Chapter 72
After Kraush had turned Pendal Road’s crew into a complete mess…
Meanwhile, Lakradiyon was slowly making her way over here.
In the current situation, Lakradiyon had yet to make her move.
Everyone present knew just how much worse things would become if she joined the battle.
“……Just go on ahead.”
They realized they couldn’t stop them.
They could only think of it as buying time.
So, as they cleared the way, Kraush turned around with Lakradiyon, who was approaching.
After all, he had already found the path with his instincts.
There was no need for him to rely on his sixth sense anymore, as long as the walls of the mechanical maze didn’t change. So, Kraush began to run.
“You’re not going to kill them?”
In that moment, a surprisingly candid remark came back from Lakradiyon.
She had recognized that Kraush was holding back a bit.
“Are they a band of thieves or world-erosion minions? Just kill them all.”
Kraush responded with a look of disbelief.
While he couldn’t definitively say that they hadn’t killed people or committed crimes in the Demon Bastion, from Kraush’s perspective, they were weak enough to be easily subdued.
After all, they would be unable to harbor any grudge once they recognized the difference in power; there was no need for Kraush to think about killing them.
There were plenty of actual threats lined up ahead.
Seeing Kraush like this, Lakradiyon fell silent for a moment.
Then, as she jogged alongside him, she slowly spoke up.
“Kraush, if this goes well, may I ask for one favor?”
“That’s a pretty unsettling thing to say at a time like this.”
Kraush frowned, but eventually nodded.
“Do as you wish.”
Listening wasn’t going to be a problem for him.
But was Lakradiyon’s statement an omen of some sort?
Just when Kraush and Lakradiyon had almost made it through the mechanical maze…
Crimson Garden, which had been floating above them, suddenly swooped down right in front of Kraush.
[Kraush!]
Unlike when it had warned him about traps, this time it conveyed a rather unpleasant sentiment.
[Stop!]
The following statement made Kraush’s thoughts race for a moment.
In that instant, he reflexively reached out and grabbed the collar of Lakradiyon’s robe, pulling her back with him.
“Uh!”
With a surprised tone, Lakradiyon stumbled as both she and Kraush stepped back dramatically.
It was at that moment.
Boooom!
With a thunderous sound that echoed through the maze, the wall in front of Kraush shattered, revealing a space beyond.
Lakradiyon held her breath as she took it all in.
It was a wall that even her aura blade couldn’t cut.
To break it with a single blow like that…
She realized the vast gap in power in that one moment.
Tap, tap—
From the direction of the collapsed wall, the sound of someone walking into view was heard.
“Lakradiyon, fall back.”
The moment Kraush sensed the presence, he lowered his voice as much as possible, urging Lakradiyon to retreat quickly.
Lakradiyon understood that the situation was abnormal and promptly withdrew alongside Kraush.
Thanks to that, the two managed to escape to a junction they had just passed, pressing against the wall.
Then they stilled their movements, trying to suppress their presence while sharpening their senses.
Kraush’s sixth sense was now more potent than when he was navigating the maze.
He needed to discern who their opponent was.
A cold sweat trickled down Kraush’s forehead.
Crimson Garden and Ebelask were both world-eroders he had encountered before.
And these two were among the more moderate factions of those beings.
‘The rest…’
No need to say more.
The reality was that there were more lunatics out there.
Naturally, even Kraush had no means to confront a world-eroder at his current level.
What are world-eroders, you ask?
They were beings born from world erosion, possessing inherent powers of that very phenomenon and causing various problems across the lands.
Some of them were even monstrous level beings, far exceeding the standard.
The individual appearing before him shouldn’t be at that level.
If they were, it would surely mean certain death.
Kraush fervently hoped that at least it would be a world-eroder he could handle.
In that moment, the figure of the opponent began to gradually materialize in Kraush’s sixth sense.
“Walls, walls, walls, damn, there are way too many. Going to meet the new kid is getting on my nerves.”
The voice, though distant, was caught by his heightened senses.
It was a high-pitched female voice.
Simultaneously, the outline of the opponent was finally coming into focus.
Flowing behind her was a crimson tail, atop her head were two tiger-like ears, and she wore an eye patch over one eye, her fluffy hair spilling over her neck.
But what stood out even more were the hundreds of weapons that adorned her entire body.
It was a mystery how she managed to carry so many weapons on her petite frame, but she wore them like it was the most normal thing to do.
Armed Princess.
Kraush concluded.
She was just the kind of crazy world-eroder one could get away with calling insane.
*
Aristocrat, Armed Princess
A lunatic world-eroder adorned with all sorts of weapons from across the globe, stuck to her body like a second skin.
Driven mad by weapons, she would kill whoever stood in her way to claim the weapons she desired.
As soon as Kraush heard Crimson Garden’s words, he realized why she had appeared in the Demon Bastion.
‘She’s after Thunderbolt.’
Thunderbolt, known as one of the ten great swords.
Naturally, it would have piqued the interest of the weapon-obsessed Armed Princess.
‘Has Armed Princess targeted Thunderbolt before?’
That much wasn’t certain.
However, if she had aimed for it previously, it meant that she had not been able to get it from Nakcheon.
That connection was made by none other than Velokin.
‘… Has Armed Princess also failed to bring down Nakcheon?’
Against someone of the Armed Princess’s caliber, defeating Nakcheon ought to be a piece of cake.
Her power level was indisputable.
But that strange ability of Nakcheon must have snagged her somehow.
Nakcheon was nearly an immortal entity within the Demon Bastion.
Thanks to the constant energy supply from the Bastion, he maintained regenerative abilities close to infinite.
