Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: All Talk
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The empire was vast.
In that empire, the House of August was located far from the capital.
Perhaps because of that.
Unlike the central nobles, the provincial nobles had formed their own independent forces.
The Epania imperial family had turned a blind eye to their autonomous power bases to some extent.
Not that they had a choice—even the imperial family lacked the hands to handle every World Erosion outbreak in the provinces or every external invasion.
As a result, the provincial noble factions naturally banded together among themselves.
'Originally, Sigrin would have actively worked at the academy to keep them from uniting.'
This time, however, she had been too busy dealing with the Generation of the Sky to prevent it.
The outcome was that the provincial nobles of the empire had united around Pandura August.
Krash stared at Pandura.
He had a bad history with this smug-looking guy who wore his glasses perched up high.
"Even the mighty Valheims can't do anything against the empire. You know that, right?"
He was steeped in extreme imperial superiority.
That's why he had repeatedly tried to put down Krash, a direct heir of the Valheim family representing Staron.
Every time he suppressed Krash, he could prove the empire's—and his own—superiority.
That's why, at Raheln Academy, he had tormented Krash to an infuriating degree.
Maybe that's why.
"Who the hell are you to tell me to stop?"
Krash's eyebrows twisted viciously.
Just looking at that bastard's face made him want to puke on reflex.
People shouldn't be judged solely by memories from a regression.
People can change from the smallest triggers.
But if no such trigger ever occurred and the person grew up unchanged...
Then reality was that they wouldn't stray far from their original path.
"Ah, junior, when I said stop, I meant it for my classmates. I was worried they'd do something stupid."
Pandura smirked with a slimy grin.
That smile resembled a snake perfectly, reflecting his inner nature.
And rightly so—these guys had clearly messed with the Staron second-years on Pandura's orders, as anyone could see.
The way they immediately straightened up the moment Pandura stepped in was proof enough.
This guy was the same as ever, obsessed with imperial superiority and eager to belittle other kingdoms.
Krash, with his sharp eye for reading people, was certain of it.
This bastard hadn't changed a bit.
"So, junior, what exactly did our classmates do to deserve ending up like that?"
Pandura asked, pointing at his classmate still sprawled at Krash's feet.
Hearing the question, Krash chuckled lightly.
"They just pissed me off."
And out came a response completely unlike what Pandura had expected.
Pandura froze, clearly caught off guard.
He must have hoped Krash would admit to stepping in after seeing the Staron second-years being bullied.
But Krash had no intention of playing along.
"Pissed you off? Us?"
"Yeah. The moment they saw my face, they grinned like it disgusted them. So I beat 'em. I'll beat the rest of these guys here next, and then you."
"Ahaha."
Pandura laughed in disbelief and adjusted his glasses with one hand.
"Barbaric. Is everyone from Staron like that?"
His true colors showed the moment things didn't go his way.
He'd tried to poke at the Staron second-years gently to draw Krash out.
But clearly, Krash thought he might as well just target him directly.
In response, Krash shot back sarcastically.
"Hmm, seeing the central nobles, it seems not everyone in the empire is rude."
So Krash decided to poke back.
Pandura's eyebrow twitched.
"What's your problem?"
A crack appeared in Pandura's snake-like smile.
"Oh, because you're provincial nobility?"
The jab landed, and a chilling aura emanated from behind Pandura's glasses.
"...You seem to know a little about me."
"Nah, it just shows."
Sorry, but provocation is my specialty, pal.
[I wonder who has the snake tongue here.]
He held imperial superiority beliefs.
And for someone like him, joining the central noble faction was always the dream.
No matter how impressive provincial forces were, they always lost out to the central nobles in reality.
So being from provincial nobility was a complex for him.
He wanted to be a central noble.
To him, Krash's taunt was like a catalyst.
"You've got a real talent for pissing people off."
Winds rippled around Pandura.
His followers seemed flustered, not expecting Krash to provoke Pandura this much.
"Someone explain what's going on."
But Pandura was no pushover.
He suppressed his boiling rage and questioned his classmate.
