Chapter 457 – Returned (3)

However, nobody was welcoming Beacrox and Ron who returned home after a long time.
In fact, enemies were charging at them from the main gate.

"This is nice."

Beacrox commented before swinging his greatsword horizontally.

"Ugh!"

One of Arm's swordsmen who had been charging forward flew sideways after losing the power battle against the greatsword. But that was just the beginning.
Mages, knights, soldiers, and archers, all sorts of people charged at the two of them.

"We should have killed all those Molan bastards!"
"How dare these rats confidently charge in like this!"

A few people who had betrayed their respective underworld households to join Arm in the past were shouting at Beacrox.

"How funny."

That was all Beacrox had to say before he started to move forward.
He knew where he needed to go and he was happy to swing his sword to get there.

"…You-"
"Please just follow me."

Ron was about to say something but Beacrox brushed it aside and swung the greatsword diagonally.

Bang!

A magic fireball exploded after touching the wind pressure created by the greatsword.
Beacrox immediately stabbed the sword forward and took another step.

"Aaaah!"

Beacrox's sword pierced through someone else's side. Beacrox pulled the sword out with a stoic expression and kicked to the side with his right leg.

"Ugh!"

A soldier fell down without realizing what happened.

'I will take the lead.'

That was the only thought on Beacrox's mind as he swung his sword. Ron watched his son and quietly followed behind him.

'…He's definitely gotten stronger.'

Ever since Choi Han arrived at the residence, his son Beacrox's sword skills had slowly increased even if it wasn't easily noticeable.
And he was slowly becoming more like his wife. The way he uses his sword and his actions were both becoming like her.

'Although he looks exactly like me.'

He felt as if he would start to laugh. It was rare for him to want to laugh like this on the battlefield, but today felt as if it would be one of those rare days.
His wife had always been by his side whenever he laughed like this on the battlefield.

The two of them had started to date and got married at an older age compared to most people. Honestly speaking, it took a long time for them to get married after they started dating. They had done a lot of jobs together as those times together built up.

She was the first person Ron had allowed by his side other than when he was learning dagger arts and stealth techniques from the elders in the family.

Well, it was probably more accurate to say he held her back at his side rather than allowed her to be there.

'I told you I'll take the lead.'
'Stop rushing out so much.'
'Oh, come on! Stop being so frustrating.'

She really enjoyed taking the lead in battle.
Ron recalled some of the conversations he had with her.

'No. Listen to me. Think about being in the front and smacking the faces of the enemies with a greatsword. Do you know how that feels?'
'Do I need to know that? I prefer stabbing people in the neck from behind instead.'
'Aigoo, I shouldn't have even asked.'

Ron still clearly remembered how the woman who shook her head while saying that she couldn't understand assassins had swung her greatsword.

'…He's similar.'

Their son reminded him so much of her.
Of course, his style was not exactly the same as hers. Beacrox had been with Choi Han, Gashan, and other strong warriors and picked things up from watching their battles.
However, the roots had started from his wife.

Ron, who ended up following behind his son, started to climb up the stairs toward the top of the wall with the main gate.

One step, two steps. He could slowly see the view inside the valley as he went up step by step.
The enemies started to charge at them even more fiercely as that happened.

"You damn assassin bastard who ran away!"

Ron's hand moved after hearing a voice behind him.

"Ugh!"

Puuk.

Ron turned his head back after coldly staring at an enemy falling down the stairs with a dagger in his neck.
He heard a loud noise at that moment.

Baaaaang!

"Aaaah!"

He could also see a person groaning as they fell off the wall.

Clang.

The sword in that person's hand broke into two and fell to the ground. Ron looked at that sword for a moment before looking at the stairs in front of him.
He was not far from the end. Beacrox who was already on top of the wall was looking at him.

"Father, please come up."

There were minor injuries all over Beacrox's body, but it was hard to tell because he was covered in other people's blood.

Tap.

Ron took one step.

Tap, tap.

His movement slowly became faster as he quickly climbed up the few remaining stairs.

"…Ha."

A gasp-like laugh came out of his mouth.
A perilous mountain range. This deep valley and the cliffs that seemed to have been artificially cut out.
He could see the sight that made him nostalgic about the past.

"Father."

Ron looked toward Beacrox who was taking out a rolled up piece of cloth from his pocket. He took the cloth from Beacrox and unraveled it. The cloth had the Molan crest on it.

"…Did you draw it?"
"Yes."
"Looks like you need to improve your art skills."

This punk who was good at cooking and needlework was a terrible artist.
However, he still did better than expected with this crest.

The Molan Household.
They could not openly reveal their crest during missions as they were part of the underworld. However, they had at least put their crest in this valley.
This was their territory, and it was a sign telling uninvited guests to stay out.

'It'll be a bit different now.'

The meaning of this crest would slightly change from now on.
Ron walked to where Arm's flag was hanging and ripped that flag with his dagger.

Plop.

Arm's flag fell and Ron tied the Molan crest his son had drawn in its place.

Piiiiiiiiiii- Piiiiiiiiiiii-

Beacrox blew the flute at that moment.
The fog instantly disappeared. Mercenary King Bud Illis who was standing at the second boundary shouted as soon as he noticed the change.

"Charge!"

Mages, swordsmen, and hunters. Mercenaries with all different types of occupations shouted as they charged toward the third boundary. The assassins who survived from those destroyed households and participated in this battle walked down from the buildings in the cliffs and disappeared into the battlefield.

