TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 44
Two days later.
Kraush was performing an eccentric feat, doing push-ups with only his left arm.
Beads of sweat poured down like rain.
It was the result of concentrating his Aura into a single arm.
But that wasn’t all.
Kraush was not only using Aura but also the Extreme Blood Immersion Poison simultaneously.
The two forces, condensed into one arm, surged wildly at the same time.
Because of this, Kraush’s one-arm push-ups were excruciatingly slow.
“Hoo, hoo.”
With a quiet exhalation, Kraush slowly extended his arm.
Then, he collapsed onto the ground.
‘I’m going to die.’
It was an honest assessment.
The reason he was training like this was none other than to practice the One Sword technique.
The One Sword is a secret technique that focuses everything into a single blade.
And Kraush intended to integrate this One Sword technique into the Sword Demon’s ki-gathering technique.
To achieve that, he needed to be able to concentrate both Aura and Extreme Blood Immersion Poison into a single point.
Coincidentally, since he only had one arm, he decided to train with it.
“…It’s difficult.”
Of course, there was little progress.
He didn’t expect it to work overnight, and he wasn’t particularly talented in this area to begin with.
‘Even being able to create Annihilation Erosion was practically a miracle.’
No matter what he did, the reality of his shortcomings didn’t seem to change much.
‘Still, thanks to this, I’ve identified the flaw in Annihilation Erosion.’
Annihilation Erosion is a secret technique that incinerates the power of World Erosion within the body using Ignis, forcibly breaking through the body’s limits.
The downside is that its nature causes the body’s heat to rise excessively.
While it can unleash tremendous firepower, the moment the effect of Annihilation Erosion ends, he is rendered completely incapacitated.
This flaw was significant and could become a major weakness in any situation.
So Kraush had a thought.
If he could regulate his body’s heat after using Annihilation Erosion, it would extend both his endurance and the time he could maintain its effects.
Thanks to this realization, he was able to determine his next target.
Lunar Body.
That individual, who possessed a body filled with the yin energy of the moon.
“Mr. Kraush.”
At that moment, Kraush heard his name being called and lifted his head.
There stood Bianca, holding a towel and staring blankly at him.
“If you stay on the snow like that, you’ll catch a cold.”
“I’m just resting for a moment because I’m exhausted.”
“Even so.”
Bianca knelt lightly on the snow.
Then she carefully cupped Kraush’s face in her hands and began wiping it with the towel.
The soft towel seemed to have been warmed beforehand, maintaining a pleasant warmth.
“Stay still for a moment.”
The problem was that Bianca, clumsy as she was, didn’t manage to clean his face properly.
Still, her earnest effort was endearing, so Kraush sat quietly and let her continue.
“How’s your family?”
“Nothing has happened since then.”
Perhaps it was thanks to the confrontation with Meliocan.
Since that time, he had given Bianca no further orders.
“But my sister has been acting a little strange.”
Kraush fell silent at her next words.
The relationship between Jenica and Bianca was deeply strained.
It had been that way before the regression, and it remained so now.
“Whenever she sees me, she either avoids me or acts strangely. Before, whenever she saw me, she would torment me or glare at me.”
Bianca’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.
She, too, found Jenica uncomfortable.
The progress between Jenica and Bianca was a story for much later.
Specifically, after Jenica had hidden Bianca away.
Without an event of that magnitude, their relationship would remain unresolved.
“If you don’t like her, just tell her so directly.”
Bianca, holding the towel, looked at Kraush.
“When emotions arise, people tend to hide their true feelings. It’s good to learn to be honest early on.”
After all, there will be plenty of things to hide later.
“If you want, tell me. I’ll make sure you get what you desire.”
Revenge, for example.
When Kraush said that, Bianca fidgeted with her fingers on the towel.
“Will you really give me what I want?”
“If it’s within my power.”
“I don’t think you can.”
Did she want him to eliminate Hardenhartz?
Bianca said no more.
It seemed her desire was something quite significant.
[While I’ve been struggling, you’ve been having a grand time.]
At that moment, Kraush perked up at the voice he was hearing for the first time in two days.
There was a crow leisurely flying through the sky.
“Crim!”
[It’s Crimson Garden, as I’ve told you.]
