It had been seven days since Cale had entered Wind Island. Night had passed by and the sun was in the morning.

"...Shit."

Beacrox Molan took out a pair of white gloves and put them on. He then took out the greatsword from the scabbard on his back.

"Bud Illis, has something like this ever happened?"

Mercenary King Bud flinched at Ron Molan's gaze before responding back. "...Never. I've never seen this myself nor in any records."

The ship had been waiting outside Wind Island for a whole week.

Bud Illis who was on the deck did not look very good. His gaze was fixated on Wind Island, one of the Eastern continent's Three Restricted Areas.

Tap. Someone came up to the deck at that moment. It was Choi Han.

"The wind has become very faint."

It was currently 10 am. It was two hours before their set time to infiltrate Wind Island to find Cale.

The wind around Wind Island had decreased for the past week. And approximately ten minutes ago, the whirlwinds around Wind Island had suddenly disappeared.

"...So this is Wind Island?" Bud's close friend mage Glenn, the only survivor of the Poeff household, had a blank expression on his face. "How terrible."

The black island became more and more visible as the wind disappeared. It really was fitting to be one of the restricted areas.

However, he did not have time to pay attention to that. Something quickly flew over and landed right in front of Mercenary King Bud Illis.

'...A Dragon.'

Mage Glenn could see the ancient Dragon glaring ferociously at Bud. His eyes that had already turned to the round eyes of a reptile were staring at Bud.

"Bud Illis, you said that is just land that was poisoned by dead mana?"

"...Excuse me?"

Eruhaben started to frown after seeing Bud blankly asking back.

"Eruhaben-nim?" Ron cautiously approached the ancient Dragon.

It was at that moment.

"Raon!" Choi Han called for Raon.

A small black dot that was in the sky flew down quickly and started to get bigger.

Raon looked toward Choi Han and shouted back. "I know!"

Choi Han kicked off the deck after hearing that response. Flight magic surrounded him as soon as he did that.

Ron who was watching Choi Han heard an odd noise.

Ooooooo- It was not the sound of the wind.

The majority of the wind surrounding Wind Island had disappeared, leaving the area calm. However, they heard something weird.

Oooooooong- ooooooong-

Ron's gaze slowly headed toward the black island that was becoming more visible.

The island was shaking.

"It's crying!"

Ron looked toward Raon. He could see Raon putting black mana around himself.

"It's crying from the island."

'Crying? Who is crying? Is it Cale?' Ron's head filled with many questions as he heard the ancient Dragon's low voice.

"That island is not just poisoned by dead mana."

He had not known because it was tightly guarded by the wind. Both the island and the area around the island had been guarded by strong winds such that he could not feel it.

However, Eruhaben could feel the presence that became more noticeable as the wind disappeared.

The only ones to properly feel it were Raon, Choi Han, and Eruhaben. Only the three of them had noticed it.

The ancient Dragon's finger pointed to the black mountain. "That black mountain. There is a significant amount of dead mana inside that mountain."

Ron's expression changed.

"And that island, no, that mountain is shaking right now. It is shaking like a volcano. Do you get what I mean?"

Beacrox, who had been quietly standing there, turned pale before chimed in. "Didn't you say that the young master is in a temple underneath that black mountain?"

However, nobody responded to his question.

"Shit."

Mercenary King Bud kicked at the deck and Glenn immediately cast flight magic on him. He then cast flight magic on himself and shot up into the sky.

Eruhaben was even faster than him. He was approaching the black island at a fast speed.

However, there were others who were even faster than Eruhaben.

"Raon."

"I know! We will hurry there now!"

Raon had surrounded Choi Han, On, Hong, and himself with a silver shield while charging toward the black island.

Ooooooo- The rumbling was even stronger once he got to the island. The ground looked ready to crack and have something shoot out at any moment.

Choi Han bit down on his lips and heard Raon's voice in his ear.

"I know our Human! He is probably unable to come out because he is trying to get rid of the dead mana in that mountain! I'm certain of it! Cale is a good person! He is an idiotic good person!"

Choi Han thought about how Cale had purified the golems and black despair during the Whipper Kingdom's battle against the Empire.

Cale had the power to purify that dead mana. However, what had happened to Cale after that?

