Chapter 693: Destroyed Rock Towers (5)

Then the destroyed door…

Baaaaang!

Blasted into pieces with another explosion and shards of wood scattered in all directions.
The enemies inside could see Beacrox's cold gaze as he glared while holding his greatsword.

Bear King Sayeru turned his body as soon as he saw what was going on.
He was heading toward the entrance to the underground area.

'We've been found!'

This location had been found.
When had they figured it out? How were they able to locate them? He had all sorts of questions on his mind but they were not important right now.
The most effective method to get out of this situation. He needed to figure that out right now and Sayeru immediately came up with the answer.

'Duke Deruth!'

That method was making sure that Duke Deruth, who was still downstairs, was in his grasp.
That was the only solution right now.

Swoooooooosh-

"Ugh!"

A dagger brushed past Sayeru's cheek as he headed toward the door.

"Where are you going?"

Ron Molan had entered the house without making a single noise. He had arrived close to Sayeru at some point. But instead of slowing down, Ron sped up even more as he threw his daggers.

"That old bastard!"

Baaaaang!

There was a small explosion as the dagger struck a light orb.
Sayeru had created the light. His light attribute ancient power clashed with the dagger and sent rays of light in all directions.

'Now!'

It was difficult to see in the house because of the blinding light. Sayeru did not miss this opening.
He flung his body toward the direction of the door. His body was feeble but he was still pretty quick.

"Protect me!"

He then gave orders to his subordinates.
Some of the Bears who were in the room flung their bodies in the direction of the voice. Sayeru believed that these berserk Bears would be able to stop Ron Molan.

"I don't know, do you think that is possible?"

Ron's benign voice flowed out of the light at that moment.

Craaaaaaack.

He then heard what sounded like the wall cracking. As Sayeru flinched for a moment…

Baaaaaang—!

There was a loud explosion and one wall of the house was destroyed.

Chhhhh-

A strand of water pierced through the wall and charged toward Sayeru. This strand of light was as ferocious as a snake.

"Kekeke. Damn Bear bastards. Do we just need to beat them up now?"

An individual who was smaller in size compared to the berserk Bears scoffed as he rushed toward them.
The interior of the house started to be revealed again as light only lasts for a moment. They could now clearly see the individuals who had infiltrated this place.

"…The Whales!"

Sayeru frowned.

"What the fuck are you looking at, you feeble son of a bitch?"

Whale Archie smiled brightly toward Sayeru before swinging his fist.

"Ugh!"

"Kahahaha! Does it hurt? It hurt me too! Hahaha!"

Archie's fist smashed into the berserk Bear's fist. Archie's eyes looked excited as he laughed out loud. The half-blooded Whale Paseton jumped in with a sword in his hand to take on the other Bears.

"I guess I will take care of you."

Step, step.

Future Whale Queen Whale tribe slowly walked into the house. The water whip shooting out of her arm was already in front of Sayeru.

"Goodbye."

Ron walked past Sayeru with a calm expression on his face and headed for the underground entrance.

"You shitheads!"

Sayeru looked angry and his entire body looked like it was writhing with anger, but… He did not dare to move. Looking toward the destroyed wall from which the Whales had entered… He could see that every house with his subordinates was surrounded. Furthermore, Sayeru could see the people from the Molan Household dressed in black surrounding this whole area.

Creeeeeak.

Ron opened the door without any hesitation and started to hear all sorts of noises coming from below.

"Oo ..."

The Dark Elf guarding the door didn't know what to do once she made eye contact with Ron. Sayeru shouted in anger toward the Dark Elf that was subconsciously shaking in fear.

"You said that there wasn't a single Elemental arou-"

Sayeru's pupils suddenly shook mid-sentence.

'Is there anywhere in the world without a single Elemental?'

This shaking Dark Elf… She had seen his friends and family being killed as sacrifices for the summoning ritual. That fear was the reason Sayeru thought that this Dark Elf had been listening to his orders.
Sayeru had kept the regular Dark Elves instead of the battle team Dark Elves alive on purpose to use them as guards. He needed ones that would be scared and listen to him.

But would she really have listened?

No Elementals being present should have seemed weird.
Shouldn't this Dark Elf have thought that?

Drip.

A tear rolled down the Dark Elf's eyes and dripped down her cheek. She was shaking as she said what was on her mind.

"…Enemy. The enemy of our race..."

Sayeru started to think after seeing this Dark Elf say that despite being scared.
He'd been had.
That was the only thought on his mind.
He had had enemies on both the inside and the outside.

"This is something I had not expected."

Ron gently patted the Dark Elf's shoulder and headed down without getting any resistance. The Dark Elf did not show any movement as Ron passed by her.

"Damn it! Stop them! Secure Deruth Henituse!"

Ooooooooong.

