Chapter 609 – Even if it takes my last breath (9)

"Ugh!"

Alberu let out a short groan.

Bang!

The wall cracked once he slammed into it.

"I should be asking you why you are so weak."

The White Star openly sneered at Alberu.

He was still only using his fire sword.

He pointed the tip of the sword toward Alberu and continued to speak.

"Are you not going to use your magic?"

Alberu was only using spear arts as well.

'I guess it really is difficult to defeat a sword art that has been sharpened for 1,000 years.'

These results were to be expected.

Alberu was not someone who specialized in any one thing.

Whether it was his magic or spear arts… Neither was at the level for him to be considered the best on the continent. He was only strong because he combined the two together.

"Well, fine. I'm sure there's a reason you are not using your magic."

Step step.

The White Star started to walk toward the wall where Alberu had slammed into.

"Ugh."

Alberu tried to raise his body that was covered in armor that was now crushed and cracked in many spots.

The White Star, who had been looking at him with a stoic expression, started to smile.

"But is it okay for the sun of the Roan Kingdom to look like this?"

He continued to speak.

"Was that radiant and holy appearance from before all just a lie?"

Alberu started to frown under the helmet.

It was not because of the White Star.

– Is it okay to just let him talk shit like this to you, sir?

It was because of Taerang.

– The owner of an Ex-Grade must show such trash who provokes you the taste of sprite in reality.

'What the heck is it saying?'

– It is something that my creator often said.

– 'Personally, I hate sweet potatoes. I recommend a road of flowers, money, or sprite. Ah, of course, I accept a decent level of sweet potato for an extremely carbonated sprite.' In Korean novels, a sprite novel is a refreshing novel where the MC plows through everything while a sweet potato novel is an extremely stuffy one that the MC builds up strength painfully slow.

Alberu felt as if he was going to sigh.

But his expression stiffened after hearing what Taerang said next.

– Why are you not using my full strength, sir? I am not a normal spear! Please use me! I will send this shitty trash flying away. I will show you the greatness of an Ex-Grade weapon, sir. I will break all of his teeth. But it definitely is weird. You are only using about half of your strength as the trash mentioned, sir. You are also not calling your allies over. Why is that so?

'Why am I doing this? There's a reason for it.'

– Ah. Is that so?

Taerang suddenly started to speak with admiration.

– Hiding the strength of the main character. It's something like that, isn't it?

'What the heck is it saying now?'

"Pffft."

Alberu started to laugh.

"Well, I guess that's not wrong."

He wasn't the main character, whatever that meant, but…

'I am hiding my strength. I am… and so is that bastard.'

"Huuuuuu."

Alberu stood up straight and looked toward the White Star.

The White Star was leisurely looking around.

Beacrox, Ron, and Bud were fighting around them, but it had already been a few hours.

They looked tired and the three of them were starting to not be enough to handle the numbers advantage of the White Star's subordinates.

He made a comment after taking a look.

"…I'm sure there's a reason you didn't bring your other allies as well."
"Isn't that the same for you?"

Alberu walked away from the wall and started to smile.

'I don't see the Bear tribe nor the Lion tribe. The black knights aren't here either.'

He could see the Chief Priest, but the other priests weren't visible.

Not only that, but the Dark Elves and black mages were less than the numbers Duke Fredo had told them about.

There were no vampires either.

'I'm sure we'll be able to figure out what is going on with the Vampires once Duke Fredo contacts us.'

The individuals who could be considered the core of the White Star's forces were not here.

'I have a pretty good idea as to where they might be though.'

Alberu thought he had a good idea as to why he didn't see the White Star's subordinates.

The White Star nodded his head without much change to his expression.

"Mm. That is true."

He then added on.

"I have a need to conserve my subordinates right now."

Alberu started to sneer as he responded back.

"Ah. Is it because of that Vampire bastard named Naru and that old Dark Elf?"

They were the White Star's subordinates who had gone to attack Cale's castle in the Forest of Darkness and then could not be contacted.

"Yes. I've also been questioning my subordinates' loyalties lately."

Alberu nonchalantly responded to that as well.

"Who could have expected your Deputy Chief Priest to betray you?"

The corners of the White Star's lips started to twist into a frown.

"…I didn't expect a bitch who serves another god to sneak into my land."

Alberu's eyes clouded over.

Deputy Chief Priest Cotton served the God of War.

She had been protecting Eruhaben and the members of the Mercenaries Guild in the God of War's resting place.

The White Star seemed to be thinking that she was the traitor who had brought Cale here.

'Is he not suspicious of Duke Fredo?'

Duke Fredo was still said to be unconscious at his place.

