Chapter 56: Fluttering Ashes (2)

A single strand of red light with a golden glow fell from the sky.

It took a bit of time for people to figure out that it was a thunderbolt.

That was how swiftly it moved.

However, the moment that the swift thunderbolt crashed into a dead mana arrow that was giving off a holy white light…

Pss-

Clunk.

The Emperor jumped up from his seat.

The white light was destroyed.

Silently.

And so easily that it was unbelievable.

That was the beginning.

The red thunderbolt with the golden glow was not satisfied with swallowing just one arrow.

The rose gold thunderbolt swallowed another arrow next to it.

And then next to that. Then next to that one as well.

"…A spider web."

It resembled the black spider webs drawn all over the bodies of those who had overcome dead mana.

The rose gold thunderbolt spread out like a spider web.

Extremely quickly.

So quickly that the white arrows could not escape.

The white arrows that filled the air as they fell toward the plaza and the capital were swallowed by something even quicker than them.

"Ah..."

One of the Agents of Destruction gasped as they watched.

The sky was red.

The red current that was glowing gold thoroughly spread out like a spider web and appeared in the sky.

'No.'

That was not a spider web.

The intertwined rose gold light looked like a fine cloth.

It was like a red cloth glowing gold around the blue sky.

Plop.

The Agent blinked after feeling something touch his eye.

He reached out his hand.

Plop. Plop.

White ashes fell on his palm.

The ashes fell from the red cloth.

Slowly.

They resembled first snow.

"U, unbelievable!"

He turned his head after hearing the sudden shout. The black mages were gasping in astonishment while looking at the white ashes.

They reached out to grasp the white ashes in disbelief.

"How, how could something like this-"

One of the black mages was shaking. His voice was trembling as if he saw something completely unbelievable. His pupils were shaking as well.

However, there was something other than despair in his voice.

"…He purified dead mana...!"

Black mages and knights of Dark Elf origins all around the area started to speak as well.

It was as if they could not bear to remain silent about what they were looking at right now.

"It disappeared. All of the dead mana disappeared!"

"How does this make any sense?! This, this can't be real!"

"…There is a power that can destroy dead mana?"

One of the black mages shouted while clutching onto some white ashes.

"It's harmless! This is harmless to the human body!"

"Then that means that the dead mana was purified...!"

The person who was saying that turned to look toward the platform.

The white-haired man.

He was quietly standing there.

However, a mysterious aura could be felt coming from him.

Although he could not see anything, a strange pressure that made it hard to approach the man was coming out of his body.

It was at that moment.

Boom. Boom. Boom!

The bishops who were being dangled by the skeleton monsters fell to the ground one by one.

They then moved to stand behind the Pope.

They clasped their hands together like the Pope as well.

Plop.

They then knelt down on the ground and bowed.

"We greet the esteemed Purifier!"

The people in the area finally recalled that the Pope had called this person the Purifier earlier.

"What the hell? What the hell is going on?"

"He purified dead mana? Are you saying that the priest over there is capable of getting rid of dead mana?"

"I think so? The black mages are a mess right now! My goodness, then, then-"

The citizens of the Empire could not hide their chaotic state.

This man whom the Church of the Fire of Purification, an organization they believed deserved instant execution, was showing extreme levels of respect toward…

The Church of the Fire of Purification was calling that man the Purifier. Anybody would think that he was somehow related to the Church of the Fire of Purification.

The people who were uncertain about what to do heard more voices at that moment.

"We greet the esteemed Purifier!"

Mercenary Zero…

"We greet the esteemed Purifier!"

Starting with Zero, the Agents of Destruction all bowed deeply.

"Huh? Huh?"

One of the candidates who was watching could only stupidly go 'huh' as he pointed at the Agents of Destruction.

"W, why is that person...?"

"That's the First Imperial Prince!"

Another of the candidates gasped in astonishment.

There were two people who had not removed the black burlap sacks over their faces until the end.

The Agents of Destruction next to the two of them slowly removed the burlap sacks.

First Imperial Prince Sanders.

And… Fourth Imperial Prince Noi.

The two of them had their hands and feet tied up unlike the others.

Sanders looked up at the sky.

There were not many ashes falling down from the rose gold covering anymore.

