* * *

The small city where the Blood Cult was located…

Stairway to Heaven, the tallest building there, was destroyed, but there were still many tall buildings.

The Fist King was sitting on the roof of one of those buildings without being able to say anything.

Drip, drip.

The water drops falling from the sky trailed down his cheeks.

He raised his head.

The water that shot up from the seat to the sky was coming back down as rain.

Above them was the night sky that was full of shining stars without a single cloud.

“…It’s salty.”

That water drop was salty.

Was it because it came from the sea?

However, the Fist King thought it was like tears.

In that case, whose tears were these?

Were they tears of relief or maybe joy?

Did they carry someone’s sacrifice in them?

Or maybe it was flowing down the awe and admiration of the people who watched that person’s sacrifice.

Anything could be the answer right now.

“Senior, did you see it?”

The Fist King opened his mouth to answer Elder Ho’s question.

“Yes, I also saw what you saw.”

Elder Ho Song Yi tightly closed his mouth after hearing that.

They could see the seaside cliff from here.

Of course, they couldn’t see it clearly. However, the people with higher levels of martial arts would have been able to focus their internal ki in their eyes to see it more clearly.

That was how they had seen it.

They saw young master Kim plop down on the ground almost as if he fell.

‘I couldn’t see the details, but…’

It was too far.

Young master Kim was also surrounded by people.

As a result, he could not see everything.

But what he was certain about was that young master Kim Hae-il was in a significant amount of pain.

‘It can’t be helped.’

He stopped such a large tsunami on his own.

How was something like that possible?

Didn’t it sound unbelievable like a legend being passed down orally for generations?

‘But all of this was real.’

That was why he was at a loss for words.

He thought that he had aged as much as necessary and had enough experiences to not get shocked no matter what happens in the world, but…

Elder Ho had no way of explaining this intense emotion shaking his whole body.

Thrill.

Admiration.

Respect.

What word could be used to describe all three of these together?

Actually, relief and joy were included as well, making it even harder to describe with a single word.

He then suddenly thought of something and chuckled.

“What is it?”

The Fist King asked in confusion and Elder Ho responded.

“Senior, when I was younger…”

He had been wandering the streets since some point.

As an orphan, as a beggar… He had nothing to rely on and wandered the streets until he joined the Beggars’ Gang.

“There was an old lady in the village who would gather the children and tell them old stories. I used to secretly hide and listen to them.”

Most of the villagers shooed him away after seeing his shabby appearance. However, that old lady saw him and smiled before continuing her story as if nothing had happened.

“They were old stories or maybe legends, but… Thinking about it now, all of them were so nonsensical and unbelievable.”

The Fist King turned his gaze forward and quietly listened to Elder Ho.

“But as a kid, hearing those stories would make my heart beat wildly and I would not be able to go to sleep. On the days where I couldn’t listen to the story until the end, I would sometimes imagine the rest of the story and stay up all night.”

“Pfft.”

Elder Ho laughed.

“Of course, getting older made me say that those were just stories. They weren’t real.”

The world was vast but the world he lived in was not that big.

The world was also not that beautiful or big.

It was just a place to continue your life.

That was the thought that filled his mind the older he got.

“However, I now think that those legends could all have been true.”

The smile on Elder Ho’s face slowly became bigger.

Those stories that excited him as a kid, prevented him from going to sleep, and filled his mind and dreams all the time…

“At least I feel that way after seeing this sight.”

His old body, his heart was beating like when he was a kid.

He was also overwhelmed with emotions.

“No, I can’t help but think that reality might even be grander.”

The Fist King listened quietly and then stood up. He then brushed off his clothes as he commented.

“Yes. Today will probably end up being treated as a legend as it passes through generation after generation.

Pfft.”

Mok Hyeon quietly chuckled.

“Don’t you think so?”

He started looking around.

Elder Ho did so as well.

They could hear people cheering. There were also people who could not hold back the intense emotions filling their hearts and were crying.

This was happening regardless of whether the people were from the Orthodox faction, Unorthodox faction, Demon Cult, and the Blood Cult.

They were all rejoicing that they survived.

