C472
“Oh, savior, I am Timorang, the high priestess of the Gray Tree tribe.”
Hmm. Cale wasn’t exactly someone who showed respect to elders.
“It’s an honor to meet you.”
But seeing the elderly woman, who looked at least eighty years old, with traces of dried blood on the corner of her lips…
“Hmm. Elder. No, High Priestess.”
Cale spoke politely without realizing it.
“Oh, savior, you may call me Timorang informally.”
No. How can I call an eighty-plus-year-old woman by her name informally?
Although I call Choi Han and his uncle Choi Jung Soo by their names and speak to them informally, that’s different, isn’t it? Cale had much to say, but he restrained himself and spoke calmly.
“I… am no savior.”
He first had to correct the fact.
“Haha.”
But the High Priestess smiled for the first time. Fine wrinkles formed at the corners of her eyes. For the first time, her serious face relaxed, and she asked Cale:
“Oh, savior, do you wish me to guide you to the location of the tribe that has suffered at the hands of Chaos?”
Ah. I already told you I’m no savior! This old woman doesn’t understand me! An air of irreverence took over Cale’s face, who opened his mouth:
“Yes. Guide me.”
Anyway, Cale had to examine the demons infected with the Gray Disease first. He needed to understand their condition.
“Haha.”
The old woman smiled again meaningfully, took out her wooden staff, and started walking. Salang. The vitality of the leaves growing on her wooden staff caught Cale’s attention for a moment.
“It smells like wood.”
At Cale’s words, Timorang, the High Priestess walking ahead, stopped for a moment, but then continued walking after saying:
“The wood protects the land.”
Those words resonated deeply in Cale’s mind.
‘Didn’t they say the Gray Tree tribe protects the Demon God’s ruins?’
But why does she say it protects the land? Cale felt something was wrong, but he kept quiet.
“High Priestess.”
Because General Mol, who had been silent, opened his mouth.
“I’ve heard you’re preventing us from examining your tribe members infected with the Gray Disease. You must allow us…”
But General Mol’s words were interrupted.
“Shut up.”
The gaze of the elderly High Priestess turned murderous. He immediately recalled the image of her, who had stood firm in front of the Third Emperor and the Demon King without even looking at them.
“!”
General Mol cowered and fell silent. Although he was the leader of the Third Army, this tribe’s High Priestess was someone who enjoyed the respect of the demons. The elderly High Priestess looked at General Mol sternly and shouted:
“Who are you, who carries the trace of another God and dares to set foot here to speak?”
“…!”
Mol’s face paled even more. Without realizing it, he looked at Cale urgently. Cale was looking at him, and Cale opened his mouth.
“Ah. I know you have a Sacred Object. But I don’t know which God’s it is.”
“!!”
Mol’s pupils trembled violently. He knows? That I have a Sacred Object? How? The elderly High Priestess, who was staring intently at Mol’s face, sneered.
“Ha. How funny, how funny. I thought you were the hand behind, betraying others. But it seems you’re a fellow who can’t even see what’s in front of you, betraying even yourself.”
And then, she spoke politely to Cale:
“Oh, savior, we have been awaiting your arrival.”
Her staff parted the air.
Salang-
Suddenly, the wind blew. The entrance to the ruins and the nearby village. The leaves of all the surrounding trees moved.
Ssaaaaaaaaa-
The sound the swaying leaves made.
Tadadak-
After a brief silence, light footsteps began to be heard.
“We will cooperate in everything, so don’t worry.”
The demons of the Gray Tree tribe opened the gate to the village entrance for Cale to enter.
“High Priestess.”
“Yes, savior.”
Cale, seeing the people waiting for him as if they had been waiting for him, asked the High Priestess:
“Can you see the future?”
It was simply a question he asked because he felt it might be so.
‘No, right?’
She’s a High Priestess, and she knows about Cale’s existence. Based on his experience, there was something he felt when putting the pieces together.
“As expected, you knew. You’re incredible.”
The High Priestess said to Cale with an expression of admiration and astonishment.
‘Exaggerated.’
Cale thought her reaction was exaggerated. But the High Priestess maintained that reaction.
“I cannot see all futures.”
At that, Cale responded. Because he felt he knew.
“You only see some futures?”
