Chapter 134
Chapter 134
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 134
Chapter Title: Take the Hit
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Pandora August.
The secret sword art passed down through House August:
It manipulated sword shards as thin as ash flakes.
Such a storm of sword shards tore through human skin and muscle in an instant.
That was why those who faced House August ended up with their skin shredded to ribbons, a gruesome sight.
Pfft! Pfft pfft!
As proof, tiny wounds kept accumulating on Haring's body.
Her skill, Invisible, was optimized for ambushes and sudden strikes.
Naturally, it offered little advantage in a head-on clash.
Especially against someone like Pandora, who could attack from all directions.
Pandora strolled leisurely, hands tucked in his pockets.
With each step, the sword ash swirling around him pressed Haring relentlessly.
Haring had long since dropped Invisible, fending off the sword ash with her daggers.
She knew full well it was pointless against Pandora.
"The Lagren family is one I respect, in my own way. With the Poison King, one of the Ten Heavenly Strong, their poisons even work on World Erosion beasts. Impressive stuff."
Pandora adjusted his glasses, praising the Poison King.
"But his daughter? Different story. Pathetic. You think the World Erosion is full of ambushes? That you'll never face a straight fight?"
He sneered at her, unable to pierce his sword ash.
Haring's stamina was already heavily depleted from her prior bout with Liga.
Her wrists, bound by those iron chains earlier, hurt the most.
She couldn't properly wield her daggers with injured wrists to bat away the sword ash.
Pfft!
And Pandora had no intention of sparing those wrists.
Sword ash grazed them, sending blood spraying.
"Ugh."
Haring swallowed a groan and retreated once more.
But she realized there was nowhere left to fall back to.
Her feet had reached the edge of the arena.
"No matter how I think about it, I just can't wrap my head around it."
The storm of sword ash raged even fiercer.
From within that maelstrom, Pandora gazed at Haring and asked,
"Junior Haring, in this critical time when the imperial faction needs to band together more than ever... why is an imperial noble helping a Staron noble?"
Pandora's face showed utter incomprehension.
And rightly so—for someone who revered the empire, it was utterly baffling.
But Haring's expression didn't change.
"In the World Erosion, empire or Staron... doesn't matter."
She simply stated what she'd experienced herself or heard from others.
"I just know people like Krash are the most reliable ones in there."
That day, fighting Decarabia alongside the Twin Asura Squad.
Haring had poured every ounce of her strength into the battle.
And Krash had repaid her full effort with his own.
If she had to fight in the World Erosion, she'd want to stand back-to-back with someone like that.
And above all, she wanted to ensure Krash—who always gave his all—wouldn't crumble.
That was Haring's true heart.
'I won't let what happened to big bro happen to you.'
She wouldn't allow a repeat of that day.
Haring's eyes gleamed a vivid purple.
Pandora stared at them blankly, then let out a short chuckle.
"Ah, I see."
In that instant, the sword ash storm halted completely.
The shards, wildly slashing moments ago, froze mid-air—a sight far more oppressive than expected.
"Wasted time trying to enlighten you."
With those words, the sword ash poured toward Haring all at once.
The moment thousands of shards engulfed her, her body would surely be torn to pieces.
But Pandora intended to give her a taste of bitter defeat this time.
A lesson for any imperial who prioritized a foreigner over the empire.
Just as the sword ash was about to shred Haring's body—
A purple poison aura rose from her form.
By the time Pandora noticed, it was too late.
Haring charged straight into the Sword Fragment Ash Rain without hesitation.
"What the—insane!"
Pandora panicked at her suicidal charge, but quickly realized he couldn't stop now.
Her poison aura was melting the incoming sword shards.
Pandora's eyes widened in shock.
He hadn't expected a frontal assault.
Even a direct Lagren heir, poison expert or not, would suffer damage from this.
And his hunch was right.
The poison from her Ten Thousand Poisons Deadly Throw was so potent it ravaged her own body too.
Her skin blistered, wounds exposed to the toxin screaming in agony.
A reckless body slam, no looking back, sacrificing her own flesh.
It resembled someone else's style all too closely.
Sizzle!
The flying sword ash began melting away en masse.
For the first time, Pandora—dominant inside Sword Fragment Ash Rain—was fully exposed.
His eyes bulged.
Haring had broken through, right in his face.
She stomped the ground and launched herself at him.
Her poison-coated dagger arm thrust toward Pandora.
Victory seemed within reach in her eyes.
Clang!
What rang out was the clear chime of steel.
Before her thrust dagger—
A sword formed from gathered Sword Fragment Ash Rain shards.
Pandora twitched his eyebrows behind his glasses, incredulous.
He hadn't been hiding inside the Sword Fragment Ash Rain.
He'd simply thought it sufficient to wield it from afar.
Distance meant nothing to him against Haring from the start.
He was confident even if she closed in for a frontal brawl.
"...Didn't I just mention frontal fights?"
Clang!
Pandora's swung sword knocked her dagger aside.
With her wrist already mangled, Haring couldn't match his strength.
