Chapter 121
Chapter 121
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: Madness Spreads
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Anix Graiza.
The eldest son of the Graiza family, a noble destined to lead the Staron Kingdom in the future.
Later known as the Wood Bow, he would become one of the Three Heroes and a pillar of the Generation of the Sky.
Right now, though, he was swallowing a hollow laugh over the choice he had made.
Facing a monster that was clearly beyond their ability to handle, buying three full minutes for the Twin Fledglings Squad.
And all on the gamble of an uncertain bet.
The only thing he was banking on was Krash—one single person.
It wouldn't be wrong to say the entire Twin Fledglings Squad's lives hung on him alone.
If Krash failed, the squad would burn through their stamina just stalling, only to be wiped out without even a chance to flee.
At best, a lucky few might survive.
'Me, who always makes rational choices.'
To think I'd end up making a decision like this.
Anix's mind flashed back to that day.
Two years ago, at the Star Sanctuary.
The day he had been struck down by a desperate, all-out blow from a boy he met at the Ara Dragon Pavilion.
Thud!
"Lord Anix!"
At that moment, Elfin's cry rang out as Decarabia's four arms thrust downward.
Tentacle clusters erupted from each of the four arms.
Each bundle carried a curse of its own, homing straight in on the Twin Fledglings Squad.
Furious at Krash's disappearance, the beast was launching a massive attack to hunt him down.
Anix reacted instantly, slamming his foot into the wooden floor with a thud.
In that instant, his Recovery fused with Wood Heaven Sword Style, and trees surged up like shields to envelop them.
Splat! Thwack! Thud-thwack!
The tentacle clusters collided with the trees, crushing the elastic tendrils beneath them.
A disgusting squelching echoed relentlessly from atop the wood.
But the four fists that followed couldn't be blocked.
Crack!
The reinforced trees shattered in a single blow.
Decarabia thrust its hand through the gap once more.
But Anix wasn't fighting alone.
The Twin Fledglings Squad leaped in unison, unleashing their attacks on the extended arm.
Slash! Thwack!
Without any mages, large-scale bombardment was impossible.
Their strikes could only slice through tentacles and leave shallow gashes on the hide.
But that was more than enough to stoke Decarabia's rage.
"Graaaaaargh!"
Decarabia roared like it despised the bugs nipping at it, swinging its arms wildly.
Anix swiftly yanked his squad members out of harm's way with vines or created footholds before the fists could reach them.
"Ngh."
Was it from repeating those maneuvers nonstop?
Anix suddenly felt his aura depleting rapidly, a massive strain building up.
But he gritted his teeth and forced himself to endure.
Sweat poured down his face as he continued supporting the Twin Fledglings Squad.
This was the kind of reckless overexertion he would never normally allow himself.
But if not him, no one here would make it out alive.
A throbbing headache pounded in Anix's skull.
Yet he ignored it, pushing Wood Heaven Sword Style even harder.
And that figure resembled someone deeply familiar.
Anix vividly recalled one person.
A peer who always pushed beyond his limits, burning his own body to ashes if needed, giving his all.
Someone even more brutally crushed by comparisons to that star named Charlotte.
'Krash.'
Anix had been raised amid constant praise from birth.
As the eldest son of the Graiza family, he possessed innate talent on top of that.
After contracting with a god, his life was nothing but smooth sailing.
No one dared look down on him; instead, they fawned over him to curry favor.
Even Staron's princess fell for him and trailed after him like a puppy.
But that day.
Anix confronted someone who denied everything he was.
Not some petty fake star like himself.
A star that outshone the entire world, surpassing even Staron.
Charlotte Valheim.
The first time he met Charlotte at the Star Sanctuary, she was breathtaking.
Arrogance and nobility gleamed in those unique, lusterless eyes.
It wasn't something just anyone could possess.
It was a privilege granted only to the strong.
So Anix grew intrigued by Charlotte.
He wondered just how far this genius, labeled the same as him, had come.
And he ended up touching Pandora's box, the one he should never have opened.
Anix couldn't do a thing against Charlotte.
His prized Wood Heaven Sword Style shattered under one swing of her sword, and he couldn't even track her movements with his eyes.
When he opened his eyes, all he felt was pain across his face.
Her sword flat had smashed it.
