Chapter 471 – You made a mistake (3)

The White Star, Bear King Sayeru, and Cale.
Mercenary King Bud Illis who was listening to the three of their conversation while hiding blinked his eyes a few times before starting to speak.

"Doesn't it look like they've made a weird mistake?"

His head quickly turned to look at Choi Han who was crouching next to him.

"Doesn't it?"
"…It does seem that way."

Bud looked toward Choi Han who was responding calmly but had an odd expression on his face.

"…Ho."

He then gasped.

"So, basically…"

He started to organize the thoughts on his mind.

"They think that Cale Henituse has been preparing to stop them in secret for many years?"
"It does seem that way! Mercenary King!"

Raon who was next to Bud fluttered his wings and agreed.

"…Ho."

Bud gasped once more before shaking his head. However, he could understand how they could make such a mistake.

'Even I would be suspicious about how long someone has been playing if someone suddenly appeared and got in my way every time I tried something.'

And was Cale just a small obstacle?
To be honest, Cale Henituse and his group were like a large disaster. If anybody wondered how Cale gathered such strong individuals together, it was understandable after hearing their stories.

'He gave me something to eat! He brought us home!'
'He said don't come because it was dangerous but gave me a lot of food!'
'The human saved my life! I saw the night sky for the first time thanks to the human!'

Starting from the children averaging nine-years-old…

'Well, Count Henituse and his family have been extremely gracious for our father-son duo.'
'I learned how to cook from the Henituse household. The young master-nim used to be trash in the past, but he was still a good boy from time to time.'

Ron and Beacrox.

'I had nowhere to go. No, forget nowhere to go, I had nothing at all.'
'He showed me the world.'

To Choi Han and Mary.
Bud had wondered how he had gathered people with such sob stories every time he heard one of their explanations. He found it amazing that Cale managed to put people with such sad pasts within his fence.

'He's someone who doesn't plan!'

The more he heard about Cale's progress, the fewer plans there seemed to be.
The few places he heard about where Cale found the ancient powers were huge coincidences.

Of course, Cale's group might have happened to grow by chance, but he was quite strategic about the ancient powers.

Unfortunately, Raon was the only one who knew about this.

"…Is it because he is a good person?"

Bud wondered if Cale was so lucky because he was a good person.
However, he quickly got rid of that thought. Cale had this unexplainable side to him that was cheeky and annoyed people too much to say he was a good person.

'He is cold-hearted as well.'

Bud who was organizing his thoughts recalled the cold-hearted Cale he had seen from time to time. He then had a, 'what if?' question and asked Choi Han a question.

"Cale hasn't been planning this for a long time, right?"

Bud could see Choi Han instantly start to smile. It was an innocent-looking but oddly cold smile. Bud put on an awkward smile and mumbled as if he was talking to himself the moment he saw that smile.

"Hahaha! A person shouldn't have such useless curiosities!"

He then slowly avoided Choi Han's gaze.
Choi Han looked at Bud who was avoiding his gaze with an odd expression.

'Good.'

However, it was good.
Choi Han had no answer for Bud's question.
He couldn't honestly say, 'Cale-nim has changed so much in the past two years because he is my nephew's friend, Kim Rok Soo, from another world. That person named Kim Rok Soo was quite eccentric and was the same as he is now in his original world as well.'

"But what do we do now?"

Choi Han heard Bud's mumblings and was about to respond to him.
It was at that moment.

"Hahahaha-!"

Loud laughter echoed through the empty underground city.
Cale was slightly bent forward as he quietly observed the laughing White Star.

Bear King Sayeru who had been angry at Cale quietly closed his mouth after seeing the White Star's reaction.

"Hahahaha, ugh, hahaha-!"

Cale started to frown.

'Did he go crazy?'

The White Star was laughing as if he had suddenly gone crazy. Cale had always called him a crazy bastard, but he really seemed like a crazy bastard now.

'His eyes are red.'

His eyes were bloodshot and the veins in his neck were clearly visible as if he was holding back his anger.

"Hahaha-, ha, shhh."

The White Star laughed for a while before wiping his mouth with his hand and looking toward Cale.

"I found it weird."
"What is weird?"

Cale leisurely responded to the White Star's statement and moved one hand behind him. Someone who was focused on his back at a distance received Cale's message.
However, Cale looked toward the White Star as if he had not done anything. The White Star started to speak as he looked at Cale.

"Both Choi Han and you have your time warped as I do."

Cale recalled the battle at the Alchemists' Bell Tower in the Mogoru Empire's capital.
The White Star had said that their time was warped when they first met him.

"But even though I can tell that your time is warped, I couldn't tell how it was warped."
"Why is time warped for me? What nonsense are you spewing?"
"No. I did not speak nonsense. Rather, it must be that you are hiding something."

'What?'

Cale who was going to play along with the White Star flinched after seeing his extremely calm demeanor.

This was what the White Star had said to Choi Han in the past.

'Time is warped for that swordsman.'

He had said it into Cale's mind so that nobody else could hear.

'He is not from this world.'

He then looked toward Cale and had said the following.

'Furthermore. You, just like that black-haired child as well as like myself.'

The common factor between the White Star, Choi Han, and Cale.

'Time is warped for you.'

Cale pushed aside the memory of the past and looked into the White Star's eyes.

"The first Dragon Slayer who suddenly appeared in the world. Furthermore, Choi Han whose time is warped and similarly had suddenly appeared in the world. I was able to see the answer once I put the pieces of the puzzle together."

The White Star knew that Choi Han was not from this world. Once he had a small clue, he was able to connect the first Dragon Slayer Nelan Barrow and Choi Han.

