Soo, as per tradition (it became like it at this point), here's another chapter as a gift for this new year ^_^ It's not much but hope you like it and have a great day/year ahead! Plus, would you look at that, we're in chapter 50! Thank you for being here with me :) It was a tough but fun journey.

PS: To those who reads the second book of TCF, is it almost done or at least somewhere along it because I want to read it but I don't want to feel the dreaded waiting period hehe.

Chapter 180: I did pick it up... (2)

"What did you pick up now?!" TCF! Alberu asked TCF! Cale who also looked bothered at this.

"Why did you immediately assume I picked up something?" TCF! Cale asked with a frown. "Couldn't it have been someone else like Choi Han?"

"Your denial really runs extremely deep in your bones." Mila said with worry. "Are you sure you don't need to get checked?"

But that was a problem for the others.

"Oh no." TCF! Alberu sighed, already fearful of the future. Well, not like he wasn't fearful in the past but it grew more and more as they continued watching. "I really want to retire."

"You can do it, Alberu!" his aunt cheered which didn't work as he still looked tired.

On this night, a night where they could not fall asleep because it was the last day of the festival, the bright pillar of fire that seemed to want to burn the night away kept the people in the Duke's Estate awake.

"Excuse me, what?!" TBOAH! Clopeh asked in shock as an image of said pillar appeared on the screen.

"It's something your Cale-nim has done." Adalie explained, immediately shutting down the two Clopeh who then changed their tune into one of praises.

"As expected of Cale-nim," TCF! Clopeh was the first to speak. "to create a legend...I want to be part of it!"

TCF! Cale just groaned along with TCF! Alberu.

"It isn't known by others that the criminal is this man, right?" the latter asked but wasn't given an answer.

With the master of the household and the young master both being unable to sleep, the rest of them could not sleep either.

"W, what a lun, lunatic!"

The old butler of the Duke's Estate couldn't believe it.
The knights and soldiers were covering his view, but he could still see the destroyed wyvern sculptures. These wyvern sculptures had been the Sekka family's crest for generations.

"Well damn, he must have really hated you." TBOAH! Cage whistled in amusement. After all, destroying a family's family crest is usually a symbol of wanting a fight with that family.

Crackle, crackle.

Such historic sculptures were being turned into dust.
All because of a single person.

"Choi Han?" TBOAH! Rosalyn guessed.

"Archie won't be that brash, right?" TCF! Shickler asked his daughter who just sent a wry smile.

"Hopefully." Paseton squeaked out, also fearing that possibility.

TCF! Archie hoped it wasn't him or he'll be scolded again.

"Aigoo, it just breaks apart when I put my hand on it!"

A lunatic wearing a black outfit was laughing while crunching up the pieces of a sculpture into dust.

That person was naturally Archie.

TCF! Archie groaned before hiding behind his other self who immediately moved out of the way. He was definitely not going to sacrifice himself for his other foolish self.

'you're on your own.' TBOAH! Archie thought as his other self glared at him with a face filled with betrayal.

"Wow, how entertaining. It feels great stepping all over it."

Step. Step.

The pieces of the sculptures continued to break apart every time Archie stomped on them. Archie felt great while doing this.

'I would also feel great if I'm not being glared at.' TCF! Archie complained in his head.

The others, mostly the enemies and some dragons, felt amused at the scene.

He could see it in their eyes that he was getting on their nerves. For Archie, who had behaved himself for the past few years because of Whale King Shickler's orders, this felt as if he had been freed.

"Is that so." TCF! Shickler slowly said.

"Of course not, he's crazy!" TCF! Archie said while pointing at the screen.

"You do know that's your future self, right?" TBOAH! Adin asked with a raised brow.

"He's not my future self anymore because I will not be doing that." TCF! Archie refuted.

"So we'll live like the butterfly effect?" TBOAH! Basen asked.

"I guess so." his other self agreed.

– Human, that Killer Whale looks like a total bastard! Amazing!

TCF! Archie preened, causing people to deadpan.

'Didn't he say that that guy was not him? Why is he proud of himself, then.' some thought with rolling eyes.

Cale agreed with Raon's comments. Archie looked like a total bastard.

