The dragon half-blood could not believe it. he twisted his shaking lips to make an odd smile.
"why are you telling me this instead of killing me right away if death is going to be more peaceful?"
"i don't want you to die peacefully."
the responding voice was cruel and cold. the dragon half-blood twisted the corners of his lips even more after hearing that cale henituse did not want him to die peacefully. cale continued to speak at that moment.
"that is why i'm giving you the chance to choose."
a chance to choose.
those words echoed inside the dragon half-blood's mind.
however, cale did not care about how the dragon half-blood was as he continued to speak. the dying dragon half-blood did not have much time left.
"if you choose to live, then the power of darkness inside of you and your light-affinity will continue to clash. you will feel intense pain that feels like your insides are exploding daily, no, every few seconds."
it was an unbelievable story.
the dragon half-blood could not help but sneer.
"hehe, that's not possible. if i live, then my light-affinity will eat up this incomplete darkness once i get better."
"that would be the case if you were a dragon."
"…what?"
the dragon half-blood's pupils started to shake.
cale approached him and quietly spoke as if he was whispering.
"you will become a human."
become a human.
"traces of your power of light will remain, however, you will lose all of your powers as a dragon."
what would the dragon half-blood consider as hell?
the first would be living as a human and feeling pain every few seconds.
"you will become a normal human and suffer in pain daily until you eventually end up dying."
cale didn't speak this next part, but the key to the chains on the dragon half-blood would be in cale's hands.
"but you can live a bit longer if you choose life."
cale observed the dragon half-blood whose lips were moving but were unable to say anything. there wasn't much time left. the dragon half-blood asked him a question.
"are you planning on getting rid of arm?"
"why do you care? you're not even on my side."
"ha."
the dragon half-blood laughed in disbelief.
cale's blunt response was like a knife. however, his continued actions did not seem like a knife at all.
"i will give you a bit more time to think about it. i have a lot of information to gather from you whether you choose to live or die. i need time to get all of that information."
choi han, who had been listening to cale and the dragon half-blood's conversation, flinched.
'how is he going to heal the dragon half-blood?'
he was not the only one with such a question. everybody inside the wall made by the crows had the same question. gashan, witira, and even the dragon half-blood were wondering the same thing.
however, the group could soon see the dragon half-blood start to frown.
"y, y, you told me to choose! what the hell are you doing? did you want to make me face a painful death from that terrible thing?"
the fearful screams of the man who could not move sounded desperate.
it was the white crown.
the shining crown slowly approached the dragon half-blood.
'this terrible item!'
the dragon half-blood had to listen to the crown that ate its blood since he was very young.
he still heard the sound of the crown, even when he went to sleep.
he also heard his own screams that were full of pain and fear.
"oo oo oo, this, this, ugh!"
his eyes were full of fear as looked toward cale while being unable to speak properly. gashan nodded his head after seeing what was going on.
'he really isn't going easy on him.'
cale sometimes acted without any hesitation. in fact, cale was someone who was clear about his own actions and the reason behind them such that the shaman gashan could not help but wonder how the eldest son of a small noble territory could develop such a personality.
the decisive decision-making to be capable of deciding between life and death was not something a person was born with. it was something that you gained from experience.
gashan, who did not know what kind of experiences cale went through in the past, silently observed cale and the scared dragon half-blood's conversation.
however, there was someone who was a bit anxious right now.
it was none other than cale henituse.
'i told him that i'll let him live a bit longer, so why is he like this?'
cale was confused but still proceeded to move the white crown closer to the dragon half-blood who seemed to be in a state of panic.
– make the jewel at the center of the crown drink the dragon's blood. then that monster can live a bit longer.
cale moved the crown to where the dragon half-blood was bleeding the most as the dominating aura had taught him.
it was the location of choi han's attack.
the white jewel at the center of the shining crown touched where the dragon's red blood was pouring out.
"uuuuuuugh."
cale then started to frown.
it was not because of the dragon half-blood's painful groan.
