Chapter 417: Confront and Protect (4)

Cale’s body leaned backward.
But he didn’t fall.

“Human!”  

Two small, chubby front paws pressed against Cale’s back,
and a round head rested there.

“I knew this would happen!”  

The brave voice trembled—
words breaking between sobs.

“Cough!”

Cale opened his mouth, only for a mouthful of blood to spill out.

Hearing this, Raon cried out:

"Human, I'm fine! I’m not getting contaminated!"

At those words, the Heavenly Demon extended his hand—
but stopped midway.

Their eyes met.
Cale shook his head.

Trembling~

Even then, both of his hands remained tightly wrapped around the sword. “This damned sword…!”

Blink. Blink.

Cale closed his eyes and then opened them again.  

He was on the verge of collapsing,
but he couldn’t allow himself to rest yet.

The gray water… was gone.

And the gray smoke was fading as well.

It will be over soon.

But this wasn’t the end.

Since the Heavenly Demon and Raon appeared calm for the moment, Cale tried to speak again.

“Cough!”

But once more, only blood came out.
He didn’t have the strength to speak.

“Damn…!”

Is it something more serious this time?

– Cale. Hey… it seems the Glutton needs time to digest.

The voice of the Vitality of the Heart—the Crybaby—trembled.
Even regeneration couldn’t keep up.

Boom! Boom!

Cale could feel his heartbeat—
slower than before.
And with every pulse,
his strength slipped further away.

The Dominating Aura.
The Sound of the Wind.
The Sky Eating Water.
The Unbreakable Shield.
Even the formidable Super Rock.

Today, Cale had drawn upon all of them—
an immense amount of Ancient Power, pushed to its very limit—
no, even beyond—
to stand against the Sacred Object.

“Cough!”

Blood spilled again as Cale opened his mouth.
He couldn’t stop now.

Through his blurred vision, which flickered as if fading to black,
he could still see the gray forest.
The relieved devotees within it—
they too must have feared death.

“Still—”

But not yet.

He spoke.

Just as Cale struggled to form words—

“It’s not over yet!”

Eruhaben’s voice could be heard.

Blink.

Through his wavering vision, Cale caught sight of something.

“Choi Han…!”

Choi Han was advancing without hesitation across the land where even the gray water had vanished—
heading straight toward Cale’s position.

But his target wasn’t Cale.

As expected, this guy seems oblivious; he’s got instincts as wild as a beast’s. 

And then—there was an actual beast.

“I’ll take care of it!”

Gashan responded to Eruhaben’s words, moving swiftly.  

Meanwhile, Eruhaben had already stood up, mana swirling around him.

Is this experience?

Gashan, Eruhaben, and Choi Han—
among their group, the oldest ones—
moved exactly in the direction Cale had intended.

The Ancient Dragon, Eruhaben, raised his voice for all to hear:

“The ceremony isn’t over yet!”

He was right.

The gray water and smoke were fading,
but the ceremony itself had not yet ended.

And the being who had begun that ritual—
was still alive.
Still continuing it.

The Saint.

Though Cale couldn’t see him,
the Saint had risen with the gray water.
He was still there.

“Yes.”

Only by defeating him could they end the ritual—
and only then would Cale be freed from the Sacred Object,
for the final phase of the object’s power had begun alongside the Saint’s rite.

Chaeng!

Dark energy flared from Choi Han’s sword.

“How dreadful!”

The moment he stepped into the gray forest—just as a faint, fresh breeze passed by—
he sensed it.
A terrible energy still lingered somewhere ahead.

He ran toward it.

“It’s not over yet.”

He knew exactly what needed to be done.

“The Saint.”

So that was him—
the one who had driven a sword into his neck and abdomen—
lying near the rock where Cale rested by the lake,
barely holding onto consciousness.

“No… it’s impossible—!”

Even on the verge of death,
the Saint still hadn’t fallen.

Gray blood.

From his body, gray blood continued to flow ceaselessly.
Unlike the other devotees—whose bleeding had stopped once they escaped the chaos—
the Saint alone still bled that unnatural color.

“It can’t be… How… the massacre…?”

The Saint murmured, as if he couldn’t believe it.  

Choi Han reached him.  

The Saint—who no longer seemed to feel pain—
was crying.

“Why can’t I hear…?”

He was sad.

“The chaos… it’s fading away—!”

He wept because the chaos was disappearing.
The thousands of screams and laughter—
the voices he had helped create through madness and slaughter—
were gone.

And the thought that he might never hear those screams again…

“Ah, no—!”

Sadness twisted into terror.

In his gray eyes, a reflection appeared—
someone’s face.

“……”

Choi Han, with an impassive face, raised his sword.

It seems he’ll die soon.