"That doesn't sound like a praise." TBOAH! Lily said, confused why the whale was smiling brighter.

"Some people are just like that, Lily." TBOAH! Violan spoke gently. "But don't repeat it, okay?"

Her daughter nodded in agreement.

One of the Duke's knights started to shout.

He didn't seem to be the Captain, but he could be the Vice Captain.

"Imagine if he was the captain, poor him." TBOAH! Rex said with pity.

"It will just show how incompetent the duke's guards are." TCF! Rex said with a shrug.

"Who are you guys? Are you trying to call forth the wrath of the heavens and the earth?"

'Please, he's god's favorite.' Adalie couldn't help but think. 'Well, the favorite or at least semi-favorite of at least four gods if I'm not wrong.'

"Hmph."
Archie snorted at them.
He then confidently started to shout.

"We are the secret organization!"

He then started to chuckle.

"That's how you act." Rok Soo said with a proud look as if he was the one who taught the whale to act.

"Much better than Choi Han's." Jung Soo agreed, causing both Choi Han's to look dejected.

"To be fair, his looks also helped him." TBOAH! Pen added.

"Yeah," his other self agreed. "if he looked kinder than it would have been awkward."

"Maybe that's also what happened to hyung?" TBOAH! Lock, not wanting to see a sad TBOAH! Choi Han, suggested.

"No, he just sucks at acting." TBOAH! Rosalyn said bluntly, destroying all false hope.

The knight could not take action even though he was angered. The Duke was on his way back while Guardian Knight Clopeh and the Captain were at the lake. He had already sent a messenger to inform both of them.

As the Vice Captain, he had the power of authority right now. However, he could not make a move.

"Ah, so he's only the vice captain." TCF! Rex said.

"Still bad for the Duke." his other self said. "He's weak compared to TCF! Cale's group."

Both Clopeh nodded in agreement. Who cares if they were badmouthing his family's guards? They were just guards in the end. Their Cale-nim was more important compared to them.

This person was strong enough to destroy a large wyvern sculpture with a single punch.
Furthermore, there were no traces of mana or aura in his punches at all. That meant that it was just his physical strength.

"He is one of the strongest whales." TBOAH! Witira said with a proud look.

He also felt a strong aura of mana from the other masked person standing behind this one.

Of course, the other person was Rosalyn, but the Vice Captain who had no way of knowing this could only remain in place. He then peeked toward the side.

There was a man with golden hair that looked like a lion's mane. The others just knew of him as the Duke's guest, however, the Vice Captain knew of this man's true identity.

He was the Lion King's second son.

"...We're also going to fight with the Lion tribe?" TCF! Cale asked with a frown.

"Looks like it." Raon nodded.

"Ugh, I just wanted my slacker life." TCF! Cale groaned.

"It hates you, though, so just accept your fate." Rok Soo mercilessly said.

'You're kind of the reason why he transmigrated, though.' Adalie thought.

The Vice Captain looked toward the strong man in order to try to get a sense of what was going on.
He heard the Lion King's second son start to speak with disdain.

"...They must be those famous lunatics."

"Wow, this is the first time I'm famous because of being a lunatic." TCF! Rosalyn said as the others like TCF! Archie nodded in agreement.

"Same." he said. "Crazy? Yes. Lunatic? New."

"They're the same meaning." On said in confusion.

"Different words." TCF! Archie explained.

'Does that even matter?' others thought.

Apparently, it does.

'Are these intruders famous?'
The Vice Captain's expression turned serious.

"How disappointing." TBOAH! Jopis said. "Aren't you supposed to be on guard and serious the moment you spot an intruder? Why only when you learn that they're famous? Sigh, even my puppies are better than them."

The Lion King's second son did not know of the Vice Captain's thoughts as he started to shout.

"Do you bastards know who you are saying that shit to?!"

"No, do you bastard know who you are cursing?" Eruhaben mumbled with a dark tone. "I should rip your mouth if it only knows how to spew shitty things."

TCF! Cale couldn't help but wince, hearing the dragon's words.

'I'm glad I'm not his enemy.' he thought.

Edrich, the male lion, shouted in anger toward Archie, Rosalyn, and Paseton. However, he was amused on the inside.

The whales in the room looked serious when they saw Paseton with the group.

