Chapter 27: Who are you guys? (7)

Cale's heart thumped at that moment.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

'Something is weird.'

That was the first thought he had.

'Have I ever felt an ancient power so strongly before?'

The Fire of Destruction.

Cale had used this ancient power countless times until now. He had used it however he wanted, controlling it as he pleased.

'It's a bit different.'

However, the Fire of Destruction that he was feeling right now was different from any other time he had used the power.

– Cale! This place, it's different! Seriously, I'm seeing this terrible darkness again!

The Fire of Destruction cheapskate shouted.

– It reminds me of when I was alive!

Cale looked down at his fingertips.

The rose gold fiery thunderbolt that was wrapped all around his body in order to prevent being poisoned by dead mana… All of the black fog that touched it turned into ashes and disappeared.

The cheapskate said that he was reminded of when he was alive.

'…So this is destruction.'

Cale felt as if he could understand how the cheapskate had destroyed darkness when he was alive.

As for how efficient the Fire of Destruction was in this Xiaolen world…

He felt as if he had a very good idea about it.

"Cale-nim!"

He heard Choi Han's urgent voice. Cale lifted his head up.

Boom!

The ground shook and one of the black roots charged toward him. It seemed to be scoping him out.

Shhhh—

And the numerous vines that seemed endless compared to the roots…

A portion of the vines that had surrounded the group like a wall were charging toward Cale and the others behind him.

Dead mana and a terrible poison that was even worse than it was carried by the wind and charged toward them as these vines moved.

The cheapskate laughed out loud at that moment.

– Kahahaha! That bastard has recognized his opponent! But how foolish!

His laughter sounded maniacal.

The power that looked to burn the whole world, the power that had made the World Tree fear for its safety, that emotion, that craze seemed to be appearing.

– The prey dares to charge at the predator.

The cheapskate stopped laughing.

The ancient hero who had controlled the Fire of Destruction mumbled in a low voice.

– How laughable.

Choi Han moved in front of Cale.

"I will help you, Cale-nim."

Cale shook his head.

"No, step back."

"Excuse me?"

Choi Han flinched just as he was about to look behind him.

'What is this?'

He could feel heat behind his back.

It must be Cale's fire power.

However, the heat didn't feel as if it would burn him up. It wasn't hot or stuffy.

However, Choi Han's back still had a lot of sweat.

The sweat was not from the heat but cold sweat from feeling something else.

'I became nervous because of Cale-nim's power?'

There were many times he had gasped in admiration and awe many times.

But it was different right now.

It felt a bit more fundamental.

Choi Han suddenly recalled its name.

'The Fire of Destruction.

Yes, destruction.

Although it had a holy name of the Fire of Purification here and did purify dead mana, fire was something that could burn everything.

It could destroy everything.

"Choi Han, step back."

Cale said that once more before walking past Choi Han. He then added on.

"Or you are going to be burnt to death."

Choi Han looked at Cale's back as Cale walked past him.

Boom!

A black root approached.

The black root that was so tall that Choi Han had to look up quite a bit to even get a glimpse of the end reached toward Cale like a giant snake.

Cale raised his hand.

Crack.

A fiery thunderbolt crackled in his hand.

This thunderbolt looked a bit too red to be called rose gold in color.

'Hmm?'

Choi Han could see a faint blue light mixed in the red.

It was like a small blue star floating in a red night sky.

The moment the blue pebble seeped into the red thunderbolt…

"Ah."

Choi Han saw it.

The dead mana fog…

That black fog retreated.

It disappeared on Cale's side as if it was running away.

'No, it isn't retreating or running away.'

The fog did not have a conscience.

'It is disintegrating as soon as it touches him. And the range is getting wider.'

The area around Cale was being purified.

The fiery thunderbolt in his hand finally left his hand.

All of this had happened in just a few seconds but it felt extremely long to Choi Han as he watched.

Choi Han subconsciously opened his mouth.

"Eruhaben-nim!"

"I know!"

Eruhaben pulled out a highest-grade magic stone.

Crack. Gold dust wrapped around him as the magic stone broke.

Ooooooooo—!

The gold dust vibrated and the ancient Dragon created a shield around him. It was to protect Mary and Olivia.

