Chapter 500 – It works? (1)

People tend to stop moving when they are put under pressure or become anxious.

"T, that-!"

The hands of the old man holding the mirror were shaking.

"…My goodness."

Guardian Knight Jeet was thinking that this was one of those moments.

'Such a large snake, no, monster.'

He had heard a lot of information about what Commander Cale had done until now. Even though he was not an Elf, Cale was someone who had helped out at the Ten Finger Mountains' Elf Village. He could hear many things about him because he was connected to the Elves in many ways.

There was a thought he had every time he heard some news.

'He's amazing.'

This person is amazing.
That was the only thought he had.
That was why he thought that Cale would be amazing during this battle as well. At least, that was what he had vaguely expected.

But he was at a loss for words after seeing that amazingness in person.
He was so shocked that he froze in place for a moment.

Jeet could see that Elisneh's three subordinates looked as shocked as him.

However, it was only for a short instant.
The whole thing lasted one, maybe two minutes at max.

However, that short moment of hesitation could be a long time for someone else.
It was indeed a long time for Cale and the stone imugi.

Baaaaang! Bang! Bang, baaaaang!

Things broke and broke again.

The maze was breaking, crumbling, falling without any resistance.
As for Cale who was on that stone monster's neck…

'…He looked excited.'

Someone walked up next to Jeet at that moment.

"He's always like this."

Tasha patted Jeet's shoulder and gently stated. He turned his head and looked around.
He could see some of the other Dark Elves walking up to the other Elves to say something to them as well.

"Mr. Jeet. We need to hurry as well."

The rest of the Dark Elves were all heading toward Cale.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The black skeleton monster was carefully holding Mary with both hands as it quickly moved.

She could hear the Dark Elves' voices.

"Kahahaha!"
"It's not even a gold mine, it's a damn diamond mine whenever we follow the young master-nim!"
"This is why I work my ass off! The dead mana is pouring out like rain!"
"Shut up and quickly absorb the dead mana."

The Dark Elves were uniquely enjoying the situation created by the large stone snake.

"Ugh! These rocks! Hey, be careful! I think that stone snake has gone crazy!"
"I know, I know. Noonim, shall we send our Wind Elementals forward to help the young master-nim?"
"Yes, that's what I was thinking. Send the Wood Elementals as well."
"Yes, ma'am!"

The flying rocks…
The dust fluttering in the air as things crumbled…
They were nimbly dodging everything or running right through it while laughing.
Mary gave an order to three of the four skeletons that she had gathered as they moved through the maze.

"Carefully escort them."

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The three large skeletons quickly ran forward and lowered their bodies.

Crunch.

The tree dome surrounding Jopis and the royal children were pulled out.
Raon had already removed his shield.

The skeletons flipped the dome around. The tree dome resembled a nest once it was flipped over. Jopis understood Mary's intentions the moment she saw what the skeletons were doing.

"Get on."

She led the royal children and got inside the 'nest.'
Of course, some of the children hesitated.

"Get on quickly! It's okay!"

Belle, the youngest child, had clear eyes as she grabbed onto Jopis's hand, got on the nest, and motioned to the others.

"H, help me up."

The boy whose arm was slowly turning black because of dead mana pointed to the nest and asked the other children to help him.
The rest of the children finally quickly started to climb into the nest.

They heard Elisneh's piercing scream at that moment.

"Block it! Destroy that snake-like thing!"

The middle-aged man and the two old men quickly started to make hand signs while Elisneh jumped off the wall and landed in front of the children.

"How dare you try to move without my order!"

Jopis noticed a red light coming out of Elisneh's hands and the children's eyes clouding over.

"Ugh!"

Only Belle and the poisoned boy were shaking their heads in pain.

"Grrrrrrr!"

Fluffy appeared at that moment and got in between Elisneh and the children.

"There is no need for an order."

Mary appeared as well.

"Illusionists and necromancers both use dead mana."
"What?"

Elisneh's response was ignored.
Black threads shot out from Mary's hands and quickly enveloped Elisneh.
It was a spiderweb-like net that resembled the lines on her body.

"Ugh! I won't let you!"

