Chapter 456 – Returned (2)

On was taking in the situation with her eyes.

"Noona."
"Hold on."

On quieted her brother Hong before amplifying the flow of the fog that only she could see.

"Aaaaaah!"
"Don't push me, it's a mess up here with everybody fallen over!"
"Ugh! My legs...!"

The amplified fog continued to spread out with the poison inside it, forcing screams to appear from multiple locations.

On could not see everything that was going on in this wide area, however, she was trying to notice as much of the people's movements as possible using her fog.

'You two return to the Eastern continent for now.'

On recalled what Cale had told her brother and her.

'I will make the Fog Cat Tribe pay the price for their actions. That is my will and I will do that no matter what.'

The Fog Cat Tribe.
On thought about her tribe that she had escaped from with her brother. They were denied status because they were mutants and the tribe had secluded them so that they could not hang out with anyone or learn anything.
They had to learn the things they should have learned as members of the Fog Cat Tribe by stealthily sneaking glances at other Cats who were learning.

She had felt all sorts of emotions after hearing Cale saying that he would make the Fog Cat Tribe pay the price. She had felt anger, joy, as well as fear.
She had then heard what Cale said next.

'I will give you two a chance to decide. Do you two want to see the Fog Cat Tribe pay the price with me?'

Cale was giving the siblings a chance to decide for themselves.

'Talk to each other and think hard about what you want to do. By the way, it would not be a pretty sight for young children like the two of you.'

He then told them to let him know once they made their decision.
On had kept her mouth shut until now and had not discussed anything related to it with her brother Hong.
Hong seemed to want to bring the topic up multiple times, but On had thought that there was something she needed to do before that.

'I need to become stronger.'

Her eyes that were observing the fog sparkled.

'I can't return there while being the same as last time.'

The last time when they faced the Fog Cat Tribe at the Castle of Light… On did not want to return to her hometown, actually, 'hell' was probably a better term for it, while being the same as before.
Her eyes looking at the fog that was being filled with screams became deeper and her fur stood up straight as she continued to think and her determination became stronger.

"Noona."

Plop.

She felt something warm on her side at that moment.
On turned her head to see Hong snickering at her.

"I'm going to do it with you!"

On could feel Hong's weak poison adding onto her fog. They were using the weakest of Hong's poisons today.
The poison followed the fog as it continued to spread.
Hong had a bright but determined look as he continued to speak to his sister On who was looking at his smiling face.

"He said that it wasn't something to do alone and said to do it together!"

That was something else Cale had said when telling On and Hong to decide.

'And if it is too difficult to decide between the two of you, feel free to ask me, Choi Han, Eruhaben-nim, Ron, really, anybody. We will all think it out with you guys. I'm sure anybody other than me will be happy if you asked them for help.'

Hong smiled even brighter on purpose after seeing the grim expression on his sister's face.
Hong had hidden behind On while shaking in fear when they met the Fog Cat Tribe at the Castle of Light.
He hid while everybody else fought. Even Raon who was younger than him had fought hard. Hong had joined the fight later, but he could not forget about how he had leaned on his sister in fear to start.

'…I'm always hiding behind noona.'

That was why he had a secret conversation about this with Raon, their youngest bro.

'That's okay. It's okay to be like that! There are times I'm like that too! This is what the human told me!'

Raon had continued in a very majestic tone.

'He said that it was fine if we hide or run because we are young! He said that it is okay for even a great and mighty Dragon like me to do that because I am young! He said everything is fine as long as we don't do bad things!'
'Really?'
'That's right! We can fight together later! Use the video communication device and gather everybody together like the human does if you're scared! Then use our numbers advantage! We have more people on our side!'

Hong couldn't completely agree with Raon's comments, but it did make him feel better.
It was because his sister On was not the only one he had by his side anymore.

He had subconsciously hidden behind his sister at the Castle of Light because he was scared and his mind had turned chaotic after seeing the other Cats, but he now had many reliable adults by his side as well.

'The weak human said it's fine to do that because all three of us are still young! He said it was okay to do that even when we became adults as well!'

'Raon can accept that so easily…'

Hong smiled as brightly as possible toward his sister On who could not accept that.
He then stuck his body even closer to his sister. He wanted to be by her side now instead of hiding behind her.

Hong could finally see his sister relax her eyes and start to smile. Hong was thinking that it would be great if everybody could smile like this.

He was nine-years-old in human years. The little Kitten pushed his body right next to his sister. He then looked forward and started to speak.

"Noona! It's grandpa Ron!"

Hong could see Ron and Beacrox walking through the fog.
Hong started to smile while looking at their backs.

'Noona already knew!'

The fog was already moving aside so that Ron and Beacrox would not touch the poison long before Hong had said anything.
Hong was proud of On who was stronger than him as he observed Ron and Beacrox's backs that seemed to be running forward without any hesitation because they trusted On.

"Aaaaaah!"
"The fog, the fog won't go away!"

The people who could not even see 1 meter in front of their eyes because of the fog didn't have the luxury to think about this narrow path that was created for Ron and Beacrox.
It was like hell with shrieks and screams all around them.

This sight was enough to give anybody who was looking from afar the chills.

"I didn't expect those punks to be this strong."

Cale stoically continued to look at the battlefield even after hearing that comment. He couldn't see things clearly because of the fog, but the fact that Mercenary King Bud was busy giving orders to the mercenaries at the starting point of the fog must mean that things weren't bad.

'And there's no reason for it to be bad.'

He knew Ron and Beacrox must have walked forward by now and that meant there was nothing to worry about.
He heard the person next to him speak again.

"I guess you really aren't going to let them off this time."

