Beeeeeep— beeeeeeeep-
A level 1 emergency alarm went off throughout the Huayans Estate.
The high-grade barrier surrounding the estate that was basically as strong as the one at the capital was still there, but there were explosions happening all around the garden.
Unfortunately, the House of Huayans did not put a barrier underground.
"Wow. But they really are an amazing family."
Cale smiled underneath the mask.
– Human, so fast!
Raon, who was about to destroy something, stopped.
Click. Click.
They heard armors clanking as knights and soldiers appeared from all around the Estate.
"Get into attack formation!"
"Cast barriers around the building!"
Furthermore, a large number of black mages came out of the building or were looking through open windows.
Shawn became anxious.
"Young master-nim, there are more people than we expected. It definitely looked empty."
For supposedly being a household without much, there were a significant number of troops appearing from all around the building.
Choi Han could see On and Hong's fur standing up.
The enemies were both numerous and skilled.
'They are refined.'
They were also quite calm.
They looked shocked but did not let it show in their actions.
Their movements looked extremely professional.
'…I guess they are the Black Bloods household after all.'
Aphei, who had been fidgeting her fingers, started to speak at that moment.
"It's not even 10 percent that is in the building."
They had heard this from her already.
The troops of the House of Huayans that resided not in the capital but in the estate were 10 percent of the total.
They were ten percent of the total not by number but by quality.
'In that case, I can't even fathom the number of troops that make up the remaining 90 percent.'
As Choi Han's expression stiffened up…
He heard a calm voice.
"It's still looting an empty house if the master is not here."
Choi Han turned toward Cale.
Cale petted On and Hong's standing fur as he continued to speak.
"All of you look so stiff."
Choi Han started moving a hand toward his face, wondering if he had a stiff expression on his face, before he flinched.
Their faces were not visible because of the masks.
'That means that?!'
Choi Han finally looked at the faces of the enemies who were approaching them.
The knights had stiff looks on their faces.
The black mages as well.
"Aphei-nim."
"…Yeah?"
"Has the Huayans Estate ever been attacked?"
"Mm. Not to my knowledge."
"Then has anybody ever barged in while the patriarch was not here?'
"Mm. Not that either."
Cale spoke lightheartedly.
"Then it makes sense why they are scared."
On and Hong looked at Cale. Cale looked at the troops approaching them and surrounding them as he continued to speak.
"It's great that they are approaching us. On, Hong. Raon."
On and Hong felt the rough hand that had been petting them move away. They then saw where Cale was pointing toward.
He was pointing at the building and the people approaching them.
"Fog and poison."
"Meeeeeow!"
On roared energetically and took a step forward.
Fog instantly started to appear around the group and then spread out into the area.
Hong silently stuck right behind On.
Poison was spreading.
Click.
The enemies stopped walking toward them.
Swooooooosh—!
There was a gust of wind.
– Human, we will cover the entire building! We will do a great job despite working together like this for the first time in a long while! Do not worry!
The sibling's poisonous fog was carried by the youngest's gust of wind as it instantly spread throughout the building.
"You've gotten better."
On and Hong's poisonous fog fluctuated once at Cale's comment. Hong saw the smile on his sister's face and smiled brightly as well.
Cale had no idea about this as he addressed Choi Han.
"Go with Aphei-nim."
"…Yes sir!"
Choi Han turned toward Aphei. Aphei nodded her head and headed into the fog first.
"Team leader-nim, if you would please."
"Okay."
Sui Khan. He walked in his young boy form to disappear into the fog behind Choi Han and Aphei. He said one last thing as he passed by.
"Destroy it well."
Cale could hear Raon grumbling in his mind.
– How disappointing! I want to loot too!
'Yes, it is disappointing.'
Cale was disappointed as well.
Whatever was inside the Huayans patriarch's secret safe must be beyond their wildest imaginations.
For Cale, who was worried about how to receive a mine since so much of the land was polluted, that secret safe was a reward for his hard labor he must have.
'Oh well.'
However, there was nothing he could do about it.
There were explosions around the garden earlier so the dust clouds covered Choi Han when he used his sword.
'Unfortunately, both Choi Han and I are dead right now.'
It was best to hide their identities as much as possible.
There were quite a lot of people who saw Choi Han use aura in Precinct 9. There was no guarantee that none of those people were the House of Huayans' subordinates.
