– Cale!
Cale could hear Raon's voice in his head.
He was in pain.
He had never felt this much pain ever since he came over to this world.
"Ugh."
The black blood continued to drip down through his fingers and onto the castle wall. He could not stand up straight, as he continued to spit out blood.
"Cough."
"Ca, Cale-nim!"
A hand quickly grabbed onto the hunched over Cale. It was Choi Han. Choi Han subconsciously tried to stand Cale up after seeing Cale look like he was about to fall off the wall. However, there was someone preventing him from doing so.
"Stop."
"…What is it?"
Choi Han and Ron made eye contact. Ron continued to speak with a cold expression on his face. However, the corners of his lips were pale.
"What will you do if the blood goes down the wrong pipe?"
Choi Han let go of Cale. At that moment, Choi Han could see a bloody hand grabbing his arm. It was Cale.
Cale looked toward Choi Han and Ron with a pained expression.
"H, hurry up and- ugh."
'This damn blood!'
Blood continued to fill his mouth, preventing him from speaking properly.
'Why is the blood not stopping?'
He was in so much pain after the fire thunderbolt had landed. However, he was no longer in pain after about a minute, as the Vitality of the Heart started to heal him.
However, there were still two problems. First, he still continued to cough up blood, and second…
'So hungry.'
He was hungry and felt like he had used up all of the energy in his body. He felt like he had been starving for a few days. It was similar to the pain that Kim Rok Soo had felt prior to getting used to not having food for long periods of time.
"Choi Han … hurry and go!"
"What are you saying, Cale-nim?! We need to take care of your first!"
'Go bring me some bread. I'm so hungry.'
That was what Cale was trying to say, but Choi Han's vicious gaze made him say something else.
"Go take care of the tamer. Hurry up."
At that moment, Cale heard someone screaming.
"Aaaaaaah! My, my skin!"
It was an old man's voice. He was certain that it was the tamer. However, Cale could not see what was going on, as he was hunched over and coughing up blood.
But he could still hear the screams, as well as the scent of burnt flesh.
However, Choi Han could see what was going on.
The location that the red light had struck was burnt black with a large fire continuing to roar. He could not see any lifeforms above the fire.
The range of the thunderbolt was very wide. The secret organization members who were in the rear were all gone without a trace.
"My, my baby soft skin! Ahhhh!"
Choi Han's gaze turned cold. The tamer and magic spearman must have succeeded in using blink, as they appeared from outside of the thunderbolt's range.
But they seemed to still have been affected by it, as the magic spearman's brown hair was all burnt and his spear was gone. He also seemed to have gotten burnt on his right hand.
"Kill, kill them all! It hurts, it fucking hurts!"
However, the magic spearman was not as hurt as the tamer. The blink must have gone wrong, as the tamer had a deep injury in his arm and his face was burnt. Choi Han remembered what Cale had said before they headed over to the Elf Village.
'I earned an ancient power and I want to try it out. So, everybody retreat to the back once we get to the wall.'
It was an amazing power. Even he could not create such damage with a single blow. That was why Choi Han understood why the Elves were standing there with a blank expression.
"What are you doing? Hurry up and go."
Choi Han turned his gaze after feeling a tug at his arm. He could see that Cale's gaze was still calm, even though he could not stop coughing up blood. His eyes seemed rational.
He was telling Choi Han to go while coughing up blood.
"Hurry up and go. Are you going to let the animals continue to suffer like this?"
Cale was clenching onto Choi Han's arm with what seemed to be a lot of strength based on the veins on the back of his hand, but there was no power in the grasp. That made Choi Han's expression become even stiffer.
'He was like this in the capital too.'
Choi Han was thinking about how Cale always put himself in danger in order to save others. Cale always tried to do the difficult things himself, even if he would suffer in pain like this.
Who cares if the power is strong when it causes this much pain?
However, Choi Han understood Cale's feelings. At that moment, Choi Han heard Cale's voice in his ear.
