Chapter 410 – Holding Back the Tears (1)

Both the allies and the enemies blankly watched the two red hands clasp together in the night sky.

The two large red mana hands formed a sphere that resembled the sun once they merged.

"Ugh, aaaaaaaaaaah!"

Nobody could do anything as they heard the painful screams of the person captured within that sun.

– …Wow, this is no joke.

Bud could not pick his jaw back up as he watched from the other side of the video communication device.
He could see Becrock flailing around inside the red mana hands.

Becrock was trying his best to defend against Rosalyn's mana that was attacking him as if it was fire.

"Ahhhhh!"

However, he could not do it.
The red mana crashed into his combined mana each time to divide it back into dead mana and mana.
Then the mana would be destroyed.

'Damn it! Damn it! Fuck!'

The mana getting destroyed was the mana inside Becrock's body and not the Southern Tower Master's mana.
It was the mana he had built up while practicing magic.

"Ugh, this, this-!"

Becrock started to frown.

Rosalyn's mana was destroying his mana.
This proved that Rosalyn was much greater than him when it came to handling mana.

He finally realized the meaning behind Rosalyn's words.

'Becrock, I was practicing magic as well while you were making your laws and doing magic.'

And now, the mana that she had practiced for so long was tightening its grip around Becrock.
Becrock was extremely angry.

'Thank you. I grew stronger thanks to you.'

He understood the meaning behind that statement as well. Rosalyn's current condition, her growth, was something she realized during their battle.

Becrock was slowly getting suffocated.
He could not escape.

The red mana would destroy his mana every time he would try to cast a teleportation spell.
It was extremely tenacious.

"Ugh, ugh! Ugh!"

Becrock wanted to breathe.
He wanted to live.
He did not want to be in pain.

'F, for me to die like this! I thought I stepped on everyone to get here!'

His view slowly turned black.
Becrock could see Rosalyn's stoic face right before his view became completely black. She did not show any joy, sorrow, nor even anger.
Becrock frowned as he fell into a completely dark world.
The two red hands disappeared.

Becrock's body started to fall.

Swooooooosh-

However, a red breeze that flew in from somewhere held Becrock's body in the air.
It was Rosalyn's magic. She started to speak to the person approaching him.

"Young master Cale."
"Miss Rosalyn."

Rosalyn pointed to Becrock.

"He's not dead. We should put mana restricting chains on him and pass him over to Sir Rex."

Bud Illis was watching this from the other side of the screen. He looked in the direction Rosalyn was pointing before gulping as he observed Becrock.

'It probably would have been better to have been killed.'

He would die soon enough.
She probably kept him alive so that she could hand the leader of the enemies to Sir Rex, Jack, Hannah, and Rei Stecker, the four people who would lead the future Mogoru.

'I didn't know Rosalyn had a side like this.'

She was cold but thorough.

Bud liked this side of her.
It was because she showed this side to the enemies. It was better than having a weak heart that would end up getting your allies injured.

'…And this confirms her position as Magic Tower Master.'

Bud recalled the image of Rosalyn being surrounded by red mana.
He had never seen a mage in such a battle form before.

She was strong and there was also something to it that grabbed other people's hearts and attention.

'I should increase the amount of people from the Western continent in the Mercenaries Guild's directory.'

Bud's mind started to get filled with complicated thoughts about the future.
Cale started to speak at that moment.

"That must have been tough."

He then took a potion out and tried to hand it to her.
Rosalyn could only stare at the potion. There was a simple reason for it.

"…I have no strength."

Rosalyn's body was out of strength now that the adrenaline from this sudden explosive growth and the battle that helped her get over the wall had ended.

'It's not to the point where I will faint.'

She was just tired. Her body and her mind were tired.

Rosalyn who peeked toward the unconscious Becrock started to think. No, it would be better to say there was a new concern on her mind.
It was something that happened often, but she was tired.
It was at that moment.

Pat. Pat.

Rosalyn could feel small paws on her back.

"You were great! Smart Rosalyn, you were awesome!"

She started to smile.
Rosalyn could see Cale continuing to speak with a grumbling expression.

"Do you want me to open it and hand it to you? Or do I need to pour it into your mouth myself?"
"Human, I will do it! I am stronger than you!"
"Ho, my goodness. Whatever you want."

Rosalyn started to laugh out loud after hearing Raon and Cale's casual conversation.
She then grabbed the potion and started to speak to Cale in front of her and the invisible Raon behind her.

"I have enough strength to open it and drink it."

Furthermore.

"I also have enough strength to take care of the small fry."

The battle was not yet over.
Rosalyn gulped the potion down before looking toward the ground.

There were some mages who managed to escape using teleportation but there were many more mages and black mages who had not escaped.
They were all looking toward Rosalyn with fear and admiration.

Those looks were being sent toward Rosalyn the mage, not Rosalyn the princess.

"I'm heading down."

She started to fly down.
Cale put the video communication device in his pocket and followed behind her.

Boom- boom!

The two people landed behind Sir Rex.

