Chapter Text
His entire body was shivering, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him.
Almost everyone frowned, the scene began directly and without explanation.
The ancient dragon Eruhaben looked away from the enemy in front of him and looked away.
It was as if the darkness we call night absorbed all sounds.
Everyone suddenly stopped moving after feeling… something. They all turned to one place.
“…What the… what the hell-”
Alberu Crossman’s eyes were observing the room with the bed he had been lying on until not long ago.
The wall that had collapsed due to an explosion was covered in something red.
‘Dirt?’
“I know!” Cale said happily, of course it was a great moment for him. He could have scared that white thing.
"An explanation maybe?" Alberu asked Cale, he remembered the moment but they never really had an explanation. Just strange sensations and a Cale coming back with a white star in a gold plate... Alberu sighed of all the things he could have used, he still hadn't forgiven him.
"Just look, it's very interesting."
He sighed but he obeyed, he will be able to judge for himself if Cale really didn't have a choice at the time.
The mud covering the rubble was strangely red.
It wasn't red like clay. It looked like fresh blood was mixing with dried blood. It was a strange red color.
Something special was also coming out of this red wall.
What was this thing?
Alberu quickly found the answer.
Fear.
Or maybe terror?
No.
Was it dignity?
It wasn't a large amount of mana, a vicious aura, or even an explosive power, but... This abstract power burst out from the red wall, forcing all of Alberu's senses to focus on him.
"Looks like I scared you too!" Cale still sounding too cheerful, for his taste.
"No, I'm just noticing what I feel like Eruhaben does." Alberu purposely raised the name of the former dragon so that Cale would leave him alone.
"Of course, a dragon is not afraid of anything. Especially not a human." Eruhaben joined the crown prince, he didn't really have a choice after all. He quickly glared at him once Cale looked away from them.
He couldn't even think about that monster, the Lion Dragon, for a moment.
Drip.
A drop of sweat trickled down his forehead. This place scared him.
Cale looked at him again, but he ignored it. He could feel other eyes on him but he ignored them too. They weren't there, they couldn't know what it was like to be under this aura or power.
A certain gray dragon who also remembered his thoughts once he saw Cale return, hoped that he would be forgotten and that no one would ever see his thoughts.
An image appeared before his eyes, as if it were an illusion.
"...Mother."
As his mother was about to die...
No, while she was dying...
He remembered the moment when he had to face this inevitable catastrophe.
It may have been a little embarrassing to have all his thoughts exposed like that but he couldn't help it at the time and it seemed to have calmed Cale down.
This red earth, this wall that seemed made of blood, made him think of death.
His death. Or maybe someone else's.
Rumble-rumble-
The lightning that was definitely from the White Star was still rumbling in the sky, but... They didn't seem to mean much to Alberu at that moment.
Alberu heard something strange at that moment.
"...Strange...situation detected......"
"Ah."
Alberu finally remembered the Lion Dragon. He remembered that he was on the battlefield.
"It's important not to get distracted during a battle hyung." Cale said it seriously, he didn't know that his power had had such an impact on the people around him. They could all have been injured because of him, he used it too carelessly
He quickly turned his head towards the lion dragon. He heard something strange again.
“…A similar power… to master…”
‘…What?’
Alberu subconsciously stopped moving after hearing the Lion Dragon’s words.
The only one this monster could call master was the sealed god, the God of Despair. But the aura that emanated from this thing was similar to its master’s power?
Cale frowned to himself. “His aura power was that strong?”
He finally thought of something very important.
“Did something happen to Cale Henituse?”
The Cale Henituse he knew wasn’t someone who gave off an aura like this or had a power that like this one.
The White Star or the sealed god…
This power seemed more suited to one of these two individuals.
'No.'
The White Star. It was impossible for such an aura to emanate from a madman like him.
It was not mere malice or madness; it was something of a higher level, instinctive. It also exerted a pressure that made everyone feel like they had to bow.
Everyone was now thanking the gods for allowing Cale to reclaim this power for themselves, if the feelings felt were so strong that even a dragon could be afraid of it. It was a given that Cale had it, they couldn't think what would have happened if it had been someone else...
God.
Yes, that word seemed more appropriate for this power.
Cale frowned even more, 'Isn't he exaggerating a bit?'
Alberu Crossman looked at the lion dragon. The monster looked possessed as it stared at the red wall. The way it tilted its head every now and then made it seem like it was in pure chaos.
Alberu looked towards his ally, the only other individual who was close enough to the monster to hear the Lion Dragon's words.
The ancient dragon and the crown prince…
They couldn't say anything as they looked at each other.
