Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Sword Ghost's Arm
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Two days later.
Krash was performing the bizarre feat of doing push-ups with just his left arm.
Sweat poured down like rain.
This was the result of concentrating his aura solely into that one left arm.
And that wasn't all.
Right now, Krash was using not only his aura but also Extreme Blood Poison Infusion at the same time.
The two forces he'd condensed into one arm churned simultaneously.
That was why Krash's push-ups were excruciatingly slow.
"Hoo, ha."
With his quiet exhales, Krash slowly extended his arm.
Then he collapsed straight onto the ground.
I'm gonna die.
An honest assessment.
The reason he was doing this training was none other than the cultivation method for One Sword.
One Sword was a secret art that focused everything into a single blade.
And Krash intended to incorporate this secret art of One Sword into the Sword Ghost's composite technique.
To do that, he needed to be able to concentrate both aura and Extreme Blood Poison Infusion into a single point.
Conveniently, he only had one arm left, so he'd been using it for practice.
"...This is tough."
Of course, there hadn't been much progress.
He hadn't expected results overnight anyway, and he lacked talent in that area to begin with.
Even creating Blaze Erosion Annihilation was practically a miracle.
No matter what he did, the reality of being an idiot didn't change much.
Still, thanks to this, I figured out the flaw in Blaze Erosion Annihilation.
Blaze Erosion Annihilation was a secret art that forcibly shattered the body's limits by burning the power of World Erosion inside with Ignis.
Its drawback was that it raised the body's temperature far too high due to its nature.
It could produce tremendous firepower, but the moment the effect ended, he became completely spent.
This advantage inevitably turned into a major weakness.
So Krash had come up with an idea.
If he could regulate the body's heat after using Blaze Erosion Annihilation, he could extend both his recovery time and duration.
Thanks to that, he'd decided on his next target.
Moon Yin Physique.
The one born with a body full of the moon's yin energy.
"Lord Krash."
At that moment, hearing the call, Krash looked up.
There stood Bianca, holding a towel and staring at him blankly.
"If you lie there in the snow, you'll catch a cold."
"I'm just resting because I'm tired."
"Even so."
Bianca knelt lightly in the snow.
Then she gently cupped Krash's face with her hands and wiped it with the towel.
The soft towel felt warm, as if it had been heated.
"Stay still."
The problem was that Bianca was so clumsy at it that she didn't wipe it properly.
Still, her earnest effort was endearing, so Krash stayed put obediently.
"How's the family?"
"They haven't done anything since then."
Was it because he'd confronted Melio Kan?
He hadn't given Bianca any orders since.
"But my sister's acting a bit strange."
Krash fell silent at her follow-up words.
The rift between Jenica and Bianca ran deep.
It had been that way before his regression, and it was the same now.
"She avoids me whenever she sees me. Before, she'd bully me or glare whenever she saw me alone."
Bianca's eyebrows furrowed slightly.
She found Jenica uncomfortable too.
Any progress between Jenica and Bianca only happened much later.
And even that was after Jenica hid Bianca away.
Without an incident of that magnitude, it wouldn't be resolved.
"If you don't like her, just tell her to her face that you hate looking at her."
Bianca, clutching the towel, looked at Krash.
"Once emotions get involved, you start hiding your true feelings. It's good to learn how to be honest upfront."
Because you'd end up hiding all sorts of things otherwise.
"If you want, tell me. I'll make it happen big time for you."
Like revenge or whatever.
At Krash's words, Bianca fidgeted with her fingers over the towel.
"You'll really do whatever I want?"
"If it's within my power."
"I don't think you can."
Was she thinking of asking him to wipe out the Hardenharts?
Bianca said no more.
She seemed to want something pretty huge.
At that instant, Krash snapped his head up at the voice he hadn't heard in two days.
There was a crow leisurely flying in the sky.
"Crim!"
After another scolding, Crimson Garden slowly descended from the sky.
She looked at Krash and Bianca and asked,
"We didn't do anything special."
Krash felt absurd.
Bianca would later be called a peerless beauty, but right now, she was still a kid who hadn't even hit her second growth spurt.
He'd recently felt himself starting to grow taller, entering his own second growth phase.
But Bianca was still very much a child.
Come to think of it, Bianca didn't grow much even after that.
She'd been a full head shorter than him.
Part of it was his own height, but she just wasn't that tall.
Crimson Garden cackled as she spoke.
Krash ignored her, casually digging in his ear.
