### Chapter: 398
The Magic Kingdom of Jeblam had come to an end, and five years had zipped by.
This whole debacle caused quite the ruckus all over the world.
First and foremost, cities that used to guard the Magic Kingdom found themselves in a pickle.
You see, those places had been pouring funds into maintaining the Kingdom.
But now, there was no longer any reason for that investment.
As a result, various issues sprouted between countries and cities for a while.
However, not long afterward, everything was quickly resolved.
Not that the world erosion was going to just blink away, despite the Kingdom disappearing.
The remaining forces were naturally dispatched to prevent future world erosion from becoming a nightmare like the Magic Kingdom had.
These efforts were dubbed Icarus, in honor of the heroes who had saved the Kingdom.
Ironically, this led to a massive wave of exploration across the world.
All those resources that were initially meant for the Kingdom could now be utilized elsewhere.
They were now able to tackle areas rendered uninhabitable by world erosion.
As a result, the world was welcoming a totally new era.
Everyone raced to explore the previously uncharted territories.
Scholars referred to this as the Age of Great Exploration.
It represented the new direction the world would take moving forward.
In this fresh new era, recognition had to be given to the heroes who had made it possible.
One individual had risen as the emblem of this new age.
The renowned Dragon King, Kraush Balheim.
The Empire and the Four Kingdoms honored his heroism with statues and praises.
They even went so far as to declare the day the Kingdom fell as “Kraush Day.”
Regardless of his own wishes, hero songs were sung in his name.
Also, one of the Celestial Knights, the Empress Glycis Lakroix, declared her retirement.
She nonchalantly pointed to Kraush as her successor then vanished into thin air.
As a result, Kraush unexpectedly found himself catapulted to the position of Celestial Knight with overwhelming support.
None of the other Celestial Knights opposed this decision.
Again, this was entirely against Kraush’s personal wishes.
Eventually, Kraush’s titles changed.
From Celestial Knight to Dragon Emperor Kraush Balheim.
Five years had certainly transformed a lot of things.
The world was changing at breakneck speed, during which time two of the Ten Great Lords had also retired.
The Earth King and the Fire King.
Both had quit the Ten Great Lords shortly after the cessation of the Magic Kingdom.
They were among the elder members of the Ten Great Lords.
Plus, they had endured too much hardship leading up to the end of the Kingdom.
The Fire King, Adolf Igrit, had even more complicated matters at hand.
Rumor has it, a heavily bandaged man appeared and challenged him, only to utterly defeat him.
This guy, a master of fire magic, defeated the Fire King using… fire magic!
The people started calling him the Flame Deity, even grander than the Fire King himself.
This incident ultimately forced the Fire King into retirement.
Consequently, two new members joined the ranks of the Ten Great Lords.
One was the defeated Glycys Lakroix.
The other, the Swordmaster, Charlotte Balheim.
Glycys had long been discussed as a candidate for the Ten Great Lords.
So it was only natural for her to step into the role.
Charlotte’s circumstances were a little different.
As soon as she was nominated, she darted across the realm, challenging the Ten Great Lords.
What she did was simple.
It was basically a “smash the dojo” tour.
She faced off against each Lord head-on and achieved a ridiculous record of 6 wins and 2 losses.
Except for those initial 2 losses, she had a winning streak.
Here was someone barely in their early twenties taking down six of the Ten Great Lords.
What kind of talent was that?
People gaped in awe at her abilities, predicting she would soon rise to the Celestial Knights as well.
With whispers of retirements coming from the reigning Emperor’s side…
It was assumed that Charlotte, with her shining talent, would secure that spot.
So, on the day Charlotte ascended to the Ten Great Lords…
She was suddenly confessed to by a guy.
The one confessing was Aniks Graiza, a member of the Three Giants of Starlon and known as the Bow God.
And she outright rejected him.
The reason was simple.
She claimed she already had someone in line to marry.
Aniks calmly congratulated her.
And so, thus began the Age of Great Exploration.
In the Empire, one person surged to prominence.
A man known as the Hero of Commoners.
His name was Pelrei, and he had made quite a name for himself during his adventures in Icarus.
He repeatedly insisted he wasn’t a hero, but…
People insisted on calling him a hero regardless.
Also, there were peculiar rumors coming from the Maritime Kingdom of Poseus.
It was said that the Sea King had taken on a disciple.
Before, he wouldn’t even think about having disciples; he had just been chilling in the vast ocean.
But now, with the sea voyage concluded, he seemed to be attracting some winds of change.
According to gossip, it was one of the princesses of Poseus.
