Laws of the Hunt

by lilipadd

For offline purposes only :)

6. Who are you guys?

The first test to select the heir for the position of Emperor.

In this test focused on harmony, three candidates form a team to complete their assigned mission.

"In the next hour… Please select your teams and submit your list."

Nobody seemed to move despite the Chief of Staff no longer talking.

They were warily looking around or…

'They are being choosy.'

Cale smiled a bit while looking at the First Imperial Prince and the Second Imperial Princess.

'It was unexpected.'

The Second Imperial Princess, who had approached Mary during the opening celebration, did not contact Mary to work together.

'Neither did the First Imperial Prince.'

Cale's group was disappointed that they could not be in the same team as the First Imperial Prince.

'Human, that's disappointing! We could have learned about that confusing Dragon!'

'We could have learned about the first young lady of the Black Bloods as well.'

'I am curious about the First Imperial Prince's abilities, young master-nim.'

Cale had asked Mary, who stated her curiosity about the First Imperial Prince's abilities.

'Who do you want to work with?'

For this test…

'Mary, I want to do whatever you want.'

Cale wanted to do things as Mary wanted as long as it was not something that would significantly destroy their goal.

Mary and Cale made eye contact.

Mary looked into those calm eyes and recalled their conversation from last night. Cale had asked her who she wanted to team with, and…

'Is that okay, young master-nim?'

Mary had asked if it was really okay to do as she wished.

'Shouldn't we follow the will of our liege?'

The moment Cale made a rare joke to jovially respond to her… Mary was able to smile along with Cale.

'My will.'

Mary thought about what she wanted.

She wanted to work together with other necromancers and compete with them.

That was her will but she had a desire that was more important than anything else.

'…I saw it.'

Mary had seen the burnt remains of the Duke's House of Orsena and the destroyed King's Palace. She had also seen the casualties and the uncomfortable citizens of the Roan Kingdom.

The Roan Kingdom was another hometown for her.

'The Hunters. We need to learn about them, react, and fight them.'

That was Mary's top desire.

Of course, there was another desire that was almost at the same level as that one.

'Help and protect my friends.'

On, Hong, and Raon. Cale and the others… Mary wanted to help her friends.

'The thing we need the most right now-'

Mary recalled the information about the candidates Cale had explained.

"What would you like to do, my liege?"

Mary responded to Cale, who asked her as if he was a proper loyal subordinate.

"I've made up my mind."

Mary started to walk. She was the first candidate to move.

Many gazes seemed to find this to be unexpected.

People already knew about Mary's background so they expected her to make her subordinate move since she was a royal.

Mary stopped walking.

– Human! Mary's choice is interesting!

Raon's voice echoed in Cale's mind and the person in front of Mary smirked.

"Hooooo. Are you going to come under me?"

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi.

He was the first team member Mary had chosen.

"No."

Mary shook her head and answered with ease.

"I am not under anybody."

"What?"

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi's eyebrow rose a bit and he showed his annoyance, but Mary's eyes were calm as she looked at him.

"You are not under anybody either."

Noi's eyes filled with an odd gaze after hearing what Mary had to say. Mary did not notice it as she continued to say what was on her mind.

"You seem strong and wise. I want to work with you. What do you think?"

Her mechanical voice made it sound even more trustworthy.

"…Hmph."

The Fourth Imperial Prince snorted but did not deny it.

Cale's eyes were sharp as he watched them.

'I thought he was the typical trashy member of the Imperial family, but…'

The Fourth Imperial Prince had been the first to receive information and his reaction had been quite rational when the explosions happened at the palace yesterday.

'He's different from how he seems on the outside.'

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi was not as he seemed.

He was a bit calmer and a bit more collected.

'I understand Mary's thought now.'

Cale was able to understand what Mary was thinking based on her decision.

'It would be easy for us to gather information if we are with the First Imperial Prince, but… The First Imperial Prince does not wish to be with us.'

That was why, even though he seemed a bit wonky…

'The Fourth Imperial Prince was the first to contact us about working together and is likely to have quite a bit of information about the Imperial Palace.'

Furthermore, the Fourth Imperial Prince was likely to have the same backings as the First Imperial Prince as they were biological brothers.

'There should be many chances to gather information if we are with the Fourth Imperial Prince.'

Cale started to smirk.

'What is up with that punk?'

Heni Wishrop. Fourth Imperial Prince Noi, who had been looking at this girl who was a rising star candidate for the position of Imperial Crown Prince, frowned while looking at the subordinate who was looking at her with an extremely satisfied look on his face.

'Why does he have such a look on his face when he looks even younger than she does?'

Heni Wishrop.

There was almost no information about her. However, he thought that it was completely understandable.

'She's the royal of a perished kingdom.

She probably lived a difficult life because her family was one that did not escape to another kingdom and chose to protect their land until the end.

Furthermore, she probably lived a quiet life because even though her kingdom perished, the fact that she is of royal blood would cause a lot of interest from others and they might threaten her life.

But there is too little information about her.'

There was not much information regarding Heni Wishrop's three subordinates as well.

They all had brown hair and green eyes.

They seemed like brothers but the facial features visible under the masks seemed a bit different.

'One looks like a swordsman.'

There was one guy with a sword around his waist. Then there was one guy who had his arms crossed and was leisurely looking around.

Finally, that punk who was smiling with satisfaction toward Heni Wishrop just now…

'Why did this punk have a black hawk on his shoulder?'

This guy had come with a black hawk on his shoulder earlier.

Of course, that hawk flew away earlier, potentially because its master had sent it away.

'I need to look into it.'

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi still thought that First Imperial Prince Sanders was the strongest candidate.

However, he had subconsciously contacted Palace 19 for her to be on his side the moment he saw the white bone dragon.

'…That's not a real dragon but a dragon made by a necromancer…'

Noi could not forget the moment he saw the dragon flying up into the sky from the celebration palace.

The world was said to have started to perish from the moment the dragons disappeared.

However, a human, a necromancer, had made such a dragon out of bones.

Nonetheless, that dragon had held a significant aura.

'…Hmph.'

Noi did his best to ignore the back of his neck going numb and snorted before looking at Mary to ask in a grumbling voice.

"And the other team member?"

"Do you have anybody in mind?"

"I have no interest in dregs."

'Wow.'

Cale gasped in admiration after hearing what Fourth Imperial Prince Noi said as he raised his head.

He realized something at the same time.

The punk who had been glaring at Mary at the beginning for speaking informally to him had now accepted it and did not include Mary when he was talking about the dregs.

"Then can I choose someone?"

"Do as you please."

Noi answered as if he was annoyed and just wanted her to do as she pleased, but Cale realized that he was attentively watching Mary's actions.

However, Cale didn't pay much attention to it.

– Human, Mary is heading that way!

He simply followed behind Mary.

'Alright, now that she has figured out a way to get information from the Imperial Palace side, where will she choose next?'

Cale found it unexpectedly entertaining to watch Mary's actions.

'As expected.'

The reason was simple.

'Our thoughts are in sync.'

Mary's decision was similar to Cale's.

"Me?"

The candidate in Palace 9… Zero's eyes opened wide as he pointed at himself.

He couldn't hide his shock after seeing Mary standing in front of me.

"Really, me?"

"Yes. I want to team with you."

"Hooooo. Will his Royal Highness be of the same mindset?"

Zero looked toward Noi who answered as if he found the question to be ridiculous.

"Do whatever you want. Just don't get in my way."

Noi still responded as if he was a punk but his inner thoughts were a bit different.

'That was unexpected.'

Zero, the man with mercenary origins. He was probably the candidate with the least amount of information available after Heni Wishrop. Of course, Zero's origins and current personal information were clear, but…

'The middle is missing. The middle.'

There was about ten years of information about Zero missing.

It was as if he had disappeared from this world and then reappeared.

Heni Wishrop chose someone like that as a team member?

There was only one reason for it.

'Zero. No matter what his identity is, she probably thinks that she can handle him.'

As the Fourth Imperial Prince's gaze sank lower as he observed Mary…

"Oh, great, then let's work together! I'm quite talented. I won't get in your way! Hahahaha!"

Zero laughed out loud before shaking Mary's hand.

However, his mind was quite complicated as well.

'Why did she choose me?

Is it because we worked together a little bit yesterday to take care of the black mud monsters?

But that can't be it since she didn't choose the Second Imperial Princess?'

As Zero's question was about to get bigger…

"You sent the most people to our side so I thought you wanted to work with me the most."

The corners of Zero's lips stiffened a bit at Mary's calm comment.

Zero did indeed send a lot of people to Palace 19.

But he had sent them stealthily.

He told them to gather information.

"Wow."

'She's saying that to my face?

What is she plotting?'

Zero looked into Mary's eyes and realized something at that moment.

'…She's no joke.'

Mary's eyes were transparent and clear.

'She can say such things and act like this with such eyes?

…The First Imperial Prince is not the only one for me to pay attention to.'

Zero thought about his reason for entering the Imperial Palace and let go of Mary's hand.

"Wow! I like our team so much!"

He smiled brightly and walked over to the Fourth Imperial Prince's side with his sighing helpers. Mary's group followed behind them as well and their whole team gathered as one.

Cale made eye contact with Mary for a moment and nodded his head.

Mary was relieved after seeing his calm demeanor and recalled some information she had heard from Sui Khan earlier that morning. Cale and the others had all heard it together.

'I found the people Raon mentioned.'

Raon had identified all of the people who had left the Garden of the Stars yesterday after the palace explosion and monster attack.

Sui Khan and the church sought out information on the people who left the Imperial Palace during that time.

'Most went to information guilds or the factions of the respective candidates. However, there was just one person who I could not track down.'

Sui Khan had an odd smile on his face at that time.

'The team leader lost track of someone?'

Mary saw Cale finding that to be odd and waited for what Sui Khan had to say.

'Palace 9. I couldn't track down Zero's subordinate.'

'Why couldn't you follow him?'

'He left the capital.'

Sui Khan added on.

'Stealthily and on his own.'

Basically, he did not use proper means to go through the city gates but stealthily over the city walls to leave the capital.'

"Okay then, let's do our best? Hahahaha!"

Mary turned her gaze after seeing Zero laughing out loud.

The Chief of Staff opened his mouth.

"It looks like most of the teams have been formed."

He raised his hand.

"We will now move to the western edge village."

There was a scroll with a teleportation magic circle inscribed on it in his hand.

"You can use the teleportation magic circle to head toward the assigned location."

Cale heard Raon's voice in his mind.

– Human, you just need me to use magic when you rip the scroll?

Cale's group had already learned the coordinates of where they were headed.

After Raon, Cale heard Eruhaben's voice in his mind.

– We can't use a magic circle scroll given to us by the enemy. I will just pretend to use it.

The Chief of Staff continued to speak.

"Each candidate can teleport separately to start."

They seemed to be teleporting by candidate because each team teleporting together would be a large-scale teleportation.

Chhhhhhhhh-!

A black bird flew over and landed on Cale's shoulder. The corners of Sui Khan's eyes tiredly curled down once he made eye contact with Cale.

Cale heard the Chief of Staff's voice at that moment.

The Chief of Staff's voice was still calm.

"I pray that nobody dies during this first test."

The Chief of Staff said that while smiling.

And that day, the entire capital was informed that the first test of harmony was started to select the Imperial Crown Prince.

"…It's huge."

Precinct 9 of the edge village.

There were a total of ten precincts following the western border of the Empire and Precinct 9 was as large as a noble's territory.

It was the largest of the ten precincts.

"A rain cloud of dead mana is coming in! All members evacuate to the shelter!"

"Lock the doors!"

"Move the residents home!"

It would also not be weird if this land would be eroded by dead mana and destroyed at any moment.

Furthermore, this was the edge village on the west side of the Empire that was closest to the capital.

– Human, that-, that is amazing!

Cale was on the top floor of the central castle of Precinct 9, the former Lord's Castle, as he looked toward the large wall to the west.

Furthermore, he saw beyond the wall…

And the black rain cloud that was heading over.

"Shit, we don't even have time for greetings! Cast the shield along the entire precinct immediately!"

