#vol 6

Summary

Arrangement for the tower defense:

Karo - Center Tower.

Mogor Empire - Northern Tower.

Rowoon - Southern Tower.

Each tower is assigned with a mage from Karo to assist communication between towers.

During the following days, Cale has Karo's soldiers dig holes into the ground.

The Indomitable Alliance's fleet arrives at the southern shores during sunset. Karo's forces estimate that they'll begin their invasion on the following morning, as disembarking during nighttime would be disadvantageous.

However, the Alliance's ships suddenly start to move onto land. The ships have been modified by the Flame dwarfs to be able to navigate on solid ground as well.

The bear tribe is seen on the ships decks, ready to attack.

Cale sends Choi Han to destroy the ships that were attacking the southern tower.

Some smaller ships with few soldiers on board start rushing towards the towers. Cale notes that the Alliance's forces are unusually weak.

Based on the intel he gained from Clope, Cale knows that the Alliance will try something extreme during this battle, considering their previous defeat.

Cale and Valentino are able to deduce that the small ships are meant to act as bombs filled with dead mana.

Cale sends Raon to take Choi Han out of the battlefield and uses voice amplification magic to warn the other towers about the upcoming attack.

To protect the towers, Cale deploys the Unbreakable Shield, since he has to cover a large area, the shield's power is lower than usual. Raon deploys a four-level shield around it, and they're able to withstand the attack unharmed.

However, the southern shore is now fully contaminated by dead mana, making it impossible for regular soldiers to traverse it by land.

As the bombs are going still going off, the bear tribe warriors start retreating into their ships.

The Alliance's plan was to stage an attack in the southern shores in order to concentrate Karo's forces there. Then fill the ground with dead mana, trapping Karo's army and making it impossible for them to defend the northern shore.

The northern shore barely has any forces stationed and it will surely suffer losses if the Alliance were to attack it while Karo's army was stuck in the southern shore.

Valentino calls for priest with light affinity, as they're able to purify dead mana. He knows about the legend of the path of the sun, a path created by the Church of the Sun God followers in the battle against the last necromancer.

The bishop informs him that it will take them months to purify the dead mana, and that they will not be able to create a path for them in time.

Duke Huten, who's listening via a video communication device tells Valentino that the priests have to suffer greatly when they purify dead mana. Valentino asks the priests if they were willing to suffer just this time in order to save the kingdom, but they refuse.

Cale arrives at the center tower using flight magic in order to bring Valentino up to speed with the current situation.

As the bear tribe was getting ready to set sail, they're attacked by an unknown force.

Valentino sees figures moving through the Land of Death, and recognizes that they're dark elves. He didn't know there where any dark elves remaining in the western continent.

Cale tells him that they're Rowoon's remaining forces and asks for permission to launch an offensive. After receiving Valentino's approval, Cale gives the order to not let them escape.

Tasha leads the attack. In a land filled with dead mana, the dark elves are at their strongest. After covering themselves in dead mana, they go after the docked ships and the bear tribe warriors.

The mages stationed at the towers are able to join the assault, and they assist the dark elves.

Cale also tells Mary to start her own attack. Mary brings out the bones of two wyverns from the ground. It turns out, that's why Cale had asked the soldiers to dig the ground in the previous days.

Mary dips the wyvern's bones into the dead mana in order to reinforce them.

Cale leaves the center tower with Choi Han, each mounting a wyvern. The original plan was for Hilsman and Choi Han to mount a wyvern and attack from the air, but now that the situation has changed, Cale decides to switch tactics.

The new plan is to use the sound of wind to create whirlpools in order to trap the enemy fleet.

Cale is worried about revealing another ancient power, so he plans to hide it by making it seem that it all came from the Unbreakable Shield.

Cale blocks the way to the northern shores by deploying the shield in the middle of the ocean, effectively leaving the enemy fleet trapped in the whirlpools created by him and Raon.

Going by the information provided by Clope, there should be another Red Star mage. According to Clope, this mage is a younger one whose power level doesn't hold a candle to the older mage.

When Choi Han identifies the mage he and Mary go to attack him, however when he sees the mage preparing an attack spell, he senses that something's wrong.

