Chapter 42: The First Law of the Hunt (5)

Bishop Durst also bowed deeply and shouted.

"I greet the legend!"

He then added on.

"It is the greatest honor of my life to walk down this legendary path by your side!"

'What is up with these people?

Can they please stop doing this?

It makes me want to just go home.'

Cale had all sorts of thoughts but could not say any of them out loud.

Instead, he looked at the church members who had filled the secret residence and asked the Pope.

"Is it okay to come into the capital like this?"

The Pope smiled benignly and answered in a completely unrelated manner.

"The entirety of the church's battle troops is gathered outside the capital."

She then added on.

"All of them will enter the capital the moment you wish for them to do so, oh esteemed Purifier."

Red aura was fluctuating around the Pope's body.

She was showing her will to fight as well.

"We heard that you were starting a war against the House of Huayans today, oh esteemed Purifier."

According to the message they received from Marquis Helson's side, the Purifier and his people were going to launch the first attack on the House of Huayans while the patriarch was not there.

"That battle… The church is ready to join you at any moment."

The Huayans Estate was basically attached to the Imperial Palace.

Going there meant that they would have to face off against the troops of the Imperial Palace, so the Pop wanted to help the Purifier.

'No, it would not be helping him.'

Marquis Helson's side had sent the clip of the white desert.

They had also sent a clip of the red fire explosion that happened before that.

'We are too weak to be helping such a person.'

How strong could a church that was labeled as heretics be?

Of course, they were confident that their core battle troops were much stronger than most Empire's Knights Brigades.

'…Plus, the Purifier is not a god.'

The Pope clenched her eyes for a moment.

She could see the Purifier, who had not removed the brown magic dye from his hair.

'I received a divine revelation last night.'

The Fire of Purification had come to the Pope's dream to say the following.

'He is someone we cannot allow to get hurt.'

'If he gets hurt, the Super Rock, ah no, anyway, help him so that he does not push himself too much. You will find many benefits for yourself and for Xiaolen if you follow him on his path.'

The Pope did not know what a Super Rock was, but she understood everything else.

'No matter the existence, no matter who the bastards might be!'

Their god had told her.

'I must not allow this esteemed sir to get injured!'

That was why she needed to protect him.

The Pope's eyes sparkled.

Cale suddenly felt a mysterious leeriness from the Pope's gaze and got the chills.

He suddenly felt wary about the Pope's existence.

– Human, what is it?

Cale heard Raon's voice in his mind at that moment and realized that he did not have the time to delay.

He thought highly about the Pop's passion to go fight with him no matter what it took, but that was the reason he answered honestly.

"First of all, I am not going to fight right now."

"…Then?"

"Mm."

Cale contemplated it for a moment before motioning to the Pope. Once she got closer, Cale whispered in a quiet voice so that only she could hear.

"It will be swift and stealthy."

'Stealthy?'

The Pope paid close attention to the Purifier's words.

The Purifier was speaking more serious than ever before.

"We are going to hide our identities, go to the Estate, steal every expensive thing, destroy all important things, send the roof flying and destroy the pillars before we return. We are also going to take down all of the fences around the building as well."

"...."

"So…"

Cale calmly continued to speak.

"It is not a war."

Cale took a step away from the Pope and raised his voice again.

"Anyway, only we, and an extremely few members at that, will go. It will not even take a few hours. Instead, there is something I need you and the church to do, Pope-nim."

"...."

The Pope blanked out for a bit before snapping out of it after seeing Durst's gaze.

"Ah, yes sir. Oh esteemed Purifier, what is it that you need us to do?"

Cale pushed a video recording device toward her.

Choi Han looked at him as if to ask if it would be okay, but Cale pretended not to see that pitying gaze.

– Cale, will it be okay?

The Super Rock asked but he also pretended not to hear it.

'This is the best method right now.'

Yes, there was no guarantee that Xiaolen would change because the Empire and the House of Huayans went down.

Most of the influential forces were people who liked this dead mana polluted world.

'The Church and the Agents of Destruction.'

He would increase the strength of these two groups.

'Furthermore, I will make a new major force rise in the center of the Empire.'

If that happens, they will be able to fill the void left by the destruction of the House of Huayans and purifying the Xiaolen world would become easier.

