### Chapter: 321
Bang, Bang!!!
In the midst of the ruckus outside the workshop,
Kraush was deep in concentration with his eyes tightly shut.
From his hands, a white liquid dripped steadily.
As the liquid hit the vessel, it formed a perfect round shape.
Aura’s Inner Sphere.
This was what Kraush was coaxing out of his own body.
Sweat streamed down his forehead.
The process required intense focus, leaving no room for distractions.
‘That noise must be Ebelasque and Haring in a fierce fight.’
There was no time to check how things were going outside.
Kraush didn’t even know which World Eroder they were up against.
If the enemy turned out to be worse than anticipated, anything could happen.
Someone could possibly die.
This world was unjust.
A single mistake could strip one of any chance for redemption without hesitation.
Kraush had made many mistakes in the past.
And he was here because he had regressed to avoid repeating those blunders.
‘I have to trust them.’
Kraush sank even deeper into his concentration.
All he could do now was trust the two and pull out Aura’s Inner Sphere entirely.
So, he poured all his energy into extracting it.
Bang!
A loud noise assaulted his ears once again.
It seemed like the clashes were accelerating, the noise reverberating continuously.
Time kept slipping away.
Kraush’s focus remained as strong as ever.
Clang!
Another Aura’s Inner Sphere dropped.
“Eek!?”
Suddenly, a woman’s scream echoed in his ears.
Kraush bit down on his lip.
Being so focused, he couldn’t even tell whose scream it was.
From a distance, urgent conversations could be heard.
It sounded like a crisis was looming.
Boom, Bang!!!
Another shockwave rattled the entire workshop.
Clang!
Yet another Aura’s Inner Sphere fell from Kraush’s hands.
But there was still more to extract.
He needed just a bit more time.
Now that he had grasped the technique of drawing out Aura’s Inner Sphere, Kraush focused even harder to pull it out.
Clang!
Just as Kraush extracted another Sphere,
Bang!!!
The door to the workshop burst open, flying off its hinges.
Kraush opened his sleepy eyes to see the door.
Thud, Thud!
Footsteps entered the door.
There stood a man with a dog’s snout peeking through long black hair.
The Rabid Dog.
The very creature whose master, Berkman, he had taken down to protect Bianca.
The Rabid Dog growled threateningly.
“Hmph, finally found you.”
His condition was far from normal.
He bore numerous wounds as if he had been through an intense fight and looked physically drained.
But the Rabid Dog paid no mind, having made it here after tearing through Ebelasque’s battlefield.
Through the broken doorframe, he spotted Ebelasque sprawled in a corner.
A large wound from an axe mark was carved into her chest.
Her shaky breaths indicated she wasn’t dead yet, but it was critical.
A personal fighter like the Rabid Dog.
Ebelasque, skilled in multi-enemy combat, had eventually found herself at a disadvantage from the very beginning.
Even having set up a battlefield for the Necromancer, Ebelasque had fought fiercely against the Rabid Dog, but he had still managed to crush her area of combat.
‘The Necromancer must never be given space to breathe.’
That was the winning condition for a Necromancer.
Ebelasque broke that rule to protect Kraush and stood before the Rabid Dog.
Kraush bit his lip until it bled.
Not yet.
He still hadn’t extracted all of Aura’s Inner Sphere.
‘Was it a mistake?’
The fog created by the refinement let things from outside in but kept things inside from escaping.
Of course, it wouldn’t be impossible with enough effort.
But if he did that, Igrit would notice, and a fight would be unavoidable.
So, Kraush planned to pull out Aura’s Inner Sphere entirely before jumping into the fight.
‘I never anticipated the Rabid Dog would come.’
Having entered through Haring’s invisibility,
Kraush thought that even an adept like Igrit wouldn’t catch on too quickly.
Moreover, with Ebelasque around, he believed she could hold her ground in critical moments.
But the Rabid Dog’s sensitive nose caught the scent of Kraush.
This led to Igrit and the Rabid Dog arriving here much faster than expected.
