Chapter 523 – Late (8)

The first to strike the White Star were the numerous black dots.

"…Ha!"

The White Star started to frown.
He looked down at his right arm.
It was covered in goosebumps.

"…I got goosebumps because of those stupid dots?"

But it was the truth. Something had popped up in his mind as he saw those tiny dots flying toward him.
It was an unexplainable, unbelievable sense of familiarity.

"It's not black magic, so how..."

How was there the aura of death in those dots?
The magic that Dark Elves used was a part of nature.
That was why it didn't have the unique aura of death as seen in black magic.
However, there was something he didn't know.

The person who created this magic was not a full Dark Elf.
She was half Dark Elf and half-human.

She was someone who may have been lacking in using magic but was more talented than anybody else when it came to experimenting and creating magic.

This woman had joined the human world to create a new kind of magic that combined the Dark Elves' magic with the human magic using dead mana.
Furthermore, the first person to use that magic was her son, her child who had even more human blood than her.

The White Star did not know about any of this.
However, the problem in front of him was clear.
Regardless of whether it was similar to black magic and familiar to him…

It was that the thing attacking him was quite strong.

"Such power… How does this crown prince bastard-"

The White Star's gaze headed past the black dots.
Behind those numerous dots coming toward him… He could see the Roan Kingdom's crown prince charging toward him as well.

The White Star was looking at Alberu Crossman not as the crown prince but as an individual for the first time.

From head to toe…
This bastard was covered in armor.
He was certain Alberu was in his Dark Elf appearance underneath it.
But that was not important.

The White Star could see Alberu getting closer.
He could see blood dripping out from between Alberu Crossman's armor and helmet.

"Keke, kahahahaha-!"

He started to laugh.
The White Star was laughing so hard that his shoulders were moving up and down.

He had made a mistake.
He realized he made a single mistake.

'This bastard in front of me is not a hostage for me to capture… He was an enemy.'

He was not a stupid crown prince but an enemy.
The White Star's gaze changed.

The moment his calmly sinking gaze flashed…
Gashan started to speak.

"Rise!"

Caw, caw, caw-

The crows that had been charging at the White Star immediately rose.
The only things left were the black dots attacking the White Star.

From head to toe…
The black dots covered the White Star's entire body.
Alberu stopped moving.

It happened the moment the White Star and Alberu made eye contact.
The White Star made up his mind at that moment.

'I need to kill this bastard.'

Alberu initiated the last stage of the first magic that his mother created at that moment.

"Explode!"

Explode.

That word made both allies and enemies look toward the center of the battlefield.

"My liege-!"

One of the wyvern knights shouted toward the White Star.

He was black.
The White Star was covered in black dots such that no part of his body was visible.
But at that moment…

Bang!

One of the dots exploded with a quiet noise.
That was the beginning.
The dots started to explode one by one until they created a loud explosion together.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang-

It gobbled up all other noises in the area.

On this brutal battlefield…
The only sound right now was the sounds of the black dots exploding.
No other noises could be heard.
However, the explosion was not bright.

Black light and smoke exploded out.
In fact, it made people wonder for a moment if night had arrived.

"…W, what kind of magic is that?"

It was black but it was magic and not black magic.
The Mage Captain subconsciously looked away from the magic circle and blankly stared at the black explosion.

How…

"How does his highness have such power-"

His emotion could not be described as shock.
He was also full of anticipation at the same time.
Wouldn't that be enough to take down the White Star?

It happened as the tension in his body slowly released while he had that thought.

"Everybody snap out of it!"

Marquis Taylor returned to the castle wall and started to shout.

"It's not over yet!"

He looked toward the black light.
He could see a large shield charging toward the black explosion at that moment.
They knew it as well.

Cale's group had caused such strong explosions many times, but they were unable to defeat the White Star and the White Star had managed to unleash this much power on his own as well.

The white shield cut through the black smoke and charged toward the center as quickly as the wind.
Lock tightly clenched the shield in his hands.

'Lock. The White Star will manage to survive through most attacks. That is why you must not relax until the very end.'

Sheritt, his master had told him that.

'You must bite down until the very end. Battles are won by the more ruthless and persistent.'
'Lock, what did I say victory is?'

Lock started to speak.

"Living until the end."

Victory was being alive at the end.
That was what Sheritt had told him.
She said that was why the White Star was amazing.

He was the enemy, but he was a tenacious bastard who had reincarnated and survived for 1,000 years.
In order to defeat such a bastard…

'I need to be tenacious as well.'

Lock made eye contact with someone as he ran through the black smoke.
It gave him chills.
Those eyes looked as if they wanted to eat him up.