It was peaceful at least for this moment.

It probably could not be helped.

They most likely thought that humans would not be able to survive in front of nature’s ruthlessness.

Seeing that thought being destroyed should be making them extremely happy.

The Fist King laughed as if it was funny as he spoke.

“Weird powers showed up, a divine beast, a Dragon appeared, that Dragon used magical powers, nature launched a large attack… The sky, the sea, and the earth all endlessly roared… What else could all this be except a legend?”

Elder Ho blankly nodded his head.

Now that he thought about it, the people here had all seen that young black Dragon.

They also saw that Dragon sealing the formation.

Furthermore, the fight between the Blood Demon and Choi Han was a clash between two eccentric auras that transcended the level of martial arts.

These were all marvelous sights.

All of these could be stories they talked about for the rest of their lives.

Elder Ho was continuing to think when he heard the Fist King’s voice.

“However, for some odd reason, everything does not seem to be sweeping toward us.”

Elder Ho nodded his head.

“Senior, we saw a person enduring against nature.”

People were cheering.

They cheered while looking at the coast.

Some of them lifted their heads up and opened their arms with joy as they felt the water drops falling on them.

The people who were in high spots like the Fist King and Elder Ho and had a high level of martial arts were feeling dire after seeing young master Kim plop down on the ground, but…

Most people would only have seen this person, Kim Hae-il, creating a tsunami to go against nature’s tsunami.

Furthermore, they should know that the divine beast, the black Dragon, sealed a dangerous power that had been aiming for the island and the continent.

“…….”

The Fist King blinked before starting to walk.

Elder Ho silently followed behind him.

They left the cheering people and followed the back of the black Dragon heading toward the cliff.

The young black Dragon was holding something in his arms as he moved very quickly toward the cliff.

The Fist King was using a foot technique to quickly follow behind Raon before he stopped.

“Ah.”

He gasped.

“It’s dawn.”

He had been thinking that his surroundings had become a bit brighter, but…

The vast sea…

The night sky was slowly turning dark blue far in the distance out east.

The morning sun would soon rise up.

Then the black sea would slowly receive the sunlight and create the sparkling blue water.

“It’s beautiful.”

It truly was beautiful.

He wanted to quickly meet the person who made it possible for him to see this beautiful sight in this world and not in hell.

The Fist King quickly followed behind Raon.

However, Raon was moving extremely quickly.

“Human!”

Cale turned his head after hearing the familiar voice but then he flinched.

“W, what the?!”

He subconsciously verbalized his anxious thoughts.

A black thing, ah, Raon, was coming toward him.

But he was flying extremely quickly as if he was a missile.

A black dot was blasting toward him.

‘I might die if he runs into me.’

He truly thought that he would die if Raon slammed into him.

He heard a nonchalant voice at that moment.

“What else would it be, young master-nim? Raon-nim is rushing over because he is worried.”

Cale questioned his hearing.

He had to because the person who said that was Beacrox.

Cale, who had been extremely timid because he did not dare to look at Choi Han, Lee Soo Hyuk, or Beacrox, peeked toward Beacrox.

He was looking at Cale with a discontent gaze.

Cale quickly stopped leaning on Beacrox.

Of course, he was still plopped down on the ground.

“Mm.”

Cale checked his body again.

‘Blood?

Did not cough up any.

Chances of fainting?

None.

Tears, snot, drool……

Those are a bit much?’

Cale quickly used the robe over his shoulder to wipe his face. The tsunami being destroyed and the following rain wet his face, but…

‘Snot is a bit noticeable.’

Cale stealthily wiped it.

He happened to make eye contact with Beacrox as he did that.

“Tsk.”

‘Tsk?

Did he just click his tongue at me?’

Cale looked at him in disbelief but Beacrox pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and offered it to Cale.

The handkerchief had cute embroidery on it.

‘…Didn’t he only carry white handkerchiefs in the past?

When did his tastes change?’

He then accepted it after seeing that the embroidery was in the shape of a cat.

‘It must be Hong’s.’

On did not like things like this.

Cale wiped his face with the handkerchief. He calmly spoke as he did that.