The Margrave in charge of Precinct 9 left the nineteen candidates and ran out.

"Please wear the masks!"

"The dead clouds do not last over thirty minutes so we will escort you at that time! Please follow our guide until then!"

The aides quickly approached and handed the candidates and their helpers some masks while the employees of the castle urgently closed and locked all of the windows.

This was a regular routine for those who lived in a place that feared dead mana.

– Cale.

Cale heard the cheapskate's voice as he looked out the closed glass window.

Plop. Plop.

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

Black rain was falling from the black rain clouds as gusts of wind blew across.

However, the rain did not manage to land in Precinct 9.

A black half-transparent shield was cast over the entire precinct.

Around 100 black mages had cast the shield together.

"Wow."

Cale quietly observed the black rain cloud, the dead cloud as they called it, while Zero gasped in admiration.

He heard the cheapskate's voice in his mind.

– That rain cloud looks like it'll completely disappear if you send a small fiery thunderbolt at it, doesn't it?

'I know, right?'

Cale had been having a similar thought.

---

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

The black rain was as thick as the unexpected rainfall in the middle of summer.

Clunk. Clunk.

It also brought gusts of wind with it.

"The edge precinct black mages truly are skilled~"

Cale turned his head after hearing the melodious mumbling.

'He's smiling?'

The mercenary with disheveled hair was smiling while looking out the window. That made Cale think about his suspicions.

'Is this bastard really a member of the Agents of Destruction?'

There were not many reasons to send a subordinate out of the capital no matter how many times Cale thought about it.

'Hmm?'

Cale turned toward the Fourth Imperial Prince who was standing past Zero.

'As expected, the trash demeanor is just an act.'

The Fourth Imperial Prince, who was looking out the window with quite a serious gaze, had both of his fists clenched. It was only for an instant, but he even cursed under his breath as if he was holding back his anger.

– Human! Will our team be okay? One was smiling like a fool before turning serious while the other was angry but suddenly chuckles and pretends to laugh!

As Raon mentioned, the two candidates had quickly hid their emotions.

'The two of their emotions aren't the issue right now.'

Cale looked away from the two of them and looked outside.

Swooooooosh-

The black rain mixed with the wind and turned into something like a small storm.

And that storm-

Baaaaaang!

Slammed into the shield.

Crack.

A portion of the shield broke.

"Will this be okay?!"

One of the candidates became shocked and almost shouted to an aide to ask.

One of the aides stepped forward.

'That person is the one who was speaking to the Margrave.'

Cale recalled that this was the last aide to speak to the Margrave before the Margrave left.

"Please don't worry. There are over one hundred black mages in Precinct 9. In addition, they are all at least at the middle-grade level."

The aide's face was stiff despite telling them not to worry.

"This level of rain cloud is not enough to destroy it."

The candidate who asked the question seemed a bit relieved after hearing the aide's confident remarks, but Cale had a thought after hearing the answer.

'What if it gets past this level of rain cloud?

Then what happens?

Will the shield break?'

Cale heard someone who had the same question as himself.

"Are there instances where it gets worse than this level of rain cloud?"

It was the Second Imperial Princess.

'Hmm.'

The Second Imperial Princess had formed a team with two candidates who did not stand out much.

'The team is set up so that the Second Imperial Princess would shine the most if they do their mission well.'

The aide closed her mouth for a moment at the Second Imperial Princess as Cale quickly came up with that assessment.

The rest of the candidates and their subordinates all turned toward her.

Clunk. Clunk.

The wind that seemed to be getting worse was slamming against the window.

Thankfully, there was no black rain hitting the window.

"Currently."

The aide pushed up her glasses a bit as she responded.

"Currently, there are no rain clouds stronger than this."

"…It sounds like there will be in the future?"

The aide sighed at the Second Imperial Princess's scary gaze.

"The rain clouds have slowly gotten stronger since the dead mana rain clouds first appeared, your Royal Highness."

"Mm."

Someone groaned.

"And the amount of time in between each instance of rain cloud has been getting shorter."

"Is it impossible to determine the cycle of the rain cloud?"

"Yes, your Royal Highness."

The Second Imperial Princess looked up at the ceiling for a bit before asking.

"What exactly is this rain? I've never seen something like this before."

This was also Cale's first time hearing about this.

'This is different from the erosion methods the Church told me about.'

There were multiple methods of dead mana erosion spreading throughout Xiaolen, but there were some common symptoms.

'The ground slowly turns black.

Or liquefied dead mana shoots up from underground in places where the foundation has lost strength.

Finally, river water polluted by dead mana flows down and erodes other pieces of land.

I've never heard of it being through rain clouds.'

The eroded lands did have dead mana fog but it was not something that moved.

"The Margrave should be explaining this for all of you, but I will give a short explanation because of the current situation."

The aide walked toward a wall without a window.

Cale could see a long cloth that resembled a curtain on the wall.

The aide pulled at the cloth.

Chhhhhh-

"It's a map."

"…It's a map of the west?"

The cloth had a map of the western part of the Empire.

"You will be able to see the edge villages of the ten precincts of the west on here."

They could see the areas of the Empire that had turned black as well as the current boundary of the Empire.

"What are the red dots?"

One of the candidates asked.

Five of the precincts, including precinct 9, had red marks on them.

"They are the regions where the dead mana rain clouds gather."

Clunk. Clunk.

The window was still shaking violently.

Cale recorded the entire map in his mind.

"The rain cloud started in precinct 9 but has started to appear in other precincts as well."

She looked out the window.

They could see the shield in the sky pretty well because they were in a high spot in the castle. The half-transparent black shield was repeatedly breaking and being fixed.

It was proof that the black mages were working hard.

"The first rain cloud appeared half a year ago."

Plop. Plop.

The raindrops were slowly decreasing.

"…Why did we not know about this when it happened half a year ago?"

The Second Imperial Princess's voice was louder now.

'That's true. This is a bit weird.'

Half a year was a pretty long time.

– Cale, the Church didn't tell you about this either, right?

Cale slightly nodded his head so that it would not be noticed by others after hearing Eruhaben's question.

'Something this big happened six months ago but nobody in the Empire's capital knows about it.'

Cale turned to look at the aide.

She was looking at the Second Imperial Princess as she responded.

"We have been reporting the issue to the Imperial Palace on a regular basis, your Royal Highness."

"…The Imperial Palace already knows about it?"

"Yes ma'am."

The Second Imperial Princess looked at the First Imperial Prince and then the Fourth Imperial Prince.

Cale did the same.

The First Imperial Prince was still standing there without any expression on his face as if he was an ice sculpture while the Fourth Imperial Prince had his fists clenched and was avoiding the Second Imperial Princess's gaze.

"Ha!"

The Second Imperial Princess scoffed in disbelief.

"I guess there are a lot of people who knew about it."

She mumbled before looking back at the aide.

""It would not be weird for the rain clouds to appear anywhere on the Empire."

"That's right, your Royal Highness. However, the rain clouds thankfully have not left the ten precincts so far and the rain only falls in these areas before disappearing."

Cale then heard Mary's voice.

"…That's odd."

– It is weird as Mary mentioned! Why does it only rain in these precincts before it disappears?

Zero spoke in a nonchalant voice.

"It sounds like someone is controlling the rain clouds."

Quite a lot of people heard his voice as he spoke during a silent moment.

"That is why it is the test."

Cale turned after hearing a voice behind him.

The Margrave was coming back inside.

Plop. Plop.

The black rain had almost ended and the wind was no longer blowing.

Cale could see the blue sky that was slightly grey beyond the walls.

The grey and blue sky… The two colors started separate from each other but the blue sky was slowly dyed by the grey color that spread like paint.

"We determined half a year ago that the rain clouds were not a natural phenomenon."

The Margrave in charge of Precinct 9.

Margrave Helson was a Marquis of the Empire.

"That is why we sent people multiple times past the wall to investigate the cause but we haven't gained any useful information."

Marquis Helson.

Cale started to recall information about this man he received from the Church.

'Marquis Helson. He loathes politics and is from a Margrave family that has been protecting the western part of the Empire for generations. He has a strong Knights Brigade and his loyalty to the Empire is deep.'

His loyalty was deep not to the Emperor but to the Empire.

That meant that he would not treat the Imperial family differently.

'He's a fitting character.'

He was perfect as a test administrator.

Old priest Durst had sent a letter through the team leader.

The current Margrave does not have a family. His only family member, his grandfather the former Marquis, met his death fighting against dead mana.

The current Margrave was past his mid-thirties but did not marry despite being a noble.

The Margrave didn't want another family to feel the pain he felt losing his family and is determined to give his life fighting against dead mana.

This was said to be known by everybody in the Empire.

'Mm.'

Cale held back a groan after recalling a piece of information.

P.S.

The old priest had added something as postscript.

For reference, the Margrave's grandfather had a secret relationship with our Fire of Purification.

He was a hidden believer.

'…The former Margrave was a secret believer.'

For reference, the current Margrave is aware of that fact as well.

Of course, the Margrave is not a believer.

He is just keeping his grandfather's secret tightly hidden.

Cale had been thinking that the Church had a lot of power despite being called heretics and treated as a cult, but it seemed to be because they had hidden believers all around.

– Human, why are you smiling like that?

Cale ignored Raon's comment and watched as Zero took a step forward.

"Is that our mission?"

The Marquis peeked toward Zero after hearing the loosely asked question and responded.

"That's right. The five teams with three members and one team with four members will all put finding the source of this dead mana rain cloud as top priority."

"Hooooo. Does that mean the mission is a success if we simply find the cause?"

"That's right."

A twisted smile appeared on Zero's face.

He asked the Margrave another question.

"What if we also get rid of the cause? Do we get first place?"

"Pffft."

The Margrave scoffed.

"I'm sure you'll be first place then."

The air in the room instantly changed.

The people who had been anxious because of the rain cloud were now heated up.

The candidates were looking at each other warily or deep in thought.

The Marquis calmly spoke again.

"If you don't die, that is."

The heated air sank cold once again.

"All of the candidates here should be familiar with dead mana. You all have that great and mighty power. However, it will benefit you to remember this."

The Marquis pointed out the window.

His finger was pointing past the wall.

"The dead land is not somewhere you can survive through just because you are familiar with dead mana."

A thick smile appeared on the Marquis' face.

"Remember that if you wish to survive."

Boom.

The Marquis stomped his foot.

"All aides guide your respective candidates to their lodgings! You will be given areas to strategize with your teams and all necessary information will be delivered to you!"

Cale's eyes clouded over as he looked at the aide heading over toward them.

The aide who had stepped up was approaching them.

"Nice to meet you, everyone. My name is Eaen and I am the top aide."

The Fourth Imperial Prince opened his mouth.

"Who determined the aides for the teams?"

"The Marquis-nim did so, candidate-nim."

Cale looked up toward the Marquis.

It was only for an instant.

The Marquis was silently looking at Mary but turned away after noticing Cale's gaze.

– Human! That Margrave was looking at Mary with such a fierce gaze until he turned his head!

The Margrave opened his mouth once again.

"Your mission will start tomorrow! You will have one week!"

The Marquis seemed more like a soldier or a knight than a noble.

Furthermore, he treated all of the candidates equally as if they were his subordinates who needed to complete the mission.

"You are dismissed!"

He left the area first without any hesitation.

"Wow. They couldn't even find any clue in half a year and they want us to take care of it in a week."

Zero shrugged his shoulders in disbelief.

"Hyung-nim, this is impossible!"

"Seriously. Haaa, this is going to be rough."

His subordinates grumbled as well.

"Tsk."

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi looked at them as if they were foolish before giving the top aide, Eaen, an order.

"To our lodging."

"Yes, candidate-nim."

It was at that moment.

Clunk–!

The Fourth Imperial Prince turned his gaze and then scowled.

"…What the hell?"

Cale opened the window.

"Haha-"

He then awkwardly laughed as if he was embarrassed.

"Our Sui was feeling frustrated."

A black wing slapped Cale's cheek asking what he was talking about, but Cale just ignored it. He then motioned with his eyes toward the open window.