Elisneh had to start making new hand signs in order to dodge this attack.
Mary did not miss that opening.

"I am putting them inside."

The skeletons reached their hands out and quickly moved the children into the nest. Two of them then held up the nest together while the third guarded them from behind.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

They then quickly started to chase after the imugi. Jeet and the Elves were following behind the Dark Elves who were headed toward Cale. Of course, they had to be farther back than the skeleton monsters because of the dead mana liquids.

"Damn it, die!"

They heard Elisneh's angry shout coming from behind them once she got rid of the black net.

"Shit!"

Jeet could feel a strong power approaching from behind.
He heard Cale's voice at that moment.

"Jeet! Hold the shamans back!"

The Elves had already realized their roles and turned around as Cale gave the order.

The feather snake was rushing toward them.
There was also a large fire tiger and a wind horse charging toward them.

"Block them!"

Jeet raised his voice and called forth his Elemental.
His hand quickly moved back.

"Load!"

The Elves around Jeet pulled on their bowstrings and aimed their arrows at the enemies.
Each shaman and their animals had different personalities and properties.
The Elf archers had different attribute Elementals as well.

"Fire!"

The arrows left the bows and started to fly toward the enemies once Jeet gave the order.

"Go!"

Elementals were wrapped around each arrow.

Fire, water, earth, wind, and wood.
The arrows with the strength of the Elementals became larger and looked to be living animals as they charged toward the enemy creatures.

Baaaaaang-!

They soon heard loud explosions.

"Ugh!"

The middle-aged man with glasses started to frown.
His fire tiger's back was split open by a water arrow and stumbled.
The old man with the mirror grabbed his shoulder.

"Snap out of it."

The wind horse and the feather snake shook a bit, but they were still fine.
Jeet confirmed this as well.
He was able to tell the approximate strength of the enemies.
In that case…

"Don't hold anything back! Hinder the shamans at all costs!"

Jeet glared at the enemies and shouted.

"Y, you damn Elves!"

The old man holding the quill pen instantly frowned.
He could hear the thunder-like crashes and the breaking maze walls.

"Don't be late."

Elisneh jumped over the old men and started to run on top of the maze walls.

"Attack the top of the walls!"

The Elves who could not go above the wall listened to Jeet's order and aimed for Elisneh.
The shamans naturally did not allow the Elves to do as they pleased.
The frown on Elisneh's face continued to get worse through it all.

"That crazy bastard!"

The maze was continuing to be destroyed.
Cale continued to move forward.

– H, human!

The invisible Raon who was following behind the imugi's tail subconsciously shouted.

– Human! We should have done this from the beginning!

He felt refreshed.
The six-years-old Dragon naturally started to cast his magic after feeling this unexpected refreshing feeling inside him.

Baaaaang!
Baaaaang! Baaaaang!

His magic created small holes in the maze walls.
The imugi slammed its head into those holes.

Baaaaang!

Dead mana liquids shot up with the explosion.

"Cale-nim."
"Just sit back and keep your head down."

Cale brusquely responded before opening his arms toward the dead mana pouring out toward him.
Cale who had his arms open could hear Raon's voice.

– Human! It's kind of awkward to look at, but that is the best posture to take!

'…This is embarrassing for me too.'

Cale found this posture to be embarrassing as he wasn't trying to show off or anything, but he had no choice. He could not let the dead mana touch Raon nor Choi Han, and he also had to limit the amount of dead mana touching the stone imugi as well.

– I'm burning it! It's a sea of fire! Kahahahaha!

Craaaackle-

The rose gold fire surrounding his body was quickly gobbling up the dead mana around him.
Rose gold ashes soon fell on top of the imugi.

Pat, pat.

Choi Han who was crouching behind Cale brushed the ashes off himself and started to speak.

"Cale-nim, this is very efficient."
– Human! It's rare seeing you look cool like this! I'll try that posture out next time!
"Haaaaa."

Cale sighed and shook his head.
However, he felt good.
He was destroying everything and quickly moving forward.

'We're almost at the center.'

If Cale's map and Jopis's confirmation earlier was correct, they would soon arrive at the center of the maze.
They would soon see the fake World Tree.