With so many princes and princesses in Poseus, no one could pin down exactly who she was.
However, there were solid rumors indicating she had quite a unique personality.
Later on, she boldly declared she would rise to the Ten Great Lords.
For a moment, her name stirred excitement among the people.
Much to everyone’s surprise, the Magic Kingdom of Jeblam also had unexpected news.
It turned out, the Wizard King had a daughter!
The girl was said to have silver hair like the Wizard King.
Rumor had it she was often seen shopping in the market with a creepy-looking lady with long black hair.
They claimed that meeting eyes with that black-haired woman led to an odd phenomenon of not recognizing her at all.
Some referred to it as a barrier.
It was whispered that the Wizard King and the Dragon King had jointly found her.
But the juicy details of the story didn’t spread much further.
In the Holy Kingdom of Freeman, the ex-Holy Maiden, Astria Stigma Freeman, was reborn as a heroine alongside the Dragon Emperor, gaining attention once more.
Astria graciously declined, but the citizens of the Holy Kingdom cherished her enough to want her to show her face now and then.
And thus unfolded a mountain of changes.
With the dawning of this new era, the fresh youth took on the title of the Sky Generation in the Age of Great Exploration.
Everyone soared into this new era, leaving their marks on the world.
What about the protagonist who sparked this era?
“Kraush, here’s today’s paperwork.”
“Ugh, not again.”
Buried beneath a mountain of paperwork, Kraush let out a groan.
Perhaps due to overworking, his black-blue hair looked frayed.
His white eyes, faded like colors lost to time, showed signs of fatigue.
Leaning back in his chair, he sighed heavily.
“Why did I have to take on the leadership of Icarus?”
The Dragon Emperor, Kraush Balheim.
The youngest among the Ten Great Lords and Celestial Knights, he was also the hero who protected the world!
Kraush quietly spoke to Alicia, his devoted attendant, as she placed documents in front of him.
“Alicia, what if we just burned all of this stuff?”
“You know we can’t do that.”
At that moment, another voice chimed in, chastising Kraush.
When he turned to look, there was another woman dressed like an attendant.
With a somewhat languid expression, Lirina smiled when her eyes met Kraush’s.
“Aren’t you supposed to handle your responsibilities, Kraush?”
The direct attendant of Arslan, Lirina.
But now, she was here to assist Kraush at his request.
“After all, Kraush is leading Icarus in this Age of Great Exploration. You’ve got mountains of work to tackle, Lirina.”
Honestly, Lirina thought Arslan was simply trying to ditch her date with his spirit partner, Dorothy.
But given her concern for Kraush, she packed her things and came over.
Thanks to this, the overwhelming tasks that Alicia couldn’t handle were somewhat lightened.
Lirina was quite the competent hire in this regard.
“So, Kraush, let’s give it our all today.”
Kraush rubbed his forehead hard, looking at the documents handed over by Lirina, following Alicia.
“…With the Kingdom ended and having reached an agreement with Abella, I thought I’d finally be free of overwork.”
Little did he expect that with the onset of the Age of Great Exploration, Icarus would be crushed under all these responsibilities.
All thanks to Sigrid’s planning.
She foresaw the beginning of the Age of Great Exploration and promptly began reaching out to the Empire and various realms to connect them under the name of Icarus.
Additionally, since Icarus was already a united force across the world…
It naturally transitioned to blocking off the Age of Great Exploration.
Then, they quickly seated Kraush at the helm of Icarus.
As someone who had already worked as Icarus’ leader, it was a sensible move.
Given that he had ushered in a new era, he certainly had the symbolic worth.
As leader, he had responsibilities for all the paperwork that piled up from below.
That’s how Kraush ended up buried under a mountain of documents.
He thought he’d be able to rest after fulfilling his goals.
Instead, he was now drowning in work, separate from his physical exhaustion.
Next time he met Sigrid, he’d have to take a piece out of those chubby cheeks.
“…I might as well give up the title of Dragon Emperor to lighten my load.”
“You’re aware you’re not supposed to say that outside, right?”
Kraush grimaced at Lirina’s words and managed a bitter smile.
That day he faced Abella and used up all his strength…
Kraush had effectively lost everything he had built up until that point.
However, aside from his close friends, no one knew about this.
The reasoning was simple.
Kraush had become a member of the Celestial Knights, and achieved remarkable milestones.
If news spread that he had lost his strength…
It could likely cause another uproar.
He had to maintain this aura of significance for political reasons.
Kraush clenched and unclenched his hands.
Though the faint remnants of Ignis flickered to life, they were embarrassingly small compared to before.
