Chapter 290
Chapter 290
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 290
Chapter Title: The Red Witch Abella's Motive
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The Demon Emperor and the Barrier Master.
The deal between the two.
The transaction between them must have been tied to what Ixion sought from Bioren.
After all, both had brought Bioren into existence for the same purpose.
With that in mind, Krash directed his question straight at the Demon Emperor before him, Terrasius Jeblam—what kind of deal had they made?
Terrasius regarded Krash in silence for a moment.
Then, he pressed a hand to his chin briefly, lost in thought.
"Ixion is after Bioren, then."
The moment Krash heard those words, he barely managed to stop himself from flinching.
"Looks like the Barrier Master didn't tell her how to reclaim what was severed from her."
True to his genius, Terrasius had instantly pieced together not just Krash's question, but the entire context behind it.
Krash fell silent, staring at Terrasius.
But there was no resurgence of interest in Bioren flickering in the man's eyes.
He truly seemed to have concluded all his experiments on her.
"I've completed my research on Bioren. Even if she regains her power, my results accounted for that possibility."
Krash instinctively furrowed his brow.
No matter how you sliced it, he and Terrasius could never have a cordial relationship.
Terrasius had tempered his human emotions with mental magic, leaving no room for something as mundane as tact.
"It didn't matter to me since I'd obtained sufficient results, but Ixion apparently sees potential for entirely different outcomes."
"...Did you know Ixion was behind the Barrier Master?"
"Jeblam isn't so carelessly constructed that a single World Erosion entity could infiltrate it."
Terrasius showed far more confidence in Jeblam than Krash had expected.
Magic circles he had personally designed permeated the entire Magic Kingdom.
Just as he said, a lone World Erosion being stood no chance.
"I knew there was an organization backing her from the moment she approached. And her proposal to me was worth entertaining."
"To bring Bioren into being."
The corner of Terrasius's mouth slowly curved upward.
"A vessel capable of containing and sustaining both World Erosion and the power of the world simultaneously."
He was referring to Bioren.
Hearing that, Krash's eyes began to narrow.
"Isn't that the same as me?"
Krash harbored both aura and the power of World Erosion within his body.
So when he pointed that out, Terrasius shook his head.
"Similar case, but different. You fused those powers using a curse. And before that, the two forces couldn't coexist."
As Terrasius said, Krash's aura and World Erosion power had only become possible with the aid of the supreme curse, Four Seasons.
Before Four Seasons, Krash had merely balanced the two powers on a knife's edge.
One slip, and one would have devoured the other instantly.
In truth, even now, the two forces within Krash were far from truly coexisting.
He was merely substituting each into a single force through Four Seasons.
"Does that mean Bioren could wield both the power of World Erosion and the world's power without any external aid?"
"That was the original intent."
Krash's eyes widened.
He knew Bioren had suffered from the World Erosion power gnawing at her.
The power of World Erosion rejected her body, born in this world, and consumed it.
But if things had gone as planned, that wouldn't have happened.
'Bioren did say that after the Barrier Master left, the World Erosion power grew stronger and started devouring her bit by bit.'
Perhaps even that had been a clue leading closer to the truth.
"The Barrier Master's barrier arts were far more unique than one might imagine. And Bioren, who inherited them, was the same."
Terrasius flicked his finger.
A book flew in from down the corridor and landed neatly in his hand.
Terrasius opened it casually.
"The power of World Erosion and the power of the world cannot coexist. But within a barrier, they could. Without external interference, they are both fundamentally powers of the world at their core. Bioren could activate and maintain that property through the concept of barriers."
"...Such a thing was possible?"
It was completely new information, and Krash's eyes went wide.
Terrasius slowly turned the pages before stopping abruptly at one.
He held the book up for Krash to see, where it read:
【Fusing the power of World Erosion and the power of the world through Bioren produces a force usable in any world. I have termed this property the Vessel Gate .】
A vessel for power usable in any world.
Vessel Gate .
Seeing it, Krash's eyes slowly widened.
He had finally realized why Ixion was targeting Bioren.
'A vessel to create a god of World Erosion.'
Krash knew why the creation of a World Erosion god had failed.
The reason was simpler than one might think.
Even if a World Erosion god was created, it could only exist within a world of Erosion.
It couldn't maintain its existence in the world where Krash lived.
What good was creating a god in a doomed, eroded world?
The god would possess no power and ultimately perish alongside the Erosion.
A god's primal power derived from the existence of its world.
Thus, Ixion had changed tactics after creating the World Erosion god.
If the god could only exist within World Erosion...
Then they would blanket this entire world in Erosion.
