Chapter 149
Chapter 149
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 149
Chapter Title: When Debt Feels Comfortable
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Krash, who had hurriedly come outside with Number 8, gazed at the sky turning yellow.
The moment he saw that sky, Krash bit his lip.
[So it moved after all.]
The displeased voice of Crimson Garden rang out.
As she said, this was none other than the Mad Emperor unleashing World Erosion.
Because the sky from the World Erosion he caused always had a yellow tint.
“Ah?!”
At that moment, a scream-tinged voice came from behind.
When Krash turned at the sound, Haring—who had followed him—stood there staring blankly up at the yellow sky.
At the same time, her lips began to tremble, and her face turned ghostly pale.
Haring's breathing grew more and more ragged.
Krash wore a puzzled look upon spotting her obvious symptoms.
Then he remembered: her brother had died because of World Erosion caused by a World Eroder.
“Haring, don't tell me...”
“...This sky.”
The yellow sky.
The image of the red-haired man sitting on the roof and laughing that day.
That scene remained vividly etched in her mind, as clear as if it had happened yesterday.
She could see her brother's back as he held her hand and led her along.
At the same time, the final smile he flashed while shoving her into the solitary cell came rushing back.
“This sky... it was this one. The sky created by the World Eroder who killed my brother.”
Sheer, venomous hatred began pouring from Haring's eyes.
Her body trembled uncontrollably.
Haring hyperventilated, on the verge of losing her mind entirely.
In that instant, killing intent surged skyward as poisonous energy erupted wildly from her entire body.
It was a side effect of her aura going berserk.
“Lord Krash!”
Number 8 shouted, urgently signaling him to get away.
Haring's surging poison aura was that ferocious.
Crunch, sizzle—
The nearby snowdrifts and huddled grass began melting away under the poison.
In this single moment, Haring's mind had been hurled back to that time, her body slipping from her control.
Haring hadn't reached Master level yet.
To be precise, she teetered right on the edge.
That's why her mental image amplified the rampage even further.
Ironically, in this very moment, she was on the cusp of stepping into Master territory.
But that would only put Haring in greater danger.
Her body simply couldn't endure a mental state at Master level.
Krash had seen countless people in his time.
Among them, more than a few had rampaged after failing to overcome their trauma.
He had to stop her.
The thought flashed through him, and Krash's hand shot out without hesitation.
His hands clamped firmly onto Haring's arms.
At the same time, Krash's eyes narrowed slightly.
A sharp pain stung him, accompanied by the sensation of his skin peeling away.
Even wrapped in aura, Haring's poison was piercing through.
She was that far gone.
“...Haring, snap out of it.”
But Krash gripped her arms even tighter, determined to bring her back to her senses.
He absolutely could not let her lose control here.
With things as they were, her Invisible was essential.
“Listen up. The bastard behind this sky is gunning for Hardenharts. I'm heading out to stop him.”
Dragged by Krash's firm grip, Haring's gaze lifted.
Meeting his blue eyes, her ragged breaths began to slow.
It was because gazing into Krash's eyes conjured memories of her dead brother.
In her fading haze, she took in his words.
“What about you?”
For Haring, doing nothing was the most unbearable torment of all.
Krash saw right through that, deliberately giving her a reason to move now.
Even as the past overlapped and flooded her mind, meeting Krash's eyes let her grasp his intent.
Haring looked up at him through half-lidded eyes.
There was Krash, supporting her like this.
Wasn't she the one who vowed to repay her debts to him?
Deep resolve shone through her tear-filled eyes.
“...I'll go. I am going.”
Reason slowly returned to Haring's gaze.
At the same time, the poisonous aura leaking from her body began to ebb away.
In its place, the figure of Krash took hold.
“Can you promise not to charge straight at the World Eroder the second you see him?”
The Mad Emperor was dangerous.
Even for Krash, facing him without preparation meant a hopeless monster.
If Haring snapped and rushed in, it was game over.
Reminded of that, she clenched her poison gland tight.
“It's the grudge I've held back until today... and kept holding back.”
A glint sparked in her eyes.
“I absolutely won't do that.”
That was enough.
Krash released his hold on her arms.
Only then did Haring's eyes land on Krash's body.
His skin had peeled away completely, exposing raw red muscle.
Using Annihilation Erosion would have generated too much heat and hurt her instead, so he'd protected himself with aura alone. This was the backlash.
“Krash...!”
Haring's face drained of color in panic.
But Krash acted like it was nothing, pulling out some medicine and applying it.
Sizzle— His flesh knit back together rapidly.
It was medicine he'd gotten from Darling.
Wounds like this healed in no time.
“You're in no position to lecture me.”
At his words, she glanced down at herself.
Raheln Academy uniforms had self-cleaning, self-repair, and solid defensive properties.
But Haring's poison aura had been too intense; the repair function failed, leaving patches of skin exposed here and there.
Haring's face flushed crimson belatedly.
She hurriedly wrapped her arms around herself, and Krash tossed her the medicine vial.
She wasn't unscathed from the poison's aftereffects either.
“Sorry for the ugly sight.”
She was more ashamed of showing him her own mess than him seeing her body.
‘...Thanks to Krash again.’
She felt the weight of yet another debt to him.
But why was it?
The more debts piled up with him, the more at ease she strangely felt.
Something indefinable welled up in her heart.
It was as if, for her who had stood alone every single day, a place to lean on—called debt—had finally appeared.
Krash's presence kept growing larger in Haring's heart.
She lifted her head, and there he was, straightening his collar.
His back looked like the sturdiest place she could ever rely on.
With Krash there, she felt like she'd never crumble, no matter what.
Thump—
An inexplicable heartbeat echoed from somewhere.
And in its wake, the brother who'd always been a lingering debt in her heart felt faintly distant today.
