Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Why Is the Cat Coming Out from There?
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After Krash turned the Pendalrod gang into a complete mess.
In the meantime, Lakradion was slowly walking toward them.
In the current situation, Lakradion hadn't even stepped in yet.
Everyone present knew just how much worse things would get if she joined the fight.
"......Just go."
There was no way they could stop her.
All they could do was buy some time, at best.
So when they cleared a path, Krash turned around alongside the approaching Lakradion.
He'd already found the way forward with his Sixth Sense, anyway.
As long as the mechanical labyrinth's walls didn't change, he had no need to use his Sixth Sense any further, so Krash broke into a run right away.
"You're not killing them."
In that moment, an unexpected remark came back at Lakradion.
She'd noticed that Krash had gone easy on them.
"Are those guys part of a bandit crew or World Erosion spawn? Should I just kill them all?"
Krash reacted with disbelief.
He couldn't swear they'd never killed anyone or committed crimes in the Demonic Palace.
From Krash's perspective, they were opponents he could subdue without killing even if he held back plenty.
He had no intention of killing guys who wouldn't even hold a grudge once they felt the gap in power.
Not when there were mountains of people he did need to kill ahead.
Watching Krash like that, Lakradion fell silent for a moment.
Then, as she ran alongside him, she slowly opened her mouth.
"Lord Krash, if this matter ends well, may I make one request?"
"Saying stuff like that before the big crisis hits just makes people uneasy."
Krash made a displeased face but soon nodded.
"Do whatever."
It wasn't hard to just listen, after all.
But was Lakradion's statement raising a flag, as expected?
Just as Krash and Lakradion were nearly through the mechanical labyrinth.
Crimson Garden, who had been leisurely flying above them, suddenly descended right in front of Krash.
She spoke with a distinctly unpleasant tone, unlike when warning about traps.
And the words that followed sent Krash's thoughts racing for a split second.
In that instant, Krash reflexively reached out, grabbed Lakradion's collar, and yanked her backward.
"Whoa."
Amid Lakradion's startled voice and stumble, Krash and Lakradion leaped back a great distance.
It was right then.
KABOOM!
With a deafening roar echoing violently, the wall in front of Krash split open, revealing the space beyond.
Lakradion swallowed hard upon seeing it.
It was a labyrinth wall that not even an Aura Blade could cut.
And it had been cleaved in a single strike.
She realized the gap in that one moment.
Step, step—
Meanwhile, the sound of someone walking in from inside the collapsed wall reached them.
"Lakradion, fall back."
The moment Krash sensed the presence, he pulled Lakradion along, voice lowered to a whisper amid the dust, and quickly retreated.
Lakradion also realized the situation was far from normal and swiftly withdrew with him.
Thanks to that, the two safely escaped to the intersection just before this area and pressed themselves against the wall.
They erased their presence as much as possible and heightened their senses.
Krash's Sixth Sense was manifesting even stronger than when navigating the labyrinth paths.
To identify who the opponent was.
Cold sweat beaded on Krash's forehead.
Crimson Garden and Evelask were World Erosion beings Krash had gotten tangled with himself.
And those two were among the more moderate ones in the World Erosion ranks.
'The rest...'
No need to say it.
Reality had more lunatics.
Of course, even Krash had no way to confront World Erosion beings at his current level.
What were World Erosion beings?
Born from World Erosion, they wielded its primal power and caused all sorts of chaos in the world.
Some among them were monstrous freaks beyond even the Ten Strongest Under Heaven.
The one appearing here now just had to be below that level.
Otherwise, they'd be done for.
Krash desperately hoped it was at least a World Erosion being he could handle.
In that moment, his Sixth Sense began to gradually reveal the opponent's form.
"Wall, wall, wall, fuck, there sure are a shit-ton of 'em. Annoying as hell when I'm just going to greet the new kid."
The voice was caught by his sharpened senses, despite the distance.
A high-pitched, feminine tone.
At the same time, the opponent's silhouette finally took shape.
A vermilion tail fluttering behind her, and two tiger-like ears standing tall atop her head.
One eye covered by an eyepatch peeking through her fluffy hair that reached just past her nape.
But what stood out most were the hundreds of weapons draped all over her body.
No one knew how she carried that many on her person, but she did it as naturally as breathing.
Armed Princess
As Krash would put it.
She was a World Erosion being who could just as well be called a crazy bitch.
Tiger Clan, Armed Princess.
A deranged World Erosion being who plastered weapons from every corner of the world all over her body.
Obsessed with weapons, she would kill the owner and steal it if she wanted one, no matter who it belonged to.
Krash realized why she had appeared in the Demonic Palace the moment he heard Crimson Garden.
'She's after Thunderclap.'
Thunderclap, one of the world's Ten Great Heavenly Swords.
From the perspective of the weapon-mad Armed Princess, it was only natural it'd make her drool.
'Did the Armed Princess go after Thunderclap before too?'
He couldn't know that far.
But if she had, it meant the Armed Princess failed to take Thunderclap from Nakcheon in the past.
Because the one who took it was none other than Belokin.
'......Even the Armed Princess couldn't deal with Nakcheon?'
The Armed Princess could easily beat Nakcheon.
Her power level was monstrous, needless to say.
But Nakcheon's uniqueness must have tripped her up.
