Chapter 644 – We cannot retreat (1)

Paaaat-

In a place where black smoke had risen once already… Cale and Raon appeared.

"Human, everybody should do a good job, right?"

"Yeah. Of course."

Ron, Bud, and Gashan would take care of the strategy. Dodori and Rasheel would provide the muscles.

Beacrox, On, and Hong would support all of them. There were also numerous other helpers.

Taking care of the Lion tribe and the Cat tribe on Mount Nex shouldn't be difficult at all for those people.

'I am feeling iffy about coming without finishing things over there though.'

Cale wanted to take care of every step properly because he started the situation in the Sez Kingdom while thinking that it was the start of the final battle.

But there were times when you had to rely on your allies to take care of things.

"…It's quiet."

Those times were when something more dangerous and urgent came up.

Cale looked toward the sinkhole, one of the Eastern continent's Three Restricted Areas and the entrance to the Endable Kingdom. He walked toward the Gate to the Demon World..."

He had teleported right outside the Endable Kingdom, the same place Alberu had been stationed while going to rescue Cale from the black orb.

Shaaaaaaa-

The wind was blowing, and the leaves were shaking.

It was extremely calm.

"Human, are we heading in right away?"

There weren't even any guards.

Raon thought that that made it even weirder. Raon didn't even realize that he sounded anxious because it seemed so weird.

"Yeah. Let's head in right away."

It was the same for Cale.

The Endable Kingdom.

That was a place where people and many races with the darkness attribute lived together. There was no noise coming from there, even though it was the middle of the day right now.

It felt as if something was about to happen.

Swooooooosh-

Wind quickly surrounded Raon and Cale and moved them on top of the cliff to go into the sinkhole.

"Human! The palace is weird! I remember destroying the roof!"

It was the White Star's palace. The roof Raon had destroyed while rescuing the Wolf children was covered in a white cloth to hide what was inside.

"Human, that really seems suspicious!"

Cale nodded his head and responded as he felt the same way.

"Raon, invisibility magic-"

It was at that moment.

Cale stopped talking and turned toward the direction of a noise he heard.

Piiiiiiiiiiiiii-

A sharp alarm rang loudly.

"It's the crown prince!"

"Connect it."

Cale could not reject a call from the Roan Kingdom.

Raon had left messages to important people through the video communication device before teleporting here from Mount Nex. Alberu must have contacted him right away after receiving the message.

'The others don't matter as much, but at least his highness and Choi Han knowing the situation would be beneficial.'

Every second was important right now, but this was a call from someone to whom he should explain the situation even if he only had five, no, even just one or two minutes.

– Cale.

Cale could see what looked like a meeting room as soon as the call was connected. There was a long table. Alberu, who was at the head of the table, was speaking.

– You think that another summoning ritual might have taken place in the Endable Kingdom?

"Yes, sir."

– There are four mons- never mind. No need to repeat things we already know.

Alberu was speaking with a stiff expression on his face.

– How long will Puzzle City be able to last if four monsters teleport there?

Alberu had only fought against a single unranked monster. Furthermore, he had only helped out once Cale and the other Earthlings had weakened it significantly.

He looked at Cale and the entrance to the sinkhole over Cale's shoulder as he anxiously awaited Cale's response.

Cale soon responded.

"One hour, sir."

They would be able to last one hour if all four monsters came to Puzzle City.

The meeting room quickly turned into pandemonium. Cale could hear a lot of people's voices.

– Your highness! That's unbelievable!

– Have you heard the former Commander making things up?! My goodness, just one hour?! How-

– …Ho. How strong are these monsters… are they like the monsters we've read about in myths? W, why are these things happening...?

Cale interrupted them.

"That would be the case if everybody ran away."

Alberu smiled, and silence filled the meeting room.

"If we can bring in as many reinforcements as possible, even with four monsters… Three hours. We should be able to tie the monsters down inside Puzzle City for three hours."

Everybody became silent again.

The time had increased by three times the amount, but they didn't know what to say after hearing that they would only be able to hold back the four monsters for three hours.

What if the monsters left Puzzle City after that?

They might destroy all of the Roan Kingdom. The chief executives were sweating in fear.

Cale started to speak again at that moment.

"That is the worst possible situation."

All of them turned toward Cale again.

"I came to destroy the remaining four sculptures. That is why, although we should prepare for the worst, there is no need to be scared already."

The chief executives lightly sighed in relief.

'Yes. There should be some level of progress since young master Cale is on the move.'

'The chances of the worst situation happening is pretty low. There's no need to be scared already.'

The people started to snap out of fear as this sense of terror slowly dissipated.

They were only able to do that because they, the people of the Roan Kingdom, had experienced victory in many battles starting with the battle at the Henituse territory.

Someone broke the silence at that moment.

– Did you go alone?

The vassals looked toward the back of the chair Alberu was sitting on.

Choi Han was standing there.

Cale smiled after hearing Choi Han's question.

"I came with the most reliable and mighty mage."

