Tai Yang was walking alongside Cardo, continuing their journey through the area.
Tai Yang looked at Faman.
"Tell me, what did he look like?"
"I don't know," Faman replied.
"I guess we might be able to help you, but anyways, I'm a dumbass for asking that," Tai said.
"We might. Let it be for later. For now, we should focus on finding where the enemies might be," Cardo said.
Tai looked at Faman again.
"Tell me, did you see anyone, Faman? Like, who did this?"
Cardo looked at Tai.
" If he had seen anyone, he probably wouldn't have suspected you in the first place."
"Shut up! I know that!" Tai replied.
Faman shook his head.
"No, I really don't know who did it."
"Well, I should stop asking questions that make me sound dumb, huh?" Tai said.
He then turned toward Cardo.
"Tell me, Cardo. What kind of special ability do you have?"
Cardo stopped walking for a moment.
Tai stopped as well and looked at him.
"Cardo? What's wrong?"
Cardo suddenly swung his blade toward Tai.
"What?!"
Tai barely had time to react.
For a brief moment, the scene seemed to zoom in.
CLANG—!
Cardo's blade had struck someone standing behind Tai.
A bald man appeared from the shadows, his expression twisting in pain.
Cardo's sword had sliced straight through his hand, cutting it nearly in half.
Blood immediately began pouring from the wound.
The bald man quickly grabbed his injured hand with his other hand, trying to stop the bleeding. Blood dripped between his fingers and fell onto the ground.
"Damn you, bastard!"
Tai stared at him, shocked.
"I didn't even sense that…"
The bald man clenched his teeth as he looked at Cardo.
Despite the pain, he managed to smile.
"However, I have to say… you have very amazing instincts to have sensed me."
Cardo remained silent, his blade still in his hand.
The bald man looked at his injured hand.
"Anyways, I should be going."
Suddenly, his body began to turn into dirt.
"Wait!" Tai shouted.
The bald man's body continued breaking apart until he completely disappeared.
Cardo stopped Tai from moving forward.
"Don't go there. We don't know what he can do."
Faman looked shocked. He stared at the place where the bald man had disappeared.
"He looked pretty scary…"
Tai looked at Faman.
"Don't worry. I'm here to protect everyone in the village."
He paused for a moment.
"Faman, are you the one who got scared here?"
Tai smiled.
"Hey, should I take that as a joke or a compliment?"
Cardo looked in the direction where the bald man had disappeared.
"I have to say, he could be pretty dangerous. If we hadn't noticed him, things could have gone badly."
"What do you mean?" Tai asked.
"But the only thing I noticed is that he doesn't seem to have any mana or anything like that," Tai said.
"Because he doesn't have any mana at all," Cardo replied. "Judging by his blade, he might be from the Disg Clan. I don't know what they're doing here, though."
"Okay, wow. So that means he's strong? With no mana?" Tai asked.
"Yeah. You can say that."
Cardo started walking again.
"Hey, we're going? Right now?" Tai asked. "After all that just happened?"
"We can't do anything right now. We just need to keep an eye on things. Don't do anything foolish. If something happens, I need to take action."
"I won't," Tai replied.
Faman looked at Cardo.
"You look pretty cool, though."
Cardo looked at him.
He didn't answer and simply ignored the comment.
Faman then looked at Tai.
"I want to know too. What do you even do in your free time?"
Tai looked at him.
"Guess someone is interested in me."
"Not you. All of you."
"All?" Tai said. "Is that indirectly you making fun of me? Come on."
Faman looked up at the sky.
"I really miss them… my parents. I want to be with them."
Tai looked at him.
"Don't worry. We'll find them."
The scene shifted to Konsoon.
Konsoon stood before Dracula's body, which had been preserved in stone.
Hazo looked at the body.
"It might take some time, but it will be done soon. Once it's done properly, everything should be ready."
"I see," Konsoon said. "Just try your best to do everything here, because I trust you, Hazo. My faithful servant."
Viktor looked up toward the sky.
The scene shifted to Tai Yang.
Tai, Cardo, and Faman were resting somewhere in the area.
Tai was sitting down and drinking some water while Cardo remained nearby.
An old man approached them.
"So, young man… what really brings you here, I might ask?"
Cardo looked at him.
"We're here on a mission to find someone."
"I see. I think that's understandable enough."
The old man looked at them.
"So, you are… magicians? If I'm not wrong."