"Does that puny cat have a death wish?" TCF! Witira asked with a murderous smile.

"It seems we've been too quiet." TBOAH! Shickler said. While his son was already gone, it doesn't mean that he should also be depraved of killing those that killed his son.

As they said, a parents' love knows no boundary or even dimension in this case.

'I didn't expect to see those famous punks here.'

That shabby secret organization uniform.
The magic spearman and tamer had suffered in their hands.

"And you're next." TCF! Lock growled out with Maes nodding in agreement.

The battle between the Whales and the mermaids. The attack on the Elf Village in the Ten Finger Mountains. These bastards had ruined both of those incidents. The organization had already reported these bastards to the, 'upline.'

These bastards who gave them more work when Arm was already busy investigating what the Empire was plotting was quite the headache.

'They are strong.'

"No shit." Rasheel laughed. "If they aren't then doesn't that mean you're fucking weak?"

"I mean..." TCF! Hannah didn't finish but everyone knew what she meant, causing laughter to fill the room.

The Lion Edrich noticed that the enemies were at least as strong as him, if not stronger, just as the magic spearman had described.

Both Hannah glared at the title, the man who pretended to be their family but betrayed them.

'Death will be a sweet mercy for you once I'm done.' the two thought.

However, he could not curl up in fear.
He was the grand and majestic heir to the Lion King throne.

"Don't tell me he's scared, too!" TBOAH! White Star groaned. "Why can't I have stronger servants like that bastard!"

"Because you aren't like that man." TCF! Valentino easily replied.

"Who the hell are you?! Reveal your true identities!"

"Does he really think you'll do as he says?" TBOAH! Billos said with a raised brow, amused at the lion's stupidity. "He's been spoiled rotten."

The Lion that had come across these enemies with formidable strengths and asked for their true identities.
Cale raised his hand at that moment. Archie noticed Cale's gesture and responded as Cale had ordered him to do.

"Would you tell you if you were in our shoes? What a stupid brown broom head."

"Pfft, brown broom head!" Hong laughed in glee with the other children.

"That's...a mild insult." TBOAH! Tasha said, having heard TCF! Cale's curses before in the room.

Edrich started to frown. Cale happily started to speak.

"Let's start moving too."

Cale's body slowly started to turn invisible. He turned around as Edrich started to speak.

"How dare you look at my beautiful golden mane and call it such trash!"

"It is, though?" the half-dragon said before pointing at TBOAH! Alberu. "That human's hair is brighter than his mane."

"He's color blind." TBOAH! Odeus said.

"What the? Why are you throwing such a fuss when this isn't even your house?"
"You, you-!"

Edrich could not say anything to Archie's retort, while the Vice Captain flinched and tried to calm himself.

"Key word, tried." Dodori said, having fun nitpicking their enemy's flaws.

Cale praised Archie's ability to argue as he started to speak to Choi Han.

"You see how Archie is doing it? That's how acting should be done."

TCF! Choi Han pouted a little at this before sulking, knowing his acting really sucks.

"...I don't really want to learn that."
"That is true. We only need one of those type of people."

TCF! Archie knew he should be offended but he was not. Was it because it shows that he is irreplaceable in the team? Anyway, he felt warm inside.

'Is it really just Archie?'
Choi Han looked toward Cale with such a gaze, but Cale was quickly moving.

"I didn't want to say it but since Choi Han is pointing it out, then yes, TCF! Cale is also one of said person." Taylor said.

"And his highness." TBOAH! Gilbert added.

The two earned betrayed looks.

The group verified that he had turned invisible before starting with the next phase of the plan.

"Enough talking. Come at me."

Although he said to, 'come at him,' Archie started to charge forward instead of waiting. He was aiming directly for Edrich.

"You do know what 'come at me' means, right?" TCF! Harol asked.

"Of course." TCF! Archie said, offended someone would doubt his brain.

"Just checking." TCF! Harol said as he watched the screen again where the whale charged when he said those words.

Rosalyn and Paseton followed behind him and rushed toward the knights.

"My brother is so strong." TBOAH! Witira murmured with a sad smile, her heart aching at the sight.

'Will he be this strong if he was alive right now?' she wondered.

