he wanted to see what kind of reaction Cale would have as Cale would have not expected something like this at all.

"Our original plan would have done this later, but we had no choice thanks to you!"

Those things would start from the Huayans Estate and activate in order.

The black tree was a practice round for this. These black things in all sorts of shapes and sizes would start moving.

The twisted smile disappeared from Reddock's face as he shouted.

"This world will face destruction quickly thanks to you bastards! Even if you are able to purify enough to create that white sand desert! Even if you are able to suppress me! You can't stop that!"

He sneered at Cale who had looked down at him.

"You can't look down on 300 years of work. There is so much we have prepared in that time."

And…

"Even you should not be able to stop everything in this world! All of them will start moving in one hour! Kahahaha- ugh!"

Reddock stopped laughing.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh—!"

He screamed.

Crackle!

His shoulder was grabbed by Cale's hand and covered in rose gold light.

"Man, you are so loud."

Cale calmly commented while looking at Choi Han.

"I'm going to knock this bastard out. Make sure he can't do anything."

"…Will you head over, Cale-nim?"

Cale was silent for a moment after hearing Choi Han ask in a quiet voice.

– Cale, that black thing looks dangerous.

The Fire of Destruction commented.

– Those black things will start to move from different locations all around this world in one hour. We don't have much time.

The Super Rock commented as well before the cheapskate chimed in again.

– But the conditions to get rid of those black things shouldn't be that hard. We are omnipotent here! Khahahaha! What do you think, Cale?

The cheapskate shouted in a crazed voice.

– We will really burn an entire continent! Kahahahahahahaha!

Cale nonchalantly commented to Raon, who was no longer invisible, and Choi Han, who was looking at him.

"I'll be back soon."

Raon let out a sigh.

"…Human, it has been a while since you last fainted and coughed up blood."

Cale started to frown.

"I won't faint and I won't cough up blood either."

The white sand desert was a case of using more power than necessary to purify the black tree.

He only needed to use fifty percent of his strength to release 2,500 percent worth of power.

However, what he needed right now was precisely and quickly destroying a specific target.

That was why Cale's plan was to use as little power as possible to create the best result.

It was at that moment.

"Pfft."

"…!"

This was the first time Cale saw Raon smiling at him with one corner of his lips twisted up.

"I mean it."

"Pfft."

Raon chuckled again as if he did not believe Cale.

Cale's pupils shook for the first time since coming to this world.

"…Raon is slowly becoming more and more like you, Cale-nim."

Choi Han tightly tied up the unconscious Reddock Huayans as he commented with a sigh.

"Anyways, let's hurry, Cale-nim."

"…Uhh… Yeah, we should."

Cale felt something was weird, but he hurried to the Huayans' Estate for now.

---

A pillar on a building crumbled.

"Aaaaaah–!"

"R, run- ahhhh, aaaaak!"

People who were in the home rushed outside.

However, they had to run again after getting outside.

"Move, I said move!"

"Ugh, that, what is that?!"

The people in the garden, the people on the streets…

No, everybody in the nearby area was running away.

A person who looked back gasped in fear.

"E, eeek, eeeeeek!"

It was black.

The black hill was slowly approaching him.

'What is going on?!'

This area was where the homes of the nobles were gathered together. In fact, this area was known as the best area in the capital as it was close to both the Huayans' Estate and the Imperial Palace.

"Why, why-?"

However, this place had now turned into hell.

He and the staff of the building had gathered inside as things looked serious after they heard explosions from the capital plaza.

The people in his house were not the only ones who did that.

Everybody in this area was inside a house right now if possible.

The nobles' homes had strong black magic barriers, so it would be safest inside the buildings if something happened in the capital.

Furthermore, they also thought that it was extremely unlikely that the noble neighborhood, especially the one near the Imperial Palace, would be attacked.

Of course, he had wondered what he should do after he saw the fire shooting up from the Imperial Palace.

"So, why all of a sudden-?!"

