Chapter 304
Chapter 304
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 304
Chapter Title: Arthur's Lover
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Above the place where the white flames blazed fiercely.
Krash was barely catching his breath.
He had grasped the clue to the Spear Emperor Martial God.
That alone was an enormous achievement.
Since he had used his body as a vessel, the strain imposed on it was far from ordinary.
He was barely suppressing the sensation that his mind might snap at any moment.
Krash faced the entity that had pushed through the smoke rising from the white flames.
It was the White Knight of Conquest, his armor scarred with burns.
Even after taking such a devastating strike, the White Knight of Conquest had not perished.
Krash ground his teeth.
It felt as though the White Knight of Conquest was warning him not to get arrogant over merely grasping a clue.
‘Damn.’
He hadn’t expected anything less.
Krash immediately tried to steady his stance.
But due to the excessive power he had expended, he merely staggered, unable to assume a proper posture.
At this rate, he couldn’t withstand the White Knight of Conquest’s power.
He’d be done for.
The instant that thought crossed his mind.
A flash ignited behind the White Knight of Conquest.
And soon, the dispersed flash reached Krash, enveloping him in an embrace before leaping away.
Krash immediately recognized the light as Arthur.
Carried by Arthur, Krash instantly escaped the battlefield.
After the surrounding scenery blurred past senselessly for a long while.
In a forest where black rain drizzled softly, Arthur finally halted her steps.
Breathing raggedly, Arthur barely set Krash down.
Her disheveled golden hair fluttered.
The sweat dripping steadily showed that the previous battle had taken a toll on her as well.
She staggered, leaning her back against a tree, and gazed at Krash.
“Who are you? Where did you suddenly come from?”
Hearing her words, Krash lifted his head with a puzzled expression.
Could it be that Arthur in this timeline didn’t know him?
“……Krash Valheim.”
So Krash simply tossed out his name.
Arthur’s face grew subtly complex upon hearing it.
Then, as if incredulous, she exhaled sharply and swept her bangs back with her hand.
“Who told you that name?”
Bare suspicion etched across her face.
Krash noticed how closely it resembled the Arthur he knew.
‘Huh?’
The Arthur he had brought from the Aura timeline knew of his existence.
So why was she reacting this way upon seeing him?
Krash detected wariness clouding Arthur’s eyes.
“Tell me. Where did you hear that name?”
A faint ripple of light began to shimmer from Arthur’s sword.
A sign she would strike if the situation demanded it.
‘Does she not recognize me as Krash?’
Having poured everything into the White Knight of Conquest, Krash had scarcely any strength left in his body.
Naturally, he had no reserves to clash with Arthur.
‘Right now, Arthur is at her peak condition.’
Even if his body were normal, she was an opponent he couldn’t defeat.
He knew this was an illusory timeline conjured by Aura, but lives might still be at stake.
“I owed Krash Valheim a debt once.”
Arthur’s eyebrows twitched.
She was clearly hypersensitive to his name.
“I heard you knew his final whereabouts. While searching, I spotted that monster and joined the fray.”
“…….”
Arthur fell silent, simply staring at Krash.
Sorry, but he was a master at masking his expressions.
As Krash stared back quietly, she let out a long sigh and leaned against the tree again.
“Ah, I see.”
Her response suggested she’d tentatively decided to believe him.
With the White Knight of Conquest having appeared, she likely didn’t want to waste energy either.
“……I never imagined someone I didn’t know would still be out there.”
In that moment, Arthur muttered to herself.
She seemed to have accepted him as a variable that had emerged in this world.
She quietly stared at the ground, her face lost in thought.
She appeared to be ruminating on events that could serve as variables in this regression cycle.
Krash had done the exact same when he regressed.
“Can I ask a question now?”
Krash inquired if it was his turn to question.
She’d done all the doubting; now it was his.
“Go ahead.”
Aware of the propriety, Arthur nodded.
“What happened to Krash Valheim?”
At Krash’s question, Arthur paused briefly before letting out a slow, hollow chuckle.
“What kind of answer are you hoping for?”
A retort laced with sarcasm returned.
Krash caught the deep-seated hatred in her eyes.
Realizing from that which point in time this timeline occupied, he slowly widened his eyes.
“……Did you kill him?”
The moment Krash asked, Arthur’s body froze solid.
Her provocative demeanor vanished in an instant, leaving her speechless and rooted in place.
Seeing that, Krash was certain.
This timeline was the one where he had betrayed Arthur.
And Arthur had slain the treacherous Krash with her own hands.
Arthur’s silence stretched on.
She surely knew her actions aroused deep suspicion.
Yet she couldn’t bring herself to speak rashly.
Her eyes quivered faintly.
Then, slowly, her head bowed.
“……Yeah. So what?”
A voice tinged with sobs leaked from her lips.
