Laws of the Hunt

by lilipadd

For offline purposes only :)

8. The First Law of the Hunt

Cale had never used the Fire of Destruction beyond its maximum level until now.

However, he did it today.

He had used twenty five times the maximum level today.

"It's not here."

– …Y, you're right.

It's not here.

"…The tree is not here."

The vines and trunk of the black tree that was even larger than the Lord's Castle was not there.

The roots were naturally not there either.

"…The lake isn't here either."

There was a large pit with Cale at the center.

Whether it was the lake, the black tree, or its vines…

Nothing was here.

"…I was planning on leaving a portion of the black tree."

He was also planning on leaving some of the lake's water.

He was thinking about taking the two things back to Marquis Helson to investigate.

– …I, I've never burned anything like this either.

The cheapskate could not hide the shock in his voice.

– Cale.

However, that shock slowly disappeared and the Fire of Destruction's voice started to be filled with excitement.

– Cale, if it is like this, I think that we can burn up all of the dead mana in this world! What do you say? Let's go burn it all up right now!

Cale ignored the comments of the cheapskate who sounded like he had gone a bit crazy. He thought that the cheapskate's eyes would have rolled over if he saw him right now.

'It feels a bit off.'

The cheapskate's words oddly sounded a bit off.

Cale did his best to ignore it and looked around once again.

"Dawn is arriving."

Now that the dark cloud with the fiery thunderbolt had disappeared from the sky…

The sky that had only revealed itself around the lake was completely visible all around now.

That was how much Cale's fiery thunderbolt had swallowed the dead mana in the area.

The sky that had stars shining down was slowly turning from black to dark blue as dawn arrived. It would soon be morning after that.

"Hmm."

Cale lowered his head and looked down now.

– It's white.

The black sand was gone and white sand had replaced them.

– It is not the original sand color. It is probably because it lost its color after being polluted by dead mana for so long.

The cheapskate clicked his tongue in pity.

– At least it is pretty.

Cale looked around. A couple hundred meters, no, basically everywhere Cale could see now had white sand.

There would probably be black sand again if he traveled a couple kilometers, but at least everything he could see right now had sand without dead mana.

'Is that why the pit is so visible?'

The large pit that was at least a couple dozen meters in length was even larger than the lake.

– The ground is white too.

The ground where the lake had been was white too.

Dig. Dig.

Cale used the tip of his shoe to dig into the ground.

The white sand gently broke and scattered.

Swoooooooosh-

Cale even covered his foot with the Sound of the Wind and started to dig more.

Cale was standing at the deepest spot of the pit. Thanks to that, he could see some dirt with the original color of the ground after digging for a bit.

– That's a relief.

The Super Rock, who had been silent, chimed in.

– It looks like the Xiaolen World still has some room to recover.

Cale's mouth opened.

"Will it grow if I plant a World Tree?"

– …Ah, are you talking about that fake World Tree?

The fake World Tree that Cale had used Embrace on in the Eastern continent's Molden Palace basement to bring with him…

Ring ring!

Cale suddenly heard a cheerful noise coming from his pocket.

The sound was coming from the mirror divine item that the God of Death had given him.

It sounded like the ringtone when someone sent a message, but Cale completely ignored it.

'It's obviously going to be from Xiaolen. This place, this world is probably trying to contact me.'

If not, it was probably the God of Death.

'No.

It could be his highness too.' Cale turned away from Eruhaben's gold shield and cautiously pulled the mirror out.

It would be bad if the Black Bloods learned about this divine item.

A message has arrived from the Xiaolen world.

- Get another mine and... [See more of the message]

Cale put the divine item back in his pocket without any hesitation. It was a message he did not need to pay any attention to right now.

– Don't you need to check that?

One corner of Cale's lips twisted up at the Super Rock's question.

"I'm not the one who is in a rush."

It was this world that was in a rush right now.

Honestly speaking, Cale had his doubts about something regarding this world.

'I can't help but feel iffy about it.'

The rewards that Xiaolen has offered him, including the magic stones mien…

Would he be able to properly receive them in a world so seriously polluted by dead mana?

Cale's trust in it was even less because this was the first world that the God of Death brought him to help.

It was because he felt that similar people would hang out together.

'But I need to get everything I'm supposed to get.

Even better if I get more than I am promised.'

Cale was ignoring the message for that reason.

"It looks like it is pretty much finished for now."

He at least finished taking care of the monster.

Cale turned around and headed toward the gold shield. The whirlwinds were gone from his ankles as he headed out of the pit.

– It feels a bit empty now that everything was burnt away.

He heard the cheapskate's voice.

– The lake was pretty.

The cheapskate must be having a lot of lingering impressions as he was quite talkative unlike his usual self.

Cale thought about the lake that had surrounded the black tree monster.

'Mm.

It really was nice to look at.

The white sand might mix with the black sand again if the wind blows and this pit might end up being covered in black sand that is blown over.'

Cale turned around for a moment and reached toward the pit that he just climbed out from.

"Should I mark it for now?"

Splash-

A water spear appeared in his hand.

– My goodness!

The Super Rock gasped.

– You really are overflowing with power!

Cale ignored his shocked comment and gently threw the spear into the deepest part of the pit.

Splash—!

The spear spread once it touched the pit and created a small pool of water. Although it was extremely small in comparison to the lake…

'I'll have to ask Eruhaben-nim to fill it up.'

Now that this area was purified, a lake that was larger and more beautiful than before will appear if Eruhaben used magic to fill it up.

Cale slowly started to walk toward the gold shield that was still maintaining its form.

"Are you okay, sir?"

Eruhaben looked at Cale, who waved in an extremely relaxed manner as if he had gone for a stroll, with an odd expression on his face.

'He looks fine.'

Cale seemed completely fine.

'Ho.'

He kept his gasp of astonishment to himself.

'…My shield was completely destroyed and we were almost all sent flying but he's not coughing up any blood after using that much power?'

Eruhaben had to cast shield after shield to block Cale's power that had continuously destroyed the shields.

If it was not because he still had a lot of highest-grade magic stones and the area becoming purified made it easier to use his mana…

If Cale's power had not caused such a short explosion but had continued for a few more minutes…

Eruhaben's shield would have been destroyed into pieces.

'But it is not like I can tell him that.'

The ancient Dragon had too much pride to admit to something like that.

"Are you okay?"

That was all he could ask.

"Yes sir."

Eruhaben withdrew his gold shield after hearing Cale's calm response.

Cale looked around.

'What the hell?'

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi was crying as he looked at Cale. His fists were clenched and he was shaking.

'…And what is up with that bastard?'

Zero was snickering while looking at Cale with an extremely ardent gaze.

'Why does he slightly remind me of Clopeh Sekka-

No, Clopeh doesn't laugh like a crazy bastard like this.'

Zero was not crying right now but his face was full of marks from having cried.

'What the hell? Just what happened inside here?'

Cale was completely confused.

Thankfully, the rest of the candidates lowered their heads or curled up in fear and avoided his gaze when he looked in their direction.

As for Marquis Helson's subordinates, they bowed deeply while looking at Cale.

He could feel the awe and respect they felt toward him.

'Mm.'

They were acting extremely respectfully. Cale simply ignored them because he did not want to get used to such an atmosphere.

Cale's gaze turned toward Chief Eaen. To be more specific, he was looking at the video communication device in her hand.

"Oh esteemed purifier."

However, Chief Eaen called out to Cale in an extremely solemn voice and knelt down on one knee to greet him, making Cale flinch.

It reminded him of what the people of the Church of the Fire of Purification had done when he first arrived in this world.

Thankfully, she did not get down on her knees and bow down with her head on the ground as they had done.

'…Is that really a relief?

This is a situation I should feel relieved about, right?'

Cale had that question but brushed it aside for now.

'I'm sure Chief Eaen is being strategic knowing what we still have left to do.'

At least he thought that was the case.

'…That should be the reason, right?'

Cale brushed aside the question once again.

He started to walk.

He walked past Choi Han.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes sir."

Choi Han lowered his head and then raised it as he answered in a short but resolute voice. Cale patted Choi Han's shoulder once before continuing to walk.

'He shows no traces of coughing up blood and he is not pale. He also doesn't look like he will faint.'

Choi Han meticulously inspected Cale's condition and reached a conclusion.

'…Cale-nim is fine.'

He was much better than what Choi Han had expected.

His complexion was a bit off so it looked like he did push himself a bit, but… Cale definitely did not show any signs of being about to faint.

'That's a relief.'

An innocent smile appeared on Choi Han's face.

'Ha!'

First young lady Mineh scoffed internally while watching this.

She found the sword master's innocent smile to be disgusting. But the thing that she really could not believe was…

'He ignored me?'

This so-called purifier did not even glance at the first young lady of the Huayans.

He treated her like a random rock on the road.

'Hmm?'

However, that feeling of disbelief soon turned into confusion.

The purifier walked past the Dragon as well.

Then the First Imperial Prince.

He did not even glance at them.

It was as if they did not even have the qualifications to receive his gaze.

Instead, he spoke to one of his comrades.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes sir, I am okay."

Heni Wishrop. She spoke respectfully to the purifier.

The eyes of the people watching clouded over.

Heni Wishrop did not do anything, but even their short interaction was enough to feel the amount of respect she had for the purifier.

'It's him.'

The purifier really was the leader.

It was to the point that even Marquis Helson's close confidant knelt down on one knee and bowed her head.

'But I guess it only makes sense for him to be the leader.'

Mineh had quite the excessive expression on her face as she glared at the purifier but her mind was calm.

She had no choice.

Although it was less visible because she was tightly bound by the gold mana rope, her fingertips had been shaking while looking at the bundle of light earlier.

'Even the patriarch-nim probably can't use that kind of power.'

Her grandfather, the Huayans patriarch, was the strongest person she knew in this world.

However, even her grandfather could not create such a bundle of light.

'Most importantly, it destroyed the dead mana and purified the area around it.'

The purifier would be revered as the savior of the world if his existence was revealed to the world.

Mineh kept her eyes on the purifier and observed him nonstop.

'Where did such a person come from? Is he someone the Church of the Fire of Purification has raised?

Does he really have the power of a god?

In that case, what will happen to this world?

This person looks like he will be an enemy of the House of Huayans. How do we face such a person?

Most importantly, how do I inform grandfather about this?'

Mineh watched the purifier nodding his head at Heni Wishrop saying she was okay as all sorts of thoughts filled her mind.

"I'm glad that everybody is fine."

The purifier leisurely said that before moving his hand.

Almost as if he was about to pick up a teacup… His movements were extremely relaxed and unrestrained as if he was doing something obvious.

"Ugh!"

He then grabbed someone's hood with his hand and pulled it back.

'…Shit!'

Mineh's eyes opened wide.

The purifier had pulled someone's hood to reveal his face.

'Why that person-?!'

Mineh felt an unexplainable sense of anxiety.

The purifier stoically looked at the face of the First Imperial Prince's other helper, the person that others did not pay much attention to this whole time.

The helper of the House of Huayans…

The person who came from the Central Plains…

"Ugh!"

The man whose head was pulled back because Cale pulled the hood looked at Cale with anxious eyes.

"As I expected."

The corners of Cale's lips curled up.

'Hey Cale, the First Imperial Prince's last helper doesn't show any closeness to the First Imperial Prince.'

The team leader, who had continuously gathered information for them in the Imperial Palace and at the Lord's Castle, had said that to him.

'He does seem close to the first young lady though. We probably should confirm his identity.'

Choi Han's eyes opened wide after looking at the helper's face.

'Black yes, black hair!'

Furthermore, an appearance that made him think of Korea or Asia in general.

Cale moved his other hand. He then pushed the man's robe to one side.

He could see the top that the man was wearing.

The crest on his chest…

"Ha, haha-"

Cale started to laugh.

He thought that he needed to look further into the man's identity, but there was no need to do so anymore.

"What the hell? There is no way I wouldn't know after seeing this."

Cale saw some letters that should not exist in Xiaolen or the world that Cale lives in.

Cale spoke to the man who was getting anxious.

"Which world did you come from?"

'What?'

Through the anxious people who did not understand what he meant…

The anxious helper and Mineh… Only the two of them stiffened up.

"Hmm. Let's see. Should I make a guess?"

Cale asked as he smiled.

"You came from the Central Plains, right?"

Cale had read a lot about the Central Plains through wuxia novels.

In many wuxia novels, there was an organization in addition to the Demon Cult that was described as an organization of crazed believers. In some instances, they were expressed as an even worse organization than the Demon Cult.

His smile became even brighter.

"You're part of the Blood Cult."

Blood.

This Hunter's shirt has a red Chinese character for blood (血) on the chest.

Team leader Lee Soo Hyuk had said the following to Cale.

The Blood Cult.