– Cale, you seem annoyed for some reason.
Cale ignored the Super Rock.
Honestly speaking, he was very, extremely, disappointed that he could not personally loot this secret safe that was bound to be a jackpot.
And because of his disappointment…
'Let's make it hot.'
He planned on using his powers.
– Oo! Cale, great decision!
The Fire of Destruction suddenly burst out.
The corners of Cale's lips curled up.
"Ugh!"
"Ugh!"
The moment people in the poisonous fog became paralyzed and appeared…
Cale thought about the Huayans patriarch who should be on the white desert looking for the identity and traces of the red light.
"Shawn-nim, Jezna."
"Yes, young master-nim."
"...."
"Please just stop any knights if they approach."
Shawn nodded his head while finding it to be odd.
'…How is he planning on destroying it? The defenses around the Huayans Estate seem quite strong. Doesn't he need Mr. Choi Han?'
The poisonous fog infiltrated into the building as well.
Thanks to that, the people on Cale's side, whom the poisonous fog did not touch, could move a bit more relaxed.
However, On and Hong were firm in their spots, potentially because they were using this rain cloud in such a large range.
On looked especially focused.
'She is controlling all of the fog in this area.'
Shawn was shocked at On's potential.
Of course, he was also shocked at the quality and quantity of small Hong's poison as well.
– Human, leave the protection to me!
Raon cast multiple layers of shield around Cale, On, and Hong.
Jezna was already standing behind Cale like a guard.
"Mm."
As Shawn waited with concern about what Cale would do…
Crackle.
He saw a rose gold thunderbolt shooting up through the fog.
– Aww… only two percent this time?
Cale could hear the disappointed cheapskate in his mind.
– You bastard! Just using two percent is going to release 100 percent strength!
The Super Rock criticized the Fire of Destruction.
– Uh, uhh?
He then became flustered.
Swoooooooosh-
The rose gold thunderbolt had the power of wind in it.
– You are using me too?
The husky voice of the Sound of the Wind asked with confusion.
Crack, crackle.
The Super Rock asked in an anxious voice.
– …Huh? You're going to use more?
– Kahahaha! Yes, you should use at least 10 percent! That's still much less than half!
Ten percent power…
The resulting effect would be 500 percent.
As the cheapskate shouted in excitement…
"No matter what it is, landing the first hit and running away is best."
Since Cale's side was significantly lower in numbers compared to the Black Bloods household, the method he chose to go up against them was simple.
'Hit and run.'
He was just planning on that first hit to be quite big.
Like what he was doing right now.
Cale's hand slowly drew a line.
Crack, crack.
The rose gold thunderbolt carrying the power of wind left Cale's hand.
Cale recalled what he had said to the group before they came here today.
'There is one thing I am certain about.'
'I have the most destructive power of all of us right now.'
Shawn watched the rose gold line moving through the fog.
That rose gold light moved like a meteor…
And it also disappeared from view very quickly like a meteor as well.
Baaaaaaaaaang—!
The barrier the black mages created to protect the building immediately melted into nothing.
There was not just one rose gold thunderbolt.
There were a total of five.
The other four were moving in different directions.
Baaaaaaaaaang!
Baaaaaaaaaang-!
The west side roof of the main building went flying.
The fence, including the parts that Choi Han broke earlier, all melted away and disappeared.
The training ground was destroyed. Yes, it was just destroyed.
And finally…
Baaaaaang–!
The sky… The barrier surrounding the estate was destroyed.
And a rose gold pillar of light shot up into the air.
"…Oh."
Shawn heard Jezna gasp in admiration next to him for the first time but ignored her.
He heard a black mage shouting almost in a screech.
"…The black magic was dest-!"
"Dead mana is extinguished if it touches those thunderbolts!"
"Unbelievable!"
The black mages' barrier was disappearing as if it was nothing.
Only grey ashes fluttered where the barrier disappeared.
Shawn blankly watched this sight.
'…W, was he always this strong?'
He knew that young master Cale was strong, but this was completely beyond what he had expected.
Most importantly…
'He looks fine?'
Tasha had warned him about something before coming here.
'Both his highness, Prince Alberu, and I are concerned. If it looks like young master Cale is going to faint, stop him from using any more of his powers. The others will be happy if you do that as well.'
Young master Cale coughed up blood or fainted if he used too much of his powers.
This was something so famous that basically everybody knew.
