Chapter 282
Chapter 282
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 282
Chapter Title: Shura Field
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"What?"
"With my skill, it should be possible."
Vioren stared into Krash's eyes for a moment before nodding as if she'd made up her mind.
She wanted to uncover the truth behind those memories, too.
"What do I need to do?"
"Just give me your firm permission in your mind to hand over the barrier."
"I permit it."
As Vioren replied, a shimmer of light rippled from Krash's hand.
'Black Hood.'
The target was the barrier sealing Vioren's memories.
The moment Krash activated Black Hood, the barrier was forcibly wrested from Vioren and transferred to him.
Krash immediately incinerated the seized barrier with Ignis.
Since it had been forged by the power of World Erosion, Ignis devoured it with relish.
"Ugh!"
In that instant, the memories flooded in, forcing a stifled cry from Vioren's lips.
She clenched her teeth, barely enduring the onslaught, then slowly opened her eyes.
"......"
She fell silent, gazing ahead.
Her face was a tumult of confusion from the memories, mingled with a flood of new thoughts.
Krash watched her steadily.
Indeed, had Vioren known before his regression that her own memories were sealed?
And if so, how had she dealt with it?
Perhaps the complicated look she'd given the barrier master's corpse stemmed from those very sealed memories.
She clasped her hands together, a bitter smile tugging at her lips as if she might shatter.
The memories had stirred a whirlwind of emotions within her.
"It was just as you said......"
She murmured, fragments of memory flashing before her eyes.
"......There was one place Mom and I went together. The place she told me never to reveal to anyone, no matter who asked. There, she definitely used barrier arts on me twice."
One sealed her memories.
The other extracted something from Vioren before the memory seal and bound it away.
"Vioren, from now on, no matter who comes here, you must never tell them about this place. Understood?"
Vioren recalled the barrier master's bittersweet voice from the recovered memory.
Beneath a massive weeping willow.
Under the deepening twilight sky.
In the whispering wind, the barrier master gazed at Vioren with tender eyes and stroked her hair.
"And let's make you forget what happened today... forever."
The regret in her eyes pierced Vioren's heart.
Carrying that emotion, she turned to Krash.
Meeting his blue eyes scattered the past memories, pulling her back to reality.
Krash was the perfect anchor for her present life.
Because of him, so much in her world had changed.
"Where is it?"
"Not far from Zeblam."
Despite the "never tell" edict, Vioren revealed it readily.
Krash looked a bit awkward even though he'd asked.
"You sure it's okay to just blurt it out like that?"
"......If I can't trust the guy who swung his sword at the Heavenly Killing Star just to avenge me, then who can I trust?"
It felt like a wild beast that had stubbornly resisted was finally coming around.
Vioren playfully thwacked his chest with the back of her hand.
"I told you not to look at me with those eyes—they creep me out for some reason."
A hint of shyness flickered in her gaze.
When Krash said nothing, an irritated Vioren raised her hand to hit him again but stopped short.
She remembered his body wasn't back to normal yet.
"Vioren, do you remember when the Demon Emperor started losing interest in you?"
Vioren blinked as Krash spoke.
"......I think it was around the time Mom left."
She pondered her memories, then stiffened.
"No way."
"No way has a way of biting people."
The Demon Emperor and Ixion had sought something from Vioren.
But as she departed, the barrier master had sealed away Vioren's potential with a barrier and vanished.
Thanks to that, neither the Demon Emperor nor Ixion could obtain what they wanted from her.
That might explain how she'd survived unscathed until joining the Generation of the Sky.
Krash soon realized why the barrier master had made that choice.
'......To protect Vioren.'
Vioren had originally been conceived to fulfill Ixion's goals.
But a mother's heart can lead to different paths.
Somewhere along the way, the barrier master's feelings had changed.
'The reason the barrier master died long before my regression.'
She must have confronted Ixion to safeguard Vioren.
Her stand against Ixion met a tragic end.
Yet it protected Vioren.
'Originally, the barrier master could have kept Ixion from touching Vioren on her own.'
The barrier was one even she herself couldn't undo.
Ixion would have eventually abandoned Vioren.
But excessive meddling in the world accelerated Ixion's moves.
The barrier master judged she could no longer protect Vioren alone.
In the end, she'd sought help from Krash, Ixion's enemy.
Krash would protect Vioren just to thwart Ixion.
Krash gazed at the rigid Vioren.
Until now, she'd believed her mother had left out of hatred for the Demon Emperor and him.
But what if...
All of it had been to protect her?
"Ha......"
Vioren let out a short, self-mocking laugh as she slowly turned to Krash.
Reading the subtle worry in his eyes, she shrugged.
"What're you looking at me like that for? I've kinda suspected it ever since Mom made that deal with you to protect me. I figured there had to be some reason."