'Why did things suddenly happen here?!'

This noble area around the Imperial Palace would usually be a quiet area.

However, some people had headed this way after the explosions in the central plaza.

Based on the observation of the people who work here, they were dressed like people who would not normally be in this area.

That was why he grabbed one of those people and asked what had happened.

"What happened?!"

"There is a battle going on! The entire plaza is being destroyed!"

The people who were gathered in the plaza escaped to different parts of the capital to get away from the battle.

"A battle?"

"Yes! Ha, this is driving me nuts! The Imperial Palace and the House of Huayans- haaa, seriously."

"What do you mean by that?"

It was at that moment.

Crack, crack!

He heard something breaking.

That made some people scowl as they shouted.

"I knew I shouldn't have moved near the Huayans!"

"We should have moved in the opposite direction!"

However, those shouts soon turned to screams.

"W, what is that?"

"…This is crazy, this is fucking crazy!"

And people were running away now.

Crack, crack!

That black thing that shot up from the Huayans' Estate…

It had been the size of a house at first. However, it instantly grew to the size of a hill and started to move.

It had been moving toward the Imperial Palace at first, but it had changed directions.

"Huff, huff! Eeeek!"

The person running away had cold sweat on his back.

It was because it had become dark.

To be more specific, a shadow had appeared above his head and his body was imprisoned inside the shadow.

He was shaking as he turned to look behind him.

"…Ah."

The black hill…

That thing was closer now.

"…Oo…ahhhhhh…."

The black hill that he could see better now was not a hill.

There were countless numbers of black eyes on the black body. Those eyes were looking in all directions without stopping.

"Eek!"

One of those eyes looked directly at him.

'…Ah-'

He couldn't say anything and his mind went blank.

All his eyes could see was the black hill and the path it had moved across. He could only see the ground where everything had turned black.

The area that this thing passed by had become polluted.

He only had one thought on his mind.

'W, will I also- Will I also end up like that?'

"Please move!"

It was at that moment.

"Ugh!"

Someone pulled him back.

"W, who?"

A person wearing a red outfit pulled him back and passed him off to someone else.

"Move him!"

"Okay, okay, don't give me orders like that!"

A person who looked like a mercenary urgently picked him up and moved back. He could finally look around.

There were mercenaries and people wearing priest robes he had never seen before all around the area evacuating people.

"Bishop Durst-nim!"

"Yeah?!"

There was also someone approaching the monster.

"Fire! Please give me the power to defeat the darkness!"

The people around the old man shouted the same thing as well.

Oooooong– oooooong–

A red aura appeared around them.

It was at that moment.

The eyes of the black hill that had been looking in all directions, well, at least all of the eyes on this side of this large hill, the hundreds of pairs of eyes turned to look at them.

"First line, shield! Second line, attack!"

Priest Durst gave the order before pulling out his greatsword and heading toward the black hill.

A red aura surrounded his sword as well.

Chhhhhhhhhhhh-!

The sword with the red aura sliced the black hill.

'Shit.'

Durst was stoic, but he was swearing internally.

'…The attack didn't do much.'

The Fire of Purification. Although he couldn't utilize its true nature, Bishop Durst was the person who could use most of its power after the Pope.

He had swung the sword with all of his strength.

'It was barely this much?!'

Only an injury that was about one meter deep was left on the monster's body.

But that was it.

His sword did not do much damage to this hill-like monster that was quickly turning into a mountain.

"Don't stop the attacks!"

However, Durst raised his voice and continued the attack.

"It does not heal! Continue to attack!"

The injury was not deep.

However, it did not heal.

The Fire of Purification. The power was clearly leaving injuries on this monster.

"Other attacks do not work! Remember that your attacks need the power of the Fire of Purification!"

The moment Durst looked around to shout…

"Bishop-nim! Watch out!"

He heard the voice of the priest right behind him. That made Durst look forward toward the monster again.

"…Oh no."

