Chapter 463 – It’s What I want (4)

'Only look forward. I'll only look forward.'

Cale's shoulders were curled in as he focused on Hunter Bobe's back.

'I thought it was meant to sound like a lost loved one to bewitch you, so why is it not doing that to me?'

Cale did not get scared like this other than because of Ron or Choi Han. But he was extremely scared right now.

'This is weird.'

He did not see the snake's head nor its entire body because he turned his head back quickly, but the wiggling body of this large snake was much larger than Cale had expected.
Even the luster on the red scales was oddly bright.

'But that's not the issue.'

Cale was not scared because of the red scales nor the large body of the snake. He just felt fear as soon as he looked at it.

'Why is that?'

Cale started to frown as he had never felt something like this before.
The Super Rock chimed in at that moment.

– Someone will be bewitched. It will bewitch someone.

His voice was full of certainty and stiff unlike usual.

'Are you saying I will be bewitched?'
– No. You won't be bewitched. Absolutely not.

'What? I won't be bewitched? Why?'

However, the Super Rock did not answer Cale's question. It just quickly said something else instead.

– Anybody who is bewitched by that snake will die or try to kill someone.

There wasn't even an ounce of hesitation in his voice.

– You have a lot of people with you right now and each of them is strong. That shrewd snake who knows that will make the bewitched person kill someone. That is the way for it to cause more deaths. It will make the bewitched person crazy for blood.

'Is it like a cursed power or item that comes out in fantasy novels?'

– …It's more than that. Be careful.

'Be careful of the snake?'

– No. Be careful of the sword of your bewitched ally.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh-

The moment he heard the snake move and the Super Rock's voice at the same time…

"Ugh!"

Cale suddenly felt his body being pulled back. Cale felt pain as the hand that pulled his shoulder was tightly grabbing on.

"What the? What is-"

Cale's eyes opened with and he shut his mouth. The invisible Raon followed by Beacrox with On and Hong in his arms should have been the order behind him.
However, he could see that the line had turned into a mess.

"Hey!"

Mercenary King Bud was shouting toward Cale. Cale couldn't hear because of the earplugs, but he quickly figured out the situation based on the shape of Bud's lips and the messed up line.

"Shit, Beacrox, that bastard!"

Cale pushed Bud's hand off his shoulder and headed toward Beacrox.

"Ah, damn it!"

Bud frowned at that before quickly rushing toward Hunter Bobe. He needed to grab Bobe who was disappearing into the fog.
Cale who was approaching Beacrox was stopped by someone. He turned his head to see Choi Han standing there. He was looking at Cale with a gaze that seemed to be saying, 'be safe.'

However, Cale just turned back toward Beacrox.

– Human! Beacrox is acting weird!

As Raon mentioned in his mind, Beacrox had left the group and was entering the forest.

"…Mother..."

He had a blank expression on his face and only repeated the word mother as he walked. Cale became certain after seeing this.

'He's bewitched!'

He was certain Beacrox was bewitched by the snake.
Beacrox was not someone who would make such stupid movements with the children in his arms. Cale then saw something else.

– Human! Why is Beacrox heading into that forest when there is nothing there?

Both Raon and Choi Han did not seem to have noticed it.
But Cale saw it. He also heard it.

Ding ding.

He heard a bell.
There was a small bell at the end of the large snake's tail that was shaking and ringing slightly away from the direction Beacrox was walking.

Ding.

Beacrox took a step every time the bell rang.
Cale instantly started to frown.

'Why was this stoic bastard the one to get bewitched?'

– He returned home after fifteen years and it was to the place his mother passed away. He is bound to be more emotional than usual, whether that is with joy, sorrow, or contentment.

'Damn it.'

Cale was thinking that the Super Rock's response was accurate.

"…Mom."

It was because Beacrox was calling for his mom as he headed over there. Cale realized he missed Beacrox's current mental state before coming here but could not just stand still.

Ding ding.

On and Hong were in Beacrox's arms as he continued to follow the sound of the bell. That made Cale even more anxious.
The two Kittens could not get out of Beacrox's arms to escape. It could not be helped.

'…It's red!'

Once Beacrox had suddenly changed directions and could not snap out of it no matter how many times Hong smacked his arm… Hong saw something red in the direction Beacrox was heading.

"…Red-!"

However, Hong who was subconsciously shouting did not see it properly before he had to lower his head.
Hong slowly raised his head a little later. His sister On was holding him with her eyes closed tightly. Hong quickly closed his eyes as well.

'He said not to look at it twice!'