"What a disaster. They say Valheim breeds demons, and it looks like it's true."
Elfin, one of the other Three Heroes who had been broken alongside him, swallowed a bitter laugh as she cradled her shattered arm.
"Whoa, she's seriously strong. I wanna go again!"
And Ballak, the other of the Three Heroes, showed fighting spirit despite his legs being pulverized.
But Anix was different.
He couldn't muster Elfin's pure admiration and respect.
Nor Ballak's longing and competitive fire for strength.
Anix, who had reigned at the top of the Star Sanctuary.
If it had been an even fight with Charlotte, maybe.
But he'd been unilaterally beaten down.
For Anix, it felt like all the pride and self-respect he'd built up to that point had been utterly demolished.
From then on, Anix's training time gradually dwindled.
It was only natural.
No matter how hard he trained his whole life, Charlotte would surpass him with a single step.
Chasing her tail forever, the best he'd ever be branded was second place.
For Anix, who had lived his life as number one, that was unbearable.
So he let it all go.
Instead of desperately chasing her shadow, doing nothing and coasting felt better.
Yet Anix couldn't tear his eyes away from Charlotte.
Even knowing it blinded him more with every glance.
Before long, he was checking on her every day.
He knew the rose had thorns, but he kept reaching for it anyway.
In those days.
One figure caught Anix's eye.
None other than Charlotte's brother, Krash Valheim.
Seeing Krash sparked a flicker of interest in Anix.
'I wonder what her little brother is like.'
A small curiosity, born from rumors that Krash was a hopeless case.
So he tossed out a simple provocation.
Wondering how this boy, crushed even harder under Charlotte's massive star than he had been, would react.
And in that moment.
Anix witnessed a heaven-splitting One Sword.
A strike fueled by the sole resolve to fell his opponent, even if it wrecked him completely.
Without a doubt, the Krash Anix met was a halfwit.
His skill level was laughable, and his body was far too frail to rival a genius.
Accounting for the Valheim education and abundant resources, he was flat-out failing.
And Krash's entire life must have been defined by comparisons to his sister Charlotte.
Sharing the same blood as the only one who did, he was fated to be swallowed by her light forever.
Far more harshly than someone from another family like Anix.
But there wasn't a shred of giving up in the resolve burning in Krash's eyes.
He stared straight ahead.
As if even the time to compare himself to Charlotte was a waste.
Krash had begun smashing his fate as a halfwit with his own hands.
Like iron hammered and tempered over endless strikes.
Krash was just like that.
And to that Krash, Anix had essentially admitted defeat.
He had no confidence facing that One Sword again.
But for some reason.
Anix started training once more.
Seeing Krash—who had been crushed even harder by Charlotte—not give up.
It made him think maybe it wasn't time to quit yet.
And it was embarrassing too.
Getting beaten twice by siblings when he was hailed as one of the Three Heroes.
For his shattered ego, he resumed training.
News of Krash kept reaching his ears.
As if that day's resolve wasn't empty talk.
Krash kept stirring up the whole Staron Kingdom.
Every time he heard it, Anix somehow found himself training harder.
Krash hasn't given up yet.
That thought kept him from quitting too.
And the moment he saw Krash again at the entrance ceremony.
Krash achieved the feat of defeating Vice Professor Kairan.
For some reason, watching it firsthand brought a smile and fighting spirit to Anix's lips.
The hope that if Krash could reach that height, so could he.
And now, here he was.
As if all his accumulated training wasn't for nothing.
Anix was holding Decarabia head-on alongside the Twin Fledglings Squad.
'Why is that?'
Every time he hit his limit, his focus sharpened even more.
With no intention of letting even one die, his concentration pushed to the extreme, venturing into new realms.
That was what defined genius.
The greater the crisis and limit in the moment of peril, the more they leaped beyond it.
Those were the ones worthy of the name.
And Anix stood among such geniuses.
Anix's Wood Heaven Sword Style grew ever more refined.
It constricted the beast so thoroughly that Decarabia began to feel his presence intensely.
"Elfin!"
"On it!"
Panting heavily, Elfin shot upward like a feather, pinning one of Decarabia's arms for a moment.
With his focus at its peak, Anix had lost track of the remaining time.
"Keurk!"
