Laws of the Hunt

by lilipadd

For offline purposes only :)

7. The sun has risen

In the middle of the dark night… A red pillar shot up far beyond the wall.

The clear red color looked as if it would burn up all of the darkness around.

That light was clearly visible in this world where everything was dark.

"Hey, Sui Khan! Look at that, do you see it?"

Raon, On, and Hong… The children averaging nine-years-old had their faces pressed against the window with their eyes wide open.

The black Dragon's blue eyes looked into Sui Khan's red eyes.

"That red pillar! I'm certain that this light is our human using his power!"

On spoke next very calmly but also very quickly.

"It is pretty far, but if we can see the fiery thunderbolt from here… It must mean that he used quite a lot of his power, nya."

"That means something dangerous must have happened, nya!"

Hong became anxious and didn't know what to do.

"We should have followed him!"

Raon clenched his cheeks with his front paws. The black Dragon looked toward Sui Khan who had been silently standing by another window.

"Hey, Sui Khan! Why aren't you saying anything?"

On slowly turned her gaze to observe Sui Khan. This was a new friend who had been with them since they came to this planet.

Based on Cale, Choi Han, and especially Alberu's demeanor, he seemed like someone they could trust. Unlike Cale who frequently lacked a sense of vigilance, Choi Han and Alberu were the two most vigilant people in the group. Those two people had accepted Sui Khan as a part of their team.

'Ah!'

On held back a gasp after checking what Sui Khan was observing out the window.

'He's observing the castle!'

While On's gaze had been focused on the red light, Sui Khan was observing the inside of the castle.

No alarm had gone off in the castle.

But On knew.

'I'm sure they saw what we saw as well.'

That was when On could finally see people moving in the darkness, especially by the distant wall out of the precinct. She could see soldiers, knights, and even black mages.

On, who was in her human form, opened the window.

Clunk.

She then looked out the window.

'…The light in the Margrave's bedroom turned on!'

The room next to the Margrave's bedroom was the office for his top executives, and that room had the light on twenty-four hours a day.

She was certain that the Margrave and the entire top executives' team were on alert right now.

The castle seemed quiet but it was quite chaotic underneath the surface. That chaos would soon rise above the surface as well.

'What do I do?'

They couldn't let people figure out about Cale's visit outside.

On's mind quickly started to move.

It was at that moment.

"Hey On. Isn't it cold?"

On heard a slow voice behind her.

"The night breeze is cold."

Sui Khan was looking at her. He was petting Raon's head with one hand while messing Hong's hair with his other hand.

Clunk.

On leaned back into the room and closed the window.

It was because she suddenly realized that someone might see her in her human form.

On heard Sui Khan's voice.

"Variables always come up."

His voice was calm, but it was different from Cale's calm voice. Cale sounded crude, cold, and indifferent, but his voice held warmth within it.

Sui Khan spoke slowly as if everything was boring and there was warmth in his voice as he gently called her name, but…

"We also can't be swept around by the variables."

It oddly sounded cold and rational.

This was something she had felt back in the Empire's capital.

Of course, that coldness was not directed at 'me' or my 'little brothers.'

"I'm sure they are in a more chaotic state than we are."

Toward their enemies, toward their goal… Sui Khan did not hide that coldness.

"Hey, Sui Khan! But what if our human comes back hurt? What about Mary? Goldie gramps? Choi Han?"

"That's right! That's what we are worried about, nya!"

On saw Sui Khan's gaze heading somewhere outside the window as Raon and Hong could not hide their anxiety.

He was looking towards where Eruhaben had teleported them to before they crossed the wall.

"He's smarter than I am, so I'm sure they are heading back right now."

On could see the corners of Sui Khan's lips curling up.

"Or they are already here."

Raon raised his head at that moment.

"Ah!"

Raon's gaze headed toward the center of the room.

On could see Sui Khan close the curtains as soon as Raon did that.

Chhh.

The moment the curtains closed and the only light was from the candles in the room…

Ooooooooong—!

Mana gathered in the room.

Raon smiled after sensing this familiar mana.

"They're here! It's Goldie gramps!"

Paaaat-!

There was a bright light and a total of five people appeared on top of the golden teleportation magic circle.

Cale, who was standing at the center of the magic circle, looked into Sui Khan's red eyes as soon as he confirmed that they were back in the bedroom and started to speak.

"Did you find the coordinates of the Margrave's bedroom?"

"Of course."

Figuring out the enemy's location, always confirming their movements, and making it so that they could reach their target at any moment…

That was the basics of the work Kim Rok Soo and Lee Soo Hyuk used to do for the company.

"What the heck is going on?!"

The Margrave. Marquis Helson was seated at the center of the top executives' meeting room that was connected to his bedroom.

He was dressed lightly because he had been sleeping for a bit, but an attendant would soon bring his armor.

"Eaen!"

"Yes, Marquis-nim?!"

"Have you determined the cause of that light?"

Marquis Helson, who had felt the fluctuation of a strong power not too long ago, had seen a red light shooting up from the distance through his bedroom window.

The black mages had said that they detected some faint vibrations after that as well.

"Not yet, we have yet to determine the cause, sir!"

"Tell them to hurry!"

The red pillar of light had been temporary but it had definitely happened quite far from the wall.

However, the vibrations had been detected by the black mages who were in the basement located at the center of the Lord's Castle.

There was probably a much stronger vibration at the center of that pillar of light.

'Shit! What could it be?'

Marquis Helson was getting a headache.

His mind was so complicated that it felt as if it would blow.

"…Chief!"

"Yes, sir."

Eaen. The true identity of this woman who was known as the top aide was actually the Chief of the top executives.

Some of the top executives were currently disguised as aides to observe some of the candidates.

"Will it be difficult to dispatch a team beyond the wall?"

"…Mm."

Eaen frowned and was deep in thought for a moment before she shook her head.

"It may be possible once the sun comes up but it is dangerous right now. We don't know when the black rain cloud might come, and suddenly dispatching people like this may cause a different kind of issue."

It wasn't that Eaen didn't want to send a team past the wall. In fact, she wanted to send people so that they might at least get a clue about what happened.

"…Marquis-nim. We have a lot of individuals missing."

"I know! That's why I am asking!"

The past half year…

Quite a lot of the Dark Elves, black mages, and scouts they had sent out in the past half year had gone missing.

The Imperial Palace had ignored the reports about these missing individuals as mere accidents, but the Margrave and his team had seen this as a sign as well.

"Fuck!"

The Marquis slammed down on the table with his palm.

"The Second Imperial Princess didn't come back either. I'm sure something must have happened beyond the wall. We shouldn't have accepted the candidates!"

"Please calm down, Marquis-nim."

Eaen calmly continued to speak.

"But I'm certain that the Imperial Palace will pay attention to the current situation because the candidates are here. It will become possible to figure out what is going on past the wall."

"…."

Marquis Helson preferred political neutrality. The reason this man, who had dedicated his life to protecting the edge region, had accepted the candidates' test being in his precinct was to learn about what was going on beyond the wall.

"Yes. I'm sure that the Imperial Palace will pay attention to our report this time. They will want to save their precious candidate."

The Marquis said 'candidate' and not candidates.

"What about the First Imperial Prince and the Fourth Imperial Prince?"

"They are quiet."

"It is highly likely that the two of them know what is going on beyond the wall. Of course, the Fourth Imperial Prince might not, but I'm sure the First Imperial Prince does. He is with the young lady of the House of Huayans."

"I have already increased the level of surveillance on them already."

The Marquis was not thinking about only getting information through the candidates.

He was certain that the Imperial Palace had some knowledge of what was going on beyond the ten edge villages. That was what he believed, so he was thinking about stealing information from the First Imperial Prince who was being supported by the Imperial Palace and the House of Huayans.

'And one more thing.'

The strong candidate who could keep the First Imperial Prince in check…

He was planning on secretly contacting that candidate.

'The Margraves of the North and East have agreed to be with me as well. The Margrave of the South agreed to remain neutral.'

North, South, East, and West. The Margraves responsible for the defense of the Empire were all from families with deep histories that have continued on for generations.

They had fought valiantly in the edge precincts generation after generation to protect the Empire. There had been quite a lot of support from the center for them as well.

'…It's weird.'

However, the intentions of the center; the intentions of the Imperial Palace had been a bit suspicious lately.

'Are they really trying to protect the Empire?'

This was a thought that most of the Margraves have had and they were currently suspicious of the House of Huayans.

The House of Huayans. Most people saw them as people who did not seek out power and protected the Empire as the Emperor's instructor.

The respective Margraves had their own reasons for suspecting the House of Huayans.

Marquis Helson had a reason to be suspicious as well.

'…The House of Huayans was the one that most strongly emphasized a need to set the Church of the Fire of Purification as a heretic cult. They are basically the reason the Church of the Fire of Purification became a cult.'

The former patriarch… His grandfather had believed in the Church of the Fire of Purification.

Marquis Helson was hiding the fact that his grandfather was a member of the church because any members would be executed on the spot, but…

'That church is not a cult.'

Marquis Helson had seen the Pope's abilities when he was young.

Destroying dead mana, that red-

'Red?'

The Marquis jumped up from his seat.

Bang-!

The chair he had been sitting on fell backward.

"Marquis-nim?"

A shocked Eaen approached and called out to him but the Marquis didn't even look at his niece's face.

He headed toward the window.

'That red pillar just now-'

That was different from a pillar of fire. There was a reason the Marquis had been calling it a pillar of light.

'It felt as if a thunderbolt was shooting up from the ground toward the sky-'

Yes, it was definitely that kind of power.

And that clear red pillar had been so so visible.

It was because the darkness retreated temporarily to avoid that pillar.

The dead mana had avoided that red pillar of light.

'Perhaps-'

The Marquis recalled something the former patriarch, his grandfather, the person he loved and respected the most, had once told him.

'Helson. The god that I believe is said to have defeated darkness and death with a fire imbued with a thunderbolt.'

He put his hand in his pocket. His hand was shaking.

There was a note he had been keeping on him because he couldn't let anybody find it.

I heard heretics are to be executed immediately?

Heni Wishrop. The note from her people…

They knew that Marquis Helson had some relationship with the church.

'…I thought they were going to use this to grab my weakness.'

He had also been curious as to how they knew this information.

It had made him anxious.

'But what if-'

This red pillar of light…

'What if they are people from the church?'

This pillar of light-

'What if this is that Fire of Purification or something?'

Marquis Helson's fingertips that were holding the note were still shaking.

'That would mean that the church has a strong necromancer who could rival the First Imperial Prince. If that is the case.'

He had a hypothesis.

'Heni Wishrop is not the leader.'

Although a necromancer could have a high-ranking position in the church, she could not create this pillar of light.

That means!

'Perhaps-'

Marquis Helson recalled Heni Wishrop's subordinate he had made eye contact with when he received the note at the tower.

Now that he thought about it all of her subordinates had the same hair color and eye color.

It was as if they were trying to camouflage on purpose.

'Is that guy perhaps-'

It was at that moment.

Screeeech.

The Marquis' bedroom that was connected to the top executives' meeting room…

It was like this because the Marquis had given up his personal life to defend the edge precinct.

The closed door to the bedroom opened.

Although there should be nobody inside the bedroom. That door was opening.

"Identify yourself-"

The Marquis raised his hand the moment a shocked executive was about to shout. His action made everybody close their mouths.

The door creaked and completely opened in the silence of the room.

The Marquis felt as if he knew.

He felt as if he knew who was in the bedroom.

"Marquis-nim. May we have a chat in private?"

The man in a white mask who appeared in the doorway…

The smile on his face was visible as his mouth was not covered by the mask.

'It's him.'

The man he believed to be Heni Wishrop's subordinate… The man who had smiled when Marquis Helson had received the note…

'He might not be her subordinate.'

The man was standing in the bedroom alone.

"None of you come inside."

"Marquis-nim-"

"Obey my order."

Chief Eaen called out to him, but the Marquis gave an order to all of them before entering the bedroom alone.

The man was standing in the room alone with a smile still on his face as he welcomed the Marquis inside.

"We should probably close the door if we want to chat in private?"

The moment Marquis Helson spoke calmly despite not feeling that way…

"Indeed."

The man raised his hand and…

Screeech- bang!

The door closed.

It was as if by magic.

'…Magic?'

Marquis Helson's mind became complicated again after thinking of that word and almost as if this person understood the complicated mess in his mind… Inside the dark bedroom that now had the curtains closed and only a candle was lighting it up…

The man reached his hand forward.

Crack.

A rose gold fiery thunderbolt crackled and pushed away the darkness in the bedroom.

"…!"

The Marquis stiffened as if he had been paralyzed.

Cale slowly started to speak at that moment.

'We don't have time to chat for a long time. I guess we need to suppress him thoroughly to start?'

He called for someone.

"Raon."

Marquis Helson could see dark blue eyes in the darkness.

"…Dragon…!"

Although it was small, a real black Dragon appeared.

"Nice to meet you, Marquis Helson-nim."

Cale greeted the Marquis in a new way.

'Ha. I never expected to say this with my own mouth.'

He had an oddly unsettled smile on his face as he introduced himself.

"I am the purifier."

---

Marquis Helson looked at the Dragon and the rose gold fiery thunderbolt for a long time.

It was silent but he could not easily say anything.

'What am I looking at right now?

A Dragon when they are said to have disappeared from the world?

Is this rose gold fire the power of god that the Church of the Fire of Purification talks about?

…Is this real?'

Marquis Helson was quite shocked but was able to soon return to his senses.

Darkness.

He realized that it was real after seeing the darkness that existed beside the Dragon and this rose gold fiery thunderbolt.

He subconsciously started to speak.

"As I expected-"

It was easy to speak once he got the first few words out.

"As I expected, you are a person of the church. Isn't that right?"

'Wait, is he even human?'

Marquis Helson did not ask that question that was on his mind. The Pope he had seen when he was young had only used a red aura and could not handle this rose gold colored fire that was visible at the central temple.

So, would someone who can handle that fire, someone who uses the power of a god, would he be human?

"How did a member of the church participate in this test? Is Heni Wishrop a fake identity? Is she a member of the church as well?"

Marquis Helson asked question after question once he managed to ask the first one.

It was at that moment.

Crack!

The Purifier clenched his hand.

The rose gold fiery thunderbolt that had been in his palm disappeared without a trace.

"Mm."

Marquis Helson subconsciously closed his mouth.

There were a few seconds of silence.

The Purifier started to speak again. It was a calm and indifferent voice.

"There's not enough time to answer your questions, sir."

Marquis Helson felt a mysterious sense of pressure despite this individual speaking to him respectfully. An intangible aura was flowing out of this purifier.

Cale was using what he deemed to be a proper amount of the Dominating Aura as he spoke.

"May you find the answers yourself."

Cale had no plans on answering all of Marquis Helson's questions.

'He'll find the answers on his own if he is curious.

I'm just going to say what I need to say before I go.'

That was Cale's current thought.

"Ah. However, I will answer one thing."

But there seemed to be at least one thing he needed to answer.

Marquis Helson flinched and made eye contact with Cale after hearing that he would answer a question.

"Heni Wishrop is not a person of the church. She is one of ours."

Marquis Helson could not move as those cold eyes seemed to be piercing through him.

"It looks like your side had plans on using Heni Wishrop for something but getting rid of that idea is-, probably best if you wish to survive."

Cale meant what he said.

And sincerity tended to work on people. The Dominating Aura amplified quite a bit before it settled back down.

"…We had no plans on using her."

Marquis Helson barely managed to respond to the Purifier's words.

The Purifier nodded his head without saying anything. It was as if his response wasn't important at all.

"Marquis-nim, you should have seen something beyond the wall just now. I'm sure that people in the castle have detected something and are stealthily preparing to defend against it."

Helson thought to himself after hearing those words.

'Are they truly responsible for that red pillar of light? What happened beyond the wall?'

Cale could feel confusion, curiosity, and impatience from Marquis Helson.

