Chapter 331 – Who are you?! (1)

The White Bone Dragon was slowly revealing itself in the night sky.

"…D, Dragon-"

The Cat Knight Sir Rex looked toward Cale with shock.

'Is it really a Dragon's bones?
Where did you find a Dragon's bones?'

He had not heard about this.
Of course, he too had seen the footage of the Bone Dragon during the battle at the Henituse territory, however, that was a Black Bone Dragon.

Furthermore, that Dragon had been destroyed.

'He had another set of Dragon bones?'

Cale looked at Rex's shocked gaze for a moment before turning away. He could see the anxious and shocked citizens of the Empire.

He heard Raon's voice at that moment.

– It's a fake! Everybody is getting shocked by this fake!

'I know, right?'

The corners of Cale's lips went up underneath the hood.

These were all wyvern bones.

However, they were put together like a Dragon by Mary, who had the most knowledge in the world about bones and bodies and had controlled a set of true Dragon bones in the past.

That was why it looked like a Dragon to everyone.
That was the important part.

"Ha, haha-"

Sir Bernard, no, Tower Master Bernard, started to laugh.

"How entertaining."

The only things he was focusing on right now were the white things in front of him: the necromancer in the white robe, the White Bone Dragon, the priests, wyverns, and the Holy Knights.

His gaze turned back toward Mary at the end.

"You've gotten a bit stronger than last time."

'What?'

Cale's expression turned odd.

Mary had absorbed a significant amount of dead mana in Section 7 and became stronger.
She was strong enough to defeat Choi Han six out of ten times.
But getting that much stronger was just getting, 'a bit,' stronger?

He heard Mary's response.

"I am aware of it. I did get a bit stronger."

Cale started to frown.
Mary herself was referring to her growth as, 'a bit.' Her gaze was directed toward Tower Master Bernard.

"It is only a bit compared to you."

People looked up at the sky at that moment.

Screeeech-
The White Bone Dragon started to move its wings.

"However, I will be the winner."

Mary's confident voice reached Bernard's ears. The Tower Master started to laugh as he responded back.

"Hahaha, haha- these necromancers are always, haha-"

He then stopped laughing.

"Such idiots."

He recalled the final necromancer, the Queen of Death, from long ago.
The corners of Bernard's lips started to twist.

Necromancers were weaker than black mages.
That was the truth.

However, there had been someone who had destroyed that truth and proclaimed that a place for lifeforms with the darkness attributes to live needed to be created.

She had been traveling through the Western continent by herself and reaching out to different races with the darkness attribute while saying that darkness was a part of nature as well.

She had openly moved around the Western continent while telling people to mix in with the world and to not live in hiding.

'Bernard, you need to lead the way for the black mages. Come with me. I'm sure there is a way for black magic to intermingle with nature as well.'

'There is a reason for everything that exists in the world. There has to be a way for black magic to not be evil.'

She had said those to him with her wrinkled old face that was covered in disgusting spiderweb-like black veins.

Her body was extremely skinny from living in pain all of her life and her back had bent forward from all sorts of different illnesses.

The Queen of Death was probably the shabbiest looking person in the world.
That shabby old woman had said the following.

'Bernard, return to nature once you take care of all of that.'
'Let's get rid of your obsession with life now.'

Bernard could see Hannah, who was covered in those same black veins, shouting toward him.

"Not only did you become a Lich, but you want to control people as well now?!"

He also heard the Queen of Death's voice in his mind.

'Get rid of your obsession. Stop living as a Lich. Give yourself the means to end your life on your own terms. If not, I will have to kill you myself, Bernard.'

Bernard started to smile before it turned into a loud laughter.

"Hahahaha-!"

In the end, the final necromancer who claimed that she could defeat black mages had died.
The one to live was Bernard himself.

The living are the victorious.
Tower Master Bernard slowly raised his hand.

Baaaaang!

The black and gold aura smashed into Bernard's black mana orb and caused an explosion.
Bernard easily brushed Hannah's aura away before sneering at the person who attacked him.

"You seem to be angry."