– Human! Am I reliable? Really?

Raon, who was invisible and holding the video communication device while on the other side of Cale, sounded excited.

Cale gave Choi Han an order instead of responding to Raon.

"You go to Puzzle City."

Silence filled the meeting room for a different reason.

'Only two?'

'Only two of them went…to a place where monsters that could destroy Puzzle City in three hours are being summoned?'

'…Even if it is just destroying the sculptures, will they be okay?'

Would they be able to destroy the sculptures with just two people?

They were concerned, but they thought about how Cale had overcome many situations that seemed unfavorable to him. They knew that Cale would manage to achieve some things, as he had shown them many times already.

However…

'…My goodness. The Commander is working so hard but I was just here being afraid-'

"Young master Cale is really-'

They were getting emotional thinking about Cale, who was heading into the most dangerous area.

– Why is it just the two of you?

Cale slowly turned around and answered Alberu's question. It was time to end the call and enter the Endable Kingdom. He could not wait any longer as everything was quiet.

"There are a lot of things to finish at Mount Nex, so I've ordered our allies to take care of things there before moving elsewhere."

Alberu looked at the back of the person heading to the Endable Kingdom and opened his mouth.

– I see. I can't hold onto you for a long time since every second is imp-, what is it?

Alberu was about to end the call when he froze after seeing Cale.

Cale had suddenly stopped moving.

Crack.

Cale heard an odd noise. He looked toward the direction of the noise.

Crack. Crack.

He continued to hear something breaking.

– H, human!

Raon's face was pale. The young Dragon's eyes looked up toward the sky as well. Raon's front paw holding the video communication device subconsciously moved, letting the others see the sky as well.

Crack. Crack, crack.

It was not the sound of something breaking.

In the sky… A very small grey mouth was appearing in the air above the Endable Kingdom. That mouth was chewing on something.

Crack.

It was not the sound of something breaking; it was the sound of that mouth in the air eating something. That grey mouth was getting bigger. It was an eerie and disgusting sight.

Cale realized it at that moment.

'Ah.'

The summoning had started.

It was at that moment.

Boom- boom, boom, booom-

They could hear the sound of drums coming from the sinkhole. It was not just one person drumming. It sounded as if tens of people were drumming, making it loud enough to hurt Cale's ears.

"Fuck!"

Swooooooosh-

Cale's body was quickly covered by whirlwinds.

Cale and Raon were already heading into the sinkhole.

– Human! T, that! The cloth on the roof-!

The white cloth was slowly ripping as Raon mentioned. The cloth ripped extremely quickly once Cale and Raon noticed it.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiip-!

White light shot out from the opening. They were familiar with this light.

"Bear King Sayeru...!"

Bear King Sayeru's ancient power was the light attribute power, and his light looked like this when it was used to attack as an arrow or spear.

"They realized we are here."

The enemies had noticed their intrusion.

'Dorph really did contact him in advance.'

That was why the summoning ritual had started so quickly and Sayeru had attacked Cale, who had not become invisible.

He turned his gaze.

He could see the video communication device in the still invisible Raon's hand.

The Roan kingdom's vassals were all standing while looking at him. They all looked completely astonished. They must have seen everything.

Cale looked at them, as well as Alberu, the only one who was still sitting, and Choi Han, who was observing him with a piercing gaze and started speaking.

"See you at Puzzle City."

The video communication device could only see a silver shield that appeared to block the light spear. The video communication device turned off and Raon quickly shoved the video communication device in his spatial dimension and channeled his mana.

"Human! I will block them!"

Ooooooo-

Black mana shook around Raon before exploding out of Raon. Tens, no, hundreds of black arrows were quickly created and Raon blocked the light spears as he pointed toward Sayeru standing under the cloth.

"I'm firing!"

The black arrows were immediately launched toward Sayeru and the other enemies around him.

"Human! I'll open up a path for you!"

Smile.

The corners of Cale's lips curled up. He found Raon, who was doing well even without him having to say anything now that he was a little older, to be very reliable.

He then looked toward the center of the area underneath the cloth.

He could see four sculptures surrounded by grey smoke.

"Let's go."

Cale and Raon headed toward the sculptures.

* * *

Inside the Roan Palace meeting room… The vassals were still standing while blankly looking at the ended video communication device screen.

A volley of light spears… The shield that blocked them… The sight of the summoning ritual taking place…

They couldn't help but hold their breaths.

Tap! Tap!

They then saw Alberu tapping on the table and finally released their breaths.

Their crown prince had been the only one to remain calmly seated from start to finish. He looked at his vassals and started speaking.

"Knight Captain."

"Yes, your highness!"

"Leave the minimum amount of troops to protect his majesty and the royals and take the rest of the troops to Puzzle City."

"Yes, sir!"

"Mage captain."

"Yes, your highness?"

"Head to Puzzle City. Have the Foreign Affairs team contact our allied kingdoms immediately as well."

Alberu gave his orders in a calm but efficient manner. Choi Han stood behind Alberu and quietly watched him.

