Chapter 12: Oh light of purification (2)

"Is that a power from our lord?"

The Pope asked while looking at the rose gold light surrounding Cale.

– That's not the case!

The cheapskate, who had been calm until now, suddenly shouted. Cale wondered if the cheapskate, the original owner of the Fire of Destruction, had become a god, but…

'But I didn't get this power from a god.'

That was why Cale answered honestly without any hesitation.

"No. This power is not from a god."

'I earned it by throwing a money shower.'

He didn't say that part out loud.

The Pope's pupils started to shake.

'How can he have such a strong power when it is not from a god?!'

It was pure yet destructive.

This vicious rose gold light looked as if it would not fear any darkness in the world.

The Pope suddenly remembered that her god told her to treat Cale as if he was the god himself.

'Perhaps-'

The Pope knew one of the secrets of the world.

'Living creatures become gods after dying and going through trials.'

It was a secret of the world that she heard from the old man who was the former Pope, a long time ago when she was very young.

'Perhaps this sir also...?'

A possibility stirred inside the Pope's mind but she calmed herself down.

'I must not be hasty.'

No matter what it might be, she could not just theorize about it and brush aside.

The Fire of Purification. As the Pope with the mission to save this church and the world, she could not do that.

As a result, she tried her best to calm down and collect herself as she spoke again.

"Oh esteemed purifier, are you able to repair the Wall of Purification immediately with that power?"

The important thing right now was repairing the Wall of Purification.

It would be extremely difficult for the church to run away from their Grand Temple.

Cale responded to her question without any hesitation.

"I can repair it right away, however… It does not look like that is needed right now."

'He can do it but he won't?

Even though we are in such a dire situation?'

The Pope could not understand him. However, she did not say her complaint immediately. This purifier sent from their god must have his reasons.

She opened her mouth to ask him about it.

"Oh esteemed purifier, the people inside the church will be in danger if the black fog makes it inside. May I ask why you are saying that there is no need to do that right-"

Shh.

The Pope saw a black robe walk past her at that moment.

She then heard Cale's voice.

"It is because my friend has something to do first, ma'am."

The small black Dragon inside the temple with two Cats summoned quite a large pouch at that moment.

"Here you go, Mary!"

The average-looking pouch headed toward the black-robed woman. She raised her arm to receive the pouch. The Pope finally got a look at her hand and her eyes opened wide.

Shh.

The string tied around this regular brown pouch was released.

Mary's movements were not very fast but they were quite efficient without any hesitation.

She flipped the pouch over.

Plop. Plop.

Things started to fall out of this regular-looking but quite advanced spatial pocket bag.

It was hard to believe that these things came out of such a small bag.

Boom! Boom!

Large bones fell to the ground.

"No way-!"

One of the priests in armor shouted without being able to hold himself back.

This was the power that was said to be the most precious in Xiaolen right now. This priest had seen this power just once in the Iska Empire.

That phenomenal power…

The power that even dominated the dead black ground…

Mary closed the pouch after taking out the things she needed and stretched her other hand forward.

She then spoke in a low voice.

"Rise."

Black threads started to flow out of her fingertips.

The bones on the ground started to move and gather together.

"…She really is a necromancer."

The old priest in armor… The bishop mumbled and gasped in awe. A priest next to him shouted in shock.

"A, and she has black bones!"

The large skeleton that seemed about 3 meters tall was made of black bones.

The Pope bit the inside of her mouth while looking at the black-robed woman.

'A necromancer strong enough to make black bones?!'

This was a necromancer with the highest abilities. The Pope knew that only highest-grade necromancers were able to make black bones filled with dead mana.

'I did hear that those with so much talent that even the heavens would gasp could do it from the moment they get the ability, but…'

The method of becoming a necromancer was a secret in Xiaolen that was only passed down through the Iska Imperial family for generations and there was talk about how someone who could overcome the hardships of that secret method had to have noble blood.

Of course, the Pope did not believe that.

'A necromancer who is with the purifier.'

It was shocking.

It was not only the Pope but all officials of the temple who were watching that had the same thought.

"My goodness-"

A priest gasped before turning his head after feeling a pat on his shoulder and gasping even louder.

"Oh e, esteemed Dragon."

"Yeah. I'm a Dragon!"

