Vol 2. Chapter 420: Facing and Protecting (7)

The very first thing Cale saw when he opened his eyes in shock was—

[Sub Quest: ‘Conversation with the System’ triggered.]

[A conversation is requested!]

—a translucent window and Raon’s puffy, swollen eyes.

“Mm.”

The moment a groan slipped out of Cale without him meaning to—

—Cale. You’re still holding the knife.

He heard the Ancient Tree’s words, and Cale felt the weight of both his hands resting on top of his stomach.

—Your skin is still gray.

Cale lowered his gaze and looked at his own body.

He couldn’t see all of it because he was lying down, but the two hands outside the blanket were definitely gray.

Still, it was different from Choi Jung Gun’s case.

There aren’t bulging veins or anything.

The skin color was just gray.

—And you can let go of the knife now.

The Ancient Tree was right.

—Sniff, sniff.

The Sound of the Wind cut in as it sniffed the air.

—I can still smell the divine relic of the God of Chaos, but it’s different from before.

Cale put strength into his hands.

Twitch.

The knife really had become something he could let go of at any time.

The divine relic had gone quiet.

“H-Human!”

At that moment, Raon’s trembling voice rang out.

Glance.

Cale looked at Raon and froze.

“!”

Because moisture was slowly welling up in Raon’s round eyes.

“Human! Does that knife still hurt? Is it still not coming off? Should I smash the God of Chaos? Or should I smash the knife first?”

Raon looked ready to destroy the knife on the spot.

His eyes were blazing.

“No!”

That was why Cale opened his mouth in a hurry.

“Urgh!”

And then he let out a groan.

Maybe because he had suddenly spoken after three days, but his throat had gone hoarse, and it hurt a little.

“Human!”

Raon’s expression turned urgent, and Cale had the very real thought that Raon might really destroy something, so he shouted in a rush—

“I’m hungry!”

“!”

Raon’s already round eyes went even rounder.

“Oh.”

And then Raon’s expression brightened a little.

Because whenever their human said he was hungry, that meant he was getting better.

“Hehe.”

Raon rummaged around in his spatial dimension and pulled out an apple pie.

Cale opened his mouth.

As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Raon stuffed a slice of apple pie right into it.

“......”

With a slice of apple pie hanging from his mouth, Cale started chewing.

“Human, but you really aren’t in pain anymore, right? Your skin is gray! It looks like you were corrupted by chaos!”

Chew, chew.

“Ah, right! Human can’t talk right now! I can wait.”

Chew, chew.

Cale ate the apple pie.

He really had been hungry.

—I’m full.

The gluttonous priestess was still saying she was full.

—I haven’t digested it yet.

Cale paused.

You’re still digesting it too?

Back in Apitoyu, when they had faced the power unleashed by the saint of the God of Chaos—

the dominating aura and the Water that Devours the Sky had acquired a fragment of the power of chaos, and to digest it, Cale had needed to pass out.

Of course, this time he had been unconscious for three days.

And yet—

You still haven’t finished digesting it?

What in the world had the gluttonous priestess eaten?

Forty-three rituals.

The power that had been gathered for the descent of the God of Chaos.

The gluttonous priestess had eaten the water poured out by the divine relic that had been holding all of that power.

—Yeah. I think it’ll take more than half a year to digest it.

...Oh.

Cale decided not to think too much about how the gluttonous priestess was going to change.

The Indestructible Shield.

It was the power Cale used most, and it had been his very first power.

That power had grown a great deal up to now, but he had absolutely no sense of how it could possibly grow even more from here.

“Human, want more?”

Chew, chew.

Cale nodded as he watched Raon push the apple pie in so it wouldn’t fall out of his mouth while he lay there.

It’s good.

Apple pie.

Was it just that food tasted best after you woke up from passing out?

—Ridiculous.

He pretended not to hear the Ancient Tree’s lament.

“Ha. Unbelievable.”

Flinch.

He heard the voice of the ancient dragon Eruhaben.

Eruhaben-nim was here too?

For some reason, Cale felt a little awkward, but he brazened it out.

His gaze moved toward the direction the voice had come from.

Step, step.

Eruhaben was walking over.

Together with Raon, he had been taking care of Alberu and Cale.

“One second.”

Cale stopped Raon, who was about to put more apple pie into his mouth, and spoke to the ancient dragon.

“What about His Highness?”

“He’s fine.”

Eruhaben helped Cale sit up just as he was about to rise.