Cale turned his head to see the Dragon half-blood's pale face under his hood. His condition seemed to have worsened in the short time they didn't see each other.
However, his eyes were calm. Actually, there was a faint trace of vitality in them as well.
Cale responded.

"Why would I go easy on them?"

Who was he to go easy on Arm?
Cale was thinking that he was not in a situation to go easy on anyone. This battle would not end until one side was destroyed.
Most importantly…

"This isn't my battle. It isn't for me to meddle. Don't you agree?"

Cale turned his head toward Choi Han who was quietly standing behind him and Choi Han looked at the building on the cliffs where Beacrox had just jumped down from before responding.

"I agree with you."

Cale nodded his head at Choi Han's response before looking forward again.
He had decided to leave everything to Ron this time.
That was the right thing to do.

Why?

'…It's his house.'

Ron and Beacrox were returning to the place they were born and raised for the first time in almost twenty years.
Cale decided to quietly watch their return.
His gaze slowly followed the fog that had continued to spread until it was almost touching the third boundary.

The people running inside that fog were only looking forward as well.
Beacrox looked at his father's back.

"Aaaah!"

Blood splattered and fell to the ground along with the scream.
Blood dripped from Ron's dagger. His father didn't even give a second glance at the blood as he moved forward.

It was the same as that time.
It was the same as the day they had to run.

His father had only looked forward as he ran that day without paying attention to anything around him.
He didn't see the family flags burning and ripping behind him. He didn't see the buildings burning and crumbling.
Even with the cold corpses of their family members surrounding them…

His father had only run forward.
Beacrox who had followed behind him knew too well the reason for his father's actions.

'He needed to save me.'

Ron needed to at least save Beacrox after promising his dying wife.

That was why his father had run forward without looking around.

Beacrox focused on his father's back as he ran forward without looking around once again. Unlike last time, he could now see over his father's shoulders even while running behind him, but for some odd reason, he could not take his eyes off his father's back that had gotten much smaller than last time.

His father who had been the patriarch of the Molan household had done all sorts of jobs at the Western continent and even ended up becoming a servant.
However, the young Beacrox knew that his father went outside every night and followed him one day to see him cleaning his dagger.

Naturally, Beacrox had been noticed by his father.
Even now, Beacrox was not strong enough to hide his presence from his father. His father had said the following once they had made eye contact.

'Go in and sleep. You'll be just as tired tomorrow as you were today.'

Beacrox had been suffering quite a bit doing all sorts of tasks in the kitchen as he had just started learning about working in the kitchen. Each and every day had been tiring and difficult.
However, he had an odd feeling that the, 'tired,' that his father mentioned was not talking about working in the Henituse household.

He thought that he could finally understand what his father was talking about when he mentioned being tired.

'I'm not tired at all today.'

Beacrox had not been able to sleep properly the past few days but he was not tired at all. His body was heavy but his heart was beating wilder than ever before.

The battlefield was chaotic because of the poisonous fog.
There were not many people who could catch the two people stealthily running forward through that fog.

'There are not many strong individuals.'

He could not feel any strong individuals as the Dragon half-blood mentioned.

'The secret base at the former Molan residence has more mid-level administrators and low-level staff than any highest-level individuals as it is a place that stealthily gathers information about the continent and shared commissions.'

The corners of Beacrox's lips twisted up.
He had not felt anything when he had heard the Dragon half-blood say, 'the former Molan residence.' However, he now found those words to be annoying as he was returning to the Molan residence.

'The former' Molan residence.
He couldn't let that happen.

Beacrox could hear his father's voice as well.
It almost sounded like a sigh.

"…Finally."

Beacrox looked forward after hearing his father's subconscious comment.
They had followed the path through the fog and had arrived at the gate.
The sturdy wooden door that should have had the Molan crest on it now had a White Star on it instead.

Ron who had only looked forward as he ran felt suffocated as he looked at that door.

Could he go back?
He had thought countless times about getting revenge but for some odd reason, he had never thought that he could return to this place.
He had never even dreamt of it.

However, he was back.
He would be at the Molan family residence in just a few more steps.

This was the place Ron was born.
This was the place he lived in with his father, mother, grandmother, grandfather, cousins, uncles, and aunts, as well as many friends.
This was where he lived with his wife and where his son was born.

Ron's expression slowly stiffened.
He moved one foot to keep moving.
It was at that moment.

Tatap.

Ron saw someone running past him.
It was his son.

"It's the enemies! The enemies have made it here!"
"Cast the spells!"
"No! We can't see where our allies are because of the fog!"
"We can't aim the arrows either! Damn it!"
"No, just block that one guy charging toward the door!"

The enemies on top of the wall could not hide their shock as Beacrox ran toward the main gate.
Ron stopped and watched it happened.
He felt as if that was what he should do.

"…Ho!"

He then laughed.
Beacrox took out his greatsword. He swung his sword toward the thing blocking his way.

Baaaaang!

Ron watched the white star on the door being destroyed by his son's sword with a loud explosion.
There was now a hole at the center of the large main gate.

Beacrox pushed the gate to the side with his sword.

Screeeech-

Ron could see the enemies approaching with shock and urgency on their faces once the gate opened.
However, he looked at his son's face first.

Beacrox had a stiff smile on his face as he pointed past the gate.

"Father, we're back home."
"...Yes."

Ron looked at the roof of the central building that had been on fire in the past but seemed to be fine.

"We're back."

'Finally.
I'm finally back home.
We are back at our house.
We are back to a place I thought I could never return.'

Ron, whose hair had half turned white in the past fifteen years, stood there with the corners of his lips faintly shaking. He looked toward the enemies running toward them as he spoke to his son.

"Let's go into our house."
"Yes, father."

Ron and Beacrox.
The two of them entered into Arm's secret base, no, into their lost home.

***

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]