Chapter 156
Chapter 156
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 156
Chapter Title: Let's Land One More Hit
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In front of the raging storm of black flames.
Krash gripped his sword, breathing heavily.
The Annihilation Asura state he'd reached using the ten seconds of Destruction Asura and the Moment Reinforcement Elixir.
He'd felt it last time too, but the cost was unmistakably etched into his body.
Still, Krash clung to his thread of consciousness with tremendous mental fortitude.
At the same time, he summoned Knox and the eye doll, forcibly suppressing Thousand Kills Star and Mania.
'I have to keep applying this in real combat from here on out.'
He couldn't afford to collapse every time a battle ended.
Someday, war would break out, and if it dragged on, one-shot awakenings would be too risky.
So Krash resolved to endure whenever he could squeeze in even one more moment of real battle experience.
It was then.
Krash's half-lidded eyes flashed open, locking onto the front.
At that instant, a single blade thrust straight toward Krash's head from within the black flames.
Blood Demon Sword.
The Mad Emperor's blade.
As Krash hurriedly summoned Thunder Roar to raise his sword again.
Boom! Crash! Boom!
Gigantic swords plunged down in unison before Krash's eyes, forcibly halting the Blood Demon Sword.
Those swords were none other than Emperor's Sword Extermination.
The secret art of Sword King Rai Valheim.
Beyond those Emperor's Sword Exterminations, the Mad Emperor's face came into view.
One arm mangled, over half his body burned, blood dripping from the holes riddling his flesh.
Rage blazed fiercely in the bastard's eyes.
Eyes that couldn't accept he'd ended up like this.
Yet those eyes remained coolly rational rather than consumed by fury.
He knew it himself.
If Rai and Sena pressed their combined assault in this state, even he had no answer.
Not to mention the potential threat Evelask and beyond.
Above all, there was Krash, who'd reduced his arm and body to this state.
To the Mad Emperor, the most dangerous figure right now was none other than Krash.
Because he had no idea Krash was at his limit.
Krash lifted Thunder Roar without showing the slightest sign of his body's exhaustion.
That alone twisted the Mad Emperor's eyes in alarm, his body shrinking back.
Proof that his body remembered the attack he'd just taken.
"......Who the hell are you? I've never heard of any World Eroder like you."
As expected, just like with Evelask and the Armed Princess, the Mad Emperor perceived Krash as a World Eroder.
Krash chuckled inwardly at those wary eyes.
He'd never even considered he could take him down.
'But I figured I'd at least cripple him enough that he couldn't move right away.'
Krash had poured everything into Annihilation Asura.
Yet even after that, the enemy showed no sign of falling.
In the first place, without Haring's Invisible or Sena, he couldn't have mangled him like this.
He would've definitely dodged for sure.
'That arm strike was originally aimed at his neck anyway.'
Purely on a bad feeling, the Mad Emperor had seen through Invisible and evaded.
This was why he hated fighting World Eroders.
They were all monsters, every last one.
He felt anew the gap between himself and the World Eroders.
Still.
He was still a long way off.
He had to grow stronger here.
Fire ignited in Krash's eyes.
There were endlessly more bastards like the Mad Emperor in the world.
And with World Erosion spreading, even the worst of the worst would emerge.
Those archfiends were hellish enough to slaughter even the Generation of the Sky.
To avert ruin, blocking those places was Krash's role.
That reignited his resolve like a blaze.
"Krash!"
Haring, who had retreated late, rushed to his side.
She stood dagger in hand, trembling as if to shield him.
That trembling was rage.
Because the Mad Emperor in her eyes was exactly like that day's memory.
But she didn't charge out.
Because she'd promised Krash not to let rage sweep her away.
"You okay?"
Krash asked, feigning calm amid heavy breaths.
Haring slowly nodded.
During the Lagren family incident, her brother was killed because of the Mad Emperor.
Yet her face now was calmer than ever.
"Because of the promise from earlier."
After fully coming to her senses with Krash earlier, Haring had mulled this situation over and over.
No matter what, she'd control her grudge.
That way, she could repay the debt she owed Krash.
With him here, she could stay calm.
"And above all, you landed a solid hit on him."
Haring's eyes gleamed, glaring at the Mad Emperor's arm.
She showed faint satisfaction at having joined the revenge, even a little.
It was only natural for the Mad Emperor she'd resented her whole life.
"Good. As long as revenge doesn't blind you."
Krash had seen countless vengeance-driven souls in his life.
With that level of control, Haring could handle it on her own.
At that moment, signs of the Mad Emperor moving again appeared, and Emperor's Sword Extermination stirred.
Swords slammed down to bind him, forcing him into frantic evasion.
No matter how much of a Mad Emperor he was, he'd taken Sena's attacks and Krash's blow head-on.
His condition wasn't great.
Evidence: his movements were clearly slower than before.
But not enough to corner him yet.
"Krash."
Rai, who had approached unnoticed, called out.
Krash eyed the raging Emperor's Sword Extermination and held Rai back.
"Brother Rai, we can't fight the Mad Emperor anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"The World Erosion he unleashed has a unique property: it grows stronger the more he battles the powerful."
The power of World Erosion was surely still amplifying.
Even now, Hardenharts was in crisis.
Rai's eyes narrowed.
He hadn't known this until Krash said it.
"......Hardenharts has One Sword."
Ferocious light gleamed in Rai's eyes.
"They'll handle it."
