Chapter 186
Chapter 186
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 186
Chapter Title: Shining Star
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A dark room with blackout curtains drawn tight.
A musty smell mixed with the faint scent of flesh from somewhere.
The floor was a total mess, clothes and lunchboxes scattered everywhere without any order.
There was a woman on the bed, buried under the covers.
Her unkempt hair was tangled wildly, and the eyes peeking through had lost all focus.
"K-Krash? Is that really you, Krash?"
Mary was rambling incoherently, perhaps because Krash had entered in her female form.
She had heard Krash was coming and opened the door without thinking, but once inside, everything felt so different.
Krash stared at her for a moment before speaking.
"Yeah. You came to my room, so I figured I'd return the favor."
Mary's shoulders twitched.
Only Krash knew she had visited his room.
That alone convinced her the person before her was the real Krash, and she bit her lip hard.
If she let go, the tears would come pouring out.
"Mary."
Krash set the lunchbox Karandis had given her on the desk and approached.
"What did Sigrin say to you?"
The day she met Krash, Mary had decided to leave Sigrin forever.
So there was no reason for her to fall apart like this over a fight with Sigrin now.
But Mary looked utterly wrecked, plain as day.
That meant Sigrin had said something during their argument that shattered her.
Mary's eyes shook wildly.
They held a deep, heartbreaking pity.
"...Even if I told you, Krash wouldn't understand."
She doesn't know.
The moment Krash heard that, he realized Sigrin had brought up stories from before the regression.
Mary didn't know Krash had regressed with them.
So she thought it would be pointless to tell him.
Krash watched her silently for a moment.
Because Krash knew one more thing she didn't.
The Arthur in Mary's memories no longer existed in this world.
This was something even Sigrin didn't know yet, let alone Mary.
And that fact could be the perfect card to break her completely.
Even if Sigrin had crumbled in her heart, Arthur still remained.
"I see."
Krash replied flatly to her words and pulled up a chair to sit.
Mary's eyes shook violently at the sight.
"S-Sorry. You came all this way thinking of me, and here I am saying stuff like this..."
She hurriedly apologized, showing her vulnerable side.
Mary was extremely anxious about upsetting Krash.
After all, he was the only one who had ever supported her.
In her heart, Krash ranked far higher than Sigrin, so she feared displeasing him.
Mary had lived her whole life as a knight devoted to serving others.
That deeply ingrained trait hadn't vanished even after regression.
"No, everyone has things they can't share."
Krash smiled kindly, as if to say it was fine.
"If you don't want to talk, you don't have to. It's your choice. I only came because I heard you'd locked yourself in after fighting with Sigrin."
Not to interrogate, but out of pure worry.
Hearing that, Mary felt a sudden surge of emotion.
Even holed up in her room, Mary knew exactly what was happening outside.
She knew Sigrin's personality well enough to guess she was dragging her into a pit.
She had seen it happen to others countless times by Sigrin's side.
Of course, she never dreamed that bad habit would turn on her.
Still, Mary could easily imagine her reputation had hit rock bottom.
Maybe that's why Krash's concerned words pierced so deeply into her heart.
It felt like he was the only one who saw her, alone on a deserted island.
He must know how badly her reputation had tanked.
Yet he came in female form, just to check on her.
"Hic, sniff."
Tears were already streaming down Mary's face.
Krash pulled a handkerchief from his pocket.
"Why the tears?"
"S-Sorry. They just... came out of nowhere..."
Already broken in body and spirit, she sobbed even harder when Krash wiped her tears.
Minutes passed as she wept bitterly.
Once the tears finally stopped, Krash poured her a glass of water and handed it over.
Mary gulped it down, feeling like she could finally breathe.
At the same time, shame washed over her.
A grown adult bawling like this.
She hadn't even cried like that during her days as the Divine Spear.
Her face burning, she bowed her head. Krash chuckled softly.
"All done crying?"
"Y-Yes."
Mary, timid as a mouse, fidgeted with her feet in response.
She wanted to crawl into a hole right then.
"Good. Looks like you feel a bit better."
Krash said that and stood as if to leave.
"W-Wait a second!"
Mary flinched and grabbed his sleeve in a panic.
She didn't want him to go.
Being near him made her feel a little at peace.
If he left now, the anxiety would swallow her again.
Krash turned to her as she clung.
She flinched under his gaze, eyes darting away.
"Um, I mean... C-Could you stay a little longer? I have stuff I want to talk about."
"Weren't those things you couldn't tell me?"
Mary chewed her lip at his caring words.
His warmth filled her overflowing heart.