Kraush was troubled.
Should he stop extracting the Inner Sphere and face the Rabid Dog now?
But if he did that, the Aura he was pulling out could backfire and overwhelm him.
If that happened, Kraush wouldn’t even get to fight properly before everything was over.
“Grr, I don’t know what you’re up to.”
While Kraush hesitated, the Rabid Dog growled as he swung his double axes.
“This is vengeance for my fallen subordinate!”
With a leap, the Rabid Dog swung his axe.
His muscles tensed, radiating the power of World Erosion.
The sheer force looked so intense that the red aura seemed to turn pitch black for a moment.
He brought the axe down with all his might towards Kraush.
Seeing this, Kraush made up his mind.
‘I trust the seasons.’
Believing that the Seasons would somehow manage the Aura, Kraush was about to pull Thunder Prime out.
Screeeech!!! Bang!!!
In that moment, someone blocked the Rabid Dog’s swing, and he was sent skidding back uncontrollably.
Clang! Boom!!!
The one sent backward crashed into a drawer full of materials, raising a cloud of dust.
As Kraush stood there in a daze, a dislocated wrist holding a dagger appeared in front of him—Haring.
“Haring….”
Just moments ago, there had been no one in front of Kraush.
The fact that she appeared out of nowhere meant she had been protecting him using invisibility all along.
The Rabid Dog frowned at Haring.
Since the strike meant for Kraush had been blocked by her, irritation flashed across his face.
At that moment, the Rabid Dog realized.
The poisoned dagger stuck in his shoulder during the fight with Ebelasque was from her.
“Hmph, what a foolish act.”
The Rabid Dog used an escape illusion.
His illusion was on a level that was exceptionally high.
He had made himself immune to the poison, creating the illusion he was unaffected by the deadly toxin.
Somehow he managed to endure Haring’s extreme poison.
The Rabid Dog raised his axe again.
Having diverted his earlier strike, Haring had now been rendered unable to continue.
As the Rabid Dog swung the axe at Kraush again,
He suddenly felt something tighten around his arm.
Somehow, chains with spikes wrapped around his arm.
The chains had been left behind by Haring as she phased away from invisibility.
Crack!!!
The spiked chains embedded into the inner muscle of the Rabid Dog’s arm, pulling him.
Haring, using her broken wrist to wrestle the chains, was gripping them tightly.
Screeeech!!!
Of course, the spikes were coated with Haring’s poison.
The poison seemed to be corrosive, burning into the Rabid Dog’s skin.
“Argh!”
The Rabid Dog let out a frustrated howl.
At the same moment he swung his arm violently, Haring was pulled toward him.
Despite Haring’s training, she couldn’t match the raw brute strength of a World Eroder like the Rabid Dog.
In a split second, the Rabid Dog swung a punch at Haring.
Whoosh!
Just before the punch landed, Haring twisted her body with all her might.
At the same time, she wrapped the chains around the Rabid Dog’s swinging arm.
Swoosh!
As the chains wrapped tightly around his arm, Haring kicked off the ground to vault herself up and onto his arm.
Seeing Haring become quicker than anticipated, the Rabid Dog frowned.
Blood from her nose dripped to the ground.
She had clearly consumed some stamina-enhancing tonic.
During the duration of the tonic, Haring lowered herself along the Rabid Dog’s arm in a tight grip.
Technically, she should’ve tried to lock in a joint submission.
But the Rabid Dog’s arm, having undergone Chimera transformation, couldn’t easily be broken by her.
So instead, still in position on the Rabid Dog’s arm, she plunged the remaining dagger into the space between the chains.
Stab!
Thanks to the tonic, all her strength was channeled into the dagger, embedding it deep into the Rabid Dog’s arm.
As a result, his arms became bound by Haring’s chains, restricting his movements.
This momentarily contained the Rabid Dog’s actions.
As Haring figured this out and prepared for her next attack,
She caught the sight of the Rabid Dog’s mouth wide open in front of her.
