Chapter 236
Chapter 236
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 236
Chapter Title: The Way to Carry On to the Future
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Before the colossal golem crashed into the battle between the White Yang Squad and the Lion Squad.
Krash and one boy were clashing head-on.
The boy's name was Glen Diana, Mary's cousin.
Golden aura poured from him as his heart pounded like it was about to burst.
The reason was simple.
Something like shackles bound his heart right now.
Shackles in the form of red and black serpents gripped Glen's heart with unyielding strength.
The serpents' true nature was a relic from the ancient era: the Demonic Core.
An aura amplifier.
In the relic era three thousand years ago, when the Ten Heavenly Swords were first forged.
Unlike the modern age, artifacts dominated that time, and the relics they produced were all grotesque or possessed absurd destructive power.
However, the price for that power was often as good as death.
So most were strictly controlled by nations or sealed away in secret vaults.
The Demonic Core Glen wore was one such item.
Forged in the relic era three thousand years past, it relentlessly shattered the limits of one's aura.
But the cost was a tightening grip on the heart, ultimately crushing it entirely.
Thanks to it, Glen now unleashed tremendous power.
But with every passing moment, the Demonic Core squeezed his heart, dragging him toward death.
'Sigrin, you mad bitch.'
The Demonic Core wasn't meant for humans.
A power that pulled from the user's future.
It let you tap realms you'd eventually reach ahead of time—but forever barred you from progressing there.
A deal with hell, they called it.
And she'd given it to Glen just to serve her schemes.
Krash couldn't stand for it.
Chaaang!
Krash's Black Flame clashed with Glen's golden aura, ringing out a piercing clash.
Both recoiled a step from the other's force.
Krash looked at Glen.
"Glen."
He'd vaguely sensed the burden Glen carried.
For someone so young, family was his whole world.
Not many could abandon the place they were raised.
Especially not Glen, with his strong sense of duty.
Glen caught on to Krash's thoughts and gripped his spear tighter.
"Don't look at me like that."
His face twisted into a bitter, self-mocking smile.
"This is the path I chose, Krash."
That's why you told me to come at you with everything, right?
That was what Glen was saying.
Krash's mouth opened and closed repeatedly.
Krash didn't share deep memories with Glen.
Before his regression, Glen had been Mary's devotee.
He idolized her, so he kept his distance from Krash, whom she didn't favor.
They were just vaguely aware of each other from afar.
But today, that old Glen was worlds apart from this one.
Once he'd chased Mary's shadow over his own spear,
now he focused solely on perfecting his weapon.
And instead of Mary the powerhouse, the star he followed was Krash.
As top of Special Class A, Krash shone brightly—even against fire.
He was the one who'd boldly recognized Mary's strength, despite her being slandered by others.
A man who proclaimed his convictions to anyone.
Glen, his peer, admired that.
As a fellow Special Class member, he took pride in Krash.
He was strong, always led the charge, and stood tall.
That's who I want to be, Glen had thought.
Krash knew that Glen, too.
Because he'd watched him hone his spear with his own eyes.
As a Special Class member, Glen was destined to shine in the Generation of the Sky someday.
But now, that light was fading too fast.
Sigrin's schemes were consuming him.
Krash couldn't accept that.
He refused to.
Annoyingly, he was the stubborn type who couldn't tolerate such things.
He was sick of people being used or using others one-sidedly.
People change with the era, experience, and flow of time.
Through Pendale, Krash had learned that.
So.
"Let's make a bet."
The Black Flame pouring from Krash's body surged another level.
"If I win, leave the White Yang Squad."
Glen's eyes shook violently.
"......No."
And that was something he absolutely couldn't accept.
The moment he left White Yang Squad, Sigrin would abandon the Diana family, forcing them out of the empire.
Glen could never allow that.
"Then let's change the terms."
Krash proposed different conditions.
"I'll force a place for the Diana family."
Glen stared at Krash like he'd misheard.
Krash was of the Valheim family from Staron Kingdom.
Valheim and the empire were near-enemies.