The small black Dragon's eyes sparkled and the corners of his lips twitched. He then asked in a quiet yet loud enough voice for people around them to hear.

"Is our Mary and our human amazing in this world too?"

"Excuse me?"

"Are they amazing?"

"Y, yes sir!"

"Hehe. I'm amazing too!"

The black Dragon smiled cutely but the priest could not smile back.

Boom. Boom.

The large skeleton started moving. This skeleton that resembled a monster or maybe a bear charged toward the dead mana fountain that was corroding away the Wall of Purification and shooting up.

"Hmm. Should I go help too?"

The people inside the temple could see Dark Elf Shawn slowly heading toward Mary. He was not the only one.

"Hey you, Vampire girl. Are you not going?"

"I am going."

The Vampire followed behind him.

The people of the temple looked at the necromancer, Dark Elf, and Vampire surrounding their esteemed purifier Cale with odd gazes.

'Hmm.'

Eruhaben watched this for a bit before turning his gaze.

"I've heard a bit about what happened. I think they said that your name is Lee Soo Hyuk?"

"It is Sui Khan now."

"Are you part of the Black Hawk race?"

The red eyes turned to look at Eruhaben.

Choi Han was watching the two of them.

A tired smile appeared on Sui Khan's face.

"What are you curious about?"

"Does that punk Cale know too?"

"About what?"

"The story of the birds."

"Who knows?"

Sui Khan looked at Choi Han once before looking forward. He could see the black skeleton sucking in the black underground fountain as well as the other darkness attribute races.

He could see Cale walking toward them once the fountain died down a bit.

Sui Khan mumbled in a low voice.

"I'll need to tell him my story soon. We are part of the same team."

Choi Han finally nodded his head and smiled innocently.

It was at that moment.

Boom-!

The ground started to shake.

"Cale-nim-!"

As Choi Han shouted Cale's name almost in gasp…

'Fuck.'

Cale scowled.

The reason behind it was simple.

Cale had walked up to repair the Wall of Purification before the black fog entered once the others absorbed a good amount of the dead mana.

Sssss- sssss–

The black fog entering through the breaking wall turned into grey dust and scattered in the air as Cale walked forward with the rose gold thunderbolts surrounding him.

"Ahh– esteemed purifier–"

Cale heard some old guy gasping in the back but he ignored it and reached his hand toward the red half-transparent wall that was being corroded black.

The fiery thunderbolt flowed through his hand and toward the Wall of Purification.

'I have a feeling.'

Cale's instincts were telling him something.

It was telling him that the power of the Fire of Destruction was flowing through this Wall of Purification.

And he realized it right away.

The power of his fire could repair this wall.

Crackle-!

The rose gold light reached the Wall of Purification.

At that moment…

Boom-!

The ground started to shake.

The Wall of Purification then started to change.

"Ohh– holy light–!"

Cale heard the old man's voice again and he scowled.

The half-transparent red wall became dyed rose gold and started to glow.

Sssss- sssss–

The light made the black fog outside the wall all turn into ash and scatter.

Everything the light touched became that way.

The 'everything' was not talking just about the black fog.

"Oh, Fire of Purification!"

Plop. One of the priests plopped down on the ground.

Not only did the black fog in the vicinity of the light become ash and disappear, the ground outside the wall, the area from the wall to approximately 10 meters away, slowly started to lose its black color.

Of course, they did not return to their original color, but they could slowly see the black turning to brown.

Cale had a thought while watching this.

'This-'

'This looks like-'

"Purification!"

Someone shouted from behind him as if they realized his thoughts.

The Wall of Purification was purifying everything up to 10 meters away from the wall as it glowed rose gold. The black fog couldn't even get close.

It would turn into ash if it touched the light.

"E, esteemed purifier-"

Cale looked at the Pope after hearing her calling out to him and then flinched.

The Pope's eyes were sparkling as if someone had found 100 mines full of gold.

Cale quickly avoided her gaze and observed the Wall of Purification with his arm still stretched out.

'Ah.'

The Pope realized that she had acted rashly after seeing Cale's calm and serious demeanor and bit down on her lips.

'Our lord told us to treat the purifier as if we were treating him.'

The Pope recalled the words of her lord as she clenched her fists.

