Chapter 246
Chapter 246
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 246
Chapter Title: Let's Hatch an Egg in the Giant's Forest
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No sooner had he been teleported than he plummeted straight into the Forbidden Giant's Forest.
Sheltering from the rain amid the towering undergrowth, Krash let out a sigh.
He had quickly realized that the teleportation was Ixion's trap.
That aside, he couldn't fathom why he'd ended up in the Giant's Forest of all places.
And Crimson Garden provided the explanation.
The sole reason Krash had reached the Giant's Forest was thanks to Crimson Garden's intervention.
"You sure pulled that off smoothly. One slip-up, and my body would've been torn apart, right?"
Indeed, if he'd been pulled straight to Ixion, Krash would've faced irreversible consequences.
If Krash had triggered Excel and dashed off solo, he might've escaped.
But he'd spent considerable time capturing Sizli.
"If Sizli got dragged off to Ixion there, it would've been game over for her."
But Krash hadn't acted recklessly.
Had Sizli been taken, the entire Empire would've erupted in chaos.
Moreover, Ixion would've used her as leverage to force some kind of deal.
"And if it were me, I'd have at least some shot at breaking out."
Krash possessed an aura—the greatest weakness to World Erosion entities.
Plus, the World Erosion followers under Ixion—barring the Hell Fairy—knew exactly how to handle him.
It was far better than letting Sizli get kidnapped.
"Still, you rerouted the trajectory midway, so we're good."
"No time to breathe, huh."
Krash decided he'd sheltered from the rain long enough.
He had to escape the Giant's Forest before Ixion arrived.
Krash immediately broke into a run through the forest.
True to its name, the Giant's Forest was choked with enormous foliage and trees, and the downpour made everything colossal beyond measure.
"By the way, how are you watching this?"
Krash was wearing Bio Ren's necklace to prevent Ixion from tracking him.
Crafted by Bio God himself, a master of barriers, it should've blocked any peeking.
Yet Crimson Garden was observing Krash's situation without a single crow in sight.
Right on cue, the corpse rat in Krash's pocket twitched.
"Squeak!"
It was announcing its presence.
They must be sharing vision.
Evelask was likely watching alongside Crimson Garden.
So that's what happened.
Made sense, given Evelask's temperament.
"It's fine. Not something we need right now."
Krash kept moving, but soon a faint sound reached his ears.
He quickly identified it.
'Water.'
It was unmistakably the roar of rushing water.
The problem was its sheer volume—it was deafening enough to plug his ears.
The moment he heard it, unease gripped Krash, and he picked up speed.
Before long, a sight unfolded before him.
A massive waterfall and river.
True to the Giant's Forest moniker, the waterfall and river were overwhelmingly vast.
And the river had swollen far beyond its normal size.
The reason was simple.
The torrential rain from the sky had triggered a flood in the Giant's Forest.
'The Giant's Forest has seasons opposite to the outside world.'
While winter raged outside, it was summer here.
Coinciding with the rainy season, this flood was inevitable.
Such floods would eventually spill beyond the Giant's Forest.
Once outside, the Empire's harsh winter would gradually freeze them, forming the eternal snows of Freya—the world's mightiest mountain range.
That was the Giant's Forest's ecosystem.
Freya's child, Arsholder Freya, who wielded gigantification, was influenced by this very forest.
After all, it lay within one of Freya's mountains.
"Of all times, I end up here during the Giant's Forest rainy season."
The flood was swelling rapidly even now.
It would soon engulf Krash's position.
Krash hurriedly turned back.
Even he had no answer for a flood of this magnitude.
But the real issue was elsewhere.
'At this rate...'
There'd be no escaping the Giant's Forest.
Soon, the surroundings would be inundated.
Unless the flood subsided or a mage capable of free teleportation in a forbidden zone came to retrieve him, he was stuck.
Krash had no way to evade the raging currents.
This was hardship beyond hardships.
"Damn it all."
Boom!
Then, a explosion rocked the upper mountains.
Krash looked up to see something enormous that shouldn't exist.
Its head was lost in the clouds, its lower body barely visible.
That colossal leg moved slowly.
Boom!
Its step crumbled part of the mountain, accelerating the flood.
Forced into peril by the surge, Krash activated Excel and fled.
'A giant.'
The creature was none other than the master of the Forbidden Giant's Forest.
A giant.
An entity so immense even the vast Giant's Forest strained to contain it.
Its subjugation difficulty was off the charts—immeasurable.
A monster far beyond Krash's current level.
The Giant's Forest itself posed little danger compared to other World Erosion sites—everything was just huge.
But that single giant turned it into a forbidden zone.
No one who'd ventured here had ever subdued it.
After barely escaping the flood zone, Krash caught his breath and climbed a tree.
Running on the ground limited his visibility.
"Crimson Garden, how long until Ixion gets here?"
A week.
Far too short to escape the flood-ravaged Giant's Forest.
Hearing Crimson Garden's next words, Krash understood her calm demeanor.
Ten Supremes of the Realm
Demon King
The Empire's greatest mage was personally searching for Krash, tasked by the Imperial Family.
It was a stroke of luck for Krash.
The issue was that even the Demon King couldn't pinpoint his location immediately—he'd have to probe blindly.
"Figures. The Demon King's got an extreme hatred for World Erosion."
The Demon King had long been infamous for his loathing of World Erosion entities.
Krash didn't know his full backstory.
But he'd heard snippets: part of it involved major fallout from World Erosion beings.
'All while oblivious that his own Imperial House descends from World Erosion offspring.'
One reason the Epania Imperial Family's lineage from the White Dragon King had to stay secret.
The downside was it made relaying info to Crimson Garden tricky.
"What about passing word through the Heavenly Emperor?"
"Tch."
The Empire's top sword clan, Junon, and top magic clan, Arius.
As the pinnacle families within one nation, rivalry was inevitable.
Sirius Emperor was still in a stabilization phase.
For recovery's sake, he couldn't show himself publicly much.
'Unlike the Heavenly Emperor, the Demon King doesn't have deep ties to the Emperor.'
When the Demon King rose to the Ten Supremes, the Emperor was battling his albinism.
As one of the youngest Supremes, his loyalty to the Imperial Family was relatively low.
In truth, the Demon King favored the First Prince over the Emperor.
That influence explained why his son, Magic Department Vice-Chair Bakram Arius, allied with Sigrin and the Empire without subordinating himself.
Thus, Sirius couldn't risk showing weakness to the Demon King for the family's prestige.
"Goddamn Empire."
Families clashed endlessly, prioritizing their own gains and status.
"Sizli?"
No wonder she was the Empire's brightest mind.
Her situational judgment was impeccable.
"Thanks."
With that settled, Krash perched atop the tree.
From there, he saw the dense forest stretching to the horizon—and the swollen river raging below.
No escape until the flood ended or a teleportation master arrived.
'What I can do...'
Krash sensed the White Dragon King's egg dormant within him.
It still emanated draconic energy, trying to claim his body as host—but Ignis made that impossible.
If the Demon King was late, he might have to clash with Ixion directly.
No reason for Krash to sit idle.
'One week.'
Shatter the egg and claim its power within that time.
In the rain-soaked Giant's Forest, Krash's blue eyes gleamed fiercely.
A perfect time attack.
Let's see who moves fastest.