Chapter 181: My goodness. The sea, the sea! (7)

This group of three was enough for Cale.

He had his omnipotent Dragon, Raon.

"!"

Old man Baek flinched. He could see his body becoming invisible. Furthermore, he could also feel his feet getting off the ground, making him slowly float up.

"Raon. Let's head to the roof."

"Human, I got it! It's been a while since the two of us looted a place! Hehe!"

Raon, whose comment completely ignored the fact that Old man Baek was there as well, answered in an excited voice before immediately casting his flight magic.

"A bit faster."

He made it very fast as Cale requested.

Thanks to that, Cale was able to quickly get closer to the ten-sided roof on top of the ten story Stairway to Heaven.

However, Cale still felt as if this was not fast enough.

'I have a bad feeling.'

The back of his head was oddly extremely cold.

Something always happened when he felt like this.

'No. Maybe it has already happened?'

He looked down to see people who looked like martial artists popping out of different places.

There were quite a lot of them, but…

'How disgusting.'

The biggest thing was that the fact that their battle attires were white and that they still had masks on made them look extremely eye-catching.

It was at that moment.

Baaaaaang— baaaaaang—-!

'Choi Han is breaking more things.'

Baaaaaang— baaaaaang—-!

'…Team leader Lee Soo Hyuk, he's breaking things too.'

In the east and the west… The two teams were destroying everything as if they were announcing the path they were taking.

"Human! They are destroying everything!"

Cale ignored Raon's oddly excited voice. It could not be helped. For some odd reason, Cale was feeling uncomfortable.

However, he did not have the time to continue paying attention to this feeling.

'A situation has already happened.'

The Blood Cult has noticed their infiltration.

It would not be weird for the Blood Demon to show up at any moment.

'I'm sure the Blood Demon will soon appear.'

Although it was possible that the Blood Demon would say that this was not at her level and send her subordinates… Either way, the Blood Cult's current reaction made it obvious that they would not treat this situation lightly.

They were planning on having a big celebration soon.

In such a situation, Cale's infiltration had been noticed, and if things went wrong, his identity might be revealed.

In that case…

'If things are already like this…'

He then started to smile.

'Let's create chaos first.'

What he needed to do for this was simple.

'Time to call in the martial artists.'

The Triumvirate.

Dispatch the core members of all three major forces to this city and the sea.

Then chaos will automatically create itself.

The battle would not be contained in this large but still pretty small city; it would extend out to the water.

It would be more advantageous for the martial artists the more that the Blood Cult had to spread their troops.

'There is only one thing I have to do for that to happen.'

He had to destroy the core of formation right away.

'There is nothing wrong with that assessment.'

He could stealthily move to find the priestess and the young ladies of the House of Orsena once the chaos has started.

'Yes. Let's do that.'

Cale's battlefields had always been chaotic.

Thinking about that made the discomfort inside Cale calm down quite a bit. Of course, there was still one thing that worried him.

'…I wonder how strong the Blood Demon is?'

The Blood Demon and the Blood Cult. He predicted that they would be quite strong compared to the Black Bloods of Xiaolen.

It seemed highly likely that the people of the Central Plains would not be able to handle everything and that Cale's group would have to step in.

'Well, let's think about that after destroying the core of the formation.'

Tap.

Cale's feet landed on the roof.

"Old man Baek."

"Ahem. W,what is it?"

Cale turned toward the direction of the voice after hearing that odd stutter in Old man Baek's voice. He could not see anything as they were invisible.

Cale still smiled as he asked.

"What's wrong? Did you trick me about something as well?"

"I-"

"No, it's fine. It doesn't matter anyway. It's fine even if you tricked me."

Cale was just tired and annoyed with anyone related to the Blood Cult at this point.

He just continued to say what was on his mind.

"The device is down here?"

"Yeah. The formation device is on the top floor of the building."

The formation device that controlled the sea around Hainan as well as this city…

The center of this device was where the core from the Dragons of Aipotu was located.

Cale's mouth opened.

"You said you don't know how to break the barrier?"

"That's right."

The top floor of Stairway to Heaven…

The entire floor was covered by a large barrier.

This was to protect that formation device.

"The only way to go into the formation room is by using the entrance of the barrier."

Old man Baek continued to speak.

"And that door is something that the Blood Demon and the priestess… It is something only the two of them and the guard at the door can open."

"And that guard is the Blood Demon's master?"

"That's right. The Blood Demon's master from when she was young. He is guarding it with some True Jiangshis. Anyway, only the three of them have to key to open the door-"

Old man Baek closed his mouth.

Cale and Raon did the same.

Ssssssssss-

There was a gust of wind.

'It's cold.'

A coldness that felt as if he was deep underwater overwhelmed Cale's back. He got chills all over his body.

He turned around.

Something was approaching them.

Cale saw it at that moment.

"…The Blood Demon."

A blue aura that was revealing its presence stronger than any of the lights in the city was approaching him like a large wave.