She was more mature than he'd thought.
"I'm not gonna shatter mentally over this now. Who do you think I am, an idiot?"
"Don't push yourself."
"Hmph, push myself? Please."
Vioren snorted, flashing a spirited expression.
Separately from that, her hand trembled faintly—but Krash chose to let it slide.
'The truth lies with the barrier master.'
Hearing her story directly would reveal everything.
But she was currently with Ixion.
So next, he needed to meet the Demon Emperor, who could at least share fragments of the tale.
He'd know the details of the deal with the barrier master.
Understanding the deal's purpose would clarify why Ixion wanted to abduct Vioren.
Going to Zeblam would also reveal what the barrier master had extracted and sealed from her.
Vioren and Krash's eyes met.
They shared the same thought.
"We're going to Zeblam."
They'd resolve both her secret and his strengthening.
That was when it happened.
"Where do you think you're going?"
A chill seeped in from the already-open door.
A white-haired woman stood there.
Krash flinched instinctively upon meeting her eyes.
He looked just like a husband caught plotting a sleepover with a friend.
Bianca Hardenharts.
Krash's fiancée.
"You went out and came back all banged up like this."
Bianca fixed him with a frosty glare.
On his first mission, he'd thrust his sword at the Heavenly Killing Star.
As his fiancée, it made her heart drop.
"And now you're going again?"
To the Heavenly Killing Star he'd clashed swords with, no less.
Under Bianca's icy stare, Krash was speechless.
He always grew weak before Bianca.
"It's because of me."
Vioren quickly inserted herself between Bianca and Krash.
Bianca's cold gaze shifted to her.
"Ixion's targeting me, so he stepped in to help. Don't be too hard on him."
Bianca eyed Vioren steadily before turning back to Krash.
"I know. You're always like this, Lord Krash."
With a short sigh, Bianca approached Krash's side.
She sat down slowly beside him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Just... ease my worries for once."
"Sorry. I won't."
"Even then, I'll worry."
Krash swallowed a wry smile and stroked her hair.
Watching them, Vioren felt an odd twinge of envy.
She'd never shared such intimacy with anyone.
"Just the two of you?"
"Planning to bring Aslan, too."
It would be a good opportunity for Aslan.
And he could coax the Demon Emperor into evaluating Aslan's magic while at it.
"Then I permit it. Come back safe."
Bianca knew she needed training herself.
So she didn't beg to tag along.
"When you return, I'll be stronger, too."
She straightened her back, wearing a proud expression.
To Krash, it looked like a little white chick puffing up proudly.
Cuter than dignified, a laugh escaped him, but he nodded.
"I'll look forward to it."
"Locked in a world for just the two of you again."
Astria poked her head through the door.
She eyed Krash with a hint of displeasure.
"I healed you. Where's my thanks?"
"Always grateful."
"Then show it with a reward or something."
What reward could the usual healer want?
"......A kiss, maybe."
Words unfit for a saint slipped from Astria's lips.
Even she blushed at her own words, her ear tips turning scarlet as she whistled and looked away.
"No."
Bianca blocked it.
She clung tightly to Krash's arm.
A clear declaration of possession.
Bianca and Astria's eyes clashed fiercely in the air.
"The only one who can do that with Lord Krash is me."
Bianca puffed up further, like a chick bristling against a threat.
Astria thrust out her incomparable bosom even more.
"......Hmph, I've already done that much."
Bianca's head creaked as she whipped toward Krash.
"Astria, you......"
"Why deny what happened?"
Acting innocent after forcing it.
Krash wore an utterly baffled expression, then felt his arm squeezed tighter.
For the first time, he saw pettiness fill Bianca's face.
To others, it might look unchanged, but this was pure spite.
"Tonight, I'm not leaving Lord Krash—we're sleeping together."
She said something ripe for misunderstanding.
Given Bianca's personality, she meant it innocently, like old times.
"Wh-what?!"
Astria misinterpreted entirely, her eyes trembling in shock.
Deep horror filled her gaze.
She rolled her eyes wildly, then gripped her skirt as if resolved.
"M-me too!"
"Enough."
Krash reined them in.
His prior warning hadn't resolved it instantly, it seemed.
His glare at both made Astria and Bianca avert their eyes slightly.
They'd noticed the sparks flying.
"What a mess."
Vioren, the sole bystander, wore an exasperated look.
For some reason, her gaze toward them felt like she was eyeing trash. Or was it his imagination?
"Huh? What happened?"
Late-arriving Haring blinked at the scene, having brought warm milk for Krash.
Seeing her calmed Krash somewhat. He said quietly,
"Haring, don't ever become like this."
"Uh, y-yeah. If that's what you want, I won't."
Whatever it was, Haring affirmed her resolve firmly.