“Let’s head back to the Blood Cult for now. We need to investigate the Blood Demon’s residence.”

He looked toward the Heavenly Demon, Sima Pyeong, and Zhuge Mi Ryeo.

“We want to take a look at where the Blood Demon and the top executives resided before anybody else. That should be fine, right?”

Honestly speaking, Cale’s group had done most of the work. It should be fine to demand something like this.

The other seemed to agree as they nodded their heads without any issues.

“Ha.”

Of course, the Heavenly Demon scoffed in disbelief and Zhuge Mi Ryeo stealthily shed some tears while muttering something about, ‘even in such a situation-.’

Sima Pyeong looked deep in thought.

Cale easily ignored such a reaction and slowly thought of what needed to be done.

‘The Blood Demon definitely seemed to know more than the Huayans patriarch. Especially about Aipotu.’

He needed to go through her pavilion to gather any information that might be beneficial to them.

‘…We need to fully prepare before we go.’

He clearly felt it as he blocked that tsunami.

The Purple Bloods. These Dragons really would be no jokes.

‘They even used the power of a World Tree to crush the Blood Cult, so I’m sure that they put in a ton of resources in Aipotu as well.’

It was not easy to use the power of a World Tree.

It should have been extremely difficult for them to do so.

However, thinking about how they needed to fight with existences that were capable of doing that-

‘Fuck.’

He felt as if they would be lacking no matter what he prepared.

Cale stood up.

‘Oh.

I’m not even staggering.

This is nice.

– Something is weird.

The Vitality of the Heart. He ignored the ominous comments of the crybaby.

He was fine right now, wasn’t he?

– But Cale, are you okay?

Cale closed his mouth at the cheapskate’s quiet question.

He was not asking about Cale’s physical condition. The ancient powers knew the condition of his body better than he did.

He was asking about something else.

Cale was purposely not looking at Choi Han and Sui Khan who had been completely silent since earlier.

He had peeked at them but Choi Han was looking at him calmly.

That was vicious.

‘As for the team leader-’

He looked extremely angry.

Nonchalance. The way the team leader was looking at the sea without any emotions visible on his face was the look he had when he was really angry.

That was why Cale could not look at him any longer.

He knew exactly why they were like this.

That was why he said this.

“Human!”

Raon happened to arrive as well.

“Wow. My body’s condition is great?”

He said it this way on purpose.

Choi Han flinched and the corners of his eyes became slightly back to his innocent self.

As Cale was relieved…

“Young master-nim.”

Ron arrived as well.

“Human, I put the World Tree’s power in here and sealed it!”

Raon pushed forward the young monk statue as well as his tummy.

– You worked hard.

– …What the hell do you go around doing? Do you even want to be a slacker anymore?

He had to listen to Eruhaben telling him that he worked hard as well as Alberu’s sassy comment.

Of course, the divine item with the screen was brought over in Ron’s hand.

Choi Jung Soo slowly waved from the back and walked up as well.

He then nonchalantly commented.

“Why are your eyes so swollen? Did you cry or something?”

Raon flinched and observed Cale.

Raon had not thought much about it because there were no signs of blood, Cale did not faint, and he was standing up as if everything was fine.

The Heavenly Demon commented in a tone that was full of respect at that moment.

“His eyes being swollen is not the issue. His head almost exploded boom boom. I truly have to show my respects to Kim Hae-il’s perseverance.”

Thud.

The statue with the World Tree’s powers fell from Raon’s paws to the ground.

‘What the hell is that bastard saying?! There’s a kid here! No, more importantly, I’m really feeling fine!’

Cale looked at the Heavenly Demon in disbelief as Raon started mumbling.

“…His head… Boom boom……?”

The Heavenly Demon responded.

“Yes. It really could have been bad. It was amazing.”

Silence filled the area.

Cale’s pupils started to shake. He immediately answered.

“N, no? It wasn’t like that.”

However, nobody answered him, returning them all to silence.

-…This is driving me nuts.

Crown prince Alberu Crossman’s mumbling broke the silence.

—

Translator’s Comments

Could have been reeeeeal bad.

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