Chapter 264
Chapter 264
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 264
Chapter Title: Our Junior Has a Bad Attitude
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After his conversation with Bianca.
Krash was walking toward somewhere.
Even as he did, his Sixth Sense was subtly spread out around him.
And before long, Krash's footsteps came to a halt.
It was because he had already sensed that the other side would approach first.
"Come out."
With those words from Krash, a boy revealed himself.
A black-haired boy of small stature.
His identity was Arashism Lactea.
A member of the Lactea family, exterminators of World Erosion entities.
As soon as the boy appeared, an eerie wind blew centered on him.
Shadows rippled at his feet.
The boy who had kept his presence to an absolute minimum throughout the entrance exam.
He, who was surely hiding his skills as well, now faced Krash.
"You've been watching me since earlier, and you were hovering around Bianca too. What's your business?"
Krash first concealed the fact that he knew information about him.
In situations like this, it was advantageous to reveal as little information as possible.
Arashism let out a hollow chuckle.
He had gone to the trouble of warning Bianca, only for her to spill the information to Krash the moment they met.
He had underestimated their relationship.
Arashism glanced around for a moment before speaking.
"I want to talk excluding the World Erosion entities."
The moment Krash heard those next words, his eyes subtly changed.
It meant he should get rid of Crimson Garden and Necromancer Evelask Venapoci.
Krash's eyes fixed steadily on Arashism.
It could be a probe to see if he was connected to World Erosion entities.
"No need for detours. I'm not here to accuse you of being linked to World Erosion. I've already figured out long ago that you're connected to the Undying One, Crimson Garden August, and Necromancer Evelask Venapoci."
But the moment the next words followed, Krash sensed it was sincere.
He really wasn't here to question any connection to World Erosion.
That made it all the more puzzling.
He couldn't grasp the goal of someone from the Lactea family.
Crimson Garden was the first to send a message saying she'd pull back her gaze.
She must have judged that Krash could handle gathering the information himself.
The corpse rat always on standby in Krash's pocket went limp.
Just like Crimson Garden, Evelask had also averted her eyes.
"So, I've set the stage just as you wanted. What do you have to say?"
"For the record, all World Erosion entities must die, so if you're here to spread the idea of killing everyone connected to them, I'm not listening."
Krash dug in his ear, openly showing his hostility.
Arashism looked at him and soon opened his mouth.
"Crimson Garden August, the Undying One. Krash, how much do you know about her?"
An unexpected question came flying in.
"Dragon King Clan, Undying One. Isn't that enough to explain?"
Two terms referring to Crimson Garden.
Mentioning them somehow made Arashism chuckle hollowly.
As if that wasn't at all what he wanted to talk about.
"The Lactea family has been hunting the Undying One for a very long time."
Before Crimson Garden began her full activities.
More precisely, before she joined hands with Ixion to trigger the World Erosion rampage incident.
Even before that, Crimson Garden had undoubtedly existed in this world.
The Lactea family had been pursuing her relentlessly.
To them, World Erosion entities were beings that absolutely had to be exterminated.
They couldn't let potential threats like Crimson Garden go unchecked.
"That's why we know one fact about this World Erosion entity called Crimson Garden."
The secret of Crimson Garden's immortality.
"Crimson Garden August maintains her immortality by absorbing the power dwelling in the souls of her kin when they die."
However, in exchange, her body remains in eternal slumber.
From various perspectives, there was nothing wrong with how she sustained her immortality.
"And right now, the first soul Crimson Garden August is targeting is none other than Krash Valheim."
The moment he heard those next words.
This time, it was Krash who started chuckling.
Arashism stared at Krash upon hearing his laughter.
As if asking what was so funny about this.
"You think it's a joke?"
"Not really."
From the Lactea family's perspective, it was natural to think that way.
Crimson Garden had commanded numerous kin and always enjoyed eternal life.
In fact, after those who became her kin died, none of them had souls left behind.
That fact alone was enough for the Lactea to judge her as an Undying One who stole souls.
'And in reality.'
Crimson Garden did reap the souls of those who became her kin.
That was an unchanging reality.
However, there was one thing they didn't know.
"But, Arashism Lactea, there's one thing your side has completely misunderstood."
They judged Crimson Garden solely as a brutal World Erosion entity.
In truth, the Dragon King Clan she belonged to was always extremely obsessed with eternal life.
The Lactea, who had killed the most World Erosion entities, surely knew that too.
That's why they couldn't see it.
"Crimson Garden August is someone who wants to abandon her own immortality."
"......What?"
The moment he heard those words, Arashism froze.
Because it was something he had never even considered.
All Dragon King Clan were obsessed with eternal life.
It was such ingrained common sense that they couldn't even think about it.
"Looks like you've been fooled by her."
Arashism seemed to understand why Krash said that.
