Chapter 295 – Back (1)

"I will give it my best."

Commander Cale responded to Imperial Prince Adin before turning around.
The nobles could see the dark blue hellfire that covered Cale's reddish-brown eyes. Some of the nobles exchanged glances with one another.

'Do you think he can do it? Especially when his face is so pale?'
'I don't know. He looks even skinnier than when he received the medal of honor too.'

Cale looked paler and skinnier than when he had received the Mogoru medal of honor last year.
Adin thought to himself as he observed Cale.

'Looks like he is reaching his limit.'

A death from the clashing of ancient powers. Adin could feel Cale reaching his end.

'How entertaining.'

He found it to be entertaining.

'He doesn't seem like an idiot and seems to know what he is doing. So why does he always try to do the just and good deeds?'

Adin approached Cale and asked with a concerned look on his face as he found all this to be entertaining.

"How much of the water power can you use? I'm sorry for asking for this, but please use as much as you can!"

He wanted to quickly see how Cale would look as he died.
Cale turned away from the dark blue flame and made eye contact with Adin, not knowing what Adin was thinking about.

"…To be honest with you, I faced that fire once when I was fighting with the Breck Kingdom."
"I know. We…believe that it is the work of the Breck Kingdom as well."

Cale put on a concerned expression.

"…This fire is even stronger than that fire."

"Ah."

Some of the people around them let out gasps.

"Cast water spells!"
"Use wind spells as well! Prevent the fire from spreading!"

The Empire's mages quickly started to move.
They stopped the wind as much as possible, but the fire could not be stopped with water spells.

"The fire is getting bigger!"

In fact, the clashing of the Empire's wind with the Whipper Kingdom's wind fueled the flame even more to the point that it looked like a fire tornado.
Cale put on a distressed expression on his face as that happened. The people around him knew what that expression meant.

'He can't put it out completely!'
'…What do we do if he can't put it all out?'

Magic did not work against this fire.
The chaos in their minds continued to grow. However, what they didn't see was that Cale's eyes were slowly moving, although he still had that distressed expression on his face.

'…Some of the nobles don't seem to know about it.'

Magic-resistant fire. Some of them did not seem to know that the Empire had that same type of fire.
Of course, the Alchemists' Bell Tower was the one to make it, however, the Imperial Prince had already used it against the Jungle and during the first battle for Maple Castle.

'It's the Vice Tower Master.'

That was why Cale's gaze headed over to Vice Tower Master Metelona. She probably met frequently with the Alchemists' Bell Tower's Tower Master.

'…Who is that next to her?'

Cale's gaze headed toward the man next to the Imperial Prince. The man slightly bowed and greeted Cale once their eyes met.

"Nice to meet you. It is an honor to meet a hero. My name is Honte and I am the Tower Master-nim's disciple."

'Ah, that person.
The miracle alchemist from the slums.
Probably one of the few people from the slums who survived.
This is great.'

He found another person to drag into the Alchemists' Bell Tower destruction project.
Cale slightly nodded his head.

"Let us save the greetings for later. Right now-"

The hero spoke with a stiff expression.

"We need to put this fire out first."

It was at that moment.
He suddenly heard Raon's voice.

– Something is weird. Human, Honte seems to be dead.

'…Hmm?'

Raon's comment came in like a hook.

– How does a dead thing move around?

'What did you say?'

Cale's pupils shook for a moment.

– …Human, this is weird. He smells similar to Mary, but there's no life coming from his body.

'There's no what?'

– I don't know what that is.

'Oh my goodness.'

Cale was completely anxious.

'There's no life? He's dead?'

Cale turned toward the Imperial Prince. He could naturally see the Vice Tower Master and Honte there as well. Honte was looking toward Cale and smiling.
He also seemed to be concerned about the Empire and the fire.

'How can that face be dead?
Is he a zombie?
What is going on?'

Cale observed how Honte's gaze was focused on Hilsman and himself. The Imperial Prince approached him at that moment.

"…No need to put so much pressure on yourself."
"Your highness-"

Adin could see Cale's eyes shaking and his face turning paler, making him realize how much Cale wanted to save the Empire.

'Is he going to become enemies with Rosalyn?'

There was something else he was suspicious about as well but there was something more important.

"I trust you."

Having the trust of the only Imperial Prince on the Western continent.
The weight of that trust was heavy. The nobles could see Cale's eyes starting to calm down. They were starting to feel pride for their Empire after seeing Cale calm down after hearing the Imperial Prince's words.

' 'Trust me' my ass.'

However, contrary to what the nobles were thinking, Cale had calmed down after seeing how fake the Imperial Prince was acting.

"Huuuuuu."

He let out a deep breath and headed toward the center of the dirt wall.
He quietly walked over to the ledge of the dirt wall as the Empire's forces, the nobles, and everyone else around were looking at him.

Vice Captain Hilsman followed behind him with a sad expression on his face.
He gave off the vibe of a knight who was following behind his liege who had decided to sacrifice himself.

– Human, you said that you'll control yourself! You promised me! I'll destroy everything if you don't!

'Ah, I really can't set the mood with him yapping like this.'

Cale sighed at the mumblings of the six-year-old as he brushed the side of his eyes.

"…He seems to be afraid."

The nobles misinterpreted why Cale was acting like that.

"Commander!"

Cale turned his head after hearing a familiar voice.
The Caro Kingdom's crown prince Valentino. He appeared on the dirt wall again. He had a sad expression on his face.

'…I can't understand how Commander Cale must feel right now.'

Cale was controlling everything on this battlefield, but was still cutting away at his own life. Valentino felt as if Cale was extremely tall as he felt the weight on Cale's shoulders.
However, Valentino could see Cale reaching his hand out toward the large flame with a smile on his face.