Lock suddenly felt fear.
He was the one charging forward, but he felt as if he had become the prey.

'Lock, do as I tell you to do when you are afraid.'

He recalled his master's words.

'Don't stop. Keep going.'

Boom.

The ground shook every time Lock took a step.

The large Wolf holding the large shield was so strong that his every step shook the ground.

'And glare at the enemy until the end.'

Lock was scared but did not look away from the White Star.
Instead, he stared right back.

'And finally…'

Boom!

Lock stomped down.
He then jumped into the air.
He could clearly see the owner of the eyes inside the black smoke.

Crackle- crackle-

The White Star's body was burning black.
There was red blood flowing out of the cracks on his skin that looked like spider webs.

However, he had not died.

Lock tightened his grip.
He recalled his master's words again.

'Finally, once you are right in front of the enemy.'

He was close.
The enemy was right in front of him.
Lock started to speak.

"You crazy bastard! You ridiculous bastard!"

'Shout, 'You crazy bastard, you ridiculous bastard.' '

The shield started to move.
A gust of wind blew by as if a large wall was moving.
The black smoke instantly scattered because of the wind.

'Smash. Lock, smash down with all your strength.'

Lock slammed his shield down.
He put his entire strength into it as if he was trying to flatten the White Star.

'Then the fear will disappear.'

That was the case.
His fear was disappearing as his master had told him.
Veins started to become visible on the large Wolf's arms. His blue-ish silver fur started to shine.

'Lock, I will help you the moment your fear disappears.'

Ooooooong-

White light started to shoot out from the white shield at the same time.
The shield struck down on the White Star's head.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!

Another explosion rang across the battlefield.
The people inside the castle wondered if this was even a battle between people from this world.
They could not hide their astonishment at what they saw.

Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack-

The ground started to split open with the shield at the center.
The ground was churning as if an earthquake was occurring.

"Ahhh!"
"Dodge! Move back!"

The aftershock made the Knights Brigade and the White Star's subordinates quickly retreat.
They could not help but gulp in shock as they did that.

'How strong is that shield?!'

The ground within a ten-meter radius of the shield had cracked and sunk.
The strength behind that attack was formidable.
There was an even more shocking thing.

"…He's alive."

The Roan Kingdom's Knight Captain could not hide his shock.

Psssh. Psssh.

Black ashes started to fall.
The black smoke had disappeared and they could see once again.
The people could see someone pushing the shield up with two hands.

The ground had cracked and churned, his body had burned black, and he was bleeding through the cracks in his skin, but…

This person was standing fine with both legs sunk into the ground.
It was the White Star.

"…M, monster-"

The knight gasped as he slowly stepped back.
There was someone charging toward that monster at that moment.

"You're a tenacious bastard!'

Gashan who was not as large as Lock but still large was using the fact that the White Star was pushing against the shield with both hands to launch an ambush.
It was superb timing.

Gashan had used Alberu's shield to dodge the aftershock of the shield's attack.
He then attacked without missing the opening while everybody else was shocked.

"Huff, huff."

Alberu canceled the shield and watched Gashan move.
It was hot under the helmet.
He could tell by the smell of his blood and his heavy breathing that he had overdone it.

However, he thought that this should be enough to win.

Shhhhh.

However, the moment the White Star turned his head to look at Gashan…
And as he looked past Gashan toward Alberu…

'Damn it.'

Alberu realized that something was wrong.
The White Star had this thought at that moment.

'I should move if I've made a decision.'

He had made a decision the moment the black dots had covered him.
How would he use his ancient powers in this battle? How much of it would he use?

'I can't use too much.'

He didn't know when Cale Henituse might arrive.
Then there was only one answer.

He would ignore defending.

"Instead, I will kill you all."

Lock subconsciously looked toward Gashan and started to shout.

"Grandpa, don't come here!"

He pulled on his shield and tried to move away from the White Star.

"Where are you going?"

Lock made eye contact with the monster trying to eat him at that moment.
The owner of the calmly sunk gaze continued to speak.

"Well, you can go if you want I suppose."

'What does that mean?'

Lock could see a large wind wall in front of his shield before he could even have that thought.
That wall instantly pushed Lock and the shield away.

"Ugh!"

Lock was helplessly pushed back.
Choi Han might have been able to dodge the wind wall or parry it, but unfortunately, Lock still did not have enough experience.

"Shit!"

Gashan bit down on his lips while looking at Lock who was flung back by a wind wall that was larger than his shield.

However, he could not stop his attack.
There was already too much momentum.
Furthermore, the enemy was running toward him as well.

