Grigori and Naur waited for everyone to quieten down enough before she turned to address her guests.
“We’ll look at a short fragment of a record that followed this, and then I will be taking Bud and Glenn to heal them…” She announced so that everyone would understand what was to follow.
“Ahem… Goddess-nim… can we please see how they dealt with the dead mana on the island? Did Young Master Cale perhaps call the Dark Elves or the Necromancer to take care of it maybe?” TBOAH!Bud asked, he was trying not to appear distressed or panicked, but the people closest to him could clearly see how tightly he was clenching his fists and trying to remain in his seat.
TCF!Bud had a somber expression on his face and he decided to keep quiet and observe how the Goddess would answer TBOAH!Bud’s desperation.
“Well, that’s exactly what I plan to show everyone now.” Grigori replied and her gentle and kind smile that gave off an innocent and unassuming naivety, tricked everyone into forgetting how scary she had been earlier. TBOAH!Bud and TBOAH!Glenn both let out strong sighs of relief.
“Thank you, thank you Goddess-nim!” They both gushed with relief. TBOAH!Glenn ran a trembling hand through his hair before he glanced toward their counterparts.
“Let’s get to it!” Grigori advised them once everyone settled down again.
<Chapter 353: Tears (2)>
It was currently 10 am. It was two hours before their set time to infiltrate Wind Island to find Cale. The wind around Wind Island had decreased for the past week. And approximately ten minutes ago, the whirlwinds around Wind Island had suddenly disappeared.
“…So this is Wind Island?”
Bud’s close friend mage Glenn, the only survivor of the Poeff household, had a blank expression on his face.
“How terrible.”
“This was the first time I’d ever seen Wind Island…” TCF!Glenn admitted and TBOAH!Glenn nodded in agreement.
“When the record showed the island earlier that was the first time I saw it too.” TBOAH!Glenn added after seeing the way everyone around them was looking at him.
“Remember only the gatekeeper or someone with a wind attribute Ancient Power can enter the island…” TCF!Bud reminded everyone in the Hall.
The black island became more and more visible as the wind disappeared. It really was fitting to be one of the restricted areas. However, he did not have time to pay attention to that. Something quickly flew over and landed right in front of Mercenary King Bud Illis.
‘…A Dragon.’
Mage Glenn could see the ancient Dragon glaring ferociously at Bud. His eyes that had already turned to the round eyes of a reptile were staring at Bud.
“Bud Illis, you said that is just land that was poisoned by dead mana?”
“…Excuse me?”
Eruhaben started to frown after seeing Bud blankly asking back.
“Eruhaben-nim?” Ron cautiously approached the ancient Dragon.
The Palantír continued to play to reveal the reactions the various others had to the sight of the island when they began sensing the dead mana.
Ron who was watching Choi Han heard an odd noise. It was not the sound of the wind. The majority of the wind surrounding Wind Island had disappeared, leaving the area calm. However, they heard something weird. Ron’s gaze slowly headed toward the black island that was becoming more visible.
The island was shaking.
“It’s crying!”
Ron looked toward Raon. He could see Raon putting black mana around himself.
“It’s crying from the island.”
‘Crying? Who is crying? Is it Cale?’
TCF!Deruth unexpectedly flinched, because the moment the small dragon had said someone was crying he had thought that it was ridiculous because how could something like an island cry, meanwhile TCF!Ron’s immediate thought was that Cale was crying. TCF!Deruth didn’t know why he thought like that, he only knew that he was still a disappointing father to Cale because Cale wasn’t his first priority.
Ron’s head filled with many questions as he heard the ancient Dragon’s low voice.
“That island is not just poisoned by dead mana.”
He had not known because it was tightly guarded by the wind. Both the island and the area around the island had been guarded by strong winds such that he could not feel it.
Silently having his self-depreciating meltdown in his corner, everyone else continued watching the record. However TBOAH!Eruhaben was watching. His counterpart’s expressions in this record with intrigue and interest since he already reassured himself with the reminder that this was a record of the past and that Cale Henituse was still alive and safe.
The ancient Dragon’s finger pointed to the black mountain.
“That black mountain. There is a significant amount of dead mana inside that mountain.”
Ron’s expression changed.