Cale’s gaze turned to the side.

“Alberu’s body is completely normal right now. I think it was a fainting spell caused by exhaustion, but physically he’s much better now. He just still hasn’t woken up.”

Alberu.

Even though waking up should have been the natural next step, he still had not awakened.

The [N O V E L I G H T] instant worry crossed Eruhaben and Raon’s faces, Cale opened his mouth.

“I met the God of Death in a dream.”

The moment he said that, a strange light flickered in the ancient dragon’s eyes.

His gaze turned to Cale.

“Then Alberu too—”

“He might be meeting the Sun God.”

Mm.

It was a guess that made a reasonable amount of sense, so Eruhaben nodded.

“Let’s wait a little longer for now.”

“Yes, sir.”

Cale nodded, but even so, he looked at Alberu with pity.

...If he’s been unconscious for three days, that’s going to be rough.

In the meantime, Alberu had been logging out whenever he got the chance and contacting the Roan Kingdom from the Third District. That was because Cale had been sending messages through the God of Death’s divine relic mirror to Alberu’s video communication orb.

That had all been for work.

While Alberu was unconscious, the others had surely found some way to inform the top brass of the Roan Kingdom that the Crown Prince had collapsed. Or maybe they hadn’t been able to.

Anyway—

...Once he wakes up, he’s going to have a lot to do.......

Crown Prince Alberu.

He really did seem a little pitiful.

The moment Cale thought that—

“Human! This is the Crown Prince’s first time fainting! Why are you looking at him like that? You’re way worse than the Crown Prince! Reflect on yourself!”

At Raon’s scolding, Cale couldn’t say a single thing.

This time, passing out had been a choice he had made himself, so he had nothing to say.

“......”

Eruhaben, looking at the silent Cale, sighed and shook his head.

“Cale. Are you really sure your body is okay?”

Mm.

Cale looked down at his hands.

Gray.

“Yes. I’m fine, and I think there’s probably a way to reverse it.”

His gaze turned to the empty air.

The translucent window.

[Sub Quest: ‘Conversation with the System’ triggered.]

A quest that simply requested a conversation.

The only unusual thing about it was that the other party was the system.

But for Cale, that was only natural.

“One moment. I need to talk to the system.”

At his words, Raon and Eruhaben nodded.

Eruhaben sat down in the chair placed between Alberu and Cale, and Raon rubbed his face against Cale’s thigh.

[Yes/No]

The moment Cale selected “Yes” to the conversation request—

Bzzzt—

A somewhat distorted conversation window formed.

And it was red, like Red Hand.

[$^@^& It’s been a while.]

But the conversation was more stable than before.

Bzzzt---

Mm.

The ringing that still tormented Cale’s ears remained the same.

Because of that, he judged that a long conversation would be impossible, so he said what he wanted first.

“Change this gray skin and the divine relic’s attribute to ‘nothingness.’”

He demanded it boldly.

“Quest or reward, I don’t care. Fix these two things.”

Fix them.

Cale simply told it to do it.

He had stopped the descent of the God of Chaos, after all.

The system ought to reward him for that.

[!@*#%]

But the system seemed to have something it wanted to say.

[@#% It all got expos@%^ed.]

“Mm?”

Cale paused.

“It all got exposed?”

What did?

Was there even anything that could get exposed?

The moment doubt entered Cale’s eyes—

Flinch.

Eruhaben stiffened.

Cale caught that movement, and the back of his neck prickled.

[!($%)5 As for what you requested, I’ll grant it#%&]

Anyway, the system said it would grant what he had asked for.

[@#$% However, it can only be done in quest form@#$% If it’s done as a reward, there is a risk of being found out!#%]

“Found out? You?”

This time, it wasn’t Eruhaben. It was Raon who flinched hard.

What is it?

What was with these dragons?

All at once, Cale started feeling uneasy.

Come to think of it, where am I?

He should have asked that first, but there had been so much he needed to check that the question had gotten pushed back.

[@#$% Will you also do me a favor, #$^% ?]

[@#% If not, I’m @%^ in danger.]

Bzzzt---

The ringing was getting stronger.

That meant the moment when the conversation would end was drawing near.

Cale found it odd.

The system seemed able to speak more easily than before, which meant its authority to handle things on its own had probably grown larger, and yet somehow it was acting even more cautiously.

Like it’s afraid of someone watching it—

Cale’s eyes sank.

“Yeah. I’ll help.”

Cale accepted.