Bernard had been nervous about Hannah's stealth attack just now, however, there was no need to be nervous about any frontal confrontation.

"Why are you angry?"

Tower Master Bernard looked toward Hannah who was breathing heavily and glaring at him.

"You really don't know why?"

Her angry eyes moved past Bernard to the people gathering behind him.
These people who were gathering together in Bernard's army had black eyes and no visible emotions on their faces as if they had lost all free will.

They were being controlled.
They were being used.

This was one of the things that Hannah hated the most.

She had to live a fake life when she was younger because she was used by the Church of the Sun God and the Pope.
She was then tricked by Arm and stabbed in the back.

"I may be a bad person, however…"

Screeech, screeech.

Hannah's arms slumped down without any strength. Her sword was dragging on the ground.

Her brother and Cale's group were all good people.
However, she was a bad person.
No, she was beyond bad, she was a terrible person.

She was evil.

"No. I'm not just bad, I'm extremely terrible."

Screeeeech-

The sword quickly moved across the ground.
Hannah's sword swung once again.

"That's why I only feel good when bastards like you are dead!"

Her aura clashed with the dead mana and caused another explosion.

Baaaaaang-

She heard Bernard's voice as the dust from the explosion covered up the area.

"Sometimes, the side with less people can win a battle if they have more strong individuals."

Mary had a bad feeling and made black aura roam around her fingers.
Hannah approached Mary and put some strength into her feet.

It was at that moment.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

They heard some noises.
It was the sound of some things hitting each other and breaking.

"Shit!"

Cale turned his head and started to frown.

He looked toward the open main entrance of the Alchemists' Bell Tower.

He could see a shocked Tasha, the Dark Elves, and Choi Han standing there.
There were other people as well.

There were black mages who were tied up, alchemists who had not become black mages, and even people who were responsible for odd tasks within the Alchemist Bell Tower.

Finally, there were the people who were kidnapped and brought into the Empire as slaves.

He could see all of them.

"Uuuuuuuugh."
"Ugh!"

They all had black eyes and were flailing around in an attempt to get outside the Bell Tower even as the Dark Elves tried to hold them back.

Some of them didn't even care about their arms being twisted oddly from the Dark Elves holding them back.

They wanted to get out and head toward Tower Master Bernard.
They would do anything to get to him.

"…This! Those people look like they are being controlled as well!"

Cale could hear an anxious Rex's voice.
He also heard Bernard's voice at the same time.

"However, there is a way to defeat the smaller side with the strong individuals."

They could see Bernard again as the explosion subsided and the dust cloud dispersed.
Bernard was smiling toward Cale. It was a beautiful smile that seemed to come right out of a painting.

"You just have to become cruel and evil. It is hard to win a battle when you are trying to be good."

It was at that moment.

– Human!
– Cale! It is a large presence.

It was the moment he heard two Dragons speaking in his mind.

"Cough!"

The person standing next to Tower Master Bernard started to choke himself with both hands. It was the person who had been pretending to be the Tower Master, the person who had called Bernard his master.

Bernard started to laugh as people stared at him because of the sudden situation.

"They can even kill themselves when I control them."

It was at that moment.

"N, nooooo!"

People turned their heads toward the desperate shout.

"D, dad!"

One of the knights who had been heading toward Bernard after preventing citizens from leaving the capital was dragging a child by his wrist.

"Knight-nim! No! You ca, ugh!"

The child's father, who was trying to stop the knight, was pushed away by the knight. As everyone became anxious at this sudden development…

"People I control can even kill innocent people without any issues."

Bernard laughed as he continued to speak.

"I don't attack the strong. I attack the innocent. That is the way to defeat the stupidly good strong people."

"Ugh! Cough!"

Bernard gently caressed his dying disciple's head.

"Isn't this a great method of destruction?"

Just killing would not count as destruction.
Destruction was watching a person's mind fading away in pain.

That was the only way for the dead mana that flowed out of them to be full of despair.
It would be beneficial to his liege.

"Well?"

Bernard looked toward the strong individuals who had been frozen stiff.
It was at that moment.

