Chapter 353- Tears (3)

However, an expression slowly started to appear on Cale's face, although he didn't know what kind of expression he should have toward Raon, On, and Hong who were flying extremely quickly toward him.

The corners of his lips slowly started to go up.

A smiling Cale opened his mouth to speak.

It was because he wanted to warmly greet the children averaging nine-years-old.

"Human!"

However, the children were faster than Cale.

The youngest, the black Dragon, started to shout.

"Human, you are a stupid idiot!"

'…What?'

Cale flinched. However, Raon did not stop.

"You think this is funny?! Why are you standing still when there is a giant pillar of fire shooting up behind your back?! Human, you are so stupid!"

The children averaging nine-years-old could not help but be concerned as they approached Cale.

Baaaaang! Baaaaang!

Explosions were still going off behind Cale, with black liquid shooting up while the pillar of fire and the wind were gobbling it up as soon as it shot up.

The children averaging nine-years-old could not help but feel frustrated seeing Cale trying to smile when that was going on right behind him.

"I agree! You're stupid! You're really really stupid!"

After the black Dragon who shouted in a solemn tone was the red Kitten who was shaking his head.

The smile on Cale's lips started to disappear.

The silver Kitten sighed at that moment and chimed in.

"I don't know why you make us more worried than even our youngest."

Cale's expression turned odd.

"That's right! The great and mighty Raon does not make other people worry! But you, human, you make people worry more about you than they do about a six-year-old!"

"This is serious!"

Cale could not help but sigh after seeing Raon and Hong agreeing with On.

"Sigh, my poor- eek!"

My poor life.

Cale stumbled as he was about to say that. His eyes had opened wide.

It all happened in a moment.

"…Uh…mm, Eruhaben-nim?"

Cale looked toward the person who had instantly teleported behind him to grab him by his clothes to hold him up. The ancient Dragon was holding onto Cale's clothes with an extremely chilly gaze.

"You seem to want to face a Dragon's rage."

"…Excuse me?"

'Why is he suddenly talking about rage?'

Cale started to look anxious.

'I even brought the ancient artifact with me.'

Cale shook the jar around to show him, but the ancient Dragon did not budge as he continued to dangle Cale by his clothes and moved away from the exploding black mountain.

"That's right! Goldie gramps is right! Human, do you wish to face a Dragon's rage?!"

"There is the Cat's rage too!"

"Ay."

The children averaging nine-years-old played off Eruhaben's comment. Of course, Cale felt as if he received the most damage from On's sigh at the end.

However, there was still more mental damage to be taken.

"…Huuuu."

'…Choi Han just sighed.'

Choi Han sighed while looking at Cale before nodding his head toward On.

Baaaaang! Bang! Baaaaang!

The explosions continued as that happened.

Cale's expression turned even odder after seeing the actions his group were taking toward him.

It could not be helped.

There was a lot of sweat on the ancient Dragon who was holding him. He could also see the haggard expression on Choi Han's face.

Pat. Pat. Pat.

Even the paws of the children averaging nine-years-old that were patting him were slightly shaking. It was as if the squishy and warm paws were cautiously touching him in order to see if what was in front of their eyes was real.

However, they were all talking as if nothing was wrong.

"Cale, it doesn't look like the purification is finished yet."

"Human! Are we destroying the island? We got rid of all the fog!"

"Cale-nim, what do you need me to do?"

Cale's expression turned stranger. It looked as if he was trying to smile and frown at the same time.

Raon thoroughly observed that expression before starting to speak.

"Human! What evil thought is going through your mind right now? Let's show that sneer-like expression to the White Star!"

'Damn it.'

Cale's expression instantly returned to normal.

He looked behind him while still being held up by his clothes.

Baaaaaang!

Boom, boooooom!

Explosions were continuously going off.

The pillar of fire started to grow taller and wider.

– Kahahaha! Destroy! Purify! It's a sea of fire!

He could hear the cheapskate's voice.

– I'm really creating fire on top of the ocean! Ahahahahah! I'm someone who does the things that I say I will do! Kahahahahah!

…Did he go crazy?'

Cale felt something odd about the Fire of Destruction's exaggerated reaction.

He couldn't help but frown soon enough.

'Hihihi! Fire! Fire!'

'Kahahaha! Destroy! It's a sea of fire! I'm so happy! It's so thrilling!'

'Let's destroy everything! I am the wind of destruction! My fate is to bring destruction everywhere! I am the free destroyer!'

Some of the Wind Elementals' reactions gave Cale the chills.

Of course, there were some normal Wind Elementals as well.

