Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Mary's Fucked
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Krash, who had left the arena with Evelask, rubbed his arm.
It felt a bit ominous, but things weren't completely settled yet.
'A potion, a few days' rest, and it'll heal right up.'
Thinking he'd stop by an alchemy shop on the way, Krash glanced to the side.
There was Evelask, watching him like a puppy desperate to poop.
Come to think of it, he'd forgotten.
Krash rummaged in his pocket and pulled out her heart.
"Here."
He tossed it casually to Evelask.
"Huh?"
Confusion spread across Evelask's face as she caught the heart.
She clearly hadn't expected him to hand it over so easily.
"...You sure that's okay?"
She was a World Erosion being.
A necromancer of endless value, one the imperial palace could exploit directly.
When she asked if he was really fine letting someone like her go so easily, Krash shrugged.
"We had a deal, didn't we?"
Krash knew Evelask's personality.
She was the type who preferred hiding away somewhere over causing harm to others.
Even if he used her heart to control her, it'd just create more annoying problems.
"More importantly, did you grab what I told you to?"
"Oh, uh, yeah. The Golden Dragon Herb, right?"
Evelask fumbled in her pocket and pulled out the Golden Dragon Herb.
Krash snatched it up quick.
He'd gone through hell to get this one thing.
'Now all that's left is heading back.'
He had no desire to linger in this tiresome empire any longer, so Krash turned to leave.
"Well, I'm off."
"W-Wait, uh, yeah?"
Evelask's face twisted in bewilderment.
She glanced around, then started following behind him.
"Why are you following me?"
A few minutes later, Krash turned back to her with a displeased look.
He'd thought maybe their paths just overlapped at first, but she was tailing him all the way to the outskirts of the imperial capital.
"B-But I'm a fugitive from the empire now. Don't I have to get out of here first?"
Well, yeah, that made sense.
The palace wouldn't let Evelask off the hook.
'Plus, Sigrin would rather pin everything on Evelask as the mastermind than lose Mary. Mary was just used in the plot.'
Public opinion wouldn't shift that easily, but she'd avoid execution somehow.
Mary was an idiot, but that body and her skills were the real deal.
Even in her current state, no one in World Erosion matched Mary's strength.
'Her head's made of stone, so her body's stone too.'
Sigrin wouldn't want to lose a loyal meat shield like that.
Krash couldn't stop that much.
'But instead...'
Krash's eyes gleamed sharply.
In that process, Mary's pride would be utterly shattered.
And after that? No need to say it.
The outcome in Krash's hands would speak for itself.
"Okay, I get that part. So you're sticking with me until you're out of the empire? That it?"
"Where are you headed?"
She already knew he wasn't from the empire, so she asked directly.
Krash had no reason to hide it.
"Staron."
"Staron? Isn't that where the Valheims are? Sounds super dangerous."
"Dangerous for you, maybe."
"Why? You're a World Erosion being too."
But at those words, Krash shot her a baffled look.
"You can't underestimate the Valheims. They're terrifying. They might swallow our heads whole while we're still alive and stuff them in their bellies."
He had no idea what image of the Valheims was in her head, but that wasn't the issue right now.
"Hold on. You think I'm a World Erosion being?"
"Huh? Yeah, you are. You're using the essence of World Erosion power, though it feels deliberately toned down. I didn't notice when you were No. 12, but up close, I can tell. Only another World Erosion being or someone who's handled the power directly would pick up on it."
Krash's face hardened.
Was the World Erosion power he'd absorbed via Extreme Blood Poison Infusion making him look like one of their own to them?
He'd never imagined that part. Krash turned to Crimson Garden.
She was preening her wings with her beak, then spoke up.
"You didn't know? I figured you did."
"Eek! Th-The crow's talking?!"
Come to think of it, had Crimson Garden ever spoken in front of Evelask?
'This isn't great news.'
Krash crossed his arms, lost in thought for a brief moment.
Feeling like one of them could be an advantage for blending in, but the downsides were clear.
Even if he hid among people, he'd stand out to their eyes.
He could end up targeted.
World Erosion beings weren't allies to each other—they were individuals.
'Now I get why Evelask believed me so easily.'
Because he seemed like one of them.
She'd bought right away that his special ability could restore her heart.
Lots of World Erosion beings had unique powers, after all.
Krash pondered briefly, then shook it off.
'I have to absorb World Erosion power somehow. The risks were always there.'
At least normal people wouldn't sense it.
"Crimson Garden, how does Black Flame look to others?"
"Like ominous black fire. Your Black Flame purifies the outward World Erosion power with Ignis, after all."
That was welcome news.
Using Black Flame might look sinister, but it wouldn't get him mistaken for a World Erosion being.
"Besides, only World Erosion beings or their ilk can distinguish the power itself. Few in this world can, just like how you see the star mark on my kind."
Krash agreed.
In the past, only Arthur or a few with special eyes and senses could identify Crimson Garden's collar.
Most hadn't even noticed it existed.
"Plus, Krash, your foundation's different from ours. We're World Erosion itself—you're aura mixed with it. The power's diluted, so most will think you're just cursed."
