TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 93
It had already been 11 hours since the battle with Agares began.
Without resting even once since the first engagement, the Sky-Piercing Knight Order was clashing with Agares in the darkness.
Naturally, they avoided a direct confrontation.
The power Agares wielded far surpassed that of any human.
A disaster.
Agares was an Erosion Species that closely matched the meaning of that word.
Hence, the Sky-Piercing Knight Order was meticulously employing a strategy to buy time.
“Aaaah!”
At that moment, a Sky-Piercing Knight Order Member was caught by a black tendril of darkness and began being dragged toward Agares in an instant.
If one looked directly at the eyes surrounding Agares’ body, a multitude of curses would descend simultaneously, causing confusion, visual impairment, bleeding, and panic.
So, in trying to avoid eye contact, they failed to notice the attack in time.
Squelch!
Agares’ body opened wide, revealing blood-red fangs.
It intended to devour and digest its prey immediately.
Thwack!
Crack!
But before that could happen, two figures appeared in front of the dark tendril.
One was Kraush, cloaked in jet-black flames.
The other was Lilish, wielding a blue Aura Blade.
The two of them simultaneously slashed through the dark tendril, allowing the Sky-Piercing Knight Order Member to quickly steady himself.
“Commander, Mr. Kraush, thank you!”
“Stay sharp. You’ll get yourself killed.”
“Yes!”
Lilish deflected a dark tendril with her sword as she listened to the Knight Member’s response.
Meanwhile, her gaze quickly followed Kraush.
Even after moving non-stop for 11 hours like her, Kraush had managed to save the Knight Order Member during such a dangerous moment.
Thanks to him, even after all this time, the Sky-Piercing Knight Order had suffered zero casualties.
It was something she could never have achieved on her own.
‘He must be at the highest level of Expert.’
Where on earth was he drawing that level of Aura from continuously?
That much, even she couldn’t fathom.
However, there was one thing that had been persistently nagging at her.
And she knew exactly what that nagging sensation was.
The skill.
Eid.
It was her skill, often referred to as Super Instinct.
She had chosen this skill just a year ago.
It was a decision she made on the day of Belorkin’s funeral.
Because her eldest brother and the Vice Patriarch, the Sword King, had told her directly that day.
[In World Erosion, sometimes a moment of instinct can save you more than overwhelming power.]
It had been advice from the Sword King, urging the direct line to stop dying in World Erosion.
He probably wasn’t happy with Balheim’s diminishing strength.
Although his intentions differed from hers, Lilish had agreed with his words.
She had planned to acquire a skill only after training herself to a level where she wouldn’t need to rely on it.
But when it came to instincts, she thought it might be acceptable to lean on a skill just a little.
So, she chose Eid.
In practice, Eid had proven useful in World Erosion.
And today, that Eid had already activated once.
It had happened the moment she saw the black flames surrounding Kraush’s body.
As soon as she saw them, her instinct through Eid had brought Belorkin’s Ignis to mind.
Upon confirming Kraush’s reaction, she realized her intuition had been correct.
And now, her Eid was activating once more.
This time, it was directed at Kraush.
Her younger brother was about to do something dangerous.
That was what her instincts told her.
“Vice Commander Darbian, what’s the time now?”
At that moment, Kraush’s voice rang out.
Darbian checked the time and answered.
“11 hours and 21 minutes.”
Upon hearing the precise time, Kraush exhaled lightly.
Soon, it would be 12 hours.
The time to bring this hellish darkness to an end was near.
Of course, not only Kraush but all the members of the Sky-Piercing Knight Order were aware of this fact.
Agares had fought not just Balheim but also other families before.
Each time, while they never managed to defeat Agares, the survivors had steadily gathered information about him.
So everyone knew one thing.
Agares could maintain the darkness for only up to 12 hours.
‘No, calling it a limit would be wrong.’
Let’s put it another way.
He would switch to another method, deeming the darkness ineffective in killing his opponents.
Screeech—
At that moment, a bizarre noise echoed from Agares’ body.
Agares was an intelligent being, akin to humans.
It was unclear whether he could communicate, so his level of intelligence remained unknown.
But one thing was certain.
‘He deliberately exhibits a specific pattern when facing opponents.’
And from observing the Sky-Piercing Knight Order, it seemed only Kraush understood the reason.
‘He’s trying to lull them into complacency.’
He would intentionally create a pattern his opponents could exploit.
Once they became accustomed to that pattern, he would catch them off guard and devour them.
That was the trap Agares loved to use.
Truly befitting of a demon species.
His very mindset revolved around toying with people.
Thus, he was deliberately pretending to be a mindless Erosion Species even now.
‘Sorry, but…’
Kraush dodged the flying dark spears one by one while slicing through them with his black flames.
‘I can see right through your plans.’
Kraush steadied his breathing.
The rough movements had caused a sharp pain in his lungs, but it was bearable.
It was all thanks to continuously absorbing World Erosion emanating from the Demonic Realm.
Consuming more than he expended, Kraush was like a fish in water, rampaging freely.
However, there was a price to be paid.
Throb!
The Frenzy, which he had been suppressing with the Doll’s Eye, kept surging up briefly, again and again.
As the World Erosion filled his body, even the Doll’s Eye was struggling to contain it.
Grit—
Kraush clenched his teeth and forcibly suppressed the Frenzy.
His mind wasn’t weak enough to waver to something as trivial as Frenzy in a place like this.