Raon tells Cale that the mage smells familiar. He senses dragon and human blood, making the mage a half-blood dragon.

Cale is able to get Choi Han out of the way before the mage's spell strikes him.

Cursing himself for trusting Clope's intel, now Cale has to find a way to deal with someone as strong as a dragon.

Bookmarks + Comments

(…) At last, a pair of silver wings unfurled, revealing an enormous shield: the same silver shield they'd heard so much about. An additional sheen overlaid the shield. <Don't worry, weak human!> Raon said. <I can create a silver shield too! We can protect everyone!> [p.173]

-🥧

The soldiers stationed at the southern tower found themselves remembering what Vice-Captain Hilsmann had said before the battle: “The shield won't break.” [p.174]

-🥧

As one might expect, Raon was keeping up a constant stream of chatter in Cale's mind. <Human, I think I am rather great and mighty after all! I made a four-tier silver shield! The dead mana won be able to touch us at all! We'll save everyone!> Cale listened to the six-year-old dragon's bubbly rambling as he activated a faint shield of his own within Raon's formidable barrier. [p.174]

-🥧

Dragons really are the best, Cale reflected. Thanks to Raon's four- tiered silver fortification, Cale's shield could shine brighter than ever. [p.175]

-🥧

“There you go spouting bullshit again.” [p.181]

-🥧

“Those who don't know how to give up can rise again in the darkness, Your Highness.” “Commander…” The concept of stubborn souls without surrender etched deep in the crown prince's heart. All at once, he understood how Cale had emerged victorious in the northeastern battles. “We will catch them.” The voice of the commander who refused to surrender rang across the highest point in the central tower. “We'll bring them down without fail.” [p.183]

-🥧

“Rowoon's full forces have finally arrived.” As Cale felt the ground tremble underfoot, he knew it for certain: “The enemy will not escape.” [p.184]

-🥧

(…) He was merely amazed by Cale's reach—and by extension, Rowoon's—not to mention their resolve. Over the course of this war, they kept rolling out one loathed entity after another. [p.185]

-🥧

Then Cale said, “I don't think I can summon the shield.” (…) “I still have chaos to stir up, after all.” [p.190]

-🥧

-🥧

Choi Han grinned. As long as his life wasn't at risk, the rest didn't matter. [p.198]

-🥧

He went still at the sound. Turning his head, he saw the water roiling wildly as a wave burst forth, something else cutting through the water in its wake. It was a towering silver wall. As expected. Choi Han laughed. “Yeah… That's the kind of man he is.” [p.198]

-🥧

<Know why that shield won't break, Choi Han?> the six-year-old dragon said in Choi Han's mind. <It's because the kinda sorta great and mighty Raon Mir's shield is in front of it!> Another laugh burst from Choi Han's lips. When he looked down, he saw that the ships veering off-course had yet another problem to contend with. (…) With companions like these, what did Choi Han have to fear? [p.199]

-🥧

“That bastard Clope is just a nutcase after all! Totally useless!” “What?" Choi Han turned his head to see Cale, who had dragged him from the wyvern with shaking arms. Then he saw what was behind Cale. “Mr. Cale!” “I know! Damn it!” Cale's wyvern opened its large wings and surged into flight, making a beeline for the shield. At the precise instant Cale and Choi Han moved away from that position… [p.201]

-🥧

“I hear that dopey-looking mage's offensive magic doesn't hold a candle to the old mage. Our alliance between Rowoon and Faern will win for sure. No one will be able to get in your way.” So said that bastard Clope. It was Cale's own fault for believing the self-assured ramblings of a lunatic. [p.203]

-🥧

I can't decide if Hilsman is like a proud parent showing off their kid, or an overly enthusiastic fan sharing his passion for Cale's shield, but either way, it's endearing seeing him spread the umm… legend. (I blame him for the rapid expansion of Caleism amongst the common folk.)

I was a bit exasperated with the POV soldier from the beginning of the chapter, but then he says that Choi Han looks one or two years older than himself, and… I'm sorry, did he say older? older???

I'm sorry POV soldier, I was too harsh on you😔

But yeah, later Valentino says they had to make an emergency draft and that a lot of the soldiers were younger than sixteen. Karo really needed the assistance from other nations.

