<Crazy bastard. And an even crazier bastard (6)>

* * *

The Grand Elder held back a groan after seeing Clopeh come next to him.

“W, what is g, oing on, sir?”

The knight’s gaze was vicious despite the slow and calm voice.

His demeanor resembled the wind in the middle of winter.

It was just that Clopeh’s body was slightly shaking like an existence that had submitted to the cold.

“Grand Elder-nim-”

Elza’s voice was weak as well despite calling for the Grand Elder from a distance.

Her face was full of fear.

Oooooo- oooooo–

The air let out a sound that resembled an animal’s cry as it convulsed.

The garden was still beautiful with numerous flowers but the aura that filled the area was incomparably empty and gave off intense pressure.

“…I think the World Tree-nim has made contact with that human. Unfortunately, I have no idea what is going on.”

There wasn’t much that the Grand Elder could say.

Even he had never experienced something like this before.

He nonetheless addressed Clopeh, Elza, and the First Bishop.

“The three of you go back. Wait outside the rear garden. I will guard this spot.”

The atmosphere felt serious.

‘Yes, the World Tree-nim wishes for death.’

The Grand Elder had never seen the demise of a World Tree.

What would that look like?

He had an answer for it.

‘It would probably be like what we are seeing right now.’

The temperature was not low.

But it felt cold.

He felt like he would suffocate from the emptiness.

He couldn’t breathe.

‘But that human-’

He was fine.

The Grand Elder bit down on his lips after seeing Cale looking calm while making contact with the World Tree.

He heard Clopeh’s voice at that moment.

“I guess I will have to wait here.”

“Haaaaaaaaa. I understand your desire to protect your liege as his knight, but this is not somewhere existences like us should be stay-”

“How can I leave when enemies are approaching?”

“!”

The Grand Elder flinched and turned around after Clopeh cut him off to say that.

‘Why didn’t I know?’

The emptiness flowing out of the World Tree consuming the area made him not realize the aura coming from the back.

‘But how did this human……?’

This white-haired knight had instantly noticed the unfamiliar aura despite being in the same emptiness as him.

Elza flinched and knelt down on one knee.

“I greet my liege.”

Step, step.

The individual leisurely walking toward the rear garden was wearing a uniform.

It was a neat uniform without any wrinkles or flaws.

He had short and tidy hair and he gave off a cold demeanor. His gaze was just as chilling.

Anybody looking at him would think of a General.

He stopped walking, looked at the Grand Elder, Clopeh, Elza, and the First Bishop, in that order, before speaking.

“What a mess.”

His gaze then landed back at Clopeh.

“I am Axion.”

Axion, the Third Saint Dragon, the God of Earth.

Clopeh smiled while looking at the Dragon that introduced himself.

This was the first Dragon they met in Aipotu who did not speak disrespectfully to them.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Clopeh Sekka. I am a knight serving my liege.”

Axion looked at the World Tree past Clopeh’s shoulder.

“…….”

He then silently looked at Cale.

He raised his hand.

“Yes, My liege.”

The butler following behind Axion…

Clopeh’s eyes clouded over while looking at him.

He thought the butler was a regular human, but this guy was persisting in this area as well despite his limbs shaking.

Axion opened his mouth.

“How’s the seal?”

“Normal, my liege.”

The fence surrounding the rear garden with the World Tree was a seal.

It was like breakwater preventing the aura of this place to seep out.

“What about Inquisitor 1?”

“Inquisitor 1 should not know what is going on in the rear garden, my liege. I was told he is conversing with the Emperor.”

“What about the other Dragons?”

“Some have arrived but they are currently enjoying the feast.”

Axion nonchalantly commented while looking back at Clopeh.

“I guess nobody will be paying attention to this place.”

He waved his hand in the air as well.

Ooooooooong.

The ground started to shake.

Clopeh looked at the ground with an odd look on his face.

The ground he was standing on, a spot where flowers did not grow…

A warm aura started to rise up.

It lessened the pressure and the coldness.

But it did not stop the endless flow of power coming out of the World Tree.

“I guess we will have to wait since we can’t destroy it.”

Axion then crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

“!”

But he soon scowled.

“Mm.”

The butler flinched and the calm look on his face cracked as well.

As for Clopeh, he smiled.

“As I expected.”

He clasped his hands together and looked toward the World Tree.

Cale was still standing there.

