Chapter 424: Confront and Protect (11)

Thud! Thud!

Cale stomped on the sword with genuine sincerity.

Is he purifying the sword or venting frustration?

Purification or not, he was going to smash this thing anyway.

Vrrrr!

Wrapped in cloth, the sword buzzed sharply.

[Remaining Chaos Attribute: 96.3%]

The mission window confirmed that progress was being made steadily.

Hm.

But Cale’s feet were starting to hurt.

Considering his frail body, he was deliberately stomping on the sword through a thick layer of cloth.

Maybe it’s because the cloth isn’t soft, but I can clearly feel how hard the floor is.

Stomping like this was making his feet ache.

And it wasn’t very efficient either.

Perhaps because it was wrapped in cloth, the blows weren’t hitting the sword effectively.

The cloth seemed to be absorbing most of the impact.

Cale paused for a moment.

Huff, huff—

Without realizing it, his breathing had grown rough and his shoulders were trembling.

He had been stomping way too hard.

Vrr, vrrr—

At the same time, the sword trembled too.

Huff—

Cale’s breathing grew even heavier.

Vrr.

The sword’s vibrations lessened compared to before.

This bastard?

Cale’s eyes sharpened as he caught on instantly.

“Cale.”

Alberu’s voice cut in at that moment.

“Need some help?”

Vrrrr, vrrrrr!

The sword trembled violently inside the cloth.

Cale’s gaze shifted from the sword to Alberu.

Alberu Crossman—who had been unconscious an entire day longer than Cale and had only just woken up.

His face was still pale, but he already looked healthier than Cale.

And of course, his physique was much better.

And standing there with the Sun Sword in hand, he looked like a formidable swordsman.

Vrrrrrr, vrrrrrrrr!

The sword shook even more intensely.

For some reason, that made Cale even more annoyed.

Ding!

A mission notification appeared.

[To fully subdue it, no one else’s help is allowed.]

“Hoo.”

Cale let out a long sigh.

For some reason, the system, the divine artifact, and the Crown Prince were all getting on his nerves today.

“Cale.”

When the Crown Prince called again, Cale shook his head.

“No. This is something I have to do alone.”

Vrr—

The sword’s trembling weakened.

You bastard, just you wait.

Cale’s eyes lit up with renewed determination.

Hm.

Alberu swallowed hard.

That guy’s possessed or something.

He had rarely seen Cale Henituse like this.

Unless someone betrayed him or something truly infuriating happened, Cale didn’t usually lose his composure.

Creak.

Just then, a loud noise rang out as the door swung open.

Whoosh.

Cale immediately turned toward the entrance.

“!”

Holy Knight Sir Boltien, stepping inside, froze mid-stride.

“Haha—”

Cale greeted him with a bright smile and an oddly cheerful laugh.

“Bring it quick.”

“Y-yes!”

Startled by the gleam in Cale’s eyes, Boltien rushed over and carefully set down the iron box he was carrying.

Thud!

A heavy sound echoed through the Hall of Light.

An iron box.

Packed with various tools and weapons.

“Ho.”

Cale reached for the most striking one.

“Hm.”

Then a bit of drool gathered at the corner of his mouth.

It’s heavy.

The hammer was slightly too heavy.

Next.

Hm.

This one was heavy too.

Cale didn’t overestimate himself.

Next.

After rummaging through the weapon box, he pulled out two items.

Vrr, vrr, vrrrrr—

The dagger trembled violently, and Cale’s lips curled upward.

A hammer nearly as big as his body.

And a whip lined with iron spikes.

Holding both, Cale couldn’t hide his emotions.

“Heh.”

With a rather wicked smile, Cale raised the hammer first.

And then—

SMASH!

He smashed it down.

“Oh.”

Alberu let out an exclamation.

“Better than I expected?”

He couldn’t help but voice his thoughts.

And Cale raised one corner of his mouth.

[Remaining Chaos Attribute: 94.1%]

With a single strike, the remaining attribute dropped significantly.

From then on, Cale’s hammering began in earnest.

