TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 121
Aniks Graiza.
The eldest son of the Graiza Family and a noble destined to lead Starlon in the future.
Later known as the Wooden Bow and one of the Three Prodigies, he was a pivotal figure in the Skyborne Generation.
Yet now, he swallowed a hollow laugh as he reflected on the choice he had made.
Facing a monster far beyond his capability, he had to buy three minutes for the Twin Sprout members.
And he had to put his faith in an uncertain gamble.
What he was relying on now was none other than Kraush alone.
In truth, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the lives of all the Twin Sprout members depended on him.
If Kraush failed, the Twin Sprout members, drained of stamina from stalling for time, would be annihilated without even a chance to escape.
At best, a few might survive if luck was on their side.
‘The rational one that I am.’
To think I would make such a choice.
The events of that day resurfaced in Aniks’s mind.
Two years ago, in the Holy Land of Stars.
The day he was struck down by the full-force blow of a boy he met at the Arayon Pavilion.
Thud!
“Aniks!”
In that instant, as Elphin’s desperate cry rang out, Decarabia’s four arms extended downward.
From the four arms, a mass of tentacles erupted.
The clusters of tentacles, each imbued with a curse, directly targeted the Twin Sprout members.
Enraged by Kraush’s disappearance, the creature launched a large-scale attack in an attempt to locate him.
Witnessing this, Aniks immediately stomped on the wooden floor with a resounding thud.
In that moment, as Aniks’s Recovery and Mokchendo combined, trees shot upwards, coiling into shields.
Crunch, crackle, crick!
The tentacle clusters collided with the trees, their viscous elasticity causing them to be crushed.
An unpleasant sound echoed repeatedly from atop the trees.
However, the four fists that followed were unstoppable.
Crack!
The reinforced trees crumbled with a single blow.
Through the gap, Decarabia reached out again.
But Aniks was not alone in this fight.
The Twin Sprout members leapt simultaneously, unleashing their attacks on the extended arms.
Slash, thud!
Without a mage, large-scale barrage attacks were impossible.
As a result, their attacks could do little more than cut through the tentacles and leave slight scratches on the creature’s hide.
Yet, that was enough to enrage Decarabia.
“Graaaaaaah!”
Just as an insect biting it would provoke disgust, Decarabia roared furiously, swinging its arms wildly.
Aniks immediately used trees to pluck the members away or create footholds before they were struck by its fists.
“Ugh.”
Perhaps because he kept repeating such actions.
Aniks suddenly felt a severe depletion of aura, and the strain surged within him.
But Aniks endured it by biting his lip.
Despite cold sweat pouring down his face, he continued to support the Twin Sprout members.
Normally, he would never have pushed himself to such extremes.
However, if he didn’t, not a single person here would make it out alive.
A headache throbbed repeatedly in Aniks’s head.
Ignoring it, Aniks pushed his Mokchendo even further.
And this sight bore an uncanny resemblance to someone else.
Aniks clearly recalled a particular individual.
A boy who gave his all, burning himself out if necessary, to surpass his limits.
Someone who, even more than himself, must have been crushed under the weight of being compared to the star known as Charlotte.
‘Kraush.’
From the moment he was born, Aniks had been surrounded by praise.
As the eldest son of the Graiza Family, he was gifted with innate talent to match.
After forming a pact with a god, Aniks’s life had been nothing short of smooth sailing.
No one dared to look down on him; instead, they fawned over him, hoping to gain his favor.
Even the princess of Starlon had fallen for him and followed him around endlessly.
But that day.
Aniks faced someone who denied everything about him.
Not just the small, fake stars like himself.
But an overwhelming star that shone brighter than the world itself, surpassing even Starlon.
Charlotte Balheim.
When he first met Charlotte in the Holy Land of Stars, she was stunning.
The arrogance and nobility in her peculiar, unchanging gaze.
It was something no one could simply possess.
A privilege granted only to the strong.
Naturally, Aniks became intrigued by Charlotte.
He wondered just how exceptional this so-called genius could be.
And so, he opened Pandora’s Box, a move he should never have made.
Against Charlotte, Aniks could do nothing.
His prized Mokchendo was shattered in a single stroke of her sword technique, and he couldn’t even follow her movements with his eyes.
When he woke, the only thing he could feel was the pain radiating from his face.
His face had been smashed against the flat of Charlotte’s blade.
[What a calamity. Balheim truly is a den of evil.]
Elphin, one of the Three Prodigies who had been defeated alongside him, chuckled dryly while clutching his broken arm.
[Wow, she’s really strong. I want to fight her again!]
Meanwhile, Balak, another of the Three Prodigies, displayed his competitive spirit even with both legs shattered.
But Aniks was different.