"…Magic...?"

Olivia, who was in Mary's arms, couldn't help but open her eyes wide while looking at magic that was not black magic, this radiant gold mana, rising up in such an environment.

However, something else had captured Olivia's attention.

It touched it.

This 'it' was a thunderbolt that was only the size of an adult fist.

This red thunderbolt with blue pebbles touched the black root not too slowly or too quickly.

Baaaaaaaaaang-!

Her ears were ringing from the loud explosion.

'The darkness-'

The darkness had disappeared.

The darkness that had filled her view had completely disappeared.

The only thing her eyes could see…

'It's red.'

Was a red light.

The darkness, the fog, everything dark could not be seen at all.

'Ah.'

She was finally able to remember the identity of this crest on the robe she was wearing.

'The Fire of Purification.'

The Church that had been labeled a cult in the Empire about 100 years ago and allowed instant execution of any of the high-ranking positions.

This crest was the crest they needed to know in order to find the believers of that church.

She finally remembered the crest she had seen for a moment a few years ago.

'I thought it was a lie.'

Olivia had learned that this church was a cult that believed in a false doctrine.

The god that they believed in did not exist and they were said to be similar to the Agents of Destruction where they would cleverly instigate the regular citizens of the Empire to throw the world into chaos.

'There are many religions like that.'

Many religions that were really cults had appeared since the world became like this. Olivia had assumed that this Church of the Fire of Purification was naturally one of them.

She recalled one of the abnormal doctrines of the Church of the Fire of Purification that she had learned about.

< There definitely exists a power to purify this darkness. >

< One of them, the fire containing thunderbolt would defeat the darkness. >

The red light started to disappear.

The redness that had filled her view was shrinking.

"…Ha."

Grey ashes fluttered in the air.

Olivia said something in a voice filled with both admiration and a gasp.

"…It's not there.

Ha, haha-"

She laughed in disbelief.

The terrible pain from the dead mana that was infiltrating her body similar to a mana explosion was forgotten for a moment.

To be more specific, she had forgotten about it since earlier.

Because of this shocking sight.

It wasn't there.

The monster that had been chasing her was no longer there.

No, it was there.

She spoke even though it was difficult to do so. She saw it as the only way to express her emotions.

"…It's… running away..."

Most of the ten or so vines that had appeared above ground did not exist anymore.

They had turned into ashes and disappeared.

Tap, tap.

Only a portion of one or two roots still remained even though they were burning as well.

Then they ran away.

Boom! Boom!

The roots hid underground in the sand even as they continued to burn.

Shhhh—

Most of the bushes had turned into ashes or were burning as well.

The fire did not go out.

Shhhh-! Shhhhhhh–!

The bushes cut off the parts of their bodies that were burning. It looked as if they had a conscience or were responding to orders.

They cut parts of their body and quickly retreated the parts that were not burning.

They were running away as well.

They couldn't even consider rolling on the sand to put the fire out.

'The sand is burning too.'

Within a radius of ten meters around them… All of the black sand was burning red in this area.

Olivia looked at the person standing at the center of the fire.

This was the person who had made those terrible monsters, the one that had made her and her allies helplessly run away with a single attack.

That person. Cale quietly stood there looking in the direction of the escaping vines.

"H, how can a person- how can a person do this?"

Olivia subconsciously asked while still forgetting about her pain.

She had never seen something like this before.

'He-, this person-

Is he human?'

Rose gold thunderbolts were still swirling around him.

The purifier. Was he really a human being?

"Is that person a human?

How can a person use that kind of power?"

The current Emperor and his instructor, the patriarch of the House of Huayans…

Olivia had seen them use their powers a few times. Their powers had been amazing.

It had scared her.

It had made her feel as if she could not win against them.

However, neither of their powers had been this extraordinary.

"Ah, that punk?"

She heard a peaceful voice.

Olivia turned her gaze.

The individual who had cast a spell a few moments ago was looking at the purifier.

"That punk is definitely human."

The way he was calmly speaking like this…

'…That punk is?

Does that mean that there is someone who is not human?'

Olivia looked at the gold dust, the mana still swirling around the mage before getting chills all over her body.

'…I've never seen a mage of this caliber. I've never even heard of a mage of this caliber existing in the world.'