Light arrows quickly appeared around Sayeru as he shouted.
They were all directed toward Ron. The Dark Elf heard Ron's voice at that moment.

"We rescued the remaining Dark Elves from Mount Nex. They are being protected right now so you will be able to see them soon."

A fire lit up in the Dark Elf's eyes at that moment.
She jumped up and got in the path of Sayeru's light arrows.
Witira charged toward Sayeru at the same time but Sayeru smirked at her.

"Water loses when it goes against light. I guess it would be fun to burn you to death."

Witira's water and Sayeru's light. It was obvious how that battle would end.
Sayeru watched Witira flinched and determined that he was right and the light arrow was right by the Dark Elf.

"Stop."

However, someone stepped in and gave Sayeru no choice but to stop his light arrows.

"I guess you don't want to save the White Star?"

Witira had not stopped because she was scared of Sayeru or his light. It was because Cale had motioned for her to stop.

"…What did you say?"

The White Star. That name made Sayeru stop his arrows. Of course, there was a different reason Sayeru stopped.

"My subordinates truly are like me."

Sayeru had a big smile on his face.
On the other hand, Ron slightly bowed his head.

"…Duke-nim."

"I am okay."

A Bear came up from the basement while holding Duke Deruth Henituse. Other Bears were surrounding that Bear to prevent anybody from approaching.
Duke Deruth looked so small and weak in between the berserk Bears. He was quite fit as the patriarch of a martial arts household, but he looked terrible with his limbs chained down and his face a mess.

"My son."

Duke Deruth smiled brightly at Cale but could not hide his guilt as he felt apologetic to his son. He slowly continued speaking to his son who just quietly watched him.

"I'm so-"

"Please don't say anything useless."

Cale cut him off. Cale cut Deruth off from saying that he was sorry and said something.

"Father, Basen and Lily do not know."

Deruth quietly looked at his son for a moment before forcing a smile and nodding his head.

"I see."

They then heard Sayeru's joyful voice.

"What a teary reunion between father and son."

Cale turned toward Sayeru and swore.

"Are you fucking blind?"

"…What?"

"Are my father and I crying? Why the hell would you say that this is a teary reunion? This motherfucking abductor is saying some annoying shit."

Archie flinched and warily looked at Cale. Archie could tell that Cale was really mad because of his choice of words that did not befit a Commander.
Cale didn't care and just said what he wanted to say.

"We're short on time, so just obediently get caught."

"What?"

Cale, who looked at Sayeru as if he was stupid for responding like that, clicked his tongue for the first time in a long while and pointed around him.

"Hey. Can't you see what is going on around you?"

'What is he talking about?'

Sayeru could not hide his shock at the fact that Cale was being so calm and acting like a jackass.

"What did you mean when you mentioned my liege just now?"

He still maintained his composure and asked Cale about the White Star.
Sayeru believed that he held the power since his side had secured Deruth.
Cale would be slower than the Bears killing Duke Deruth no matter what he tried to do.
However, Cale still looked relaxed as he shrugged his shoulders and nonchalantly commented.

"What do I mean?"

Smirk.

Cale started to smile.

"It means that the White Star is sealed."

"…What?"

'Sealed?'

Sayeru questioned his hearing after hearing something completely unexpected. However, he had not felt the White Star's powers at all since earlier.

"Oh and by the way, one more thing. The Tigers and Wolves went to the Bears' hideout."

"…What-"

Sayeru could not get his mind together after hearing Cale say these things as if he was the water flowing down a river. But Cale had not finished speaking yet.

"Your damn base has been revealed. Ah. Oh, and one more thing. We already took care of the World Tree's side, so you guys won't be able to do anything there either."

"…Ha...…"

"Oh, and one more thing."

Cale pointed at Sayeru.

"I guess you can't see very well because of your light arrows right now. Can you even walk?"

"…What?"

"Meeeeeow."

He heard a Cat's meow. Sayeru suddenly got the chills.
He quickly looked around.

Up. Left. Right.
And finally, down.

He could not see the area around the underground entrance clearly because the light arrows that stopped right by the Dark Elf were too bright.
There was a faint white smoke-like thing scattered on the ground quickly filling the underground area.

It was fog.
He immediately thought of the two Cat children.

"…Poison!"

The Bears around Deruth groaned the moment Sayeru shouted.

"Ugh!"

The Bear standing in the front…
His legs suddenly gave out. The next Bear had one arm and leg shaking.
That was the beginning.
The berserk bodies started shaking one by one as if they were dominoes and Ron was already running through the openings they were showing. Ron looked like a bird flying through a lush forest as he efficiently approached Deruth.

"Ugh! Noooooo!"

The Bear holding Duke Deruth's bound arms tried to stop Ron, however…

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Puuk.