"You Tiger bastard who threw away your home."

Chhhhhhh-!

The magma-like red fluid struck down toward Gashan.
It seemed to be a boomerang made of aura.

"Damn it!"

Gashan urgently created a wind shield with an incantation.
He then shouted.

"Stop that bastard!"

Caw, caw.

The crows started to descend again.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The Tigers urgently charged toward the White Star.
They were all frowning.

'How can he be moving?'

The White Star looked so terrible that it wouldn't be weird if he fell down, no, if he died at any moment.

Drip. Drip.

The sound of his blood dripping through his skin tickled the White Star's ears.

However, he did not hear those sounds.
He had given up on defense.
In return, he had a lot of strength to attack.

He moved forward.
He looked toward the heavily breathing bastard in front of him and started to speak.

"Alberu Crossman, do you think that Cale Henituse will be able to return quickly?"

The White Star thought about the Vampire Duke.
As long as that bastard was there, Cale would not be able to return quickly.
The Marquis was there as well.

He couldn't see Alberu's expression under the helmet, but he continued to speak while looking at Alberu who was bleeding out of his helmet.

"He's late."

Cale, that bastard will be late.

"Stop!"
"Charge!"

He heard some Tigers on the side.

"So loud."

The White Star lightly waved both hands.

Baaaaaang!
Baaaaang!

Wind and fire mixed together and shot out toward the Tigers.

"Ugh!"
"F*ck!"

The Tiger warriors could not approach because of that. The White Star sighed while looking at them.

'These troublesome bastards are being so annoying.'

The White Star was tired of these troublesome bastards now.

Craaack.

He could hear his white mask starting to crack.
It made him even more annoyed.
The aftershock of the crown prince's magic and the shield had cracked his mask.

The White Star started to speak toward the enemy in front of him.

"Looks like I need to do a troublesome but fun thing."

Alberu started to frown.
He stood up straight. It felt as his insides were twisting around.
His whole body felt empty after using too much dead mana.

He heard the White Star's voice at that moment.

"You don't want them to know about your identity, right? That's why you are hiding it?"

'…Perhaps?!'

Alberu felt as if the White Star started to smile under his mask before he disappeared.

"No!"

He could hear Lock who was flung far away shouting in shock.
Alberu immediately cast a spell.

"Cough!"

He felt his insides churning at that moment.
His hands were shaking.

"Damn it!"

He didn't have enough dead mana.
He had not distributed his strength properly.

'Mother's magic required me to be at the highest-grade level!'

His mistake was attempting it while trusting that the large amount of dead mana he had was enough.

But he couldn't just stand still.
Alberu raised the sword of light that was still in his hand.
He would defend with his sword art.

However, before he could even lift his sword up properly…
He felt something on his back.

"Ugh!"

Alberu could feel someone clenching his neck from behind.
His insides that had been pushed too far felt as if they were twisting again.

Gurgle.

Blood was rising up, but he could not spit it out.
The White Star was clenching his neck.

He then heard a calm voice.

"You guys cannot defeat me."

He heard the White Star's low voice behind him.

Anger, annoyance… This calm voice had no emotion at all.

Boom- boom- boooom-

He also heard some drums.
Alberu wanted to see what was going on, but his neck was being choked and the helmet didn't have a wide opening for him to see.

"Don't you want to take your helmet off?"

Alberu could feel the White Star grab his helmet at that moment.

Screeeech.

The helmet slowly started to lift.
Alberu took a deep breath.

Screeeech. Screeeech.

The helmet that was covered in blood and sweat slowly started to lift.
The White Star continued to speak in his emotionless voice.

"Looks like they'll find out about everything."

His helmet would soon be removed.
Alberu's mind was quickly becoming a complicated mess that he could not even breathe properly.

He then realized something.

He could not hear anything.
He could not hear the beeping of the video communication device that he had been hearing on and off until just a moment ago.
Actually, it had been a while since he had not heard it.

What would that mean?
Alberu took a deep breath for a different reason.

He's coming.
He's coming soon.
That punk is coming.

It was at that moment.

"What is that?"

Someone looked up at the sky and shouted and Lock who also looked up started to shout.

"They're here!"

Something fell from the sky.
It slowed down as it got closer to the ground before that something landed on the ground.

Boom!

A man landed on both feet and stood up straight.
The person who was on that man's back looked toward the White Star and angrily started to speak.

"Why don't you remove that hand?"

Alberu scoffed.
Cale Henituse who was on Choi Han's back looked extremely angry.
Cale looked so ungainly, but Alberu felt relieved just by the fact that his dongsaeng was here.

***

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]