Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Laying the Foundations
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2nd Floor, Playing with Fire.
3rd Floor, Door of Chains.
4th Floor, Hundred Barrages.
5th Floor, Natural Traps.
6th Floor, Land of Knights.
And about a month later.
They had finally reached the 6th floor.
Krash and the other three pressed on, having cleared every previous floor by the shortest routes possible.
There had been plenty of battles along the way, and they'd spent a long time in the Demon Palace overall.
As a result, Krash and the others were all pretty ragged—clothes torn, gear battered.
But that was just on the surface.
Krash and Lakradion charged ahead at the front, weapons in hand, facing down the horde of massive ants swarming toward them—just the two of them.
"Are those two monsters or what? Their stamina never runs out."
Watching Krash and Lakradion fight, Derek muttered in exasperation.
And no wonder—he'd seen them battle nonstop almost without rest all the way to the 6th floor.
What on earth were they running from to fight like such maniacs?
They acted like they couldn't spare even a second to rest.
"It's a nice sight, though. Haven't seen Lak sis that fired up in ages."
Derek didn't deny it.
Back in the day, Lakradion had swung her sword every single day, but with all passion drained out of her.
She rarely showed her emotions at the best of times, but Derek knew full well she'd been trapped in a rut for ages.
But now? Things were different.
Breaking through to the 6th floor alongside Krash, she was gradually regaining her old spark.
And what had fueled that spark most were the sparring sessions with Krash during their brief breaks.
"Lakradion, wanna spar with me?"
The first time Derek and Penichelli heard that, they thought for a split second he must be crazy.
They were busy conquering the Demon Palace as it was.
To burn stamina on sparring when they should be resting? Utter nonsense.
But for some reason, Lakradion accepted.
The two were baffled, but if she was game, they couldn't exactly argue.
In the end, they just watched in silence.
"Can't go all out, so no aura—just pure swordplay okay?"
"Yes, sounds good."
Thankfully, they both had their heads on straight and skipped the aura.
And when the bout began, the result was Krash's total defeat.
Frankly, it was no surprise—but it still stung a bit.
Derek and Penichelli had heard how he'd crushed Pendal overwhelmingly.
They figured he'd at least hold his own, but to lose that easily?
The two exchanged puzzled looks, but Lakradion's eyes went wide.
Krash's swordplay was, honestly speaking, plain vanilla.
More like the swing of a total novice, really.
His win over Pendal had come from mixing in countless variables, secret techniques, and situation reads.
Krash himself hadn't dedicated his life to the blade, so his fundamentals weren't all that advanced.
Lakradion realized it then.
This guy, who didn't have a speck of her talent, had thrashed and struggled on a whole other level to reach this point.
The next day, and the day after that, Krash kept challenging her to spar.
And Lakradion accepted every time.
The outcomes were predictable.
Krash hit the dirt and lost every round.
But gradually, Lakradion started to sense it.
Like he was straight-up copying her, Krash was beginning to ingrain her fundamentals into his body.
'Lakradion's got a reputation for her rock-solid basics.'
Her sword was so straightforward that it sometimes got dismantled, but she'd honed that purity to the entry of mastery.
Krash had seen countless geniuses.
They were all impressive, exceptional.
But their growth stemmed from talent.
Not like the bedrock a mediocre talent had barely scraped to reach at the master's threshold.
Krash wasn't a genius.
So ironically, the best model for a hack's foundation was Lakradion.
Genius foundations were just too alien to copy.
That's why Krash decided to mimic her sword.
He knew his own basics were lacking, so he'd copy hers to grow, no matter what.
That sheer will shone through every spar, and it made Lakradion chuckle despite herself.
What a freak.
And in a way, no pride at all.
Stealing and learning from someone else was shameful for a swordsman.
Especially as direct kin to Valheim, the "strongest."
Surely he knew far greater swordsmen than her, yet he insisted on pilfering her basics?
How absurd.
But the conviction in his eyes was real.
A burning resolve to seize everything, no holds barred.
It was terrifyingly intense.
And seeing that, Lakradion understood.
How he'd beaten Pendal despite the skill gap, how he'd grown strong enough to reach here.
And why she sensed he'd grow even stronger ahead.
'Pride's so pointless, huh? Guess that's today's lesson.'
Having seen those eyes, Lakradion set her own pride aside.
If Krash wanted to learn from her...
Then she'd learn his unorthodox tricks in turn.
Sure, the spars looked like her passing basics to him.
But when conquering the Demon Palace, she started learning from him.
Krash was a bag of gimmicks.
He'd picked up every odd skill under the sun and whipped them out situationally in battle.
Derek and Penichelli were awestruck too.
Krash bounding off walls, swinging Black Flame—it was overwhelming.
So Lakradion stopped chasing purity alone while watching him.
Strength has many paths.
Straight-ahead honesty isn't always the answer.
She was just starting to grasp that now.
And for her, it was a step over the wall.
Naturally, Lakradion grew thrilled.
She'd climbed just one tiny step toward that distant wall, but the rush was indescribable.
For a swordsman, nothing beats that sliver of insight.
"Lord Krash, mind if I ask one thing?"
