Chapter 451 – Right Arm (1)

The Dark Elves all headed for the Land of Death.

"Huh?"

The watching residents' eyes opened wide. It was because the people who were telling them to come here were leaving and going elsewhere.
It was even more shocking because Gashan and Cale were at the center of that group.

"…They're running away without these people? Cale Henituse is leaving people behind?"

The White Star's eyes slightly frowned as he watched.
Even with this young Dragon's shield, it was obvious that the forces protecting the residents and knights would decrease if Cale escaped. The residents started to become scared as they felt the same way.

"W, who is going to protect us?"
"Why is he throwing us aside?"

It was at that moment.
One of the Dark Elves who had followed Gashan who had Cale on his back hesitated as he looked at the plaza and started to speak.

"Is it okay to leave them there like this? We haven't captured the black mages in the Lord's Castle or taken care of the rest of the enemies."

Another person approached them and responded once he asked the question.

"We did everything we could."
"Tasha-nim."

Dark Elf Tasha looked at the plaza and the Lord's Castle with a cold gaze before speaking to the Dark Elf warrior.

"How much must we do for them?"

The Dark Elf warrior was at a loss for words. He also felt that Tasha was very cold. It was different seeing someone who took the lead in everything for the Underground City and the Roan Kingdom act like this.
Tasha continued to speak to that warrior.

"There's no need for us to take care of things the Caro Kingdom's citizens can do on their own."
"Excuse me?"

What did she mean by things the Caro Kingdom's citizens could do on their own?
Tasha was about to respond to that question. However, Cale responded first.

"No matter how strong the White Star is, he cannot win against numbers and justification."
"What do you mean by that-"
"It means that there's no need for us to do everything. We can leave it for someone who would do a better job. The Caro Kingdom is not such a weak place."

The Dark Elf warrior flinched after hearing noises that then started to come from multiple directions.

Booooom- Boom- Booooom!

The drum noises were coming from all directions except the South.

They were all headed for the Dubori territory.
The nearby territories' Knights Brigade, the Royal Knights Brigade, and soldiers were surrounding the territory like a tsunami and marching forward.

Cale listened to the beating of the drums and recalled how crown prince Valentino had nodded his head when they made eye contact before Cale had run away.

'Crown prince Valentino ignored the issues in the Dubori territory.'

He had ignored the issue of the residents running away because of the extreme taxes because he was worried about his position being shaken. However, he personally showed up when the territory was in danger.
It was very humane, and he at least had the minimum level of a sense of responsibility.

"Huh? Huh?"

The residents curled up after hearing the drums and could not hide their anxiety once the silver shield disappeared.
The Knight Captain raised his voice at that moment.

"Everybody calm down!"

Paaaat. Paat!

Bright lights started to appear around the plaza at that moment. The Knight Captain's voice cut through the plaza as people became even more shocked because of those knights.

"The Royal Mages have arrived!"

High-grade mages had teleported and appeared at the set coordinates. The Captain approached the crown prince and bowed.

"Your highness! We will create some magic circles! Everyone will soon arrive!"
"Quickly create them! Cast a shield over the plaza as well!"
"Yes, your highness!"

The mana disturbance tools that were in the Dubori territory were now destroyed.
Mages started to teleport over or run over with acceleration magic. Crown prince Valentino clenched his fists.

'This is the Caro Kingdom. That's why we need to protect it ourselves.'

The residents could see the knights surrounding the plaza with their swords out as well as the mages who were creating and combining shields that were smaller and weaker than the strong shield from earlier.
The drums slowly got closer and they could hear the soldiers' shouts as well. The residents' bodies that were curled up in fear slowly started to open.

Baaaaaang!

Another explosion came from the Lord's Castle at that moment.

"Shit! Get them!"

Bear King Sayeru gave an order to the black mages. However, they could not properly cast their spells.

Baaaaang! Bang!

Fire cast by a Fire Elemental and a Water Elemental's water wall were blocking their path. Some of the Dark Elves popped out of there and started to escape.
They were the ones who had not left with Tasha earlier. They were still taking care of Cale's orders to help the residents escape to the plaza.

"Aaaaah!"
"Lord-nim! Please wake up!"

The Lord who was covered in dust was being supported by a knight who was trying his best to escape from the Lord's Castle. The knights, mages, servants, and administrators all urgently rushed out of the door that the Elementals destroyed for them.
Sayeru started to frown as he watched.

"Damn it, Ellie!"
"Ah, why do you keep calling me?! I can't cast any illusions right now because my bracelet is destroyed!"

The Illusionist raged as she frowned while looking at her broken bracelet.

'F*ck.'

Sayeru grabbed his hair as he watched.

'We were going to control the lord with illusions and make the Caro Kingdom be on our side!'

It was difficult to cast any illusions because the Illusionist's medium was destroyed. Furthermore, the Caro Kingdom's central forces and the nearby territories' soldiers had arrived earlier than they expected.

'Who expected the crown prince to get here so quickly, no, to personally come here?'

His gaze then headed to the gold-haired man in the air.

'It's because of this damn Dragon bastard.'

Sayeru had thought that Choi Han who had left the Illusionist and rushed out of the banquet hall had headed over to the mana disturbance tools. That was why he had urgently headed to the top of the Lord's Castle, only to meet Eruhaben there.

'It's been a while.'

The Dragon had attacked the mana disturbance tools, the castle's roof, and Sayeru as he said that. That was why Sayeru was delayed in noticing the Dark Elves using their contracted Elementals to protect the territory lord in multiple layers of barriers.

"You take care of things here. I don't care if you make a new medium or what."
"Hey!"

