Chapter 95
Chapter 95
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: The One Goal I Possess
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How much time had passed?
Krash replenished his depleted stamina through World Erosion, gasping for breath as if he were on the verge of death.
His eyelids felt heavy.
His legs trembled uncontrollably.
His body was a complete mess from rolling across the ground so much.
It was only natural, given how long the fierce battle with Agales had dragged on.
Especially since Agales had targeted Krash above all else, unleashing relentless attacks. Krash struggled desperately with his dwindling stamina.
There had been more than a few perilous moments because of it.
He'd nearly been crushed under one of Agales's arms at one point—he'd truly thought he was done for.
Even now, just recalling it sent cold sweat trickling down his skin.
But no matter how much Agales prioritized Krash as his primary target.
Casualties among the Jucheon Knights continued to mount from Agales's onslaught.
The wounded were swiftly pulled from the battlefield, but that only meant the remaining fighters had to bear even more of Agales's fury.
It was a miracle no one had died.
'Big Sis Lilish must have played a huge role.'
While Krash drew Agales's attention.
Lilish would immediately grab any Jucheon Knight who was injured or in danger and hurl them out of the fight with all her strength.
It was a brute-force method, but without it, there definitely would have been fatalities.
'Now it's our turn to be on the brink of death.'
Agales was going all out now, pouring attacks without mercy.
The surrounding Black Forest had been utterly shattered, leaving the bare ground exposed.
But reaching this point only ignited a fierce resolve within him.
A burning determination to smash that monster to pieces, no matter what.
"Dodge, you bastard! If you're gonna go after me, at least boost your stamina first!"
Krash dodged Agales's hand as it swiped overhead, rolling backward and springing right back to his feet.
There wasn't a moment's respite.
Maybe from overusing Wall Force.
A pounding headache throbbed in his skull.
But ignoring it completely, Krash endured.
All for the sake of seizing that one chance.
It was then.
KABOOM!
With an explosive roar, Agales lurched to the right.
After hours of holding out, Lilish had finally collapsed Agales's right leg.
Panicking, Agales thrust his other arm toward the ground to steady himself.
Through the gap in that hand flashed a streak of indigo hair beneath Agales's leg.
Lilish shot forward at a speed that blurred her silhouette, reaching the left leg in an instant.
The Jucheon Knights had hammered it desperately, crumbling it halfway.
Lilish swung her sword with full power at that leg.
KABOOOOOM!
The resounding blast sent cracks spiderwebbing across Agales's entire left leg.
CRACK!
Unable to withstand the shock, Agales's left leg shattered into pieces.
THUD!
Having lost both legs in an instant, Agales's lower body collapsed, sending his upper torso crashing to the ground.
Black rainwater poured through the billowing clouds of dust.
"Krash!"
Lilish's shout pierced the dust and rain.
The moment he heard it, Krash was already charging.
Krash leaped into the air.
He stomped down on the spine of Agales, whose lower body had slumped, then raced along the vertebrae.
It was a calculated move—jumping straight at the head would just get blocked by the arms.
Krash's body began tempering once more.
Today alone, he'd activated the second stage of Meltfire Erosion countless times already.
His whole body creaked in protest.
Even with his Moon Yin Physique, it was starting to give out.
It felt like his muscles were tearing apart.
His insides blazed like an active volcano.
The sensation of his bones splintering and scattering within him.
GRIT!
Yet Krash clenched his teeth to the breaking point and endured.
On the contrary, he drew even more power from Meltfire Erosion.
Solely for the purpose of killing Agales.
In that instant, Black Flame surged along Thunder Roar, swelling into a storm.
To contain that storm, Lioner's lightning surged up, forming a sheath-like barrier.
Krash desperately suppressed the Black Flame storm within the lightning sheath.
Each time, the storm inside grew fiercer.
As he ran along the spine, a single cape came into Krash's view.
As if the cape itself were the true body, it fluttered up to Agales's neck.
'Almost there.'
The moment he saw it, Krash's Meltfire Erosion erupted to an unprecedented level.
At the same time, he shoved the darkness gripped in his hand straight into his mouth.
The darkness slid down his throat and seeped into his body.
With it came a nauseating sensation spreading from within.
Thump-
A brief heartbeat echoed, accompanied by the feeling of something shackling his body.
It was none other than the effect of Agales's Lordship.
Lordship could only be used on Erosion Beasts possessing World Erosion.
It had no effect on ordinary humans.
Except for one.
Krash, the only one here, was different.
Because he'd embedded World Erosion into his own body via Extreme Blood Poison Infusion.
And that meant.
He could be included in the effects of Lordship.
Lordship immediately stretched inward to seize control of Krash's body.
WHOOSH!
But in that moment, Ignis ignited within Krash.
The Ignis instantly devoured and incinerated the encroaching Lordship.
The sensation of burning his own insides was excruciating, but Krash paid it no mind.
This lasted a few seconds.
Smoke trailed from Krash's mouth as the darkness slowly leaked out.
He had definitely incinerated the Lordship.
But its lingering aftereffects still classified him as a target.
'This is the moment.'
Not bound by Lordship's restraint.
Yet fulfilling the condition of being a target under its influence.
Agales's Lordship came with restrictions even for the user himself.
First, his true body—the head—was bound to the Demon Castle and couldn't escape.
Second, targets under Lordship could directly damage Agales's darkness.
Of course, the second was meaningless for a Lordship exclusive to Erosion Beasts.
They had no reason to attack their master's darkness.
Except for one.