Choi Han clearly remembered that moment.

Cale had fainted after purifying those things.

"And he's probably starving because he ran out of food!"

"...He's a total idiot!"

"So frustrating!"

The children averaging nine-years-old raised their voices. However, they could not hear each other very well right now.

Oooooooong- ooooooong- The rumbling was too loud.

It was similar to the cries of the people who had lost their lives and became the black despair.

Choi Han bit down on his lips again.

It was at that moment.

"Step back."

Choi Han and the children averaging nine-years-old flinched.

Someone appeared next to them at the temple entrance. It was Eruhaben.

Eruhaben who had tens, no, hundreds of white gold orbs around him was blocking their way.

Choi Han looked at Eruhaben's pale face and the hundreds of white gold orbs that were giving off a dangerous current and opened his mouth to speak.

"Gramps!" However, Raon was faster than him. "I will do it! You get some rest, gramps!"

Raon quickly added on. "I will save Human and destroy all of this as well! l will create a shield and block it all as well! Do not worry! I am great and mighty!"

Choi Han nodded his head as well.

However, they could see Eruhaben snorting at them.

Eruhaben started to speak in a low voice.

"Can't you feel it?"

"Excuse me?"

Choi Han asked back and Eruhaben started to speak to Raon.

"Step back. Activate your shield."

Raon was about to respond to Eruhaben.

It was because he could not step back as he needed to save Cale. However, Raon's round eyes became even wider.

Oooooooong- ooooooong- The rumbling island. The mountain at the center.

Raon's eyes became wider as he looked at that mountain. He then slowly started to smile. His small front paws subconsciously hit each other as if he was clapping.

Oooooooong- ooooooong- The rumbling started to get even worse.

None of the whirlwinds surrounding Wind Island was there anymore.

However, the small Dragon started to shout. "...Human!"

He looked toward the black mountain.

Underneath that mountain...

Boom. Boom. Boom. There was a sound that was beating in rhythm like a heartbeat.

Boom. Boom. Boom! That sound started to get louder.

Raon could feel it.

Inside that mountain that was full of dead mana... He could feel a hot presence coming from deep underneath it.

He was used to it. It was a power belonging to someone who was always with him, someone he was always looking at.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The explosions started to get louder.

The children averaging nine-years-old could see it.

The black island was starting to crack. The black rocks on the mountain were breaking down while the ground was cracking up.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The explosion slowly headed up.

Raon could feel it. The faint presence of heat was slowly getting hotter and shooting up from the bottom to the top of the island.

The Dragon who had subconsciously clasped his short front paws together started to shout. "Cale!"

'It's Cale! This is his father's fire power! It is the power that got rid of the black despair!'

Raon knew that Cale was fine, but the thought of him potentially being in danger made Raon want to go save Cale.

Feeling Cale's presence made it so that Raon was unable to control the feelings bubbling up inside of him.

And finally...

Baaaaaaaaaang! A loud explosion appeared at the top of the mountain's peak.

It was similar to an erupting volcano. The mountain peak split open and something started to shoot out. It was not lava like in a volcano, it was the black dead mana.

However, Raon was smiling brightly.

"It's our Human! It's Cale!"

It was instantly gobbled up. The black liquid shooting up was almost instantly gobbled up by a rose gold colored fire.

The black liquid disappeared, and a large rose gold fire shot up through the black mountain. They could also see the things that were surrounding the fire.

Swoooooooooooosh- Swoooooooosh-

It was the wind. The whirlwinds that had disappeared were breathing life into the fire.

The fire that was getting stronger from the wind gobbled up the dead mana. The wind was supporting it so that the fire could burn stronger and wider.

It was burning up. The mountain was burning red as if it had never been black from the start. And there was a gust of wind that was piercing through the fire.

A person was inside that gust of wind.

Cale Henituse. He looked down at the mountain while holding the top's whip in his hands.

Severance from the world. Such a thing did not exist here anymore.

As soon as Cale saw the people rushing toward him, the tears that had stopped because of the urgent situation come flooded back.

"I'm back....."

Cale saw everyone that was rushing toward him, but he went pass them. He was rushing to a person, the person who had been his mental support.

