### Chapter: 207
In front of the black flames enveloping the chain cage created by Ebelasque, the small silhouette of the Star-Eater trembled.
The once-great Star-Eater had shrunk down to a size that could almost be held in one’s hand, teetering precariously.
Despite surviving Kraush’s all-out attack, being a 9-star Erosion creature meant it had barely any power left due to overexertion.
Recovery would take considerable time.
Clang!
In that moment, the chain cage of Ebelasque began to rapidly constrict.
The Star-Eater tried to flutter away in a panic, but with its current state, there was no escaping the prison.
Eventually, the cage completely sealed the Star-Eater inside.
The tightly bound chains fit its small form perfectly.
The Star-Eater pounded against the bars with its starlight, but the light vanished upon touching the cage instead of breaking it.
“―――――!”
Its silent rage echoed throughout the area.
“Don’t you dare move!”
At the same time, a boy’s voice rang out.
Startled, the Star-Eater looked up to see a boy slowly returning to his blue-eyed self beneath the night sky, approaching him.
“I’ll bring you out!”
The boy, breathing heavily, leaned against Number 2. His face was scrunched up in effort.
After all, using the powers of World Erosion like this would naturally wreak havoc inside him.
A raging headache struck his mind like a jackhammer.
His insides churned violently, and it felt like everything was tearing apart.
Kraush was on the verge of losing consciousness.
The pain ringing through his body had gone beyond the limit.
He felt a tremendous heat.
His body burned, refusing to cool down, even with the influence of the Dark Sword.
Gush!
At that moment, blood welled up from his mouth, seeping between his lips.
Even the blood felt like it was boiling inside from the overwhelming heat.
‘This is getting pretty dangerous.’
The cost of using the Annihilation Erosion was far beyond his imagination.
“Kraush!”
“You idiot!”
In that moment, Haring and Ebelasque rushed over at the same time.
Their faces were ghostly pale.
Haring quickly wrapped Kraush in an embrace and shoved the medicines made by Darling into his mouth.
Ebelasque summoned a healing undead and attached it to Kraush immediately.
“Tsk, I knew you were pushing it. Show me.”
While the two fussed around in worry, Veltoa approached leisurely.
He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a small bottle.
Then, his finger dipped inside the bottle’s mouth.
Soon, a thick black liquid crawled up his finger.
“Open your mouth.”
As Kraush opened his mouth, spewing forth heat, Veltoa tossed the liquid inside.
Kraush felt the liquid slide down his throat.
“Ugh.”
In an instant, searing pain shot through him, but gradually the pain began to dissipate.
Kraush recognized what this curse was.
“It’s a curse that postpones the pain and injuries. It’s temporary, but it should keep you from dying for now.”
As Veltoa explained, it was merely a curse that bought him time to breathe.
But the important thing was that it allowed him to move.
“I’m going to get the Star-Eater now.”
With barely audible words, Kraush stood up, supported by Haring.
Veltoa nodded and placed his hand atop the cage.
At that moment, a black mist began to seep out from Veltoa’s hand.
He aimed to separate the Star-Eater without causing it any harm.
The Star-Eater, panicking, flitted around inside the cage.
However, there was nothing it could do in its current state.
After a while, the black mist filled the cage.
Unsurprisingly, the Star-Eater got trapped within that mist.
How long did that black mist writhe around inside the cage?
“Got it.”
As soon as Veltoa’s voice rang out, Kraush lifted his hand.
The Black Hood activated, and light surged forth.
The target was the Star-Eater.
What he intended to steal was the Aura.
Normally, to steal what was a part of the Star-Eater, he’d need to unlock a dial.
But thanks to Veltoa, since the Aura had been separated from the Star-Eater, it was a different story.
Currently, the Aura didn’t even recognize that it belonged to the Star-Eater.
Although it was something it held, it didn’t even know of its existence.
Naturally, Kraush’s Black Hood stole the Aura without any conditions.
Snap!
In that instant, something landed in Kraush’s grasp.
It was a white snake, bearing red tattoos on its skin.
The snake’s eyes widened in surprise.
No wonder, it had just been yanked from the Star-Eater.
As soon as the Aura faced Kraush, it began to disintegrate.
Due to its lazy assumption that it would only need to move to absorb its target, it didn’t realize this one would be Kraush.
The Aura immediately tried to spread through Kraush’s body.
It had to be the first to swallow him and find something to replace it.
However, the Aura displayed a startled reaction the moment it was absorbed.
The reason? The overwhelming power of World Erosion was still coursing through Kraush’s body.
World Erosion filled Kraush’s insides to the brim, leaving no room for the Aura to advance.
And in places where there was no World Erosion, Aura had taken up space.
It had no way of proceeding without a single opening.
Ultimately, the only option for the Aura was to consume the power of World Erosion.
The Aura had no choice but to keep swallowing the World Erosion blocking its path.
And it started to gulp down World Erosion with remarkable speed.
It wasn’t the top-tier curse for nothing.
Though filled with World Erosion, it was a snack that the Aura could easily devour.
As the Aura continued swallowing World Erosion, it unexpectedly began swallowing Aura as well.
Since they were mixed up in a fight for dominance, it was only logical.
Ultimately, the Aura began to consume Aura too.
That little glutton was eating everything that came its way.
The World Erosion and Aura rapidly filled the Aura’s form.
Soon, the Aura’s unique characteristics began to manifest.
It started replacing what it consumed with itself.
The Aura began shifting both the power of World Erosion and the Aura to replace it.
Normally, since World Erosion and Aura were opposing forces, they should have clashed.
However, if this continued, Kraush’s body would break apart at any moment.
So, the Aura used its unique ability to change both opposing conditions.
