Chapter 207
Chapter 207
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 207
Chapter Title: Four Seasons, You're Mine!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Before the black flames that blanketed the cage of chains crafted by Evelask.
The starlight form of the Eclipse Star had shrunk to a tiny size.
The Eclipse Star, now small enough to fit in one's hand, swayed unsteadily.
It was worthy of being called a 9-star Erosion Beast for surviving Krash's full-powered strike.
But it had consumed too much power, leaving little strength remaining.
Recovering from this would take considerable time.
Clank!
At that moment, Evelask's chain cage began shrinking rapidly.
The Eclipse Star tried to flutter away and escape despite its unsteady body.
But there was no way for it to slip out of the chain cage in its current state.
Soon, the chain cage fully enclosed the Eclipse Star.
The chains tightened to match the tiny body of the Eclipse Star, forming a perfect birdcage sized just for it.
The Eclipse Star pounded against the cage with its starlight.
However, its starlight vanished upon contact with the cage, unable to break it.
"―――――!"
A silent roar filled with its rage echoed out.
"Don't... move... a muscle."
At the same time, a boy's voice rang out as well.
As the Eclipse Star flinched and looked up, a boy whose eyes were slowly returning to blue under the night sky approached.
"I'll... get you... out."
The boy was leaning against No. 2's body, breathing raggedly.
His face was deeply furrowed.
After all, he had unleashed the power of World Erosion to such an extreme degree.
Naturally, the aura inside his body rushed in to fill the void, sparking a full-scale war within him.
A headache stabbed fiercely into his skull.
A churning sensation and tearing pain followed one after another from inside his body.
Krash's consciousness kept trying to fade.
The pain echoing through his body had surpassed all limits.
His body burned with heat.
Not even the Cold Snow Claw curse could suppress the scorching temperature.
Wahk!
In that instant, bloody foam welled up in his mouth and trickled between his lips.
Even that blood was on the verge of boiling from the intense heat.
'This one's pretty dangerous.'
The price of using Extermination Hell Rakshasa was beyond imagination.
"Krash!"
"You idiot!"
At that moment, Haring and Evelask rushed over simultaneously.
Both their faces were pale as ghosts.
Haring hurriedly embraced Krash and fed him the potions Darling had prepared.
Evelask summoned a corpse with healing abilities and attached it to Krash right away.
"Tch, I knew you were pushing too hard. Let me take a look."
As the two stamped their feet in worry, Beltua approached leisurely.
He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a small vial.
Soon, his finger plunged into the vial's opening.
And trailing up his finger came a thick black liquid.
"Open wide."
As Krash parted his lips, from which heat poured out, Beltua flicked the liquid inside.
Krash felt the black liquid slide down his throat into his body.
"Ugh."
A momentary jolt of searing pain numbed his body, then the agony began to subside bit by bit.
Krash knew what this curse was.
"It's a curse that postpones the pain and injuries you're feeling. Temporary, but it'll keep you from keeling over right now."
As Beltua said, it was merely a curse that temporarily eased his breathing.
But the important thing was that it allowed him to move.
"I'll claim Four Seasons right away."
With a voice that was finally steadying, Krash stood with Haring's support.
Beltua nodded and placed his hand on the cage.
At that moment, black clouds began flowing from Beltua's grasp.
This was to separate Four Seasons without harming the Eclipse Star.
The Eclipse Star flitted about in panic inside the cage.
But in its current state, there was nothing it could do.
A moment later, Beltua's black clouds filled the cage completely.
Naturally, the Eclipse Star was trapped within those black clouds as well.
How long did the black clouds writhe inside the cage?
"Done."
The moment Beltua spoke, Krash raised his hand.
Black Hood activated from Krash's hand, emitting light.
The target was the Eclipse Star.
What he stole was Four Seasons.
Normally, to steal Four Seasons, which was part of the Eclipse Star's body, he'd need to unravel its dial.
But thanks to Beltua, Four Seasons was now separated from the Eclipse Star.
Right now, Four Seasons wasn't even perceptible to the Eclipse Star.
It was housed in its body, yet unaware of its very existence.
Naturally, Krash's Black Hood stole Four Seasons without condition.
Pop!
In that instant, something was caught in Krash's grasp.
It was a pure white snake etched with red tattoo-like markings on its skin.
The snake's eyes were wide with shock.
After all, it had suddenly been severed from the Eclipse Star and dragged out.
The moment Four Seasons faced Krash, its body began to crumble.
True to its curse nature, it operated on the simplistic notion of simply transferring to a new host.
And this time, the host was none other than Krash.
The instant it was absorbed, Four Seasons extended into Krash's body.
It needed to devour and replace something first and foremost.
But Four Seasons reacted with alarm the moment it was absorbed.
The reason was that its body was packed full of World Erosion power.
World Erosion power filled it so densely that Four Seasons couldn't advance an inch.
Moreover, the gaps without World Erosion were filled with aura.
There was no room to even touch anything to devour.
In the end, Four Seasons chose to devour the World Erosion power blocking its path.
Four Seasons had no option to retreat on its own.
So it gulped down the World Erosion obstructing every path forward.
Four Seasons began devouring the World Erosion power at a rapid pace.
It wasn't called a supreme curse for nothing.
Even the World Erosion power filling Krash's body was an easy meal for Four Seasons.
After devouring the World Erosion power for a while.
Before long, aura began entering Four Seasons' maw as well.
This was the natural result of the two forces clashing over dominance in the body.
In the end, Four Seasons started swallowing the aura too.
The creature had a voracious appetite.
It could devour anything that came its way.
The World Erosion and aura it gulped down steadily filled Four Seasons.
And soon, Four Seasons' unique trait began to manifest.
Replacing what it had devoured with itself entirely.
Four Seasons began supplanting the World Erosion power and aura.
