TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 23
‘Ignis.’
From Kraush’s sword, which struck the carriage floor, blue flames erupted.
Since Ignis is the flame of a higher god, it also possesses the power of purification.
‘Which means.’
Slash!
The Black Human engulfed in flames melted instantly upon being struck.
‘It’s highly compatible against the Black Humans.’
Without hesitation, Kraush began weaving through the Black Humans with ease.
The Merchant Woman quickly grabbed a staff and started smashing the Black Humans, proving she wouldn’t be a problem.
“Crimson Garden.”
However, if this many Black Humans have appeared…
Then surely, there must be remnants of unpurified World Erosion nearby.
[300 meters straight ahead.]
It wasn’t a far distance.
“Hey, I’ll go erase the World Erosion creating the Black Humans, so hold them off.”
“Yes! Please do!”
Kraush immediately gathered aura beneath his feet.
Then, as he kicked off the ground, his body shot forward explosively.
The number of Black Humans increased the farther Kraush ran.
However, against Kraush’s Ignis, there was little they could do.
In no time, Kraush arrived deep within the forest, where his eyes caught sight of the lump of World Erosion.
Black liquid oozed between the trees, intermittently spewing gas—a clear sign of unpurified World Erosion.
“Will you consume it?”
Crimson Garden, who had followed him, asked from her perch on a branch.
“Yeah, since you showed up at just the right time.”
Without hesitation, Kraush reached out toward the World Erosion.
Then, a pitch-black energy began flowing into Kraush’s hand.
Inside Kraush’s body already resided World Erosion from the Extreme Blood Immersion Poison.
Thus, he absorbed it without resistance and exhaled deeply.
Thanks to his Sixth Sense, he avoided falling into madness.
With this, no more Black Humans would appear.
It was on his way back that Kraush encountered trouble.
“Kraush.”
At Crimson Garden’s call, Kraush halted his steps.
Looking up through the trees, he saw the Merchant Woman surrounded by several people.
They encircled her as she swung her staff aggressively to keep them at bay.
“Where do you think you’re putting your hands on my carriage? Back off immediately!”
“Come on, we’re all friends here, passing through the Lawless Area together.”
“Yeah, while you’re at it, why not play the role of my girlfriend for a bit? Heh heh.”
They were unmistakably bandits.
But they couldn’t be dismissed as ordinary bandits.
Surviving in the Lawless Area meant at least one of them must be skilled.
“Perfect.”
Meanwhile, Crimson Garden smirked ominously.
“Blunt Sword—don’t they make the perfect practice targets?”
Thinking he’d chosen his mentor well, Kraush cracked his neck.
“I agree.”
Let’s warm up properly before heading to the Martial Arts Tournament.
＊ ＊ ＊
The bandits targeting carriages passing through the Lawless Area numbered eight in total.
Their leader, Orel, licked his lips as he eyed the Merchant Woman.
Women rarely passed through the Lawless Area, and he hadn’t encountered prey like this in a long time.
“Hey, hands off—she’s mine first.”
“Geez, boss, you’re always so greedy. Just don’t hog her, alright?”
“That’s up to me, idiots.”
He swung his massive axe lightly, showing off his brute strength.
It was an intimidating display of his power.
The Merchant Woman, seeing this, looked visibly tense.
Dealing with the Black Humans had distracted her, leaving her vulnerable.
She hadn’t expected the bandits to approach so quickly during the commotion.
Against the others, she might have stood a chance, but with their leader added to the mix, it was impossible alone.
Step—
Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed.
Recognizing the source of the sound, the Merchant Woman’s face brightened.
Noticing her reaction, the bandits turned to look behind them.
“Huh? A kid?”
A lone boy stood there.
One of the bandits tilted his head in confusion.
Thud!
A sword flew straight and pierced through his head.
For a moment, silence enveloped the area.
No one had imagined that the young boy would throw a sword and kill a bandit.
“Damn it, we’ve got an enemy! Kill him!”