He even tore off the cloth.

WHAM! WHAM!

The noise echoed fiercely through the Hall of Light.

Cale was clearly straining, but every swing landed with steady, precise force.

“Oh—”

Alberu genuinely admired him.

How could that frail body manage this?

A strong man in his twenties could swing a hammer with brute force.

But the accuracy of those strikes—

And, strangely, the skill behind them—

– Cale, you’re amazing.

When Super Rock murmured in awe,

Cale remained completely absorbed in his work.

He recalled.

Recoil and technique.

WHAM! WHAM!

You couldn’t rely solely on force when using a hammer like this.

Cale Henituse—no, Kim Rok Soo—had experience from all sorts of jobs.

Before monsters appeared, he worked every kind of part-time job just to earn money.
After becoming an ability user, he labored at rebuilding sites in a ruined Korea.

Of course, compared to those days, his current body was much weaker.

WHAM! WHAM!

But experience doesn’t disappear.

WHAM!

WHAM!

[Remaining Chaos Attribute: 87.9%]

Vrr, vrrrrr—

The remaining attribute dropped rapidly.

WHAM!

Vrr, vrrrrr—

The sword trembled violently.

WHAM!

WHAM!

Even so, Cale didn’t stop hammering.

At the center of the Hall of Light, bathed in radiant sunlight.

Sweat gathered on Cale’s forehead as he swung the hammer.

His expression was more focused than ever.

Completely absorbed in the work, he didn’t hear a single sound around him.

With the light pouring down, Cale’s face and posture looked almost reverent.

“…”

“…”

The church members, led by the Pope, watched in a daze.
To witness such reverence—

WHAM! WHAM!

Vrrr, vrrrr—

“Heh. What, scared now?”

Cale spoke deliberately, his face looking utterly wicked.

Twitch, twitch.

The Pope was taken aback.

Calling it wicked?!

He was purifying an evil divine artifact made for the God of Chaos to descend!
To dare think such irreverent thoughts—

WHAM!

Vrrr!

“Oh, it’s about to crack?”

WHAM!

…Such irreverent thoughts?

Twitch, twitch.

The Pope blinked blankly.

But Cale didn’t care about anyone’s reactions.

WHAM!

WHAM!

He just kept hammering diligently.

The sound grew louder.

With a hammer he hadn’t used in ages, his once-awkward posture became more refined with each strike.

“Don’t put unnecessary strength into your body.”

Cale recalled the hammering tips he’d learned from a senior back when he was Kim Rok Soo.

WHAM—!

The sword looked like it was about to crack.

Vrrr, vrr—

It trembled violently.

Cale didn’t care.

WHAM!

Then he finally stopped for a moment.

Thud, thud.

He set the hammer aside and crouched down.

Then he looked at the sword.

His voice was cold, indifferent.

“Still a long way to go?”

He was basically asking if it was broken.

Vrr.

The sword trembled pathetically.

“Hm.”

But Cale was fully caught up in the moment.

“Still a long way to go?”

The moment he said it casually—

[Remaining Chaos Attribute: 50.1%]

The remaining chaos attribute dropped sharply, falling from the low 80% range to 50%.

Cale blinked. Even he didn’t expect it to drop that much.

[The divine artifact is submitting!]

Vrrr—

The artifact seemed to lose its will, trembling weakly.

“Hm.”

Cale dropped into a sitting position for a moment.

Vrr, vrr—

A strange calm settled over the hall.

Only the sword continued to tremble.

The onlookers could tell the reaction was different from before.

“Ah. It’s being purified.”

“My goodness, every action has meaning!”

“The will of the evil sword is wavering!”

They murmured in awe as they watched Cale.

Cale sat slumped on the floor, breathing heavily.

They couldn’t see his lowered gaze, but they could feel how drained he was.

“Ah.”

The Pope began to reflect on his narrow-mindedness for thinking Cale was wicked.

“!”

But the moment Cale lifted his head, he flinched.

[The divine artifact is submitting!]

[The artifact is submitting?]

