Chapter Text
“Stop!” Everyone frowned at the loud voice of the god of death. “This really isn't fun...” He seemed to be thinking about something rather than actually talking to them. “We're going to take another break on this part. Hmm... well, not really.”
Cale was annoyed. What was this crazy god trying to say or do now?
“I think I'll just stop with this arc and move straight to the end, to the final battle.” He was pensive again, one hand on his chin and his gaze fixed on the ceiling.
Cale looked questioningly at his two hyungs, who were most familiar with the god of death's antics.
Both rolled their eyes in unison, this guy was an idiot, there was nothing to understand.
“Yes, yes, that's a good idea. But! I have to show you other things before moving on to Cale's destructive finale!” He made grand gestures with his hands, and Cale almost expected something to happen behind the god, but no. Nothing.
They didn't really understand why the god of death was bothering to make such a fuss if he was going to do what he wanted anyway.
Cale shivered at the god's words. For some unknown reason, he felt the god's gaze linger on him a little longer than necessary.
All their eyes fell once again on the god of death, who was searching his tablet again. “Ah!”
The screen lit up after his joyful exclamation.
"You have 3 days."
His body could only last like this for three days.
That was what Eruhaben meant when he said that.
The voice of the ancient dragon echoed through the hall, and everyone froze, then sighed... again.
“I think we can add this part to our list.” Cale shivered again at the voice of the golden dragon, which this time came from beside him.
He looked at the god with a certain despair, having quickly gone through his memories of the end of the sealed god's test. He didn't see how this scene was useful. “Why-”
The god of death, who had of course heard his thoughts, spoke. “It's irrelevant, I just like it.” The smile on the god's face was clearly predatory.
“This-” Cale was furious, but the god of death smiled even more and then ignored him to address the entire room.
"So, a quick recap. This takes place after the battle of the Gorge of Dead, when Cale abused the water contained in his necklace and his other former powers. And as you know, without this water, Cale's balance is off, and he is in danger of dying. That's why he only has three days left to live. He must therefore hurry to find the original power of the Sky Eating Water before it's too late. We'll see his fight to recover it and part of what happens after he obtains it."
Then the screen started again and showed something different.
“Nice to meet you.”
The ancient Dragon was speaking as if Alberu was beneath him.
He had thought that this man was a guard knight, but he was a Dragon.
Alberu could not believe it.
However, Cale continued to speak.
He still had a lot of things left to say.
“Ah, and I may explode to death in three days if things go wrong.”
“Well... for once, Cale told someone about his health condition...” Choi Jung Soo wasn't sure if that was really a good thing or not. Maybe he should have handled things with a little more tact, but this was Cale we were talking about, so that was clearly asking too much.
Alberu sighed heavily. “Great.” The sarcasm was very obvious.
Eruhaben understood his feelings but didn't dare say anything; after all, Cale had made an effort for once. They couldn't really blame him for anything, lest he misunderstand and stop telling them anything.
They all remained silent afterward, waiting to see what would happen next.
“What? You crazy-”
“Yes...” Bud couldn't help answering the very obvious question.
“Oh.”
Eruhaben let out an, ‘oh,’ as if he did not expect such a response from Alberu, who stopped speaking and brushed his face with both hands.
Cale continued to speak with a calm expression.
“There is an issue with my ancient powers. It is being handled with a temporary measure right now, however, it seems that I only have 3 days left.”
Alberu was at a loss for words after seeing how calm Cale was right now. He didn’t seem to be lying, and even then he knew that Cale would not be the type to lie about something like this.
And if he thought about it, there was a good chance what Cale was saying was true.
‘The young master-nim was coughing up so much blood that I was worried that something bad might happen, however, he controlled the battlefield with a calm demeanor afterward.’
Vice Captain Hilsman’s voice echoed in Alberu’s mind.
He knew that Cale always got injured or needed to recuperate after using his ancient powers.
Cale frowned. Hilsman had already caused him problems with his loose tongue. It was already his fault that whole “young silver shield master” business. He had to pay closer attention to the knight. He already had one Clopech, he didn't need a second fool.
“That is why it looks like I will need to act on my own for the next 3 days.”
‘This stupid idiot.’
Alberu wanted to swear at Cale, but held himself back.
A lot of sympathetic nodding here. They themselves didn't know what they would have done if Cale had thrown that in their faces like that.
He felt that Cale and he were similar people from time to time. They would use sly schemes from time to time in order to profit. At the same time, they acted differently when their goal was for the greater good.
“I take back everything I think here.” Alberu said it firmly and seriously.
Choi Han barely managed to hold back his laughter beside him.
The greater good.
“Bullshit...” The words had been spat out in Cale's direction, but they weren't sure if it was really him who had said them.
Crown prince Alberu was someone who walked with the weight of the greater good on his shoulder.