In fact, Ixion had put this into action, one method being to unleash the Worst Seed, spreading Erosion across the continent.
This happened after the World Erosion entity and Sword Lord died to Charlotte.
In a final act of desperation, the Erosion beings triggered the Worst, blooming it across the world.
Yet even then, the World Erosion god had failed.
It refused to obey Ixion's will.
'The Barrier Master disguised Bioren as a failure, hid her, and at some point was killed by Ixion.'
Ixion, too, had deemed Bioren a failure as per the Barrier Master's words.
And lost interest in her.
As a result, by the time Bioren rose to fame in the Generation of the Sky with her barrier arts, she was no longer Ixion's priority.
But now, the situation had changed.
'Someone in Ixion knows the World Erosion god is ultimately a failure.'
The Red Witch, Abella.
For some reason, she sought to perfect the power of World Erosion by using Ixion.
And she had once stayed in Jeblam in the past.
'She must have seen these records then.'
That Bioren wasn't a failure, but a success sealed away by the Barrier Master.
'Now I get why Ixion targeted Bioren—and why the Barrier Master let them.'
It was a trap.
The Barrier Master, sensing danger, had interfered with Bioren, ensuring that when she reclaimed her power...
Ixion would take her hostage to seize Bioren.
Krash's eyes narrowed.
He recalled the blueprints of the Holy Grail Ixion had stolen from the Sacred Kingdom Freeman not long ago.
The Holy Grail was Freeman's worst holy relic, designed to birth a saintess.
Its property: absorbing and storing a god's power.
'A god's power is akin to aura, the essence of the world.'
Ixion planned to complete the Holy Grail, then infuse its stored power alongside World Erosion into the vessel, Bioren.
Through Bioren, fuse the two forces to create a god that could exist in both World Erosion and Krash's world simultaneously.
'Stealing the Poison Blood War from Lagren was to strengthen Bioren's body to withstand that power.'
Everything clicked into place at once, leaving Krash frozen in place.
Abella truly intended to complete the World Erosion god alongside Ixion.
And Krash had a vague sense of why she wanted that.
That suspicion had recently solidified into certainty.
Not long ago, Terrasius had told him traces of time magic lingered on the fake Arthur.
The Arthur Abella loved was not the current one.
The Arthur she loved was the one from the previous regression.
That Arthur had died in the world's Erosion-induced demise, ceasing to exist in this one.
So Abella desperately wanted to reunite with the previous Arthur somehow.
She was a woman obsessed with him.
The remnants of time magic on the fake Arthur's body.
That was Abella's doing.
'She tried turning the fake Arthur into the real one from the previous turn.'
But she had failed.
Time magic was a realm even Abella couldn't fully grasp.
In the end, Abella abandoned searching for Arthur through time magic.
So she changed her approach.
'...That madwoman plans to create a World Erosion god to create Arthur.'
Abella's reason for creating the World Erosion god?
To bring into existence the Arthur she loved beyond all reason.
'She's lost her mind.'
To resurrect Arthur, she would doom this world to destruction.
She was utterly insane.
Krash felt a profound disgust.
And he realized he had to stop Abella at all costs.
If left unchecked, she would surely see it through.
"What do you plan to do with Bioren?"
At that moment, Terrasius asked Krash with genuine curiosity.
"If you restore her power, Ixion will hound you relentlessly."
Krash snorted derisively.
"Even without Bioren, those bastards are already set on wearing me down."
Ignis, the power Krash possessed, was also essential for creating the World Erosion god.
So Krash was determined to resolve Bioren's situation.
He would never let her fall into Ixion's hands.
"Then Ixion is my enemy as well."
Krash turned to Terrasius at those words.
Terrasius let out a grotesque smile utterly inhuman.
"I still have many questions for you. I won't let Ixion use you as material."
That damnable curiosity was proving useful for once.
"Then look after your daughter."
"I'll consider it."
Surprisingly, Terrasius accepted without resistance.
"I've heard the other Heavenly Strong and Top Ten are secretly gathering forces to strike Ixion from behind."
Terrasius raised a finger.
Snap!
With the sharp click of his fingers meeting, his appearance transformed.
Long silver hair billowed down his back.
Wrinkle lines formed at the corners of his mouth as his stature grew even taller than before.
His sapphire-blue eyes gleamed quietly.
The emptiness and intellect in those eyes were, upon second glance, as distant from ordinary humanity as ever.
This was not the form of Themarin he had been maintaining.
This was the true Terrasius.
"I'll join the fight."
The moment Terrasius Jeblam of the Heavenly Strong announced his participation in the Ixion subjugation force.