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🕑 Added 2025-03-17 18:00:46 +0000 UTC<The night after the sunset (9)>
Just as Cale's fingertips touched the divine item...
‘Huh?’
The divine item was a sculpture that was hard to tell whether it was an animal or a person.
It resembled the back of a human who was hugging an animal.
‘What is going on?’
He suddenly heard a weird noise.
“…….”
It resembled the howl of an animal.
Cale naturally looked toward the divine item.
‘The Howl of Sunset.’
It reminded him of the name of the divine item.
However, it was no ordinary howl.
- #% $)@%……!
He could not understand it at all.
It almost felt like a completely new language.
Cale could not figure out anything the divine item was saying.
However-
- Wow, did I get scared for a moment?
He got chills the moment he heard the howl.
The Dominating Aura mumbled almost in a gasp.
- What the hell? Why do I feel the aura of a god? Wow, I, the mighty Dominating Aura, got scared?
‘The aura of a god?’
Did that mean that a god's aura was currently within the Howl of Sunset?
‘It wasn't completely destroyed after being polluted by this black liquid?’
The moment Cale’s mind turned chaotic...
‘Should I show it to the Beast people?
Do I need to have them touch the divine item?’
It was truly only for a moment.
As numerous thoughts filled his mind in the short couple seconds...
Plop.
He heard an odd noise.
Cale looked toward the old mage.
“!”
He heard Ryan shout behind him at the same time.
"Slam your head down!”
He could not see what was going on with Ryan.
The moment he heard Ryan’s rough shouting...
Plop-
Cale looked at the hand that had been holding the old mage’s white hair.
Hair was still in his hand.
But the hair had been cut off and falling away from the head.
“Cale-nim!”
Choi Han's voice sounded urgent again.
‘The wings!’
Maren.
The young Dragon’s wings suddenly started moving and cut off the old mage's hair.
Cale’s hand was no longer holding him.
It was at that moment.
"Slam your head down!”
Choi Han could see Ryan pull his head up from inside the black liquid to shout.
Slaaash!
The little Dragon’s wings suddenly became bigger.
They resembled devil wings that Choi Han recalled reading in books during his time in Korea.
The now grotesque and black wings cracked as if they were breaking before they became longer.
Slice!
They now resembled blades as they were swung.
They seemed to have their own conscience.
“Cale-nim!”
The two wings were naturally attacking Cale.
Boom. Boom.
Choi Han’s heart was beating wildly.
These black things...
They were Dragon wings but they no longer looked like Dragon wings.
They made him think of something terrible.
The black liquid dripping down from the tip of the wings...
The wings that contained something even more dreadful than the black despair moved toward Cale.
The wings became so big that they were each taller than most average adults.
The large blades looked as if they would slice Cale’s body in half.
"Shit!”
Choi Han raised his sword.
The two wings attacked Cale.
Baaaaaaaaaang!
Baaaaang!
The explosions continued.
“Ah.”
A white gold barrier and a black barrier...
Two mana shields blocked the wings.
“Ah.”
Choi Han was relieved.
Eruhaben and Raon...
The two Dragons would not allow Cale to get hurt.
Choi Han looked toward the door where Raon should be.
He flinched the moment he saw Raon.
“Human, be careful!”
Raon looked extremely concerned.
Craaaaaaack.
Choi Han then heard something he didn't wish to hear.
He looked back in the original direction.
Crack!
The two Dragons’ shields shattered.
This was the first time Choi Han saw the two Dragons’ magic spell breaking so easily since they got stronger.
He could not believe it.
The three Saints. This wasn’t one of the three top Dragons nor the Dragon Lord.
This guy was just one of Ryan’s subordinates.
But these two Dragons were being pushed back by a mere subordinate?
“He’s a different breed.”
Choi Han heard a laughing voice at that moment.
He could see that Epley was laughing.
“We needed a weapon to fight against the gods.”
‘What?’
“Aren't you guys the pawns of gods? Isn’t that why you are trying to stop us from becoming a god? We needed our own weapons to fight.”
‘Then is this mage the weapon to fight against the gods?’
Choi Han’s mind turned chaotic when he heard Cale’s voice.
“Fuck!”
He sounded extremely annoyed.
Choi Han finally recalled how Ryan had told the guy to slam his head down.
The two large wings attacked Cale again through the rips in the barriers.
Baaaaang!
Baaaaang!
However, Cale stopped them.
He had the Indestructible Shield after all.
But that was not the issue.
The mage, who was now free since he cut off his hair...
