Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Butterfly
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Inside the rattling carriage.
Krash watched the Armed Princess, who was blatantly displaying her disbelief right in front of him.
"......Are you sane? You know my real name, so you must be a World Eroder. Which bastard are you? Which fearless lunatic is wearing a Valheim skin and thinking of going to war with me? Are you the one I took a weapon from?"
A weapon-obsessed woman wrapped head to toe in arms.
But if you considered the performance of each and every one of those weapons, it was easy to grasp just how dangerous she was.
Especially her primary weapons, the Thirteen Demonic Arms—many of them were deadly enough that even Krash couldn't guarantee his survival the moment one was drawn.
'Newly realizing it, how does she move so nimbly in that getup.'
Krash, who had seen her fight firsthand, clicked his tongue.
Right now, spatial constraints forced her to carry them all on her body, but outside, her combat style would shift once more.
"Talkative."
So Krash had no intention of dragging this out.
She was already under the delusion that he was a World Eroder anyway.
Time to go on the offensive.
"Abandon Thunder Citadel and get lost."
"Huh?"
The Armed Princess reacted with utter shock.
But even so, she didn't attack rashly.
Her innate cautious nature held her back.
'This guy's acting like he's got something up his sleeve.'
As proof, one of the Armed Princess's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
World Eroders were almost always freaks with bizarre unique abilities.
The Black Flame from moments ago had stung a little, but it wasn't beyond her ability to handle.
However, if he had another ability on top of that, it felt like things would get genuinely annoying.
Especially the most suspicious part: the World Erosion power emanating from Krash.
It was faint.
Too faint.
'Or...'
He was hiding it so expertly that even she couldn't fully gauge the extent of his World Erosion power.
'Maybe I should just draw one of the Demonic Arms.'
The thought of a swift, decisive end flickered through her mind.
'No. No point showing my hand first when I don't know the situation. I can always do it after confirming.'
Besides, Krash being a Valheim rubbed her the wrong way.
She wanted zero connection to Balok.
The world was just full of things she hated.
All she wanted was a simple life surrounded by her kids.
So she drew the axe from her back.
For that life, she had to claim the new child called Thunder Citadel.
"Talking to me like that? At least you're fearless."
With that, she made her decision.
First, she'd pry every last one of his moves out of him.
Watching her, Krash kept a relaxed expression on the surface while exhaling inwardly.
'Bluff worked.'
If she charged in blindly to kill him, Krash would be out of options.
The gap in their levels was obvious.
And that meant this was his one chance to gain the upper hand against the Armed Princess.
'The trait of the 8th floor.'
Krash glanced at the window, where the outside scenery rushed past relentlessly.
'If I fulfill that...'
Even the Armed Princess would be powerless.
From here on, it was purely a matter of how long he could hold out.
He hadn't planned to tangle with a heavyweight like this right off the bat, but what choice did he have?
If he had to fight, he'd fight.
Swish—
In that instant, movement began from the Armed Princess's side first.
With her stepping foot, the first thing to lash out was the axe.
Axe mastery on an entirely different plane from the Slaughter Hound's assaulted Krash.
'Ignition.'
Krash spotted the axe's true nature and retreated instead of clashing head-on.
Boom!
An explosion roared, filling the carriage with thick black smoke.
Ignition's effect: blast and smoke.
A simple combo, but in the enclosed space of the carriage, the smoke was perfect for blinding foes.
And through the obscuring haze, a lone silver sword—devoid of any ornaments—burst forth on its own.
'Freely maneuvering sword: Star Lord Sword.'
Rather than counter it, Krash twisted his head to barely evade the blade.
He then parried the spear that flew in tandem with the Star Lord Sword.
Clang!
"Hmm?"
The Armed Princess's eyes, thrusting her spear through the smoke, narrowed thin.
Krash had reacted as if he'd predicted her attack outright.
"You're using something weird."
The silver sword wove freely through the smoke before returning to the empty scabbard at her waist.
"And you know a bit about my weapons too."
Of course he did.
'I'm the one who collected and cataloged every last one after you died.'
The fate of the errand boy.
So instead of replying, Krash activated his Sixth Sense.
"Fuck, you're creepy."
Her spear lashed out in a frenzy.
The crimson aura coating it bared its savage fangs, hellbent on Krash's death.
So Krash unleashed desperate predictive parries based on his Sixth Sense.
Each block sent Black Flame sparks flying, gradually spreading around them.
His arms went numb.
Even with Moon Yin Body letting him constantly boost his output via Annihilation Erosion, keeping up was grueling.
But he couldn't just defend forever.
The Armed Princess was still questioning his true nature.
Before she decided he was the weaker one, Krash had to push back—even a little.
Klang!
In that moment, Krash aligned his sword's flat with her spear's guard.
He then slid down the guard and thrust his blade straight at the Armed Princess.
"Ha!"
With a sharp yell, the Armed Princess instantly released her spear and reached for her waist.
Two daggers whipped out in a flash, crossing to clash with Krash's sword.
Fwoosh!
Black Flame erupted, rippling and scattering everywhere.
But the Armed Princess ignored it.
Krash's Black Flame couldn't deal her a lethal blow.
Knowing that full well, she poured strength into both arms.
Crunch, clang!
As her arms shot forward, the force rippled through the daggers—sending Krash's sword soaring into the air.