That meant whenever Kraush consumed one force, the other would unify with it.
Whenever Kraush used Aura, the World Erosion transformed into Aura as well.
Conversely, when using World Erosion, even Aura converted into World Erosion.
It was indeed a power only the Aura could possess.
But the gluttony of the Aura was still far from satisfied.
It looked around, eager to consume more.
Just at that moment, the celestial bodies hanging in the night sky began to glow brilliantly.
The intense red light bursting forth from the stars shocked even the Aura.
Surprised, the Aura shrank back.
The celestial bodies amplified the power of the curse enormously.
However, in the case of a sentient top-tier curse, it was a different story.
They didn’t want to go berserk.
They always wished to maintain their current state.
Hence, the celestial bodies became something terrifying to them.
Lest they risk losing themselves to a berserk state.
Ultimately, the Aura got frightened by the celestial bodies and halted its gluttonous consumption of the Aura and World Erosion.
Recognizing the Aura’s stillness, Kraush sighed deeply.
The heat billowing from his mouth had ceased.
The Aura’s absorption of World Erosion and Aura had stabilized his body.
Finally, the curse known as the Dark Sword began to work in earnest.
The temperature of Kraush’s body gradually returned to normal.
Although his insides had turned into a wreck from using Annihilation Erosion, he managed to avoid bodily collapse thanks to Aura and World Erosion.
With a sigh of relief, Kraush lifted his head.
In front of him stood two furious faces.
Instinctively, Kraush flinched.
It felt like he was facing an imminent danger far worse than his previous predicament.
The owners of those angry faces were none other than Ebelasque and Haring.
Ebelasque wore a deadly serious expression, while Haring regarded Kraush with icy eyes.
After all, it had truly been a perilous experience this time.
“You really….”
“Pfft!”
Just as Ebelasque was about to lecture him, a monstrous sound erupted from behind her.
There was the Celestial Seven, who had hidden their bodies underground when the Star-Eater emitted its light.
Emerging from the ground, it began to grind its teeth.
“I’m doing this kind of crap, and it’s really just—!”
Once above ground, it shook off the dirt only to sense the glares directed at it.
It hesitated for a moment, furrowing its brow.
“What? Didn’t I do enough? I did what I could, okay!”
Good grief, what an idiot.
Thanks to the Celestial Seven’s antics, the tension in the atmosphere eased a little, causing Kraush to exhale in relief.
At that moment, Veltoa approached, crouching down in front of him.
“How’s your condition?”
“I’m pretty good compared to earlier.”
“Hmm, surprising. I didn’t expect you to use the celestial bodies to manipulate a top-tier curse.”
Veltoa’s expression was one of genuine surprise.
His eyes gleamed with increased interest, now fixated on Kraush.
“Are you planning to acquire more top-tier curses in the future?”
Veltoa had keenly noticed that Kraush was utilizing top-tier curses.
It was likely that he would seek out several more top-tier curses.
So, in response to Veltoa’s quick question, Kraush smiled softly.
At moments like this, he appreciated having a classmate.
“Yeah, I’m going for more.”
He would use everything he could.
That was Kraush’s philosophy after all.
Naturally, it included top-tier curses as well.
“Ha ha!”
Veltoa laughed joyfully.
For him, researching curses was his reason for living.
[ These guys are a bunch of lunatics. ]
Meanwhile, Kraush and Veltoa were viewed as madmen by the Crimson Garden.
“It’s about time to move.”
Veltoa remarked while planting his staff firmly on the ground.
At that moment, something like curse centipedes shot up from the ground beneath Kraush and the others.
“The dark enemies are on their way.”
As soon as he realized the battle with the Star-Eater was over, the dark creatures surged toward them.
It would undoubtedly take a lot of effort to break through.
“I’ll treat this like a special service.”
Just then, beside Veltoa’s curse centipede, space began to tear like paper.
From within that rift emerged a gigantic goat, adorned with multiple amulets.
Its size rivaled the curse centipedes, nearly reaching the night sky with its horns.
The goat grunted annoyingly.
Kraush knew that this goat was a collaboration of many curses.
[ We’ve created something that shouldn’t exist. ]
Even the Crimson Garden regarded that curse with contempt.
Veltoa’s original curse,
Merdik Dio.
As soon as it appeared, it opened its mouth wide.
Unlike an ordinary goat, it had razor-sharp teeth protruding sharply from its mouth.
Gathered around it was a mass of black energy compressed tightly.
Bing!
With the light’s sound, a black beam shot out, sweeping away the dark creatures rushing in.
Boom!
In an instant, a black explosion erupted, obliterating the dark creatures.
The problem was that Merdik Dio showed no sign of stopping, gathering the next wave of black energy.
It wasn’t firing just one; it was a multi-shot barrage.
‘What a monster.’
It was no wonder it bore such a reputation as a top-tier curse master.
The original curse created by Veltoa exhibited unbelievable power.
Kraush’s gaze then landed back on the chain cage.
The Star-Eater was finished.
Seeing the Star-Eater that was languishing in the cage, Kraush opened the entrance.
The Star-Eater seized the opportunity and scattered starlight as it rushed out.
Standing before Kraush, the Star-Eater sprinkled starlight, and Kraush smiled apologetically.
“Sorry about that.”
The Star-Eater glanced at Kraush for a moment before taking off again.
Before long, it would be flitting through the endless night, scattering starlight again.
What that meant to it was a lifelong task, but it wouldn’t know.
As Kraush watched the departing Star-Eater, he turned away.
Summer had officially begun, and it was now halfway through the season.
Soon, the second-year students would finish their six-month training and, separate from the special classes, officially transition into the academy.
‘The competition for talent among teams is about to begin.’
It was almost time to return to the Rahern Academy.
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