“Seems about right.”
Kraush didn’t feel disappointment about this.
In fact, this might even feel more like himself.
He slowly turned his head to look out the window.
Suddenly, a particular letter he’d received popped into his mind.
The letter was from Arthur Gramalte.
It mentioned finding something and promised to return soon.
At the bottom, there was a postscript saying, “Your sister tried to write to you.”
On the day he resurrected Arthur using the transcendental stone…
She whisked away the unconscious Kraush and vanished without a trace.
After several years of silence, she suddenly claimed she’d be back soon.
“I wonder what prompted the wind to change like this.”
As long as he knew she was alive, that was enough for him.
But knowing she was coming back brought a surprising sort of joy.
“Kraush!”
Just then, Lirina’s call broke Kraush’s thoughts, pulling him back to his work.
Right, no more daydreaming; he really ought to get to work.
“Speaking of which, it seems you’ve heard that your wives have been trying to catch up with you over the weekend.”
As Kraush’s pen paused mid-motion, he realized he might actually be even busier than before.
His wives had been sharpening their blades every weekend recently.
Starting with Bianca Hardenhartz, then Haring Lagrain, Astria Stigma Freeman, and finally, somehow tying the knot with Sigrid Ephania.
Kraush currently had four wives.
Excluding Bianca, their faces still lingered in his mind, all competing over who would be first to have their wedding ceremony.
He was willing to take responsibility, so he clearly accepted them all.
Yet, for some reason, they just couldn’t stop quarreling over priority.
Ultimately, Kraush had to get mad at them all and settle on a group wedding.
But there was still an issue lingering afterward.
Who gets to cuddle with him on their first newlywed night?
To settle that, Kraush had to work quite hard.
Now it had become a well-handled situation.
But the problem was that ever since Kraush lost his power, everyone’s obsession escalated.
They’d often rush over, constantly concerned that something might happen to Kraush.
Once, they even had to gather them all for a discussion about it.
Given their high positions in the Sky Generation, they were each responsible for many things.
It wasn’t exactly the time for them to focus solely on him.
So now, it had mellowed out somewhat.
Of course, Bianca would still occasionally appear to check on Kraush’s health.
But he found that cute and simply let it slide.
“It seems like discussions on who will have the baby first have been pretty heated among the four of you.”
Yet another problem faced Kraush ahead.
His wives’ greed and competition still showed no signs of ending.
Kraush gently set down his pen.
For some reason, he felt like he needed a break.
“So for now, I’ll prepare some fancy meals for you all to enjoy.”
“You really don’t have to go that far.”
“It’s an important matter. Besides, I hear Lady Karandis will also be visiting soon, so keep that in mind.”
“…By this point, it feels pretty pointless having her here.”
“She won’t officially become a wife until she rises to the Ten Great Lords, you know.”
Kraush accepted this reality he’d invited on himself.
“Chirp.”
Out of nowhere, one of his pet rat corpses popped out from his pocket.
Kraush eyed the rat quietly before turning away.
“Not you too, come on.”
That little guy, who would be with him for a long time, really should stop pestering him.
Ultimately, Kraush took up his pen again.
He had an avalanche of work ahead of him.
To reclaim the name of the God of Night, Kraush, along with the Wizard King and Crimson Garden, was preparing to meddle with the Divine Realm.
On that day, when he reached the divine realm, he’d briefly had a moment of clear understanding of it.
Moreover, there he felt the faint presence of the harbingers of apocalypse.
Why were the harbingers of apocalypse making themselves known in the Divine Realm?
This question loomed heavily, too many unanswered threads remained.
Those harbingers doom the world.
Should the world erosion ramp up again and evolve back into the Kingdom, expect the harbingers to reappear.
Kraush had every intention of learning why they existed in the Divine Realm.
Besides that, another lingering question continued to hover over him.
The Black Hood granted by the God.
What was her motive in giving the Black Hood to Kraush?
The Black Hood remained ensconced in Kraush’s grasp.
She merely gave a fleeting glance during the battle with Abella and then vanished without a trace.
“Maybe…”
In her own way, she might have been trying to save the world.
“Or, maybe…”
Kraush still had things left to do.
In which case, he could end up stealing from the Divine Realm next.
There was truly an overwhelming amount I needed to tackle.
Even if he had lost his strength, the world kept moving forward.
Thus, Kraush decided to prioritize his current work.
After all, he’d only be able to return to his wives after completing this task.
With that in mind, Kraush resolved to give it all he had, just like the unique individual he was.
—
【 The Skill of Munchkin Thief has been completed 】
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