Grigori shot out of her seat in an instant and reappeared a moment later beside the wailing child, reaching out she placed her hand upon both TBOAH!Lily and TBOAH!Basen, effortlessly using her divine power to fuse their respective souls and erase the traumatic scars left behind by the despair these two children had felt in their timelines.
Both of them soon passed out and Grigori flicked her hand and a bed appeared in the back of the room a moment later Kim Rok Soo and TBOAH!Violan picked up TBOAH!Basen and TBOAH!Lily respectively and gently lay them down on the bed. She spoke quietly to TBOAH!Violan – reassuring her that her children were safe and were merely asleep in order for her divine power to work on removing the remnant traces left in them by the God of Despair. They soon all returned to their seats and Naur once again continued to narrate the records that were showing the scene on the Palantír.
Cale gasped in shock. Just hearing about it made it hard to breathe. It made him recall the test he had to go through on Wind Island to get the golden top’s whip.
This time Cale flinched and TCF!Ron and TCF!Eruhaben who had been paying close attention to him since moments ago felt their skin prickle and their eyes naturally narrowed with suspicion as they recalled that even until now Cale still refused to tell them what kind of test he’d done during that one week on Wind Island to fortify his Sound of the Wind Ancient Power. They glanced toward Grigori wondering if at some point she would also reveal that scene – if only to quench their curiosity.
It was a future Cale never wanted to see. Kim Rok Soo was talking about that future.
TCF!Eruhaben and TCF!Ron shared a look of understanding and both decided to make the request later – at a preferably more appropriate time. For now they silently remained observant and bidding their time. Especially since the words Kim Rok Soo was saying on the Palantír were devastating enough.
“After taking over the Eastern continent, the White Star’s first target on the Western continent was the Roan Kingdom. More specifically, it was Puzzle City. He started from Puzzle City, then went to the northeast region, and then the southeast region. I don’t know why he started with Puzzle City as his first target.”
Kim Rok Soo didn’t know, but Cale knew.
Those of the TCF!World also knew why he would start with Puzzle City now too, but they all held their silence when the saw that their counterparts from the TBOAH!World were entirely ignorant of the reason. Their respect for Cale, which everyone from the TCF!World thought could not grow any more, swelled to a new zenith.
‘It was probably so that he could do the summoning ritual for the sealed god in Puzzle City.’
He could predict what the White Star would have been thinking about.
“King Zed Crossman died in the battle against the White Star, while crown prince Alberu Crossman fought many battles against the White Star to recover the Roan Kingdom’s eastern areas. Choi Han, Rosalyn, and Lock helped Alberu with that.”
At hearing of his father’s death in the previous timeline, TCF!Alberu made a distressed sound before clenching his fists and reminding himself that this was something that Cale had also prevented. His endearing adoration toward his sworn brother grew stronger and he swallowed thickly to pay attention to the rest of the record.
Cale started to speak.
“That war took close to twenty years?”
“Yes. It continued until I turned forty. The Roan Kingdom protected the palace and its western territories and continued to fight against the White Star while he invaded and conquered the Whipper Kingdom, Breck Kingdom, and other areas. We were extremely persistent. We truly looked like a kingdom that had survived through many things for a very long time.”
Now not only TCF!Toonka and TCF!Harol groan in protest, TCF!Rosalyn and TCF!Litana whimper as well. They can imagine already what their kingdom’s ending must have looked like. For one land, the Golems would have scorched the kingdom. Another would have been overrun by bears and dead mana bombs after the war at the Gorge of Death and finally TCF!Litana knows for sure that without Cale Henituse, her jungle would have been entirely drenched in Dead Mana and erased from existence.
Given what the Empire had done, even the Alchemy Fire they’d set to Sector 1 of the jungle didn’t anger her as much as what they’d planned to do in the end. She bows her head and thanks the gods for being so merciful and for sending Cale Henituse to them. She has seen her counterpart, TBOAH!Litana has an aura of defeat so thick around her that TCF!Litana feels nauseous and dizzy just looking in her direction.
A war that would continue for about twenty years… Cale clenched his fists thinking about how ruined both the Eastern and Western continents would have been. The story that happened after volume 5 of The Birth of a Hero was one that Cale didn’t want to happen.
The people of the TCF!World feel their gazes soften toward the trembling tone they hear in Cale’s thoughts from the Palantír – his sincerity melts away their despair and replaces with the warm caresses of hope and tender affection. Selfless, worrisome Cale, the one who selfishly seeks world peace in order to attain his dream of being a slacker truly is precious and dear to them all.
The smile was gone on Kim Rok Soo’s face and was replaced by fatigue from the long period of war.