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

Despite not seeing a drop of water…

They could hear the sound of waves.

Furthermore, a clear and refreshing aura was slowly starting to rise.

It felt like clear spring water flowing down from the foot of the mountain in the summer.

Or maybe the clean water of a lake so deep that you could not see the bottom.

A peaceful and pure aura started to seep into the air.

It was the reason Clopeh smiled, but…

The others could not do the same.

“……!”

The butler especially could not hide his shock.

‘My liege has-’

Axion had stopped crossing his arms and was rubbing the back of his hand.

There were goosebumps on there.

Furthermore, the butler could read the fierce gaze in Axion’s cold eyes.

The source of that fierceness…

‘Anticipation.’

Axion was not hiding his anticipation as he looked at Cale and the World Tree with a fierce gaze.

Of course, the others still saw a cold knight but the butler could see the hidden emotions beneath the façade as he had been serving Axion for a long time.

It was at that moment.

Boom!

The ground shook intensely.

No.

“T, this is?!”

The Grand Elder gasped.

He looked down.

It was not that the ground was shaking.

Roots.

The roots of the World Tree that covered this entire rear garden were moving.

He was certain that something was happening in there.

The Grand Elder could hear Clopeh’s low voice.

“It looks like a new legend will be written.”

He didn’t answer but thought to himself.

No matter what happens…

‘Something big that I can’t even imagine must be happening in there!’

The Grand Elder gulped.

The inside of his mouth was going dry from anxiety.

* * *

As for Cale, forget his mouth going dry from anxiety…

He was leisurely walking.

“…….”

The World Tree watched him with his jaws dropped.

“Wow.”

Cale was amazed.

He seemed quite happy.

“There’s so much water. I love it.

Hahahaha!”

He laughed out loud as he walked.

The World Tree opened and closed his mouth a few times before closing it without saying anything.

For the young boy, who could see so much despite the leaves covering his eyes, this situation right now was difficult to describe.

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

A breeze blew by and fluttered the young boy’s hair.

It was different from a snowstorm.

“…Water-”

Yes, this was water.

A large whirlpool that looked as if it could reach the sky was swirling in the snowy field.

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

Cale stood at the center of the water but not even a drop of water landed on him.

He calmly continued to walk.

Each step melted the white snow covering the ground and had the water join the whirlpool.

It continued to grow in size.

Almost as if it would touch the sky.

– More, more!

The Sky Eating Water endlessly shared its greed.

– More, I need more water!

She could not hide her excitement.

– Even if the chains were made by a Holy Maiden, it is the power of a god within it! It also has enough of a god’s authority to imprison a World Tree inside.

She continued to speak.

– The grey cloud is not from the God of War.

The grey clouds…

Cale felt like he knew the answer.

– The God of Chaos. That seems to be made by the Saint of the God of Chaos.

It wasn’t hard.

‘Hold on.’

Cale stopped as he suddenly had a thought.

The White Star…

The Chief Priest of the White Star had worshipped the Demonic God of the Demon World.

Of course, the White Star himself seemed to have tried to become the Demonic God, but…

‘…Wasn’t that bastard’s power grey?’

He felt like the aura had been grey.

Cale’s face stiffened up.

The memories in his mind started to flow to the past.

‘Hold on.’

It was now the Sky Eating Water, but… It used to be the Water of Judgment.

When that water was chained up at the bottom of the lake…

The color of that lake-

‘Wasn’t that grey too?

That was the reason it was called the Grey Eye Forest since the water was grey and shaped like an eye.

“Hold on.”

‘…Eye?

A grey eye?’

When he had faced off against the God of Chaos… He recalled the numerous eyes that appeared on the grey wall.

“Ha.”

The Cale let out a sigh-like laugh.

“So, to sum it up-”

The Water of Judgment was an ancient power, something that came from ancient times.

The God of War and God of Chaos had been cooperating since all the way back then?

In that case-

“Wow-”

Cale couldn’t even say the conclusion he came to with all this information.

‘How does this make any sense?

No. It does-’

“It does make sense.”

Yes, it made sense.

He recalled the conclusion he just formed.

‘The White Star existed twice until now.’

The ancient White Star.

Then there was the White Star that Cale killed.

Both tried to become gods.

It was also suspected that Hunters were supporting both of them.

And now-

‘The Hunters are trying to create another god, the omnipotent god.’

