Chapter 151
Chapter 151
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 151
Chapter Title: Suspicious Boy
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In the forest of the snow-capped mountains.
Including Krash, four figures were sprinting forward.
"...So, boy, you're saying the one who spread that yellow sky is this Radiant Emperor? And the guy who critically wounded the Poison King is the Radiant Emperor too?"
"Yes, according to No. 8."
As they ran, Krash gave Sena a rough rundown of the situation.
The source of that explanation? He'd tentatively call it No. 8.
Fortunately, No. 8 had played along perfectly.
She already knew about Crimson Garden, so she assumed Krash had gotten the info through them.
"Do you know anything about this Radiant Emperor?"
When Krash asked Sena, she roughly scratched the back of her head with her hand.
"A bit. You know I'm from the Empire, right?"
"Yes, I heard that Sigrin needed a professor's escort to get permission for the Princess to join the squad."
"That's right, just like you said, boy. And our family has ties to the Lagren family too. So when the Lagren incident happened, we cooperated with the family and investigated the World Eroder who caused that yellow sky alongside the Poison King."
She said that and glanced back at Haring.
She was worried about Haring hearing this story.
Krash looked back at Haring too.
"You okay?"
But Haring's expression hadn't changed from before.
She seemed interested in the story, but she wasn't rampaging like earlier.
"I'm fine. Krash is here."
Haring's eyes, looking at Krash, held even stronger trust than before.
As long as Krash was there, she could stay stable even under that yellow sky.
Krash acted as a stabilizer for the unstable emotions in Haring's heart.
The only bandage that could cover the scars etched into her soul.
That was Krash.
"Hmm, the boy's got some moves."
Even in this situation, Sena wore a mischievous grin.
"Please continue the story."
Catching Krash's hint, Sena shrugged and picked up where she left off.
"Anyway, what we found out was that the Radiant Emperor is the World Eroder behind the Lagren incident. The problem? We couldn't find this World Eroder anywhere—whether it sank into the earth or shot up into the sky."
World Eroder often roam even forbidden realms freely, so tracking them isn't easy to begin with.
But even with the Poison King and the Ghost Lord personally on the hunt, if they still couldn't find it... there was only one reason.
'The Black Witch must have taken it.'
The Black Witch, with her own unique dimension, could move freely anywhere in the world.
That woman had surely dragged the Radiant Emperor into her own realm.
"The real issue is that one book they think the Radiant Emperor stole: the Poison Blood Codex."
The Poison Blood Codex, a treasure of the Lagren family.
It supposedly contained vast knowledge on poisons, including descriptions of the Formless Supreme Poison, the pinnacle of all toxins.
"And it turned up again in the Empire's underworld markets."
"That's..."
"Sure, the Radiant Emperor could have sold it there, but the circumstances feel off. It seems more like human hands were involved than a World Eroder."
Sena furrowed her brow, as if feeling uneasy about it.
"The Lagren incident might not just involve the World Eroder."
Sena glanced at Haring.
Naturally, Haring's face had hardened too.
She had grown alongside her thirst for revenge against the World Eroder.
But now, hearing someone else might be involved? Her mind was a mess.
"Anyway, after that, the Poison King kept personally hunting the Radiant Emperor. Of course, the imperial palace isn't unaware of it."
Krash caught on to why Sena brought this up.
"...Even the imperial palace knows the Poison King's circumstances, yet appointing the Radiant Emperor—who critically wounded him—as the leader of the Night Raven Unit is suspicious."
"Exactly why I mentioned it. Sure, the Poison King was pursuing the Night Raven leader on orders, but it's still weird. Especially silencing the Lagren side too. Given the context, it wouldn't hurt to link them both."
"You mean the imperial family has a reason to keep the Radiant Emperor from being caught."
Sena made a displeased face.
"I'd prefer if it was just speculation."
Speculation.
If it really was just that, great—but Krash, who knew part of the imperial family's secrets, couldn't dismiss it so lightly.
The Hardenharts had been exterminated because of the Second Prince spilling those secrets.
'So they've been entangled since long ago.'
Krash clicked his tongue and looked up.
"Then it's simple."
Black flames surged once around Krash's body.
"We catch the Radiant Emperor."
Hearing that crisp solution, Sena momentarily looked stunned.
But she knew it was the answer too.
"You confident?"
"Not everything in the world gets solved by confidence."
But Krash's eyes burned with firm resolve.
"Still, sitting back won't solve anything either."
In the end, it meant he was ready to clash head-on.
"Reckless kid."
Sena wasn't opposing it either.
She was the type to step up rather than just watch.
"Might get along with you after all, boy."
"You like reckless types?"
"Hate standing around idle."
Her chuckle echoed out right then.
KABOOOOOM!
A flock of birds exploded into the sky from beyond the distant mountain, accompanied by a deafening roar.
Even from this distance, the ground trembled, and all four pairs of eyes met.
"That rumble."
"Rai's handiwork."