“The Roan Kingdom continued to recruit people as we needed soldiers to fight against the White Star and his subordinates. I signed up for it.”
Kim Rok Soo looked down at his arm. He had been happy to see all the scars on this body when he first woke up in it. The owner of this body must have suffered a lot too. He has scars all over his body as I did. Such thoughts helped him start to like this body.
Their gazes prickled at Kim Rok Soo's face, and so he glanced casually toward those on the TCF!World side who were staring at him, but then he turned his gaze forward when he felt a warm furry body move to curl up in his lap. It was the silver kitten – Ohn. Cale’s eldest daughter. He smiled gently at the small kitten and softly began to pet her head, noticing Cale beside him had his arms coiled around something invisible on his lap.
Meanwhile, the red kitten was currently seated in TCF!Alberu’s lap. Rok Soo doesn’t know when exactly the TCF!Alberu had left his seat and come over to take the available spot beside Cale, but he isn’t surprised, he’d noticed earlier that TCF!Alberu had been eyeing the spot ever since Kim Rok Soo had sat down beside Cale, he’d only resisted the temptation to come over and claim it earlier because the kittens and their invisible sibling were the ones who were sitting in it.
“I needed to get revenge. I needed to get revenge on the White Star who destroyed our territory and my family. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to kill that bastard, but I thought I could only die in peace if I could even leave a damn scratch on him.”
Kim Rok Soo was looking up into the air.
“And I finally got the chance.”
The corners of his lips slightly went up.
“The strong individuals throughout the Eastern and Western continents gathered together with Choi Han at the center. Crown prince Alberu rallied together the survivors from the kingdoms that fell while opposing the White Star and the kingdoms that were still fighting against him as well.”
Kim Rok Soo’s heart still beat wildly when thinking about that time.
“We headed for Puzzle City after hearing that the White Star was preparing for something in Puzzle City.”
That was the start of the Great Battle.
“It was such an intense battle. So many people died. I was lucky to last quite a while in it, but it was only because I was trapped underneath ally corpses.”
Those who had been there for the final war against White Star that happened in Puzzle City flinched at the sight on the screen. For those of the TCF!World being buried under ally corpses was something they hadn't experienced due to Cale's immaculate preparations for the war. So, to see the images of what could only have come from the TBOAH!World was horrifying enough.
Kim Rok Soo’s eyes were full of an odd fiery passion.
“It was then! That’s when I saw it.”
His gaze turned toward Cale.
“The White Star grabbed Choi Han’s arm with his hand that was releasing smoke. He then said the following.”
Boom. Boom.
Kim Rok Soo’s heart was beating wildly.
He recalled the things he heard the White Star saying as he laid there being crushed underneath ally corpses.
“Time is warped oddly for you.”
He had realized it at that moment.
“That bastard has my mother’s power.”
Whimpers of distress came from all around the hall. Even though they were already preparing for the blow, it still hit them hard.
Kim Rok Soo had then made eye contact with the White Star, who was wearing a mask that covered everything above his nose.
“The White Star found me and shot a fire toward me. That was how I ended up in danger of dying.”
“…Is that when you made the deal with the God of Death?”
“Yeah.”
It made sense to everyone now why TBOAH!Cale had accepted the deal and how he hadn't abandoned anyone - there really had been no one left for him to abandon there.
Kim Rok Soo stopped there and took a breath. His hand that was holding the curtain was already full of sweat.
“I learned about how my mother died while making that deal with the God of Death.”
The conditions the God of Death offered the real Cale Henituse was that as soon as he returned to the moment he met Choi Han, the starting point that could change the fate of our world, he would go into the body of a person named Kim Rok Soo in a different world.
Both the TBOAH!Henituse family and the TCF!Henituse family also realize something, according to the offered deal proposed by the God of Death, the TBOAH!Cale had never been given the choice to decline the transmigration. So, even if he wanted to stay in their world after reversing time, that wasn't part of the deal.
“It was because my condition was to learn the truth about my mother’s death as well as saving my territory and family.”
Kim Rok Soo recalled his conversation with the God of Death.
‘If you go into the body of the person you are about to possess, that will be enough to change the fate of this world. That is all I can tell you.’
He did not share this part with Cale Henituse.
Instead, he told him the truth about his mother’s death.
“My mother had gone to Harris Village to secretly hide a portion of her ancient power.”
Cale couldn’t help but ask.
“You can transfer an ancient power while you are alive?”
Ancient powers were supposed to remain in the place where the user died.
“Yeah. It’s possible.”
Kim Rok Soo had a sad smile on his face.
“As long as that person is willing to break their plate.”
TCF!Eruhaben and TCF!Mila went rigid.