"hoho-"
it was also not because of gashan's shocked laughter.
slurp, slurp.
a mouth appeared on the white jewel. well, a black swirl that was more like a black hole than a mouth appeared on the white jewel and started to slurp up the dragon's blood. cale had a disgusted frown on his face.
'it's too disgusting.
what is up with this weird item?'
cale wanted to throw this crown, no, at least the white jewel, away right now. he would keep the crown because it looked expensive.
however, his pupils soon became cloudy.
"ho."
cale observed the dragon half-blood's complexion while listening to gashan's shocked gasps as background music.
he was starting to look better. the dragon half-blood must have realized this too as his expression turned odd. it was painful, but he also did not feel much of the pain because of his current condition.
slurp, slurp.
cale's instincts told him it was enough, so he slowly moved the white jewel away from the dragon's stomach.
'he won't be able to move, but he won't die.'
cale believed that he should be able to extend the dragon half-blood's life by about a week. of course, he won't have any strength at all at first.
– as long as the dragon blood disappears, all that will be left is the human body. however, the dragon's attribute will remain in the human body, making him die in the end.
cale was blankly staring at the dragon half-blood's reptilian scale as he completely removed the crown from the dragon half-blood.
slurp. slurp.
that white jewel's black hole-like mouth seemed to be disappointed before it slightly moved toward raon who was still in the blanket.
it was the moment choi han flinched after seeing the crown's reaction.
clang!
the crown was thrown to the ground. the crown that was giving off a holy light rolled on the ground and became dirty. cale's annoyed voice could be heard.
"is this thing crazy?"
the black hole on the jewel had disappeared, leaving behind only a holy-looking white jewel. cale stepped on the white jewel and shoved it into the dirt. he then kicked it a few times as well.
"as expected of cale-nim."
witira was watching cale before she hearing choi han's comment and looking in his direction. choi han was tightly holding onto the blanket with a proud expression on his face.
witira debated whether she should say something before hearing cale's order. cale shoved the crown deep inside his spatial bag before making eye contact with the dragon half-blood.
the dragon half-blood seemed shocked, however, cale said what he needed to say.
"put chains on him. gashan, tie him up with your incantations."
the chains would take away his mana, aura, and physical strength. furthermore, cale asked someone to watch over the dragon half-blood.
"witira."
"yes, i will keep a tight watch on him."
she would be able to notice any changes in the dragon half-blood's aura faster than anybody else.
cale looked at the dragon half-blood who was falling into a deep slumber from gashan's incantations before standing up.
he was heading out of the wall made by the crows.
he could hear a ton of noise.
the indomitable alliance was fighting against the paerun kingdom, breck kingdom, and roan kingdom's joint forces. all sorts of noises filled the area. cale knew that they wouldn't be able to get any results like this.
the bears, flame dwarves, as well as the large number of soldiers from askosan and norland.
it was impossible to kill them all.
no matter how many strong individuals their side had, they would only be able to win with a lot of sacrifices.
'i'm sure rosalyn knows this as well.'
he heard her voice coming from the other side of the wall at that moment.
"those who want to surrender should rip your flags!"
cale also started to speak as she threatened the members of the indomitable alliance.
"get rid of the wall."
caw, caw.
gashan's crows started to fly up into the sky one by one. the black wall disappeared and cale reappeared on the battlefield.
rosalyn could see the red-haired man slowly appearing through the crows. she could also see witira, gashan, and choi han, as well as the dragon half-blood who had chains all over his body so that he could not see, hear, nor move.
the fallen enemy and the still fresh strong individuals of their allied coalition.
rosalyn could see cale heading toward the bridge that she had made.
the strong individuals who would change the flow of the battle were coming.
the enemy knew that this was the case as well.
rosalyn heard one of the bears starting to speak.
"retreat!"
'damn it.'
the bear administrator swore internally as he ordered the retreat.
the dragon half-blood had been captured.
he was defeated by people who were similar to him in strength.
the bear quickly started to think.
he could not allow even more bears to get hurt. they could not lose so much strength when the lion tribe was not even here.
