Chapter 196 – There’s a Dragon? (1)
The clouds of war covered the Henituse territory.
The Western continent was quiet on the outside ever since the Roan Kingdom's proclamation. However, that was just the calm before the storm.
Rain City, the location of the Henituse Castle.
The shoulders of all of the citizens inside the city were curled up in fear.
The citizens who were walking alone or in groups of three or four all had odd expressions on their faces. Fear, worry, and even some other emotion were all visible on their faces.
One of the citizens who had been walking with a friend pulled his jacket tighter because of the cold weather as he slowly looked around.
He could see the newly fortified castle wall. It was a tall and thick wall.
He could also see soldiers and knights walking around on top of the wall.
The citizen's gaze then headed up to the sky.
"…Someone with such a weak body is doing so much."
His friend stopped walking and looked up at the sky as well after hearing him speak.
The tall castle wall surrounded the entire Rain City. However, even that wall could not reach the sky.
The citizens could see the cloudy gray winter sky.
'Wyverns are going to invade through the sky?'
They couldn't help but feel fear.
However, there was a silver light that caught their attention even more than the cloudy sky.
Rain City. This city could be considered to be small in size. A faint silver shield was currently surrounding the city. The other emotion that was visible on the faces of the citizens along with the fear and worry was relief.
"…Didn't they say that he coughs up blood whenever he uses the shield?"
"That is the case."
His friend answered back with a calm expression. The citizen fixed his gaze up at the sky and started to speak.
"It's already been three days."
The Roan Kingdom's northern territories became the most dangerous locations after crown prince Alberu showed the video of the wyverns and claimed that the Roan Kingdom would not lose.
The northeast region was the region with the highest risk of attack.
The enemy kingdom of Norland. The Henituse territory in the northeast region was the closest territory to Norland that was across the Forest of Darkness.
That was why the citizens could not help but be in a state of chaos.
However, Rain City had been covered by a silver light starting from the night of the proclamation.
They had no idea when the war would begin.
The silver shield had not lost its light for even a moment during these past three days.
"Won't he faint if he uses such a large shield? Why doesn't he just activate it when those northern bastards come?"
His friend shook his head and responded back.
"Can't you tell? He doesn't want to see us or the territory getting hurt at all."
He could not say anything to his friend's response.
Looking up at the sky told him that this was true. Even the tall castle walls could not stop the wyverns. There were also only a few mages in the Roan Kingdom who could attack something in the sky.
That was why the weak young master Cale was overusing his ancient power.
The citizen's heart was running wild. At that moment, one of his other friends casually added on.
"I thought he was trash."
The citizen could not help but shout toward his friend.
"Bad! How could you!"
A third friend added on.
"I looked into it, and they said that he was someone who threw bottles at gangsters! How is that being trash?"
"Didn't he also break stuff? I heard he even broke down some store doors."
"Ahem, well."
He could not retort his friend's statement.
To be honest, young master Cale really was trash. You could not erase or change your past. However, it was not enough to look down on his current sacrifice.
"He must have come to his senses. He is our young master-nim now."
"You are right. Our Lord-nim is a good person, so his son the young master-nim must have learned something from him as well."
The citizen nodded to agree with his friend as he looked at the notices placed around Rain City. He was one of the few people who knew how to read.
This was the message on the notices.
< The Henituse Castle will be providing the citizens with food until the territory returns to peace. >
The Henituse Estate had opened its warehouse doors.
The amount of food they had stored was plentiful enough to give such a proclamation without having a certain end date.
The citizen looked toward the castle gate.
There were crowds of citizens who had come after hearing about the silver shield. This was the case even though the Wyvern Knights Brigade would definitely focus their attacks on Rain City and not the rural villages.
They still chose to gather together underneath the lord of the territory.
Furthermore, there were many wheelbarrows filled with food from the Henituse warehouse heading toward different spots in the territory. There were also farming tools in some of the wheelbarrows.
'We need to start farming in the spring.'
The words Count Deruth had said while handing some farming tools to the citizens were spreading like wildfire.
Those words symbolized a message in the minds of the citizens.
After the war.