Her words inexplicably reminded him of Arthur.
Was that why women swarmed around Arthur?
Count me out.
Krash frowned, recalling the cutthroat behind-the-scenes battles among the women over Arthur.
He wanted no part of that.
Then Krash turned to Bianca.
Come to think of it, unlike Arthur, didn't he have a fiancée?
The solution was simple.
"Bianca, wanna get married?"
Their engagement wouldn't be broken anyway.
So if they just held the wedding sooner, no other women would come sniffing around.
Bianca blinked at his words.
She looked like she hadn't processed it.
Her eyes rolled around once.
Then her body twitched, and she looked at Krash.
Her face was expressionless, but her eyes were busy. She soon closed them.
Her eyelids trembled as she quietly said,
"Don't tease me."
He hadn't meant it that way.
But since she'd taken it so, Krash said no more.
And Crimson Garden cursed him first thing.
"Cut the nonsense. So, the arm?"
This was the real point.
At Krash's question, Crimson Garden spread her wings.
Krash agreed.
So he stood up.
"Bianca, I'll be right back."
"Going with Crim?"
"Yeah, to fix my arm."
Bianca looked up at Crimson Garden flying in the sky.
"Crim isn't a normal bird, is she?"
Bianca spent a lot of time with Krash.
He'd talked with Crimson Garden in front of her several times.
There was a limit to hiding it, so he'd never bothered from the start.
Bianca just accepted it without much fuss.
"Well, it's a complicated relationship."
A contract, after all.
Come to think of it, from Bianca's position, he must seem incredibly suspicious.
Suddenly getting stronger one day, changing his behavior, talking to crows.
All of it was downright weird.
Yet Bianca never questioned any of it.
At first, she just wasn't interested. Now, she figured there was no need since she was following his path.
She just wanted to be by his side.
"Don't get hurt."
Maybe because he always came back injured. He replied as if to say not to worry.
"I'm going to get my arm fixed. How could I get hurt?"
"It's you, Lord Krash."
Krash thought, What's that supposed to mean? But given his track record...
He said he'd be careful and stood.
As Krash walked, he ran into Jenica pacing from the opposite direction.
Jenica flinched and averted her eyes, and Krash kept walking.
But as he passed her, his steps halted abruptly.
"Jenica."
Jenica's shoulders twitched.
Without looking at her, Krash continued.
"If you've made someone your enemy, they've made you theirs too."
It was a simple truth of the world.
And now, at sixteen, Jenica would slowly learn it.
"Even if past you and present you have switched places, what you've done doesn't vanish. That's why people try to live right from the start."
Even regression wouldn't erase it.
Because the deeds you'd committed remained etched in your heart.
"So listen to my warning properly."
A chill settled in Krash's eyes.
He wanted to step in and knock her down himself, but he was an outsider.
And despite appearances, she was Bianca's blood sister.
This was between Bianca and Jenica, so he wouldn't interfere further.
"If you're thinking of apologizing to Bianca out of your own selfishness to feel relieved, don't ever do it."
That wouldn't be for Bianca—it would be selfish for herself.
These rotten relationships didn't resolve neatly like in bards' tales.
Most were sordid, repulsive, mired in self-interest, and ended awkwardly.
That's why the first step mattered.
Mess up the first button, and no amount of fixing the rest would save the shirt.
And once a button was sewn wrong, it tangled irreparably with the fabric.
"If you try to excuse it as 'just kid stuff'..."
Krash warned the frozen Jenica in a low voice.
"You'll never see Bianca again. Just forget her."
He could take Bianca far away so Jenica never crossed her mind again.
That's why he'd taken her in.
Leaving those words, Krash departed. Jenica slid to the ground.
Faced with the fact that her past deeds wouldn't vanish no matter what, she quietly bowed her head.
One of the Hardenharts' forests.
A place blanketed in snow, devoid of human presence.
Krash stopped before a massive tree.
Crimson Garden landed on his shoulder in the meantime, and Krash tapped the tree.
"Evelask."
At his call, a groove formed in the tree.
With a creak, a wooden door opened, revealing a woman with black skin, black hair, and a maid outfit.
For some reason, she wore a distinctive black bunny-ear headband. She bowed politely to Krash.
"Lord Krash, welcome. The master awaits."
Her name was No. 8.
One of Evelask's corpses.
No. 8 promptly guided Krash inside.
The corridor stretched far beyond what you'd expect inside a tree. She stopped before a room.
It looked just like the room where he'd first met Evelask.