"Only you can do it."
Cale could see Choi Han removing his hand from his shoulder.
Choi Han really was the only one who could do it.
Cale thought about making Raon do it, but Raon was a bit odd right now.
Raon's voice was consistently echoing in Cale's mind.
– T, this! B, blood!
'What is he trying to say?'
Raon could not speak properly, instead, he just continued to say that over and over. At that moment, Cale heard Choi Han's voice.
"I will come back soon."
Choi Han did not wait for Cale's response before disappearing.
Aaaah! Ugh!
Cale soon heard a lot more screams. It was most likely Choi Han's work.
Cale wiped off the blood in his hands and put some strength into his legs. He then quickly gave an order.
"Ron, dead mana."
"…Yes sir."
Ron's left arm, which was made by the necromancer Mary, was able to collect dead mana because it was not alive. Cale was planning on selling this precious dead mana to the Dark Elves and the crown prince.
'I can't give up this free money.'
Cale hated working for free.
Cale put in a lot of effort in turning his head. He was so hungry that even doing this was difficult right now. He could see Lock and the kittens.
"Go."
Although it would be normal for them to flinch after hearing Cale's indifferent voice, Lock immediately jumped off the wall and started to run behind Choi Han. On and Hong, who had been in Lock's arms, headed toward Cale.
Meeeeeeow.
Meeow.
They tried to rub their bodies on Cale's legs. However, Cale avoided them. He didn't want the black dye to come off their bodies. Cale tapped them with his now clean hand to urge them on. On and Hong meowed a few more times before revealing their fangs and following behind Lock.
Cale watched them leave before he slowly raised himself up. He could finally see the bottom of the wall.
'Hmm?'
Cale flinched, and his sight became blurry for a moment. Whether it was because he had spent all of his energy or because the sight in front of him was shocking, Cale staggered to the side.
'Was the Fire of Destruction this strong?'
He could see the fire on top of the scorched ground.
The results of using the Fire of Destruction at full power was beyond what Cale had expected.
Cale started to think as he staggered.
'This is pretty good.'
It was worth the two hundred thousand silver coins. However, contrary to his satisfaction, Cale could not put any strength in his body. He did not even have the power to stop himself from falling backward.
"Young master-nim!"
"Shit!"
Pendrick and Beacrox reached their arms out to catch him. However, Cale did not fall, even though they did not manage to reach him.
– No! Cale! You cannot fall down!
Cale could feel a head supporting his back. It was the Black Dragon, Raon.
He could feel Raon's round head on his back as his back started to get wet. Raon seemed to be crying.
Cale started to frown.
'This is bad.'
The Dragon had descended. Cale looked toward the Elves behind Pendrick. They were all still blankly staring below the wall. However, two Elves, the Guardian Knight and the Chief, who had come much closer, slowly turned toward Cale.
At the same time, the Elementals next to the two Elves, a half-transparent Blue Elemental and a White Elemental, both started to shake in fear.
"Cale-nim, are you okay?"
Pendrick's hand was covered in a white light. It was his healing power. Pendrick's hand immediately headed for Cale's back, but it ran into something invisible.
"What the?"
Pendrick mumbled in shock.
'Just a Dragon's body.'
Cale started to speak to Pendrick in order to divert his attention. Cale was not bleeding like before, but a small amount of blood was still seeping out of the corner of his mouth.
"Once we get rid of the tamer, I think it will be better for the Elves to take care of the animals. They have lived with all of you for a long time."
Pendrick stopped moving. He looked toward Cale and was at a loss for words after seeing Cale's calm demeanor. He finally understood why Cale had not used that red thunderbolt, the power that he needed to sacrifice his own strength to cast, on the animals.
He was feeling sorry for the animals.
He had proceeded with this difficult and painful method so that the Elves, who had been living in harmony with the animals for a long time, could peacefully say goodbye to them.
