### Chapter: 420
The tallest mountain in the world.
Enmaia Mountain.
At that place where the Swordmaster resides, a ragged man was lying back, gazing at the sky.
‘Am I still alive?’
Ever since the Swordmaster revealed the realm of the gods, Kraush had been eager to learn more, confronting the Swordmaster with his sword.
When it came to raw power, he was alright, but when it came to swordsmanship, he felt like a newborn chick compared to the Swordmaster.
Thanks to that, he learned a lot and figured out his shortcomings. However, after all that, he ended up completely drained and passed out.
‘I’m gonna die here.’
His body ached all over.
Of course, it made sense after having taken so many hits from the Swordmaster’s blade.
On another note, he couldn’t help but feel regret about his own talent.
Some say that one grows continuously during battle, but for Kraush, it felt like he was barely scratching the surface after reflecting on the fight.
‘If only I were Charlotte…’
Surely, she would have obtained countless insights from the Swordmaster’s teachings today.
‘What good is it to compare to the best talent in the world?’
His exhaustion was making his thoughts spiral. Kraush shook his head to clear his mind.
Just then, he felt a warm presence on his forehead.
“How’s it going? Learned a lot?”
The source of the feeling above him was none other than Aria.
She reached out and gently patted Kraush’s forehead.
As her kind touch brushed against him, his mind lightened a bit.
Still, her touch lacked the softness one would expect; Aria’s hands bore the marks of a warrior, calloused and scarred.
These were the hands of a martial artist, proof that she had diligently swung her sword day after day.
“Don’t you have any learning to do?”
Kraush asked, and Aria chuckled softly.
“I know my limits. The Swordmaster’s blade isn’t something I can learn from. Our styles are just too different.”
Well, after going through ten rounds of reincarnation, she probably had her own realizations.
“Maybe it’s precisely because I reached those limits that I might have given up,” Aria said.
To save the world.
That heavy responsibility ultimately made Aria lay down her sword.
No matter how hard she trained or how strong she became, this world kept collapsing and then resetting.
In the end, Aria chose Kraush as her backup plan.
And Kraush had certainly been a splendid guardian of the world.
The problem was that this cursed world refused to keep quiet even after being saved.
It seemed it just couldn’t stand to see people resting comfortably.
Kraush propped himself up.
He was feeling somewhat recovered.
“Aria, you haven’t given up.”
Kraush stood up and playfully tousled Aria’s blonde hair. Then he smiled at her as she looked at him blankly.
“Your efforts are reflected in what I’ve accomplished, so stop talking nonsense.”
Aria blinked as she processed his words.
Eventually, she slowly broke into a smile and nodded.
“Right. I do have proof right in front of me.”
Seeing her smile made it look like her spirits had lifted significantly.
“I need to go now.”
At that moment, the Swordmaster’s voice cut through the air.
Having swung his own sword even after Kraush collapsed, he turned his head towards Kraush.
“The gods are restless.”
Kraush’s gaze went skyward.
“They probably don’t all share the same opinion.”
The gods’ restlessness was due to some of their fellow deities’ actions.
They were directly intervening in the Middle Realm to bring about the world’s erosion again.
It’s no surprise that some gods were displeased with this situation.
“That’s a relief to hear.”
He’d been worried about taking on the entire divine realm at once. At least this way, it seemed he could lessen the burden a bit.
Kraush had sent a message out to someone in advance.
They should realize what to do and gather at the Sanctuary.
“Aria, we’re heading to the Sanctuary.”
He was ready for the sword techniques.
All that remained was to deal with the gods gathered at the Sanctuary.
It was time to put an end to the second Ragnarok.
—
A sanctuary where remnants of the ancient gods lingered.
This originally sacred place had become a site no one would dare enter.
But the situation had changed drastically now.
In front of the dense mist of the Sanctuary, numerous people stood guard in front of the cages.
“Ahh, let me go!”
At the Sanctuary’s entrance, a towering woman appeared, holding a man hostage.
With short black hair fluttering in the breeze, she wore a gloomy expression, yet exuded an aura that set her apart from the rest.
She was Mary Diana—born from a divine body.
After being forgiven by Sigrid for the assassination attempt on the princess, she had consistently worked under her.
Having committed such a crime as royal assassination, Mary had no choice but to serve Sigrid.
“This is the last one, Sigrid,” she reported, bringing in a wanted user of skills.
Sigrid gestured to the nearby cage, indicating that Mary had worked hard.
