Chapter 668 — The new sun has set (2)
16 min read ·
“Do you really think you can do that?”
Rustle.
They heard some dry branches crunching as someone wearing a black armor appeared.
“You really were alive.”
Someone else who was wearing silver armor walked out of the shadow of the forest as well.
An odd smile formed on Cale’s face as he slowly looked at the two knights.
“I can tell who one of you is, but I don’t know the other.”
The knight in black armor...
“You must be one of Count Hubesha’s subordinates.”
“You are not qualified to speak my liege’s name.”
Inside the Endable Kingdom where the White Star was king...
Count Hubesha was the knight who wore black armor; one of the four nobles of the kingdom. She rode on a peculiar black horse and led her army of black knights.
All of her knights had their faces covered by their helmets, but this knight was not wearing one right now.
“I was wondering where Count Hubesha went off on her own, but I guess she was here.”
Count Hubesha had been the only one to show any pity for young master Naru when Cale was pretending to be him.
But he had not seen her at all while they went up against the White Star’s side.
“Where is the Count?”
“Do you think that is important right now?”
Cale’s gaze moved from the black knight to the silver knight. His cheeky smile was upsetting to see.
Cale slightly frowned, which made the silver knight smile even more. His eyes sparkled as if this situation was so exciting that he couldn’t handle it.
“I didn’t expect to see a celebrity from the Western continent like this.”
“Are you from the Eastern continent?”
“Yes.”
The troops from some of the kingdoms on the Eastern continent that had aligned themselves with the White Star were currently attacking the Western continent.
The silver knight’s green hair was fluttering in the wind unlike the desolate forest.
“You must be curious about who I am.”
Cale bluntly said what was on his mind.
“Not really.”
“...What? Really?”
The knight’s pupils started shaking. It looked as if he could not believe it at all.
Cale’s head tilted to the side.
“Should I be curious?”
“...No......”
The knight smiled once more even though his face was still full of disbelief.
“I’m a sword master.”
The corners of his lips twisted up grotesquely.
“You still aren’t curious?”
His tongue slipped out of his mouth and licked his lips.
“I heard about the Sez Kingdom. Hehe, you guys really turned Mount Nex into a mess.”
The Sez Kingdom’s Mount Nex. It was the place where Cale had embraced some sculptures and his allies had abducted their king.
Mercenary King Bud and Tiger Gashan were still there taking care of things.
‘Our plan was to start with the Sez Kingdom and make the others break their alliances with the White Star as well.’
Cale knew that those two would take care of things properly, whether it required conversation or threats to get it done.
‘But looking back at it now, the White Star was one step ahead of us.’
The White Star had found out from Lion King Dorph that the summoning ritual at Mount Nex had failed. He then moved one step of Cale and the others and Bear King Sayeru had conducted the summoning ritual at the Endable Kingdom.
In the end, two unranked monsters were sent to Puzzle City while the White Star’s forces and the Eastern continent’s forces attacked numerous kingdoms on the Western continent to prevent them from gathering at Puzzle City.
‘But I don’t know what he is going to do now.’
Based on the rumor that the White Star had started, it looked as if the White Star wanted the core individuals of the Western continent to gather at Puzzle City to defeat the temple guardian on his behalf.
The kingdoms on the Eastern continent should slowly start to be affected by Bud and Gashan and will start trying to break their alliances with him, with the Sez Kingdom leading the movement.
‘The Molden Kingdom with Jopis and the Mercenaries’ Guild will make it very clear that they are against the White Star.’
Their influence would not be small.
Some of the kingdoms on the Eastern continent were likely to hesitate.
The rest of the Eastern continent’s troops that had not been sent to the kingdoms of the Western continent would need to move elsewhere.
‘Is that other place the place with the World Tree?’
Thinking back on it, the White Star seemed to cause a lot of issues related to the World Tree.
He tried to create the fake tree and attack the place the World Tree resided.
‘...Does that White Star bastard know that the way to destroy a reincarnator is through an immortal? No, that’s not it.’
Cale shook his head.
“Hmm? Why aren’t you saying anything? I heard that Cale Henituse was a great talker. Are you shocked because I said that I am a sword master, hmm? By the way, that Choi Han punk isn’t with you? I wanted to meet that bastard who is also the youngest sword mas-”
“Please.”