Orel, quick to assess the situation, barked orders like a true leader.
He realized the boy was no ordinary opponent.
At that moment, the boy was unarmed, having thrown his sword.
Two bandits seized the opportunity and charged at him.
But the boy showed no sign of fear.
He simply raised his hand.
In an instant, the sword he had just thrown reappeared in his grasp.
“Thought I didn’t have a weapon?”
The sudden reappearance of the sword startled the bandits.
Taking advantage of their hesitation, the boy’s sword struck the neck of one bandit with precision.
The clean, efficient motion was far beyond what a mere bandit could handle.
Next, the boy struck the jaw of another bandit who had been rushing at him.
The bandit collapsed to the ground, tongue hanging out, from the shock that rattled his brain.
The boy mercilessly drove his sword into the bandit’s head.
Whoosh—
The trees swayed gently in the breeze.
A tense, unsettling atmosphere spread among the bandits.
Three of them had died in an instant at the hands of the boy.
That alone turned the tide of the confrontation.
“I’ll handle him. You lot, make sure to secure the woman.”
Finally, Orel stepped forward, walking slowly toward the boy.
Compared to Orel’s massive, muscular frame, the boy seemed minuscule.
The outcome appeared obvious.
Yet Orel didn’t underestimate the boy.
His instincts told him otherwise.
That kid wasn’t ordinary.
“Think you can handle this?”
Kraush watched him and leisurely shook off the blood from his sword.
“Coming at me all on your own.”
“Pfft!”
Orel burst into a rough laugh.
“A little brat like you? I could crush you with just one hand.”
“Yeah, sounds good. Let’s see whose head pops first.”
As soon as Kraush said that, Orel stomped hard on the ground.
Boom, boom, boom!
The echo of his massive frame reverberated across the field.
Like a charging bison, his axe was enveloped in a crimson aura.
The aura, flickering like smoke, revealed his status as an Expert-level warrior.
Harnessing the momentum of his charge, he swung his axe down at Kraush’s waist.
Clang!
In that instant, Kraush’s sword filled the gap, blocking the axe.
However, due to the size difference, Orel’s strength was overwhelmingly superior.
As a result, Kraush’s body was slightly lifted off the ground and pushed sideways.
Orel’s eyes gleamed sharply.
Kraush’s skill seemed underwhelming compared to what he had shown against the bandits earlier.
On top of that, his aura was slightly inferior to Orel’s.
‘Those guys only lost because they underestimated his appearance.’
Normally, they wouldn’t have been defeated so easily.
Orel’s axe sliced through the air and clashed against Kraush’s sword once again.
Bang, bang!
Amid the successive attacks, Orel was certain.
He was stronger.
And the brat’s sword was slow.
So slow that Orel wondered how it could even block his axe.
“What happened to all that big talk earlier?!”
Orel shouted aggressively, swinging his axe wildly to intimidate him.
Kraush, seemingly unable to respond, continued to block the axe.
“Hmph.”
Orel felt the need to finish this quickly.
He didn’t particularly enjoy tormenting the weak, unless they were women.
So his plan was to end this swiftly and enjoy a good meal afterward.
His axe began to swing with increasing ferocity.
The clash of sword and axe created a deafening noise that filled the air.
One minute.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
“Huff, huff?”
Orel’s ragged breathing echoed across the field.
He was still swinging his axe.
He had already planned to end it with the next strike dozens of times.
Yet Kraush remained unscathed, and Orel was growing fatigued.
‘What the hell is going on?’
Kraush’s sword was visibly slow.
That meant its strength and aura were unimpressive.
In fact, Kraush staggered every time their weapons clashed.
Yet, whenever Orel swung again, Kraush’s sword was inexplicably there.
‘At this rate…’
It felt as though Orel was intentionally aiming his axe at Kraush’s sword.
No, was that actually the case?
Was he truly swinging his axe directly toward Kraush’s sword?
Confusion began to cloud Orel’s mind.
“Are you done?”
