“.......”

The third Emperor, Dragon King, descended onto the mound of stone piled up like a grave.

He swept his hand.

BANG—!

Water whirled, and in an instant, shoved aside the surrounding heaps of stone.

“.......”

His hardened expression showed no sign of loosening.

“—He withstood this......?”

A massive stone grave.

That was the collapsed Moraka Castle.

And once the mound of stone was cleared away, there was nothing there.

Everyone had escaped.

He reached out his hand.

SHAAAAAA—

A few stones followed the water and were caught in his grasp.

He put strength into his hand.

CRACK!

The stones broke at once.

They were this weak and fragile—

“He withstood it?”

He had dared withstand the power of this sea?

This power was by no means weak.

Among countless water-attribute powers, it had been recognized as Five-Colored-grade, and it was the power that had won the first Emperor’s acknowledgement and allowed him to receive the title of Emperor alongside him.

The third Emperor.

The first Emperor had said it.

A Five-Colored-grade individuality is power like that of a god.

Yes. That bastard had definitely said so.

With this individuality he possessed, he could rival the power of gods related to water, and depending on circumstances—such as against fire or lava—he could easily surpass certain gods.

That was why, in the world where the first Emperor had become a Transcendent, he had believed he would not be lacking when facing those gods, those arrogant bastards who strutted around as if they were so great.

And he withstood that.

Cale Henituse.

That bastard had not defeated him.

All he had done was endure.

And yet the third Emperor could not believe it.

“How did he withstand me with something like ancient powers?”

Was that not impossible from the very beginning?

They are only inherited powers.

Ancient powers.

They were not one’s own power.

They were powers inherited from someone else.

That meant they could not surpass an individuality one had manifested oneself, and from the start, their limits were clear.

Was it not only natural that growing through something belonging to another would come with restrictions?

Then how did that bastard—

How did he possess enough power to withstand a Five-Colored-grade individuality?

And on top of that—

“Even when his body was corrupted?”

His body had clearly been corrupted by chaos.

The third Emperor, Dragon King, turned his gaze to one side.

“Isn’t that right?”

Under his gaze, the Wanderers lowered their heads and could not say a word.

The third Emperor, Dragon King, with his long white beard like an immortal’s.

His long white hair and white beard were trembling now.

He’s pissed.

The Wanderer Cho realized the Dragon King was extremely angry.

Well, after putting on that much bluster and then letting them get away, of course he’d be pissed.

He always went around acting like hot shit because he was one of the Three Emperors, doing whatever he wanted. Seeing him get hit with something like this felt extremely satisfying, but the Wanderer Cho did not let it show.

Stay still!

His older sister, the Wanderer Ryeon, kept signaling with her eyes for him not to act up.

Mm.

And personally, the Wanderer Cho felt something strange too, so he had no particular urge to act up.

This is weird.

The third Emperor, Dragon King.

His furious appearance, and the sight of him raising the sea to fight.

Normally, those things were extremely frightening.

Because Cho handled fire and lava.

In terms of attributes, the Wanderer Cho, who stood between the Dragon King and his subordinates, had naturally always had no choice but to feel intimidated.

It really is weird.

And yet, even after seeing the Dragon King use the power of the sea today—

I’m not scared!

He did not feel especially afraid.

No, to be precise, he did not feel as if everything would go the way this bastard wanted.

Why?

...That bastard—

For some strange reason, he kept feeling like that bastard would not go down.

Yeah, Cale Henituse.

He did not feel like that bastard would lose.

That bastard, who had looked straight into the eyes of the God of Chaos.

That absurdly overwhelming aura he had released.

The Wanderer Cho.

He was not as sharp as his sister Ryeon.

If anything, he was hot-tempered and short-sighted.

He knew that well himself. But there was one thing he trusted about himself.

I get these feelings.

Instinct.

His instinct was telling him.

Cale Henituse.

That bastard was definitely going to do something huge.

And he doesn’t feel like he’s going to lose, either.

Somehow, he felt as though he must not touch that bastard from now on.

A sidelong glance.

The Wanderer Cho’s eyes turned toward his older sister, Ryeon.

In that moment, the siblings realized they had thought the same thing.

And whenever the two of them thought the same thing, that thought was right, without exception.

“.......”

“.......” 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The two looked at each other for a moment, then lowered their heads.

Because they had seen the third Emperor, Dragon King’s rage—his confusion—move in another direction.

“Demon King’s subordinate.”

Mol, general of the Third Army, one of the Demon King’s eight strongest military forces.

The master of backstabbing, called the Hand Behind the Back.

He was still here.

“Yes, third Emperor.”

He bowed politely to the Dragon King, who was certain not to know his existence properly.

Because he had seen the third Emperor’s strength with his own eyes.

And—

Heh.

How amusing.