– Human, this Marquis looks quite nervous right now.

People were bound to be nervous when they were in darkness and could not see the path in front of them.

Cale opened his mouth to speak.

"We have rescued Imperial Princess Olivia."

"…!"

"She had been in a serious state of dead mana poisoning and we are currently healing her but she needs to be treated by experts quickly."

"…Imperial Princess Olivia is in a state of dead mana poisoning?"

'Someone so skilled is suffering from dead mana poisoning?

How high must the density of dead mana be on the black ground?'

"Yes sir. The poisoning is quite severe and she is also seriously injured."

"…She was attacked?"

Marquis Helson's face stiffened.

Quite a lot of people he had sent to scout and gather information outside the wall had disappeared in the past half year.

Disappearing in the polluted land basically meant death.

Marquis Helson realized something from the Purifier's words.

"The Second Imperial Princess's team must have all died."

"Yes sir."

"By what?"

Cale smiled after looking at Marquis Helson's eyes that were focused as if he had finally snapped back to his senses.

This Marquis… This guy was at least a proper Margrave.

Cale happily responded to the Marquis' question.

"A monster."

Cale walked over to the window and opened the curtains.

Chhhhh-

"We met Imperial Princess Olivia while investigating beyond the wall earlier tonight. We then encountered a portion of the monster that had chased her."

"A portion?"

Cale nodded his head.

"According to Imperial Princess Olivia… There is a black lake in the polluted land and a large tree at the center of that lake."

"Ah, hold on."

Marquis Helson stopped Cale. Cale looked at him and Marquis Helson started speaking with a stiff look on his face.

"Is her Royal Highness the only one who has seen the monster right now?"

"The Imperial Princess would indeed be the only one who has seen the whole monster."

"I see. One moment."

Marquis Helson approached the bedroom door and opened it a bit. He only opened it enough so that the inside of the bedroom could not be seen.

"Eaen."

"Yes, Marquis-nim."

"Send a poison expert healer to the nineteenth candidate's room. A black mage as well."

"Excuse me?"

"Immediately."

"…Yes sir!"

"Make sure the healer and black mage is one of our people. Make sure of it. Do you understand?"

One of our people. Make sure of it. Immediately. Chief Eaen nodded her head after seeing the Margrave's gaze and hearing him use such heavy words.

"Yes sir."

"Furthermore, we are raising the defense state of Precinct 9 to maximum level. Make sure that all of the troops are ready and waiting for orders."

"Yes sir!"

Marquis Helson then closed the bedroom door before looking at Cale again.

The corners of Cale's lips curled up.

'He's quite good at his job.'

Marquis Helson opened his mouth.

"Please explain now."

He would determine how the troops of Precinct 9 would move based on the Purifier's explanation.

"That tree has a conscience and controls vines."

Cale explained the parts that Imperial Princess Olivia, who was currently being treated by Mary and Eruhaben, had explained before they came here.

"That tree monster used a portion of its roots and vines to chase after the injured Imperial Princess."

"…Why?"

"To look for more food."

'Mm.'

Marquis Helson held back a groan.

"That monster let Imperial Princess Olivia go on purpose."

"Yes sir.

According to Imperial Princess Olivia, that monster was something that she couldn't even touch, something that we could only take on if the patriarch of the House of Huayans, two black magic battalions, and two Knights Brigades showed up."

"Ha."

Marquis Helson scoffed in disbelief.

"That level of force to not defeat the monster but just take it on?"

The Huayans patriarch was the strongest black mage. That person with two Imperial Palace black magic battalions and two Knights Brigades… Such a high level of force was still not enough to determine a victory against that monster?

'The edge precincts are not capable of handling such a level of force.'

There were quite a lot of troops in Precinct 9. However, the strongest elites were at the Imperial Palace.

The Emperor was the type who wanted the strongest troops for himself.

'No, maybe it is not the Emperor but the Huayans patriarch.

Mm.'

Marquis Helson suddenly realized something.

'Such a strong monster, even if it was just a portion of it that had chased after the Imperial Princess…'

The purifier had returned back into the wall without getting injured at all.

'And Imperial Princess Olivia said that the monster was aiming for the people inside the wall.'

It should be an urgent situation right now.

The Purifier in front of him seemed smart enough to know better than anybody else about the urgency of the current situation.

However, the Purifier seemed relaxed.

"…Oh Purifier…"

Marquis Helson was told not to ask questions but he could not help but to do so.

"Are we in an urgent situation right now?"

Smile.

The corners of the Purifier's lips curled up again.

"Not immediately."

The Purifier had stopped speaking respectfully to Marquis Helson. Nobody felt that it was awkward.

It was because of what he said next.

"It ran away from me."

The monster would not aim for the wall immediately.

The cheapskate's voice echoed in Cale's mind at that moment.

– Kahahaha! That's right! That bastard ran away from us!

The cheapskate's voice was fluctuating like a flame.

It felt as if it was burning.

– That bastard is strong. If a portion of it is that huge, the main body must be immense. It might be the size of a small forest.

However, his voice was still sunken down at its core.

– Then we just need to burn it up with an even bigger fire. We just need to cover the sky with thunderbolts and shoot them down.

The cheapskate was being quite serious.

– You won't get injured even if you do that here.

The smile on Cale's face became even thicker.

– Human! Why are you smiling? It makes me want to smile too!

Raon looked at Cale and smiled as well. Raon was slowly getting better at smiling like Cale for some reason.

'…My goodness.'

Marquis Helson's back became covered in dry sweat after seeing the black Dragon smile and hearing the Purifier's confident words.

'It ran away from me.'

'That monster that Imperial Princess Olivia described ran away from this person?

It didn't run away because it saw a Dragon but because of him?'

The Marquis became certain at that moment.

'This person is the one who created that pillar of fire.'

He had wondered if multiple people had worked together to create that pillar of fire, but it seemed likely that this person had done it on his own as the Dragon was not saying anything.

"As Marquis-nim. There's something I am curious about as well. Can I ask?"

Marquis Helson made eye contact with Cale instead of responding.

"It is a monster that is so strong that even Second Imperial Princess Olivia almost died."

The Xiaolen Planet was slowly getting more polluted.

The Hunters were closely related to this issue.

The cause of it was definitely going to be at the House of Huayans since they were the Black Bloods.

"All candidates attempting the test would have died."

Mary had told Cale that the First Imperial Prince had not been investigating but acting more like a bystander.

He noticed Marquis Helson's face slowly started to frown as he continued to speak.

"In my opinion… There is no way that the central forces didn't know about the monster in the polluted land."

'At least the Black Bloods would know about it.' The House of Huayans knew about the monster but still sent the candidates here.

A majority of the candidates could have died during this first test. Furthermore, it was likely that the wall of Precinct 9 would be destroyed by the monster and scorched as Imperial Princess Olivia feared.

'If that happens…'

This land would become polluted and the people in Precinct 9 would die.

"Have the central forces cast you aside, Marquis Helson?"

Cale could see Marquis Helson clench his eyes shut at his question.

Marquis Helson took a few breaths before responding.

"The Margraves are trying to change the central forces."

"I see. The central forces must have figured that out."

Marquis Helson asked in a shaky voice.

"Is the House of Huayans, are the central forces really connected to the monster and all of these issues?"

"I believe that at least the House of Huayans is involved."

"Ha."

Marquis Helson let out a chuckle-like scoff.

"…The central forces must have decided to discard the west."

Cale noticed that Marquis Helson's eyes were still fluctuating even as he was talking about how he and his people had been discarded. The Marquis was angry. He seemed relieved as well.

"Let me ask one more question."

The Marquis' shoulders were not as tense as he asked Cale this next question.

"What is your, what is the church's goal?"

"I don't know what the church's goal is."

'He doesn't know?'

The Marquis saw the Purifier start to speak again just as a look of confusion appeared on his face.

"As for me, I plan on hunting."

Hunting.

The Marquis asked in a shaky voice after hearing that word.

"Are you going to hunt that monster?"

Cale chuckled at the Marquis who asked to confirm even though he understood Cale properly.

"I'll hunt that thing too."

The Marquis clenched his fists shut. They were extremely tense.

"What do you need me to do?"

Cale stopped smiling after hearing that question.

Cale's gaze headed out the window again.

"We should hunt that monster first."

"…Will you hunt the other monsters too?"

Cale slightly nodded his head.

"Of course. I seem to be the monsters' natural enemy."

His voice was extremely light but the Marquis felt the inside of his mouth going dry because of the aura of a ruler coming from this person as well as the Dragon smiling at him.

Marquis Helson realized that he was standing at the turning point of history.

---

Knock knock knock.

Helson blinked after hearing a knock on the door and started to focus. He looked at the Purifier.

"Please do whatever you need to do."

Helson gulped and then opened the door after hearing the Purifier's comment and seeing the gentle smile on his face.

The black Dragon had disappeared at some point.

"What is it?"

"Marquis-nim, his highness, the Fourth Imperial Prince has come to the door of the top executives' office."

Helson frowned.

He soon shuddered.

"Tsk."

He heard an annoyed tongue clicking behind him. It was the Purifier.

'Does he not like that the Fourth Imperial Prince has come?'

Or…

'Maybe he doesn't like that our top executives can't even control the Fourth Imperial Prince and has to report it to me?'

Marquis Helson might be exaggerating what the Purifier might be feeling right now but he had no choice but to be concerned about how the Purifier was feeling.

The power this person had… The fact that this power could protect Precinct 9 was more important than the change he would cause in the future.

The Purifier commented almost as if he was talking to himself.

"It's coming in the end."

– Human! Choi Han and Sui Khan contacted Goldie gramps! They said that they felt a similar rumbling like before near the wall!

"It should have stayed quiet since it ran away earlier."

He mumbled in a low voice.

"Did it already forget about its fear?"

Helson gulped. Chief Eaen could finally see the person the Marquis was chatting with through the gap in the door.

'Heni Wishrop's subordinate?'

Cale started to speak as her mind was about to get busy with this new information.

"It's coming."

Marquis Helson realized the meaning behind those words and looked at the Purifier with shock.

The top executives' office door burst open at that moment.

"Again, we received report that they can feel that rumbling again!"

The executive who had gone to the black mages shouted with urgency.

"What is the identity of that rumbling? Why is the Marquis not sharing information with the candidates?!"

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi glared into the open top executives' office and raised his voice. He sounded as if he could throw a fit at any moment.

Of course, Noi could not see the Marquis' bedroom.

"Let me go! How dare you try to stop me from entering?!"

He was about to enter the top executives office but the knights standing outside the door stopped him once the Marquis raised his hand.

The Marquis urgently looked at Cale.

"Didn't you say that it wouldn't come back right away?"

"That's what I thought."

'It ran way so quickly and even cut off parts of its body to run away.' Because it showed no signs of chasing after Cale…

Cale had thought that the monster would not attack the wall right away.

– Cale, maybe that monster had no choice too.

Cale paid attention to what the cheapskate was saying in his mind.

– That monster probably has nothing else to eat around it. It might have to move because it is starving and can't wait any longer.

The cheapskate had said that this monster was a monster that generated dead mana.

It did so by corroding the land and killing living creatures.

"Marquis-nim."

"Yes? Hurry up and tell me!"

"It seems as if that monster was so hungry… To the point that it overcame its fear."

They heard a sharp noise just as the Marquis understood the meaning behind those words and turned pale.

Screeeeeech- screeeeeeech-

Chief Eaen's face turned pale.

"The wall!"

This was the alarm that rang when the wall was being attacked.

In the middle of the night… Something was attacking the wall.

Boom-!

The people inside the castle felt a strong rumbling underneath their feet.

"Marquis-nim, over there-!"

One of the executives pointed out the window.

All of the lights in Precinct 9 had turned on once the alarm went off. That was why what the executive was pointing at was ever so clear to see.

"…My goodness."

The Marquis gulped.

There was something black that was shooting up higher than the height of the wall.

It resembled a tree root.

There was sticky black liquid flowing from that tree root.

There was only one root but it looked as if it could easily get past the wall.

That monster was trying to climb over the wall instead of destroying it.

"What is that?!"

They heard Fourth Imperial Prince Noi's astonished voice.

Cale's eyes clouded over after hearing his voice.

'I guess he didn't know.'

The Fourth Imperial Prince didn't seem to know about this monster. If this reaction was him acting, the Fourth Imperial Prince should be an actor.

"Marquis-nim."

Cale called out to the Marquis who looked shocked.

The Marquis' eyes opened wide.

There was a black magic circle underneath Cale's feet.

Although he was not a highest-grade swordsman, the Marquis and his abilities as a high-grade swordsman allowed him to sense that this black magic circle was made not with black magic but magic.

"You should head out for now. You will need to hurry. But you don't have to worry too much."

Cale pointed out the window.

"My friend will take care of that root."

The top of the wall was bright because of the black magic lights that had turned on with the alarm.

That was why the black tree root was completely visible.

They could also clearly see a person who was charging toward the black tree root. They could clearly see the hawk flying above the person as well.

While everybody was shocked by this unexpected situation…

Choi Han… And Sui Khan were moving toward the monster.

"Hey Han, is it possible?"

Choi Han heard a relaxed voice above his head.

The black Hawk had its wings wide open as it came down near Choi Han's face.

"Are you so focused you cannot answer right now?"

His tired voice made it feel as if they were in the Super Rock Villa doing nothing on a relaxing afternoon.

"Pffft."

Choi Han chuckled.

"Hey Han. You're too tense right now."

Choi Han's face slightly stiffened after what he said next.

"Like them."

The direction that the black Hawk's red eyes were looking…

Choi Han looked that way and saw individuals who were anxious but trying their best to snap out of it and focus.

Black mages, Dark Elf knights, regular knights…

And even soldiers.

"Cast a shield!"

"The liquid looks to be dead mana! Knights and soldiers retreat!"

"Don't randomly attack it! We can't use any wide-range black magic! We can't damage the wall!"

"There may be more enemies! The reconnaissance team head out of wall right now! Open the gate!"

They were all moving in perfect harmony to deal with this black tree root that had suddenly shot out of the ground.

"Evacuate the residents to the shelter!"

"Go report the situation to the Margrave-nim!"

One of them looked at Choi Han.

"Who are you?! Are you with one of the candidates? Hurry up and get down! This is an emergency situation!"

She shouted while looking at Choi Han. He seemed to be a swordsman based on the sword in his hand.

Choi Han thought about something old priest Durst had told them about this world.

'There are many talented swordsmen in Xiaolen but there are not many that can handle aura well.'

The reason was simple.

The three hundred or so years had left a single fact about aura on the Xiaolen Planet.

'Aura starts from the inside of the swordsman. It is a symbol of their inner self. However, the important thing is that humans are also a part of nature.'

'The nature is dying. Similar to how it is difficult for mages to live in this world, aura became difficult to release as well.'

Elementals were the same way.

As a result, the number of swordsmen who could handle aura decreased in this world and most of the Dark Elves could not handle Elementals either. There were no Elementals to handle.

It was turning into a world where black mages had to succeed.

Choi Han started to walk faster.

"Did you not hear me tell you to get down?!"

The woman's voice became louder.

Crack!

"The shield was broken!"

"There's a hole in the shield because of the poisonous liquid on the root!"

The first shield cast by the black mages around the wall easily crumbled once the black tree root's black liquid touched it.

Chhhhhh-

"The wall is melting from the liquid!"

The black tree root had shot up above the wall but only its tip was moving as if it was scoping out the area. It looked like it was looking around the inside of the wall despite not having any eyes.

"The root seems to be multiple times larger than what Rok Soo explained."

Choi Han listened to Sui Khan, to team leader Lee Soo Hyuk's voice as he moved past the swordswoman who tried to stop him.

"Hey, I told you to stop-"

The swordswoman's eyes opened wide.

"Huh?"

It was bright above the wall.

However, it was still the middle of the night.

That was why she had not seen it clearly.

However, she was sure that she just saw it.