"The second-years invaded our spot, so we just gave them a warning. We needed the training ground to sync up our teamwork. But this guy jumped straight to violence."
"Was there a fight during the warning?"
"No, of course we tried talking first."
They flowed seamlessly, as if rehearsed in advance.
Hearing this, the Staron second-years were the truly aggrieved ones.
"W-We invaded? We were using the spot from the start!"
"Right! And training grounds are free for everyone, aren't they?"
The Staron second-years began protesting.
From Krash's perspective, he wished they'd stay quiet, but they were still immature.
Having grown up as nobles and just entering the world as adults, they couldn't tolerate injustice.
That's why Pandura had targeted the Staron second-years instead of Krash directly.
To ensure the Martial Department second-year representative couldn't back out.
As the protests continued, Pandura turned to Krash.
"Our side was a bit presumptuous, sure. But isn't this a bit excessive?"
His face regained its composure.
"So, what? You want compensation?"
Krash responded indifferently, signaling he had no interest in whatever they were saying.
"Not compensation. If word gets out that students clashed like this, it'll be trouble for everyone."
He sauntered over to his imperial faction members with a relaxed gait.
"So, to resolve this difference of opinion, let's settle it properly with martial arts, as befits Martial Department students."
Krash moved his hand to the back of his neck.
He cracked it with his pre-battle habit.
"Fine. If that's how it is."
"First-years versus second-years, split into teams and duel?"
Krash, about to agree, frowned at the follow-up.
"What?"
"Yeah? The conflict wasn't just with you, junior. The other juniors deserve a chance to speak their minds too."
"Teaming first- and second-years is claiming rights? That's just ignoring them."
Krash reacted with disbelief, and Pandura shrugged nonchalantly.
"This is Raheln Academy. The head of the student council said to prove it with strength. If we Martial Department folks don't prove it with power, what else?"
The imperial faction started snickering.
"But that does seem unfair. So how about this?"
He proposed it to Krash as if generously offering.
"One from each team duels. Winner stays, loser side sends a new one. First team to run out of members loses."
He turned to Krash as he said it.
"What do you think? You were gonna take us all on alone anyway. Not a bad deal, right? If you're confident, you can end it solo."
Krash realized why Pandura was pulling this.
'This guy knows about my Erosion Annihilation.'
Krash had shone multiple times at Raheln Academy so far.
And his fights always ended with retirements.
Plenty of students had seen and heard about them.
So Pandura had figured it out.
Krash's fighting style was like a fiercely burning torch.
A torch that goes out quickly once the wick burns up.
So the plan was to drag it out and burn the wick dry.
'If I refuse here.'
That would play right into what Pandura wanted.
He could just spin it as the Valheim running away.
Spreading that kind of rumor was his specialty.
This position owed more to his scheming than his skill anyway.
Plus, plenty of people weren't thrilled about Krash holding the top spot among second-years.
Of course they'd jump to tear him down.
For them, truth didn't matter—it was just juicy gossip.
On the flip side, beating Krash in a fair fight would be ideal.
The Valheims were the empire's biggest headache.
Toppling the Martial Department number one among second-years would be Pandura's ticket to the central nobles.
A no-lose situation for him, so he'd targeted Krash.
Krash glanced at the Staron second-years.
They were geniuses in their hometowns.
But this was a gathering of geniuses.
And the first-years had a full year head start on the second-years—they were much stronger.
Essentially, Krash would have to take down the imperial faction alone.
"Ha, wow."
Krash suddenly burst into laughter.
As Pandura looked puzzled, Krash stared him down.
"You really think those are conditions you can win under?"
They were treating him like glass cannon bait.
But you don't bait a cannon if there's no reason to fear the shot.
And sorry, but even first-years.
Unless they were top dogs from the Generation of the Sky, Krash wasn't scared.
"Fine."
They'd only heard rumors about Krash, never faced him.
They'd grown stronger over the past year.
With numerical superiority and these conditions, they were convinced it'd be their win—even against the second-year top dog.
Blind as frogs in a well.