This situation was quite enjoyable.

He’s furious because he got played.

After acting so arrogant, the targets he had been aiming for had escaped without suffering much damage at all, and it seemed to have soured his mood completely.

What an obnoxious bastard.

He probably had not intended to bury the Demon King’s army in the sea as well.

But if Mol and Terosa had not ordered the Demon King’s forces to evacuate, this bastard might very well have let them be swept up in the water and killed for the sake of his objective.

Tsk. Then he would have said they got caught up in it because they were foolish.

And this was probably what he would have said.

Because in the eyes of the third Emperor, ordinary demons were no doubt worthless beings, not even obstacles.

Serves you right.

The Dragon King’s voice sounded.

“I hear you were the one who called the Demon King’s army here?”

“Yes.”

“And you dealt with both the Order of the God of Chaos and Cale Henituse’s side inside that castle?”

“Yes.”

“How were they?”

General Mol, leader of the Third Army, could not find a reason to lie.

Cale Henituse had not told him to deceive the other side in any particular way.

The agreement between him and Cale was only a “deal for the gray sickness.”

So—

“Cale Henituse and the highest-ranking holy knight of the Order of the God of Chaos joined hands.”

I can do as I please, can’t I?

“...What?”

Truthfully, from Mol’s perspective, the highest-ranking holy knight and the Order of the God of Chaos were more detestable than Cale Henituse.

They had dared try to stab the Demon World, and him, in the back.

“The highest-ranking holy knight agreed to spare Cale Henituse, and for that purpose, he fled with the holy knight forces under his command.”

This was true.

It had happened because Cale Henituse had threatened them with his own life, leaving them with no choice. But in any case, it was true.

“...Where did the Pope go, and why are you only talking about the highest-ranking holy knight?”

“Ah. The Pope is nearly dead. He may be dead already.”

“What?”

Mol, master of betrayal.

He hated both the Order of the God of Chaos and the hunter family, who had stirred up this chaos in the Demon World while scheming behind the scenes.

That was why, before he knew it, he naturally began preparing to stab them in the back.

Yes, it was like a habit.

“The highest-ranking holy knight tried to kill the Pope.”

“...That man tried to kill the Pope? Is that the truth?”

SHAAAAAA—

Water swirled around the Dragon King.

The pressure conveyed that if even the slightest lie was mixed into Mol’s words, he would kill him, and Mol was at ease.

Because it was the truth.

“Yes. He tried to kill him. Truly.”

“.......”

SHAAAA—

The stream of water weakened.

Because from the Dragon King’s perspective, he could not sense the slightest lie from Mol.

“Of course, the one who brought the Pope to the brink of death was Cale Henituse.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. He was very strong.”

A faint scoff slipped out of the Dragon King as he spoke.

“Are you saying that bastard is strong in front of me? Daring to say that before me?”

Before the fury of a beast that had lost its prey, Mol answered calmly.

“I cannot lie, can I? He is strong. He was corrupted by the Pope’s chaos, but in any case, the Pope lost to him.”

“...Hmm.”

At Mol’s complete lack of wavering, the Dragon King grew calm.

“I see.”

He nodded.

“He is a man strong enough to subdue even the Pope. And if he is a man who made the highest-ranking holy knight betray the Pope and join hands with him, then his mind must be extraordinary as well.”

That was different from the truth.

But Mol remained still.

“If he is that impressive, then I was rather careless.”

The Dragon King’s mood had improved considerably.

He opened his mouth.

“I should meet the Demon King once.”

Even if those bastards had teleported, they likely had not yet left the Demon World.

“Yes. I will escort you.”

Terosa bristled at the way he called for the Demon King so casually, but General Mol treated the third Emperor politely, and the third Emperor showed a satisfied smile.

Then his gaze turned to one side.

The man his subordinates had captured before he dealt with Cale Henituse.

“The highest-ranking holy knight has fled. Then the one who knows the most would be that man.”

One top-tier holy knight lay bound on the ground.

General Mol remembered the conversation Cale had shared with the highest-ranking holy knight.

Leave behind the high-ranking holy knight group that did that to our team leader.

That was him.

That collapsed holy knight bastard would probably be very useful later in the deal with Cale Henituse.

Mm.

General Mol casually touched the back of his own neck.

It was hidden beneath his collar, but something dark red was stuck to the back of his neck.

He said it was to find my trace, didn’t he?

The man called the Heavenly Demon.

He had followed the highest-ranking holy knight and left this behind on General Mol.

That Heavenly Demon will eventually come find me.

Because that was why he had attached this.

No.

Cale Henituse’s entire group would soon come to where he was.

“I will escort you to the Demon King’s castle.”

Because they would have to come meet the Demon King.

