Chapter 259 – Eat Up (6)

The problem was that eating and living was so damn hard.

"…Ha."

A deep sigh came out of Cale's mouth.

'Delicious.'

The piece of steak he placed in his mouth was juicy and instantly melted on his tongue.

"It's so good after almost dying. I guess it really is better to eat after going through some struggles."

Cale shared his sentiments out loud.

Plop.
Tang.
Puuk.

He then flinched at the noises he heard and turned his head.
On, Hong, and Raon.
On dropped the piece of meat that was in her mouth, Hong dropped the dessert plate in his paws, and Raon dropped the knife in his paw onto the table, floor, and on top of a piece of meat in order. Raon's pupils started to shake as he shouted out loud.

"B, being alive is being great and mighty!"
"I agree! You need to be alive to eat!"
"Mary unni said that death is the only time you cannot eat. You need to live in order to eat."

Hong and On commented after Raon.
Cale nodded his head.

"Of course. You have to be alive to eat."
"You have to keep living."
"Of course."

On wagged her tail at Cale's casual response before munching on the piece of meat again. Cale wiped the sauce off of the side of On's mouth, which was usually not needed as she was normally a meticulous eater.
Hong and Raon were getting a bunch of stuff on their faces as well.

Cale had to keep wiping things off of the children's faces. The kittens would wag their tails and the Dragon would flutter his wings every time he did that, but Cale didn't care about that.

However, there was someone who was quite concerned about what he was seeing.

The ancient Dragon Eruhaben was sitting at the table as well. His gaze was stuck on Cale and Raon without moving.

"Cale Henituse."
"Yes sir."

Cale took the cup of lemonade from Ron before answering. Eruhaben continued to speak.

"You will die if your plate breaks one more time."
"Cough!"

Cale almost choked.

"Goldie! Why are you saying something that'll make me want to destroy the world?"

The chaotic eyes of the children averaging nine-years-old turned back toward Cale.
Even Beacrox, who was bringing in more food on a tray, and Ron, who was patting the coughing Cale's back, started to frown.
The ancient Dragon said what he needed to say.

"Cale, your plate grew way too big. That is why it will be impossible to recover if it breaks once more. So, make sure to take good care of yourself."
"I plan on doing that even without you saying that, Eruhaben-nim."

Cale caught his breath as he responded back.
He really planned to do that from now. After being in pain once like that, he did not want to do that ever again.

However, Eruhaben had an odd look on his face as he looked at Cale.

'His plate is now larger than Choi Han's plate.'

The size of this weak glass plate was larger than Choi Han's plate.
Choi Han's plate had been the largest Eruhaben had ever seen on a human until now.

That was why it was understandable that Choi Han had become a sword master. He was a human who could do even bigger things if he wanted to do so.

However, Cale Henituse was not like that.

'He's not even average, he's a dunce.'

Cale was someone whose plate was not even average.
Such a person's plate had become too large after the five attributes were properly gathered inside his body.

'However, Choi Han's plate is as sturdy as a rock while this punk's plate is weak.'

When it came to stability, it was the worst of the worst.
Eruhaben turned his gaze again.

The little kid.
Raon Miru probably realized that Cale's plate was bigger, however, he most likely did not know just how large it became.

'The little kid's attribute is the present.'

Although he was only 1m 20cm long, his insides were that of a full Dragon. All that was left was for him to grow. They would be able to see the adult Dragon form of Raon once he went through his third growth phase. The reason for this extremely fast first growth phase would be revealed at that moment.

It would reveal whether he will be a king or maybe something else.

"Goldie, what are you looking at?!"
"You odd little kid."

The present related to time.
He had never heard about anyone with the time attribute.
Eruhaben bluntly responded to Raon, who was looking at him.

"You really are an odd and dumb little kid!"
"No! Goldie gramps!"
"You're a little kid who doesn't even know how to use his attribute."
"It's fine not to know! You just have to learn!"

Raon's confident response made Eruhaben sigh. Raon would only be able to use Dragon's Breath after going through his second growth phase, however, he should be able to use the lower level powers now that he had completed his first growth phase.

'He'll be able to protect himself even when I'm gone.'

The ancient Dragon who only had about a year left was slowly preparing for the future.
Of course, there was someone who had a completely different thought than Eruhaben.

'Whether it is an ancient power or something else, we need to figure something out.'

Cale was thinking hard about how to start his, 'prolong the ancient Dragon Eruhaben's life,' project. However, he still had to take care of other things too.

"The Caro Kingdom contacted us?"
"Yes, young master-nim."

The Mogoru Empire was preparing to take back Maple Castle that they lost to the Whipper Kingdom.

Rosalyn had shared this information with Ron, however, following up the network of communication, it would be found that it started with the Caro Kingdom's crown prince, Valentino, informing the Roan Kingdom's crown prince, Alberu.
He needed to figure out how the Caro Kingdom learned about that information, however, there was something else that shocked Cale the most.

"It was faster than I expected."

Considering the Empire's face, it was natural that they would try to take back the lost Maple Castle.
However, the war between the northern Indomitable Alliance and the other kingdoms had not ended yet.

But the Empire was preparing for war at such a time?

'Their goal is not Maple Castle, but the entire Whipper Kingdom.'

They would not have selected this moment if they just wanted to take back Maple Castle.

Although publicly they were saying that it was for Maple Castle, their true desire was to swallow up the Whipper Kingdom.
That was why they were using the current chaos in order to receive less attention from the other kingdoms as they aimed to expand their territory.
The reason they were doing this was also probably because they felt a sense of danger.

'The other kingdoms were stronger than they expected.'

The Roan Kingdom, Breck Kingdom, and even the Caro Kingdom.
They had all won against the Indomitable Alliance. Because of those results, the Mogoru Empire's Imperial Prince Adin, who wanted to be the control tower of the continent, must have decided that something had to be done.