“Hmm?”
“Shut the hell up.”
“...What?”
Cale couldn’t focus properly because of this bastard who looked like he had grass on his head.
Cale started to think again.
‘There are a lot of things the White Star doesn’t know yet.’
Immortals. Reincarnators.
The White Star should have no knowledge of these people.
‘If he did, the first thing he would have done during his 1,000 years would have been to destroy the World Tree.’
Who would try to become an omnipotent being while leaving their weakness alive?
The White Star wasn’t that kind of careless and stupid bastard.
‘It’s probably more correct to say that he was trying to see the flow of things like the World Tree does, similar to the reason he created the fake World Tree.’
The World Tree knew about everything in the world except some things it could not see. It was just restricted and could not talk about those things.
It was probably more accurate to say that that was what the White Star was aiming for.
“How arrogant.”
‘Hmm?’
Cale raised his head after suddenly hearing someone. The knight’s eyes had sunk now.
“I guess you now think that the world revolves around you because people keep telling you that you are a hero. You just do whatever the hell you want.”
The green-haired knight was glaring at Cale who had ignored him. The jealousy in his eyes could not be hidden.
‘What the hell is he saying?’
Of course, the emotions of someone who wasn’t his ally, someone he had no interest in, were none of Cale’s business.
Cale’s expression naturally turned disgruntled, but the knight just thought Cale was looking down on him.
“Cale Henituse. There is more to the world than you know. The world does not revolve as you wish. Even if you are being hailed as a hero right now-”
“Why do you keep saying something so obvious?”
The knight flinched at this brusque voice.
Cale, who was listening to see what the hell the knight had to say, slowly started getting annoyed.
‘Would I be living like this if I knew everything? I would just hide somewhere and live a quiet life.’
He got angrier the more he thought about it.
‘Would I be in this mess if the world really rolled as I wanted? Hmm? Would I live a life of coughing up blood and fainting if that was the case?’
Cale held back from saying those things that would just frustrate him about the reality of his situation if he said it out loud.
“Ha!”
The knight scoffed in disbelief.
“Arrogant bastard.”
The green-haired knight pulled his sword out of his matching silver scabbard.
Clang.
A blade that gave off a silver light that was as cold as ice appeared.
The knight looked toward the black armored knight who was quietly standing there. Count Hubesha’s subordinate, the black knight, looked back at him and the silver knight quickly motioned with his eyes before looking forward once again.
“I am Avodo Phazeder II. The Sword of Aman, the Land of Mysteries.”
Shhhhhhh-
The leaves of the trees in the forest started shaking.
It was not that a gust of wind had blown. The forest just shook because hundreds of people had moved.
Avodo Phazeder II. His somewhat light-hearted demeanor completely disappeared, and he gave off coldness similar to the silver sword in his hand that resembled the snow.
“Cale Henituse... Your story will end here today.”
The sound of the leaves rustling could not be heard anymore.
Only the silence remained, causing a suffocating atmosphere.
Ron Molan. His gaze slowly moved toward the silent forest as he quietly stood behind Cale.
He could feel the strong aura of the enemies hiding in the darkness of the forest through this suffocating silence.
‘They are elites.’
Ron started thinking about the Aman Kingdom of the Eastern continent. They were not as famous for their sword art like the Sez Kingdom which was known as the Kingdom of Knights, but it was a kingdom that has a mysterious air to it, fitting their name as the Land of Mysteries.
‘They’re much stronger than the White Star’s Arm or those other idiots.’
This was especially true about this green-haired knight who seemed like he wouldn’t be that strong. Avodo Phazeder II. He had been completely focused on Cale from the moment he pulled his sword out.
He was so focused and did not let his guard down even a little bit, unlike the others who had treated Cale as if he was a weakling.
He also must have some fighting experiences as he looked young but experienced.
‘Did he say he was the youngest sword master of the Eastern continent?’
He truly seemed to deserve that title.
‘But it’s not enough.’
The corners of Ron’s mouth curled up.
‘He’s not at our young master-nim’s level.’
Cale Henituse had been through quite a lot of things. Whether it is being in battles, getting injured, or gaining all sorts of experiences, nobody had experienced more of it than Cale in these past few years.
As Ron calmly made his assessment and looked toward Cale’s back...
“Haaaaa.”