Scolding him once again, Crimson Garden descended slowly from the sky.
She looked at Kraush and Bianca and asked,
[Did you hold a wedding ceremony in my absence? You seem unusually affectionate.]
“We didn’t do anything like that.”
[You know, infatuation with women leads to ruin. The saying that heroes are womanizers is a lie. Most who indulge in such things die young.]
Kraush felt dumbfounded.
Perhaps if Bianca were the stunning beauty she would eventually become, but for now, she was still a child who hadn’t even gone through her second growth spurt.
Recently, he had begun to feel that he himself was finally entering his second growth phase, as his height was noticeably increasing.
But Bianca remained in her youthful state.
‘Now that I think about it, even later, Bianca didn’t grow that much, did she?’
Even in the future, Bianca had always been at least a head shorter than him.
While Kraush’s own growth contributed, Bianca’s lack of height was also a factor.
[How about taking this opportunity to get castrated? Then you wouldn’t have to worry about being distracted by women.]
Crimson Garden chuckled as she spoke.
Kraush casually cleaned his ear with his finger, ignoring her remarks.
[Tsk tsk, you scoundrel. It’s a warning, a warning. Even if you’re not seeking women, they’ll inevitably flock to the path you’ve chosen.]
At her words, Kraush couldn’t help but think of Arthur.
Was that why so many women swarmed around Arthur?
‘No, thank you.’
Knowing the fierce rivalries that had erupted among the women surrounding Arthur, Kraush frowned.
He wanted no part of such chaos.
With that thought, Kraush glanced at Bianca.
Come to think of it, unlike Arthur, didn’t he already have a fiancée?
In that case, the solution was simple.
“Bianca, shall we get married?”
After all, this engagement was never going to be broken anyway.
If they just hurried and held the ceremony, wouldn’t it prevent any unnecessary entanglements with other women?
Hearing Kraush’s words, Bianca blinked.
For a moment, she had a look as though she didn’t understand what he had just said.
Bianca’s eyes rolled around once in thought.
Then, she flinched slightly and turned to look at Kraush.
Though her face was expressionless, Bianca’s eyes were incredibly restless. Eventually, she closed them.
With her closed eyelids trembling slightly, Bianca spoke quietly.
“Stop teasing me.”
That hadn’t been his intention, but—
Since that was how she seemed to take it, Kraush decided not to say anything further.
[ …Are you an idiot? ]
And then Crimson Garden insulted him straight away.
“Forget the nonsense and tell me—what about the arm?”
Now this was the real issue at hand.
When Kraush asked, Crimson Garden spread her wings.
[ Follow me. There’s no way we can do it here with so many eyes watching. ]
Kraush agreed with that sentiment.
So, Kraush got up from his seat.
“Bianca, I’ll be back soon.”
“You’re going with Crim, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I’m going to solve the arm problem and come back.”
Bianca glanced up at Crimson Garden, who was soaring in the sky.
“Crim isn’t just an ordinary creature, is she?”
Bianca had spent a lot of time around Kraush.
Kraush had spoken with Crimson Garden in front of Bianca many times.
There was only so much he could hide from her, so he’d never bothered trying to conceal it from the start.
Bianca, for her part, had eventually just accepted it and didn’t pay it much attention.
“Well, it’s a bit of a complicated relationship.”
After all, it was a contract-based relationship.
Thinking about it, from Bianca’s perspective, Kraush must have seemed incredibly suspicious.
Suddenly becoming stronger one day, changing his behavior, and even talking to a crow—
All of it was filled with strange occurrences.
Yet Bianca never raised any questions about it.
At first, it was because she simply wasn’t interested. But now, she thought there was no need to doubt the path Kraush was walking.
She just wanted to stay by his side.
“Don’t get hurt.”
Perhaps because Kraush always returned injured, she said this, and he replied as if to reassure her.
“I’m going to fix my arm. How could I possibly get hurt?”
“Because you’re you, Mr. Kraush.”
Kraush thought for a moment, What’s that supposed to mean? But with his track record, he couldn’t argue.
He simply said he understood and stood up.
As Kraush began walking, he encountered Jenica pacing on the opposite side.
Jenica flinched and avoided his gaze, and Kraush continued walking.
But as he passed by Jenica, his steps abruptly stopped.
