Chapter 63
Chapter 63
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Breaking Through the Limit
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ever since acquiring the Moon Yin Body, Krash had been maintaining Inferno Corrosion at a steady level without any backlash.
It was precisely because he could sustain Inferno Corrosion that he had been able to clash directly with Adolph in the first place.
But the real reason Krash had sought the Moon Yin Body was something else entirely.
'The limits expand.'
Inferno Corrosion was a forbidden technique that burned the power of World Erosion with Ignis, infusing that energy into the body.
Its drawback was that the burning energy damaged Krash's own flesh.
That was why Krash could only use Inferno Corrosion for a mere three seconds.
But now, with the Moon Yin Body, that window had widened dramatically.
To the point where he could keep Inferno Corrosion active freely throughout a battle.
And that meant if he compressed it back down to three seconds, he could shatter an even higher limit than before.
'Never tried it, though.'
No reason he couldn't.
Krash tossed aside the respirator he was wearing.
It was only getting in the way of his breathing anyway.
Then he sheathed his sword.
An act of utter madness in the midst of battle.
Even so, Krash boldly drew in a deep breath, pulling his aura up from within.
At that instant, the power of World Erosion within his body met Ignis and began to burn.
Hot.
But bearable.
'More... a bit more.'
The World Erosion power nestled in his body ignited even more fiercely.
The scorching heat, as if it would char his entire body to ashes, kept intensifying.
Krash gritted his teeth.
His mind reeled from the heat, but the Moon Yin Body was barely keeping it in check.
Smoke leaked from between Krash's lips.
Flames flickered in his pupils, and the air around him began to warp from the heat.
And Adolph sensed the anomaly.
'What is he planning?'
He had been pondering how to subdue him without causing injury, but now...
Krash's presence shifted in a bizarre way.
It was because Krash, weaving between the fireballs, emanated a heat surpassing them.
As if his body was on the verge of breaking its limits.
And Adolph's hunch was spot on.
'More!'
The moment Krash forced his body to burn like spewing blood once more.
The searing heat fully combusted, surging through every inch of his flesh.
It permeated his muscles and the tiniest nerves.
At the same instant, the tips of his hair and fingers blackened in the Black Flame.
Krash had finally surpassed his limits, his domain expanding to extremes.
His spirit compressed to its utmost alongside the blazing heat throughout his body.
The aura within him surged with World Erosion, swelling his form as it pushed toward the next realm.
Crack!
In that moment, Krash felt something shatter in his mind.
It was a wall.
A wall he had struggled against in vain, now breached in an instant by his limit break, propelling him into a new realm.
Peak Expert.
Just shy of Master—the divide between genius and mediocrity. Krash had finally reached it.
His eyes, reddened by the heat, blazed more fiercely than ever.
Three seconds?
Don't make me laugh.
One second was all he needed.
But even that one second was plenty.
Boom!
The shockwave from Krash stomping the ground echoed a beat late.
By the time it hit, his sword was already unsheathing.
Adolph, sensing the danger late, raised his hand.
But Krash was faster than his hand.
The swirling heat extended from Krash's blade in an instant.
It met Ignis, erupting into pitch-black Black Flame, and Krash thrust forward with it.
Sword-Soul Unity.
In this moment, Krash's spirit reached that domain faster than anyone.
The ripples in the lake of his mind blazed fiercely, and the dragon surged, devouring the flames.
A single downward strike.
One Sword.
In Krash's hands, it fused with the Demon Sword's Overwhelming Strike and Inferno Corrosion, ascending to a new height.
The One Sword within the Overwhelming Strike shed its downward constraint entirely, birthing a new forbidden art.
Inferno Corrosion
Form Two
Inferno Heaven Sword
When the Black Flame cleaved through the Spirit King's forest.
A brief silence hung in the air.
Then, gradually, everything around began to warp as if bisected.
And in the next moment, massive explosions filled the void.
Kwaaaaaang!
Within the raging Black Flame.
Adolph glared down at Krash with bulging eyes.
Blood trickled down his cheek.
At the same time, his belatedly extended hand was reddened as if burned.
It wasn't a serious wound.
Facing World Erosion, even one of the Ten Heavenly Strongmen considered such scratches routine.
But no matter how highly he rated him, a scratch from a mere late-twenties successor was unacceptable.
Adolph's gaze slowly shifted downward.
Krash, frozen mid-swing, was barely holding himself upright, gasping for breath.
His charred fingertips were blackened, and the sweat pouring like rain betrayed his limits.
Moreover, his sword was riddled with cracks from the heat.
Clang!
Unable to withstand the heat any longer,
the blade finally shattered and fell.
Yet those eyes staring straight at Adolph burned undimmed.