Tai nodded.
"Yeah, I'm a magician. But Faman isn't."
Cardo added, "He's a beginner right now, but you can say that."
"Hey? What? Did you say?" Tai asked, looking at Cardo.
The old man smiled slightly.
"So, is there anything I might help you with? If you want to ask something, that is."
The old man continued.
"However, I heard about a lake monster that takes humans into the lake."
"A lake monster?" Tai asked.
"A lake monster?" Cardo repeated. "Mind if we know where it has been seen?"
"To the west side," the old man replied.
"The west?" Tai said. "Huh… interesting."
Night passed, and morning came again.
Tai Yang stood at the top of a hill, looking at the view below.
"Wow… this looks like an amazing view."
"Let's go," Tai Yang said.
He started walking, with Faman following him.
Cardo looked toward the west for a moment.
"Stay close to me. I can't say what might happen here, so it's better to stay together."
"Alright, you bet I will," Tai replied. "And don't worry. We'll be fine."
The three of them continued walking together for a while.
Tai Yang continued walking.
"Isn't this place kind of messy? Why are we even here?" he asked.
Cardo didn't reply. He simply continued walking, with Faman following alongside them.
Then, a sound reached Tai's ears.
Someone was playing a small, thick, straight red trumpet.
Tai stopped for a moment and listened.
"Huh? Who's that?"
The scene focused on the mysterious figure playing the red trumpet.
The scene focused on the mysterious man.
He wore long gray clothing and held the red trumpet in his hands.
He looked at the three of them.
"So, what's the matter? Why are you here? Why are you all looking at me?"
Tai smiled.
"That trumpet you're playing sounds really good!"
"I appreciate that," the man replied.
He looked at Tai.
"Tell me, what's your name?"
"Tai Yang."
Cardo looked at the man suspiciously.
"Why are you here?"
The man looked back at him.
"Do I know you?"
"No, you don't. But why are you alone in these woods?" Cardo asked.
"Of course. I'm a guide here."
"A guide?" Tai said, looking at him in confusion. "Huh?"
"A guide? In this area?" Cardo asked.
The man looked at him.
"My name is Wajau."
"I see," Cardo replied. "Tell me, have you been watching us?"
"No, not at all. In fact, I only noticed you just now."
Wajau smiled slightly.
"But anyways, would you like me to guide you?"
Wajau smiled.
"It's very good to meet you all."
Faman looked at him curiously.
"Tell me, do you live in my village?"
"Live in your village?" Wajau repeated. "Well, I don't know about that. But I do know quite a lot about this area, I guess."
Faman nodded.
"Okay, then. Can you lead us?"
Wajau looked at the boy.
"A child with so much energy… that's kind of surprising."
The scene shifted to the group walking together.
Tai Yang looked at Wajau.
"Tell me, where is your home?"
"Is that necessary? Well, since you asked me so nicely, I might as well tell you. It's beside the west."
"Beside the west?" Tai repeated.
Wajau looked at the three of them.
"You three look pretty good together, anyways. Let's keep going. We still have a long distance to travel."
As they continued walking, Tai Yang looked at Wajau.
"Tell me about that lake monster we heard about. You seem to know a lot of things around here. Do you know anything about it?"
"Oh, that?" Wajau replied. "I see. Now it's coming to an end."
"What?" Tai asked.
Suddenly, the same bald man they had encountered earlier appeared again and attacked them.
Before Tai, Cardo, and Faman could react, the ground beneath them opened up.
All three of them were pulled into the ground and fell into the darkness below.
Wajau looked down at the spot where they had disappeared.
"I guess you three fell right into my trap."
Wajau looked down at the three of them.
"What fools. However, I won't kill you here. That would be foolish of me. For now, I'll collect more people to take with me."
The bald man looked at them.
"You three are fools. I told you that."
Tai Yang looked up at him.
"Do you really think this is funny? Let us out!"
Cardo looked down and noticed a seal beneath them.
The bald man smiled.
"It's a very good seal, created by Wajau. You won't be able to break it."
Cardo examined the seal carefully.
"This seal… has it been used before?"
"It's very dark here…" Faman said nervously.
"Don't move around too much," Tai Yang told him.
"Damn it! He tricked us!" Tai said, clenching his fists.
"I suspected something was wrong from the beginning," Cardo replied.
Cardo looked up toward the opening above them.
The bald man was still there, looking down at them.
