Chapter 319
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 319
Chapter Title: Poison Seal
Amidst the thick fog of smoke.
Krash, Haring, and Ebelask were slipping through it together.
Ebelask hid herself within Krash's shadow, while Krash concealed his form through Haring's invisibility.
Thanks to that, even as Krash entered Lagren, none of the World Erosion invaders made an appearance.
The Lagren family manor, shrouded in fog-like smoke, lay silent.
The members of the Lagren family, experts in handling poisons, were all adept at stealthy movements.
So while it seemed quiet on the surface, they were undoubtedly moving with swift precision from the shadows.
"Haring, let's head straight to the workshop."
The top priority right now was resolving Krash's inner core.
Without dealing with it, he couldn't clash head-on with the World Erosion invaders.
Haring nodded and immediately began leading Krash to the workshop.
Even en route to the workshop, the corridors remained eerily quiet.
Presences flickered here and there, but it was clear everyone was deliberately holding their breath.
'World Erosion invaders must be prowling around.'
Krash had no desire to cross paths with one amid the forge smoke.
Sticking as close as possible to Haring, he pressed on.
Thud- Thud-
Soon, massive footsteps echoed simultaneously in Krash and Haring's ears.
Their eyes met, and they swiftly pressed against the wall.
From another corridor lumbered a hulking, bear-like man.
He was a bear in every sense.
His face was literally a bear's head.
Apart from his humanoid frame, no one would mistake him for anything else.
'Black Bear.'
Krash recognized the bear-man's identity.
World Erosion invader, Black Bear.
A fighter whose martial prowess shone through his unbreakable physique.
"Grunt. Came here itching for a brawl, and not even a whisker in sight. Damn pests."
Black Bear snorted gruffly, his irritation boiling over.
Ever since entering the forge smoke, he hadn't spotted a single Lagren family member.
After getting trounced once by the prior World Erosion zealot, the Lagren family had poured everything into fortifying their main house.
As a result, even the lowliest maids knew concealment techniques and secret passages.
The moment this crisis erupted, everyone had vanished in unison.
"This forge smoke's turning into more of a hindrance than anything."
No matter the forge arts, dispersing enough smoke to spot outsiders left the interior blind.
Thus, every World Erosion invader inside had to hunt on foot.
"Just let me catch one. I'll rip it apart limb by limb."
Black Bear's frustration peaked as he hammered the hapless wall.
The entire Lagren structure seemed to shudder from the blows.
"Why not just smash the whole damn building?"
As that perilous thought crossed his mind.
Black Bear whipped his head around.
A presence had stirred behind him.
There slithered a snake.
Black Bear knew what it was.
And so did Krash.
"Yin Snake, find anything?"
Yin Snake
A World Erosion invader who commanded snakes.
With top-tier detection and assassination skills, Yin Snake often teamed with Black Bear.
Yin Snake sniffed out the prey, Black Bear crushed it.
That was their deadly duo.
"Hiss."
At Black Bear's query, the snake flicked its tongue, relaying a message.
Krash and Haring couldn't decipher it, but Black Bear's eyes gleamed.
"So that's where those vermin are holed up, eh?"
Black Bear cracked his massive knuckles with a pop.
A feral, murderous grin split his maw.
"Lead on. We're going now."
The snake twisted away at his command.
Black Bear lumbered after it without hesitation.
Witnessing this, Krash's hand drifted to Thunderclap.
From the reaction, Yin Snake had sniffed out some hidden Lagren members.
In that instant, Haring's hand clamped over Krash's.
Their gazes locked; she shook her head.
"Lagren folk don't fall that easily."
Haring's eyes brimmed with faith in her family.
"We've prepped for World Erosion invaders time and again. This is their trap to draw them in."
Scarred once before, Lagren had doubled down on countermeasures.
To them, this crisis was prime revenge bait.
Krash eased his hand from Thunderclap at her words.
Coming from Haring, Lagren direct blood, it rang true.
He had to trust it.
Besides, exposing himself now, with his core unresolved, was suicide.
"Got it. Let's move."
Haring smiled at his trust and advanced alongside him.
Moments later, they reached the workshop.
It stood mercifully empty.
The other World Erosion invaders had steered clear too.
The poison reek wafting from it unnerved even them.
Safe inside, Krash and Haring dropped invisibility.
"Ebelask, stand guard."