Cale seriously spoke to Choi Han and Raon while they did that.

"Follow me closely. Don't leave my side."

This was because he did not see the other Lion nor the remaining members of Arm. He needed Choi Han and Raon to be by his side in order for the kittens and him to be safe.

"...Says the one who kept destroying things and planning all of the vicious attack." TCF! Amiru said.

"...They are the reason my plans are fulfilled." TCF! Cale made an excuse for himself. "If it weren't for them, my plans wouldn't have succeeded."

"Says the one who can come up with numerous plans for one mission." Soo Hyuk revealed.

– I understand, human! I will always be by your side!

Raon's happy voice could be heard, but Cale ignored it as he snuck into the Duke's Estate.

* * *

Shaaaaaaaaaaaa-
The sound of the wind could be heard.

The last room on the fifth floor of the Duke's Estate.
Gronica, the other Lion who was in the room next to Clopeh's study, started to speak.

"...Is there an open window?"
"Excuse me?"

The knight asked with confusion before his expression turned serious.

Clang.
The members of Arm took out their weapons.

There were no windows that were open.

"This is the true enemy, huh." Sheritt said.

"Makes sense." TBOAH! Litana said. "The other group was extremely stupid."

Both White Star felt proud at this.

"Still stupider compared to ours." TCF! Tasha bluntly said.

They had closed off all of the entrances to the fifth floor or placed a knight in front of it as soon as they heard that there were intruders.

There should be no reason for there to be any sort of wind blowing through the room.

"They should have immediately realized it was an enemy attack." even TCF! Clopeh felt disappointed.

Shaaaaaaaaaaaa-

But the wind blew by once more. They clenched their weapons tightly.

Then they saw it. It was fog.
A fog was slowly approaching them from the end of the corridor with the wind.
It was as if a white wave was splashing through the hallway.

"Step back."

Gronica rushed toward the fog. There was a whip in her hand.

"Just like you, sister." Paseton told TCF! Witira who looked displease at the thought of having the same weapon with an enemy.

Flick.
A golden whip that was similar in color to her golden hair was flicked toward the fog. A small voice could be heard from inside of the fog.

"Meeeeeow."

It was a Cat.
She recalled the old man who looked like a child grinding his teeth as he mumbled.
She recalled what the tamer had said.

'I will make sure to kill those Cats.'

TCF! Cale's eyes sharpened at this as an evil glint appeared, unknowingly scaring or shocking some people in the room.

'He wants to mess with my children?' he let out a smirk with narrowed eyes, memorizing the tamer's face. 'You should be prepared for the consequences.'

The magic spearman had reported in a Battle Brigades meeting that Gronica had attended.

'There are two Cats. They are adept at poison.'

"Stupid bitch can't even properly shut his mouth." TCF! Ron whispered viciously.

"Meeeeeow."

She heard the meowing once more. She immediately cut through the fog with her whip.

Clang!

However, there was someone who blocked her whip. The whip was parried by a sword and lost its direction.

"She actually dared to attack a child? For shame!" TBOAH! Eric condemned.

'But they're enemies?' some thought.

A man appeared through the fog.
She could see the black pupils of the man in the black outfit. She could also see the black aura in the air.

TCF! Choi Han grinned at this, proud of how strong he would become in the future. At the same time, however, a small flame of wanting to be better than his future self was ignited in his heart.

'Maybe I should train harder.' he thought.

Gronica started to speak to her subordinates.

"It is poison."

'Arm,' had some information on these people as well.
She remembered some of that information as soon as her whip was parried.

TCF! Cale couldn't help the sigh that escaped his lips.

"Damn it, all that trouble for nothing." he said, indicating at their effort of trying to hide their true identity.

"Guess you should just blow everything up." the shield commented.

"Yeah!" the other ancient powers echoed.

"You must be the sword master."

The black pupils underneath the mask started to smile. She did not miss that moment as she flicked her whip once more.

"Doesn't she know that a smiling enemy is bad news?" TBOAH! Hannah asked.

"They have an incompetent leader." TBOAH! Duke Fredo said. "Of course she would be incompetent, too."

The enemies chose to be silent. Who cares about their opinions? They will have the last laugh when it shows the world's destruction under their hands.