Moreover, Nakcheon could roam the eighth floor at will.
If he had made up his mind not to relinquish Thunderbolt, he could have easily dodged the Armed Princess whenever necessary.
‘If her goal was to conquer the Demon Bastion, passing up on Nakcheon after smashing him would have been easy.’
However, the Armed Princess’s goal seemed to be Thunderbolt, and she likely threw in the towel after just getting irritated with Nakcheon dodging her.
After all, there were more than just Thunderbolt among the ten great swords.
Yet, the Armed Princess appeared at this timing.
Is it a coincidence?
Sadly, for Kraush, this couldn’t just be chalked up to coincidence.
‘The Armed Princess has probably always been gunning for the ten great swords.’
She must have heard the rumors that Balheim’s direct line was aiming for Thunderbolt and challenging Nakcheon.
Being someone of her impulse, the moment she caught wind of that news, she would have moved instantly.
‘I can’t believe she’s interested in Balheim.’
Balheim was the one she feared most.
Her greatest source of terror was none other than the Monarch of Chaos, Balheim.
It was because of the scar across her eye, a mark left by Balheim during his world travels.
Thus, she must have a strong aversion to anything connected to Balheim.
If Thunderbolt slipped into Balheim’s hands, it would become an untouchable resource for the Armed Princess, so to prevent that from happening, she charged into the Demon Bastion.
Not starting from the first floor like everyone else but using one of her weapons to break through from the seventh floor instead—what madness!
With all that concluded, Kraush couldn’t help but scowl.
Things were starting to fall into place again, and just when everything was going smoothly, boom! Major chaos appeared.
In the meantime, the sound of the Armed Princess’s footsteps headed towards the eighth floor echoed around.
Fortunately, they had managed to escape quickly enough that she didn’t seem to notice them.
It seemed that she wasn’t all that great at sensing danger in battle either.
A sigh managed to slip from Kraush’s lips.
Had they faced her directly on the seventh floor, he wouldn’t have really known what to do.
“Kraush, that person just now…”
“A world-eroder.”
Lakradiyon held her breath.
The very word “world-eroder” carries an immense pressure, a feeling well-known to Kraush.
However, since he had his own experiences to draw upon, he wasn’t going to fear that name outright.
[What do you plan to do? It might be better to just give up on Thunderbolt. There’s no good coming from messing with that crazed girl.]
Crimson Garden seemed to know something about their opponent.
[Once that girl becomes obsessed with a weapon, there’s no turning back for her.]
It sounded like Crimson Garden had some kind of history involving weapons against the Armed Princess.
But Kraush shook his head.
He couldn’t give up Thunderbolt.
At this moment, there was no weapon that matched his abilities or was as easily obtainable as Thunderbolt.
‘They say a master doesn’t choose their tools…’
But Kraush knew better than anyone that was a complete lie.
A master would choose their tools more carefully.
Especially now that he was striving to reach the same level as them.
Not to mention, there was one absolute no-no among world-eroders regarding Thunderbolt.
[The Swordmaster.]
If Thunderbolt were to slip into the hands of someone like the Armed Princess, the scenario could entirely flip in an instant.
She was among the most formidable in the battle against world-eroders.
The fact that she possessed Thunderbolt would be a nightmare.
Having Thunderbolt in her possession could create a catastrophic situation that could end the war single-handedly.
The reason Charlotte was able to defeat the Swordmaster was precisely due to her possession of Thunderbolt.
It was thanks to Thunderbolt that Charlotte was able to stand victorious over the Swordmaster, who ultimately lost his life then.
If Charlotte hadn’t been equipped with Thunderbolt, the endgame would have likely been a victory for the world-eroders instead.
‘Looking back, Arthur’s reluctance regarding Thunderbolt and his treatment of Charlotte makes sense now.’
Arthur must have believed that only Charlotte, wielding Thunderbolt, could possibly defeat the Swordmaster back then.
‘I won’t just sit back and watch.’
Though Arthur had thrown away Charlotte and Thunderbolt as bargaining chips in the war, Kraush was not going to let it end on that note.
That’s why he came to the Demon Bastion to secure Thunderbolt.
‘I won’t let that war unfold as they want it to.’
Thinking of all the good people who had died during that time still made him sick to his stomach.
While Arthur exploited that war for his personal gain, Kraush had no intention of getting involved in any kind of power play.
Kraush didn’t need authority or control over the world.
His primary goal was utterly singular: to prevent the world’s destruction.
That’s why Kraush had no intentions of allowing another war against the world-eroders to come about.
Instead, the goal should be to decrease their strength, rendering them incapable of even thinking about starting another conflict.
“Lakradiyon, I’m heading for the eighth floor.”
On the eighth floor, he could confront the Armed Princess.
Though he may not necessarily defeat her, he could absolutely stop her from obtaining Thunderbolt.
What’s more, the Armed Princess had suffered grave wounds from the past.
Kraush calculated that once he wielded Thunderbolt, the Armed Princess would be deterred from making any moves out of fear of Balheim’s wrath.
So Kraush turned to Lakradiyon.
He needed her assistance to defeat Nakcheon and claim Thunderbolt.
“This was my original intention, to reach the eighth floor of the Demon Bastion. I will follow.”
Hearing Lakradiyon’s unwavering response, Kraush took a light breath.
The situation had taken a turn for the worse, but if he was lucky, it was for the best.
Although he couldn’t outright defeat the Armed Princess, he at least had methods to deal with her.
“Let’s go.”
It was time to show off the secrets of survival against the world-eroders.
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