Chapter 57: Fluttering Ashes (3)

The rose gold thunderbolt flashed and made the people looking at the platform see red.

The Huayans patriarch's white light flashed after that.

"Ugh!"

The Huayans patriarch let out a short groan.

However, he was not pushed back.

"Good, it wouldn't be fun if you were pushed back so easily."

Tap.

Cale gently landed on the platform. He asked in a light tone.

"But it hurts a bit, doesn't it?"

Crackle. Crack.

There were still currents crackling around the Huayans patriarch's hands. It looked as if he did not manage to nullify all of it.

'Something is weird.'

Cale was sneering at him but thought that it was weird.

'He should be able to easily block something like this.'

This was someone that even the ancient Dragon was uncertain about defeating.

Then he should be able to get rid of a thunderbolt of this strength easily.

But he ended up with some injuries?"

"Oh my."

Cale quietly clicked my tongue.

"You used your dead mana elsewhere."

The patriarch did not use his powers to block Cale's attack. Most of his strength was used elsewhere.

The thing that he would use his strength on…

Smile.

The patriarch started smiling.

He brushed back his messed up white hair as he spoke.

"Too late."

Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Someone's scream echoed in the air at that moment.

It sounded more like a shout than a scream.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

The Emperor's whole body was twisting.

His eyes became black.

It truly had happened suddenly. Within a few seconds, the Emperor followed up the shout with an order.

"…R, rise-"

However, that was all he managed to say.

"Ugh!"

Sui Khan's fist landed a strong punch on the Emperor's stomach.

"No choice."

Sui Khan had wanted to take the Emperor safely if possible, but that was no longer an option.

"Ugh. Ooo..."

Sui Khan once again punched the groaning Emperor who looked as if he was going to say something and made him faint.

"Gasp."

The Emperor gasped for breath as he fainted.

Sui Khan then confirmed it. He made sure that the Emperor had fainted.

Sui Khan had knocked the Emperor unconscious as soon as he grabbed him and flew up. However, he had still woken up.

The Huayans patriarch must have done something.

'…They said that the Emperor would die if his whole body turns black, right?'

The Emperor's eyes had turned black the moment he shouted. And now his body was dyed black up to his neck.

It had not taken very long.

It had all happened in a few seconds.

"…This is not good."

His body was continuing to turn black despite being unconscious.

It was slower than when he was awake but the Emperor's whole body would eventually turn black.

"Mm."

Sui Khan got chills on the back of his neck at that moment.

His instincts were telling him something.

"Something is headed this way."

Boooooooom-!

There was a loud explosion, and…

"Oh my."

Baaaaaaaaaaang—!

The plaza fountain exploded with a loud noise.

Something then shot up from there.

"It's a snake."

It was no ordinary snake.

The large snake's head alone was a couple meters long.

Its body was black.

That snake was covered in bones instead of scales.

Baaaaaang—!

The snake continued to shoot up from the ground.

"W, what is that?"

"Gasp."

The chaos among the people in the plaza amplified with the sudden appearance of a large monster.

It could not be helped.

The snake had two large fangs.

Chhhh. Chhhh.

And everything that touched the black liquids that dripped from those fangs melted away.

"I, is that perhaps the Emperor's power...?!"

One of the candidates shouted the thing that many people were thinking.

"We need to evacuate the people."

Second Imperial Princess Olivia grabbed the Fire of Purification's Pope's arm and commented.

"It comes before hunting the Hunters."

Olivia continued to speak after making eye contact with Zero in the distance.

"That monster doesn't look like it will stop because the Emperor fainted!"

She felt as if that would be the case.

And she was correct.

"Looks like I'll need to clean up a bit first."

The moment the Huayans patriarch fixed his sleeves and calmly commented… The snake moved according to his will.

"Screeeeeeeeeech-!"

The black skeleton snake started to move as it screeched.

However, it was different from moving in a direction.

The snake just moved.

It looked as if it wanted to destroy everything in the plaza.

The large snake moved as if the only thing on its mind was the mission to destroy anything and everything in its way.

"Run!"

"Shit, how long is that thing?!"

The snake never seemed to end as more of its body came up from underground. It looked over 20 meters long.

"It's even larger than the Dragon!"

The plaza had turned into pandemonium as someone shouted.

Nobody dared to move despite all of the chaos until moments ago, but…

Everybody was trying to run away from here now.

That brought more chaos to the area.

"Don't push me!"

"Ugh! Move! I said move!"