Tai glanced at Cardo.
"Any idea how we can get out of here?"
"For now, we can only stay still," Cardo answered.
"We should do something! There has to be a way out!" Tai said.
"We should stay silent for now, as I said," Cardo replied, looking down.
Meanwhile, Wajau stood above them.
"Now, everything is going according to plan. My plan worked," Wajau said, raising both hands toward them.
"I'm going to end this now. After that, I'll move toward the east."
The bald man looked down at the three of them.
"This is how it ends for this village."
Wajau stared at the village.
"This village cost my father his life. Now, the people here must pay with their own lives to repay that debt."
With that, he began moving away.
Wajau began moving toward the village.
"Now, this is good," the bald man said.
Suddenly, Wajau was struck by a blue aura.
It was Tai Yang.
"What?!" the bald man exclaimed.
Cardo was standing behind him.
"Huh? How did you three —?" the bald man asked in disbelief.
"It's not possible! How were you able to do that in the first place?!" Wajau exclaimed.
"Because the seal you used was built on sound. I cut through the sound seal instead of using it," Cardo explained.
"What? How were you able to do that?" Wajau asked.
"I've never seen anything like that before," Wajau muttered in disbelief.
"Your opponent is right here! Fight me!" Tai Yang shouted.
Tai attacked Wajau, but Wajau dodged his strike.
"Not fast enough!" Wajau said.
He counterattacked with his sound energy.
"Let's do this!" Tai said.
He dodged the attack and struck back at Wajau.
The scene shifted.
Cardo looked at the bald man.
"What are you going to do now? I have something in my pocket that could destroy the entire area within a thousand-kilometer radius."
The bald man looked at Cardo.
"Are you talking about this?" Cardo asked, holding up the object.
"What?! How were you able to take it?!" the bald man exclaimed.
"While you were looking at something else, I took it without you noticing. I was already close to you," Cardo explained.
"Huh? So you tricked me?" the bald man asked.
"Exactly," Cardo replied.
Tai Yang moved at incredible speed and attacked Wajau.
The attack landed, leaving Wajau badly damaged.
"If that's the case, then let me use it!" Wajau shouted.
He raised his hands.
"Now, you're going to die with me!"
"I order you—release sounds!"
Sound spread everywhere around them.
"What?!" Tai Yang exclaimed.
He quickly retreated for a moment.
"Those sounds affect your body," Cardo warned him. "Be careful of him, and make sure you don't get caught within his range."
"Got it!" Tai Yang replied.
Meanwhile, Cardo continued fighting the bald man.
"Anyway, I'm going to end this," Cardo said.
He took his sword and pointed it at the bald man.
"What?" the bald man muttered.
Cardo moved at incredible speed and attacked him.
The bald man was struck hard and fell to the ground, bleeding.
He smiled faintly.
"I guess this is how it ends, huh?"
As he lay there, a memory appeared in his mind.
"Skapdi, there you are!"
It was an old woman.
"Grandmother…"
Skapdi smiled as he remembered her.
Then, he died.
"So, Skapdi… huh?" Wajau muttered.
He turned his attention toward Cardo.
"Anyway, I might as well kill you. I'll deal with him later."
He was referring to Cardo.
Tai Yang stepped forward.
"First, you'll have to get through me!"
"Tai, you won't—" Wajau began.
"How about this, then?" Tai Yang said.
"Blast Dragon!"
This time, the attack was incredibly intense. Its power struck with tremendous force, destroying an entire hill.
Cardo sensed the immense power behind the attack.
"I don't know how I ended up with this much mana…" Tai Yang muttered.
He fell back, exhausted.
Faman stared in shock.
"W-What was that?!"
Wajau lay on the ground, badly injured.
Cardo watched as Tai Yang walked toward him.
Tai looked down at Wajau.
"What was your goal?" Tai asked.
"It doesn't really matter anymore. You're going to kill me now, right? There's no point in telling you," Wajau replied.
"I see."
Tai didn't harm him.
"Anyway, I'll be going now," Tai said.
Wajau looked at him in confusion.
"Don't you want to kill me?"
"There's no point in killing someone without a reason," Tai replied. "Besides, I can sense something in you. Maybe it's sadness."
"My sadness? What are you talking about?" Wajau asked.
"Maybe I'm not as smart as you, but I'm good enough to understand people's emotions. And there's something telling me that I don't want to kill you."