Unlike Elphin, who expressed pure admiration and acknowledgment.
Unlike Balak, who harbored a yearning for strength and a competitive spirit.
Aniks felt neither.
In the Holy Land of Stars, where he had reigned supreme.
If he had at least fought Charlotte on equal footing, it might have been different.
But he had been beaten mercilessly.
To Aniks, it felt as though all the pride and confidence he had built up until now had been utterly destroyed.
From that point on, Aniks’s training sessions gradually decreased.
It was only natural.
No matter how hard he worked his entire life, Charlotte would surpass him with just one step.
He would forever trail behind her, burdened with the disgrace of being nothing more than Second Place.
For Aniks, who had always lived as First Place, that reality was unbearable.
So, Aniks let go.
Rather than desperately chasing after her shadow, it was better to do nothing and remain as he was.
Yet even so, Aniks couldn’t take his eyes off Charlotte.
The more he looked, the more he felt blinded.
Before he knew it, he was checking on everything related to Charlotte daily.
Even knowing the rose had thorns, Aniks couldn’t stop reaching for it.
In those days.
Aniks’s eyes caught sight of someone.
It was none other than Kraush Balheim, Charlotte’s younger brother.
What Aniks felt upon seeing Kraush was curiosity.
‘I wonder, what is Charlotte’s younger brother really like?’
This was because he, too, had heard the rumors that Kraush was a Half-Penny.
So, he decided to provoke him with a very simple challenge.
It was with the thought of how someone who had lived under the massive shadow of Charlotte might react.
And at that moment.
Aniks witnessed a sword strike that split the sky.
A strike driven by sheer determination to take down his opponent, even if it meant his own ruin.
Without a doubt, the Kraush Aniks encountered was a Half-Penny.
His level of skill was abysmal, and his physique was far from anything that could be compared to a genius.
Mediocre—no, considering Balheim’s elite education and abundant support, he was outright a failure.
And it’s likely that Kraush’s entire life had been overshadowed by constant comparisons to his sister, Charlotte.
Sharing the same bloodline as Charlotte meant he was destined to be swallowed by her brilliance for his entire life.
The fact that Aniks was from another family made the comparison seem far less severe by contrast.
Yet, there was not a trace of surrender in the resolve that burned in Kraush’s eyes.
He was solely focused on moving forward.
As if even the time spent comparing himself to Charlotte was too precious to waste.
Kraush had begun to shatter the fate of being a Half-Penny with his own hands.
Like iron hammered and tempered over a long time.
Kraush was like that iron.
And against such a Kraush, Aniks had effectively been defeated.
He no longer had the confidence to face Kraush’s sword again.
But why?
Somehow, Aniks found himself training once more.
Seeing how Kraush, who had lived under even greater pressure from Charlotte than himself, never gave up.
It made Aniks start to think that it was too early for him to give up as well.
And it made him feel ashamed.
A guy once praised as one of the Three Prodigies had been bested twice by a pair of siblings.
To restore his shattered self-esteem, Aniks began training again.
And in his ears, news of Kraush continued to reach him.
As if to prove that the resolve shown that day was no fluke.
Kraush kept accomplishing feats that caused a stir across all of Starlon.
Every time he saw those, for some reason, Aniks found himself focusing even more on his training.
Kraush hadn’t given up yet.
Realizing that made it impossible for Aniks to give up.
And the moment he saw Kraush again at the entrance ceremony.
Kraush had achieved a remarkable victory, defeating Associate Professor Kairan.
Somehow, seeing that spectacle firsthand brought a smile and a spark of competitive spirit to Aniks’s lips.
The hope that if Kraush could reach such heights, then so could he.
And now, here he was.
As though to prove that all the training he had accumulated until now was not in vain.
Aniks was standing firm against Decarabia, along with the members of the Twin Sprout.
‘Why is this happening?’
Each time he hit his limit, his focus seemed to sharpen even further.
Determined not to let a single person die, his heightened concentration pushed him toward a new realm.
That was what it meant to be a genius.
To surpass your limits in the face of crisis and rise again.
That is what truly merited the title of a genius.
And Aniks, too, now stood among such geniuses.
Aniks’s Mokchendo became even more refined.
So much so that Decarabia began to feel Aniks’s presence pressing down on it more and more, as his Mokchendo relentlessly tightened its grip.
“Elphin!”
“Ah, on it!”
Panting for breath, Elphin leaped with a feather-light agility to restrain Decarabia’s arm.
With his concentration pushed to the extreme, Aniks couldn’t tell how much time had passed.
“Khak!”
In the meantime, one member of the group, exposed to the poison seeping from Decarabia’s tentacles, collapsed.