The enemies standing across from Sir Rex looked toward Rosalyn, whose face was covered by her hood again, and the masked man with fear.
They also looked at Sir Rex who brought them with him with fear as well.
Even the alchemy bombs in the soldiers' hands scared them.

"The mages and black mages tried to throw you away."

Sir Rex started to speak to the enemy soldiers who were still citizens of Mogoru.

"There is nobody here who will protect you."

His gaze headed toward the mages and black mages from the White Star's faction.

"Will you still fight?"

Cale started to smile internally.
Sir Rex was becoming a leader who knew the right things to say. His words threatened the enemies while letting his soldiers know that they would be protected.

"I will not kill you if you surrender."

That was the final blow.

Clang!

The sound of a soldier dropping his weapon could be heard. That was the beginning.

Tang. Clang!

More weapons started to fall to the ground.

"… What the hell are you doing?! Kill that bastard!"
"We will consider you to be the enemy and kill you if you drop your weapons!"

The royalty, nobles, and power players were all shouting, however, the number of soldiers who lowered their weapons only continued to increase.
It was because they realized that the people who will die if they attacked was them and not these people giving orders from the back.

'Looks like this place will be taken care of soon.'

Cale could feel that the Southern Alchemists' Tower battle was almost over.
Of course, there were still the power players and royalty on the battlefield.

However, the strong Southern Alchemists' Tower's Tower Master was dead and Becrock was significantly injured, so the enemy power players who cherished their own lives the most were filled with fear as they could not escape.

Rosalyn stepped back and approached Cale.
She then whispered in Cale's ear.

"It looks like we can quickly take care of things before heading over."

Cale nodded his head.

"It looks like we can make it on time."

Rosalyn smiled happily at that response.
It was at that moment.

– Hey, hey!

Cale flinched after hearing the quiet voice.
He looked toward Rosalyn who seemed to have heard the voice as well and nodded that he could step away.

Cale leisurely moved back as if it had been the original plan.
The allied soldiers naturally opened a path for him to walk and he walked into the forest.

"What is it?"

Cale took the video communication device out of his pocket. An urgent voice responded from the video communication device that had been muffled because it was in Cale's pocket.

– Ah, things are not going as planned?

Bud sounded confused as he informed Cale.

"What's wrong?"
– The black mages and mages in the Eastern and Western Alchemists' Towers!

'What about them?
Did they hear about Becrock's defeat?
Did the mages who teleported inform them?'

Cale made eye contact with Bud as he was about to frown.

– All of them went to the North! It happened in an instant!

'The black mages and mages at the Eastern and Western Alchemists' Towers went to the North?'

– We got a call from the North! Three teleportation magic circles appeared in the nearby forest before black mages and mages started to come over!
"…The East, the West, and the South. I guess they all went North."

'Who is in the North right now?'

Cale started to recall the people who went to the Northern Alchemists' Tower.

"Ah."
– Human! The pure Saint is there!

That was the case.
Saint Jack.
He was responsible for the North.

Bud quickly continued to speak.

– We sent the Saint-nim there because we thought it was the weakest tower and because it was closest to the capital that we could quickly send reinforcements. But they're all gathered there now!

North, South, East, and West. The strongest of the four was the Southern Alchemists' Tower while the other three were similar in strength with the Northern Alchemists' Tower being slightly weaker than the others.

– Cale, it looks like you and Raon-nim should leave first to assist the Saint-nim.

The people headed to the Northern Alchemists' Tower were Saint Jack, the knights under Rex, and the alchemists.

"…That's not enough."

With the new changes, that was not going to be enough.
Especially when it came to magic.

"Looks like I need to go."
– Yes, you should first-

Bud could not finish his sentence.

– Beeeeeeep- Beeeeeeeep-

Cale could see the other video communication device going off on Bud's desk.
The video communication device was glowing red.
That meant it was an emergency.

One of the mages in the Roan Kingdom's Mage Brigade under Rosalyn who came to Mogoru to help out quickly connected the call.

– It is a message!

The mage shouted and Bud peeked toward Cale before quickly reading the message.

– It's from the North.

The North. Saint Jack had left this message.

– L-

Bud stopped for a moment before quickly reading with a stiff expression.

– Lions have appeared within enemy ranks. Unable to determine whether there are other Beast people as well. In addition-

He looked toward Cale.

– In addition, there seems to be golems underneath the Northern Alchemists' Tower. Unable to determine the number of golems. They are about to march toward the capital.

Bud asked Cale with a completely anxious expression.

– Hey, what are we going to do?

Golems, Lions, black mages and mages.
There were also soldiers and knights as well.

The Mogoru Empire's war against the Whipper Kingdom.
It was similar to that war.

– Isn't this a bit too much even if they want to take control of the throne?

The only difference was that this was happening only in the Mogoru this time.
Golems heading toward the capital.
Just thinking about that was terrible. That meant that they were planning on dragging in the Mogoru's regular citizens instead of the troops just fighting against each other.

– Hey, Cale. This-
"Bud."

Bud shut up and waited for Cale to speak.

"Contact everyone. Tell them to gather in the North."

Cale looked toward the North.