“Jenica.”
Jenica’s shoulders stiffened in response.
Without turning his gaze toward her, Kraush continued speaking.
“If you consider someone your enemy, that someone will see you as their enemy too.”
It was one of life’s most obvious truths.
And now that Jenica was 16 years old, she would slowly come to learn this.
“Even if your past self and your present self have changed, the things you’ve done won’t simply disappear. That’s why people strive to live properly from the start.”
That truth wouldn’t change, even if one regressed.
Because the actions one commits remain forever etched in their own heart.
“So listen carefully to my warning.”
A chill settled into Kraush’s gaze.
Deep down, he wanted to beat some sense into her himself, but Kraush was an outsider.
And despite everything, she was still Bianca’s older sister.
This was a matter between Bianca and Jenica, so he had no intention of intervening any further.
“If you plan to apologize to Bianca just to ease your guilty conscience, don’t do it.”
That wouldn’t be for Bianca’s sake but for her own selfishness.
These rotten human relationships were never as cleanly resolved as the tales sung by bards.
Most of them ended in filth, disgust, and a lingering bitterness, all stained by self-centeredness.
That’s why the first button is so important in life.
Once you button the first one wrong, no matter how carefully you align the rest, the whole outfit will be a mess.
And a button, once fastened, becomes intertwined with the fabric in a way that cannot be undone.
“If you ever think of using your childhood as an excuse for what you’ve done—”
Kraush lowered his voice as he issued a chilling warning to Jenica, who stood frozen.
“You will never see Bianca again. Just forget it.”
If Bianca couldn’t bear to remember Jenica, then Kraush would simply take Bianca away and live with her himself.
That was the reason he chose to embrace Bianca.
After leaving those words behind, Kraush walked away, and Jenica collapsed to the ground.
Faced with the unchangeable truth that her past actions could never be erased, Jenica quietly hung her head.
* * *
In one of the forests of Hardenhartz.
A place with heavy snowfall and few signs of life.
Kraush came to a stop before a large tree.
As Crimson Garden descended onto his shoulder, Kraush lightly tapped the tree with his hand.
“Ebelasque.”
At his call, grooves began to form in the tree.
Then, with a creak, a door opened, revealing a woman dressed as a maid with dark skin and black hair.
For some reason, she wore an unusual black bunny ear headband. Upon seeing Kraush, she bowed politely.
“Mr. Kraush, welcome. The Master has been waiting for you.”
Her name was Number 8.
She was one of Ebelasque’s corpses.
Number 8 immediately led Kraush inside.
The corridor stretched on in a way that made it hard to believe it was within a tree. She stopped in front of a certain room.
It was identical to the room where Kraush had first seen Ebelasque.
Number 8 knocked on the door, and a voice from inside told them to enter.
When Number 8 opened the door, what greeted them was another cascade of books.
Seeing the chaotic mess of the room, Kraush once again felt like he’d stepped into a pigsty as he walked inside.
“Is this a pigsty?”
When Kraush gave his honest opinion, Ebelasque, who was lounging under a blanket, pouted her lips.
“I—I arranged everything for a reason! A pigsty? That’s harsh.”
“What’s harsh is the state of your brain that came up with this arrangement. Anyway, is everything ready?”
When Kraush asked, Ebelasque stood up.
Whatever she’d been eating, crumbs clung to her ample chest, but Kraush decided to ignore them.
“I received it from Crimson Garden and prepared it right away.”
When she led Kraush further inside, a small altar with a magic circle came into view.
On the altar, where candles were lit, rested a lone arm with a scar.
It was none other than the Sword Demon’s arm.
Crimson Garden had delivered the arm as Kraush had requested.
“Are you going to attach it right away?”
“Yeah, let’s get it over with.”
“We’ll have to connect the nerves. It’s going to hurt—a lot. Can you handle it? If not, I can knock you out.”
As she raised her hand, Number 8 appeared with a hammer.
Was she planning to kill him?
“Forget it. Just do it.”
“Are you serious? I’m not taking responsibility, okay? Don’t come crying to me later if it hurts. I won’t stop even if you beg.”
She smirked as if imagining Kraush pleading and wailing in pain.
Ignoring her, Kraush unwrapped the bandages around his arm.