Ron turned around after seeing their allies charging forward. He could see the central building. That should be where the important individuals in this secret base should be located. Even if there were no highest-grade individuals here, they needed to take back that building.
He turned his head.

"Lead the way."

He left the front for his son.

"I will take care of the back."

He was going to prevent the enemies from chasing them from the back.

"Yes, sir. Let's hurry over."

Beacrox took the lead and started to head for the central building.
Ron followed behind him.
Without any highest-grade strong individuals, there were not many in this secret base who could stop them.

* * *

Finally, they were on the top floor of the central building. Ron looked at his liege at this place that used to be the Molan patriarch's room in the past and started to speak.

"Young master-nim, there is a teleportation magic circle leading to another secret base."

Cale stepped onto the teleportation magic circle.
Choi Han, Beacrox, the Mercenary King, the Dragon half-blood, and the children averaging nine-years-old were with him.

"I will take care of things here before heading over."

Cale nodded his head at Ron who was smiling benignly again.

"Sure. But Ron, isn't your house too nice? It's even bigger than our Henituse Estate."

Ron smiled and Cale let the teleportation magic circle take him away.
He started to think about Arm's second secret base as it turned dark.

– Human! But why did the White Star put a secret base over there?

The Eastern continent's Three Restricted Areas.
The Wind Island where Cale got the top's whip.
The Castle of Light where Lord Sheritt's castle was located.

And finally…
The northern part of the Eastern continent. A black hole located near the start of the glacier region.

People in the past claimed that falling into that hole would take you to the world of death, the Demon World, leading to them avoiding this hole that was the size of a decent city.
This was the reason no cities or villages existed around it.

Honestly speaking, there was no reason for anybody to live by a giant sinkhole.
This was because this sinkhole existed between the glacier region and the mountain range that protected the rest of the Eastern continent from the cold.

There was nobody who would create a village past the mountain range and near this hole.

However, people still gave this place a name.

The final restricted area.
The Gate to the Demon World.

Arm's second secret base was located between the Gate to the Demon World and the mountain range.

Paaaat-

A bright light surrounded Cale and he had appeared outside Arm's secret base once he opened his eyes.
The distinction between the three boundaries was incomplete here as the Dragon half-blood had mentioned.

Cale saw Arm's second secret base slowly become clearer as the bright light disappeared.

"Ha, haha-"

He started to laugh.
He was not laughing because he was happy.
He was laughing in disbelief.

– Human! This place feels familiar!

It was very cold even with temperature magic because it was near the glacier region.
Although this was his first time here, Cale was very familiar with the layout of the second secret base.

"Cale-nim, this place-"

Choi Han could not finish his sentence as he was at a loss for words as well. He eventually managed to get it out.

"This place is similar to the Dragon Slayer village. No, it is almost an exact replica."

The village underground. The green village surrounded by cliffs.
The stone building with Choi Jung Gun's memoir at the center.
Everything was replicating itself in front of them. Cale scoffed while looking at this secret base that was said to house the strongest of Arm's forces.

'Isn't this the same as the legend of the village created by the first Dragon Slayer?'

The first Dragon Slayer had lived away from the rest of the world with a collection of the strongest individuals.
It was unbelievable and laughable that the bastard who wanted to be the White Star instead of the Dragon Slayer had created such a place.

Why?

It was extremely obvious that he created this secret base because he longed for the Dragon Slayer village but could not return there.
It was laughable that a bastard who had no problem sacrificing or harming people, a bastard who wanted to rule over everything, would have such emotions to create this village.

It also made him angry.
It annoyed him.

"Aigoo, how entertaining."

Cale could see the person walking out once the village gate opened.

"How dare you crawl over to this place?"

The person provoking them was the Lion King. The person who had been at this place looked toward Cale and Choi Han in disbelief.

"My liege did tell me that Arm's base was being attacked. But the people who should be at the desert are here? Hmm?"

He shook his head in disbelief. However, the smile slowly disappeared from his face.
It was because that meant that they were tricked by Cale.
More enemies slowly started to appear behind him.

"Cale-nim, they are strong."

As Choi Han mentioned, each of them were strong enough to be a captain of a mercenaries squad.
That might be the reason the Lion King looked so relaxed.

"I should catch you bastards before the liege gets here."

Ooooooooong-

Dark aura started to gather around his body.

"I'll throw you bastards into the Gate to the Demon World. Kehehehe!"

The Lion King could see Cale's mouth slowly starting to open.

"Hey, it's your turn."

'Hmm?'

Lion King Dorph could see a person behind Cale with his hood down low, stepping forward. He felt an unknown sense of wariness and suddenly got chills on his back.
It was the type of feeling he got when a big danger was headed his way.

Shhhhh.

The hood was removed.
He could now see the face of the person underneath the hood.

"…You were alive?!"

The Lion King's face looked astonished while the Dragon half-blood who took his hood off quietly closed his eyes. His hair was dyed red, but his face was still thin and looked annoyed.
He could feel it every day.

He could feel death approaching.

The pain throughout his body was getting worse.
He had to be careful every time he took a breath. An unbearable pain that made it feel as if he would die would strike him if he breathed incorrectly.

However, if the end was near…
He wanted to choose his end similarly to how he had chosen to live six months more with the first decision he was given in his life.

He pulled out the light attribute that faintly remained in his body.
The light was very weak and his body was human now, but it was still there.

"I'm prepared."

He told Cale who was behind him and Cale gave the order.

"Get started."

Two people responded to him.

"Sure."
– I got it, human!

The Dragon half-blood and Raon started to channel their powers.

***

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]