Baaaaaang!

A maze wall broke once more and Cale flinched.

"Ugh!"
"… What the!"
"Everybody quiet down! Stop moving!"

They heard voices on the other side of the wall. The imugi stopped moving and they were able to see the other side of the wall once the dust settled.

"I, it's the enemies!"

One of the knights in the front raised his voice.
Cale then heard Elisneh's voice behind him. He didn't know how she did it, but she had run across the top of the walls as if she had flown.

"The Knights Brigade is here!"

She sounded happy to see her allies.

Tap.

However, once she landed on the wall right next to the one Cale had just destroyed…

She started to frown.

"…Why are there so few of you?"
"Your majesty!"
"Your majesty!"

The knights shouted while looking at her but Elisneh's frown became even worse.

300 Knights had entered the underground labyrinth.
However, there were less than 50 of them in front of her right now.

Furthermore, they had injuries and were covered in dust, looking as if they had run away from something.

"Your majesty!"
"Knight Captain, what happened-?!"

The Knight Captain had an urgent expression on his face as he opened his mouth to respond to the shocked Elisneh. He tried his best to look calm, but it was not working very well.

"It was the invaders! The invaders appeared at the second entrance and captured the knights!"
"…What?"
"They seem to be assassins specializing in stealth! They hid within the darkness inside the maze and kept attacking us!"

Although he was using the word, attack, it was more of a hunt with the hunters catching their prey alive.
It was at that moment.

"Ruff, ruff!"
"Ruff!"

Two puppies appeared around the corner while barking. The knight urgently shouted.

"T, those dogs tracked us down no matter where we went!"

Two people appeared behind the two shabby puppies that looked like Fluffy.

– Human! It's grandpa Ron and Beacrox!

They were Beacrox who was dressed as a Molden Kingdom chef and Ron dressed as a servant.
One person had a greatsword while the other had multiple daggers in his hand.

"…You-"

Elisneh looked toward Cale.

Smile.

Cale started to smile… The ground started to rumble behind Elisneh before it stopped and they heard Jopis's voice.

"How does it feel to be on the receiving end?"

The Knight Captain urgently shouted at that moment.

"Your majesty! It looks like the royal family and the people inside the palace have been taken as hostages!"

Clang!

The Knight Captain pulled out his sword and pointed it toward Ron as he had the knights form a circle as if to protect Elisneh.

"That bastard's subordinates have taken the entire palace hostage!"

Elisneh's gaze was still focused on Cale. Cale shrugged his shoulders.

'They're not our hostages.'

The Molan household's people had stealthily infiltrated the palace and pushed out Elisneh's forces to protect the royal family and the people inside the palace.
However, Cale smirked toward the knight who was calling him a terrorist and started to speak.

"I thought I'd try something you bastards are really good at doing."

He was naturally talking to Elisneh.

"You bastard!"
"It's not nice to swear."

Jopis's elegant sneer could be heard behind Elisneh.

"You!"

The moment Elisneh turned around and glared at Jopis… Jopis smiled elegantly as she responded.

"You really shouldn't turn your gaze elsewhere during a battle."

Baaaaaang!

They heard a loud noise.

"Dodge!"
"The wall i, is crumbling!"
"Everybody, focus on protecting her majesty! Her majesty is the only light of the Molden Kingdom!"

The Knight Captain's order and the knights' anxious voices mixed together.
Elisneh looked forward again.
She could see the approximately fifty knights standing around the wall she was standing on.
She could also see Cale on the stone monster moving forward as if he was not interested in them at all.

She was filled to the brim with anger.

"You stupid idiots! Stop that monster!"
"But, your majesty!"
"Shut the f*ck up and chase after that!"

She rushed past the Knight Captain and the knights and headed toward Cale.

Tap.

However, the person who had also been on the imugi jumped off to stop her.

"Don't we have something to do?"

Chhhhh.

Choi Han pulled his sword out and pointed it at Elisneh.
The reason he came with Cale…
Earlier, when he got on the imugi…

'Choi Han. You are the last one. Get off the imugi's back when we are right in front of our destination. Stop Elisneh. I'm certain she will chase behind us.'