The problem was that he was not in his bed for the past three months, but the White Star had not visited his residence during that time.

That was why Alberu could not quickly come to a decision.

'Hmm.'

Other than the few times they cast spells on the God of War's resting place, it had been difficult to use magic in the Endable Kingdom.

That was why the White Star couldn't try to figure everything out in such a situation.

'Anyway.'

The only thing he could do was push forward in the best direction.

Alberu continued to speak as if he was making fun of the White Star.

"I guess you had no way of knowing that Deputy Chief Priest Cotton was a follower of the God of War."

One corner of the White Star's lips twisted up as he started to speak.

"I also didn't know that she would bring a vermin into this land."

Vermin. He was talking about Cale.

It was at that moment.

"Our human is not a vermin!"

A large black spear shot toward the White Star.

The White Star turned toward the black orb with Cale Henituse.

He could not see the black Dragon.

But he could see something start to cover the silver shield.

"He's here."

A gold light covered up the silver light.

"Where are you looking?"

The White Star turned toward the direction of the voice.

Eruhaben, who was covered in golden light, waved his hand.

"Now the Dragons are coming at me."

Eruhaben started to frown at what he heard.

"What do you mean by coming at you? This esteemed Dragon is being nice and teaching you a lesson."

He then looked into the air and continued to speak.

"Little kid, you stay out of it."
"No!"
"Stay out of it."

Slash.

Raon's black spear was slashed by the White Star's fire sword.

It then exploded.

Baaaaaang!

Golden dust shot out toward the White Star through the explosion.

Chhhhhhhhhhhh-!

A water wall was created to defend against the golden dust.

The White Star could then see Alberu Crossman aim his spear toward him again.

"Are you finally using your second power?"

He then saw Eruhaben next to Alberu.

The White Star was wary of the enemy he could not see as well.

'I'm sure the black Dragon is nearby while invisible.'

It was a three on one battle.

This would be difficult even for the White Star.

'I can't use more of my powers either.'

He started to think about how much power he could use right now.

But the enemies didn't give him time to think very long.

"I guess that's enough thinking."

The golden dust turned into numerous arrows and shot out toward the White Star.

"Let's just face them for now. My body is itchy after not fighting for a few months."

Eruhaben started to charge toward the White Star.

Baaaaang! Bang! Baaaaang!

The arrows exploded after crashing into the water wall and the White Star could see a fist covered in golden light through the explosion.

Baaaaaang!

There was a noise that was incomparable to anything until now and the wall was destroyed.

"You're just stupidly strong!"
"Of course a Dragon is strong, did you think Dragons were weak? Are you an idiot?"

The White Star dodged the second fist and then quickly ducked.

Shhhhhh-

The white spear stabbed at where the White Star's heart had just been.

"What a pity."

He could hear Alberu Crossman's entertained voice.

The one person and one Dragon continued to attack the White Star without giving him any opening.

"How annoying!"

Alberu started to think while seeing the White Star frown.

'The White Star's subordinates would show up if we continue like this.'

Either that, or he would figure out why the White Star was only using a small portion of his powers.

– Hey, crown prince! I'm leaving!

No matter what, it would at least make it easy for Raon to move around.

Inside the gold shield…

Raon's silver shield had disappeared.

'I'll succeed!'

Raon quickly started to move while remaining invisible.

He left the battlefield, flew past the white castle, and headed somewhere.

There was a white necklace around Raon's neck.

It was a magic artifact Lord Sheritt had created for him.

'Raon-nim.'

The black Dragon recalled the conversation he had with Alberu as he continued to move.

'We have two goals. The first is everyone's survival.'

And…

'The second is to steal the sculptures.'

Cale and Alberu were planning to steal the sculptures when they had the chance.

'Even if we could survive today without them, we must get the sculptures for the future.'

Alberu's words echoed inside Raon's mind.

'The monsters that will appear if those sculptures become alive are all extremely strong. I believe they will cause a lot of damage, so we must prevent those sculptures from coming alive.'

Raon's dark blue eyes sparkled.

He had arrived.

This was the God of War's resting place.

It was now a mess because of Eruhaben's rampage.

He walked over to a shadow of a destroyed wall.

This was the location they had discussed.

– I'm here!

Rosalyn and Lock were there.

Caw.

There was also a crow.

Rosalyn had brought Lock here while Eruhaben was causing a ruckus.

The crow had snuck into the Endable Kingdom as well.

The Tiger shaman Gashan would be somewhere in the darkness.

– Let's go!

Lock looked nervous while Rosalyn looked calm. Raon used invisibility magic on both of them.