As people say, after all, lose the battle but win the war.

Clang-!

The windows in the hallway suddenly shattered. The pieces of glass flew outside the window.

"W, why is the glass...?"
"What the!"

The people outside the door became anxious after seeing the windows shatter. They quickly noticed that something must have happened on the fifth floor.
Gronica watched the poison fog spread outside the windows and slightly turned her head.

"Why are you just watching instead of giving orders and rescuing those outside?" TBOAH! Obante couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment.

"What are you doing? Are you scared? Hey, you wyvern-fly bastards! Hey brown broom head, are you running away? Ahahahahah! Good luck running!"

She could hear an intruder's voice outside.
Brown broom head. That made her laugh before she charged toward Choi Han once again.

"At least she has a sense of humor." TBOAH! Bud said.

"Guard the door."

She gave a short order to her subordinates as she flicked her whip toward Choi Han once again.

"Sigh, when faced with stronger enemies, always use your head and wait for them to attack you while you plant some traps around." TCF! Gashan explained to the children who nodded at him in understanding.

"It's stupid to attack first." Sheritt agreed. "It's like begging to be killed."

Flick.
Bang!

It was not the sound of a sword hitting a whip. The window sills started to shake. Gronica held a short dagger as she rushed toward Choi Han, who had parried the whip.

Her dagger made it inside Choi Han's domain. The two of them made eye contact.
Gronica heard the intruder's voice for the first time at that moment.

"Too weak."

'What?'

"Another mistake." TBOAH! Litana pointed out, having fun messing with her enemies. "She got distracted with his words and seem to even be bothered with it. Having an unstable mentality will lead to more mistakes."

Gronica's pupils started to shake.
She heard a familiar voice at that moment.

"Gronica!"

Her cousin Edrich appeared at entrance of the hallway. She saw the other knights as well.
Edrich, who seemed to have been punched in the face and looked ugly, urgently joined the battle.

"Ouch." TCF! Cale, who cared about appearances, winced at the ugly state of the lion's face. He also said it because he remembered the story where TBOAH! Cale was beaten by the protagonist. He glanced at TBOAH! Cale and Rok Soo who both also winced, their minds remembering the pain they felt during that time.

'Maybe I shouldn't have trash talked his family.' they thought but waved the thought away.

'They're all here.'

Cale was watching all of this from the entrance of the hallway while remaining invisible.

TCF! Cale nodded, proud of his future self for not joining the fight.

"Yes, a small fry shouldn't join a battle between two overlords." he mumbled unknowingly, those who heard it sighing.

– Human, when will we do it?

He could hear Raon's excited voice. As expected, this Dragon had not forgotten about his desire to get revenge on Arm. Cale slowly started to gather the Sound of the Wind under his feet.

"Oh, oh, will we blow shit up, human?!" Raon exclaimed in glee, causing his mother to release a heavy sigh. She understood that talking with TCF! Cale wouldn't be useful because they were watching the future but it was annoying how her pure child got tainted with the world and started cursing like no tomorrow.

She once again cursed the White Star for attacking her. If he lived peacefully, she would have also lived peacefully with her children.

"Son of a bitch! Who the hell are you? Just what the hell?!"

Edrich threw a punch toward Choi Han while sounding both angry and upset.

"Did he really try attacking someone stronger than Archie?" Paseton asked, shock at the lion's stupidity. "The whale who beat him black and blue?"

That made Gronica attack in coordination. Top and bottom. The two of them worked together so naturally, it was as if they had planned the attack in advance.

"They do have good coordination." Rasheel grumbled.

However, their opponent was Choi Han.

TCF! Choi Han unknowingly let out a proud smirk.

Pat. Pat.
The fist and whip were both easily blocked. However, the two people did not stop. Gronica's dagger aimed for Choi Han's shoulder while Edrich's foot aimed for Choi Han's knee.

The agile and stealthy attacks were hard to see with the naked eye. A foreign voice started to speak at that moment.

"Break it."

Gronica flinched.

'...Who?'

It happened before she could even finish her thought.

The experience fighters in the room couldn't help but feel slight pity for the lady lion, knowing the pain of fighting when an unknown variable appears and destroys everything.