"No downside for me."
Krash decided to use them for once.
It was a prime chance to show the hesitant first-years.
That Krash Valheim, second-year at Raheln Academy, was not to be messed with.
And whether they liked it or not, they were the imperial faction.
Even Sigrin, representing the empire, would have to squirm.
Krash flashed a bright smile.
No reason not to devour prey walking right into his mouth.
"What's going on? What happened?"
Just then, a voice came from the entrance.
Krash turned to see Glenn Diana, cousin to Balak and Mary Diana.
They alternated glances between Krash and the imperial faction before approaching.
"Seniors, is something wrong?"
Glenn asked, puzzled.
Pandura gave Glenn a friendly smile.
"Just a difference of opinion. We're settling it with martial arts. No need for you to worry, junior Glenn."
"Martial arts? With Krash?"
Glenn sensed something fishy.
As silence fell, Glenn turned to Krash.
"Including these guys."
Krash readily explained the situation.
Glenn's eyes narrowed slightly.
First-years versus second-years in martial arts.
Anyone could see it was unfair.
"Seniors, I don't know the details, but doesn't this go against knightly honor?"
Glenn couldn't stand injustice.
As he criticized it as dishonorable, Pandura sighed shortly.
"Sigh, junior Glenn."
Pandura's eyes cooled as he looked down at Glenn.
His gaze screamed, *Who do you think you are to butt in?*
"This isn't your place."
Pandura advised, and Glenn frowned.
"This isn't about whether I butt in or—"
"Why's a Diana brat—who birthed a woman who tried to assassinate imperial royalty—acting up?"
"Don't you have any shame?"
Glenn's eyebrow twitched at the voice from behind Pandura.
Mary's attempt to assassinate the fourth princess, Cecilie Epania.
The Diana family had been humiliated over it.
They'd nearly been wiped out entirely.
Naturally, the family's standing had plummeted.
The imperial faction knew this, so they had no intention of treating Glenn as a proper imperial noble.
To them, he was just from the family that produced an imperial assassin.
"...Why bring up our family here?"
Glenn asked the imperial faction.
But they just snickered, ignoring him.
Thud—
Pandura placed a hand on Glenn's shoulder.
"Sorry, your friends are a bit mischievous, junior Glenn."
He said it with a venomous smile.
"But they're not wrong. Ever since you kept that assassin alive, your sister hitting second place and all—the damage the Diana family has done to the empire is incalculable."
Pandura grinned as he patted Glenn's shoulder slowly.
"So, mind sitting this one out? You're causing a bit of trouble, honestly."
Pandura's words riled Glenn up.
It must have felt like a deep wound to his pride.
But he couldn't retort.
The imperial family offered no protection to a house that produced an assassin.
Glenn clenched his fists.
Reality left him no room to argue.
But someone else was annoyed by this.
"Ah, so much yapping."
Krash reached out and grabbed Pandura's collar tight.
Pandura, too slow to dodge, was yanked forward.
As the bastard's eyes twisted, Krash met them with his own.
"One thing I do know."
Black Flame began leaking from Krash's body.
Its intensity made even the imperial faction flinch for a moment.
"Mary Diana—however she ended up—is still way stronger than any of you."
Fallen or not, a divine spear was a divine spear.
Even without regression, these guys couldn't touch Mary.
Dumb as she was, Krash acknowledged her martial prowess alone.
While others died stealing curses or whatever without helping.
She held the front line as an unyielding spear until the end—that was real.
Thanks to that annoying woman who inflicted the most curses.
But Krash wouldn't deny that the formation would have collapsed first without her.
"She's second place not because she's lacking."
Krash decided to remind them of reality.
"I'm just ridiculously strong."
Mary was second because *he* was stronger, not her fault.
Even if a hundred of these clowns ganged up, they'd all fall to her.
"And the one you're messing with beat even that Mary."
Krash grinned ferociously.
It resembled Charlotte's in many ways.
"So shut up already."
I'll smash you so hard you'll run at the sound of my name.
Thanks for the pretty fanart!