### Chapter: 215
Leaving the unconscious Benox behind, Kraush pocketed the magic communication device that had fallen beside him.
With that, he smoothly slipped through the fallen debris of the wall.
Smoke wafted from his mouth, hot enough to singe.
‘I didn’t expect to find Benox here. I used more power than I thought.’
Kraush, having unleashed the extreme annihilation technique with Excel to initiate a surprise attack, quickly regulated his body’s temperature with a single breath.
He knew they would have sent opposition forces toward the Holy Grail, but didn’t anticipate the head inquisitor would be there.
Benox—a master-level powerhouse.
Kraush knew that pulling off a surprise attack without proper energy would be impossible.
‘If it weren’t for Excel, the ambush would’ve failed.’
Grateful for the successful surprise, he reflected on Benox—an inquisitor who had invested all his holy power into self-healing and physical enhancement, making him like a zombie.
He was optimized for stalling, and the longer a battle dragged on, the trickier he became.
The ambush had indeed been the right move.
Boom!
As soon as Kraush emerged, the outside was still chaos.
He spotted Aslan and Diona amidst the fray, where the opposing forces clashed with the royal knights.
Aslan’s fire magic was overwhelmingly effective in the underground space.
Not only was he setting things ablaze, but he was also creating smoke as an added attack, further agitating both the opposition and the royal knights.
Diona’s swift blade cutting through the chaos was equally frightening.
She had been promoted to a cardinal purely based on her swordsmanship.
Having already clashed with the opposition once, there was no one among the royal knights capable of facing her blade.
‘That’s one problem dealt with.’
Kraush quickly turned his head and spotted Astrea, cloaked in Aslan’s temporary concealment magic, stumbling about.
He dashed over to her, avoiding the chaos.
“Astrea.”
“Ah.”
Astrea gasped as Kraush suddenly appeared in front of her.
Seeing her startled state, Kraush turned his back to her and lowered his stance.
“Hop on.”
“H-hop on?”
Astrea was flustered, but there was no time to waste.
When Kraush urged her again, she bit her lip and finally climbed onto his back.
She felt a weighty but soft sensation against him.
It was Astrea pressing her upper body against Kraush.
Though he wasn’t quite accustomed to this feeling, he firmly gripped her thighs.
“Hold on tight.”
“D-do I have to hold on tighter?”
“If you don’t, you might fly off.”
Knowing how fast he could move using Excel, she gulped and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Once he confirmed her secure hold, Kraush shoved his foot forward.
As he stamped his foot on the floor, the force from Excel powered him forward.
In an instant, he zipped through the distance.
Astrea squeezed her eyes shut, not even having time to scream.
Bam!
Kraush landed right in front of the door that Benox had smashed moments ago.
“Eek, hic.”
Astrea, her robe tousled and hair wild, emitted an odd sound from behind him.
Having gone pale, her expression screamed she never wanted to experience this again.
Kraush gently set down the dazed Astrea and approached the shattered door.
Boom!
The chaos still raged behind him.
Thanks to that, it seemed no one here was paying attention to them.
Kraush looked up.
There was the war-torn door engraved with symbols of the holy royal family alongside Benox’s axe.
Originally, the door had been warded by divine protection, but Benox’s axe had taken care of that.
Kicking aside a couple of unconscious priests and entering, Kraush went inside.
“Come with me!”
Astrea hurriedly followed him, apologizing to the priests as she passed by.
The interior was shrouded in darkness.
In the lightless space, Kraush turned his head in search of something.
Spotting a lamp that could be lit, he summoned Ignis in his hand.
As he ignited the lamp, the area gradually brightened.
It seemed to be a lamp crafted through magic, for once one lit, the others ignited in succession.
What soon came into view was a rather unpleasant sight.
Kraush caught the pungent scent of blood.
Following that scent, he saw a tank filled with bloody water.
Various horrific-looking tools lay scattered around, clearly used for unspeakable deeds.
Approaching the tank, Kraush noticed a round chalice sitting at the forefront.
Adorned in gold, it looked like a remarkable treasure.
The Holy Grail.
Despite its beautiful appearance, it was a heinously twisted item that absorbed all of a saint’s holy power.
An abominable artifact crafted by Freeman to maintain the royal family’s sanctity.
Kraush lifted it into his hands.
Puff!
As he did, he felt something within himself being pulled into the chalice.
Kraush also wielded skills.
These skills were akin to holy powers.
So naturally, the chalice sought to absorb Kraush’s skill power.
“Not so fast.”
However, Kraush possessed another power.
As the force of his skills tried to escape, the force of World Erosion swirled and countered.
Thus, the chalice couldn’t absorb the power of his skills and remained firmly clutched in his grasp.
The chalice could consume only skills.
And even then, the absorbed skills would transform into a form of holy power rather than their original shape.
Freeman had used this method to melt various skills and holy powers together to create a saint.
The catch, however, was that this chalice was part of a nameless god’s remnants.
‘They were right about the sacrilege.’
Having been created from a part of a fallen god, it was no wonder why the opposition would call for a religious revolution.
“This place….”
Just then, Astrea’s voice broke through.
She was staring dazedly at the Holy Grail.
For her, this was the place where she was born.
Of course, she had no actual memory of it.
After all, she became a saint when she was just a newborn.
