## C488
Cale felt it.
'We won.'
Sky Eating Water, temporarily quadrupled in power.
It charged and devoured the ocean.
Kwaaaaaaa-
The storm clouds were dissipating.
The sky, now approaching dawn, revealed a bluish color between night and morning as the black clouds diminished.
-Did we destroy it?
Sky Eating Water spoke.
Cale, clenching his violently trembling arms, shouted.
"Destroy it!"
Raon looked at him startled, but in Cale's eyes, only two types of massive water intertwined.
-Uahahah!
Sky Eating Water let out a refreshing laugh.
-Alright! I'll destroy it!
With those words, Cale felt a huge vibration.
A white curtain was tinged with gray and began to swallow the ocean.
The black sea, devoured by the gray, began to lose its color.
Chwaaaaaa--
Like two entangled snakes, a whirlwind rising into the sky.
The water, which had now mostly turned gray, raised its head towards the sky.
"Go."
The moment Cale's indifferent voice touched the gray water.
-Hahahah!
Sky Eating Water, feeling stronger than ever, launched itself into the sky.
Could it destroy the ocean?
Could water be destroyed?
Those questions were meaningless.
Because neither Cale nor Sky Eating Water wanted to destroy and eliminate the water.
All they wanted was to eliminate the ocean that was trying to kill them, the ocean that was trying to sweep everything away.
Kwaaaaaaa---
A giant whirlwind that bound and bit with its entire body the ocean that struggled not to be devoured, a gray whirlwind that dyed everything with its color.
Kuuung!
After propelling itself once from the ground, it shot into the sky.
"Ah-"
"Ah, aah-"
The fleeing demonic beings, seeing that scene, couldn't even think.
The white curtain that had been stopping the ocean that was trying to sweep away their home.
That curtain absorbed the power of the Demon God's Ruins, turned gray, grabbed the ocean, and rose into the sky.
"The sky, it has been pierced-"
The gray water, which rose high, very high, piercing even the few remaining black clouds.
It seemed as if a giant arrow had pierced the sky.
Kwaaaaaaaaaang----!
A roar was heard.
But their ears didn't hurt. Unlike the roars that had strained their hearts all night.
Far away.
Very high.
It was a sound that came from somewhere.
A roar that felt like it was created by something huge and gigantic.
The cause of that roar was clearly visible to everyone.
The gray whirlwind exploded in the sky.
"Ah-"
"God, oh my God-"
The few remaining black clouds scattered immediately after being pierced.
The bluish sky told them that the night wasn't over yet, but at the same time, the moon and the stars were fading, announcing the dawn.
Plop.
Tok.
The roar disappeared.
The ocean disappeared.
The moment even the gray whirlwind that protected them and destroyed the ocean disappeared.
Plop. Plop.
The demonic beings could feel the drops of water hitting their cheeks.
They extended their hands.
"...Gray-"
Gray drops of water fell from the sky.
"Cold."
The moment the cold drop touched his cheek, the demonic being felt that he was alive.
And he could clearly realize that this scene was not a dream, but reality.
Plop. Plop.
The gray whirlwind had not disappeared.
Instead, it had broken its massive body into small pieces and descended back to earth.
Plop. Plop.
Those who were fleeing hastily.
Those who were preparing for the final moment on the walls.
Those who had gone out to protect the Ruins, looked up and gazed at the sky.
Plop. Plod. Plop.
At this moment when darkness disappeared and dawn arrived.
A clear indigo sky, without a single storm cloud.
Shwaaaaaa-
Gray rain fell.
That rain was not strong.
It wasn't trying to sweep everything away.
It wasn't strong enough to jump over their homes and the walls that protected them.
Nor was the wind blowing.
Only silently.
And gently.
But coldly and vividly.
It descended on the demonic beings and their home.
And soaked them.
"U, uuh-"
A mother who purified her son affected by the Gray Disease and fled carrying her son who had not yet fully regained consciousness, abandoned herself to the gray rain and cried.
"......"
An Elder who, faced with the sudden emergency in the city, unable to understand anything correctly, had to hastily abandon his home and flee, collapsed.
His pants were stained with mud and his body was soaked, but he raised both hands high.
Tok.
The travel bag fell from his hands, but he didn't care.
With his hands extended towards the sky, he closed his eyes.
"......"
The gray rain that fell on him was not irritating but kind and gentle, and he received it with all his strength, allowing it to soak him.
"...Haa-"
Sighing deeply, the soldier of the Demon King's Army collapsed against the railing of the wall.
It was an act he could never normally do, but in front of the vast ocean, in the face of death, he had to endure with his shield.
He thought he would really die.
But he couldn't run away.
