“My liege.”

Cale approached Mary.

“Are you okay?”

On the outside, Mary looked pretty much the same as she had looked when she left this morning.

The only difference was that the robe she was wearing was different.

“Yes. I’m okay. I took care of my clothes outside.”

“Great decision, my liege.”

Robes or armor worn on the outside were disinfected or destroyed before walking into the wall.

– Human, I made sure to give Mary a spatial pocket bag with a robe in it!

‘Yes, yes. Good job.’

Cale nodded his head to praise Raon and looked up.

“Should I get rid of the umbrella?”

“Whatever you would like, my liege.”

“Okay.”

Mary confirmed that no more black rain was seeping in and got rid of her bone umbrella after hearing Cale’s response.

The bones disappeared into her spatial pocket bag once again.

Cale’s gaze moved. Beyond Mary’s shoulder…

– Cale, that bastard has been following behind Mary since earlier.

Eruhaben was looking at the First Imperial Prince with a suspicious gaze.

– I asked Mary and she said that he followed her around outside as well.

‘Hmm.’

First Imperial Prince Sanders.

‘Where are his helpers and why is he moving around alone?’

Cale and Eruhaben were warily looking at the First Imperial Prince but Sanders didn’t even give these helpers a glance.

“How can you use your ability so flexibly?”

He simply asked Mary a question.

“I don’t want to tell you. It just works when I do it.”

– Good job, Mary! Just answer like that!

Of course, Mary treated the First Imperial Prince coldly.

‘Hmm.

The First Imperial Prince is probably one of the two puppets that Second Imperial Princess Olivia mentioned.

The Black Bloods… Does it mean he is the puppet of the House of Huayans?’

Cale debated how he could use this situation to his advantage but did not put much thought into it.

The reason was simple.

‘It’s not that big of a variable.’

There was that individual whom they couldn’t determine if she was a Dragon, but there was nobody participating in this test who was strong enough to be an obstacle to Cale’s group.

‘They’ll need to at least be at the Emperor or that patriarch’s level.’

Cale felt a presence and turned his head.

“Umm, mister.”

Cale looked at Choi Han with shock.

‘What is up with this sudden mister business?’

Cale soon realized the answer after seeing Choi Han looking quite anxious and tense.

‘Ah. We didn’t determine how we were going to address each other.’

Choi Han seemed to have done his best to come up with something as he could not call Cale Cale-nim. The team leader dangling on Choi Han’s shoulder shook his head while looking at Choi Han.

– Human. Why is Choi Han calling you so awkwardly?

‘I know, right?’

“What is it?”

“That……”

Choi Han peeked to the side with his eyes.

“Quite the attention is focused here.”

Cale looked around with Choi Han before thinking that he understood what Choi Han was trying to say.

The edge village.

Precinct 9.

Most of the people here were people who were here to stop the erosion and defend against it. However, there were a decent number of civilians as well.

Click.

One of the slightly opened windows of a house closed once Cale looked at it.

However, Cale had seen the gaze of the person who had been looking at him before the window closed.

‘…There’s no light.’

There was no strength in the gaze.

There was no shock, anticipation, or even excitement even though the test for the future Emperor was being completed, the candidates appeared, and one of those candidates had used their powers.

It felt completely different from the capital.

– It must be that they have no hope.

He heard Eruhaben’s voice in his mind.

– They have nowhere to return to.

At first, Cale had found it odd that there were quite a lot of civilians living in this edge village and the ten precincts, but he felt sorrow after realizing the reason.

‘Usually the people living in the edge village are people who escaped from the eroded land.’

They were people who had to leave their homes and move away from the slowly eroding land at the western border.

They could go find a place themselves at the capital, but only a select few would have the abilities to do so.

Most lived in empty houses or tents as if they were nomads.

– Cale!

Did he understand Cale’s thoughts?

– Let’s burn it up! We just need to purify it!

The cheapskate strongly aired his opinion.

– We will purify the entirety of this Xiaolen!

– …Then Cale will die.