[Thank yㅠㅠ]

After offering that final greeting, the system window vanished.

[A quest has been generated!]

[A quest has been generated!]

[A quest has been generated!]

Three quests popped up in rapid succession.

[Sub Quest: Obtain the skill ‘Purification of Chaos’!]

[Sub Quest: Change the divine relic’s attribute to ‘nothingness’!]

Two quests related to Cale’s skin and the divine relic.

[Sub Quest: Protect the ‘system’ within Transparent Co.!]

Huh?

The moment Cale saw that last quest, he felt like he understood the answer to the uneasy feeling he’d had.

“...Eruhaben-nim. What exactly happened while I was out? And where are we?”

As he looked at the ancient dragon, Cale was so focused on the new quests that he failed to pay attention to the quest he had already been carrying.

There was still one quest Cale had not yet finished.

[*The aftereffects of the Birth Ceremony are spreading rapidly!]

[*Beyond New World and into the Third District, a legend is being created!]

[*Reward Grade determination has been postponed!]

The quest Eruhaben Miru’s Birth Ceremony, which had shown a Completion Rate of over 300%.

But now, even the Completion Rate calculation for that quest had changed again.

[*There are signs that a new change is about to occur in the legend of the Birth Ceremony.]

[*An even greater legend is being born, and the legend of the Birth Ceremony appears likely to be contained within it.]

[*In that case, the Completion Rate will be calculated based on the greater legend.]

[Completion Rate: 412%]

At that same moment, all kinds of speculation were running wild in the New World community.

One post in particular had shot to the top.

===================

What if everything happening all over New World right now is about driving out the God of Chaos?

Then last time, over on the Seven Evils side, wasn’t the birth of the Mad Dragon part of that too?

And for the Western Empire quest too, didn’t the person who got that say they were from the Dark Kingdom?

But the baby dragon said they were the Dark Kingdom too.

And the Dark Kingdom and the Eighth Evils both kind of sound evil-aligned, don’t they? Isn’t there something going on there too?

===================

[Completion Rate: 415%]

The Completion Rate was rising steeply.

But Cale failed to notice it.

Instead, Eruhaben and Raon handed him several recording orbs.

“...What are these?”

Cale looked at Eruhaben, his uncomfortable feeling showing plainly on his face.

“Mm.”

Eruhaben answered briefly.

“For starters, our fight got broadcast.”

Huh?

“And thankfully, we managed to hide the system.”

Ah?

“Everything’s in chaos right now.”

What?

“Just watch.”

The recording orbs placed in front of Cale were items used by users who streamed based on New World, and the videos stored in them could be carried outside.

Hours of raw footage.

“The last one wasn’t made public. We caught the guys who recorded it.”

Eruhaben said that.

Raon spoke next.

“Human, I’m sorry! The users who came down into the gorge with us released everything!”

Ah.

Them.

Cale thought of the two users he had ignored in the middle of the fight.

“For reference, they’re with us right now.”

Eruhaben gestured to Cale.

“Go on. Watch.”

For some reason, Cale didn’t want to watch these videos.

But his hand naturally reached for the recording orb.

“The last one is the footage after you collapsed.”

Cale’s gaze turned toward Eruhaben.

“You’ll understand the whole situation.”

At those words, Cale picked up the orb immediately.

Then he played the video.

*****

“Human!”

Cale collapsing.

The ones who caught him were Raon, and the Heavenly Demon.

“...It’s fine now.”

Only after confirming that the knife in Cale’s hand had lost its strength did the Heavenly Demon place a hand on his body.

But—

This is serious.

Cale’s body was still gray.

And there wasn’t a trace of color in his complexion.

He’s lost too much blood.

The bleeding had been so severe that it was a wonder he had not died.

When the Heavenly Demon placed a hand near his heart, thankfully, it was beating steadily.

Even so, there was no question he was in critical condition.

And—

The Crown Prince.

Alberu Crossman.

He still let out faint groans, yet remained unable to fully come to.

Bzzzz—

He was different from the vibrating Sun Sword.

And more than that—

“The situation isn’t good either.”

To be honest, the situation was dire.

Standing atop the rock, the Heavenly Demon looked around.

The holy land was gone, and what now stood in its destroyed place was a gray forest.

Fortunately, all of their companions, including Rosalyn and Gashan, had gathered near the rock.

And the people from the Order of the Sun God were allies.

But most of them aren’t in normal condition.

Choi Han and Raon.