He finally started to speak after a long time.
“You have a 3-day break. Make sure that you return after that.”
He wanted to give Cale a longer break, however, he needed to say that Cale must return.
“I understand. I will listen to you since it is an order from the sun of the Roan Kingdom, your highness. I will come after the war to strip myself of the commander title. I will receive a lot of reward money, but please do not think about giving me a medal.”
“…You always have something to say. How can such a punk be the famed young master Silver Shield?”
Cale practically growled at these words, but several sounds of laughter could be heard in response to his reaction.
“I hate that title as well.”
Seeing Cale honestly seem to hate that title made Alberu ignore Cale, Raon, and Eruhaben as he headed out of the tent. He decided feigning ignorance about the two of them was the best course of action.
The entrance flap was opened and then closed again. Cale turned away from the closed entrance as he headed toward Eruhaben, who had created a teleportation magic circle on the ground in the tent.
“They did some research before they actually found the place where the old power was, but that's not interesting. Ah, Raon is also going through his first growth phase, but that won't be discussed either. Even though congratulations are in order here.”
Raon was beaming here, even though the compliments came from the god of death, they were still appreciated.
Eruhaben winced the moment his foot touched the ground.
“Oh no... I forgot the part with Ron *sigh*...” The mutterings that came out of nowhere drew everyone's questioning glances to the screen.
But they received no answer, so they turned to the assassin.
Ron had no choice but to respond to all the intrigued looks directed at him. “It's pretty much the same situation as with the crown prince. The young master needed help, so he informed me of his health condition.”
They nodded their heads in satisfaction.
“…This.”
He felt something that felt as if numerous needles were poking at his skin.
He could see the lake at the same time.
Cale’s calm voice reached his ears at that moment.
“I see why they call it the Grey Eye Forest.”
A lake in the shape of a human eye was in front of them.
The color of the water in that lake was grey.
Cale saw Beacrox stepping behind Eruhaben. It was as if his instincts were telling him to go hide behind the strongest person with Raon on his back.
“…I have never seen such a strong ancient power before.”
Eruhaben felt as if he could understand why it was called an arrogant power.
It was a magnificent lake, but also dangerous, according to the words of the ancient dragon.
“A violent feeling of needles stabbing at your skin. Are you okay?”
Eruhaben asked Beacrox, who was behind him, and Beacrox shook his head. The ancient Dragon immediately created a shield for him.
Beacrox looked much better once the shield was created.
“Was the old power really that strong?” It was the queen of the jungle who asked hesitantly. She felt responsible for Cale's condition at that moment. After all, the young master had to use her water to save his jungle. Even though she was also a little curious about the answer.
“I've never felt anything so strong-”
“No spoilers!” Eruhaben was unable to utter another word, as if the powers of the god had sealed his mouth. Then, with a frown at the screen, the magic dissipated.
Everyone noticed that the god was particularly... lively... at that moment.
He was at a loss for words the moment he saw the lake.
He had this eerie feeling that someone had tied him up and was observing him.
It was a terrible feeling.
It was a disgusting feeling.
They couldn't feel anything from the screen, but for some reason, they were particularly inclined to believe it.
It was a power that he did not want to be near nor even see.
Beacrox gulped and looked away from the lake.
Twitch.
He lowered his head at that moment. He had felt movement from inside the carrier just now. Beacrox had lowered his head to see if Raon had woken up, however, Raon was still limp.
Beacrox observed Raon for a while before hugging the carrier. He thought he had made a mistake.
However, the sensitive Dragon who could not see nor speak could still hear and feel.
He felt the eerie feeling as well.
Raon understood Cale’s situation and that he would go on to win this power. The Black Dragon’s heart started to beat wilder than ever before.
Eruhaben did not know about this as he looked toward Cale and asked.
“I haven’t felt something so violent in a long time. Should I create a shield for you? It will probably be difficult, even with your shield-”
He could not finish his sentence.
Boom-
The ground started to shake.
Cale heard the fiery thunderbolt’s voice again.
– Wow, damn it. I knew he was a cool guy! He’s taking the initiative just like I taught him to do!
“Hmm?” Bud didn't even need to ask before Cale spoke.
“It says here that it's the ancient power of fire.”
‘What?’
Cale turned his head without being able to respond to the voice after feeling the vibration traveling up his legs. The lake was shooting up into the sky.
Chhhhhhhh-
The grey water turned into a large spear.
‘…It looks ready to attack at any moment.
You don’t just earn ancient powers with weird methods?’
Cale started to frown.
The ground was still shaking, while the spear that shot up from the lake was starting to become sharper.
Chhhhhhhh.
The tip of that spear was directed right at Cale.
This time, Choi Han learned his lesson.
“Oh!” The Henituse family gasped in fear. They had remained silent since the beginning. And it was becoming really difficult not to scream in fear or tell Cale to be careful.