On the sword of the man wearing the half-mask and a common robe who went past her…

Although it was not very thick, she saw something black surrounding the sword.

"…Aura?"

That was definitely aura.

It was the thing that was called the peak for swordsmen.

There was currently nobody at that level on the Xiaolen Planet.

"…S, sword-"

The level of a sword master.

The swordswoman turned around and looked at the man who had walked past her.

The swordswoman, who was here despite not being a Dark Elf and having no resistance to dead mana, her job was to stop people who tried to approach the monster.

Her sword could not cut through this tree root.

She had no powers to defeat the dead mana.

"…Ah…"

The swordswoman's yes looked at the sword in the man's hand.

The black aura was shooting up like an angry animal's roar.

Unlike the black root, that black aura was sparkling, almost as if it had the stars in the night sky inside of it.

However, it looked more violent than anything else and not calm at all.

Sui Khan looked at Choi Han's aura and started to speak.

"I understand you want to protect and guard them, but… Han, you have no calmness at all."

Choi Han didn't look at the black Hawk. His gaze was only looking past the people who were shocked after seeing him at the tree root that was trying to peek its head into the wall.

'Calmness-'

Choi Han's life had not been peaceful enough for him to live with calmness since he fell into the Forest of Darkness.

Of course, his soul now had a resting place.

"Don't you want to get stronger?"

The black Hawk moved away from Choi Han and flew up as it said that.

"An opportunity will come soon."

Choi Han's eyes clouded over.

He heard Sui Khan's jovial yet slow voice at that moment.

"Hey Han, it is okay if you don't have any calmness. If that is you, that is."

Choi Han looked at the black Hawk.

The black Hawk smiled at that moment and continued to speak.

"Things and people holding swords…they might pretend to be calm but they can't be calm."

He then added on.

"You could kill or save them with your hands. How could you be calm?"

In that moment, Choi Han… Felt as if he could understand the black Hawk, Sui Khan, no, Lee Soo Hyuk's true nature.

Choi Han started to speak.

"I want to spar against you."

"Whenever you want. But I'm not completely used to this body yet."

"Then I guess that I will win."

The black Hawk saw the smile on Choi Han's face. It was a slightly vicious smile unlike Choi Han's usual smile.

Sui Khan also understood a bit about Choi Han's true nature as well. Choi Han mumbled before kicking off the ground.

"Like right now."

Choi Han's eyes were only focused on the thing he needed to slash.

'Cale-nim is going to do most of the things this time too.'

The rose gold thunderbolt would burn this monster.

'But that doesn't mean that there is nothing for me to do.'

As it always had been…

There was a role for him to play.

– Choi Han! I'm going!

Choi Han listened to Raon's welcoming voice as he lifted his sword.

The black tree root… The tip of the root turned its head toward Choi Han.

Shh-

The sword with the shining black aura slashed down.

It looked as if the night sky had come down to the ground for a moment to create a rainbow.

However, both the people holding swords on top of the wall and the mages all had to flinch and close their mouths after seeing that aura.

It was vicious.

It was berserk.

The tree root charged forward as if it wanted to swallow that black aura.

It was as if it saw this aura that was puny compared to its body as if it wasn't much.

"Ah…"

Someone gasped.

Boom-!

A portion of the tree root fell to the ground after being cut off.

The tree root that fell on the other side of the wall made the area echo.

The sticky black liquid that had been on the root could not melt the black aura.

No matter how hard and big this tree root was, it could not stop the path of the black aura.

Screeeech—

The tree root flailed while making an eerie noise.

However, everybody was looking at a single person's back.

"…T, that person, who is that sword master?"

Someone barely managed to respond to that question.

"…Umm, he seems to be Heni Wishrop's subordinate-"

It was at that moment.

– Choi Han, Sui Khan! Mary and I came first!

Choi Han looked behind him. The people in the area all turned their heads as well.

"Arrows-"

They were not arrows.

Hundreds of white bones that looked like arrows cut through the night sky like meteors during a meteor shower toward their target.

Their target was the tree root.

Choi Han started to smile.

The starting point of that meteor shower… Mary was there standing on top of a white Bone Dragon.

---

"That is that Bone Dragon-"

People couldn't take their eyes off of the white Bone Dragon floating in the night sky.

Its body was a couple meters long.

It was giving off so much pressure that it was difficult to ignore it simply because it was made of bones.

– Hehe. Hey Mary, everybody seems shocked after seeing the Bone Dragon! By the way, black dragons are stronger than white dragons! Hehe!

Mary listened to Raon's voice as she recalled what Cale had told them before he went to meet with Marquis Helson.

'We will reveal things to a degree from here on.'

Approximately fifty to seventy percent…

They would reveal about that much of their abilities.

'I was planning on slowly getting to the center of the enemy lines while going through the test but that's not going to work.'

Cale might not have noticed it, but he was quite angry.

It was the same for Mary.

The reason for their anger was because of a hypothesis that was almost a certainty.

'Would there only be one of these tree monsters?'

No.

They were sure that there were more.

They must be all over this Xiaolen continent.

'And someone is probably dying right now because of one.'

Mary's purple eyes sank low.

SCREEEEEEEEECH—!

The body of the tree root that had numerous bones stabbed onto it screeched and flailed.

The movements were intense.

It looked as if it might be a final struggle.

There were individuals who did not want to miss that moment.

"Why are you letting candidate Heni Wishrop fight but not us?!"

"I'm certain that must be related to the rain cloud! We must investigate it!"

"Protecting the wall is rescuing the Empire! I cannot sit still as a candidate! We will fight as well!"

Some candidates went to the Lord's Castle, some candidates hid after hearing the alarm to protect themselves…

There were also other candidates who wanted to show their abilities.

Some of them wanted to fight against this thing together beyond the wall.

"Unfortunately, no. The Marquis-nim-"

"Then what about them?!"

The Knight Captain of Precinct 9 was in an awkward position. He needed to stop these candidates from fighting against the monster.

It would get complicated if any of them ended up getting hurt inside Precinct 9 while fighting.

The central forces could use it to bring Marquis Helson down.

'Fuck! Normally, they would have stopped by now!'

The candidates were rowdy.

'Why did the First Imperial Prince have to come here?!'

It was because the First Imperial Prince was implicitly supporting the candidates' actions by standing silently with his arms crossed behind them.

The First Imperial Prince had shown up alone without his helpers and had been quietly standing back there since earlier.

"Huuuuuu."

The Knight Captain stood in front of the steps heading up to the wall as he started to speak.

"Candidate Heni Wishrop and her helper suddenly barged in; the Marquis-nim has asked that the candidates wait-"

"Move!"

Candidate 13 dodged the knight and stepped onto the stairs.

The shocked Knight Captain tried to stop him but the three helpers of Candidate 13 blocked the Knight Captain as soon as the candidate moved.

"Shit-!"

That was the beginning. The candidates all rushed onto the wall once they saw the opening.

'These bastards!'

A fire was burning in the Knight Captain's eyes.

'Do they think that the battlefield is a joke?!

How dare they go against the Marquis' orders and move as they please?!'

As for Heni Wishrop and her swordsman… The Knight Captain was planning on scolding them later as well.

'No matter how strong you are, a battle is not something you do alone!'

This was why the Knight Captain hated necromancers.

Quite a lot of them were spoiled brats and did not know how to act properly because people around them started calling them an Emperor candidate and let them do as they pleased once they got the ability.

Of course, it was true that being a necromancer was a sign of glory.

They were able to overcome the pain of dead mana.

However, it was also true that it had become tarnished once it turned into the Emperor's symbol of authority.

There was only one necromancer in the Empire.

The Emperor.

He was extremely powerful but one person could not do everything on every battlefield.

'It's useless.'

Although it was a disrespectful thought, he was someone who thought that a necromancer was useless.

The people who ended up fighting the bloody battles were people like him who were just treated as pawns.

He was pretty sure that there were a lot of people who felt the same way.

"Stop them! Get them!"

"Yes sir!"

He ordered his subordinates and then frowned.

'Shit! It's because that person stepped in!'

The Knight Captain's gaze was vicious as he looked up at Mary who was in the sky.

"Kehehe!"

Candidate 13 arrived on top of the wall at that moment. His body was surrounded by dead mana.

This person was a close combat necromancer like Zero and had a bone spear.

'It is time for me to get the attention!'

The tree root's intense movements had decreased as well.

'It really was a last-ditch effort!'

The tree root should die with a final attack.

He could hear the other candidates approaching behind him.

However, he was ahead of them.

'It is difficult for me to defeat the members of the Imperial family. That is why I need to gather as much of the attention as possible!'

Aside from the Imperial family, Heni Wishrop was strong as well, but…

'The way she handles the bones and that bone dragon of hers was strong.'

However, Heni Wishrop seemed passive and timid based on what he had seen.

She seemed far from the type of person to run rampant.

'The sword master is not doing anything either!'

This sword master was Heni Wishrop's subordinate. He had been shocked after seeing this person but the swordsman was standing still after slashing the monster once.

Choi Han wasn't even looking at the approaching Candidate 13.

'This is my chance!'

He stepped onto the ledge of the wall.

'I'll charge at that dying tree root!

I will kill this thing and reveal my awesomeness to the world!'

"Huh?"

It was at that moment.

Just as he kicked off the wall and jumped up…

Boom, Boom—-!

He saw the scenery beyond the wall.

The ground suddenly started to shake.

The rumbling was more intense than earlier.

"As expected, it was not just one."

The swordsman's voice reached Candidate 13's ears.

He then saw three large tree roots shooting out of the polluted ground.

"Ah…"

The thick black liquid surrounding those tree roots… There was also poisonous air created from dead mana.

That poisonous air was carried by a breeze and reached the candidate's nose.

'I, it's so toxic!'

The poisonous air was extremely toxic.

'No!'

The tree roots viciously charged toward the wall. It was as if it had finished its reconnaissance.

Candidate 13 realized that the first tree root was the weakest of them all.

"N, nooooo! No!"

'I'm going to die.

I'm going to be the first to die!'

"S, save-"

"You are being too loud."

Candidate 13 felt someone grab the back of his neck and pull him back. He turned his head.

The sword master had an innocent smile on his face as he pulled the candidate back.

The man then gently spoke to the candidate.

"Please withdraw if you do not wish to die."

Although the smile was innocent and the voice was gentle, Candidate 13 could see the vicious aura fluctuating around the man's body.

"Ah, oo-"

Choi Han carefully placed the stiff body of Candidate 13, who couldn't even say anything, on the other side of the wall. Of course, it was done while still holding him by the back of his neck.

Choi Han's gaze headed toward the stairs leading up to the wall.

The candidates who had been confidently coming up flinched.

'The area above the wall is different from inside the wall.'

They probably couldn't feel the tree root's venomous aura from inside the wall. They probably couldn't feel this dense aura of dead mana either.

The wall was too high and thick for them to feel it.

Choi Han turned toward the tree roots.

'Those things, no, that thing-

Is running wild because Cale-nim is not here.

The monster controlling the roots is launching an attack because it noticed that Cale-nim is not here.'

"How foolish."

Choi Han mumbled as he put his sword into its scabbard.

Raon had talked to him not too long ago.

'Choi Han, we'll be there soon! The human said that we will leave this place to the smart but cowardly Marquis Helson and go there! Choi Han, he says that he needs you!'

Cale was calling him.

He wanted Choi Han to go capture this monster with him.

Choi Han had no reason to hesitate.

"A, are you lea-"

Choi Han nodded his head at the people above the wall who were anxiously watching him prepare to leave.

"I have something to do but you all should be able to handle this much. Those tree roots are all that have come here."

The swordsman who had blocked Choi Han earlier became anxious and asked with desperation.

"Sir, we are able to handle it but then-"

We will receive quite the damage as well. There would also be a lot of casualties.

The swordsman wanted to say that to keep Choi Han here even if it sounded cowardly and made him look servile.

Reducing the number of casualties and surviving…

That was the most important rule in the edge precincts.

"It is fine."

Choi Han smiled as if he knew what the swordsman wanted to say.

"They are not mine to destroy."

The swordsman felt the area around him grow dark at that moment.

It was bright above the wall despite being night time because of the black magic lights, but he could see a shadow covering the area.

Tap.

Mary descended to the ground.

She gave an order to the large moving bone dragon.

"Bite."

And…

"Rip it up."

The white bone dragon opened its jaw.

"Screeeeeeeeeech-!"

An eerie noise echoed through the area.

The large wing made only of bones started to move.

It caused a gust of wind.

The people on top of the wall subconsciously covered their faces with their arms because of the strong gust of wind. However, their eyes were looking forward.

"…Ah."

The three tree roots…

One of them was grabbed by the white bone dragon's front claw.

Riiiiiip–!

It was then ripped off by the dragon's jaw.

The white bone dragon brutally ripped the tree root apart as if it didn't care about the poisonous air at all.

Boom- boom! Boom!

The other two tree roots charged toward the bone dragon.

The bone dragon kept the one tree root in its jaw while grabbing the other two with its two front claws.

Riiiiiip—!

It then ripped them apart.

It seemed so easy for the bone dragon.

Of course, the poisonous air seeped into the white bones as the black liquid landed on it, but the white bone dragon did not care.

Crack.

Although the poisonous air seeped in so much that some of the bones broke…

The bone dragon did not care.

It did not feel pain.

The white bone dragon didn't even think about its body breaking and only focused on its attack.

It bit down and ripped apart.

It did not look elegant or beautiful in the process.

"Haaa…"

It was simply violent and rough.

The Knight Captain and the knights who had chased after the candidates to stop them could feel the will of the person controlling the white bone dragon through its actions.

It showed her will to destroy the tree roots and to make sure that they did not make it past the wall.

The Knight Captain subconsciously mumbled to himself.

"…Yeah."

Bones do not die.

They were already dead.

"…This is why necromancers are scary."

People who overcame death could control dead mana and bones, things that death left behind.

The Knight Captain looked around.

Scared candidates were blanking out while looking at the white bone dragon.

The Knight Captain looked at the area at the bottom of the wall beyond the candidates.

Heni Wishrop was standing on the ground.

'Hmm?'

The Knight Captain scowled a bit.

'What is going on?'

The First Imperial Prince was approaching Heni Wishrop. Now that he thought about it, First Imperial Prince Sanders, who seemed to support the candidates in their decision to run wild and try to go up the stairs, had quietly stood there.

Now, Sanders was quickly walking toward Mary.

– Hey Mary, why is that Imperial Prince coming here?

He then stood in front of Mary and silently looked at her.

– Is he glaring at our good Mary right now?

The First Imperial Prince looked at Mary with such a fierce gaze that it looked as if he was glaring at her before he hit her shoulder and walked past.

– H, how dare that punk do that to our Mary! I'm going to slam my head against him!

Raon was about to get angry before stopping himself after seeing Mary do something.

– Hey Mary, what is it?

Mary started to walk as if nothing was wrong.

She walked toward a residential area that was empty because everybody had evacuated. She then moved into an alley.

She confirmed that nobody was around her before starting to speak.

"Raon-nim."

She opened her palm.

Sanders had placed something in her palm in that instant when he hit her shoulder and walked past.

– Huh? It's a note!

Mary opened the note.

Heni Wishrop.

The handwriting was a mess as if he had not had much time.

It looked as if he had rushed quite a bit.

The note was also not written on a piece of paper.

He seemed to have ripped a piece of his bed sheet to write it.

'It's blood.'

The letters were red.

It was written in blood.

– …Hey Mary. I think we should inform the human about this right away.

Raon's voice sank low after confirming the contents of the note.

Mary's gaze sank even lower.

All of the necromancers who lose the candidate test die as humans. However, they are reborn as something that is not human.

There was only one instance of being reborn as something not human.

Undead.

Those things that are reborn are still able to use a portion of their necromancer abilities.

The Emperor controls those necromancers.

The Emperor is their host.

Mary's gaze moved.

"Young master-nim."

Cale and Eruhaben appeared in the dark alley.

---

"What is this?"