"Sui, you were feeling frustrated being stuck inside, weren't you? Go out and play!"

'Haaaa.'

The bird's body moved up and down as if it was sighing before it landed on the window ledge.

– Human! Should I go out with Sui Khan as well? I'm concerned because Sui Khan is so skinny!

Cale simply ignored Raon's comment.

Sui Khan looked at Cale, Eruhaben, Choi Han, and then Mary before looking back at Cale and heading out of the window and into the sky.

Cale watched Sui Khan leave and hoped internally.

'Team leader, please come back with some information.'

Sui Khan would know to go gather information even without being told to do so.

Eruhaben shook his head while watching Sui Khan leave but Cale didn't care.

"Tsk!"

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi clicked his tongue even louder before walking toward the door.

"Ah. Please let me escort you right away!"

Eaen flinched before moving in front of Noi and leading the group.

Zero and his subordinates followed behind as well.

"Should we go?"

Mary asked and Cale nodded his head.

Choi Han led the way and the others followed.

However, Cale remained in the back to look around at the remaining people.

'The First Imperial Prince.'

He was with the individual whom they were confused about being a dragon, the first young lady of the Black Bloods household, and a robed individual. His team members seemed to have already left.

'Hmm.'

The First Imperial Prince and Fourth Imperial Prince seemed to have information about these rain clouds.

'Would they know the reason behind them as well?'

If that was the case, this test was catered for the First Imperial Prince.

It was a test to make him the Emperor.

'There's quite a lot of potential for that being the case.'

Of course, he didn't think that the Margrave informed the First Imperial Prince in advance of the cause of the rain clouds. That would be a rash judgment.

'It is more likely that this rain cloud is connected to the Hunters of the Black Bloods household and they informed the First Imperial Prince about the answer.'

But that could also be wrong.

Cale left a lot of room for other potential answers.

This was a world he did not know.

– Human, are you not going? Choi Han keeps looking back!

Cale heard Raon's voice but he motioned to Choi Han with his hand to keep going and did not move.

'Mm.

The black haired woman who could be a Dragon looked toward Cale for a moment before frowning and looking away.

That was understandable.

– Human! Why is she coming this way?

Click. Click.

The Second Imperial Princess was walking toward Cale.

She had quite the vicious look on her face as she did so.

'What's wrong with her?'

However, the Second Imperial Princess did not stop in front of Cale and just walked past him.

"Don't work with the puppets."

She slowly walked past Cale as she said that.

"Tell that to your master."

Cale looked at the Second Imperial Princess as she walked past him. She was looking forward.

She did not even glance at Cale.

"Puppets do not have their own will. Of course, the young puppet seems like he is trying to run away."

The Second Imperial Princess stopped talking and slightly turned her head to look at Cale.

'Heni Wishrop.' It was a subconscious movement because she didn't know whether the man who seemed to be her Chief Advisor would have understood her.

'Mm!'

She could see that the man, whose face was covered except his mouth, had a thick smile on his face.

"I will keep that in mind."

He had a picturesque smile on his face as he said that before walking toward Heni Wishrop.

The Second Imperial Princess quietly watched him.

– Human! Both the Second Imperial Princess and the First Imperial Prince are looking at us!

Of course, Cale didn't care much about their gazes.

'The conclusion is simple.'

He had this thought while listening to the Second Imperial Princess's comments.

'This place.'

Both this world and this test…

'Is a mess.'

That was why the answer was simple.

'We just need to do what we need to do.'

They would just simply get rid of the things that get in their way as they did that.

Cale looked out the window.

Beyond the large and thick wall…

– Cale, it looked like it would be easy to destroy the rain cloud. Don't you think that we would be able to easily destroy the reason behind it as well?

The Fire of Destruction. The cheapskate revealed confidence once again. He was being so chatty and loud but Cale could not ignore him.

– I mean come on; I'm a human that even the World Tree feared!

He had every reason to be that confident.

The next day, the first day of the test.

"…Nice to meet you. Heni Wishrop."

"Nice to meet you as well."

The Second Imperial Princess was standing in front of the door heading out of the wall and looking at the people approaching it.

"…Are you going out to investigate?"

"Yes."

Heni Wishrop. The First Imperial Prince was also approaching the door behind her.

Mary spoke as plainly as usual.

"I am going to go investigate past the wall."

---

The Second Imperial Princess saw that the two of them had come alone unlike her, who had come with her team members, and started to speak.

"…But why are you alone?"

She was asking Mary, but it was also directed at the First Imperial Prince.

"…."

First Imperial Prince Sanders didn't even look at the Second Imperial Princess and observed the wall.

'Man, he really doesn't seem human.'

The Second Imperial Princess kept those comments to herself. She heard Heni Wishrop's stiff voice.

"We decided to all investigate separately."

Neither Team 6 members, Fourth Imperial Prince Noi nor mercenary Zero, could not be seen.

"…Isn't this supposed to be a team mission?"

"It would be good to do it together, but…"

The Second Imperial Princess and her team members saw the clear look on Mary's spider-web-filled face.

Heni Wishrop, the woman with clear eyes, continued to speak.

It would be good to do it together, but Team 6 has already…

"It has already turned into a mess."

Mary told the truth without any reservation.

"…Uhh…"

Mary heard a shocked candidate's voice behind her back.

The First Imperial Prince was looking at Heni Wishrop's back instead of the wall now. His gaze was showing his shock.

The Second Imperial Princess felt the same way.

"…A mess?"

"Yes. It is total chaos."

The Second Imperial Princess wondered if this was a form of smoke screen for a moment. However, the nineteenth candidate in front of her seemed quite honest for it to be something like that.

And Mary was telling the truth.

Last night… The candidates of Team 6 got settled in their respective lodgings and gathered in their strategy room.

Fourth Imperial Prince had said the following.

'You just need to do as I tell you. So, follow my orders.'

'No thanks?'

Noi and Zero… One was looking down at the other and the other was smiling brightly as their confrontation continued.

It had continued for one hour.

Mary, who had shown up without Cale, sat and watched the two of them for an hour before finally speaking.

'We will gather information separately tomorrow and meet in the afternoon to determine each person's role based on the information brought back. I think it would be a good idea to listen to the orders of the person who brings the most beneficial information.'

'…Hmph.'

'Sounds good!'

Both of them agreed with her method.

'Looks like we will just be wasting a day. It would be good if you just listened to me.'

'Oh my, our esteemed Imperial Prince is sooooo slick of a talker. Hahaha!'

'You little bastard!'

'Oh no, I better get to work!'

Both of them left the room after the conclusion was made while Mary remained in the room to contemplate whether the two of them had a good or bad relationship.

Eruhaben, who had been the only one to come with her, looked at her with an odd gaze.

'What is it?'

Mary asked, sounding as if she was speaking to her subordinate, just to be safe.

'It's nothing, my liege. You just reminded me of someone I know very well.'

'I tried to copy them.'

She tried to mix Cale and Alberu together and copy the result.

'That was wonderful, my liege.'

Mary had to hold herself back from smiling as she thought about the satisfied look on Eruhaben's face yesterday.

"…."

The Second Imperial Princess and her team members looked at the happy-looking Mary as if she was weird.

'…Does she prefer to work alone? Is it a good thing for the team to have no harmony at all?'

Second Imperial Princess Olivia could not fathom what was going on.

'Sanders is looking at her as if she is weird too.'

Olivia had never seen the First Imperial Prince looking at anybody like this.

"Hello everyone."

A knight walked over with a group of knights at that moment.

"Are you all here to go outside the wall?"

The knight in front was a Dark Elf.

"We are."

The knight picked up a document and checked the list after hearing Olivia's response.

"Mm, candidate 1… All the way down to candidate 19. It looks like everybody who has requested it is here."

Mary's eyes turned toward the large door behind the Dark Elf knight.

The door was small compared to the wall, but the iron gate that was close to seven meters tall seemed quite thick and heavy. It looked as if nothing could break it.

'Mary, you need to go out and pretend to investigate alone during the day. Do you think that it is possible?'

She recalled what Cale had said.

'We can't show our powers right now. That is why we plan on going out to investigate at night while avoiding all the gazes.'

The official investigation would happen in the middle of the night, not by going out the front door, but by stealthily going over the wall.

'Of course, Eruhaben-nim will be waiting close to the wall. Eruhaben-nim will immediately head to you if you send an emergency signal. Of course, I will be going as well.'

Eruhaben had handed Mary a small orb this morning. Eruhaben would head to her location immediately if she broke the orb.

'Mary, will you be okay?'

Choi Han, who had been by Cale's side, asked with concern.

Mary addressed the whole group who seemed worried.

'I will go out as if I am going on a walk.'

'Good plan, little Mary! Don't struggle on your own!'

The corners of Mary's lips curled up.

"…Are you looking forward to it?"

"Excuse me?"

Mary turned her head after hearing a voice. First Imperial Prince Sanders was standing next to her, looking at her with deeply sunken eyes.

'Why is he acting like this?'

Mary found the First Imperial Prince to be weird but decided to talk to him.

She had met the First Imperial Prince outside the doors of the Lord's Castle when she was leaving.

Sanders had followed behind her and the two of them had arrived here without saying anything to each other at all. Mary had only learned about Sanders going out to investigate because of Second Imperial Princess Olivia.

"…You have a look of anticipation in your eyes despite the possibility of death."

Sanders looked away from Mary as he nonchalantly commented.

"It looks like you are not afraid of death."

One of the Second Imperial Princess's team members commented in a mocking tone.

"She probably doesn't know the dangers of outside. Do you think that a royal would ever have been outside? She probably gained her strength through the dead mana someone gave her."

Mary turned toward the person.

'Was he the twelfth candidate?'

Mary stared at him, trying to figure out who he was. The candidate looked away after seeing her gaze while Olivia smiled awkwardly and got in between the two of them.

"…I'm sorry."

Mary tilted her head to the side.

"Is there anything to be sorry about?"

"…Is that so?"

Mary continued to speak while Olivia smiled bitterly.

"I have been outside."

The Church of the Fire of Purification existed in the middle of the eroded land beyond the walls that they called 'outside.'

That place had the Wall of Purification that was preventing the temple from being polluted, but Mary had seen how it was beyond the wall.

Furthermore, she had seen the bursting liquefied dead mana and the black fog.

"It is dangerous outside."

It was dangerous.

For her friends that is.

Honestly speaking, Mary didn't want to take her friends when they went out to investigate at night either.

However, Mary decided to follow Cale's plan.

The reason was simple.

"It is something that needs to be done even if it is dangerous."

Mary was a necromancer.

Her home was the Underground City beneath the desert.

She had seen and heard people dying from consuming the dead mana from the desert.

'Cale-nim.'

Choi Han had asked Cale last night.

'Beyond the scope of the test, are you planning on taking care of the source of the rain cloud if we find it?'

'Yeah. Of course.'

There had been no hesitation in Cale's response.

There were many reasons, whether it was to hinder the Black Bloods household or to increase their influence in the Imperial Palace, but…

'How can I just let that be?'

Mary agreed with Cale's nonchalant comment.

"…That's right. It is something that needs to be done even if it is dangerous."

The Dark Elf knight did something to the door the moment the Second Imperial Princess agreed with Mary.

Boom-!

There was a loud noise before the large iron gate slowly started to open.

Screeeeech-

There was an uncomfortable screeching noise before the door opened just enough for one person to walk past.

Swoooooooosh-

They could hear the wind.

"There is a shield in the area right outside the gate. However, it is just the black ground once you get past the shield. The density of dead mana in the air is thick and mutant monsters and mutant plants will appear the farther you get from the wall. Please keep that in mind."

Mary walked out the gate.

There was a black shield the size of the gate.

This shield was the thing keeping the dead mana fog from entering through the gate.

'It's dark.'

The grey sky and the dead mana fog made it feel like night despite being morning.

"There are all sorts of unexpected climate issues as well, so please be careful."

Boom-

The knight closed the gate.

"I will be stationed inside the shield, so please feel free to return at any moment."

He then added.