Cale did his best not to look at the video recording device in the Pope's hand as he opened his mouth to speak.

"…Please watch this and spread the news."

The Pope wanted for what else Cale might say.

"Let people know that a power of purification exists. It is time to stop being a cult."

The Pope's eyes opened wide.

"The Agents of Destruction will contact you soon."

Cale now had a connection with the Agents of Destruction through Zero.

Cale had heard a shocking piece of news from that organization.

'The Agents of Destruction are mostly made up of people who had their territories destroyed.'

They were people who had nowhere to go because their country had become polluted.

Then there were the Elves of the Forest, the Dwarves living by the numerous mines, and even numerous tribes and Beast people living within nature.

'We have built a cooperative relationship for them and have kept in contact.'

Zero had built up these communicative networks while he was gone for ten years. Members of his network were all over Xiaolen.

And there were living creatures that managed to survive everywhere, including the polluted ground.

Many of them had gathered under the Agents of Destruction.

'We only have one goal.'

Cale recalled Zero's gaze.

'Destroy this dying land and start a new world.'

Zero's eyes had been very bright despite being bloodshot. No, they were sparkling.

'I saw the new land.'

He then snickered.

"Mm."

Cale wanted to close Zero's eyes for some reason. However, he chose to think simply.

'I won't ever have to see these people once we finish things here and leave.'

It was the same for this Xiaolen world as well.

That was why Cale had handed the video recording device over with his own hands.

Although he had been wearing a mask, it was still footage of his red thunderbolt exploding and causing the white desert.

"…I understand what you mean, sir."

A determined look was visible in the Pope's eyes.

Cale didn't want to look at her yes and turned his gaze only to make eye contact with Choi Han again. Choi Han was looking at Cale with an extremely concerned gaze.

Cale felt quite unsettled by that gaze as well but then he noticed Sui Khan poking his head out from behind Choi Han with a big smile on his face.

The oddly entertained gaze made Cale want to smack him on the head despite Sui Khan being his team leader.

"Let's start moving right away."

The Pope waved her hand once Cale said that.

The church members who had been gathered around the teleportation magic circle quickly scattered.

'The Pope really is good at doing things though.'

Cale raised his hand to give a simple greeting to the two approaching people as he and the others started to walk.

It was Shawn and Jezna, who had come with them to this world.

These two were going to join for this as well.

Cale heard On mumbling at that moment. He subconsciously flinched.

"…It seems like he thinks it will be okay because this is a different world, nya. But will that really be the case?"

Cale ignored On's words for the first time.

Well, he told himself to do that, but for some odd reason, On's words always became etched into a section of his mind.

"...."

Sui Khan was smiling while walking next to On.

He had a smile that made him look like an extremely young troublemaker.

Cale looked away from the team leader.

What he saw was anxious looks on Shawn and Jezna's faces. Shawn's pupils were shaking after looking at the thing in his hand before he looked at Cale.

"…You want us to wear this?"

Nod.

Cale's head moved up and down. Shawn looked around.

Sui Khan was smiling as if he found this to be entertaining. Choi Han seemed to have a look of resignation on his face as he put the clothes and the mask on.

They were the same as the ones in Shawn's hands.

"It's a good thing I kept these in the spatial dimension."

Cale put the mask on with a satisfied look on his face. Black mask and black clothes…

Oh, and the shirt was inside out.

"…This again...…"

Choi Han sighed and mumbled quietly but his hands were moving mechanically. Of course, he did flinch for a moment after seeing a slightly less shabby combination of five red stars and one white star, but he flipped it inside out as if it was nothing.

The back of the stars embroidered on the shirt showed up now, making it hard to tell what they were.

The way the red threads were mixed together made it give off a slightly ominous feeling.

"It looks like a heart, nya."

On mumbled while looking at the back of the embroidery on the shirt.

"That's a relief."

Wearing the clothes like this made Cale a bit proud that he easily recycled the 'Arm' uniforms.

– Human, are you proud about something? 'Why?'

He ignored Raon's curious young voice.

– Let's hurry up and go destroy!

Cale looked at Shawn and Jezna.

Jezna handed over a map with a stoic look on her face while Shawn started to speak.

"I have recorded all of the patrol paths."

