Chapter 50: Hide and seek (5)

However, Cale's group was not walking that quickly.

Cale started to speak.

"Why are you so slow?"

"...."

The Blood Cultist was walking extremely slowly.

It was at that moment.

Push.

"...!"

The end of the scabbard in Choi Han's hand pushed against the Blood Cultist's back.

The black Dragon with dark blue eyes whispered next to the Blood Cultist at the same time.

"Hey Blood Cultist! I don't know what the Blood Cult is, but…"

"Crazies." (TL: The author uses the word for cult here, but cult doesn't work well because it is already the Blood cult so crazies it is.)

"Aha! Our human says that you are crazy people! Then, hey crazy Blood Cultist!"

The black Dragon spoke energetically with a bright smile on his face.

"The Emperor won't come even if you walk slowly!"

Smile.

The black Dragon smiled and the Blood Cultist flinched because the smile was almost identical to the Purifier's.

Cale didn't care and spoke in a lighthearted and calm voice.

"If the Emperor happens to show up, we will just destroy the whole thing, destroy the Imperial Palace and run away."

The Blood Cultist did not say anything.

However, his heart was beating wildly.

'That's exactly what I want!'

That was truly what the Blood Cultist wanted.

'It is none of my business what happens to the Black Bloods or this Imperial Palace!'

He was only worried about his one true god, the Blood Demon.

However, he stopped walking and turned around after hearing what Cale said next.

"After causing all of that chaos, I will definitely keep you alive and take you with me. To the Central Plains. Then I will meet the Blood Demon and say the following."

The green eyes that were visible through the mask were smiling.

Those smiling green eyes looked at the Blood Cultist.

"I will tell him that I was able to create such a mess thanks to everything you told me. I will tell him that is the reason I was able to come see him and that I will turn the Blood Cult into the same kind of mess."

"...!"

"And that it was all thanks to you."

"..."

"Oh right, I also have to tell him something else. I need to tell him that you decided to become a priest of the Church of the Fire of Purification. I'll say that you said that the Blood Cult was trash."

"...!"

"Ah, that is going to be so much fun. Don't you think so?"

The silent Blood Cultist started speaking.

"You good faction-like son of a bitch."

"Oh. Thanks for the compliment."

Cale smiled and then added on.

"But if you help us get through this tomb, I will at least go to the Central Plains and say that you did not betray the cult until the end. I will also tell them how sincere you were about the Blood Cult."

His voice had a jovial tone to it but his eyes were serious. The Blood Cultist could sense the sincerity despite this being his enemy.

The Blood Cultist turned around and opened his mouth to speak.

"…Follow me."

His voice was solemn and sorrowful.

– Human, I can't understand that crazy Blood Cultist!

Raon shared his thoughts into Cale's mind.

– Is it that important to be told that he was sincere about the Blood Cult? I cannot understand it! Actually, I don't want to understand it either!

Cale slightly nodded his head.

'What good would it do to understand the thoughts of those Blood Cult bastards?'

He had this feeling every so often that Raon tended to not waste time with useless things. It was instinctual for him.

'Anyway.'

Cale's eyes sparkled while looking at the Blood Cultist who was now walking quickly.

'This bastard seems like he would be quite useful in many ways.'

This bastard basically had blind loyalty and faith toward the Blood Cult.

That made it easy to handle him.

'…I need to definitely take him to the Central Plains.

But I'll take him to the Roan Kingdom first.'

The Blood Cultist would probably faint if he found out what Cale was thinking, but Cale had made up his mind to take this Blood Cultist with him.

'I'll need to ask him to guide me through the Blood Cult as well.'

It would be a threat disguised as a request, but either way, Cale didn't want to let go of this Blood Cultist who was surprisingly easy to talk to.

That was why he asked while looking at the Blood Cultist who was walking in front of them and approaching a wall.

"Hey, what is your name?"

"...."

"Does the Blood Cult not even give you a name?"

Click. Click.

The Blood Cultist reached out and touched the wall and the flat wall pushed in before some kind of mechanism appeared. The Blood Cultist touched that mechanism in a couple spots.

Paat!

It made light enter the large but dark hallway.

"…There are a total of five trap areas following this path. The first area has been disarmed."

The Blood Cultist stoically commented and Cale raised his hands.

Clap, clap, clap.

He clapped.

"Wow, you're doing great! So good!"

"...."

"But what is your name?"

Cale looked at the silently walking Blood Cultist and recalled the wuxia novels he had read as Kim Rok Soo. He suddenly thought of something.

"Hmm. Usually the Demon Cult and Blood Cult use this kind of method."

Some of the wuxia novels had settings where people in the Demon Cult or Blood Cult who did stealthy things did not have names.

It was quite frequent and there was a system that was used instead of names.

"What number are you?"

Flinch.

The Blood Cultist flinched and Cale sighed.

"You should be quite skilled in the organization so should be in the top 10. Are you about number 5?"

"...."

"Number 7?"

Raon, who was inspecting the hallway ceiling and the disarmed traps next to the Blood Cultist, opened his mouth.

