Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: The Undying One
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"Get straight to the point."
So Krash met Aria's gaze with an equally impassive expression.
"Did the son you discarded suddenly bring back valuable information, making you want to hold onto him again as a card worth replaying?"
Aria paused while pouring tea from the glass pot.
She looked at Krash with a puzzled expression.
"What are you talking about?"
"Mother, do you really want to keep up that act even in front of your own son?"
The child she had birthed from her own body had been treated like a halfwit and shipped off to Green Pine Pavilion.
Any normal mother would refuse to accept that reality and keep visiting Green Pine Pavilion relentlessly.
But Aria hadn't shown her face there even once during all the time Krash had spent there.
And that neglect would continue right up until Krash enrolled in Raheln Academy.
"Hmmm."
Watching Krash like that, Aria leaned lightly against the table, resting her hip on it.
She cupped her cheek and tilted her head.
"My son's changed a lot since I last saw him. I barely recognize you."
"Don't kids grow up fast?"
"Look at Charlotte. Kids might grow, but to their mothers, they're always kids."
Aria let out a soft chuckle.
"But my son is different. Exceptionally so. Talking to you feels like chatting with someone my own age."
"Is that something you say to your son?"
"I wouldn't say it to an ordinary thirteen-year-old."
Ordinary.
Hearing that word, Krash let out a hollow laugh.
"Does an ordinary son ever meet your standards, Mother?"
The lady of the Valheim house.
That position couldn't be claimed through beauty alone.
The Valheims possessed the world's pinnacle of martial prowess, and Balok Valheim—called the strongest patriarch in history, having surpassed the Ten Heavenly Strongest to reach the Four Celestial Strongest—was her husband.
In some ways, it was an even harder seat to claim than that of a queen.
That's why Aria had navigated countless intrigues and emerged victorious in the political battles.
She had become the lady of the Valheim house at the age of twenty.
And fifteen years later.
She had steadfastly held that position amid the endless storms swirling through the Valheim household.
But that was where the problem arose.
The trials she endured to reach that seat were far too brutal.
As a result, she had lost most of her ordinary emotions.
And the first thing she lost was maternal love.
To her, children were merely tools to secure her position.
She played the role of mother, but if it no longer served to protect her seat, she discarded it without hesitation.
After all, she had Charlotte—a daughter who would guard her position for life.
So she doted on Charlotte endlessly.
But with Krash, she merely acted the part of a mother, devoid of any true affection.
And the reason she had summoned Krash today aligned perfectly with what he suspected.
Rumors about Krash lately had deviated sharply from his usual behavior.
So she had called him to assess whether he had regained value as her son.
And in her mind, bingo.
"Son, no matter how much you change, I love it."
With that, she slowly took a sip from her teacup.
"The fact that you're my son never changes, no matter what happens."
Blood is thicker than the black tea she had just sipped.
Thick enough to call it a curse, perhaps.
Knowing that, Aria smiled with her eyes.
"You're like me, a true viper. I always thought a day like this might come."
And that was an undeniable fact.
Krash's viper-like traits were inherited from Aria, and he had felt it keenly long ago.
"So if you've decided to grow strong, aim for the top. In the Valheim house, that's the only path to survival."
Even if it was from the mother he had resented so deeply, the blood tie remained unchanged.
"And the real reason I called you today is something else."
With those words, Aria picked up a letter from the table.
It bore the clear Valheim crest.
"It's from the patriarch."
Even that made Krash tense up.
"...What's it say?"
"He's returning from the Forbidden Zone soon."
The Forbidden Zone—a land overtaken by World Erosion, beyond any hope of recovery.
Impossible to even rank, it was each nation's greatest headache.
Balok Valheim had been in one such zone.
Alone, no less.
"And he wants to see you."
A flicker of bewilderment crossed Krash's eyes.
All he'd done amounted to kid stuff at best.
Not enough to reach Balok's ears.
'Maybe.'
Did his father sense something?
Balok Valheim had entered the demigod realm.
He could peer through the stars into near-prophetic visions, and might have glimpsed something about Krash in the process.
"Stay at the main house until then."
Hearing the command to remain until his father returned, Krash looked up.
His mother wore the expression of someone issuing an obvious order.
"Is that in the letter?"
Krash asked her point-blank.
"Huh? Well, no, it's not written there."
"Then I'll head back to Green Pine Pavilion."
As Krash declared his immediate departure, Aria showed her first sign of fluster.
"Ah, son?"
"Wasn't Green Pine Pavilion my assigned place? You and even the patriarch agreed to it."
Krash flashed a smile eerily like Aria's.
"I'll come when the patriarch summons me. Or."
And that's when Aria realized Krash was even more of a viper than she was.
"He can come fetch me himself."
Uttering words no one else would dare, Krash opened the door.
"Then I'll go testify about the anomalies in this World Erosion incident and be on my way."
Aria, still stunned by his parting shot, couldn't stop him as he strode out.
Once outside, Krash let out a sigh.
This was exactly why he hated meeting his mother.
Her presence grated on him too.
"I hope I can wrap up this business quickly."
It was amusing that he now yearned to return to that suffocating Green Pine Pavilion.
Maybe that's why the blank-faced chick's expression popped into his mind unbidden.
'Probably buried in a book again.'
He was lost in that thought when.
Krash ran into someone approaching just then.