I completely forgot about this battle, which I find strange considering it's the introduction of the dragon half-blood.

He's here!!!! One of the best characters is here!!!

Tasha is so cool, it's great to see her in action. I wonder if Albert's mother was anything like her, I wish we could learn more about her. Just give us a flashback author-nim, please. Even a small one will do.

It only dawned on me that LFC loves to turn the tables on typical fantasy stuff.

Here we have the bishop and priests from a light-affinity church being absolute selfish pricks, while the heroes of the battle are a necromancer, dark elves and a sword master with a despair attribute.

Also, also. Not only is Cale leaving his allies out of the loop of his plans, but we the readers are getting excluded as well. (For example, he never mentioned anything about the wyvern bones.)

How dare you, young master 😠/j

I can't believe it's almost time for peak (gorge of death).

+Vocabulary

Summary:

On the next day, Cale summons the parties present at the previous battle to the commander's headquarters. The naval base received the message requesting Cale's presence at the council of high nobles.

The general sentiment amongst the people present is that the center nobles are looking to suppress Cale before he gains any more power. There's frustration at the nobles for engaging in a power struggle when they don't even understand the true horrors of war, since they haven't even experienced the battlefield.

Cale silences the room and informs them that he will attend to the summoning, but he also tells them that after that, they will no longer have to concern themselves with these annoying requests. Cale feels like the people present are strong enough to protect the naval base on their own, and thus he feels like he can leave with one less thing to worry about.

After everyone else leaves, Choi Han and Mary come into the room. They want to accompany Cale and confront the council of high nobles by his side. Cale dismisses them since he already had made a plan with Albert, but he agrees to let them wait outside the door.

The current forces holding control of the Kingdom are:

House Orsena (Duke) at the center.

House Sten (Marquess) at the northwest.

House Ailan (Marquess) at the southeast.

House Guiller (Duke) at the southwest.

The northeast has a power vacuum, since the highest house are the Henituse, who have a county.

House Ailan is known as the strongest martial arts clan in the kingdom.

At the council, Marquess Ailan and Duke Orsena plan to stop House Henituse ascent. They assume that they can take control of the region by subduing the Count and his allies.

Suddenly, all the nobles from the northeast region arrive together led by Count Henituse. They head straight into their spots without sparing the other nobles a single glance.

The Crown Prince arrives accompanied by the Northeastern Military Commander, Cale Henituse.

Cale uses the dominating aura to suppress the nobles. Marquess Ailan realizes that the one with the most influence in the northeast region isn't count Henituse, but his son, Cale. After seeing the power of Cale's influence the Marquess decides to give up on controlling the region.

Cale declares that Rowoon is strong enough to aid Karo. He tells the Crown Prince to agree to Karo's request.

Duchess Sonata Guiller and Marquess Taylor Sten show their support for Cale's proposal.

Cale leaves the meeting, as he is not a named noble and has no vote in the final decision. However, the Crown Prince should have no trouble reaching their desired conclusion of aiding Karo.

As Cale leaves, the nobles get a glimpse of Choi Han and Mary, who were waiting for him outside the council.

On their way back, they join a procession in the capital organized by Albert. Cale realizes that support for him is higher than expected and vows to minimize his participation on the upcoming conflict in Karo.

Once he arrives at Karo, he is surprised to find the Imperial Prince Adin there.

Valentino, who is the crown prince of Karo arrives and greets them both.

Valentino and Adin are long time friends. The Empire is showing Karo a great deal of support by lending them their swordmaster, as well as their imperial knights and mages.

Cale notes that Karo doesn't know about The Empire's relation with Arm or the Indomitable Alliance.

It seems like Adin unexpected appearance at Karo was because he was furious at Rowoon's overwhelming victory, and he wanted to see Choi Han and Mary in person.

After Adin leaves, Valentino starts the strategic meeting with the representatives.

Based in their intel, they've concluded that the final battle will take place in the Castle of Leona, located at the north of Karo.

The Castle of Leona has three towers, the original plan was to assign each one of the present forces a tower to defend. However, they feel like Rowoon didn't send enough forces to defend a single tower.

The bishop from the Church of the God of Sun declares that they won't provide any healing to Rowoon's forces since they have a necromancer in their lines.

