Chapter 19
Chapter 19
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Martial Emperor
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Bianca's curse.
Eye Doll.
The curse that had stripped Bianca of her emotions was one she'd borne since birth.
Krash needed that curse of hers to slay the madness spawned by World Erosion.
And until now, he'd worked tirelessly to unravel her dials.
A few days ago, he'd finally unlocked Bianca's first dial.
It was an enormous achievement, but the problem lay with the second one.
'What the hell is this.'
The second dial he'd confirmed on Bianca left even him at a loss.
[Become Bianca's 'most precious person.']
Most precious person.
To some, that could be a parent, a child, a friend, or a lover.
It was a damn tricky thing to define.
But the reason Krash felt stymied upon seeing it wasn't that.
Friends? That was manageable, maybe.
But for Bianca, who lacked emotions, becoming her most precious person was trickier than he'd imagined.
A condition that was already tough had grown even tougher because of Bianca.
'I can't be her parent or child.'
Those two easiest paths to that title were off-limits.
Which left lover as the most feasible option.
Ironically, Krash had already achieved that to some degree.
He and Bianca were fiancés, arranged by their families, after all.
But engagement and being lovers were distinct positions.
Above all, lovers presupposed feelings of love.
Love was impossible for an emotionless Bianca.
More than that, something about it rubbed Krash the wrong way.
No matter how you sliced it, seducing a 12-year-old kid just to unlock a dial felt too sleazy.
"What a headache."
He remembered stealing Bianca's curse back then without any such conditions.
Then again, the dials reflected the person's life, so it made sense.
That Bianca and this one were different people.
His Sixth Sense made things fine for now, but someday he'd absolutely need her curse.
The worry gnawed at him relentlessly.
Flutter flutter!
At that moment, Krash heard the sound of wings flapping outside the window.
He opened the window casually, as if accustomed to it, and in flew a single crow.
The crow's true identity was none other than August of Crimson Garden.
Her familiar.
"The kid really takes a shine to me. Won't let me go easy."
The reason she'd stuck around until now was Bianca, of course.
He'd learned recently that Bianca loved animals.
She'd cautiously follow the Crimson Garden he'd brought home, and once realizing it didn't avoid her, she'd taken to doting on it fiercely.
Lately, Krash even suspected Bianca trailed after Crimson Garden more than him.
"You'd probably be easier than me, Crim."
Maybe Crimson Garden could become Bianca's most precious person more readily.
He was half-considering donning a crow disguise himself when Crimson Garden shot him a displeased glare.
"I told you not to call me Crim."
"Bianca calls you that all the time."
"That child only knows you by that name."
True enough.
"More importantly, a carriage is approaching outside."
Krash nodded at the follow-up remark.
Darling must have arrived.
'Aliod's gonna love this.'
Still, as his personal butler, it filled Krash with a touch of pride. He placed Crimson Garden on his shoulder and left the room.
At that instant, urgent footsteps echoed from the stairs.
The owner of those footsteps was none other than Aliod.
Krash figured he'd already heard about the antidote.
"Ali... od."
"M-Master Krash!"
Unlike usual, Aliod cut him off and shouted urgently.
His face was pallid—not the blue of excitement over the antidote, but ghostly pale. Krash tilted his head.
Something was off about his reaction.
"What is it? What's going on? Isn't it Darling?"
Aliod shook his head vigorously side to side.
If not Darling, who else would visit him?
The moment he noticed the sweat beading on Aliod's forehead more profusely than usual,
His body went rigid at the words that followed.
"I-It’s the Family Head!"
"Huh?"
"The Family Head is here!"
Thunder clapped in his mind.
Krash felt struck by lightning, frozen in place.
Family Head—who could that be?
Only one person in the world merited Aliod calling them that.
The Heavenly Four Supremes
Martial Emperor
Balok Valheim
The man who embodied Valheim itself had appeared at Green Pine Pavilion.
As Krash slowly raised his head, grasping reality, he saw Aliod's face.
It had gone from blue to stark white—positively pitiful.
'Why's Dad here?'
The answer was simple.
"...Insane."
The curse he'd been curbing lately slipped out unbidden.
Because he'd invited him himself.
Had his mother relayed that message verbatim to his father?