Cale quickly scanned the note Mary handed him.

"The First Imperial Prince handed it to me a few moments ago as he walked past."

– Human! The First Imperial Prince hit Mary's shoulder as he walked past when he gave this to her! He hit it very hard! Of course, our good little Mary didn't even twitch at such a hit!

Cale did not let Raon's comments in one ear and out the other ear for once. He made sure to remember what Raon said as he scanned the note.

All of the necromancers who lose the candidate test die as humans. However, they are reborn as something that is not human.

Those things that are reborn are still able to use a portion of their necromancer abilities.

The Emperor controls those necromancers.

The Emperor is their host.

The note did not end there.

"Mm."

Eruhaben, who had been standing behind Cale as he read through the note written on the cloth with blood, groaned.

My goal is to make sure that every single necromancer participating in this test dies.

"Meeeeeow."

On and Hong in their cat forms approached Cale from the darkness.

"Mm. Cale."

Eruhaben started to speak.

"If the contents of this note are true, it sounds like someone is trying to kill all of the candidates except the First Imperial Prince in order to turn them into undeads that are his loyal subordinates."

It was obvious who that someone was.

"Cale, this is probably why the House of Huayans has been the instructor for generations."

Cale did not say anything to oppose Eruhaben's words. In fact, he showed his agreement through silence.

'The Emperor is dying.'

After learning about the Emperor's condition, Cale had looked into the lifespan of the past Emperors before leaving the capital.

'They lived decently long lives before they died.'

For the past 300 years, every Emperor had lived a decent amount of time in other people's eyes.

Basically, there were no instances of short or long lives.

It might seem like nothing much but it could be quite meaningful when considering the fact that the current Emperor was dying.

'…The Emperor is the only candidate who survives and turns the other candidates into undeads that are in his control.'

And…

'The Emperor changes at a set period of time.'

In addition, the current Emperor was dying.

What if all of this was being controlled by someone from the shadows?

'The Emperor's instructor.'

The House of Huayans.

'Basically, it is highly likely that the Black Bloods are the real rulers of the Empire.'

It was quite possible that they were controlling everything from the shadows.

"The Emperor should be strong. It sounds like he will be controlling quite a large army."

Cale nodded his head at Eruhaben's comment.

The Emperor controlled necromancer undeads. Those undeads then controlled skeletons.

Furthermore, the Emperor himself was a skilled necromancer.

"…It will be quite the large army as you mentioned, Eruhaben-nim."

An army of the dead that is.

"Young master-nim."

Mary started to speak at that moment.

"It sounds like the First Imperial Prince is planning on killing all of the candidates including himself."

Cale nodded his head.

My goal is to make sure that every single necromancer participating in this test dies.

Every single one.

That meant that he was including himself.

"The First Imperial Prince wasn't a puppet either."

The corners of Cale's lips twisted up. Mary spoke in a calm voice at the same time.

"The First Imperial Prince's goal will fail."

Eruhaben responded with a satisfied look on his face.

"Why? Because you will stop him, Mary?"

"Yes Eruhaben-nim. That is correct."

There was a strong gust of wind at that moment.

The whole group looked in that direction for a moment.

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

A white bone dragon with broken parts and many cracked bones flew up to the sky and flapped its wings.

The gust of wind was caused by the bone dragon flying up above Precinct 9.

"The tree roots have been defeated."

Cale slightly nodded his head as Mary's calm voice.

He could see Choi Han and Sui Khan walking toward them.

Furthermore, he could see Marquis Helson heading toward the wall.

– Huh? Human, the First Imperial Prince is with him too! It looked like he was going into the castle earlier but now, mm, well, his expression makes it look like he's being forced to go with Marquis Helson!

The First Imperial Prince was by the Marquis' side.

He had a confused look on his face as Marquis Helson grabbed his arm. On the other hand, Marquis Helson had a bright smile on his face as he patted the First Imperial Prince's shoulder in a friendly manner.

Marquis Helson let go of the First Imperial Prince's arm after moving to a spot where quite a lot of attention was focused on him.

"Marquis-nim!"

"No need for greetings."

The Marquis stopped people from greeting him.

The key personnel for the troops in Precinct 9 were gathered behind him.

"Raise the warning level to max right now and enter a state of emergency alert."

Marquis Helson opened his mouth.

His orders would soon be spread throughout Precinct 9 by the messengers.

"This is information Imperial Princess Olivia brought back."

He shared the information about the large tree monster. People's faces stiffened as they heard the news.

"…Those large roots are not multiple monsters but all parts of a single monster?"

"My goodness, everybody knows that the Second Imperial Princess is talented! But her team has all perished while she came back alone in critical condition?"

The people who were whispering stopped after hearing the last thing Marquis Helson said.

"And that monster is aiming for our lives. It wants to devour us."

The role of Precinct 9 was to prevent the pollution and erosion of land as long as possible and stop mutant monsters from entering the Empire's territory.

However, it was different this time.

The monster was not trying to erode the land or take away the Empire's territory.

It was simply wandering around looking for 'food.'

However, that was even scarier.

It would follow them even if they ran away.

"We are the wall."

Marquis Helson continued to speak.

"We are the last line of defense."

The soldiers' faces stiffened.

These soldiers living in the edge precinct knew that they would die some day.

Most of them stayed here despite knowing that was the case.

The Margrave smiled after seeing that his numerous allies were looking right at him despite feeling fear and horror.

'They are truly the people guarding the Empire.'

It was not those bastards of the House of Huayans.

Marquis Helson continued to speak.

"We exist to defend."

From the black ground… From the mutant monsters…

The smile on Marquis Helson's face became even wider.

"Someone told me the following."

He recalled the plan that the person with the power of a god had created with him.

"The greatest defense is a preemptive strike."

Eruhaben, Mary, On, and Hong, who were hiding in the shadow of the alley and looking at Marquis Helson, all looked toward Cale.

– That's right!

Raon showed an extremely enthusiastic support for Marquis Helson's comment.

"We will now select an elite group of people to go kill what we will call the black tree from here on."

The people around him looked concerned.

"Ah, don't worry about the protection of the wall."

Marquis Helson immediately added on, as if he knew what they were concerned about.

"We plan on creating this team of elites from people who are not part of the wall's defense."

That meant that people who usually served as scouts would be included in this team of elites.

Defense and reconnaissance…

Although there were a lot less people on the reconnaissance side, these scouts were all skilled. Of course, the defense side had more of the highest skilled individuals.

The defense of the wall was the core reason for their precinct.

"However, it will be difficult to even face a portion of the monster with just those people."

Marquis Helson turned around.

He made eye contact with the First Imperial Prince.

As the First Imperial Prince's eyes opened wide as if he realized something…

"That is why I wish to ask for assistance."

Cale motioned with his hand and Mary walked out of the shadow.

Marquis Helson continued to speak.

"There are many people with strong abilities here today."

He bowed respectfully toward the First Imperial Prince. He spoke formally toward whom he had not been speaking formally to because he was treated as one of the many candidates.

"Please help us. Your Royal Highness."

The First Imperial Prince's pupils started shaking.

The corners of Cale's lips curled up.

Marquis Helson then bowed toward the other candidates around him as well.

"I ask the other candidate-nims for your assistance as well. This is for the Empire. The entire western part of the Empire will crumble if this place is destroyed."

For the Empire…

Marquis Helson had quite the dagger to justify his request toward the candidates who dreamed of becoming the Emperor.

"…Marquis Helson."

Mary stepped forward the moment the First Imperial Prince started to speak.

"I will help."

Tap.

Choi Han jumped off the roof of a building and stood behind her.

A necromancer with extremely strong abilities and the ever so rare sword master…

The two of them had joined the cause.

The atmosphere around them changed.

The two people who had been treating the tree roots as if they were nothing much had stepped forward.

The moment it felt as if Marquis Helson was not being ridiculous with his request…

"Your Royal Highness."

Marquis Helson knew that this was the moment the purifier had mentioned and started the first step of their plan.

"Will the esteemed Dragon be able to help us?"

"Ah."

Gasps could be heard around the area.

"That's right! We have the esteemed Dragon!"

"Dragon, yes, there is nothing stronger than a Dragon!"

The air around the people started to heat up.

"I also heard that young lady Huayans is quite skilled as well, your Royal Highness. We should be able to protect the western part of the Empire if you, the greatest talent of the Imperial family, the Dragon-nim, and young lady Huayans all participate."

Dragon. Everybody desperately turned to look at the First Imperial Prince after hearing that word.

The candidates who didn't want to die all looked toward the First Imperial Prince as well.

The extinct Dragons…

The Dragons who were said to be the guardians of the world and the strongest creatures in the world…

They were all full of expectation toward the strength of such an individual.

"Please, your Royal Highness."

Marquis Helson, the Margrave of the west, bowed extremely respectfully one more time in front of so many people.

The First Imperial Prince would lose all face if he rejected this request now.

There were too many eyes looking at them.

– Human, you look so evil!

The corners of Cale's lips curled up.

– Cale, then are the two of us going to follow them separately?

Cale nodded his head at Eruhaben's question.

Cale and Eruhaben were not included in the 'black tree attack team' Marquis Helson was gathering.

On the other hand, Mary and Choi Han would be a part of that attack team.

Eruhaben spoke in a low voice.

– The First Imperial Prince will have to join this attack team if he wishes to be the Emperor.

Of course, he might not participate for his own safety, but…

– At least the 'Dragon' will have to join the attack team. He couldn't lose all face if he wanted to be the Emperor.

Eruhaben and Cale made eye contact.

The Dragon and the human both had big smiles on their faces.

– Cale, are you planning on capturing the First Imperial Prince's side?

Cale calmly nodded his head.

– Kahahaha! Are we finally going to destroy that monster?

They would destroy the monster as the cheapskate mentioned…

While also capturing those on the First Imperial Prince's side.

'It is possible to turn people into your subordinates without turning them into the undead. But they don't seem to know that.'

As Cale's smile twisted to one side…

– Human! You look very, very evil! I can't help but wonder how many people you are planning to smack in the back with such a smile on your face!

He ignored Raon's comment and focused on Helson's voice.

"Your Royal Highness!"

"…I understand."

First Imperial Prince Sanders showed his support in the end and Helson raised his voice. He spoke as he looked around.

"We will select the members for the black tree attack team in one hour and then head out!"

He continued to speak while looking at the candidates.

"Anybody else who wishes to help out, please come find one of the top executives!"

He then added on.

"However, we will not be able to guarantee your safety and those who are not skilled enough will not be selected for the attack team."

He was telling those who were not skilled to not even think about joining the team.

Cale looked at Marquis Helson and thought to himself.

'He's quite skilled at dealing with people unlike what you would expect from how he looks.'

Just by looks alone, he gave off the aura of the typical cold and rational swordsman who protected the border.

However, he had a calculated and sly side to him as well.

'It's nice.'

He now had a helper who would be easy to work with.

"Let's go."

Marquis Helson took his subordinates and headed back into the Lord's Castle.

The team of elites would be sent beyond the wall in an hour.

Cale was watching him before confirming that the First Imperial Prince walked into the Lord's Castle with a stiff expression on his face. He then moved deeper into the alley and started to speak.

"On. I leave the Imperial Princess and your younger siblings to you."

"Meeow."

"Hong, put some poison in the hallway and windows by our lodging. Make sure nobody can come to spy on us."

"Meeeeeow!"

"Raon."

– I know! Continuing the video communication! Preparing to take everybody and run just in case!

Cale then looked toward the black Hawk.

"Don't worry."

Cale nodded his head instead of saying anything.

Sui Khan, the team leader, would do his job properly to keep an eye on the movement of the top executives and the people in Precinct 9 to immediately have Raon contact Cale if anything weird happened.

Furthermore, as long as Sui Khan was here, the children would be safe as he would be able to ensure that they at least run away.

'Of course, I don't know the team leader's current sword art abilities though.'

Lee Soo Hyuk was the type of person who would not have come to see Cale if his skills were not at least at the level they had been when he was the team leader.

He would have only come to find Cale since his skills were better than back then.

"Eruhaben-nim."

"Yes. Let's go get ready to stealthily follow them."

"Let's go, Eruhaben-nim."

"Okay."

Cale and Eruhaben put on robes to hide their faces.

"Are you going?"

Cale turned around. Marquis Helson was standing there with a stiff expression on his face.

"Yes sir. We are heading out now. Marquis-nim, please protect the wall."

"…Of course."

The Marquis was skilled but could not be included in the team of elites.

His position required that he protect this wall until the end even if everybody else left.

"I'll deal with the Imperial Palace as well."

Furthermore, Marquis Helson was the only person capable of dealing with the Imperial Palace.

"…They're going to be really angry when they find out that the First Imperial Prince went out to fight. I-"

He thought for a moment before continuing to speak.

"I thought that he would only send the Dragon but he is also going. How surprising."

The First Imperial Prince was included in the team of elites. It was obvious when simply considering his abilities.

Furthermore, the Dragon was participating as well along with the young lady of the House of Huayans and his third helper.

"Oh Purifier."

Marquis Helson bowed.

"I leave it to you."

Cale could sense Eruhaben holding himself back from saying something behind him but ignored it and nodded his head.

"Yes sir. You have nothing to worry about."

Cale then stood on top of the golden teleportation magic circle with Eruhaben.

They were going to teleport outside the wall and then follow behind the attack team.

Cale looked out the window again.

He could see the attack team quickly moving in the distance.

First Imperial Prince Sanders, the Dragon and the other two helpers…

Mary and Choi Han…

And even Fourth Imperial Prince Noi and Zero.

"A lot of things are going to change because of this battle."

Cale did not say anything to the comment Eruhaben mumbled in a low voice.

Paaaat!

Along with the bright light, Eruhaben and Cale…

The true leaders of Operation Black Tree started to move.

---

The Black Tree attack team.

The person in front of the team was Chief Eaen.

– Chief, are you on the move?

"Yes sir."

Eaen, who had a bandana over her head like a hood, seemed to have a different skin color.

Her skin was now dark brown.

She was a mixed child between a Dark Elf and a human.

She was a Chief but her battle abilities were among the highest of the reconnaissance side.

"Her Royal Highness brought back quite the item."

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiing.

Eaen had a video communication device being powered by black magic in one hand and a watch-like bracelet on the other hand.

The bracelet was like a compass, pointing toward the specific direction.

– Report immediately if any unexpected situations occur.

"Yes, Marquis-nim."

Eaen did not turn off the video communication device and wore it like a necklace.

It was a bit heavy but she had no choice.

'Eaen.'

'Yes, uncle.'

'…Heni Wishrop and her people, especially the person you saw earlier…you must record everything that person does on the video communication device.'

'I understand.'

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiing–

Eaen pointed to a side.

It was in the southwest direction.

Tatatap-

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

A Dark Elf kicked off the ground and ran toward that direction.

A black mage caused a gust of wind from right behind Eaen and rushed past her as well.

The attack team's moving speed immediately increased after her chat with the Marquis.

'Nobody is falling behind.'

However, not a single one was unable to keep up with them.

There were about 30 core members of Precinct 9's reconnaissance team.

A lot of people had died in the past half year but these were the skilled elites who had managed to survive until now.

'…This is unexpected from the candidates though. I guess they are all skilled as well.'

Of course, none of the candidates were falling behind either.

'About ten people.'

Quite a lot of people had joined the attack team.

'There aren't any deadbeats either.'

The candidates joined with some of their helpers.

'Candidate 12 and helper, candidate 2, candidate 4 and helper, candidate 9-'

The information about the different candidates was being organized in her mind.

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi and one of his subordinates.

Zero and two of his subordinates.

'And-'

Eaen thought about the rear of the attack team.

'Heni Wishrop and First Imperial Prince Sanders.'

Their groups were stationed in the back.

First Imperial Prince Sanders even had his helpers, first young lady Huayans, a Dragon, and a mysterious helper.

Behind them were Heni Wishrop and her subordinate, the sword master.

'No, he is not her subordinate. They are comrades.'