The wings of his that were attacking Cale, despite looking like it, were actually not attacking him.
‘Shit!’
They were protecting the mage.
The extremely large wings created moments where Cale could not approach the mage by attacking.
The freed mage fulfilled his liege’s order.
Other than a small portion of the ground, this entire area was covered in the black liquid.
This was the reason Choi Han and the Dragons were all using flight magic to not touch that liquid.
However, there were three individuals touching the liquid right now.
Cale, Ryan, and the mage.
The mage was at the end of the path that Cale created for Choi Han in the beginning.
That small patch of ground that was cleared... He was standing at the end of it.
The mage’s body started to stagger.
He walked himself right into the swamp.
His body sunk upside down into the black liquid.
The wings continued to increase and decrease in size as they attacked Cale.
Baaaaang! Baaaaang!
Cale’s shield stopped them.
Unlike the magic shields, Cale’s shield endured without any issues.
“Is the world contained within as I thought?”
Epley mumbled while slowly withdrawing.
Her role would be finished once the mage’s head and face became completely covered in the black liquid.
“!”
However, Epley's eyes opened wide.
Crackle!
A large rose gold thunderbolt suddenly appeared in Cale’s hand.
That current struck down into the swamp.
Baaaaaang--
Just as the mage’s head was about to fall into the swamp...
The thunderbolt struck the spot first.
As before, the black liquid acted on instinct to retreat from the thunderbolt.
“Ah.”
The old mage’s whole body was unable to turn black.
He would not have any chances to do so from here.
As Epley scowled...
“Fuck!”
Cale swore loudly.
He made eye contact with the mage.
The mage’s entire face was unable to become dyed black.
“Phehehe.”
However, he was laughing.
Slash.
The wing cut off one of the mage’s wrists.
The hand instantly fell to the ground.
It fell into the withdrawn black swamp.
Plop.
The divine item in his hand also fell into the black swamp.
The divine item became completely dyed black.
There was nobody here to help Cale and stop the mage.
As the mage’s wrist was sliced off...
Baaaaang!
Ryan made his move.
He instantly pulled his body out of the black swamp.
He then struck down into the swamp with his fist.
Baaaaaang!
The swamp flipped over.
The black liquid shot up.
“!”
Eruhaben cast a shield and urgently rushed higher.
“Tsk!”
He would have cast the shield and charged in if he was by himself, but...
“...Oo...oooo......”
Letao was still slumped over his shoulder.
“Choi Han!”
The black liquid attacked Choi Han as well. Raon had to stop it.
“Shit!
Choi Jung Soo grabbed Raon and withdrew as the black liquid burst out of the door.
Choi Han, Choi Jung Soo, Eruhaben, and Raon...
Cale watched the divine item becoming black as the rest of his group was tied down.
Ooooooong---
The swamp started to fluctuate.
The fluctuation started from the spot the divine item fell in.
Chhhhhhhhh!
The mage opened up the two wings and flew up.
Not a single drop of blood fell from his sliced wrist. The inside of his wrist was completely black as well.
“!”
Cale got chills on his back at that moment.
- It’s overload.
He heard the Super Rock’s low voice.
The Gorge of Death.
The Super Rock used his powers for the first time at that place in order to stop the Dragon half-blood's overload.
“...What he did earlier was not overloading? This is the real overload?”
He heard Eruhaben's voice followed by the Super Rock.
- Cale. I will first turn your body firm.
Cale turned around.
He could see a Dragon that was covered in the black liquid that shot up with eyes glowing blue.
He looked like a human but his skin was starting to get covered in blue scales.
He looked neither like a human nor a Dragon.
Black liquid wrapped around him like tentacles.
It resembled when Witira used her water.
Cale realized it at that moment.
Imperial Crown Prince Adin, the one he fought against in the Mogoru Empire...
That bastard who had absorbed the black despair...
The guy who became similar to a black mage...
Ryan was the upgraded version of that bastard.
He heard Eruhaben shouting.
“How is a Dragon able to handle dead mana like this?!”
There was no time to answer that question.
Boom.
The moment Ryan stomped his foot, the black swamp fluctuated before a strand of black water ended up in his hand.
“…….”
The divine item was in his hand and he stomped his foot once more.
Boom!
His body immediately shot up.
He resembled a blue flame as he shot up with black water wrapped around him.
All of this had happened in an instant and Cale was naturally following behind him.
“...Fuck.”
The upward flying Ryan...
Cale could see beyond Ryan’s shoulder to see that night had now arrived.
Top and bottom... Everything was black except Ryan, who was glowing blue.
