Chapter 383 – Easy Peasy (5)

Bang!

A stone spear crashed into the wind barrier.
The noise was small compared to the earlier explosions.

However, that noise became the signal.

Baaaaang! Bang!

Numerous sharp stone spears shot toward the wind barrier.

"…Ugh!"

The White Star looked toward the stone spears trying to pierce through the wind barrier and made his water wall underneath it a bit thicker.

"My liege!"

The mage who was being carried by a Bear approached the White Star.

Run away.

The White Star's subordinates were moving away from the white castle after hearing his order. The mage had approached the White Star before he ran away.
More blood was starting to pour out from the White Star's mouth.

He was not bleeding as much as Cale Henituse, however, the mage had never seen the White Star bleed so much before.

"Shit."

He had never seen the White Star being unable to control his temper like this either.
He had always had this relaxed, almost lazy demeanor about him. But that person was showing anger toward Cale Henituse.

His anger did not seem to stem from the fact that they had to run away after being attacked.
The mage who knew the White Star the most out of all of his subordinates could tell what was making the White Star angry.

'This is anger toward something he doesn't have.'

The earth attribute ancient power.

He had heard that his liege had been working hard for 1,000 years to gather the sky attribute ancient power and the five natural attribute ancient powers.
However, he still had not managed to find the earth attribute ancient power, the last of the five he needed.

Yet there was Cale Henituse, a completely unexpected person who had gathered all five natural attributes to resist the White Star, which made him furious.

Baaaaang! Bang! Bang!

The stone spears slammed on the wind barrier nonstop.
Cracks appeared on the barrier with each hit.

"Cough!"

The White Star continued to cough up more blood each time.
His body was a mess because he had not achieved balance by finding all five natural attribute ancient powers.
More burden was being placed on his body each time he defended.

Craaaaaaack.

The rough winds were slowly getting pierced little by little. The stone spears continued to charge toward the water wall.

"My liege!"

The mage had no choice but to speak to the White Star.

"We must retreat! You need to get that soon!"

'That.'

The final earth attribute ancient power.
Calmness finally appeared on the once angry White Star's face.

The earth attribute ancient power that the ancient White Star possessed.
He had finally found some clues about it after 1,000 years.

'…If only I could read the entirety of 'The Birth of a Hero.' '

Nelan Barrow, the first Dragon Slayer. His record book was written in two languages.
One was the Eastern continent's common language while the other was a language he did not understand at all.

Nelan Barrow had called that the language of his hometown and had not taught it to anyone. He had told them to pass the book to whoever could read that language if they ever appeared.
The White Star was certain that something within that odd language had the traces of the ancient White Star's earth attribute ancient power.

'It doesn't matter anymore.'

He had now found some clues about the final earth attribute ancient power and would soon be able to take it for himself.

The White Star calmed his chaotic body as he took a step back.

"…My liege."

The mage looked toward his liege with both joy and sorrow after seeing that the White Star finally showed signs of retreating. It was at that moment.

"I can't let it end like this."

The White Star stared at someone who was standing past the water wall, the wind barrier, and the stone spears that were charging toward him.

He could see that Cale was smiling.
He could also see Cale's group running inside the white castle to hide.

Tap.

The White Star took another step back.
He waved his left hand as he did that.

"Eat it up."

Screeeech!

An odd noise rang out.
The wind barrier changed in appearance.

Splaaaaaaaaaaash.

The wind that had turned into a large snake started to charge forward.

Bang! Bang! Baaaaang!

The wind snake did not care about the stone spears crashing into it as it charged forward.
The snake passed by the stone spears at a very fast speed and the stone spears could not react as they crashed into the water wall.

Bang! Baaaaang!

The wind snake crossed the white pebbled ground while the sound of the stone spears and the water wall crashing behind it.

Cale could see the wind snake charging toward him.
That was when the White Star finally turned around and retreated. Cale could see the White Star smiling from behind the mask.

The White Star's mouth that was not covered by the mask was moving.

'Good luck dodging.'

Cale started to smile as well.

"Why would I dodge?"

He quickly started to shout.

"Chase him until the end!"

Ooooooong-

Half of the stone spears crashed into the water wall while the other half dodged the wall to the left and right and continued to charge toward the White Star. The White Star started to frown after seeing that Cale had no intention of letting him go.

"My apologies, my liege."

The mage apologized to the White Star even as his insides were twisting from the poison.
The White Star did not react as he waved his hand.

Splaaaaaaaaash-

The wind snake started to speed up.

Cale could see the wind snake moving faster toward him. It looked vicious as it charged with its mouth open.
Cale heard the Super Rock's voice at that moment.

– You should not use any more strength.

Cale's entire body was slightly shaking.

Cale had managed to defend against the White Star's thunderbolts because of the white crown.
Cale had a lot of strength left because he had not used much of his own strength at all.