Someone else was their leader.

The person she had assumed was the Chief Advisor…

That man was the leader.

'That leader and the other person were supposedly going to follow us from a distance.'

Marquis Helson had given Eaen some information.

'That person is the purifier. He has a Dragon with him and the power of a god.'

Eaen had almost snorted when she heard the power of a god.

'God?

There is no such thing.

If there is, why didn't they do anything until the world ended up like this?'

Eaen had lost her Dark Elf father and her mother, Marquis Helson's distant relative, to dead mana and mutant monsters.

'The purifier? That name is not even funny.'

She had heard that the person responsible for that red pillar of fire was this so-called purifier, but Eaen could not believe it as easily as the Marquis had done.

However, it wasn't that she did not believe it at all.

'…Uncle is not someone who would believe something without any proof.'

Unlike how he looked, Marquis Helson was smarter than most chiefs and was especially quick at understanding situations.

'Let's focus on getting rid of the monster for now.'

Eaen pushed aside the other thoughts on her mind.

She peeked behind her. She could see the candidates moving with their own groups and chatting with each other but decided not to pay attention to it as they were still within the range of the formation.

Everything would happen once they got to the monster, this black tree.

This was the reason Eaen did her best to not pay any attention to the fact that first young lady Huayans was approaching the sword master.

"Hello."

Choi Han looked toward the person who moved to the farthest spot in the formation to come to Mary and his side.

"Nice to meet you, Heni Wishrop-nim."

First young lady Huayans.

She was wearing a light robe.

The attack team had magic lights that the black mages had summoned, but it was not bright. Furthermore, the area beyond the range of the magic lights was dark.

"Nice to meet you."

Mary gave a simple response back.

Choi Han was still observing the first young lady.

'She looks like she is out on a walk.'

The first young lady was as relaxed as someone just taking a casual stroll.

However, her blonde hair shined brightly from the black magic lights.

"Yes, Heni Wishrop-nim. I'm glad I was able to say hello to you. Ah, hello to you as well, sword master-nim."

First young lady Huayans greeted Choi Han in a gentle yet haughty way.

'She's quite skilled.'

Some of the candidates' helpers were remaining quiet and focusing only on moving as the aura of dead mana was slowly getting thicker.

On the other hand, First young lady Mineh Huayans was maintaining her moving speed and did not seem to be affected by the aura of dead mana at all.

'Why did she come here?'

Choi Han questioned why she suddenly left her spot in the formation and moved all the way back to him.

However, he thought that he might know the reason behind it as well.

"Nice to meet you, young lady-nim."

"You as well. By the way, sword master-nim-"

The first young lady was looking at the red aura surrounding Choi Han.

"What is that red aura?"

Couple other people looked toward Choi Han at that moment.

The current attack team was mostly filled with Dark Elves, half-bloods, black mages, and necromancers.

Choi Han and the Dragon were the ones who did not fall under those groups.

'And the identity of the First Imperial Prince's last helper is unknown.'

They didn't know if he was an exception as well.

'…Everybody is curious about this red light.'

The robe surrounding Choi Han that was glowing red… This was naturally the item from the church that Cale had activated. Choi Han had completely covered the crest inside the robe.

"…."

Choi Han quietly observed Mineh Huayans who had asked about the red aura.

'Choi Han, if someone talks to you and you have to lie, just don't answer. Just ignore them.'

Choi Han did as Cale had said.

"Hoohoo."

First young lady Mineh laughed in a low voice. She then mumbled.

"I've never seen such a red light before."

Choi Han realized it at that moment.

'She knows about it.'

Mineh definitely knew that this red light was related to the Church of the Fire of Purification.

At least Choi Han's intuitions were telling him she does.

And his intuition was usually right about things like this.

"I hope that I have a chance to see this beautiful red light again when we get to the capital."

Mineh gently commented before slightly bowing to Mary and elegantly walking back to her spot.

The First Imperial Prince turned around.

'Hmm?'

Choi Han saw First Imperial Prince Sanders mouthing something. Mary saw the same thing.

Pat.

Mineh placed a hand on the First Imperial Prince's shoulder at that moment.

Sanders turned his head.

"My good friend Sanders."

Mineh stood next to Sanders and whispered in an extremely quiet voice.

"Don't be cheeky."

Sanders slightly frowned but the expression soon disappeared from his face.

"I'm in a very bad mood already. Of course, I feel like it will get better soon."

There was a gentle smile on First young lady Mineh's face.

People who didn't know what they were talking about would think that Sanders and Mineh were having a fun conversation.

"Kekeke."

The First Imperial Prince's other helper… The person covering their face with a deep hood let out a low laugh.

His voice sounded as if he was sneering.

"Things are going very well. Kekeke."

As for his last helper, there was no change of expression on the Dragon's face. The Dragon only looked forward.

Her eyes were focused on the thick darkness.

First young lady Mineh looked at the Dragon once before smiling even bigger.

'I didn't expect Imperial Princess Olivia to come back alive but things definitely turned interesting.'

A root had extended out of the 'garden' because Imperial Princess Olivia survived and ran away.

That was why Marquis Helson has now sort of recognized the existence of the garden, but…

'I'm looking forward to it.'

She felt quite good looking at these people heading toward the 'garden' to become 'fertilizer.'

How loud will they scream once they fall into the swamp of the garden and slowly turn into fertilizer?

'I'll be able to relieve some stress.'

The smile on Mineh's face became even wider.

She heard a voice in her mind.

– Kekeke. It should be entertaining. Thanks for letting me know about such an entertaining sight.

Mineh turned toward the hooded individual. The First Imperial Prince's helper who has still hidden his identity…

She smiled again.

The voice she heard in her mind was transmitted differently from how it was done with black magic.

'Did he call it a sound transmission?'

She used black magic to speak back to the other person's mind.

– You are curious about that sword master?

She received a response back.

– Yes. The sword art that he uses is similar but different from what our Central Plains uses. I want to dissect his corpse.

Mineh snorted internally as she asked.

– Are you planning on making that jiangshi thing?

– I can't make that if I dissect him. But I guess I don't have to dissect him if he dies in good condition. Kekeke.

Mineh stopped paying attention to that helper's sound transmission.

"Chief-nim."

The Dark Elf scout in front stopped walking.

Mineh turned to look at Eaen.

'I need to destroy the video communication device in her hand first.'

Then Marquis Helson would not know what happened here at all.

'Everybody other than us will die.'

Mineh came up with a simple plan and did her best to suppress the feeling of anticipation.

"What is it?"

The scout pointed to the front at Eaen's question.

"It's a corpse."

"Mm."

Eaen approached the scout.

"Hoooo."

She slightly frowned after hearing a voice behind her.

"…Zero-nim. Please maintain your spot in the formation."

"Ah, I'm really sorry! Hahaha! I was just curious."

Zero was looking at the corpse.

Zero pretended not to see Eaen's sinking gaze behind him as he inspected the corpse.

"It is candidate 17."

A couple people gasped after hearing his comment.

This was one of the candidates in Imperial Princess Olivia's team. He was not one of the top candidates but definitely one of the mid-tier candidates.

"The corpse has turned black and he is as skinny as a mummy."

Zero's gaze sank down.

His voice reached the others in the attack team.

"That monster really seems to suck people's life as food."

Everybody looked at the corpse.

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi stood next to Zero and clenched his fists.

"Hmm."

Zero looked at the Fourth Imperial Prince for a moment before turning to look at Heni Wishrop, who was still standing at the back of the group.

Heni Wishrop seemed calm.

Her subordinate the sword master seemed just as calm.

"…I wonder about their true identity."

Zero quietly mumbled before stepping back. Fourth Imperial Prince Noi turned his head and looked at First Imperial Prince Sanders.

The First Imperial Prince was stoically looking not at the corpse but something else.

Noi turned his head. He moved back to the rear of the team as well.

"Cowardly bastard."

He clenched his mouth shut. He then looked toward the first young lady.

First young lady Mineh was smiling at the Fourth Imperial Prince like a kind older sister.

'Hmm?'

Noi did not get angry at that sickening smile.

'What is going on?'

Heni Wishrop who was standing farther back in the formation than the First Imperial Prince… Her subordinate had an innocent smile on his mouth that was visible because the mask he was wearing did not cover it.

Yes, it was definitely an innocent smile.

'This is weird.'

Why did such an innocent smile look scary?

Noi felt weird whenever he looked at Heni Wishrop and her people.

'Who the hell are they?'

An extremely skilled necromancer and a royal from a perished kingdom.

Furthermore, she had a subordinate who was a young sword master but nobody seemed to know about him.

'I'm sure that the other two have some special traits as well.'

Noi could not think about it any longer.

"If the Second Imperial Princess-nim's information was correct, we should soon approach the lake with the black tree."

Eaen covered the corpse with a cloth but did not take it with her.

Everybody looked at her after hearing her voice.

"For the order of entry, search, and countermeasures… Please do as we have discussed."

Eaen motioned to the scout who kicked off the ground and the attack team started to move once again.

Noi followed the group as he thought to himself.

'Royal Father. What in the hell are you thinking?'

The Fourth Imperial Prince recalled something his father had told him.

'Noi. Kill your brother.'

Noi clenched his eyes shut before opening them back and making up his mind.

'When the hell did I listen to my father? Let's just ignore it!

I'll do whatever I want!'

Unlike the First Imperial Prince, Noi had gone to check on Imperial Princess Olivia. Olivia looked as if she would die soon even with Marquis Helson's subordinates surrounding her to heal her.

'…I don't know what the Imperial Palace is thinking.'

Whether it was the Imperial Palace, his father, or even the House of Huayans…

Noi had no idea what any of them were thinking.

He didn't want to know either.

He was just going to go down the path he thought was the right path.

'First things first, kill the monster.'

Noi raised his head.

He stopped walking.

He was not the only one.

"Mm."

"Eaen-nim, it seems difficult to keep going."

Some people groaned while a couple of the attack team members retreated to the back.

"It's dark."

Eaen could see a dark wall.

The density of dead mana had already been high but it seemed to be rising exponentially as they approached this wall.

– Chief.

"Marquis-nim, I believe we have arrived."

This black wall…

It was not a real wall.

Imperial Princess Olivia had explained to them.

'A black wall suddenly appeared. However, we noticed that it was not a wall when we approached it.'

It was fog.

It was such a dense fog that the magic lights being cast with black magic could not lighten the area.

'We did not enter the wall and tried to look around it to figure out what it was.'

Eaen started to speak.

"The wall will open soon."

Imperial Princess Olivia had explained to them.

'However, that wall suddenly disappeared and that place appeared.'

Shhhhhhh-

A breeze blew by.

The fog wall withdrew.

Light sparkled in between the fog wall that had been darker than the darkest moments of the night.

'It was beautiful. A magical place with white pebbles of light floating around suddenly appeared.'

It was similar to an oasis in the desert.

A lake appeared.

"Ah."

Someone gasped.

A lake with white pebbles of light floating around…

The lake was receiving light from the moon.

The dead mana fog did not cover the sky in this area.

The starlight and moonlight were shining down on the lake.

It was beautiful.

It seemed magical as well.

"…Tree."

The lake was large.

The black tree was at the center of the lake.

It seemed quite large as well. It seemed even larger than the Lord's Castle.

However, it did not look disgusting.

The shiny black tree seemed beautiful and full of life as it reflected the light from the lake.

Eaen started to speak.

"Target located."

The black tree did not have eyes.

However, Eaen felt as if the monster was looking toward them from the center of the lake.

'No. It has been waiting for us.'

The monster had been waiting for the approaching prey.

"We are now entering the enemy's territory from here."

Choi Han heard Eruhaben's voice in his mind at that moment.

– We are here as well.

Choi Han closed his eyes.

While everybody's attention was focused on the black tree and the lake…

He heard a faint noise high up in the sky in the distance.

Rumble-

Choi Han realized it.

A cloud that would swallow up the starlight and the moonlight was coming.

A cloud with the rose gold thunderbolt was heading over.

The darkness would soon disappear.

---

"It is oddly quiet."

Choi Han's gaze moved after hearing the voice.

"Seriously, it is too quiet."

Zero ruffled through his disheveled hair as he looked around.

"…It's weird."

Nobody objected to his comment.

Chief Eaen, who had said that they would now be entering the enemy's territory, could not tell Zero to be quiet.

'Something is weird.'

She too felt a mysterious sense of déjà vu and could not enter into the enemy's territory.

She was hesitating.

'Nothing is different from what Imperial Princess Olivia told us.'

According to the Imperial Princess's explanation, the lake and the area around the black tree was silent at first.

She said that the tree monster suddenly started attacking once they approached the black tree.

"This… I don't think we can go in there right away?"

Eaen kept her mouth shut after Zero approached her and made that comment.

Why could they not enter despite the situation being as Imperial Princess Olivia explained?

The reason was simple.

"What the hell is the monster planning?"

The monster had sent its roots to attack the wall not too long ago.

However, it was now pretending not to know anything; it was pretending to be a silent lake and a beautiful tree.

"How despicable."

Most of the people in the group agreed with Zero.

Choi Han quickly looked around the area.

'I don't see any vines either.'

The large lake and the area around it…

The starlight and the beautiful night sky were shining down in that area.

'I don't see any corpses.'

There were no corpses like candidate 17's corpse they had just seen.

'That means that this monster took care of the corpses as well.'

However, the monster had left candidate 17's corpse behind.

That could only mean one thing.

'It was used as a sign.'

This large tree that was a bit larger than the Lord's Castle had used candidate 17's corpse to have the attack team come find it.

'Ha!'

Choi Han barely held himself back from scoffing.

'It truly is despicable.'

This monster was despicable and shrewd as Zero mentioned.

That was why Chief Eaen was scared.

'I'm basically a grain of sand compared to the size of that monster's body that is visible right now.'

The black tree at the center of the lake…

There were basically no roots showing right now.

The roots that were long enough to attack the wall from here were not visible right now.

Neither were the vines that were supposedly as scary as the roots.

"Chief-nim."

Eaen looked away from the black tree after hearing a voice.

"…Mm."

She groaned.

Heni Wishrop. She had taken off the hood covering her face and stepped forward.

Plop. Plop.

The pouch that was upside down in her hand was releasing white bone pieces without stopping.

"We must proceed as planned."

Her voice was as calm as usual.

Black thread flowed out of Mary's hand and wrapped around the bone pieces as she walked forward.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

They could hear the bone pieces clacking against each other.

Skeleton monsters the size of a person appeared.

Mary started to speak once around ten of these skeleton monsters were created.

"An ambush wasn't going to be possible anyway."

They had expected that the tree monster would be aware of the attack team and be waiting for them.

"Chief-nim, when will we start?"

Eaen closed her eyes for a moment before opening them back.

"Right now."

The group started to move at that moment.

Smile.

Mineh started to smile.

She looked around.

'The reconnaissance team and the close combat weapon users to the front.'

Precinct 9's reconnaissance team was in front of the formation.

Right behind them were close combat weapon users such as the sword master and Zero.

'The center is mainly magic based.'

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—-

The black mages were at the center of the formation, creating a gust of wind for the reconnaissance team.

It was so that they could charge forward like arrows at any moment.

Mineh stood there with the Dragon as well.

'First young lady Huayans.'

Marquis Helson had requested the following from Mineh and the Dragon.

'I want you to launch the most explosive attack you can cast the moment the reconnaissance team starts to move.'

The Marquis had added on.

'Team Olivia did not have a talented black mage when they ran into the black tree. They didn't have any mages either.'

The Marquis and his top executives had determined that the black tree would not know about the strength of magic yet. Most of the reconnaissance team members who had died in the past few months had been weapon users as well.

'We determined that the best first attack to damage that monster was black magic.'

Mineh smiled after recalling the Marquis' words.

'Why would it not know about magic?'

The black tree should know quite a lot about black magic.

It had been connected to black magic since it was born.

'Foolish things.'

The Dragon and Mineh's attack will not head toward the black tree.