They might end up seeing the red scales as the two of them escaped. Furthermore, they couldn't leave Beacrox behind, so they chose to keep their eyes closed while holding onto Beacrox's clothes.

'What do I do?'

Choi Han looked at On, Hong, and the blankly walking Beacrox and bit down on his lips.

'Should I grab Beacrox right now?'

He was worried that something might happen if he made a rash move.

That meant that he needed to assess the situation first, but that was the problem.

'I can't see it!'

He didn't see the snake and he didn't hear anything.
He could not figure out where the enemy was located.
It was at that moment.

Swoosh!

Choi Han could see Hunter Bobe throwing his blindfold away. He then shouted toward Beacrox with a frown.

"Shit! I knew it would be like this!"

He quickly took an arrow out of his quiver and quickly aimed his bow. He then looked around. He didn't seem afraid of looking at the red snake.

"Where are you? Where is the damn red snake bastard?! I can see it once!"

Hunter Bobe raised his voice on purpose and acted as if he was going to fight the red snake. He was going to run in the opposite direction as soon as he saw the red scale and take that bewitched person with him.

'Good. I won't be bewitched because my ears are plugged. There are a lot of strong people, so it shouldn't be difficult grabbing that bewitched person and running away.'

Old man Bobe glared as he looked around the fog.
The old man subconsciously lowered his bow and started to shout.

"Hey! Are you crazy?!"

Bobe who had forgotten to use a respectful tone because he was shocked could see merchant Bob.

Plop. Plop.

Cale had removed the earplugs and thrown them to the ground with a stoic expression.

– Human! You'll be bewitched as well!
"Cale-nim."
"Hey!"
"Mm."

He could see the concern on the other people's faces, but Cale was just annoyed.

Ding ding.

"…Mom..."

Beacrox was probably bewitched after hearing his mother's voice right now. He had returned home to the place his mother had passed away after fifteen long years.
That had created an opening in that stoic person's heart that the red snake bastard used to bewitch him.

'…So annoying.'

Cale was very angry right now.

– Human! That's dangerous!

He let Raon's comments in one ear and out the other.
He had already removed the earplugs and had seen the scales twice. He had not seen the snake's head yet, but so what?

'I just need to do what I want to do.'

Ding.

Once the bell rang once more…

– Aren't you overdoing it?

He heard the Sky Eating Water's voice and Choi Han who was shocked at his actions tried to grab his arm. However, Cale was moving quickly.

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

A thin spear made of water left Cale's hand and flew forward.
The spear flew in a straight line toward something, until…

Baaaaang!

It slammed onto the bell on the snake's tail.

"Huh?"

The rest of the group opened their eyes wide after seeing the exploding water spear and hearing the loud explosion.
Cale then quickly ran toward Beacrox through the group of shocked individuals.

"…Mom, ugh!"

He then smacked the back of Beacrox's head refreshingly. It shouldn't hurt that much no matter how hard Cale hit him, but Beacrox groaned as if he had been shocked.

"Ugh, who suddenly-! Ugh!"

Then a round water bomb drenched Beacrox.

Meeeeeow.
Meeeeeow!

On and Hong and quickly jumped out of Beacrox's arm before that.

"Cough, cough!"

Beacrox coughed as he glared at Cale with a disgruntled gaze. He didn't seem to remember anything that had happened while he was bewitched. That suspicion was correct.

"I'm relieved."

Beacrox looked toward Cale who was patting his wet hair with a disgustingly gentle expression after smacking his head and blasting him with a water bomb as if he was a crazy bastard.
However, Beacrox soon turned pale.

Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-!

He heard a terrible shriek. It was so loud that the earplugs were useless. A shocked Bud turned his head to see something that almost made him shriek as well.

"W, what is that?"

The snake's tail that was covered in red scales. He could see the cracked bell at the tip of the tail.

'That's where Cale just threw his water spear!'

The Mercenary King's gaze quickly turned toward Cale. Cale raised his head and looked up.

The shriek had come from above.
He saw the fog-covered forest. Cale then found the large snake's head that was looking down at him through the fog. The eyes that were as red as the scales looked ready to gobble Cale up.
The snake opened its mouth at that moment.

Screeeeeeeech-!

Bud covered his plugged ears with his hands as well.

"Ugh!"

He turned pale as well.
His body had curled up on its own after hearing that loud screech.

'What is this? Why am I acting like this?'

He didn't need to think about it for a long time.

'I'm scared.'

He felt fear for some odd reason after hearing that noise.

Mercenary King Bud was not the only one who felt this way.

"Ugh! I've, n, never heard this noise before...!"
"Ugh."