Krash clicked his tongue, and Sena immediately knew.
"Rai? The Sword King?"
Haring stared toward the mountain in shock.
If that shockwave was the Sword King's doing, everyone knew who he was fighting.
"...Krash, boy. You said the Radiant Emperor's World Erosion grows stronger the more it fights experts."
"...Yes."
Sena asked while uneasily glancing at the sky.
Krash answered honestly, and she pushed up her pitch-black sunglasses.
"If Rai clashes with the Radiant Emperor, what level do you think it'd reach?"
Krash fell silent for a moment.
KABOOOOOM!
Another explosion rocked the air.
This one was strong enough to crumble a mountain.
The prickling energy from beyond reached them clearly.
"...At least 8-star. Could go higher."
An 8-star World Erosion.
Meaning its master was at least on Agares' level.
Haring's face went pale.
She'd faced Decarabia not long ago.
Even the incomplete 7-star Decarabia had taken every ounce of her strength to barely slay.
An 8-star? Beyond bearing.
"Ha, what a mess."
Even Sena looked uneasy.
8-star could turn Hardenharts into a wasteland.
The Empire's Fourth Princess and Staron's First Prince were there now.
If anything happened to even one, blame-shifting could spark all-out war.
If she'd foreseen this, she'd have blocked them both from coming.
But no one had anticipated it.
And why would they? The Empire itself had hidden the Radiant Emperor's existence.
"We'll run faster. Push a bit."
Sena's eyes narrowed as she accelerated.
She couldn't shake the doubt: had the Empire quietly aimed for this?
The Radiant Emperor, the Poison Blood Codex—too many suspicious circumstances.
'What does the imperial family want?'
She didn't know the Empire's inner workings deeply.
She'd bolted from the Mayer family head position, after all.
Tied down? Not her style.
She bit her lip, chasing the elusive hunch.
Politics? Her least favorite.
She couldn't guess what the Empire gained, especially with the Fourth Princess here.
'Thinking's not my forte.'
She was a fighter, not a schemer.
Right then.
Her ears, another keen sense, caught something solid.
Her eyes narrowed.
A few seconds later, Krash's did too.
Sena was quite surprised to see it.
She'd long sensed Krash had a sense similar to hers.
In real combat, a few seconds' delay meant death, so her Ears of Perception outpaced Krash's Sixth Sense by a mile.
But she was a Raheln Academy professor with a title and invitation.
Naturally, more years lived and trained than Krash.
Krash? Just 15.
And more fighter than sensor.
Yet he'd detected the enemy almost as quickly as her.
'Rai's a monster, and Charlotte's a true genius...'
The youngest, Krash, was no ordinary kid either.
'Felt weird how he judges and charges like he's not 15. But considering those two, maybe it's just Valheim blood.'
Valheim lineage?
One such genius would define another family for generations.
But this generation? Unprecedented cluster.
Truly Valheim.
'Monster of a family, no matter how you slice it.'
This generation might shine brightest for Valheim.
No wonder the Empire keeps checking Staron.
Even the Empire feared Valheim's moves.
That fear spilled over, prodding Staron who harbored them.
'Too many irritating moves from the Empire lately.'
With this piling on, Sena's eyes narrowed naturally.
One slip, and war between Staron and the Empire?
The thought flickered dimly.
Her mind reached that point.
'...Wait, could it be?'
Sena glanced at Krash without thinking.
"You felt it too, Professor Sena Mayer."
Sena, who hadn't turned for that reason, nodded anyway.
And eyed Krash with a strange look.
Sudden entry into Charlotte's Lion Squad.
Putting Princess-backed Haring in the squad.
Staron royals assigning the mission directly.
All tied to one person—she'd caught on.
'Just maybe.'
Judging this could spark war between Empire and Staron, so he moved to stop it?
A mere 15-year-old boy?
Even as Valheim's youngest, was that possible?
'This isn't just brute force. Strategy, politics, connections—one weak link, and the tower crumbles.'
Yet Krash was pulling it off.
As if reading the world's currents.
Chills—
Sena suddenly felt goosebumps.
She'd thought Rai and Charlotte proved Valheim's gifts.
But now, those two weren't the issue.
They were bright stars.
Stars anyone could see.
But quietly shifting vast flows from the shadows? A boy just entering adulthood.
'They call Valheim a demon den.'
And the real demon was born from it.
Sena revised her view of Krash inwardly.
She could almost see it now.
Krash in the distant future, leading world-renowned figures from the vanguard.
'What a prodigy vibe.'
She sometimes glimpsed futures, but shook it off.
That was just one possible path, contingent on survival.
Priority: solve the immediate crisis.
"Krash, boy. The Night Raven leader's on our side, right?"
As she spoke, Krash looked up.
Atop the mountain they had to cross.
Tens of thousands of bone monsters blanketed it, charging down toward them.
"Bit much for a welcome, huh?"
She said with a queasy look, as Krash drew Thunder Roar.
"Yeah, they really like me."
Time to give back the love.