The Saint’s condition was so fragile that he was barely clinging to life.
It wouldn’t have been surprising if he stopped breathing at any moment.

“But I have to finish this as quickly as possible, even if it’s just for a moment.”

Gashan’s voice came from behind him.

“Since the number of sacrifices is missing, the death of that one person won’t complete the ritual! Rather, the ritual will stop!”

Hearing this, Eruhaben nodded.  

He stepped down from the rock, his feet touching the edge of the lake.

“Yes. That gray blood— it has to be stopped.”

Cale, hearing their words, gave a faint nod.

“Okay, I guess—”

He could trust them to handle the rest.

Blink. Blink.

His eyes fluttered, slower than before.
The strength in his body was steadily slipping away.

Trembling~

Though both his hands still gripped the Sacred Object,
the force in them had weakened—
clearly less than before.

Swoosh—!

The wind blew.

He drew in a deep breath, letting the cool night air of the forest fill his lungs.
It felt as if he could live—just a little longer.

A faint smile formed.
Cale’s lips curved slightly.

Anyway, he had endured this time too—

“!”  

Cale’s eyes widened.

– Cale!

The Dominating Aura.

– This is crazy!

The Sky Eating Water.

– ...I’m not full yet.

At the same time, the Unbreakable Shield reacted.  

Cale gathered what little strength he had left, forcing his body to remain upright.
Leaning against Raon, he steadied himself—
barely.

“Well!”

With Eruhaben’s somewhat weary voice, Choi Han’s sword released a visible surge of aura—its glow reflecting off the rock—
and Eruhaben’s magic unfolded alongside it.

But—

“Damn it!”

The moment Choi Han muttered those sharp words under his breath—

Tap, tap!

Cale took a step forward.

“Human!”

Raon shouted hastily.

“Human, I will protect you!”

And his reason was clear.

Plaf!

Among the remaining cultists, several fainted on the spot—
others collapsed, trembling, unable to control their own bodies.

Uuuuu—!

With a strange rumble beneath his feet, Cale looked down at the rock he was standing on.
It was rising.

And upon the highest point of the basin—
an entity had ascended.

The Saint.

He was climbing, staggering with each step, his body barely obeying him.

“My God…!”

The Saint’s desperate cry echoed faintly,
but Cale heard nothing else.
All of his focus was fixed on the man before him.

With effort, he forced open eyes that wanted to close.

The Saint’s eyes.  

Gray eyes.

“Cough!”

Blood escaped Cale’s mouth as he exhaled sharply.
Even so, he spoke—
dragging his voice out from beyond his limits.

“You… are you a god?”

And in that instant, as Cale looked at him, he understood.

The Saint was already dead.

Yet the eyes staring back at him—
gray like the Saint’s,
but not the same—

They were the same color as the gray that had once plunged him into terror.

Those eyes—devoid of a smile, of any trace of emotion—
rested solely on Cale.

Then, they spoke.

But the voice was strange—
low as a whisper,
yet it reached every ear.

<Chaos will always be by your side.>

<In every moment of life, and within your heart, chaos will dwell. And soon, you will face the truth you once refused to see.>

<Those who have seen the truth…>

That voice was truly unsettling—
and yet, disturbingly alluring.

<Come to me.>

<Those who have seen the truth, come to me.>

And there were those who responded to those words.

“Ah, ahh—!”

One of the priests drew a dagger from his robe and tried to plunge it into his own neck.

It was at that moment.

“Don’t talk nonsense! I warned you last time! If you mess with our Human and our family, I’ll completely destroy you!”

Raon’s clear, lively voice shattered the brief silence.

“Nonsense?”

Cale froze, taken aback by Raon’s choice of words.

“Cough!”

He spat blood, forced his composure back, and said, quietly, “You’re done.”

A faint, strained chuckle escaped him, and with effort he lifted one corner of his mouth.

Because—

“I won’t let myself be consumed anymore.”

Even hearing that voice, even meeting those eyes…
– It’s worth enduring.

As the Dominating Aura said, it was bearable.

– Soon, even the Ancient Gods will cower before us! Ha, ha, ha!

Cale brushed off those words, swollen with arrogance, and instead mocked the God of Chaos.

“You’re bleeding.”

Red blood dripped from the Saint’s body.

The Saint had already died—
and the fact that red blood flowed now meant only one thing.

It’s over.

The ritual to summon the God of Chaos had failed.

The Saint… finally, is dead.

In truth, his condition had long been at the edge of death;
it was only during the ritual that he lingered somewhere between life and death.

But now, with the ritual ended, death had claimed him.

Even so, his gray eyes—devoid of laughter, tears, or any trace of emotion—
stared straight at Cale, as if challenging him.

