Chapter 593 – Before the sun comes up (6)

"The monster is going to attack through the subway?"

"…We would have been screwed if we didn't know about it."

The subway. The people in the room repeated that word in their minds.

This meeting room was the size of an indoor gymnasium.

Cale started to speak again.

"The Electric Eel… That monster will use the subway to travel close to Seomyeon before showing itself and attacking the Seomyeon shelter."

"Something seems weird."

Someone raised their hand at that moment.

It was Jo Min Yeh, the Jeonnam representative.

"What is weird?"

She responded to Cale's question.

"I don't know the situation at Busan, but I'm certain that most of the subway tunnels are destroyed and full of debris. There should be many paths that are impossible for it to cross."

Jo Min Yeh looked toward Heo Sook Ja who was next to Cale.

Heo Sook Ja nodded her head.

"That's right. Our Seomyeon shelters rescue team members have checked out the subway tunnels, and although none of them are fully blocked, many of them are at least partially destroyed."

"But this monster is still able to stealthily cross through those paths to get to Seomyeon?"

Jo Min Yeh shook her head.

She then looked back toward Cale and continued to speak.

"I was expecting a large monster as it is an unranked monster, but I guess it is smaller than I expected."

Flutter.

They heard wings fluttering at that moment.

Most of the people inside this auditorium-like meeting room peeked toward the direction.

"What are you looking at?"

The Steel Feather Hawk glared at them as she fluttered her wings.

The different representatives had a thought on their minds as they looked at her.

'He said that this monster was a Grade 1 monster. Even this monster would not be able to properly cross through the subway tunnels.'

'He said that the unranked monsters were incomprehensible and incomparable to Grade 1 monsters. It must be much smaller than we expected.'

The Steel Feather Hawk could not cross through the subway tunnels because of her wings.

"Ahem. That unranked monster is not small."

Kang Il-Rae, the Jeonbuk representative coughed as he interjected.

"It might be smaller than what we all expected, but the subway tunnels are not small."

He peeked toward Cale as he continued to speak.

"And our Commander-nim over here…"

He pointed toward Cale with both hands.

Jo Min Yeh, who had been sitting next to Kang Il-Rae during Cale's speech, chuckled at Kang Il-Rae's demeanor, but Kang Il-Rae feigned ignorance as he continued to speak.

"According to what our Commander-nim mentioned, the monster's name is the Electric Eel. It is probably like a snake in that it may have a small body, but it wouldn't be small if it was extremely long, would it?"

That made sense.

Ki Hee Ran, the Chungbuk representative, started to speak.

"And the monster's size is not important; the main thing to worry about is its destructive force."

Kim Kang Hoon, the Gyeongnam representative nodded his head after hearing her being serious unlike how she had acted while sitting next to him during the speech and talking about Cale's strength.

"That's right. Either way, we just need to catch the one bastard coming through the tunnel, no?"

Smile.

Kim Kang Hoon smiled as if it would be simple.

"No."

'Hmm?'

Kim Kang Hoon turned after hearing someone disagree with him.

Cale was the one who had spoken.

"It is not just one."

"What do you mea-"

"Hmph!"

He heard someone snort at that moment.

"Woo hyung-nim?"

It was Kim Woo, the person who was a central figure at the Seomyeon shelter with Heo Sook Ja and Lee Soo Hyuk.

Kim Kang Hoon was looking at Kim Woo, who had snorted at his comment, with a confused expression. Kim Woo showed no reaction to his gaze and just turned toward Cale.

It was as if he was saying that Cale would give the answer.

Tap!

They heard someone lightly tap on the table at that moment.

It was Cale.

"The Electric Eel has two heads."

"Excuse me?"

"It is able to split its body in half as well."

The representatives of each region opened their eyes in shock.

"…Two of them!"

The monster that had two heads was able to split its body into two.

That pretty much meant that there would be two monsters.

Cale recalled an old record as he looked at these astonished people.

'That was the reason people at the Seomyeon shelter struggled.'

The unranked monster that had traveled from Gwangalli to Seomyeon underground fused its body together around Seomyeon and started to attack.

'The people at Seomyeon shelter did not notice it traveling underground as they were busy dealing with the monsters that were going by from the appearance of the unranked monster.'

That was why it had felt as if a large monster had suddenly appeared and started to destroy everything.

Tap!

Cale tapped on the table once more.

"We will now show you the map of our operation."

Kim Min Joon and Lee Jin Joo who were standing behind him brought a large piece of paper forward.

Chhh-

The paper was opened on top of the table.

"…The subway route?"

The map of Busan's subway system was in front of them.

The route map that had been useless until recently because there were no trains going through had now been turned into a strategic map for the operation.

"Now then."

Cale pointed toward the map.

"Is there only one train that comes to Seomyeon?"

Gwangan station was nearby Gwangalli beach. The route heading from there to Seomyeon station…

Jo Min Yeh answered quietly.

"…There are two..."

There were two routes from Gwangan station to Seomyeon station.

They were part of different transfer routes, but none of that mattered now that the subways were not in use.