The two of them, less affected by the power of the God of Chaos, were relatively fine, but the rest of the group was in poor shape.

Glance.

Rosalyn in particular, who was being supported by Gashan, had blood at the corner of her mouth.

The allies are a problem, but—

The enemies were a problem too.

The beings still alive, surrounding the area near the rock where the allies stood.

The enemy.

Tens of thousands of believers.

The leadership of the Order.

Even the Wanderers.

All of them were still alive.

There’s no need to worry about the Order.

The eye of the God of Chaos that had revealed itself along with the saint’s death.

The leaders of the Order had still not properly regained their senses after seeing it.

And the believers were the same.

Especially those who had come back from the edge of death—they were only staring blankly at Cale and the gray forest.

Which means—

That meant there was only one problem.

“The Wanderers.”

The voice of the ancient dragon rang out.

This one was definitely enduring somehow even now.

But neither the ancient dragon nor the Heavenly Demon was in normal condition either.

Clang!

There was one person who stepped in front of the two of them.

“Choi Han.”

“Leave them to me and run.”

Choi Han’s gaze turned toward the two Wanderers.

Cho and Ryeon.

They were not looking at Choi Han.

At only one person.

Cale Henituse, collapsed on the ground.

Ryeon, especially, was staring at him as if trying to bore straight through him.

Then a voice reached her ears.

“Will you fight?”

A straight voice that touched her ear even from quite a distance away.

The black-haired, black-eyed swordsman was pointing his sword at her.

“......”

Ryeon did not answer.

Cho whispered to her.

“The Third Emperor will be here soon anyway.”

The Five Colored Blood hunter family.

Among the Wanderers belonging to that family, there were only three people with Five-Colored-grade individuality.

Of those three, though he was the lowest-ranked, one bearer of a Five-Colored-grade individuality would arrive here around sunrise.

“......”

Instead of answering, Ryeon stretched one hand down loosely.

Crack—

Cold air slowly began to gather around her, and frost formed over her hand—

“......”

“......”

Since teleportation was impossible, Choi Han and the others grouped together around Cale and Alberu, releasing each of their own powers.

Of course, while remaining ready to flee at any time with flight magic.

—Rosalyn. You run.

Eruhaben’s voice reached Rosalyn’s ear.

—Take Cale and Alberu.

—Raon is going with you too, so you’ll be able to move the sacrifices as well.

Damn it.

Rosalyn bit her lip.

She hadn’t even done that much in the last fight, yet she had taken major damage.

As someone who didn’t even possess the energy to become individuality, it hadn’t been easy for her to endure that chaos.

Gashan and Rosalyn.

The two of them were probably in the worst condition after Alberu and Cale.

And—

He must be struggling too.

Eruhaben had to be struggling as well.

Because he didn’t have individuality either.

And yet he endured.

Because he was someone who gave great weight to the name dragon itself.

The moment Eruhaben, Choi Han, and the Heavenly Demon took their stand against the Wanderers—

Damn it!

Rosalyn squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again.

She did not say something foolish like she would stay and fight.

Wooo—

She drew up the last of the mana she had left.

Escape.

She would at least do that properly.

She lifted her head.

It was still the dark moon night.

But there was no gray left.

A clear night sky.

That was where they had to escape to.

“!”

At that moment, she froze.

“Ah.”

And then she smiled.

“!”

“......!”

It wasn’t just her.

All the powerful figures on the battlefield froze and lifted their eyes upward.

The gorge.

The Death Precipice.

Countless gazes were looking down on it.

They were not the people who had been sacrifices.

They were the eyes of many different kinds of lifeforms.

Rosalyn opened her mouth.

“They’re residents of the Demon Realm.”

She had traveled through the Demon Realm with Alberu.

Her gaze turned in one direction.

“They came from the Dark Elves’ side.”

There had been a reason she had visited the Demon Realm with Alberu.

It was because of the quest Alberu had.

===================

Main Quest 1 [Become the first emperor among the Dark Elves!] in progress

-Linked Sub Quest 5 [Earn the recognition of the Witch of the Jungle.] in progress

===================

The Witch of the Jungle.

She was a Dark Elf.

And Alberu and Rosalyn had met the Dark Elves of the Demon Realm before.

Rosalyn’s gaze turned toward Alberu, who had lost consciousness.

“They’re allies, at any rate.”

Countless Dark Elves were looking down into the gorge.

Their gazes, too, were fixed on Alberu.