"Human! The Blood Cultist's pupils just shook!

"Oh. I guess you are Number 7."

The Blood Cultist frowned.

Cale didn't care and continued to speak.

"Let's hurry."

Swoooooooosh.

Whirlwinds were already swirling around Cale's ankles. A gust of wind followed Cale's hand and wrapped around the Blood Cultist's ankles as well.

Puuuuush.

Choi Han used his scabbard to push hard against the Blood Cultist's back.

'Shit! These motherfucking bastards!'

The Blood Cultist clenched his teeth but held himself back and increased his speed. Thanks to these whirlwinds the Purifier has created, his body moved quickly forward despite not using any martial arts.

He could still hear the Purifier grumbling behind him.

"Man, the Blood Cult in your world is so rotten. You should at least have a name." "That's right, human! A name is important! My name is an extremely great and mighty name!"

The black Dragon added on as well.

The Blood Cultist, Number 7, felt as if he was going to go crazy.

This must be what it meant for someone's inside to flip over.

'This motherfucking Purifier!'

The words he did not dare to say boiled inside of him.

'A bastard like this uses the power of a god?'

Number 7 had thought that it was a bit holy when he saw the Purifier use his power for the first time. It was a sight that gave him no other choice but to think that.

However, he couldn't help but clench his teeth the more he experienced it.

'Even in the Central Plains there is nobody who would act so shamelessly in front of the Blood Cult!'

People would either be scared, hostile, or bow down to the Blood Cult.

He had seen these three reactions before.

"Tsk tsk. The Blood Cult has no growth at all. Number 7, really? Someone like you with so much loyalty… That Blood Demon bastard should at least give you a name. Giving a name is not that hard."

He had never seen someone like this before.

However, Number 7 could not attack the Purifier and his motherfucking mouth despite the anger in his heart.

'Fuck! They're all so damn strong!'

The sword master, the black Dragon, and the Purifier…

All three of them were very strong.

And these three were not the only ones.

Number 7 thought that he was probably the person who knew the most about this group's strength in this world.

That was why he could make a decision.

'Let's just quickly take care of them all.'

This was the Black Bloods' world anyway.

He would just disarm all of the traps and then…

'I'll faint after that.

They'll probably knock me unconscious once I am no longer useful.

Right…

They should knock me unconscious, right?'

Number 7 had a mysterious ominous feeling. His steps quickened even more.

"Oh. Good. Great speed."

Number 7 ignored the Purifier's annoying voice and hurried. He moved without any hesitation.

He walked away from the wall and to a spot on the ground and struck down on the center.

Boom!

There was a short vibration and a mysterious force field appeared.

Number 7 moved his hand on top of it.

"The second area has been disarmed."

The third area was after that.

"The device to disarm is in the air."

Number 7 used a whirlwind that Cale put on him to easily shoot up in the air and modified some things in the ceiling.

It was a location that someone who was not aware would ever be able to find.

Click. Click.

"It is disarmed."

Clap, clap, clap.

"Good job, Number 7."

"Hey Number 7! Great job!"

Now the Purifier and the black Dragon were clapping together.

Number 7 just ignored them and pushed forward.

"…The fourth area is disarmed as well."

Clap, clap, clap.

Now Choi Han was clapping as well.

Number 7 scowled but Cale wasn't even looking at him.

He was thinking to himself while looking at the long hallway.

'There have been a total of ten doors until now.'

These doors were along the walls of the hallway, had no doorknobs, and were the same color as the wall.

First Imperial Prince Sanders had said the following.

'There were a total of 11 areas in there.'

'Each area had all sorts of things. The first room had treasures made of gold. The second room had jewels, the third room had weapons made of magic stones.'

The First Imperial Prince had explained the things in ten of the areas.

'And in the final eleventh room…'

The First Imperial Prince stopped for a moment there before continuing to speak.

'…Those things are in there.'

Cale recalled what Eruhaben, who was off doing something on his own right now, had said after meeting with the First Imperial Prince.

'The First Imperial Prince asked what this test was so I let him know it was Hide and Seek, and mm… He laughed.'

The First Imperial Prince had found this place while playing Hide and Seek with his younger brother, Fourth Imperial Prince Noi, in the Emperor's Palace.

Cale had been able to deduce the Emperor's thoughts about it. He also understood why the First Imperial Prince had laughed.

'The Emperor thinks that the First Imperial Prince is alive.'

At the same time…

'He is signaling to the First Imperial Prince to show himself and come to the public execution ground.'

That was what Cale thought the Emperor was thinking.

Cale stopped thinking and looked at Number 7 after seeing him do something.

"…This is as far as I go."

Number 7 saw the Purifier move his chin up and down as if asking him to explain himself.

'This arrogant little bastard!'

He was extremely angry but let it all out with one deep breath and started to speak. After taking some time to think about it, he realized that this Purifier was only decently crazy compared to the truly crazy high-level individuals, those extremely crazy bastards in the Blood Cult.

Number 7 spoke in a calm voice.

