The ancient Dragon Eruhaben's face was a total mess as the two lights crashed against each other.
"You stupid idiot!"
Hundreds of thunderbolts landed on the silver shield.
It all happened in an instant.
It happened right as Eruhaben had pulled out every single bit of mana in his body to make the white gold barrier as strong as possible.
"You can still-"
A silver mana shield had appeared over the white gold barrier in that short instant. Then a different silver shield had quickly appeared on top of that.
The thoughts behind those shields were too obvious.
"You can still move your shields away!"
Eruhaben tried to pull down Cale's hands that were reaching up to the sky, however, he could see Cale starting to speak even as his lips were shaking.
"But I don't want to."
Cale was speaking in an extremely disrespectful manner.
However, his eyes were cold.
"It's already too late."
As Cale mentioned, it was already too late to deactivate his shield.
"I plan to do whatever I want."
Cale then looked past Eruhaben to the silver shield.
Bang!
One of the thunderbolts crashed into the shield.
Baaaaang! Bang!
A couple more thunderbolts crashed into the shield and tried to destroy it.
That was the beginning.
Baaaaang! Bang, baaaaang! Baaaaang!
Numerous white thunderbolts shot down as if they wanted to rip apart the shield.
"Huff, huff. Huff."
Cale lost some strength every time the shield shook from the impact. The Vitality of the Heart was definitely working harder than ever in order to fill Cale's body with strength.
However, it felt as if all of the strength that it pushed in was seeping out of Cale's hands.
"He, hehe-"
Cale started to laugh. His tired eyes looked toward the white thunderbolts.
It looked like light was falling down on his shield.
The white thunderbolts looked extremely holy. They were also very bright. How many experiences would one have in their life where they could see such bright lights?
"…Damn it, it is so fucking bright."
Unfortunately, Cale did not like such sights like this.
– …I'm hungry.
He could hear the glutton priestess's voice.
The Indestructible Shield.
The power he had received from the glutton priestess. Cale had faced many dangers until now, but the shield had never been destroyed before.
'The majority of that was thanks to Raon.'
It had only been possible because Raon's silver mana shield had surrounded Cale's shield.
However, Cale and Raon's positions had flipped this time.
Cale's mind was quickly moving even as he was breathing heavily so that he could make out as much of the current situation as possible.
'It will crash a total of three times.'
The white thunderbolts would crash into Cale's silver shield, Raon's shield, and then the white gold barrier. They would strike those three layers in that order.
They would get weaker after making it through each layer.
That should mean that the thunderbolts that crashed into Eruhaben's white gold barrier will be weaker and that they should be able to prevent the destruction of the capital.
Baaaaang! Baaaaang! Bang!
That was why Cale was thinking that it would be worth it even if he ended up fainting and planned to keep his shield up until that happened.
It was at that moment.
"Little kid!"
Cale could hear Eruhaben's pressing tone.
He also saw something fly up past him, although it was too bright to fully make out what it was.
This thing, no, this being, was surrounded by a black mana storm as it flew up.
His two front paws were still headed toward the sky as if it was trying to carry the sky.
Cale focused his eyes as much as possible.
"…Raon?"
Raon, who Cale was certain had been lower in the sky than Cale and Eruhaben, was flying up past him toward the sky.
Cale and Raon made eye contact.
Raon crumpled his nose at the center of his round face as he confidently shouted.
"I, Raon Miru, am great and mighty! I will do it!"
'…This stupid!'
Cale suddenly felt his insides flipping over. Cale tried to speak but Eruhaben was faster.
"Little kid, the shield-"
"I know what I need to know!"
Cale kept his mouth shut after hearing Raon cut the ancient Dragon off.
"I am the least injured right now! That is why it is my turn to do the most! That is only correct!"
'…What can a six-year-old do?!'
Cale, who tried to speak again, could not get any of those words out as he let out a different noise.
"Ugh!"
Craaaaaaack-
Cracks were starting to appear on his shield.
A stream of black blood started to drip out of the corner of Cale's mouth. He could see someone other than Raon at that moment.
"…Miss Rosalyn?"
Ahem, hem.
Rosalyn let out some fake coughs before flying up to stand behind Raon. However, that was not the issue.