'…His complexion looks so good...'
However, Cale's complexion looked extremely good right now.
Honestly speaking, he looked more relaxed than when he was in the Roan Kingdom and his face was full of life.
You could tell that he ate and slept well while he was here.
'…That is a good thing, right?'
Shawn felt iffy for some odd reason.
'…Tasha said that he ends up causing a giant incident if he's like this.
He's not going to cough up blood and faint for a few days later, is he?'
Shawn heard a relaxed voice as he felt this unexplainable uneasiness.
"Mm. It's not like I can attack the building."
Cale's voice was full of vitality.
He seemed oddly excited.
– That's right, human! Team leader Sui Khan, Choi Han, and Aphei are in the building! Let's just send more of the roof flying!
Cale ignored Raon's comment as he thought to himself.
'I don't know how long Choi Han's side is going to take.'
Aphei had said that she knew where the secret safe was located but did not know how to open it.
That was why Cale had sent Aphei, who was strong in magic, with Choi Han, who was strong with the sword.
Furthermore, quick decision making should be possible because the team leader was with them.
"The troops from the Imperial Palace should arrive soon."
The outside should take a lot of different actions now that he had caused such a ruckus and people should soon gather around this residence.
"The Huayans patriarch should have been informed as well."
Cale crossed his arms and started to contemplate things.
Shawn looked at him in shock.
'…We are in enemy territory, right?'
Shawn had firmed his resolve before coming here that things might go bad but all he had done until now was just blankly standing here.
It could not be helped.
"Ugh."
"U, ugh."
The knights who had been in the front of the group approaching them were poisoned and paralyzed or keeping their distance, unable to easily approach them.
Crack. Crackle.
It was because rose gold currents were still gathered around Cale and swirling around him.
The black mages were chaotic and did not know what to do. They could not launch an attack or defend because the dead mana became extinguished.
It was rowdy outside the fence but nobody could easily approach either.
"…Ho, hoho."
Shawn couldn't help but laugh in disbelief.
He then heard a noise.
Boom-!
It was a dull sound of something breaking.
"Ho."
Shawn heard Cale scoff in disbelief and laughed again.
"Ho, hoho-"
Cale listened to Shawn's laugh as his jaw dropped.
– H, human! I have this thought every so often! Choi Han is a human who is no joke!
Gulp. Cale gulped.
The safe, and the wall that it was on, was thrown into the wall.
Of course, it broke through the roof as it did that.
It seemed to have been done with Aphei's magic.
Of course, the fact that the wall had a clean cut through it made it look as if Choi Han had used his sword to slice off the wall.
Cale heard Aphei's voice in his mind.
– Mm. The swordsman said we don't have time and suggested we just cut off the wall and take the whole thing. He is a smart swordsman.
The timid voice sounded a bit excited as it continued.
– …He did a great job destroying it. But he did not destroy it all the way. Can I destroy it?
Cale was sighing before he turned to look at Choi Han.
Choi Han was not alone as he shot up on top of the roof.
He was holding a person by the collar in each hand.
– Ah. The young boy wanted me to let you know.
The team leader was standing next to Choi Han, knocking the people in Choi Han's hand unconscious.
– He said that we captured two people he presumes to be Hunters.
Cale opened his mouth to speak.
"Raon. Tell Choi Han that we are going back."
– Alright! I will prepare the teleportation magic circle!
The mysterious force that had infiltrated the Huayans Estate soon disappeared without a trace along with the teleportation magic circle.
"Huff, huff!"
"Ugh, Captain-nim, are you okay?"
The knight who barely recovered from the paralyzing poison received his subordinate's support as he opened his mouth to speak.
"I, immediately contact the patriarch-nim."
He then whispered in a low voice.
"And use the Grade 1 Hunters in the capital to defend the residence."
"As an Emergency Alert situation?"
"Yes. This is the first time something like this has happened. We need to defend more while the patriarch-nim isn't here, ugh."
In a corner of the residence…
The red eyes of a black hawk observed the Knight Captain from the shadows caused by destroyed pieces of the building.
Sui Khan, who had been the only one to not leave, soon opened his wings and flew up into the sky that was no longer restricted by a barrier.
He was observing the forces that were gathering at the Huayans Estate from the Imperial Palace and around the capital as he leisurely roamed around the sky before soon heading toward the others.
—
Translator's Comments
Best spy Sui.