One of the Hunter households was the Blood Cult of the Central Plains.

Cale pointed at that character and laughed in disbelief.

Cale truly found this to be funny. Who knew that the enemy would be walking around so openly?

"No, this, no, how-"

On the other hand, the enemy did not expect this at all.

There should be nobody in this world who recognized this character.

The glorious position of going to another dimension…

The Blood cultist who rose to that position would have the character for blood on their chest to maintain their identity.

It did not matter since nobody would recognize the character.

The helper looked at the purifier, someone who had recognized a character that nobody should recognize in Xiaolen, with shaking pupils.

Cale let out a short laugh.

"Are you stupid? How could you make it so obvious?"

Cale gently patted the Blood Cultist on the back as if he pitied him.

"Who are you?!"

Mineh almost screeched in astonishment at that moment and Cale looked at her with the smile gone from his face.

"Me?"

Cale debated for a moment before responding without any hesitation.

"The Hunter who hunts Hunters."

---

First young lady Mineh subconsciously opened her mouth.

"Hunters-"

It was at that moment.

Crack.

They heard something break.

The man with the character for blood on his chest… Eruhaben's golden mana rope binding him broke.

Cale's eyes observed the red aura coming out of the man.

The Fire of Purification. This was a red aura mixed with a bit of black, slightly different from the red aura used by the people of the Church of the Fire of Purification.

Anybody would be able to tell that this aura looked ominous.

That red aura had ripped the gold mana rope.

– Cale!

The Super Rock called out in shock.

Cale and the Blood Cultist…

The moment the two of their eyes met… The now free Blood Cultist's hand was heading toward Cale's neck.

The Hunters.

The man's aura had changed the moment he said that word.

It had changed from a regular person to that of a martial artist. His aura had changed so much that it was noticeable.

'Mm!'

In those short few seconds…

Cale had not expected Eruhaben's mana rope to break so easily.

'Shield!'

Cale immediately tried to cast the Indestructible Shield. Although he had not had any break, he still had about fifty percent of his strength left despite causing 2,500 percent damage.

'!'

However, Cale stopped his movement despite his eyes being wide open.

Baaaaang!

The now white sand shot up into the air.

– As expected of Choi Han!

The cheapskate commented in admiration while Cale blankly watched for a moment.

Choi Han, who had approached at some point, had grabbed the Blood Cultist by the back of his neck and slammed him into the ground.

Crunch.

He then grabbed the hand that had been aiming for Cale's neck and twisted it back. It twisted in a direction it should not twist in.

Basically, the arm was broken.

'H, how swift?'

Choi Han's reaction had been much faster than Cale had expected. It was as if he had been warily waiting for this to happen.

Cale and Choi Han made eye contact.

Cale slightly nodded his head to tell Choi Han that he did a good job. Choi Han smiled innocently, almost as if he was embarrassed, to show that it was nothing.

"…Scary bastards…"

The Fourth Imperial Prince mumbled but Cale didn't even care about that at all.

'How surprising.'

It was because there was something else that was catching his attention.

"You didn't even groan."

The Blood Cultist… He had not screamed or groaned even once while his head was shoved into the sand and his arm was twisted.

"Let's look at his face."

"Yes sir."

Choi Han immediately pulled the head out at Cale's order and Cale could see the Blood Cultist again.

"So this is your real face."

The face that was covered in white sand had no expression on it at all.

The Blood Cultist's mouth opened.

The moment it opened a bit…

"Kno-"

Knock him out.

That was what Cale was about to say. He thought that this man would try to kill himself now that he could not take down his enemy.

That is what a Blood Cultist would normally do.

Pow!

However, Choi Han's hand had struck the Blood Cultist in the back of the neck the moment Cale said the first syllable.

The Blood Cultist was already unconscious.

"Mm."

Cale was shocked once again at Choi Han's swift response but chose to accept it.

'It makes sense since Choi Han has seen how I do things a lot just like Raon.'

It made sense that they worked well together.

'It's nice.'

He was very satisfied. He was very satisfied that Choi Han took care of things properly even without being told.

"Good job."

Cale gave a short praise and Choi Han smiled innocently again.

This time, Fourth Imperial Prince Noi just closed his mouth without saying anything. However, his gaze was saying quite a lot of things.

"Tie him up. Make it so that he can't kill himself. Oh, check to see if he has any poison in his mouth too."

"Yes sir."

"And knock him out again if he wakes up. Don't even give him the chance to try anything."

"Yes sir."

This Blood Cultist might try to kill himself, get away from Cale, or attack Cale's group as soon as he wakes back up.

It was best to be thoroughly prepared.

'Yes, it is highly likely that he will be persistent since he is a Blood Cultist.'

The Blood Cult that Cale had read about quite a bit in wuxia novels as Kim Rok Soo was full of crazed believers.

'The team leader said that the wuxiaworld that I read about in novels and this Central Plains might be different, but…'

It was still best to use the information he knew to be as careful as possible.

It would be a problem if he let his guard down, but it shouldn't be bad to be cautious.

'It's not the Demon Cult but the Blood Cult after all.

Cale recalled the typical wuxia settings that he remembered.

'Most wuxia novels have a good faction and an evil faction.'

The good faction emphasizes harmony. The evil faction emphasizes benefits and power.

'But that is only on the surface.'

Based on the novel, the good faction might be completely rotten and filled with hypocrites while the evil faction might be full of people with romanticized views.

Most wuxia novels had these two factions opposing each other, but even they felt quite the sense of crisis when this major force appeared.

'The Demon Cult.'

This cult that served their leader, the Heavenly Demon, as basically a god, revered power.

The main character of the novel being from the Demon Cult happened quite frequently too.

'And the Blood Cult usually comes out as a cult that is even worse than the Demon Cult.'

The final dark shadow of all incidents… That was usually how the Blood Cult was revealed in the novels.

'They are frequently described as a place with even more crazed believers than the Demon Cult.'

Crazed believers…

Cale felt a chilly and cold aura that made it feel as if his back was on ice.

"Mm."

Cale reached his arm over and patted his back with his hand.

However, this unexplainable cold aura did not disappear.

'…The Central Plains…

That place should be okay, right?

Yes, it should be okay.

Choi Jung Soo is supposed to be there.

It should be easier to adjust to that world than this one if that punk is there.

Or maybe not?

…That punk is pretty good at causing incidents too.'

Cale, who was deep in thought, frowned while looking at the sand.

"Umm, Purifier-nim?"

He snapped out of his thoughts after hearing a voice.

Choi Han had called him Purifier-nim while tying up the Blood Cultist.

"Ah."

He had called Cale Purifier-nim because he could not call him by name.

'Choi Han showing such a sense?' Cale was shocked but smiled in satisfaction.

He could feel Choi Han growing in many aspects and not just in his sword arts.

'Yes, I'm going to go to the Central Plains with guys like him. It should be fine.'

Cale chose to ignore this iffy feeling.

– I don't think you should ignore this feeling.

He ignored the Super Rock's comment as well. That was not the issue right now.

Cale made eye contact with the person who had a smile on her face despite being tied up and kneeling on the ground.

"Why are you pretending not to know the Hunters when you clearly know about them?"

The House of Huayans. The Black Bloods household. The leader of the Hunters here in Xiaolen…

Cale smiled as he looked at First young lady Mineh, the future matriarch of the Black Bloods household.

"You Hunters were the ones who turned this world like this."

Mineh's pupils, that had started shaking the moment she first heard Cale mention the Hunters, were calm again. They had calmed down while the Blood Cultist was knocked out.

"I have no idea what you are talking about! Why am I a Hunter? I don't know what you could mean!"

"Really?"

Cale thought about it for a moment.

It was a very short moment.

'It's not like I'm going to kill the people here.'

Forget killing them… This black tree attack team was mainly made up of Emperor candidates who were skilled in their abilities or in their mindsets.

There were people like the First Imperial Prince, who were pulled in because they were very skilled and there were others who had voluntarily joined this potential deathtrap in order to protect the western part of the Empire.

'They are the people who will support the Empire in the future.'

Cale had no reason to kill such people.

He would rather use them.

'The problem is… what I just did.'

Cale had no idea what it would be like to use fifty percent of his power to launch an attack with 2,500 percent power.

Of course, he had imagined what it would be like. He knew it would be big.

However, it had gone beyond what he had expected.

It was so big that it was even shocking to Cale.

'I think I should use this to my advantage since they already know me as the purifier…

And I probably need to inform the people here at least a bit about the truth.'

Cale decided to be honest with a portion of what was going on.

"I came here after being called by the world."

'Yes, Xiaolen personally sent me a message through the divine item.

I was told that I would get a magic stone if I fulfilled its request.'

This world seemed like one Cale would have an easy time communicating with.

"The world asked me to take down the Hunters, the Black Blood household."

It was basically that kind of request.

"The world still loves and cherishes this land."

According to the first message sent by Xiaolen, it was full of love for its world.

"That is why it is quite angry at how the world has changed like this."

That was also true.

Cale recalled a portion of the message that Xiaolen had sent him.

Xiaolen was originally a treasure trove from heaven, filled with fertile land and numerous mines with endless value. However, because of that rotten Black Blood that is so rotten that ripping them to shreds wouldn't be enough, crushing them into pieces wouldn't be enough, and even stomping their bones into tiny little pieces wouldn't be enough...

In addition…

"The world also asked me to purify things."

PS 2. If you accept the invitation you will get 1 mine. If you severely damage those Black Blood bastards, you will get an extra mine. If you help with the purification as well, I will give you either another mine or a treasure.

'While putting up a mine as a reward.'

Of course, Cale wondered if he would really be able to receive a mine as a reward in such a world, but he was planning on getting his reward no matter what it took to make it happen.

"H, how, s, such n, nonsense-"

Mineh's pupils started to shake again.

It was as if she heard something completely unbelievable.

Cale found this reaction to be odd.

Either way, Cale continued with what he had to say.

"I happily responded to that request and came to this world with my friends."

"U, unbelievable."

Mineh's mind became even more chaotic while looking at Cal who looked completely calm as if he was not lying at all. She shook her head over and over.

"You were called here by the world? There is no way something like that is possible! I, it makes no sense!"

Cale tilted his head to the side.

"Why does it make no sense? If that didn't happen, what reason would I have had to come to this world?"

Of course, he had mainly accepted Xiaolen's request because those Hunter bastards had messed with the Roan Kingdom.

However, there was no need to share that detail.

'Furthermore, this young lady Mineh doesn't know who I am yet.'

It was better not to mention the Roan Kingdom or anything about his world.

Cale continued to speak.

"You asked me who I was. I don't see a need to explain who I am."

There was no need to explain that he was the eldest son of Henituse County, no, Duchy, and the Supreme Commander of the Roan Kingdom… That he was Cale Henituse, the man who dreamt of being a slacker once he captured these Hunter bastards…

There was no need to explain all of that.

"Instead, I told you why I came here."

He could have just knocked her out but he chose to tell her.

Of course, the main reason for doing so was because he was using this opportunity to explain the situation in order to have the other people here cooperate with him.

"Aren't I already being quite nice to do so?"

"S, such-"

Young lady Mineh was trying to say something but Cale motioned to Choi Han with his eyes.

What this member of the House of Huayans, who seemed to not understand the situation yet, needed right now…

"Knock her out."

"Yes sir."

"Ugh!"

Might be some rest.

Cale shook his head while looking at the now unconscious Mineh.

'I thought she was quite fast at understanding the situation but she's pretty slow. Young lady Mineh is not an enemy I need to pay as much attention to.'

Although she needed to assess the situation calmly and coldly, young lady Mineh had been unable to hide her shock.

'Young lady Mineh's position in the Black Bloods might not be that high.'

Cale recorded that hypothesis in his mind as he quietly looked at the unconscious Mineh and the Blood Cultist.

Eruhaben, who had been watching Cale, looked around.

Everybody was looking at Cale in astonishment. Some of the Dark Elves and black mages were already kneeling as they looked at Cale.

It was as if they were looking at an unbelievable existence.

'Aigoo.'

Eruhaben let out a sigh.

He became frustrated while looking at Cale who was acting as if he found it odd that Mineh couldn't believe what he had said.

The ancient Dragon recalled what Cale had said.

'Why does it make no sense?'

'It does make sense! But the reason this Hunter is shocked is because you are calling yourself an existence that came at the request of the world!

It makes you seem like an extremely great and mighty existence!'

'I don't see a need to explain who I am.'

'That line sounds like you are saying that you have no need to explain your existence to these humans! It sounds like you are telling them to figure it out on their own! That's what it sounds like!'

'Aren't I already being quite nice to do so?'

It was quite nice for someone like Eruhaben who knew everything, but the others probably just felt as if they were hearing a myth.