If the God of War and God of Chaos were cooperating with that…

‘Then those gods interfered in more than just this situation of the omnipotent god.’

Long before that….

What if these two gods have been interfering since the times of both White Stars?

‘Now that I think about it, the Water of Judgment had her powers repressed by the God of War.’

She said that the God of War took her in, but…

Realistically speaking, it was imprisonment.

And the power of the Sky Eating Water=

‘It’s immense.’

If she was in an environment where she could fight properly…

Maybe the ancient White Star would not have been able to cause so much issues.

Wouldn’t they have been able to take care of him a bit easier?

“Ha.”

He scoffed again.

“Does this make any sense?”

Someone answered his question.

– …It doesn’t seem like something to ignore.

It was the Super Rock.

But Cale could not think about the hypothesis any longer.

– …Are we not doing it?

He heard an excited voice.

Cale flinched and stopped walking. He had been so deep in thought while walking that he had not been able to look around.

“Mm.”

Cale’s expression changed.

“This is great.”

He smiled.

He did not see any snow around him.

A large whirlpool was swirling like a tornado around Cale.

“The fire and the chains… It’s all doable at once, right?”

– This much is worth trying.

The water continued.

– I’ll temporarily push the fire back and cut off the chains.

I’ll also require pushing those ash-colored clouds temporarily back.

Cale approached the World Tree.

The water reached the flames surrounding the boy.

Chhhhhhhhh-

Vapors started to rise.

It prevented the boy from seeing Cale inside the water.

But he could clearly hear Cale’s voice.

“We will temporarily push the flames back and cut off the chains. Then we will push those ash-colored clouds back to create an opening.”

Then the radiant five-colored light, light from the real sky, should be able to reach the World Tree.

“Are you able to do the rest on your own if I can do that much?”

The boy nodded his head.

“Yes. I am.”

He didn’t ask how it was possible.

He simply trusted the past times of someone who had persisted for so long in pain.

Cale reached out his hand.

The water started to move.

“Go.”

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

The water shot up.

It turned into a large tsunami and charged forward.

No, it attacked the young boy.

The young boy watched the water charge at him.

– Hahaha! Finally, I finally get to test out my powers!

The Sky Eating Water could not hide her excitement.

– This time, I will cut through the chains myself!

Crackle-

Flames shot up to stop the water.

The young boy looked up at the flames.

Would they evaporate?

Would both the water and the fire disappear?

Reality went against expectations and laws of nature.

Chhhhhhhhhh-

There was vapor.

But there was even more water.

The endlessly pouring snow turned into water and ate away at the flames.

No, they pushed the flames back.

The flames could not easily expand.

– Yeah. If the compatibility is not good, just push with quantity! An overwhelming battle! I learned this from this feeble little bastard!

Cale scowled at the Sky Eating Water’s comment, but…

The water didn’t care and ended up pushing the flames back.

Drops of water fell on the young boy’s cheeks.

The World Tree subconsciously smiled at the refreshing taste of water it had not felt for a long time.

This pure and clear aura was water straight from nature.

He felt as if he could breathe.

His body suddenly started to shake.

Plop. Plop.

The falling water drops…

Those water drops covered the young boy’s body.

* * *

“Why is it suddenly raining?”

The Grand Elder looked around in shock.

To be more specific, it was not raining.

However, the flowers growing on the World Tree’s body and roots… The leaves of these flowers now had water drops forming on them.

* * *

The water drops completely drenched the young boy’s body.

His body was no longer burning because of flames.

A cool and clean aura wrapped around his body.

“Ah.”

As the World Tree let out a happy gasp…

“Ugh!”

The young boy groaned.

‘The chains!’

The chains suddenly started tightening around him.

No.

– Hahaha, as expected, you recognize me?

It would be more accurate to say that the chains were aiming for the water covering the boy’s body.

As if they were trying to imprison it.

The Sky Eating Water started to laugh.

– Hahaha! Water is not something you can imprison! Even a god would not be able to do it!

More water drenched the boy’s body.

No, they wrapped around the boy and increased in size.

Chhhhhhh-

The water then started to rapidly spin.

The chains could not make it through the water.

– Yeah. As the power of someone who used to keep me imprisoned, I’m sure you cannot get into my embrace!

The chains and water were powers that could not come together.

They simply pushed each other away.

An endless supply of water existed here.