"You are allowed a maximum of six hours of investigation at a time. We will withdraw if you do not come back in that time and whether it is myself or another knight, someone will be here between nine and ten in the morning to guard the gate."

The meaning behind this was simple.

Even if you don't manage to come back today, we will be here every morning, so come back.

"This will continue for the duration of the test, but it will stop after that."

The test was taking place for a week.

They would not wait any longer for anybody who did not manage to return by the end.

They would simply presume that you had died.

"Now then, I pray for your return."

The knight bowed respectfully.

Olivia quietly looked at the knight.

'It's my first time outside.'

Olivia, as a member of the Imperial family, had seen the outside many times but had never been out there before.

'I'm sure that it is different for Sanders.'

The House of Huayans. Sanders, who was close to the daughter of the Emperor's instructor, must have been outside.

'…Noi probably has too.'

Olivia thought that it was possible that she was the one who had been the plant growing in a greenhouse.

'I still need to remain alert.'

Olivia looked toward her team members who were waiting for her orders. There were Dark Elves and black mages with them in addition to the candidates.

They needed to be individuals experienced with dead mana in order to see outside.

'…Heni Wishrop's subordinates seemed like regular people.'

Olivia quickly got rid of the thought that suddenly popped into her mind. That was not important right now.

"Then I'll be heading out."

One person took a step into the area outside the shield that was filled with black fog.

'Heni Wishrop!'

She had put her hood on and walked out without any hesitation.

"It'll be dangerous to go around alone."

Olivia watched as Sanders talked to Mary again.

Sanders doing something like this was quite unfamiliar but did not seem weird.

'Sanders probably sees her as his only competition. Heni Wishrop is strong.'

"I'm fine."

Strong enough to say that she was fine.

"…."

Sanders headed outside the shield as well instead of responding. He then followed behind Mary.

"Your Royal Highness?"

"We should head out as well. Everybody packed properly, right?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Of course."

Olivia's team headed outside the shield as well.

Mary did not look back.

– Mary. I'll be here in the shield as well. Don't go too far and just take a walk near the wall.

Eruhaben was waiting for her and watching her from inside the shield.

She didn't have anything to worry about to look back towards.

However, Mary did have something on her mind.

'Is the young master-nim able to contact the crown prince-nim?'

Cale had said that he would remain in the lodging to contact the Roan Kingdom today.

"Fuck."

Cale was frowning at that moment.

He was tapping on the table looking quite annoyed.

"The God of Death is always like this. Tsk."

He even clicked his tongue.

"He sucks at work."

Sui Khan was next to him in his little boy form drinking tea while agreeing with Cale.

"Hey Sui Khan, here, eat this bread!"

"Thanks, Raon."

Sui Khan petted Raon's head while Raon chuckled and filled his mouth with bread.

"Hmm."

Choi Han looked at the mirror Cale had placed on the table and mumbled.

"…Optimizing?"

Choi Han asked Cale and Sui Khan.

"What does optimizing mean?"

"…Ha."

Cale let out a deep sigh.

The divine item that the God of Death had given him had carried on the abilities of the cintamani.

Currently downloading the abilities of the cintamani.

Developing communication routes between the dimensions that the owner of the divine item has visited...

He had seen those messages as well.

The loading time had been 24 hours.

However, a new message appeared once the loading time had ended.

Optimizing...

Sui Khan peeked warily at Cale before speaking.

"At least it is at 98 percent now."

Yes, only two percent was left.

Cale looked away from the mirror and up at the ceiling.

"Team leader."

"Yes?"

"Did you locate the Margrave's room?"

"He seems to be using the room right next to the fifth-floor central advisor's office as his bedroom."

"I see."

"Are you planning on chatting with him?"

The corners of Cale's lips twisted up.

"Of course. Shouldn't I have a deep conversation with him at least once soon?"

"That's great. Deep conversations are great."

Raon, who was watching Sui Khan, quickly started to speak.

"Hey Sui Khan! It's weird seeing you smiling like that! It makes me feel oddly tired but anxious!"

Sui Khan petted Raon's smooth back.

Riiiiiiiing-!

They heard a cheerful ringing at that moment.

Cale looked down at the divine item.

ver. 1.01 update complete

A picture of the cintamani appeared on the screen.

It was placed next to the invitation.

"This must be it."

Choi Han sounded a bit excited as he said that and Cale touched the cintamani on the screen without any hesitation.

Individuals from connection routes of dimensions visited

1. Lee Soo Hyuk

2. Alberu Crossman

...Updating other individuals...

Please wait a moment! You will soon be connected to all worlds you have visited!

"It's me?"

Sui Khan chuckled while pointing to number one and Cale chuckled back at his mischievous comment before moving his finger to touch the screen again.

There was no need to wait for the update to finish.

Attempting to contact Alberu Crossman.

The most urgent thing right now was to contact the Roan Kingdom.

Ringringring- ringringring- ringringringringringringring–

"Human, this music is nice! Hmm?"

The excited Raon's eyes opened wide.

Cale leaned against the back of the chair.

Paaaat-!

A screen appeared on top of the mirror on the table.

'It's the same as a video communication device screen.'

He had a pretty good idea as to how the call would go through.

The crown prince's bedroom slowly started to appear on the screen.

– It's been a while, young master-nim.

'Hmm?'

Cale flinched.

– …It looks like you've lost some weight while I haven't seen you.

Ron had quite a benign smile on his face while looking at Cale.

"…Uhh-"

It was shocking that Ron had suddenly appeared, but the two people visible on the screen…

Ron and Alberu…

Cale subconsciously started speaking after looking at the two of them.

"…Why are you hurt?"

They were both injured.

Alberu was so injured that he was lying on the bed.

---

– It feels like it has been quite a while.

Alberu waved while still lying down on the bed.

– I guess you can contact us even from another dimension.

He looked pretty relaxed. However, Alberu's right arm and most of his upper body were covered in bandages.

His face was very pale. Furthermore, one of his cheeks was swollen red as if he had been hit by something.

"Grandpa Ron! Crown prince!"

Raon shoved his face toward the screen in shock.

– It's been a while since I saw you too, Raon-nim.

"Grandpa Ron!"

Ron was a mess too.

Although Ron could use regular potions unlike Alberu, who had some Dark Elf blood in him, one of his arms was in a cast. Of course, it was his real arm and not the fake one that Mary had attached for him.

Furthermore, one of Ron's legs was in a cast as well.

– What is going on?

Beacrox appeared on the screen at that moment.

He seemed to have entered the bedroom.

"…What happened?"

Beacrox did his best to avoid Choi Han's vicious gaze.

"Your highness, did something happen?"

Cale looked at Alberu, who avoided Cale's gaze and looked up at the ceiling.

– I thought it was weird that the name Cale Henituse appeared on the video communication device. Did you call using the divine item?

"Your highness."

Cale called out to Alberu in a low voice and Alberu finally looked at Cale. Cale could sense it at that moment.

'He's angry.'

Although Alberu looked pretty relaxed and calm, he was quite angry.

Ron seemed to be feeling the same as his benign smile was more exaggerated than normal.

– I'll give you a short breakdown of the current situation.

Beacrox poured some tea into the crown prince's cup on the nightstand. It was odd for Cale to see Ron just sitting down like this.

– Mm.

The crown prince sat up and leaned against the headboard. He picked up the teacup and hesitated after realizing it was lemon tea before drinking it.

– After you left-

"Yes, your highness."

– The eldest son of the Flynn Merchant Guild died.

'What?'

The palace had been protecting the eldest son of the Flynn Merchant Guild.

They couldn't put an outsider like him in a deep part of the palace because the King's Palace was destroyed, but… He had been thoroughly surrounded by guards inside the palace.

– He was poisoned.

The crown prince was not done speaking.

– …Also, the youngest young lady disappeared.

The only survivor from the Duke's House of Orsena… The youngest young lady had disappeared.

– Right in front of my eyes.

A smile appeared on Alberu's face. His smile was twisted because of his rage.

– Cale.

"Yes, your highness."

– 'Take this offering of karma.'

Cale's eyebrow slightly twitched.

– The people shouting that are hunters, right?

"Yes they are, your highness."

– Okay. Then the person I faced must be a hunter.

The Hunters shouted, 'Take this offering of karma,' as they traversed through dimensions. Of course, they have to pay the price for it first.

Bang!

Raon slammed the table with his front paws.

"Is it because of the Hunters again?!"

Cale debated for a moment whether he should tell Raon not to do that because Raon had been slamming the table with his front paws quite often lately, but…

'Those shitheads-!'

He too was filled with anger and annoyance.

'Why do they keep barging into Roan when we aren't doing anything?! And they took the youngest young lady? They also killed the eldest son of the Flynn Merchant Guild?'

And most importantly…

"Haaaa. These bastards-"

Cale was filled with anger after looking at Ron and Alberu's conditions.

He truly could not understand this situation.

Whether it was him or his friends… They were all people who would live peaceful lives and not cause any issues if they weren't messed with first. Of course, Alberu was the crown prince and the future king, but it wasn't like he was someone with a tyrant's disposition. He was the type to cheekily handle the kingdom's affairs and pull out things to benefit him.

"…It's so annoying."

Cale flinched.

'Did I say that out loud? No, that was definitely someone else.'

Cale turned his head.

Choi Han was quietly standing there while glaring at the screen.

Both Raon and Cale looked at Choi Han with shocked expressions. Choi Han didn't care as he repeatedly gripped and released the handle of his sword.

"Are your injuries serious?"

Sui Khan looked at Alberu and asked.

– Not really.

"Both of you look like you have serious injuries. Did other people get that injured as well?"

– …I am the most injured.

Alberu could see Cale's face turn quite unsettled through the video communication device screen as soon as he said that.

"Haaaaa."

Cale didn't know what to say after hearing that the person, who knew better than anybody else that he was the crown prince, was fighting in the front and got injured.

He asked a different question instead.

"Could you please give a more detailed explanation, your highness?"

Cale saw Alberu's gaze move in a different direction at that moment.

'Hmm?'

Alberu was pointing at the screen with an odd expression on his face.

– Choi Han.

His finger was pointing at Choi Han.

"Excuse me?"

The crown prince, who was looking at the confused Choi Han with a piercing gaze, nodded his head as if he accepted something.

– Yes, he was similar to you.

As the anger disappeared from Choi Han's eyes and turned into question marks…

– Choi Han, just like you… People who looked like Koreans but were wearing completely different styles of clothes barged in, grabbed the youngest young lady, and disappeared instantly.

Alberu had gone to Korea as the Dark Tiger and knew about modern clothing.

Such a person was saying this.

They looked like Koreans, but their clothes were different from the Korean clothing that he had seen?

– Their clothes were peculiar. I've never seen such clothes before. It was a bit… old-fashioned.

Cale's mind quickly started to move.

If it was clothes the crown prince had never seen…

Furthermore, if it was related to the Hunters and they shouted, 'take this offering of karma,' as they traveled through dimensions?

He could form a conclusion.

"…Did they come from the Central Plains?"

The Central Plains. It was highly likely that the Hunter was from the Blood Sect.

– As expected.

Alberu nodded his head as if he had expected this.

"Is the damage severe, your highness?"

– …Another palace was destroyed.

A second palace was destroyed in addition to the King's Palace.

"The Hunters are evil! Destroying one was enough! Two is too much!"

Raon shouted in anger, but Cale was focused on what Alberu said next.

– They called the youngest young lady a sacrifice as they took her.

'…This is driving me nuts.'

Cale was getting a headache.

'It looks like I'll need to head to the Central Plains right away after taking care of things here in Xiaolen.'

He organized his thoughts and started to speak.

"…Will you be okay, your highness?"

Alberu chuckled at the question.

Two palaces were destroyed in a short period of time. Furthermore, the crown prince was injured in the battle against the intruders and they had gotten away.

– Well, there will be no issues of foreign kingdoms looking down on the Roan Kingdom because of this. Plus, the restoration is continuing without any changes. There's just the issue of having to build an additional palace.

The crown prince was speaking as if it was no big deal, but everybody knew the truth.

They knew that too many terrible things had happened to the Roan Kingdom at once.

