Chapter 276 – A Beautiful Night (5)

The bottom of the lake that was revealed was starting to rumble and crack as if an earthquake was happening underneath it.

Craaaaaaack-!

A red fluid similar to the lava that Cale had seen on top of the Ten Finger Mountains was coming out of the ground while looking as if it could melt anything in its way.

Cale shouted at the group the moment he saw the fluid.

"Everybody dodge!"

Someone shouted in response.

"Flight!"

Choi Han, On, and Hong's bodies shot up into the air. Eruhaben had used flight magic on them. However, Choi Han was looking down even as his body flew up.

"This-"

The moment the red fluid that reminded him of hell appeared at the bottom of the lake, it shot up as if it wanted to eat up the sky.

Chhhhhhhhhhhh!

It was as if a downpour was coming from the ground as that red fluid continued to shoot up.

The ground was shaking.
The ground at the bottom of the lake started to crumble as if it could not handle this red fluid.

It shot up similar to the pillar of fire that Choi Han had seen many times already.

"Cale-nim!"

It turned into a tsunami and rushed toward Cale.
Cale watched the fire heading toward him and started to think.

'Fuck.'

He thought that he made the wrong decision.

-Ahahahahahahaha, kek, hahahahahaha!

He probably shouldn't have touched this crazy fiery thunderbolt that was laughing so hard that he choked.
Cale watched the lava approach him as he stood there with the money bag in one hand and a shocked expression on his face.

Cale heard the voice of a woman in his head at that moment.

– Fly up.

'…Huh?'

Cale flinched.

Cale had heard this voice only once before.
The Sound of the Wind.
It was the voice of the thief from when he earned that ancient power.
The person who had only communicated by creating small whirlwinds to guide him toward divine items had revealed her presence for the first time since Cale obtained her.

The woman who had escaped with a divine item, the thief who had lost her freedom and died underwater, was speaking.

– The wind is what knows fire the best.

Fire and wind could not be separated.
They wrapped around each other in order to create an even greater disaster.

Cale could feel the wind that appeared by his feet on its own. The wind appeared the moment the fire was about to get stronger. Cale found this to be odd, but he still stomped his feet and kicked off the ground.

Cale shot up into the air with the wind.

Boooooooom!

The ground that he just flew off of was now covered in lava.
The lava seemed to not be satisfied with just gulping up the lake, as it continued to gulp up the surrounding area.
It quickly continued to grow its territory until it ran into the barrier the ancient Dragon Olienne had left behind.

Baaaaang!
Baaaaang!

Vines appeared out of the barrier to fight off the lava. However, the lava easily ate up the vines.

It melted everything.

"…I didn't expect it to be such a strong power."

Eruhaben was at a loss for words.
Eruhaben had reactivated Olienne's barrier that he had broken in order to bring Cale here last time as soon as they returned to the Grey Eye Lake.
Although the Sky Eating Water was gone, he did it so that those few traces of Olienne could remain.

Furthermore, it was also better to have it up as he never knew what Cale might do.

However, that barrier was about to break apart now.

"You unlucky bastard!"

Eruhaben looked toward Cale in shock, however, he could not approach him to speak.

'The fire is running wild.'

A red tint was surrounding Cale's body. Red light was coming out of his body as if he was surrounded in fire.
Furthermore, he could feel the presence of a fire running wild in Cale's body.

Cale was aware of what was going on in his body as well.

"Ugh."

It was because it was causing him issues.

It was not that he was in pain.

It was just hot.
It was still early March, but it was extremely hot.

'Why did I think I could strengthen something with this body of mine?!'

Cale subconsciously unbuttoned the top button of his shirt as he let his frustration take over. He had done it subconsciously because of the heat.
Hot breath was coming out of his mouth.

However, Cale could not just blankly stand there.
The lava started to aim for Cale once again.

It directed a tsunami of lava toward Cale, who was barely floating in the air thanks to the Sound of the Wind, as if it did not care about Olienne's barrier at all.