During the springtime that would come after this late winter.
They would be able to return to their lives at that moment.
The citizen looked back up at the sky.
"I heard that he was working hard even though he is in pain."
'I pray that he is doing well.'
Cale Henituse.
The man who was currently the Military Commander of the northeast region was said to be struggling but continuing to keep up the shield.
And this rumor had spread past the Henituse territory and the northeast region to the rest of the Roan Kingdom.
* * *
Of course.
"So annoying."
Cale Henituse had spread this rumor himself.
Cale was currently using his bedroom in the castle as his office.
He leaned back on a comfortable couch and started to speak.
"Young master Eric Wheelsman should be doing well, right?"
"I'm sure he is."
Cale looked toward the smiling Ron and couldn't help but think that he was a scary old man. As for himself, he was a bad person.
He had the military command and yet he only gave orders.
Once he did so, young master Eric and the Ubarr liege followed his orders to create detailed guidelines to send to the territories.
Furthermore, Ron was the first check for those guidelines, while crown prince Alberu was the second.
Ron had once been the head of one of the top five assassin households in the Eastern continent. He was more experienced in military knowledge than Cale. Furthermore, crown prince Alberu was focusing everything on the northeast region, which had the highest chances of being invaded first.
'It really is nice when other people do things for you.'
Cale was currently relaxed.
Ron's smile became cold as soon as Cale's gaze moved away from him. His gaze was focused on Cale, who seemed to be drowning in documents as he thoroughly read through the guidelines and properly gave orders that matched the big picture.
He could see Cale's pale expression.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
It had been three days. Raon was hitting the floor with his tail from the corner of the room. On and Hong were doing the same thing. The Black Dragon was currently full of complaints.
"…You stupidly good human!"
"He's right. You're stupid."
"…It's frustrating."
On and Hong chimed in as well while Raon continued to stare at Cale's back.
Raon had said that he would step up to destroy the enemies.
However, this was Cale's response.
'No. You could be in danger if you show yourself.'
Cale had sounded very stern.
Raon had responded back to that.
'Who and what would put a great and mighty Dragon in danger?'
However, Cale had no plans on revealing Raon when he still did not know much about the crown that drank Dragon blood. He had not had any time to meet the ancient Dragon Eruhaben.
Furthermore, he needed to create heroes this time.
That would give those people a way to live a peaceful life.
That would also help the Roan Kingdom become stronger.
Dark Elf.
Necromancer.
The Tiger tribe.
And the Henituse territory.
Those were the names of the heroes Cale was planning on creating.
He wanted to shake the hearts of the kingdom and the continent. An emotional story was necessary in order to do such a thing.
Cale quickly looked through the final document before leaning back on the couch.
The Indestructible Shield had definitely gotten stronger than before.
Maybe it was because it did not need to block anything right now, but just keeping it up like this was not that hard.
Of course, this was all thanks to the Vitality of the Heart. He was fine even without getting much sleep these days. Just one or two hours was enough to feel refreshed.
Cale looked out the window with a satisfied expression. He could see the cloudy sky and the faint shield.
It was at that moment.
"Cale-nim, isn't it tiring?"
It was Choi Han.
Cale turned his gaze to the side.
'Why doesn't this punk ever age?'
He questioned how Choi Han still looked like a high school student, but decided that it was annoying to think about and brushed it aside as he answered Choi Han's question.
"It is not that hard. I am currently writing a new history of the kingdom."
'Yes, yes indeed.'
The original novel had been completely changed. That was why it was a new history.
Usually, doing such a thing would be cumbersome.
Although it was cumbersome, it wasn't that hard on his body.
Cale looked back out the window.
Choi Han started to frown while looking at Cale, who was leaning on the couch with a pale expression and looking out the window.
'How could a person be like this?'
Choi Han could not understand. He touched his scabbard as he started to think. A new history. Choi Han focused on those words.
Cale did not care as he casually lifted up the warm cup of tea that Ron brought over for him.
'Hmm?'
It was a sweet tea that he actually liked. Cale peeked toward Ron, who had his usually benign smile. Cale started to think.