In the Demonic Palace, Nakcheon was practically immortal.
Because he continually drew energy from the Demonic Palace, granting him near-infinite regeneration.
On top of that, Nakcheon could roam the 8th floor at will if he wanted.
If he'd resolved not to let Thunderclap go, he could've just kept running from the Armed Princess without issue.
'If conquering the Demonic Palace was the goal, she could've just ignored the battered Nakcheon and moved on.'
But with Thunderclap as her target, the Armed Princess must have gotten fed up chasing the unkillable Nakcheon and given up.
There were other Ten Great Heavenly Swords besides Thunderclap, after all.
And now, of all timings, the Armed Princess shows up.
Was it really coincidence?
Unfortunately, Krash couldn't chalk it up to chance.
'The Armed Princess was always after the Ten Great Heavenly Swords.'
She must have heard the rumors at just the right time.
About a direct descendant of Valheim challenging Nakcheon for Thunderclap.
She was simple and brutish.
So she'd acted the instant she heard.
'Being a Valheim set her off.'
Valheim was her most hated foe.
What she feared most in the world was Martial Emperor Balok Valheim.
That eyepatch she wore over one eye.
The scar beneath it was one Martial Emperor Balok had carved into her while roaming the world.
So anything Valheim-related sent her into a frenzy.
If Thunderclap fell into Valheim hands and became untouchable, she'd barge into the Demonic Palace headfirst to snatch it first.
Not methodically descending from the 1st floor like them, but smashing straight through from the 7th using one of her weapons—that mad stunt.
Having reached that conclusion, Krash irritably furrowed his brow.
Things had been going smoothly lately, and sure enough, disaster struck big-time.
On a whole other scale, too.
Meanwhile, the Armed Princess's footsteps echoed toward the 8th floor.
Thankfully, since they'd pulled back fast, she hadn't noticed them.
She wasn't gifted at combat-specialized presence detection, after all.
A shaky breath finally escaped Krash's lips.
If they'd clashed with the Armed Princess on the 7th floor, even Krash would've been out of options.
"Lord Krash, that one just now was......"
"A World Erosion being."
Lakradion gulped.
Krash knew well the sheer pressure the term "World Erosion being" carried.
Only because of the life he'd lived didn't he cower purely in fear of the name.
Unlike with Evelask, Crimson Garden seemed to know the Armed Princess reasonably well.
From the looks of it, she and the Armed Princess had clashed over weapons before.
But Krash shook his head.
He couldn't give up Thunderclap.
Among the Heavenly Swords, none were as easy for Krash to obtain now or suited him as perfectly as Thunderclap.
'They say a true craftsman doesn't fuss over tools.'
Krash knew that was all bullshit.
A true craftsman scrutinized their tools more deeply than anyone.
Especially him, struggling to even reach the heels of a master craftsman.
He had to be even pickier about his tools.
'Plus, if Thunderclap ends up with that Armed Princess bitch by some fluke, it's game over.'
She was one of those who stood at the forefront in the later war against the World Erosion beings.
The thought of her wielding Thunderclap gave him a headache already.
And there was exactly one.
A World Erosion being who absolutely could not get Thunderclap.
'Sword Sovereign.'
If Thunderclap reached that bastard through the Armed Princess, he could single-handedly end the war and flip the board.
Charlotte had ultimately slain the Sword Sovereign only because she held Thunderclap.
And thanks to Thunderclap, after defeating him, Charlotte met her end right there.
Had even that single prerequisite not been met, the war's end would have been victory for the World Erosion beings.
'Looking back now, Arthur didn't covet Thunderclap and left Charlotte alone for that reason.'
Arthur must have judged that only Charlotte with Thunderclap could beat the Sword Sovereign back then.
'I'm not gonna sit back and watch.'
Arthur had used Charlotte and Thunderclap as sacrificial pawns to take down the Sword Sovereign.
But Krash had no intention of letting the war end that way.
That's why he'd come to the Demonic Palace for Thunderclap in the first place.
'I never planned to let that damn war play out properly anyway.'
Just thinking about how many good people died back then made him sick to his stomach.
Arthur had exploited that very point to seize control of the weakened Generation of the Sky through the war's spoils.
But Krash had no desire for such power struggles.
He didn't need authority to rule the world.
His top priority was one thing: preventing the world's destruction.
So he had zero intention of letting war with the World Erosion beings happen again.
On the contrary, his goal was to whittle down their forces so they wouldn't even dream of starting one.
"Lakradion, I'm heading to the 8th floor."
On the 8th floor, he could deal with the Armed Princess.
He couldn't defeat her, no matter what, but he could definitely stop Thunderclap from falling into her hands.
Plus, the Armed Princess had been badly burned by Martial Emperor Balok before.
Krash had factored in that the moment a Valheim direct like him claimed Thunderclap, she'd back off out of fear of Balok's wrath.
So Krash asked Lakradion, who'd come with him.
Defeating Nakcheon and obtaining Thunderclap required her help from the start.
"I've come to the Demonic Palace to head straight to the 8th floor from the beginning. I'll follow."
Hearing Lakradion's firm reply, Krash took a light breath.
The situation had suddenly worsened, but if they got lucky, it was actually good.
The Armed Princess was someone he couldn't beat but could handle.
"Let's go."
Time to use the secret to surviving the great war against the World Erosion beings.