C151
"It's lively."
Cale's gaze shifted to the side upon hearing the voice. His eyes met Sui Khan, who had Lee Soo Hyuk's appearance.
"Why? What's bothering you?"
He smiled at Cale's chubby expression. Cale stared at Sui Khan for a moment before letting out an exclamation.
"What have you been up to lately?"
"..."
Lately, seeing the team leader's face had become difficult for Cale.
Suddenly, he seemed to disappear. After excessively vomiting blood during the Heavenly Demon's purification last time, he had followed him around for several days, but lately, it had become difficult to see his face.
So the corner of Cale's mouth curved upward.
"Did you receive any messages from the God of Death?"
Sui Khan sighed.
"Yeah."
Then he looked around. Cale also scanned the area beside him.
The Evil Alliance was next to Guizhou.
The province immediately to the left of Guizhou was Sichuan, and to the south of Guizhou was Yunnan, so Cale was glad they were going this way.
And now, the group was stopping to rest in a forest on the way to Guizhou.
"Shouldn't we be more discreet if we're going to talk?"
The Team Leader nodded slightly without saying a word.
Cale signaled to Raon, who was having a conversation with Sima Pyeong.
"What's up, Human?"
Cale asked Raon, who approached immediately.
"I need you to soundproof the area around me and the Team Leader."
Sure.
Sima Pyeong looked at Cale and Raon with bright eyes. Perhaps feeling that gaze, Raon straightened his shoulders, puffed out his chubby belly, and flapped his wings.
"Leave it to me!"
Woong-
Black Mana rose, and a thin black barrier spread around Cale and Sui Khan.
Usually, when Raon used magic to block sound, he didn't create such a visible black barrier.
Cale heard Raon's voice beyond the soundproof barrier.
"Evil Alliance Leader, did you see it?"
"I couldn't see it, but I felt it, Master. The Mana moved and created a barrier! I'm really curious about the principle behind this."
"I'll teach you, my disciple. Hihi!"
Raon and Sima Pyeong chatted closely, and the people who had been gaping at them quickly looked away.
Of course, the Heavenly Demon seemed more interested in the black barrier.
"Can you hear sounds from the outside, but sounds from the inside can't leak out?"
He asked curiously but soon averted his gaze.
"Brain Demon, where are they now?"
"They are currently outside Xinjiang and will soon arrive in Kunlun."
The Brain Demon, the General Commander of the Demon Cult, was reviewing the plan to send the forces of the Demon Cult to Sichuan with two representatives from the Demon Cult faction.
Currently, Cale was accompanied only by his group, three people from the Demon Cult, and the Evil Alliance.
"Young Master-nim, I will stop by the Murim Alliance."
Jegal Miryeo, along with others like Byuk Sun, decided to stop at the Murim Alliance to make preparations and plans after purifying the Living Jiangshi. After organizing the details, they would set out to carry out their future plans.
"The Namgung Family also agreed to meet in Sichuan, right?"
There were many people to meet in Sichuan.
Of course, there were also those who would meet them in Guizhou.
"Young Master, we will go separately for a while."
The Fist King, Mok Hyun, took his great-granddaughter Mok Hee and set off with the Golden Guard.
"I have to go personally if I want to obtain the Divine Medicines that His Majesty has sent."
Such a precious medicinal herb that even the Fist King, Mok Hyun, had to go get it, worried about leaving it in the hands of the Emperor's most trusted Golden Guard.
It was the sound of a great Divine Medicine.
Naturally, Cale wished the Fist King well and sent him on his way.
If he ate the Divine Medicine, his seal would break even further. Cale's expression softened only at the thought of a full stomach.
Lee Soo Hyuk's mouth opened.
"Hunters are not just humans."
Cale responded indifferently.
"If not only humans can become gods, then yes."
"Yes, Gods exist in various forms and colors."
The Sealed God of Despair.
Cale knew that was the goal of the Hunters, to create such an existence.
He didn't expect that there were only Humans in that group.
"Do you remember the names of the remaining Hunter Families?"
"Yes. Apart from the Blood Cult, there are the Purple Blood, Five Colored Blood, and Transparent/Invisible Blood."
... Only strange blood colors remained.
"Mmm."
The Team Leader couldn't respond and murmured, unable to continue speaking. Cale spoke impatiently.
"It seems that one of the Hunter groups we have to deal with is not human."
"...Yes."
A non-human group.
Cale began to recall the non-human races he knew.
Elves, dwarves, vampires...
No, the Team Leader wouldn't hesitate to talk about non-human races with that level of strength.
So...
"It can't be..."
Cale's face distorted.
It felt like someone had poured cold water down his neck.
"No way, Dragons?"
The Team Leader closed his eyes instead of answering.
"Hah!"
Cale sighed angrily.
