Chapter 198
Chapter 198
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 198
Chapter Title: Stick Around and Hear the Story
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The commotion caused by the spawn of a World Erosion being at Raheln Academy.
It was the incident where Mireille Beakis, the youngest cardinal ever, and Rona Imblaze, the magic tool artisan, had been brainwashed by the Black Witch, a World Erosion being.
Because of this, Raheln Academy had to endure a string of scandals.
After all, there had already been the case of the associate professor who turned out to be a spawn of a World Erosion being.
Associate Professor Jenicalen.
The kidnapping he orchestrated hadn't rattled people too much, since the students came out unharmed and had kept their cool amid his antics.
But this time, with students repeatedly targeted by World Erosion spawns, Raheln Academy's name started bouncing around the entire world.
And the most common rumor floating around was that the academy had become a magnet for talent, drawing too much of it in one place.
World Erosion beings had repeatedly threatened the world time and again up to now.
They all had different goals, but they rarely brought anything good to the world.
That was why people were saying Raheln Academy, where the elite of noble society gathered, kept getting targeted.
Some dismissed it as nonsense, arguing they should look for flaws in the World Erosion beings causing the incidents instead.
But a few nodded along to an extent.
Among them, talk arose about what would happen if something uncontrollable broke out at Raheln Academy and all the students were lost.
In truth, if this generation were wiped out, there'd be no one left to protect the world.
And so, amid all the back-and-forth gossip.
There was one student—excluding Raheln Academy itself—whose name kept coming up individually.
None other than Krash.
The world began focusing on him again, the one who had demonstrated the power to purify a World Erosion spawn.
"You hear? They say Battle Emperor Durandal himself named Krash Valheim as his successor!"
"You mean the one who purified that World Erosion spawn?"
"Yeah, apparently it's Durandal's unique secret art."
Even among the common folk, Krash's name kept cropping up.
Durandal was someone who had risen from the dirt to the heavens.
He was a true icon for the commoners and still idolized by many.
So when word spread that he'd taken on his successor, the world naturally lost its mind.
"Even Cardinal Mireille Beakis, the youngest ever, got taken down by a World Erosion being, but he purified her!"
"No way... He pulled off what even a cardinal couldn't?"
On top of that, the church's attempt to hush up Mireille's case had backfired, and the truth spread to everyone.
"The Saintess herself declared him the one who'll purify the world and thanked him for protecting Cardinal Mireille Beakis?"
"If the Saintess says that much, does it mean even she couldn't save Mireille?"
"Who knows that far, but that World Erosion being must've been no joke."
Before the Freeman faction could even try to cover it up, the Saintess publicly announced that Mireille had fallen to a World Erosion spawn.
The rumors spread like wildfire.
In the end, the Freeman faction gave up on spinning Mireille as corrupted by a World Erosion spawn.
Instead, they switched tactics.
To bury the fact that Mireille had fallen as much as possible, they started pumping up Krash's reputation.
The young hero who saved even a cardinal!
The new star of this generation!
The Saintess-approved hero!
Thanks to political maneuvering, Krash's name value had skyrocketed out of nowhere.
And conveniently, Krash was a direct heir of the Valheim family, with plenty of groundwork already laid.
He was clearly poised for even greater growth ahead.
So the Freeman faction seized the chance to tie him to their recent headache—the Saintess—and elevate him like a true hero.
It was right around then, when Krash's name was riding high in the skies.
Krash was stretching in his new dorm room, having moved after Rona trashed his old one.
As he did, he briefly thought back to Rona's situation.
"Sorry. And thank you."
After it all went down, Rona had bowed deeply to Krash in gratitude.
She was a victim too, but she'd nearly committed a capital offense.
Especially since she'd even tried to kidnap Alicia, Krash's maid.
Thanks to the Black Witch, she had a rough idea of Krash's circumstances, and her face had gone pale.
She looked like she had no defense even if Krash chewed her out.
Krash picked up the magic tool Rona had made—the one designed to trigger a World Erosion rampage.
Clang!
He smashed it to pieces, then looked at Rona.
"This Black Witch's brainwashing we just dealt with."
Rona slowly raised her head with a stiff expression at the sound of Krash's voice.
"Think you can make a magic tool to block it?"
Sure, this particular tool had been a monstrosity forced by the Black Witch's intent.
But Rona's skills were the real deal.
She'd craft countless more in the future.
And that would surely benefit not just the Generation of the Sky, but Krash too.
So Krash gave her a task right in her wheelhouse.
It'd do more to lift her spirits than anything.
Rona's eyes lit up as she met Krash's gaze.
She realized it herself—that this was exactly what she could do.
"I'll make it. Somehow, I'll get it done."
With that, Rona's path forward was clear.
The moment Krash thought that, he collapsed flat on the floor.
"Wha-what?!"
The panicking Rona struggled to lift him and rushed him to the infirmary, where he woke up in this very room.
After getting an earful from the returning Saintess, he'd been assigned this new room and slept straight through several days.