Aniks immediately snagged the fallen member with a branch and secured them to the outer wall to protect them.
The members of the Twin Sprout were being whittled down one by one.
The number of those retiring kept increasing.
Each time that happened, the burden on Aniks grew heavier.
And at that moment.
Perhaps thinking it couldn’t go on like this, Decarabia opened its mouth wide.
A beam of light began to gather in Decarabia’s mouth.
The sight made Aniks’s body bristle with an ominous sensation.
This was dangerous.
If that beam hit directly, it would all be over—not even time could be bought.
“Everyone, retreat!”
So Aniks immediately forced his Mokchendo to its limit.
Rumble!
Behind Aniks, a massive arm and torso rose up.
A giant made of wood emerged, its body as enormous as Decarabia’s.
Mokchendo (木天菿式)
Fifth Form (五式)
Wooden Sky Giant (木天巨人)
Clutching his throbbing head, Aniks extended the Wooden Sky Giant.
The Wooden Sky Giant, now one with Aniks, swung its enormous arm in sync with him.
Crash!
The giant’s massive fist swept across the plaza and struck Decarabia square in the face.
Boom!
“Graah!”
The beam Decarabia had been gathering was interrupted, unable to fully form.
“As expected of Aniks!”
“Hold the line! We’re almost there!”
It was just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
The light they thought had vanished from Decarabia’s mouth began to pour out again.
“No!”
The moment Aniks tried to block it, it was already too late.
A blinding flash erupted from above.
Everything engulfed in that light was blown away, and Aniks’s Wooden Sky Giant was smashed to pieces.
Naturally, the members of the Twin Sprout below were also caught up in the shockwave.
The members of the Twin Sprout were left dumbstruck.
Even Elphin was momentarily overwhelmed, losing the will to continue. Decarabia’s flash had been powerful enough to take them all out.
But before them.
Trees surged upward, piling atop one another in a frenzy.
The endlessly growing wooden barriers tightened and tightened, locking onto the ceiling.
Mokchendo (木天菿式)
Third Form (三式)
Wooden Sky Wall (木天長壁)
The speed at which the trees grew far surpassed anything Aniks had ever shown before.
Blood burst out of Aniks’s nose.
His eyes were bloodshot from the excessive use of aura.
Yet, Aniks poured all his aura into it without even a moment to wipe himself.
Crash! Bang! Bang!
At last, a blinding flash collided with the Wooden Sky Wall that Aniks had managed to hold off.
The flash began to shatter the Wooden Sky Wall to pieces.
However, Aniks’s Wooden Sky Wall did not come to an end.
The Recovery poured into the spot caused the trees to continue growing, expanding an endless barrier.
The seemingly infinite wall ceaselessly blocked the path of the flash.
Gulp!
Blood flowed out of Aniks’s mouth.
His body trembled uncontrollably, having pushed past its limits.
A shock so intense that it felt like his consciousness might fly away struck his body.
Yet, Aniks’s Wooden Sky Wall still did not falter.
Thud—
And in the end, Decarabia’s flash was the first to falter.
Seeing the flash subside, relief spread across the faces of the Twin Sprout members.
Aniks, who had given his all, also fell to his knees on the wooden ground as if he could go no further.
There was almost no aura left in him anymore.
Boom!
At that moment, something descended onto the fully collapsed wooden barrier.
The wooden barrier shook violently, and through the gaps in the trees, Decarabia’s face became visible.
Everyone’s faces turned pale white.
The attack Aniks had defended against with all his might had been just a single attempt for Decarabia.
Thus, as despair began to cloud everyone’s eyes—
“Three minutes!”
Elphin shouted.
Whoosh—
The wind roared.
And within the currents of that wind—
Two figures descended, their hair billowing.
One was a boy with dark blue hair.
The other was a girl with hair interwoven with black and violet.
As their clothes fluttered, fragments of black flame scattered fiercely around them.
The heat emanating from the two was so intense that even those far away could feel its scorching presence.
Amidst the black flames, the boy, Kraush, had eyes that glowed vividly.
Seeing this, Aniks finally smiled in relief.
It was proof that he had fulfilled his role.
“Kraush, strike with all your strength.”
As Aniks spoke, he collapsed onto the spot.
Too late, Decarabia sensed the dangerous aura and tilted his head back.
But it was already too late.
The scabbard encasing Kraush’s sword was shattering along with crackling lightning.
“Graaahhh!”
As if screaming in agony, Decarabia extended his hand.
As if mocking his futile struggle—
The black flame that Aniks had never given up on, suppressing and compressing it to the very end, finally erupted into the world.
Annihilation Erosion.
Third Form.
Sky-Thundering Annihilation.
The storm of black flames engulfed the plaza.