Chapter 703 — Only one answer (1)
14 min read ·
Chaos had descended upon Puzzle City.
“Your highness! The door will not open!”
“Move!”
Alberu rushed past the mages moving back and charged toward the temple door. His arms were up as he slashed down with the white spear in his hands.
Baaaaaang-!
There was a loud noise but neither the white spear in Alberu’s hand nor the firmly shut temple door had taken any damage.
“Fuck!”
The mages and healers around him flinched after hearing him swear but they were feeling the same way.
The blue orb above the temple had turned red.
The first party to be dispatched had not come out even after five minutes. At this point, it symbolized that they were unable to come out even if they wanted to do so.
“It’s useless.”
Alberu raised his head. The gold Dragon was moving its large body as it roamed around the temple.
“The door won’t open with magic either.”
The Dragon had long since used magic and physical force to open the temple door. Sadly, they were useless.
“…It’s not like we can just destroy the temple.”
They had no idea what was going on inside the temple so they could not launch strong attacks against the temple.
“But we can’t just stand here and wait!”
Sword master Hannah raised her voice with her sword in her hand. She attacked the temple door but could not get it to open.
“Oppa!”
She looked toward Saint Jack.
“Oppa, can you do something with Divine Power, oppa!”
Hannah rushed toward Jack in shock.
“Huff.”
Plop.
Jack was kneeling on the ground with his hands clasped together. He looked pale while his lips were blue.
“Saint-nim.”
Alberu walked up and knelt down on one knee as he made eye contact with Jack. The mysterious change to the temple and Saint Jack’s sudden action… They all seemed weird.
“Saint-nim, are you not feeling well?”
The moment Alberu asked Saint Jack…
“Your highness!”
Someone called for Alberu. Alberu was familiar with that voice, but it was a voice he should not be able to hear from here.
Alberu turned his head.
“Please go down! It is currently dangerous here!”
“Only those with permission may come up!”
At the end of the steps leading up to the temple… There were mages stopping people trying to approach the temple.
That person was on their tiptoes while looking past the mages and waving.
“Wait, please! Let me get by! Your highness! It’s me, your highness!”
“…You are-”
Alberu urgently headed toward the steps. The mages finally stepped back. Alberu could now see the person who had been hidden.
The person was wearing a loose priest robe. However, the sleeves of this priest robe with no designs on it were shaking.
“You are a priestess of the God of Death?”
“Yes, your highness. My name is Cage.”
“I remember. Why are you-”
Taylor Stan, the patriarch of the Stan March. Excommunicated priestess Cage, his best friend.
“I am here as I have a message for you, your highness!”
Alberu felt an unknown sense of uncertainty at her sudden appearance.
He then turned toward Saint Jack.
“Huff. Huff.”
Saint Jack was gasping for breath.
Then there was Cage, a priestess of the God of Death of all gods. She was excommunicated by the church, but the God of Death still reached out to her.
“…What is your message?”
Alberu quietly observed the slowly approaching Cage. She thoroughly looked around. She frowned after seeing Saint Jack but her expression soon returned to normal.
“The red orb is the gaze of the bound god.”
Cage quietly observed the red orb.
“Do not stop the god’s game.”
The things that the God of Death had appeared in Cage’s dream to say…
They were all delivered to Alberu.
“Even gods cannot stop fate.”
Saint Jack caught his breath before he started praying. Warm Divine Power surrounded the people around the temple.
Cage then said the last thing.
“People who can win against fate definitely exist.”
Gods could not win against fate.
However, people who can win against fate definitely existed.
Eruhaben, who had polymorphed into his human form, walked up to Cage.
“I guess we have to watch for now then.”
Eruhaben pointed to the steps heading down.
“We should make everybody withdraw to the ground. Alberu, the other Dragons and I will take turns protecting this place.”
Alberu did not move. Eruhaben, who was looking at Alberu with a gaze to urge him to move, saw Alberu’s mouth open.
“…Cale Henituse’s test was experiencing despair.”
Alberu recalled the world that he had seen as the Dark Tiger.
“The test seemed to be going well, but unexpected things happened, making things difficult for the people taking the test in both body and mind.”
He said one last thing before he started walking to make people withdraw to the bottom of the steps.
“I am concerned.”
Eruhaben felt the same way. However, he was not only worried about the people inside the temple.
His gaze was headed somewhere that seemed like nothing was there.
He couldn’t see because Raon was invisible, but he could feel Raon’s mana.
“…I will not let you off……”
The quietly mumbling black Dragon’s dark blue eyes were not looking at the temple.
The red orb. They were quietly observing the red orb.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Raon’s heart was beating oddly.
“…It’s stopped.”
Time seemed to be stopped for this red orb as if time itself did not exist for it.
Raon’s gaze became sharp as he observed the red orb without stopping.
As for Alberu, he had turned around and started walking while looking at the white spear in his hand.
“Taerang.”