He couldn't see very well because of the distance, but he could see a person with long white hair on top of that blue aura wave.

"Haa."

Cale scoffed.

"They truly are different."

This large aura that was approaching leisurely neither fast nor slow…

His instincts were speaking to him.

"This is not something the people of the Central Plains can defeat."

There was nobody in the Martial Arts world who was strong enough to fight against this Blood Demon.

The Heavenly Demon would be the only one who could exchange a couple of moves with the Blood Demon.

Cale turned his head.

The sound of the buildings breaking had stopped.

Choi Han and Sui Khan…

Both of them should have realized that they should not waste their strength anymore.

They would have felt the Blood Demon's aura as well. In fact, they might have felt it even before Cale had noticed it.

"…How-"

Old man Baek's voice was shaking.

Cale had a sense of déjà vu as he looked at him. Old man Baek commented once they made eye contact.

"She's became stronger. How did she do that in such a short period of time-"

Cale attentively watched Old man Baek and his confused reaction for a bit before speaking to Raon.

"Let's inspect the barrier on the wall first."

"I got it, human!"

Cale felt the strength of the flight magic that had yet to release and floated in the air.

He had to take a look at the barrier before he fought against the guard and entered the barrier.

The easiest way would be if Raon could get rid of this barrier for them to enter.

While Choi Han and the team leader were distracting the enemies of course.

'Mm.'

Unlike the other floors, the tenth floor did not have any windows.

'It's a barrier.'

There were half-transparent blue lines intertwined with each other in a set pattern along the wall.

"Raon, this-"

Cale, who had been about to ask whether Raon could unravel it, flinched.

Shaaaaa-

There was a gust of wind.

This gust was more vicious than earlier.

He turned his head to see that the large blue aura had split into two.

Those two auras were heading respectively toward Choi Han and the team leader.

'What the hell?'

As for the Blood Demon, she was heading toward him.

She was accurately flying straight for Stairway to Heaven.

Her speed was getting faster.

'Fuck!

Can she see us?

There's no way?'

Cale subconsciously opened his mouth after having this sense of urgency.

"Raon, do you think that you can get through the barrier?"

Baaaaang!

There was a loud explosion at that moment.

"!"

Cale's eyes opened wide.

'The wall-'

The wall had exploded.

– H, human, I didn't do that!

That was correct.

Raon, Cale and Old man Baek… None of them had done anything.

The wall had been destroyed from the inside. It seemed to be possible to destroy it from the inside as the wall was within the barrier.

"Hmm."

An old man who had a long white beard that came down to his stomach leaned his body out of the opening in the wall.

He then tilted his head in confusion.

However, his voice sounded cold.

"We have some intruders."

He then looked up into the air.

"You're definitely there but you are not visible. In that case, I do have a method. Hoho."

The Blood Demon's master and the guard of this formation room.

This person who was in the latter stages of the Profound Realm was the first to notice Cale's group.

All sides were blocked by walls so how did he notice Cale outside?

Cale was confused, but…

There was only one thing for him to do .

"Old man Baek, get rid of the invisibility!"

The guard turned to look toward the direction of the voice.

– I got it, human!

And in that spot-

"S, shit-!"

Old man Baek was no longer invisible.

As for Cale, he was still invisible and pushed Old man Baek from behind him.

He pushed him toward the guard.

"!"

Old man Baek's eyes opened wide. Betrayal, anger, and many different emotions were visible in his eyes for a moment but Cale didn't care.

What good would it do him to know the feelings of a bastard who turned hundreds of thousands of people into jiangshis?

"Hoooo."

Instead, he just gave another strong shove to Old man Baek who had caught the guard's attention.

– Human, should I help you?

Raon helped him as well.

"Aaaaaaaaahh!"

Old man Baek was quickly sent flying toward the guard.

"Oh dear. Little Baek… Are you siding with the enemies as well?"

"N, no, senior!"

Old man Baek's face looked contemplative. However, the force that pushed him had been so strong for him to stop.

A blue aura roamed around the guard's hand.

Clang.

He pulled out his sword.

Old man Baek turned pale and shouted after seeing the sword.

"I was simply a hostage! Senior, I have not done anything!"

The corners of Cale's lips twisted up.

He, who was planning on finding a way to move as Old man Baek bought him some time like this, immediately moved in the opposite direction of the chaos.

Raon would figure it out and follow him

It was at that moment.

Baaaaaaaaaang!

He heard a loud noise.

Cale flinched.

– Human, I just tried to destroy it!

Raon had made his move.

The wall on the other side was destroyed.

– The barrier didn't break!

It does seem that way.

The blue barrier remained despite the wall breaking.

Only the guard seemed to be able to move his body out of the barrier.

– I'll try smashing against it some more!

Raon did not give up after one try.

Baaaaang! Baaaaaang!

He destroyed all of the walls of the tenth floor.

'…Yeah. Since things are already like this, let's just be loud.'