That Krash was gradually overlaying the spot once held by the brother she'd followed so devotedly.
Haring had no idea yet.
Krash glanced back her way.
Their eyes met, and for some reason, Haring quickly looked down.
Her cheeks burned.
Was it from showing him her ugly side?
Or from owing him too much?
She couldn't say, but staring Krash in the face felt impossible.
Under the yellow sky swirling with snowflakes.
Haring found herself swept up in emotions she couldn't name, stronger than fear or hatred.
Afterward, Krash waited while she healed her wounds and let her clothes repair.
He stared absently at the yellow sky.
‘The Mad Emperor's definitely gunning for Brother Rai.’
The Mad Emperor's World Erosion was extraordinarily unique.
The reason? The more he fought his designated target, the more that power reflected back into the World Erosion itself.
That made the Mad Emperor notoriously hard to kill.
Without an overwhelming difference in power, the World Erosion would grow stronger, turning everything around into a wasteland.
You had to clear the World Erosion first before you could take him down.
And right now, the strongest figure in Hardenharts was none other than the Sword King, Rai Valheim.
‘I can't let the Mad Emperor and Brother Rai clash.’
If that happened, Hardenharts was guaranteed to become a wasteland from World Erosion.
At the same time, Krash pieced together why the Poison King had suffered such grievous wounds from the Mad Emperor.
The Mad Emperor was strong, no doubt.
But not strong enough to unilaterally crush someone on the level of the Ten Heavenly Powers.
‘He provoked him.’
According to Haring, the Mad Emperor was the one who'd left Lagren in that state.
For the Poison King, losing his own flesh and blood was an irrecoverable scar.
The Mad Emperor had clearly prodded at it.
‘Battles with the strong are decided by the tiniest openings.’
The Mad Emperor was a natural at exploiting that type.
Just look at the World Erosion he wielded—it was optimized for toying with people.
Krash ground his teeth.
He just plain hated the Mad Emperor's kind.
To be precise, every last Ixion bastard grated on him.
“Krash.”
Just then, a voice came—more timid than before.
He turned to see Haring, her uniform restored, standing there with her arms hugged around herself, shrinking back a bit.
She was clearly fretting over having hurt him in her rampage.
Krash stepped over, patted her shoulder, and turned to Number 8, who had been waiting.
“Number 8, lead the way.”
“Yes.”
Number 8 answered promptly.
As Krash and she prepared to move out together—
Something snagged on Krash's sharpened Sixth Sense.
He turned that way to see someone slowly approaching, gloved hand now bare.
Krash froze.
Of all the timings.
‘She followed after all.’
Blonde hair, red eyes.
Fangs peeking out. Krash knew her identity and bit his lip.
‘I figured on her clashing with the World Eroder, so as a safety measure, I let her tag along on purpose.’
Vampire Lord, Sena Mayer.
She was the Raheln Academy professor assigned to this mission.
“Krash, I told you not to go off on your own.”
Her eyes gleamed coldly.
At the same time, her gaze shifted to Number 8.
Number 8 was a corpse.
With her unique Ghost Suspicion sense, she'd surely detected it.
The Empire had already announced that the Night Raven Group consisted entirely of corpses.
So the moment she saw Number 8, she'd connected the dots to Evelask.
Time was of the essence.
No time for explanations.
‘Not at this timing.’
From a professor's standpoint, she'd try to block anyone heading to a World Eroder.
As Krash opened his mouth to speak, she beat him to it with a sigh.
“Haa, explanations later. Let's move first.”
Krash shot her a surprised look.
She brushed back a lock of hair from the side of her head.
“Lead on.”
The follow-up was unexpected.
Sensing Krash's stare, Sena stepped up beside him.
“The moment I tried to move, Sizli student called out to me.”
The work of that tomboy genius girl.
Sena glanced briefly at Number 8 behind Krash's back.
In Sena's eyes, Number 8 clearly bore the power of a World Eroder.
But Sena showed no immediate hostility toward Number 8.
Because the instant she'd moved to chase Krash, Sizli had appeared.
「Professor Sena Mayer, charging in without knowing the situation would be a problem, wouldn't it?」
No telling how far ahead she'd seen in that short time.
But Sizli had tipped Sena off about why Krash was acting alone.
The Night Raven Group's leader wasn't the real culprit behind the Poison King's attack—there was someone else pulling the strings.
Krash had gone to secure cooperation from that Night Raven leader.
「I swear on the name of the Epania Empire's princess. The Night Raven leader won't turn into our enemy. Ah, more precisely, Krash won't let that happen.」
Hearing that tale left Sena feeling absurd.
But it pieced together some of the nagging doubts she'd felt during the mission.
Including whatever was going on between the Fourth Princess Sizli and Krash.
「Don't worry. I have no intention of reining in Krash student.」
「That's a relief, then.」
After getting the rundown from Sizli, she'd immediately set off after Krash.
Along the way, the sky suddenly turned yellow as World Erosion erupted.
She couldn't just leave Krash and Haring be, so she'd hurried ahead to intercept.
From the look of Krash and Haring, they were clearly up to something.
A sigh escaped her, but Raheln Academy professors weren't there to suppress students.
Their role was to support them in becoming even greater heroes.
Even if Raheln's students were young.
They were comrades fighting World Erosion together.
“Looks like I underestimated you, Professor.”
“Oh, without Sizli student, that assessment might've been spot on.”
She gave a short laugh and turned.
“If you're going to do something dangerous, it's a professor's job to make it a little less so.”
Only then could Krash finally breathe easy.
He'd have to pass along thanks to Sizli later.
After all, he'd just gained the valuable asset of a Vampire Lord.
“Got it. I'll fill you in on the rest while we move.”
They had to find Evelask and the Mad Emperor.