One of the Elementals approached Cale and quietly whispered in his ear.

'…We have many weird friends. I ask for your understanding.'

Cale responded back to that whisper with a stoic expression on his face.

"Starting now…"

That made Cale's group, the Wind Elementals, and even the cheapskate focus on Cale.

Even the ones who were slower to arrive were near enough to see him starting to speak.

"Friend!"

The Mercenary King Bud, Ron, and Beacrox were all assisted by the highest-grade mage Glenn Poeff who used flight magic on all of them.

Of course, Glenn Poeff was waiting on top of the ship. He was there just in case something bad happened.

Mercenary King Bud Illis who was quickly rushing toward the others with Ron and Beacrox was at a loss for words after seeing Cale's extremely skinny face that had become totally pale after a week.

'Just what kind of troubles did he face?!'

He thought that he needed to quickly take Cale and leave.

However, Bud could hear Cale's voice as soon as he approached.

'Starting now…'

This is what Cale said after that.

"We will destroy the island."

'…Huh?'

Bud Illis flinched after seeing Cale standing there with the fire and wind that were gobbling up dead mana as a background.

Cale calmly continued to speak.

"A sea of fire."

There was still a lot of dead mana inside the black mountain.

He needed a stronger power in order to purify all of it.

"I am thinking about lighting the sea on fire."

'Huh?'

Bud stood there with a blank expression as Ron and Beacrox behind him started to speak.

"The young master-nim is the same as always."

"…He looks to be fine since he is acting like this."

The Molan duo were calm.

Only Bud watched the following interaction with a blank expression.

"Human! I will put a shield around the twin-island next to it and the sea!"

"I will control the fog!"

"I will help both of them!"

The children averaging nine-years-old started to move.

Bud could feel the large amount of mana flowing out of the black Dragon. It felt like an extraordinary amount of mana.

The two kittens were next to the young Dragon.

"Choi Han, swing your sword and launch your aura toward the black mountain and the nearby area."

"Yes, Cale-nim."

Choi Han took his sword out.

Bud got goosebumps on his arms after seeing Choi Han's sword leave the scabbard for the first time.

'…This.'

The sparkling black aura shot up toward the sky without stopping. Choi Han started to send that aura toward the black mountain.

Baaaaaaaaaang!

A loud explosion pounded at Bud's ears.

The Mercenary King watched as a large crater appeared on the black mountain that only had spiderweb-like small cracks until now.

Spuuurt!

Dead mana started to come out of the crater.

'He's definitely not at a regular sword master's level.'

The Mercenary King could not help but feel nervous after seeing Choi Han's overwhelming strength as he continued to attack and destroy the black mountain.

However, that was just the beginning.

Ooooooong-

The Mercenary King turned his head after feeling the vibration of mana.

"…Ho."

He could see a large silver shield that was protecting his hometown island. They must have become invisible at some point, because he could not see the small Dragon nor the kittens anymore.

"It's your turn now."

Bud turned his head after hearing that voice.

Eruhaben let go of Cale's clothes and stood next to him. Beacrox and Ron had moved past the Mercenary King at some point and were standing behind Cale.

Cale handed the ancient artifact to Ron before slowly reaching both his hand that was holding the top's whip, as well as his empty hand, forward.

Boooooooooooom.

The black mountain was crumbling from Choi Han's attacks and the whirlwinds. However, Cale's hand was not pointed toward the dead mana flowing out of the crumbling mountain.

The sky.

Cale's hands were pointed toward the sky.

Ruuuumble-

The Mercenary King could not help but turn back after hearing a noise in the sky. He looked up.

The sky was clear thanks to On.

It was a clear and blue sky that was rare to see out here.

The Mercenary King's eyes opened wide as he looked up at the sky.

It was red.

Everything had turned red.

Everything he was looking at had become dyed red.

And then, a moment after he realized that fact…

Baaaaang! Baaaaang! Baaaaang!

He could hear the sound of fiery thunderbolts crashing down onto the black island.

The rose gold colored fiery thunderbolts endlessly shot down toward the black island.

Cale started to speak at that moment.

"Don't blow them out."

Don't blow out the fire or the thunderbolts.

Mercenary King Bud could smell it.

It was the scent of the wind.

He could feel Cale's wind attribute ancient power.

The Mercenary King could see small whirlwinds that were starting to cover the black island as he noticed that.

The island was being burnt by fire and thunderbolts.

The wind was roaring on top of that.

It was not putting out the fire.

The fire and wind mixed together to create a red wind. That red wind started to spread throughout the island.

"…Ah."