They will attack the backs of the reconnaissance team members who would rush forward without a clue.

'…I'm in the right spot.'

Mineh looked to the back.

She was looking at the core of the long-range necromancer groups with people like Heni Wishrop and the Fourth Imperial Prince.

The First Imperial Prince and his helper were a bit away from them mixed in with the others.

'They will take down the necromancers.'

Mineh's face filled with anticipation.

Eaen came to the middle of the formation at that moment. She approached Mineh and the Dragon as she started to speak.

"Please take care of it."

Mineh nodded her head.

She stretched her hands out to the front.

Ooooooooo—

The dead mana round her started to rumble.

A spell would soon be released from her hand.

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

Wing swirled around the Dragon as well.

It seemed to Eaen that this Dragon was about to do something as well.

The moment Mineh and the Dragon focused and started to cast their spells…

Boom-!

The ground shook at that moment.

"Don't be shocked!"

Eaen shouted.

"We expected this to happen!"

Chhhhhhhhh!

Something shot up from the transparent lake.

It was a black tree root.

The monster had started to move after seeing the reconnaissance team approach it.

Boom-! Boom!

The ground shook nonstop.

Some people turned pale.

The earth was moving.

Ssssssssssss-

Vines started to push forward from the darkness.

With the way the earth was moving…

The vines seemed more like waves.

"This is crazy!"

Zero, who had been rushing forward, looked around in disbelief.

"We were already in the monster's domain!"

This whole area was the monster's domain.

The earth was moving because the area below ground was probably full of roots.

"Please hurry!"

Mineh held back a laugh while looking at Eaen urgently, shouting and looking at her.

Radiantly glowing white mana was visible in Mineh's hands.

This was the white magic that was the pride of the House of Huayans.

This holy white magic would soon signal the Festival of Blood in this garden.

'I just need to be wary of the sword master and Heni Wishrop.'

The Dragon would take down the sword master and the other helper would take down Heni Wishrop.

Chhhhhhh, chhhhhhhh-!

The moment numerous tree roots shot up from the lakeside…

"Now!"

Mineh moved both of her hands as Chief Eaen shouted in a shriek.

She moved to release the light that would signal the start of the festival.

Ruuuuuumble—-

She heard an odd noise from the sky at that moment.

"!"

Mineh's eyes opened wide.

"Ugh!"

Her white mana that was glowing like something holy started to warp.

The First young lady's eyes looked down at her side.

"…You-"

There was a dagger stabbed into her side.

Eaen was holding that dagger. She twisted the hand that was holding the dagger.

"Ugh!"

Mineh released a groan.

'Shit!

I've been had!'

She had no idea what was going on but what she knew for sure was that Marquis Helson had pulled one over on her!

"Ha!"

Mineh scoffed while looking at what was going on.

All of the black mages from Precinct 9 were aiming their dead mana at Mineh.

The reconnaissance team members were not looking at the tree roots shooting up from the lake but were pointing their swords at her as well.

'The First Imperial Prince!'

Mineh urgently tried to look toward the First Imperial Prince.

However, she could not do so.

'!'

A scary aura brushed past her at that moment.

The aura was directed right next to Mineh.

It was heading toward the Dragon.

Now that she thought about it, the Dragon had been quiet.

Mineh turned to look at the Dragon.

"…What is that?"

The Dragon was surrounded by radiant gold speckles.

The Dragon was completely stiff as she stood there.

She could not even say anything.

The Dragon's pupils were shaking.

It was as if she was scared.

'She's scared…?

This Dragon is scared?

It is scared because of something other than the patriarch?

It's mana.

That gold dust is mana.'

Voices filled with chaos echoed around Mineh just as she realized that.

Mineh heard one of those voices at that moment.

"What the hell? What the fuck do you think you are doing?! Heni Wishrop, why did you do that to our hyung-nim?!"

Heni Wishrop.

Mineh moved her hand as soon as she heard that name.

The white dead mana that had stabilized at some point was directed at Eaen.

Bang!

However, the white light could not reach Eaen.

Eaen had quickly retreated back.

"…As expected, you bastards have partnered with Marquis Helson!"

A sparkling violent black light had gotten in its way.

Mineh looked at the sword master and scowled.

"You fools! You are pulling this kind of shit with the monster right in front of us?!"

Even Zero walked over to Choi Han with a stiff expression on his face as he spoke.

"What are you doing? Is there some kind of internal conflict?"

His gaze looked cold.

"Even if you have some issues with each other, you are splitting our forces with the monster right in front of us? Are you crazy?"

The other candidates and their helpers were showing similar reactions.

They were all surrounded by the members of Precinct 9.

The corners of Mineh's lips curled up.

"Shit!"

One of the candidates shouted.

"The tree roots are coming! What are you going to do?!"

Chhhhhh–

The tree roots were cutting through the water and heading over to them.

Sssssssss— sss—

The vines were already surrounding the group.

They seemed happy that their prey had all gathered together.

'Let's run away.'

Mineh thought that she should escape since she was injured.

'I don't know what Marquis Helson is thinking nor what he might have found out, but…'

The team here was not enough to escape from the monster.

'So we just need to run away.'

Mineh turned to look at the Dragon.

'This motherfucking shithead!'

Mineh started to speak to the Dragon that wasn't moving.

"Get rid of that gold dust and immediately-"

The Dragon spoke at that moment.

"…Dragon."

"What?"

'What is this motherfucking Dragon saying?'

"…Real-."

'What?'

Mineh turned and could sense the emotion behind the Dragon's eyes as she looked at her.

'Fear.'

And…

'Delight.'

As the Dragon smiled despite shaking in fear…

Ruuuumble-

The sky roared once again.

Mineh raised her head out of reflex.

"Ah."

Everything turned red at that moment.

Yes, the moment she had that thought…

Baaaaaaang—!

A single rose gold thunderbolt shot down toward the lake.

Sssssss-!

The vines stopped moving.

The tree roots stopped as well.

Siiiiiiizzle—

One of the tree roots was struck by the thunderbolt and turned into grey ashes that scattered into the air.

"W, what the-"

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi became anxious at this sudden situation and looked around.

Heni Wishrop had her hand around the First Imperial Prince's neck, the first young lady was stabbed, and the Dragon was wrapped by gold dust and unable to move.

Furthermore, the black mages and reconnaissance team members were pointing their weapons at Fourth Imperial Prince Noi.

"Eek!"

It was at that moment.

He turned around after feeling a strong pressure suddenly pushing from behind him.

It was the opposite direction of the lake.

Something was slowly moving toward him from the darkness.

It wasn't very far.

That was why he could soon figure out what was coming toward him.

"…A person?"

A person wrapped in gold light was pushing the darkness, the dead mana way as he walked toward them.

His steps were relaxed.

Crack. Crack.

One of the numerous highest-grade magic stones floating in the air surrounded by gold light cracked with every step he took.

And that large amount of mana mixed with the gold light to create a large mana domain.

The person standing at the center of the gold light had his hair turn from brown to gold.

His eyes started to change colors as well.

"That person-"

Zero knew this person.

He was one of Heni Wishrop's subordinates.

However, he could not say that despite knowing this person's identity.

'What is this pressure?'

His heart started beating wildly the moment he looked at this person walking over.

It felt similar to fear.

Zero had never felt such instinctual fear before in his life.

'What is going on?

Who is this?

Are they even human?'

Zero made eye contact with this individual.

'Ah.'

This individual's pupils were long and vertical.

This individual was not human.

The eyes made him think about reptiles.

"…No way-"

Zero barely managed to turn his head while hearing Fourth Imperial Prince Noi's shaking voice.

The First Imperial Prince's helper, the Dragon…

That Dragon was wrapped in gold mana and unable to move.

The black-haired woman, that Dragon, barely managed to speak.

"…Dragon."

She was mumbling the word Dragon over and over while looking at the individual surrounded in gold light.

Choi Han had his sword pointed at the first young lady as he perked his ears.

Ruuuumble-

'Eruhaben-nim is here.

Cale-nim has not revealed himself yet.

But the monster stopped moving.

The earth is not shaking.

The vines are not pushing forward like waves.

The tree roots are not attacking their prey.'

Rumble—

It was because the monster's natural enemy was watching from somewhere.

Eruhaben leisurely walked toward them and looked up at the night sky.

A part of it was covered because of the cloud but he could see the stars shining.

He could feel the aura of nature from the sky.

He could feel mana.

The ancient Dragon looked down at the attack team.

"The sky is bright here unlike inside that darkness."

He was saying that this was his domain.

---

"A real Dragon?"

Nobody reacted to something one of the attack team member's mumbled. No, they couldn't react.

Only one individual reacted.

"Yes. I am a Dragon. I'm sure this isn't your first time seeing one?"

Although he was surrounded by gold dust and half of his face was covered by a mask… His white gold hair and eyes were radiant.

"Mm.'

Chief Eaen gulped.

She knew that there was a monster behind her back but she couldn't easily take her eyes off of the Dragon.

'…My goodness.'

Marquis Helson had said that there was a black Dragon by the purifier's side. He had said that it was a young Dragon.

However, there was a different Dragon in front of her right now.

Of course, it was possible that the black Dragon used dye magic to dye his hair gold before appearing, but the gold dust and gold mana that this Dragon was using did not show any signs of hiding anything.

'He must be shocked too.'

The video communication device had been silent since earlier.

Marquis Helson was unable to say anything despite seeing everything.

"…Ha."

Eaen turned her gaze for a moment after hearing someone sigh.

It was someone whose identity could not be properly investigated.

Mercenary Zero was sighing.

'Hmm?'

Eaen thought that Zero's eyes underneath his disheveled hair looked a bit odd.

'…He looks a bit crazy?'

Zero mumbled to himself at that moment. It was extremely quiet.

"…Unbelievable."

Zero felt his fingertips going numb.

His gaze moved toward the First Imperial Prince's helper, the other Dragon.

This black-haired woman… She was unable to move at all and was completely focused on the man who was glowing white gold.

"Ke, keke."

Zero smirked. His eyes lit up with passion.

'I thought that it was weird.'

The Dragon that the First Imperial Prince had brought with him…

When he first saw this supposedly extinct creature in the party hall, he assumed that she was really a Dragon because everybody was calling her a Dragon.

'A real one is like this.'

Now that he experienced a real Dragon, he could tell that a real Dragon needed nobody to tell him it was a Dragon for him to know the truth.

'Yes, this pressure, this power that seems out of this world, and-'

The mana swirling around the Dragon…

Although it was different from the black vine waves that were headed toward the attack team not too long ago, a large golden tsunami was surrounding this Dragon.

This tsunami looked as if it could turn into violent waves at any moment to destroy everything around it.

"…Boss."

One of the helpers who came with Zero started to speak.

"If it is like this, the plan-"

"Shut up."

The subordinate quickly shut up after hearing Zero's vicious voice. He then flinched.

'He's gone crazy.'

Zero's eyes looked crazy.

It was best not to mess with Zero when he was like this.

"Ha, hahaha-!"

A piercing laugh burst out at that moment.

First young lady Mineh Huayans. She wasn't even looking at Choi Han's sword that was pointed at her neck and was looking at Eruhaben as she laughed.

"Hahaha, hahaha-!"

Eruhaben, who had just been standing there, started to walk toward her.

Mineh started to speak.

"Heni Wishrop–!"

Her voice was full of anger.

"Who the fuck are you?! Who the fuck are all of you?!"

A sword master, an extremely skilled necromancer…

Those two were at least acceptable in her opinion.

It was plausible that she was royalty from a perished kingdom who wanted to take the Imperial throne and that he was someone from a guardian household who had been protecting her family's side for generations.

"A Dragon?"

One corner of Mineh's lips curled up.

"There is a Dragon and one that has grown up properly at that? Huh? A living Dragon exists?

Ha, haha!"

She was laughing nonstop.

"How does that make any sense?!"

She could not stop laughing.

That was the only way to mask her fear.

"It makes no sense!"

The Dragon with the gold mana wrapped around him was coming closer.

He was heading toward Mineh.

She clenched her fists.

She felt as if her hands would be shaking if she did not do that. Her body was already shaking a bit.

'This Dragon-!'

She realized it the moment she looked around.

Everybody was feeling pressure from the aura that the Dragon was releasing, but nobody was feeling fear like her.

It felt as if a sharp dagger was pointed right at her heart to the point that she could not even pay any attention to the sword that was pointed at her neck.

'Is this Dragon Fear?'

Cold sweat was drenching Mineh's forehead.

That Dragon was only sending Dragon Fear toward her. Mineh was sure about that.

The Dragon was in front of her now. There was nobody to stop him.

"First young lady Huayans."

Eruhaben started to smile.

"Why does it make no sense that a Dragon is in front of you?"

Dragons on this Xiaolen Planet had gone extinct.

Of course, there was the black-haired woman next to Mineh who was introduced as a Dragon, but even Eruhaben could not tell whether she was a real Dragon or not.

However, when that black-haired woman channeled her mana a few moments ago, the moment he noticed that weird warp…

Eruhaben was able to figure out what this Dragon really was and how she had grown up.

'Motherfucking bastards.'

The gold dust surrounding Eruhaben fluctuated.

Choi Han could tell that Eruhaben was quite angry right now.

Eruhaben stood right next to Mineh and lowered his head toward her.

"Should there be no Dragons alive?"

Similar to what the White Star had done in Eruhaben's world…

The Dragons in this world probably went extinct from being hunted.

Large parties probably went to attack the Dragons that lived alone.

And at the center of that were the Hunters… The Black Bloods household.

The family of the first young lady in front of Eruhaben right now was most definitely responsible.

"First young lady Huayans. There is a Dragon by your side as well."

He then started to smile.

He lifted his head and looked around.

"I don't know why you are all so shocked to see me when you have all had a Dragon by your side until now."

Choi Han suddenly recalled something Cale had told him.

'Our luck has been good until now.'

Cale had shaken his head side to side.

'Do you know how egotistic and prideful Dragons are?'

Choi Han had replied that the Dragons they had met until now were not like that.

'As for Raon, his situation was special. Eruhaben-nim is a special Dragon too. As for the other Dragons?'

Cale spoke calmly and confidently as if it was to be expected.

'Eruhaben-nim looks favorably on us humans. He doesn't care for formalities that much and is nice. We were able to be so relaxed around the other Dragons because Eruhaben-nim was with us.'

Cale's face had been quite calm and even a bit cold as he said that.

'Eruhaben-nim is the Dragon who has lived the longest. He's quite amazing.'

Choi Han could finally understand Cale's words properly today.

The greatest existence in the Natural World…

The Dragons.

A Dragon, an ancient Dragon who has lived over 1,000 years, was looking at humans who had never experienced a real Dragon because they had gone extinct.

"Did you all not know what kind of existence Dragons are?"

The Dragon Fear that had been directed at Mineh gently spread in all directions.

Eruhaben's gaze moved at that moment.

His eyes that were glowing more beautiful than pure gold were looking at the black-haired woman.

"You, cancel the spell."

The black-haired woman's eyes started to shake.

However, Eruhaben's gaze was firm as he looked into those black eyes that were shaking with anxiety.

"Now."

Black mana flowed out of the black-haired woman at that moment.

It was similar to Raon's but the mana felt different.

This mana was a bit darker and sunken.

"No! Don't do it!"

Mineh immediately shouted after seeing that mana but the black-haired woman was only looking at Eruhaben.

A bitter smile appeared on Eruhaben's face.

'…For a Dragon to look at another Dragon like this…'

The black-haired woman was looking at Eruhaben with awe and longing.

Even though she was also a Dragon…

Shaaaaaaa—

The black mana brushed past the woman's body.

"Eek."

Someone gasped and held back from saying something in shock.

The black-haired woman…

Her whole body was covered in black spider webs.

"As I expected."

The corners of Eruhaben's lips twisted.

He had said the following about the Dragon in front of him to Cale.

'51 percent certain.'

It was more than likely that she was a Dragon.