– What about on your side?

Cale sighed and gave a short response to Alberu's question that was said to change the topic.

"If she wants to…"

– …?

"It looks like Mary could become the Empress here. Of course, it'll change based on what Mary wants to do."

– …?

"Ah, and I am being treated even holier than as the Saint for the God of Death."

– …?

"I presume that we are going to seriously flip this world over before we leave."

– …Flip the world over?

Alberu looked at Cale in shock.

– What the hell are you going around doing?

"The same as usual, your highness."

Beacrox looked at Cale with quite a suspicious gaze. He then looked at Choi Han, who was stoically standing there as if there were no issues, and Raon, who was nodding his head over and over in agreement.

He also saw a young boy with white hair he had never seen before leisurely eating snacks.

– Haaa.

He sighed and thought to himself.

'It looks like they'll take care of things properly.'

– …I'll need a more detailed explanation.

Alberu started to speak again.

However, they could not grant his request.

Swooooooosh-

There was a strong gust of wind.

The window clunked.

"It's coming again."

Sui Khan looked out the window toward a black rain cloud that was heading toward the wall.

Cale immediately stood up. Raon started to speak.

"Mary isn't here yet!"

"We will contact you again, your highness."

– Okay. I understand.

Cale looked at Alberu, Beacrox, and then Ron before speaking again.

"Everybody, let's take care of ourselves as we work."

– …He is one to talk.

Cale heard Beacrox mumbling but just ignored it. Ron asked at that moment.

– Where are the kiddos, young master-nim?

Cale gave a short response.

"They'll be here soon."

Eruhaben was going to go get On and Hong tonight. On and Hong were currently investigating the state of affairs in the capital. They had set up some things to ensure that the two of them would be safe, but they were planning on bringing them over as quickly as possible.

– I'll see you later.

The call ended with Alberu's goodbye.

"Let's go."

Cale immediately opened the door.

"Oh! Are you planning on heading out, sir?"

The aide for Team 6, Eaen, was running toward them.

"Yes, ma'am. Our liege has not returned yet."

– Human, I'm heading to the gate first!

Raon turned invisible and flew away first. He seemed quite concerned for Mary even with Eruhaben stationed at the gate.

"It is dangerous to go outside, sir!"

"Is it not allowed?"

"…That's not the case, but…"

The aide mumbled as she responded to Cale's question.

"I'll head over first, sir."

Choi Han had the black hawk on his shoulder as he headed out of the castle first.

Peek.

Cale looked out the hallway window.

The rain cloud was approaching quicker than it had done so yesterday. The wind was stronger as well.

The comment about the rain cloud getting stronger day by day was the truth.

'Mm.'

Furthermore, the Margrave was on top of a tower inside the wall giving orders.

That might have been why the black magic shield surrounded Precinct 9 quicker than it had done so yesterday.

"Aide-nim."

"Yes, sir."

"Please deliver this note to the Margrave-nim."

All expressions instantly disappeared from Eaen's face.

"Are you trying to solicit something from him?"

"Pffft."

She could see the masked man smiling underneath the mask.

"I do not know why the Margrave looked at my liege so fiercely yesterday. I also do not know why the top aide seems to be roaming around our lodging quite a bit."

The blank expression disappeared from the aide's face. She started to smile as well.

"Solicitation is not allowed."

"Hmm. I guess he must have some personal business with us."

Cale handed the note to her again.

"We too have some personal business with the Margrave. Please deliver it to your uncle."

"…."

Aide Eaen… She was the Margrave's distant relative's niece and his only remaining blood relative. She sighed before taking the note.

"I probably shouldn't read it, right?"

"You can read it. If you are confident enough to deal with the consequences of what you read."

"Mm."

"However, I recommend that the Margrave reads it first. It'll probably be better for you to read it after that."

"That sounds like a plan."

Eaen carefully placed the note in her inner pocket. She made eye contact with Heni Wishrop's subordinate again.

"Are you not curious about the Marquis-nim's intentions?"

"We will just need to hear about it as well. Until then."

Cale wasn't that curious about the Marquis' intentions.

'His goal is obvious.'

It was the Marquis who would have a headache if the former Marquis being a heretic was revealed.

'But I am curious.'

He should not know that Cale had a relationship with the Fire of Purification. However, there was still something he wanted from Mary.

'Well, I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.'

Cale didn't put much thought into it as he headed out of the castle.

"Mm."

But he stealthily brushed off one hand and then the other.

Crack. Crack.

Gold and red currents crackled in Cale's hands.

– I want to bring down thunderbolts!

– Calm down.

The cheapskate of the Fire of Destruction was going wild while the Super Rock was sincerely calming him down.

– It reminds me of the past! I burned it all when darkness was about to descend on the Western continent! Even the World Tree couldn't stop me!

– Woah, woah. Calm down, calm down. Cale, do you have any money? Give him some money.

Cale ignored the conversation between the two ancient powers.

"Mm."

Eaen, who had been watching him leave, quickly started to move as well.

"What is this?"

"Marquis-nim, that esteemed individual's subordinate asked me to deliver it."

The Margrave scowled at Eaen for coming to see him while he was busy, but his face relaxed after seeing the note she stealthily handed him.

That esteemed individual.

She was talking about the nineteenth candidate.

"They sent one first?"

"Yes, sir. I did not make any gestures."

"I see."

Marquis Helson confirmed that the people around him were all busy guarding against the rain cloud and that only those who were on his side were there before opening the note.

What would that side have said?

"Mm."

"…Marquis-nim?"

The Marquis quickly folded the note back before Eaen could read it.

"Uncle?"

Eaen could see the Marquis' face turn pale.

'What is going on? What could be written on there?'

She was curious about the contents of the note.

However, she could not see it. The Marquis quickly put the note in his pocket as he spoke.

"Tonight. Let them know to meet me tonight."

"Yes, Marquis-nim."

The Marquis grabbed the ledge of the tower.

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

The black mages and their shield were managing to block the black rain.

The shield broke and then was mended over and over again.

The Marquis clenched his eyes shut.

'How did they know?'

This was what was written on the note.

I heard heretics are to be executed immediately?

'…Heni Wishrop. How does she know about that?'

The Marquis realized that the proposal he was going to offer her was not going to be the issue. He got the chills and rubbed his neck.

"Mm."

His eyes noticed Heni Wishrop as she entered the wall. The First Imperial Prince came in behind her and her subordinates were headed toward her.

Baaaaaang—!

It was at that moment.

"Marquis-nim! The shield has been breached!"

It was now past the shield getting a crack, there was an actual hole in the shield.

"Hurry up and close it!"

The shield was quickly closed, but some black rain had entered through the hole.

"Tell the Dark Elves to absorb the black rain! Evacuate the civilians! It'll be hard to stop it if the ground starts to erode!"

The Margrave raised his voice.

He couldn't even think about the contents of the note anymore.

"Ah."

He gasped at that moment.

Tap. Tap.

He heard some bones clacking before an umbrella appeared in the air to block the black rain. The black rain that touched the bones was absorbed into the white bones.

"…As I expected."

Heni Wishrop. She was standing under the umbrella greeting her subordinates.

"Mm!"

The Margrave then made eye contact with one of her subordinates.

"He was the one who gave me the note."

He heard Eaen's voice, but the Margrave could only see the subordinate who was smiling.

– Human, why are you smiling like that? Are you about to scam someone?

Cale ignored Raon's voice and leisurely looked away from the Margrave.

---

"My liege."

Cale approached Mary.

"Are you okay?"

On the outside, Mary looked pretty much the same as she had looked when she left this morning.

The only difference was that the robe she was wearing was different.

"Yes. I'm okay. I took care of my clothes outside."

"Great decision, my liege."

Robes or armor worn on the outside were disinfected or destroyed before walking into the wall.

– Human, I made sure to give Mary a spatial pocket bag with a robe in it!

'Yes, yes. Good job.'

Cale nodded his head to praise Raon and looked up.

"Should I get rid of the umbrella?"

"Whatever you would like, my liege."

"Okay."

Mary confirmed that no more black rain was seeping in and got rid of her bone umbrella after hearing Cale's response.

The bones disappeared into her spatial pocket bag once again.

Cale's gaze moved. Beyond Mary's shoulder…

– Cale, that bastard has been following behind Mary since earlier.

Eruhaben was looking at the First Imperial Prince with a suspicious gaze.

– I asked Mary and she said that he followed her around outside as well.

'Hmm.'

First Imperial Prince Sanders.

'Where are his helpers and why is he moving around alone?'

Cale and Eruhaben were warily looking at the First Imperial Prince but Sanders didn't even give these helpers a glance.

"How can you use your ability so flexibly?"

He simply asked Mary a question.

"I don't want to tell you. It just works when I do it."

– Good job, Mary! Just answer like that!

Of course, Mary treated the First Imperial Prince coldly.

'Hmm.

The First Imperial Prince is probably one of the two puppets that Second Imperial Princess Olivia mentioned.

The Black Bloods… Does it mean he is the puppet of the House of Huayans?'

Cale debated how he could use this situation to his advantage but did not put much thought into it.

The reason was simple.

'It's not that big of a variable.'

There was that individual whom they couldn't determine if she was a Dragon, but there was nobody participating in this test who was strong enough to be an obstacle to Cale's group.

'They'll need to at least be at the Emperor or that patriarch's level.'

Cale felt a presence and turned his head.

"Umm, mister."

Cale looked at Choi Han with shock.

'What is up with this sudden mister business?'

Cale soon realized the answer after seeing Choi Han looking quite anxious and tense.

'Ah. We didn't determine how we were going to address each other.'

Choi Han seemed to have done his best to come up with something as he could not call Cale Cale-nim. The team leader dangling on Choi Han's shoulder shook his head while looking at Choi Han.

– Human. Why is Choi Han calling you so awkwardly?

'I know, right?'

"What is it?"

"That…"

Choi Han peeked to the side with his eyes.

"Quite the attention is focused here."

Cale looked around with Choi Han before thinking that he understood what Choi Han was trying to say.

The edge village.

Precinct 9.

Most of the people here were people who were here to stop the erosion and defend against it. However, there were a decent number of civilians as well.

Click.

One of the slightly opened windows of a house closed once Cale looked at it.

However, Cale had seen the gaze of the person who had been looking at him before the window closed.

'…There's no light.'

There was no strength in the gaze.

There was no shock, anticipation, or even excitement even though the test for the future Emperor was being completed, the candidates appeared, and one of those candidates had used their powers.

It felt completely different from the capital.

– It must be that they have no hope.

He heard Eruhaben's voice in his mind.

– They have nowhere to return to.

At first, Cale had found it odd that there were quite a lot of civilians living in this edge village and the ten precincts, but he felt sorrow after realizing the reason.

'Usually the people living in the edge village are people who escaped from the eroded land.'

They were people who had to leave their homes and move away from the slowly eroding land at the western border.

They could go find a place themselves at the capital, but only a select few would have the abilities to do so.

Most lived in empty houses or tents as if they were nomads.

– Cale!

Did he understand Cale's thoughts?

– Let's burn it up! We just need to purify it!

The cheapskate strongly aired his opinion.

– We will purify the entirety of this Xiaolen!

– …Then Cale will die.

– He won't die! The efficiency of my power is no joke in this world! Even if he just uses one percent of his power, it'll have the effect of ten, no, fifty percent!

– …Haaaaaaaa.

– The World Tree isn't here either! There's nothing here to stop us!

Cale was ignoring the cheapskate's conversation with the Super Rock.

– Super Rock, lock, lock. Cale isn't saying that he won't do it. He would have already been shaking his head if he really wasn't going to do anything! But he's just standing there? That means that he will do it!

– …Cale, he's not right, is he?

Cale just ignored them.

"My liege, would you please consider going inside now?"

Mary flinched for a moment at Cale's gentle demeanor before nodding her head.

– Human, you're so good at pretending to be nice too. But why don't you act like such a cool subordinate toward the crown prince?

Mary confirmed that the Dark Elves were stopping the black rain cloud properly before heading toward the Castle.

She stood next to Cale and spoke quietly so that only he could hear.

