Chapter 685: Promise (2)

However, Cale's smile did not seem fitting for the current situation.

Bang! Bang, bang!

The White Star's fire sword was gathering in the White Star's hand as hundreds of red rocks gathered around him. Wind was mixed into this fire that contained the power of a natural disaster and became as sturdy as his wind wall.

His water wall also gathered around the fire and wind to block anything that came closer.
Cale quickly moved toward the water wall.

His gaze was focused on the White Star.

'Rok Soo. You have to remember three things when trying to use Embrace on a person. There are other things to take into consideration as well, but these three things are the priority before the others.'

'I am okay not hearing about it.'

'You were the one who brought it up first, Rok Soo.'

Bang, bang!

All they could hear were the endless explosions of the water and rocks slamming against each other.

Crack.

The crumbling rocks mixed with the drops of water blasting out of the water wall and the combination looked like thick red blood.
The rocks did not get in Cale's way. However, the crumbled pieces of the rocks and the water wet Cale's face and body.

His body was getting redder and redder, despite not even using his 'Instant' ability.

"Cale Henituse-!"

The White Star could feel Cale Henituse getting closer even while the red rocks covered his view.

He could feel that aura that was full of that terrible fear even though Cale was not visible.

A giant presence was moving toward him.

Crunch!

The White Star was angry at this fact.

He heard Cale's voice at that moment.

"I'm sure you are not afraid of death. Well, even if you are, you could probably overcome it."

Would there be anybody else who remembers death as much as the White Star?

Watching other people die, sure, but remembering their own death?

There was probably nobody.

The White Star would have used his madness, patience, or whatever it took to survive.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be here in front of Cale right now.

"But you're scared of something else right now."

Cale could clearly see the White Star's face in between the red rocks.

There were still beads of sweat on his face.

"It's hard, isn't it?"

Cale slowed down. He started moving in a different direction.

The red rocks created a path following his movement.

Bang, bang-!

The White Star was still using his wall to destroy the rocks and continuously gathering his power in his sword.

He seemed to be trying to gather as much power as possible to destroy this area, rather than to randomly launch attacks. That was how much of a burden this area was to him right now.

The White Star could hear Cale's voice. Although Cale was walking slowly and his voice was calm… This damn bastard's presence was so big that he could feel everything Cale Henituse was doing, despite being unable to see him.

"You are tired. It's hard to keep reincarnating. Isn't that why you were trying to finish everything in this lifetime?"

The White Star's eyes and face always looked fatigued.

Would someone who truly overcame the fear of death have such an expression?

The White Star just persisted.

His life repeats endlessly with him carrying his memories. It truly was a curse. It was a terrible curse that Cale would never, ever want to experience.

"You're scared that you will have to live another life, aren't you?"

"Nonsense."

The White Star calmly shook his head at Cale Henituse's comments.

"Really? In that case…"

However, Cale had seen it.

He saw the way the White Star's pupils shook when he used this power. He saw how the White Star had taken steps back.

The White Star was afraid.

"Me."

Cale was walking in a circle as he approached the White Star.

"The guy who is always one step ahead of you, no matter what you do."

Cale had always been one step ahead and ruined all of the White Star's plans.

Wouldn't the White Star have had the following thoughts after having so many run-ins with Cale until now?

"You hate me, you want to kill me, and you want to take everything away from me."

In addition…

"You are slowly getting scared of me."

Swooooooosh-

In front of the sword that had both fire and wind powers combined…

Cale stopped walking.

He quietly observed the White Star.

"Am I right?"

"Complete and utter nonsense-!"

The White Star sounded extremely angry.

Cale took another step forward, as if he found that to be laughable.

"The thought of me taking away your goal… Your numerous years of life turning into nothing because of me… You're scared, aren't you?"

The water wall…

Cale put his face right in front of the water wall.

It was as if he was not scared of the White Star's attack at all.

"You know it's true. How I look right now is that 'beyond human limit' appearance that you wanted, isn't it?"

Cale knew how strong Dragon Fear could be.

That was why he was sure. His current aura was stronger than that of a Dragon.

The White Star seemed more focused on destroying this area than attacking Cale. It could be seen as the White Star trying to get out of here as quickly as possible.

Smirk.

The corners of Cale's lips and eyes curled up as he continued to speak.

"You are now scared of my powers. You are not scared of my allies."

"What an obvious statement."

Lee Soo Hyuk had said the following.

