Chapter 289
Chapter 289
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 289
Chapter Title: I've Gotten Stronger
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Number.
The elite corpse squad wielded by Evelask.
They confronted Krash with breaths synchronized as if they were one body, bolstered by Evelask's necromancer buffs.
As if Evelask hadn't selected them as elites for nothing.
In the initial clashes, Krash repeatedly failed to break their coordination and was sent tumbling pathetically.
This was because his inability to fully control his own body acted as an unimaginable penalty.
No matter how much innate genius they possessed, it was a body so close to being entirely reborn that even they couldn't adapt right away.
A prideful genius would have been utterly outraged by this fact.
In a situation where their strength was diminished, frustration would surely have boiled over.
The corpses themselves seemed to wonder if this was acceptable, stealing glances.
"Let's go one more time."
But there wasn't a trace of indignation on Krash's face.
He simply recovered at a rapid pace and requested another bout.
Krash had essentially clawed his way up from rock bottom to here.
All the martial prowess he possessed had been forged from a gritty tenacity that tasted like bitter vomit.
Even if several fortuitous encounters had overlapped, Krash had relentlessly worn down his own body to fully seize those opportunities.
For such a man to revert to taking his first steps again—
would he despise himself for being weak and break?
Absolutely not, at least not for Krash.
"One more."
Once again sent rolling pitifully across the ground, Krash spat out the blood pooling in his mouth and rose to his feet.
The brief sparring sessions gradually began to lengthen.
The next bout, and the one after that.
The corpses, powered by Evelask's strength, had no physical limits.
But Krash, even with a body reconstructed from dragon king lineage,
was still a living being and thus had stamina constraints.
By all rights, after this many rounds, he should have rested, but Krash didn't stop.
On the contrary, only after pushing his body to exhaustion did Krash finally gain a clearer sense of it.
'The dragon king lineage body has a fundamentally vast capacity for aura, so I can't just squeeze it out recklessly like before.'
The vessel of aura that had been forcibly expanded time and again now met the dragon king body and sprawled out vast as an ocean.
Long ago, Krash's aura vessel had been little more than a stream.
But now, it had grown from stream to river to sea.
The way Krash had handled aura up to now was merely wringing out that stream.
Now that it was an ocean,
Krash had to change his handling of aura from the ground up.
Krash's aura began to refine further.
His moving body operated more efficiently.
Chaeng! Chaeng! Chaeng!
Krash parried all the daggers lunging at him like a beast on all fours from Number 9.
At the same time, his extended leg struck Number 9 square in the chest, sending him flying to the end of the training ground.
Whoosh!
He narrowly dodged the spear from Number 8, which had thrust up to his chin, by tilting his head.
Then, with a hand enhanced by Excel, he gripped and twisted her spear shaft in reverse.
At that instant, Number 8's spear separated into a short spear.
But before she could act, Krash yanked the hand gripping the shaft.
Pulled straight to Krash in an instant, Number 8 swung the short spear in her opposite hand—but Krash drove his sword-holding fist into her abdomen first.
Kwak!
As his fist sank into Number 8's abdomen, Krash noticed Number 7's bandages wrapping around his wrist and leg.
Darkness suddenly fell over Krash's head.
A rabbit armed with absurd muscles—Number 6—swung a hammer down at him.
Hwarak—
The black dragon's momentum rising from Krash's body incinerated the bandages in an instant.
Toward the hammer crashing down on his head, Krash thrust his fist straight ahead.
Kwang!
Whether from the sheer power infused, the hammer larger than Krash cracked upon impact with his fist.
The moment Krash punched toward the sky.
The headless swordsman Number 5 extended his blade from a low stance.
The sword's speed was too fast to track with the eyes, but Krash's right leg was already lifting to match it.
Then, enhanced by Excel, he instantly stomped down with his leg.
Kwajik!
Number 5's swung sword was instead crushed and bent under Krash's foot.
At that moment, lightning surged from beneath Krash's foot.
Skill Lioner flowed along Number 5's sword, electrocuting him.
On top of that, the black dragon's momentum rising from Krash's body swatted away all the hammer fragments raining down from above.
Through his Sixth Sense, he had meticulously calculated the hammer fragments, which poured toward Number 7 with his bandages and the petite girl Number 6.
As Number 6 summoned her rabbit doll again to block the fragments, and Number 7 blocked them with bandages—
Peok!
Seizing the opening obscured by the fragments, a thunderous blade pierced Number 7's throat.
The force was so immense that Number 7 flew straight into the training ground wall and embedded there.
Having neutralized Number 7, Thunderclap returned to Krash's leaping grasp.
With Excel-enhanced leap, Krash tore apart the doll Number 6 created and slashed open her chest.
At that instant, a gust of wind pressure slammed into Krash's body.
The black dragon's momentum rose from Krash to counter the wind pressure from the fan swung by Number 4, who looked like a noble lady.
Piercing through Krash's black dragon momentum, the old butler Number 3 with gauntlets on both hands charged in.