“And that island, no, that mountain is shaking right now. It is shaking like a volcano. Do you get what I mean?”
Beacrox, who had been quietly standing there, chimed in.
“Didn’t you say that the young master-nim is in a temple underneath that black mountain?”
However, nobody responded to his question.
“Shit.”
The Palantír showed how TCF!Bud and TCF!Glenn took off into the sky, as well as how Eruhaben moved faster than them, and then off course it did not fail to mention that Raon was even faster then Eruhaben as he surrounded Choi Han, Ohn, Hong, and himself with a silver shield while they charged toward the black island. By the time they made it closer to the island the record stated that the rumbling was even stronger and the ground looked like it was about to crack at any moment.
Choi Han bit down on his lips and heard Raon’s voice in his ear.
“I know our human! He is probably unable to come out because he is trying to get rid of the dead mana in that mountain! I’m certain of it! The human is a good person!”
Choi Han thought about how Cale had purified the golems and black despair during the Whipper Kingdom’s battle against the Empire.
Cale had the power to purify that dead mana. However, what had happened to Cale after that? Choi Han clearly remembered that moment. Cale had fainted after purifying those things.
The images that appeared as flashbacks from TCF!Choi Han’s memories were terrifying. The images of them taking down the golems in the Jungle was nothing compare to the god-like power that Cale was unleashing in TCF!Choi Han’s memories.
“Oh my god!!” TBOAH!Rei clutched his chest in shock and something akin to fear prickled at TBOAH!Rex mind and body.
“And he’s probably starving because he ran out of food!”
“…He’s a total idiot!”
“So frustrating!”
The children averaging nine-years-old raised their voices. However, they could not hear each other very well right now.
The rumbling within the Palantír was getting louder and becoming slightly more distinguishable. However the sound was haunting and terrible.
It was similar to the cries of the people who had lost their lives and became the black despair. Choi Han bit down on his lips again.
Among the most sensitive beings in the Palantír Hall, many of them cringed and grit their teeth in anger and frustration.
“These people all died in the ancient times, but it’s still not… it’s not right!! They’ve been suffering like that all this time!” TCF!Tasha choked, her angry voice sounded like she was fighting the urge to cry. Her counterpart was handling this discovery no better than she was however, neither of them commented any further as the record continued.
“Step back.”
Choi Han and the children averaging nine-years-old flinched. Someone appeared next to them at the temple entrance. It was Eruhaben. Eruhaben who had tens, no, hundreds of white gold orbs around him was blocking their way. Choi Han looked at Eruhaben’s pale face and the hundreds of white gold orbs that were giving off a dangerous current and started to speak.
TBOAH!Eruhaben raised an eyebrow and stared with a frown of concentration as they called him – no, called his counterpart - “Goldie” and told him that he would take over and advised him to “get some rest” and finished of the blow by calling him “gramps”.
However the atmosphere soon changed when TCF!Eruhaben spoke in a low voice to ask Raon if he could not feel it. He then promptly ordered Raon to step back and activate his shield.
Raon was about to respond to Eruhaben. It was because he could not step back as he needed to save Cale. However, Raon’s round eyes became even wider. The rumbling island. The mountain at the center. Raon’s eyes became wider as he looked at that mountain. He then slowly started to smile. His small front paws subconsciously hit each other as if he was clapping.
“Crap… that’s too adorable!!” Rok Soo choked with disbelief. His siblings from both timelines nodded in agreement.
“I’m adorable too, right?” the TBOAH!Black Dragon asked and looked up at Sherritt for an answer.
“Yes, my son, you are adorable and precious too!!” She immediately answered and embraced him, cuddling him and then gently cupping his face between her palms and leaning in to place her forehead against his.
The rumbling started to get even worse. None of the whirlwinds surrounding Wind Island was there anymore. However, the small Dragon started to shout.
“…Human!”
He looked toward the black mountain.
Underneath that mountain… There was a sound that was beating in rhythm like a heartbeat. That sound started to get louder. Raon could feel it.
Inside that mountain that was full of dead mana… He could feel a hot presence coming from deep underneath it. He was used to it. It was a power belonging to someone who was always with him, someone he was always looking at. The explosions started to get louder. The children averaging nine-years-old could see it.