As a faint headache throbbed, Crimson Garden fluttered down from Krash's shoulder.
It waddled off somewhere, the picture of flight.
Makes sense—his father might see right through her true nature.
"...Where is the Family Head?"
"We've seated him in the drawing room for now."
Krash straightened his necktie properly.
Then checked his attire meticulously.
Nothing to nitpick.
Confirming that, he glanced at Aliod.
Aliod nodded in kind.
"No tea or refreshments. He won't touch them. Tell the maids to stay clear of the drawing room too."
"Understood."
Leaving Aliod to carry out his orders faithfully, Krash set off.
His destination, naturally, was the drawing room where Balok awaited.
With each step, tension coiled tighter.
In the old days, he might've bolted already. That thought in mind, he arrived before the drawing room.
For some reason, today it loomed extraordinarily vast.
Knock knock—
"Family Head, it's Krash Valheim."
"Come in."
The reply came instantly from within as Krash spoke.
He'd sensed him long ago, no doubt.
Krash gripped the doorknob carefully and pushed it open.
There, in the lit drawing room below, sat jet-black hair identical to his own.
Beneath the bangs falling to his forehead, eyes shimmering with orbiting blue stars gazed quietly at the table.
Then, those eyes slowly lifted.
Just that sent a prickling sensation across Krash's skin.
A mountain stood there.
A distant peak he could never reach, no matter how high he craned his neck.
In that moment, Krash truly felt the meaning of overwhelming presence.
A being who'd transcended human limits to reach demigod status.
Balok Valheim.
He understood the weight of standing before him.
And how far his own meager strength still had to go.
'Still a monster, even on second look.'
Krash swallowed dryly and offered formal respects.
"I pay my respects to the Head of House Valheim."
This was their first face-to-face since his regression.
As his mouth went dry, Balok spoke.
"Sit."
Krash promptly adjusted his posture and took the seat before him.
Facing the Family Head directly was a privilege reserved for direct descendants.
But the one least accustomed to it, Krash forced himself to meet Balok's gaze as the man's lips parted slowly.
"I heard you went to World Erosion for the first time."
How had he learned of it, secluded in the Forbidden Realm?
Whoever told him—mother or otherwise—Krash answered promptly.
"Yes, I went recently."
"How was it?"
How was it?
He'd reconfirmed Belokin's ugliness, seized the serendipity of the Undying One, and stolen a skill for the first time in his life.
From his perspective, a resounding victory.
But what if he told Balok that?
He'd lured his brother into a trap, exposed his true colors, killed him—and packaged it as noble sacrifice.
Then stolen his skill and allied with a World Erosion entity to boot.
Krash marveled.
His actions could draw wildly polarized judgments depending on the listener.
He didn't know how much Balok saw through.
The demigod with awakened divine sight.
So he opted for honesty about his feelings.
"It wasn't as frightening as I'd thought."
Facing Belokin's death, Krash now realized it was no big deal.
The brother who'd tormented him so viciously, symbol of his fears, was ultimately just a worm crushed by Charlotte's star.
Seeing him anew, he was pathetic, not scary.
Even resolving to kill him.
"I see."
Balok's reply was curt.
Demigods distanced themselves greatly from human emotions, they said.
Thus, despite no curse like Bianca's, his expression remained rigid.
"That'll do."
And with that, Balok abruptly stood.
Startled, Krash rose to follow.
"You came here for this talk?"
"Yes. Nothing more. I've learned enough."
What exactly had he gleaned from that brief exchange?
Perplexed, Krash watched as Balok seemed resolute.
"I'm returning to the Forbidden Realm."
Speaking of it like a casual stroll.
But no one could bar the Family Head's path.
Krash could only bow to the departing Balok.
And Balok truly left for the Forbidden Realm.
Without even stopping by the main house, reportedly.
Was this okay? Yet no one in Valheim dared defy the Head's will.
As the storm passed, Krash swept back his bangs.
Damn, felt like years shaved off his life.
Wondering what the point of the visit even was, he spotted another carriage beyond the window.
Recognizing the Danphelion crest, Krash sighed belatedly.
"Could've come sooner."
He inwardly vented at the soon-to-arrive Darling.