True, curses fell under the same category as World Erosion.
To others, his Black Flame or World Erosion power would feel like a curse.
'So to them, I look like I'm fighting while burdened with a curse.'
Not much different from before.
If that was the case, Krash felt a bit relieved.
He had no interest in being hunted as a World Erosion being.
At that moment, Crimson Garden chuckled.
"And that means to actual World Erosion beings, you're a half-baked one."
Krash gave her an incredulous look.
He'd pass on being a "normal" World Erosion being.
Either way, he was straddling the line between human and World Erosion.
"So absorbing more World Erosion won't tip anyone off?"
"They'll just think the curse got stronger or more intense."
Krash nodded in understanding.
Clashing with Mary today had driven it home even more.
No matter how much he trained, he and she weren't on the same level.
To surpass her, he had to seize everything with his own hands.
Risks? He'd never backed down from them before.
No reason to fear now.
"You're not a World Erosion being? Huh? Why?"
Meanwhile, Evelask—who'd been quietly listening to Krash and Crimson Garden—looked puzzled.
Her massive upper body swayed with the motion, drawing a pitiful glance from Crimson Garden.
"Do all the nutrients for your brain go to your chest? Tsk tsk. How'd a World Erosion being survive being this dumb?"
"C-Crimson, you're so mean! Why talk like that? I'm getting mad!"
Watching the bird and woman bicker, Krash remembered something he hadn't told Evelask.
"Evelask, my name isn't Krad."
Krash corrected her and stated clearly.
"I'm Krash Valheim."
Her face went blank.
"The youngest direct descendant of those Valheims you mentioned."
And in a corner of the imperial city, a woman's piercing scream echoed out.
The empire's underground prison.
Deep inside the Iron Cell, reserved for death-row inmates.
"Y-You idiot! How many times did I tell you to fix that temper of yours!"
A woman in a white uniform with blue hair was yelling.
"Not only did you let two rabbits slip away, but assassination of royalty?! Are you insane? Insane?! How many times did I say it? Don't think! Just follow my orders and Lord Arthur's!"
It was none other than Third Princess Sigrin Epania.
Her beautiful face—befitting her nickname "the Empire's Flower"—was flushed red, burning with rage.
"Why, why, why did you have to start thinking right then and turn everything into this mess? 'Don't think' means do nothing if variables pop up!"
"......"
Kneeling silently before her was none other than Mary Diana.
Her outstretched hands were bound in massive black shackles, her clothes and body a wreck.
It was the result of the interrogation over the royalty assassination attempt midway through.
No matter that she was from the Diana family—one of the empire's top houses—assassinating royalty was a grave crime.
Even she couldn't escape harsh questioning.
Her white skin was marred with wounds and scars everywhere, her clothes nearly shredded, exposing most of her body.
She was lucky they hadn't stripped her completely.
Iron Cell protocol was to strip prisoners bare, but they'd overlooked it considering her age and status.
"I was paving the way for Lord Arthur to advance more smoothly before finding him. And you ruined it all."
Sigrin stomped the floor, unable to contain her anger.
Mary had no rebuttal for that.
"I only let you in because of Lord Arthur's request! Your spear is exceptional, at least! Even I acknowledged your mental fortitude—standing at the forefront of the Generation of the Sky and enduring to the end without dying!"
Mary Diana's moniker was Divine Spear, and her other title was Indomitable.
Indomitable, never breaking.
To Krash's eyes, she was like a bull stubbornly charging into obvious dangers.
But ironically, that same trait often became the Generation of the Sky's unbreakable morale booster.
In desperate situations, her refusal to give up—charging at World Erosion to the bitter end—was a bravery everyone recognized.
That's why Mary Diana always led the front lines.
Always swinging her spear at the vanguard, rising bloodied to drive it into the enemy's throat.
She'd single-handedly blocked countless World Erosion threats.
Sigrin acknowledged those feats.
Her Heavenly Martial Body—fit for a god's creation—was a physique far beyond human limits, perfectly honed.
No wonder the wounds from her recent interrogation were already healing naturally.
In terms of innate body alone, she was the world's best.
Thus, she was called Divine Spear.
But that was only relevant against World Erosion.
Right now, politics mattered more than brute force against them.
Her simplistic thinking didn't mesh with politics at all.
"Why would God give with one hand but hold back the other..."
Sigrin sighed deeply in lament.
Part of her wanted to cast Mary out to execution or exile right then.
But Mary was too valuable to lose here.
That monstrous, brutish body had to serve as the sturdiest meat shield against World Erosion.
Didn't Arthur say as much?
That she—the one who could handle Mary—was the most beautiful.
Sigrin looked at Mary.
Just seeing her brought a stab of pain and irritation, but she held it back.
Mary might be clueless, but she wasn't that stupid.
Not as sharp as that bitch Sizly, but Sigrin could read the situation.
'This plan had almost no variables.'
At worst, Sizly spotting something she missed and catching on.
But Sizly was doomed anyway.
She never could've predicted Sera's corpse killing her.
That's why Sigrin trusted Mary with it.