'…Of course, everything Cale said was technically true.'

Cale had only told the truth.

That was the problem.

Cale looked around while the ancient Dragon was suffering internally.

"Alright, all of you heard clearly, right?"

Cale put on as warm of a smile as possible.

He wanted to use such a smile to earn a more intimate cooperation from these people.

"I presume that you all understand the situation."

Cale's eyes looked at the First Imperial Prince, Chief Eaen, Zero, and all of the important people.

They had different emotions visible on their faces but Cale did not focus on that.

"We are returning to Precinct 9."

It was because it was time to head back now.

"We can discuss the details when we get back."

It was time for Cale to hear their stories now.

The First Imperial Prince and Zero…

Cale's eyes clouded over while looking at the two of them.

---

The corners of Zero's lips curled up after hearing Cale say that they would talk once they returned.

"The reaction is going to be no joke when we return to Precinct 9."

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi gulped after hearing that.

The large explosion that had made them see red… All around them was purified thanks to that explosion.

It was large enough that they should have seen the explosion even in Precinct 9.

'Even Precinct 8 or Precinct 10 might have seen it as well.'

That was how large the explosion had been.

'How will this incident be relayed to the Imperial Palace?'

He thought that this incident would have an extremely large impact. He could not even fathom what might happen from here.

Things that were beyond the limits of his thoughts kept happening.

And the person standing at the center of the incident was chuckling while looking at Zero.

It was as if he heard something really interesting.

"What reaction?"

"…Huh?"

Zero felt an unexplainable ominous feeling from Cale's tone.

The corners of Cale's lips curled up.

"Do you think that all of you here will be able to see that reaction?"

Zero looked around at that moment.

Chief Eaen… She motioned with her hand and all of the scouts were pointing their weapons at the candidates and their helpers.

The Purifier's people were warily looking at the candidates and their helpers as well.

"Ah, but there is no need to worry."

The Purifier smiled.

"You will return alive. It will be comfortable too."

Sssssssss— sss—

A breeze blew by.

Gold dust gathered around Eruhaben. They were so beautiful that it was weird to call them dust.

The golden light that rose up between the white sand and the blue sky that was becoming brighter with the rising sun was extremely radiant.

Oooooong– oooooong–

A large-scale teleportation magic circle was completed.

"This area really was purified. It is very easy to use mana."

Eruhaben nonchalantly mentioned his observation about using magic in this purified area before adding on.

"If areas like this increase-"

He felt a cold gaze at that moment. He made eye contact with Choi Han. Choi Han had subconsciously glared at Eruhaben but quickly turned away as if he was shocked with himself.

'I guess if areas like this increase, Cale will definitely faint.'

It would be a blessing if he only fainted.

He would cough up blood as he lost consciousness.

"Ahem. Anyways, the teleportation is prepared."

Cale walked on top of the teleportation magic circle and motioned to the people around him.

"Alright, let's all head back to the Lord's Castle."

He observed Choi Han dragging Mineh and the helper over and gently clapped as if he remembered something.

"Ah!"

Everybody focused on him. Of course, they had already been focused on him prior to that as well.

"By the way, they are dead."

Some of the candidates and helpers looked confused.

Most of the reconnaissance team members had the same confused looks on their faces.

Only Chief Eaen and a few others groaned.

Mary, Choi Han, and Eruhaben were calm.

"…W, what do you mean by that?"

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi subconsciously stuttered as he asked Cale. He had a thought as he said that.

'Is it okay to speak informally to him?'

He thought that he should speak respectfully to this extremely powerful so-called Purifier. He had an ominous feeling that getting on this guy's bad side might lead to death.

"What do I mean?"

Cale lightly responded.

Cale nicely informed the people who would have to come with him regardless of their wishes.

His hand pointed to First young lady Mineh, the Blood Cultist, the Dragon Aphei… Along with a few other candidates.

"The people I pointed at are dead from here on."

The last person Cale pointed at was First Imperial Prince Sanders. Cale could see his pupils shaking.

The First Imperial Prince started to speak.

"If I die, the Huayans-"

"Stop."

The First Imperial Prince closed his mouth.

He felt a mysterious sense of pressure from the Purifier. He could feel an unavoidable aura of dominance suppressing him from the Purifier's gaze.

Cale turned away from Sanders who had stopped talking.

'It'll get complicated if the First Imperial Prince explains everything here.'

It was because Zero was here.

Cale put on quite a warm smile on his face. Raon would say it felt even fishier with him smiling like this but there was nobody here to say something like that.

"Now then, let's all head back."

Paaaat!

A gold light flashed once above the white desert before the teleportation magic circle and the people standing on top of it disappeared.

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi. This was the first time he experienced proper magic. This was his first teleportation with magic rather than black magic.

He closed his eyes because the radiant gold light flashed in front of his eyes before opening them back.

'Mm.'

He felt as if he was floating for a moment before his feet soon touched something.

He opened his eyes.

'!'

He then subconsciously flinched and looked around.

"W, what the?!"

This was a prison.

This was definitely a prison.

It was an extremely thoroughly prepared prison to imprison heinous criminals.

"…How interesting."

Zero looked around the cell that had no light other than from a torch.

They were not currently inside the prison.

However, the prison was located right in front of them.

"There is such an underground prison inside the Lord's Castle?"

Nobody responded to his question.

Chief Eaen stealthily peeked toward Cale.

'…This is located in the lowest level of the basement in the Lord's Castle.'

It was quite large and had a unique structure that made it impossible to call it a normal prison.

First of all, the sizes of the prison's cells were all different. Large, small… There were all sorts of sizes.

Furthermore, there was a large area that all of the cells faced.

Most importantly, it was extremely clean. Although this whole prison was empty, there was not a speck of dust.

'Originally, this place, mm.'

Chief Eaen clenched her eyes shut.

"Chief."

She heard the Purifier's voice at that moment. She made eye contact with Cale. Of course, she could not look into his eyes.

'…I ran my mouth as I pleased.'

She had exaggerated as she talked about the Purifier and his identity as she and Marquis Helson tried to change the western part of the Empire.

She had not thought much of it while doing it, but looking at the Purifier or the Dragon behind him made her feel uncomfortable thinking about what she had done.

Although they were on the same boat now, these people were the ones who held the key.

"Chief."

Eaen responded after Cale called her in a gentle voice once again.

"Yes sir."

"There seem to be a lot of people who are curious about this place so please give an explanation."

'Mm.'

Eaen held back a groan as she looked around. The people from Precinct 9 knew where this was and clenched their eyes shut. The candidates and their helpers looked as if they had no idea at all.

"This place-, is a treatment center."

Although it looked like a prison, it was a treatment center.

There had been numerous beds here although they were all cleared right now.

"The people who were infected with dead mana stayed in this place."

Eaen closed her mouth after saying that but the others could figure out the rest even without being told.

Zero opened his mouth.

"Isn't it a rule in the edge region to leave behind the people infected by dead mana?"

It had not been this way from the beginning.

However, at some point, the Empire and many places around the world started to throw away the people who looked as if they could not overcome the dead mana infection.

It was because they were not helpful at all.

Furthermore, people were worried that they would get injured and infected with dead mana as well while dealing with these infected people as they released dead mana while dying and flailing in pain.

The trend was to avoid them.

No, it was to throw them away.

The people in charge preferred for them to build the wall higher than to waste time saving these infected people.

Chief Eaen sharply glared at Zero.

"…Why is it any of your business whether we follow the rule or not?"

"It is none of my business. I just found it to be surprising."

Eaen kept her mouth shut and did not respond.

Of the ten precincts on the western border, Precinct 9 had the highest chances of being infected.

Nonetheless, the largest number of troops resided here.

In addition, a lot of people trusted and followed the Marquis. People continued to volunteer as scouts despite knowing that they might die.

The reason was because the Marquis had created this prison-like treatment center.

'The Marquis-nim avoided the eyes of the Empire to build this treatment center.'

This treatment center was the best the Marquis could do with the lacking support from the central parts of the Empire.

However, this healing center was completely empty right now.

Some of the patients who had been here were moved to warm places in the Lord's Castle.

There was only one thing that could mean.

'…We will no longer care what the Imperial Palace or the House of Huayans thinks of us.'

Eaen's gaze softened.

The Purifier and his group… She looked at those people.

Creeeeeak.

She heard a door open at that moment.

The deepest part of the basement in the Lord's Castle…

The door to this place opened.

"They're here."

Cale looked at the door.

'I'm pretty sure it is Marquis Helson.'

He was the only person who would really come here.

Raon probably realized that they had arrived and informed the Marquis.

Creeeeeack, clunk.

The door opened.

The Marquis and some others walked in.

'Mm.'

Cale's pupils started to shake.

– Human! I'm here too!

He heard the invisible Raon's voice but Cale could not pay any attention.

– These people showed up so I brought them with me! Sui Khan just smiled when I asked if I could take them with me. That is why I thought it was him saying yes and brought them here!

'Shit.'

Cale's pupils started to shake even more.

Marquis Helson started to speak with a stiff expression on his face despite Cale's reaction.

"Oh esteemed Purifier."

His tone now sounded respectful as if he was speaking to someone honorable.

However, his voice got buried.

"We greet the purifier!"

"We greet the purifier!"

Boom. Boom. Boom!

Approximately three people quickly knelt down on the stone ground.

They did it without any hesitation.

They then put both hands on the ground and bowed their heads.

"We witnessed a great and mighty sight!"

There was no way Cale would not know who they were.

It was those bastards.

It was those people from the church!

The Fire of Purification!

'I did tell them to contact the capital, but…'

He had asked the team leader to inform the Bishop about the things that were about to happen.

He was dealing with the results of it now.

"Everybody saw it, sir! We saw that destructive and violent yet pure, beautiful, and radiant power of the god that took away my sight and my soul!"

Cale recalled the identity of this person who just shouted.

'…That bastard was standing next to priest Durst, right?'

When they had traveled through the dimension to get here, they had seen old priest Durst. This punk had been standing next to him. Cale recalled that he had a pretty high position in the church.

The two people next to him seemed similar.

They looked like people who would have the same level of influence as Durst.

"Seriously, I lament the fact that I could not see the fire in its entirety because of the tears in my eyes! Ah, ahh-"

Then they started crying.

All three of them.

'This is driving me nuts.'

At this moment, Cale thought that it would be good if someone like Clopeh was in this church.

Although that bastard had a screw loose, he did his work well and was tactful.

– H, human! They remind me of Clopeh Sekka!

'…Do they?'

Raon's comment made Cale contemplate whether he was considering Clopeh in too good of a light just now.

However, he could not just continue to watch this situation unfold.

Eruhaben's shoulders were moving up and down as he did his best to hold back his laughter. The rejuvenated ancient Dragon smiled a lot more these days.

"…I should have those face-to-face talks first."

He soon started his conversations with First Imperial Prince Sanders, Fourth Imperial Prince Noi, and Zero. Eruhaben and Chief Eaen split up the rest of the people.

Cale asked each of them a question during his conversation with them.

"Alright, I don't think we have a relationship where we would have deep conversations with one another."

Cale had already chosen a path anyway.

"Sanders."

He asked the First Imperial Prince during their conversation.

"You've thought about smacking the Huayans patriarch in the back of the head, right? In fact, you've had that thought quite often, right?"

The First Imperial Prince's pupils started shaking.

Cale had a short conversation with him starting with that question before meeting with Fourth Imperial Prince Noi.

He then asked.

"Do you want to live or do you want to die?"

Cale continued the conversation with the Fourth Imperial Prince while seeing him curl up in fear before finally meeting Zero and asking.

"Hey, Agent of Destruction. Do you want to help destroy the House of Huayans and the Imperial Palace?"

Zero's bloodshot eyes opened wide before the corners of his lips curled up.

Cale slowly looked away after seeing a look that seemed to come straight out of a horror movie.

Cale heard two things after finishing his conversation with Zero as well.

"Mm. Imperial Princess Olivia has woken up and is recovering."

The Second Imperial Princess had survived.

"The Huayans patriarch is heading to Precinct 9 in order to assess the situation. Did I hear correctly, Marquis-nim?"

"That is correct, oh esteemed Purifier."

He had thought that the Huayans patriarch and the Imperial family would step up to figure out the situation once an undesirable situation occurred.

However, he had not imagined the Huayans patriarch to personally step up.

'Hmm.

Does that mean there really is something behind this selection for the throne?'

Tap. Tap.

Cale tapped the table for a bit before opening his mouth.

"Hey. Blood Cult."

Cale was in the middle of his last conversation.

"…."

"Man, your mouth sure is heavy."

The crazed believer's lips were very heavy. The interrogation did not shed any blood as Ron and Beacrox were not here, but it was impossible to do anything to this guy because he acted as if he didn't care if he died.