How could he possibly carve out a spot for the Diana family?
Don't talk nonsense, Glen glared.
But seeing the resolve in Krash's eyes, his own wavered.
Because he knew.
Krash was a man who always made good on his words.
"I'll have a chance to deal directly with the empire. I'll put the Diana family on the table."
"What the......?"
Why risk a whole family's survival?
Glen looked at him, puzzled and bewildered.
Why would Krash go that far?
Glen couldn't know yet.
How this world would march toward destruction ahead.
How everything would crumble.
And in that ruined world, how every star had to shine brighter.
But he didn't need to know.
'I know.'
I know the value of letting the Generation of the Sky spread their wings in the heavens.
Every member of the Generation of the Sky was a feather in those wings.
Only when those feathers gathered could they truly soar.
Krash would be the backbone of those wings.
The strongest frame in the world, to blanket the vast sky.
So.
"If you lose to me, don't use that thing in your heart anymore until the Diana family is restored."
Krash said with a hearty laugh.
His smile shone so brightly it froze Glen's eyes for a moment.
"Krash, you......"
Glen's lips trembled, words failing him.
Instead, he let out a hollow chuckle.
"Yeah, that's who you are."
As a Special Class member, Glen had heard plenty.
About how he'd sincerely give everything for others.
And today, he'd felt it firsthand.
"If I win, it's all off the table."
Glen kicked off the ground, his spear thrusting ferociously at Krash.
Krash's sword met it just as swiftly.
Chaeng!
Krash's heavy blade and Glen's swift spear began crossing.
One side: a spear piercing the heavy sword.
One side: a sword blocking the spear.
Each clash crumbled walls and shattered windows.
Meiri had long fled to a corner, screaming.
Their auras devastated the surroundings.
Yet Glen's spear and Krash's sword never stopped.
Kik!
The Demonic Core squeezed Glen's heart again.
A burst of erratic aura made him taste blood as he gripped his spear crushingly.
But his golden aura intensified.
Glen's muscles bulged savagely.
The destructive power in his spear rose another level.
The Demonic Core had twelve shackles total.
The more they tightened, the more it forced the body to awaken—at the heart's expense.
This was the seventh squeeze.
Five remained, but Glen knew.
Ten was the limit.
Cross it, and he'd never return to himself.
But at seven.
Glen realized.
Not enough.
This wasn't enough to beat Krash.
Kaduduk!
Glen's teeth ground.
His spear pressed Krash harder.
The shaft aimed for his chest.
Krash's sword deflected it while claiming space.
Glen spun his spear to barely fend it off.
Dual strikes targeted Krash's throat and side.
His sword flowed like water, batting the throat thrust then circling to block the side.
To Glen's eyes, Krash's sword moved sluggishly.
Yet it perfectly countered every spear technique.
Strong.
Krash was too strong.
Of course he was.
Even his sister with the Heavenly Martial Body had lost to him.
Glen had spear talent, but couldn't match her—let alone Krash.
Yet somehow.
A smile wouldn't leave Glen's face.
Kik-
The eighth shackle tightened.
Glen's momentum surged, and Krash matched it, ramping up.
Strong.
Krash was undeniably strong.
But Glen was the one clashing with that strength now.
Krash focused solely on him in battle.
Never underestimating, always facing him with full seriousness.
'Krash, how do you do it?'
Glen wanted to ask.
With that strength, shouldn't arrogance and carelessness come naturally?
Krash seemed cocky on the surface, but in combat, it was clear.
He never overestimated himself, met every foe without slack.
That was admirable, enviable.
Enviable enough to emulate, worthy of respect.
I want to be a powerhouse like you.
Swing my spear in a future like yours.
Challenge you again then.
Glen swallowed a bitter laugh, feeling the Demonic Core.
Sacrificing his future for family—yet dreaming like this?
Utterly contradictory.
Kikikik!
The ninth shackle gripped.
Glen's eyes and hair gleamed gold.
Over-saturated aura forced his body to mutate.
His aura formed golden armor.