There were three things to keep in mind when using Embrace on a person. The issues that come afterward would be taken care of, as long as these three things were not forgotten.

'First of all, Rok Soo, the targets needs to fear you.'

Swooooooosh-

The power gathering at the White Star's sword seemed extremely firm, as if it had reached its limits. The White Star could swing his sword at any moment, but he was waiting for the right time.

He was biding for the right time to sweep away this entire area.

'Rok Soo, I'm not talking about something trivial, like making them think that they are going to lose. That's not fear. I'm talking about something more instinctual, they need to fear your existence.'

Cale took another step forward.

Splash.

Cale's forehead was touching the White Star's wall. Water splashed from the wall.

"Should I tell you a secret?"

Cale mischievously asked while the White Star observed Cale, who was only holding the golden plaque.

Cale did not care and just continued speaking.

"You think that I have been possessing body after body to get in your way, right? You think that is the reason I have been able to hinder your progress."

The Caro Kingdom's Land of Death. When he had tricked the White Star into believing that the earth-attribute ancient power was there…

The White Star had believed that Cale had been possessing bodies for hundreds of years to get in his way.

A smile appeared on the White Star's face.

"Yes. I plan on telling all those people about how wicked you are, possessing body after body to get in my way. Who would treat you as a hero after hearing about that?"

The White Star's voice was quite as he talked about such an underhanded tactic.

"Would your precious family, the Henituse household, still care about you then? Wouldn't they try to kill you instead? They will all loathe you for being a monster. They'll do that despite you charging at me like this for abducting Duke Deruth."

"Pffft."

Cale couldn't help but chuckle.

"You stupid son of a bitch."

"…What?"

The moment the White Star flinched…

All of the red rocks stopped moving.

Plop. Plop.

The rocks weakly fell to the ground. The only thing visible in this area right now was the large amount of power gathered inside the White Star's sword.

Cale nonchalantly commented, as if he was casually throwing rocks into a lake.

"Hey. I've only been here for two years."

'What?'

The White Star eyes subconsciously opened wide.

Cale told the shocked White Star the truth.

"I did all of this in just two years."

The White Star's jaws subconsciously dropped a bit in response. However, he managed to not say anything.

But Cale had taken a good look at all of that.

'Rok Soo.'

'I think you can stop there, team leader-nim.'

'Listen to all three. Second, they must be in awe of you. They need to be truly shocked at your existence.'

'It's similar.'

Lee Soo Hyuk had smiled at Cale's reaction.

'What is similar?'

'Whether they are truly shocked at someone or truly scared of them… Isn't that similar? If you get shocked about someone too much, you will fear them. And if you fear someone, wouldn't their existence itself surprise you?'

'…I knew our Rok Soo would have a similar thought as me.'

'Please don't say something so disgusting.'

The White Star could not say anything while looking at Cale.

"…You-"

His mind turned into a complicated mess. He had thought that Cale had possessed numerous bodies while preparing to get in his way.

Nothing else could explain everything that Cale Henituse had managed to do.
But just two years?

The bastard who was called a hero by the entire continent, the one that continued to get in his way over and over, had done all this in just two years?

"You are lying."

"No. It is the truth."

Cale's face was calm and did not show any signs of lying.

He just stood there while releasing that chilling aura. It was as if he was an unmatched overlord.

Fire swirled in the White Star's eyes.

'Unbelievable.'

He became a hero and gained everything after possessing this body for just two years?

If that was the case…

If Cale was telling the truth…

Wouldn't it be as if the entire world was helping Cale Henituse?

"Impossible!"

The White Star shouted with such wrath that it felt as if he would shoot fire.

The beads of sweat on his face and his hesitation all disappeared.
He was showing quite a lot of power while Cale Henituse was just standing there.

The two of them were currently in an area dominated by Cale Henituse.
Those facts were unbearable for the White Star.

He started moving his sword without any hesitation. It was as if he was trying to get rid of Cale and this area immediately. The large amount of power gathered in the sword roared as he moved it.
He heard a gentle voice at that moment.

"You are frightened."

The White Star could see Cale Henituse, who was standing there with a gentle smile on his face.

Nothing else needed to be said.

Chhhhhhh–

The water wall disappeared.

The White Star tightened his grip on his sword and swung it toward Cale Henituse.

There were only a few steps between them anyway.
Cale did not use any of his ancient powers even at that moment.

