"Sounds good, human!"
Raon shouted back in excitement after hearing Cale saying they were going to smack the White Star from behind.
"Human, let's smack the shit out of it!"
Cale stopped for a moment.
'Is it okay for a six-year-old's vocabulary to be like this?'
"Our youngest is right! We need to hurry back!"
"Everybody is waiting for us!"
However, Cale could not think about it any longer after hearing On and Hong's comments.
As the children averaging nine-years-old mentioned, they needed to quickly return to the people waiting for them.
"Follow me."
Cale took the lead.
Choi Han stuck right next to him. Cale looked at Choi Han's expression that had returned to normal before putting a hand on Choi Han's shoulder.
"Let's quickly take care of things and come back to read the book."
"Yes, Cale-nim."
Choi Han had a pure smile on his face.
However, Cale could see the desire in Choi Han's eyes to read the book.
Cale planned on letting Choi Han read the book.
There were things in there that Choi Han should know.
Of course, he had considered damaging the book a bit so that Choi Han would not be able to read certain parts.
However, Cale had changed his mind.
'…He is older than I am.'
No matter what, Choi Han had lived for a longer time than Cale.
Even though he had some innocence and awkwardness when living in society due to most of his life being spent alone in the Forest of Darkness, he was someone who managed to survive the dangerous Forest of Darkness on his own.
Cale didn't know anything about Choi Jung Gun. However, Cale had a very good idea about Choi Han after spending so much time together with him in this world.
"…Cale-nim, is there something you need to tell me?"
Choi Han asked with a confused expression after seeing Cale staring at him. Cale then moved his hand from Choi Han's shoulder and patted him on the back.
"I trust you."
That was all Cale said before walking in front of Choi Han.
"…Excuse me?"
Cale responded with a stoic expression once Choi Han managed to ask that question after a few seconds of confusion.
"It's you."
"…Me?"
Cale pointed to Choi Han.
"You will be the one to attack the White Star today."
Choi Han's expression turned even odder. However, he did not question Cale's statement. He just touched the hilt of his sword.
There was a different voice that urgently shouted at that moment.
"What about me?!"
It was Raon.
"Human, why are you leaving the great and mighty Raon Miru out?"
"Meeeeeow!"
The children averaging nine-years-old looked at Cale as if they were disappointed. They seemed to be asking how he could only let Choi Han fight and leave the rest of them out.
The children averaging nine-years-old could then see the hand that was pointing at Choi Han moving toward them.
"You too."
Cale was still speaking nonchalantly.
"You and you as well."
Cale pointed at the three children before continuing to speak.
"The three of you will support Choi Han. However, you cannot fight."
The children's expressions finally brightened.
Although Cale was not letting them fight in the front lines, they were smiling at the fact that Cale said that they could at least support from behind.
Poke.
Cale turned his head after feeling someone poking his arm. Bud was poking Cale's arm with his elbow.
He then asked with an excited expression on his face.
"What about me?"
Cale happily answered Bud's question.
"Not you. I don't want you fighting or supporting them."
Bud flinched before he started to frown.
"Why not? Let me fight too! I'm quite skilled as well! You're treating me like cold soup! Did you forget that I am the Mercenary King?!"
Bud could not believe it.
He might not be stronger than Raon because Raon was a Dragon, however, he was much stronger than the two Cats.
Even without the special abilities of his wind attribute ancient power, he was a sword master and someone who managed to rise to the rank of Mercenary King.
But such a person had never been able to fight properly since accompanying Cale's group. He was being treated like baggage.
"I am not someone who would be treated like baggage like this no matter where I go."
"I'm the baggage."
"…Huh?"
Bud stopped talking in confusion after hearing Cale's response.
He was sure that Cale just said that he was the baggage. He knew he had heard correctly. He then patted Cale's shoulder with a slightly flustered voice.
"Ahem, why are you the baggage? There are no other heroes in the world like you. I sincerely enjoy our relationship as drinking budd-"
"Enough. Carry me."
'Hmm?'
Bud wondered if he had heard correctly.
Cale didn't care as he pointed to himself and continued to speak.
"I am baggage from here on. I'm so injured that I can't even walk or speak properly."
Everybody looked toward Cale.
"Even if I have a balance in my body due to the five natural elements unlike the White Star, I still used a lot of power."
The group knew that was true as well.
This was especially true for Raon and Choi Han who had been with him for pretty much every battle.
There had never been a time Cale had used so many ancient powers at once. In addition, the White Star had used his thunderbolts twice in succession unlike at the Mogoru Empire.