"Purple Blood. We haven't found any information about that place until now."
When the Team Leader started speaking again, Cale paid attention.
"Have you heard that this time, Jungwon and other Worlds are trying to reach an agreement with the God of Balance?"
"Yes. I've heard."
"At that time, only the world related to Purple Blood was absent."
With the already established Shaolen World in the center, Jungwon and the Worlds associated with Five Colored Blood and Transparent Blood joined forces.
"What do you mean?"
Cale asked, bewildered by the words.
He mentioned the information obtained from Shaolen.
"Didn't we get the coordinates of the target dimensions from the Huayans Family's safety vault?"
<Sacrificing Worlds to make an Absolute God.>
The vault inscribed with those words listed the target dimensions, starting with Nameless 1, where the Roan Kingdom was located.
Naturally, it also included Shaolen and the Central Plains.
So, at that time, Cale and the others thought that among the dozen target dimensions, there must be a place where the Hunter Family had taken root.
But they couldn't find a world where the Purple Blood Family had taken root?
"None of those dozen Worlds were the home of the Purple Blood Family."
"Are you saying that the planet with the Purple Blood Family is not a target world for creating an Absolute God?"
"Yes."
That made sense, then.
Cale crossed his arms and looked at the Team Leader, and Sui Khan continued.
"Anyway, since we don't see any world related to Purple Blood, the God of Death, who was investigating the dozens of target Worlds found in Black Blood, thought something was wrong."
"And then?"
Although Cale responded indifferently, he felt that the God of Death was still doing his job somehow.
"In the first place, he ordered his subordinates to communicate with all the worlds. He said he wanted to check if there was any world that was struggling alone in this situation without knowing anything."
And then they found something.
"One of the Worlds didn't respond even though they contacted it many times."
Cale met Sui Khan's gaze.
"The God of Death sent Choi Jung Gun there."
The first Dragon Hunter, and ancestor to Choi Han and Choi Jung Soo.
"And yesterday, the God of Death contacted us."
The Team Leader's gaze shifted to Choi Han and Choi Jung Soo, who were still talking attentively with some awkwardness.
Cale also looked at those two people while listening to the Team Leader.
"The Hunter Dragons conquered that World. It is said that after that, contact was lost with Choi Jung Gun. It is also said that even the God of Death cannot see whether he is alive or dead." (Note: Exactly, they are Hunter Dragons , not Dragon Hunters)
"So you don't know if Choi Jung Gun is alive or dead?"
"Yes."
Cale recalled a conversation he had with the Huayans Family Patriarch in Shaolen the other day.
"So, who started everything at the Roan Palace?"
When he asked which of the Hunter Families involved with the Roan Kingdom apart from the Blue Blood Family...
"The Five Colored-"
At that moment, when the Patriarch of the Huayans Family, who led the Black Blood Hunter Family, said that, he exploded completely and died.
Without leaving a trace, he only left a small puddle of black blood.
Cale made an effort to push those unpleasant memories out of his mind.
Since they didn't know whether Choi Jung Gun was alive or dead, there was no point in speculating needlessly.
"So that's why you asked for Soundproofing Magic."
However, he had a feeling he knew why the Team Leader had asked for this.
His gaze was still on the two members of the Choi Family.
"Although it's important to resolve the matter of the Blue Blood Family immediately, it would also be good to think about our next destination."
Cale nodded.
"Five Colored Blood, Purple Blood. We will have to choose one of those two places."
He let out a sigh.
There would be no time to rest.
Especially if they had lost contact with Choi Jung Gun, the situation was urgent.
"However, we can't just leave the Five Colored Blood Family as it is."
Because judging by the behavior of the Huayans Family Patriarch, the people who went into Roan and caused trouble were probably the Five Colored Blood Family.
Come to think of it, I haven't spoken to him in a while.
Cale thought of Crown Prince Alberu Crossman.
'...I hope nothing else is happening in Roan...'
A vague sense of unease washed over him. Cale spoke to Sui Khan a bit more urgently.
"Team Leader. What's the name of the World where Purple Blood is supposed to be?"
"Apitoyu." (Note: 유토피아= Utopia. The name of this world is literally that same name spelled backward: 아피토유: For now, I'll call it Apitoyu, as it appears on Google Translate, haha)
"Get me all the information you can about that place."
"Of course. I'm gathering it, and I'll give it to you soon."
A world ruled by Dragons.
Cale's eyes blinked towards Sima Pyeong and a grinning Raon, and he thought about the other Dragons of the Roan Kingdom.
Maybe the next World he should move to would have new colleagues.
"What are you going to do?"
He heard the Team Leader's questioning voice. Cale lightly tapped the mirror.
"Let me get in touch."
He exited the soundproof barrier and climbed into the carriage. It was after he asked Lee Soo Hyuk to block access for the others.