Her power was so overwhelming that Krash nearly lost his grip.
She didn't miss the instant his sword hung in midair, thrusting her twin daggers like striking cobras.
Aiming for Krash's throat.
The moment those daggers connected, his neck would be pulverized.
"Hup!"
Spotting it, Krash slammed a burst of Annihilation Erosion into his sword arm.
The blazing power shattered his limits for a split second, accelerating his arm downward.
Boom!
But Krash slammed down not on her—but the carriage floor.
Amid the splashing Black Flame.
The Armed Princess's body dispersed like a serpent shedding its skin.
'Fangs of Extinction.'
Krash realized the twin daggers' identity.
At the same time, he released the sword from his right hand and whipped his left behind his back.
'Black Hood.'
A sword materialized in his swinging left hand.
The Fangs of Extinction lunging from behind clashed against Krash's blade.
Klang!
To hold his ground in raw power, Krash funneled more Annihilation Erosion into his legs, enduring desperately.
The Armed Princess's eyes twisted in fury at the sight.
It was supposed to be a killing neck strike—blocked far too easily.
"You mutt!"
She snapped her left knee up instantly.
Whoosh!
In that instant, the Star Lord Sword burst from her waist scabbard once more.
It flew solo toward Krash, just like before.
Abandoning the power struggle, Krash flowed with her force and fell back.
His swung sword parried the Star Lord Sword.
But unlike before, the deflected blade didn't retreat—it targeted Krash again.
The Star Lord Sword's trait: it strikes back if parried.
As Krash dodged it, the Armed Princess—having tossed the Fangs of Extinction airborne—swung Ignition.
The wide-sweeping horizontal arc of the two-handed axe left almost no room to evade in the cramped carriage.
'Damn, no breathing room!'
Kwaaaaaang!
The explosion rocked the instant Ignition met Krash's sword, sending him tumbling across the floor.
His vision blurred for a moment, caught in the blast radius.
Yet his Sixth Sense screamed.
Roll—now.
Kwajik, kwaaaang!
The moment Krash rolled, Ignition smashed the spot and detonated.
But the Armed Princess wasn't stopping there.
As Krash rolled across the floor, she hammered down with Ignition relentlessly, intent on crushing him flat.
"Rolls pretty good, huh? Even grubs can roll, they say!"
Spitting taunts, she slammed Ignition into Krash's last position and let it drop from her hand.
Then she yanked a greatsword from her back and hoisted it skyward.
"Let's see this one run."
Krash's mind jolted at the sight.
That damn woman.
Her greatsword rocketed up—enough to scrape the carriage ceiling—before crashing down on him instantly.
Kwaaaaaaaaaang!
The blade, massive enough to reach the carriage's far wall, pulverized its target spot.
Krash barely raised his sword to block it head-on.
Tremble—
His quaking arms betrayed the sheer strain of holding that greatsword at bay.
Reckless Greatsword: freely altering its size and weight.
True to form, Krash felt a pressure like he'd be squashed alongside his blade any second.
He'd tried saving Annihilation Erosion's second stage—even just now.
But yielding here would tip her off.
'Fuck, even bluffing hurts.'
Before being pinned, Krash surged his Annihilation Erosion.
Klang!
The power exploding from his tempered body was too overwhelming; even the Armed Princess froze for an instant.
Krash's thrust lofted the Reckless Greatsword briefly into the air.
In that gap.
From his upward block, he channeled every Annihilation Erosion flame into the Muksword.
Fwoosh!
The fiercest blaze yet roared to life.
"Hup!"
With a sharp inhale, Krash whipped his sword downward.
A crescent inferno engulfed the Armed Princess.
Judging it too dangerous to tank, she dropped the Reckless Greatsword and raised her wrist.
A bizarre chain erupted from it, coiling like a shield before her.
Kwaaaaaang!
Amid the deafening blast and Black Flame's wild flicker.
Krash felt his arms shudder from Annihilation Erosion's backlash.
The smoke leaking from his mouth scorched his throat like fire.
Sweat poured in rivulets.
In this brief clash, Krash had brushed death countless times—leaving him dizzy.
A single slip, and he'd be a corpse right now.
'Eye Doll.'
So he invoked Eye Doll, forcibly quelling his tension.
Instead, he plastered on the most nonchalant smile he could muster.
He had to come off as a World Eroder hiding trump cards.
There, the Armed Princess retracted her chain to her arm with a rattle, eyes twisting.
"You were holding back. That's it, right?"
Deeming the prior strike a glimpse of his full power, she grinned.
"But that won't cut it against me."
Panting heavily, Krash met her words with a slow, mocking chuckle.
"What the hell are you laughing at, punk?"
Not hiding her irritation, she watched as Krash slowly raised his Muksword.
True to its fame as the epitome of durability, it gleamed pitch-black, unscathed.
He'd have to thank Crimzon Garden for sourcing this sword.
Drip, drip—
Krash's eyes scanned the Black Flames diligently burning across the carriage.
Roughly five minutes from now.
"Shua Delphia—no, Butterfly."
Krash spat her derogatory nickname with a sneer.
"In heat? Quit meowing."
Twitch—
Her ears and tail twitched, fury boiling over.
"Fuck you!"
Gazing at the Armed Princess, Krash's crimson eyes gleamed through the Black Flame.
Brimming with the intent to yeet the cat from the speeding carriage.