Normally, these opposing forces would clash against each other.
But leaving them as is would cause the body to burst.
Thus, Four Seasons used its innate ability to alter their conflicting properties.
It unified the two powers into one whenever Krash expended either.
When Krash used aura, even the World Erosion power converted to aura.
Conversely, when Krash used World Erosion power, the aura converted to World Erosion power.
It was an ability only Four Seasons could perform.
However, Four Seasons' gluttony was still raging.
It glanced around, seemingly eager to devour more.
It was at that moment.
The Heavenly Slaughter Stars hanging over the night sky in Krash's inner world began shining all at once.
The fierce red light surging from the Heavenly Slaughter Stars was intense enough to make even Four Seasons recoil in terror.
Startled, Four Seasons shrank back.
The Heavenly Slaughter Stars have the trait of amplifying curses to greater extremes.
However, for supreme curses with their own will, it's different.
They possess their own volition and do not wish to rampage.
They always desire to maintain their current state.
Thus, the Heavenly Slaughter Stars were a frightening existence to them.
One misstep could lead to rampage and loss of self.
Frightened by the Heavenly Slaughter Stars, Four Seasons ultimately stopped at devouring only the aura and World Erosion power.
Krash realized Four Seasons had quieted and let out a deep breath.
The heat's smoke no longer rose from his mouth.
Four Seasons devouring the World Erosion and aura had stabilized his body.
Only then did the belated Cold Snow Claw curse begin exerting its power in earnest.
The overheated temperature of Krash's body slowly returned to normal.
Though his internals were a total mess from using Extermination Heaven Rakshasa.
At the very least, he had averted the body collapsing from the aura and World Erosion.
Krash, finally relieved, lifted his head.
There, he saw two faces brimming with anger.
Krash instinctively flinched.
Because the crisis before him seemed greater than the one he'd just faced.
The identities of the furious pair were none other than Evelask and Haring.
Evelask wore an expression of utter fury, while Haring stared at Krash with icy cold eyes.
After all, this time it had truly been dangerous.
"You really..."
"Puhaak!"
The moment Evelask opened her mouth to scold him, a grotesque sound erupted from behind her.
There was the Mad Radiant, who had burrowed underground the instant he used his light.
The creature crawled up from the earth, grinding its teeth.
"While I'm doing this crap, damn it, for real."
Once atop the ground, he sensed the stares upon him as he half-undressed.
He paused, then scowled.
"What? We got this far, didn't we? Why stare like that? I did my part!"
Lucky he's an idiot.
Thanks to the Mad Radiant, the tense atmosphere eased a bit, and Krash sighed in relief.
Beltua approached the slumped Krash and crouched down.
"How's your condition?"
"Compared to before, it's fine."
"Hmm, impressive. Who'd have thought you'd use the Heavenly Slaughter Stars to harness a supreme curse."
Beltua wore an expression of complete surprise at this turn.
And his eyes gleamed with even greater interest.
Interest directed at Krash himself.
"Planning to acquire more supreme curses in the future, I take it?"
Beltua had noticed Krash was utilizing supreme curses.
He would surely seek out more in the days ahead.
So when Beltua astutely asked, Krash smiled faintly.
Times like this made him glad they were kindred spirits.
"Yes, I plan to get more."
He would exploit anything he could.
That was Krash's creed.
Supreme curses were naturally included.
"Haha!"
Beltua laughed heartily.
After all, researching curses was his life's joy.
Though Crimson Garden dismissed Beltua and Krash as lunatics.
"Then it seems it's time to move."
Beltua said as much and thumped his staff on the ground.
Curse centipedes then surged up beneath Krash and the others' feet.
"The Black Pure Ghosts are coming."
The moment the battle with the Eclipse Star ended, the Black Pure Ghosts swarmed toward them.
Breaking through them would consume considerable power as well.
"Let Gramps give you a special service."
At that instant, beside Beltua's curse centipede.
The space tore open with a ripping sound, like paper being cut.
A massive arm extended from the rift and tore the space apart.
What emerged was a mountain goat with arms adorned in multiple talismans.
Its size dwarfed the curse centipede, its horns nearly scraping the night sky.
The goat let out an unearthly, chilling bleat.
Krash knew how many curses had been combined to create that goat.
Even Crimson Garden seemed to regard that curse with utter horror.
Beltua's original curse
Merdicchio
The moment it appeared, it gaped its maw impossibly wide.
Unlike a normal goat, rows of jagged teeth protruded before it.
At that moment, black light gathered and compressed.
Peeew!
With a beam of light, the black ray swept through the oncoming Black Pure Ghosts.
Kwahahahahahah!
The black light exploded, annihilating the charging Black Pure Ghosts in unison.
The problem was that Merdicchio showed no sign of stopping, gathering the next black light.
Not firing single shots, but in rapid succession.
'What a monster.'
It wasn't called the world's worst curse master for nothing.
The original curse Beltua created possessed absurd power.
As Krash watched the scene, his eyes fell on the chain cage.
He was done with the Eclipse Star.
Krash opened the entrance to the cage where the Eclipse Star lay limp.
Seizing the chance, the Eclipse Star scattered starlight and flew out.
Krash gave it a brief apologetic smile as it hovered before him, still sprinkling starlight.
"Sorry about that."
The Eclipse Star gazed at Krash for a moment before fluttering away.
Soon enough, it would resume scattering starlight endlessly in the unending night.
Whatever meaning it held, it was a lifelong task for the Eclipse Star.
Krash turned his head, watching the departing Eclipse Star.
Summer was now in full swing, reaching its midpoint.
Soon, the second-year cadets' six-month training would end, and separate from the special class, they too would officially join the academy.
'The talent wars between classes will begin.'
It was time to return to Raheln Academy.