Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Did It Go Past 90?
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Pattering black rain poured down relentlessly through the forest.
Krash and Lilysh faced each other.
Krash stood frozen, recalling the words that had just come from Lilysh's mouth.
"How do you know about Ignis...?"
Lilysh had recognized Ignis.
Ignis, buried within the black flames—flames so twisted by the power of World Erosion that no one could mistake them for a divine blessing skill.
'How?'
Krash was the one full of questions.
Both Charlotte and the head steward, whom Krash had met so far, knew of Belokin Valheim's Ignis.
And the head steward, in particular, had even more opportunity to observe Belokin's skill closely during the tests.
Yet even she hadn't connected Krash's black flames to Ignis.
Of course not.
Ignis was a flame of purification.
No one familiar with such a flame could possibly see it in the black flames.
So how had Lilysh recognized it?
Fragments of Lilysh's memories surfaced in Krash's mind.
But there weren't many, naturally.
Lilysh and Krash weren't particularly close.
Besides, she spent nearly every day out in the field, devoting her life to combating World Erosion.
Krash respected Lilysh in his own way.
After all, the number of World Erosion incidents she'd stopped single-handedly had surpassed three digits.
So what Krash knew of her was her achievements and reputation.
And her exceptional swordsmanship.
On top of that.
'Her skill.'
Krash grimaced inwardly.
He knew Lilysh's skill, of course, but it wasn't much help in recognizing Ignis.
It was an attack-type skill, after all.
But perhaps something had changed with her as well.
Krash realized he'd been silent too long.
This would only deepen her suspicions.
"Sister, what about Nisrok? Why are you here?"
He pretended not to have heard, changing the subject as if he'd been too busy fighting.
Lilysh fell silent for a moment, watching Krash's feigned look of innocent surprise, before speaking.
"I took care of him. It didn't take long."
Krash could understand it against World Erosion beasts, given the favorable matchup.
But hearing she'd dispatched Nisrok in such a short time made him freshly appreciate her prowess.
Come to think of it, Nisrok wasn't that dangerous an opponent for Lilysh.
Even without the Knight Order, it probably wouldn't have been too difficult.
"Anyway, I still want to ask my question."
But her response suggested his attempt to deflect had failed.
Krash looked at Lilysh.
Her already stoic face showed no particular emotion.
Just a pure desire to resolve her doubts.
Krash clicked his tongue inwardly.
He didn't know much about Lilysh in detail.
But he did know she and Belokin had come from the same womb—true full siblings, not half-siblings like Krash with only half their blood shared.
What if she learned Krash had killed Belokin?
Krash figured it wouldn't end pleasantly.
So instead of answering, he let out a light sigh.
As if it were hard to speak of.
"I received it from Brother Belokin right before he died."
"Received it?"
"It's the power of my skill. I learned a skill myself, you see."
Lilysh knew about Belokin.
He'd died facing a rampaging Thousand-Faced Ghost during a World Erosion incident.
And Krash had been there with him.
At the time, Krash couldn't even handle the Thousand-Faced Ghost, let alone World Erosion—it was all new to him.
Yet just a year later.
Krash had grown strong enough to hunt a 6-star Harpas.
It was impossible to accept that as growth achievable in one year.
Even Valheim geniuses had their limits.
'That power flowing through his body.'
Lilysh naturally focused on the World Erosion power coursing through Krash's body.
To her eyes, the power dwelling in him appeared as a curse.
'No way.'
Her eyes widened in that instant.
Krash had said he'd received Belokin's Ignis as a skill.
Then couldn't he have stolen the curse as a skill too?
Lilysh knew Krash had traveled the world for a while.
Perhaps that's what he'd been doing—acquiring the curse's power.
'No, it must be.'
There was no other way to explain Krash's growth.
In the Valheim family, only the strong received proper treatment among the direct line.
Without touching that curse, Krash had no path to respect based on his own talent.
Realizing this, Lilysh's eyes wavered.
She, who had confronted countless World Erosions, knew all too well.
How dangerous that curse truly was.
"Krash, you can't."
She might have neglected her family too.
But after Belokin's death, she'd thought they couldn't go on like this.
So she couldn't just leave Krash be now.
If he kept meddling with the curse, its backlash would eventually swallow him whole.
She didn't want to lose the youngest after Belokin.
"...?"
But Krash, for his part, looked at Lilysh in bewilderment.
What did she mean by "you can't" all of a sudden?
Had his lie been seen through?
'Doesn't seem like it.'
Lilysh's expression didn't look like she'd pierced his deception.
It was the same as before—no emotional fluctuation.
"Keep messing with that curse, and you'll be in danger."
But as he heard her follow-up, Krash gradually realized something.
'Is Sister Lilysh actually worried about me right now?'
In the past, Krash had only half-blood ties to Lilysh.