The three of them quickly started to move, relying on their magic or physical strengths.

'Raon-nim, Miss Rosalyn and Lock… Please move around with the two of them. Gashan will follow you while supporting you from the rear.'

Raon had agreed with the crown prince's decision.

Lock was capable of close combat and would be their tanker.

Rosalyn was capable of long-distance attacks and attacking numerous enemies at once.

Gashan was skilled in both fighting and incantations.

'And I am great and mighty!'

This was a great combination.

It was disappointing that Choi Han and his human were not there, but it was worth trying.

The three of them quickly started to move without saying anything.

Alberu had said the following.

'Raon-nim, we must first find those sculptures. I'm certain that the White Star would have placed a lot of his forces at that location. Either that, or they will be low in numbers but extremely skilled. He needs them to protect the sculptures.'

Raon believed Alberu would be right.

That was why he thought of Cale in order to find the sculptures.

'The human told me!'

Cale had talked about observing the battlefield.

That was why Raon had been looking around the Endable Kingdom while protecting the black orb.

He did not see the Bear tribe, Lion tribe, nor the black knights.

He was certain that they would be protecting the sculptures.

Although the Chief Priest was on the battlefield, that was probably just a ruse.

'In addition, the White Star was only using a small amount of his powers! It felt as if he was controlling it!'

Raon believed he was correct about the White Star's condition.

It was because he had learned by watching his human.

'I'm sure the White Star is up to something!'

The White Star probably decided that he could not let it continue like this after fighting against them multiple times.

'That's why I'm sure there's more to his plan than just attacking the black orb with our human inside it!'

The corners of the Raon's mouth started to twitch.

It could not be helped.

'I'm sure our human would have had the same thoughts! I'm certain of it!'

It was because he was thinking about Cale who would have come to the same conclusion.

Raon was repeating the thought in his mind as he efficiently continued to move.

Lock and Rosalyn followed behind while looking at this small black Dragon's back.

Rosalyn made sure nobody was around them before she quietly asked Raon a question.

Nobody had noticed the three of them quickly moving.

"Raon-nim. Is there a place you believe they are guarding the sculptures?"

Alberu had told the three of them something.

'There is a great chance that the sculptures are no longer in their original location. They probably moved it because we found out the original location. That is why we must analyze the new location while observing the battlefield. No, we must find it.'

Raon recalled those words as he started to speak.

"The black orb with the human shot up into the air while destroying the underground. It was quite a large explosion and destroyed the ceiling of the underground area."

Rosalyn immediately added on.

"Then the chances of the sculptures still being there are pretty low as we expected."
"That's right. They wouldn't have destroyed it completely like that if the sculptures were there. But although the chances are low, they could still be there."

Rosalyn looked at Raon, who was calmly sharing his thoughts, with an odd gaze.

It was the same for Lock.

Raon's calm demeanor reminded them of a young version of a certain someone.

Raon didn't know what they were thinking as he continued to speak.

"That is why we will check out that underground area too."

Raon's eyes turned toward where Alberu, Eruhaben, and the others were fighting in the distance.

The sculptures had originally been in the underground area around that battlefield.

"However."

There was a building that was on the way back to that battlefield.

His chubby paw pointed at a building.

"We will check out that white castle first!"

It was oddly quiet and there was no light coming out of the building.

The inside was completely quiet, filled with darkness, unlike its white exterior.

"That place is the only place that is extremely quiet when such a ruckus is going on outside!"

Raon had seen everything while floating around the black orb.

He had seen the houses of the Endable Kingdom's civilian residents. Those places were quite chaotic even as they hid away because of the battle.

Light would flash out of the gap between the curtains, windows would be slammed shut, and he had even seen eyes peeking out to see what was going on.

All of them showed signs of life at least once.

But the largest building in the Endable Kingdom that should have a lot of people inside…

That place had oddly been quiet since the battle had started.

He had not seen signs of life even once.

That made no sense.

Unless they were hiding on purpose.

"The human would have suspected a place like that first."

The white castle was on Raon's route back to the battlefield.

"We will go to the castle first!"

They headed over.

He felt as if the sculptures would be there for some reason.

Raon recalled something Alberu had mentioned again.

'Please send a signal as soon as you find the sculptures. Then our full forces will come to the Endable Kingdom. At that time… We will grab Cale Henituse and retreat out of the sinkhole.'

Alberu had said that while smiling.

Once they retreat without anybody dying…

'We will then fight somewhere that is advantageous to us. We will fight safely.'

One corner of Raon's lips twitched before rising up.

This smile looked very similar to a certain someone's smile.

***

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]