However, they had the same thought.
"Cale Henituse is in danger."
"Something must have happened in there."
"Don't worry, I was fine." Cale pointed out to them unnecessarily.
"We didn't know that at the time."
"Always causing chaos, you should be used to it by now right?" Rosalyn didn't get any response from Cale or the golden dragon but she had said what she wanted.
It wasn't something the two of them were alone in feeling.
"...Hoooooh."
In one of the many rooms of the City Hall...
There was a man sitting on a chair, his hands and feet tied. The mysterious man, who looked like Hilsman, opened his eyes with a strange expression on his face.
"That bastard!" Cale was still angry at that traitor who dared to steal his money.
Bud wanted to laugh at him very hard but he remained silent, he had done it the first time he was told this and it didn't end very well for him...
"That's a really terrible stench."
He looked around at the three individuals surrounding him.
"Are you sure you don't need to go see your guardian?"
This room was full of magic circles. It was the only place filled with mana at that moment, the only place without mana disturbance.
On and Hong stood next to Raon, who was sweating profusely, and didn't even pretend to hear the fake Hilsman's words.
They were busy completing their respective tasks.
"That's good kids, you did the right thing by not listening to... that man." Cale quickly eased the kids, who were still so happy to get praise from their Cale.
However, there was someone who was so shocked that he couldn't complete the task assigned to him.
Ploc.
"Holy-nim!"
Jack's legs weakened and he collapsed to the ground as if he had received a violent shock.
"W, what power!"
The Saint subconsciously clasped his hands together and almost started praying to the Sun God after feeling the aura coming out of the red wall.
"What kind of enemy is the young master fighting that he needs to face such a terrible and frightening power?!"
His voice was full of disappointment and guilt.
Saint Jack felt upset that the only thing he could do for Cale, who was alone without any allies in this area with such power, was to pray.
"I'm sorry Saint-nim..." Cale apologized, he felt more and more guilty.
"It's not necessary young master Cale you did the right thing." He replied with an ever so innocent smile but he could feel dark looks coming from Hanna's direction. His brother quickly calmed him down, telling him that he wasn't hurt and that he was just surprised at the time.
Some individuals had decided to rush towards Cale as well.
"This doesn't look good."
"Yes, Eruhaben-nim. Let's go over there."
It was Eruhaben and Alberu.
They felt like they had to find out the identity of this red wall, not only because they were worried about Cale, but also because of the monster’s strange reaction.
“You don’t have to worry.”
Choi Han arrived with a confused Mila at that moment.
“This power is in Cale-nim’s possession.”
“…What?”
“It’s the ancient power he gained some time ago during Stan’s March. It was the other ancient earth-attribute power that the White Star was looking for.”
Choi Han remembered how Cale had fought against the great red serpent to gain this power.
“Red Serpent ?" Rosalyn like others who didn't hear this story were confused.
"You'll see everything later, don't worry. This is practically the only time Cale hasn’t been injured.” The death god added unnecessarily, earning a glare from Cale.
However, it seemed a little different from what he remembered.
“…He has that kind of power?”
He could understand why Eruhaben was so shocked.
“It was a force that could increase fear and terror within us. But it wasn’t as powerful.”
The fear mixed with the pressure was even worse than what they had faced.
Perhaps this was the original form of this power.
Perhaps this is what allowed the former White Star to rule the Western Continent.
“…I believe Cale-nim used this power appropriately to reveal his true abilities.”
“That’s not quite it…” Cale didn’t feel like explaining it to them, this screen will do it for him or else he will do it more late.
They all stayed silent for a moment.
If Cale was the one who used that power, that meant that at least it wasn't the White Star or the sealed god who did that. A power that could cause so much fear like that should help Cale win the victory.
But they were still worried.
"Can Cale, that unfortunate bastard control such a power?"
Mila was thinking the same thing.
Since they had enough time to feel that death was near... They couldn't help but have that thought.
"What faith in me..." Cale said it loud enough for everyone to hear even though he didn't really blame them if that's what he really felt plus he himself had doubted himself even if it was just a few seconds.
"I think everything will be fine."
Choi Han's calm voice echoed in the night sky.
His gaze drifted to the window of the only room that wasn’t affected by the mana disruption at the moment.
He couldn’t see inside because the curtains were closed, but a certain someone inside that room had delivered a message through magic not long ago.
“Raon told me something.”
As Cale ran away after realizing that the White Star was impersonating Deruth Henituse… He made a promise to Raon before leaving.