“See, we were right, Young Master Cale-nim is happiest when he’s blowing shit up!” Archie insisted gleefully.
And just as he said that, the black island being shown on the Palantír started to crack and the mountain began to break down.
Raon could feel it. The faint presence of heat was slowly getting hotter and shooting up from the bottom to the top of the island. The Dragon who had subconsciously clasped his short front paws together started to shout.
“Human!”
‘It’s the human! This is the human’s fire power! It is the power that got rid of the black despair!’
Raon knew that Cale was fine, but the thought of him potentially being in danger made Raon want to go save Cale. Feeling Cale’s presence made it so that Raon was unable to control the feelings bubbling up inside of him.
Many occupants of the Palantír Hall were empathizing with the young dragon. They couldn’t deny that on many occasions they had felt similarly, of course they were nowhere near as powerful as the great and mighty future Dragon Lord, but they still could not help rushing to Cale the second even the slightest whisper of a rumour of Cale being in some kind of danger reached their ear.
And finally… A loud explosion appeared at the top of the mountain’s peak. It was similar to an erupting volcano. The mountain peak split open and something started to shoot out. It was not lava like in a volcano, it was the black dead mana.
However, Raon was smiling brightly.
“It’s our human!”
The audience of the hall could only watch in awe as the dead mana was gobbled up by the rose-gold coloured fire. Right before their eyes they saw all black liquid disappear, and a large rose gold fire shoot up through the black mountain. They could also see the wind that was surrounding the fire.
The whirlwinds that had disappeared were breathing life into the fire. The fire that was getting stronger from the wind gobbled up the dead mana. The wind was supporting it so that the fire could burn stronger and wider.
“It really is all burning up!” TBOAH!Bud gasped under his breath as a choked feeling of gratitude and relief filled his heart. Everyone could see the mountain burning red as if it had never been dyed black. They could also see a gust of wind which pierced through the fire and the person inside that gust of wind - Cale Henituse.
He looked down at the mountain while holding the ancient artifact and the top’s whip in his hands. Severance from the world. Such a thing did not exist here. Cale subconsciously started to speak to the people rushing toward him.
“I’m relieved.”
In addition.
“…We’re all alive.”
Cale could feel that he, along with everyone else here, were alive.
Back then his mumbling hadn’t made sense to them, but now… now that they knew about what he had been through and what he had seen during the test, it made perfect sense to them all.
He made an expression that he couldn’t tell whether he was laughing, crying, or frowning. It was because Cale did not know what kind of expression he should have right now.
TCF!Eruhaben grimaced, he remembers that expression on his face too, but back then he’d just been so relieved that Cale was alright and safe that he hadn’t spared a moment to stop and think about the reason he would be making such a face, his expression had also soon changed into a smile as Cale spoke to them back then, so it wasn’t entirely TCF!Eruhaben’s fault.
“Well, it’s no use regretting it now…” TCF!Eruhaben told himself. He then decided to be more attentive to Cale and things like this in the future.
<Chapter 354- Tears (3)>
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.
“Oh dear!”
“Oh my…”
Litana and Jopis were dropping mild exclamations for the benefit of those who were too gobsmacked to make a sound.
– 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?’
“Should we be concerned Your Majesty?” TCF!Rei whispered to TCF!Rex. TCF!Rex scoffed.
“Is Commander Cale-nim an entity we can afford to offend?” he asked the old alchemist beside him. TCF!Rei immediately recalled who exactly he was saying they needed to be wary off and nodded - correcting himself.
“You’re right Your Majesty, that was a foolish concern.”
The two representatives from the Mogoru Kingdom ignored their clueless counterparts and returned their attention to the Palantír in order to continue watching.
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.’
Grigori purposely left out the detail that Cale could only hear the Wind Elementals whilst holding the Top’s Whip, she did this in order to avoid any future temptation from taking root in the hearts of the few people who could some day be swayed by their greed, even if they couldn’t hear the Elementals - since Cale and Raon who knew how the whip worked were currently resting, Grigori didn’t bother sharing the information and TCF!Mila wisely kept what she knew to herself.
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?’
Laughter boisterously filled the hall, it came from multiple locations and TCF!Bud felt his cheeks heat up from the gawking stare he received from his counterpart.
“It’s not my fault!!” TCF!Bud whined pitifully.