It was the maid assigned to his room, who bowed her head immediately upon seeing him.
"Master Krash, Sephira of the World Erosion Investigation Unit requests your assistance."
"Perfect timing."
Time to give some lively testimony.
＊ ＊ ＊
World Erosion Investigation Unit Sephira.
Experts in World Erosion, they were a group composed of elite talents dispatched from around the world.
Supported jointly by the four great kingdoms, the smaller nations, and even the empire.
'That's why Sephira holds the highest authority when it comes to investigating World Erosion.'
Even the Valheims had no choice but to comply with Sephira's investigations.
Unless they wanted every nation as an enemy.
"You've arrived."
As Krash entered the room, a stern-faced woman stood there.
She wore the Sephira uniform, tailored to accommodate her ample chest, and held a folder of documents.
The number on her chest: Rank 4.
In Sephira's ranking from 9 to 1, that was quite high.
Given the incident, it made sense.
"You're Krash Valheim, correct?"
"Yes, that's me."
Matching her businesslike tone, Krash responded in kind and took a seat.
Sephira was a group he'd need in the future.
Their knowledge of World Erosion was unmatched.
So he had no intention of making enemies of them.
Not yet, anyway—before that guy showed up and ruined them all.
'Should be fine for now.'
That guy's active period was still a ways off.
So Krash focused on the woman before him.
In that moment, he spotted a small black star mark on her neck, peeking through her hair.
Staring blankly at it for a second, Krash felt a laugh bubbling up.
"?"
As Krash suddenly started grinning, the Sephira investigator turned her head.
She eyed him suspiciously, but Krash leaned back in his chair leisurely.
So this was where the Undying One's bell was.
Who would've thought it was right under their noses.
"Undying One."
The moment Krash uttered the name, the woman's body went rigid.
"I'd like to make a deal with you."
That small black star on her neck.
It was none other than proof of being the Undying One's vessel.
Normally invisible, but Krash had absorbed World Erosion into his body.
As a result, he could now see who bore the Undying One's mark.
"Bold move. Planting a vessel right in Sephira."
"Master Krash, I have no idea what you're talking about."
The investigator glared at him menacingly instead.
But her fierce gaze didn't faze Krash in the slightest.
"No use denying it. I'm the only one who can erase your immortality."
As those words followed, the investigator's expression slowly shifted.
Along with it, her face began to change entirely.
Her jet-black hair turned a fiery red, her eyes blazing crimson.
Pupils like those of a reptile.
As more black stars appeared on her neck, a heavy breath escaped her lips.
"Hoo."
Just that sent a wave of overwhelming pressure crashing over him.
Cold sweat beaded on Krash's back.
Even if he resisted the intimidation, his body reacted on instinct.
Though it was just a mental projection from the Undying One's true body.
She exuded this much dominance.
"Child."
And her words made even the composed Krash freeze.
"Are you the regressor?"
Regressor.
Hearing that, Krash's thoughts ground to a halt.
He was a regressor, sure.
But the true regressor was someone else.
Arthur Gramalte.
He was the real one.
'Does this one know about Arthur?'
No, probably not.
If so, she wouldn't have asked if he was the regressor.
She likely knew of regressors somehow and was probing.
At the same time, Krash suddenly understood why Arthur had hunted down the Undying One in his past life.
'Because the Undying One knows about regressors.'
Whatever method she used, it was a secret Arthur absolutely couldn't let slip.
Being a regressor and all.
"Regressor or whatever—I'd admit it myself if I were."
"A human child brazenly proposing a deal to me? Only a regressor makes sense."
With that, the Undying One chuckled knowingly.
"I was looking for something else. Came sniffing out who was erasing the World Erosion I nurtured, and caught an unexpected fish."
The mad scheme of escalating World Erosion's threat level.
Apparently unrelated to regressors, from what she was doing.
Whatever she sought, the Undying One wore an arrogant smirk.
"A regressor erasing my immortality? Hilarious. Trapped in time's wheel, you dare bluff at me, who transcended it?"
And it seemed she'd fully mistaken him for the complete regressor.
'I'm only a half-baked one.'
He wasn't the true regressor.
That was Arthur.
The Arthur from the rounds Krash remembered no longer existed.
But Arthur existed in this world.
'Proof that the regression I stole vanished.'
Krash's regression skill was gone.
'Skills are unique abilities only one person in the world can hold.'
His Black Hood contained Ignis, but no Regression.
This world's Arthur held Regression, so Krash's had been erased.
Thus, the true regressor was still Arthur.
'No idea which loop's Arthur he is, though.'
But he definitely didn't know Krash had regressed.
"Was the world you saw entertaining? Did looping make you think it all belonged to you? Pathetic. All that's left for you is emptiness."
As the Undying One cackled mockingly, Krash fell silent for a moment.
Then he raised his hand.
In that instant.
A pen atop her document folder was suddenly in Krash's grasp.
The Undying One flinched.
She knew full well it wasn't aura or magic.
"A skill."
Krash openly declared it.
He twirled the pen lightly and stared at the frozen woman.
"And one that can steal even your immortality."
At that revelation, the Undying One's eyes shook violently for the first time.
"Now, shall we talk? Crimson Garden August."
The Undying One who craved the erasure of her own immortality.
"With the only person who can make it happen."
The World Erosion entity before him.
Crimson Garden August.