Choi Han had an innocent smile on his face as he reached his arm out.
Elisneh started to frown.

Baaaaaang!

Another wall was destroyed at that moment.

"No!"

She subconsciously shouted in an anxious voice and charged forward. Choi Han's sword came swinging at her, but Elisneh was frowning while looking at the stone monster destroy the next wall.

'The last one...!'

That was the last wall.
That was the last wall in Cale's way.

Cale knew that was the case as well.

Cale tightly grabbed onto the stone imugi's rough body. The imugi raised its head.
Once the head lowered and slammed once more!

'Once this is destroyed-!'

Drip.

Blood started dripping out of Cale's mouth.

– Human! I smell blood! Human, are you sure you are not overdoing it again? You can stop now!

Boooooooom!

The last wall was destroyed.

Chhhhhhhhhhhh-

More dead mana liquid than ever poured out toward Cale.
However, the fire soon gobbled the dead mana up and burned it away.

Shhhhhhh-

Cale could see the sight in front of him once the rose gold ashes scattered.

"…Ho."

On top of a beautiful flower garden…
This beautiful flower garden that no one could have expected at the center of this disgusting underground maze…
Located on top of that…

– It's d, disgusting!

There was a black tree.

It was the fake World Tree.

Cale's intuition was telling him that was the case.
The imugi did not slow down as it charged forward into the flower garden.

"No!"

He heard Elisneh shout behind him, but Cale had no time to relax with his goal in front of him.

This tree that was pretty big even when compared to the real World Tree that had no leaves.
Its body and branches were bumpy and looked oddly disgusting.

It seemed like a tree out of a horror story about a haunted tree.

However, the stone imugi did not stop.
Cale opened his mouth once they were just a bit away from the fake World Tree.

"Stop."

Craaaackle-

The fire surrounding Cale burned even stronger. It looked ready to gobble up the tree at any moment.

– Human, are you going to burn it right away?

Raon asked.

– Hehehe, a sea of fire! Kahahahaha!

And as the cheapskate laughed like a lunatic…

"Hmm?"

Cale flinched.

Brrrrrrrr-

'It's shaking?'

The large disgusting branches were slightly shaking.
The branches also moved and gathered together, making it look as if the tree was trying to curl up.

"Hold on."

Cale carefully started to listen.
Through the cheapskate's crazy laughter…

– …Please…Sa…ve…me.

He heard a quiet voice.

Shhhhh.

Cale saw the smallest branch reaching out toward him.
That branch was shaking.
It reminded him of the mixed-blood Dwarf Rat Mueller who always shook in front of him.

'It's scared?'

The fake World Tree was scared of him?
Cale moved the fire away from his arm and reached his hand toward the small branch.

The branch flinched and moved back in shock, but Cale's hand was faster.
He heard the voice again at that moment.

– C, can you, h, hear my voice?

It was a timid and shaking voice.

"…Is it you?"

Cale looked toward the black tree and asked and Cale could hear the timid voice start to speak.

– Mmph. Please save me. Please plant me somewhere else, sob. I wish to meet the World Tree-nim. Soooooob. Mmph.
"…Hmm?"
– Waaaaaaaah. Waaaaaaaa. Mmph, mm.

He could hear the tree sniffling and crying.

'Does a tree even have a nose to sniffle like that?'

Cale was so shocked that he was having such random thoughts.

The timid voice asked desperately at that moment.

– Please…. Take me away and plant me somewhere else. I wish to escape from here. Soooooooooob. Waaaaaaaa.

'It wants to be moved? …Escape?'

Cale's gaze subconsciously headed toward the maze's ceiling.
He then started to think about something.

In order to move a tree this big-

– Cale.

Cale finished his thought even as the Super Rock urgently interjected.

'Won't I need to destroy the ceiling and pull up the whole thing if I want to move this large tree?'

– Wouldn't that be breaking too much?

The Scary Giant Cobblestone who had urgently called out to Cale quickly asked.
However, Cale's gaze was focused on the maze's ceiling.

– Oh, Cale! That's not something you should do!

The Super Rock's gasp-like voice echoed in Cale's mind.

***

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]