"I confirmed the direction the rain clouds came from, young master-nim."

'I knew it.'

The corners of Cale's lips curled up.

He had told Mary to follow the wall and go for a walk. Mary seemed to have used that walk very effectively.

"It was the same direction that the Second Imperial Princess went toward."

"Is that so, my liege?"

"Yes si…mm. Yes."

Mary hesitated for a moment before adding on.

"…And the Second Imperial Princess's team has not come back yet."

The group was silent for a moment.

The sun wasn't down yet and the Second Imperial Princess's team had plenty of time to return.

However, they still had this unexplainable ominous feeling.

No members of Second Imperial Princess Olivia's team had returned even after the sun had gone down.

Knock knock knock.

On the grey sky that was being dyed red… Only about half of the sunset was still visible.

"Should I open the door?"

Cale nodded his head at Choi Han's question.

He was currently in the meeting room for the nineteenth candidate and Mary, Eruhaben, and Sui Khan were not here.

"Hello sir."

Top aide Eaen was the one who walked into the meeting room. She approached Cale, who was seated at the head of the table. Cale slowly got up from the chair to greet her.

"Is it a response to the note?"

'Mm.'

Eaen hesitated for a bit as Cale got down to business without even greeting her but nodded her head.

"Yes sir. The Marquis-nim asks to meet tonight."

"That is not possible."

Cale shook his head.

"Excuse me?"

She had not expected Heni Wishrop's subordinate to reject it.

'Although we don't know his identity, he's probably a noble from the perished kingdom.'

Eaen had not expected this guy to reject the Margrave's request so calmly as if he was the superior one here. The Margrave was a Marquis of the Empire and had a large group of skilled knights under his command.

"Let's meet tomorrow. We will deliver the time tomorrow morning."

However, Eaen could not say anything to go against the subordinate's words.

'Cater to them as much as possible.'

Her uncle… The Margrave had told her to do so.

"Then see you tomorrow."

The man said that as if he wanted Eaen to leave now.

"…I understand. I will deliver the message."

Eaen left the meeting room without being able to say anything else.

Click.

Choi Han closed the meeting room door as soon as she left and asked Cale.

"Are we heading out tonight, Cale-nim?"

"Yeah."

Cale looked out the window.

Beyond the wall… It already looked like night.

"We will leave the kids here and go out when Eruhaben-nim brings the items from the Church."

"Yes, Cale-nim."

A few hours later, night had arrived.

"…Human, can I please go with you?"

"Not today."

Cale sternly shook his head.

"We are only going to investigate today. That is why you guys stay here and protect the meeting room. Prevent anybody else from spying on our lodging."

Raon and Hong puffed their cheeks and pouted but Cale didn't care.

Eruhaben had teleported to the capital and brought On and Hong over.

Of course, the vampire and Shawn were still at the capital continuing the investigation of the Imperial Palace and the Black Bloods household.

"I want to go too! I can go! The outside is not dangerous if I wear the clothes from the Church!"

"That's right, nya! It's not dangerous, nya!"

However, Raon and Hong did not say anything else and retreated once On came over and patted their heads.

Cale tightly fastened the button of his robe.

It was something Eruhaben had received from the Pope at the capital. The Church's forces were hiding near the capital and waiting while the Pope was stealthily residing inside the capital.

The power of the Fire of Purification is in these clothes. You should be able to walk around without any issues over most of the ground polluted by dead mana.

Cale made eye contact with Sui Khan, who was standing there with an odd look on his face instead of wearing a robe like the others.

"Team leader, please make sure to feed the kids properly."

"…I have to stay here too?"

"You're a kid as well, team leader."

"Ha."

Sui Khan scoffed.

"That's right. I am still a kid."

He talked to himself as if he was quite shocked but Cale had no time to pay attention to that.

"Cale, I'm ready."

"Yes, Eruhaben-nim."

Gold dust was rising up around Eruhaben.

"Everybody have a safe trip! I am going to destroy everything if any of you get hurt or sick! I'm going to destroy this whole world!"

"He sounds serious, nya!"

"Please be safe."

The team leader sat down and waved after the children averaging nine-years-old said goodbye.

"Eruhaben-nim."

"Okay."

The ancient Dragon immediately cast his spell once Cale called his name.

"We are moving to an alley near the wall."

Choi Han, Mary, Eruhaben, and Cale immediately teleported to the coordinates Eruhaben had organized earlier.

Paaaat-!

Cale could see Mary's stiff face through the bright light.

The Second Imperial Princess had not returned.

The mood in the Lord's Castle was quite chaotic because of that.

'Young master-nim, the rain cloud came from the southwest direction.'

Paaaat-!

Cale closed his eyes because of the gold light and then opened them again.

"This is a decent location, Eruhaben-nim."

"Yes it is. Nobody lives around here."

They had teleported to a dead end at the far end of an alley and they were covered by the ruins of some abandoned houses around them.

"Is it over there?"

Choi Han pointed toward the wall past the alley.

"Yes. We will go right over if there are no guards."

Eruhaben responded and Mary started to speak.

"I stealthily marked a spot without the First Imperial Prince noticing when I was walking around earlier."

The three of them all said what they needed to say before looking at a spot.

"Choi Han, do you sense anybody nearby?"

"I don't, Cale-nim."

Cale undid one of his robe buttons as soon as he heard Choi Han's response.

Mary, Choi Han, and Eruhaben did the same.

Flap.

Underneath the plain black robe…

There was an elegant red crest.

The crest had been embedded personally by the Pope and it was a robe that would automatically create a barrier to protect the wearer from the polluted land.

It was difficult to activate the power in this crest because it was from the temple.

However, it was simple for Cale.

Crack.

A rose gold current crackled in Cale's hand and that current touched Cale's robe.

The red crest mixed with the gold light and sparkled in rose gold.

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

A breeze blew by them. The rose gold current left Cale's hand and touched the other three robes in that instant.

"This-"

Choi Han could feel the power rising from the robe.

It was a destructive yet pure power.

He could also feel a mysterious warmth and a cool and refreshing aura.

It felt as if he was by a bonfire in the middle of a forest.

"It's a bit eye-catching."

Eruhaben confirmed that a half-transparent barrier was surrounding his body from head to toe.

"The Pope said that it was red but your power seems to have mixed some gold into it as well."

The barrier surrounding their bodies was gently glowing rose gold.

– That was easy. That was very easy! I didn't even feel it!

Cale ignored the cheapskate and spoke to the others.

"The Pope said that the barrier should maintain itself for about half a day once it is activated."

"After that?"

"I just need to use my power to activate it again."

"I see."

"Yes, Eruhaben-nim. Please take care of the rest."

"Alright."

Gold dust scattered from Eruhaben's fingertips and quickly surrounded the group. The four of their bodies became invisible and they used flight magic to fly above the wall.

'I know it is night time but it is so desolate.'

Cale looked around as they floated in the air.

There was nobody around.

"Here we go."

They gently headed past the wall once Eruhaben said that.

They would have had to worry about being noticed if there was a shield as there had been to stop the rain cloud earlier, but there was nothing to stop them right now.

"Mm."

Choi Han groaned.

"I heard that it wasn't that serious around the wall but it is already at this level. That's bad."

Outside. The dead mana fog was thin around the wall because there was less erosion.

However, Choi Han could still feel the aura of death. He was shocked internally.

'It's not hard at all to breathe.'

It was probably thanks to the robe. However, Choi Han remembered what the Pope's instructions had said.

'It will be difficult to breathe but you will not need to worry as you will not be affected by dead mana.'

The robe's abilities were better than what the Pope had said.

'I'm sure it is thanks to Cale-nim's power.'

The Fire of Purification. It was probably thanks to that power that made the Church call him the purifier.

"We will be at the main gate of the wall if we walk about 300 meters from here."

Mary looked around and commented after finding the marker she had placed earlier.

Mary didn't need the robe but she was wearing it just in case they ran into an area where the dead mana was so severe that it was hard for even her to handle.

"Okay. Mary, then which direction is the one you saw the rain cloud coming from?"

Cale placed their approximate location in the map in his mind as he asked Mary.

Mary pointed toward the southwest direction.

"It came from this direction, young master-nim."

"The First Imperial Prince confirmed it with you?"

"Yes."

"Let's move that way first."

Eruhaben scattered some gold dust on the ground near the wall once Cale said that.

"We won't need to worry about coming back."

Eruhaben was the first to head in that direction after saying that. Of course, he cast acceleration magic on Mary as they moved together.

'…I guess he still has mana to use. He's quite active about this.'

Cale followed behind Eruhaben, who was more active with things in Xiaolen than he had expected.

For reference, Eruhaben had the pouch of highest-grade magic stones that Raon had given him.

Swooooooosh-

The wind roaming around Cale's feet created whirlwinds and his body quickly shot forward.

Choi Han was by his side.

"Mm."

However, Choi Han soon groaned.

"It's dark."

"It's also the desert."

It was completely different from a normal night with stars and the moon.

It became so dark the farther they went into the polluted land that they couldn't even tell what was up and what was down.

"I don't think there is a need for a spell though."

Thankfully, the half-transparent rose gold barriers allowed the group to move without losing each other.

Of course, they had a different way to know whether they were moving in the right direction.

"…It's this way."

Mary pointed in a direction.

Cale had given her an order.

'Let's go toward the direction the rain cloud came from.'

However, he had changed his order once they were surrounded by darkness.

'Let's go toward where the aura of dead mana is strongest.'

The chance of that being the place with the answer was quite high.

"We are a decent distance away from the wall now so we will make things brighter as we move."

Cale reached his hand in the direction Mary was pointing toward and channeled his current.

Crack, crackle.

A rose gold current appeared on top of Cale's hand.

They should be able to see some things thanks to this.

"Let's move quickly before the sun comes up."

Cale kicked off the sand and moved forward.

No, he tried to do so.

"…What the hell, what is that?"

"Please move back, Cale-nim!"

Choi Han quickly hid Cale behind him.

Eruhaben and Mary moved to Cale's left and right as well.

Cale peeked his head to look past Choi Han's shoulder.

"…That-"

Through the faint darkness…

"…Isn't that a corpse?"

"No, young master-nim."

Mary quickly responded.

"That person is still alive."

Someone was sprawled over the top of the black sand.

Half of their body was covered by the sand.

Most importantly, they were bleeding quite a bit.

"Mm."

Choi Han figured out who this was.

"It is the Second Imperial Princess."

Second Imperial Princess Olivia was the one who was unconscious on top of the black sand.

---

'The Second Imperial Princess?'

Cale moved and the whole group quickly approached the unconscious person.

'Did something happen to the Second Imperial Princess's team?'

Cale quickly looked around. Eruhaben spoke in a low voice at the same time.

"This won't do."

Crack. The ancient Dragon broke the magic stone in his hand.

Mana was rising in the area surrounded by dead mana and the ancient Dragon controlled it before it could disappear.

Shhhhhhh-

Gold dust that resembled the black sand but was a different color surrounded the ancient Dragon who moved his hand.

"I'll shine some light."

"Yes sir."

A gold orb floated up and lit up about ten meters around them.

"Cale-nim, she is alone."

"It seems so."

As Choi Han mentioned, there was no person or any living creature other than Olivia in the ten meters around them.

They could see trees or weeds dyed black but even they were dry as if to show that this was a desert.

'Where did the others go?'

Shh. Shh.

Cale walked past the black sand and arrived near Olivia.

"I will look-"

"I'll do it."

Choi Han tried to approach her but Cale stepped in first. Mary followed behind him.

Cale moved the sand around the Second Imperial Princess. Mary helped him flip Olivia over.

'…This is serious.'

Olivia's condition was quite serious.

It was quite serious in multiple ways.

"Both arms are broken."

Both of her arms had marks that looked as if they had been tied by something and were twisted in odd directions.

"There is a deep cut on her leg."

Her two legs… Her right leg had a deep cut from her thigh to her knee.

Most importantly…

"…There are too many injuries."

Olivia's whole body had a lot of large stab marks.

"They are not critical. She must have run this way before she fell."