“He said he’d capture the White Star without getting hurt. Cale-nim promised Raon that, so I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”
Only Cale was amazed that it had actually managed to calm everyone down. And he hadn’t even kept it properly either…
Alberu pointed the barrel of his gun at the monster after hearing that.
Boom-!
The monster suddenly moved, and…
A bullet shot out of the gun at the same time.
“The monster is trying to head towards where our dongsaeng is fighting.”
Alberu listened to Taerang’s voice in his mind as he calmly informed the others.
—The area around the user is currently unstable. However, direct contact with the user has greatly reduced the impact of the environment. Confirmed that mana can change shape. There should be no problem firing bullets. New data has been analyzed with Ahn Roh Man’s information. The Dragon Lion Raid. Will you be using version 1.2?
“Why don’t you eliminate this monster first?”
Alberu spun the gun in his hand instead of answering.
—Your actions have been accepted as confirmation.
Click. Click.
The gun has changed.
A white spear taller than Alberu revealed its magnificent appearance.
Choi Han stood in front of him with his Black Yong summoned and threw his sword towards the dragon lion's supposedly unbreakable shield.
"Magnificent uncle!" Choi jung soo was impressed by his uncle's technique, it was the same as him but with his own aura. Choi han answered him with a nod.
Baaaaang—!
The dragon lion hunt began with a loud noise.
Choi Han climbed onto the Dragon Lion's shield and muttered to himself.
"I can't feel it anymore."
That fearsome pressure that was erupting from the red wall...
He couldn't feel that aura anymore.
The people sensitive to auras noticed this and realized something.
This area...
The area inside the red walls was now separated from this area.
They could tell that it was confined.
There was someone who knew it better than anyone.
It was the person trapped inside.
"What the hell are you doing?"
The White Star looked around slowly. He looked pretty calm, but sweat was dripping from his forehead onto his mask.
"Finally!" Cale regained his cheerful tone.
The others just rolled their eyes but were impatient too.
It was dark.
The bed with the soft blanket…
The chair that was destroyed in battle…
The beautiful candlestick…
Everything was quickly swallowed up by the red mud.
Boom.
White Star stamped his foot.
He felt that the ground was as firm as a rock. The sticky mud had turned into a sturdy rock.
He didn’t stamp his foot because he didn’t know it.
He had to, even though he knew it was the case.
The terrible, filthy aura of death pressed down on him relentlessly.
“Eeeeeee.”
He felt like he was suffocating, even though there was nothing there.
Crackle-
The fire sword crackled again in his hand.
“Cale Hénituse.”
Cale was the only thing in this dark area that he could see clearly.
White Star began to smile.
The power he tried to obtain… The power to rule people by suppressing them with fear…
He was disappointed that he had missed out on such power.
However…
“There is something you miscalculated.”
Death.
“There is no one in the world who remembers their death like I do.”
“Liar, even in his own mind.” Everyone of course saw the mess the White Star was in under Cale’s power.
The White Star was already used to this kind of fear.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t afraid.
It was the natural instinct of every living being to feel fear.
However, he managed to overcome this natural instinct.
The White Star simply saw it as a necessary element to achieve a greater goal, while others would simply say that he was crazy.
“No, no you really are crazy.” These thoughts were truly unbelievable.
“You can’t stop me with that kind of aura… that kind of bluff.”
“I know.”
Cale admitted it calmly.
He could hear the voice of the Scary Giant Cobblestone in his mind.
They became attentive to the power’s next words.
“In the beginning, humans didn’t have the ability to hunt with their bare hands.
That’s why they started carrying weapons.
The first weapon was a rock.
There was a small noise and rocks began to come out of the red earth.
“Hit with rocks, throw rocks, stab with rocks…
The rocks were of all sorts of shapes and sizes.
Oooooooooong-
The badge in his hand seemed to scream.
The bloody rock said nothing different than last time. All Cale did was squeeze the badge tightly.
The Super Rock continued to speak.
– You can’t let yourself be intoxicated by this fear. You can’t fall into the illusion that you rule over him.
That dirty, filthy emotion seemed to cover Cale’s entire body.
The rock soaked in blood.
Cale naturally discovered what it meant to rule by fear the moment he used this power.
That’s why he was able to naturally threaten the White Star.
He felt like he might even become addicted to this terrible power if he made the wrong choice.
They became a little worried about Cale but his close family knew that it wasn’t his style and that he would fight the power of all these forces.
– Stones don’t exist to kill.
However, Cale was able to easily put this feeling aside.
The extremely difficult and sad deaths he had seen and felt had prevented him from becoming addicted to this power.
Cale received another dose of comfort from the people close to him, they knew that Cale wasn't just talking about their deaths but they also knew that he was the most affected by them. Even with all the death they had seen in their lives, his family was the hardest.