WOOO—WOOO—

Feeling the divine relic in his breast grow quieter now, its vibrations gradually fading, General Mol looked forward to his next meeting with Cale Henituse.

And the Wanderer siblings, Cho and Ryeon, who were watching the Wanderers move the third Emperor—of the two, Cho picked up one broken stone and slipped it into his chest. Ryeon watched that action with a meaningful look.

A castle where nothing remained.

In the minds of those leaving it, calculations for their respective gains were moving busily.

And as soon as General Mol arrived at the Demon King’s castle, he went to find one being.

“So that is what happened?”

Tap, tap.

The one who had been looking out the window with a bored face turned his head and looked at General Mol.

“What was the Cale Henituse you saw like?”

General Mol answered his liege, the Demon King of Ennui, honestly.

“When Your Majesty met the God of Chaos and the first Emperor, you said they were quite interesting, did you not?”

General Mol saw the small heat kindle in the eyes of his liege, eyes that had seemed to be sinking as though dying, and grinned broadly.

“If you meet Cale Henituse, you will have a great deal of fun.”

A streak of interest lingered on the Demon King’s ennui-laden expression.

The only time he cast off his ennui was when he met a worthy opponent.

*****

What is this?

Cale looked around with an incredulous face.

After grabbing Raon’s forepaw while Raon cast the teleportation, he had lost consciousness.

And he had immediately opened his eyes, but the sight he saw the moment he did was very different from what he had expected.

“Where is this?”

He was not meeting some god as usual.

“This is definitely a dream.”

Cale rose from the bed and looked around.

It was a makeshift tent.

It was a tent made with considerable care, but it was clearly temporary, meant for camping while on the move.

“Mm?”

Cale looked down at his hands.

These are not my hands.

Cale realized something was strange.

This [N O V E L I G H T] body was not his body.

Hey, hey!

The ancient powers did not answer either.

There isn’t even a mirror in the room!

Cale wondered what he was supposed to do about this situation.

But soon, he was able to realize what kind of body he had entered, and what the situation was.

“Pope. I will enter.”

A voice called him from outside the tent.

And the woman who entered was Head Steward Hitelis.

With her head lowered, she spoke.

“We have found the location of Wind-Borne Chaos.”

Well, now.

Cale realized he was currently inside the Pope’s past memories.

Why had that happened?

There were truly many possible reasons.

I was corrupted by the Pope’s chaos.

And another thing.

Wind-Borne Chaos. The shield is holding it right now.

Was this dream a situation created by those two things?

It was a dream, but it was probably an event that had truly happened in the past.

“I will escort you.”

“Good.”

For now, Cale pretended to be the Pope and followed Hitelis.

Why he was having this dream.

If he experienced it for a little while, he would find out.

And as always, a dream would eventually end, so Cale accepted the situation comfortably and leisurely acted the part of the Pope.

*****

“Haa. Haa.”

No one could open their mouth in the face of that shallow, rough breathing.

He was gasping as if trying somehow to survive, yet each breath was so thin that it would not have been strange for it to cut off at any moment.

Unable to endure watching that breathing any longer, someone spoke first.

“Gold dragon gramps! Our human is strange! I have never seen anything like this before!”

“I have never seen it either! I’m too worried!”

On soothed Raon and Hong after their cries, but On’s eyes, too, were filled with worry.

On the bed the average ten-year-olds were staring at—

Cale lay there, gray all the way to his shoulders, breathing shallowly and rapidly.

His whole body was burning with heat, and sweat poured from him. Ron wiped his forehead with a towel and spoke.

“Prepare water.”

“Yes, Father.”

Looking at Cale, who was sweating so much that he might become dehydrated, Beacrox hurriedly moved to bring water.

Whenever Cale collapsed after vomiting blood, he would always fall into a deep sleep, and no one knew when he would wake.

But now that Cale was suffering as if stricken by a fever.

“What in the world is happening?”

Eruhaben bit down on the ancient dragon’s lip in frustration.

Because Cale’s body was stained by chaos, Eruhaben could not touch him recklessly. And knowing Cale’s body, where his container had become blood and flowed through him, Eruhaben could only watch for now.

“.......”

Choi Han had been sitting in the corner without a word for some time, only staring at Cale.

Raon looked around at everyone, bit down on his lip, and puffed up his cheeks.

Because if he did not, he felt like he would cry.

Raon barely managed to force out his voice.

“Human, I prepared lots of apple pies—wake up—”

But Raon stopped speaking.

“?”

Soon, he tilted his head.

He had frozen when he saw the human’s lips moving.

Everyone looked at Cale.

“Haa. Haa.”

As Cale gasped for breath, suffering under that boiling fever, he muttered in the midst of it.

“...Oh. Jackpot.......”

It was the moment peace settled over the expressions of Raon, On, and Hong, the average ten-year-olds.