However, one thing was certain.

The Huayans patriarch's white magic…

Although it was most likely not the patriarch's full strength, the Purifier was strong enough to easily get rid of such a large-scale spell.

'Yes, I saw it myself.'

The white sand desert.

Sanders slowly moved as he thought about that.

Boom!

He then knelt down and bowed deeply.

"I greet the esteemed Purifier."

Fourth Imperial Prince Noi didn't bow as deeply as Sanders but did bow to show his respects. Of course, his eyes headed toward Olivia for a moment before they moved elsewhere.

'Royal Father.'

The Emperor.

Noi had a sad smile on his face once he saw the Emperor and started to speak.

"Oh esteemed Purifier, please, please purify this land!"

The citizens of the Empire could not understand this situation at all.

They realized that the situation was slowly moving in a completely different direction from what they had thought.

Everybody turned to look toward the platform.

The leader of the Empire…

They couldn't help but look at the Emperor.

However, the Emperor was looking at someone else.

He was staring at Cale with a piercing gaze.

"…Dead mana… Turned into ashes...?"

He was blankly looking at Cale and the white ashes fluttering down around him like snow.

His pupils were shaking in disbelief.

Because he was someone who had dead mana in his body…

Because he was the Emperor who could honestly proclaim that he knew more about dead mana than anybody else…

He had been able to tell that dead mana was being purified the moment the rose gold thunderbolt made the first arrow perish.

Boom.

His heart was beating wildly.

The power to purify dead mana…

If such a power existed, then maybe…

'I might be able to survive!'

The Emperor knew all too well that he was dying.

His body was breaking down as it was unable to stand the large amount of dead mana he had absorbed.

'If I can use that guy's power to detoxify the dead mana in my body...!'

The Emperor realized it at that moment.

'This white-haired priest is responsible for everything.'

The incident in Precinct 9…

The attacks on the capital…

This priest was at the center of all of the incidents.

Tap.

The Emperor took a step forward.

"Instructor-nim."

He looked at someone's back.

Reddock Huayans…

The Emperor looked at Reddock's large back and asked.

"…Instructor-nim, why?"

The patriarch, his instructor, who had gone to Precinct 9… He should have realized the white-haired priest's powers based on the evidence that was left behind.

However, he had simply told the Emperor that the black tree was destroyed and had not said anything else.

'Why didn't you tell me?'

However, he did not manage to say that out loud.

It was because he knew that what the Huayans patriarch wanted was his death.

He turned his gaze to look at his daughter.

Olivia.

She was looking at the Emperor.

Her eyes were telling him something. They were telling him that it was the Emperor who had made the wrong judgment.

'No.'

That was not possible.

"Ugh."

The Emperor clenched his chest. A sudden pain swept through his body. He was familiar with this pain.

His dying body frequently filled with pain lately.

"Your Majesty!"

The shocked Chief of Staff came over and urgently supported him.

However, the Emperor was looking only at Reddock Huayans' back.

"Instructor-nim-"

He heard Reddock's voice at that moment.

"Ha!"

The Huayans patriarch looked up at the sky and let out a short gasp-like laugh.

He then calmly started speaking.

"My dear student."

Reddock shared his will with the Emperor without even looking back.

"It looks like it won't work."

'What does that mean?'

The moment the Emperor was confused…

"The preparations are complete anyway. It looks like we will have to change our plans."

Reddock Huayans then said the following.

"Please become a sacrifice."

The Emperor turned his head to the side at that moment.

Puuk.

There was a blade stabbed into his side.

It was a small dagger. However, the blade was covered in a thick black liquid.

The Emperor could instantly tell that this black liquid was extremely concentrated dead mana.

The Emperor who was already dying from excessive absorption of dead mana…

More dead mana was digging into his body once again.

"…Chief of Staff?"

The Chief of Staff was the one who stabbed him.

The Chief of Staff was someone associated with the Emperor's mother. He was the child of an attendant who had been by the Emperor's mother's side since she was young.

"Ugh!"

A painful groan burst out of the Emperor's mouth.

Aaaaaaah-!

Huff!

Gasps could be heard all around them.

However, the Emperor could not hear them.

Smile.