To think he'd care this much for someone useless like her.
It was nothing like how Sigrin saw her as mere fodder.
"It's fine! If it's you, Krash—if it's you, I can tell you!"
To repay that kindness, she shouted loudly.
She raised her voice, afraid her sincerity wouldn't reach him.
Krash sat beside her.
"Alright then. If it'll make you feel better, go ahead."
His kind words filled the mess inside her again.
Now, without this feeling, she'd struggle forever. Timidly, Mary began her story.
She started with "A" instead of Arthur's name.
A was always her strongest ally at the front lines, swinging her spear, and sometimes felt like a rival.
How fierce was their rivalry? They constantly vied for first and second place.
At times, Mary even envied A.
She swung her spear harder, driven to surpass him.
But the gap between them grew.
Hating it, she chased desperately day after day.
Even Mary's Heavenly Martial Body couldn't endure endless training and strain, leading to a massive mistake during World Erosion.
Death loomed right before her.
That's when A appeared.
He saved her, ending up even more battered, then collapsed.
Seeing that shook Mary's heart deeply.
She fell in love with the one she'd seen as ally and rival.
But A was Sigrin's lover.
Struggling to suppress her growing feelings, she confronted him to end it.
To confess honestly and face rejection.
But for some reason, A demanded a duel.
Under the moonlight, the duel began.
In it, Mary felt she was understanding A more deeply.
A was strong.
But behind that strength lay endless effort.
When the duel ended, Mary knelt before him.
She knew she could never beat him.
A spoke to her, breathless.
She felt like she was glimpsing his true heart for the first time.
His next words stirred her heart wildly.
In her daze, she confessed first instead of replying.
A smiled and accepted it.
Fortunately, Sigrin accepted her as A's lover too.
Apparently, A had persuaded her repeatedly beforehand.
Feeling his deep affection, Mary vowed to live for him forever.
But a few days ago.
She heard thunderous news from Sigrin.
Sigrin crushed her with eyes full of scorn and contempt.
The old Mary would have denied it outright.
She was the proud Divine Spear of the Empire.
But not now.
Her heart had been torn apart long ago, left in ruins.
Her self-esteem shattered to pieces, she felt utterly isolated.
Having betrayed her loyalty to Sigrin, even Arthur's love uncertain.
Sigrin's words became an irreversible wedge.
As Mary screamed, Sigrin looked at her with exhausted, emotion-drained eyes.
Mary was no longer reflected in them.
Instead, she turned away from the worthless wretch.
Broken beyond repair, Mary was useless anywhere now.
Once value is gone, discard it.
So Sigrin headed for the door.
With words that gutted Mary's heart, Sigrin opened the door.
Watching Sigrin leave, Mary collapsed completely that day.
She locked herself away, never to emerge.
"It's all my fault... If only I weren't so useless, if I'd tried harder..."
Krash listened to everything in silence.
'Damn, she hit every nail on the head.'
Even to Krash, Sigrin's words weren't wrong.
Crimson Garden noticed from outside the dorm window and chimed in.
Krash pulled himself together and fixed his expression.
"Don't put too much stock in someone who sees people as pawns."
Mary looked at him with shaking eyes.
"What matters is you. The Mary Diana I know isn't that fragile."
Krash chuckled lightly and pointed outside.
"In a place like Raheln Academy, full of top talents, how many do you think could beat you besides me?"
Mary's strength was beyond reproach.
In fact, without Krash, almost no one at Raheln could match her.
"Raheln Academy crawls with the best of the best. If someone at the top like you is 'useless,' then there aren't many useful people left in the world."
Krash reached out and gently untangled her messy hair.
Her body twitched with each touch.
"So enough self-blame."
As her hair fell loose, Krash leaned in slightly.
He propped his elbow on his knee, rested his chin, and smiled.
"I'll beat down anyone who puts you down."
His smile was so alluring it could erase Sigrin's memory entirely.
The tangled threads of Mary's heart unraveled in an instant.
And the one who undid them was right in front of her.
"So come on out."
Mary's eyes reddened again.
"You're not meant to stay cooped up here."
As tears fell, Krash stood before her.
"If it's still too hard."
Mary looked up at him, meeting his eyes.
Faint sunlight slipped through the curtains, softly illuminating his face.
"Caw!"
A crow cried from somewhere, and wind from outside rustled the blackout curtain.
Bright sunlight flooded in, making Krash shine brighter than ever.
It felt like the light of a star.
"Just follow me."
That starlight shone brighter than Arthur ever had.
Crack—
And above Mary's head.
The final dial cracked with a resounding sound.