Chhhhhhhhh-

The poison dripping from the snake's fangs melted away the path that it traveled.

"It's getting faster!"

The snake's movements were slow at first. However, it quickly started speeding up.

There was someone who was moving slowly even during all of this.

"Who are you?"

Reddock Huayans calmly asked.

The person standing across from him, this so-called Purifier, started speaking.

"Wow. You put up such a great act until now. Is it really okay to openly try to kill everybody like this?"

The Huayans patriarch shrugged his shoulders.

"I might as well change my plans accordingly as things have ended up like this. But you seem quite relaxed. Is it because you trust your friends? Although your team's necromancer is skilled, she is not skilled enough to defeat that thing."

The patriarch heard a brusque response back.

"What kind of nonsense are you spewing?"

Cale opened his mouth to speak.

"Take the Emperor to the Imperial Palace. And tell them to do as they please."

– I understand, human!

Cale felt Raon flying away as he spoke to the Huayans patriarch.

"I just need to deal with you."

"…What?"

Cale didn't care about the patriarch's confusion as he walked toward him and opened up his hands.

Crackle. Crackle.

Rose gold thunderbolts roamed around him and caused a gust of wind.

"...!"

The patriarch could see something behind the mixed current and wind.

Numerous black bones shot up into the air.

Black bones. Black bones, bones that were fortified with dead mana, were extremely difficult to handle.

Furthermore, there needed to be a necromancer skilled enough to handle that much dead mana.

A dragon was being created.

It was easily over 20 meters long.

And somebody stepped on top of that black dragon.

"Mm!"

The Huayans patriarch noticed Cale charging toward him.

Cale continued to speak with a smile on his face.

"The two of their combination is quite strong. They can pretty much defeat anything."

Mary who was controlling the black dragon and Choi Han standing on top with his sword in his hand…

Most of Cale's group was used to fighting on their own. However, this pairing was one of the ones who had worked together the most and were, as a result, quite strong.

Furthermore, Mary and Choi Han had sparred against each other quite a bit as well, making their understanding of each other's powers quite deep.

Their understanding of each other basically matched On, Hong, and Raon's understanding of each other but this pairing's destructive power was beyond compare.

– Hey Choi Han, Mary! The human said to do as you please.

Choi Han looked down at the black bones of the black dragon he was standing on as he spoke.

"Then, let's take care of that snake. Let's also capture all of the Hunters."

Choi Han calmly faced the black snake.

"It is weak compared to the unranked monsters."

This was his honest assessment.

Choi Han saw it at that moment.

Almost as if it was a signal to get started…

Baaaaaaaaaang—!!

Rose gold light crashed against white light to create a burst of light.

Choi Han and Mary started to move.

As for the people in the plaza, they could not look directly as the white light and rose gold light burst in front of them.

The way the lights flashed as they clashed and changed form as if to wrap around each other was both beautiful and scary.

"Who are you?"

Rose gold thunderbolts crackled around Cale.

Crackle. Crackle.

Cale's baggy priest robe fluttered.

The area around him became dyed rose gold.

"You have no intention of responding? Why are you saying that I messed with your hyung and your hyung's house?"

Oooooo– oooooo–

Reddock Huayans… The air around him rumbled and an intangible power was gathering.

It was most likely dead mana.

The moment white light gathered in both of Reddock's hands…

"And you want to go against me for such a stupid reason?"

Cale lightly snapped his fingers the moment the Huayans patriarch spoke.

Snap!

A rose gold thunderbolt charged toward the Huayans patriarch.

It flew toward the patriarch who was asking Cale what he did not understand. Cale responded back.

"Stupid reason?"

The Super Rock cautiously commented.

– Cale, don't get angry.

The Super Rock was reading the emotions slowly fluctuating behind Cale's eyes.

The Super Rock was nervous after realizing that Cale was truly angry right now.

Cale quietly mumbled to himself.

"I really can't understand this."

'If they left us alone, I would just quietly live a slacker life.

Why won't they leave us alone?'

However, he could not sit back and do nothing while they messed with him or his people.

The destroyed Royal Palace, the burning fire… The people who died…

Cale clearly remembered all of it.

Cale did not think he was that good of a person, but looking past good and evil, who would be able to sit still when the place they consider their home, the place they plan on living in from now on, was being attacked?

Baaaaang! Bang! Baaaaang!

Loud explosions could be heard as the rose gold light and white light clashed.