'I guess the old man is tired as well. He forgot to bring me bitter tea.'
Cale looked toward Ron with concern before turning his gaze away and drinking the tea. He took a large gulp since it was sweet.
"Pffff-!"
He then spat it all out.
The Black Dragon stomped one of his short paws and flew up into the air.
A black spot could be seen in the distance.
And soon enough.
Baaaaang!
The sky roared.
Cale stood up while wiping away the tea from his face.
The black dot almost instantaneously flew over and crashed into the sky.
It was the wyverns.
One, two. More black dots started to fly over to them.
Boom, boom!
The sky was becoming filled with these noises.
Wiiiiiiiiing- Wiiiiiiing-
An emergency alarm went out throughout Rain City.
The enemy was here.
This casual afternoon would be the start of the war.
"Everybody, calm down! Move according to the guide knight's instructions!"
The knight shouted out loud as he directed the scared citizens to safety. The soldiers helped the citizens move to safety, just as they had practiced in advance.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
All of the houses throughout the city closed their doors. They were expecting to hear the citizens locking their doors. However, no sound of doors being locked could be heard.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The armored knights and equipped soldiers moved from the castle walls and throughout the city.
However, none of this could be heard as well.
Boom- boom!
The noise of the wyverns ramming into the shield was too loud to hear anything else.
Rooooooooooar!
The roars of the wyverns were the only other thing that could be heard in Rain City. The citizens of the city all had pale expressions.
This was the first time they had personally seen a wyvern.
Even the smallest one was at least 5 meters long. The knight on top who was controlling the large monster looked like a small dot.
However, the knights who were wearing armor as white as snow seemed experienced in controlling these violent wyverns, making the soldiers and knights all gulp.
Click. Click.
The citizens started to peek out their windows.
Will the shield break?
Does that mean we will all die?
They were looking toward the castle walls with fear.
It was at that moment.
"…It is the young master-nim!"
One of the citizens who was looking out the window subconsciously shouted.
Cale had appeared on the castle wall.
A bright silver light was coming out of both of his hands. Cale walked over to the center of the castle wall and reached his hands up to the sky.
The knights and soldiers were watching him from the closest distance.
This was their first ever war.
A loud and firm voice soon reached their ears.
"The shield will not break!"
It was an armored Count Deruth.
The usually mellow and average looking Count's face was scary looking today.
"Everybody focus!"
The pounding on the shield and the wyverns' roars were not as loud as the Count's voice.
Cale listened to Count Deruth's voice and started to smile.
'He is surprisingly talented.'
It was the moment that he was evaluating his father's abilities.
Baaaaang-!
A noise that was louder than before echoed inside the shield.
Cale started to frown.
15 meters.
An extremely large wyvern looked down at Cale who was inside the shield and opened its mouth.
It was impossible for normal wyverns to be 15 meters long.
This white wyvern seemed to be a mutant.
Cale started to speak.
"You're here."
He knew this person would come.
He was waiting for this person on top of the white wyvern. The Paerun Kingdom's Guardian Knight.
The white-haired Clopeh Sekka.
He pulled the wyvern back and looked down toward Cale.
The two of them made eye contact.
Clopeh Sekka looked down at Cale and started to speak.
"Everything will crumble once we destroy the shield."
He too had seen the Roan Kingdom's video.
Clopeh had decided to destroy this longest surviving kingdom without any power first after watching the video. His pride would take a hit if he started anywhere else.
It would seem as if he had been scared by the Roan Kingdom's proclamation if started anywhere else.
That was why the Indomitable Alliance had selected the Roan Kingdom as their target.
Furthermore, he had known about the slightly famous person in the Roan Kingdom.
It was the son of a noble who used a silver shield.
"How interesting."
Clopeh Sekka looked at the shield that was giving off a faint silver light.
Getting rid of this shield and that red-haired punk would start them off on a good note. That was why Clopeh had personally come.
He was the one who would use his overwhelming strength in order to write a new legend.
He blew into a flute.
Beeeeeeep-
Tens of wyverns quickly flew toward him from a distance.
The Henituse soldiers all clenched onto their spears in fear.