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

It sounded like a sudden downpour. She looked around the area.

The fog was roaring in the hallway again. This time, it was a red fog that was slowly starting to grow in size.

"Where are you looking?"

The sudden voice made Gronica change the direction of her dagger.
Clang.
Her dagger clashed against Choi Han's hand that was covered in aura.

"Phew." TCF! Choi Han breathed a sigh of relief. He did not want his Cale-nim or Raon-nim or even the cats to be wounded even a little.

"Ugh!"
"Edrich!"

The masked man caught Edrich by the neck.

"Y, you dare to do that to this future king......! Let, ugh, go!"

"He does know that leaders and kings are usually the target of enemies, right?" for the nth time, Taylor couldn't help the sigh that left his mouth. "Did nobody teach him?"

Edrich started to flail. Gronica was about to save Edrich, who was a tool for power in her family, before she stopped suddenly.

"Ah, so he was just a tool." TBOAH! Tasha murmured, feeling pity for the prideful lion.

"It makes sense." TBOAH! Amiru examined. "He wasn't really skilled at anything."

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

The sound did not stop.
It was coming.

Something was coming.

It was the moment she felt that and turned her head.

This was indeed the case. There was one more person.
The owner of the foreign voice.

"She just realized now?" TBOAH! Alberu wondered. "How did we lose against them?"

"They had stronger and smarter people." Rok Soo said with a scowl. "That dumbass isn't enough to even be part of the middle circle of the enemy."

The person who was surrounded in fog charged forward in a straight line.
A strong gust of wind was with him as well.
The fog and the poison seeped into the wind. White, red, blue, and black. Many different types of poisonous fogs roared together.

"That looks dangerous." the half-dragon murmured with a slight shiver.

"It looks fun!" TBOAH! Toonka exclaimed, wanting to experience fighting that.

"Don't be stupid, you'll die." his best friend scolded him.

'It's going to explode.'

That was what Gronica was thinking.
She then heard the man holding Edrich's neck start to speak again.

"I'll let him go."

Edrich was thrown forward.

"Dodge!"

The wind exploded at the same time.

Many leaned forward, curious to what the result would be as some looked away, scared of the horrible image.

Baaaaaang-

The large poison fog whirlwind covered the members of Arm.
The force broke the window sills and blew them out of the hallway.
There were even cracks forming on the walls.

"Ugh!"

Edrich rammed right into the whirlwind. Although he had a decent resistance to poison, the whirlwind was strong as well.
His body fell to the ground.

Boom!

"It's so strong!" On exclaimed in awe before looking at her siblings. "We should do this sometime!"

"Yeah!" the two kids cheered.

'Oh no.' TCF! Cale groaned.

However, he seemed fine, as he quickly got back up.

"How?!" many exclaimed in shock.

"Ugh!"
"Huh, m, my sight!"

The knights and other members of Arm were shouting after being poisoned, but the Lions did not care. They immediately headed toward the room at the end of the hallway.

"They must have strong resistance." TCF! Rosalyn said in disappointment before cheering the pouting children. "Oh well, it still worked nicely against the others."

Click.

They heard the sound of a door opening at that moment.

"Ooo...ooo."

The knight who had been stationed in front of the door was paralyzed due to poison.

"We should train them against poison." TBOAH! Elisneh suggested, her group agreeing. It was extremely shameful to see their teammates, no matter how low rank, get easily defeated by their enemy.

"Ah."

Gronica let out a sigh.
Choi Han was blocking her and Edrich from advancing forward.

She could see the man who opened the door behind Choi Han.
The fog disappeared, and the invisibility was lifted as the man slowly appeared, starting from his feet.

The man's eyes behind the mask were smiling toward the Lions.

Some couldn't help but blush. Cale's face, no matter which one, was really a face of temptation. It was such a shame White Star had the same face.

Screeeech-
Cale casually entered the room as soon as the door opened.

"'Casually' like they weren't fighting at all." Taylor said while shaking his head fondly.

"Well, it isn't Cale if he isn't like that." TCF! Cage just laughed.

Click.
The door closed and Choi Han's sword blocked the Lions from chasing after Cale.

"You'll have to get through me first."