The injured area…

Black smoke was coming out of it.

It was dreadful.

This was clearly dead mana, but he could feel a poison that went beyond the level of dead mana.

Durst lamented while looking at the black smoke.

'We made a mistake.'

After seeing the Hunters running away to the Huayans Estate, they decided to gather them there to take them down.

They thought that they should gather the enemies and use their numbers advantage to take them down as the enemies had strong individuals such as a sword master.

'It was an error in judgment.'

They had made the wrong choice.

They should have kept the enemies at the plaza even if that would have resulted in some innocent people getting hurt.

'…For them to kill their own…'

The enemies suddenly killed the staff, soldiers, knights, and others in the Huayans' Estate as soon as they arrived.

'Let's make a new offering of karma!'

That was what they shouted as they killed their own people before this black thing shot up from the basement of the building.

This thing then started to swallow everything.

"Bishop! What are you doing?!"

"Ah."

Durst snapped out of his thoughts after hearing a voice that sounded extremely serious as if to scold him.

"Pope-nim!"

"Please move!"

The Pope moved past the bishop and reached out her hands. Her priest robe fluttered.

The area around her was full of a red aura.

It wasn't as strong as Cale's but it was enough for people around her to blank out and stare.

"Fire, rise!"

Her hand touched the ground and just as she shouted…

A thin red wall shot up from the ground.

The black smoke crashed into the red wall.

Chhhhhhhhh-

There was the sound of burning and the black smoke was unable to push past the wall.

Creak. Creak.

A portion of the thousands, or hundreds of thousands of eyes looked at the red wall before looking in a different direction.

"Huff. Huff."

"Are you okay, Pope-nim?"

The bishop urgently supported the Pope. Her face was drenched in sweat.

"Bishop. That monster is moving to where it senses life! It must have changed directions from the Imperial Palace because it wanted to head toward the area with the largest number of people!"

This black monster took a step back and hesitated once the power of the Fire of Purification was used.

The bishops were currently surrounding the monster, using the power of the Fire of Purification with the priests behind them to do their best to stop the monster's movement.

However, it was not easy.

"We must hold on."

The black eyes looked back toward her the moment she said that.

The large body then started moving.

Chhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-

The black hill touched the red wall. Smoke appeared and something sounded as if it was boiling, but the hill continued to move.

It was as if it was going to destroy the red wall no matter what it took.

"Shit!"

The Pope swore before reaching her hands out again.

The red aura coming out of her hands headed toward the red wall that looked as if it would break.

"Help the Pope-nim!"

The bishops and priests rushed over to her side to add their powers as well.

One of the priests asked at that moment.

His voice sounded desperate.

"When will the Purifier-nim come?!"

Craaaaaaack–!

The red wall was starting to crack.

"Fuck!"

The Pope scowled.

The monster had hesitated in front of the power of purification, but it seemed to have made up its mind to destroy it regardless of the cost.

In comparison to this black monster, this power of purification was lacking.

Craaaaaaack–

The moment the cracking wall…

Baaaaang—!

Finally broke…

"We cannot retreat!"

The Pope shouted.

"We cannot retreat any farther back!"

Although they had not managed to stop this monster that almost instantly grew so large, they had to stop it now.

There were a lot of people if it traveled a bit more in this direction.

They had opened the city gates and were having people rush out, but there had not been enough time yet.

Shhhhhhhhhh—

Black smoke started rising from the black body at that moment.

The Pope's eyes opened wide.

'…Shit.'

The hundreds of thousands of eyes… The black smoke rising from all of them…

This black smoke reminded her of the area outside this land.

The polluted area. It made her think of the dead mana fog that she would see in the extremely polluted areas.

If that thing was carried by the wind and spread around-

People would end up dying.

"Ah."

The Pope looked at something at that moment.

The large hill…

There was a black Dragon charging toward this hill.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The black Dragon threw its whole body to stop the large hill.

No, it was trying to push it.