"I guess I have no choice, sir."

The Marquis flinched after seeing Cale look at him.

The Purifier was smiling.

"Please take good care of the patriarch when he gets here tomorrow."

"…Then…?"

"I plan on going to destroy the Huayans Estate a bit tomorrow."

Marquis Helson subconsciously asked back.

"Excuse me?"

The silent Blood Cultist's pupils shook as well.

Cale was nice and repeated himself. He was a bit more detailed this time.

"I'm going to use the opening I have with the Huayans patriarch being here to go to the capital and destroy the Huayans Estate and land a serious blow on the family."

"Ah."

Marquis Helson blankly gasped to show his understanding.

---

Marquis Helson had a thought.

'He truly is so bold.'

Marquis Helson recalled when he contacted the Church of the Fire of Purification for the first time in a long while.

'Bishop?'

'Nice to see you, Marquis Helson.'

A bishop of the Church of Fire of Purification had appeared on the black magic video communication device.

'…Is that sir someone the church has raised?'

The bishop smiled benignly and shook his head at Helson's question. He then made a comment/

'You should be able to see the answer when you look at that esteemed sir.'

Marquis Helson closed his eyes for a moment.

The white sand desert where everything had been purified…

The blue sky and world without darkness he saw through the video communication device in Chief Eaen's hand…

The purifier who was arrogantly standing there…

'I came here after being called by the world.'

He definitely said that.

Marquis Helson was now certain.

'The Purifier will definitely go to the capital and completely destroy the Huayans Estate.'

He did not seem to be the type of person to say that he would destroy something if he was just going to break a few things.

No, he might not even be human.

He was just an 'existence.'

"Sir, I do have one concern."

Marquis Helson opened his mouth.

"I do not know whether I can trick the Huayans patriarch's eyes."

Cale had an idea about what Marquis Helson was worried about.

'Because of the corpses and the white desert?"

"Yes sir."

Helson waited to see how Cale would respond. Cale responded immediately without any hesitation.

"Just say that you don't know."

"…Excuse me?"

Helson had a slightly blank look on his face as he looked at Cale.

Cale had a refreshing smile on his face as he spoke.

"There was a large explosion and everything was gone when you went there to check. You just have to pretend not to know. Just say that you don't know anything. What can he do if you do that?"

"…Mm."

"To be completely blunt, the Huayans patriarch will not think that you would have created such a sight, Marquis-nim."

"That is true."

Helson easily accepted Cale's comment even though he was basically being told he lacked the ability to do something like that. It was the truth.

"Then the Huayans patriarch will try to figure out who could do such a thing. He will toss and tumble on his own all he wants and come up with all sorts of hypothesis."

"Mm."

"Do you think that one of his hypotheses will include us?"

"…No sir."

The purifier.

Who would be able to consider this existence?

Even now, most of the people in Precinct 9, who didn't know the inside story about the incident, had seen the red explosion but did not have any idea about what had happened.

It was that impossible to imagine.

"Marquis-nim, he will definitely try to rummage through the entirety of Precinct 9."

"Mm."

Helson had to hide them well when the Huayans patriarch did that.

He needed to hide the people who survived.

Cale continued to speak at that.

"The patriarch will be informed about something at that moment.

"Ah."

Helson could imagine the situation now.

"The patriarch will probably head for the capital right away. The capital and his own Estate would have been attacked."

"That is correct, sir."

"He will probably leave a few people behind as he can't give up on the investigation here either, but-"

Helson smiled.

"I am capable of tricking those people."

"Right?"

Cale and Marquis Helson looked at each other and smiled.

The Blood Cultist, who was watching this, felt his insides churn.

'Who the hell is this person?'

The Blood Cultist had sort of given up on escaping at this point.

'Hey, you plan on talking about making an offering of karma to go to the Central Plains, right?'

He had been so shocked at Cale's comment that he almost fainted. There was someone who was not a Hunter who knew about that.

The problem was that Cale had not stopped there.

'To be honest, we really don't need your information. And we will be heading to your hometown soon so you don't have to worry about dying without returning home one last time.'

Although Cale had sounded so cheeky as he smiled and said that, the meaning behind it was shocking.

A person who was not a Hunter could travel through dimensions while taking others, like this Dragon and the sword master, with him?

It also looked as if he didn't even need to make an offering of karma to do it.

'Is he really someone a god has sent?

No.'

The eldest son shook his head.

There was only one god he needed to believe in and serve.

'Oh esteemed Blood Demon.'

It was someone who was human but would soon become a god.

That sir would achieve the great deed of the cult.

The Blood Cultist could not continue to think.

"Choi Han."

"Yes sir."

Choi Han's hand moved and the Blood Cultist fainted while thinking about the Blood Demon.

'Fuck! Why the hell does he keep knocking me out?'

Nobody cared about what the Blood Cultist was thinking as he fainted.

"I will stay here."

"Will that be okay?"

Cale's gaze headed toward Eruhaben. The ancient Dragon had an odd smile on his face. It was a twisted smile.

"…I want to get a good look at the Huayans patriarch's face."

'He's angry.'

Cale realized that the ancient Dragon's wrath had not disappeared but had gotten stronger.

Cale's gaze naturally headed toward a spot.

This black-haired woman… Aphei was quietly seated on a chair located at the side of the bedroom. Of course, her eyes were quickly moving.

"There are no tracking devices."

Cale was surprised at Eruhaben's comment.

The House of Huayans should have done everything they could to keep Aphei in their hands. That was why it was shocking that they did not have a single tracking device on Aphei's body.

"Really?"

"…There was before, but it is gone."

"Aha."

It sounded as if Eruhaben had destroyed it.

"Such a black magic tracking device easily disappeared once I put my hand on it."

…It sounded as if he completely obliterated into dust.

Cale just nodded his head as that was a good move. However, he couldn't help but frown a bit after hearing what Eruhaben said next.

"…But she says that she is cursed."

Cale looked toward Aphei. She should be able to hear Cale and Eruhaben's conversation, but she was not looking at them. Her gaze was still quickly moving around.

"A curse?"

"Yes. She said that she would be in pain the moment she heard the Huayans patriarch's voice."

"Did she say that herself?"

"Yes. That is apparently why she couldn't even think about running away."

Eruhaben and Cale made eye contact.

"The Hunters would chase her no matter where she went in this world. She said that she determined that she could not survive on her own."

The Dragon Aphei, who had been born in dead mana, was aware of the Hunters' existence.

Eruhaben let out a deep sigh as he spoke.

"It looks like the House of Huayans, huuuuu. The Black Bloods played a central role in hunting all of the Dragons."

Cale thought about it for a moment before thinking that Eruhaben heard all of this from Aphei and heading toward her.

Her gaze turned toward Cale for the first time since he entered the room.

However, Cale's eyes were not looking at Aphei but at something else.

'…Is it okay to leave them like this?'

The individuals who had kept Aphei distracted until just now…

The children averaging nine-years-old.

Raon, On, and Hong were roaming around Aphei. As for Raon, he was poking at Aphei's long rob mumbling to himself.

"I'm a black Dragon too, nya~"

He was imitating Hong as he did that.

Peek.

He was also peeking at Aphei extremely obviously, although he himself thought that he was being quite stealthy.

"I'm very strong, nya~"

"I'm strong too, nya~"

Hong commented after him.

"We're all strong, nya~ we can save everybody, nya~"

Raon commented after him again. On slowly headed next to Cale and let out a light sigh.

Cale heard Eruhaben's voice while he looked at Hong and Raon. Eruhaben let out a deep sigh.

"They've been like this since earlier."

"Mm."

Cale let out a short groan instead of responding.

He then looked toward Aphei. This Dragon who was born from within dead mana…

Cale looked at Aphei and asked the first question.

"…Your age?"

Eruhaben scowled but Cale had no idea. Eruhaben's eyes opened wide after he heard Aphei's response.

"…99 this year."

Eruhaben commented.

"She's still a child."

He frowned.

"…She's not even a hundred years old yet."

Cale turned his gaze and then flinched. Gold dust was rising up around Eruhaben. It looked as if his anger toward the Hunters was rising.

'…Let's not look at him.'

Cale decided to look at Aphei again and asked a question.

"You can't hear the Huayans patriarch's voice, ma'am?"

'I need to be respectful if she's 99 years old.'

"…."

Nod. Aphei nodded her head.

Although this could seem as if she was being uncooperative, Cale realized that this was not the case.

'Mm.'

The ninety-nine year old Dragon was fidgeting.

He had not noticed until now, but she seemed quite timid.

She looked completely different from the haughty appearance she had shown at the banquet hall. It made sense because Aphei's true appearance had not been shown until now.

'That should mean she is that relaxed.'

Aphei was still looking at the children averaging nine-years-old. She looked at Eruhaben every so often as well. Of course, her gaze was mostly on Raon.

She then looked at Cale after realizing that he was not saying anything.

"…Yeah."

She then gave a late reply.

She must have believed that the nod was not enough for Cale.

– Cale, you saw that, right? For a Dragon to show such a timid response! What the fuck did these Hunter bastards do?!

Eruhaben was sharing his frustration that he could not share out loud in Cale's mind. The ancient Dragon was so angry that he was swearing.

"Haha…"

Cale just laughed and brushed it aside while gently speaking to Aphei.

"Apparently the Huayans patriarch will come here tomorrow."

"…."

Aphei's fingers were fidgeting but she looked calm.

– She's brave.

Eruhaben spoke as if he was praising her.

– Human! Let's go beat the Huayans patriarch to a pulp before the Hunters can mess with timid Aphei!

Raon suggested extremely energetically.

'Ha. These Dragons.'

Cale just ignored the two Dragons. This was the first time he had brushed aside something Eruhaben had said.

He just smiled warmly.

– Human! Aphei is on our side! Don't smile like that toward timid Aphei! Don't scam her either!

He ignored Raon's comment again.

"Aphei-nim."

"…."

Aphei looked at Cale.

Cale gently asked.

"Would you like to go to the capital tomorrow to destroy the Huayans Estate while the patriarch is not there?"

Although team leader Sui Khan, On, and Hong had scoped out the House of Huayans… There was nobody on their side who knew more about that place than Aphei.

"…."

Aphei's pupils started to shake.

"…You're going to destroy that place?"

She asked while fidgeting her fingers.

Cale opened his mouth and tried to respond but the children averaging nine-years-old were faster.

No, to be more specific, Raon and Hong were faster.

"Alright! Human, I'm going too! I'm going to destroy it!"

"I'm curious to know if you are going to loot or not, nya!"

Cale looked at the children averaging nine-years-old, including On, who were looking at him with sparkling gazes and lightheartedly responded.

"We're going to do both."

He could see Aphei's cheeks flush a bit at that moment.

"…It sounds like it is going to be fun."

Cale subconsciously took a step back as Aphei said that while still fidgeting her fingers.

'What the hell?'

He felt as if he saw an odd form of lunacy in her eyes. He could not even look at her now flushed cheeks.

Aphei's eyes were shining. He felt as if he was seeing the large amount of anger and lunacy that resided inside this timid Dragon.

An unexplainable chill resided on the back of Cale's neck. He heard a low laugh at that moment.

"Haha…"

He turned toward the bed. Sui Khan. The team leader was laughing while eating some fruit.

Sui then made a comment.

"So strong."

Eruhaben and Mary…

Everybody except the two of them headed for the capital the next morning.

They had an extra Dragon with them.

They went to destroy the Huayans Estate.

The Empire's capital.

Cale's group arrived at the secret residence of the Church of the Fire of Purification.

They needed to prepare and assess the situation before heading toward the Huayans Estate.

Cale met with the Pope as soon as he teleported over.

The Pope shouted.

"I greet the legend!"

'Shit, fuck.'

Cale suddenly got chills on his arms.

---

Bishop Durst also bowed deeply and shouted.

"I greet the legend!"

He then added on.

"It is the greatest honor of my life to walk down this legendary path by your side!"

'What is up with these people?

Can they please stop doing this?

It makes me want to just go home.'

Cale had all sorts of thoughts but could not say any of them out loud.

Instead, he looked at the church members who had filled the secret residence and asked the Pope.

"Is it okay to come into the capital like this?"

The Pope smiled benignly and answered in a completely unrelated manner.

"The entirety of the church's battle troops is gathered outside the capital."

She then added on.

"All of them will enter the capital the moment you wish for them to do so, oh esteemed Purifier."

Red aura was fluctuating around the Pope's body.

She was showing her will to fight as well.

"We heard that you were starting a war against the House of Huayans today, oh esteemed Purifier."

According to the message they received from Marquis Helson's side, the Purifier and his people were going to launch the first attack on the House of Huayans while the patriarch was not there.

"That battle… The church is ready to join you at any moment."