The Chief of Staff smiled as he tightened his grip around the dagger. He twisted the dagger.

It passed the Emperor's side and headed toward his heart.

"Please become a sacrifice."

The Chief of Staff whispered.

"You already know it, your Majesty. You know what your final role is to be. Please become a sacrifice and destroy this world. For us Hunters."

The Chief of Staff moved the hand that was holding the dagger without any hesitation."

However, during that short instant…

"Cough, ugh!"

The Emperor twisted his body and his eyes opened wide.

The Chief of Staff started to smile.

"Even if you resist-"

The Chief of Staff heard Reddock Huayans' voice at that moment.

"Shit!"

His voice sounded as if things were going seriously wrong.

The moment the Chief of Staff felt that this was weird…

"Hey Chief of Staff… Are you a Hunter too?"

He heard a young voice.

The Chief of Staff turned his head.

Dark blue eyes…

Long vertical dark blue eyes were looking at him.

The existence with those eyes then smiled.

"I'm taking the Emperor."

"…T, those eyes-?"

Only the eyes had appeared in the air.

Had he ever seen such eyes before?

The Chief of Staff soon had his answer.

The underground tomb.

The dead Dragons in there…

The corpses of those Dragons had those same kinds of eyes.

"H, how is a Dragon-?"

However, he could not finish his sentence.

"Ugh!"

He suddenly felt as if he could not breathe.

He couldn't put any strength into the hand that was holding the dagger.

'…Poison...!'

Where had poison suddenly come from?

The Chief of Staff lowered his head.

There were white ashes on top of the platform as well.

However, the white ashes underneath his feet were a bit different.

'Smoke?'

White smoke was roaming around his feet along with the white ashes.

"Ugh!"

The Chief of Staff looked toward Reddock Huayans.

Ooooooooong-

White steam appeared around the patriarch.

It was white dead mana.

A strong aura gathered around him and the patriarch immediately tried to move toward the Chief of Staff, no, the Emperor who was a sacrifice he needed to make sure to kill.

Crack. Crackle.

However, he could not move.

The moment he turned around toward the Emperor…

He felt a strong aura behind his back.

"...!"

Reddock Huayans' pupils started shaking violently.

The Chief of Staff had never seen the patriarch looking so shocked before.

However, the Chief of Staff could understand what the patriarch was probably feeling right now.

The Chief of Staff's body was turning stiff from paralyzing poison.

His eyes were not even looking at the patriarch's white dead mana.

Fire.

No, a thunderbolt.

This man they called the Purifier…

A large fire, no, a large thunderbolt was shooting out of the man's body.

That aura was extremely violent.

However, it just wrapped around the Purifier's body and crackled.

It even looked beautiful.

"Ugh!"

Boom.

The Chief of Staff's body fell off the platform."

"E, ugh, Emperor-!"

He reached his hand toward the Emperor but the Emperor was already out of his reach.

"Hmm."

A young boy who was wearing a completely black outfit including a mask… Sui Khan groaned before picking the Emperor up and flying into the sky.

Flap.

The two black wings that appeared on his back took him up into the air.

"...!"

The Huayans patriarch looked at the Emperor for a moment but he soon had to look forward again.

"Where are you looking?"

The Purifier took a step forward.

"I was trying to do things peacefully and amicably, but…

Pfft."

Cale let out a short chuckle before walking toward Reddock Huayans as he spoke to Choi Han, the Pope, Mary, and the others.

"Capture all of the Hunters."

At that moment…

Tap.

Cale stomped his foot.

Swoooooooosh.

The moment whirlwinds gathered around his ankles…

"!"

Cal instantly arrived in front of the patriarch's face.

He looked toward the Patriarch as he spoke.

There was something he really wanted to say to the patriarch.

"Why are you Hunters destroying my hyung-nim's house?"

'Why did you destroy the Roan Palace?

Hmm?

And why did you mess with the king?'

"Why do you keep messing with our neighborhood, hmm?"

A fiery thunderbolt that left Cale's hand attacked the Huayans patriarch.

He then started to smile.

"That's why I came here."

Baaaaaaaaaang-!

A loud explosion filled the plaza.

—
Translator's Comments

Boom boom!

***

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]