### Chapter: 270
After a bit of a commotion and introductions in the Lion’s Order,
Kraush found himself in the Special Class Hall.
Seated before him was none other than the daughter born from the union of the Mage King and the Kekkeshis.
Baioren Sedni.
Though her real name was Baioren Jeblam.
“……What on earth are you talking about?”
With her big sleeves still draped loosely, Baioren tilted her head with a hand resting on her chin, clearly confused by what she had just heard.
It was a perfect display of not understanding a single word.
Kraush sighed and decided to explain once more.
“The son of the Mage King who enrolled this year is actually the Mage King himself.”
Baioren stared blankly at Kraush, still not quite believing.
Even after this second explanation, doubt lingered in her eyes.
To be fair, Kraush might have reacted similarly if he were in her shoes and didn’t know the backstory either.
“I’m serious. You can go check for yourself.”
“……I’d prefer it was all just nonsense.”
Given how earnestly Kraush was speaking, there was no room for skepticism, even for Baioren.
“What is that guy thinking?”
Although he was her father, Baioren was at a complete loss when it came to understanding his mind.
“No idea. But it seems I’m part of the reason he dropped by Rahern Academy.”
“What?”
Baioren exclaimed in surprise, her eyes widening as she grabbed the collar of Kraush’s robe tightly.
“You told me back then that I wouldn’t have any problems getting out if I met that guy. That still holds true, right?”
If not, shame on Kraush was what Baioren’s eyes were saying.
Kraush nodded in an attempt to reassure her.
“Yeah, it’s still true. So don’t worry.”
Though Baioren looked a tad skeptical, she decided to trust him.
“So, what are you planning?”
Originally, she intended to head toward Jeblam, but now everything had changed.
No matter how crazy he was, the king wouldn’t just blurt out his secrets while attending Rahern Academy.
Doing so could lead to a national issue, after all.
“I was thinking of borrowing your strength.”
“My strength?”
Although Kraush’s visit suggested a reason behind it, Baioren wondered if she could really help him uncover the Mage King’s true identity.
“First of all, you’re the daughter of the Mage King, after all.”
“That much is true.”
“Since you know the Mage King’s situation, you can approach him. Ask him if it’s true he has a son.”
Baioren had a solid reason to approach the Mage King.
Even though she wasn’t his biological daughter, blood is still blood.
She well knew that he didn’t have any sons.
If that’s the case, she could exploit that to pry into the Mage King’s secrets.
While doing so, she could ask him, “By the way, aren’t you the Mage King?”
“While I was talking to you, I arrived at a rather alarming conclusion: could it be that he’s the Mage King himself?”
With that conclusion made, she’d approach the Mage King again and dig deeper.
Even if he stubbornly denies it, if Kraush mentions cards he could play to broker a deal with the Mage King, it could all go smoothly.
“Do you think it will work out that easily?”
There was a hint of unease in Baioren’s voice.
She seemed worried about how unpredictable a character the Mage King could be.
“At least if we go by the flow right now, it should be okay.”
“Tch, I have to help now that I’ve committed.”
Baioren made a clicking sound with her tongue as she regarded Kraush.
“Just remember one thing. If that guy goes off the deep end and starts doing something weird, run away immediately.”
“Sure, I’ll keep that in mind.”
With Kraush having secured Baioren’s agreement, all that was left was to move forward with the plan.
Fortunately, the execution of the mission came up quickly.
The Lion’s Order had just received a task that allowed new students to join in.
“Should I tag along?”
“I’m fine. I’ll be back pretty soon.”
Charlotte suggested, hinting at accompanying him, but Kraush politely declined.
The mission involved sealing world erosion erupting from the village of Demoran, located in the majestic Freya Mountains.
The difficulty level of the mission was not particularly high.
So the number of personnel assigned was also quite limited.
There were four second-year students: Kraush, Aslan, Igrit, and Baioren, who just joined the Lion’s Order, plus two from the third year—Bianca and Temarin Jeblam, who was actually the Mage King in disguise.
“Don’t get hurt, and come back safe.”
As he heard Astoria’s caution, Kraush took off using the Empire’s teleportation to head to Demoran.
“So.”
During the transit, they stopped at an inn.
Kraush glanced at Baioren, who was mumbling beside him.
“When are you going to approach him?”
“Geez, I— I’m trying my best!”
Baioren, with her usual foul mouth, yelled at Kraush, covering her face with her hands.
It had already been a week on their journey to Demoran.
Though they were due to arrive the following day, Baioren still hadn’t managed to utter a single word to the Mage King.
Kraush sighed softly and peered out the window.
Demoran was a village built amidst the highlands of Freya, the world’s largest mountain range.
Because of this, the inn on the way to Demoran was situated at a steep elevation, allowing the magnificent view of the mountains through the first-floor windows.
In front of him, he saw Bianca and Haring having a lively chat.
Even at first glance, they shared many common traits.
Perhaps that’s why, spending the last week together had allowed them to bond much quicker than expected.
“Yeah, there are aspects like that.”
“Right?”
Although he had no idea what they were discussing, seeing the way they laughed together showed that they had really hit it off.