The Huayans Estate was basically attached to the Imperial Palace.

Going there meant that they would have to face off against the troops of the Imperial Palace, so the Pop wanted to help the Purifier.

'No, it would not be helping him.'

Marquis Helson's side had sent the clip of the white desert.

They had also sent a clip of the red fire explosion that happened before that.

'We are too weak to be helping such a person.'

How strong could a church that was labeled as heretics be?

Of course, they were confident that their core battle troops were much stronger than most Empire's Knights Brigades.

'…Plus, the Purifier is not a god.'

The Pope clenched her eyes for a moment.

She could see the Purifier, who had not removed the brown magic dye from his hair.

'I received a divine revelation last night.'

The Fire of Purification had come to the Pope's dream to say the following.

'He is someone we cannot allow to get hurt.'

'If he gets hurt, the Super Rock, ah no, anyway, help him so that he does not push himself too much. You will find many benefits for yourself and for Xiaolen if you follow him on his path.'

The Pope did not know what a Super Rock was, but she understood everything else.

'No matter the existence, no matter who the bastards might be!'

Their god had told her.

'I must not allow this esteemed sir to get injured!'

That was why she needed to protect him.

The Pope's eyes sparkled.

Cale suddenly felt a mysterious leeriness from the Pope's gaze and got the chills.

He suddenly felt wary about the Pope's existence.

– Human, what is it?

Cale heard Raon's voice in his mind at that moment and realized that he did not have the time to delay.

He thought highly about the Pop's passion to go fight with him no matter what it took, but that was the reason he answered honestly.

"First of all, I am not going to fight right now."

"…Then?"

"Mm."

Cale contemplated it for a moment before motioning to the Pope. Once she got closer, Cale whispered in a quiet voice so that only she could hear.

"It will be swift and stealthy."

'Stealthy?'

The Pope paid close attention to the Purifier's words.

The Purifier was speaking more serious than ever before.

"We are going to hide our identities, go to the Estate, steal every expensive thing, destroy all important things, send the roof flying and destroy the pillars before we return. We are also going to take down all of the fences around the building as well."

"…."

"So…"

Cale calmly continued to speak.

"It is not a war."

Cale took a step away from the Pope and raised his voice again.

"Anyway, only we, and an extremely few members at that, will go. It will not even take a few hours. Instead, there is something I need you and the church to do, Pope-nim."

"…."

The Pope blanked out for a bit before snapping out of it after seeing Durst's gaze.

"Ah, yes sir. Oh esteemed Purifier, what is it that you need us to do?"

Cale pushed a video recording device toward her.

Choi Han looked at him as if to ask if it would be okay, but Cale pretended not to see that pitying gaze.

– Cale, will it be okay?

The Super Rock asked but he also pretended not to hear it.

'This is the best method right now.'

Yes, there was no guarantee that Xiaolen would change because the Empire and the House of Huayans went down.

Most of the influential forces were people who liked this dead mana polluted world.

'The Church and the Agents of Destruction.'

He would increase the strength of these two groups.

'Furthermore, I will make a new major force rise in the center of the Empire.'

If that happens, they will be able to fill the void left by the destruction of the House of Huayans and purifying the Xiaolen world would become easier.

Cale did his best not to look at the video recording device in the Pope's hand as he opened his mouth to speak.

"…Please watch this and spread the news."

The Pope wanted for what else Cale might say.

"Let people know that a power of purification exists. It is time to stop being a cult."

The Pope's eyes opened wide.

"The Agents of Destruction will contact you soon."

Cale now had a connection with the Agents of Destruction through Zero.

Cale had heard a shocking piece of news from that organization.

'The Agents of Destruction are mostly made up of people who had their territories destroyed.'

They were people who had nowhere to go because their country had become polluted.

Then there were the Elves of the Forest, the Dwarves living by the numerous mines, and even numerous tribes and Beast people living within nature.

'We have built a cooperative relationship for them and have kept in contact.'

Zero had built up these communicative networks while he was gone for ten years. Members of his network were all over Xiaolen.

And there were living creatures that managed to survive everywhere, including the polluted ground.

Many of them had gathered under the Agents of Destruction.

'We only have one goal.'

Cale recalled Zero's gaze.

'Destroy this dying land and start a new world.'

Zero's eyes had been very bright despite being bloodshot. No, they were sparkling.

'I saw the new land.'

He then snickered.

"Mm."

Cale wanted to close Zero's eyes for some reason. However, he chose to think simply.

'I won't ever have to see these people once we finish things here and leave.'

It was the same for this Xiaolen world as well.

That was why Cale had handed the video recording device over with his own hands.

Although he had been wearing a mask, it was still footage of his red thunderbolt exploding and causing the white desert.

"…I understand what you mean, sir."

A determined look was visible in the Pope's eyes.

Cale didn't want to look at her yes and turned his gaze only to make eye contact with Choi Han again. Choi Han was looking at Cale with an extremely concerned gaze.

Cale felt quite unsettled by that gaze as well but then he noticed Sui Khan poking his head out from behind Choi Han with a big smile on his face.

The oddly entertained gaze made Cale want to smack him on the head despite Sui Khan being his team leader.

"Let's start moving right away."

The Pope waved her hand once Cale said that.

The church members who had been gathered around the teleportation magic circle quickly scattered.

'The Pope really is good at doing things though.'

Cale raised his hand to give a simple greeting to the two approaching people as he and the others started to walk.

It was Shawn and Jezna, who had come with them to this world.

These two were going to join for this as well.

Cale heard On mumbling at that moment. He subconsciously flinched.

"…It seems like he thinks it will be okay because this is a different world, nya. But will that really be the case?"

Cale ignored On's words for the first time.

Well, he told himself to do that, but for some odd reason, On's words always became etched into a section of his mind.

"…."

Sui Khan was smiling while walking next to On.

He had a smile that made him look like an extremely young troublemaker.

Cale looked away from the team leader.

What he saw was anxious looks on Shawn and Jezna's faces. Shawn's pupils were shaking after looking at the thing in his hand before he looked at Cale.

"…You want us to wear this?"

Nod.

Cale's head moved up and down. Shawn looked around.

Sui Khan was smiling as if he found this to be entertaining. Choi Han seemed to have a look of resignation on his face as he put the clothes and the mask on.

They were the same as the ones in Shawn's hands.

"It's a good thing I kept these in the spatial dimension."

Cale put the mask on with a satisfied look on his face. Black mask and black clothes…

Oh, and the shirt was inside out.

"…This again…"

Choi Han sighed and mumbled quietly but his hands were moving mechanically. Of course, he did flinch for a moment after seeing a slightly less shabby combination of five red stars and one white star, but he flipped it inside out as if it was nothing.

The back of the stars embroidered on the shirt showed up now, making it hard to tell what they were.

The way the red threads were mixed together made it give off a slightly ominous feeling.

"It looks like a heart, nya."

On mumbled while looking at the back of the embroidery on the shirt.

"That's a relief."

Wearing the clothes like this made Cale a bit proud that he easily recycled the 'Arm' uniforms.

– Human, are you proud about something? 'Why?'

He ignored Raon's curious young voice.

– Let's hurry up and go destroy!

Cale looked at Shawn and Jezna.

Jezna handed over a map with a stoic look on her face while Shawn started to speak.

"I have recorded all of the patrol paths."

The two of them had remained in the Empire's capital and recorded many things on the map. They had also kept an eye on the movements in the important buildings nearby and the nobles' estates.

"Aphei-nim."

Aphei, who was putting the black mask on with oddly flushed cheeks, looked at Cale after he called her name. Cale was concerned about the flushed cheeks, but he still started to speak.

"I will leave the inside of the residence to you, Aphei-nim."

Nod.

Aphei slightly nodded her head and added on.

"I know the location of the patriarch's secret safe."

Although they couldn't see Cale's face because of the mask, the group believed that Cale would have smiled brightly as soon as he heard that. Well, everybody but Shawn and Jezna that is.

"Then let's go."

Sui Khan stepped forward as soon as Cale said that. On and Hong followed behind him.

"We will guide you through the shortest path."

"Meeeeeow!"

"Meeow!"

At that moment, the Huayans patriarch who had arrived at the Lord's Castle in Precinct 9 was blankly looking at the paper in his hand as he started to speak.

"His Royal Highness the First Imperial Prince, the First Imperial Prince, and my granddaughter…"

Had they truly…

"They all died?"

[The First Imperial Prince and his helpers all dead]

[The Fourth Imperial Prince and his helpers all dead]

[Second Imperial Princess in critical condition, her helpers dead.]

[Heni Wishrop's two helpers, dead.]

[…]

"And you couldn't even find their bodies?"

His gaze headed toward Marquis Helson.

"Marquis, is this all true as well?"

Marquis Helson opened the curtains.

Chhh.

Beyond the wall… He could faintly see the clear sky beyond the black fog covering the polluted land around them.

Helson thought about the white desert that was visible there and opened his mouth to speak.

"Duke-nim. You will understand once you go there."

Drip.

A tear dripped down the Marquis' face. For the Marquis, who had plotted with the other Margraves and had been trying to stab the Huayans patriarch in the back, tears like these were easy to make when he thought about the process which created the white desert.

The Marquis became overfilled with emotions whenever he thought about that moment.

For the Marquis, who had always been on the front line of the west to protect it no matter what it took, could not help but cry while looking at it.

"…I am too lacking to even get an idea about what might have happened there."

Marquis Helson was honestly sharing his sentiments right now.

"I will escort you there, sir; we've been waiting for you to arrive, Duke-nim. I wanted to quickly go there with you and look at the area."

This was true as well.

He wanted to head to the white desert right away, clench that white sand, and dance around.

"…I understand."

The Huayans patriarch looked at Marquis Helson, who looked even more sincere now that he was quietly crying, with a suspicious gaze before looking out the window past his shoulder.

"Let's go there."

He started to think.

He thought that h might need to stay here longer than he expected in order to find the answer.

A black aura ominously crackled in the Huayans patriarch's eyes.

While that was going on…

Baaaaaaaaaang—!

"W, what is going on?!"

"Did something happen to the barrier?"

The people in the Huayans Estate looked up in shock.

They looked at the barrier surrounding the Estate.

"Huh?"

The sky was blue and the barrier was fine.

"What was that noise I just heard?"

The moment someone mumbled that…

Baaaaaang—!

There was a loud explosion and the ground rumbled.

"Below!"

The beautiful garden in front of the Huayans Estate moved up and down the moment people looked at the ground.

The large elegant fountain at the center of the garden…

Baaaaaang—!

Was destroyed.

People wearing black masks and black outfits appeared from there.

Then there were some more explosions.

Baaaaang! Baaaaang! Baaaaaang!

The garden was being destroyed.

– Human, should I send the roof of the building flying?

Before Cale could even respond to Raon's question… He could see Choi Han's sword move.

Slice.

Baaaaaaaaaang!

The fence surrounding the Huayans Estate was sliced horizontally.

It was the same for the main door.

Cale looked at Choi Han, who was looking at him as if to ask if he did a good job, before nodding his head.

And the others easily understood that signal.

Raon shouted at that moment.

– Time to destroy!

"Meeeeeow!"

"Meeow!"

The moment the Huayans patriarch was about to head to the white desert…

Cale had arrived at the Huayans Estate from beneath the surface and was destroying it.

---

Beeeeeep— beeeeeeeep-

A level 1 emergency alarm went off throughout the Huayans Estate.

The high-grade barrier surrounding the estate that was basically as strong as the one at the capital was still there, but there were explosions happening all around the garden.

Unfortunately, the House of Huayans did not put a barrier underground.

"Wow. But they really are an amazing family."

Cale smiled underneath the mask.

– Human, so fast!

Raon, who was about to destroy something, stopped.

Click. Click.

They heard armors clanking as knights and soldiers appeared from all around the Estate.

"Get into attack formation!"

"Cast barriers around the building!"

Furthermore, a large number of black mages came out of the building or were looking through open windows.

Shawn became anxious.

"Young master-nim, there are more people than we expected. It definitely looked empty."

For supposedly being a household without much, there were a significant number of troops appearing from all around the building.

Choi Han could see On and Hong's fur standing up.

The enemies were both numerous and skilled.

'They are refined.'

They were also quite calm.

They looked shocked but did not let it show in their actions.

Their movements looked extremely professional.

'…I guess they are the Black Bloods household after all.'

Aphei, who had been fidgeting her fingers, started to speak at that moment.

"It's not even 10 percent that is in the building."

They had heard this from her already.

The troops of the House of Huayans that resided not in the capital but in the estate were 10 percent of the total.

They were ten percent of the total not by number but by quality.

'In that case, I can't even fathom the number of troops that make up the remaining 90 percent.'