He just focused.

'Rok Soo, the last thing… This is the most important. You must remember this.'

The unique coldness of the golden plaque could be felt in Cale's palm.

'When the storage location is destroyed and the Embraced person is released or you choose to release that person…'

Cale slowly closed his eyes before opening them back. He recalled Lee Soo Hyuk's stern expression before it disappeared.
Embrace was not omnipotent.

If whatever was used to Embrace the person or item was destroyed…

Embrace would be canceled.

There were also times that the caster released the Embraced target as well. That was what Cale planned to do with the fake World Tree eventually.

Lee Soo Hyuk had warned Cale about the moment the caster would release the Embraced target.

'The released enemy will be waiting for you.'

Cale slowly moved his hand.

Chhhhhhhhhhhh-

The sword that was full of natural disasters was not very big. It was just slightly longer than a regular sword.

Cale's clothes and hair fluttered from the gust of wind caused by the sword.

The tip of that sword was directed right at Cale.
The enemy would be waiting for him once Embrace was released.

'They would have finished all preparations about how to kill you. They would be just waiting for the moment to kill you.'

Because of that…

'If you consider your own safety because Embrace might be released at a moment out of your control… It is better to kill or maim the enemy so that they cannot attack you again than to Embrace them.'

Cale looked forward.

"Cale Henituse—!"

The White Star had already swung his sword. The White Star was suspicious about the fact that Cale had not done anything, but it was too late to pull his sword back.

Riiiiiiiip!

Cale ripped a button from his shirt.
Cale's hand met the White Star's sword.

"...!"

However, the White Star did not hear any explosion.

"…This, this-!"

His sword that was full of so much power…

His sword that was a combined force of his vicious wind and fire that had the power of natural disasters in it… His sword that had compressed both powers to the point that they were amplifying each other…
That explosive power was being sucked in.

It was just silently disappearing.
That power was being sucked into the button that was in Cale Henituse's other hand.

'Team leader. I'm guessing you have used it on a person based on what you just said?'

'…No. I will never use it on a person.'

'You frequently use it during battle.'

'That's because it is beneficial for us if I Embrace extremely dangerous attacks.'

'That is true.'

'That is true? Hey Rok Soo, that's such a weak response. I make it so easy for all of us to fight by absorbing all extremely dangerous attacks.'

'But don't you need to release that power eventually?'

Lee Soo Hyuk scratched his cheek as he awkwardly responded.

'I guess you're right. Oh right, that is an important thing to note as well!'

'I don't need to hear it.'

'Hey, listen! This is the reason Embrace is not omnipotent. If you embrace a large attack that has already been activated, even if the target is afraid of you and you successfully Embrace the attack, you need to release that power within 10 minutes because it is an already activated attack. Otherwise, the Embrace will be released on its own!'

'Yes, yes.'

'Hey, are you really not going to pay attention?'

'I will remember all of this.'

'Really?'

'Really.'

Cale truly did remember everything Lee Soo Hyuk had said.
The large amount of power that looked as if it would explode was being Embraced and stored inside the button.

There was a quiet noise at that moment.

Swooooooosh-

The moment the White Star heard that quite sound of the wind, the moment he recognized it and his body was about to move back…

Papat!

Cale kicked off the ground with the wind and charged toward the White Star.

Cale had beads of sweat on his forehead. He could feel his heart beating wildly.

Both his head and body were getting hotter.
It was probably because he was trying to use Embrace two times in a row.

Slaaaash-

Cale's sleeve touched the fire sword and started to burn.

However, that fire was all sucked into the button.

The power of a scared enemy was easy prey for the conqueror.

'The fire sword has disappeared.'

There was just one thing left to do now.

All of this only took a few seconds.

Cale reached his hand out.

"Got you."

His hand that was holding the golden plaque opened and grabbed the White Star's arm.

The moment the White Star felt the coldness of the gold on his arm… The moment he noticed the golden plaque…

"N, no—-!"

He felt a formidable force pulling at his body.

He then felt the terrible aura that was full of the fear of death slowly crawling up his body and covering all of him.

The White Star could see Cale Henituse looking at him and speaking in a gentle voice.

"Cale Barrow. Come with me."

Cale addressed the White Star with his name from quite a long time ago. The White Star's arm was being sucked into the golden plaque.

Cale smiled gently while looking at the White Star, who looked scared because of Cale's existence.

***

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]