Because if he ran away, someone would die.
Thud.
Hearing the sound of someone collapsing, he turned his head.
It was a soldier of the Territory Army.
Just yesterday they were still watching each other and challenging each other. The soldier of the Demon King's Army suddenly realized how useless that thought had been.
"......"
"......"
The Territory soldier and the Demon King's soldier looked at each other in silence, but in their eyes was relief that they had survived, that the other had also survived.
Yes.
We survived.
Finally realizing the reality of being alive, the soldiers slowly moved their heads.
It was a natural action for them.
"......!"
"!"
And soon they jumped up.
Where their gazes were directed.
There was Cale Henituse.
He who purified the Gray Disease.
He who made disappear the ocean summoned by the enemy Third Emperor.
Even in the process, the Demon God's Ruins reacted.
He who did all that-
"Ah, no!"
"This-!"
He was slowly collapsing.
His body was leaning forward.
The railing of the wall.
The place where he had stood, closer to the ocean, to face it.
The body of the one who was standing there leaned forward.
'He's going to fall!'
Down from the wall.
The human who saved us is collapsing.
The moment horror appeared on the faces of those who realized that fact.
"Cale-nim."
Choi Han quickly grabbed Cale's body.
While the eyes of the demonic beings were relieved to see their knight save him, they soon caught another scene.
"Keuj!"
Cale's body trembled.
"Keueok!"
His face tilted upwards.
"Keuj!"
From his open mouth, he spat blood towards the sky.
Three times.
The blood spurted from his mouth three times like a firework exploding.
And it was blackish blood.
"......!"
"!!"
Shwaaaaa---
While the gray rain still fell gently. He who created that scene, violently spat blood three times as if he were going to die at any moment, and then, trembling finely, continued to spit blood with coughs.
"Cough, cough, keuk, cough-"
His companions, who were next to him, as if they were used to it, laid him on the ground, wiped his mouth with a towel, and massaged his body.
And they prepared to move him.
"......"
Strategist Ed couldn't say anything.
He only had to witness that entire scene.
He was spitting blood so violently that even Strategist Ed, on the wall of Mikasi, could clearly see Cale's figure on the wall of Midi.
"Why to that extent-?"
Suddenly, he heard his subordinate's voice.
'True.'
Why does he go to that extent?
There was no one to answer that question.
"!"
Cale Henituse, had finally collapsed.
Everyone saw how he was laid on the ground and then collapsed.
"Human!"
Cale, as his consciousness clouded and his eyes closed, could see Raon flying towards him.
"Damn, damned-"
Damn it.
Cale had used Sky Eating Water more than ever.
"Cough-!"
The blood kept gushing out.
-Hihi.
Sky Eating Water, seemed euphoric, and kept laughing.
-I feel relieved inside.
Glutton Priestess also seemed to be in a good mood.
-Terrifying people…!
Only the Crybaby was sobbing and expressing his outrage.
"Cough, cough-!"
"Human! If you faint and wake up, I'll give you apple pie!"
At the words of Raon, whose chubby cheeks were trembling, Cale smiled weakly and relaxed his body.
Because it was time to faint.
But he had to confirm one more thing.
"Yes, Cale-nim."
Choi Han, who saw Cale's gaze, responded, and Cale slowly opened his mouth.
"The, The Third Emperor?"
With those words,
Tok.
Cale's body loosened and he lost consciousness.
"......"
General Mol, at the image of Cale thinking of everyone until the last moment, lost his speech.
Uuung, uung-
He felt that he could no longer ignore the vibration of the Sacred Artifact of the God of Sacrifice.
And, following the last message left by Cale Henituse, his gaze moved.
"...Ah…."
There was the Third Emperor, with his body buried in the muddy ground, being trampled on the back by the Demon King.
"Ah, aah-"
The Third Emperor was looking at the sky with a stunned expression.
Shwaaaaaa-
He, soaked by the gray rain, had an expression of bewilderment.
"My, my ocean- lost?"
My ocean, which took everything from me, lost?
And above all, what is that force?
The water that turned gray.
The force contained in that water.
It was something that the Third Emperor had never experienced before.
Although he only faced a small fragment of that force, his entire body bristled.
Yes.
So much so that he forgot the pain in his body-
"Keoheuk!"
But his pain was only beginning.
"Keuk!"
The Demon King grabbed the Third Emperor's head.
His clothes were impeccable, without a speck of mud.
Instead, the Third Emperor had broken arms and legs. His mouth was also shattered, so he couldn't even utter a word.
'This monster-'
The Demon King is not a God.
He is just a monster.
A guy with terrible power.
Who rejects everything-
"!"
The Third Emperor's eyes widened.