As Choi Han's expression stiffened up…

He heard a calm voice.

"It's still looting an empty house if the master is not here."

Choi Han turned toward Cale.

Cale petted On and Hong's standing fur as he continued to speak.

"All of you look so stiff."

Choi Han started moving a hand toward his face, wondering if he had a stiff expression on his face, before he flinched.

Their faces were not visible because of the masks.

'That means that?!'

Choi Han finally looked at the faces of the enemies who were approaching them.

The knights had stiff looks on their faces.

The black mages as well.

"Aphei-nim."

"…Yeah?"

"Has the Huayans Estate ever been attacked?"

"Mm. Not to my knowledge."

"Then has anybody ever barged in while the patriarch was not here?'

"Mm. Not that either."

Cale spoke lightheartedly.

"Then it makes sense why they are scared."

On and Hong looked at Cale. Cale looked at the troops approaching them and surrounding them as he continued to speak.

"It's great that they are approaching us. On, Hong. Raon."

On and Hong felt the rough hand that had been petting them move away. They then saw where Cale was pointing toward.

He was pointing at the building and the people approaching them.

"Fog and poison."

"Meeeeeow!"

On roared energetically and took a step forward.

Fog instantly started to appear around the group and then spread out into the area.

Hong silently stuck right behind On.

Poison was spreading.

Click.

The enemies stopped walking toward them.

Swooooooosh—!

There was a gust of wind.

– Human, we will cover the entire building! We will do a great job despite working together like this for the first time in a long while! Do not worry!

The sibling's poisonous fog was carried by the youngest's gust of wind as it instantly spread throughout the building.

"You've gotten better."

On and Hong's poisonous fog fluctuated once at Cale's comment. Hong saw the smile on his sister's face and smiled brightly as well.

Cale had no idea about this as he addressed Choi Han.

"Go with Aphei-nim."

"…Yes sir!"

Choi Han turned toward Aphei. Aphei nodded her head and headed into the fog first.

"Team leader-nim, if you would please."

"Okay."

Sui Khan. He walked in his young boy form to disappear into the fog behind Choi Han and Aphei. He said one last thing as he passed by.

"Destroy it well."

Cale could hear Raon grumbling in his mind.

– How disappointing! I want to loot too!

'Yes, it is disappointing.'

Cale was disappointed as well.

Whatever was inside the Huayans patriarch's secret safe must be beyond their wildest imaginations.

For Cale, who was worried about how to receive a mine since so much of the land was polluted, that secret safe was a reward for his hard labor he must have.

'Oh well.'

However, there was nothing he could do about it.

There were explosions around the garden earlier so the dust clouds covered Choi Han when he used his sword.

'Unfortunately, both Choi Han and I are dead right now.'

It was best to hide their identities as much as possible.

There were quite a lot of people who saw Choi Han use aura in Precinct 9. There was no guarantee that none of those people were the House of Huayans' subordinates.

– Cale, you seem annoyed for some reason.

Cale ignored the Super Rock.

Honestly speaking, he was very, extremely, disappointed that he could not personally loot this secret safe that was bound to be a jackpot.

And because of his disappointment…

'Let's make it hot.'

He planned on using his powers.

– Oo! Cale, great decision!

The Fire of Destruction suddenly burst out.

The corners of Cale's lips curled up.

"Ugh!"

"Ugh!"

The moment people in the poisonous fog became paralyzed and appeared…

Cale thought about the Huayans patriarch who should be on the white desert looking for the identity and traces of the red light.

"Shawn-nim, Jezna."

"Yes, young master-nim."

"…."

"Please just stop any knights if they approach."

Shawn nodded his head while finding it to be odd.

'…How is he planning on destroying it? The defenses around the Huayans Estate seem quite strong. Doesn't he need Mr. Choi Han?'

The poisonous fog infiltrated into the building as well.

Thanks to that, the people on Cale's side, whom the poisonous fog did not touch, could move a bit more relaxed.

However, On and Hong were firm in their spots, potentially because they were using this rain cloud in such a large range.

On looked especially focused.

'She is controlling all of the fog in this area.'

Shawn was shocked at On's potential.

Of course, he was also shocked at the quality and quantity of small Hong's poison as well.

– Human, leave the protection to me!

Raon cast multiple layers of shield around Cale, On, and Hong.

Jezna was already standing behind Cale like a guard.

"Mm."

As Shawn waited with concern about what Cale would do…

Crackle.

He saw a rose gold thunderbolt shooting up through the fog.

– Aww… only two percent this time?

Cale could hear the disappointed cheapskate in his mind.

– You bastard! Just using two percent is going to release 100 percent strength!

The Super Rock criticized the Fire of Destruction.

– Uh, uhh?

He then became flustered.

Swoooooooosh-

The rose gold thunderbolt had the power of wind in it.

– You are using me too?

The husky voice of the Sound of the Wind asked with confusion.

Crack, crackle.

The Super Rock asked in an anxious voice.

– …Huh? You're going to use more?

– Kahahaha! Yes, you should use at least 10 percent! That's still much less than half!

Ten percent power…

The resulting effect would be 500 percent.

As the cheapskate shouted in excitement…

"No matter what it is, landing the first hit and running away is best."

Since Cale's side was significantly lower in numbers compared to the Black Bloods household, the method he chose to go up against them was simple.

'Hit and run.'

He was just planning on that first hit to be quite big.

Like what he was doing right now.

Cale's hand slowly drew a line.

Crack, crack.

The rose gold thunderbolt carrying the power of wind left Cale's hand.

Cale recalled what he had said to the group before they came here today.

'There is one thing I am certain about.'

'I have the most destructive power of all of us right now.'

Shawn watched the rose gold line moving through the fog.

That rose gold light moved like a meteor…

And it also disappeared from view very quickly like a meteor as well.

Baaaaaaaaaang—!

The barrier the black mages created to protect the building immediately melted into nothing.

There was not just one rose gold thunderbolt.

There were a total of five.

The other four were moving in different directions.

Baaaaaaaaaang!

Baaaaaaaaaang-!

The west side roof of the main building went flying.

The fence, including the parts that Choi Han broke earlier, all melted away and disappeared.

The training ground was destroyed. Yes, it was just destroyed.

And finally…

Baaaaaang–!

The sky… The barrier surrounding the estate was destroyed.

And a rose gold pillar of light shot up into the air.

"…Oh."

Shawn heard Jezna gasp in admiration next to him for the first time but ignored her.

He heard a black mage shouting almost in a screech.

"…The black magic was dest-!"

"Dead mana is extinguished if it touches those thunderbolts!"

"Unbelievable!"

The black mages' barrier was disappearing as if it was nothing.

Only grey ashes fluttered where the barrier disappeared.

Shawn blankly watched this sight.

'…W, was he always this strong?'

He knew that young master Cale was strong, but this was completely beyond what he had expected.

Most importantly…

'He looks fine?'

Tasha had warned him about something before coming here.

'Both his highness, Prince Alberu, and I are concerned. If it looks like young master Cale is going to faint, stop him from using any more of his powers. The others will be happy if you do that as well.'

Young master Cale coughed up blood or fainted if he used too much of his powers.

This was something so famous that basically everybody knew.

'…His complexion looks so good…'

However, Cale's complexion looked extremely good right now.

Honestly speaking, he looked more relaxed than when he was in the Roan Kingdom and his face was full of life.

You could tell that he ate and slept well while he was here.

'…That is a good thing, right?'

Shawn felt iffy for some odd reason.

'…Tasha said that he ends up causing a giant incident if he's like this.

He's not going to cough up blood and faint for a few days later, is he?'

Shawn heard a relaxed voice as he felt this unexplainable uneasiness.

"Mm. It's not like I can attack the building."

Cale's voice was full of vitality.

He seemed oddly excited.

– That's right, human! Team leader Sui Khan, Choi Han, and Aphei are in the building! Let's just send more of the roof flying!

Cale ignored Raon's comment as he thought to himself.

'I don't know how long Choi Han's side is going to take.'

Aphei had said that she knew where the secret safe was located but did not know how to open it.

That was why Cale had sent Aphei, who was strong in magic, with Choi Han, who was strong with the sword.

Furthermore, quick decision making should be possible because the team leader was with them.

"The troops from the Imperial Palace should arrive soon."

The outside should take a lot of different actions now that he had caused such a ruckus and people should soon gather around this residence.

"The Huayans patriarch should have been informed as well."

Cale crossed his arms and started to contemplate things.

Shawn looked at him in shock.

'…We are in enemy territory, right?'

Shawn had firmed his resolve before coming here that things might go bad but all he had done until now was just blankly standing here.

It could not be helped.

"Ugh."

"U, ugh."

The knights who had been in the front of the group approaching them were poisoned and paralyzed or keeping their distance, unable to easily approach them.

Crack. Crackle.

It was because rose gold currents were still gathered around Cale and swirling around him.

The black mages were chaotic and did not know what to do. They could not launch an attack or defend because the dead mana became extinguished.

It was rowdy outside the fence but nobody could easily approach either.

"…Ho, hoho."

Shawn couldn't help but laugh in disbelief.

He then heard a noise.

Boom-!

It was a dull sound of something breaking.

"Ho."

Shawn heard Cale scoff in disbelief and laughed again.

"Ho, hoho-"

Cale listened to Shawn's laugh as his jaw dropped.

– H, human! I have this thought every so often! Choi Han is a human who is no joke!

Gulp. Cale gulped.

The safe, and the wall that it was on, was thrown into the wall.

Of course, it broke through the roof as it did that.

It seemed to have been done with Aphei's magic.

Of course, the fact that the wall had a clean cut through it made it look as if Choi Han had used his sword to slice off the wall.

Cale heard Aphei's voice in his mind.

– Mm. The swordsman said we don't have time and suggested we just cut off the wall and take the whole thing. He is a smart swordsman.

The timid voice sounded a bit excited as it continued.

– …He did a great job destroying it. But he did not destroy it all the way. Can I destroy it?

Cale was sighing before he turned to look at Choi Han.

Choi Han was not alone as he shot up on top of the roof.

He was holding a person by the collar in each hand.

– Ah. The young boy wanted me to let you know.

The team leader was standing next to Choi Han, knocking the people in Choi Han's hand unconscious.

– He said that we captured two people he presumes to be Hunters.

Cale opened his mouth to speak.

"Raon. Tell Choi Han that we are going back."

– Alright! I will prepare the teleportation magic circle!

The mysterious force that had infiltrated the Huayans Estate soon disappeared without a trace along with the teleportation magic circle.

"Huff, huff!"

"Ugh, Captain-nim, are you okay?"

The knight who barely recovered from the paralyzing poison received his subordinate's support as he opened his mouth to speak.

"I, immediately contact the patriarch-nim."

He then whispered in a low voice.

"And use the Grade 1 Hunters in the capital to defend the residence."

"As an Emergency Alert situation?"

"Yes. This is the first time something like this has happened. We need to defend more while the patriarch-nim isn't here, ugh."

In a corner of the residence…

The red eyes of a black hawk observed the Knight Captain from the shadows caused by destroyed pieces of the building.

Sui Khan, who had been the only one to not leave, soon opened his wings and flew up into the sky that was no longer restricted by a barrier.

He was observing the forces that were gathering at the Huayans Estate from the Imperial Palace and around the capital as he leisurely roamed around the sky before soon heading toward the others.

---

Shh. Shh.

White sand scattered as he walked.

Marquis Helson stopped walking and looked around.

This white desert had cut through the black sand and dark fog to appear.

He motioned toward the black mage standing next to me.

"…Please cancel it."

"…."

The black mage was blanking out looking up in the air before he responded.

"…Yes, Marquis-nim."

Marquis Helson took a deep breath once the barrier that was preventing dead mana from getting to them was canceled.

In the decades he had spent in the edge region…

The air that he had breathed during that time… Air that was so clear and completely different from the air he was used to came in through his nose and spread throughout his body.

'How refreshing.'

It had truly been a long time since he had felt something like this.

Just breathing in made him feel as if he wanted to cry.

'…Marquis-nim.'

He called out to the former Marquis in his mind.

The place he was standing right now, this now white sand desert was, ironically, the location of his territory in the past.

'For the black tree to have been planted in my hometown.'

Thinking about this made him angry, but seeing the blue sky washed away all of his anger.

He recalled what Chief Eaen had said.

'Marquis-nim, dead mana was no longer able to approach the area with the white sand.'

Normally, the polluted land around the white sand should have tried to spread its demonic reach toward it, but for some reason, the dead mana did not approach the white sand. That was why there was no black fog here and they could see the blue sky.

He didn't know the reason behind it.

Maybe it was normal that he didn't know the reason.

'Everything here is what the esteemed Purifier-nim has achieved.'

The individual who had come after receiving the call of the world…

That existence had created this.