'It does not seem to be normal.'

However, her condition was not normal.

'Cale, mana is not going around that individual.'

'However, that individual still has a strong mana. Yet she's worse at hiding herself even more than Raon. It's as if-

It's as if she is raw. It is as if she has never learned how to handle mana or ever practiced it properly.'

Eruhaben asked the Dragon who was covered in veins that looked like black spider webs.

"What is your name?"

"…Aphei."

"I've seen a human like you before."

Saint Jack's sister, the sword master Hannah…

She was poisoned by dead mana and survived.

She was still a sword master after that experience.

"You are a Dragon who has overcome dead mana."

Eruhaben had noticed something weird when this Dragon tried to use magic earlier.

Just as the strong mana inside the Dragon started to move to cast the spell, he faintly sensed dead mana within it.

It was so trivial that only someone extremely skilled would be able to notice it, but that dead mana was mixed with mana.

Of course, the two did not combine to become one.

But the two of them were sort of wrapped together similar to Hannah's aura as a sword master and dead mana.

"…No wonder it was confusing."

Eruhaben smiled bitterly while looking at Aphei, whose eyes were looking down at the ground.

The Dragon could not look at the ancient Dragon from the moment her skin was revealed.

A Dragon was an existence that lived together with mana.

'I'm assuming this punk was against it.'

It was highly likely that she lived in dead mana even when she was an egg and was born within it.

Otherwise, it would be difficult for a Dragon to overcome dead mana and mix the two manas together.

"You are definitely a Dragon."

Eruhaben turned his head after saying that. Aphei's eyes that were only looking down at the black sand shook after hearing that and she raised her head.

She looked up at Eruhaben's face.

She heard Mineh's voice at that moment.

"Aphei!"

Mineh's voice was sharp as if she was trying to whip Aphei, but she didn't even listen.

A real Dragon, something she had only imagined and read about in books…

The feeling of déjà vu she had felt in the party hall while looking at this individual had not been wrong.

'He said that I was a real Dragon-'

A real Dragon had called her a Dragon.

And now…

'I, I am not alone.'

She had a fellow Dragon who could prove and confirm her identity as a Dragon.

That fellow Dragon had beautiful gold light unlike her dark and dirty black mana.

Gold light fluttered around him looking like snow.

"Pffft."

The gold Dragon chuckled.

Aphei watched his hand move.

"Ugh!"

"Where do you think you're going?"

Aphei could see the mana released from his fingertips suppressing dead mana as if it was an ant.

"Ugh."

Mineh, who had stealthily channeled her dead mana to try to teleport away, instantly frowned.

'How-, what is going on?

How did things turn out like this?

This motherfucking Dragon bastard!'

She was cursing both Eruhaben and Aphei in her mind but was still able to maintain a bit of rationality.

That was why she had tried to escape.

The reason was simple.

"You guys-"

Mineh asked the sword master, Dragon, and Heni Wishrop.

"There are more of you, aren't there?"

The voice was shaking.

First young lady Huayans. That was not a position that was easy to maintain.

The beautiful sight she had expected did not happen and she became anxious at the sudden appearance of a Dragon and angry at Aphei's actions, but…

She was still not very worried.

'That monster will handle the Dragon.'

The black tree. That thing would try to consume the Dragon.

There were not many creatures with as much life force as Dragons.

Even a Dragon would not be able to easily handle the monster if it went crazy and charged at it.

'We know how strong Dragons are.'

It was the judgment of the records of the House of Huayans as people who had hunted Dragons.

'Aphei's life is in our hands.'

To be more specific, her grandfather, the patriarch, held this rebellious Dragon's life in his hand.

That was why Aphei would return to them in the end.

So she thought that it was fine as long as she managed to escape.

'That Blood Cult bastard from the Central Plains will escape with the First Imperial Prince.'

The last helper, the bastard from the Blood Cult, was curled forward with his face covered pretending to be scared.

He was close to Heni Wishrop and the First Imperial Prince, so he would find the opportunity to escape with the First Imperial Prince.

'…He is almost as strong as the patriarch.'

However, Mineh realized the oddness of the situation the more rational she became.

She was not the only one.

Zero, Chief Eaen, the Fourth Imperial Prince, and the others had stopped being anxious and noticed the weirdness of the situation as well.

"Why? Why do you think that there is someone else?"

Eruhaben chuckled.

He continued to speak after seeing Mineh glare at him instead of responding.

"Because the monster is running away?"

The black tree.

That thing had been quiet since earlier.

"Or is it because the monster is surrounding itself with its roots?"

The monster had silently pulled back its roots to the center of the lake to create a wall. It was as if it was defending itself.

"If it isn't that either…"

Eruhaben pointed at the sky.

"Do you hear that?"

Ruuuumble-

The starlight had disappeared.

The night sky was covered by grey clouds.

The attack team members had been shocked by the appearance of a Dragon but none of them were idiots.

They all definitely remembered.

The red thunderbolt.

The power that easily burned the tree root and made the monster stop in shock.

'The purifier.'

Eaen, who knew the identity of the person, gulped.

She grabbed the video communication device around her neck and moved it so that Marquis Helson would be able to see clearly.

That was the only thing she could think about doing.

'A sword master, two Dragons, and a necromancer.'

The purifier was supposedly the leader of this group.

Then the purifier must be stronger than all of them.

'Does he really use the power of a god?'

He was an existence that made this monster that was larger than the Lord's Castle, the monster that made them worry about the fall of the west side of the Empire, move to protect itself.

"Just so you know, I will not be fighting it."

The ancient Dragon looked at Mineh and smiled.

"I need to keep an eye on all of you so that you guys don't run away."

The First Imperial Prince's helpers… Their locations and actions were all being seen and noticed by Eruhaben.

Even that helper who was warily looking for an opening to escape…

Eruhaben was planning on using his mana to tie down the First Imperial Prince's forces soon.

"I also need to protect all of you."

'Protect?'

Eruhaben's hand moved as some people looked confused after hearing that word.

The attack team… A gold shield appeared around them.

Ruuuuumble- ruuuuuuumble-

Mary, who still had her hand around the First Imperial Prince's neck, started to speak at that moment.

"Please take a look."

She whispered to the First Imperial Prince.

"You do not need to die. You will soon see a way to save everyone without dying."

First Imperial Prince Sanders. He saw the fire that approached them from the direction that the Dragon appeared a few moments ago.

Screeeech- screeeeeeech-

The black tree suddenly started to screech and the ground started to shake.

Boom, Boom!

The monster that had protected its body with its vines and roots was planning to attack its natural enemy with everything it had.

– Khahahaha! There is so much to burn! Let's play with fire tonight!

Cale leisurely walked as if he was out on a stroll.

He walked past the gold shield protecting the attack team members and headed toward the lake.

Splash.

Cale mumbled with a stoic look on his face the moment the water touched his foot.

"Should I burn up the water in the lake first?"

Ruuuumble- ruuuuuumble–

A rose gold current slowly appeared through the grey cloud.

The Fire of Destruction. This was a world where using one percent of his power would release the strength of him using fifty percent.

Cale was planning on using fifty percent of his power right now.

---

– Cale.

Smirk.

Cale smiled after hearing the cheapskate calling him.

Sssss.

Vines were slowly approaching from behind him.

Cale lifted his foot and stepped on a vine.

"You seem to have a hidden cunning side?"

Cale sounded as if he was talking to the black tree.

"You also seem to not be scared anymore."

Sssssssss— sss—!

The vine did not retreat.

The vine pointed its tip at Cale as if it would do anything to grab Cale's body even as it burned.

The corners of Cale's lips curled up.

He then looked forward.

"Wow."

Dozens of tree roots were pointing their heads above the surface of the water.

And the vines of the tree that were as large as the Lord's Castle… Dozens of small and large vines were pointed toward Cale as well.

"How entertaining."

Rose gold aura started to shoot up from under his foot at that moment.

Crackle–

The vine instantly started to burn.

The vine's sharp thorns with the sticky liquid were instantly swallowed by the rose gold aura.

Tatap!

Cale moved the foot that was stepping on the vine that was quickly turning into ah.

Wind wrapped around his ankle.

The Sound of the Wind gathered by his ankle and created a small whirlwind.

Splash-

Cale moved over the lake as he pushed forward.

Boom—!

The ground started to shake.

It felt as if the entire black sand desert was moving.

– Kahahaha! Cale! Let's burn it up!

The moment he heard the cheapskate's crazed shout…

The black tree started to attack Cale.

Splash— splash—

The surface of the lake roared and split while making a different noise from before.

Then dozens of tree roots all shot up at the same time.

They were all aiming for one thing.

It was Cale.

"Hmm."

It looked as if large spears were flying toward him.

A tree root that was as wide as Cale's body shot forward as if to pierce through him.

Numerous roots behind that root were aiming at him from all directions.

The people watching this could only imagine what would happen next.

"He must be crazy. What is that person doing alo-!"

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi subconsciously started to speak from inside the gold shield.

"Is he trying to die-"

The tree roots would pierce through that man's body.

He would be ripped to shreds to the point that they would not be able to see any resemblance to him in what was left behind.

'I'm certain that guy was Heni Wishrop's Chief advisor!'

The most feeble-looking bastard was standing still with the tree roots all around him.

'What is going on?

What the hell is about to happen?'

The moment the Fourth Imperial Prince was questioning what was going on…

He saw a fire.

No, he saw a thunderbolt.

No.

That was not right either.

He saw a person.

He saw a person surrounded by fire and thunderbolts.

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

He could see a whirlwind.

Whether it was a loud explosion, a piercing scream, or someone getting hurt…

He didn't hear anything.

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

However, the gust of wind brought over by the whirlwind now had grey ash mixed in with it.

Ash fluttered in the wind.

That ash moved past the gold shield and disappeared into the black sand desert and the darkness.

"Ah."

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi subconsciously gasped.

'…It disappeared.'

The moment the man became surrounded by that rose gold thunderbolt, the moment that the thunderbolt shot up like fire…

The tree roots that touched the rose gold light disappeared without a sound.

They basically perished.

They died without being able to resist in any way.

Screeeeech—!

There was a monstrous noise before the tree started to shake.

The roots that remained were shaking.

It sounded as if the large tree was screaming in pain.

"Heni Wishrop!"

The Fourth Imperial Prince could not close his mouth.

"Who the hell are you?"

No, more importantly…

"Who the hell is that person?!"

The Fourth Imperial Prince definitely saw it.

The thick black liquid on the large roots…

That was dead mana that had turned into poison.

Those terrible things turned into ashes and disappeared once they touched the rose gold thunderbolt.

Even black magic was able to burn the black tree.

However, a power that could make dead mana that turned into terrible poison disappear…

'I've never seen or heard about such a power!

How could there be someone like this?'

The Fourth Imperial Prince barely managed to look away from the man to look at Heni Wishrop before he flinched.

'…Holy shit!'

First Imperial Prince Sanders, First young lady Mineh, the black-haired Dragon, and that other helper…

All of them were tightly bound by golden mana rope.

Furthermore, the sword master was behind the four of them with his sword filled with aura pointed at them.

It was as if he could slash their heads off at any moment.

As for necromancer Heni Wishrop, she used bones to create a prison for them.

"Ha!"

The Fourth Imperial Prince realized it after seeing them.

"…None of them believes that this person will get hurt."

That was why they were acting like this.

Mary started to speak at that moment.

"…I am concerned because he might cough up blood."

'Blood?'

There was a look of confusion on the Fourth Imperial Prince's face when he heard someone's sigh-like voice.

Of course, there were some other emotions as well.

"Blood, I see."

It was Chief Eaen.

She looked even more out of it than when she had seen the Dragon as she looked at the person surrounded by fiery thunderbolts.

She mumbled in a low voice.

"…It must be the rebound from using the power of a god."

'A power of a god?'

The Fourth Imperial Prince's eyes opened wide after hearing a completely unexpected concept. Most of the attack team members couldn't hide their shock either.

'Oh dear.'

Eruhaben slightly shook his head.

It was fine that Mary spoke honestly but Chief Eaen had said something quite useless.

'Of course, I'm sure it isn't useless from her point of view.'

She was a smart person.

It was true that she was blankly staring at Cale but the words that came out of her mouth were quite intentional.

In order to get everybody here on the same side and in order to come up with an acceptable justification for Marquis Helson's actions…

'There's nothing better than the power of a god.'

That was why Cale himself had packaged it like that.

'…Tsk.'

Eruhaben clicked his tongue internally after figuring out how Cale would fare in this place, no, what kind of existence he would become here.

'Poor poor Cale.

He's always getting farther and farther from what he wants.

He sure has quite the talent for doing that.'

"Chief, what did you just say?"

Eruhaben watched as Fourth Imperial Prince Noi grabbed Eaen's shoulder and asked.

Eaen finally looked at the Fourth Imperial Prince and responded.

"That sir is the purifier."

Eaen peeked warily at Eruhaben, who was visible beyond the Fourth Imperial Prince's shoulder, as she continued to speak.

Marquis Helson was back at the castle right now.

The things happening right now were things he had done on his own without receiving permission from the Imperial Palace.

The Imperial Palace would not leave the Margrave alone once they learned about the current situation.

As the Chief who served the Marquis and for the guardian who took her in when she had nowhere to go…

'I need to clearly set the field.'

The expression on her face looked like someone who was looking at an existence that deserved a lot of awe and respect.

"He is from the Church of the Fire of Purification."

"The cult?"

Everybody heard what someone managed to blurt out.

Eaen continued to speak.

"The Fire of Purification is an existence that defeats the darkness."

Eaen's gaze turned toward Cale.

The purifier was crossing above the lake toward the black tree.

There was nothing stopping his steps.

Crack, crackle-

The rose gold thunderbolt surrounding his body was burning even brighter.

"When darkness has descended on the ground and even the sun in the sky has been covered…"

Rumble—

The starlight had disappeared as the sky was covered by the cloud.

It was dark around them once again.

But the light from this man's fire was radiant.

No, it was scary.

It looked as if it would burn everything.

"The only fire that can swallow darkness."

Yes, this person will swallow this darkness.

And he will turn it into ashes.

Eaen said the word that described this situation the best from what Marquis Helson had explained about the Fire of Purification.

"A sun rising from the ground."

When the sun rises…

Night ends and morning arrives.

"That sir uses that power."

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—-

The black tree's roots and vines were continuing to turn into grey ash without making any noise.

Cale moved forward without anything stopping him as he cut through those grey ashes.

'That's odd.'

Cale was feeling odd right now.

'…Is it okay for it to be this easy?'

The black tree was even larger than the Lord's Castle at Precinct 9.

The attacks from that tree were extremely strong.

The black tree roots… They seemed to be so strong that nothing could break them.

As for the tree trunk, it was large but felt as if it could come suffocate Cale at any moment like a snake or use sharp fangs to poison him.

The black vines charged at him endlessly and were now swimming on top of the lake to approach Cale.

It looked as if they were trying to crush him with waves of vines.

'…It's not weak.'

This black tree was definitely not weak.

In fact, it was strong.

To make a comparison, it was probably as strong as the unranked monsters on Earth.

It was not weak.

'But it is weak.

It is weak to me.'

The roots burned as soon as a fiery thunderbolt touched them.

It literally disappeared.

'This is really weird.'

Cale thought to himself while approaching the body of the black tree.

'Why is the Fire of Destruction so efficient in this world?'

Using one percent of his power to release fifty percent's worth of power…

Something was weird for him to just believe that was the case.

'I'm sure there is a reason it is like this.'

The Super Rock, who had been quiet lately, started to speak.

– Cale. Similar to how the shadows become thicker when it is too bright… It might be that this world is so dark that the opposite becomes stronger as well.

It was at that moment.

A black vine attacked from through the grey ashes behind Cale.

– Cale!

Cale raised his hand at the Super Rock's urgent voice.

Rumble-

The sky cried once.

Baaaaang—!

A fiery thunderbolt shot down to the ground.