Cale didn’t trust the 50.1% remaining attribute or the system’s message.

With years of experience, he knew exactly how to handle things like the Chaos sword.

“Now you’re trying to play nice?”

Cale spoke directly to the sword.

Vrr!

The sword trembled as if responding.

To the spectators, the exchange looked strange.

But—

Swish—

Cale sneered and swung the whip toward the sword.

Crack!

A sharp sound split the air.

“You think I’d believe you?”

The moment Cale finished speaking—

Vrrrr, vrrrrr, vrrrrr!

The Chaos sword reacted violently again.

Vrrrrrr—

Gray smoke began to rise.

“Ho!”

The bishops gasped in shock—

“Step back.”

Alberu blocked them with one arm.

Sir Boltien had already moved toward the entrance, prepared to open the door and evacuate everyone if things went wrong.

Cale didn’t pay attention to any of it and continued whipping.

I’ve done this plenty of times.

Kim Rok Soo had been a rear-guard, but after becoming a team leader, even though he mostly fought with his body, he had used a whip a few times.

Even if he wasn’t skilled, he knew how to wield it to some extent.

Crack!

The sound was sharp and satisfying.

Crack!

Vrrr, vrrrrr!

The sword resisted fiercely.

As expected, these types pretend to submit but stab you in the back!

Guys like the White Star.
Guys like the Hunters.
Guys like the God of Chaos.

He’d suffered because of them…!

Cale’s anger surged.

Crack! Crack!

“Ha!”

Cale grabbed the hammer again.

He was exhausted, but anger won out.

WHAM!

WHAM!

He started hammering again.

Vrrrrrr—

He ignored the gray smoke.

This was the Sun God’s domain.

Even the gray smoke summoned by the God of Chaos couldn’t outweigh the holy light here.

Ssshh—

The smoke vanished uselessly under the sunlight.

[The Sun God is helping.]

There was no voice, but Cale was sure the Sun God was keeping the Chaos sword from using its power.

More helpful than the God of Balance, huh?

WHAM!

WHAM!

Cale hammered down steadily, unnoticed by anyone.

His arms ached.

His shoulders hurt.

But he didn’t stop.

“Hoo.”

Of course, he took a brief rest.

About five minutes.

“…”

“…”

Though the surroundings were quiet, Cale didn’t care.

WHAM!

WHAM!

He swung the hammer again.

Ah.

WHAM!

This felt good.

WHAM!

It had been a while since he relieved stress like this.

WHAM!

WHAM!

Like throwing money into a fire pit.

WHAM!

It felt refreshing.

So many frustrations lately.

WHAM!

The stress melted away.

WHAM!

Unknowingly, Cale forgot everything and focused purely on relieving stress.

Vrr… vrr…

Now the Chaos sword neither vibrated nor emitted gray smoke.

Pfft—

Then the number dropped.

[Remaining Chaos Attribute: 32.3%]

WHAM!

20.6%

WHAM!

15.9%

The longer he hammered, the faster the remaining attribute fell.

WHAM!

Finally—

Thud, thud.

Cale let go of the hammer.

[Remaining Chaos Attribute: 0.01%]

And—

“Tch.”

He clicked his tongue, speaking casually.

Cale’s irritation overcame the solemn atmosphere.

“You’ve already submitted?”

He reached down and grabbed the Chaos sword.

No, his body was exhausted, but this was stress relief.

“Hey, you’re not going to hold out a bit longer?”

The moment Cale said that—

“Ho.”

“Ah.”

The Pope and the Saintess exhaled with tired expressions.

Vrr!

The Chaos sword shook violently.

—!

[Remaining Chaos Attribute: 0%]

It submitted.

[The divine artifact has fully submitted!]

“Ah, what a shame.”

[The divine artifact has fully submitted!!]

“Hm.”

[The divine artifact has really fully submitted!!!]

What a pity.

Cale sighed in regret and approached the sword lying on the floor.

“Hm. Still no cracks.”

The sword remained completely intact.

As expected, among the God of Chaos’s divine artifacts, this one was unusually strong.

