Chapter 317
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 317
Chapter Title: Rowdy Ragren Infiltration Operation
Having incinerated Adon, Krash stood atop the ramparts, catching his breath lightly.
'So it was Adon who triggered the rampage of the Last Ark.'
Krash had seen Adon from the ramparts, raising his hands to the sky in prayer.
"Crimson Garden."
[It's a different method from mine, but the same type.]
As expected, the Ixion bastards knew how to force a Forbidden Zone into rampage.
Krash stretched his back, glaring irritably at Adon's charred corpse below.
Having pushed himself this far in the run, he'd drawn quite a bit on the Cataclysmic Flame Erosion, and heat radiated from his body.
At the same time, Krash realized that the outer walls of the aura cores within him had slightly melted.
If they melted any further, the aura would explode out of his body immediately.
Knowing full well what would follow, Krash prioritized managing his aura cores.
In the meantime, Haring, who had been at his side, stared silently out from the watchtower.
The direction she was looking was none other than the Ragren Family estate.
Krash followed her gaze, and there he saw it enveloped in thick white mist.
Not just the Ragren Family estate, but the entire mountain it sat upon was shrouded in fog.
Krash frowned, sensing that the mist's composition was akin to smoke.
'Smoke Fiend.'
The Smoke Fiend had undoubtedly come here somewhere.
At the same moment, Krash intuited that Adon had been bait.
'They deliberately let it be known.'
That it was they, the Ixion, who were forcing the Forbidden Zone into rampage right now.
And that they held the leash of the Ragren Family.
Ixion had targeted Krash and those around him up until now, but failed every time.
Through those failures, Ixion had learned something.
Krash was currently a powerhouse they couldn't recklessly challenge.
Moreover, Krash was growing at an unpredictable, explosive rate.
Ixion had deemed Krash a danger.
Thus, they concluded it was risky to disperse their forces against him as before.
But that didn't mean they could rashly commit overwhelming forces either.
'I've been in steady contact lately with powerhouses like the Heavenly Supremes.'
And Krash had moved openly, making sure others knew.
It was a calculated move on his part.
Just having powerhouses at his side would deter rash actions.
'From my position, it's like I've deliberately balanced the scales.'
Krash had effectively shackled Ixion.
Ixion was highly likely to spark the war against the World Eroders.
Krash wanted to reduce that probability somehow.
'So instead, I need the World Eroders to cut Ixion loose.'
Before humans and Ixion clashed, Krash planned to persuade the other World Eroders, excluding Ixion.
And who did he intend to persuade?
The central figure among the World Eroders, in a different sense from Ixion.
'Sword Sovereign.'
The one Krash aimed to convince was the Sword Sovereign, said to be the strongest among the World Eroders.
The monster that Charlotte, possessing the greatest talent among humans, had felled at the cost of her life.
Krash's goal was to persuade him to become Ixion's enemy.
It sounded absurd.
But to prevent the war with the World Eroders, it was something he absolutely had to accomplish.
And to achieve that persuasion, Krash needed to fully assimilate his aura cores and wield the Creation Martial God.
Only Sword Discourse could persuade the Sword Sovereign.
Thus, Krash needed time.
Time to delay the clash between humans and Ixion.
'But these rotten Ixion bastards have no intention of waiting.'
Krash's face twisted viciously.
This mist was proof of that message to him.
If you want to save the Ragren Family and Sizli, enter the mist right now.
That was what the Ixion bastards were shouting.
The moment Krash entered, they would spring their planned trap.
'On the flip side, if I don't enter.'
For Ixion, that wasn't bad either.
They could just take the hostages and go.
"Rotten bastards."
Krash ground his teeth.
He'd realized they'd prepared meticulously for this.
'My coming to the Ragren Family was coincidental.'
But they'd turned that coincidence into an opportunity.
To seize the empire's fall and capture Krash along with it.
"Krash."
At that moment, Haring tugged at Krash's sleeve.
She too had sensed his dilemma.
Krash wasn't in his right state now.
His body housed aura absorbed from the world's rift, formed into cores.
Ixion might not know that detail.
But Haring knew well that if Krash entered now, he'd be in danger.
"Father's inside. The Ragren Family will be fine."
Hearing her next words, Krash looked at Haring.
Poison King, Hauran Ragren.
He was undoubtedly a powerhouse among the Ten Heavenly Supremes.
Moreover, the Ragren Family wasn't one to be trifled with.
In the past, due to the Mad Emperor and the Hell Fairy, the Ragren had been turned to ruins.
Thus, they'd rigorously trained to protect themselves.
As Haring said, the Ragren wouldn't crumble easily under Ixion's assault.
But that was merely an assumption.
What was happening inside was unknown to both Krash and Haring now.
On top of that, the rampaging Last Ark was a problem.
The Ragren managed both the Last Ark and the ramparts.
If the Ragren couldn't move properly, the disaster starting from the Last Ark would eventually breach the ramparts and engulf this place.
Haring surely knew that too.
Yet she was telling Krash the Ragren Family would be fine.
Krash glimpsed her sincerity.
The genuine wish that he not be put in danger for her family's sake.