“Yes. That’s true. I see the future occasionally through dreams. And I have seen the savior bring the Gray Rain to these ruins and these two cities. Please forgive me for not being able to give you more details.”
“Hmm.”
Gray Rain. Cale knows that when he uses the ‘Purification of Chaos,’ in the final stage, gray droplets come out of those infected by Chaos.
‘But is that rain?’
It’s not something that can be called rain.
‘Hmm.’
Cale hesitated. But since he didn’t get any answers…
‘It must be a prophetic dream, so it must be a symbolic representation.’
Anyway, Cale will perform the purification, and the gray droplets will also appear. So it could be said that this High Priestess’s precognition had a high accuracy rate.
“I see. Let’s go see the infected.”
As Cale didn’t want to waste time, he headed towards the patients.
“Yes, savior.”
The elderly Timorang gestured to one of the tribe members. She began to guide Cale and General Mol.
“Ah. My companions will come soon.”
“Yes. I understand.”
The High Priestess instructed another tribe member with a gesture while Cale spoke, and followed Cale.
‘It will be my last precognition.’
The High Priestess recalled her last dream as she remembered Cale’s back, which was hidden by General Mol.
‘I’ve never had such a vivid dream.’
The High Priestesses of the Gray Tree tribe had a special power passed down through generations. That was the power to see the future. And most of those futures were when something bad happened to the tribe and the ruins. Something bad meant, of course, bad things like calamities and disasters.
‘Gray…’
This dream didn’t show the Third Emperor. If she had known he would come, she would have taken measures to prevent the tribe from having problems. Or, even earlier, she didn’t even see in the dream that a seed would be planted in the candidate for the next High Priest, nor that the Chaos God’s cult was plotting something. If she had known, she could have prevented it.
‘But the dream showed the savior and the Gray Rain.’
The dream wasn’t clear. It was full of countless symbols and metaphors. But this dream was the most vivid of her entire life.
‘A dark, cloudy sky. Gray rain falls on the ruins and Midi and Mika.’
And a red-haired man standing atop the bell tower, the tallest building, creating all of that. Demons shouting “savior” towards him.
The savior saved the ruins and the two cities.
Timorang, the High Priestess, was finally able to relax a little and began to walk with her tired body. It wasn’t easy to deploy the formation for two full days in front of the Three Emperors.
The Gray Tree tribe’s village.
Deep within that village, there was a medical center. The two-story building was full of infected.
“Here is the list of patients.”
As it was still daytime, they were fast asleep, their bodies turning gray. In the only empty examination room, away from the patients, the tribe’s healer and an official sent from the Demon King’s castle handed the documents to Cale, unable to hide their anxiety.
Sarak sarak. Cale reviewed the patient list as he flipped through the pages. A silent space. Mol stood behind Cale, furtively looking at the documents.
Kkubok kkubok. The elderly High Priestess, escorted by a tribe member, was asleep in a chair in a corner. No one reprimanded her. She was already old enough to retire as High Priestess, but since no successor had appeared, she remained the High Priestess until a candidate appeared, who died from a seed germinating. Because of that, the elderly High Priestess returned to the front lines and faced the Three Emperors and their subordinates alone, leaving the tribe behind. Who would blame that old woman for sleeping?
Sarak sarak. The official, observing how the pages were quickly flipped, opened his mouth.
“We’ve moved everyone who had been infected and suffered convulsions in Midi and Mika to this medical center.”
More than two hundred infected were crammed into the two-story building of the medical center.
“Hmm.”
Cale groaned.
“Those considered possible infectees are under quarantine in Midi and Mika’s isolation centers.”
Should he say it’s good news? The officials from the Demon King’s castle, who arrived late after the Three Emperors caused trouble, acted quickly.
“We can purify this place tomorrow morning.”
Since it’s afternoon now, there are no urgent patients, so when the infected who will cause trouble tonight calm down when the sun rises tomorrow… We’ll be able to purify them then. Cale came to that conclusion as he closed the documents. Of course, he added a phrase:
“All this is based on the premise that the Three Emperors will retreat before the day ends.”
“…Yes.”
The official responded with a serious expression, and Mol nodded his head. As the Demon King had intervened, the Three Emperors would retreat soon.
-Now we’ll be able to purify the remaining arm.
Cale didn’t respond to Super Rock’s hopeful words. Just because his indigestion had improved…
‘I just hope the dizziness disappears.’