However, using his own powers after filtering a large amount of power through his body was bound to place a huge burden on his body.
Furthermore, using another ancient power in addition to the stone spear would definitely amplify the burden on his body.

– It doesn't seem like a good time for you to faint.

Cale shrugged his shoulders as the Super Rock shared his concerns.
The wind snake's fangs finally reached him.

Slash!

However, the wind was split into two.

– Mm, I guess I worried for no reason.

The Super Rock awkwardly mumbled but Cale did not care.
Instead, he got on someone's back.

"I'm not someone who should be carrying a person around like this!"

Mercenary King Bud grumbled as he quickly ran toward the white castle with Cale on his back. Cale started to speak.

"Thanks, Choi Han."

Choi Han's sword had cut the wind snake apart.
Choi Han quickly followed behind Bud and continued to send his sparkling black aura toward the wind snake. He calmly responded to Cale as he did that.

"No problem, Cale-nim."
"Wow! I'm the one who is carrying you! But you don't even thank me! What an unfair world!"

Bud grumbled, but he continued to run as quickly as possible toward the white castle.
The children averaging nine-years-old stepped out of the open castle gate and shouted toward Cale as he approached.

"Human! Hurry up!"
"You need to hurry!"
"The wind is right behind you!"

Raon cast acceleration magic on Bud and Choi Han's feet. They started to move much faster.

Chhhhhhh-

However, the wind snake started to chase them even faster as well. It looked as if they would get caught at any moment.

"Time to prepare."

Eruhaben gathered his mana while watching Cale run. Sheritt picked up her shield as well. Ron's body shot forward at the same time.

"Father?"

It happened as Beacrox became confused at Ron's action.

"Hong!"

He heard On's shout.
A couple of daggers were quickly moving toward Hong from a different direction than the wind snake.

On moved in front of Hong in shock. Raon moved in front of both of them and quickly tried to cast a shield.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

However, he didn't need to do that.

Clang! Clang!

The daggers all fell to the ground after hitting a white shield.
A couple of individuals appeared from the shadows of the castle wall at that moment.

They were all Cats.

On and Hong.
These Cats had been hiding since a while ago to hunt Hong, who was the weakest.

"Damn it!"

One of the Cats shouted as he stepped back.

Stab!

A dagger fell to the ground.
Ron appeared on top of the castle wall and started to throw daggers toward the Cats and the shadow of the castle wall.

"Tsk!"
"Shit!"

The Cats started to retreat.
They looked disappointed but quickly started to run once their Chief gave the signal. The Chief looked toward On and Hong as he retreated.
He could see On glaring at him.

"Guess I have to kill you next time."

A smile appeared on his cold face.

"There will definitely be a chance to kill you."

The Chief waved his arm.
The dagger in his hand started to move.

Clang!

He parried a dagger that was flying toward him.
The Chief looked up at Ron who was looking down at him from the top of the castle wall before following the rest of his tribe members to retreat.
Ron heard someone's voice at that moment.

"Close the gate!"

Screeeech-

The castle gate started to close.
Bud started to speed up after seeing the gate starting to close.

Chhhhhhhhhhhh-

He could feel the wind snake right behind him.

"Aaaaaah! How did I get myself into this mess!"

Bud shouted as he ran past the closing gate.
Choi Han followed right behind him.

Bang!

The castle gate closed.

Baaaaaaaaaang!

They then heard the wind snake slamming into the castle gate.
Lord Sheritt's white shield was already in front of the castle gate.

"Haaa, haaa."

Bud was trying to catch his breath.
The wind snake slowly disappeared. Bud started to frown after noticing it.

There was no way the White Star's wind snake would disappear this easily.

"That crazy bastard did that to buy himself some time!"

The White Star had created the wind shield to attack Cale so that he could withdraw peacefully.
Bud started to put Cale down as soon as he realized that.

"Hey! You knew that the White Star used the wind snake to buy himself time, right? Huh?"

Ron supported Cale who was coming down.
Cale then started to speak, but it was not to respond to Bud.

"The stone spears chasing after the White Star will disappear in about 10 minutes."

Cale walked over to On and picked up Hong who was behind her and started to caress his back. Hong put his face into Cale's chest and tightly grabbed onto Cale's clothes.

Pat. Pat.

Cale gently patted Hong's back and Bud watched for a moment before starting to speak.

"Of course they will disappear. How can you make the stone spears chase the White Star forever when you have a limit to your strength as well? I'm sure they become harder and harder to control as they move farther away from you."

The stone spears chasing the White Star would eventually disappear.
Cale couldn't maintain the stone spears when he didn't even know where the White Star was going.
Bud naturally knew this was the case.

"Either way, it's quite refreshing to see the White Star running away like that! Plus, none of us got hurt! You didn't even faint this time!"

Bud was happily commenting about this battle with a satisfied expression.
It was at that moment.

"I'm sure that is not the end. Didn't you let him run away on purpose?"

