### Chapter 337
Glide Lacroix.
Born from the hatred of his mother, Glaisys Lacroix, who lost her son to a world erosion creature.
Thus, he harbors a deep hatred for everything related to world erosion.
And now…
He stood face to face with Kraush, cloaked in black flames.
“That power—it’s the power of world erosion, isn’t it?”
Glide, sensitive to anything regarding world erosion.
He couldn’t escape Kraush’s gaze.
There was no way to pretend this was just a curse.
‘Talk about bad luck.’
He had never run into Kraush when using his white flames, yet here they were, face to face.
Kraush felt a sigh escape his lips.
This was exactly why he had tried to avoid encounters, but now that they had crossed paths, there was no running away.
“What’s the problem with me using my abilities?”
He was throwing out a “not my issue” vibe.
[ That’s very you. ]
Kraush had risen in stature significantly compared to before.
Even if he could manipulate the power of world erosion, that didn’t mean someone would come after him for it.
The situation had changed dramatically.
Glide, having just slain oceanic dimensional creatures, drew closer to Kraush.
His face twisted in disgust.
“Are you saying the power of world erosion is your ability? Right now?”
“Yep, I’ve absorbed the power of world erosion with my unique technique.”
“You must be ignorant of how filthy and terrible that power is.”
“Haha.”
Kraush chuckled briefly at the absurdity of it all.
“I don’t know, but I feel like I understand the power of world erosion better than you do.”
Kraush had been wearing the power of world erosion like a badge for ages.
Him not understanding it? Now that was just downright silly.
Shadows flickered around Glide as he faced Kraush.
“Understanding the power of world erosion means you’re effectively a world erosion creature. Can you not comprehend that?”
“Having a narrow mindset limits your vision of the world. The world is vast, and there are various ways to grow stronger. Ignoring what you can handle right in front of you seems a lot more foolish, don’t you think?”
Kraush stood his ground firmly.
Glide observed Kraush silently.
“I see.”
Did he really get it?
“Then we are enemies.”
Called it.
This was precisely why Kraush had avoided contact with the Lacroix family.
It was simply impossible for them to coexist.
The Empress, Glalisys Lacroix, was relatively tame.
After many years, she had become weary and could hardly carry her grudge.
But Glide, who inherited that grudge, could never compromise with world erosion.
“Is there really a need for such narrow-mindedness? There are some world erosion creatures who can talk sense.”
“Shut up with that disgusting nonsense. They all need to be wiped out of this world.”
Clearly, communication was impossible.
Glide was as stubborn as they come.
“Fine then.”
Kraush lightly kicked off the ocean floor.
“You and I being called enemies fits perfectly.”
Kraush didn’t really regard world erosion or world erosion creatures in a sympathetic light.
To him, both were merely tools for conflict—just like humans who would harm or seize what they needed through war and invasion.
World erosion creatures operated the same way.
And it was also true that there were righteous beings among them.
Not all world erosion creatures agreed with Ixion.
There existed those with different ideologies who lived in this world.
Glide’s mindset was perilously narrow, considering even those beings as foes.
To label them all as having the same mentality just because they were world erosion creatures meant he had to treat them all as enemies.
Kraush had no desire for that kind of world.
There were pressing issues that needed resolving; nurturing hate was the absolute dumbest thing he could do.
Kraush had witnessed firsthand the calamities caused by such hatred.
The Nine-Star Blavi lost Princess Sera Serang to a world erosion creature.
It led to a war where everyone started killing all world erosion creatures.
Kraush had no intention of inviting that kind of situation back.
Black flames swirled around Kraush.
Glide’s shadows swirled too.
The two were on the verge of a showdown.
[ It’s coming. ]
Kwahng!
The great sea vibrated with a thunderous sound.
And something stirred below them.
Kraush, cloaked in black flames, immediately activated Excel and distanced himself.
Glide did the same, tumbling away from their respective spots.
Splash!
A massive current twisted around them.
If one got caught in it, they’d be torn to shreds.
“Tsk.”
Kraush clicked his tongue.
He realized who had made an entrance.
In the depths, a nearly 3-meter tall merman wielding a spear stood.
With blue scales and webbed limbs…
And a face resembling a menacing shark, he was one of the sentinels of the great sea.
Zaratan.
A ten-star erosion creature.
He was Kraush’s first encounter with a higher-grade erosion creature above the nine-star rank.
A ten-star erosion creature meant a master-level knights could barely handle it.
Sizzling!
Just the murderous intent emanating from him sent tingles down Kraush’s spine.
Ahh, a ten-star creature indeed.
This guy was on a whole different level from regular erosion creatures.
‘I’ve stirred up too much trouble.’
It was the breeding season of the dragon of the sea.
The great sea was on high alert.
It was hardly a surprise that a sentinel emerged amidst the chaos.
