Chapter 368 – Night Has Arrived (1)

Cale was suddenly at a loss for words.
It was not because he was afraid of the white Dragon's gaze.

Her eyes seemed to show the quiet cries of a person whose heart was torn into pieces.

Squeeze.
Cale lowered his head.
He could see Raon's front paws that were clenching onto his clothes and shaking.

He could see that Raon's eyes were full of anger.
It was not just the white Dragon. The white Dragon was not the only one who was quietly crying and screaming in this situation.

Cale tightly hugged Raon.
He then started to speak.

"Yes, he is alive."

However, Cale's voice was shaking.
It was not because of fear or shock.

Anger.

Cale's insides were burning up with a whirlpool of emotions.
It was at that moment.

"That motherfucking bastard!"

He heard an angry shout. Everybody looked toward the source of the shout.

Boom! Boom!

Mercenary King Bud Illis was continuously stomping on the ground unable to contain his anger.

"How can a person do something like that on purpose? How can a person, no, how can any living thing do something like that? Huh?"

Bud Illis could not understand the White Star at all.

If what this white Dragon was saying was true, the White Star had purposely destroyed the inside of the castle and stolen the eggs in order to break the oath between the first Dragon Slayer and the white Dragon.

He did it even though he knew that his family and anybody precious to him would die and he would have to live with a terrible curse.

But he still laughed at the fact that he could reincarnate and live again?
He said he was waiting for that curse?

Bud made eye contact with Cale and started to shout.

"I can't understand it at all! My mind can't comprehend it!"

Why did he need to do all of that?
To get stronger? Was being strong that important?

Bud could feel himself getting frustrated and angry once again.
Bud could see Cale's eyes at that moment. Cale's eyes were bloodshot.
A cold voice started to come out of Cale's mouth.

"There is no need to understand it."

His response was as sharp as a sword. The white Dragon laughed at Cale's response and chimed in.

"Yes. There is no need to use a precious emotion like understanding for that bastard."

That is a bastard you don't need to understand.
Understanding him would not change what that bastard did.

Rather, what the white Dragon needed now was not understanding the bastard but understanding the current situation.

"My view is restricted to this castle. Can you tell me the specific details?"

It was a cold yet calm voice.
However, nobody would question the white Dragon's level of anger.

"I will explain it to you, ma'am."

Eruhaben, who had been quietly thinking for a while, approached the white Dragon.
He then caressed Raon's back. Six years old. No matter how smart this Dragon was, he was still young.

It was important to know when to be angry, but he could not get swept in the wrong direction due to his anger.

'The Lord knows that as well… that is why she is trying to calmly deal with it.'

Eruhaben understood how the white Dragon must be feeling as she did her best to maintain her calm.

Eruhaben stood between the half-transparent illusion and Cale as he looked at the white Dragon.
The things he could not see very well at first were clearly visible now.

'This illusion is an existence that grows along with the children's growth speed.'

The white Dragon's words were true.
The white Dragon had a level of strength that was right at Raon's level. Although he could not tell anything about her attribute, her level of magic was at Raon's level.
Raon's magic was now around Eruhaben's level. The white Dragon's magic was there as well.

He had been shocked because of the blizzard that had teleported them into the castle earlier, however, Eruhaben realized that he too could do something like that in his lair.
This castle was pretty much the white Dragon's lair.

"My name is Eruhaben."

Eruhaben introduced himself to the white Dragon.

"I will explain to you everything that has happened until now."

Then he started to cast a spell.

– I will personally tell you through magic.

Raon needed to calm his emotions.
It was also not something children like On, Hong, and Raon would benefit from hearing.
It was at that moment.

"Pfft."

Eruhaben heard someone laugh.
The white Dragon was the one who laughed.

"That's okay. There is no need for you to do it."

The white Dragon looked toward Eruhaben and asked.

"Can't you see it?"
"Excuse me?"

Eruhaben could not tell what he was supposed to be seeing. However, the white Dragon did not say anything else to Eruhaben as she approached Cale.

Choi Han flinched at her actions.

Pat.

It was because the white Dragon put her front paw on top of Cale's head.
She then started to speak in a calm voice.

"You."

Cale's shoulders flinched at what she said next.

"You have special eyes."

Eruhaben had lived a long time, but the white Dragon had lived a long time as the Dragon Lord as well. Furthermore, she had existed for close to 10,000 years even if she was just a sealed illusion.

"You also have half of the Dragon Slayer powers."

The white Dragon who was looking at Cale in amazement calmly asked a question.

"Would you like to see my memories?"

Both her memories as the lord and as the illusion.
From the end of ancient times until now. 10,000 years' worth of memories.

The white Dragon wanted to pass this on to Cale.
She could tell that it was possible as well.

"You should be able to record it."

The reddish-brown eyes were recording the white Dragon right now as well.