"I would usually faint or cough up blood after using that much power."
Choi Han nodded his head to agree.
There could be a burden on the body if there was no balance of ancient power attributes in someone's body.
But beyond that, even mages or swordsmen would sometimes cough up blood if they overdid it.
Cale would normally face the latter situation as he already had a balance of attributes.
"But I am fine. As all of you know, it is thanks to the crown in my possession."
Cale pointed to the white crown on his head.
"The immense amount of power in this crown helped me defend against the White Star's attacks."
Cale shared this fact to On, Hong, Choi Han, and Bud who did not know about it.
He recalled the changed appearance of the crown at the same time.
The crown how had a crack that went halfway through the jewel in the middle.
"The White Star didn't take it from me even though he had known that I had this crown on me since the battle at the Empire. He didn't try to take it during this battle either."
Cale pointed to the most important part of this.
"The White Star either does not know how much power is stored in this crown, or…"
If that was not it…
"He doesn't think I can use it."
Choi Han started to speak.
"Then we must hide the fact that you can use this crown and used its help to defend against his attacks, right Cale-nim?"
Cale nodded his head to show his agreement.
This crown had so much power that it could defend against the White Star's attacks.
Cale could not lose the crown.
He had a feeling that it would be helpful in their future battles against the White Star.
Cale slowly opened his arms.
"That is why I am in a serious situation."
He sounded almost proud to say the following.
"So fight without me."
He then casually asked Bud a question.
"Do you have some kind of red liquid? I need to make it look like I bled."
Cale looked a bit shaggy right now, but his complexion was less pale than it normally was after a battle. He wasn't injured anywhere either.
Bud made eye contact with Cale and started to speak.
"…How..."
His voice was slightly shaking.
"How did you know? How did you know I had such a thing on me? Hehehehe."
Bud's voice was shaking as if he was extremely excited.
Bud quickly looked through his spatial pocket bag.
"Oh, you really had something."
Cale looked toward Bud in shock. He didn't really expect Bud to have something like that on him.
'Why would someone have something like that?'
"Hehe, of course I have something. Mercenaries are people who need to rely on themselves to survive, even on battlefields. That is why we need to be extremely prepared for the unexpected.
Oh."
Bud made a noise before taking a decently large bottle out of his spatial pocket bag.
The transparent glass bottle was full of a red liquid.
Cale looked at his shirt before reaching out his hand.
"Hand it over."
Bud handed the bottle to Cale.
Cale grabbed the bottle and headed for the exit once again. The group followed behind him and Cale soon stopped in front of the large swordsmen statues.
He looked around.
The village was blocked on all sides.
He did not see an exit.
However, he remembered what Lord Sheritt had told him.
'You are the king. Your loyal knights will listen to you.'
Cale stood in front of the still kneeling statues and gave the order.
"Open the door."
It was at that moment.
Screeeech-
Screeeech-
The large statues stood back up. They then started to walk toward a single spot.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
They then came to a spot.
They were standing in front of a cliff. Both of them reached out and pushed a spot on the cliff.
Boooooooom-
Cale could see a large boulder starting to move.
The large pathway that had been completely hidden slowly started to appear.
Cale put the crown into his pocket as he headed for the exit. Of course, he didn't plan to walk for long.
"Carry me."
The statues moved the large boulder to hide the pathway once again after they left.
***
Bang! Bang! Baaaaang!
The Bear slamming on the white shield started to frown.
The Castle of Light, one of the Three Restricted Areas. The Bear was already annoyed at the fact that his foot kept plunging into the white pebbles on the ground, however, this situation made him extremely angry.
"…So persistent."
Crackle, crackle.
The white shield cracked every time the Bear slammed into it. However, it never broke completely.
"It looks like they plan on resisting until the end."
He showed his agreement with his fellow Bear by not saying anything.
The white shield looked as if it would break at any moment, but never actually broke.
They knew the illusion Lord was casting this shield.
The weak white gold shield underneath most likely belonged to the ancient Dragon, Eruhaben.
"But it seems like Cale Henituse cannot use any more strength."
The others showed their agreement with the Cat by responding with silence.
Bang!
A loud noise could be heard every time the White Star's subordinates banged on Lord Sheritt's shield. The noises showed how much strength they were using to bang on the shield.
Crack.
Sheritt's shield cracked each time.
Unfortunately, there was something else that was receiving more damage from the aftershock of the attacks.
Craaaaaaack.
The boulder dome created by Cale Henituse.