Bobe curled up his body while shaking and the Dragon half-blood was barely still standing.
On and Hong jumped back into Beacrox's arms as they shook in fear.
Cale started to frown as he watched this happen.

– H, human! I, I'm a bit scared too! I'm scared even though I'm a great and mighty Dragon!

'Damn it.'

After he heard their youngest, Raon's voice, Cale tried to activate an ancient power in his body again.

'I'm scared.'

He was scared as well.
Cale felt more fear as the screech continued to get louder without stopping.
However, he could not just stand still.

"…It's super scary."

He didn't like this unknown sense of fear.

– It's because it is blood.

He heard the Super Rock's voice at that moment.

– It is because it is the Blood-drenched Rock. It is the earth where the dead are buried. It is the weapon that kills humans and other living things. It is normal to be scared.

The Super Rock was saying it was normal to be scared.

– Do you know why people feared the ancient White Star?

Part of the reason was because the White Star had the sky attribute power and because he was strong, but…

– That earth attribute power used as a weapon makes people feel the instinctual fear of death.

The people of ancient times felt fear at the ancient White Star who controlled this power and had to submit.
Just like how all dead things return to the earth, people instinctually felt fear about this earth attribute power that had turned into a weapon by focusing on the attribute of earth that welcomed the bodies of the dead.

Cale finally realized why the White Star had been searching so long for this earth attribute ancient power.

Domination.
There was nothing better than this power to rule with fear.

'Then what should I do?'

Cale started to frown.

– Cale.

The Super Rock started to speak again.

– Do you know why I took the weak Nelan Barrow with me? Do you know why I tried so hard to keep him alive?

Nelan Barrow. The first Dragon Slayer and the Korean person named Choi Jung Gun.
Cale's mind quickly started to move after suddenly hearing about him. The Super Rock would not bring it up for no reason.
The Super Rock continued to speak as Cale started to think.

– I did protect him because he was young, but… That punk had a useless bluffing power. It was a power that was perfect for scamming. But you see…
"Ah."

Cale let out a gasp.

– That power that is called a bluff is also called courage at times.

The Dominating Aura.
The power that he thought was perfect for scamming and bluffing.

– That punk… He was always bluffing but he had the courage to stand up against fear. And that courage turned into an aura. We were able to fight against this fear when we were with that punk's aura.

Cale finally understood why the Super Rock said that there was no chance of his being bewitched by the snake.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The Dominating Aura inside Cale's body slowly uncurled his body.

– Share your aura with the others.

Cale started to smile.
Everybody turned to look at that moment.
They had felt a strong aura. They felt the aura of an overlord and felt as if they suddenly had a strong pillar of support.

The group who had trembled at this unknown fear slowly lowered their hands that were covering their ears and opened up their curled shoulders after feeling this aura.
This strong aura was giving off an odd sense of warmth and courage instead of fear. They felt this invisible force that seemed to be telling them to trust and follow it.

– Human! I'm not scared! But human, you look extremely strong right now! You're so feeble but you look reliable!

Cale listened to Raon's comments as he surrounded his body with the Dominating Aura.
He then lifted his head.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh-

Cale looked toward the snake that was glaring at him and started to speak.

"Hey snake bastard, I'm going to kill you."

Another water spear shot toward the snake's tail at that moment.

Baaaaang!

The water spear slammed into a tree and exploded.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh-

The snake's tail that had dodged the spear shot up into the air before heading down again.

Baaaaang!

Its large body started to move toward Cale with a large explosion.

"Good, follow me. You're just a snake bastard who is not even as red as gochujang!"

The Sound of the Wind surrounded Cale's body and he quickly headed toward a direction.
He was heading toward the top of Nake Mountain. The mountain peak was covered in granite.

Cale heard Choi Han's voice behind him at that moment.

"Cale-nim."
"What is it? Don't bother me! I can only get the ancient power by fighting it alone!"

He couldn't even look at Choi Han as he ran toward the peak.
He needed to take the snake away to a spot with the least amount of people. Cale who had a lot of things to do started to think about the plans for the future as his feet quickly moved.
Choi Han chased after Cale and ran next to him even after being told not to bother him.

"Choi Han, I told you I need to do it on my own."
"Won't the balance in your plate be destroyed?"
"…What?"
"You're aware of it too, Cale-nim."

Cale was at a loss for words.
Cale's plate had become balanced after barely managing to gather all five attributes.
However, Cale was planning on getting another earth attribute ancient power right now.

Cale looked toward Choi Han who had a sad smile on his face.

"Cale-nim, are you planning on sacrificing yourself again?"

Cale was at a loss for words again.

***

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]