His face raised by the Demon King's hand.
His eyes reflected the image of the Demon King.
Shwaaaaaa-
The gray rain soaked the Demon King.
Although his ocean could never touch him.
A simple rain created by a human was soaking the Demon King.
I lost.
That was the only thing he thought.
My ocean lost.
That brought a deep fear to the eyes of the Third Emperor, who had so much pride in the ocean that he called himself the Dragon King.
It wasn't that the Demon King, who could kill him, scared him.
The gray rain that slowly soaked the Demon King.
That single drop of water scared him.
"Why are you trembling?"
The Demon King smiled mockingly and released the Third Emperor's head.
And then he grabbed his neck.
"-!"
Soon the Third Emperor lost consciousness. The Demon King gave an order to the captain of the royal guard who was approaching.
"Restrict him with the Sacred Artifact of the Demon King's Castle."
A restriction that was said that not even a God could escape once subjected.
The Demon King, who ordered to use this object, silently watched as the captain of the royal guard subdued the Third Emperor, and then extended his hand.
Plop. Plop.
Raindrops rested on his palm.
"...Cold."
He could feel the temperature.
And the raindrops soaked his clothes.
"Ha, haha-"
He let out a laugh.
'My heart was moved.'
For meeting someone interesting.
For a fragment of some memory that someone showed.
And-
"Surprising."
For the wonderful force that he deployed.
The Demon King, for the first time in a long time, was moved.
It was similar to curiosity towards some being.
"Funny. Very funny."
The Demon King began to walk, letting the gray rain soak him.
The sensation of the rain, after so long, was also quite pleasant.
'The Demon God reacted-'
Despite his words of amusement, the expression disappeared from his face.
Instead, something somber bloomed in his eyes.
Demon God.
What formed in his eyes when thinking of that word was not astonishment or joy, but something similar to hatred.
Cale Henituse, fallen and being carried, leaving the wall.
In the eyes of the Demon King directed towards him, along with curiosity, something somber formed.
* * *
"Uun."
Cale slowly felt himself regaining consciousness and realized that it was time to open his eyes.
'Will I see the God of Death?'
Every time he fainted like that, he always saw the God of Death or similar gods, so Cale opened his eyes without thinking much.
With an infinitely bored expression.
Because the God of Death simply didn't respond to his contacts.
"!"
And Cale, upon opening his eyes, was surprised.
"Human!"
Raon, with swollen eyes, suddenly brought his face close to Cale.
On and Hong were also next to him.
'Huh?'
Am I not going to see the God of Death?
...Why doesn't this guy let himself be seen lately?
Although his face is not exactly pleasant to see, Cale felt uneasy not seeing the God of Death. Raon brought an apple pie closer to him and said.
"14 days!"
Huh?
For a moment, Cale doubted his ears.
Seeing the swollen eyes of what amounted to a 10-year-old, he realized late that something had happened.
'Don't tell me-'
That those 14 days-
"Human, you didn't wake up for 14 days!"
Hmm.
He was unconscious for two weeks?
That long?
"...Eh, um, khuum!"
His throat was obstructed and the words didn't come out well.
Rutruturut-
Butler Ron approached, serving warm water in a cup, and said.
"To be exact, you woke up after 14 days, 2 hours, and 31 minutes."
Oh no.
This is a disaster.
Unintentionally, Cale blurted out the words.
"Aren't there many cities left to purify?"
Of the cities that had seeds of chaos contamination, only 3 were purified.
There were still many places to purify.
And it's been 2 weeks?
As Cale's pupils shook.
A gentle voice was heard.
"Cale-nim. Don't worry."
Clopeh Sekka said with a gentle smile.
"We have prepared a national tour of the Demon Kingdom for the gray rain ceremony. Whenever you wish, you only have to give your permission, and I will cooperate with the Demon King's Castle to immediately begin the tour throughout the continent of the Demon Kingdom."
A national tour of the Demon Kingdom?
"All the demonic beings of the Demon Kingdom only desire Cale-nim's recovery, so for now you can rest with peace of mind."
...Why do all the demonic beings of the Demon Kingdom desire my recovery?
No, why does everyone know me?
Cale's pupils shook.
Tap. Tap.
Ron, seeing Cale surprised, tucked the blanket over him and adjusted it, saying carefully:
"Rest for now. Young Master."
No, I don't think it's time to rest.
Although Cale's pupils shook.
Nom, nom, nom.
For now, he began to eat the apple pie that the equivalent of a 10-year-old was giving him.
"Huhu."
But hearing Clopeh Sekka's laughter, Cale's body under the blanket trembled.
Something is wrong.
Cale's skin crawled as soon as he opened his eyes.