The Mercenary King could see the black dead mana disappearing as they touched the fiery thunderbolts and the wind.

All that remained was sparkling dust.

They were rose-colored ashes.

"Gasp."

The Mercenary King turned his head after hearing someone taking a deep breath.

Cale was about to curl forward. However, Beacrox caught him.

"Young master-nim."

Ron supported Cale as well.

However, Cale could not hear Ron's voice.

'We're dancing!'

'Let's dance!'

He was listening to the voices of the Wind Elementals.

'You, you are all free now! Goodbye!'

'Goodbye! We are dancing in hopes that you will have a safe journey!'

The Wind Elementals were creating small whirlwinds in order to guide Cale's fire to the dead mana.

They were dancing.

The Wind Elementals were saying goodbye to the poor souls that had been stuck here since long ago during ancient times.

Swoooooosh- Swooooooosh-

Rose gold colored ashes as beautiful as flower petals flew away wherever the wind passed by.

Dead mana did not exist anymore in those spots.

The black ground was gone as well.

They were not just covered by the rose gold colored ashes.

Things were changing underneath the ashes. The Wind Island was slowly regaining its color after tens of thousands of years.

Swoooooosh- Swooooooosh-

The wind appeared again and gathered up those rose gold colored ashes.

Cale could hear the Super Rock's voice in his mind.

– I'm relieved.

He was relieved that nobody lived on this black island and that only dirt and rocks were here.

If there were living beings here…

If there were plants, animals, or humans…

Cale would not be able to burn everything and purify the dead mana as he did with the fiery thunderbolt.

Swoooooooooooosh- Swoooooooosh-

Cale could hear the sound of the wind again.

'Let's all do it together!'

'Grab hands! Hands!'

'Let's twiiiiirl~! We're dancing!'

The small whirlwinds started to gather together.

The Wind Elementals were holding each other's hands. Then they started to dance in circles.

The rose gold colored ashes started to spin in circles following the wind before shooting up into the sky. It was as if flower petals were flying up.

And finally…

'Goodbye!'

'It's time to farewell! Goodbye!'

The Wind Elementals said their final goodbyes.

The black island was gone, and a desolate island ravished by fire took its place. Then red snow started to fall.

Plop.

Plop.

Cale opened up his palm after feeling something touching his cheeks.

The rose gold colored ashes were falling from the sky like flower petals.

A beautiful red color covered the desolate land and the calm ocean.

– Thank you. I really mean it.

The thief started to speak in Cale's mind.

– It's better late than never.

He could hear the cheapskate's satisfied voice as well.

Cale lifted his head and looked at the rose gold colored ashes that were falling like snow before lowering his head.

Choi Han and the children averaging nine-years-old were coming toward him. Eruhaben, Ron, and Beacrox were already next to him.

Cale started to speak.

"Ha, haha-"

He started to laugh.

However, at that moment…

"Ha, ugh!"

He had to stop laughing.

"Human! You can't faint!"

A piece of soggy apple pie that tasted salty filled Cale's mouth.

Cale heard a voice by his ear as well.

"Young master-nim."

Ron was touching the spatial pocket bag on Cale's waist.

"Why is only one day's worth of food gone?"

Ron was smiling his scary benign smile at him, Beacrox was starting to glare, and the apple pie pieces became even soggier.

Ron's benign and gentle voice filled his ear once again.

"Our young master-nim, it looks like you wish to have a long and deep conversation with your servant Ron. Is that the case?"

Cale shut up after seeing the smile on Ron's face.

'…Scary old man.'

Ron was glaring at him viciously even with the smile on his face, so Cale just quietly continued to chew on the apple pies that the children averaging nine-years-old were giving him.

If he were to faint right now…

If he were to cough up blood…

He would probably really need to sit down and chat with this scary old man if he did either of those things.

Munch munch.

Cale chewed on the apple pies the children averaging nine-years-old were giving him with more dedication than ever.

– … I am sorry.

However, Cale flinched after hearing the Super Rock's voice.

– …The Vitality of the Heart maintained your body's condition during the test, however, you had starved for a long time and then used the cheapskate's power after that. Even if you had the help of the wind…

Ramble ramble.

The Super Rock had a lot to say.

– Even if you are stronger than before, you used an ancient power to purify that large quantity of dead mana when your body was weaker than normal… So, probably- mm.

'…Perhaps?'

Cale swallowed the piece of apple pie in his mouth with urgency. And then, the moment the next slice ended up in his mouth…

The Super Rock said once more in an apologetic tone.

– I am sorry.

Cale fainted with the piece of apple pie still in his mouth.