The lights crumbling as they clashed were so blinding that people could not see what was happening inside.

"Hey, Hunter."

Actually, only the white light was crumbling.

The rose gold light continued to swallow the white light.

Cale asked from within the crumbling light.

"You know about Roan, right?"

The Huayans patriarch's eyes clouded over.

"Ha, you're from there?"

The patriarch made a large motion with his hand.

A large amount of white light made the shape of a crescent moon as it split the area in between Cale and the patriarch.

Pop-!

It sounded like a balloon bursting as the white crescent moon burst and created a gust of wind that pushed both Cale and the patriarch back.

The Huayans patriarch shook his tingling hands as he spoke.

"That is where the test subject died. Does that mean that you are the person who killed the test subject? Pfft."

He brushed back his messed up white hair.

"Cale Henituse. I think that was your name."

The person who killed the test subject.

Cale could tell that the test subject was referring to the White Star. That was who Cale had faced in Roan.

Cale spoke as if he was amazed.

"Oh. Even a patriarch knows of my name?"

"I am aware of it."

The patriarch nodded his head.

"I am also aware of the extent of your powers."

Reddock started smiling.

'They said that he uses a few powers of nature. He supposedly has a fire he used against dead mana, right?'

There was more information about Cale than expected.

Of course, he had only read about it and had never seen it in person, which was why he didn't immediately think of Cale after seeing the rose gold thunderbolt.

'Pfft.'

However, it would not be a problem now that he was aware.

'A fire power of that level…'

If it was just enough to go up against the White Star…

If the fire power was strong enough to do that…

The amount of power Cale was showing right now made sense.

'However, it is unable to reach my level.'

Reddock Huayans made a judgment about Cale's strength and that gave him some breathing room.

'The white sand desert. That is the limit of this bastard's powers.'

He was able to assess Cale's level now that he knew his identity.

"The person who saved the world."

The Huayans patriarch looked at Cale as if he was happy to see him.

'Hmm?'

As Cale scowled in response… The Huayans patriarch continued to speak.

"Good. Very good."

The Huayans patriarch's demeanor suddenly changed.

"Although the value of karma you have is not at the level of a world… It should be beyond that of a human."

He closed his eyes and then opened them again.

It was as if he was enjoying something.

"I wasn't using my powers properly because all of the lives here were precious sacrifices I couldn't waste. However, the situation has now changed."

The Huayans patriarch smiled. He truly seemed excited. He truly seemed happy.

"It, it should work if I capture you and commence the ritual."

Oooooong– oooooo–

Reddock Huayans… The aura he channeled made the ground move up and down.

Crack, crack.

Cracks appeared on the platform and the terrain around it started to crack as well.

It was as if the density of the air was changing. The air changed so much that most people would feel as if they were suffocating.

"You didn't think that the puny amount of strength you saw was all I had, did you?"

The Huayans patriarch reached his hand out from the center of it.

White light gathered around his hand.

It looked like a thunderbolt…

Or maybe a spear.

He looked like the strongest gods in mythologies or the heroes of lore.

The white light looked so blinding and holy.

"Haha-"

Cale laughed as he watched.

He then looked at the Huayans patriarch as he spoke.

"Of course not. I hope you didn't think that the puny amount of strength you saw was all I had either."

Cale slowly unsealed the power of the Fire of Destruction.

A rose gold fiery thunderbolt shot up from his body.

It was beautiful.

It also looked holy. However, it was full of a violent force that looked as if it would destroy anything and everything.

The red current that shot up from him looked just as strong as the Huayans patriarch's white light.

– Cale, I'm going to go past fifty percent?

Of course, Cale was only using about half of his strength right now.

– Keke. Let's rough him up! We will totally overwhelm him! Is there a need to always fight until you bleed? We will just easily squash him this time! Kahahaha!

Cale channeled even more of his power as he listened to the Fire of Destruction's crazed voice.

"Are you an idiot?"

He walked toward the white light.

"What?"

Cale sounded frustrated as he responded to the scowling Huayans patriarch.

"You are too far in the losing end in compatibility."

This holy looking white light…

It was turning instantly into ashes the moment it touched Cale's rose gold light.

"It doesn't work against me no matter how much dead mana you use. You can't understand that?"

Cale shook his head as if he was frustrated.

– I'm going to use sixty percent?

The Fire of Destruction cautiously asked and the rose gold light became stronger than the white light.

—
Translator's Comments

Cale so OP right now.

***

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]