What mattered was that there was a path.

That was what was important.

"This..."

Moon Se-Woon, the Gangwon-do representative, started to frown.

It could not be helped.

"…So then the monster must not be small."

Cale calmly answered.

"That's right. It is not small. It is quite large even when it is split into two, but it is extremely large when it fuses together. It grows exponentially when it fuses together."

Kang Il-Rae touched his dry lips as he started to speak.

"The monster should become a bit weaker when it splits into two? Am I right?"

Cale slowly nodded his head.

"It is much weaker when it is split compared to when it is fused together."

"Of course! That's a relief!"

Kang Il-Rae's face lit up before it stiffened up after hearing what Cale said next.

"Of course, it is much stronger than the Grade 1 monsters that attacked the original shelters even when it is split into two and only has one head."

"…Ho. It is stronger than not just a Grade 1 monster, but the Grade 1 monsters plural?"

Kim Woo started to speak as Kim Kang Hoon stated in disbelief.

"That is why it is unranked. It is at a different level of strength."

Kim Woo slowly started to look toward Cale.

His voice was slow as he continued to talk.

"And our Commander is planning on killing all of those monsters."

The people surrounding the table all looked toward Cale.

Cale started to speak with a stoic expression.

"Yes. I plan on killing all of them one by one."

Kim Kang Hoon, the Gyeongnam representative, started to speak.

"W, will that be possible?"

Cale started to smile as he responded to the nervously stated question.

"Yes, sir. I, and we, will make it happen."

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The representatives of each region could see some files being placed in front of them.

Kim Min Joon, Lee Jin Joo, Lee Seung Won were putting thin piles of paper explaining the operation.

"Those documents will tell you all of your respective roles."

The representatives of each region picked up the documents placed in front of them.

"Please become familiar with it by tomorrow."

They were all listening to what Cale had to say.

"We plan on heading out at noon tomorrow."

The people would all head to their respective battlefields tomorrow.

Everybody looked toward Cale again.

"And the day after tomorrow…"

Unlike the past, the humans were now aware of the enemies aiming for them.

"We will start the hunt, no, the battle."

The battle that was to come was a hunt to take down an unranked monster, a battle between humanity and monsters for victory.

* * *

Click.

A teacup was placed on the table.

The finger holding the teacup moved away from the cup as the person started to speak.

"You came at Cale's request?"

"That is correct, Sheritt-nim."

Sheritt's gaze headed toward the blonde hair and blue eyed man sitting across from her.

Alberu Crossman. He smiled after seeing her gaze and quietly looked at the man standing behind Sheritt.

It was a stoic gaze that seemed to be inspecting something.

"…You are alive."

The Dragon half-blood looked so pale that he could probably die at any moment, but he looked back at Alberu with an emotionless gaze.

Sheritt turned to look at the Dragon half-blood at that moment.

Flinch!

The Dragon half-blood flinched after making eye contact with Sheritt and lowered his head.

It was at that moment.

"Everything should be the same when Cale returns."

Sheritt's gaze that was full of loneliness, bitterness, sorrow, and all sorts of other emotions moved away from the Dragon half-blood as she continued to speak in an emotionless voice.

"I didn't think we should cause any aspect to become any worse than it is now until that child returns. Wouldn't that child only be able to do as he wishes if things stay the same?"

Sheritt was using her magic to delay the Dragon half-blood's death as much as possible.

This was only possible because she was extremely skilled in magic and because she was the Dragon Lord, the Dragon who knew the most about the power of the Dragons embedded in the Dragon half-blood's heart.

'Of course, I'm sure the pain became even worse.'

The Dragon half-blood's pain exponentially increased in order to prolong his life.

It was probably difficult to just breathe.

Alberu asked the Dragon half-blood a question.

"Are you okay?"

"..."

The Dragon half-blood just stood behind Sheritt without responding.

Alberu thought that he looked like a knight trying to protect his liege.

However, that was not something he should say out loud without thinking.

Crunch crunch.

Raon was quietly sitting down while munching on a cookie.

Sheritt was petting his head.

Alberu saw the quiet Raon peeking toward Sheritt and the Dragon half-blood as he started to speak.

"That's great."

As he made eye contact with the Dragon half-blood again…

"Cale told me that the Dragon half-blood should still be alive for me to ask something."

Both Sheritt and the Dragon half-blood flinched.

"Anyway, I will get right to the point as I am busy right now."

He was still looking at the Dragon half-blood.

Alberu recalled what Cale had told him.

'Your majesty, I will tell you the conversation I had with the Dragon half-blood in the past.'

Cale, Eruhaben, the Dragon half-blood, and Raon. It was apparently a conversation among the four of them.

There was something the Dragon half-blood had said when Eruhaben and the Dragon half-blood first met.

'That was why you ended up being the last one.'

He took a sip of tea as he started to speak.

"According to Cale, you said that Eruhaben-nim was the last Dragon to kill."

"Correct. The White Star designated Eruhaben as the last Dragon to kill."

Alberu nodded his head and recalled something else.