As they entered the 6th floor proper, Lakradion asked Krash.
"What's driving you to chase strength so hard?"
If she shared that goal, could she push further?
That's why she asked, and Krash glanced her way before answering.
"Wanna try stopping the world from ending once."
Lakradion blinked.
The words were absurdly grandiose, but they rang utterly sincere from him.
The end of the world?
This perfectly fine world ending? Seemed unlikely.
But maybe you needed stakes that huge to get this strong.
Sometimes, she thought, a kid's wild imagination becomes the grand goal that fuels lifelong pursuit.
All without grasping that every word was dead serious.
Either way, thanks to that, Krash and Lakradion plunged through the Demon Palace with barely any breaks.
And now they'd arrived: the 6th floor, Guardian's Chamber.
A plaza lined with statues fused into the walls, standing silently.
At its heart waited the 6th floor guardian—a rider on a stone horse, massive shield and crescent blade strapped to its back.
Pruuuuh!
The stone horse neighed like it was alive at the sight of the four intruders.
Break this guy, and it's the 7th floor.
One more floor, and they'd face Nakcheon—that's what Krash and crew were thinking.
"Crim."
At Krash's soft call, Crimson Garden flapped slowly into the plaza airspace.
Surveying the area, Krash had noticed something on the way here.
Traces of someone who'd passed ahead.
And those traces belonged to none other than Pendalrod.
True to his word, Pendalrod had entered the Demon Palace ahead of Krash and was challenging it.
He really knew the shortcuts—he was blasting through at insane speed.
Pendalrod frequented everywhere up to just shy of the 8th floor daily, after all.
Child's play for him.
'Maybe I overestimated thinking he'd set obvious traps.'
Pendal wasn't the honest type, so Krash figured he'd pull some schemes.
Surprisingly, though, no dirty tricks from him the whole way here.
Was he planning a straight-up challenge to Nakcheon after all?
'If he were that kind of guy, he'd have conquered something here ages ago.'
Unfortunately, Krash didn't rate Pendal that highly.
"Lord Krash."
Just then, Lakradion called out, and Krash turned.
She looked ready to fight at any moment, and with every passing second, she shone brighter.
As if this was the path she was always meant to walk.
Her light was like radiance itself.
"Right. Time to head to the 7th."
With that, Krash slowly drew up his Annihilation Flame Erosion.
Heat surged through his body, pushing his physical prowess to extremes.
Clop-clop!
In that instant, the guardian and its stone horse charged.
The ground shook under the horse's hooves—several times bigger than any man's.
Krash and Lakradion kicked off the floor in unison.
After a month syncing breaths down to the 6th, they beat the galloping steed to its rider.
The flustered guardian swung shield and blade to crush them, but they flowed aside like water.
Slash! Whoosh!
The rending slice and searing crackle echoed as one.
Krash's Ignis-wreathed Black Flame sword and Lakradion's aura blade had severed the horse's front legs.
Thud!
Front legs gone in a flash, the stone horse pitched forward, hurling its rider.
But unlike a mortal, the guardian didn't die from the fall.
Just shed a few stone chips.
It sprang up instantly, thrusting the crescent blade at them.
The stone blade was plenty menacing.
fitting for a weapon fortress guardian.
But its foes were Krash and Lakradion.
Their swords crossed like perfect partners, blocking the blade together.
Boom!
The statue's power dwarfed any human's—the floor beneath their feet cracked and spiderwebbed.
Yet they didn't budge an inch, instead surging their aura higher.
Whoosh!
Their blades arced skyward together; the statue couldn't resist, and its weapon flew loose.
In the gap...
The statue hastily raised its shield, but Lakradion slipped in first.
Her honest blade met the shield head-on.
"Lord Krash!"
At her call, Krash rocketed in with a blaze of heat, piercing the guardian's guard.
Blade up high, shield blocked by Lakradion.
Nothing left to protect its core.
Krash's sword plunged full-force toward the power source animating the guardian.
Crrrrrack!
Splitting stone and core alike, the guardian's body cleaved clean.
Powerless, it crumbled; Krash and Lakradion swiftly withdrew.
Picture-perfect teamwork.
"Feels like all over again—I'm just the guide here, huh."
Derek slapped his belly with a hearty laugh.
Lakradion could've soloed the 6th floor easy anyway.
With Krash added? No room for him.
"Same here, not much to do."
She'd cast some holy spells for their occasional scrapes, but smacked her lips in mild regret.
Still, they knew.
Against Nakcheon soon ahead, things wouldn't stay this smooth.
[Baby.]
As Krash released his Annihilation Flame Erosion and stretched lightly...
Crimson Garden alighted on his shoulder.
Krash noticed her gaze fixed somewhere.
On the 7th floor door, freshly opened by the guardian's death.
"Crim?"
Krash reacted curiously, and Crimson Garden tinted her tone with annoyance.
[Stinks of traps.]
Krash's eyes snapped to the entrance.
He moved straight to the 7th floor doorway.
Of course, Krash sensed nothing.
But Crimson Garden, with her ancient years? She'd pick it up easy.
A chilling smile tugged Krash's lips.
He knew exactly who'd set the trap.
'It's on.'
Pendal's handiwork.