Many saints had passed away here, and new saints were born.
As she gazed at the site of the chalice, she eventually turned back to Kraush.
Her gaze no longer lingered on the Holy Grail.
“What do you plan to do now?”
She was focused on what lay ahead.
Even if today marked the end of her life as a saint, she was determined to live for herself.
Kraush felt her resolve and suddenly pulled out Rain Thunder Prime.
While Aslan and Diona were buying them time, both the opposition and the royal family would likely grasp the situation by now.
There might be forces converging outside the underground.
If they clashed with those forces, there’d be no time to act.
So, Kraush decided to move the shortest distance.
“Well, it’s simple.”
Now that it had come to this, he planned to make waves that would echo across the entire world.
Ending the reign of the saint.
Astrea Stigma Freeman.
That was what he aimed to announce to the world.
Kraush’s Rain Thunder Prime began to swirl with black flame.
Simultaneously, the air around them swirled against Kraush’s emerging black flames.
Feeling something was off, Astrea turned her gaze to Kraush.
“What… are you planning?”
Astrea asked, confused.
Zing!
A scabbard made of thunder formed over Kraush’s blade.
With every spark that leaped, he held tightly to the Holy Grail and lowered his stance.
As he did, the power of the black flame began to grow within the scabbard.
What had been inspired by the Swordmaster’s drawing of his sword was now brewing a storm of black flames as hot as molten lava.
“Whew.”
Smoke billowed from Kraush’s lips.
Boom!
At the same time, the surroundings began to tremble as if an earthquake had struck.
The wave of power emanating from Kraush began to affect the area around him.
“What are you doing?!”
Astrea screamed, grabbing hold of a nearby pillar in panic.
Yet even that pillar quaked before Kraush’s power.
Smash!
At that moment, a sound of footsteps echoed from the direction of the door.
Astrea turned to see Benox standing there, blood dripping from his head, his eyes half-rolled back.
Looking every bit the zombie, upon spotting Kraush, he gritted his teeth.
“You!”
His voice thundered with fury.
Kraush had ensured he’d be knocked out, so how had he managed to regain consciousness and get this far?
He grabbed the axe he had dragged along the ground, attempting to rise.
But before he could do a thing, a sword struck down onto his axe.
Clang!
The crashing sound of a large sword brought Benox’s body off balance as he spun around.
Dust-filled Diona was right there.
“Diona!”
Recognizing her, Benox shouted, but Diona’s eyes were filled with warning.
“This is Lady Saint’s space. Who dares raises their voice?”
Once a suggestion from the opposition, she now stood as a knight sworn solely to protect Saint Astrea.
Choosing Astrea over Freeman, Benox could only seethe in rage.
[Benox, prepare the Holy Grail.]
Just then, Kraush heard Termaan’s voice coming from the magic communication device he had taken from Benox.
He had sent that message, thinking Benox would’ve acquired the Holy Grail by now.
Upon hearing that voice, Kraush couldn’t help but smile broadly while gripping Rain Thunder Prime tightly.
“Ah, yes, everything is ready.”
His voice echoed through the communication device, eliciting a startled reaction from Termaan.
And by the time he tried to say something, it was already too late.
Kaboom!
With a thunderous roar erupting from Kraush’s Rain Thunder Prime, he struck upward toward the ceiling.
The sheer amount of black flames surged as the heavy blade was lifted skyward.
Crash!
With a sound of breaking thunder, the scabbard shattered, and Kraush’s black flames surged upward.
Annihilation Erosion.
Three Techniques.
Annihilation Celestial Thunder.
Kawagahagahagahagah!
The raging black flames and the storm of thunder tore through the ceiling.
The ferocious black flames shattered the underground, reaching the fountain at the center.
Nothing could obstruct the fountain’s crashing splendor as it shattered, sending water spewing high into the sky.
The fountain, where the gods had washed their hands, was obliterated today.
In the face of that astounding spectacle, onlookers screamed and staggered away from the fountain.
Fortunately, the fountain was enormous and filled the central area, so no one was caught in the disaster.
Beneath that soaring black flame, Kraush turned to Astrea.
“Astrea!”
As Kraush called her name, she grasped his meaning and rushed toward him.
“Lady Astrea!”
Standing beside Kraush, when she turned back, she saw Diona, who was holding back Benox, smiling.
“Fly free beyond the cage.”
She had always wished for the saint to spread her wings wide outside the cage.
Diona, who had watched over Astrea since her childhood, smiled brightly at her.
Diona, who had always been like a parent she never had, made Astrea beam like the sun.
“I’ll fly incredibly high, so keep your eyes peeled.”
With those words, Kraush wrapped his arms around her waist and jumped.
The two vanished through the hole they had just created.
Watching their departure, Diona exhaled lightly.
Having witnessed the saint achieve her dream, it was now her turn to fulfill her duties as her knight.
“Diona, you’ve lost your mind! You should have done something manageable!”
Benox, filled with rage, glared at her.
His body, entering full combat readiness in the temple, swelled with an intimidating pressure.
“I’ve always done the impossible.”
Diona received his statements stoically, raising her sword.
“Our lady saint is more mischievous than you know.”
She hoped that today, the world would realize that fact.
Today, Diona once again raised her sword for the saint.
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