There were some black mages who came from households that carried on learning magic almost as a tradition in addition to black magic.

For example, the House of Huayans handled magic very well. They were skilled in black magic, white magic, and magic.

'But has there ever been a mage who could use magic so freely in a polluted area like this?

Has there ever been a person who could use mana so freely without any restraints?

They would need to at least be at the highest-grade level as a mage?

…And this mage…'

He had said that that punk was a human being.

That should mean that there was someone who was not human.

'What if this mage in front of me is not human?'

An existence that is not human but can handle mana so well like this?

"Ah."

Olivia saw that the man's eyes changed colors to gold as she watched. The pupils of those gold eyes were vertical.

He was neither human nor elf.

'Perhaps-'

Dragon.

She thought about that world.

The man's eyes returned back to normal green human eyes. The man flicked his finger.

Snap!

Olivia's body was surrounded by warmth. It was a bit different from what she was getting from the robe as it was the pure aura of natural mana.

That aura was gently patting the dead mana that was trying to go berserk.

It was as if it would delay Olivia's poisoning even though it couldn't heal it.

The voice that came out of the man's mouth was quite stern unlike the warmth surrounding her.

"You shouldn't have any stupid thoughts about using that punk or anything of the sort. Of course, he's not the type who would let you do that anyway."

However, his voice was not cold.

"It's just a small warning."

However, there was something about it that made it impossible for her to ignore it.

A tiny bit of aura of a higher being that was different from humans touched Olivia.

"Imperial Princess Olivia."

She turned her head.

Cale had walked next to her at some point. The fire burning over the sand had gone out.

Choi Han was next to Cale checking his complexion.

'He's okay.'

Cale's complexion seemed fine.

He had worried because Cale had used quite a strong thunderbolt but Cale still seemed fine as he was not even pale.

'Choi Han! You need to pay close attention to him!'

'That's right, nya!'

'Please do it for us, nya!'

Choi Han recalled the request of the children averaging nine-years-old as he stood next to Cale.

Cale had no idea about Choi Han's actions as he knelt down and looked at Olivia.

"…Purifier..."

Cale peeked at Mary after hearing Olivia call him by that title. Mary gently blinked as if to tell him that she was the one to tell her. Cale looked back at Olivia.

'Mm.'

He debated what to do before answering honestly.

"Purifier is indeed one of my names."

Olivia's eyes opened even wider.

Cale didn't know why she was even more shocked now but continued to speak honestly to share his intentions.

"I came to stop the erosion of this world."

"…To save this world...?"

Cale thought about the words Imperial Princess Olivia barely managed to mutter before nodding his head.

'Taking care of the Hunters should stop the erosion of this world to a degree. In that sense, it is true that I came to save it.'

Cale calmly nodded his head.

"I guess you can see it that way."

He looked away from Olivia.

Olivia continued to look at him as if she had received a great shock but Cale didn't pay any attention as he addressed his friends.

It was a fight against time from here on.

"It looks like we will need to get rid of that monster from earlier."

Eruhaben started to speak.

"Will we head back to the castle first?"

"Yes, Eruhaben-nim. That should be first."

Cale looked toward Precinct 9 and continued to speak.

"There were loud noises and light from this direction so Precinct 9 should have noticed something."

It would mean that Precinct 9 was useless as the western defense line of the Empire if they could not even notice that.

Cale thought that at least the Margrave seemed to have a decent level of abilities and passion.

"We will proceed at the same time. We will return to Precinct 9 to heal her Royal Highness, and…"

In addition to that…

"We will meet the Margrave."

They would meet the Margrave to draw him in and then immediately after that…

"We will then immediately go take care of the monster."

His voice was so calm that it almost felt indifferent.

He sounded as if he was out on a walk.

The cheapskate spoke to Cale.

– Yes, Cale. Let's quickly get rid of it. I can tell after fighting against it. That thing is dangerous. That bastard is something that kills living beings and corrodes the land to create dead mana.

However, his friends did not trust Cale's relaxed tone.

They could guess how he was feeling based on the fact that the red thunderbolts were still crackling around him.

—
Translator's Comments

Olivia sure is a sharp cookie.

***

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]