'the enemy cannot chase us.'
there was no way that the breck kingdom would come into the askosan kingdom's territory.
they could not win against this number of soldiers, even with so many strong individuals.
"retreat!"
"retreat!"
the bear's order was relayed to the others as they all started to retreat. the breck kingdom's forces did not chase after them.
it was because commander rosalyn did not give the order.
rosalyn looked around.
the mages of the mage brigade looked extremely tired. there were also many soldiers who were injured as they could not evade the thunderbolts.
she could also see the destroyed gorge of death.
she closed her eyes for a moment before opening them back.
"withdraw."
she made up her mind to turn back and her order was relayed to the soldiers. someone started to speak as soon as she gave the order.
"the enemy has retreated, and we are alive."
cale was speaking to rosalyn.
his voice made the soldiers relax their grips on their weapons.
however, the war was not over just yet.
* * *
"the retreating enemy stopped before they left the gorge of death and set up their base over there."
the indomitable alliance had not retreated completely.
they could not retreat completely. they knew that it would really be over if they did. they had not been able to use their numerical advantage yet.
they still probably had some regrets.
"our breck kingdom is currently focusing our forces on the bridge created by commander rosalyn."
the troops that had been split up in five areas had all gathered to the bridge.
"it is highly probable that it will become a prolonged war."
the first battle was pretty much the breck kingdom's overwhelming victory.
however, they had no choice but to pay attention and look for an opening now.
the person who was reporting was the royal mage's number one disciple, count ecross. he peeked around before continuing to speak.
"we should be at the advantage in a prolonged war because the enemy will have supply issues, but we will have a lot of losses as well."
the breck kingdom would win in the end, but not without significant costs.
"count ecross, are you saying that it would be better to quickly destroy the enemy?"
count ecross flinched and looked toward the person who asked the question.
it was cale.
"that is the case."
the commander who had carried an odd bundle of blankets around the entire battle. his gaze made count ecross think about their past encounter as he gulped and hid his nervousness.
cale confidently responded back.
"please leave."
"excuse me?"
"please leave the tent."
"…ah, yes sir."
count ecross could not say anything else as he left the tent. he flinched at what he saw outside the tent, however, he soon continued to walk.
the breck kingdom's forces.
the roan kingdom's forces were there as well.
the paerun kingdom's forces were also present.
they had betrayed the indomitable alliance and were the breck kingdom's newest ally.
count ecross looked at the paerun kingdom's knights and soldiers before looking back at the tent he just exited.
he thought about the people inside the tent and gulped.
the vice captain of the paerun kingdom's knights brigade was inside the tent.
however, he could not say anything and just sat there with his mouth closed.
he was one of clopeh sekka's subordinates who had been taking clopeh's place ever since captain clopeh had disappeared. his official title was vice captain.
he was looking at the ceiling in order to not make eye contact with cale, who was sitting at the most senior spot with his legs crossed.
's, sir, you're alive?'
he remembered how shocked he was to see clopeh again. his leader was in a wheelchair and had no strength, however, he was still sharp.
'listen to that esteemed sir.'
'excuse me?'
'cale henituse-nim. he is someone who is above my level.'
clopeh sekka was someone who killed even his own subordinates without any hesitation.
the vice captain who had done all of clopeh's dirty work in his quest to create a legend did not miss the fear and hope in clopeh's eyes.
that was why he was scared of cale henituse. he was the one who turned that clopeh sekka into a crazy lunatic.
rosalyn started to speak at that moment.
"young master cale, what are you going to do?"
"we naturally need to end it quickly."
cale had no plans of prolonging the war.
"one of the roan kingdom's people will come soon."
crown prince alberu was sending someone over.
the indomitable alliance will be aiming to prolong the war.
the breck kingdom would find it advantageous to prolong it as well. it was because their chances of victory were high.
however, it wasn't cale's style to drag things out while dealing with the losses.
he started to speak to the people looking at him. however, he felt someone approaching the tent at that moment.