Cale, the owner of the back Ron was looking at, sighed.
“How annoying. I don’t have time to deal with them one by one.”
He gave an order in a nonchalant voice.
“Just barge through.”
It was a short order, but the others all understood.
Barge their way through until they get to the World Tree.
As the others heard that order...
Swooooooosh-
Cale felt a breeze next to him.
Cale smiled after seeing the back of the person who had moved past him so quickly that he had caused a breeze.
“I guess he was frustrated.”
Cale reached his hand out.
Swoooooooosh-
His ancient power, the Sound of the Wind, activated. Cale’s whirlwinds swirled at the feet of the person who had rushed past him, helping the person push forward even faster. Avodo Phazeder II frowned.
“You......!”
A large greatsword lifted into the air before he could say anything else.
Baaaaang—!
The large greatsword crashed into Avodo’s silver sword and caused a loud explosion.
The greatsword looked as if it could destroy a mountain but its strength was just ‘strong.’ Sword master Avodo glared at the owner of the greatsword.
“The weakest bastard......!”
The man had a cold expression on his face as if he would not allow the smallest amount of warmth, similar to the winter of the north. Beacrox responded to Avodo who was glaring at him.
“I am weak on my own.”
A person moved past Beacrox and Avodo at that moment.
“Not bad.”
Ron made a short comment to his son as he passed by. There was a sharp dagger in both of his hands. His body slowly disappeared into the shadow of the forest as if he was fusing into it.
“Stop him!”
Avodo shouted, and the leaves started to shake again as people appeared from all over the forest. They were all wearing silver or black armor.
It was at that moment.
“Hong.”
“I got it, noona!”
On and Hong rushed in front of Cale as well. Red fog was starting to rise from the two Cats.
Clang!
“Dodge the fog. You won’t be affected by the poison if it doesn’t touch you.”
Avodo easily pushed Beacrox’s greatsword aside and gave the order. He was calm as if he had expected this.
But there was something he had not seen yet.
“It’s our little bro’s turn!”
“Raon.”
Hong and On called for someone.
They called the Dragon with chubby cheeks that was fluttering his small wings after removing his invisibility.
“I agree with the human! We don’t have time! Let’s just run over them!”
Raon’s mana gathered around him while looking like a black fog. It happened in an instant.
“Prepare for magic too!”
As Avodo gave another order and kicked off the ground to run toward Raon and Cale...
Baaaaaang!
“Ugh.”
The moment Beacrox let out a short groan and slammed against Avodo with his greatsword again...
The black fog and red fog touched each other.
On, Hong, and Raon all started smiling at the same time. Their smiles were identical to Cale’s smile.
Raon shouted with joy.
“It’s been a while!”
Baaaaaang–!
Then there was a loud explosion and the enemies all turned toward one spot.
Avodo subconsciously shouted in astonishment.
“That......!”
A large whirlwind that was almost a tornado appeared. Just looking at this red whirlwind made them feel anxious.
All of their hairs fluttered wildly at this violent wind that looked as if it would pierce through the sky.
‘I knew that the black Dragon’s magic was amazing......!’
The two Cats were also amazing, b ut this was Avodo’s first time seeing the three of their powers fused together and his body automatically stiffened after looking at this whirlwind that resembled a small natural disaster.
‘...Their power is most useful in large-scale battles.’
Avodo finally realized why Cale Henituse had come here without any hesitation despite only having a few people with him.
The Cats and the Molan duo were weak in one on one combat, but their synergy was amazing once they were working together with Raon.
Swooooooosh-
The whirlwind looked as if it would sweep the whole forest away.
Avodo could not hide his emotions anymore.
“What the hell-!”
The red Cat Hong responded to his question like a good boy.
“It’s sleeping poison and paralysis poison, nya!”
This sleeping poison would make them fall asleep for at least one hour. The paralysis poison would make it difficult to move for two to three hours.
They were not deadly poisons and would disappear on their own, so there would be no side effects in the people affected by them. In some aspects, it could be called a poison that could stop their enemies for a bit without shedding any blood.
It was the weakest of Hong’s poisons, but he could release quite a lot of it because it was so weak.
“All of you just need to sleep and get some rest, nya!”
On smiled gently as she listened to Hong. Raon was nodding his head as if he liked what Hong just said.