"It is total nonsense. My ears have become dirty from hearing such nonsense."

'What?'

It was the moment Mary's mechanical and stiff voice responded back.

Clang!

"Ugh! Ugh!"

Something white flew through the air and smashed into the knight's armor.

"Daddy!"
"Ah, ah-"

The dad was shaking as he ran toward the child and hugged him.
He could see the knight with black eyes heading toward his child again.

Bang!

However, he was blocked.

"Sam!"
"Heh, boss."

The dad of the child who was a shopkeeper could see Sam, his employee from the slums, defending against the knight with a small shield.

One of the people from the slums grabbed something that was rolling on the ground and threw it.

Clack!

Someone caught that item.

It was a shield.
It was a large silver shield.
The person holding the shield started to shout.

"Protect the citizens of the Empire!"

The people from the slums with bags quickly took out small shields after hearing Rex's shout.
This was the only, 'weapon,' in their bags.

Rex shouted once again.

"Everybody, run!"

Rex's eyes headed toward Cale.
Rex made eye contact with Cale's eyes that were hidden under the robe.

Protection.
That was the task for Rex and his friends.

"I'm going."

Someone else started to shout as Rex rushed past Cale and told him he was moving to do his job.

"Protect Sir Rex!"

The middle-aged woman wearing the white priestess robe removed her hood and took out some weapons from her sleeves as she shouted.

"You crazy bastard, you dare to harm the children?"

This was Freesia, the leader of Cale's information network.
The assassin who had killed her former leader who had told her to kidnap a child in the past, started to move away from the plaza with her subordinates.

"Make all of the knights unable to fight!"
"Yes ma'am!"

The assassin who were pretending to be priests all started to move.
The shields and the weapons of the operation started to move to perform their roles.

– Human!
"I know."

Cale started to speak after thinking about the remaining roles.

"Saint-nim."

Cale patted Jack who was constantly muttering, 'purify, purify,' on the shoulder. He looked into Jack's shaking pupils and started to speak.

"The people here are all determined. They are also extremely strong. They are strong enough to make sure the innocent do not get harmed."

"Ah."

Jack let out a gasp.
He could see the people rushing past Cale and himself.
Choi Han and the Dark Elves.
These people who were wearing white robes were darting out of the darkness inside the Alchemists' Bell Tower.

Jack heard someone laugh as well.

"Pwahahahaha, good? Who is good?"

The person was laughing with their shoulders moving up and down like a crazy person.

'My little sister.'

Jack could see his little sister, Hannah.

Hannah, whose eyes were full of anger, continued to speak.

"Good? You think I'm a good person? Pwaha, hahahahaha!"

She started to laugh again as she added on.

"Bernard, won't it all end if we kill you?"

All of this would end if they killed the person that was controlling the others.
Hannah continued to laugh as she casually asked a question.

"He's mine, right?"

The person next to her answered back.

"That is correct."

It was a stiff and mechanical voice.
However, it was the voice of the person who knew Hannah the best after Saint Jack.
It was Mary, who had to face the same pain for the rest of her life. Her calm voice reached Hannah's ears.

'It hurts.'

Hannah was hurting from small pains throughout her body.
She still put some strength into her feet as she commented to Mary.

"I really like the White Bone Dragon better than the black one."

She then started to run.
Her feet kicked off the ground in a moment.

She had jumped up into the air.
Her feet soon had a place to land.

It was the head of the White Bone Dragon.
Hannah landed on the White Bone Dragon's head as she gave the order.

"Let's go."

The white bone wyverns and the Holy Knights followed behind Hannah in the air.
Choi Han and the Dark Elves rushed past Mary toward Bernard on the ground.

Cale started to speak to Saint Jack again.

"It's time."

Jack started to think about what he needed to do.
He could now feel the rumbling by his chest. There was something in his inner pocket that was rumbling.

Cale whispered in Jack's ear as Jack's eyes stopped shaking.

"Condemn the evil."

Saint Jack grabbed the small compact mirror that was rumbling in his pocket.

The divine item of the Sun God, the Condemnation of the Sun.

It was crying.

***

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]