– He won’t die! The efficiency of my power is no joke in this world! Even if he just uses one percent of his power, it’ll have the effect of ten, no, fifty percent!

– …Haaaaaaaa.

– The World Tree isn’t here either! There’s nothing here to stop us!

Cale was ignoring the cheapskate’s conversation with the Super Rock.

– Super Rock, look, look. Cale isn’t saying that he won’t do it. He would have already been shaking his head if he really wasn’t going to do anything! But he’s just standing there? That means that he will do it!

– …Cale, he’s not right, is he?

Cale just ignored them.

“My liege, would you please consider going inside now?”

Mary flinched for a moment at Cale’s gentle demeanor before nodding her head.

– Human, you’re so good at pretending to be nice too. But why don’t you act like such a cool subordinate toward the crown prince?

Mary confirmed that the Dark Elves were stopping the black rain cloud properly before heading toward the Castle.

She stood next to Cale and spoke quietly so that only he could hear.

“I confirmed the direction the rain clouds came from, young master-nim.”

‘I knew it.’

The corners of Cale’s lips curled up.

He had told Mary to follow the wall and go for a walk. Mary seemed to have used that walk very effectively.

“It was the same direction that the Second Imperial Princess went toward.”

“Is that so, my liege?”

“Yes si…mm. Yes.”

Mary hesitated for a moment before adding on.

“…And the Second Imperial Princess’s team has not come back yet.”

The group was silent for a moment.

The sun wasn’t down yet and the Second Imperial Princess’s team had plenty of time to return.

However, they still had this unexplainable ominous feeling.

* * *

No members of Second Imperial Princess Olivia’s team had returned even after the sun had gone down.

Knock knock knock.

On the grey sky that was being dyed red… Only about half of the sunset was still visible.

“Should I open the door?”

Cale nodded his head at Choi Han’s question.

He was currently in the meeting room for the nineteenth candidate and Mary, Eruhaben, and Sui Khan were not here.

“Hello sir.”

Top aide Eaen was the one who walked into the meeting room. She approached Cale, who was seated at the head of the table. Cale slowly got up from the chair to greet her.

“Is it a response to the note?”

‘Mm.’

Eaen hesitated for a bit as Cale got down to business without even greeting her but nodded her head.

“Yes sir. The Marquis-nim asks to meet tonight.”

“That is not possible.”

Cale shook his head.

“Excuse me?”

She had not expected Heni Wishrop’s subordinate to reject it.

‘Although we don’t know his identity, he’s probably a noble from the perished kingdom.’

Eaen had not expected this guy to reject the Margrave’s request so calmly as if he was the superior one here. The Margrave was a Marquis of the Empire and had a large group of skilled knights under his command.

“Let’s meet tomorrow. We will deliver the time tomorrow morning.”

However, Eaen could not say anything to go against the subordinate’s words.

‘Cater to them as much as possible.’

Her uncle… The Margrave had told her to do so.

“Then see you tomorrow.”

The man said that as if he wanted Eaen to leave now.

“…I understand. I will deliver the message.”

Eaen left the meeting room without being able to say anything else.

Click.

Choi Han closed the meeting room door as soon as she left and asked Cale.

“Are we heading out tonight, Cale-nim?”

“Yeah.”

Cale looked out the window.

Beyond the wall… It already looked like night.

“We will leave the kids here and go out when Eruhaben-nim brings the items from the Church.”

“Yes, Cale-nim.”

A few hours later, night had arrived.

* * *

“…Human, can I please go with you?”

“Not today.”

Cale sternly shook his head.

“We are only going to investigate today. That is why you guys stay here and protect the meeting room. Prevent anybody else from spying on our lodging.”

Raon and Hong puffed their cheeks and pouted but Cale didn’t care.

Eruhaben had teleported to the capital and brought On and Hong over.

Of course, the vampire and Shawn were still at the capital continuing the investigation of the Imperial Palace and the Black Bloods household.

“I want to go too! I can go! The outside is not dangerous if I wear the clothes from the Church!”