Hearing this, Cale drops his cordial act and starts speaking crudely to the bishop. After confirming to Valentino that Rowoon's forces are more than capable of defending their assigned tower, he leaves the meeting after declaring that they don't need any healing from the Church of the Sun God.

Originally, Cale planned to win over Karo's branch of the church to help him against the Mogor Empire, however, after this incident, he decides to lump the church and the empire in the same category.

“The Church of the God of Sun just signed their own death warrant.”

Bookmarks + Comments

“Commander, have you eaten?” “Did you get to eat, Commander?” What the…? (…) Why do they care so much about my diet? [p.101] “Did you eat, Mr. Cale?” I guess it really is a fad to ask that these days… Cale kept his response casual. “No, not yet.” A mechanical voice chimed in, “Lord Cale, you must eat to preserve your health. The only time you won’t require substance will be when you’re dead.” Why would she say something so ominous? [p.105]

Additional tags: Oblivious Cale Henituse | Kim Rok Soo.

(…) how could a terrible actor like Choi Han and an innocent soul like Mary possibly play along? [p.106]

Choi Han's terrible acting will never not be funny to me.

(…) “Ah, there may be times in the future when you’ll need to appear in front of the citizens for parades and whatnot. Those are the sorts of places you belong.” They’re going to be heroes after all. He planned to arrange for Choi Han and Mary to be seen in public; that way, they could replace him in people’s minds and become true heroes. As Cale imagined everyone forgetting about him, a smile stole onto his face. [p.106-107]

“Shield Lord!” “Commander Silverlight!” A long, long sigh slid past his lips. When would they get tired of those cheesy nicknames? [p.129]

I won't do a thing this time, he reminded himself diligently—no, desperately. I won't use my powers as much. I'll try not to use the shield unless it's absolutely necessary. [p.130]

I finally found it! I've been looking for this quote since forever.

My problem is that I can more or less paraphrase quotes, but I always forget the exact wording, so finding them can be a pain. One off the list :')

Additional tags: Oblivious Cale Henituse | Kim Rok Soo. (How many times will it be necessary for this chapter? lmao)

Get a load of this guy, as if anyone could forget about him.

Ahh, it feels like I talk about KRS every chapter but *shrug*.

Looking back at Cale's ploy to make everyone forget about him and only look up to Choi Han and Mary, it makes sense that he's so confident in it. Because the thing is: it worked when he was KRS.

People outside the industry didn't know anything about him, he spent his life as KRS being an obscure figure forgotten by the public at large. (Most likely because of the curse).

The public's newfound adoration of him is an alien concept to Cale, it's not just him being oblivious.

Also, the way he looked outside just because the kid from last time was waiting for him? He really does have a soft spot for kids, haha.

From the point Cale arrives at the capital, it was hard picking just a couple of quotes. I would need to put entire pages here.

The knight stood at attention and shouted once again. “Announcing the arrival of His Highness, Crown Prince Albert Crossman, accompanied by Northeastern Military Commander Cale Henituse!” Two pairs of shoes clacked on the floor as a smiling Albert walked in with Cale Henituse beside him. Cale, clad in black to represent Rowoon's northeastern navy, sauntered into the hall with an unreadable expression. (…) Each man painted a conspicuously different picture: Albert wore a resplendent gold-and-white outfit, whereas Cale Henituse’s black uniform accentuated his red hair. [p.112]

Low-key wish they used this scene for the cover. Please, we've yet to see him in his commander uniform, why are they hiding him in the basement? 🥺

I also the setup of this scene, the nobles really thought that they could put Cale under their thumb only for Cale to arrive side by side with the Crown Prince. I mean, wasn't it kind of obvious given the events of the past two years? Guess we all need to be a little bit stupid for the plot to move forward.

For today, Albert would let his own act slip and play along with whatever Cale decided to do. Hardly a difficult task. [p.113]

Cale was so cool back there that even Albert was fanboying a little. It's nice to see how much their relationship has changed. Albert went from being someone with his guard perpetually up, to having someone he can rely on and fully trust.