'…He should know that the Dark Elves are being held captive as sacrifices.'

Choi Han felt pain in his heart thinking about how Alberu must feel right now. The Alberu he had seen had deep yet complicated feelings for the Dark Elves as he did for the Roan Kingdom.

The summoning ritual where the Dark Elves would be used as sacrifices had started in front of such a person's eyes.

The lives of so many people were bearing down on this person's shoulders right now.

Choi Han wanted to go to Cale and Raon and fight with them, but he could not open his mouth to speak.

"Choi Han."

Alberu looked toward him at that moment.

"Instructor, please go to young master Cale."

Choi Han could see in Alberu's eyes that he was worried about Cale. He had not said anything when Cale mentioned that only he and Raon were going to fight, but he must have been quite worried.

Choi Han quietly looked at Alberu for a moment before shaking his head.

"Your highness, I serve Cale-nim."

The Roan Kingdom.

Puzzle City was located in the Roan Kingdom's northeast region, close to the Henituse territory.

The Cale Choi Han knew… The reason Cale had Choi Han stay here was not that he wanted Choi Han to fight, it was because he wanted Choi Han to protect people in case things went terribly wrong.

Choi Han, like Cale, had a lot of people he cared about in the Henituse territory, the Roan Kingdom, and the Western continent.

"Your highness, Cale-nim's orders supersede your own."

The corners of Alberu's lips oddly twisted up.

Choi Han was basically saying that he was not going to listen to the orders of the crown prince, but he understood how Choi Han and even Cale felt right now.

Alberu stood up while looking at Choi Han, the only person to oppose his orders, and his vassals who were waiting for his orders.

"Everybody, hurry. The troops and communication team will go to Puzzle City while the rest will remain in the palace! I am going to Puzzle City so the Foreign Affairs team and the Administrative team should turn to his majesty or the second prince for any questions!"

The vassals shouted to oppose Alberu's decision.

"Your highness! What do you mean that you are going to Puzzle City?! The danger level in this battle is much greater than the other battles!"

"Even the residents of Puzzle City are all evacuated to nearby territories or at least a couple kilometers outside! It is a completely empty city! The people who have evacuated to the outside will soon be moved to nearby territories as well! So why would you go to such a place, your highness?!"

"Your highness, why don't you retreat as well?"

"That's right! We are not telling you to run away, your highness. We just hope that you can stay here and give orders. The foundation of the Roan Kingdom would break if anything were to happen to you, your highness!"

They would only be able to last three hours maximum if four monsters attacked.

The pressure from those numbers was making Alberu's vassals stop him. They believed that even if Puzzle City was to fall, they would be able to get back up if Alberu was alive.

"Then you want me to just sit back and watch as our soldiers, knights, and mages go to fight?"

Alberu's calm voice made everybody silent once again.

"The monsters will be large and the battle will be fierce."

There may be extremely loud noises, rumblings, and explosions. They had no way of knowing how much of Puzzle City would end up destroyed.

The traces of battle will spread throughout all the Roan Kingdom.

Alberu closed his eyes.

He recalled the last moment he saw on the video communication device.

He recalled seeing Cale's back as he rushed toward the Endable Kingdom.

He thought about something else as he thought about how Cale had charged forward without any hesitation.

He remembered Kim Rok Soo's back as he fought against the unranked monster.

He couldn't help but think of how Cale's back had looked.

"Pffft."

A small chuckle came out of his mouth. He started walking without any hesitation.

"I."

At least in the Roan Kingdom…

"I cannot retreat."

And then…

"I must not retreat."

Just like how the people at the Seomyeon shelter had fought while looking at Kim Rok Soo's back…

"…They should fight while looking at my back."

The people here will fight while looking at his back. Just like the sun rising between two cliffs, his people will be energized by looking at their light.

He wanted to remain as the Roan Kingdom's sun.

"Your highness! You can't do that!"

"…It can't be helped. I understand, your highness."

"Your highness, please reconsider!"

Alberu could see Choi Han standing next to him at that moment. Alberu started to think while looking at Choi Han quietly standing there with his hand on his scabbard.

'If I was alone… I might have felt scared and chaotic.'

Three hours.

There was nobody here who felt the fear from that number more than Alberu. He felt as if he could not breathe while thinking about all of his subjects who might die.

However, Alberu calmed himself down while thinking about someone.

It was someone who, because he knew he could not retreat… This person, his ally, walked forward without any hesitation to protect his people.

"I won't be lonely."

He had a faint smile on his face.

Alberu Crossman soon led the troops and headed toward Puzzle City.

He was hoping that Cale, who could not retreat and took another step forward in order to not retreat… And his other precious allies were all safe.

* * *

Boom- boom! Boom-

Cale landed on the ground amidst the beating of the drums.

Cale made eye contact with hundreds of enemies and felt their hostilities with Raon as his only ally here.

—

Translator's Comments

Alberu sounds so cool and serious. Yes, we cannot retreat. Let's go!

What will happen next?