It was trying to prevent it from going toward the people.

"Ah."

However, the black hill hugged the black Dragon made of bones.

It grabbed this black Dragon that was extremely large.

It looked as if it wanted to swallow it whole.

Boom, boom! Boom!

The black Dragon moved to resist.

The parts of the black hill that touched the black Dragon turned into some bizarre jelly-like substance to swallow it.

"…Ah."

'The necromancer is here.'

The Pope's eyes lost their strength as she had that thought.

It was because the black Dragon was no longer moving.

It remained still as it met the approaching black hill as if it had lost its strength.

'Shit-'

As the people watching were about to get dejected…

"Ah!"

The Pope saw something.

The hundreds of thousands of black eyes that had been releasing black smoke…

Those eyes withdrew the smoke.

They then started moving.

They all looked in a single direction.

Whether it was swallowing the black Dragon or destroying the red wall…

The black hill stopped doing everything.

The Pope instantly realized what had happened after seeing this.

"He's here!"

Her eyes moved to look in the same direction as the monster.

A person surrounded by rose gold light was approaching.

The Purifier.

The moment she realized that the esteemed Purifier was here…

Rumble—!

She heard a short roar from the sky.

The Pope raised her head after feeling her entire body tense.

She looked up at the sky.

This immense power…

The moment she felt this destructive force…

Baaaaaang—!

A single strand of red thunderbolt struck the black hill.

Everybody saw red.

Screeeeeeeech—!

They heard the black thing screeching for the first time.

The red light soon disappeared.

The Pope could see the black hill that was curled up with something that resembled a shield surrounding it.

The black hill looked pretty fine.

However, there was a smile on the Pope's face.

She had chills all over her body.

"Pope-nim-"

The priests called out to the Pope in shaking voices. Bishop Durst had his hands clasped together next to her.

"Pope-nim."

He called out to her as well, but the Pope was certain.

She knew that none of them were looking at her right now.

She knew that the priests, the Agents of Destruction, and the citizens of the Empire would all be looking at what she was looking at right now.

The Pope had faith.

Rumble—

The Pope looked up at the sky.

The sky was getting covered with grey clouds.

She could see rose gold light through the clouds.

"…It is starting."

The Pope barely managed to look away.

Her eyes looked at the Purifier who was standing on the roof of a building nearby that had not been destroyed.

They were looking at Cale Henituse.

– Human, those eyes are disgusting!

Cale ignored Raon's comment.

The hundreds of thousands of eyes were all looking at Cale.

– Human, don't smile like that! Actually, do smile like that!

Raon changed his decision before cautiously asking.

– Hey human, but will you really not cough up blood or faint?

Raon, who had chuckled because he did not believe Cale earlier, cautiously asked again.

"Pfft."

Cale chuckled.

– Human, don't laugh like that and answe-

"Yeah."

Cale felt the rose gold current in his hand as he responded.

"I won't cough up blood. I won't faint."

At that moment, Cale's hand moved from the sky to the ground. It sliced down from top to bottom.

Rumble—!

The sky stopped crying.

Rose gold lights pierced through the ash-colored clouds and revealed themselves.

They did not move quickly.

They did not strike down instantly like thunderbolts.

The rose gold lights that started appearing one by one gathered together into a pillar of light before descending.

It looked as if the aurora had turned into a single pillar as it descended to the ground.

It was beautiful.

It was truly beautiful.

However, nobody reached their hands toward that light.

Their instincts were telling them that as beautiful as this was, it was extremely scary.

---

'It's shaking.'

The black hill was shaking.

The moment the hundreds of thousands of eyes saw the rose gold pillar of light slowly heading down toward it…

They aimlessly looked all around them.

Screeeech—!

The black hill suddenly screeched.

Chhhhhhhhh!

The black Dragon ripped the black hill apart and flew up into the sky at that moment.

However, the black hill could not even think about catching the black Dragon.

"It will be the end if we are caught up in that."