- Yes, Alberu-nim.
“Contact the AS representative immediately.”
Ahn Roh Man. The information from that bastard had been completely wrong.
‘Something’s off.’
Alberu needed to find all information to deal with this situation. He closed his eyes for a moment.
Everything turned dark.
* * *
- So you are currently taking a test in an illusion, but you are a ghost?
“That’s right.”
Cale nodded his head while the twenty years old Kim Rok Soo scowled.
- Why are you always taking tests?
“My thoughts exactly.”
The Kim Rok Soo inside the cintamani tapped on the table with his index finger. Park Jin Tae, who was a bit away from him, peeked at Kim Rok Soo and Cale inside the cintamani before commenting.
- Basically, you want us to relay your words to Choi Han on your behalf.
“That’s right.”
Park Jin Tae looked at the calmly responding Cale with an odd gaze.
The Lion Dragon, an unranked monster, and the temple guardian. Lee Soo Hyuk, Kim Rok Soo, Choi Jung Soo, and Park Jin Tae had seen everything during that battle.
It allowed them to get a good idea about Cale’s status and how things worked in this other world.
- …You act the same whether you are here or there.
Hmph.
Park Jin Tae was scoffing and grumbling but he was scowling, making his face have a lot of wrinkles.
“Are you worried about me?”
- Who would be worried about you?! Who would do something so useless?!
Park Jin Tae suddenly raised his voice before turning around to avoid Kim Rok Soo’s gaze.
- That Dark Tiger! That bastard looks like he needs to relearn how to use a gun! He needs lessons from a national representative!
He said some more things, but Kim Rok Soo ignored him and addressed Cale.
- Anyway, I get what you are saying. I will let Soo Hyuk hyung and Choi Jung Soo know about it as well.
Lee Soo Hyuk had left as there was a sudden emergency rescue situation. Kim Rok Soo, who had come to inform him about the emergency, had taken his place here.
“Thanks. No big issues over there?”
- Yeah. It’s the same as usual. There was no way for there to be any big issues.
The twenty years old Kim Rok Soo inside the cintamani smiled bitterly.
- How can anything happen when I have seen your memories?
He shrugged his shoulders.
- Of course, we still have a long way to go.
“It sure is long.”
- By the way, where are you going?
“Mm.”
He could hear the scowling Park Jin Tae’s voice. He had walked up and sat down next to Kim Rok Soo at some point.
- Why is there a villa inside a cave?
Cale ignored Park Jin Tae as he walked toward the luxurious Super Rock Villa.
It reminded him of when he first came here in the past.
The Super Rock had stored weapons and other goods inside this villa.
‘They were quite useful.’
However, Cale did not look at those places again. There was something here that was more important than anything else.
Tap. Tap.
His steps quickened and Cale stopped once he arrived at his destination on the fifth floor.
- What’s with the rock?
Cale quietly looked at the cobblestone.
Eating this cobblestone would allow him to gain the ‘Scary Giant Cobblestone’ ancient power.
“As expected, the ancient powers are in their original locations as I am not here.”
Cale reached toward the cobblestone just in case.
Shhh.
- Ha! You really are a ghost.
Cale’s hand couldn’t touch it and moved right past it.
“Mm.”
‘…I need to eat this to get the power.’
Cale thought about it before lowering his head.
- Hey, hey! What are you doing?
- Mm.
He heard Park Jin Tae’s shocked shout and Kim Rok Soo’s groan, but Cale didn’t care. His mouth headed toward the cobblestone instead.
His mouth moved right through it as expected.
“I can’t eat it.”
- You’re going to eat that?
“How disappointing.”
- Ho!
Park Jin Tae looked at Cale in disbelief but Cale didn’t care.
‘Should I use Embrace?’
He debated swiping the Super Rock’s power that way if he had to do so. It would be quite burdensome for Cale to fight without his original ancient powers.
“First.”
He activated Embrace with a thought on his mind.
Boom. Boom.
His heart was beating fast. An unknown power flowed through his body and into his hand.
Cale’s hand headed toward the cobblestone.
There was a gold coin he had taken out from his pocket in his hand.
“It doesn’t work.”
He came to a swift conclusion.
“I can’t seal the Super Rock.”
- Hey, why are you smiling?
Cale was indeed smiling.
“It’s an illusion.”
This world really was an illusion.
‘If I embraced this cobblestone, this power would return to our world sealed in this coin when I go back.’
It was similar to how the White Star and the other Embraced things came with him when he entered this illusion.
The fact that it could not be Embraced meant that it was a power ‘that could not be taken back to reality.’ It meant that it was an ‘illusion.’
“It is an illusion that seems real.”
Basically, this world was fake.
This was not a different world or the past.
“How entertaining.”
Cale moved the hand that was holding the cintamani.
“But I can’t leave the Super Rock here like this.”
His body and powers could not touch anything other than himself or affect anything, but…
- Hey, what are you doing?