There were more wyverns than they had seen in the video, and they were all covering the sky above the Henituse territory right now. The Guardian Knight looked down at the red-haired man.
'Did they say his name was Cale Henituse?'
He would soon die.
There was a limit to ancient powers.
The Guardian Knight raised his hand.
"Descend."
It was at that moment.
Large-bodied individuals jumped off the wyverns behind him. They soon opened up parachutes that had never been seen before and safely landed on the ground.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
These large-bodied individuals started to line up outside of Rain City's castle walls.
Their numbers were easily over 100.
One of the soldiers let out a gasp.
"…The Bear tribe."
The Bear Tribe was one of the strongest Beast people tribes and had the largest numbers.
These large Bears entered their berserk transformation and started to surround the castle walls. They were able to arrive here using the parachutes that the Dwarves had made for them.
Clopeh watched them land before lowering his hand and giving an order.
"Attack."
The wyverns immediately headed toward the silver shield.
The white wyvern headed down as well.
Guardian Knight Clopeh could see the expressions on the faces of the people standing on the castle wall.
The soldiers had pale expressions. He knew that the citizens must have the same expressions on their faces as well.
He was certain that this would be an easy victory.
This attack was stronger than any magic bomb or crumbling palace.
Even this weak attack should be enough to destroy a small territory.
He then made eye contact with Cale again.
This was the end.
Baaaaang! Baaaaang!
The banging noises were so loud it felt as if it could shatter their eardrums.
"…How could we…"
One of the more cowardly soldiers plopped to the ground.
'The shield will break.'
That was what he was thinking.
The soldier's gaze headed toward Cale. He could see the young master who was completely pale and looked as if he could fall at any moment.
In fact, many of the gazes were focused on Cale right now.
Cale started to think at that moment.
'The North really is a munchkin too.'
They were very strong.
However.
– Human, the wyverns are large, but they are weak. These puny things are kind of cute.
'There's a Dragon here?'
The shield would not break.
This was because it was covered by a Dragon's shield.
Something like a wyvern would not be able to break a Dragon's shield.
'I can't reveal Raon, but I can still put him to use.'
Cale continued to keep his shield up through the noise.
Boom, boom!
The wyverns rammed into the shield tens of times. It almost sounded as if they were beating on it like a drum.
"…Ah."
The fallen soldier let out a gasp.
One time, ten times, almost a hundred times. The shield did not break no matter how many times they rammed into it.
In fact, it only started to shine even brighter.
The soldier repeated what the Count had said earlier.
"…The shield will not break."
The young master who looked as if he could fall over at any moment did not fall.
"Ha!"
Guardian Knight Clopeh let out a shocked laugh. It was stronger than he had expected. Contrary to his feeble-looking appearance, that young master's ancient power was stronger than he had expected.
However, nothing had changed in his mind.
A shield would eventually break. Furthermore, there were other places that they could hit other than the shield.
Clopeh Sekka. The Guardian Knight maintained his calm as he looked down at Cale.
It was at that moment.
Cale Henituse.
He was smiling.
Clopeh felt chills on the back of his neck at that moment.
'Behind me.'
The white wyvern urgently turned around.
He had thought it was a white cloud at first.
He thought a white cloud was descending from the sky.
However, he was wrong.
"…Bones?"
They were skeletons.
Hundreds of skeletons.
The skeletons of monsters were descending from the sky. These corpses were starting to fill the air.
Cale started to smile.
"Too bad, this is just the beginning."
He looked up at the sky and could not hide his smile.
The Forest of Darkness.
An existence started to rise up from the Black Swamp.
It was the only skeleton with black bones.
The bones without any hide started to flap its wings.
Hundreds of skeletons were in the air.
A large existence revealed itself through the skeletons in the air.
"…That!"
The Guardian Knight's eyes opened wide.
It was a Dragon.
Although it was just a collection of black bones, it was close to 20 meters in length.
Just looking at it made it hard to breathe. The black wings that were multiple meters in length opened up in the sky.
It was an overlord, even after death.
Cale watched the dragon skeleton open up its wings.
A battle with an overwhelming advantage was bound to be entertaining.