Swooooooooooooosh-

Magic and the white skeleton birds. The wind caused by both sides crashed against each other.
The dark blue Dragon's Rage that was extremely hot heated up Cale's body.

'Pretty much everyone here is my enemy.'

Hilsman, Raon, and Valentino.
Everybody else other than the three of them were enemies.
That was why Cale made up his mind.

'Let's use just enough to cough up a bit of blood.'

There shouldn't be any danger since Raon was here.
However, the battlefield would become extremely chaotic if he used a lot of his strength and fainted.

Cale closed his eyes.

– Are you looking for me?

'Yes. I was looking for you.'

The Sky Eating Water.
Her clear voice could be heard.

The water started to move while following Cale's will.

Shaaaaaaa-

The wind was blowing.
The Imperial Prince looked toward Cale.

'This is my first time seeing him use an ancient power other than the shield.'

He had heard a lot of things from other people.
However, he had never personally seen Cale using this water ancient power.

"…Huh?"

One of the nobles subconsciously blurted out.

'He's sparkling.
No. It is the water.'

A half-transparent blue water was wrapping around Cale's waist.

"…Oh, young master-nim."

Vice Captain Hilsman was watching that happen with admiration in his eyes.

One small person against the large fire.
The sparkling water that surrounded that human.
It didn't seem like much in comparison to the fire, but it was beautiful.

Cale naturally had no idea about this as his eyes were closed.
He was currently making a deal.

– Are you trying to eat up the XXX-like sky?

'No.'

Cale thought about what he wanted and tried to make a deal with the Sky Eating Water.
Her clear voice rang inside his mind.

– Aha! That fire tornado must be hindering your freedom. Should I destroy it and make it XX so that it XXX? ( Remember these are just the author censoring himself. )

'This crazy water.'

Cale shared his intentions with the water.

'Let's just use enough power to barely put out that tornado.'

– Alright. I will put out that tornado as you wish.

'Just enough so that I don't fall over or faint.'

Cale could feel the water starting to move while following his will.

It was different than the Dominating Water.
It was smooth.

It was like the slow spring rain or the drizzle that slightly wet your cheeks.
This was the first time Cale had this thought as he used an ancient power.

'It's quiet.'

He felt the power being as quiet as the lake he found it in.
He was worried at first because it was his first time using this power, however, he was relieved now.

He heard the Super Rock's voice for the first time in a long time.

– The predator stealthily and silently approaches before snapping the neck of its prey.

'Huh?'

– The Sky Eating Water. Don't forget the meaning of its name.

'Perhaps?'

It was the moment Cale flinched.
One of the Empire's mages shouted as his closed eyes squinted.

"I feel an extremely large power!"

That was the beginning.

"S, something seems to be flowing underground!"
"It is gathering together! They are all gathering together in one spot and creating an extremely large source of power!"

Underground.
Water was flowing underground.
The small streams of water underground were all gathering together in one spot.

Only the high-grade mages around the Imperial Prince could feel this flow of water. Their pupils were shaking as they turned toward Cale.

A power different than mana.
The source of this power was nature.

A strong force was gathering underground.
And once that large force finally stopped growing in size…
Cale opened his eyes.
The Empire's forces could see something at the same time.

Craaaack-

The ground was cracking.
They could hear the sound of the ground cracking.

They could then see water shooting up from underground.
No, a sharp water spear shot out from the ground.

They could see the large dark blue fire tornado caused by the clashing of winds.
They turned toward that hellfire that was large enough to swallow up a city.

Booooooooooooom-

The water spear cut through that hellfire.
The spear made of blue water cut through the center of that dark blue tornado from the bottom up.

Baaaaaang! Baaaaang!

The flash and noise of the explosion made it so that people could not properly use their ears nor eyes for a moment.

The water ate up the dark blue fire.
The spear pierced through the center of the tornado and ripped it apart.

"…M, my goodness-"

All of the Empire's forces were looking at one spot.
That hellfire was slowly disappearing.
The water spear slowly started to disappear into the sky as well.

However, there was one existence that was not disappearing.
Their gazes all headed toward one person's back.

Commander Cale Henituse, the Roan Kingdom's hero.
They could personally feel the miracle that the Roan Kingdom's hero had created. They all had goosebumps on their skin.

Cale also got goosebumps.

'…What the hell?'

The fire was completely put out.
No, it had disappeared without a trace. He could clearly see Maple Castle in front of him.

'That was a fire made by an ancient Dragon. I was able to get rid of that this easily?

I didn't even use that much strength, did I?'

The Sky Eating Water took less time that the Dominating Water to eat up the Dragon's Rage.

– I can eat up anything and everything, including the sky.

He could hear the clear voice of the water again.
Cale slowly lowered his head and looked at his hands. His hands were shaking. He had a question as he looked at his hands.
He was not the only one.

– …Human, are you not coughing up blood? You're fine even after using that much power!

'That's exactly how I feel.'

Raon and Cale had the same question.
The Super Rock chimed in at that moment.

– Water moves stealthily and quietly before launching a single hit.

Cale flinched.

– It'll be calm until everything rushes in at once.

Cale started to frown. His hand was slowly starting to shake faster and faster.

'Perhaps?
Really?'

– The aftershock of the water has always been strong. Be strong.

Cale started to shout in anger.

"Son of a, cough!"

It was at that moment.
The dark red blood coming out of Cale's mouth caught the attention of everyone as the dark blue flame and the blue water had both disappeared.
The hero who had sacrificed himself was slowly falling to the ground.

***

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]