How could he decipher the deep thoughts of such a person?

'I was so crazy.'

Marquis Helson got chills.

'I tried to use such an esteemed individual.'

Marquis Helson wanted to slap his old self, the one who thought about working together with the Purifier to go against the Imperial Palace and the House of Huayans.

'Hmm?'

He raised his head after sensing an odd feeling.

"Ah."

The sun that had been hidden behind a white cloud revealed itself, shining down on Marquis Helson's face.

It's warm.

It's hot.

It's too bright.

He was feeling such things in the middle of the polluted area.

"…."

A single tear drop dripped down the side of Marquis Helson's face.

Coming here in person to see this purified landscape gave off a holiness that he had not felt while looking at it from the Lord's Castle.

"Marquis-nim."

He heard the Vice Chief's concerned voice next to him.

Marquis Helson opened his mouth.

"…Looking at this purified landscape-"

Of course, he had not forgotten his duty.

"It makes me think about the noble sacrifices of the people who have passed to create this. I too should have been here."

His gaze moved toward the Huayans patriarch and his group.

'They are shocked.'

The black mages and knights couldn't hide their shock while looking at the same sight as Helson.

'The reactions are varied. I'm sure some of them have heard about the black tree from the Huayans patriarch in the past.'

The subordinates who came here with the Huayans patriarch were basically his hands and feet.

That was why some of them would know how this place used to be.

'But their reaction is not important.'

Marquis Helson's gaze moved to the Huayans patriarch.

This was the current leader of the House of Huayans, the instructor of the current Emperor.

Reddock Huayans. (TL: In ch 18, the author named him Wallot. He is not suddenly Reddock. Blame the author.)

"…."

Reddock Huayans reached his hand out and grabbed some white sand. He then quietly inspected it.

He closed his eyes.

'!'

Helson's eyes opened wide in shock.

'I didn't know this person would act like this.'

Reddock Huayans had taken a deep breath just as Helson had done. He then let the breeze with the fresh air hit his face before opening his eyes and looking up at the blue sky.

His mouth opened and his voice was extremely low as he spoke. It also cracked.

"How beautiful."

Reddock Huayans said that this place was beautiful.

He sounded honest.

"However, seeing the size of this place makes me believe that there was indeed a huge explosion as you mentioned, Marquis."

His voice sounded submerged. No anger could be felt in his voice.

"…Everything disappeared."

His voice was so empty that it sounded sad.

Helson was shocked that he was having such thoughts.

'…Sad?'

The Huayans patriarch's sadness was felt through his actions?

Helson had heard about these so-called 'Black Bloods' from the Purifier. He also heard about the Hunters.

He now knew how this world had ended up like this.

That was why Helson could not understand the Huayans patriarch's actions right now.

'He's a scary person.'

That was the reason Helson decided that the Huayans patriarch was a scary person.

"Marquis."

"Yes sir."

"…You said that you lost your niece?"

"Yes sir."

Chief Eaen was reported to have died.

The Huayans patriarch looked at Helson. Helson thought that it was good that he had shed some tears earlier.

Reddock's mouth opened.

"…I'm sure we feel the same way right now."

"…I'm sure, sir."

"You said that you saw a red light?"

"Yes sir. We saw the red light a total of two times. Once before we sent the black tree attack team and once after. Those were the two times."

"Marquis."

"Yes sir."

"We must find the person who made it like this."

"…Will you capture him and make him pay for his sins?"

Smirk.

Helson saw a smile appear on the Huayans patriarch's face.

"Marquis."

"…."

"Look at this sight."

Reddock Huayans raised his wrinkled face to the sky.

"We must do whatever we can to make someone who is capable of creating a sight like this be on our side."

The House of Huayans was known as one of the pillars of the Empire. Reddock was saying something fitting of a patriarch of such a family.

"No matter what sacrifice it might take, we must recreate such a sight. You should know about it, don't you, Marquis? The Empire needs the individual who was able to create this sight."

Reddock mumbled almost as if he was talking to himself.

"Before the world is destroyed even more."

He looked at the silent Helson, who was deep in thought, before continuing to speak.

"I will go take another look at the surroundings. It looks like I will have to walk quite a bit as it is so wide."

"I will escort you, sir."

"That is okay, Marquis. I am fine looking around with my subordinate."

The patriarch only took one subordinate and slowly walked through the white sand desert, moving away from Helson.

Helson had a thought as he watched this.

'…The mask is thick.'

Helson believed that revealing the truth about the House of Huayans was necessary to change the Empire.

The current reputation of the House of Huayans was very good not just in the Empire but throughout the continent.

They needed something that could topple that…

'I'm not even a match.'

Even Helson, who had quite the political influence, could not help but be anxious while talking to the Huayans.

'I hope the Purifier-nim is able to find something in the Huayans Estate that can serve as proof.'

Wouldn't that be necessary to flip the Empire over?

Helson looked at the back of the disappearing Reddock Huayans as he thought to himself.

'Should I stealthily approach and listen to what he is saying to his subordinate? Will any proof come out?'

The subordinate next to the Huayans patriarch opened his mouth as Helson had that thought.

"Marquis Helson is not following us but he keeps looking at us."

"…."

The patriarch was silent.

He was simply inspecting the now white sand as he walked.

The subordinate was by his side and the patriarch opened his mouth.

"They are not dead."

Reddock Huayans took out two small jewels from his pocket.

The qualities of these two jewels with extremely small magic circles were different, but they were both slowly being dyed black.

"Both the First Imperial Prince and the Fourth Imperial Prince are alive."

"…I will find them, sir."

"There is no need to do so."

The subordinate flinched at the stern response. However, Reddock Huayans was calm.

"This is not something someone like Marquis Helson and his lack of abilities can do. Even I would find it difficult to handle such strong power."

"…!"

The subordinate was more shocked than when he had seen the white sand desert.

He had never heard the patriarch say that something would be difficult to handle.

"That is why if there is an existence or faction with this kind of power, I'm certain that they will appear in front of me again. Pfft."

Reddock let out a quiet chuckle. The subordinate got chills on his back.

"…Patriarch-nim."

"Kill Marquis Helson."

"…."

"And did he say that Imperial Princess Olivia is still alive despite seeing the black tree?"

"Yes sir."

"Make her spill everything before you kill her."

"Yes sir."

"Take care of it quietly."

"…Yes sir."

"All we need is for the next generation's Emperor to come out of this."

The subordinate bowed slightly and Reddock looked at the blue sky as he continued to speak.

"We will earn the karma of this destroyed world if we push a little more."

Of course, a meddling existence did appear right before the finish line, but…

"It is difficult to handle but it is not something I cannot handle."

And once he got rid of this obstacle…

"I'm sure that the life of a world would be a greater offering of karma than the individual lives of humans."

Reddock Huayans could imagine a future where he would play a central role in the grand vision that the families were aiming for.

'Nobody is moving quicker than us.'

Reddock Huayans believed that he had always been a step ahead of others.

It was at that moment.

Piiiiiiiiiiii– piiiiiii-

There was an emergency alarm going off on the subordinate's video communication device.

"Patriarch-nim."

It was a call from the family.

Reddock heard a similar sound just as his eyes headed toward the black magic video communication device that was turning red.

Piiiiiiiiiiii– piiiiiii-

Marquis Helson was approaching Reddock with a black mage by his side.

"We just received a call from the Imperial Palace!"

The Imperial Palace and his family…

Emergency calls from the two places…

Reddock debated for a moment before connecting the call from the Imperial Palace first.

– Unknown assailants have infiltrated the Huayans Estate and destroyed the building!

Helson looked at Reddock Huayans at that moment.

There were no changes in the Huayans patriarch's face. The smile was just gone and his face was stiff.

This was pretty calm of a reaction.

'Hmm?'

However, Helson soon saw a change on the patriarch's face as he received the video communication device from his subordinate.

Deep wrinkles appeared on the patriarch's forehead.

He started to frown.

Reddock Huayans… He was looking at the message that was left on the black magic video communication device because he had not picked up.

It was a message from his family.

The person who left it was the butler.

'It's a code.'

It was a coded message that Marquis Helson would not be able to decode even if he was to see it.

Reddock opened his mouth as soon as he saw the message.

"Let's head to the capital."

The butler had left a short coded message.

It was short even after it was decoded.

[The safe in the secret area has disappeared along with the wall.]

Reddock scowled.

'…Aphei is alive as well.'

He realized something else as well.

'That, they stole the whole safe?'

Reddock looked around the white sand desert.

The person hindering him…

'The culprit is either another Hunter household… Or the person aiming for us Bloods.'

The Black Bloods household.

'It is the person aiming for the Black Hunters.'

The patriarch had an odd sense of déjà vu.

"…How slow."

He felt as if the enemy was one step ahead of him.

Whether it was that he was slow or that this mysterious enemy was fast…

Reddock immediately made up his mind.

"It looks like we need to hurry back to the capital."

Baaaaang! Baaaaang!

Cale's jaw dropped a bit as he blankly looked forward.

"…Is there…"

Words barely managed to flow out of his mouth.

"…Is there a need to do that…?"

Raon shook his head.

"Human! Magic doesn't work on it!"

Baaaaang! Baaaaang!

Raon's front paw struck the wall with the safe.

Crumble.

The wall turned into powder as it broke. Cale flinched for a moment after seeing that Raon's physical strength was stronger than he had expected, but Raon just continued to destroy as he spoke.

"I don't know what they did to this safe but it cannot be opened with magic!"

Raon spoke in a clear voice.

"Then the answer is the fist! Isn't that right, Choi Han?"

Cale's gaze moved from Raon to Choi Han.

Choi Han was pulling his sword out of his scabbard but hesitated for a moment after sensing Cale's gaze and put an innocent smile on his face.

"I will slice the safe with aura."

"…Okay."

Cale saw the chuckling black hawk behind Choi Han but he ignored him.

He started shaking his head and shrugged his shoulders once he made eye contact with Dark Elf Shawn.

"Why are they doing this when it would be so easy to just melt it with fire?"

"…That is true, young master-nim."

Shawn responded in a low-spirited voice but Cale looked away from the blank-faced Shawn and looked toward Choi Han.

Oooooo– oooooo–

Black aura surrounded the sword and Choi Han used the aura to strike down on the safe.

Clang!

The safe reflected the aura.

Choi Han stiffened while Hong commented in shock.

"Neither magic nor aura works, nya! I don't know what this safe is, nya!"

Choi Han's eyes were wide open as he looked at Cale in shock. On also looked at Cale before shaking her head.

"Should I give it a try?"

Crack. Crackle.

Cale stood up with a compressed rose gold thunderbolt in his hand.

"Yeah yeah, human! Your fire is strong! That is why I am worried!"

"Worried?"

Cale looked at Raon who shouted brightly.

"I think you're going to burn everything in the safe too!"

Cale flinched and looked at the safe.

It was a black safe with the door firmly shut despite not having any locks.

'I never saw what the patriarch put in here, but he cherished this safe quite a bit.'

Aphei's comment was believable.

The fact that it was so hard to open this safe's door must mean that something was in there.

"Human, be careful! Don't burn everything! That would be a waste!"

Cale listened to Raon's chatty nagging before questioning whether Raon grew up as a child who desires treasures too much, but… He did his best to ignore it.

Instead, the hand with the fiery thunderbolt touched the safe.

'Let's be careful.

Just carefully burn only the safe.'

Drip.

Cale's forehead filled with sweat. He was extremely tense.

Sui Khan chuckled while seeing the punk who had been completely calm when he destroyed a building being so nervous, but unfortunately, Shawn was the only one in the group who noticed.

Everybody else was looking at the safe.

Even Aphei and Jezna.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Cale was extremely nervous.

'What could be inside this safe?'

The moment the corners of his curled up without stopping… The fiery thunderbolt touched the safe.

Crackle, crackle, chhh—!

The safe melted as soon as the rose gold current touched it.

"!"

Cale then moved his hand in shock.

"Shield!"

Raon immediately cast a shield to protect the group. He then shouted from inside the shield.

"Human, it's dead mana!"

Dead mana rose up once he burned the safe.

This dead mana was extremely dense.

"Huh? Human, what is that?"

Raon asked in confusion but Cale could not respond.

His eyes could not move away from the safe that had been melting until just moments ago.

The safe had turned white once the dead mana melted away.

There was something recorded on the white surface.

Cale's mouth opened.

"…Offer a world in order to create an omnipotent god."

He mumbled.

"…Each family's goal, dimensional coordinates…"

Raon, who was watching, stuttered as he spoke.

"H, human! The safe, the safe was real!"

---

– Cale.

The Super Rock called out to Cale in a low voice.

"Human! I never expected the secrets to be written on the safe! The safe itself is the treasure!"

"I didn't know."