Cale looked at where Eruhaben was looking.

Olivia must have run over from that direction as blood was scattered on top of the black sand.

'Something happened to the Second Imperial Princess's team and she was running away toward Precinct 9 when she lost strength and fell.'

She would have slowly died from excessive blood loss.

"Dead mana seemed in through her wounds."

No, her death would have been because her body would have received serious damage from excessive consumption of dead mana and blood loss.

Although the Second Imperial Princess was a necromancer and free from the poisonous nature of dead mana… Dead mana seeping into her body while she was injured was not good.

It was similar to how excessive amounts of mana being focused and absorbed by a seriously injured mage who could not control themselves was bad.

"Oo…ooooooooo…."

It was at that moment.

"…Oo…"

Olivia groaned. Her eyelids were shaking. It looked as if she was about to regain consciousness.

"Young m, no, I will check it."

Mary immediately approached Olivia and checked her condition.

She pulled a cloth out of a spatial pocket bag she brought with her to wipe the blood from Olivia's mouth and put some water on a handkerchief and placed it on Olivia's lips.

"…Oo…ahhhhhh…."

Olivia's eyelids opened.

Mary's voice sank down.

"…The areas around the wounds are being dyed black."

Necromancers had their whole body covered in black spider webs. They always looked like webs regardless of if they were light or dark.

However, the areas around Olivia's injuries were being dyed black. This meant that an excessive amount of dead mana had been absorbed through the wounds.

– With the density of dead mana being this high, it is similar to regular mages being inside mana that is fifty times more dense than normal. This environment is excessive. At least for a necromancer of her level that is.

The cheapskate analyzed the situation in a calm and collected manner.

"Are you awake?"

Cale looked at Olivia with a calm gaze.

Her pupils moved without being able to focus until they slowly returned to normal.

"…I, I'm ali-"

"Yes. You are alive."

Cale was calmly saying that she was alive but Olivia could feel that her body was at a point where it was difficult for her to even talk.

Her blurry sight slowly started to focus.

'Ah.'

She realized who she was looking at right now.

'Heni Wishrop's subordinate.'

It was the man who seemed to be her chief advisor.

'That means-!'

Her eyes started to move.

"She's right here."

Cale pulled Mary toward him and Olivia started to speak as soon as she confirmed that Mary was there. Her lips were shaking intensely. She seemed to be trying to say something even though it was extremely difficult to do so.

"R, run-"

Choi Han's face stiffened up as he watched.

The Second Imperial Princess knew that Mary was strong. She was still telling Mary to run.

'That means-'

That meant that there was something there that even Mary would be no match against.

And since she was telling them to run…

'Does it mean that it is chasing her?'

Choi Han's hand moved on top of his scabbard.

"T, the wall-, we need to inform-"

Olivia's voice was so faint that it could go out at any moment.

She had to focus so that her eyes would not close.

'…I'm done for now.'

She could tell that she was dying right now.

There was no way not to know this sensation of death.

'My sight is weird as well.'

Heni Wishrop and her subordinate looked weird to her.

The rose gold light surrounding the two of them… There was a glowing barrier around them as if to protect them. The light was especially clear around Heni Wishrop's subordinate, making it look as if he had cast that light himself.

She had never seen something like this before.

She must be seeing things because she was on the verge of dying.

'Anyway, I need to quickly inform them.'

She must inform them about what she had seen.

She had to do so.

She had to tell them as quickly as possible.

To run.

Run if they don't want to die.

She needed to tell Heni Wishrop that a skilled person like her needed to survive.

"Are you saying we need to quickly run away toward the wall?"

Olivia resumed speaking after hearing Heni Wishrop's subordinate's question.

"A lake at the c, center of the desert-"

'A lake?'

Cale's eyebrows slightly rose up.

"T, there is a m, monster there c, chasing m-"

Olivia looked at Mary with a desperate gaze.

"C, can't win-"

"Did the others all die?"

Olivia said something else instead of responding to Cale's cold question.

"Hurry, hurry back to the wall-"

Mary opened her mouth.

"We will move to Precinct 9 for now."

Olivia shook her head after seeing Mary trying to take her with them.

She was already done for.

'This is not a good environment where you can quickly run away while carrying someone.'

It was better for them to leave her here.

She couldn't end up as baggage.

'Your Royal Highness! Please go let them know! The Empire will be destroyed if t, this thing reaches the wall!'

'We will stop it so please go! You are the fastest of our team!'

Second Imperial Princess Olivia. She had chosen a team that would make her stand out the most but she had not put much importance to it.

People whose identities were clear and she could guarantee that they cherished the Empire.

She had picked such people for her team even if they were lacking a bit in strength.

A team had to consist of people you could at least trust enough to protect your back.

'I'm sure they died.'

She had escaped on her own despite knowing that they would die.

It was because she had to inform everyone.

"The monster is c, coming-"

The rain cloud was not the problem.

"The tree at the forest, the bush- is heading toward the Empire, m, must stop-"

She could see the subordinate's mouth open.

"There is a lake in the middle of the desert and there is a tree there and a bush of that tree is heading toward the Empire?"

Olivia closed her eyes and opened them back.

It was her way of saying yes.

Cale continued to ask.

Accurate information was sometimes more important than time.

"Is it strong?"

"…S, size-"

"It is strong and it is big?"

Olivia nodded her head.

"My team, I, was nothing a, against it-"

The monster was so strong that she was nothing compared to it.

The thing that she couldn't tell whether it was a plant or a living creature was so scary that people got scared just approaching it and looking at it.

"That's not good."

Olivia was getting frustrated while questioning the mindset of the group after hearing Cale's comment.

'Why are they not running away?

Have they not heard enough?'

"…A monster that made you feel like you were nothing against it did not manage to hold you there?"

Olivia's eyes opened wide after hearing Cale's question.

Cale was looking down at her with a stoic gaze.

"Are you sure it didn't let you go?"

'Huh?'

"What if it let you go and stealthily followed you?"

"Ah."

The moment Olivia gasped…

"…The air is weird, young master-nim!"

Mary jumped up in shock. She even forgot that she needed to pretend to be Heni Wishrop.

In the distance from the direction of the Second Imperial Princess's blood on the ground… Something was pushing this way from there.

She could sense a large amount of dead mana from there.

"Cale-nim!"

"Cale."

Choi Han pulled his word out while Eruhaben held a magic stone in his hand.

'Cale?'

Olivia's eyes looked toward Heni Wishrop's subordinate.

'It…

It seems like this person is the leader?

Not Heni Wishrop but him?'

The moment she had that thought…

– Something is headed this way. It is very strong. It is also giving off an intense venomous aura.

Cale heard the cheapskate's warning and took off the robe in his hand.

Olivia saw the radiant crest underneath the plain robe.

'I feel like I've seen it some-'

She was certain she had seen it before. However, she could not recall it right now.

That crest was glowing rose gold.

"Second Imperial Princess Olivia."

Cale smiled at Olivia.

"I'm sure you are well aware of this, but you will need to keep your mouth shut no matter what you see from here."

Olivia's pupils started to shake.

"Of course, you won't be able to escape now that you are in our hands."

'Why is he threatening me like this?'

She questioned his intentions but flinched after feeling the aura coming from the robe that was being placed on top of her.

Her body was losing strength and she was even losing the feeling of pain…

But she could feel the coldness.

'It's warm.'

However, her body felt warm as soon as this robe covered her.

Furthermore, refreshing air that did not have dead mana surrounded her body.

'Ah.'

It felt as if she was standing in the middle of a forest.

No, it felt as if she was next to a warm fire.

'How does he have a robe with such power?'

She could see her body being surrounded by a rose gold barrier as well. She raised her head.

She wanted to ask him.

She wanted to ask this person named Cale about this power.

Boom-!

However, her face soon turned pale.

The ground, the area underneath the sand was shaking.

This vibration…

"I, it's here- that thing is here-"

Olivia heard a noise.

Shhhh—

Shhhhhhhhh- sssssssssss-

She heard something cutting through the sand and quickly approaching them.

'I know that I escaped far away!'

She had escaped for close to two hours.

'But this monster followed me so quickly?

Did it really let me go on purpose and follow me like this Cale person said?

Then it would see me go to the wall and know the way there.'

The wall was not very far from here.

'I can't let that happen!'

This monster could not get to Precinct 9 before they could prepare for it.

They might be able to kill the monster but there would be a lot of casualties and the wall would be destroyed.

'We can't let that happen!'

"Cale, what do you want to do?"

Eruhaben had mana swirling around him as if to show that he could teleport at any moment.

Olivia reached her right hand forward. It was her less broken arm.

Her hand grabbed at Cale's pants.

"We need to s, stop it no matter what- someone has to stay back to hold down the last line of defense-"

The person who had been saying that they needed to run and quickly inform the others was now begging them to stop it.

However, Olivia had to do that.

Shhhh—

The sound was getting faster and louder.

It was close.

The monster was close.

It was quickly approaching from the darkness.

They would see it once it got within ten meters.

"Imperial Princess Olivia."

Cale removed Olivia's hand from his pants.

As Olivia's eyes became full of despair…

"You said that the monster was a tree and a bush right?"

As Olivia couldn't respond to Cale's sudden question… She felt the ground shake.

"Cale!"

Choi Han had already pulled his sword out as Eruhaben shouted.

10 meters. They could not see the enemy.

Boom-!

However, the rumbling was close.

Then there was only one answer.

"Below!"

Choi Han saw a root shooting up right in front of him as soon as Eruhaben said that.

The black root had a thick liquid flowing from it.

"…It's so big."

The black root that shot up was so big that Eruhaben had to look up quite a bit to see the end.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

However, that root was not the end.

Around ten roots shot up all around them.

Shhhh—

The black bush moved past the darkness and revealed itself under the light. This bush that had sharp thorns around it was as thick as an adult thigh and there was thick liquid flowing from its thorns.

"Ah… Ah… poison-"

Olivia thought about her subordinates who had died because of this poisonous liquid. As sorrow appeared underneath the despair in her gaze…

"It really is a tree and a bush."

She heard a relaxed voice.

Olivia looked toward the person who said that.

'Ah.'

This person named Cale…

He looked a bit different from earlier.

'The light-'

The rose gold light that had been faintly wrapped around him like a barrier…

That rose gold light was fluctuating much stronger than before as it wrapped around Cale.

'No.'

Fluctuating or wrapping around him… Those words were not right to describe this.

'This looks like-'

It looked like he was releasing this light himself.

It looked as if it could leave his body at any moment and shoot out in all directions.

She heard Cale's lighthearted voice at that moment.

"We just have to burn it up."

'What? Burn it up?'

As Olivia had trouble understanding that…

"Everybody step back. We will destroy it to a degree and then head toward the wall. Mary."

"Yes, young master-nim."

"Take care of her Royal Highness properly."

"Yes, young master-nim."

'Mary?

Heni Wishrop is Mary?'

Olivia lost her train of thought as her eyes filled with confusion.

"Ah."

Cale.

His hand was glowing.

'Is it a fire?

No, is it a thunderbolt?

Is it a fiery thunderbolt?'

That thing was rising from Cale's hand.

The radiant rose gold light wrapped around Cale and started to go wild as if there was nothing to hold it back anymore.

Olivia thought that he looked as if fire and thunderbolt was taking the form of a human.

"W, who is this person-"

Mary debated for a moment after hearing her question.

'Do we still need to hide our identities?'

It looked as if it was basically revealed but Cale had not introduced himself to Olivia. That was why Mary debated how to address Cale in this world and chose the following.

"The purifier."

Mary's voice reached Olivia's ears.

'…Purifier?'

She did not look at Mary.

She just looked at the light.

'Ah.'

The thought of asking what a purifier was came second to a different thought that filled her mind.

Even though she had no idea that this thought came to her, but…

'It suits him.'

The purifier.

That word seemed to suit this person's current appearance so perfectly.

Rose gold light was glowing in the darkness.

It looked as if it could burn everything including the darkness.

---

Cale's heart thumped at that moment.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

'Something is weird.'

That was the first thought he had.

'Have I ever felt an ancient power so strongly before?'