"Recorder. I will show you the truth about what happened since ancient times."

The village that the Dragon Slayer created.
This white Dragon had seen it all.

"And you will teach me about the present."

Cale slowly closed his eyes before opening them back.

The last Dragon Lord's memories.
Cale quickly responded back.

"Sounds great."

It was bound to be precious information.
He might learn things that they don't know about the ancient battle against the White Star. Each and every one of those memories was probably important.

He will remember all of them without missing a single detail.

Cale casually added on.

"I will remember the details and pass it on to Raon later."

The white Dragon genuinely smiled at that response. The white Dragon looked at Raon's emotional eyes before responding back.

"Really? Then I would be even more thank-"

However, she suddenly stopped talking.

The white Dragon's gaze quickly turned toward a different direction.

"Human!"
"Shit!"

Eruhaben and Raon raised their voices while Choi Han took out his sword.
There was someone who also shouted at that moment.

"I knew something was weird!"

It was On.
It was rare for her to shout with her fur standing on end.

Cale looked at all of them and turned his head.
He was looking at the path to the outside of the castle.

His eyes managed to go past the castle door.
Outside the door. On the other side of the open large castle gate. There were three similar-looking beings over there.

"…What is that?"

On the other side of the open castle gate.
He could see beings on top of the white pebbles covered in fog.

There were three of them.
It was hard to see them because they were covered by fog.
Cale heard Ron's voice at that moment.

"…I didn't notice them."

Ron took out a dagger with a serious expression on his face. He could not help but be anxious.

'I didn't realize they were there.'

The hand holding the dagger was sweating.
Assassins at Ron's level are extremely sensitive and can accurately notice someone approaching.

But they had managed to evade his senses and reach the castle gate.
In addition, he would not have noticed them if it was not for Raon, Eruhaben, Choi Han, and On.
The three covered in fog could be said to have stealth techniques beyond Ron's level.

"Haaaa. I can't believe I let them get so close without noticing them."

The ancient Dragon Eruhaben let out a sigh. His body then shot forward.

Baaaaang!

The ground started to shake.
He charged out of the castle and caused a gust of wind as he landed on the ground between the castle wall and the castle where the white Dragon first greeted Cale's group.
He started to speak to the three outside who looked like humans but were covered in fog.

"You must be from the Cat tribe."

Cale, who used the Sound of the Wind to follow behind Eruhaben, flinched after hearing, 'Cat tribe.'
Ron quickly stood next to him.

The Cat tribe.
Ron knew a lot about the Cat tribe. He had recognized that On and Hong were Cats from the beginning.

Cats were rare on the Western continent, but they were one of the better known Beast people in the Eastern continent.
Their stealth techniques and attacks were considered to be as scary as the Tiger tribe and the Bear tribe.

'But it is not to the point that I cannot notice the Cat tribe's stealth techniques.'

Ron was also a talented individual. Most stealth techniques, even ones used by the Cats, would normally not be able to evade Ron's senses.

'But if they are this strong…'

They could be considered some of the strongest individuals in the Cat tribe. That meant that they would not be easy to handle.
There was a single reason that the Cats were scary.

They did not aim for the strong individuals.

The weakest person.
They stealthily attacked the weakest person who would inflict the most mental damage onto the others.

It could be considered dirty, but that was their fighting style.

'And-'

Ron had more thoughts but looked toward Beacrox, Cale, and the children.

Cale looked at the others who were gathering by him one by one before looking forward.

'The Cat tribe.'

The Cat tribe was one of the Beast tribes he had not seen up to volume 5 of The Birth of a Hero. He had learned about the Cat tribe after coming to this world.

He heard a voice through the fog at that moment.

"The door opened."
"Indeed. How shocking."

They could not tell who was speaking because of the fog.
One of them continued to speak.

"I didn't expect to see Cale Henituse here."

The other two voices chimed in as well.

"I know, right? How amazing!"
"This is an unexpected situation."

Their voices were calm. However, the reaction from Cale's group became even sharper.

Clang!

Choi Han's sword was pointed toward the three individuals.
It could not be helped.
Cale started to speak toward the three.

"How do you know about me?"

How did Cats in the Eastern continent know Cale's name?

"Who knows?"

The responding Cat seemed to be joking with him.
Cale asked another question.

"Have you been following us?"
"Nah, no way!"

A voice in the fog responded back with confidence.

"This is one of our tribe's surveillance areas. It is our turn on patrol duty. We noticed intruders suddenly appear, so we carefully followed behind to see the current situation."

The Cat responded back to Cale as if he was talking to a child.

"Is that what you were curious about? Cale Henituse?"

Cale's mouth slowly opened to respond to the question. However, before he could respond…

"Raaaawr!"

Cale's eyes opened wide as he looked down.

On had let out the scream. Her fangs and claws appeared as she let out the roar.

