Chapter 321
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 321
Chapter Title: The Love of the Poison Master
BOOM, KABOOM!
Amid the chaotic clamor echoing outside the workshop.
Krash had his eyes squeezed shut, lost in deep concentration.
From his hand dripped a pure white liquid, drop by drop.
The fallen droplets hit the container and soon gathered together, forming perfect spheres.
Aura's inner core.
This was Krash extracting it from his own body.
Cold sweat beaded on Krash's forehead.
It demanded utmost focus, carving away at his body bit by bit.
He had no spare attention for anything else.
'That noise—Evelask and Haring must be clashing.'
He had no chance to survey the outside.
Krash hadn't even grasped what World Erosion beast the two were facing.
If the enemy exceeded expectations, the outcome was unpredictable.
One of them might even die.
This world was cruelly unfair.
A single mistake, and it ruthlessly stripped away any chance to make amends.
Krash himself had repeated countless errors.
To avoid those mistakes, he had regressed to reach this point.
'I have to trust them.'
Krash sank even deeper into his trance.
All he could do now was believe in them and extract every last bit of Aura's inner core.
So he poured his full effort into pulling out the core.
BOOM!
Another thunderous roar rattled his ears.
As if the battle was intensifying, the explosions rang out endlessly.
Time kept slipping away.
Krash's concentration held steady.
Ting-
Another piece of Aura's inner core dropped.
"Kyaa!?"
A woman's scream pierced his ears.
Krash gritted his teeth hard.
His focus was so intense he couldn't make out whose it was.
Urgent voices drifted from afar.
It sounded like a dire crisis.
Thud, BOOM!
Another shockwave shook the entire workshop.
Ting-
Another core dropped from Krash's hand.
But more remained to be extracted.
He needed just a little more time.
Having gotten the knack of it, Krash focused even harder, drawing it out.
Ting-
The moment Krash extracted yet another piece.
KABOOOOOM!
The door to the inner workshop shattered and flew inward.
Krash glanced dimly through slitted eyes toward it.
Step, step-
Footsteps echoed as someone entered.
A man with a dog's muzzle protruded from his long black hair.
Mad Dog.
The master of Bergman, the slaughter hound Krash had felled long ago to protect Bianca.
He growled menacingly through his canine jaws.
"Sniff... finally found you."
He was in no normal state.
Wounds riddled his body from fierce combat, and his stamina seemed heavily drained.
His shoulder, especially, was infected with poison.
Yet Mad Dog pressed on, shattering Evelask's battlefield to reach this place.
Through the broken door's gap, Evelask lay crumpled in the distant corner.
A massive axe wound scarred her chest.
Her shallow breaths meant she lived, but it was fatal.
Mad Dog specialized in one-on-one duels.
Against Evelask, who excelled in group fights, she was at a disadvantage from the start.
Even after setting up her necromancer battlefield, she fought desperately, but Mad Dog broke through.
'Necromancers must never give ground to the enemy.'
That was their key to victory.
Yet to protect Krash, Evelask broke that rule and stood before Mad Dog.
Krash bit his lip until it nearly tore.
Not yet.
He hadn't extracted all of Aura's inner core.
'Was it a mistake?'
The fog Yeonma had set around Lagren allowed entry from outside but not escape from within.
Of course, with enough power, nothing was impossible.
But that would alert Yeonma immediately, forcing a fight.
So Krash planned to extract the full core inside Lagren before engaging.
'Never imagined Mad Dog would be here.'
They'd entered via Haring's Invisibility.
Krash figured even Yeonma wouldn't detect them quickly.
Plus, with Evelask there, she could hold in emergencies.
But Mad Dog's keen nose caught Krash's scent.
As a result, Yeonma and Mad Dog arrived far sooner than anticipated.
Krash hesitated.
Should he stop extracting now and face Mad Dog?
But halting midway risked the Aura reversing through the inner heaven core, causing a rampage.
Then Krash would be finished before he could even fight properly.
"Woof, whatever you're scheming."
As Krash wavered, Mad Dog barked and swung his twin axes.
"This is revenge for my hound."
Mad Dog leaped, axes infused with World Erosion power swelling alongside his bulging muscles.
The force gathered so intensely that the red aura shimmered black.
Then he slammed them down at Krash with full might.
Witnessing it, Krash resolved.
'Trust Sa-ge.'
Believing Sa-ge would handle the Aura somehow, Krash reached for Thunderclap.
CLAAAAANG! KABOOM!
In that instant, someone blocked the axes and was hurled back by the force.
Crash! Thud!
The rebound figure smashed into a drawer of materials, kicking up a dust cloud.
Krash stared blankly as it cleared.
There lay Haring, wrist bent, clutching a snapped dagger.
"Haring..."
No one had been in front of him moments ago.
Her sudden appearance meant she'd guarded him invisibly the whole time.
Mad Dog scowled at her.
His strike, meant for Krash, had been thwarted—infuriating.