Choi Han cheerfully spoke as he put his aura onto his sword. It meant that he would be fighting properly from now onward.

"How embarrassing." Pendrick murmured. "They weren't even enough to make Choi Han-nim fight seriously."

"To be fair, only a selective few can." TCF! Harol said. "Though it doesn't excuse their weakness."

"Meeeeeow."
"Meeow."

They then heard the Cats meow again as the fog reappeared in the hallway.

"How mocking." TBOAH! Ron said in amusement. "Good job."

* * *

Cale's anxiety had nothing to do with what was going on outside.

-...Human.
'This is weird.'

Raon was also anxious.

A small box was currently in Cale's hands.

"That's!" both White Star and the half-dragon had widened eyes, realizing what was inside the box.

It was the box that the Lions were trying to protect, the same item that they were trying to secretly pass off to the Guardian Knight household. Cale didn't know what to do after seeing what was inside of the box.

It was a crown.
But that was not the problem.

"I thought it would be because it was a crown, a sign of royalty." TCF! Alberu said. "Is there something more disturbing then that for you?"

TCF! Cale also frowned. He knew how much he hated things like royalty so for him to be bothered by something else was...scary.

– ...Human, I feel your power in it. You know, the one that makes you seem as strong as my front paw every so often! I feel the same power! Human, have they stolen something from you before? They are terrible people!

"Of course they wouldn't." TBOAH! Kora said. "They wouldn't get pass his security."

It was a white crown.
Cale started to speak.

"Raon, isn't this crown familiar?"
– ...Hmm?

Raon was silent for a moment before shouting in shock. He subconsciously removed his invisibility and shouted out loud.

"The Black Swamp!"

"Huh?" some murmured in confusion while those who still remembered narrowed their eyes.

Yes. The Dragon corpse in the Black Swamp.
This white crown had been on top of that corpse's skull.

Everyone, especially the dragons, looked serious.

Cale had earned the Dominating Aura, the ancient power that was great for scamming, the moment he touched that crown.

A different voice that was not the Super Rock started to speak in Cale's mind at that moment.
It was a familiar voice, but one that he had not heard for a while.
Cale recalled what that voice had said.

'Do you know what the easiest way to take away your enemy's breath is?'
'Fear is the answer.'
'Use it well!'
'Sometimes, even bluffing can save your life. Muhahahahaha.'

"Ignoring the try-hard evil laugh, that is true." TBOAH! Violan, who had some experience of it, agreed.

"Cale tries to do it but always fail because he's already strong enough." Jung Soo teased.

"He's always like that." Soo Hyuk said with a laugh.

It was the voice of the former owner of the Dominating Aura.
That voice had spoken for the first time in a long time.

– That crown likes Dragon blood.

"Oh...OH!" TCF! Valentino gasped with some others.

"Get that fucking thing away from Raon." TCF! Cale murmured, slightly glaring at his future self.

"Young master, relax, I'm sure your future self would do such." TCF! Hans assured.

It then became silent.
The Super Rock was silent as well.

Cale looked toward Raon.

The half-dragon couldn't help the flinch, memories of the crown torturing him filling his brain. He wished the little one wouldn't suffer the same fate he did.

"What is it, human?"

Cale started to speak at that moment.

"Let's throw this away."
"What?"

"They might retrieve it if you do so." Eruhaben said, also slightly at lose on what to do. After all, if he kept it, it might endanger the little fellow but if he threw it away, the enemy might take it again.

"No. I can't let them continue to hold onto this."

Many nod, wondering what he might do.

The Black Dragon had never seen Cale frowning while looking at something that looked expensive like this crown with a large jewel.

"It is a weird sight." Raon agreed, feeling warm that his human cared for him so much that he was willing to throw away something useful and expensive.

Cale continued to speak in a stern tone toward Raon, who was tilting his head in confusion.

"Should I break it?"

'I forgot that was an option.' Eruhaben, who was worried, deadpanned.

"Yes!" many cheered.

This was the first time he picked up something that he didn't like.

"How lucky." TCF! Bud said with a teasing glare. "I always pick up something I hate."

"Same." some agreed.

"That's Cale-nim for you." TBOAH! Clopeh sighed like he was drunk. "Always favored by the heavens."