Ooooooong-

Cale could see the fog coming out of the small silver Kitten's body.
Then that fog charged toward the three who were covered in fog.
However, Cale didn't have time to focus on that fog.

Sob.

He could hear someone sobbing.
Hong was shaking as he hid behind On.
The red Kitten curled up his body.

Baaaaaang!

On's fog slammed into the three Cats' fog and made a loud noise.
Who would ever expect fogs crashing into each other to sound like that?

However, something that alarmed Cale more than the explosion could be heard from the three Cats.

"…Mutant."

The fog surrounding the three Cats disappeared.
The middle-aged Cat standing in the middle started to speak.

"The trashes are here."
"Raaaawr!"

On responded back with a roar.

This made Cale think about On and Hong's tribe.

The Fog Cat Tribe.
That was the name of the tribe that On and Hong ran away from. They were originally from the Eastern continent.

Cale heard the Mercenary King's astonished voice at that moment.

"…Are they part of Arm too?"

With the fog gone, three masked individuals in black outfits had appeared.

There were crests on their chests.

One white star and five red stars.

It was Arm's crest.

The Cat on the left shrugged his shoulders and responded back to Bud.

"Well, you can say we are partners rather than a part of Arm, I guess? Why? Are you scared after knowing we are related to Arm? Hmm? Is that it?"

That Cat couldn't speak anymore.

"Hey, you trash bastards."

Bud flinched.

He turned his head to the side. He could see an extremely cold expression on Cale's face.
However, Cale was definitely the one who just said, 'hey, you trash bastards,' to the three Cats.

Cale then continued to speak.
His voice was calm.

"Did you report to the White Star?"
"Of course."

The three Cats responded to Cale's question with excitement.

"How could we not report such a big incident? We contacted him right away!"
"He's right. We reported it faster than ever before. We reported it before we chased after you! We had to report that we saw Cale Henituse! And the white castle's gate even opened!"

The Cat in the center continued to speak with confidence.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon."

'Damn it.'

Eruhaben's face stiffened up.
Although they had not noticed the Cats until they got close, they could easily take care of them.

However, if the White Star comes…

Furthermore, would the White Star come alone?
He was bound to bring other Cats or who knows whom with him.
This was not just a city, but the Castle of Light. This was the White Star's hometown.

The White Star would not sit back and let Cale find out the truth.

'Shit!'

Eruhaben's eyes quickly looked around.
Rosalyn and Mary were not with them right now. There were not many people who could launch long-distance attacks.

Raon was an emotional wreck right now while Choi Han, Ron, and Beacrox who usually fought head-on were not as effective against the White Star and the Cats.

'…The white Dragon is only at Raon's level right now.'

They had the white Dragon, but that white Dragon was only about as strong as Raon.

'Will we be able to defeat the White Star and his subordinates?'

Of course, they could not tell without fighting.
However, Eruhaben was certain about one thing.

People will get hurt.
Many of their group will get seriously hurt.
Eruhaben's lifespan would also decrease again if he used a lot of power right now. That was the problem.

It would be difficult to end everything in today's battle. They would need to finish all of their preparations and have a final battle against the White Star in the future.

Eruhaben came to a conclusion that was best for this situation.

"Cale!"

He made eye contact with Cale.

Let's run.
Let's run away for now.

They had found Raon's roots, but making sure that Raon and the others did not get hurt was more important.

"For now-"

However, he could not finish speaking.

"Haha-"

He heard someone laughing.

Eruhaben turned his head.
The quiet laughter slowly became louder.
He looked behind him.

He could see someone slowly coming out from the deepest room in the castle.

"Hahahaha!"

It was the white Dragon.
The white Dragon was laughing so loud that the area around them was rumbling.
The white Dragon who was laughing so hard that her shoulders were moving and was at the point of tears looked toward Cale and asked a question.

"So, what you are saying right now…"

Cale's eyes opened wide.

"That Dragon Slayer bastard is coming here right now?"

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

A wind that was carrying the white pebbles was surrounding the white Dragon.

Squeeze.

Raon clenched his paws around Cale's closed as his round eyes looked at the white wind.

Swooooooosh-

The large wind moved away from the white Dragon and shot up into the air.
And once the wind disappeared…

"Tell that bastard to hurry on over."

A half-transparent woman covered in white mana was smiling brightly.
The woman who looked both beautiful and mischievous had a large shield in her left hand. Her freckled face looked both innocent and mischievous.

It was at that moment.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

All of the doors of the white castle other than the large castle gate started to close.
And finally.

Baaaaang!

The large shield in the woman's hand slammed down into the ground.
Raon could see the back of the woman standing in front of him, as well as the large shield. He heard the woman's voice.

'Tell that bastard to hurry on over.'

"I, Lord Sheritt, will take him on alone."

The white castle started to shake.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]