– A chain merely used to bind down the World Tree cannot defeat me!

Baaang baaaaang, baaaaang!

Explosions echoed as the chains and water crashed against each other.

The corners of the boy’s lips subtly changed.

‘It’s being pushed back.’

The chains were being pushed by the water.

That meant that soon-

Crack.

A portion of the chains cracked.

The chains tightly binding the boy could not expand anymore and had to create a fissure in its body.

It would soon break.

“Ah.”

The World Tree let out a gasp.

Craaaaaack!

A large crack appeared on the chains before a portion was cut off.

The chains around the boy had been connected as one large chain.

Only one portion of it had become detached, but…

‘That’s enough.’

It was enough for the boy.

Cale and the water knew that as well.

“Let’s go.”

The boy watched the water change shape after hearing Cale’s voice.

It was different from the refreshing and clear water drops that had embraced his cheeks.

‘Spear.

No. Is it a sword?’

The water turned into something that resembled an arrow, a sword, or maybe a spear as it pointed toward the sky.

“Fire.”

The moment Cale gave the order…

The arrow shot forward.

From the ground to the sky.

– More, more, more!

The Sky Eating Water shouted almost in a screech.

Swooooooosh-

The snow falling from the ash-colored clouds turned into water and became sucked into the arrow.

Nothing could stop the arrow.

The arrow swallowed anything that tried.

It then used those things to expand its body.

‘Wow.’

Cale was amazed.

This was the largest water arrow Cale had seen until now.

He could not see any snow around him anymore.

The arrow had swallowed all of it as it charged forward to now arrive near the ash-colored cloud.

– Cale.

The Super Rock commented in a low voice at that moment.

– Is it okay for you to overdo it like this?

‘Hmm?’

– I don’t think this is an illusion. I think what happens in this domain will reflect in reality.

‘Ah?’

– …You managed to not cough up blood last time, but… This time, uhh, mm.

The Super Rock kept his mouth shut.

Cale just looked off into the distance.

– Hahahaha!

In the end, the arrow…

Baaaaaaaaaang!

Crashed into the ash-colored cloud.

There was a loud explosion.

“Mm.”

Cale flinched.

His instincts allowed him to feel that he was getting pushed back in terms of strength.

The moment he felt that it would be difficult for the arrow to completely push back the ash-colored cloud…

Cale opened his mouth to speak.

“I won’t be able to hold it that long!”

Even if he created an opening, it would not be for long.

It was up to the World Tree to effectively utilize that opening.

Cale supported the hand extended up to the sky with his other hand.

‘This is no joke.’

The power used by the Saint of the God of Chaos…

It was different from the chains.

‘How do I describe this?

Maybe feeling like I ran into a wall I can’t push back?’

Cale’s face stiffened up.

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

Even more of the snow got dragged into the arrow and Cale’s forehead filled with sweat.

– More, more, more! I need more power! I think I just need a little more to push it back!

The Sky Eating Water’s voice became urgent.

At that moment…

– Cale.

He heard an imposing voice.

– That power is not from the God of Chaos but from the Saint using his power, right?

The Dominating Aura.

The scamming bastard appeared after a long while.

– Is there a way to absorb some of that power?

‘What?’

– It’s just that… This crazy water, I mean, this beautiful water lady… for some odd reason gives off, how do I describe this? The aura of the God of Chaos? Maybe the scent?

The Grey Eye Lake located in the forest…

The Sky Eating Water that was imprisoned inside the grey colored water…

– What I’m trying to say is, that madam is water. Instead of fighting against the cloud, slowly seep into it.

Hoo hoo.

The Dominating Aura laughed shrewdly as he talked in an imposing voice.

– Then she can rip it to shreds from the inside. I think it will be possible.

It’s not even the God of Chaos. It’s just the Saint. I, I don’t think we will be forced back?

Let’s scare it.

Just like how we shook in front of the God of Chaos last time.

Let’s seep into it so that the Saint’s power shakes in fear until it runs away on its own accord.

‘Ha.

Seriously.

This scamming bastard who is all talk.

“It’s been a while since you said something useful.”

It was worth trying.

– It will be helpful for when we go up against the God of Chaos as well.

‘Yeah I know.’

Cale spoke to the water instead of answering the aura.

“Did you hear that?”

– Great. Let’s do this!

This was a rehearsal for when they fought against the God of Chaos in the future.

—

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