Adolph slowly clenched his burned hand.
He hadn't imagined his protective magic would be pierced.
At the same time, his expression changed.
"A direct descendant of Valheim."
Hearing Adolph's words, Krash forced his drooping eyes open.
Such tenacious will.
Where did a kid his age muster that grit?
Anyone would think he'd spent decades on battlefields.
"What’s your relation to Aslan?"
Krash couldn't comprehend Adolph's question.
But one thing was clear.
"Just some damn guy I know."
The bastard who up and died comfortably on his own.
Adolph fell silent for a moment after hearing that.
Krash would surely grow.
To the point where the whole world would know his name.
Those by his side then would herald a new era.
Adolph glimpsed that future right here, right now.
And if Aslan could stand beside him, the story might change.
The problem would be getting there, of course.
'Abella, whom we adopted as a daughter, suddenly vanished, and after searching for her...'
Has he gotten chummy with this guy in the meantime?
"Krash!"
In that instant, a massive ice wall erupted between Krash and Adolph.
Aslan's magic.
Seeing Aslan, who had hidden Dorothy in the water to avoid detection, Krash grinned.
Boom!
At that moment, vibrations rumbled from deep in the forest.
Krash and Adolph knew exactly what it meant.
One of the high spirits had heard the commotion from Krash's clash and was heading this way.
If a high spirit rampaged, it would spell trouble.
It could even damage the city walls.
High spirits had to be put down without fail.
"Both of you!"
Just as Adolph moved to grab them and eject them outside.
Magic circles glowed beneath Krash and Aslan's feet.
"Flame King, Adolph Igret."
Seeing that, Adolph's eyes widened in shock.
Krash flashed a sly grin at him.
"Have fun playing with the high spirit."
Adolph realized Krash had deliberately caused the ruckus.
"You brat!"
The moment Adolph roared, Krash's vision went white.
Instantly teleported out of the Spirit King's forest, Krash felt someone catch his collapsing body.
It was none other than Crimson Garden.
"You really tried to wreck yourself, didn't you?"
At Crimson Garden's words, Krash clung to consciousness.
"That old man's got a talent for pissing people off. Couldn't be helped."
"Wasn't it just to test if your power works on even one of the Ten Heavenly Strongmen?"
Krash sheepishly turned his head.
Crimson Garden sighed, and that's when Krash spotted Aslan and Dorothy.
Aslan gripped Dorothy's hand tightly, as if vowing never to let go again, and bowed to Krash.
Dorothy still looked dazed by it all.
"...Thank you. Krash, I owe you a debt I can never repay in my lifetime."
"Yeah?"
Krash brushed it off.
Without the Moon Yin Body, Aslan would keep growing stronger from now on.
Maybe even beyond the Aslan Krash remembered.
"Aslan, what are your plans now?"
Adolph probably wouldn't try to kill Aslan anymore, at least not right away.
Plus, without the Moon Yin Body, Aslan could now learn the Igret flame magic.
Whether he'd reveal it immediately was another matter, but he no longer had reason to fear Igret's pressure.
That said, the narrow-minded old man wouldn't look kindly on Aslan.
Aslan had provoked him by invoking his clan, after all.
And there was Dorothy too.
The Igret family would never tolerate consorting with spirits.
None of it would resolve in a day or two.
"...I'll learn the Igret family's flame magic."
Aslan's eyes gleamed a vivid red.
Despite a lifetime of suffering because of the Igrets, he was choosing to walk back in on his own two feet.
It meant he was resolved to tread the thorny path himself.
To protect Dorothy, he intended to grow strong, no matter the hardship.
In that resolve, Krash saw echoes of the stubborn Aslan from before.
'That's more like Aslan.'
Protecting Dorothy, toppling the Flame King—it was all for him to do.
"Aslan, come to Raheln Academy next year."
So Krash made him a proposal.
"You can delay Igret's issues there, build your strength, and buy time to protect Dorothy."
If he could hone Igret magic and himself during that time.
Breaking free from Igret wouldn't be so hard.
"You're enrolling in Raheln Academy too, right, Krash?"
"Yeah."
Hearing Krash's answer, Aslan smiled slowly.
It was the first genuine smile Krash had seen from him.
His face had always been covered in burns and bandages.
It was a pretty decent smile, all things considered.
"I'll enroll. Let's meet there again for sure."
Having made that promise with Aslan, Krash chuckled and turned his recovering body away.
"Then sort out your own problems."
As Aslan started to call after him, wanting to offer more in return, he froze and turned.
There stood Dorothy, wearing an embarrassed expression.
Even in her trance, Dorothy had faintly heard the outside voices.