'There are no other devices until the end of area 5. However, do you see this invisible wall here?"

They were able to see the wall blocking the path because it was not completely transparent.

The area on the other side of the wall looked the same as this side in Cale's eyes. However, Number 7 explained the difference.

"Once you get past here, it is full of death ki, what you call dead mana."

"I guess they call dead mana death ki in the Central Plains?"

Death ki. The name meant that it was the aura of death.

"Yes. We call it death ki. Anyway, that is why there is nothing I can do for you here. It is extremely terrible death ki so even I cannot enter without protective equipm-"

"Simple."

Crack.

Cale led the way and walked through the invisible wall.

'It's dark.'

Unlike the natural darkness they had experienced until now, everything turned pitch black as soon as he walked into Area 5.

It was dead mana.

What he saw from outside the wall might have been an illusion as Area 5 had the most dead mana of any place Cale had visited since he came to this world.

– Cale.

The moment he heard the cheapskate's voice…

Crackle-

Rose gold light crackled around Cale and burned all of the dead mana in a set range.

Grey ashes fluttered around him.

"Raon."

Cale pointed to the purified area and called Raon who vigorously nodded his head.

"I got it, human!"

Ooooooooong-

There was a short fluctuation of mana and a black shield appeared following the purified area.

Push.

Choi Han poked Number 7's back and Number 7 sighed before walking into the black shield. Choi Han followed behind him as well.

"No problems now, right?"

Cale asked Number 7 in a calm voice and Number 7 started to lead the way again.

He could hear Cale mumbling behind him.

"Area 5 is the easiest one to pass."

'This motherfucking Purifier son of a bitch!'

Number 7 learned that you could ignore crazy bastards but it was impossible to ignore those bastards who annoyed you.

Stomp stomp. Number 7's steps quickened. He wanted to get away from these annoying bastards.

"Oh. I guess you want to walk out of the shield?"

Number 7 slowed down after hearing Cale's voice.

The area around them became purified following Cale's consistent speed of walking. However, Cale's eyes had coldly sunk down.

'The purified area is filling with dead mana again.'

Cale was currently only using a small amount of the Fire of Destruction.

It was probably about 0.1 percent strength.

It would be bad if he used a lot of power and this place crumbled or they caught the attention of people on the outside.

That might be the reason that the places he walked past filled with dead mana again.

'Dead mana is being supplied from somewhere.'

The black fog that was full of dead mana…

Cale looked toward the walls and ceiling of the hallway.

'As expected.'

He could faintly make out a hole. Dead mana was flowing out of that hole to fill the area with a set amount of dead mana.

'This dead mana is similar to the one that the black tree was releasing.'

Before the place turned into the white sand desert… The black tree tried to change dead mana and compact it to attack Cale as its final attack.

That aura and this aura were similar.

It meant that it was extremely deadly.

'…We have arrived.'

Cale looked forward after hearing Number 7's voice.

A door with a different doorknob than before appeared.

The door was large enough to fit about three adults side by side.

"Open it."

"...."

Number 7 hesitated for a moment after hearing Cale's order. Cale chuckled after seeing him hesitate after coming all the way here and stepped forward.

"Are there any traps that will activate when you open the door?"

"…I don't know."

Cale stared at Number 7 who sighed and shook his head.

"I really don't know. I've never been the one to open the door."

Number 7 could see the Purifier's eyes curl up. His calm voice reached his ears.

"Okay. It is already plenty that we made it here so easily and quickly."

After mumbling, the Purifier grabbed the doorknob.

"You don't know whether a trap will activate if you open the door. Well then it is simple."

Number 7 could see rose gold light roaming around the Purifier's hand that was holding the doorknob.

'Perhaps?'

Cale lightheartedly commented just as Number 7's eyes opened wide.

"Soundproof barrier magic."

"I got it, human!"

A magic stone in Raon's hand crumbled and Cale clenched the hand that was holding the doorknob.

Baaaaang!

There was a short explosion and the doorknob was swallowed by a rose gold current and instantly melted away.

"...."

Number 7 heard the Purifier's gentle voice just as he flinched at this guy's radical action.

"If you don't know, you will find out if you destroy it."

They will just destroy it and go in if they could not tell whether there were any traps planted.

"It is annoying and troublesome but we can just destroy them if there are any traps.

Number 7 clenched his eyes shut.

He wanted to faint.

However, he soon had the back of his collar grabbed by Choi Han. He heard the swordsman, who had been silent until now, say something in a low voice and got chills.

"…Those crazy bastards."

Choi Han's pupils were shaking.

Cale quietly looked forward.

In this large round area that stretched for dozens of meters…

There were countless coffins standing up vertically.

Those coffins had transparent glass lids and the insides were completely visible.

Cale mumbled in a low voice.

"They didn't only turn the candidates into jiangshis."

There were countless numbers of corpses in the unimaginably large number of coffins. No, there were so many existences that had their bodies stolen even after death here that it was impossible to count.

An underground tomb.

This was a large tomb just as the First Imperial Prince had described.

—
Translator's Comments

Holy moly

***

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]