Small smirk.
The corners of Cale's lips twitched.
"By the way, it seems you didn't notice something."
The fire sword crackled even brighter in White Star's hand and lit up the area.
Cale pointed at White Star.
"You're sweating right now."
He slowly opened his arms.
"White Star. The leader you wanted. Yeah. The person who can release an aura that exceeds human limits. That person is me actually and not you, it seems."
Cale's eyes narrowed as if he found this rather amusing.
"Well that was fun."
His family was just as amused as he was, Cale was clearly towering over him and he was scared of him, it was awesome like Cale had said.
"Alright, feel free to attack me. Who knows? You might be able to get that power if you kill me."
Cale then stomped his foot.
Boom-!
The rocks floating in the air all rushed towards the White Star.
"You think those little pebbles-!"
He brandished his fire sword as if to melt the rocks. However, the White Star saw Cale smile and walk towards him.
Well, they didn't say it out loud but seeing their Cale like that was a little scary...
Swooooooooosh-
Cale was moving quickly, the whirlwinds at the end of his feet. The rocks didn't start get in his way as they attacked the White Star like it was hail.
The White Star didn't succumb to the attacks.
"I just need to destroy this area-!"
"I don't think he could do it even if he tried." If Eruhaben was honest with himself, he's not even sure that every dragon could do it and would find himself stuck like a normal human.
No one could disagree with the dragon, sword master, powerful mage or assassin they would most certainly be in trouble with the White Star as well.
His clothes fluttered as his other powers roared.
Wind, fire, water... All sorts of forces mixed together and grew in magnitude. This power felt like it would make this entire area fly.
Cale was still smiling.
"Yes. Try your best."
Really scary...
He thought of the person who taught him so much.
“I have such a big heart that I can accept anything.”
Lee Soo Hyuk said the following about “Embrace.”
“I’ll be honest with you. I named it Embrace, but… Ah, I’m just telling you, okay? This ability is more of a binding than an embrace? No, hmm, isn’t there a better word for it? Ah, that’s right, domination!”
“Hey, it looks like you listened to me for once!” He was ignored by Cale, of course he listened to him, he always did even if he didn’t show it.
“This power is like domination. It dominates the target and binds them to your hand.” »
A long time after Cale, as Kim Rok Soo, heard about how to use Embrace from Lee Soo Hyuk…
Kim Rok Soo had asked Lee Soo Hyuk about it.
“Team leader. If Embrace can encompass both tangible objects and intangible powers… Isn’t it a nearly omnipotent power if you can store anything and everything anywhere you want?”
“Rok Soo, Kim Rok Soo. I know I talked about it when talking about bonding or domination or whatever, but… nothing in the world is omnipotent.”
Lee Soo Hyuk shook his head from side to side.
“You imprison it. It doesn’t disappear.”
Lee Soo Hyuk started there and mentioned some weaknesses or restrictions to this “Embrace” power.
"It causes many problems when you use it on a person."
Cale remembered these things as he walked towards the White Star, who had a large amount of energy gathered in his sword and seemed ready to release it at any moment to destroy this dark area, without any hesitation.
Seeing Cale walking so confidently towards a flaming sword especially since they knew this sword scared them slightly but it seemed like he had the situation under control but still.
His low and calm voice echoed the calmness of his mind.
"Yes. I can kiss someone like you all I want."
Cale's gaze went to the White Star's arm.
"I'm going to capture him. I'm going to capture that bastard. And when it's just me and that bastard left in the temple... I'll finish things off."
Several glares here, they saw how Cale had "finished things.".
Cale didn't trust himself to show his loved ones the sight of him using the root dagger to stab his own heart and bleed.
He didn't want to do that now that he had decided to live properly as Cale Henituse.
That's why, instead of a time like this where all eyes were on him... While they were taking care of the temple after defeating the Lion Dragon...
Cale had planned to take care of things quietly while he was alone.
Those words didn't help his situation.
"That was a really terrible idea." Eruhaben looked at Cale with those words but he was ignored. The redhead thought he had already had enough scolding for that thank you very much.
Cale pulled out everything he could grab from his pocket. He chuckled after glancing at the object.
He wondered why he had to pull something like that out of all the things he had in his pocket.
A golden plate sparkled in his hand.
"My crown prince hyung-nim would probably faint if he knew I used this for something like that."
Cale smiled brightly.
Alberu has decided, he will never forgive Cale. He found him far too happy to have taken his golden plate for something like that, especially with those thoughts... the bastard seemed to have done it on purpose to annoy him.