"...Ron." Cale was holding onto Ron with his quivering hands, as if a child being afraid of something. "Ron... sob..."

The Mercenary King Bud, Ron, and Beacrox were all assisted by the highest-grade mage Glenn Poeff who used flight magic on all of them.

Of course, Glenn Poeff was waiting on top of the ship. He was there just in case something bad happened.

Everyone was at a loss for words after seeing Cale's extremely skinny face that had become totally pale after a week. They were in even more shocked to see how Cale cried as soon as he got out while looking to be scared of something.

"Y-Young master... I'm here... I'm here..." Ron held Cale's quivering hands, stroked his head gently.

Beacrox patted his back, just like he used to whenever Cale needed when he was a child. "I'm here, too."

The children and Eruhaben who was so angry before, suddenly felt emptied after the anger all disperse. Seeing Cale like this, they couldn't imagined what he had been through.

"Let's bring him back to the ship first." Eruhaben sighed.

Once they land on the ship, Glenn hurried to see what happened, but froze at the current appearance of Cale.

Cale was still holding onto Ron, letting everything out. He was scared that this was just another dream of his. That he was dreaming of this after Kim Roksoo fell asleep again.

"Ron... tell me this isn't a dream. That I am still Cale Henituse. Sob... I don't want to go back. The place where everyone wasn't real."

"You are Cale Henituse. Your father is Count Deruth Henituse. Your mother was Madam Jur Thames and Countess Violan Henituse. You have your brother, Basen as well as your sister, Lily.

I'm your servant, Ron Molan. This is real, this isn't a dream. You can rest assured, Cale. Everything is real. We won't let you go there again if you don't want to. Let's just destroy the island, if it's what make you like this."

Ron patiently stroke Cale's head to calm him down. "We are all real."

"I will put a shield around the twin-island next to it and the sea!"

"I will control the fog!"

"I will help both of them!"

The children averaging nine-years-old started to move.

Bud, who could only watch everything silently, could feel the large amount of mana flowing out of the black Dragon. It felt like an extraordinary amount of mana.

The two kittens were next to the young Dragon.

"Choi Han, swing your sword and launch your aura toward the black mountain and the nearby area."

"Yes, Eruhaben-nim."

Choi Han took his sword out.

Bud got goosebumps on his arms after seeing Choi Han's sword leave the scabbard for the first time. '...This.'

The sparkling black aura shot up toward the sky without stopping. Choi Han started to send that aura toward the black mountain.

Baaaaaaaaaang! A loud explosion pounded at Bud's ears.

The Mercenary King watched as a large crater appeared on the black mountain that only had spiderweb-like small cracks until now.

Spuuurt! Dead mana started to come out of the crater.

'He's definitely not at a regular sword master's level.'

The Mercenary King could not help but feel nervous after seeing Choi Han's overwhelming strength as he continued to attack and destroy the black mountain.

However, that was just the beginning.

Ooooooong- The Mercenary King turned his head after feeling the vibration of mana.

"...Ho." He could see a large silver shield that was protecting his hometown island.

They must have become invisible at some point, because he could not see the small Dragon nor the kittens anymore.

"Cale, come and destroy it by your hand, so you'll see that everything now is real. We are all here to show you that everything is real. You're not dreaming."

Bud turned his head after hearing that voice.

Eruhaben supported Cale with Ron on Cale's other side. Beacrox had moved past the Mercenary King at some point and were standing behind Cale.

Cale looked at Ron and Beacrox and then at Eruhaben before slowly reaching both his hand that was holding the top's whip, as well as his empty hand, forward.

Boooooooooooom. The black mountain was crumbling from Choi Han's attacks and the whirlwinds.

However, Cale's hand was not pointed toward the dead mana flowing out of the crumbling mountain.

The sky. Cale's trembling hands were pointed toward the sky.

Ruuuumble-

The Mercenary King could not help but turn back after hearing a noise in the sky. He looked up.

The sky was clear thanks to On. It was a clear and blue sky that was rare to see out here.

The Mercenary King's eyes opened wide as he looked up at the sky.

It was red. Everything had turned red. Everything he was looking at had become dyed red.

And then, a moment after he realized that fact...