Following orders, Mary approached the cage and shoved the man inside.
At first, he struggled, but feeling the ominous atmosphere, he gradually cowered.
Inside the cage, everyone looked at Mary with fearful eyes for some reason.
“Hey, kid, what luck you’ve got.”
“Seems like you were captured without much fuss due to the lack of time.”
The individuals, bruised and beaten, gazed with envy at the man she had just apprehended.
Just as they had said, the last guy was relatively easy to subdue; he was caught before he even realized what was happening.
Mary didn’t hold back on the wanted user.
After placing the man in the cage, she turned back expressionlessly.
Then, as she approached Sigrid, her composed facade began to crumble.
“U-u-um, Sigrid…”
Mary timidly called out, her face a mix of tension and eagerness.
“Yeah? What’s up?”
“Is it… is it true that Kraush is coming?”
She was anxious for one single reason:
It had been a while since she had seen Kraush.
Since the time he completely wrecked her and became the savior of her life, Mary still aspired to live for him.
Thus, just the thought of seeing Kraush again was making her nervous beyond belief.
Sigrid pointed her finger somewhere.
“Looks like he’s already here.”
Hearing that, Mary snapped her head up in surprise.
What she saw was a cascade of golden hair.
That hair color.
It looked so familiar.
As she delved into her memories and recognized the owner of that hair, she stuttered.
“What? Huh?”
An incredulous sound escaped from Mary’s mouth.
That hair color belonged to Aria.
But the person she saw was a woman, not the man she remembered.
“A-Aria?”
Mary called the name in a daze.
At the same time, their eyes met.
The golden glimmer in her eyes mirrored the Aria from Mary’s memories perfectly.
Intuitively, she felt it—
This was Aria.
Without a doubt, it was Aria.
And soon, she realized Kraush was right next to her.
Kraush, with his dark blue hair blowing in the breeze, walked alongside Aria with an air of familiarity.
“Mary.”
Once their gazes met, Kraush raised a hand in greeting.
“How have you been?”
Kraush’s warm inquiry made Mary flinch.
Forgetting all about Aria, she nodded vigorously.
“Y-yes, yes!”
“I heard you helped catch the skill user. Thanks for your hard work.”
“Oh, it’s nothing I wouldn’t do!”
Mary giggled, her face melting under Kraush’s praise.
Aria glanced at Mary, then turned to Kraush.
“I never would’ve expected you to roast her that much.”
“I’m just giving her a spot that suits her.”
Kraush evaluated Mary a bit harshly.
Given her personality, if he just gave her a position without caution, she was bound to mess up again.
At the level she was now and would likely remain, it was just right.
“Besides, we have Sigrid here to handle her.”
As long as there was someone holding the reins, Mary was good to go.
“Have you arrived?”
Sigrid welcomed Kraush.
Then she glanced at Aria with a raised eyebrow, clicking her tongue.
“Can you handle having her around?”
Having Aria around would likely cause ripples among his other wives.
Though Sigrid had anticipated that the situation would end up like this due to her innate cleverness.
But the rest of his wives were another issue entirely.
“I’ll manage. What about the others?”
“They are resting nearby. They probably heard that you’ve arrived, so they should be here shortly.”
That was that.
Kraush stretched his arms and looked over at the skill users trapped in the cage.
Those who had voluntarily come to offer their skills would know how to wait their turn.
So now it was time to steal all those selfish guys’ skills that only they knew about.
Boom—
Kraush opened the cage door.
The skilled users inside quickly shot up.
From the looks on their faces, it seemed they were planning to escape while they had the chance.
They figured they might as well make a run for it rather than face losing their skills.
Kraush was determined to show them just how foolish that notion was.
Wooosh—
The air around Kraush began to shift dramatically.
The change in airflow gradually grew stronger.
“Ugh! What’s— Why is it so hot?!”
“Ah! Don’t come this way! I’m burning up!”
Screams erupted from the users inside the cage.
They began to realize that the hot current filling the cage was pressing down on them.
The clarity of that pressure varied depending on their level of skill.
The weaklings, with no grasp of their own state, trembled at the heat and scrambled to a corner.
In contrast, the stronger individuals paled at the overwhelming intent that came with the pressure and took a step back.
They all instinctively understood the consequences of trying to run away.
“Form a line for me.”
Kraush firmly etched into their minds just what his status as the Dragon King meant.
“If you don’t, it’ll hurt a lot more when I take your skills.”
In the end, they had no choice but to stand there quietly while their skills were stripped from them.
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