Seeing her dagger, he realized: during the fight with Evelask, she'd stabbed poison into his shoulder.
"Woof, meddling pest."
Mad Dog wielded Phantom Leg Retreat, an illusion art at masterful heights.
He'd even self-induced an illusion of poison immunity to suppress the dagger's toxin.
Through it, he endured Haring's deadly venom.
Mad Dog raised his axes again.
Blocking the prior strike had forced Haring into retreat.
As he swung anew for Krash.
Suddenly, something coiled around his arm.
A barbed chain had wrapped around it unnoticed.
Haring had flung it as her Invisibility faded mid-flight.
Grip!
The barbs dug into his arm muscle and yanked.
Haring, chain wound around her broken wrist, pulled desperately.
Sizzle!
The barbs, of course, bore her poison.
Acidic this time, it seared his flesh.
"Woof!"
Mad Dog howled in rage.
He flung his arm wildly, yanking Haring toward him instead.
No matter her training.
She couldn't match a World Erosion elite like Mad Dog.
As she flew in, he punched.
Whoosh!
Just before his fist connected, Haring twisted fiercely.
She wrapped the chain from her arm onto his swinging one.
Clatter!
With it secured, she kicked off the floor, climbing his arm against it.
Mad Dog frowned at her unexpected speed.
Blood dripped from her nose.
Clearly, she'd consumed an elixir awakening her body to limits.
During its duration, eyes wide, she crouched low on his arm.
Normally, a joint lock.
But his chimera-swollen arm defied her strength.
Instead, she jammed her remaining dagger between the chain links on his arm.
Crunch!
Elixir-fueled, she drove it deep into his flesh.
Now both arms bound by her chain, Mad Dog's movements were restricted.
This bought time.
As Haring prepared her next assault.
She saw Mad Dog's maw gaping right before her.
He barked.
"Woof!"
His roar ruptured her eardrums.
Despite the chain link, she was flung rolling across the floor.
Blood streamed from her eyes.
Mad Dog's secret art: Lamenting Cry.
A curse striking the listener's innards via sound.
Taken point-blank, Haring's mind shredded instantly.
Crunch, clatter!
Mad Dog yanked out the dagger; the chain slackened free.
Haring's self-sacrifice had dragged it longer than expected.
To waste time on a fly like this.
Unthinkable.
"Woof."
As he raised his axes in irritation.
A bottle flew at him; he smashed it aside.
Shatter-
Poison spilled across the floor.
He turned to see battered Haring propped against the wall.
Another poison vial in her hand.
"Hah, ha, hngh, hah."
She exhaled raggedly.
Drip, drip-
Blood from nose, ears, eyes soaked the ground.
Her left arm swelled with chain bruises and fracture shock.
Untreated, she'd lose it next.
"Cough, hack."
She spat black blood from her mouth, then raised and hurled another vial at Mad Dog.
He shattered it effortlessly.
Then eyed her lazily.
"Not a fly after all."
Mad Dog abandoned targeting Krash first.
He aimed his axes at Haring.
Light gathered at the blades' tips.
"A cockroach, then."
Haring stared blankly at the glow.
Her body refused to move.
No strength left to block it.
She gave up defending.
Instead, she gazed through the light at Krash.
Had she bought even a little time?
Even if she died, Krash had to survive.
Couldn't she hold just a bit longer?
With that thought, she dragged her unresponsive leg forward.
Purple poison aura poured from her body.
Fine, then.
She'd endure more.
For Krash's time—whatever she could, all she had.
Even dying here, buy him one more second.
As Haring squeezed her last strength through tear-streaked bloody eyes.
Mad Dog's light fired.
As it engulfed her to erase her.
"Fuck, who the hell are you calling a fly or cockroach?"
A voice blazing with fury echoed.
Haring dimly raised her head.
A man's back stood before her.
Pure white flames rippled from Krash's body.
Mad Dog's light blast rebounded off his sword, flying back at him.
"Woof?!"
Stunned by the return shot, Mad Dog swung his axes.
The explosion hurled him back, eyes bulging in shock.
In the smoke, Haring felt warm arms embrace her.
Krash's clear face entered her vision.
Deep rage etched his features.
"The one who's held the line for you till now is Haring Lagren, you mangy mutt. Remember that right."
Krash's furious shout rang crystal clear.
Haring knew that anger was for her.
In this dire moment, a strange joy welled up.
He was furious for her sake.
Foolish.
Foolish, but inevitable.
Because she loved Krash.
For him like this, she'd throw herself a thousand times.
"Krash..."
Their eyes met as she called; Haring smiled idiotically.
"I'm glad."
Glad he was safe, even like this.
Hearing it, Krash's chest tightened; he bit his lip and hugged her fiercely.
"That's my line."
Haring felt relief wash over her as consciousness faded.
Yet even as it slipped, she felt no fear.
Krash would win for sure.
Like always.
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