Realizing that, Aslan cleared his throat awkwardly as Krash departed with Crimson Garden.
"Ahem, uh, Aslan."
The spirit returned from death's door, Dorothy, shyly cleared her throat and called to him.
Regardless of circumstances, she had words she wanted to say at the end.
Their eyes met.
They shared the same feeling right now.
Some things went without saying, but some needed words.
"Dorothy, I used to hate magic."
So Aslan spoke first.
"With the Moon Yin Body preventing me from handling flame magic, it felt like shackles. The Igret family was my entire world."
Within Igret, Aslan had been slowly dying.
So he knew it plainly.
Without meeting Dorothy, he would have broken in the end.
"But meeting you changed me bit by bit. You found joy in every spell, used magic for my pain, and because of you, I cast my first spell for someone else in the dormitory—my first real purpose."
Aslan didn't know romance or poetry.
He just spoke his honest thoughts.
Yet with every word, tears welled in Dorothy's eyes.
"It was all thanks to you."
Whether spirit or human's foe, it didn't matter to Aslan.
There was only one thing that mattered: Dorothy.
"Dorothy, I like you."
If the world rejected her and made him its enemy, so be it.
She had shaped his world anyway.
As those words fell, tears spilled from Dorothy's eyes, and she closed her trembling lids.
"I'm a spirit."
"I know."
"My name's fake, my form, maybe even my memories—all crafted by World Erosion."
"Still, to me, you're Dorothy."
That would never change.
"Aslan, have you heard of the primordial spirit mages?"
Of course.
The first spirit mage came from the Igret family.
"The end for spirits and humans might always be like that."
Aslan reached out and clasped Dorothy's hand.
As her eyes quivered at the warmth, he spoke.
"No matter the end, I want to be by your side through every step until it comes."
Aslan's red eyes met Dorothy's blue.
That was enough.
Dorothy smiled brightly through her tears.
Perhaps spirits were fated to love humans, after all.
"...I like you too."
Dorothy's tear-streaked, radiant smile overflowed with the answer Aslan had awaited.
Stepping away to give Aslan and Dorothy space, Krash trudged on with a near-dead expression.
He longed for his bed.
"Open your eyes. You clean up your own messes."
Crimson Garden, now in crow form, spoke curtly.
This guy might actually be a demon.
Anything but perching on his shoulder in this state.
"Lord Krash!"
"Lord Krash."
Krash heard two voices calling him.
One laced with surprise, the other her usual calm.
He turned to see two figures.
One was an older maid with very pale blonde hair.
The other, a petite white-haired girl younger than him.
Krash tilted his head at the sight.
Lilina aside, how was Bianca here?
"Lord Krash is always watching."
As if reading his thoughts, Bianca said so.
Her slightly furrowed brows suggested she was upset for some reason.
"Why are you here again, Lilina?"
Avoiding Bianca's gaze, Krash asked Lilina.
She should have returned to the mansion or gone to Aslan by now.
"Well, the mansion's probably chaos, so lots of work."
One reason: dereliction of duty.
"And I'm not so oblivious as to wedge between Lord Aslan and Miss Dorothy."
Two: just reading the room.
Krash got it, so he nodded.
Meanwhile, Lilina glanced at Bianca and said to Krash,
"To think you tried to tempt me away when you have such a cute fiancée."
Krash gaped at her words.
Tempt her? With what?
First love, sure, but long over—and he'd suppressed those feelings even as a doll.
But seeing Lilina's sidelong glances at Bianca, Krash realized she was teasing.
Her personality hadn't changed a bit.
"Toying with a girl's heart... you're a bad man."
"Lord Krash isn't a bad man."
But Bianca countered on a different point.
She stepped in front of Krash and looked up at Lilina.
"Lord Krash is a good man."
Her eyes held pure sincerity.
Lilina's eyes widened.
She turned to Krash, then covered her mouth.
"She's adorable. Almost too good for you, Lord Krash."
Krash decided to just roll with it.
"Can I pocket her and take her home? Would you share your fiancée?"
"Don't even dream of drooling on her."
Pulling Bianca close, she blinked wide, then glanced around slyly before hugging his arm with both of hers.
Lilina smiled warmly at the sight, then let out a soft sigh.
"I was the only one getting ahead of myself."
Murmuring something cryptic, she bowed politely to Krash.
"Thank you so much for helping Lord Aslan and me. I'll never forget this favor."
It wasn't really a favor.
The things she'd given him before his regression were still sustaining him now.
Still, it warmed his heart a little.
Saving someone he couldn't before meant a lot to Krash.
"Glad to hear..."
As Krash spoke, his vision flickered.
Ah, this was it—the limit.
And with that, Krash blacked out.