"I will head there right now."
– Human! We are going together!

Bud hung up after saying he understood.
He needed to quickly contact everyone.
Cale contacted Ron after finishing the call with Bud. He could see Rosalyn walking toward him after finishing that call.

"Young master Cale, this side looks like things will be settled soon."
"It looks like I need to head to the North first."

Bud explained the details to Rosalyn before asking her to help Rex completely take over the Southern Tower.

"…You sure you don't need me there as well?"
"It is better if you come once Sir Rex has full control of this area."

Rosalyn looked worried as she looked at Cale's stiff expression.
Things kept going wrong every time they thought something was working out.

"Mm."

Cale brushed his face with both hands as he thought things over.

– Human, it's fine! I am coming!
"Young master Cale, I will take care of things here as quickly as possible before heading over."

Cale started to speak at that moment.

"…Miss Rosalyn, I have a favor to ask of you."
"What is it? Tell me and I will make it happen."

Rosalyn looked toward Cale as if she welcomed such requests. Cale smiled before pointing at something.

"Please secretly take that with you."
"…Excuse me?"

Rosalyn became at a loss for words after seeing what Cale was pointing at.

It was the large statue made of gold and holding the diamond staff.

"I made sure that side wouldn't be impacted by the magic bombs. We need to take the expensive stuff to not be at a loss. I was planning on stealing myself, but I need to quickly head over, so I wanted to ask you-"
"I understand."

Rosalyn cut Cale off and nodded her head. She then motioned with her hand, telling him to leave.

"Hurry up and go. I will make sure to pack away anything of value."
"You truly are amazing, Miss Rosalyn."

Rosalyn looked toward Cale who looked as if his worries had been lifted with disbelief. Magic started to surround his body.
It was Raon's teleportation magic.

– Human! I had forgotten about it! You truly are smart too! You are right, we must definitely take that! Let's make a statue of me in the future with it! No, let's make a statue of you!

Cale shook his head at Raon's comments as his body was slowly surrounded in light.

– We will teleport next to Saint Jack!

Paaaaat!

Cale disappeared with a bright light.
Once he opened his eyes again…

"You're here!"

Saint Jack was looking at him with a happy expression.
Jack, whose face seemed to have matured even more in the short duration that they had not seen each other, could not even properly greet Cale before he turned around.

Boooom!

A loud footstep.

"Roooooooooooooooar!"

Terrible roars.
Golems popped up in the forest by the Northern Alchemists' Tower was visible.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The ground was shaking as the golems moved.

Cale and Saint Jack made eye contact.
Jack tried to smile but his face was stiff.

"I heard that others will soon arrive as well. Ah! Here they come!"

Saint Jack pointed behind Cale.
Cale looked behind him.

Paaaaat!

Two people appeared with the bright light.

'What the hell?'

Cale's expression turned odd.

– Human! This is an odd combination!

'Right?'

Cale looked at the people who appeared with a blank expression.

Screech. Screech.

Wheels were rolling.
The white-haired man in a wheelchair smiled brightly.

"It has been a while since I saw you in person, Cale-nim. It looks like I can finally join you on the battlefield."

Clopeh Sekka's face was filled with joy.
Cale didn't even glance at Clopeh and looked at the person pushing his wheelchair.

"How...?"

The person who received Cale's gaze grumbled with an annoyed expression.

"I went to the capital after taking care of things before we came together."
"You came alone?"
"Yes, young master-nim, father told me to go first."

Beacrox grumbled before taking his hand off of Clopeh Sekka's wheelchair and throwing away the white glove he had on. He then glared at Clopeh as he would look at a crazy person.

"…I'd rather pick up after the children."

Cale's expression that became even odder after hearing Beacrox's grumbling felt his body shake.

Boom!

The ground started to shake.

"Huh?!"

Cale stumbled and the invisible Raon's chubby front paws supported him.

– Human, be careful!
"As expected, you have the mentality to stand firm and not fall even when you stumble. You are amazing, Cale-nim. You truly deserve to be a legend."

He heard Raon and Clopeh's voices at the same time.

"I'd rather kill myself than hear this crap any longer."

He could also hear Beacrox's annoyed grumbling.

'This is driving me nuts.'

Cale could slightly understand how crown prince Alberu Crossman felt at times.
At that moment.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

A person's scream cut through the forest.
Cale flinched as he looked toward Saint Jack. Jack's face was filled with anger.
He started to speak to Cale.

"It's a sacrifice."

'What?'

"That is the sound of the people that sacrificed by enemies for dead mana to power the golems!"

Cale realized that Hannah and Jack looked very similar when they were extremely angry.
Saint Jack's body was shaking in anger.

"Young master-nim, please take me to the source of that noise at the center of the Alchemists' Tower. And that dead mana-"

Jack wanted to go to the center of the Northern Alchemists' Tower where the noise was coming from.
There was something he needed to do.

There was nobody here who could take him there until now.
But it was now possible.
And then…

"Please destroy the dead mana."

This was the person who controlled the fire of purification that had burned up Imperial Prince Adin's golems.

Jack looked toward Cale.

***

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]