"Since you've caused harm here, your power might be taken away for now," Cardo said.
"I see," Wajau replied.
"Besides, you've harmed a lot of people. You might—"
"Wait, why punish him if his power is going to be taken away?" Tai Yang interrupted.
"That's just how things are," Cardo replied.
Tai looked at him.
"Isn't there another option? What if we forgive him, as long as he accepts it?"
"I've killed your ally," Cardo said.
"You killed… Skapdi?" Wajau asked, looking shocked. "You killed him, huh?"
He lowered his head.
"How about killing me too? I've failed my mission anyway."
"Man, why are you so obsessed with getting yourself killed?" Tai Yang asked. "Why don't you try living a good life instead? I don't know what will happen in the future, but maybe if we think positively for now, we can do something."
Faman looked at Wajau.
"Hey, mister… are you the one who has my parents?"
"Yeah," Wajau replied. "You can find them there."
Meanwhile…
Faman's father and mother were kneeling inside a prison cell.
The door opened.
Cardo stood there silently, while Tai and Faman were right behind him.
"Mother! Father!"
Faman ran toward them, and they embraced each other.
"Where have you been?" his parents asked, crying.
"I came to find you! And look, I didn't cry this time!" Faman replied.
Everyone smiled together.
Tai Yang placed his hand on Wajau's shoulder.
"Why don't you try apologizing to them and starting a new life? I don't know where my parents are, or even if they're still alive. But I have a sister who's waiting for me while I'm away on this mission.
"What I'm trying to say is that we should become better at protecting the people we love. That's what I've learned.
"About revenge… I get angry too. I don't really know everything about it, but maybe we can still fix things."
Meanwhile…
Cardo returned to Jeil.
"What really happened?" Jeil asked.
"We killed him," Cardo replied.
Elsewhere…
"Hey, Tai! Can I say goodbye to you?" Faman asked.
"Of course!" Tai Yang replied.
"Do you think we'll meet again?"
"Well, yeah! If you want to, we can meet again someday, if destiny allows it."
Tai smiled at him before leaving.
As Tai and Cardo walked away, Tai turned toward Cardo.
"Hey, Cardo? Tell me something. Did you kill the person who was involved in her husband's death? The one who killed him?"
"It was Skapdi," Cardo replied.
"Ohhh, that bald man Wajau mentioned?" Tai asked.
Meanwhile…
Wajau stood beneath a tree, playing his trumpet once again. He smiled faintly as the music filled the air.
Tai Yang and Cardo continued walking.
Meanwhile…
Konsoon's castle was flying through the sky.
Konsoon sat on his sofa, with Viktor standing behind him.
"Finally, the castle has left the Holy Planet—the Holy Earth," Konsoon said.
He looked toward Viktor.
"Viktor, sit on the couch. Where have you been?"
"As you wish, my lord," Viktor replied.
Viktor went downstairs and sat with Fuko and Remji.
Hazo was also there, standing still, his legs attached to the castle's floor.
The castle continued traveling at incredible speed.
The castle continued travelling at an incredible speed, moving faster than light itself—more than a thousand times faster.
It passed through space, rapidly moving past multiple planets as it continued its journey.
Meanwhile, somewhere else…
A mysterious man stood watching with a smile.
"Let's see how you handle this."
Konsoon's castle continued travelling at incredible speed.
Out of nowhere, an enormous asteroid appeared in its path.
It was 25,000 kilometres in diameter, nearly twice the width of Earth. Made of hyper-compressed heavy metals, it had a mass of (6.4 \times 10^{24}) kilograms—equal to the mass of the Holy Earth.
Inside the castle, everyone remained seated.
Konsoon sat on his couch, unmoving, his eyes fixed on the approaching asteroid.
"I see. It's a very large asteroid. However, it won't be enough."
His red eyes began to glow.
The entire asteroid turned red. Cracks spread across its surface, rapidly covering it from one side to the other.
Then, the enormous asteroid crumbled into dust.
Meanwhile, inside the castle…
Konsoon's servants remained calm, sitting around the table with their hands resting against their faces.
Konsoon smiled faintly.
"Pathetic. To think people would even try using something like this against me."
The castle continued moving forward at incredible speed.
The castle continued travelling at incredible speed.
Suddenly, a portal opened ahead of it.
The castle entered the portal, disappearing into its depths.
The portal emitted a burst of radiation before closing behind it.
The scene faded away.