### Chapter: 416
The gods are moving directly.
This is a situation Kraush had considered from the beginning.
No matter how much of an individualist these gods are, they wouldn’t just let Kraush, the one causing them continuous trouble, be.
Kraush knew that one day something like this would happen.
“But it came sooner than I thought.”
The fact that the individualistic gods have come for him this quickly means there’s someone at the center of this.
The gods’ backbone.
Perhaps, it’s the very being who initiated this whole world erosion reawakening.
Could they possibly be among them?
– Aria, can you do it?
Kraush used his skill again to send his voice to Aria.
Even if it wasn’t the god’s true form, the opponent was a manifested god.
They were among the strongest of the Ten Great Lords.
And there were a considerable number of strong opponents gathered here.
– “Who do you think I am?”
The voice in Aria‘s mind resonated directly with Kraush.
She was Aria, who had faced countless trials as a reincarnator while confronting the end of the world.
For the past five years, her top priority had been rebuilding her strength.
Just in case anything happened to Kraush, she had trained herself without shifting responsibility onto him.
Kraush felt a confident aura coming from Aria.
If it’s this vibe, he could trust her.
– “It’s great to finally work together again.”
The problem was, he could feel her flustered and embarrassing thoughts as well.
Taking a quick glance at Aria, her ears were bright red, showing that she unexpectedly had some thoughts.
Seeing her like that, Kraush quietly took a breath.
Deep within his body,
He had been steadily collecting the skills he had burned with Ignis.
Ash-colored flames instantly spread through Kraush‘s insides.
[ I called for reinforcements. I’ll be joining you soon. ]
Meanwhile, Crimson Garden’s voice came through.
It was reassuring.
All that was left was for Kraush to go wild.
‘Excel.’
The first to move was Kraush.
With ash-colored flames trailing, the distorted silhouette of Kraush reached the manifested god.
A god made entirely of wood.
It was the wood god, Woodron.
As Woodron belatedly realized Kraush had closed in, tree roots sprang up wanting to capture and crush him.
At that moment, Kraush’s sword brushed through the roots like ash-colored fire.
Swish!
The instant the roots shattered into pieces, they all ignited in ash-colored flames.
Woodron‘s eyes bulged.
Realizing Kraush held overwhelming firepower, too late.
But there were more gods here than just him.
A steel giant rose up from the ground, swinging its fist at Kraush.
Just as the punch, gleaming with steel, was about to hit Kraush,
A golden flash passed by the steel fist.
The exposed steel hand melted away completely.
It was Aria’s secret move.
“What the—my steel…”
A bewildered voice echoed from a distance.
Regardless, Kraush had already reached Woodron.
Even as Woodron hurriedly tried to raise trees to form armor, it was already too late.
Crash!
In an instant, Kraush shattered Woodron‘s wooden armor and slammed his head straight into the ground.
Boom!
With a roar, Woodron felt shockwave from the blow and started to spit blood, trembling.
No matter how divine a being appeared, the basics still relied on a human body.
Damage exceeding one’s physical limit is something one cannot endure.
Woodron’s consciousness flew away in that instant.
As the Black Hood activated from Kraush‘s grip, Woodron‘s skills were stolen away.
Kraush immediately burned the skill in his hand and spun around.
Clang!
What followed was the sound of metal clashing.
Before Kraush stood a man beaming confidently, pouring out red light from his eyes.
This guy had a bulk that was massive.
His entire body was packed with muscles, as if it were about to burst.
In fact, sections of skin were torn due to excessive muscle growth, exposing muscle beneath.
“This is fun. Looks like you can swing a sword, human boy!”
Frenzied laughter poured from his bearded mouth.
He was the god of axes, Rivaf.
“Fighting is exhilarating! That’s why I love the Middle Realm!”
Rivaf swung his axe, aiming to cleave both Kraush’s head and waist simultaneously, even though he held only one axe.
Clang! Clang!
However, with Excel, Kraush parried every attack while channeling ash-colored flames into the Nebula Sword.
Dragon scales emerged on Kraush’s face.
As horns sprouted from his head, the moment he unleashed that power,
Chills ran through the very air.
Even Rivaf, the axe god, stumbled for a moment at the sheer volume of firepower coming from Kraush.
Whoosh!
As Kraush swung his sword, the firepower leapt out, and Rivaf rolled away, desperately dodging.
One could barely withstand such a force with a body of a manifested human.
Fire flashed brightly!
Just as Rivaf barely rolled away to escape, ash-colored flames engulfed the area, obliterating the forest.
“Ahh!”
And there, a female god caught in the flames screamed and fell over.
She was the vague memory goddess, who had been sneaking up behind Aria a moment ago.
Aria intentionally turned her back.
She wanted the opponent to focus on Kraush and step right into his fire zone.
The two were synchronizing their breaths without saying a word.