"ah, the person his highness sent over must be here."
alberu was going to send one of his dark elves. that was what they had discussed in advance.
cale saw the flap being opened and stood up to greet the person.
screech. screech.
but then he heard a weird noise.
cale flinched.
'why do i hear the sound of wheels?'
the entrance flap was opened. he could see two people there.
"w, why?"
the person in front smiled brightly and responded back to cale's shocked question.
"i thought it would be faster if i did it myself."
alberu crossman.
he had a majestic smile on his face as he entered the tent.
screech. screech.
the sound of wheels could be heard behind alberu.
"well, i thought it would be better to focus their attention on me since i was bringing over such a special person."
alberu crossman was someone who was as thorough as cale.
he prepared someone who would be a dagger against the enemy. he needed to activate the teleportation magic circle multiple times for that reason, but he was quite satisfied.
screech. screech.
the wheels of a wheelchair rolled into the tent and a person soon became visible.
the robed individual removed their hood once the flap of the tent closed back.
"captain-nim!"
the paerun knight immediately kneeled.
he could see his leader, clopeh sekka.
clopeh sekka.
his appearance made rosalyn flinch before observing him. the man who had lost at the henituse territory. he was a sword master and a strong individual who had led the knights brigade of the paerun kingdom.
he was a symbol of a moral knight. rosalyn had only seen him from afar and thus could not help but become nervous, even if he was an ally now.
it was at that moment.
clopeh sekka clasped his hands together and smiled brightly after taking off his hood.
"…cale-nim!"
he seemed extremely happy to see cale.
"…huh?"
rosalyn felt that something was off.
alberu crossman was feeling the same way. he too had never seen cale together with clopeh sekka.
"…what?"
however, cale ignored the two of their reactions. he then pointed to the map inside the commander tent.
his fingers pressed once on askosan and then once on norland.
"norland and askosan."
the two kingdoms had currently focused a significant number of forces at the gorge of death.
they could use that to their advantage.
cale recalled what rosalyn had said during the battle.
'those who want to surrender should rip your flags!'
askosan and norland would soon rip their flags.
"we will go to these two kingdoms."
"…how?"
cale looked toward clopeh as rosalyn asked in confusion.
"guardian knight, tell us the coordinates of the two kingdom's palaces that the paerun kingdom knows."
the coordinates for the palaces.
rosalyn's expression changed. crown prince alberu started to smile as well. the indomitable alliance would be paying attention to the forces at the gorge of death that were preparing for a prolonged battle.
cale, the roan kingdom, and the breck kingdom would strike them from behind as they did that.
"we will return with a letter of their surrender."
surrender.
the word flowing out of cale's mouth changed the atmosphere inside the tent.
silence filled the tent.
everybody was busy planning for the future.
the silence was suddenly broken.
a voice that was full of joy started to speak.
"yes, cale-nim. you truly are amazing."
clopeh's seemingly normal but crazy voice calmly echoed throughout the tent.
"you truly are a hero and the person who will continue the legend."
'damn it. you crazy bastard!'
cale ignored rosalyn and alberu's gazes. the two of them looked confused and bewildered, however, cale did not look at them as he continued to speak.
"we simply need to get rid of one palace each."
the paerun kingdom's vice captain who was listening could not believe it.
'simply get rid of a palace? is that really that simple?'
however, cale thought about the group who would properly cause a ruckus.
archie, choi han, mary, etc. he was overflowing with options.
"let's hurry."
"yes, cale-nim. the paerun kingdom will assist you with whatever you need."
cale flinched again at clopeh's extremely serious voice as alberu sighed.
"…unbelievable."
"…uh, mm, this is new."
cale could not say anything to alberu and rosalyn's comments.
'damn it.'
he made up his mind to quickly get rid of the indomitable alliance and not have to deal with this extremely crazy bastard any longer.
it was bad for his mental health.