“That’s right, nya! It’s not dangerous, nya!”

However, Raon and Hong did not say anything else and retreated once On came over and patted their heads.

Cale tightly fastened the button of his robe.

It was something Eruhaben had received from the Pope at the capital. The Church’s forces were hiding near the capital and waiting while the Pope was stealthily residing inside the capital.

< The power of the Fire of Purification is in these clothes. You should be able to walk around without any issues over most of the ground polluted by dead mana. >

Cale made eye contact with Sui Khan, who was standing there with an odd look on his face instead of wearing a robe like the others.

“Team leader, please make sure to feed the kids properly.”

“…I have to stay here too?”

“You’re a kid as well, team leader.”

“Ha.”

Sui Khan scoffed.

“That’s right. I am still a kid.”

He talked to himself as if he was quite shocked but Cale had no time to pay attention to that.

“Cale, I’m ready.”

“Yes, Eruhaben-nim.”

Gold dust was rising up around Eruhaben.

“Everybody have a safe trip! I am going to destroy everything if any of you get hurt or sick! I’m going to destroy this whole world!”

“He sounds serious, nya!”

“Please be safe.”

The team leader sat down and waved after the children averaging nine-years-old said goodbye.

“Eruhaben-nim.”

“Okay.”

The ancient Dragon immediately cast his spell once Cale called his name.

“We are moving to an alley near the wall.”

Choi Han, Mary, Eruhaben, and Cale immediately teleported to the coordinates Eruhaben had organized earlier.

Paaaat-!

Cale could see Mary’s stiff face through the bright light.

The Second Imperial Princess had not returned.

The mood in the Lord’s Castle was quite chaotic because of that.

‘Young master-nim, the rain cloud came from the southwest direction.’

Paaaat-!

Cale closed his eyes because of the gold light and then opened them again.

“This is a decent location, Eruhaben-nim.”

“Yes it is. Nobody lives around here.”

They had teleported to a dead end at the far end of an alley and they were covered by the ruins of some abandoned houses around them.

“Is it over there?”

Choi Han pointed toward the wall past the alley.

“Yes. We will go right over if there are no guards.”

Eruhaben responded and Mary started to speak.

“I stealthily marked a spot without the First Imperial Prince noticing when I was walking around earlier.”

The three of them all said what they needed to say before looking at a spot.

“Choi Han, do you sense anybody nearby?”

“I don’t, Cale-nim.”

Cale undid one of his robe buttons as soon as he heard Choi Han’s response.

Mary, Choi Han, and Eruhaben did the same.

Flap.

Underneath the plain black robe…

There was an elegant red crest.

The crest had been embedded personally by the Pope and it was a robe that would automatically create a barrier to protect the wearer from the polluted land.

It was difficult to activate the power in this crest because it was from the temple.

However, it was simple for Cale.

Crack.

A rose gold current crackled in Cale’s hand and that current touched Cale’s robe.

The red crest mixed with the gold light and sparkled in rose gold.

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

A breeze blew by them. The rose gold current left Cale’s hand and touched the other three robes in that instant.

“This-”

Choi Han could feel the power rising from the robe.

It was a destructive yet pure power.

He could also feel a mysterious warmth and a cool and refreshing aura.

It felt as if he was by a bonfire in the middle of a forest.

“It’s a bit eye-catching.”

Eruhaben confirmed that a half-transparent barrier was surrounding his body from head to toe.

“The Pope said that it was red but your power seems to have mixed some gold into it as well.”

The barrier surrounding their bodies was gently glowing rose gold.

– That was easy. That was very easy! I didn’t even feel it!

Cale ignored the cheapskate and spoke to the others.

“The Pope said that the barrier should maintain itself for about half a day once it is activated.”

“After that?”

“I just need to use my power to activate it again.”

“I see.”

“Yes, Eruhaben-nim. Please take care of the rest.”

“Alright.”

Gold dust scattered from Eruhaben’s fingertips and quickly surrounded the group. The four of their bodies became invisible and they used flight magic to fly above the wall.