Cale had no idea about this as he was deep in thought.

'Something is weird.'

– Something is weird.

It was the same for the cheapskate.

Cale and the cheapskate were having the same thought.

– Why is it like this when you didn't even use that much power?

'Exactly my thoughts.'

Cale had only sent a tiny amount of fiery thunderbolts into the Wall of Purification as he thought that he just needed to fix the broken part of the wall. He was planning on using more if necessary.

'I had no thoughts about pushing myself too hard.'

This was not a world with Cale's foundation. Even if there was a group helping them, Cale could already tell that this organization was not a mainstream force in this world.

It was more likely that the enemy was the mainstream force.

That was why he was planning on saving his powers as much as possible.

'But why is it like this-'

– It's extremely effective, isn't it?

Cale and the cheapskate continued to have the same thoughts.

– Cale, this is weird. If we consider your whole body as the amount of power you have, the power you used is maybe the size of a finger. But for it to be so effective… Is it because of this Wall of Purification thing?

'Is it?'

Cale fell deep into thought while looking at the Wall of Purification that was glowing rose gold.

'Is it so effective because this wall and my power are extremely compatible?'

Cale withdrew his fiery thunderbolts after seeing that the wall was fully restored.

"Mm."

He then groaned.

'It's the same.'

The Wall of Purification did not return to its original half-transparent red wall and remained glowing brightly with rose gold light.

The black fog was still unable to come within 10 meters.

"Are you okay?"

Cale did not respond to the question the Pope asked with a concerned look on her face. He didn't think she was talking to him.

"Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"

However, he turned his head after hearing one more question. The Pope didn't seem to know what to do as she approached Cale.

She had seen the esteemed purifier groan and pull back his power with a serious look on his face just now.

'I'm sure that he pushed himself too much.'

The way his face was pale before he even started made the Pope think that this purifier's body was feeble like hers.

'I get tired when I use my powers too.'

The Pope knew that her stamina quickly went down when she used her purification power.

If that was the case for her, imagine how hard it must be for the person in front of her right now.

Nonetheless, he just let out a short groan and held everything in, similar to how the Pope herself usually acted.

It was because there were people watching.

It was because there were people who followed her.

'I'm certain it must be the same.'

The Pope thought that the person in front of her was similar to herself while also feeling a sense of respect.

"Ah, I am okay, Pope-nim."

Cale wondered why the Pope was suddenly acting like this and just answered nonchalantly as if it was nothing.

It really wasn't a big deal.

He turned his gaze elsewhere instead.

"Mary."

"Yes, young master-nim."

"Is it different here than back home?"

Mary immediately realized what 'it' Cale was talking about.

He was asking if the dead mana from their world was different from the dead mana here.

Mary turned toward the black skeleton. The dead mana that seeped into the skeleton's bones… She could naturally scope it out.

Mary answered honestly.

"It is purer on this side."

That meant…

"The dead mana here is more fatal and dangerous for people."

Mary said exactly as she found out.

"If over 80 percent of the world is like this, this truly is a ruined world for humans."

Cale looked at Shawn, who was rubbing the liquefied dead mana on his finger onto the back of his hand. Shawn raised his head.

"I agree."

The Vampire also silently nodded her head.

Cale turned his head and looked at the Pope.

'Hmm?'

He then flinched. An old priest behind the Pope was kneeling down on the ground, clasping his hands together, and looking at Cale with a burning gaze.

– Human!

"Meeeeeow!"

"Meeow!"

Cale couldn't help but feel iffy about this but he brushed it aside while watching the children averaging nine-years-old approach him.

He made eye contact with the Pope.

"May I hear the details now?"

"Yes sir."

The Pope responded without any hesitation.

* * *

The Pope pointed to the Iska Empire, located on the center of the map, as she spoke.

"There are some special people among the black mages who use dead mana."

Cale's group, who were seated around her, all focused on her.

"A holy white light flows out whenever they use dead mana to cast spells."

The Pope calmly added on as Cale's eyes clouded over.

"That magic is what we call White Magic."

"And?"

The Pope continued as Cale asked with certainty that there was more to be said.

"The first group to make that White Magic was the Black Bloods household and they are the family who has provided the instructor for the Emperor for generations."

—
Translator's Comments

Well, shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.

***

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]