Meanwhile, Zaratan’s spear began to whip up swirling currents again.
The waves crafted by Zaratan earlier were indeed set loose by him.
Rising Flows.
That was Zaratan’s ability.
He probably aimed to strike again.
Not that Kraush had any plans of standing around for it.
As he dashed beneath the waves, Zaratan targeted him.
In the great sea, where Kraush’s movements remained unimpeded, he carried on undeterred.
Zaratan also sensed something at that moment.
With a much wider field of vision in the water, Zaratan had a clear sight of his prey.
His spear zeroed in on Kraush.
Seeing this, Kraush twisted his body, channeling the energy of Thunder Prime directly into his weapon.
And then, he thrust his sword toward the raging current raised by Zaratan.
Annihilation Erosion—
One Style
Annihilation Sword Draw.
Kraush’s flame was swiftly transformed into white flames.
The collision between those flames and the rising flow created a shockwave.
Kwahng!
The rising flow prevailed.
Though Zaratan hadn’t fully unleashed the power of his technique, he gathered his strength for a longer time than Kraush.
Thanks to that, Kraush managed to buy himself time to evade the aftermath of the rising flow.
Kraush backed away to avoid the remaining effects of the rising flow and then dove back under.
Upon reaching Zaratan swiftly, Kraush swung his sword, and Zaratan’s body twisted in a flash.
‘Quick.’
Zaratan dodged Kraush’s strike with remarkable agility.
Then, his spear seemed to take on a will of its own, flipping around to aim straight for Kraush’s heart.
This wasn’t an ordinary spear.
That spear was shaped like a serpent.
Kraush barely blocked it using Thunder Prime.
Whoosh!
Just then, an octopus erosion creature that had latched onto Zaratan’s shoulder squirted ink at him.
The ink spread rapidly, clouding his vision.
Through the murky ink, he caught a glimpse of something splashing toward him.
Realizing he had lost sight of Zaratan, Kraush activated his instincts.
Whoosh!
At that moment, penetrating through the ink, the spear rocketed toward Kraush’s head.
The spear was essentially a blunt weapon, oversized even compared to Kraush’s forearm.
As he leaned back to evade, the spear once again gathered energy into a flow.
With a flick of his tongue, Kraush twisted his body, causing an explosion of that rising flow to send him flying.
As he soared through the water, just before he could halt his momentum…
A black veil caught him.
Kraush realized it was Glide’s shadow.
When he looked up, he saw Glide stretching out a hand toward him from a distance.
Zaratan disappeared from sight.
He had vanished along with the swirling ink.
In the great sea, Zaratan was known as the hunter of the great sea.
He was a natural at capturing those who disturbed the ocean.
‘Was he purposely withdrawing?’
He might be letting his prey know of his presence, planning to tighten his grip gradually.
“Kraush.”
In the meantime, Glide approached, stepping through the water’s shadows.
“Saving your enemy now?”
“I never planned on doing that.”
In response to Kraush’s snark, Glide replied flatly.
“Did you see the creature’s chest?”
When Glide asked, Kraush nodded.
“Yeah.”
On Zaratan’s chest rested an egg.
Both Kraush and Glide understood well what that egg was.
A dragon’s egg.
Zaratan was in possession of the dragon’s egg.
“They plan on sending it to the far sea.”
Kraush was aware of why Zaratan had the dragon’s egg.
As previously mentioned, the dragon’s egg could create a storm in the common sea.
Just that was enough to make it the top priority to stop.
However, it had another ability.
The dragon’s egg instigated world erosion in the waters it drifted to.
It meant that the great sea was using the dragon’s egg to expand its territory.
Because of that, the dragon’s egg was something that had to be regularly reclaimed and disposed of.
This was a long-standing tradition passed down in the Poseus family.
‘Don’t go using that tradition for a test.’
Kraush cursed Dino inwardly as he glanced at Glide.
Glide surely knew this fact.
So, he would bring up the egg that Zaratan possessed.
“With our target set, are you suggesting an impromptu truce?”
“Do you think I’d do that with world erosion or those waste creatures?”
What a pesky racist.
“But I refuse to let that thing float away into the ordinary sea.”
However, Glide was indeed an aristocrat.
An aristocrat’s role was to act as a barrier for commoners against the threats posed by world erosion.
Though many modern aristocrats seemed to have forgotten that.
But that foundation was precisely why aristocrats existed.
Enjoy what you have while protecting the commoners.
That was the mission of nobility and the reason for maintaining such a grand collective.
Fortunately, Glide was someone who understood what should be prioritized before hating world erosion creatures.
‘At least he’s not completely gone off the deep end.’
Even if their opinions clashed, they agreed on this matter—commoner safety came first.
With that, the duo turned as one.
“Zaratan is swift. I’ll find it tough to catch him too.”
“Then I’ll do the binding.”
An impromptu alliance with a racist.
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