It was a bit bothersome having to be helped to stand because of the dizziness.
“Let’s hold on tonight.”
Cale handed the documents he had already reviewed to the tribe’s healer and said that, and a bright light appeared on the faces of those in the examination room. That was probably hope.
“…….”
Mol was silently observing this.
“!”
Suddenly, he startled and looked behind him. He wasn’t the only one.
‘What?’
Cale also startled and diverted his gaze to the side. He felt a strange energy.
“¡Heok!”
The High Priestess, enveloped in gray smoke, was waking up with her eyes open. The tribe’s warrior and healer beside her hurriedly knelt down.
“A precognition…!”
At the tribe healer’s words, Cale immediately understood how the situation was unfolding.
‘A precognition?’
His face hardened.
‘A precognition in this situation?’
Things were going well, and all that remained was to finish them. Suddenly, she had a precognition. Cale’s neck felt cold. This wasn’t a good sign.
“¡Night—!”
Timorang, the High Priestess, was drenched in sweat. She trembled as she spoke. The gray smoke was disappearing. She had to say what she had seen before the gray smoke disappeared.
Gray Rain. She had had an even more vivid dream than that today. She realized. That the Gray Rain was nothing more than an omen of this calamity she had seen today.
“At night, the city will be covered in gray, and gray monsters will try to catch the demons!”
Ah. Cale sighed. The High Priestess’s words continued:
“The city will burn, and the screams of the demons will cover the heavens and the earth—!”
Her gaze turned to Cale.
“A red-haired man will climb the bell tower, but the bell tower will be destroyed by a blue dragon.”
She trembled as she said:
“The Gray Rain won’t fall, dawn will break, and the city will be covered in gray ashes…”
Her body trembled like an aspen, and then…
“¡High Priestess!”
She fainted. Juruuk. A thread of blood ran down the corner of her lips.
“…This is the first time I’ve heard a precognition that reveals so much…”
Approaching the High Priestess, who was being helped by a tribe warrior, the healer said to Cale in a trembling voice. At this moment, the experienced healer felt he had to tell Cale this. That he shouldn’t ignore this precognition. That the High Priestess had revealed so much without thinking about her own body.
“…….”
Cale’s gaze, which had been looking at the unconscious High Priestess, turned to the official.
“!”
The official’s body cowered at the cold gaze, and Cale opened his mouth.
“Is this correct?”
He said as he lifted the documents.
“Midi and Mika. Have you accurately secured the number of infected and possible infectees in both places?”
Damn it. Cale swallowed the curses that were about to come out. He had completely understood the situation after hearing the High Priestess’s words. It was such an accurate precognition.
‘It’s tonight.’
And Midi and Mika. In one of the two cities, an infectee will appear and cause trouble. And when they try to stop him, the Dragon King, one of the Three Emperors, will appear.
“Damn it.”
Finally, Cale revealed his thoughts.
“…T-this…”
General Mol’s face paled, and Cale coldly said to him:
“What are you doing?”
“Eh?”
“Is this the time to be like this?”
Cale decided to act instead of worrying. If it’s tonight… Since it’s still afternoon, there’s still time. Since he’s had a precognition, he can prepare.
‘Good.’
It’s worth a try. Compared to the hardships he’s overcome so far.
“¡H-High Priestess!”
At that moment, the High Priestess, who they thought was unconscious, opened her eyes with difficulty. When Cale and the High Priestess’s gazes met, the High Priestess said her last words before losing consciousness.
“You must… you must… resist… and survive…”
What? Cale’s expression hardened.
-…Hmm. Not a good sign.
As Super Rock said, along with ominous words, the High Priestess lost consciousness. The Glutton Priestess murmured softly to Cale, who felt very uncomfortable.
-My body itches.
The Glutton Priestess complained of an itchy sensation, as if something was about to sprout. It felt oppressive, as if she had indigestion, but strangely she was hungry. Something was missing. She needed something more to digest. No, she just wanted to eat something refreshing to endure this oppression. But she didn’t know what it was. At that moment…
-I’m hungry.
The Glutton Priestess complained again, but Cale didn’t hear her. Right now, Cale…
“Damn it. Let’s return to Midi immediately!”
There was no time to waste. Although it seemed feasible, Cale felt a strange sense of unease.
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