"Human, are you calling home?"
Raon approached, leaving only Sima Peong.
Click.
As Cale got into the carriage with Raon, he immediately activated the Sacred Item.
A screen appeared on the mirror, and he rubbed his neck as he watched it connect.
'Is everything okay over there?'
For various reasons, he had been paying less attention to the Roan Kingdom lately.
Before he realized it, he felt a wave of anxiety. Whenever something like this happened, Cale acted calmly, but that expression grew harder each time.
Raon observed this and approached silently, lifting his head onto Cale's thigh and looking at him.
Cale stroked Raon's trembling head as he stared at the mirror.
Pahat~
Finally, the screen appeared.
"..."
Cale was momentarily speechless.
He only saw Alberu Crossman's face.
"Are you okay?"
Although his complexion wasn't good, it was not that bad.
His dark circles had deepened.
"Human! Why does the Crown Prince's face look like that? That's not the Sun, it looks like a bitter melon."
Cale's feeling became subtler by the moment.
The anxiety disappeared.
And Raon also raised his voice.
Although his face resembled a bitter melon as Raon had said, the Crown Prince...
-Hahaha, it's been a while, Dongsaeng (Younger Brother).
He was laughing.
It was a bright and joyful laughter.
"Crown Prince!"
-It's been a long time, Raon-nim. Hahaha!
"I'm glad to see you too, Crown Prince! But did you deceive someone?"
Raon asked as if throwing something.
"You have too good of an expression! Did you do something exciting? Whom did you deceive?"
That's right.
Cale's expression subtly changed.
One way or another, the Crown Prince looked at Cale with a satisfied smile on his face.
-Our Dongsaeng. Why do you have that expression on your face? It looks like you vomited blood.
Although Cale felt surprised, the Crown Prince laughed again with a "Hahaha."
"What's going on?"
Cale asked the question with irritation because it simply didn't make sense how he looked.
The Crown Prince responded with laughter.
-We're rich.
"...What?"
-The Roan Kingdom is rich, and our Dongsaeng Cale is also rich.
Ah.
Cale suddenly remembered something and asked.
"Has the agreement related to the mines been completed?"
-That's right.
The Crown Prince's gaze as he responded was shining. It was shining so much that Cale felt a bit bewildered.
But soon, a smile also appeared at the corners of his mouth.
"Human, have you become richer?"
"It seems so."
Even the tail of the little Black Dragon began to wag as it laughed.
The Crown Prince smiled as he talked about what he had gained from the mines and how he had dealt with the kingdoms in the Western and Eastern Continents. And when he finished speaking...
"Hahaha, our Hyung-nim (Big Brother) is the best! Ai, the light is so dazzling I can't look!"
-Hahaha! Even your irreverent tone sounds good today!
"Crown Prince, you're the best! Come to think of it, you have a bright smile like a melon! Hehehe!"
Cale, Alberu, and Raon spent a time filled with smiles.
It was a time of laughter and joy that didn't seem to end.
-----------
Guizhou.
Sima Pyeong, the current leader of the Evil Alliance, had established a new branch of the Alliance here. Since then, this area had become the heart of the Evil Faction.
Unless they were very skilled experts, regular Martial Artists from the Justice Faction tried to leave this place as quickly as possible.
Especially, they tried to avoid getting close to the buildings of the Evil Alliance.
After all, that place was the very heart of the Evil Faction.
And today, at the center of that heart, was a grand pavilion.
Beautiful flowers and lush trees.
A small stream surrounded the area, and crystal-clear water flowed alongside it.
"It always sounds beautiful, no matter how many times you hear it."
On one side of the pavilion, Guizhou's finest musicians had gathered to play a fresh and sweet melody.
The top experts of Sichuan's Evil Faction, the Pinnacle Demon and the Iron Family Mansion Leader, engaged in lively conversation.
"The Evil Alliance Leader-nim is someone who knows the beauty of art."
Pling!
The sound of a lyre echoed in their ears.
Sima Pyeong, the Evil Alliance Leader, brought all the key figures of the Evil Faction to this beautiful pavilion filled with music and culture every time he made an invitation.
The Iron Family Mansion Leader spoke calmly as he emptied his liquor cup.
"Today, let's see who dies." ("I guess someone will die today")
Amidst this music, Sima Pyeong, the Evil Alliance Leader, made the decision to kill someone.
Because of this, nobody was enjoying this cultural atmosphere here.
"It smells bad."
In the midst of the conversation, the so-called Pinnacle Demon, one of the Five Demons of the Evil Faction, uttered these words and looked towards the door.
"They've arrived."
Bam.
The door swung open, and Sima Pyeong, the Evil Alliance Leader, appeared. Beside him was Cale.
"Sniff, sniff!"
And Dust following behind him.
-