Ancient powers were things you had to earn on your own. Cale could not have someone else use flight magic on him right now.
He continued to hear the voice of the Sound of the Wind in his mind.

– Nobody could stop us when we fought together.

The Fire of Destruction, that cheapskate, was called a hero. The thief who had to live in hiding helped him every so often.
Nobody was able to stop them whenever they fought together against an enemy. Nothing anybody did could stop them. They just ate up any obstacle and made their bodies even bigger.

– The fire needs to regain its original powers for me to be able to use my true powers as well.

'What?'

Cale's body flinched as he looked toward the lava that was heading toward him.

'The true power of the Sound of the Wind?'

– There is more to a free wind's power than just movement and whirlwinds. Wind exists everywhere.

Whether it is the trees, the ground, fire, water, and even the people living in the world…
The wind and the flow of air always exists around all of them.

– That is why it is most beautiful when it is with someone else rather than when it is alone.

Although she was a thief, she always helped her friends. That was why she had helped the fire become the most destructive fire, the ground become the strongest ground, the tree become the sturdiest tree, and even helped the water fly across the wide ocean in order to reach the Eastern continent.

– When you use a divine item in the future…

Cale started to frown again.

'A divine item?'

Cale currently had a total of three divine items in his possession or left in someone else's possession.
The War God's Watering Can from the North, The Condemnation of the Sun, and The Method to Kill Death.

Why was she suddenly talking about them?

– Remember that I am here when that moment comes.

However, the Sound of the Wind chose to become silent once again.
Instead, the voice of the crazy person filled Cale's mind.

– What are you doing? Hurry up and throw the money!

Ooooooooong-
The lava gathered together and charged toward Cale, who was slowly floating down to the ground. The fiery thunderbolt loudly urged Cale on at the same time.

– What are you doing? Let's have some fun! Why are you doing nothing? Huh? Kekeke, it's time to run wild!

Cale started to frown more, while the lava charged even faster toward Cale as if it was responding to his frown. Choi Han, On, and Hong who were watching this unfold flailed their legs in the air in order to try to approach Cale.

"Cale-nim! It seems too dangerous!"

It was at that moment.

"So loud. You stupid cheapskate."
"…Excuse me?"

Choi Han flinched and asked in confusion.
However, Cale did not pay any attention to Choi Han as he put his hand in the money bag.

He then started to smile.
The whirlwind around his feet slowly dwindled as his body slowly headed down to the lava. His body was extremely sweaty from the heat both inside and outside his body, however, Cale's eyes started to sparkle.

The bag that originally had 10 billion counds was left with 5 billion counds after purchasing the Wolf King's diary.
He had then added 3 billion of the 30 billion counds he had taken from the Singten Merchant Guild leader.
There was a total of 8 billion counds.
These were not silver coins, like last time but gold coins.

In addition, he had the gold coins of the Eastern continent that he had looted from the bad guys.

'10 billion?
It's probably over that amount.'

Cale was someone who knew how to use money when he spent it.
He had already put aside enough money to feed himself and those around him for the rest of their lives.

'I should use my remaining money for times like this. When else would I use it?'

He put some strength into the hand he placed inside the money bag.

There was only one thing he planned to do.
The money bag with spatial dimension magic.

Riiiiiip-

The money bag was ripped from the inside.
The spatial dimensional magic slowly started to break down.

The sound of gold coins hitting each other could be heard through the tear.
Cale happily shouted toward the lava wave that was about to hit him.

"Here you go, you cheapskate! This is the taste of money!"

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiip-
The spatial pocket bag was completely ripped apart.
At the same time, Cale used the wind once more to shoot up into the sky. However, a radiant light followed his trajectory.

"…You crazy bastard."

Eruhaben put a hand against his forehead.

"Hahahaha!"

Cale was laughing out loud.
Gold coins started to pour out of the destroyed money bag.

Even without the moon, the starlight and the red light coming from the lava was enough to let this radiant gold light brighten the area.
Raon shouted with a shocked expression as he held his piggy bank tightly against his chest.