Necromancer Mary commented in a calm voice as she had the black skeletal Dragon run away.

As far as possible…

Far from that red pillar of light.

"Ah."

The Pope did not sense Mary who was suddenly next to her. However, she realized something while looking at the hundreds of thousands of black eyes aimlessly looking around.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The black hill stomped on the ground.

It dug a hole and tried to hide inside.

She mentioned the thing she realized.

"It is looking for a place to run away."

The moment she said that…

The rose gold pillar of light touched the black hill.

—-!

There was no noise.

There was no collision or explosion.

Screeeeech—!

The black hill screeched. Its entire body twisted.

Boom, boom!

The ground shook from the black hill's flailing.

The rumbling was so strong that it could be felt beyond the walls of the city.

Chhhh—!

Black smoke started coming out from the black eyes.

The smoke headed toward the pillar of light.

Sharp thorns grew out of the sides of the black hill's body as well. Each and every thorn was big enough that multiple adults would need to work together in order to carry it.

The black hill's thorns pointed up similar to that of a hedgehog.

Black liquid was dripping from the thorns.

This existence that was larger than a hill based on its size…

This thing that was strong enough to make the entire Empire's capital shake…

The smoke that was polluting the air…

The large thorns that were releasing deadlyl poison…

"Ah…"

However, barely anybody was looking at this dreadful monster.

The Agents of Destruction lowered their hands that were holding weapons.

"…Oh Fire of Purification…"

The Pope's legs gave out and she plopped down on the ground.

She could see white snow.

No, it was not snow, but ashes.

"…This, this is the power of purification-"

A priest blankly looked up and extended his hands to the sky despite the black monster's last-ditch flailing.

White ashes fluttered through his fingers.

The moment the rose gold pillar of light touched the black hill…

SCREEEEEEEEECH—!

The moment that the black monster had screeched…

The monster's body started to disappear.

White ashes fluttered in its place.

The closer the pillar of light got to the ground…

The more the monster flailed…

The amount of white ashes slowly increased.

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

There was a gust of wind.

The countless white ashes created between the red and black were carried by the gust of wind and scattered throughout the sky.

It looked as if it was snowing in the middle of winter.

SCREEEEEEEEECH—!

If it wasn't for the monster screeching… If it wasn't for the monster flailing… They might not have even realized that this was a site of a fight.

"No."

Zero shook his head.

"…This is not a fight."

'It's as if, yes, it's as if…'

It looked as if a god in the sky was destroying an evil creature on the ground.

Zero could not laugh.

He had been able to laugh even while watching the black tree outside of precinct 9 being purified, but he could not laugh anymore.

'Beautiful.'

It was beautiful.

Although they were underneath ash-colored clouds, white ashes fluttered and piled up all around the capital.

"What the…?"

"Mommy, is it snowing?"

"…So pretty."

In the destroyed plaza, the Imperial Palace, the commoners' residences, and even the shoulders of the people standing at the gate running away…

White ashes slowly fluttered down and piled up.

White ashes piled up to cover up the traces of the destroyed and broken places.

"…Is this really a sight that can be seen in a world that was facing destruction?"

One of the Agents of Destruction mumbled as they covered their eyes with their hands.

It was not such a beautiful sight that it suffocated them with awe.

However, the white ashes that fluttered down like large snowflakes made their hearts flutter.

"…Leader."

"What is it?"

An agent asked Zero.

"Is he really human?"

Zero's gaze followed the agent to the roof of a building.

There was someone, who no longer had a rose gold thunderbolt wrapped around him, calmly standing there looking at the black monster.

The Purifier.

He could not sense any sort of pressure from this feeble-looking man.

"…I don't know. But that is not important."

It was not important whether that guy was human or not.

"What is important is that the only thing left for this terrible darkness is destruction."

The only thing left for this era was destruction.

The world that was to come would not have this darkness.

That was what was important to Zero.

"…But I am still curious. I want to know what the person who created all of this is thinking right now."