TBOAH!Bud sighed heavily, and nodded, conceding defeat, what happened to the island did not matter, what mattered was saving his family and friends who lived on the neighbouring island.
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?’
“The fact that he’s crazy enough to actually pull something like this off is terrifying… Son, who in the hell did you send to take your place in their timeline?!” TBOAH!Deruth demanded with bated breath. His eyes were wide with something akin to fear and amazement.
“Hmmm… well, you could say that I sent the best of the best that Earth 1 had to offer… but technically speaking all I did was make a deal…” Kim Rok Soo humbly replies, but there is not a single thing that’s humble about the wicked smirk on his face.
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.
“Wow nya~! They’re so used to it that they even already know their roles!” TBOAH!Ohn commented in surprise. Beside her, TBOAH!Hong lounged out kneading the cushion in front of him. He agreed with his sister, but he was a little bored without his counterpart here. TCF!Hong was cool and had many incredible stories that he wanted to hear more of. He kept respectfully quiet though because he could see that his sister was concentrating on these records.
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 goose bumps 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.
“Wait a damn minute!!” TBOAH!Choi Han suddenly exclaimed. Everyone froze and turned to look at him, surprised by the sound of indignation and outrage in his tone.
“What the hell is that?!” TBOAH!Choi Han demanded.
“What the hell does it look like?” TCF!Choi Han blinked back at his counterpart with a snarky and annoyed look on his face.
“Ho, so this one knows how to make that face too…” TBOAH!Ron muttered just loud enough for his son and their counterparts to hear.
“He sure does… but he only shows it whenever the Young Master isn’t around.” TCF!Beacrox replies conspicuously.
Before a fight could break out, Naur continued the record and Grigori flicked her wrist causing her power to fasten the unruly ones to their seats and hold them immobile until they calmed down. TBOAH!Choi Han took a long while to do so, however the record on the Palantír continued regardless.
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. Cale’s hands were pointed toward the sky. 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.
“Wow…” TBOAH!Ohn was truly in awe of her counterpart’s power and control.
Everyone watched in awe as the sky turned red and then a fiery thunderbolt came crashing down onto the black island. The expressions of shock matched TCF!Bud’s expression in the Palantír.
The rose gold coloured 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.
“What?! Wait… is that even possible?” TBOAH!Alberu asked sceptically. “For the wind to blow out the fires from the thunderbolts?!”
“Why wouldn’t it be possible?” Kim Rok Soo countered him, “This is Cale… the guy who got away with blowing an entire Hais Island out of existence…”
“Right… right… forgot about that.” TBOAH!Alberu mumbled as he nodded to him.
Everyone watched along with TCF!Bud, as small whirlpools began to cover the black island as fire and thunderbolts rained down and threatened to burn away everything. However the wind roared atop the fire – as instructed it did not put out the fire. However it did begin to mix together to create a “red wind”. That red wind began 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-coloured 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!’
“That’s—” TCF!Obante stopped himself as he and TCF!Tasha began to study this record in order to figure out what exactly it was about Cale Henituse that had this magnetic effect on everyone around him.
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. Rose gold coloured 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 coloured ashes. Things were changing underneath the ashes. The Wind Island was slowly regaining its colour after tens of thousands of years.
The wind appeared again and gathered up those rose gold coloured 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.
“Right, that’s the same for us too. Young Master Cale-nim also asked the same about the Hais Island, before he decided to…” Paseton trails off, however Archie is only too happy to continue.
“He erased it from existence!!” Archie declared with so much enthusiasm that it sounded suspiciously fanatical.
“So there weren’t any living beings on the island?” TCF!Zed asked them.
“Does Arm count? What about the mermaids who were under the island?” Witira asked, she was only moderately interested in the conversation, but she’d been studying Paseton’s actions and reactions ever since they arrived here. He seemed extremely invested in this account.
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 coloured 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. Cale opened up his palm after feeling something touching his cheeks. The rose gold coloured ashes were falling from the sky like flower petals. A beautiful red colour 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 coloured 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.
“You probably already know this, but I’ll say it plainly just in case you don’t… Cale was extremely relieved to see each and every one of you.” Grigori announced and then stood up and approached the pair of Bud and Glenn from the two timelines.