"It's a money rain! It's raining gold! It is shocking but exciting! This is huge!"

The gold coins fell into the lava.

Ooooooo-
A noise that sounded like someone crying started to come out of the lava. This was the accurate description of that noise.

– Sooob, the smell of gold that is more luxurious and sturdier than silver. Sooooooob, it's gold. Oh, my goodness!

Gold coins continued to pour down toward the lava.

– Oh, yes, yes! You angel-like human! Oh, sob, ohhhh!

The color of the lava started to change as it was hit by the golden rain.
The lava that was only red beforehand slowly started to glow gold similar to the fiery thunderbolt.

The red color that reminded them of hell slowly started to glow gold and turned into a rose gold color.

Ooooooong-
Ooooooooong-

The cry of the lava continued to get louder.
It was at that moment.

"So annoying."

Cale's voice cut through the lava's cry. Cale then made a simple movement.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip.

The money bag was ripped in another area of the bag.
Cale then flipped the bag over.

"…Gold, gold coins are pouring down! I, the great and mighty Raon Miru, has seen a completely different world today!"

Cale then flipped the potato sack over as well.

"…Human! Human! You are great and mighty! Human! The great and mighty Raon Miru approves of you!"

Raon's shout was drowned out by the sound of gold coins and gold bars pouring down into the lava.
The fiery thunderbolt became shocked.

– Huh? Huh?

Cale started to smile.
The fiery thunderbolt was definitely shocked.

– …Uh… Mm…this looks like it might be over 10 billion?

Cale did not care as he continued to pour out the gold bars.
He'll make more money if he loots Arm and the mercenaries again, and he still had 13 billion counds to get from the bishop as well as tens of billions of other monies stashed away.

Cale confidently started to speak.

"You have to do it right if you want to do something crazy."

Although he sounded indifferent, Cale had a refreshed look on his face. The expression on his face was extremely bright.

'Ah, I'm so happy.'

Cale truly was happy right now.
He was the happiest when he threw money around like this.

In the end, the fiery thunderbolt shouted out.

– I knew you were crazier than both devils and angels!

Booooooooooooom-
The red fluid disappeared.
Only a rose gold colored lake was underneath Cale's feet.

Cale headed down.

Splash.
The surface of the lake shook, however, Cale managed to stand on the rose gold colored lake, no, the rose gold colored fluid that was closer to the consistency of a swamp. He then calmly continued to speak.

"I still have more gold bars in the potato sack."

There were gold bars that the lava could not eat floating around the rose gold colored swamp.
Cale had a skewed expression on his face while looking at this. The fiery thunderbolt's weak voice could be heard.

– I lost.

Cale thought the Fire of Destruction that only ate up ten billion had a small scale. However, he then looked down at his body after feeing an odd sensation.

It was glowing.
The thick swamp was glowing as it slowly evaporated.

Rose gold colored smoke rose up and started to surround Cale. He heard the voice of the Fire of Destruction in his mind at that moment.

– I liked being practical.

The evaporated rose gold colored smoke fully surrounded Cale's body. The others in the air could not see Cale, instead, all they could see was a bright rose gold colored light shooting up from the ground.

– While others chased after gods, eternal life, or even power or fame, all of which are things that cannot be seen with your eyes, I chased after money.

The light was so bright that it seemed as if a sun was on the ground.

– Money was something that I could see and the most practical thing that I could hold with my hands.

The Fire of Destruction was someone who liked practical things. It might be materialistic, but he didn't care.
There was a simple reason for it.

– I found that to be beautiful.

Although others called him a cheapskate and said that a hero shouldn't be so greedy for money without having any fame, and in the end, he was cursed at for turning the North into a sea of fire and still only looking for money…

– For someone like me who only knew how to destroy things, money was a way for me to protect something.

For someone who had grown up burning and destroying anything in front of him, money was a way to restore the things that he had destroyed.