Albecale stonks 📈

Despite all the praise, I thought the Henituse boy was still wet behind the ears. [p.113]

To be fair, who would expect the 20 y.o to be savvy in both warfare and politics? Also, considering Rowoon uses the Korean age system, Cale is actually a 19 y.o here, which isn't a lot, but it adds to a bizarre situation.

"Recent graduate with 16 years of experience" certified Isekai moment.

If this incident hadn't alerted Marquess Ailan to the situation, Cale might have gobbled up the entire kingdom before they knew it. He's either going to devour another faction or increase his influence. I'm certain of it. [p.115]

Funny thing is that he kinda ends up doing just that. No intentionally, of course, but it's hilarious seeing Cale's influence being one of those things totally outside his control.

“I asked to make the navy uniform black,” Cale began. It was a seemingly random statement. Some of the nobles wondered about his intentions. “That way, even if it gets stained with blood, no one will be able to tell.” [p.117]

(Lines that I still remember years after reading the novel for the first time) +1

He took a moment to calm his heart before he swept into motion, his hands landing on their shoulders to give them each a pat. The last thing he wanted was for Choi Han to make another painfully wooden attempt at acting or for Mary to say something heartwarming in her GPS-like voice and ruin the mood. “Let's go,” Cale said, lifting his hands from their shoulders and striding forward without looking back. [p.124]

Fake idgafer, I saw you protecting them while hiding it under thin-veiled insults.

After reading ORV, I ended up learning a lot of things (It's surprisingly educational lmao).

I watched the movie about Yi Sun-shin that was shown in the cinema arc. And DUDE, comparing it to his grandpa energy in ORV, this man was so cool?

The more I read about him, the more I realized how much Author-nim used him as an inspiration for Cale, starting from the turtle ships.

Like, look at these numbers?

The aura?

"...your servant still doth have twelve warships under his command and he is still alive, that the enemy shall never be safe in the West Sea." ------ Sensing that the wound was fatal, and fearing a repeat of the Battle of Chilchonryang, the admiral uttered, "The war is at its height – wear my armor and beat my war drums. Do not announce my death."

When I read this arc with the nobles, I found it especially frustrating because you are all in the middle of a war? Why are you trying to get in the way of the one person who's giving you the upper hand? 😭

But then, you see Yi's wiki page:

However, his brilliance and accomplishments so soon in his career made his superiors jealous, and they falsely accused him of desertion during battle. (…) This tendency to sabotage and frame professional adversaries was very common in the later years of the Joseon military and government.

And then it made some sense, but I'm flaggerbasted it has some historical basis behind it.

(Also funny that I've seen people saying that politics in Korean isekais are basically just Joseon with European costumes and… yeah xD)

“Have you been well, Your Imperial Highness?” (…) Cale held back a scoff. I'm sure you've been just fabulous. He didn't need any visible cues to know that this two-faced bastard was seething on the inside. After Adin saw the news of Rowoon's triumph, he was probably too furious to sleep. (…) “(…) Thanks to our success, I've been sleeping like a baby every night.” The minute twitch Cale spied at the corner of the imperial prince's lips felt like another win all on its own. [p.131]

<It's been a while since you've smiled like this, weak human! Are you about to scam someone?> A scam? Nonsense. He was just smiling. Cale let Raon's comments go in one ear and out the other. [p.132]

“Excellent,” Adin replied in a measured voice. “You deserve a break after your victory. A long break.” A hint of incredulity rose to Cale's face. Others might've assumed the imperial prince was being courteous, but to Cale, it sounded like this duplicitous bastard was telling him to take an eternal vacation in the comfort of his grave. [p.132]

Oh, Adin, how I missed you.

The White Star was an "evil mastermind" starting with his first appearence. All of Cale and WS's exanges where pretty direct because of that.

But not Adin, I love how he's more of an aristocratic antagonist. Both Adin and Cale spent a lot of their interactions keeping up appearances and using indirect language to diss each other.

And I miss that, it gives the series more of a rofan air, which is why I liked the initial five volumes in the first place.

Haha, this punk! Choi Han really was a great guy, Cale reflected. For the first time in ages, Cale felt completely reenergized. Adin loosed a hearty laugh, patting Choi Han's shoulder as if the whole interlude had greatly amused him. “My, my. You truly are Commander Cale's loyal subordinate.” [p.137]

This moment is even better after remembering the scene where Choi Han beats Adin to a pulp.