In order to earn an ancient power, the person who wishes to take the power must tackle it on their own.
‘Do I need to fight? Do I need to win against that spear?
Didn’t they say I just need to cuss, land the first hit, and convince him to cause trouble with me?’
“Of course, nothing is that easy.” Cale rolled his eyes at the screen.
He shouldn’t have believed these crazy ancient powers.
Cale had a disgusted frown on his face.
It was at that moment.
“Ugh.”
Beacrox groaned from inside the shield. The violent aura was giving him a migraine. Eruhaben created another shield layer around him before he looked toward Cale. He had not expected something like this either.
Fortunately, Cale was alive and well with them in the room. The battle was about to begin, and the young master's chances of survival were already looking grim.
“I’ve never felt such a violent and aggressive ancient power before! Will you be okay? Can you do it?”
Cale could understand the dragon's thoughts, but he still gave him a little more credit.
The ancient Dragon who was asking with concern flinched.
“…A violent aura?”
Cale sounded confused.
Eruhaben could see that Cale was frowning, but did not seem to be in pain.
“…You can’t feel anything? You don’t sense anything in this area?”
“No sir. It is just so so. I just feel like it would hurt if I was pierced by that spear?”
Eruhaben was at a loss for words.
‘He doesn’t feel anything? It’s strong enough to even make an ancient Dragon like me hesitate.’
“Really?” Many were speechless.
Some people thought Cale might be lying, but he really seemed to be doing well.
“Why?” Raon's innocent question forced Eruhaben to answer.
“I think it's because of the water that was still in Cale's necklace. It made him immune.”
Satisfied, the curious dragon nodded.
He could understand why the ancient Dragon Olienne chose to put a barrier around this area.
Cale really was fine.
However, he could tell that something was odd based on Eruhaben and Beacrox’s reactions.
Boom!
The ground shook once again.
To be more specific, the lake was rumbling, making the aftershocks reach Cale.
Chhhhh-
The tip of the grey spear pointed toward Cale. It was as if it was asking for a fight. That thought would end up being correct. He could hear the voice of the fiery thunderbolt.
– Looks like we need to fight first. He’s a guy who really likes to fight. Did he choose his trial to be a fight as well?
Cale started to frown.
“…Fuck.”
‘I need to fight when I’m already feeling woozy?’
“Weren't you feeling well at the time?” Eruhaben asked, confused, as he hadn't noticed anything wrong with him. Finally, apart from its broken plate
“Yes, just a little dizzy.”
Rosalyn, like everyone else, thought Cale was lying.
They knew from the screen and their memories that Cale was really dying, so how could he be feeling well?
It was the moment Cale let out a sigh.
The grey spear started to move.
Shhhhh-
Eruhaben flinched after seeing the incoming spear.
‘Should I help Cale? But he won’t be able to get the ancient power if I do that.’
This feeling of helplessness in the face of Cale's suffering had touched at least once every person present here, and they clearly did not appreciate it.
The ancient Dragon started to frown as he took a step toward Cale.
However, he did not take any more steps after that.
He could see Cale’s face.
He was smiling.
“Typical,” Choi Jung Soo said proudly.
Choi Han couldn't help but agree with his nephew, as did the rest of the people present.
Their Cale was the type to fight with all his might. Especially if he knew there was a chance of winning. They had all seen it in every battle they fought. This was even more true for those who knew Kim Rok Soo. He was a force to be reckoned with, no matter the situation. He would get back up and turn everything around.
And luckily for them... Choi Han thought of the little child he had seen in the temple test. If Kim Rok Soo hadn't fought, he would have lost him long ago, even before he knew him.
Shhhhhhh-
Cale could see the grey spear flying toward him.
He could hear the fiery thunderbolt’s voice at the same time. He could not help but laugh after hearing what it had to say.
– He could never win against any of us.
The Fire of Destruction recalled a memory from a long time ago.
– We drew many times.
A repressed power cannot defeat a free power. It was one thing if it repressed itself, however, a power that was repressed by another entity would not be able to win against a power that has the option to make its own decisions.
The fiery thunderbolt thought about two existences that had freely made their own goals and responsibilities, unlike the Water of Judgment.
– He always lost to the glutton and the stubborn Super Rock.
The glutton and the stubborn one.
Wood and earth.
The Indestructible Shield and the Scary Giant Cobblestone.
The repressed power had never won against them.
– Furthermore, the dominator dominates over the judge as well.
Cale recalled the small amount of the Dominating Water he still had in his possession.
He could feel the ground shake once again.
At the same time, he saw a silver shield opening up toward the spear.
The trial to earn an ancient power.
Cale still had powers that would allow him to overcome this wall.
They were all more or less eager to see what would happen next. Deliberately forgetting how the battle ended for Cale.