Flinch!
Under the darkened night sky, Kraush’s blue eyes glinted eerily.
Kraush’s tone remained unchanged from the beginning.
Orel swallowed hard.
Then, he gripped his axe so tightly his hands almost tore open.
“Ha, haha, trying some kind of cheap trick, huh? Well, that’s over now.”
Forcing a confident tone, he shouted.
Seeing that, Kraush gave a faint smile.
“Good. Thanks to you, I feel like I’m getting a handle on this without relying on my Sixth Sense.”
Twitch.
The burly man’s thick eyebrows twitched.
It was as if Kraush was toying with him.
Deeply insulted, Orel took a long breath.
He hadn’t planned to use that technique against a mere brat, but if Kraush’s strange swordsmanship persisted, Orel feared he might lose his sanity first.
Boom!
Without warning, Orel stomped on the ground again.
Kraush, his sword relaxed at his side, once more waited for the attack.
It felt as though he were willingly sticking his head into a snake’s mouth, but Orel suppressed his fear.
Instead, his axe radiated aura more fiercely than ever.
However, when he swung, Kraush again brought his slow sword to meet it.
‘Got you!’
Orel’s eyes gleamed.
In that moment, his axe moved in an unusual arc.
Just as it seemed it would strike Kraush’s sword, it left only a trace of aura behind and veered toward Kraush’s side.
Illusion Hammer Axe.
It was Orel’s trump card, his secret technique.
He intended to cleave Kraush in half with this move.
Grinning in anticipation of the blood about to spill, Orel savored the moment.
Screeeech!
A piercing sound of metal striking metal echoed across the field.
Blink—
Orel’s eyes closed and reopened in a single motion.
He couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.
What his axe had struck wasn’t flesh but steel.
“Hey.”
Kraush’s voice rumbled low.
“Where did you learn that?”
Beyond the clash of axe and sword, his piercing blue eyes radiated a sharp light.
“Ugh?!”
Orel’s body recoiled involuntarily.
He felt like a small animal cornered by a predator.
Kraush was now frowning.
Because he recognized the Illusion Hammer Axe as a technique belonging to someone else.
‘Did he escape from the Empire around this time?’
Not long ago, there had been a massive murder case in the Empire.
It was none other than a man who had single-handedly massacred an entire village.
Because of this, the Empire dispatched the knight order, but the butcher escaped across the Empire’s border in the end.
Kraush originally wouldn’t have cared much, thinking it was the Empire’s problem to solve.
However, the real issue with that man lay elsewhere.
‘Because he accepted the power of the World Erosion Beings and became their servant.’
Like Bianca during her White Ghost days, he too was a servant of the World Erosion Beings.
Butcher Dog Bergmann.
What he primarily used was none other than the Illusion Hammer Axe.
“Are you one of that butcher dog’s underlings?”
Orel’s face stiffened.
‘Whether or not this guy is one of the butcher dog’s underlings doesn’t really matter to me.’
The problem is that the butcher dog later hides in the Starlon Kingdom.
‘And he ends up getting caught by Charlotte.’
The reason Kraush, who usually had no interest in outside information, remembered this was also because of Charlotte.
The death of the butcher dog marked the decisive moment when Charlotte’s name became known even within the Empire.
To completely overpower and defeat a servant of the World Erosion Beings alone at just 16 years old was enough to be told as a heroic tale.
“Enough. The flow is ruined.”
At that moment, Kraush’s sword moved.
“Huh?”
As Orel voiced his confusion, his massive frame slowly collapsed.
Seeing him rolling on the ground with his neck severed, Kraush began walking away.
Anyway, the butcher dog was destined to be killed by Charlotte eventually.
There’s no need to bother with his underlings.
“Bal, Balheim!”
The merchant woman, who had been struggling against the remaining four bandits, called out to Kraush in a tearful voice.
Seeing this, Kraush clicked his tongue and ignited Ignis upon his sword.
Let’s finish this quickly and get some sleep.