Cale gave up moving quietly and observed the situation on the other side.

'As expected.'

Old man Baek was still floating in the air while pointing his blades at the guard.

He was controlling the True Jiangshis in the formation room to surround the guard.

Baaaaang!

Bang!

Baaaaang!

The ten sides of the wall were breaking one after the other.

Thanks to Raon.

– Human! I had no choice! We have to quickly do it before the Blood Demon gets here. I'll first get rid of the walls and then I'll inspect the barrier! I need to find the weakness of the barrier!

'Oh right.'

The Blood Demon was getting closer.

She would be here soon.

Cale approached the barrier that appeared after the walls were destroyed.

He then flinched.

Baaaaang!

As Raon destroyed all sides and he could clearly see the insides through the half-transparent blue barrier…

'That must be it.'

The ground had an odd formation divided into ten pieces.

He could see a colorful jewel floating on top of it.

It clearly seemed like this was the core of the formation.

'It is purple.'

He recalled the fact that the Hunters of Aipotu were the Purple Bloods.

'I need to destroy that.'

Cale thought about how he could get that done.

Shaaaaa-

The wind was slowly getting colder.

– Cale.

He heard the Fire of Destruction's serious voice.

– That Blood Demon person is very strong. The current me cannot defeat her.

Cale bit down on his lips.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

He heard Old man Baek scream at that moment.

He wanted to see what had happened but he did not have time to do that.

He needed to first pierce through this barrier.

'If I can't, I need to fight the guard.

No, maybe it would be faster to fight the guard and take the key away?

Raon and I… The two of us should be able to handle him?'

Shaaaaaaaaaa-

'But what if the Blood Demon arrives as we are doing that?

Will Choi Han and the team leader fight her?'

Cale continued to observe the barrier despite his mind getting convoluted.

He then came to a conclusion.

"Raon, can you figure any of it out?"

'I can't figure anything out even after looking at it.'

– Human… Not yet-

Cale made up his mind after hearing Raon's weak mumbling.

'Let's just fight the guard.'

– Should I step in?

He heard the Sky Eating Water's excited voice.

Cale nodded his head and extended his hand toward the barrier.

He was planning on touching it.

"Hmm?"

Cale flinched.

"…Hmm?"

'My hand is going through the barrier?'

Cale moved closer toward it.

"?"

His whole arm entered the barrier.

"What is going on?"

Of course, the invisibility spell disappeared and his appearance was visible inside the barrier, but…

That was not the important thing right now.

– Human, whaaaaat?!

He could hear Raon's shocked voice.

Cale then heard a confused voice next to him.

"Hmm?"

It was Raon.

Raon's chubby front paw appeared inside the barrier.

Cale looked at it before walking farther in.

Yes, he just walked into the barrier.

"What is going on?"

'I can just walk in?'

Cale walked in without any issues, as if he had not even gone through a barrier.

'What the hell? I thought only a specific set of people with keys could enter?'

Cale looked to the side.

Raon's chubby stomach was sticking out as he flew in and fluttered his wings.

"Human, is this a fake barrier?"

"I don't think so?"

Cale looked toward the other side.

He could see the guard and Old man Baek looking at them in astonishment.

Cale mumbled while looking at their extremely shocked faces.

"How come I could walk right in?"

He heard Raon's voice at that moment.

"Human! I figured it out!"

'Hmm?'

"That core over there reacts to the aura of Dragons! It allows Dragons to enter without any restraint! The barrier does not exist against Dragons!"

Cale started to think.

'But I'm not a Dragon?'

The Sky Eating Water mumbled in a low voice.

– You ate the power of a Dragon. You have a Dragon's aura.

'Ah, right.

I did.'

"Oh."

'This is great.'

The moment the corners of Cale's lips twitched up…

Baaaaaaaaaang—–

An explosion that was not comparable to what he had heard until now could be heard.

Cale saw Choi Han, who was preventing the Blood Demon from getting closer.

Cale motioned to Raon at that moment and the two of them used magic to quickly move ten steps to appear right in front of the formation core.

"You dare!"

They then heard the shocked guard's voice, but…

Cale had no reason to hesitate.

Ooooooooo—

The moment Raon's half-transparent black barrier appeared to block the guard… Those few seconds were enough.

For Cale to grab the formation core…

Screeeech—

For the formation that was functioning with this core at the center to make an odd noise…

And for all ten stories of Stairway to Heaven to slowly start shaking…

A few seconds was all it took for all of that to happen.

The moment Cale grabbed the core and exited the area of the formation…

'Now I just have to break it!'

The moment he made up his mind to destroy the item in his hand…

He suddenly heard the Sky Eating Water's excited voice.

– I think you can charge up with this thing?

'Hmm?'

– This jewel should be able to turn the water drops that turned white back to black?

'Oh.'

Cale looked at the purple core in his hand with an odd gaze.

—

Translator's Comments

It's a battery?!

***

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]