Haring's arm clutching his sleeve trembled faintly.
Beyond that tremor, he felt her worry for the Ragren.
It was only natural.
The Ragren was Haring's hometown and family.
Besides, her only remaining family, her father, might be in peril.
It would be strange if she weren't worried.
And yet, she was prioritizing his safety in this situation.
As Krash pondered how to navigate this, he sorted his thoughts.
"Haring, have you gathered all the materials?"
"Ah, yeah."
Haring said so, showing Krash the bag of prepared materials.
"The rest should be gathered at the Ragren Family by now, right?"
Hearing that, Haring's eyes wavered.
She realized Krash had decided to enter the mist.
"Krash, wait. The Soul Binding isn't ready yet."
So Haring mentioned the advanced curse, Soul Binding, to dissuade him.
It was the Soul Binding requested from Dorma.
Fortunately, word had come via Crimson Garden that Dorma had somehow procured it.
But it was set to be delivered after Krash returned.
So the Ragren Family didn't have the Soul Binding yet.
"It's fine."
Krash said, looking at his shadow.
"My friends are pretty capable."
As those words trailed off, Krash's shadow swelled and writhed.
Haring started in surprise, and soon a head poked out from the shadow, becoming a person.
Who emerged from Krash's shadow was none other than Evelask.
She eyed Krash with eyes full of mild dissatisfaction.
"Treating people like errand runners."
In Evelask's hand was a small jar plastered with talismans.
Sealed within was the advanced curse, Soul Binding.
After receiving the Soul Binding procured by Dorma via Crimson Garden's subordinate Taria Vales,
Evelask had crossed over here with it.
"Good work."
Krash took the Soul Binding from Evelask and handed it to Haring.
Haring accepted it in a daze, her face hardening as she looked at Krash.
This meant he'd resolved to go inside.
"Haring, to fix my damned body, I have to get into Ragren somehow."
To resolve his body, he needed the materials inside Ragren.
With Ixion on the move and time pressing,
Krash had no time to gather materials again.
"So Haring, please. Come into Ragren with me."
Instead, Haring bit her lip as Krash turned the request on her.
This man was always like this.
Making her deepest desire feel unburdened.
Justifying it as something he needed, pushing forward.
Haring looked at Krash.
She could no longer dissuade him.
It was because he was this kind of person that she'd fallen for him.
"...Got it. Let's go. I'll definitely fix your body, Krash."
Krash smiled at Haring's reply.
Then, he slyly grabbed the clothes of Evelask, who was subtly backing away.
"Let's go, my shadow buddy."
"Eek! I-I knew it!"
Evelask vented her frustration but didn't flee.
She knew the situation was urgent too.
Krash raised his head.
With Haring and Evelask.
Ragren infiltration operation.
Beginning.
The head of the Ragren Family.
Poison King, Hauran Ragren.
He was quietly guarding a certain room now.
The person in the room behind him was the empire's most noble figure.
Her name was Sizli Epania.
The empire's Fourth Imperial Princess, hailed as the empire's greatest mind.
Hauran had first seen Sizli in her childhood.
As a child, she was rumored to be brilliant but a wild tomboy.
Because of those rumors, the nobles didn't seriously consider her as the next emperor.
However, from the day Hauran first saw Sizli, he realized.
All her actions were an act.
An act sophisticated enough to fool even adults.
And that at just four years old.
At four, Sizli was already reading the world.
'I thought she was a frightening child.'
But regardless, because she was too intelligent, Hauran couldn't ignore her.
Sizli knew reality all too well.
Starting from the chaos that would ensue if she vied for the throne.
To the danger to her safety if she remained in the imperial family—she saw it all.
Thus, she distanced herself from the imperial family as the mischievous youngest princess.
'After that, I thought the Fourth Princess would never return to the imperial family.'
But lately, her movements had changed dramatically.
While rumors subtly spread among nobles that the emperor was ill,
Sizli, attending Raheln Academy, suddenly returned to the imperial palace.
She met with the Heavenly Emperor, then sat with the ailing emperor.
Soon after, the emperor reappeared fully recovered.
And during that process, a World Erode group called Ixion in the empire dared to attempt kidnapping Sizli.
Krash, who happened to visit the empire then, saved Sizli, and the emperor, impressed by his heroic deed, hailed him a hero.
Moreover, he declared him Sizli's fiancé.
A massive event that unfolded like flowing water, in an instant.
Hauran sensed that, unlike the announcement, myriad interests were entangled.
Hauran didn't delve deeply into it.
Digging would only earn him the imperial family's glare, nothing more.
So while Hauran stayed silent,
Sizli visited with Krash over the spy issue.
Seeing her visit, Hauran initially thought she came to warn him against handing his daughter Haring to her fiancé Krash.
But after Sizli's visit,
Hauran felt an odd unease.
Sizli's actions in searching for the spy were slower than expected.
As if waiting for some moment.
Witnessing that, Hauran personally deployed his informants.
Though Ragren belonged to the empire, empires could turn blades inward anytime.
Thus, Hauran investigated matters related to Sizli.
And Hauran learned one fact.
'It was the Fourth Princess who decisively toppled the Third Princess.'