Zero could not look away from Cale.

His eyes opened wide at that moment.

"…!"

The Purifier.

He slightly staggered.

However, not many people managed to see that.

Boom-!

The monster had stopped flailing and fell to the ground at that moment. The black eyes were no longer releasing smoke and the thorns had turned into white ashes and disappeared into the sky.

Screeech, screeeeech—

The monster was even stopping its quiet screeching.

The large black hill would completely perish in a little bit.

– Human!

However, Raon didn't care whether the black hill perished or not. It wasn't important to him whether white ashes fluttered in the air.

The invisible Raon supported Cale's staggering body.

Of course, he used the sturdiest part of his body, his head.

"Ugh!"

Cale gasped after feeling Raon's firm head slam into his side.

"Meeeeeeeeeeow!"

"Meeeeeow!"

On and Hong, who had just arrived on top of the roof and were headed toward Cale, approached him in shock.

"You can't faint, nya!"

"Are you okay? You can't turn pale, nya!"

On, in her kitten form, walked past the shocked Hong and urgently checked on Cale's complexion.

"…?"

She was then flabbergasted.

"…Y, your complexion l, looks good?"

It was rare to see On stutter like this.

"That's not possible! The human is currently coughing up b, hmm?"

Raon tilted his head in confusion.

"Human, you look totally fine!"

"…Ha…"

Cale pushed the invisible Raon whose head was pushing against Cale's side.

"I told you I'm okay."

Cale was fine.

"Then why did you stagger just now? I thought you were fainting!"

Cale answered honestly.

"It wasn't anything to worry about."

He was slightly dizzy a moment ago. That was why he had staggered.

'But this much is not enough for me to faint nor cough up blood.'

He was in good condition.

Of course, Cale was currently shocked as well.

'You can create something like this if you truly are overwhelmingly strong.'

Cale was taking care of the monster so easily as if the monster's last efforts weren't much.

Cale couldn't do anything about the buildings in the capital that the monster had already destroyed, but he had not destroyed anything to take down this monster.

'Well, they will struggle when they try to get rid of all these ashes. But that is not for me, but the people of the capital.'

Cale looked at the white ashes and thought it would be a headache to clean it all up.

"Human, the white ashes are as pretty as snow!"

"I want to make a snowman, nya!"

Of course, he ignored Raon and Hong's conversation.

Beeeeeeep-

He heard a noise from the video communication device at that moment.

"Human, I'll check!"

Raon quickly read the message that was delivered.

"Human! Dark Elf Shawn and Vampire Jezna said that they have secured the respective tombs!"

The jiangshis were in two other locations.

Shawn and Jezna had followed Cale's orders to take the church and the Agents of Destruction to take control of those two locations.

Of course, this was only after confirming that there were no extremely powerful individuals in either location.

"Sui Khan told me to let you know, nya."

On slowly approached Cale as she spoke.

"He said that we are capturing the Hunters and not to worry, nya."

"Human! Gramps just contacted me as well! He said that they are capturing the remaining Hunters! He says that Choi Han is with him!"

Sui Khan, Choi Han, Eruhaben, and Aphei.

They were currently capturing the rest of the Hunters who had not offered themselves as tribute to the black hill.

'Hmm.'

Cale thought about it for a moment.

'I'm sure there are some Hunters who ran away.'

There must have been at least one or two Hunters who shouted about making an offering of karma and ran away.

This monster, this black hill suddenly appearing had turned this place into chaos. It would have made it so that the Agents of Destruction and the members of the Church were unable to fully pay attention to the Hunters.

'It does not matter.'

However, it did not matter to Cale.

He reached out his hand. He touched his hair.

He still had white hair and green eyes.

Nobody other than the Huayans patriarch had realized that Cale was Cale.

'Well, there might be people who recognize us based on Mary and Choi Han's powers.'

He just needed to disguise Choi Han and Mary while taking them with him if that happened.