The method the children averaging nine-years-old came up with to quickly and efficiently create a path forward was to make the enemies stop for a bit using their poisonous fog storm instead of shedding blood fighting them one by one. They would immobilize the enemies and then go to the forest with the World Tree.
Of course, this storm was big enough to cover a portion of the forest with the Lake of Despair that it could be seen outside the forest as well.
“Very smart.”
“It is indeed better not to shed blood for no reason.”
“...Hmm.”
Cale, Ron, and Beacrox... The corners of the three men’s lips twitched as they could not hide their smiles of satisfaction.
“...You had a plan.”
Avodo Phazeder II. The green-haired knight was quietly mumbling to himself while putting more strength to push his sword that was up against Beacrox’s greatsword forward.
“Ugh!”
The smile of satisfaction disappeared from Beacrox’s face.
Avodo Phazeder II looked pretty feeble and was just barely over 170 cm. However, his sword had so much strength behind it even though he wasn’t using his aura.
Avodo observed the red whirlwind as he calmly spoke.
“There is nothing that cannot be slashed in this world. Even the wind can be slashed.”
That was the power of the Phazeder household that had laid down its roots in the Land of Mysteries.
He could see Cale Henituse’s eyes open wide, as if Cale was shocked at what he had just said.
“...Hmm?!”
His enemies, Raon, On, and Hong, were also all looking at him with clueless expressions.
“...What......?!”
Avodo looked toward Beacrox after hearing Beacrox sound anxious. Beacrox had to take steps back as his greatsword was pushed back by the strength of the silver sword, but Beacrox could not push the silver sword aside as he went up against Avodo.
His enemies looked anxious. The corners of Avodo’s lips curled up.
“I guess you’re curious about what I me-”
It was at that moment.
Rustle.
Avodo urgently pushed the greatsword back and moved after hearing a noise behind him.
‘It’s an enemy!’
Someone had come behind him.
‘Is it Ron Molan?’
Nobody, other than his ally, the black armored knight, had been behind him.
As his body moved extremely quickly to react toward the direction of the noise...
“Ah. It’s you.”
He saw a black armor and Avodo’s quickly reacting body relaxed subconsciously.
Pow–!
“Ugh!”
He was then smacked in the back of the head by a scabbard.
Plop.
The moment right between when he had been extremely tense and then relaxed because he noticed it was his ally... Avodo Phazeder II’s body slumped down to the ground after being hit accurately on the back of the head and neck.
Raon dropped his jaw with a blank expression on his face.
“...What is going on?”
Beacrox had a rare anxious expression on his face as he weakly lowered his greatsword. Cale just scratched his cheek as he spoke.
“What the...?”
He was as confused as Raon.
The black armored knight made eye contact with Cale and wiped the scabbard as if nothing was odd.
It was the scabbard used to smack Avodo once he let his guard down.
“Ugh!”
“Ugh!”
“W, why–!”
“...Traitors......!”
Knights in silver armor throughout the forest were attacked by knights in black armor and were either knocked unconscious or tied down.
“Hooo.”
Even Ron seemed shocked as he watched. The only one of the black armored knights who was not wearing a helmet, the one who had knocked Avodo unconscious, tied Avodo down before looking toward Cale.
“My liege is calling you.”
“Your liege? The White Star?”
The stoic black knight’s face turned into a frown.
“The White Star is not my liege.”
“...Count Hubesha.”
“Only the Count-nim is our liege.”
Count Hubesha was the one calling Cale.
The Endable Kingdom. There were four nobles in the kingdom underneath the White Star who was king.
One of them was the leader of the Vampires, Duke Fredo. Count Hubesha led the black armored knights and was one of the central figures in the Endable Kingdom.
The black armored knight had a stoic expression while sharing the will of his liege with Cale.
“She said that she would let you know where the White Star is.”
Choi Han and Alberu had not been able to locate the White Star’s hiding spot.
“Will you chat with her?”
The black armored knights moved over to one side, creating a path in the forest.
It was the path toward the Lake of Despair and the World Tree.
It was also the path to their liege, Count Hubesha.
Cale quietly observed the black knight and the path.
Raon cautiously flew over next to him and asked in a quiet voice.
“H, human... Should we put away our whirlwind?”
Raon’s front paw was timidly pointing toward the red whirlwind.
—