Baaaaang! Baaaaang! Baaaaang! He could hear the sound of fiery thunderbolts crashing down onto the black island.

The rose gold colored fiery thunderbolts endlessly shot down toward the black island.

Cale took a deep breath and started to speak softly at that moment. "Don't blow them out."

Don't blow out the fire or the thunderbolts.

Mercenary King Bud could smell it. It was the scent of the wind.

He could feel Cale's wind attribute ancient power. The Mercenary King could see small whirlwinds that were starting to cover the black island as he noticed that.

The island was being burnt by fire and thunderbolts. The wind was roaring on top of that. It was not putting out the fire.

The fire and wind mixed together to create a red wind. That red wind started to spread throughout the island.

"...Ah." The Mercenary King could see the black dead mana disappearing as they touched the fiery thunderbolts and the wind.

All that remained was sparkling dust. They were rose gold colored ashes.

"Gasp."

The Mercenary King turned his head after hearing someone taking a deep breath.

Cale staggered. However, Eruhaben caught him.

"Cale." Ron supported Cale as well.

However, Cale could not hear Ron's voice properly.

*We're dancing!*

*Let's dance!*

He heard the loud voices of the Wind Elementals.

*You, you are all free now! Goodbye!*

*Goodbye! We are dancing in hopes that you will have a safe journey!*

The Wind Elementals were creating small whirlwinds in order to guide Cale's fire to the dead mana. They were dancing.

The Wind Elementals were saying goodbye to the poor souls that had been stuck here since long ago during ancient times.

Swoooooosh- Swooooooosh- Rose gold colored ashes as beautiful as flower petals flew away wherever the wind passed by.

Dead mana did not exist anymore in those spots. The black ground was gone as well.

They were not just covered by the rose gold colored ashes. Things were changing underneath the ashes.

The Wind Island was slowly regaining its color after tens of thousands of years.

Swoooooosh- Swooooooosh- The wind appeared again and gathered up those rose gold colored ashes.

Cale then heard Super Rock's voice in his mind.

• I'm relieved.

He was relieved that nobody lived on this black island and that only dirt and rocks were here.

If there were living beings here...

If there were plants, animals, or humans...

Cale would not be able to burn everything and purify the dead mana as he did with the fiery thunderbolt.

Swoooooooooooosh- Swoooooooosh- Cale could hear the sound of the wind again.

*Let's all do it together!*

*Grab hands! Hands!*

*Let's twiiiiirl~! We're dancing!*

The small whirlwinds started to gather together. The Wind Elementals were holding each other's hands. Then they started to dance in circles.

The rose gold colored ashes started to spin in circles following the wind before shooting up into the sky. It was as if flower petals were flying up.

And finally...

*Goodbye!*

*It's time to farewell! Goodbye!*

The Wind Elementals said their final goodbyes.

The black island was gone, and a desolate island ravished by fire took its place. Then red snow started to fall.

Plop.

Plop.

Cale opened up his palm slowly after feeling something touching his cheeks.

The rose gold colored ashes were falling from the sky like flower petals. A beautiful red color covered the desolate land and the calm ocean.

• Thank you. I really mean it. Thank you for doing this despite your emotional turmoil.

Thief started to speak in Cale's mind.

• It's better late than never.

He could hear Cheapskate's satisfied voice as well.

Cale lifted his head and blankly looked at the rose gold colored ashes that were falling like snow before lowering his head.

Choi Han and the children averaging nine-years-old were coming toward him. Eruhaben, Ron, and Beacrox were already next to him.

Cale started to speak. "Thank you."

However, at that moment...

"Ugh!" He couldn't say anything else.

"Human! You can't faint! Do you need apple pie?"

Cale heard a voice by his ear as well.

Ron had accidentally touch the spatial pocket bag on Cale's waist, and mumbled softly in distress. "Why is only one day's worth of food gone?"

The ship was filled with silence.

"I'm sorry..." Cale said softly. He started to feel dizzy from the hunger.

• ... I am sorry.

Cale heard Super Rock's voice apologize after he did.

• ...The Vitality of the Heart maintained your body's condition during the test, however, you had starved for a long time and then used Cheapskate's power after that. Even if you had the help of the wind...