He could also go to the other worlds without the two of them.

"Raon, let's move."

Either way, there was something he needed to do first right now.

Cale had received contact from the Margrave in Precinct 9 on his way here.

'Purifier-nim! Monsters resembling the black tree have started their attacks in the Eastern, Southern, and Northern precincts of the Empire!'

Ooooooooong-

A black magic circle appeared with Cale at the center.

"Shall I go too?"

Cale made eye contact with Mary, who flew up on her black Dragon. He shook his head.

"Mary. I leave it to you to take care of things here. I'll come back after taking care of the rest."

"I understand."

Cale felt relieved at the calmly responding Mary before teleporting with Raon, On, and Hong.

Paaaat-!

A black light soon flashed as Cale, On, Hong, and Raon disappeared from the roof.

Mary descended to the ground.

The Pope, Zero, and Imperial Princess Olivia approached her.

"…Ha."

Imperial Princess Olivia let out a gasp-like laugh as she approached Mary.

The place where Mary was standing right now…

This place was where the black hill had been until mere moments ago.

The monster had disappeared without a trace.

Pss pss.

All she could feel in its place were the white ashes underneath her feet.

"…Did the esteemed Purifier-nim go somewhere?"

Mary contemplated for a bit before honestly answering the Pope's question.

Her voice was relaxed as she spoke.

"The Purifier-nim has gone to the Eastern, Southern, and Northern precincts. He went to purify the monsters that have appeared outside the respective precincts."

"…There really were other monsters."

"Yes, ma'am."

Zero walked past the Pope who clenched her eyes and looked as if she was praying and asked.

"Hey, I saw that Purifier guy stagger just moments ago. Are you sure that he is okay?"

The Pope and the Second Imperial Princess looked at Mary in shock after hearing that. The two of them had not seen that.

Mary debated it for a moment.

'His complexion looked good.'

Mary had ridden on the black Dragon and gone up to check Cale's complexion.

Mary, who had gone up there because she was concerned and because she had to tell Choi Han or Eruhaben about Cale's condition, had come to a conclusion after taking a look at Cale.

'He seemed much better off than I expected.'

However…

"…I'm not sure."

She could not be certain.

Why?

"He is someone who always uses his powers like this and sacrifices himself."

Based on Cale's actions until now… Until he faints…

"Furthermore, he is not someone who makes it show, so I don't think we will know until everything is over."

She had no way of knowing.

Mary gave her honest answer before calmly continuing to speak.

"The monster is gone, so we must now do what we can."

Mary slightly tilted her head to the side at that moment.

"Shit, shit!"

Zero suddenly became angry and stomped on the ground.

"…Oh esteemed Purifier."

The Pope unclasped her hands and spoke to Mary.

"I guess we need to give everything we have for the reconstruction."

The Second Imperial Princess turned around with a stiff expression on her face and started to walk toward the Imperial Palace.

She made a comment as she left.

"…I learned something again."

Mary quietly looked at the three people, who had all reacted differently but jumped in to take care of things without having to be told to do so, before she got on the black Dragon and flew up into the sky.

She needed to tell the others about Cale's condition and what he had told her.

"I'm a bit tired."

– Cale, at least the monsters that were in the east, south, and north were weak compared to the black tree and the black hill. That's a relief. You didn't need to use too much strength.

Cale listened to the Super Rock's voice as he returned to the capital. He was heading back after one day.

It had taken less time than he had expected.

Of course, he was with Raon, On, and Hong.

"…Hmm?"

However, Cale touched his ears after returning to the capital.

He wondered if he had heard correctly.

"What did you say?"

"Oh, esteemed purifier! The decision has been made to create a statue in the capital plaza describing your merits."

'…What nonsense is this? I was only gone for a day. What the hell happened?'

Cale looked past the shoulder of the Pope who was saying that it needed to be done.

Eruhaben and Sui Khan were smirking while Mary was quietly standing there and Choi Han was avoiding his gaze.