Ting!
As her dagger skittered across the floor, Haring scrambled to reset her stance.
But Pandora was already extending his other hand toward her.
Sword ash condensed into a bullet-like mass in his palm.
Sword Fragment Ash Rain
Second Form: Sword Fragment Ash Bullet
BOOM!
The explosion engulfed Haring in sword ash bullets.
Her body soared into the air.
Before she hit the ground, someone caught her.
Haring's eyes fluttered weakly open.
She glimpsed dark blue hair.
Outside the arena.
Krash Valheim had caught her before impact.
"Rest now."
Hearing that, Haring's eyes slid shut peacefully.
Krash easily lifted her and handed her to a waiting divinity student.
He turned his head.
There stood Pandora, unscathed compared to Haring, smirking.
"Pointless struggling."
Krash slowly stepped into the arena.
"You really think so?"
Pandora's eyes narrowed at the question.
What're you getting at?
But then his vision split.
His pulse raced erratically, breath growing ragged.
"Khk."
He clutched his chest, vomiting blood-mixed saliva.
Only then did he sense something wrong with his body.
Confusion filled his eyes—he had no idea when he'd been hit.
But Krash pointed to his arm.
"Probably when you recalled your sword ash."
Pandora's gaze snapped to his hand.
Amid the sword ash, a thin, razor-wire thread gleamed.
It connected to the ash and looped around his fingertip.
Drip drip—
Blood trickling from his finger was pitch black.
Proof of poisoning.
The first time Haring used Invisible.
It wasn't for hiding—it concealed her actions.
Within the sword ash storm, she'd scattered Lagren family hidden weapons that released poison on contact.
Invisible hid the threads as they wove through the storm.
So she chose frontal breakthrough.
Luring Pandora to recall his ash just once.
And it worked perfectly.
The best play in her compromised state.
Haring had executed it flawlessly.
"Urk!"
Pandora retched, spewing bile onto the floor.
He braced against the ground in agony.
"Referee. Begin."
Ignoring him, Krash coldly signaled the referee.
The referee hesitated, but rules stated combatants could only leave upon surrender or unconsciousness.
Pandora hadn't conceded.
And he wouldn't—admitting defeat to a Staron noble would ruin an imperial like him.
Krash knew this, hence his prompt.
"Uh, y-yeah! Begin!"
The referee student, figuring a quick end was mercy, declared start.
The moment he did, Krash pulled his foot back.
"You wanted me at less than full strength, huh."
Simultaneously, Flame Erosion Annihilation boiled from Krash's body.
The internal forging swelled his heat exponentially.
Spectators sensed something off as the heat built.
One by one, they retreated, overwhelmed.
Roar!
Black Flame erupted, filling the arena fiercely.
Pandora's face drained white right in its face.
Crack!
His glasses cracked under the heat.
The oxygen-devouring blaze threatened suffocation any second.
Krash slowly raised Thunderclap.
Golden blade birthed a thunder sheath.
Crackle!
Thunder clashed with inner Flame Erosion Annihilation, power surging.
Chill!
Dangerous.
Taking that head-on would be fatal.
Through his glasses, Krash's face reflected.
His eyes, like his sister's, lost their spark inside.
Then Pandora realized.
He was Charlotte's brother—and even more ruthless.
Those eyes held only intent to kill.
Valheim.
The gaze of those born in that demon cave was like the reaper's.
He kills.
This guy might actually kill me.
"W-Wait..."
Pandora raised a hand, about to beg surrender for his life—
"I'll give you what you wanted."
Krash cut him off, smirking.
The thunder sheath shattered.
Crackle!
Flame Erosion Annihilation
Third Form: Heavenly Flame Annihilation Thunder
Black Flame and thunder storm swept the arena in a flash.
Spectators screamed and tumbled before its overwhelming power, dwarfing Pandora's sword ash.
Thud, patter—
On the scorched arena, Pandora lay collapsed, head lolled back, unconscious.
His shattered glasses and soot-blackened body were a wreck.
Just from glimpsing death at the end, his pant legs were soaked.
And he hadn't even taken the full brunt of Krash's Heavenly Flame Annihilation Thunder.
'Same as ever.'
Krash clicked his tongue, recalling Pandora's thrashing by Arthur before.
Pandora had pulled similar stunts against Arthur, the upstart provincial noble irking the imperial faction.
'If he had even a skill, I'd have beaten it out of him.'
Unfortunately, Pandora had none.
But another here did.
Krash extinguished Black Flame on Thunderclap and looked up.
Smoke parted as a figure approached.
It was none other than Arsold Preya.
With a brutal build befitting Preya's kin, he grinned at Krash.
"Charlotte's little bro, must've itched waiting."
Krash cracked his neck at Arsold.
"You ever beat my sister?"
Arsold blinked, then burst into booming laughter.
"Nah, your sis is too strong. Couldn't win."
"Right."
Arsold showed no bitterness in defeat.
Krash gave a short laugh at the sight.
"Then you can't beat me either."
Try losing to both siblings.