The Rabid Dog bared his teeth and barked.
“Argh!”
When his bark echoed, Haring’s eardrums ruptured.
Simultaneously, even while connected by the chains to the Rabid Dog, she was flung backward across the room.
Blood oozed from her eyes.
The Rabid Dog had deployed his special illusion, Scream of Sorrow.
It inflicted damage internally on the target’s body upon hearing it.
Receiving this point-blank attack, Haring became utterly disoriented.
Stab! Swoosh!
After pulling out the dagger lodged in his arm, the chain that had been fixed to it unraveled in an instant.
Haring had thrown herself recklessly into the situation, leading to a prolonged engagement.
Who would’ve expected this delay because of a mere nuisance?
She had never imagined it would drag on like this.
“Hmph.”
Frustrated, the Rabid Dog raised his axe again, just as a bottle flew toward him.
He swung his axe at the incoming projectile.
Clang!
The broken bottle spilled toxic liquid onto the floor.
Turning his head, the Rabid Dog found Haring standing against the wall, battered and bruised.
In her hand was another vial similar to the one she just threw.
“Hah, ha, phew, phew.”
Haring panted weakly.
Drip, drip.
Blood trickled from her nose, ears, and eyes, soaking the ground beneath her.
At the same time, her left arm was swollen from where it had been chained, showing signs of severe trauma.
If she didn’t tend to it soon, she might not be able to use that arm again.
“Cough, cough.”
Just then, Haring spat out black blood and raised the vial once more.
She threw it at the Rabid Dog again.
This time, the Rabid Dog easily smashed it as well.
Staring blankly with glazed eyes, he looked at Haring.
“You’re not a mere fly, are you?”
The Rabid Dog decided to stop attacking Kraush first.
Instead, he aimed his axe directly at Haring.
At that moment, a light began to gather at the axe’s tip.
“A cockroach, then.”
Haring stared blankly at the light.
She could no longer muster the strength to resist.
She had given up on blocking that attack.
Instead, she fixed her gaze on Kraush through the light.
Have I bought him just a little more time?
Even if she died, Kraush had to remain safe.
She had to hold on just a little longer.
With this thought, she willed her unresponsive legs to inch forward.
At the same time, a violet aura of poison emanated from her body.
Then I’ll hold on just a bit longer.
To give Kraush time, as much as she could.
Even if it meant dying here, she wanted to buy him even just a second.
As Haring strained to muster her final strength, the light from the Rabid Dog flashed.
As it threatened to engulf her and obliterate her,
“Damn it, who are you calling a fly or a cockroach?”
A voice filled with blazing fury echoed.
When Haring feebly lifted her head, she saw a man standing protectively before her.
A brilliant white flame wafted from Kraush’s body.
The light that the Rabid Dog had unleashed ricocheted off Kraush’s sword and returned to him.
“Huh?!”
Startled by the sudden turn of events, the Rabid Dog swiftly swung his axe.
As a result, he was enveloped in the light’s explosion, staggering back while glaring.
In the midst of the chaos, Haring felt a warm energy enveloping her.
Kraush’s determined face appeared in her vision.
A clear rage was evident on his features.
“The one who has blocked you until now is Haring Lagrain. Remember that, you mutt.”
Kraush’s furious declaration rang out.
Haring realized that his anger was because of her, and strangely enough, felt a peculiar joy.
He was angry for her sake.
How foolish.
How foolish, but it couldn’t be helped.
Because she loved Kraush.
For him, she would throw herself into danger over and over again.
“Kraush…”
As Haring’s eyes met Kraush’s, she smiled like a fool.
“I’m glad.”
The words expressed gratitude that he was safe, even in her dire state.
Upon hearing this, Kraush felt a surge of emotion and bit his lip, pulling Haring into a tight embrace.
“That’s my line.”
Haring, relieved to hear those words, began to slip into unconsciousness.
But even as her consciousness faded, she didn’t feel fear.
Because Kraush would surely triumph.
Just as he always had.
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