The two of them had remained in the Empire's capital and recorded many things on the map. They had also kept an eye on the movements in the important buildings nearby and the nobles' estates.

"Aphei-nim."

Aphei, who was putting the black mask on with oddly flushed cheeks, looked at Cale after he called her name. Cale was concerned about the flushed cheeks, but he still started to speak.

"I will leave the inside of the residence to you, Aphei-nim."

Nod.

Aphei slightly nodded her head and added on.

"I know the location of the patriarch's secret safe."

Although they couldn't see Cale's face because of the mask, the group believed that Cale would have smiled brightly as soon as he heard that. Well, everybody but Shawn and Jezna that is.

"Then let's go."

Sui Khan stepped forward as soon as Cale said that. On and Hong followed behind him.

"We will guide you through the shortest path."

"Meeeeeow!"

"Meeow!"

* * *

At that moment, the Huayans patriarch who had arrived at the Lord's Castle in Precinct 9 was blankly looking at the paper in his hand as he started to speak.

"His Royal Highness the First Imperial Prince, the First Imperial Prince, and my granddaughter..."

Had they truly…

"They all died?"

[The First Imperial Prince and his helpers all dead]

[The Fourth Imperial Prince and his helpers all dead]

[Second Imperial Princess in critical condition, her helpers dead.]

[Heni Wishrop's two helpers, dead.]

[...]

"And you couldn't even find their bodies?"

His gaze headed toward Marquis Helson.

"Marquis, is this all true as well?"

Marquis Helson opened the curtains.

Chhh.

Beyond the wall… He could faintly see the clear sky beyond the black fog covering the polluted land around them.

Helson thought about the white desert that was visible there and opened his mouth to speak.

"Duke-nim. You will understand once you go there."

Drip.

A tear dripped down the Marquis' face. For the Marquis, who had plotted with the other Margraves and had been trying to stab the Huayans patriarch in the back, tears like these were easy to make when he thought about the process which created the white desert.

The Marquis became overfilled with emotions whenever he thought about that moment.

For the Marquis, who had always been on the front line of the west to protect it no matter what it took, could not help but cry while looking at it.

"…I am too lacking to even get an idea about what might have happened there."

Marquis Helson was honestly sharing his sentiments right now.

"I will escort you there, sir; we've been waiting for you to arrive, Duke-nim. I wanted to quickly go there with you and look at the area."

This was true as well.

He wanted to head to the white desert right away, clench that white sand, and dance around.

"…I understand."

The Huayans patriarch looked at Marquis Helson, who looked even more sincere now that he was quietly crying, with a suspicious gaze before looking out the window past his shoulder.

"Let's go there."

He started to think.

He thought that h might need to stay here longer than he expected in order to find the answer.

A black aura ominously crackled in the Huayans patriarch's eyes.

* * *

While that was going on…

Baaaaaaaaaang—!

"W, what is going on?!"

"Did something happen to the barrier?"

The people in the Huayans Estate looked up in shock.

They looked at the barrier surrounding the Estate.

"Huh?"

The sky was blue and the barrier was fine.

"What was that noise I just heard?"

The moment someone mumbled that…

Baaaaaang—!

There was a loud explosion and the ground rumbled.

"Below!"

The beautiful garden in front of the Huayans Estate moved up and down the moment people looked at the ground.

The large elegant fountain at the center of the garden…

Baaaaaang—!

Was destroyed.

People wearing black masks and black outfits appeared from there.

Then there were some more explosions.

Baaaaang! Baaaaang! Baaaaaang!

The garden was being destroyed.

– Human, should I send the roof of the building flying?

Before Cale could even respond to Raon's question… He could see Choi Han's sword move.

Slice.

Baaaaaaaaaang!

The fence surrounding the Huayans Estate was sliced horizontally.

It was the same for the main door.

Cale looked at Choi Han, who was looking at him as if to ask if he did a good job, before nodding his head.

And the others easily understood that signal.

Raon shouted at that moment.

– Time to destroy!

"Meeeeeow!"

"Meeow!"

The moment the Huayans patriarch was about to head to the white desert…

Cale had arrived at the Huayans Estate from beneath the surface and was destroying it.

—
Translator's Comments

Diglett I mean Cale used dig!

***

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]