Ooooooong-
Approximately ten of the highest-grade magic stones that Cale had given here were spinning like tops around her. Furthermore, red mana was surrounding her and making her robe flutter.
"I couldn't just do nothing."
He could see Mary behind her with thousands of black threads coming out of her body.
"The injured must rest."
Mary then started to send her threads toward the sky.
One, two.
The threads were coming together as if they were weaving something. It wasn't as tight as when something was being weaved, however, it was slowly starting to look like a shield.
"I am great and mighty as well."
She then flew up to stand next to Raon.
"Ha! Haha!"
Cale looked up after hearing someone laugh. Eruhaben was laughing with a look of disbelief on his face.
"Fine, let's give it a try."
He slowly pulled Cale to his side.
"Here."
"Yes sir."
Choi Han who had approached at some point took Cale from Eruhaben. Choi Han placed Cale on his back.
"Please rest a bit, Cale-nim."
Cale was at a loss for words.
He could not say anything at all.
White smoke that was not from white thunderbolts but instead came up from the ground started to surround him.
He looked down to see Saint Jack who was hiding behind Rex's shield sending out his healing abilities toward Cale and the group.
Cale's insides that were a mess from using his ancient powers could not be healed with Saint Jack's healing powers.
It was because they were not illnesses nor injuries.
However, it was definitely enough to heal the others. Of course, the smoke did not go toward Hannah nor Mary.
"Hahaha, I'm about to tear up."
Cale raised his head again after hearing someone sounding entertained.
Craaaack-
He could see the White Star on the other side of the silver shield that was starting to crack even more. The white thunderbolts were avoiding him as they struck down.
The White Star was entertained watching Cale and his group.
"I guess I should say that it is very touching?"
The White Star who was speaking cheekily as he wiped the blood off of his mouth then shrugged his shoulders and took a magic scroll out of his pocket.
Cale was certain that there was a teleportation magic circle inside it.
'We need to catch this bastard.'
No, it was actually better for that bastard to disappear from here.
There was nobody here who could defeat him. It would be better if he disappeared. Cale's eyes were cold, but they were filled with so much anger that it could not be hidden.
He could hear the White Star's voice clearly at that moment.
"Too bad. I'm a bit busy right now. I wanted to see whether you could block it or not."
'That fucking bastard-'
Cale, who was about to say something, stopped himself after hearing someone quietly mumbling.
"…An even crazier bastard than me."
'…Choi Han, did you just cuss?'
Cale let out another groan as his face turned odd after hearing Choi Han's vicious words.
"Ugh!"
Cale's back curled up. Choi Han could see the black blood drenching Cale's shoulders. He nodded his head at the others who were looking at him and grabbed Cale's hands that were reaching up to the sky.
"…Ha…really, so annoying."
He ignored what Cale had to say.
Choi Han gathered together Cale's palms that had very faint silver threads that looked ready to break at any moment.
Cale's hands weakly headed down. Cale put his chin on Choi Han's shoulder as he looked up.
Baaaaaaaaaang!
There seemed to be an endless number of thunderbolts.
The cracked silver shield had turned into pieces.
It was not broken.
Cale had just deactivated it.
The silver shield slowly dissipated in the air.
Eruhaben smiled refreshingly and commented at the same time.
"Little kid, let me see you run wild."
Cale could see Eruhaben move behind Raon's back and grabbing onto Raon's paws.
The silver mana shield and the white gold barrier.
The two of them were slowly fusing into one.
That was not the end.
Crack, crack.
The highest-grade magic stones cracked and a large amount of red mana mixed in with the silver mana shield as well. It was Rosalyn's magic.
The black thread shield seeped into it as well.
The White Star slowly opened his mouth to speak while watching that.
It was at that moment.
"Raon!"
Cale subconsciously called out Raon's name.
However, Raon had already left Eruhaben's side and was flying up even higher.
Raon's shield was now a mix of different colors.
It was a shield that was carrying Mary, Rosalyn, and Eruhaben's powers as well.
Raon put his forehead on that shield. He then stared at the bastard on the other side of the shield.
The White Star and Raon made eye contact.
The White Star could see the young Dragon that was glaring at him starting to speak.
"…I will definitely make you pay."
Raon Miru, the six-years-old Dragon.
Raon may be young, but he knew everything he needed to know. He sounded confident and energetic, but Raon had seen how Eruhaben, Cale, and the others had fought.