He was unable to control his powers and burned up a noble's paddy field when he was young. His parents had gathered all of the money they could to offer to the noble in order to prevent him from being taken away.

'That kind of money is nothing. We were able to save you.'
'Don't forget that money is that kind of thing.'

His poor parents had worked hard to gather money, however, they were willing to spend all of that money for him.
The man who had only known destruction spoke to Cale.

– I must give a fitting reward to people who use their money for me.

It had to be that way.
That was his philosophy, as well as his way of getting rid of the grudge in his heart.

Cale lifted his head up.

Shaaaaaaa-

The rose gold colored light entered into his body.
The parts that could not enter his body shot up toward the sky. Cale could hear the voice of the Fire of Destruction in his head.

– There's no reason for a fiery thunderbolt to strike from the sky. It can shoot up from the ground as well.

Numerous flashes of rose gold colored light shot up into the night sky.
A strand of light that shot up from the ground looked like a spear that was heading toward the sky.

– Did you know?

Baaaaang!
Bang! Bang!

Loud noises could be heard as rose gold colored lights exploded in the air.
It was as beautiful as a firework show.

– The sky is strong and arrogant.

Cale watched as the rose gold colored lights exploded in the sky while he listened to the Fire of Destruction's voice.

– Be wary of the person with the sky attribute.

'…Sky attribute?'

The fiery thunderbolt laughed and continued to speak as Cale started to frown.

– But it should be okay this time. Remember that.

Shaaaaaaa-
The rose gold colored lights that did not go up into the sky and instead remained around him quickly entered into Cale's body.

"…Huuuu."

Cale let out a deep breath.
He was on the desolate ground where the lake and the lava were both gone. Cale reached his hand out while standing at the center of that hole.

Craaaackle.

A fiery thunderbolt that was different than before and had a clearer rose gold color seemed to be dancing on his palm.

"Human!"

The group all landed next to Cale starting with Raon. Everyone other than Raon who had already seen it once was shocked, while Eruhaben looked at the fiery thunderbolt on top of Cale's palm as he started to speak.

"…I've never seen such a sight in my 1,000 years of life."

He could not take his eyes off of the fiery thunderbolt as he said that.

There were a lot of things that fire symbolized.
Light, warmth, and even cooking.
However, this fiery thunderbolt did not have many of the attributes of fire.

All that was left in it was a purely violent and destructive attribute.

The information that confirmed that was going off in Cale's mind right now. It was the voice of the Super Rock.

– That fire…

The fire that had even burned up the North that is the coldest part of the Western continent. The fire that had stopped itself even though it could have done even more.

– That fire is finally completely back in this world.

The Super Rock. The Guardian who was bitter frenemies with the, 'Destructor,' admitted that the free and scary Destructor's full power had returned.
It was at that moment.

Beeeeeeep- Beeeeeeep-

The video communication device that was glowing red appeared in Raon's front paws. Cale looked toward the group and started to speak.

"Looks like we will need to go back to the Western continent."

It was time to go back to the battlefield.

"Human! It is a call from the smart Rosalyn!"

Rosalyn was still busy taking care of the aftermath of the Indomitable Alliance. She asked Cale a question as soon as Raon connected the call.

– What are you planning to do with the Bear tribe and the Flame Dwarf tribe? Are you going to keep them alive?

Cale had left the Bears and Flame Dwarves with Rosalyn while he took care of other businesses. He slowly started to speak.

What was he planning to do with the Bears and Flame Dwarves?

The Empire would need to face the strength of those who used to be their allies.

"I plan on making them hang onto me for dear life."
– Excuse me?
"We need to give our enemies a chance as well."

Cale smiled quite gently.
However, all of them, even Choi Han, believed that Cale literally meant what he said.

– Young master Cale, we also heard that the Empire's Imperial Prince is planning on giving a speech.

Cale's smile became even wider.
Imperial Prince Adin was finally starting to reveal himself in the chaos of the Western continent.

***

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]