"Payday comes later."
Whatever the fee, Ebelask slipped from Krash's shadow and took post at the entrance.
She ranked among the elite, her rep holding firm against breaches.
Entrusting the door to her, Krash entered the workshop proper with Haring.
Materials prepped by Poison King Haulan awaited them.
He'd pledged aid in core extraction, rushing the supplies.
"Haring, status?"
"All good. Everything's here."
Haring exhaled relief, unpacking and prepping her bag's contents.
Yet worry clouded her face mid-task.
Haulan had been slated to craft the core-extraction elixir from Krash's body.
Haring excelled at elixirs and poison pills, but reality bit: she couldn't match him.
This brew was uncharted for her too.
Fear of botching it for Krash etched her eyes.
Krash caught on.
"Haring."
He flashed a bold grin.
"I chew through side effects like candy."
His gauntlet of ordeals had numbed him to agony.
He dared claim: none rivaled his pain threshold.
"Pain endurance? That's my one true gift."
Sad admission, suffering as second nature.
But spot-on.
"Long as the core pops out, whatever I tank solves it all."
Just nail the endgame.
Aftermath? Worry-free.
As Krash laid it out.
"That's not okay!"
Haring erupted.
Meant to lighten her load, it backfired.
Krash blinked, caught off-guard.
She gazed at him mournfully.
"I hate seeing you hurt."
Krash always grit through pain for gains.
Haring loathed witnessing it—hence minimizing burdens in the rapid elixir batch.
Future alchemy lord Darling chased peak efficiency.
Krash demanded max gains, side effects be damned.
Haring fine-tuned it.
To ease Krash's load from the rapid elixir.
Balancing curses and ingredients without slashing potency.
Krash, oblivious till now, shifted uncomfortably.
"I'll nail it side-effect free."
Her teary resolve hit home; Krash grasped his recklessness.
He'd figured his pain was solo territory.
Unaware of the ripples on others.
'No, I knew... just never faced it.'
Flashback to the Agareth bout.
Bianca's sobbing face resurfaced.
Couldn't beg her to stand down.
Tears streaming, she'd forged herself to lighten his load.
Bianca's path mirrored Haring's—research bent on his relief.
Dismissing side effects to her? A dagger to the heart.
Scratching his nape, Krash eyed her diligent prep.
He knew now: no more lone burdens.
'Generation of the Sky's not just me.'
Awakened, he met her gaze.
"Sorry, Haring."
She startled at the apology.
"You always pulled me through."
The rapid elixir from her, Darling, and Dorma had bridged countless perils.
Gratitude voiced at last, Haring dove into full production.
Her eyes burned with iron will.
Her crafting flew faster than anticipated.
Trial-and-error marathons with Darling honed her.
Secret tome in hand, she fused reagents at breakneck speed.
Soon, she unveiled a petite green pill.
Inner Heaven Pill
Ethereal light currents danced within the Inner Heaven Pill.
Like a pearl shifting hues with every tilt.
Clutching it, Haring approached Krash.
"Krash, it'll jolt when it brushes your soul."
Side effects minimized, core effect stayed vital.
"Post-swallow, the core ejects from your fingertip. Stay stock-still till it's out."
She set a bowl before him for the expelled core.
"Understood."
Tense, she passed the Inner Heaven Pill.
Krash gulped it down sans pause.
In his mouth, it rolled like a true bead.
Gulp-
Resolved, he swallowed; it traced his throat.
Soon, a stifling churn brewed inside.
Like a whirlpool stirring deep within.
"Inner Heaven Pill's kicking in. Focus hard."
Krash locked in.
The pill's energy prodded his aura core.
The core—hitherto pinned inert—began rolling free.
Hunting its exit.
This would work.
'The hitch?'
Time.
The core's crawl was glacial.
Nineteen aura cores dwelled in Krash.
One taking this long? Full extraction would drag.
'Gotta push.'
As he mustered peak focus.
Boom!
A colossal blast rocked outside the workshop.
Clash somewhere afar.
"Krash, keep at it."
Haring's words guarded his trance, then she wheeled.
No window for protest.
Invisibility flared; she bolted out.
Till Krash purged every core.
His shield was hers.
'No one sets foot in this workshop.'
To safeguard her heart's chosen, Haring—who'd later earn the moniker Poison Seal—honed her venom needle to a lethal edge.