"And how are you going to do that?"
The White Star was looking at Raon with curiosity. Raon confidently responded back from underneath the shield that was stronger than any shield he had created before.
"I will win next time."
He was a Dragon who could do anything well as long as he learned how to do it.
Raon could see the White Star starting to smile. The White Star then shouted out an order.
"Destroy everything! Strike down!"
Blood started to flow out of his mouth again as the white thunderbolts struck down toward the colorful shield.
Riiiiiip.
He ripped the teleportation scroll as that happened. The White Star ignored the glaring black Dragon and looked toward Cale.
'I need to collect the ancient powers.'
He needed to gather all of the ancient powers.
The Final sixth ancient power.
The White Star thought about what would happen once he found that final ancient power and let the teleportation magic circle take him in. He left one final goodbye for Cale.
– See you soon, future Dragon Catcher.
'Damn it!'
The White Star disappeared and only the white thunderbolts remained as Cale's tired hands clenched so hard that he started to bleed.
Raon was now facing up against those white thunderbolts.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Raon could hear his heart beating as he put his forehead back on the colorful shield. He also put his front paws on the shield as well.
'I can do it.
I can do it because I am the great and mighty Raon Miru.'
Raon recalled a couple of things.
He thought about how Cale had hugged him. He recalled Cale's shocked expression as he looked for his invisible body in the air.
He recalled how Cale had locked his fingers together in order to tightly hold him.
He recalled Eruhaben's scarred body and how he had breathed heavily and bled. However, he also recalled how big Eruhaben's back looked.
Finally, he recalled his friends who had surrounded him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Raon recalled these memories and felt his heart beating as he started to imagine. No, he was trying to turn that imagination into reality.
Magic was a way to create something using mana, something that came from nature.
Raon was able to put the things he had learned into his magic.
These memories about how his friends tried to protect him.
Raon realized that that was the true shield. He had learned it.
Now that he had learned it, he could create it as well.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Black mana started to flow out of Raon's forehead.
That mana flowed along the shield.
"Little kid, you really are not like a Dragon."
He could feel Goldie gramps hugging him from behind.
Raon focused even more on Eruhaben's hands.
A large amount of mana started to flow through his short paws to envelop the shield.
"Huh, over there-!"
"It turned black!"
The people outside the capital who could not clearly see what was going on around the Alchemists' Bell Tower could see that the colorful shield was becoming dyed black.
However, their gazes were soon covered in bright lights and they could not see anything clearly.
Baaaaang! Baaaaang! Baaaaang!
All they could hear was something trying to destroy something else.
Their ears started to ring. The ground started to shake as well.
People could not help but plop down on the ground.
Black, white, red, and gold.
All of those colors mixed together.
And finally…
"Hey, weak human."
Cale reached his hand out.
A round head placed itself on top of Cale's palm.
Cale lifted his head up.
The bright lights were gone.
He could now see that morning had arrived.
The sun was rising.
Cale caressed the tired Raon's head, shoulder, and cheek in that order as Raon weakly laid in Eruhaben's arms before responding back.
"Raon, you truly are great and mighty."
Raon smiled at him.
Cale smiled back.
Nobody had died.
Nothing was destroyed as they welcome the new morning.
The human and the Dragon.
The two of their smiles seemed similar.
The two of them started to speak at the same time.
"Human! Let's go catch that bastard!"
"…Fucking bastard, I will get you when you least expect it."
Cale said something else as Choi Han and Eruhaben, who were respectively supporting Cale and Raon, flinched.
"Choi Han."
"Yes, Cale-nim."
"If there is something urgent or something you are curious about as you clean up this mess…"
Huuuuu.
Cale let out a deep breath. Choi Han turned his head and looked toward Cale at this unexpected conversation topic.
Cale confidently continued on while looking at Choi Han.
"Call his highness, the crown prince."
Plop.
Cale's body became limp after saying that.
He could hear the Super Rock's voice in his mind.
– I don't know how many days you'll faint for this time.
'Damn it.
This weak ass body is a bigger issue than the White Star.'
"Weak human!"
"Cale-nim!"
"Cale!"
The sound of his group calling for him sounded like a lullaby.
Cale then fainted.
It had been a while since this had happened.