Krash's sword and Number 3's fists exchanged ten clashes in an instant.
Krash realized the shock traveling along his sword.
Because Number 3 wielded a secret art akin to Krash's Inch Strength.
As he redistributed his power to push back Number 3—
Beyond the wind pressure from Number 4 swinging her fan.
He sensed immense energy gathering.
Black Flame immediately swirled around Krash's sword.
Drawing a deep breath, Krash invoked Annihilation Flame Erosion and thrust his sword forward.
Jiiiiing!
A black beam collided with Krash's sword.
Pouring strength into his arms, Krash split the beam to the end and righted his sword.
Clop clop!
The sound of hooves rang in Krash's ears.
Number 1, riding Number 2, charged in, thrusting her lance toward Krash's body.
The lance was larger than Krash himself.
And the power within it warped the air around the lance.
Drawing breath even deeper, Krash summoned Heavenly Slaughter Star above Knox's Night Sky within his body.
"Ugh!"
However, still unable to fully control his body, Krash couldn't draw out Heavenly Slaughter Star completely.
Instead, the backlash sent a fierce shock hammering through his internals.
With momentary disorientation, the lance closed in before his eyes.
Kaduk!
Yet Krash clung to his senses and parried the lance with his sword.
Kwaaaaaang!
With an explosion, Krash's body was flung back, tumbling across the floor.
No matter that he had regained his senses midway.
Having failed to invoke Heavenly Slaughter Star, he couldn't muster full power and thus couldn't fully block Number 1's lance.
"Guess we need a break now."
As Evelask sighed, eyeing Krash's battered form and preparing to withdraw the Numbers—
"Ah, wait."
Krash rose from his wrecked state and called out to Evelask again.
Black Flame was rising from his body once more.
"It's not over yet."
As if declaring he'd go until his mind broke.
Krash's eyes burned with desperate fighting spirit.
Evelask watched him, then bit her lip and raised her hand.
"One more round."
The Numbers' assault resumed.
Krash met the onslaught with unyielding tenacity.
Why push himself so hard even in training?
But Evelask couldn't stop him.
To crush the will of someone fighting to protect his world—
was something she couldn't do, not even for Venapocchi of the rescue squad, who had sought to save the world together.
So Evelask simply supported Krash quietly from behind.
"...I'll make sure to collect on that promise properly."
This was the moment Evelask's dark resolve solidified once more.
＊ ＊ ＊
Time flies like an arrow.
Krash repeated training upon training to familiarize himself with his body.
Train, collapse midway and sleep, then train again.
In the endless cycle of training days.
Jeojik!
Krash finally achieved the fruits of his training.
Chinggrang!
The shattering of Number 1's lance echoed through the training ground.
Silence blanketed the area.
Unlike before, without a drop of sweat, Krash gazed at Number 1.
Soon, Number 1's body toppled sideways.
Kuung!
She crashed headfirst into the ground and went down.
Number 1 wasn't the only one fallen.
From Number 1 to 9, all of Evelask's Numbers lay sprawled on the floor.
Evelask crossed her arms under her chest and looked at Krash.
"Satisfied?"
"Of course."
Krash smiled contentedly and lightly shook out his arms.
He had now fully mastered wielding the dragon king lineage's power.
"Thanks to you."
As Krash smiled at Evelask, she pettily averted her eyes.
"If you know that, treat me better."
"I didn't treat you bad."
"You did! You totally did!"
Why's she getting annoyed?
As Krash stared at her in bewilderment, Evelask puffed her cheeks.
Her hysterics seemed to be getting worse lately.
Worrying on multiple fronts.
"Just hug her once and it'll be fine, right? She's pent up with lust."
Crimson Garden snickered from outside the training ground window.
"W-what! Who said that!"
"Look at those tits. Grown that big—how could she not be backed up?"
"What's wrong with my chest!"
Does this one die if she doesn't sexually harass someone for a day?
As Krash looked at Crimson Garden in exasperation, Evelask covered her chest and glared at him.
The look screamed, You think so too, don't you?
Krash inadvertently glanced at Evelask's upper body and said,
"Stop reading so many erotic novels."
And with that, Krash joined in teasing her alongside Crimson Garden.
After Evelask shrieked and stormed off,
Krash immediately set off.
He had finally grown accustomed to his body.
Now it was time to address the matter of Biolen.
'No word from the Barrier Master even today.'
The period Krash trained spanned a full three months.
During the time it took to adapt to his body, there had been zero updates from the Barrier Master's side.
'This has to mean Abella's made her move.'
He had steadily tasked Crimson Garden and Evelask with the search, but they couldn't locate the Barrier Master.
Which meant they had no choice but to make the first move.
So before that, Krash decided to confirm one thing.
"Terrasius."
After helping with Aslan's magic training.
Krash called to him, holed up in the lab researching magic species creation.
Terrasius regarded Krash with his usual blank expression.
"What deal did you make with the Barrier Master?"
He needed the full story of what transpired between the Barrier Master and Terrasius.