Pss-

The vine that was a couple times thicker than Cale's body turned into ashes and disappeared.

The Super Rock mumbled in disbelief.

– …It's so easy. It looks like this place was made for you.

The cheapskate chimed in at that moment.

– Cale. Don't overthink it.

He sounded as if nothing was an issue.

– Is it a harmful situation to us right now?

No.

It is beneficial if anything; it is definitely not harmful. And you know…

'Hmm?'

Cale waited for the cheapskate to continue and the cheapskate whispered in a wicked voice.

– Just blame the world if they tell you to take responsibility. This world is who called you here.

– That is true.

"Hmm. That is true."

Cale nodded his head.

He then stopped.

Cale was now near the black tree.

Ten steps. He stopped ten steps in front of the tree.

– This should be good enough!

Cale ignored the cheapskate's comment as he reached his hand out.

Crack!

The hand that had a fiery thunderbolt wrapped around it clenched a vine that was trying to run away.

This was the first time Cale reached his hand out first.

Boom-!

The tree roared and Cale smiled.

There was a reason he had not burned the tree from the beginning and had approached it.

"Hey, can you talk?"

An extremely rude voice flowed out.

– Cale, you sound like you want to start shit-

Cale ignored the Super Rock's comment and clenched the vine even tighter.

"Hey. You can't talk?"

Cale closed his eyes.

He did not hear anything.

Cale asked once more.

"Are you sure you are not just pretending? You can't send thoughts into my mind? Show me a sign if you can. If you wish to live, that is."

It was at that moment.

Screeeech—

He heard another screech before the black tree started shaking.

The tree's large body…

A space appeared on the large pillar as if a mouth was opening.

"Mm."

Something black started to fill into that space.

Cale let go of the vine and opened his mouth.

– It is not a World Tree.

The cheapskate confirmed.

The punk who almost burned down the World Tree confirmed it.

"I don't think it is either."

Cale had wondered if it was the same situation as the fake World Tree.

In that case, he thought that he should chat with it first.

– It has no free will and only instincts.

The Super Rock continued to speak.

– I cannot feel its years. It was definitely something that was created.

The Fire of Destruction chimed in.

– And that thing filling up in that mouth-like space seems to be dead mana. I think it is trying to attack you.

– I see. It is quite dense dead mana. Most things will melt and disappear if hit by that.

The Super Rock agreed and added that explanation.

"Mm."

Cale uncrossed his arms.

Oooooo– oooooo–

There was a bizarre noise as the black aura gathered in the black tree's mouth.

It was obvious that the mouth would shoot out that black aura to attack Cale.

'I guess it makes sense, what other means would a tree have to attack?'

The roots were not a match for him nor the vines and branches. The poison didn't work either.

Since everything else had been burned up the black tree was using its secret weapon.

"You said it seems to have been created."

The House of Huayans probably created this monster just to pollute the land and the world with dead mana.

It was more a machine with instincts than a living creature.

Oooooo– oooooo–

The aura gathered in the monster's mouth became even stronger.

Cale heard someone's voice in his mind as he nonchalantly watched.

– Cale, be careful! That aura looks dangerous!

It was Eruhaben's voice.

Cale nodded his head.

'I want to learn more about this monster, but…'

He was certain that monsters like this were all around this world, leading to the quick pollution of Xiaolen.

That was why Cale wanted to gather some data about the monster.

'There's no need to receive an attack for no reason.'

He had no reason to receive this monster's attack.

"Then I guess it is time."

Cale raised his hand and pointed to the sky.

– Kahahahaha!

The Fire of Destruction laughed maniacally.

– It is finally starting!

Rumble-

The cry in the sky stopped.

Cale's hand slowly moved down.

The black tree.

The moment Cale's hand stopped while pointing at the monster…

Cale used half of his power.

"Burn it up."

A single strand of rose gold light…

Soon turned into dozens…

Then a couple hundred…

Before a giant heap of light struck down onto the ground.

Baaaaaang—–!

The darkness was no longer there at that moment.

All they could see was a red light that looked as if it would swallow the world.

---

The light was so bright that it made them close their eyes out of reflex.

Baaaaang—!

The ground shook from the large explosion.

No, it sounded as if it was splitting.

"Eek!"

Someone plopped down on the floor from the shaking.

It was a Dark Elf on the reconnaissance team. He had lost all strength in his legs and could not stand up.

His hands were covering his eyes. He felt as if the bright light would make him blind.

"Ha!"

However, there was someone who still had their eyes open.

"Haha, hahaha-"

Zero, the ninth candidate.

He did not close his eyes at all. The bright light made his eyes tear up and become bloodshot but he did not avoid that light at all.

Darkness would return if he closed his eyes.

"Kahahaha!"

He laughed out loud.

The explosion and the red light swallowed his laughter but he did not stop laughing.

"This, this is truly the light that would destroy the darkness!"

He looked at the red light without stopping even as tears poured out of his eyes.

He embedded the image in his mind over and over again.

"Yes, it should be like this!"

'It needs to be this kind of light!

There is no way that a light that would chase away the darkness would be beautiful and warm!'

Zero's fingertips were shaking.

"Hyu, hyung-nim."

Zero's subordinate who barely managed to open his eyes became anxious after seeing him like this and reached toward Zero but his hand could not reach him.

Zero was looking at this red light and laughing despite tears coming out of his eyes that were so bloodshot and red.

He was scared that touching such a crazy person might lead to his death.

Zero's eyes looked full of lunacy right now.

"It's a crazy light!"

Crack. Crack.

This red light was even capable of destroying a Dragon's shield.

Zero turned his head.

"Kekeke."

He made eye contact with the Dragon.

Crack. Crack.

The Dragon was continuing to put new layers of shield as they broke.

Thanks to that, the people inside the shield were not swept away by the explosion despite the ground shaking.

– Human.

Zero heard the Dragon's voice in his mind.

Smile.

The Dragon started to smile.

– You're a part of the Agents of Destruction, right?

Smile.

A smile appeared on Zero's face.

His smile was extremely bright and happy.

Eruhaben thought to himself while looking at that smile.

'This human bastard is not completely sane.'

Raon would probably say that this guy was a bit cuckoo.

However, Eruhaben stopped paying attention to Zero.

'Just what?!'

Eruhaben couldn't help but scowl.

Crack.

Crack.

The red light did not subside despite it being a few minutes. The light was instead spreading out so that no darkness could be seen.

'Just what the hell did this bastard Cale do?!'

Eruhaben had seen Cale use a lot of powers while fighting against the White Star.

Cale was someone who used strong powers that were even greater than those of Dragons depending on the situation, but this power right now was even beyond that.

'…It really feels like the power of a god.'

This seemed to be at least a couple times stronger than anything Cale had used until now, so strong that it made him have such thoughts.

Crack. Crack.

It was strong enough to destroy the strongest shields Eruhaben could cast in this situation where mana was not plentiful.

'Again!'

He was certain that Cale would bleed again.

'Even though he said that there was no need to bleed in this world!' He should not have believed those words.

Rather than being proud of how much Cale's power had grown, he was concerned about how long Cale would be unconscious.

Eruhaben couldn't help but sigh at the fact that not only did he recover his youth in his final year of life; he had to worry about a goddamn full-grown adult.

'He's relaxed.'

Zero felt calmness from the Dragon who was sighing.

The Dragon simply continued to create shields as if he had experienced something like this many times.

'The sword master and Heni Wishrop seem used to this as well.'

The two of them were still keeping an eye on the bounded First Imperial Prince's party with odd expressions on their faces.

'Concern? Annoyance? Frustration?'

Their faces were filled with mysterious emotions that were hard to describe.

Even the nonchalant-looking Heni Wishrop had a scowl on her face as she continued to peek toward the center of the red light where the purifier was located.

Zero looked around.

Everybody seemed to have gotten used to the red light to a degree as they were all looking around while waiting for the light to subside.

'No, there are some crazy bastards too.'

There were some people who were blankly staring at the red light without even having the thought of looking around.

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi was one of those people.

"…A real power of a god…?"

The Fourth Imperial Prince's eyes were shaking.

His eyes were bloodshot like Zero's. Noi's gaze slowly moved somewhere.

The most likely candidate for the next Emperor…

First Imperial Prince Sanders.

Noi looked at his blood brother. His brother's eyes were just like Noi's had been, unable to look away from the red light.

"…!"

Noi flinched.

He was smiling.

The First Imperial Prince was smiling.

This was the first time Noi saw his brother smiling since they were young.

That smile was a bit empty and full of resignation.

But he also seemed happy.

There was someone aside from Sanders who was showing happiness on their face.

It was Chief Eaen.

She was feeling a sense of awe and could not help but smile.

'Definitely-

We definitely got on the right side this time!

Marquis Helson is working with someone legit this time!'

She did not think that the Margrave would make the wrong decision. However, Eaen had not been able to hide her uncertainty while watching Marquis Helson and the other Margraves secretly planning something together.

'Getting rid of the enemies does not mean that we can stop the destruction.'

Eaen had thought that the world was too far gone and would be destroyed in the end even if they got rid of the House of Huayans and the Imperial Palace's leery actions.

She believed that the best that she and the Margrave could do was to delay the destruction as long as possible to extend the lives of the people as much as possible.

'…My thoughts were wrong.'

However, that thought was wrong.

Just look.

The darkness was disappearing.

The dead mana truly was perishing.

It was disappearing even without leaving behind grey ashes.

She tightened the grip on the video communication device she was holding as if it was a precious treasure and started to speak.

"…Marquis-nim."

However, she did not hear a response from the Marquis.

It was like that despite the video communication device still working properly.

Eaen had a feeling that she knew what the Marquis was doing.

"…My goodness."

The Marquis was at a loss for words.

He had seen only red light coming from the video communication device once numerous rose gold thunderbolts gathered together to create a giant bundle of light.

Boom-.

The ground shook at that moment.

A deep and long shaking went through the entire Precinct 9.

He immediately looked out the window.

"…Ho-"

He was not the only one.

Advisors, knights, administrators… The core individuals of Precinct 9 who were with him had all stopped what they were doing and were looking out the window.

Beyond the wall…

The place that was dark even during the day and gave off darkness that was even darker than the night during night time…

The place that was usually covered in black fog so that they could not see anything was different right now.

The bundle of light was sending red light in all directions as it exploded.

It felt as if the sun was on the ground.

The black fog was disappearing.

They could see that all the way from the wall.

"…I can see it."

He could see the ground that was covered in black sand.

He couldn't see the central area where the bundle of light had exploded.

That area was surrounded by such intense rose gold light that they couldn't see anything.

However, the areas that were touched by faint rose gold light had the darkness disappear to the point that they could see the polluted ground.

"My goodness…"

The Marquis' legs gave out as he stood by the window.

"Marquis-nim!"

"I'm fine."

He pushed the knight's hand away and clenched onto the window sill and did whatever he could to put some strength into his legs to stand up straight.

Once the rose gold light got rid of the darkness in the air and the fire touched the ground, grey ashes started to rise from all over.

The Marquis pointed to a spot.

"D, do you see that?"

"…I can see it sir."

The knight was tearing up.

The red bundle of light was slowly disappearing from the central area, making that area slowly start to become visible.

The Marquis couldn't help but say what was on his mind.

"The ground-"

The black sand…

"The ground is not black."

Had been purified.

"…The Fire of Purification."

The fire with thunderbolts inside it had burned the air and the ground.

It then sent the ashes flying in the wind to return the ground to normal.

It was marvelous.

The Marquis turned his head.

Piiiiiiiiiiii– piiiiiii-

There was a video communication device that had been continuously contacting him since earlier.

"Marquis-nim."

The black mage and advisor who were by the video communication device looked at the Marquis.

"Is it the Imperial Palace?"

"…Yes sir."

The Marquis had immediately created an attack team and dispatched them as soon as the black tree's roots had attacked the wall.

The Imperial Palace had been contacting him since not long after that.

They had sent a regular call at first but the importance level of the call had continued to increase as the Marquis ignored them.

"…It is a call request from his Majesty."

The Emperor had personally called him.

Marquis Helson started to smile. The corners of his lips were slightly shaking.

He looked around.

Everybody here was like his own hands and feet, they were the core members of Precinct 9.

"You all understand what you just saw?"

Nobody responded.

However, their faces were all full of some sort of determination.

The initial concern, disbelief, and worries about the wall's defense they had when Helson had created the black tree attack team… All of those emotions were no longer visible on their faces.

"We…"

Helson continued to speak.

"All that is left for us to do is to believe what we saw and push forward."

The Marquis really realized that he was at the turning point of history.

"Connect the call."

He sat on the chair across from the video communication device.

Chhhhhhhhh.

The knight quickly closed all the curtains in the meeting room.

Although the light outside was subsiding, he made sure that none of the rose gold light from outside could be seen.

"…It has been connected."

The Emperor's face appeared above the video communication device as soon as the black mage announced in a solemn tone.

– Marquis Helson.

"Your Majesty!"

Marquis Helson quickly stood up and bowed.

"My apologies, your Majesty!"

He moved without caring about the Emperor's reaction at all.

Not only did he bow, he knelt down on the ground.

He still did not raise his head.

'…The Huayans patriarch is there as well.'

However, he had already confirmed the faces of the influential figures in the Imperial Palace as soon as the Emperor's face appeared on the screen.

'Marquis. It'll be fine if you do as I told you.'

Helson recalled what the purifier had told him.

'I'll capture all of the First Imperial Prince's forces so you just have to make sure that the First Imperial Prince's attendants or subordinates who stay back here don't do anything funny.'

'Would the purifier really be able to capture the First Imperial Prince?'

He had such a question.

However, he did not have that question any longer.

How could he have such a thought after seeing that rose gold light?

"My deepest apologies, your Majesty!"

The Marquis lowered his body to the ground.

– …Marquis, I heard that Precinct 9 was at-

"My apologies, your Majesty!"

The Marquis didn't even listen to the Emperor properly and continued to apologize.

The moment the Emperor scowled at that and tried to open his mouth again…

Plop.

Plop.

The people behind the Marquis all knelt down and lowered their heads as well.

There was a sense of solemnity.

The Emperor closed his mouth and…

– …Marquis. What is going on?

The Huayans patriarch, who was right next to the Emperor, asked instead.

The Marquis fixed the expression on his face and slowly looked up.

"…His Royal Highness, the First Imperial Prince-"

The purifier had told him to say the following.

Of course the Marquis did as he was told.

"His Royal Highness has also p, passed, sob!"

He could not finish his sentence and lowered his head as his shoulders moved up and down.

"My apologies, your Majesty! His Royal Highness said that he would protect Precinct 9 and the western part of the Empire in my place and headed beyond the wall, and then…!"

The Marquis continued the act of pretending to cry.

"A, an honorable death…!"

– Marquis! What are you saying right now?!

It was rare to see the Huayans patriarch unable to hide the shock on his face as he scolded the Marquis.

Anger was visible on his face.

The Marquis lowered his head again as if he was apologetic and shouted.

Of course, he had discussed this with Cale in advance as well.

"My deepest apologies, Duke-nim! The first young lady, the first young lady also left us honorably!"

-….

The Marquis did not hear anything from the video communication device but he kept his head down as he shouted.

"Even the Dragon and the other helper have passed away!"

-….

"Numerous candidates have died and we were able to protect the western part of the Empire thanks to their deaths!"

The purifier had said the following.

'All three of them will be alive. Nobody will die. But just tell them that they have died.'

The Marquis moved his shoulders up and down one time.

"Sooooob!"

He then cried.

– C, Cale.

Cale blankly stood there and looked around.

The cheapskate was stuttering as he continued to speak.

– …Umm… Cale, you know…

The Fire of Destruction mumbled in a broken voice.

– …I have used 100 percent of my power before but I have never used 50 percent of my power to get 2,500 percent as a result… No, anyway…

The cheapskate was wary of what Cale was thinking as he spoke.

– …Umm… I think we are seriously strong in this place.

Cale could see the scorched, no, the now purified area.