“Vice-Captain Hilsmann told me that priests only spout rubbish. I am strong. I do not need to hide. I wish to stand behind you like Choi Han.” “Well, if you insist. Let's go together, then.” [p.139]

MARYYYYYY .·°՞(¯□¯)՞°·.

Future considerations required the church to remain on good terms with the Mogor Empire, but if they helped Rowoon, they could lose face. Nothing mattered more to the churches than pride and pretenses. [p.143]

(From 'history of the entire world, i guess')

“We don't need it.” “Pardon?” Spurred on by extreme irritation, Cale dispensed with propriety and reverted to his long-dormant degenerate roots. “We don't need healing from bastards like you.” [p.144]

"Long-dormant degenerate roots". How long ago? Where we seeing his nice version all this time? hahaha. But yeah, I don't think we've seen Cale this pissed off up to this point.

“The people standing behind me rose above that pain,” Cale said, with greater conviction than ever before. “They're the ones I can trust to have my back.” The pair of heroes behind Cale stood straighter, especially Mary. There was no reason for her to cower or hide. “Healing that only serves those who 'deserve' it? We'll pass on that load of crap.” They needn't conform to some set of arbitrary qualifications. They were already perfect and complete just as they were—together. [p.146]

And then Cale acts surprised when the people around him show concern for him. (And he doesn't quite grasp how much everyone loves him).

Does he understand the magnitud of his actions? He has to, but at the same time, ahhhhhh.

Cale in chapter 126 (Vol 3, Ch 22) :

Also Cale, some volumes later:

As he walked past, he whispered, “You lost your chance.” (…) “The Church of the God of Sun just signed their own death warrant.” [p.147]

*The Church of the God of Sun

As funny as it is to look at earlier chapters and seeing Cale constantly jinxing himself, I like how harder these types of moments hit when you realize that Cale is going against himself when he does this.

He knows how much problems he brought to himself by taking Raon in. And yet he did.

He knows what a pain would be to antagonize an entire religious institution because of Mary. And yet he did.

And in this chapter shows a great contrast to how Cale reacts when people mistreat him (nobles at the high council) VS how he reacts when people mistreat someone in his group (church against Mary).

He's able to keep his composture when the nobles called him a "reprobate" and what not, but the moment the bishop treatened Mary, Cale was out for blood.

But, he's also low key *insane*, because he goes around planing to take down an entire church, and the best part is that he is more than capable of doing so. Cale Henituse, the man that you are.

In conclusion: What a great chapter. I fucking love this novel.

The battlefield may have moved from wreaking havoc and capturing enemies to a spar of political plays and veiled insults, but this is where I feel like Cale shines the brightest as a protagonist.

Now onto the next chapter (I forgot how this battle plays out, but also, I see no reason why Cale would need to go so laughably understaffed to Karo other than to keep the Yi Sun-shin references going).

+Vocabulary

Summary:

The nobles are in awe or their overwhelming victory.

Due to the recoil from using his ancient powers, Cale is starving, however, he heads straight to the underground prison to interrogate the old mage, who should still have some hours left to live according to Raon.

Instead, he finds the old mage in such a deplorable state that he deems it impossible to get any intel out of him.

Both the dragon slayer and the child healer are unconscious after Vicros is done torturing them, so Cale heads to the only conscious person left: the magic spearman. He sends him to a separate room to be dealt by Hana.

Now that he has captured three red stars, he wants to find out more information on the White Star, starting with his appearance.

He heads to a different cell where Clope is being held. Clope was healed by Mary, who is currently with him. The whales are on their way to attack the coasts of Faern, and Cale lets Clope know that they'be heading there as well.

Cale is planing to use the Seca household as his mole in the Indomitable Alliance. "We'll stab them in the back."

As soon as Cale leaves the dungeons, Amir rushes over to him. They have been swaddled by communication request from several churches all over the continent, with the Church of the God of Sun being the most insistent.

They want Rowoon to hand over Mary, a necromancer who has appeared after the last one died hundreds of years ago. Cale rips the letter with the request and gives the order to ignore them.