And the prey in front of him was the Whipper Kingdom and Toonka.

"He made such a stupid decision. Don't you agree, Ron?"
"That is correct. The Empire is making a bad move."

The Whipper Kingdom.
The Whipper Kingdom that despised mages was currently was a, 'loner,' in the eyes of the public.

It was known that no kingdoms were willing to trade with the Whipper Kingdom right now.
That was why the Empire must have been shocked during the former war against the Whipper Kingdom to see that the Whipper Kingdom had more rations and other supplies than expected.

'Of course, those were all secretly sent by other kingdoms.'

The Breck Kingdom and the Jungle had helped the most.

The Empire, who did not know that, was probably assuming that the Whipper Kingdom must have used up a lot of resources during the last war and believes that they would be able to gobble up a weakened Whipper Kingdom with ease.

The corners of Cale's lips were twitching.

"Raon."
"What is it, Human?"
"Video communication device."

Raon snickered and took out the video communication device.

"Tada!"

Cale sighed and continued to speak to the six-year-old who seemed to be excited for some reason such that he even took out the video communication device with such an energetic response.

"Connect me to the Super Rock Villa."

Ron, Beacrox, and even Eruhaben flinched and looked toward Cale.
Based on the flow of the conversation, shouldn't he be contacting Rosalyn or crown prince Alberu?
If not them, then maybe Toonka.

But why the Super Rock Villa?

Cale added on at that moment.

"We will contact the Jungle after the Super Rock Villa."

'The Jungle?
Litana, the Queen of the Jungle?
Why is he suddenly bringing her up?'

Cale started to smile as Ron frowned. The call was connected as he smiled, and Cale could see three people.

– Long time no see! I've been praying to the God of Death every day to keep you all safe.
– Hey.
– Young master-nim, it has been a while. You are shining as brightly as ever.

The crazy priestess Cage.
The fake Holy Maiden and blood-crazed sword master, Hannah.
Finally, the half-Saint, Jack.

The three of them all showed different reactions to Cale's smile.
Saint Jack smiled gently at Cale's bright smile, while the crazy priestess Cage started to frown.
And finally, the sword master Hannah immediately started to speak.

– Are we finally going to destroy the Empire?

Silence filled the room on Cale's side.
Cale responded back through the silence.

"Yes."

Everyone's gazes focused on Cale.

Cale thought about everything involving the Empire until now.
This pair of Sun God twins.
The Cat Knight Sir Rex and the alchemist from the slums.
There were many other useful cards as well.
It was just a matter of when to use each of these cards.

However, it was now time.

– How?

The sword master Hannah. He could hear her excited voice.
Cale gently spoke in a benign manner as if he was a priest.

"I plan to write a new history from the bottom up."

First up was the inside of the Empire.

"Jack-nim and Hannah."

The fake Holy Maiden and the half-Saint.

"The two of you will be the main characters for the history of the new Church of the Sun God."

History is determined by a couple of strong individuals at times, however, it could also be changed by the numerous weaklings quietly waiting to strike from underneath the strong individual.

The way that Cale chose this time was a method for the weak, by the weak.
He looked toward the three people who would be the most important key players in this Empire destruction project as he continued to speak.

"You will soon meet him. There's a hero who will become the new ruler."

The future ruler who was hiding quietly in the slums.
Cale was going to turn him into a hero.

– Are you going to completely change the Empire?

Cale responded to Hannah's question in a slightly jovial way. However, the words he chose to use were not jovial at all.

"We will prepare for a rebellion."

Rebellion.
A rebellion against the Church of the Sun God and the Empire.
It was the moment that everybody's faces stiffened up. There was just one person who was smiling. The fake Holy Maiden asked Cale a question.

– Do you think that it is possible?
"It's possible."

How is it possible?
The eyes that were full of excitement were asking that question from the other side of the video communication device.
Cale happily responded to that question.

"The Empire will soon be struck from multiple sides."

The Whipper Kingdom from the east and the Caro Kingdom from the west.
The Roan Kingdom and Breck Kingdom from the north and the Jungle from the south.

"I think Imperial Prince Adin won't be able to come to his senses. He'll be hit from every direction."

That two-faced bastard will be beaten to the point that he can't feel anything.
As an extra benefit, Arm will lose another one of their allied forces.
The sword master Hannah licked her lips. Her voice was shaking at bit.

– When the Empire is in a state of total chaos…
"Yes, at that moment."

Cale spoke as if he was making a proclamation.

"We will eat them up."

Cale looked toward the half-Saint Jack. He was standing there with a complicated expression on his face. Cale thought about the item in his pocket while looking at Jack's innocent-looking face.

It was the divine item he had earned during his trip to the Empire.

The, 'Condemnation of the Sun.'

He thought about the divine item that was supposed to get rid of the night as he started to speak.

"The Condemnation of the Sun shall brighten the night. That is the name of the history we will create."

The Empire will have a new story for the religious believers.

"Prepare to leave right away."
– Where are we going?
"You will first meet up with me."
– And then?

Where was Cale planning to go with this pair of twins and the crazy priestess?

"The Whipper Kingdom."

They would head for the Whipper Kingdom.

"We will make a short stop there before stealthily entering the Empire."

Cale said that to the trio in the Super Rock Villa before calling someone else and saying something similar.

"Miss Lina, the chance to get revenge on the Empire that was responsible for the pillar of fire in Section 1 of the Jungle has arrived."

Cale told Queen Litana to meet him at the same place.

"Please come to the Whipper Kingdom."

He wiped his mouth after finishing his conversation with Litana before he addressed the people in the room.

"It's time for us to go back as well."

The Western continent should be a chaotic mess right now.
It was time to make it even worse.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]