Cale ignored Pendrick's gaze and started to think about how he had to do all this even though he was starving. Cale looked back down at the bottom of the wall.
"Haaaa."
Pendrick could see Cale let out a sigh-like laugh as he looked at the battlefield.
"I picked a difficult path."
Choi Han and the rest were fighting very well. Cale could see Choi Han's black aura cut through the tamer's stomach.
"B, blood! Brown! Come protect me!"
"Shit!"
Bang!
Choi Han nimbly dodged the magic spearman's sword. The magic spearman had taken a sword from one of his subordinates in order to be able to attack, as his spear had been destroyed by Cale's thunderbolt.
"I'm already busy because of those blonde twins! Why are these bastards always getting in my way?!"
The magic spearman swung his sword in a way that looked like he wanted to vent his frustration, however, his attacks did not manage to land on Choi Han. Cale looked away from the indifferent Choi Han to see the others, who were also fighting. With him not there, Lock, the kittens, and even Ron were like fish in water.
Actually, vicious might be a better word to describe it.
All of them were fighting without holding back. The battlefield was filled with blood.
Cale got scared at the sight and repented.
'I stepped in for nothing.'
Yes, there was no need for him to do that. He chose the difficult path for no reason.
Looking at his present situation after stepping up to test the power of the, 'Fire of Destruction.' Cale regretted his actions. All he had to do was use these experts under his command.
Cale found it difficult to even stand there without any strength. He wanted to go to sleep. Although he was not in pain, he really wanted to eat.
This was the first time he felt like he was going to faint after receiving the Vitality of the Heart.
Pendrick, who had misunderstood Cale's bitter smile for a different reason, hesitated multiple times with a complicated expression on his face before finally starting to speak.
"…We will never forget your and everyone else's benevolence, young master-nim."
However, Cale could not respond to Pendrick's statement.
"You crazy bastards!"
Beacrox, who had approached Cale, shouted loudly as he swung his longsword. Cale, who quickly turned around, could see a white bandage in front of him.
It was the assassin, Number 1.
He seemed to have run forward without looking back while the red thunderbolt struck down. He was so stealthy that he managed to get by Beacrox without getting noticed.
Cale made eye contact with the eyes visible underneath the bandage. At that moment, he heard an angry voice in his head. The voice sounded like it had been crying.
– I'm going to kill him.
With that, the white bandage flew backward. Cale blankly stared at the individual that got thrown back without even touching him.
Beacrox did not need to swing his longsword. Raon had used his strength. The white bandage that was floating in the air tried to move in fear, but he could not do anything.
"W, what is this? You're a mage?"
Cale thought about his answer, but did not say it out loud.
'No, a Dragon.'
A vicious voice continued to speak in his head.
– I will never forgive any of them.
Cale wondered who the, 'them,' Raon was talking about was.
– Human, I will not appear, just like you asked. However, in return, do not look. It will be difficult for a weakling like you to watch.
Cale happily did as Raon asked. He made sure to say something, just in case Raon went crazy.
"Okay, I'm going to take a nap."
Cale closed his eyes.
He didn't have any strength to even keep his eyes open anymore. Cale felt the round reptile head and paws supporting his body as he fell asleep.
"Aaaaaaaaaahh!"
A pitiful scream echoed in the valley.
Bang!
It sounded like something blew up. In fact, it sounded like a human body blew up. Cale debated whether he should open his eyes and watch. However, he had given them orders prior to their arrival at the Elf Village. With the victory in their grasps, he knew that these people, who were all stronger than him, would take care of everything.
"A great and mighty being's protection...!"
Cale lost consciousness after hearing this new voice. He felt like his body was slowly being laid down as he prayed.
He prayed that he could have at least one slice of bread when he woke up.
***
However, when Cale woke up, he was laying in an extremely beautiful, almost to the point of overwhelming, flower garden. There was even a weird leaf crown on his head.
It was a crown made from the World Tree's leaves.
Cale was nervous at what might be going on.