The Indomitable Alliance is now heading to Karo's shores. The Church of the God of Sun has a strong presence in Karo, in fact, the letter Cale had just ripped came from a branch there. Cale thinks back to the Pope he met back at the auction house, as well as Karo's precarious position if the Indomitable Alliance were to invade them, and all the people in his group who had been shunned by this church.(Mary, the dark elves, Jack and Hannah). And so, he plans to use this opportunity to let them all out of hiding.

Still without a chance to sit down and eat, Cale heads to the commander's headquarters to contact the Crown Prince.

Albert informs Cale that the high nobles at the conference are thinking about giving him a first-tier Medal of Honor, an award that hasn't been granted in over two hundred years. Giving it to Cale would also make him the youngest person to ever receive it.

Cale rejects it, and instead asks for "the soldiers to be given enough time to eat."

Amir and the mages responsible for communication overhear this just as they were about to leave, and they are moved by Cale's dedication to the soldiers and to his duties.

Now that they're left alone, Cale starts to tell Albert about his plan. The Kingdom of Karo is rich thanks to its auction houses. They also lack the strength to fend off the Indomitable Alliance. With Rowoon's recent victory, it's almost guaranteed that they will request aid from them, hence Cale's plan to let "the forsaken find acceptance."

Later, Cale meets Witira and Archie in order to head to Faern.

Witira is worried about Clope causing trouble, but Cale reassures her that he will comply. Mary had made new limbs for Clope and Cale asked her to fill them with dead mana in order to be used as bombs. Cale believes that Clope will follow along to survive.

Unbeknownst to him, Mary had threatened Clope behind his back. While Mary intended to compliment Cale's foresight, Clope misinterpreted all of her statements and genuinely started to believe that Cale was a divine being.

The whales wrack havoc in Faern's northern coast. Cale takes over the communications room and starts to talk with the duke. He then passes over the communication device to Clope.

The duke gets to see his son, who had been missing after the battle against Rowoon a few days ago.

After Clope's capture, Faern has lost their guardian knight, as well as the red star capable of controlling wyverns. Because of this, they've lost most of their sway in the alliance.

Clope tells his father that Cale is a God, and that he's convinced that Cale's forces could seize Faern's capital in just three days. After observing Cale and his group, he has come to the conclusion that the alliance will not be able to take any land in the south. So, he tells his father that if they want to survive, they must cast aside the alliance and follow Cale.

Cale takes back the device from Clope, and tells the duke to come meet him in the communication room. After the duke arrives, they get down to business and Cale tells him that he will ask for three requests and tell him three truths in exchange.

Back in Cale's bedroom, he receives a call from the crown prince while he eats. Albert informs him that Karo did end up requesting assistance from Rowoon and the Empire.

It's complicated for Rowoon to just help another Kingdom while they're still at war with the Indomitable Alliance. It could give the impression that the crown favors gaining potential political advantage over the safety of its citizens.

The central faction of nobles, instilled by Lord Ailan want to convene a high council of nobles to make Cale officially declare his stance. As he is the commander of the northeastern forces, they value his opinion and want confirmation that Rowoon is able to assist another kingdom.

Cale realizes that this is a ploy from the southeastern and central factions, since they don't want to lose any influence they could gain from the war. Currently, the houses that stood to gain the most of the war where the Henituse and the Sten, bordering the north, as well as the Guiller in the southwest, bordering the Mogor Empire.

The nobles are also requesting Choi Han and Mary's presence to "acknowledge their contributions", but both Cale and Albert know this is not their real intention.

Albert tells Cale that he can ignore this request, but Cale turns him down and says that he will take care of it himself.

“I guess I need to cause a ruckus at the capital first.”

Bookmarks + Comments:

Well, if anything, trying to make summaries made me understand that sometimes, I don't quite follow what's going on as well as I thought I did.

This is how It's starting to feel every time Cale and Albert are having a conversation 😂

I'm so hungry. I'll have to eat first thing when I get back. Unfortunately for Cale, he wouldn't get that luxury. p59

And so it begins. I swear I spent half of the novel stressing over Cale's health. Just let him eat, bro.