The Fire of Destruction.

Cale had used this ancient power countless times until now. He had used it however he wanted, controlling it as he pleased.

'It's a bit different.'

However, the Fire of Destruction that he was feeling right now was different from any other time he had used the power.

– Cale! This place, it's different! Seriously, I'm seeing this terrible darkness again!

The Fire of Destruction cheapskate shouted.

– It reminds me of when I was alive!

Cale looked down at his fingertips.

The rose gold fiery thunderbolt that was wrapped all around his body in order to prevent being poisoned by dead mana… All of the black fog that touched it turned into ashes and disappeared.

The cheapskate said that he was reminded of when he was alive.

'…So this is destruction.'

Cale felt as if he could understand how the cheapskate had destroyed darkness when he was alive.

As for how efficient the Fire of Destruction was in this Xiaolen world…

He felt as if he had a very good idea about it.

"Cale-nim!"

He heard Choi Han's urgent voice. Cale lifted his head up.

Boom!

The ground shook and one of the black roots charged toward him. It seemed to be scoping him out.

Shhhh—

And the numerous vines that seemed endless compared to the roots…

A portion of the vines that had surrounded the group like a wall were charging toward Cale and the others behind him.

Dead mana and a terrible poison that was even worse than it was carried by the wind and charged toward them as these vines moved.

The cheapskate laughed out loud at that moment.

– Kahahaha! That bastard has recognized his opponent! But how foolish!

His laughter sounded maniacal.

The power that looked to burn the whole world, the power that had made the World Tree fear for its safety, that emotion, that craze seemed to be appearing.

– The prey dares to charge at the predator.

The cheapskate stopped laughing.

The ancient hero who had controlled the Fire of Destruction mumbled in a low voice.

– How laughable.

Choi Han moved in front of Cale.

"I will help you, Cale-nim."

Cale shook his head.

"No, step back."

"Excuse me?"

Choi Han flinched just as he was about to look behind him.

'What is this?'

He could feel heat behind his back.

It must be Cale's fire power.

However, the heat didn't feel as if it would burn him up. It wasn't hot or stuffy.

However, Choi Han's back still had a lot of sweat.

The sweat was not from the heat but cold sweat from feeling something else.

'I became nervous because of Cale-nim's power?'

There were many times he had gasped in admiration and awe many times.

But it was different right now.

It felt a bit more fundamental.

Choi Han suddenly recalled its name.

'The Fire of Destruction.

Yes, destruction.

Although it had a holy name of the Fire of Purification here and did purify dead mana, fire was something that could burn everything.

It could destroy everything.

"Choi Han, step back."

Cale said that once more before walking past Choi Han. He then added on.

"Or you are going to be burnt to death."

Choi Han looked at Cale's back as Cale walked past him.

Boom!

A black root approached.

The black root that was so tall that Choi Han had to look up quite a bit to even get a glimpse of the end reached toward Cale like a giant snake.

Cale raised his hand.

Crack.

A fiery thunderbolt crackled in his hand.

This thunderbolt looked a bit too red to be called rose gold in color.

'Hmm?'

Choi Han could see a faint blue light mixed in the red.

It was like a small blue star floating in a red night sky.

The moment the blue pebble seeped into the red thunderbolt…

"Ah."

Choi Han saw it.

The dead mana fog…

That black fog retreated.

It disappeared on Cale's side as if it was running away.

'No, it isn't retreating or running away.'

The fog did not have a conscience.

'It is disintegrating as soon as it touches him. And the range is getting wider.'

The area around Cale was being purified.

The fiery thunderbolt in his hand finally left his hand.

All of this had happened in just a few seconds but it felt extremely long to Choi Han as he watched.

Choi Han subconsciously opened his mouth.

"Eruhaben-nim!"

"I know!"

Eruhaben pulled out a highest-grade magic stone.

Crack. Gold dust wrapped around him as the magic stone broke.

Ooooooooo—!

The gold dust vibrated and the ancient Dragon created a shield around him. It was to protect Mary and Olivia.

"…Magic…?"

Olivia, who was in Mary's arms, couldn't help but open her eyes wide while looking at magic that was not black magic, this radiant gold mana, rising up in such an environment.

However, something else had captured Olivia's attention.

It touched it.

This 'it' was a thunderbolt that was only the size of an adult fist.

This red thunderbolt with blue pebbles touched the black root not too slowly or too quickly.

Baaaaaaaaaang-!

Her ears were ringing from the loud explosion.

'The darkness-'

The darkness had disappeared.

The darkness that had filled her view had completely disappeared.

The only thing her eyes could see…

'It's red.'

Was a red light.

The darkness, the fog, everything dark could not be seen at all.

'Ah.'

She was finally able to remember the identity of this crest on the robe she was wearing.

'The Fire of Purification.'

The Church that had been labeled a cult in the Empire about 100 years ago and allowed instant execution of any of the high-ranking positions.

This crest was the crest they needed to know in order to find the believers of that church.

She finally remembered the crest she had seen for a moment a few years ago.

'I thought it was a lie.'

Olivia had learned that this church was a cult that believed in a false doctrine.

The god that they believed in did not exist and they were said to be similar to the Agents of Destruction where they would cleverly instigate the regular citizens of the Empire to throw the world into chaos.

'There are many religions like that.'

Many religions that were really cults had appeared since the world became like this. Olivia had assumed that this Church of the Fire of Purification was naturally one of them.

She recalled one of the abnormal doctrines of the Church of the Fire of Purification that she had learned about.

There definitely exists a power to purify this darkness.

One of them, the fire containing thunderbolt would defeat the darkness.

The red light started to disappear.

The redness that had filled her view was shrinking.

"…Ha."

Grey ashes fluttered in the air.

Olivia said something in a voice filled with both admiration and a gasp.

"…It's not there.

Ha, haha-"

She laughed in disbelief.

The terrible pain from the dead mana that was infiltrating her body similar to a mana explosion was forgotten for a moment.

To be more specific, she had forgotten about it since earlier.

Because of this shocking sight.

It wasn't there.

The monster that had been chasing her was no longer there.

No, it was there.

She spoke even though it was difficult to do so. She saw it as the only way to express her emotions.

"…It's… running away…"

Most of the ten or so vines that had appeared above ground did not exist anymore.

They had turned into ashes and disappeared.

Tap, tap.

Only a portion of one or two roots still remained even though they were burning as well.

Then they ran away.

Boom! Boom!

The roots hid underground in the sand even as they continued to burn.

Shhhh—

Most of the bushes had turned into ashes or were burning as well.

The fire did not go out.

Shhhh-! Shhhhhhh–!

The bushes cut off the parts of their bodies that were burning. It looked as if they had a conscience or were responding to orders.

They cut parts of their body and quickly retreated the parts that were not burning.

They were running away as well.

They couldn't even consider rolling on the sand to put the fire out.

'The sand is burning too.'

Within a radius of ten meters around them… All of the black sand was burning red in this area.

Olivia looked at the person standing at the center of the fire.

This was the person who had made those terrible monsters, the one that had made her and her allies helplessly run away with a single attack.

That person. Cale quietly stood there looking in the direction of the escaping vines.

"H, how can a person- how can a person do this?"

Olivia subconsciously asked while still forgetting about her pain.

She had never seen something like this before.

'He-, this person-

Is he human?'

Rose gold thunderbolts were still swirling around him.

The purifier. Was he really a human being?

"Is that person a human?

How can a person use that kind of power?"

The current Emperor and his instructor, the patriarch of the House of Huayans…

Olivia had seen them use their powers a few times. Their powers had been amazing.

It had scared her.

It had made her feel as if she could not win against them.

However, neither of their powers had been this extraordinary.

"Ah, that punk?"

She heard a peaceful voice.

Olivia turned her gaze.

The individual who had cast a spell a few moments ago was looking at the purifier.

"That punk is definitely human."

The way he was calmly speaking like this…

'…That punk is?

Does that mean that there is someone who is not human?'

Olivia looked at the gold dust, the mana still swirling around the mage before getting chills all over her body.

'…I've never seen a mage of this caliber. I've never even heard of a mage of this caliber existing in the world.'

There were some black mages who came from households that carried on learning magic almost as a tradition in addition to black magic.

For example, the House of Huayans handled magic very well. They were skilled in black magic, white magic, and magic.

'But has there ever been a mage who could use magic so freely in a polluted area like this?

Has there ever been a person who could use mana so freely without any restraints?

They would need to at least be at the highest-grade level as a mage?

…And this mage…'

He had said that that punk was a human being.

That should mean that there was someone who was not human.

'What if this mage in front of me is not human?'

An existence that is not human but can handle mana so well like this?

"Ah."

Olivia saw that the man's eyes changed colors to gold as she watched. The pupils of those gold eyes were vertical.

He was neither human nor elf.

'Perhaps-'

Dragon.

She thought about that world.

The man's eyes returned back to normal green human eyes. The man flicked his finger.

Snap!

Olivia's body was surrounded by warmth. It was a bit different from what she was getting from the robe as it was the pure aura of natural mana.

That aura was gently patting the dead mana that was trying to go berserk.

It was as if it would delay Olivia's poisoning even though it couldn't heal it.

The voice that came out of the man's mouth was quite stern unlike the warmth surrounding her.

"You shouldn't have any stupid thoughts about using that punk or anything of the sort. Of course, he's not the type who would let you do that anyway."

However, his voice was not cold.

"It's just a small warning."

However, there was something about it that made it impossible for her to ignore it.

A tiny bit of aura of a higher being that was different from humans touched Olivia.

"Imperial Princess Olivia."

She turned her head.

Cale had walked next to her at some point. The fire burning over the sand had gone out.

Choi Han was next to Cale checking his complexion.

'He's okay.'

Cale's complexion seemed fine.

He had worried because Cale had used quite a strong thunderbolt but Cale still seemed fine as he was not even pale.

'Choi Han! You need to pay close attention to him!'

'That's right, nya!'

'Please do it for us, nya!'

Choi Han recalled the request of the children averaging nine-years-old as he stood next to Cale.

Cale had no idea about Choi Han's actions as he knelt down and looked at Olivia.

"…Purifier…"

Cale peeked at Mary after hearing Olivia call him by that title. Mary gently blinked as if to tell him that she was the one to tell her. Cale looked back at Olivia.

'Mm.'

He debated what to do before answering honestly.

"Purifier is indeed one of my names."

Olivia's eyes opened even wider.

Cale didn't know why she was even more shocked now but continued to speak honestly to share his intentions.

"I came to stop the erosion of this world."

"…To save this world…?"

Cale thought about the words Imperial Princess Olivia barely managed to mutter before nodding his head.

'Taking care of the Hunters should stop the erosion of this world to a degree. In that sense, it is true that I came to save it.'

Cale calmly nodded his head.

"I guess you can see it that way."

He looked away from Olivia.

Olivia continued to look at him as if she had received a great shock but Cale didn't pay any attention as he addressed his friends.

It was a fight against time from here on.

"It looks like we will need to get rid of that monster from earlier."

Eruhaben started to speak.

"Will we head back to the castle first?"

"Yes, Eruhaben-nim. That should be first."

Cale looked toward Precinct 9 and continued to speak.

"There were loud noises and light from this direction so Precinct 9 should have noticed something."

It would mean that Precinct 9 was useless as the western defense line of the Empire if they could not even notice that.

Cale thought that at least the Margrave seemed to have a decent level of abilities and passion.

"We will proceed at the same time. We will return to Precinct 9 to heal her Royal Highness, and…"

In addition to that…

"We will meet the Margrave."

They would meet the Margrave to draw him in and then immediately after that…

"We will then immediately go take care of the monster."

His voice was so calm that it almost felt indifferent.

He sounded as if he was out on a walk.

The cheapskate spoke to Cale.

– Yes, Cale. Let's quickly get rid of it. I can tell after fighting against it. That thing is dangerous. That bastard is something that kills living beings and corrodes the land to create dead mana.

However, his friends did not trust Cale's relaxed tone.

They could guess how he was feeling based on the fact that the red thunderbolts were still crackling around him.