‘I know it is night time but it is so desolate.’

Cale looked around as they floated in the air.

There was nobody around.

“Here we go.”

They gently headed past the wall once Eruhaben said that.

They would have had to worry about being noticed if there was a shield as there had been to stop the rain cloud earlier, but there was nothing to stop them right now.

“Mm.”

Choi Han groaned.

“I heard that it wasn’t that serious around the wall but it is already at this level. That’s bad.”

Outside. The dead mana fog was thin around the wall because there was less erosion.

However, Choi Han could still feel the aura of death. He was shocked internally.

‘It’s not hard at all to breathe.’

It was probably thanks to the robe. However, Choi Han remembered what the Pope’s instructions had said.

‘It will be difficult to breathe but you will not need to worry as you will not be affected by dead mana.’

The robe’s abilities were better than what the Pope had said.

‘I’m sure it is thanks to Cale-nim’s power.’

The Fire of Purification. It was probably thanks to that power that made the Church call him the purifier.

“We will be at the main gate of the wall if we walk about 300 meters from here.”

Mary looked around and commented after finding the marker she had placed earlier.

Mary didn’t need the robe but she was wearing it just in case they ran into an area where the dead mana was so severe that it was hard for even her to handle.

“Okay. Mary, then which direction is the one you saw the rain cloud coming from?”

Cale placed their approximate location in the map in his mind as he asked Mary.

Mary pointed toward the southwest direction.

“It came from this direction, young master-nim.”

“The First Imperial Prince confirmed it with you?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s move that way first.”

Eruhaben scattered some gold dust on the ground near the wall once Cale said that.

“We won’t need to worry about coming back.”

Eruhaben was the first to head in that direction after saying that. Of course, he cast acceleration magic on Mary as they moved together.

‘…I guess he still has mana to use. He’s quite active about this.’

Cale followed behind Eruhaben, who was more active with things in Xiaolen than he had expected.

For reference, Eruhaben had the pouch of highest-grade magic stones that Raon had given him.

Swooooooosh-

The wind roaming around Cale’s feet created whirlwinds and his body quickly shot forward.

Choi Han was by his side.

“Mm.”

However, Choi Han soon groaned.

“It’s dark.”

“It’s also the desert.”

It was completely different from a normal night with stars and the moon.

It became so dark the farther they went into the polluted land that they couldn’t even tell what was up and what was down.

“I don’t think there is a need for a spell though.”

Thankfully, the half-transparent rose gold barriers allowed the group to move without losing each other.

Of course, they had a different way to know whether they were moving in the right direction.

“…It’s this way.”

Mary pointed in a direction.

Cale had given her an order.

‘Let’s go toward the direction the rain cloud came from.’

However, he had changed his order once they were surrounded by darkness.

‘Let’s go toward where the aura of dead mana is strongest.’

The chance of that being the place with the answer was quite high.

“We are a decent distance away from the wall now so we will make things brighter as we move.”

Cale reached his hand in the direction Mary was pointing toward and channeled his current.

Crack, crackle.

A rose gold current appeared on top of Cale’s hand.

They should be able to see some things thanks to this.

“Let’s move quickly before the sun comes up.”

Cale kicked off the sand and moved forward.

No, he tried to do so.

“…What the hell, what is that?”

“Please move back, Cale-nim!”

Choi Han quickly hid Cale behind him.

Eruhaben and Mary moved to Cale’s left and right as well.

Cale peeked his head to look past Choi Han’s shoulder.

“…That-”

Through the faint darkness…

“…Isn’t that a corpse?”

“No, young master-nim.”

Mary quickly responded.

“That person is still alive.”

Someone was sprawled over the top of the black sand.

Half of their body was covered by the sand.

Most importantly, they were bleeding quite a bit.

“Mm.”

Choi Han figured out who this was.

“It is the Second Imperial Princess.”

Second Imperial Princess Olivia was the one who was unconscious on top of the black sand.

—
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