Raon spoke in an excited voice while Aphei spoke in a sullen voice, but Cale did not hear them.

"…It was weird because this safe had reflected my aura, but it was an extraordinary item."

Choi Han had thought that the safe was not normal because it had reflected his aura and a Dragon's magic. Honestly speaking, even Eruhaben would not have been able to find the text on this safe.

"But I don't think the patriarch would have expected the safe to melt because of a thunderbolt?"

Choi Han used silence to show his agreement to Sui Khan's comment. It was highly likely that the Huayans patriarch would think that thieves would not be able to read the text written on the safe.

Cale, who had been quiet, raised his hand at that moment.

"Nobody move."

His hand then moved through the air.

Crackle. Crack!

A splendid rose gold light cut through the air and spread out around them.

It only didn't touch the black shield that Raon had made.

Siiiiiiiiiiiizzle- Siiiiiiiiiiiiiizzle-

The wall that the safe was on melted away.

Crack. Crackle!

Then black smoke rose up as the cube-shaped black safe's surface melted away.

The dead mana smoke spread throughout the air but they perished the moment they touched the rose gold light surrounding the area.

Shhhh—

No, grey ashes fell to the ground.

Slam!

"What is going on-?!"

Inside the Church of the Fire of Purification's secret safe house in the capital…

The Pope ran into the room in shock after suddenly sensing the god's power and stumbled after seeing inside. She clenched the doorknob and leaned against the door.

"Ah…"

There was an eccentric look of fervor in her eyes as well as the eyes of Durst and the other core members of the Church who came in behind her, but Cale had no idea.

He didn't even look back as he spoke.

"Pope-nim, I will explain it to you later so please give us some privacy right now."

"…As you wish, oh esteemed Purifier."

An extremely reverent voice came out of the Pope's mouth. Shawn and On flinched a bit while looking at her but the Pope quietly closed the door and disappeared.

"Pfft."

The black hawk chuckled and motioned to Raon, who was looking around the room that no longer had the black smoke, with his eyes.

Raon canceled his shield and Sui Khan walked next to Cale.

To be more specific, he approached the black safe that was now a white safe.

There were red letters written on the now white safe.

"Team leader."

"Yeah."

"Do you know about this omnipotent god thing?"

Sui Khan observed Cale's eyes. They were full of eccentric fervor. Kim Rok Soo was currently recording the text on this safe.

"An omnipotent god does not exist."

"Really?"

"Yes. Gods do not have a superior and inferior relationship. However, there is a difference in the power level."

"More."

Sui Khan looked at Cale, who was asking for more explanation in an extremely short and rude manner, and chuckled again.

There was no reason he could not explain more.

The hawk's red eyes had sunken down at some point.

"Furthermore, there are gods who have not chosen an heir for a very long time and have maintained their positions without passing it on. They are called the Ancient Gods and they are extremely powerful."

However…

"However, there is no omnipotent god. That punk, the God of Death, often said this. Omnipotence does not exist."

Cale closed his eyes. The text on the safe floated in his mind.

Offer a world in order to create an omnipotent god.

He suddenly thought about the illusion test he faced in the temple imprisoning the sealed god.

That test was where he returned to his life as Kim Rok Soo in the past and met Choi Jung Gun.

He was Choi Han's ancestor, the author of 'The Birth of a Hero,' and someone who, as a single-lifer, worked with the God of Death.

That guy had said the following to Cale.

'A long time ago, there were some households that were called the Bridle of Karma at the center of the Hunters.'

There had been seven Hunter households to start.

Of them, the Red Bloods household had perished while the White Bloods household had betrayed them. Choi Jung Gun had told Cale to find the Red Bloods household.

'There are currently five families and the person leading each of the five families is the 'patriarch' and, based on what I know, they are responsible for planning most of the hunts.'

'Then I guess your goal is the patriarchs, sunbae?'

'No.'

Cale recalled his conversation with Choi Jung Gun in the illusion.

'The King's Successor. The five patriarchs protect the King's Successor and await the grand vision for after the successor has grown.'

'What is the grand vision they are trying to achieve with the King's Successor?'

'I'm not sure yet.'

Cale then recalled a conversation he had, not with Choi Jung Gun, but with the sealed god whom he had no idea what happened to since the incident.

The sealed god was originally the God of Despair.

Cale had asked him a question.

'The White Star was basically a sacrifice the Hunters prepared for you.'

The sealed god had responded.

'He was a sacrifice for me but I doubt they did it for me.'

The sealed god had been a hunter before he became a god.

The Hunters were trying to turn him into a god again.

The grand vision they would achieve with the King's Successor…

"…And an omnipotent god."

Cale could at least tell what the Hunter households were aiming for as a goal right now.

'Create an omnipotent god.'

Of course, he had no way of knowing the reason behind it.

Why did they want an omnipotent god and what were they trying to do with one?

He could not tell just yet.

'But there is no need for me to know.

What good will it do me to know the inner thoughts of the bastards doing such stinky things?

'The thoughts of the bastards who are trying to offer a world in order to create a single god… I don't even want to hear it.'

The corners of Cale's lips curled up.

– Choi Han, doesn't the human look angry?

Raon, who was watching, stealthily asked in a way that only Choi Han could hear in his mind.

Choi Han kept his mouth and just nodded his head. He knew that this was Cale's special smile that he put on when he was quite annoyed.

Cale started to read through the text again.

[Each family's target dimension coordinates]

Sui Khan looked over the names of the planets listed on the coordinates before speaking in a calm voice.

"This is information that even I am seeing for the first time."

There were easily over a dozen target dimensions.

Although Sui Khan was not shocked at the scale, the corners of his lips twisted at one point.

'It looks like all dimensions with the name of Earth are target dimensions. Earth 1, 2, and 3 are all on here."

Cale asked in a calm voice.

"…Team leader, what do you think is the likelihood that the cataclysm we experienced was caused by the Hunters?"

"Quite high."

Cale opened his mouth again.

"Team leader."

"Yeah."

"What are the colors of the other four Hunter households aside from the Black Bloods household?"

Sui Khan looked around.

It should be okay for the people here to hear.

It was not because he trusted them.

There were a few that he obviously did not trust yet.

'I can handle them if needed.'

He was just confident that he could handle the mouths of the people he did not trust. He could even make a Dragon like Aphei shut her mouth if he channeled all of his strength.

"Blue Bloods, Purple Bloods, Five Colors Bloods, Transparent Bloods."

Cale looked stupefied.

"…Five Colors Bloods and Transparent Bloods?"

"Five Colors Bloods should mean there are five colors. Transparent Bloods should mean it is transparent."

"Is that even an answer?"

Sui Khan gently shrugged his shoulders at Cale who was acting oddly rude.

"I've never seen the blood colors."

"Ah, of course."

Raon interjected into their conversation.

"What is Transparent Blood?! I'm curious about that for some reason!"

"Hmm."

Cale ignored Raon's comment as he looked at the target dimensions. Xiaolen was naturally on the list.

"We could probably mess with the five households one at a time if we go through these dimensions."

Cale shook his head at Sui Khan's comments.

"Not five households. Just four. We're going to destroy the Black Bloods household here."

Sui Khan did not agree or disagree with the correcting comments. He just took it as Cale being himself.

However, Aphei, who had been quietly snooping around to take peeks at the safe, had her cheeks turn red and On shook her head a bit after seeing her reaction.

Aphei was fidgeting as she thought to herself.

'By the looks of it, if they are going in and out of dimensions… They will leave here soon too. They are going to travel to those dimensions listed there?'

Aphei did her best to memorize the things written on the safe.

"Team leader, what is the name of the dimension I live in?"

"Nameless 1."

"…?"

Cale turned to look at the team leader.

"There's no name?"

"Yes. No name."

"Why?"

"I don't know?"

Cale frowned at the team leader's irresponsible response but the team leader immediately continued to speak as if to show that it was true.

He was quickly speaking because he didn't want to deal with Kim Rok Soo's annoyance.

"Not all dimensions get names. And I really don't know the reason behind why a dimension has a name or not."

"…I understand."

Sui Khan smiled after seeing that Cale was willing to let it slide. Cale felt iffy because Sui Khan looked extremely cheeky doing that, but he moved on because this guy was not the type to lie.

Instead, the corners of his lips oddly curled up and twisted.

"…It's not here."

Cale's dimension, the one with the Roan Kingdom, was not on the list of target dimensions.

'That's odd.'

Cale felt an unexplainable sense of anxiety.

Something always happened when he ignored such feelings.

'Why are all sorts of things happening in the place I live when it is not even a target dimension?'

The ancient White Star, the White Star, the sealed god, the explosion at the palace, the missing King, etc. All sorts of things related to the Hunters were happening there but they were not a target dimension.

'Mm. At least it is a relief that it is not a target dimension.'

It at least meant that the Hunters were not going to destroy Cale's world for this so-called 'omnipotent god.'

"Anyway."

Cale looked around the safe before speaking.

"This is quite useful information."

There was a lot of useful information here. That was why he was sure.

"The patriarch is going to return to the capital immediately."

This safe was a bigger issue for the patriarch than Precinct 9.

There was a moment of silence before Cale responded to the gazes of the group with two words.

"Let's run."

They launched a hit so now it was time to run.

Cale gave the Pope a few short commands that were disguised as requests and then the group left the capital.

They returned to a small and simple residence located within Precinct 9.

While that was going on…

"Patriarch-nim."

Patriarch Reddock Huayans moved his hand while looking at the approaching butler.

Chhhhhhhhh!

"Ugh!"

The butler's heart was pierced. The patriarch didn't even look at him while looking at the wall that was missing a piece and the completely destroyed roof.

"Did you say rose gold thunderbolts?"

The Knight Captain, who was silently looking at the butler, knelt down and responded to his question.

"Yes, Patriarch-nim. It was a person using rose gold thunderbolts and he made all of the black mages' dead mana perish!"

The patriarch closed his eyes.

"…Made the dead mana perish…"

The Knight Captain warily continued to speak.

"They all had some red crest on their shirts and the shape was truly strange."

"A red crest… Are you sure it was not the crest of the Church of the Fire of Purification?"

"It was completely different from the crest that I remember, sir."

Shh.

The kneeling Knight Captain's eyes started to shake. He urgently lowered his head.

Drip. Drip.

Blood was dripping down to the floor.

The Knight Captain had seen the blood flowing out of the patriarch's tightly clenched fists.

"You said that all of the Grade 1 Hunters scattered around the continent were told to gather?"

"Ugh, ugh."

"Yes, Patriarch-nim."

The knight listened to the dying butler's breathing as he urgently responded.

Reddock Huayans opened his eyes. He looked at the blood flowing down to his palm as he opened his mouth.

"We will pull things up a bit."

"…Then-"

The patriarch did not look at the cautiously speaking knight as he indifferently spoke.

"The final test. We will destroy this world once the host of the sacrifice has been chosen."

"They are going to continue the test?"

"That is correct, oh esteemed purifier. It looks like the test will continue."

Cale did his best to ignore Marquis Helson's extremely respectful demeanor that was to the point where it was excessive.

An odd smile appeared on his face at the same time.

– Human, what is it?

All sorts of chatter were supposedly going around the capital regarding what happened at the House of Huayans.

Furthermore, the Church of the Fire of Purification informed people about the deaths of many candidates as well, so the capital was swept up in this storm of chaos.

'But they are going to continue the test?'

Cale looked at the safe located in a corner of the room.

The moment the final host is born, we will complete this great work of 300 years.

We will offer up all of the living creatures, land, and sea on Xiaolen as an offering of karma.

Cale inadvertently looked away from the safe and made eye contact with someone. This person had purple eyes. Mary spoke lightheartedly.

"I will get first place in the test. I will smack the patriarch in the back before I can become a host."

Raon added on.

"Human, are we heading to loot the Imperial Palace next? Are we going to leave the Emperor alone?"

Aphei asked quietly in a timid voice.

"…You are not going to destroy more?"

The silent Marquis Helson let out a fake cough before adding on.

"…What about purifying the whole world white, oh esteemed purifier."

Cale could see a laughing Sui Khan past Mary's shoulder, Eruhaben, who was looking at him with pity, and Choi Han who solemnly lowered his head.

Cale debated for a moment before starting to speak.

"…Let's head to the capital for now."

The second and third tests had changed.

Everything was going to take place in the capital now.

Cale suddenly said something that came to his mind now that the direction of their movements had been set.

"…But isn't a few mines of magic stones or whatever too little as a reward? Especially when its own life is on the line?"

Cale stared at the divine item mirror that the God of Death gave him. It was as if Xiaolen was on the other side of the screen.

Buuzz-

"Hmm? Human, the mirror is vibrating!"

Smile.

The corners of Cale's lips curled up.