"All Dragon King Clan are obsessed with eternal life. We've seen the same patterns with Crimson Garden multiple times."
"You mean the missing souls of her kin?"
"Yeah, their souls are definitely with Crimson Garden."
Hearing that, Krash tapped his crossed arms once.
Then he tilted his head.
"So?"
"......So what?"
Krash's expression, as if asking what that had to do with anything, left Arashism flustered.
The souls of the dead were absorbed, and now the target was Krash.
Arashism shot him a look as if to say how he could react like that.
But Krash couldn't care less.
"Let me ask you one thing. Do you know what happens to the soul of a human who made a contract with a god at the very end?"
A contract with a god.
And the skills obtained through that contract.
People always revered the skills granted by gods as blessings and worshiped them.
In fact, those who turned their lives around with skills during their lifetime never stopped praising them.
But Krash knew.
How the gods collected their due when a human who received a skill met their end.
Not many in this world knew about it.
Only those who reached demigod status like the Heavenly Gods or people like Krash who had witnessed the fall of the gods with their own eyes and Regressed.
The skills granted by gods weren't omnipotent.
They were contracts, and unless the user reached demigod level, the gods always collected their power.
"......What are you talking about?"
Even Arashism in front of him didn't know about it.
Krash gave a brief smile.
"Once you learn that, you'll realize there's nothing particularly wrong with what Crimson Garden is doing."
Krash had some understanding of the concept of souls.
He had seen and experienced countless things while venturing to the world's end.
Whether human or any other being.
Upon death, when they become souls, they eventually dissipate naturally over time.
And dissipated souls are absorbed by the world, cycle through, and transform into the next existence.
'But World Erosion entities are different.'
World Erosion entities aren't beings of this world.
So even if they die, their souls are forever treated as foreigners in this world.
Their souls don't dissipate naturally.
Well, they do dissipate, but they get devoured by the nearest World Erosion and vanish.
They have no resting place after abandoning their world.
'And the same goes for the kin of World Erosion entities who accepted World Erosion power.'
The kin of World Erosion entities wield World Erosion power in life.
And that power gradually seeps deep into the soul, eventually claiming a part of it.
This was the "vessel" concept Krash often mentioned.
So what happens to the souls of such kin when they meet death?
'No different from World Erosion entities.'
They can't be absorbed by the world and end up devoured by World Erosion, becoming a part of it.
For other World Erosion entities, that might be fine.
But for Crimson Garden, it was unacceptable.
She cherished her kin too much.
That's why Crimson Garden kept their souls with her.
Not to be devoured by World Erosion.
She was preserving their souls.
So that someday they too could be naturally absorbed by the world and reborn as new lives.
"Crimson Garden's kin are more numerous in the world than you might think."
However, she doesn't grant even World Erosion power to most of them.
She merely borrows their eyes partially or possesses them briefly to gather information.
"But her true kin aren't as many as you might imagine."
The ones to whom Crimson Garden personally granted World Erosion power.
Whenever she stepped into their lives, she always asked the same question.
「Are you sure you can't live your current life any harder than this without my power?」
When faced with a problem unsolvable without her intervention.
Whether to meet their end or live on even without an afterlife.
Crimson Garden asked, and the kin accepted her offer.
Those were the ones who became her true kin.
"As you said, Crimson Garden lives eternally. Her immortality consumes souls."
But her kin weren't being used for that.
Krash had confirmed it himself before Regression, when her body was thrown into lava and he gathered information related to her.
"However, the souls she's consuming are her own."
"That doesn't make sense. If so, Crimson Garden should have consumed all her own soul and died long ago......"
"No, it does make sense."
Krash cut off Arashism abruptly.
"Because her true eternal life is the ability to restore her own soul."
And the next words made Arashism's eyes gradually widen.
It was information even the Lactea hadn't uncovered.
That's why Crimson Garden had no reason to desire her kin's souls.
She already resolved everything with her own soul; there was no need to covet others'.
"So the idea that Crimson Garden is targeting me doesn't hold up from the start."
The deal with Crimson Garden.
It was just to steal her immortality.
There was no reason for Crimson Garden to target Krash.
And even without that information.
'I trust her.'
Krash trusted Crimson Garden.
Whenever incidents or problems arose, she was always the first to step up.
She was another comrade, a pillar of support, and a mentor to Krash.
So Krash rolled his neck with a satisfying crack.
"By the way."
Of course, he couldn't be pleased with someone trying to sow discord about his comrade.
Blades glinted in Krash's eyes.
Meeting those eyes, Arashism felt a chill.
He had heard of Krash's reputation, but the extraordinary aura emanating from him froze even him.
In that ferocious atmosphere.
Krash stared intently at Arashism and opened his mouth.
"Why have you been talking down to me since earlier?"
Our junior has a rather foul mouth.