Eruhaben had asked the Dragon half-blood who responded to him.

'Was my heart meant to be yours as well?'

'No. That's not it. That person just said he needed it. But I don't know what he was going to use it for.'

Alberu started to speak while recalling the conversation Cale shared with him.

"You still don't know where Eruhaben-nim's heart was to be used?"

"I don't. I've been thinking about it, but I cannot figure it out at all."

"Then how many Dragons have you killed in total?"

The Dragon half-blood flinched after hearing this question.

But Alberu didn't give him the opening to say anything.

"Based on what Cale told me, the reason Eruhaben-nim was selected as the last Dragon to kill was because Eruhaben-nim communicated with other Dragons. Doesn't that mean that you were worried about being found out by the other Dragons after killing Eruhaben-nim?"

"…You could say that."

"Hmm."

Tap.

Alberu put the teacup down on the table.

Dragons.

He had been mesmerized at the thought of using such an existence as his allies.

But it was now time to calmly assess the situation now.

"Sheritt-nim."

"Hmm?"

"How many Dragons were there when you were the Lord, Sheritt-nim?"

Sheritt slowly responded as if she was thinking about it.

"Usually… There were a total of 15-25 Dragons on the Eastern and Western continents combined in a generation. 10 if there were less than normal."

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Alberu's index finger tapped on the armrest.

The Dragon half-blood's heart had five Dragons.

Then there was Olienne.

There were at least six dead Dragons.

Whether the White Star gave the order or personally killed them…

There were probably more than six dead.

"Anyway, there should be some living Dragons even if there aren't that many."

Even if the White Star moved stealthily, it would have been difficult for him to kill so many Dragons without the Dragon half-blood, who was sensitive to the aura of Dragons, knowing about it.

He made that comment and looked in front of him. He looked at the three existences related to Dragons.

It was at that moment.

Knock knock knock.

Someone knocked and they heard the Wolf boy Lock's voice.

"Excuse me, Tasha-nim is here!"

Alberu stood up from his seat.

"I asked her to come."

He then walked over to the door and turned the doorknob.

Screeeech.

The door opened and Tasha smiled at the people inside.

"Long time no see, everyone."

She looked a bit tired as she looked toward Alberu.

"I came because you said you had an urgent question for me, what is going on?"

Why had he asked her to meet him here at Sheritt-nim's castle?

Tasha was curious about that as well but did not ask in front of the Dragons.

Alberu started to speak at that moment.

"Cale told me something."

Sheritt, Raon, and the Dragon half-blood all looked toward Alberu once again after hearing him mention Cale.

"He said that in the past, Mayor Obante-nim-"

Obante, the mayor of the Underground City of the Dark Elves.

He was Tasha's grandfather and a 522 years old Dark Elf.

"Told Cale that he had met a Dragon before."

"Ah! You're right!"

Raon jumped up and fluttered his wings.

Raon recalled something from his memories.

It had happened when they first went to the Underground City in the Desert of Death with Tasha.

It was when they had met Mayor Obante for the first time and before they had met Mary.

Obante had looked toward Cale and said the following.

'I have met a Dragon-nim in the past. I felt the same feeling that I am feeling now. My Elemental, which met that Dragon-nim with me, says it is similar as well.'

Mayor Obante had said that before welcoming Raon, who had shouted, 'I am the great and mighty Raon Miru!'

"That's right! The Dark Elf Gramps said that to the human! He said he saw a Dragon with his Elemental!"

Alberu recalled a moment during his conversation with Cale.

He had asked Cale a question.

'It is a minimum of 6 Dragons according to what the Dragon half-blood had said, but if the White Star killed some Dragons without him knowing… Do you think there are any Dragons left? Even if there are, I don't think there will be many.'

Alberu had cautiously asked because he knew that the White Star was the Dragon Slayer.

Cale had calmly answered.

'First, please check with Eruhaben-nim to see if there are any other Dragons he could contact and find out the locations of other Dragons. Other than that, mm.'

Cale had then said someone's name.

'Dragons are extremely independent, so there is no way Eruhaben-nim is in contact with every Dragon.'

'Then wouldn't they be difficult to locate?'

'I think you should first dig into Mayor Obante-nim's side, your majesty.'

'Hmm? The Mayor-nim?'

'Yes, sir. If you find one Dragon, you might somehow end up finding the rest of the Dragons as well.'

Alberu, who had found it odd to talk about his relative, stopped thinking about that moment and asked Tasha a question.

"Mayor Obante-nim… Where did great grandfather see a Dragon?"

Alberu was slowly preparing things one by one for Cale's return, no, for the battle that might be the last war.

He was preparing to start a war to end all things and bring peace to the world the moment Cale returns.

* * *

At that moment.

Cale slowly opened the door to the training ground.

"Choi-"

It was at that moment.

Baaaaang!

There was a loud noise right next to Cale.

He turned his gaze.

The door he opened…

At the wall right next to it…

"Ugh!"

A person had slammed into the wall before falling down to the ground.

It was Choi Jung Soo.

"Fuck!"

He did not even notice Cale as he started to swear.