‘Is it really possible for them to get this close?’
In a previous cycle, they were on paths that meant killing each other.
With that grim future now completely gone, the two were chatting like sisters.
Kraush felt a slight prickle at the tip of his nose.
At least it meant there wouldn’t be a repeat of that kind of strife in this world.
‘So it wasn’t all in vain.’
Seeing the way Baioren cracked her knuckles, it seemed she was finally determined.
“Today, I’m going to resolve this.”
He hoped she would indeed follow through.
The Mage King was currently resting in a room upstairs.
It was the perfect opportunity for the two of them to have a heart-to-heart talk.
As Kraush watched Baioren’s retreating figure, someone plopped down beside him.
“Did you go on a date?”
Kraush turned to see Aslan, sporting a sharp smile.
“The view was quite nice.”
Recently, Aslan had begun to mature in appearance, capturing the attention of many passing women.
Thinking back to how his handsome face was once concealed under bandages was somewhat disappointing.
Just then, a figure suddenly popped out from Aslan’s shirt pocket—a little ice doll.
It was Dorothy, the spirit and Aslan’s lover.
“She mentioned that the world erosion from Demoran doesn’t feel quite right. It feels different from the usual quality.”
Those two weren’t just off wandering; they managed to gather useful intel.
Kraush briefly contemplated as he listened to Aslan.
He mulled over the timeline slowly.
‘It’s about to kick off.’
He sensed the time had come.
This was the period when the flow of world erosion across the globe began to change.
‘You could say the worst seeds are being sown.’
The reason for these events was simple.
The sheer number of world erosions had begun to rise to levels the world couldn’t handle.
World Erosion was the remnants of worlds that had been annihilated.
Such worlds possessed the ability to restore themselves.
As a result, the shards of those worlds sought to consume the world they latched onto and restore it to what it once was.
Thus, the world was continually losing its strength to maintain itself.
In that vulnerability, the world erosion would produce the worst seeds needed to restore their own worlds.
‘The moment those seeds sprout—’
That’s when a massive war between the world and world erosion would begin.
The world fights to survive.
World erosion fights to rebuild its own world.
Both sides would claw at one another with utmost desperation to maintain their power.
Ultimately, one would vanish forever in their fierce struggle.
Throughout this battle, the world would eventually lose its ability to sustain itself and perish.
That was the destruction of the world that Kraush was facing.
‘And now is the time when world erosion is creeping into saturation.’
The emergence of the worst seeds wasn’t a concern.
In fact, it was the perfect opportunity to eradicate the world erosion entirely.
‘Those worst seeds represent the primal form of world erosion, compressed to the maximum capacity to restore the world.’
If he could just remove them, he’d be able to uproot world erosion, no matter how entrenched it was.
That was precisely why Kraush hadn’t aggressively sought to resolve the world erosion until now.
‘Above all—’
Both Ixion and the world erosions were already aware of these worst seeds.
They had ferociously sprouted those seeds in a last-ditch effort to survive.
‘To prevent that, a war with the world erosion must not erupt.’
This dismal world balanced precariously, hanging by a thread.
‘Even Arthur should’ve been aware of that.’
Kraush briefly recalled the reasons behind Arthur’s failure to stop the world’s destruction.
While he wasn’t entirely blameless, he couldn’t help but consider that Arthur might have had another objective in his mind from the very beginning, assuming this cycle would fail to begin with.
‘Did the three who returned with him serve some purpose to that aim?’
At this point, it was no longer possible to pose questions to Arthur.
So Kraush focused on the moment at hand.
‘Worst seeds are meant to emerge anyway.’
To truly annihilate world erosion, the creation of those seeds was a necessary process.
‘The concern lies in the rampancy and increase of world erosion that will occur during the spawning of the worst seeds.’
Soon, the world would engage in a grand war against world erosion.
‘For that,’
Kraush needed to grow even stronger.
He needed greater power to obliterate the worst seeds sprouting in the Dominion.
‘It feels like I’m endlessly striving for growth.’
Kraush smiled a bitter smile as he glanced at Aslan, Haring, and Bianca.
‘This isn’t work I can tackle alone.’
He wasn’t trying to pave the way for anyone else.
The world couldn’t be defended alone.
Save for their combined might, only through unity could they hope to protect the world.
Just as Kraush reaffirmed this determination,
BANG!
A sudden explosion echoed from above, shaking the inn.
Startled, Kraush quickly lifted his head.
There was Baioren, enveloped in her protective barrier, plummeting down.
“Baioren!”
Kraush dashed over to catch her.
“Cough, cough.”
As they landed, she coughed while a dark smoke billowed from the ceiling.
In that moment, a boy came tumbling down with the sound of hurried footsteps.
With silver hair fluttering, the boy glanced below and clicked his tongue.
Temarin Jeblam.
The identity he concealed was that of the Mage King himself, Terasius Jeblam.
Seeing him, Kraush turned back to Baioren.
Upon meeting his gaze, she fumbled her words and then spoke.
“……Sorry, I accidentally crossed the line.”
Baioren had just made a mistake.
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