“Rolling a rock.”
Cale used the cintamani to push the cobblestone off the altar.
Shhhhh. Tap.
The cobblestone fell off the altar and Cale pushed it with the cintamani to cleverly hide it underneath a window curtain.
- You’re going to use us like this?
- To be more specific, he used the cintamani to roll a rock, not us.
He heard Park Jin Tae’s voice and then Kim Rok Soo’s voice. However, Cale didn’t pay any attention as he walked over to the window and looked out.
He could see the inside of the cave where the Super Rock Villa was located.
“…I feel like someone has been here.”
The ancient power was still here and nothing had changed, but… He had that feeling for some reason.
“Was it Choi Han?”
Choi Han could have done that.
He could have had the same thought as Cale.
“Is he also thinking about evacuating the villagers here?”
Cale was planning on bringing the people from Harris Village here before the battle against the White Star.
Rosalyn, Choi Han.
And this cintamani. It was possible with these two people and one item.
“Heh.”
- …Ah, I have a bad feeling about this.
Cale ignored Park Jin Tae and made eye contact with Kim Rok Soo instead. Kim Rok Soo had a bitter smile on his face as he started speaking.
- I thought you might get to rest, but-
Baaaaang!
The door burst open and someone rushed in.
- What the hell?
A shocked Park Jin Tae looked at the person who briskly walked toward the cintamani.
It was Choi Jung Soo, who was even more fit now. Choi Jung Soo was holding his sword and unable to hide his bewilderment.
- T, that……
Choi Jung Soo hesitated as if he didn’t know what to say before making eye contact with Cale and finished speaking.
- …The Dark Tiger has regained consciousness.
“Hmm?”
Alberu had left the Dark Tiger and returned to his world before Cale finished the sealed god’s test and returned. The Dark Tiger had lived normally since then.
But that Dark Tiger had changed again.
- No, the Dark Tiger had been conscious this whole time. But you know what I’m talking about! The Crown prince!
“…Ah?”
- T, the crown prince is here?
“Huh?”
- …The crown prince seems shocked too as he’s out of it?
“…Huh?”
This was quite shocking for Cale.
* * *
“It’s a beautiful place. It was the place the legend started.”
Clopeh Sekka was smiling while looking at the Henituse Lord’s Castle and the nearby area.
However, Choi Han was looking at Clopeh with a sharp gaze.
“Where did you go off on your own?”
“Taking care of the back end.”
Choi Han shut up at that response. Blood was still dripping from Clopeh’s sword.
“Huuuuu. Long distance teleportation is a bit difficult with my current abilities.”
Rosalyn wiped her hands while smiling at Choi Han, Clopeh, and Mary. Of course, she felt the mana fluctuation from the black Dragon that followed them.
The abilities of this body were from two years ago, but her experiences and senses were those of Magic Tower master Rosalyn.
“Are we looking for On and Hong now?”
Choi Han nodded his head at Mary’s question and made eye contact with everyone.
“I think we should head to the slums first.”
He had heard a condensed version of how Cale had met On and Hong in the past.
“Cale-nim said that he got to know On and Hong by giving them medicinal herbs and food while he was in the slums. He took them home and made them a part of his family because it was raining.”
“As expected, the start of the legend.”
“That is very like young master Cale-nim.”
Choi Han nodded his head at them as if what they said was normal before looking down.
They could not teleport multiple people into a crowded city.
They had teleported to the highest spot in the slums instead.
It was a place with nobody right now.
Nobody came here in the past because the Man Eating Tree was here.
Of course, many people started coming here to pray once a new holy white tree appeared in its place.
‘There are talks about Cale-nim doing that too.’
There were rumors around the territory that Cale had changed the tree. Choi Han took it as the truth and not just a rumor.
“Hmm?”
Choi Han’s gaze stopped at one spot.
“What is it?”
Rosalyn noticed Choi Han’s stiff expression and looked where he was looking.
“Oh! I guess this tree was white at this point already?”
Rosalyn knew about the white tree as she had frequently come to the Henituse territory since then. Of course, she did not know the details about the story behind it. It wasn’t something for her to pay that much attention to.
“…Why is this?”
Choi Han started walking.
The Man Eating Tree was white and holy as Choi Han knew about.
‘Cale-nim is not in this world.’
It was at that moment.
He heard some rustling.
Two children who were hiding behind the fence of the white tree flinched and curled up.
They were On and Hong.
Choi Han subconsciously asked them a question.
“Did someone come by here?”
Should he greet them first, or how should he approach them? Choi Han had debated about how to approach the children before coming here, but his mind was blank right now and he could not think about anything else.
The red-haired child… Hong peeked at Choi Han before speaking.
“A masked man was here, sir!”
On tried to stop Hong before she flinched and hugged Hong.
Choi Han could not think about anything else.
‘A masked man?’
“…The White Star?”
‘Why was he here?’