Meaning he'd keep fighting the Mad Emperor.
"No. There will be problems. Even if One Sword can handle him, Hardenharts won't withstand the World Erosion."
Krash refuted Rai.
The more One Sword unleashed its full power, the more Hardenharts would become a wasteland.
Besides, World Erosion wasn't just about its master.
If regular erosion beasts grew stronger too, only Hardenharts' citizens would suffer.
"Plus, that bastard's about to bolt soon."
"......Run away?"
"Yes. He's achieved his goal anyway. I heard it straight from the Night Raven leader, who was on his team."
Rai's gaze grew subtle.
After all, that declaration implied Krash's ties to World Eroders.
"You acted alone for that reason?"
And apparently, Rai had noticed Krash leaving the Hardenharts manor first on his own.
Rai eyed him with half-lidded suspicion.
Krash wasn't close enough to Rai for deep bonds.
But he knew Rai's personality.
He prioritized substance.
If it meant gaining real advantage, he'd go along readily.
That was Rai.
So Krash had deliberately revealed this himself.
"Yes, exactly."
Krash showed conviction in his words.
The Mad Emperor enjoyed battling the strong.
But he never staked his life on it.
That contradiction about him was infuriating.
He loved fighting the mighty, yet bolted at the first whiff of death.
'That's how he survived so stubbornly back then.'
Triggering World Erosion every time and fleeing relentlessly was maddening.
And behind him lurked the Black Witch.
If she whisked him into her independent space, it was over.
But to Krash, that was an opportunity.
He was confident he could bind the Black Witch's eyes.
All he needed was one way to finish the bastard.
'My output falls short.'
Krash's gaze met Rai's.
"Brother Rai."
Krash slowly raised Thunder Roar.
Perhaps the price of Annihilation Asura—his arm trembled just from that.
Putting on a brave front wasn't easy.
"Don't you have something the family head gave you?"
When Krash was born, Rai had received a sword from the family head.
That could do it.
Rai's eyebrow twitched.
As if wondering how Krash knew.
But Rai's gaze soon softened.
He wasn't one to pry endlessly.
"We'll use it."
No time to be picky now.
Let the Mad Emperor slip here, and who knew when they'd catch him again.
"......That sword is still unfinished."
Received when Krash was born, yet still incomplete.
It was that tricky to finish.
"But you can still use it, right?"
Yet Krash knew its destructive power was unmatched—he'd seen it with his own eyes.
Rai stared steadily at Krash.
Merely fifteen years old.
The Valheim youngest, rumored a halfwit until recently.
Rai had never cared for family, not even more than his second sister Lilish.
Perhaps because of that.
Exactly because he was that way, Rai judged Krash purely as combat potential here and now.
He could see Krash's power waning in real time, but the output he'd just shown had shocked even Rai.
Not even he, called a genius enough to rival the Sword King title if not for Charlotte, could output that at fifteen.
Could such a Krash play the role of firepower here?
Obviously, no need to hesitate.
Krash was Valheim direct lineage.
Valheim wasn't foolish enough to overlook talent over age or position.
"Bind him tight."
Rai's eyes, sharing Krash's hue, gleamed toward the Mad Emperor.
"Then I'll finish him."
Krash smiled at those most reliable words here.
"Haring, give me a Red Tiger Pill."
Krash extended his hand to Haring.
She looked at him reluctantly.
Deep down, she didn't want to give it.
Even with her nemesis there, she hated seeing Krash struggle.
But she soon opened her pouch.
"Krash."
As she placed the Red Tiger Pill in his hand, she said,
"Let's win."
Not personal revenge, just purely cheering victory with Krash—her eyes shone clearer than ever.
Seeing that, Krash smiled lightly and tossed the Red Tiger Pill into his mouth.
"Obviously."
A smile curved Haring's lips.
To her, it was the most trustworthy reply in the world.
Right then, Crimson Garden spoke up, having realized what Krash intended, her tone laced with concern.
"I've come this far to handle it."
Crunch!
Krash bit down and swallowed the Red Tiger Pill.
His body, creaking from Annihilation Asura, began buzzing with renewed vigor.
His cornered flesh regained vitality, if only for a moment.
But this respite wouldn't last long.
"Haring."
He called her, and she wrapped around his waist.
To use Invisible.
"Hotter than last time."
"It's fine. I can take anything."
Reliable.
Krash glanced at Sena.
She nodded too, ready to join anytime.
"Brother Rai, we'll block any escape."
Black flames boiled from Krash's body.
Tempering his briefly recovered form once more via the Red Tiger Pill.
He showed no worry for the aftermath.
Krash knew how to stop the Black Witch aiding the Mad Emperor's flight.
'Ignis.'
Long after Belokin was killed by Charlotte.
In the year his brother, Sword King Rai Valheim's son, turned twelve.
His son acquired Ignis.
And the great incident where Ixion tried to abduct that son shook Valheim.
Valheim's wrath turned on Ixion then, and in the all-out war that followed, Ixion's choice was the worst possible.
Krash clenched his fist, vividly recalling it.
Ignis's purification could extract World Erosion's purest power.
To those seeking to create gods, Ignis was an indispensable skill.
And now, that skill was with Krash.
'They'll definitely bite.'
He could be the perfect bait to hook Ixion.
Fierce mental strength that even made Crimson Garden click her tongue.
"Let's corner him for good."
Haring's Invisible activated, and Krash vanished.
Now it was time to drop the pitch-black star.