He ignored Illusionist Elisneh's shout and shot up to the air. He looked toward the Dark Elves and Cale.

"Hey!"

Elisneh flinched while shouting toward Sayeru.

Caw. Caw.

She could hear the cawing crows. Something fell by her side at that moment.

"…These damn-!"

Plop. Plop.

The crows were dropping the rats they hunted around the Illusionist. These fainted rats that had been her eyes and ears piled up around her. The Illusionist made eye contact with one of the crows at that moment.
The crow opened its beak.

"That was a good hunt."

The tips of Elisneh's fingers were shaking in anger after hearing the imposing old man's voice.

"…You're just a run-of-the-mill shaman!"

The crow cawed as if to sneer at her and moved away. It said one last thing as it moved.

"I was told to tell you to wait to see true despair instead of just an illusion."

The laughing old man's voice disappeared as the crow flew away. Elisneh who had been angry realized something weird.

"…Weren't they running away?"

Weren't that crow's owner, the Dark Elves, and Cale Henituse, their leader, currently running away? She could see them heading west past the city walls and away from the Lord's Castle.
But showing them despair?

Her mind quickly came to a conclusion.

'They're not running away!'

She quickly looked around and approached a black mage before grabbing him by the collar and giving him an order.

"Cast flight magic on me now! Either that, or contact Sayeru or the White Star immediately!"

She needed to let them know.
She needed to tell them that those bastards were not running away.

* * *

Tasha was asking Cale a question at that moment.

"How far do we have to run?"

Cale grabbed Gashan's shoulders and Gashan stopped walking. Tasha stopped as well and asked again. Her gaze headed up to the sky for a moment.

"The other Dark Elves who went to the Lord's Castle will finish their tasks and reunite with us soon. But why are we the only ones running away?"

She could see Cale start to smile.

"Of course, only we are running away."

Other than Gashan, only the Dark Elves would have heard the message from their Elementals. There were many people who had not heard Cale say, 'run.' Cale stoically responded to Tasha who found it weird that they were the only ones running away and looked forward.
They were now on top of the western city wall. Cale opened his mouth to speak once he got there.

– Human! Why are you and the Dark Elves running away? I did what you told me to do before I went to the Eastern continent!

The woman in a black robe who had flown toward the territory and the escaping party was now floating above the city wall looking down at Cale who was on Gashan's back.

"Mary."

The black robe slightly moved as she bowed.

"Give me a ride."

The Dragon lowered its head. Cale walked onto the black bones. He held Mary's hand and stood up straight.
He then gave an order to the Dark Elves.

"You guys go and prepare. Follow our original plan."

There were multiple things in the desert to tie the White Star down in the Land of Death.
The people of the Underground City were able to create large traps throughout the desert because it was a discarded land that nobody traveled across.

"I will make the White Star escape to the Land of Death during that time."

Tasha laughed and moved past Cale and Mary.

"Sure. I guess our job is to run right now. We will go to play our part."
"I will go with them as well. I will leave a crow behind with you."

Gashan followed behind Tasha as well.
Cale finally looked forward. He slowly organized the thoughts in his mind.

The Illusionist couldn't cast illusions because her medium was destroyed, while the Caro Kingdom's mages and knights should be able to protect the residents.
Choi Han, Raon, and the others were all free.

– Let's fight!

He heard the Sky Eating Water's voice.

– Now we can fight without any hindrances.

Black threads started to come out of Mary's hands.

Screech, screech.

The black bone wings became covered in Mary's black mana.

"Shall we go?"
"Yes."

The Black Bone Dragon flew up.
Cale looked at her and casually commented.

"Did you become stronger?"
"Of course. I absorbed a lot of dead mana."

The dead mana storage facilities around the Mogoru Empire's North, South, East, and West Alchemists' Towers. Mary who had absorbed the most dead mana from those places had taken what the White Star wanted to take for herself.

"Then first, block that."
"I understand."

The Dragon quickly flew through the air.
It then crashed.

"Ugh! This bastard!"

Mary's black threads that covered the Bone Dragon's wing bones had created large wings. The Dragon flapped its wings and destroyed Sayeru's light arrows with its front paws. Cale suddenly recalled what he said to Choi Han earlier.
It was during the celebration in the Roan Kingdom. He had said the following while explaining the plan to Choi Han on the terrace.

'Didn't I say that I was going to cut the White Star's right arm off?'

He mumbled to himself as he recalled that memory.

"I guess I can destroy three different right arms."

Cale looked down toward the pale Sayeru from on top of the Dragon as he started to speak.

"You too, right?"

The pale and feeble Sayeru.
He turned even paler every time he used his ancient power.

"Your plate is weak like mine, right?"
"You bastard!"

Sayeru flinched before shouting in rage as he created tens of spinning light orbs. Mary stepped forward.

"Based on our attributes, I should be the one to fight."

Cale happily handed the stage over to her. He then turned around and opened his mouth to speak.
And then, as he made eye contact with the White Star…

"I'll destroy your plate before you destroy mine."

Choi Han, the invisible Raon, and Eruhaben all quickly charged toward the White Star as if they had been waiting for Cale to say that.

"Ha!"

The White Star scoffed in disbelief before increasing the strength of the fire on his sword. Choi Han made eye contact with him and smiled as Cale shouted.

'I will do the same thing you did to me.'

"That bastard is alone right now! Don't give him any openings to use his ancient powers!"

Raon's magic that had been covered by the night sky struck down from above everything.

"What is this?"

A tightly interlocked net started to fall toward the White Star. This trap was full of the young Dragon's anger.

The net that was spread as wide as the night sky started to bind the White Star.

***

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]