Numerous daggers stabbed into his arms and neck. The Bear could not dodge Ron's attacks because his reaction speed had slowed down from the paralyzing poison.
Sayeru chose the last course of action he had left.

"Kill them all!"

The light arrows started flying toward the Dark Elf, Ron, the Bears, and Deruth. Kill them all. That was Sayeru's final option.

'…I will figure out what happened to my liege later. How could he be sealed?!'

Sayeru could not believe what Cale told him. The White Star was not weak enough to be sealed by Cale.
He heard someone's jovial voice at that moment.

"…Haaaa. You stupid idiot. You still haven't learned? Do you really think that will work?"

Cale laughed and reached his hand out.
A silver shield was already created in front of the Dark Elf. The light arrows could not pierce through the Indestructible Shield.

Baaaaaaaaaang-!

There was another explosion and the house started to break down.
However, Sayeru could not take his eyes off of Duke Deruth who was being supported by Ron to stand up straight on the other side of the silver shield.
He had to work so hard to turn around to look at Cale Henituse.
Cale had walked up to Sayeru during that time and smiled.

"Just stop now."

Cale's voice was gentle, as if he was consoling Sayeru.

"You guys are done for."

Ruuuumble-

The night sky roared at that moment. Underneath the bright orb of light… The area where the Lion Dragon should be started to become dyed black.
Cale pointed toward it and gave him some advice.
He had something to say to Sayeru, who was the only enemy left standing.

"Just like that guy who is about to be finished. You're done for as well."

"…What fucking bullshit!"

Sayeru shouted before starting to move. Light roamed around him as he tried to escape on his own.
Cale gave Archie an order.

"Go catch that abductor."

"Can I beat him up?"

"Whatever you want."

"Wow, great."

Archie approached Sayeru with excitement. Cale pointed toward Sayeru while looking at the large Grey Dragon Rasheel who was coming toward him. Sayeru was easy to locate because he was surrounded by light.
Sayeru will get caught since both Archie and Rasheel were going after him.

'Well, it doesn't matter if he runs off alone and learns of the White Star's absence.'

He would not be able to leave Puzzle City anyway. The Wolves were blocking every exit.

'It's not that hard to capture a bastard who is running away.'

He was not being complacent.
He could say this because he planned on making sure not to let these bastards get away this time.

Chhhhhhh–!

Cale released a water spear into the sky.
Duchess Violan would completely stop the mana disturbance tool the moment she sees this signal. Then the troops from the Henituse Duchy, as well as the strong individuals from around the Western continent that Duke Deruth had hired will move under her command.
Their goal would naturally be Sayeru, who was currently being chased by Rasheel.

Ruuuumble-

The sky was still roaring.
The Lion Dragon reached the fifth and final stage.
Cale quietly mumbled to himself while thinking about how Alberu Crossman would soon take this monster's head.

"It's almost over."

The temple would soon appear.
Earth 3's Ahn Roh Man had said that numerous people struggled for a whole year because of the temple.

"…It shouldn't take that long."

He believed that they would be able to reach the end of the temple at a faster rate.
Cale would finish the White Star off inside the temple while putting an end to the issue with the sealed god as well.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Cale felt the beating of his heart that would soon be stabbed by the root dagger and fiddled with the golden plaque.

"It shouldn't hurt that much, right?"

He was quietly whispering but there were two individuals who heard what he had said.
They were On and Hong, whose stealth techniques were now better than Beacrox and only slightly worse than Ron. The two Cats had stealthily approached Cale and looked at each other after hearing what Cale said.
On and Hong, who had been chatting with each other through their gazes, turned toward the golden plaque.

Cale had no idea about this. However, On and Hong were thinking about Raon and a few adults they would share this information with later.
On's sharp gaze was glaring at the golden plaque.

* * *

Who is the 'hero' described by Guardian Knight Clopeh Sekka in the future? The essay has an extremely famous phrase.

< The great and mighty hero did not die even when his heart was stabbed. >

But there was an even more famous phrase.

< And the hero became even stronger. >

* * *

"Hmm? When did you get here?"

Cale told On and Hong to go to Raon and headed toward the barrier again.
He needed to watch his allies finish the monster off.

"…Young master Cale!"

"Your Majesty."

Cale smiled at Queen Litana.

"Cale Henituse!"

"Long time no see."

He then gave short greetings to Toonka and the others. They all seemed as if they wanted to chat with Cale but kept their mouths shut and looked somewhere.

"…Grrrrr…grrrrr...."

The Lion Dragon was bleeding after its scales were pierced by numerous bullets.
Choi Han, Alberu, and Eruhaben were approaching that monster.

The monster would soon perish.

Cale was the only one looking up at the sky while everybody else was looking at the backs of the three individuals as they headed to finish off the monster.
He was thinking about the sealed god's temple that would soon appear.

***

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]