Once he was done chuckling, he dragged both hands over his face. He hadn't felt like this in a long time. I shouldn't have trusted them. (...) Cale turned to Raon. As they were the only ones present, the black dragon had made himself visible. Raon avoided Cale's gaze as he ambled toward a corner of the dungeon, accompanied by Ohn and Hong. “My not-so-weak human bled,” Raon mumbled. “Spilling their blood wasn't enough—it needed to gush out of them. They shouldn’t be allowed an easy death. We need to rip them to shreds and cut their heads off.” “I agree!” “Our youngest did a good job this time. We did too.” Since even Ohn agreed with the other two, Cale decided to let it go. These three were still children; what could he really expect from them? p60

I'm curious about the part where it says that he hadn't felt like this in a long time. Since he was Kim Roksu...? I want to believe that maybe the last ones to make him feel like this where CJS and LSH. Soo's propaganda over.

Amazing that Cale decided to let it go the moment Ohn joined the other two. She's just that powerful.

“Father.” (…) “I’ve met God.” Cale flinched. Huh?! “This esteemed individual is a deity,” Clope added in a cheerful voice. What the hell? Cale stared at him in genuine disbelief. As Clope continued, he had the look of a man who’d achieved his lifelong dream. “I’ve escorted the legend here, Father.” Cale was a loss of words. Is he actually out of his mind? p87

Yes. Yes he is.

Still one of the novel's highlights, hands down. Clope's descend into madness is peak LCF. No wonder the author has given us Clope2, and 3 and 4 and so on.

“This esteemed individual speaks nothing but the truth, and he knows everything. We can go down the right path if we follow him.” While Archie couldn’t believe the way Clope was praising Cale, what shocked him even more was the reality behind those words. It’s true. p88

Caleism is strong in this one. Is this where the novel starts to lean heavily into this? Or did I miss the glaring signs when Cale chose a priest disguise?

Anyway, it completely flew over my head on first read, I didn't realize until much, much later. I thought the Caleism comments were the fans going crazy over Cale, which like... that's fair.

(…) Wasn’t that the perfect beginning to a story fit to stand alongside the heroic legends of old? Clope addressed his father and the kingdom he represented. “We must survive.” p91

Ah, so you mean like the.... birth of a hero? *wink wink*

So, Cale's entire plan to use the Seca Family originally hinged on the fact that Clope would do anything to survive. "Like a serpent shedding its skin". Clope with his snake motifs has so many references to survival at any cost. I wonder if part of this played into Cale's eventual acceptance of Clope into his group, even if it was subconsciously.

“Welcome,” Cale told the duke, who stood frozen in the doorway. With his subordinates behind him, Rok assessed the situation beyond the open door. Cale sat in a chair with his legs crossed, drinking tea. The duke also spotted his son, seated in a wheelchair drinking tea. p93

He's such a diva. A genuinely terrifying one, but at least he's fabulous while he's at it. Also, Clope casually drinking tea with his captor??? Lmao???

(…) Although Albert might make a snide comment, he wasn’t one to complain about Cale eating during the call. If anything, he would probably drop an obligatory “You little bastard” or “It's always something with you” before getting down to business. p95

The audacity? 💀

However, Cale sensed something off about Albert this time. Holding his forkful of meat, he peered into the communication sphere. “Mm.” The crown prince grinned from ear to ear. “Of course you should eat when the need arises. We can’t have our Lord Cale going hungry!” Now that’s weird. Cale was taken aback. What was wrong with the prince? “Goodness, but is only one plate of steak enough? Even an ornate table filled with gourmet dishes wouldn’t be adequate to serve our Lord Cale!” How suave the crown prince’s tongue was, Cale reflected. Just like a snake. Cale’s brow furrowed as he made sense of his earlier inkling. The change in his expression briefly caught Albert off guard, but the prince’s dazzling smile never faded. “That’s it,” he said, “I should treat our Lord Cale to a decadent meal—no, to the most glorious feast the royal kitchen can produce! Don’t you agree? Steak and wine are hardly suitable!” “… Do I need to go to the capital?” Cale asked bluntly. p95

I love seeing Albert in action, dare I say, just a little bit more than Cale.

And that's it! The highlight for me it's definitely "Father. I've met God". It is one of the phrases that has stayed in my mind rent free through the entire series.

+Vocabulary