Bud looked toward ancient Dragon Eruhaben.
The ancient Dragon was looking at Cale.
Cale started to smile.

He took an item out of his pocket.
It was the golden top's whip.

"Please chase after him."

He then repeated the order he just gave to the stone spears.

"To the end. Chase him to the end."

He heard many voices at that moment.

'Okie dokie! I will chase after the White Star!"
'Kahahaha, just wait for us! I will figure out where the White Star's house is located!'

Cale continued to speak as he patted Hong.

"Ah, chase after the Cats as well."

Hong flinched and looked up at Cale. Cale continued to speak with a stoic expression.

"We're going to fuck them up first."
'Do not worry! I love fucking things over! I will chase after the Cats! Kahahahahahahaha!'
'The Cats are heading north! Hehe, destruction, obliteration! Hehe!'

It felt like the crazy ones were chasing after the Cats, but Cale just calmly patted Hong.

Tap. Tap.

On's front paws were tapping on Cale's leg.
He didn't care as he looked toward the group and started to speak.

"We will soon be able to know where the White Star's base is located."

He knew about Arm's secret base because of the Dragon half-blood.
However, he didn't know where the Bear tribe, Lion tribe, and the White Star were located.

They would find that out this time.
There was also something they needed to do as well.

'The earth attribute ancient power.'

The earth attribute ancient power that the ancient White Star possessed.
He needed to find that.
The clues to it were in Choi Jung Gun's Korean records.

However, Cale did not say this part out loud.
Instead, he turned his head and looked toward Choi Han.

"Let's head back to the village right away and look through the book."

The records that were written in Korean.
Cale was currently someone who should not be able to read it.

Choi Han was the only one who could read it.

"Yes. I understand, Cale-nim."

Choi Han responded with a calm expression.
However, Cale could see Choi Han's tightly clenched fists.

"Open the path."
"Yes, Cale-nim."

Choi Han quickly turned around and headed to the room with the path to the Dragon Slayer village.
Cale quietly observed Choi Han's back.

'How much of it will this punk tell me?'

Would Choi Han tell Cale everything he reads?

It was possible for him to hide some things.
However, that would not be because he had bad intentions. It would be because he would want to sacrifice himself instead.

Cale had a single question in his head as well.

Who was it that wrote The Birth of a Hero that he had read when he was still Kim Rok Soo?

The author of that novel was listed as Nelan Barrow as well.
However, the contents were different than what Choi Jung Gun had left behind.
The Birth of a Hero that Choi Jung Gun had left in the Dragon Slayer village had nothing written about Choi Han.

Cale's expression turned odd.

'Is it fun?'

Kim Rok Soo had asked his colleague with a stoic expression.
His colleague waved the book and nodded his head.

'Yeah, really fun. Kim Rok Soo, I heard you read some of these when you were in middle school and high school as well?'
'I read some in the past. But what is the point of reading it now when monsters, magic, and swords are all in the real world?'
'Mm.'

His colleague, Choi Jung Soo, had pondered it for a moment before responding to Kim Rok Soo.

'Most fantasy novels have happy endings. I read it for that. I love happy endings.'

Kim Rok Soo looked at Choi Han's back and thought about Choi Jung Soo.

Choi Jung Soo.
His family had learned martial arts generation after generation, and they had specifically researched the old Joseon dynasty sword art. Thanks to that, Choi Jung Soo was extremely talented with the sword. ( Old Korean dynasty )

Choi Jung Soo was wiping his sword as he continued to speak to Kim Rok Soo.

'Hey, remember how the team leader-nim said he's going to farm once he stops working? You know I want to do the same, right?'
'Yes. What about it?'
'Nothing much, just wanted you to come to my hometown and farm with us.'

Kim Rok Soo had heard about Choi Jung Soo's hometown many times.

'That village where your family has lived for generations?'
'Yes. It's a very rural village.'

One of their seniors had asked Choi Jung Soo a question at that moment.

'Why has your family continued to live in that village?'
'Mm, about that.'

Choi Jung Soo debated it for a moment before responding.

'We didn't always live in that village. Mm, how many generations has it been again? Anyway, my family cannot leave that village.'
'Why?'

Cale clearly recalled how Choi Jung Soo had wiped his sword with a lonely expression on his face.
Choi Jung Soo had responded calmly but his face could not hide his emotions.

'Just because. They said there needed to be a place for family members to return. That is why someone needed to remain and protect the land. The adults have always said that we needed to protect the land.'

Kim Rok Soo was thinking about Choi Jung Gun, Choi Han, and Choi Jung Soo. He was thinking about how all three of their last names were Choi.

Choi Jung Gun had written The Birth of a Hero that Cale had read here.
Then The Birth of a Hero that Kim Rok Soo had read…
Whose memoir would that be?

Cale looked toward Choi Han's back and started to move.
There were too many things to do for him to stand still.

'Damn it. When the hell can I be a slacker?'

***

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]