“Huh.”
Rivaf gave a disbelieving sound.
Then his face began to turn grim.
“You ignored me and targeted another enemy. How utterly disrespectful!”
Feeling indignant at being disregarded, Rivaf charged straight at Kraush.
Kraush remained in the stance of his sword, fully intent on landing a hit.
However, Kraush‘s eyes were already on Rivaf.
‘Excel.’
Leaving the Nebula Sword, Kraush swung his arm to the side.
‘Repiten.’
At that moment, a sword made from ash-covered flames formed in Kraush‘s hand.
Kraush‘s elder brother, Lai Balheim’s skill.
Repiten.
A skill that could create materials one touches.
With a flaming sword of ashes clashing against Rivaf’s axe, flames soared high.
Upon feeling the sudden heat and flames spreading toward him, Rivaf cared little for it.
He intended to splatter Kraush like a bug with his flaming axe.
Clang!
However, once more, another conflict rang out.
Black Hood.
With Kraush regaining the Nebula Sword, his eyes turned red.
Killing intent as fierce as a whirlwind surged from Kraush, even piercing Rivaf’s gaze.
A gleeful expression bloomed on Rivaf’s face.
“Indeed, is this the chosen one of the god of thieves?”
With that last shout, ash-colored flames erupted violently from Kraush’s sword.
In an instant, engulfed by the ash-colored fire, Rivaf crumbled into a pile of ash, collapsing to the ground.
Normally, Kraush would hold back when fighting a god, considering his original body.
But now was not the time for that.
Each one was an opponent on par with the Ten Great Lords.
Moreover, he wasn’t fighting alone; Aria was in on this too.
To ensure Aria didn’t fall into danger, Kraush displayed potent firepower.
“Hey, wait a minute. This changes everything.”
“You said the god of thieves had lost all power, didn’t you?”
Whispers of exasperation from the gods echoed.
These guys were way behind on their updates.
He had regained his power long ago.
‘Proof that they were failing to share information with one another.’
For individualistic gods, sharing information must be tricky.
On this side, it was an opportunity.
The prey had cheerfully walked right into the trap.
All of them were captured.
Just as Kraush was about to dash for the next god,
A chill crept down his spine.
After a long time, Kraush felt a chill crawl up from the base of his spine to the top of his head.
His gaze turned towards Aria.
Just like Kraush, Aria was entangled in a fierce battle with the gods.
At that moment, Kraush acted faster than anyone else.
He stomped down hard, pouring out his strength, and leaped forward with Excel.
Then he channeled the power into his Nebula Sword and propelled it explosively towards the front.
Clang—
What followed was a very soft sound.
Normally, a massive explosion should’ve erupted at the moment of impact.
However, the strangely small, alien noise widened Kraush‘s eyes in shock.
Before him stood an old man, skin fissured like a gnarled tree, slowly swinging a sword devoid of teeth at Kraush, grinning.
As Kraush met the hollow-eyed stare of the old man,
he felt the depth of the abyss contained within.
Once upon a time, long before the concepts of Heaven’s Sword and the Ten Great Lords existed,
when the Old Monster, the celestial beast Blavi, still operated in his late stages,
an elderly man held dominion over the world.
The most supreme being (天下第一人).
The Old Ruler (怪尊).
He was someone who had aged and had long since met his demise.
Yet, having far exceeded human limitations, even lying in his coffin, he was unable to find rest.
Growing older and frailer,
but his essence and experiences remained intact.
And ultimately, because he hadn’t truly died,
his skills still existed within his body.
The skill granted to him:
Berlum.
A skill that awakens all talents regarding battle.
One of the most recognized gods with a multitude of followers, the “God of War”.
This was the skill bestowed upon him.
And now,
an unspeakable monster had awakened the god of war and opened its eyes.
For just a brief moment, Kraush felt as if time around him had stopped.
Then he realized that blood was dripping from his chest.
Slowly, Kraush opened his eyes.
He was wounded.
With all senses piercing through him, the Old Ruler had already dealt the blow.
In that fleeting moment of disbelief, encountering the Old Ruler, Kraush‘s perception couldn’t keep up.
Suddenly, a golden flash extended in front of him.
Boom!
The Old Ruler staggered back a step.
The force of the flash had shaken him, powerful enough to cause him to take a step back.
– Kraush!
Aria‘s voice calling out to Kraush rang clear.
Overwhelmed by the Old Ruler, Kraush belatedly pulled Aria close to him and granted her Excel.
Boom!
Kraush shot out of there faster than the sound.
At their current levels, facing off against the Old Ruler would spell disaster, both Kraush and Aria recognized this.
Aria was panting, as if she had poured out all her strength in an instant.
Kraush’s expression also tightened more than ever.
He had idly thought he could handle the manifestation of a god.
But he hadn’t anticipated this mythical creature awakening from a long slumber.
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