The boulder dome that managed to last without breaking until the end was starting to crack from the aftershock.
Clunk. Clunk.
The debris from the cracking dome was falling to the ground.
That was enough to provide enough evidence for the White Star's side.
"Cale Henituse, he… does not have any strength left to maintain the dome."
Cale Henituse's group would be in danger if the dome broke.
Cale Henituse should know that as well.
However, the dome was shaking from a Bear's attack which was much weaker than the White Star's thunderbolts.
"What should we do?"
One of the Bears asked a person who was watching all of this.
That person was the mage who brought the Cats over.
He had a teleportation magic circle ready to use at any moment and looked toward someone else other than the Bear who asked the question.
"My liege."
It was the White Star.
He was sitting on the ground trying to catch his breath.
He looked extremely pale as well.
"Do we continue to wait?"
He could see that the White Star was still paying close attention to the dome.
The mage could see that the White Star's eyes were filled with greed about something he couldn't determine. He seemed to be waiting for something and curious about something as well.
"Yes. Stay alert."
The White Star gave a short order.
"It isn't like there's anything dangerous here. We can easily run away if something happens."
The mage held back a sigh.
How many leaders could so easily discuss running away in front of their subordinates?
However, the White Star was someone who could easily say those things.
The mage slowly turned away from the White Star for a moment in order to give the order to keep attacking.
It was at that moment.
"Even if we don't manage to find out anything else…"
He could hear the White Star quietly mumbling.
"…It's fine if we don't manage to verify anything else. However, we need to verify Cale Henituse's condition."
The mage turned back toward the White Star. The two of them made eye contact.
The White Star smiled with a fatigued expression.
"Only then can I be certain as well."
"…May I ask what you are trying to be certain about?"
The White Star turned back toward the dome that Cale Henituse created.
That dome was Cale Henituse's earth power.
The White Star recalled the records from Nelan Barrow, the first Dragon Slayer.
The following was written inside it.
< The White Star. The reason that that individual was so strong was because he had all five natural elements, as well as the sky attribute. >
The White Star started to speak.
"I will soon get an earth attribute power."
The day he had the earth attribute ancient power was not far away if things went according to plan.
"Then I will clash against Cale Henituse once again."
The White Star and Cale Henituse would clash head to head at some point. It was required for all of the White Star's goals to be achieved.
"Would I win during that battle or would Cale Henituse win? That is what I am trying to determine right now."
That was the reason he was trying to verify Cale Henituse's current condition.
"I understand. I will tell them to keep banging on the shield."
The mage lowered his head to show that he would follow through with the order.
The White Star did not even look at him.
"Haaaa."
His heart hurt because of the curse every time he let out a breath. His entire body felt tired.
His shoulders were always heavy from fatigue.
The White Star slowly lifted his head.
He could see the sky.
'I have the sky attribute power.'
It had taken him so long to obtain all of the ancient powers he wanted to gain.
'That will soon-'
The White Star's expression quickly changed in the middle of his thought.
His eyes that were looking at the sky opened wide.
"Stop attacking!"
The people attacking the white shield stopped moving. They heard the White Star's voice by their ears once again.
"Behind us!"
'Behind?'
All of them looked to the back.
The White Star had turned around already.
Shaaaaaaaaaaa-
The wind was blowing like normal.
However, they heard someone's voice through the wind.
"Oh my."
Nobody had been in this area just a moment ago.
However, there were now people slowly starting to appear.
They were kicking off the white ground as they ran forward.
The person in front started to speak.
"Looks like we were caught."
Clang!
That person took out a sword at the same time.
Raon's acceleration spell pushed him forward as soon as he kicked off the ground and into the air.
Ooooooong-
The shining black aura wielding swordsman shot forward at a formidable speed before he swung his sword.
Slaaash!
The sword was naturally aiming for the White Star.
"Long time no see."
Choi Han smiled as he greeted the White Star.
"…How?"
The White Star looked past Choi Han's shoulder after sharing his confusion.
"Attack!"
The Mercenary King's veins were showing as he continued to shout.
"Attack! Don't stop! Kill as many as possible!"
The White Star could see the Cats and the black Dragon as well.
The Mercenary King who was standing behind them continued to shout.
"Don't let Cale's sacrifice be for nothing!"
The White Star could see that the Mercenary King was covered in blood.
However, that blood did not belong to him.
There was someone who had more blood on them compared to the Mercenary King.
The White Star could see Cale Henituse struggling to look at him with a bloodied face while being carried by the Mercenary King.