<Don’t presume.>

Cale understood at once.
The God of Chaos, bitter and humiliated after losing everything, was still speaking through the Saint.

He recognized the situation—
and mocked him freely.

Tremble~

It was a sign—
the trembling of the Sacred Object, gripped tightly in both of Cale’s hands,
was gradually subsiding.

Soon, that trembling would stop as well.

Then—

“Really… is it over?”

The sword that had been lodged in the Saint’s abdomen was pulled free.
No—

it slipped.

The sword fell to the ground.

Thud!

The sword, landed in a puddle of mud where the water had vanished,  

but there was no time to pay attention to it.

Slshh…

The Saint’s abdomen began to split open—
and inside—

<Do you really think it’s over?>

A pair of eyes opened.

“Ah.”

Those were really… those eyes.

Cale remembered the first time he had taken hold of the Sacred Object,
and the first time he had faced the God of Chaos’s power.

Those eyes—
they were the same.

His body tensed slightly.

– It’s okay!

But, in truth, he felt better than before.

– When you faint and wake up, you’ll be completely fine to face them again! The Glutton has eaten a lot!

He ignored the lively voice of the Dominating Aura, because there was no time for it.

Uuuung—!

A silver shield flared into existence between Cale and the God of Chaos.

“I clearly told you not to mess with our Human!”

As always—
the great dragon.

Raon created a shield, forming a barrier between Cale and that being,
and the situation improved immediately.

Blink.

Cale, clinging to the last thread of reason, sneered.

“Hey, you’re bleeding.”

Drip.

Just as he said, those eyes were shedding red blood.

"Stop pretending and disappear."

Act as if you have no divinity left.

A faint, mocking laugh echoed back.

Cale let out a dry, sarcastic chuckle of his own.

Pashs–!

Because the Saint’s body was gradually disintegrating into dust, and at that moment, Cale remembered something.

If the God of Chaos really intervenes now…

Then there was still one thing he could do.

Red Hand.

In this world, an almost divine system—
the one that punished those who broke its rules—
had granted Cale absolute authority.

Red Hand!

If I could strike the God of Chaos with that…
If I could land even a single blow on those eyes…!

Hehehe!

The corner of Cale’s mouth lifted.

Before he lost consciousness, he wanted to strike—
to end everything with one final blow.

Thinking of everything he had endured because of that being,
a surge of anger welled up inside him.

Pashs–!

But the Saint’s body was fading more and more rapidly.

“…….”

Those eyes—still watching Cale laugh—
blinked once.

<Hmmm.>

And then… they laughed.

Those eyes, curved like a crescent moon,
seemed seasoned—
as if they had seen and endured countless horrors.

<Yes. They can’t be shown in a more terrible way.>

Pashs—!

The Saint’s body, with only his abdomen remaining intact,
spoke again through those eyes.

<One day, the seed that has been bestowed upon you will grow and welcome me.>

Blink.

Cale’s eyes blinked.

“Wow.”

That was it.
He had reached his limit.

Cale let out a faint breath and addressed the God of Chaos one last time.

“If you’ve lost, then get out of here—once and for all.”

With those words—

Blink.

The God of Chaos smiled.
And blinked.

Pashs–!

And, then, those eyes vanished.
The Saint’s body crumbled instantly, scattering into nothingness.

Blink.

And Cale too…

—fainted.

He fainted, just as Super Rock had said he would.

Darkness came.

It was a clean faint.
Peaceful, even.

And although Cale didn’t see it—
in the gorge, untouched night finally arrived.

The formation of light vanished,
the dark red clouds dispersed,
the gray smoke faded away,

and twilight descended upon the gorge—
a quiet night where countless stars twinkled above the vast gray forest.

“It’s crazy…”

And the one capturing all of it—

the user “Crazy Exhibitionist” —

couldn’t stop the tears that were falling in torrents.

“Amazing…!”

He shouted amidst sobs:

He shouted between sobs:

“The world— that person just saved the world! Incredible! The human told a God to get lost! Damn, how cool is that! Uuuah!”

Crazy Exhibitionist went completely crazy.

=====

– What the hell? What’s this video that that exhibitionist just uploaded?

– It’s a live stream, isn’t it?!

– Damn, that dragon! What a cute dragon! A baby dragon! Where even are we?! 

– Looks like… the Demon Kingdom.

– Hey, did you see the mission pop-up? It says “Save the Game”! What’s that supposed to mean?!

– …What’s going on? I don’t understand anything anymore.

=====

And his streaming channel also collapsed.
-----
P/R Thoughts: A mortal defies a god — and wins. Cale ends Chaos itself, not by strength, but by refusing to kneel.

***

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 – Mayank]