Meanwhile, one squad member exposed to the poison gas from Decarabia's tentacles plummeted.
Anix instantly snagged him with a branch and secured him against the outer wall for protection.
The Twin Fledglings Squad kept dwindling.
Retirees mounted up.
Each one increased Anix's burden.
It was then.
As if realizing this wouldn't do, Decarabia gaped its mouth wide.
Beams of light began gathering in its maw.
The sight sent chills racing across Anix's skin.
Dangerous.
If that hit straight on, stalling time would be impossible—they'd be finished.
"Everyone, pull back!"
Anix forcibly ramped up Wood Heaven Sword Style.
Rumble!
A colossal arm and torso erupted behind Anix.
A wooden giant matching Decarabia's size materialized.
Wood Heaven Sword StyleFifth Form
Wood Heaven Giant
Clutching his pounding head, Anix thrust out the Wood Heaven Giant.
It merged with him, swinging its arm in a massive arc following his fist.
Kaboom!
The sweeping punch of the Wood Heaven Giant smashed into Decarabia's face.
Bang!
"Graaak!"
Unable to dodge the sudden strike, Decarabia's light beam cut off.
"As expected of Lord Anix!"
"Block it again! We're almost there!"
Relief washed over everyone at the sight.
But then, the light beam they thought had vanished reemerged from Decarabia's mouth.
"No!"
By the time Anix tried to block, it was too late.
A flash blinked from the ceiling.
Everything caught in the light hurtled away, and Anix's Wood Heaven Giant shattered.
Naturally, the Twin Fledglings Squad below was swept up in the shockwave.
The squad stared in stunned silence.
Even Elfin momentarily lost her will to fight—Decarabia's flash was more than enough to kill them all.
But before them.
Trees surged wildly, layering upon themselves endlessly.
The barrier of piling wood constricted the ceiling, binding it again and again.
Wood Heaven Sword StyleThird Form
Wood Heaven Long Wall
The growth speed of the trees far surpassed anything Anix had shown before.
Blood spurted from Anix's nose.
Overuse of aura had turned his eyes bloodshot.
Yet he had no time to wipe it away, pouring every last drop of aura into the wall.
Kaboom!
Finally, the flashing light poured onto Anix's blocking Wood Heaven Long Wall.
The flash began demolishing the wall entirely.
But Anix's Wood Heaven Long Wall didn't end there.
Recovery flooded in, continuously sprouting new trees to form an endless barrier.
The near-infinite wall obstructed the flash's path without cease.
Hack!
Blood poured from Anix's mouth.
His body trembled, having exceeded its limits.
A shock like his mind might fly away hammered him.
Still, Anix's Wood Heaven Long Wall refused to break.
Thud...
And in the end, Decarabia's flash cut off first.
Seeing it fade, hope lit up the Twin Fledglings Squad's faces.
Anix, having poured out everything, dropped to one knee on the wooden floor as if to say he couldn't anymore.
Almost no aura remained.
Thud!
In that instant, something landed atop the crumbled wooden wall.
The wall shook violently, and Decarabia's face appeared through the gaps.
Everyone's faces drained of color.
The attack Anix had blocked with his all was just one attempt for Decarabia.
Despair began frosting their eyes.
"Three minutes!"
Elfin shouted.
Flutter...
Wind whipped through.
And in the gusts.
Two figures plummeted, hair streaming behind them.
One was a boy with dark blue hair.
The other, a girl with black and purple intermingled locks.
Their clothes flapped as remnants of Black Flame billowed fiercely.
The heat radiating from them scorched even those far away.
Through the Black Flame, the boy—Krash's—pupils gleamed sharply.
Only then did Anix smile in relief.
A sign he had fulfilled his role.
"Krash, drive it in with everything you've got."
As Anix spoke, he collapsed on the spot.
Too late, Decarabia sensed the danger and pulled its head back.
But it was already too late.
Krash's scabbard, sheathing his sword, was shattering amid lightning flashes.
"Greeeeaaargh!"
As Decarabia thrust out its hand with a scream.
Mocking its struggles.
The Black Flame, suppressed and contained by Anix's unyielding refusal to quit until the end, finally erupted into the world.
Annihilation Flame Erosion
Third Form
Annihilation Flame Heavenly Thunder
The storm of Black Flame engulfed the plaza.