Was that why?
When she showed concern, Krash felt flustered instead.
After all, he'd never once received worry from family in his life.
This situation felt utterly awkward all of a sudden.
'She saw the World Erosion flowing in my body and got the wrong idea.'
Explaining the misunderstanding was tricky.
He couldn't very well describe Extreme Blood Poison Infusion.
As Krash fell silent, Lilysh's eyes darted around.
She who'd never properly faced her brother as family his whole life.
Was it right for her to advise him now?
Krash had been called a half-wit his entire life.
More than anyone, he'd crave strength.
Her words now might just be selfish thinking.
"D-don't worry about it, Sister."
While Lilysh pondered how to broach it, Krash spoke first.
It felt awkward that she was worrying about him.
But she genuinely was.
He couldn't just flatly deny it.
"It's not particularly dangerous. I've thought about it long and hard myself."
At that, Lilysh latched onto different words.
"Thought about it long...?"
Krash said he'd agonized over it for a long time.
That implied at least over a year of deliberation.
Which meant.
"...Belokin didn't defeat the Thousand-Faced Ghost, did he."
It started as a misunderstanding, but Lilysh was inching toward the truth.
"You beat the Thousand-Faced Ghost with that power."
"...Yes."
He couldn't deny the facts, so Krash answered.
Her eyebrows twitched slightly.
"You didn't attend Belokin's funeral out of guilt for failing to protect him."
Another layer of misunderstanding piled on.
Krash swallowed a groan inwardly.
The more they talked, the more absurd misconceptions stacked up.
Misconceptions only possible because Lilysh didn't know the truth of Krash and Belokin's relationship.
And at the same time, deep in Krash's heart, a nagging unease stirred.
He quickly identified the feeling.
[Guilt, huh.]
In the black forest, Crimson Garden's voice rang out from where it perched on a tree.
'Guilt.'
Not guilt for killing Belokin, of course.
Even if he regressed to the past again, Krash would still kill Belokin.
Belokin had tried to kill him to the very end, unchanging.
So Krash felt no guilt toward Belokin.
He just didn't want the misunderstanding—or pity—stemming from this.
[Begging me for all sorts of things back then, but feeling guilt toward your own sister? What a punk.]
Crimson Garden was irritably bristling for no good reason.
[So you're gonna say it? Because of guilt.]
Krash shook his head inwardly.
He had no intention of acting on such flimsy guilt.
How many lies had he told so far? He couldn't even count.
It was just that receiving misunderstanding and pity from family was a first.
Guilt had briefly surfaced, that was all.
Krash had no plans to tell Lilysh he'd killed Belokin.
'Belokin would still be closer to her than me.'
Blood bends inward, after all.
More than a half-related brother she'd barely spoken to.
Belokin, her full-blood sibling, would surely be dearer to her.
Just as Krash turned to say no more and walk away.
Twitch—
Suddenly, his Sixth Sense reacted.
The moment he whipped his head around, Lilysh was staring in the same direction.
A chilling sensation prickled up his arms.
The intense feeling, enough to send shivers, was unmistakable wariness.
Within that ominous sense triggered by facing a threat.
Krash realized the identity of what had caused it.
And a question formed in his mind.
'Why is this thing here at this point in time?'
This was the eastern edge of the Demon Realm—the relatively safest area.
This presence shouldn't have been felt here.
"...Sister Lilysh."
Krash hurriedly called to her.
She'd already sensed it too, her brows furrowing.
In that moment, Crimson Garden flew down and landed on Krash's shoulder.
[A nasty one's on the move.]
Even Crimson Garden reacted unpleasantly.
Meanwhile, Krash and Lilysh spun around in unison.
They then bolted straight toward the source of the presence.
"Krash, head back to the walls!"
Lilysh shouted in alarm, seeing Krash keeping pace right beside her.
She'd seen him take down the Harpas.
But this situation was on another level entirely.
No matter that he was Valheim direct lineage—it was too dangerous.
"Head back? This direction leads straight to the Knight Order anyway."
The presence they'd sensed was clearly heading toward the Knight Order.
It hadn't reached them yet, but it would strike soon enough.
Knowing this, Lilysh bit her lip.
She couldn't very well tell him to go back alone into the Demon Realm.
"Once you arrive, go straight back with Cheonghae."
"Got it. Let's go for now."
Krash's reply didn't reassure her at all, but there was no choice.
So she stopped worrying about it and picked up speed.
Following her, Krash furrowed his brow as well.
The situation wasn't looking good.
He'd felt this presence before, long ago.
'Agares.'
An 8-star demon-type Erosion Beast.
And in the past.
The culprit that had breached the Demon Realm walls, invaded the Empire, and turned it into a wasteland.
A named Erosion Beast that should have been at the heart of the Demon Realm had suddenly appeared in the east.