Right then, Crimson Garden piped up with more nagging.
Sure enough, as she said, Krash's body had its reasons for being like this.
Currently, two energies coexisted in Krash's body, aside from his aura.
One was the power of World Erosion.
The other was aura—the power of the world itself, directly opposing it.
These two could never mix, no matter what.
So they stayed divided within him.
Krash rubbed the back of his neck at that.
He knew it full well himself.
'I took it on knowingly from the start, though.'
Still, it had taught him one thing.
The human body had a tolerance limit for any given energy.
Like a vessel of sorts.
And the key point: the powers of World Erosion, aura, and normal aura each filled separate vessels, not the same one.
The power of World Erosion was the night sky.
Infinitely vast, its pitch-black darkness that blanketed the heavens instilled terror in any who beheld it.
Aura was the sea.
Endlessly surging, constantly expanding its bulk inside Krash.
Aura was the earth.
More primal than the sea, it firmly supported and maintained the overall form of his body.
Aura, being the world's own power, was immensely helpful in building the body too.
That was why the Battle Emperor could boast such toughness and a massive frame.
'Guess I'll end up with a huge build like that once I get used to it.'
Not a pressing concern right now, so set it aside.
Anyway, thanks to this setup, Krash could handle three vessels.
One filling up didn't mean the others were maxed, so his potential for growth had widened tremendously.
The problem? Aside from the aura vessel, the others couldn't be used simultaneously.
'I can use them individually, but overuse one like this time, and the other surges in like it's eager to push it out.'
That was why he'd blacked out.
Aura had shoved its way into the space held by the World Erosion power, and the shock rippled straight through his body.
'At full output like this, my body gives out first.'
Above all, vessels overflow eventually when filled.
Expanding them to bigger sizes would help.
But if their contents spilled over by mistake and mixed with another...
And that vessel was none other than Krash himself.
In other words, he was in a highly precarious state where one mistake could tear his body apart.
"If I don't suffer now, I'll die and suffer later."
In a world-ending scenario where everyone dies, you think I'd balk at this much?
With Ixion, the Hell Fairy, and now the imperial family piling on.
Problems galore.
And soon, the worst seeds would start sprouting one by one.
'Gotta uproot them early.'
With a mountain of tasks ahead, he had to master whatever came his way.
"And for that, I'm going to meet Beltua Racklord, that old codger."
Curse Master Beltua Racklord.
Krash needed to track him down for one top-tier curse.
Without it, he'd be stuck juggling the ticking bombs of aura and World Erosion power in this unstable state.
Hearing that, Krash nodded as if he'd already factored it in.
"The Black Witch's brainwashing isn't infinite. She can only control three people willfully at most."
The Black Witch could brainwash up to three without cost.
Even that required cracks in their minds—unshakable willpower resisted it.
So no need to worry about it spreading to crowds.
"And above all, now I can clearly see the spawns of World Erosion beings with my own eyes."
Ever since gaining aura, Krash had grown more sensitive to World Erosion power.
Durandal had never handled World Erosion power or curses directly.
So he couldn't distinguish or coexist with it.
But Krash wielded both.
Thus, with his experience and aura's application, he could now differentiate even the spawns.
Plus, aura could dispel the Black Witch's brainwashing.
From her perspective, she couldn't use it recklessly anymore.
"Yeah."
Krash agreed on that front.
Caution upon caution was never a bad habit.
Especially after seeing so many die from a single lapse.
"Squeak squeak."
It was then.
A corpse rat poked its head out of Krash's pocket.
Its true identity: Evelask.
"Found the last known location of Beltua Racklord."
Krash's lips quirked up at Evelask's voice from the rat.
Who else but the imperial cleanup specialist could dig up intel like this?
"Perfect."
Krash felt the urge to head out immediately.
He absolutely needed that curse to resolve his current state.
But there was one hitch.
Last time he'd slipped away for personal training with the Battle Emperor, so it was fine.
But skipping out again? Raheln Academy wouldn't just let it slide.
He was a student there, after all.
Special treatment only went so far.
'What to do.'
He couldn't just bolt recklessly.
He needed a way to leave without messing up his academy life too much.
After mulling it over, Krash recalled one person.
There was someone.
A legitimate reason to leave Raheln Academy.
Krash threw open the door without hesitation and stepped out.
He meant to go straight to her.
But he halted abruptly at the sight beyond the door.
This was the men's dorm, after all—and an unexpected figure stood there.
"Well, fancy that. Long time no see?"
Lush blue hair like the sea.
Two neat little buns on either side of her head.
Mischievous amber eyes sparkling with luster.
And finally, a petite woman who smiled softly at Krash.
Someone Krash knew very well.
The Empire's Fourth Imperial Princess.
Sisley Epania.
She'd finally returned from the imperial palace.
"You look in a rush. What now? I came bearing gifts."
Sisley grinned, glancing at the small box of pastries in her hand.
Seeing it, Krash stepped back to make room.
"Come in."
She could leave whenever.
But hearing about imperial affairs? That was fair game.