She carried out orders faithfully.
"Mary, you said you definitely killed Sera, right?"
"...Yes. I killed her with my own hands."
Mary didn't lie.
Or rather, she didn't know how.
Especially not in front of Sigrin—she never held back the truth.
If she said she killed her, she did.
Mary's spear was beyond what Sera could block.
'Then she really is dead.'
So why was she alive?
According to Mary, Evelask betrayed them.
'That moron betrayed us?'
Sigrin snorted.
Evelask wasn't the type with that kind of guts.
The woman who trembled at eye contact and hid under blankets would cry if you held her heart in front of her.
Her betraying them? Ridiculous.
'Something's off.'
Sigrin's eyes narrowed.
This incident.
A variable she didn't know about had cropped up.
"You said the heart in your pocket suddenly vanished."
"I definitely had it until then. I even gave her orders."
Sigrin stroked her slender jaw, then turned away.
As if she'd figured it out, she spun on her heel.
"Got it. Stay put."
"P-Pardon? Princess Sigrin, you mean stay in prison?"
"Isn't that obvious? You tried to assassinate royalty! It's weird you haven't been executed already! Think I pulled strings behind the scenes to barely hold that off?"
Mary's face paled.
"You openly challenged imperial authority right in front of everyone. If I hadn't worked the angles and pushed that Evelask acted alone, you'd be executed alongside the Black Dragon Knights' vice-captain right now—framed as falling for schemes and threats."
She clicked her tongue and shook her head.
"You're lucky it stuck as the tragic young lady and second prince deceived by a World Erosion being, tying in Chiffon bro too. Otherwise, royalty assassination plus defying imperial authority would've meant instant execution."
The second prince wasn't free of suspicion in Sizly's murder either.
He'd bragged openly about controlling the Night Raven.
Thanks to that, he was pushing hard that he'd been used by Evelask and she was the real villain.
Sigrin backed his claim and dragged Mary into the package deal.
It had barely worked to stave off immediate execution.
Any slip-up, and Mary wouldn't be here now.
The empire's sharp minds would spot the inconsistencies and flaws, but even the neutrals would look the other way in the end.
They knew this wasn't about imperial authority—it was a fight over succession.
Without direct orders from the emperor, they'd let it play out.
Of course, Sigrin had to take losses too.
The first prince had long known Mary was her pawn and would bite hard.
'Hah, wonder how much he'll gouge out of me. Dodged execution barely, but afterward's the real problem.'
The first prince wouldn't attack her directly since she wasn't the target.
But he'd gobble up the second prince's forces in the meantime.
For him, this was a golden chance to absorb a succession-less faction without a fight.
Sigrin was going mad with frustration at having to watch.
And Mary's treatment was an issue too.
Her title of Strongest Spear was gone, and all empire benefits cut off.
Her family was even considering disowning her.
From the Diana family's view, harboring a fool who'd challenged imperial authority risked their entire line.
So Sigrin was using every means to block that.
Repackaging Mary's actions as not a full defiance of authority.
Now Mary was treated as discarded by both empire and family.
With some pity-mongering, she might stay in the empire, but her life ahead would be rough.
'Well, avoiding execution's something.'
Lucky Sizly was from a discarded, weak succession line.
Targeting the first or even second prince directly? Instant death, no question.
She glared pitifully at Mary.
Mary shrank back with a dejected expression.
"I'll somehow flip the situation and get you out eventually. Wait there quietly."
"Princess Sigrin, then the... academy..."
Mary asked Sigrin with a quivering lip.
Raheln Academy meant seeing Arthur.
That one hope had kept her going this far.
She desperately wanted into Raheln Academy no matter what.
To see Arthur soon, feel his gentle smile and caressing hand.
"Haha..."
But seeing Mary like that, Sigrin let out an incredulous laugh.
Academy from her mouth now? Never crossed her mind.
"This year's impossible. Next year? Honestly, no clue. Depends on your sentence. Might not get out till I or Lord Arthur take the throne."
"I-Impossible? The academy—I want to go there, at least! Princess Sigrin, I'm sorry! It was all my fault, please, just the academy!"
"Mary."
Calling her name again, Mary prostrated herself, tears dripping.
Sigrin looked fed up.
She wanted to kick that head and stomp it flat right then.
But this was Arthur's choice.
She couldn't be crude to his woman.
She wanted to remain a refined lady to him.
"...I'll try shifting it to exile at the academy. You're just 16, a young girl manipulated by a World Erosion being—harsh to waste that talent. Frame it as sending her abroad for the empire's benefit. Opinion might swing that way."
No guarantees, honestly.
But better than letting Mary crumble completely—give her a sliver of hope.
"Th-Thank you. Princess Sigrin, truly, thank you."
Mary clung to the bars, sobbing.
The iron heavier and harder than steel bent slightly, reminding Sigrin of her terrifying strength.
Right, enduring for that body alone.
"Not this year. No way you'd get out in time. Next year's iffy too, so stay put and cause zero trouble till then."
Sigrin left the tearfully agreeing Mary behind, turning away.
Her mind churning over what unknown variable had slipped in this time.