An unforeseen exception Agales could never have anticipated.
A freak who had embedded World Erosion into his own flesh.
FLAP-
The crimson cape whipped violently in the wind.
Its interior was shrouded in pitch-black darkness.
One of Agales's eyes on this side was ruined.
The other lurked beyond the cape.
And Krash knew exactly where the cape's interior connected.
With its body fully exposed from the neck down, the cape linked directly to Agales's neck.
BOOM!
Too late, Agales sensed Krash racing along his spine.
To kill him, it raised its arms immediately.
Beneath the cascade of bony arms.
Krash's eyes narrowed sharply.
Cold sweat beaded on his back.
He was still too far from Agales's neck.
Just a few more seconds—anything.
A little longer.
He needed just those few seconds for Agales to start rising.
Expending more strength to dodge the arms now would weaken the attack he'd unleash.
The moment Krash steeled himself to decide.
THUD—KABOOOOOOM!
A streak of lightning bolt flew in, obliterating all of Agales's hands heading for Krash.
Far off at the horizon's edge.
A single figure racing here at full speed had unleashed that strike.
Heavenly Star Formation, Blavi.
He'd arrived just in time.
Even seeing it again, it was freakish power.
No wonder Krash called him a monster.
But even Blavi couldn't kill Agales, whose true body resided in the Demon Castle.
Here, only one person could slay Agales.
Krash himself.
Krash inhaled sharply.
'One second.'
Meltfire Erosion accelerated his thoughts and reflexes, making the world seem frozen.
And in that halted world.
The one instant it felt like time had truly stopped.
Krash's foot slammed down on Agales's spine.
BOOM!
The delayed sound filled the air as the remnants of the lightning-shattered arms rained down onto the spine.
But Krash was already gone from there.
Leaving only remnants of Black Flame, he reached the front of the cape.
He drew breath to its limit.
Then, the ripple of his spirit surged from his mind, reaching Thunder Roar.
CRACKLE!
When the lightning's roar filled the surroundings.
The Black Flame storm devoured it, descending upon the world.
Meltfire Erosion
Third Form
Meltfire Heaven Thunder
[Unleashes a storm of black flame and lightning]
KRARARARARARACK!
The storm of lightning and Black Flame raged into the cape's interior.
Piercing the darkness, it tore everything beyond to shreds.
KABOOOOOOM!
In that instant, a faint explosion echoed from a distant location.
Meltfire Heaven Thunder had raced through the cape's darkness all the way to the Demon Castle.
RIIIIING-
Tinnitus rang in Krash's ears.
His body refused to obey after compressing his limits again and again to unleash that attack.
'Agales...'
His vision shook wildly.
His sense of balance was shot.
FLAP-
Yet amid the ringing, Krash clearly caught one sound: the cape flapping.
It looked as if it were trying to flee.
The fact it was fleeing meant Agales had taken massive damage beyond.
Of course. It was a sure-kill infused with greedily absorbed World Erosion.
No damage would've been an insult.
However.
'Not yet.'
Krash's eyes flushed red once more.
Fleeing meant it was still alive.
The fading blade of his sword ignited anew with golden light from Thunder Roar, thrusting toward the cape.
SPLURT!
From the blade buried in the darkness came the sound of something tearing.
Agales's neck interior, ravaged by Meltfire Heaven Thunder, was being ripped apart by the intruding sword.
His vision now failing, Krash still drove the sword deeper into the cape.
THWACK! THWACK! THUD!
In that moment, something burst with a pop from his forehead.
Drip-
He couldn't tell if what trickled down his face was blood or sweat.
Regardless, Krash kept slamming the sword down.
CRUNCH!
Krash felt every sensation in his body twisting out of shape.
This feeling—it was the curse.
Agales's darkness was essentially a mass of curses.
Proof that the remaining Ignis could no longer burn it away.
GRIND!
Yet Krash ground his teeth to dust.
His fingertips blackened.
But Krash raised the sword once more.
THRUST!
The blade plunged deep into the cape's shadowy depths.
He had no strength left to pull it out.
Instead, gripping Thunder Roar's blade, he shoved it in relentlessly.
“--------!”
He abandoned blocking the curse, pouring every last bit of Ignis into the cape.
Black flames surged skyward, blotting out the heavens.
With that, Krash felt his consciousness snap.
Grip!
But he clung to it desperately.
He had to know if Agales was dead.
If it died here, one reason for the empire's fall would vanish.
People who would otherwise die pointlessly would live, removing one stepping stone to ruin.
More people able to stand against World Erosion.
A path to somehow preserve this wretched world.
He, the half-cripple who'd lived without purpose.
The one goal he'd harbored in his heart, the only thing letting him move forward.
To stop the world's destruction.
For that single goal.
The moment Krash tried to twist the blade again.
“Kra—sh!”
Someone caught his body, even as he plunged headfirst into the cape's darkness to twist the sword.
Through his hazy vision flashed indigo hair.
That hair color symbolized the Valheims.
It had to be Lilish.
“Sis... Aga...les...”
His throat burned.
His vocal cords scorched by Black Flame, even speaking was agony.
“Enough. That's enough. Agales is dead. Please, just stop.”
Hearing her faint voice, Krash slowly closed his eyes.
Lilish wouldn't lie.
“Take... me... to the... Saint...”
Even managing to gasp out the order to heal him.
Krash lost consciousness, still clutching the sword to the end.
In the pouring black rain.
The man's obsession—the one who knew only to charge ahead—quietly burned out.