Each swing of his massive golden spear vibrated the air.
Kwang, kuaaaang!
Explosions unfit for a spear boomed.
Sonic booms devastated the area—unprecedented power.
Hwaruk!
But Krash matched it.
His Black Flame-infused sword clashed precisely, amplifying the blaze.
Krash's eyes turned red.
Heat haze rose from his body.
Kik!
Glen's limit.
The tenth shackle tightened.
Kung!
For an instant, the air froze.
In that space, Glen gripped his spear shaft with golden gauntlets.
Kuguguk!
Air warped along his spear.
Its gathered aura was otherworldly.
"This is my full power right now."
Glen had planned to use all twelve shackles today.
Sigrin had ordered him to beat Krash no matter what.
But facing him, he couldn't.
Krash urged him onward to the future himself.
And Glen wanted to stand beside him there.
So at his maximum now.
Flash Golden Spear Style
Five Forms
Golden Flash Sever
Hwarururuk!
Krash's whole body erupted in Black Flame and red aura.
He answered in kind.
Glen gripped his spear till his hands bled, grateful.
Then its blade condensed pure white light.
A charging technique learned from Krash.
All light seemed sucked into Glen's spear.
As the air held its breath at the sight,
in the darkness left behind.
Glen swung his golden spear.
Buildings' pillars and walls split before the Golden Flash Sever engulfed Krash.
At the tenth shackle, its power could cleave the entire White Yang building.
Glen, trading his future, was monstrously strong.
Scarce few in this exchange match could block his spear.
Thus, Krash met full power with full power.
Kaduk-
In that moment, Krash bit down on the Instant Reinforcement Elixir in his mouth.
As its power seeped in, acceleration layered onto the Destruction Flame Erosion's heat.
His sped-up heat spun his body at high speed.
Layer by layer, his body amplified the power further.
Krash's ultimate realm.
The instant he reached Heaven-Shattering Asura, Glen felt his vision filled with Black Flame.
Before the Black Flame that eclipsed even his gold.
Even half-blinded, Glen swung relentlessly.
Futile or not.
To give his all.
As Glen's golden spear blazed.
Krash's sword descended before him.
Destruction Flame Erosion
Six Forms
Heaven-Shattering Asura Flame
For a brief moment.
Silent Black Flame raced across the area.
Kwagagagagagagagang!
Delayed explosions followed as Black Flame devoured everything.
The building half-collapsed and crumbled in its wake.
Beneath the burning White Yang building.
Krash exhaled the Black Flame smoke from his mouth and looked ahead.
There lay Glen, covered in burns, unconscious.
But Krash ignored it.
"Remember what I said."
That guy would handle himself.
Krash stomped lightly.
"Eek!"
Meiri, who'd been edging away, screamed as Krash grabbed her by the scruff.
He bolted, scooping up Glen too.
The instant they escaped the building.
Kwaaaaaang!
The whole structure collapsed into ruin.
"Kyaa?!"
As Meiri flailed in his grip, screaming.
Krash looked up.
A golem of absurd size loomed there.
'John Gray's colossal golem.'
Top of first-year Special Studies.
Magal Squad's student leader: John Gray's colossal golem, for sure.
As Krash predicted, other squads had joined the fray.
Aiming for the bracelet in the chaos between White Yang and Lion.
But they'd forgotten one thing.
This side could target the bracelet too.
Especially now, Heaven-Shattering Asura activated thanks to Glen.
Krash's red eyes, trailing black smoke, curved slyly.
"Meiri."
"Y-Yes?!"
"From now on, find every squad member with a bracelet."
"Huh? W-Why me?"
"I'll give you one as a gift."
Meiri's eyes widened.
If Krash gave her one, she wouldn't have lost hers.
She could dodge Sigrin's wrath, too.
"......For real?"
"I don't go back on my word. If you doubt, I'll stake the Valheim name."
Not that Valheim held much weight here.
But resolve filled Meiri's eyes.
Krash smiled, looking up.
Temporary alliance formed.
Time for a big score.