At that, Ebelasque stopped talking and approached the altar.
“Hold the severed part to your arm.”
This was Ebelasque’s area of expertise.
Following her instructions, Kraush pressed the Sword Demon’s arm to his own.
It seemed Crimson Garden had accurately measured his severed arm.
Fortunately, the arm’s length was a perfect match.
The only issue was that, being an old man’s arm, it was different in size from Kraush’s.
This part was something Ebelasque would undoubtedly handle.
At that moment, the altar’s metal clamps locked Kraush’s arm in place with a clanking sound.
It appeared Ebelasque had prepared this in advance.
“Here, bite on this.”
With that, she handed him a piece of cloth.
It seemed meant to prevent him from biting his tongue due to the pain.
Kraush obediently bit down on the cloth, and Number 8 firmly held his shoulder from behind.
It appeared to be an effort to immobilize him.
“Alright, here we go.”
At that moment, Ebelasque placed her hand on the Sword Demon’s arm.
As her touch moved over the arm, its bluish tone gradually turned into a blood-infused hue.
The previously wrinkled fingers straightened out, filling with vitality.
Miraculously, the arm began to match Kraush’s size.
Soon after, Ebelasque placed her hand on Kraush’s severed arm.
In that instant, Kraush felt as though the partially regenerated skin of his arm was being completely torn apart.
At the same time, he experienced the sensation of shattered bones piercing through muscle and flesh as they grew.
Crunch—
Kraush bit down on the cloth with such force it nearly tore.
The pain tormented him to the point that cold sweat poured down his face.
Though he was accustomed to pain due to the curse, this was particularly excruciating.
Ebelasque gave him a sidelong glance, as if asking if she should knock him out, but Kraush silently directed her to continue with his eyes.
“Stubborn. Fine, don’t blame me.”
With that retort, Ebelasque connected Kraush’s nerves to the Sword Demon’s.
Crackle!
In that moment, Kraush felt as though sparks were flying before his eyes.
The shock was so intense it nearly knocked him unconscious, and the cloth fell from his mouth.
The bloodstains on the cloth testified to how hard he had bitten down.
However, the pain gradually began to subside.
“You didn’t pass out from that?”
As Kraush panted heavily, Ebelasque stared at him in disbelief.
But there was a reason he had intentionally remained conscious.
“…Release me.”
At Kraush’s command, the metal clamps on the altar unlocked with a clanking sound.
Slowly, Kraush raised his arm.
The Sword Demon’s arm moved in perfect unison, as though it had always been his.
Watching this, Kraush clenched his fist once and then opened it.
It moved smoothly, and the sensation felt right.
“Now, onto the next step.”
Kraush immediately began channeling his aura.
The Sword Demon’s arm responded instantly, absorbing Kraush’s aura as if ravenous.
Now came the next challenge.
Throb!
Kraush suddenly noticed the Sword Demon’s arm muscles writhing uncontrollably.
The bulging veins and twitching muscles created a grotesque sight.
Yet Kraush calmly adjusted the flow of his aura.
After a few seconds, the writhing muscles and bulging veins began to settle.
Seeing this, Kraush let out a sigh of relief.
The Extreme Blood Immersion Poison had successfully fused with the Sword Demon’s arm.
This was why Kraush had forced himself to stay conscious.
Had the arm been attached while he was unconscious, the Extreme Blood Immersion Poison absorbed by the arm would likely have gone berserk without his control.
He had no intention of losing the arm he had worked so hard to obtain.
Beside him, Ebelasque’s expression softened with relief.
“Is it done?”
As this happened, Crimson Garden posed a question.
Hearing her, Kraush swung his right arm once and grinned.
“Yeah, it feels like it’s truly mine now.”
“Then we should test it. You’ll need to master the ki-gathering technique too.”
Kraush welcomed the suggestion wholeheartedly.
“Ebelasque, is there a training hall or a practice ground around?”
“I’m not your servant, you know.”
“There’s an ancient book on hand-to-hand combat you’ve been wanting, isn’t there? I have it.”
“Sister!”
Calling Crimson Garden ‘sister,’ she turned to Number 8.
“Number 8, show them the way.”
“Yes, my lady. This way, please. I will guide you to the training hall.”
It was time to put the Sword Demon’s arm to good use.