Ding-ding!

The mission window displayed the final task.

[Sub-Mission: Change the sacred artifact’s property to Nothing!]

[Make it recognize that its master is a human.]

This artifact existed for the God of Chaos.

Once it left this place, the game system would be able to change its attribute to None.

“Hey.”

Cale picked up the sword.

“Your master is me now.”

Vrrrr—

The sword started trembling again—

“Shh!”

Cale gripped the hammer.

Vrr, vrr, vrr!

The sword reacted intensely.

“I’m your master, right?”

Vrr, vrr, vrr!

“Oh, I can’t understand you. If I’m your master, vibrate once.”

Vrr!

“I’m your master, right?”

Vrr!

The sword accepted Cale as its master.

[The master of the divine artifact Chaos sword has changed from the God of Chaos to Cale Henituse.]

[Acquired a Legendary Item!]

Whoa.

Cale let out a tired sigh and opened the item description window.

[Chaos sword]

[Rank: Legendary]

[The original Chaos attribute has vanished, leaving only immense holy power with no attribute.]

Cale gave a satisfied smile.

Can this save the Blue Wolf?

The divine Blue Wolf of the Beast People.

He had found a divine artifact that could restore its divinity and make it stronger.

And with this, the Beast People of Aipotu could finally live as complete Beast People.

I have to bring Lock back soon.

Lock could be freed from the duties tying him to Aipotu and live freely again.

He couldn’t keep leaving the kids out there. He needed to bring them home.

Cale tucked the artifact into his pocket and pulled out another book from his chest.
The Purification of Chaos.

[Sub-Mission: Acquire the Skill Purification of Chaos!]

[In a sacred place beyond the God of Chaos’s gaze, tear the Book of Purification of Chaos!]

The method to obtain it was almost too simple.

He held the Book of Purification in both hands.

Rip, rip—

And tore it apart.

Like the Fear of Chaos (Chaos Fear), it ripped far too easily.

Cale looked up into the air.

Ding-ding!

Ding-ding!

Two notifications chimed.

[Skill: Fear of Chaos (Legendary) has been activated.]

One was a reminder of the results of a previous mission he hadn’t confirmed due to being too busy.

The other was new.

[Acquired Skill: Purification of Chaos (Legendary).]

Smirk.

Cale’s lips curled upward.

He had now obtained two of the five precious powers from the God of Chaos’s church.
And he still had three more waiting in his pocket.

I’ll take them all!

Cale fully intended to claim every single skill, one after another.

The remaining powers.

Corruption, Joy.

And the last one I haven’t read yet.

The final power—the one with unreadable text.

Of course, Cale didn’t know that even the Pope of the God of Chaos’s church had never possessed all five powers.

Especially that last, unreadable one.

No one had owned it since the church was founded.

“All done?”

Cale nodded at Alberu, who approached.

“Yes. I’ll stay in the Demon Kingdom for a bit, then head to the Demon World.”

He needed to return to the Demon Kingdom to meet his companions and the Witch of the Forest, leader of the Dark Elves.

After that—

Choi Jung Gun.

He’d go to the Demon World to save him.

And while he was at it, overthrow the Demon World too.

* * *

A few hours later, Cale returned to the Demon Kingdom.

He stood before the Witch of the Forest.

Rustle, rustle—

With the wind blowing, the grass and branches around her wrapped around her like a cloak.

“The ideal of the world has been perceived.”

The Witch of the Forest, leader of the Dark Elves, looked at Cale and asked:

“And you’re not human, are you?”

…Heh.

Cale froze for a moment.

But the next thing she said was even more shocking.

“You’re our creator, aren’t you?”

…Ha.

Creator?

What kind of absurdity was that?

Cale’s expression twisted in disbelief.

“I’m going to lose my mind.”

Alberu muttered quietly nearby, but Cale completely ignored him.

 -----

P/R Thoughts: Cale destroys the Chaos Sword into submission with righteous violence, gains new legendary powers, and immediately gets mistaken for a creator god.

***

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]