He resembled a Blue Wolf.
Cale felt an unexplainable sense of unease for the first time since coming to Aipotu. It was close to an instinctual warning.
- It's okay, Cale. He doesn’t seem to have become a god yet.
Cale shot up to the sky above the stage as he heard the Super Rock’s calm voice.
It was at that moment.
Boom!
Someone slammed down on a nearby roof.
“Huff, huff.”
Cale’s eyes opened wide after realizing the identity of the heavily breathing individual. His eyes clouded over after hearing the individual's voice.
“To s, save them-”
Huff. Huff.
He could see Lock breathing heavily.
Lock had silver fur with blue light.
He spoke with desperation.
“Someone keeps shouting for me to save them!”
Cale noticed that Lock was similar in size to this large Dragon, Ryan, when he stood up straight.
He knew Lock was large, but had he always been this big?
As Cale recalled Lock’s back when Lock moved to protect him at the Gorge of Death...
“I think it is the divine item-!”
“Ha.”
Cale laughed.
The weird howl he heard when he touched the divine item...
Lock had heard it.
Now that he thought about it, only Lock seemed to have heard it.
The unease completely disappeared.
He asked in his usual nonchalant tone.
"Do you still hear it?”
“Yes, young master-nim. It keeps getting quieter and more faint but......!”
Cale became certain after hearing Lock’s urgent voice.
The now completely black divine item in Ryan’s hand...
It was just the outer appearance.
‘But it hasn’t happened yet.’
The inside was not completely polluted yet.
“Haha-”
That changes things.
Cale’s face returned to normal.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Lock watched Cale as he felt his heart beating wildly.
He recalled what had happened a few moments ago.
While he had been looking for the mage with On, Hong, and Maren...
Boom. Boom. Boom.
He suddenly had a thought.
‘Why does my heart keep beating like this?
I've already gone berserk.
Is it because I'm anxious?’
Whether it was because he could relax a bit now or because the surroundings got quiet, he suddenly had the thought that this condition was weird.
He suddenly heard a voice at that moment.
‘Hmm?’
‘I want to know what’s going on, nya!’
‘What is it?’
On and Hong had looked at him oddly.
Lock realized that he was the only one who could hear the sound.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
He realized that his heart beat more the longer he heard the voice.
‘Hold on.’
Lock quickly got on top of a nearby roof.
He wanted to find the direction of the sound.
- Are you all alive?
He heard the voice.
Lock turned toward the stage.
The voice was coming from there.
The voice became clearer after he noticed it the first time.
- You should not suppress your natural instincts.
He could hear it well.
It was an odd voice.
He could not tell whether it was male or female, young or old.
He could not tell at all.
But it was a very firm yet gentle voice.
- Trust yourself.
- Being strong and being violent are two different things.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
His heart was running wild.
- Just because it gets stained does not mean that its true nature disappears.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
- The silence of the night is not fear but just that the sun has set. Do not cover the night with fear.
The clear voice suddenly started to disappear.
It was fading away.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
‘No.’
Lock subconsciously started moving.
He thought that he could not allow this sound to disappear.
His body was leading the way.
- It is not that I protected you all. You all protected yourselves.
The voice was saying things a master might give to their disciple on a last lesson.
- ...You.
“Huff. Huff.”
Lock’s breathing became heavier as he jumped across the roofs.
The faint voice changed at that moment.
- ...You can hear my voice?
‘Yes. I can hear you!’
He wanted to answer but he simply rushed along.
Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang---!
There was suddenly a loud explosion before something covered in black liquid shot up into the air.
It was the overloaded Ryan. Lock’s instincts told him something once he saw the item in Ryan's hand.
‘It’s the divine item.
This is the voice of the divine item.
The divine item has been speaking to me this whole time.’
Lock gulped after realizing this fact.
He had rushed here without thinking.
He ended up closest to Cale and Ryan.
The overloading Dragon...
Even without an explanation, seeing Ryan made Lock think about the Dragon half-blood’s overload in the Gorge of Death.
Lock had gone berserk there to protect Cale and Raon.
Of course, the situation was much more severe than back then.
He thought to himself.
‘S, should I step back?’
Lock wondered if he entered somewhere he should not be.
Cale, who was making eye contact with him, nonchalantly commented at that moment.
“I'm glad you are here.”
“Ah.”
Lock couldn’t help but laugh despite the urgent situation.
Cale’s back was still large, and just as he had stood in front of Cale and Raon at the Gorge of Death, he wanted to do it again.