Her emotions as she uttered those words ran profoundly deep.
“I killed him. Did you track me down to curse me as the bitch who slew her own lover with her own hands?”
But upon hearing the follow-up, Krash’s body stiffened this time.
What had he just heard?
His brain stalled momentarily as he doubted his own ears.
Suddenly, a headache began to throb.
They said humans froze like this when faced with unacceptable information.
Krash realized he was still just an ordinary human.
So he needed to ask clearly.
To confirm he hadn’t misheard in his rattled state.
“……You were lovers with him?”
“……Your reaction says you didn’t know.”
Arthur showed an equally surprised response.
Krash realized her reaction stemmed from how long she and he had been together.
Assuming others naturally knew they were dating implied an exceedingly lengthy relationship.
Krash felt his headache intensify.
What on earth had the Krash of this timeline been thinking?
‘If this truly happened in the timeline.’
Didn’t that mean the Arthur whose regression he stole also remembered dating him?
His mind grew ever more tangled.
Yet through it, he understood why Arthur had revealed her regression secret to him.
‘Because her most trusted person was her lover.’
The one with whom she shared love.
Who else would she confide such a secret to?
It made far more sense than mere deep trust.
‘Then, I tried to steal the regression from my own lover?’
Krash pressed his chin.
Regression was indeed a tempting hidden card even for him.
In truth, he had altered countless things through it.
But no matter how low he stooped, would he steal even the regression of Arthur, his lover?
‘People undoubtedly change under various environmental influences.’
Even so, attempting to seize regression.
Krash clutched his forehead, cooling his chaotic thoughts, then raised his head.
Either way, the truth lay with the Arthur before him.
Asking her directly would resolve it.
“Why did you kill him? Your lover, no less.”
“……Because he tried to take what was most precious to me.”
As expected, he had indeed tried to steal her regression.
“I can’t easily believe he’d do such a thing.”
“……What do you know? You only owe him a debt, at best.”
He knew that better than anyone.
Because he was that very person.
But he couldn’t say as much.
“It’s from what I’ve seen of him. Didn’t he have some reason compelling enough to take something precious from you?”
Arthur’s eyes wavered.
Perhaps she had harbored the same suspicion deep down.
That Krash had some crucial reason demanding he steal her regression.
But no Krash remained in this world.
Arthur had executed him personally with her sword.
So she clenched her fists tightly and shouted back at Krash instead.
“Quit acting like you know everything……!”
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
In that instant, a ferocious explosion roared.
Arthur flinched and turned her head; black smoke billowed from beyond the forest.
“Kyaaaaak!”
“S-save meee!”
Screams followed the blast in tandem.
Both Krash and Arthur had sharp ears.
They wouldn’t miss them.
This world was presently hurtling toward destruction.
From the White Knight of Conquest’s emergence, World Erosion’s restraints had shattered, allowing Erosion Beings to roam freely.
Naturally, the human toll from them was incalculable.
Arthur glared at Krash before turning away.
As she dashed toward the forest’s edge, Krash followed suit.
As befitting the Dragon King clan’s physique, he had recovered somewhat during the respite.
“Why are you following me?”
“In a world on the brink of doom, I’ll see my purpose through to the end.”
Claiming he wanted to hear the truth firsthand, Arthur scoffed.
“Follow me, and you’ll die.”
“Even then, I won’t die pointlessly. You bought me time to strike in that last battle precisely because you know it.”
Arthur bit her lip hard.
Indeed, she had given him the opening to unleash his full power, just as he said.
Unable to refute the aid from Krash’s strength, Arthur accelerated, bursting from the forest ahead of him.
There, an army of Erosion Beings unfolded.
Erosion Beings of every variety, origins unknown, swarmed the village, butchering its people.
Witnessing the gruesome scene, the pair charged the village without a word.
Krash gripped Thunder Roar, Accel surging through his body.
“Uwaaaaaah! Save meeee!”
His sword arced before a beast-shaped Erosion Being could register them, aiming to trample a villager.
Slash! Thud!
Krash severed the Erosion Being’s neck in a flash, shielding the nearly crushed person.
He sidestepped the collapsing corpse, set the man down safely, and shouted.
“Ah, ugh.”
“Keep running!”
“Y-yes!”
No time to escort.
The man bolted frantically at Krash’s cry.
Krash let him go, panting as he regripped Thunder Roar.
His body creaked, but he could still move.
Flash! Kwaaaaaang!
Far off, Arthur’s flash annihilated dozens of Erosion Beings instantly.
Astounding power, even on second glance.
That’s why she earned the title Hero King, leading the Generation of the Sky.
“Sorry, but that role’s mine this time.”
He couldn’t afford to look feeble here.
Krash eyed the oncoming World Erosion Beings and infused them with white flame.
Before safeguarding our world, let’s protect another first.