That clue was 'language.'
The language that nobody on this continent was able to decipher other than Choi Han and Nelan Barrow.
He realized it once he had this clue.

Nelan Barrow and Choi Han came from a world that uses that language.

"That was why I tried to capture Choi Han."

Tasha, Bud, Mary, Beacrox, On, and Hong who were hiding and listening all looked toward where Choi Han was hiding with shocked expressions.

They were not shocked about this time being warped business they did not understand but at the fact that the White Star had aimed for Choi Han.
They had not known about that at all.

Not only did Cale and Choi Han not talk about it, but they also did not know the details about the illusions at the Dubori Lord's Castle.

"But you see. Cale, I can't see through you. Your time is warped but I cannot see how it is warped."

The White Star was no longer smiling as he observed Cale.

This bastard was not someone who came from another world like Choi Han.
This bastard was not someone who reincarnates as he does.

Then what could it be?
Why couldn't he see this bastard's time?

Some information he had forgotten about filled the White Star's mind and made him have another thought.
Cale started to speak at that moment.

"How are you so sure about time?"

Whether time was warped or not. How did the White Star know about it so well?
Even Eruhaben had not noticed anything about Cale. But although the White Star couldn't completely tell Cale's true identity, he could feel that something was different.

'No, it's not at the level of feel. He's certain.'

The White Star was certain about it.
Cale suddenly recalled how the White Star had caressed the dead tree to realize the truth about this place.

'…Perhaps.'

Was it possible?

'Does the White Star have a time-related ability? How? With which power?'

The only one of the White Star's ancient powers Cale had not seen was the wood attribute ancient power. But that was related to time?

'Even though it is the wood attribute?'

The chance of that being the case was low.
Then, what could it be?
Cale started to get an ominous feeling.

It was at that moment.

Smirk.

Cale could see the White Star start to smile.
He then heard the White Star's voice in his mind at that moment.

– Who are you?

Cale got chills on his back.
There were many people who had asked about his identity until now.

Alberu Crossman had asked about it, the World Tree had asked about it, and the White Star had asked about it the first time they met as well.

However, this question felt different than all the others.
The White Star continued to speak in Cale's mind.

– You're a transmigrator, aren't you? Who are you that is inside Cale Henituse's body?

'Damn it. He found out.'

Although he was anxiously swearing internally, Cale's face looked calm.
The White Star started to speak again. It was out loud again.

"From body to body. You moved around while preparing. For a very long time."

'Hmm?'

Cale flinched.

The White Star's eyes sparkled even more after seeing Cale flinch as he continued to speak.

"You continued to live while jumping from body to body like that."

The White Star was slowly getting more confident about his suspicions.

Cale whose time was warped.
He was not someone a dimension traveler like Choi Han nor a reincarnator like the White Star. That meant that the only remaining options were that he was a transmigrator or a regressor. That was why the White Star first went with transmigration which would make it possible for Cale to have prepared to stop the White Star for a longer period of time.

And Cale had reacted to that.
The bastard with a poker face had finally flinched at something he had said.

The White Star had experienced many of Cale's fake expressions until now. Even if he couldn't tell through Cale's fake expressions, he could recognize Cale's real expressions.

Cale's shocked expression as he flinched…

'That's real.'

The White Star was confident that he was right.

Cale was indeed shocked as the White Star was thinking.

'Wait, this is a bit weird, isn't it? How does he come to such a conclusion?'

Cale was shocked at the White Star's train of thought.

Transmigration was correct, but he was not someone who moved from body to body while trying to stop the White Star's desire for world domination.

He just fell asleep while reading a book and had ended up in this world.

"Hehe. Yes, your thoughts and actions are not things that a mere eighteen or twenty years old could do."

'I guess that's true?'

He had his life as Kim Rok Soo as well.

"What do you think? Am I right?"

Cale honestly answered the White Star's question.

"No?"
"Feigning ignorance again. Pfft."

'Why is this bastard acting like this?'

Cale had been so shocked until now that he wasn't even shocked anymore.
However, Cale's expression quickly turned cold. He saw the White Star raising his right arm. He had a bad feeling about it.

"That bastard-!"

Cale could see the fire rising from the White Star's right palm. It looked ready to shoot out the ceiling at any moment.

– Human! It looks like the White Star is going to destroy this underground area! He's going to do it even though the Bear King is here!

'Exactly!'

The dead mana smoke was poisonous for the Bear King. Cale subconsciously turned toward Sayeru. He heard the White Star's laughter at that moment.

"Hehe. I guess I made a mistake."
"Aaaaaah!"

Sayeru started to scream.
The White Star mumbled in response.

"Shut the hell up."
"Okay."

The wind created a square wall and surrounded Sayeru. Sayeru smiled and shut up as Cale noticed the White Star's fire sword shooting up toward the ceiling like an arrow.

"No!"

Cale's shout echoed through the area.
The White Star turned to face Cale.

"Why can't I do it?"

As the White Star said that and started to smile…

"It's not that you can't do it. It's just that I wanted to do it first."
"What?"

Baaaaaang!

A loud explosion filled the White Star's ears. In this large underground city… The city's dome-shaped ceiling… A part of that large dome had exploded.

"This is the beginning."

Once Cale's comment reached the White Star's ears…

Craaaaaaack.

Cracks started to appear on the edges of the dome ceiling.

Baaaaaaaaaang-!

The fire sword then stabbed into the center of the dome ceiling, causing another large explosion.
That was the beginning. The explosions continued.

Baaang, baaaang- baaang!

Explosions continued on the edges of the ceiling.

"Cale Henituse-!"

The White Star could see Cale who was smiling while looking at the exploding ceiling.

Then the ceiling of this abandoned underground city crumbled down.

***

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]