No. 8 knocked, and a voice from within said to enter.
Opening the door revealed a feast of countless books.
Seeing the chaotic mess, Krash felt the pigsty vibe again as he stepped in.
"A pigsty?"
At his frank assessment, Evelask—who'd been rolling around under a blanket—pouted.
"I-I have them all placed intentionally! Pigsty? That's harsh."
"The harsh part is whatever's in your head to arrange them like this. Anyway, is it ready?"
At Krash's question, Evelask stood.
Crumb stuck to her ample chest from whatever she'd eaten, but Krash ignored it.
"I got it from Crimson Garden and prepared right away."
She led him deeper, where a magic circle and small altar awaited.
On the candlelit altar lay a scarred arm alone.
It was the Sword Ghost's arm.
Crimson Garden had brought it as requested.
"Attaching it right away?"
"Yeah, please."
"We have to connect the nerves, so it'll hurt a lot. Can you handle it? If not, I'll knock you out."
She raised her hand, and No. 8 brought a hammer.
Were they planning to kill him?
"No need. Just do it."
"Really? I won't take responsibility. If you cry later, I won't stop, no matter how much you beg."
Imagining him begging must've amused her; she smirked smugly.
Krash ignored her and unwound the bandage on the arm.
Evelask approached the altar without another word.
"Attach your stump to the arm."
She was the expert here.
Following her instructions, Krash pressed his stump to the Sword Ghost's arm.
Crimson Garden must've known exactly where it was severed.
Fortunately, the length matched perfectly.
Only the size differed, like an old man's arm versus his.
Evelask would handle that.
Clank! Iron restraints rose from the altar, fixing Krash's arm in place.
She'd prepared in advance.
"Bite this."
She handed him a cloth.
To keep him from biting his tongue in pain.
Krash obediently bit it. No. 8 gripped his shoulders from behind.
To restrain movement.
"Here goes."
Evelask placed her hand on the Sword Ghost's arm.
Following her touch, the bluish arm gradually took on a blood-flesh tone.
The wrinkled fingers straightened, vitality surging.
Miraculously, it began resizing to match Krash's arm.
Soon, Evelask placed her hand on Krash's stump.
Instantly, Krash felt the partially regenerated skin tear away completely.
Simultaneously, the shattered bone pierced through muscle and flesh, regrowing.
*Rip—*
Krash bit down hard enough to tear the cloth.
The pain wracked him so fiercely that cold sweat poured.
He was used to pain thanks to curses, but this was brutal.
Evelask glanced, offering to knock him out, but Krash silently urged her on with his eyes.
"Stubborn fool. Your funeral."
She connected the nerves between Krash and the Sword Ghost.
*Crackle!*
Sparks exploded before his eyes.
The shock nearly blew his mind away. The cloth fell from his mouth.
Bloody saliva showed how hard he'd bitten.
But the pain gradually subsided.
"You didn't pass out from that?"
Evelask said in disbelief as Krash panted.
He had a reason for staying conscious.
"...Release me."
The restraints clanked open.
Krash slowly lifted his arm.
The Sword Ghost's arm followed seamlessly.
Gazing at it, Krash clenched and unclenched his fist.
It moved fluidly; sensation was good.
Now for the next part.
He immediately channeled aura into it.
The arm devoured his aura like a possessed demon.
Now the real test.
*Flex!*
Suddenly, the arm's muscles writhed wildly on their own.
Veins bulged, muscles twitched—a grotesque sight to any onlooker.
But Krash adjusted his aura while watching.
After a few seconds, the writhing and bulging calmed.
Krash breathed a sigh of relief.
Extreme Blood Poison Infusion had taken root safely.
That's why he'd refused to pass out.
If attached while unconscious, the arm would've likely rampaged, absorbing Extreme Blood Poison Infusion without his will.
He didn't want to lose this hard-won arm.
Evelask, watching beside him, seemed relieved too.
"All good?"
Crimson Garden asked in the meantime.
Krash swung his new arm and grinned.
"Yeah, feels just like mine."
"Then test it out. You need to learn the composite technique too."
Music to Krash's ears.
"Evelask, got a sparring or training ground?"
"I'm not your servant."
"Don't you want that ancient martial arts tome on fisticuffs?"
"Sis!"
She called Crimson Garden "sis" and turned to No. 8.
"No. 8, show him the training ground."
"Yes, master. This way to the training hall."
Time to put the Sword Ghost's arm to use.