He had been through worse.
’12 hours.’
When that time is up, Agares will begin to act in earnest.
As always, he will reveal his patterns.
‘I don’t know how much the Green Wave Knight Order can take care of the Erosion Species.’
Hopefully, the Lord’s Command that strengthens Agares will weaken even just a little.
Clang!
Kraush tore through the encroaching darkness once more and kicked off the ground.
At the same time, the sound of blades resonated from all around.
The Sky-Piercing Knight Order members were desperately holding off Agares to buy time.
Naturally, the most outstanding among them was Lilish.
She showcased an overwhelming presence, cutting through the darkness to strike directly at Agares.
Agares, seemingly unable to ignore Lilish—
Raised thousands of bony arms from beneath his cloak to block her attacks whenever she approached.
Though Lilish moved defensively, preventing her from delivering a critical blow to Agares—
She was effective in drawing his attention.
Thanks to her, the Sky-Piercing Knight Order members occasionally had moments to catch their breath.
The battle continued in this manner.
“Twelve hours!”
“Everyone, run to the opposite side of Agares!”
Finally, the moment the twelve hours were reached.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, with a fierce gust of wind, all the darkness began to be sucked in somewhere.
The target was none other than Agares himself.
Agares, at last, closed all his crimson eyes and ceased fighting with only darkness.
The creature, with his cloak fluttering, was absorbing not only the darkness but everything around him.
This prompted the Sky-Piercing Knight Order members to urgently turn and run in the opposite direction.
Conventional attacks would not work on Agares as he absorbed the darkness.
Otherwise, they would only be sucked into his darkness and crushed entirely.
And so, as everyone was fleeing.
Above the desolate Black Forest, now devoured by darkness—
Tap!
A single figure kicked off the ground and began running toward Agares instead.
“Kraush?!”
Lilish, the only one to witness it, screamed in alarm.
Kraush’s actions at that moment were akin to a death wish.
Though she immediately rushed to stop him, it was already too late.
Using the reverse force of the suction, Kraush was flying toward Agares at an unprecedented speed.
‘A little more.’
Kraush’s pupils began to slowly turn crimson.
Annihilation Erosion surged within him, tempering his entire body.
The one and only move that could bring down the foe.
He had endured relentlessly until now, waiting for this moment.
‘More.’
Heat radiated from Kraush’s body as the scorching intensity escaped his lips like smoke.
At the peak of his body’s limits under Annihilation Erosion—
Kraush raised his hand.
In it, he held none other than the Black Hood.
When Agares absorbs the darkness—
For a fleeting moment, all of his eyes close.
And in that single brief interval—
His true eye opens.
Normally hidden by the darkness, it becomes visible.
The real eye that controls the darkness Agares wields.
Huff!
At that moment, Kraush activated the Black Hood, causing Agares’s darkness to be reversed and drawn into his grip.
The darkness Agares wielded was merely a construct formed by exploiting the World Erosion.
In other words, it was not Agares’s possession but rather the property of the Demonic Realm itself.
This meant that the darkness of the will-less Demonic Realm could also be stolen by Kraush.
At that moment, the mass of darkness gathered near Agares’s abdomen was snatched away into Kraush’s hand.
And then, through the gap in the darkness, Agares’s true eye was revealed for the first time.
Crimson like a ruby, with a gaze reminiscent of an amphibian.
For the first time, bewilderment flickered in that eye filled with malice.
“You’ve got quite the pretty eye!”
In that instant, Kraush’s Rain Thunder Prime surged with both Black Flame and Lioner in unison.
Whoosh, crackle!
Focusing with absolute precision on a single point.
A ripple formed on the vast lake of Kraush’s immense mental strength, surging with violent energy.
The surge, imbued with both fire and thunder, collided with the World Erosion, emitting a jet-black light.
At last, it converged onto Kraush’s blade.
Crackle!
The moment the jet-black blade erupted with the energy of Rain Thunder Prime—
Kraush’s focused thrust was unleashed.
Thud!
“Graaahhhhhhh!”
Agares let out his first scream as lightning and black flames exploded simultaneously.
Amid the deafening noise, massive skeletal arms burst out wildly from Agares’s cloak.
Those arms, lifting Agares’s body into the air, rained down upon Kraush.
The sheer volume of the arms left no room to evade, rendering even Kraush’s Thunderclap almost ineffective.
“Hah!”
As Kraush cloaked himself in Black Flame, ready to shatter the arms even at the cost of his own body—
Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack!
The one who blocked the attack was none other than Lilish.
With her blade, she instantly shattered the skeletal arms and grabbed Kraush by the nape.
Then, throwing Kraush backward, she extended her sword in a straight line.
At that moment, her blade, infused to its limits with a brilliant blue aura, was wrapped in a storm.
Crushing Slash Sword.
The moment the condensed aura touched Agares’s massive arm—
A faint thud echoed as if it had merely nudged it.
But the aftermath of the Crushing Slash Sword didn’t end there.
The entirety of Agares’s skeletal arm began to resonate and twist as if delayed.
Crack, cr-crack-crack-crack!
Boom!
With a belated explosion, Agares’s skeletal arm shattered into countless fragments.
It was Lilish’s original secret technique that caused internal resonance to detonate the target.
However, perhaps because the technique was still incomplete—
Her blade cracked slightly with a faint creak.
The strain of enduring the technique’s aftereffects was too much for her sword.
Regardless, she glared at Kraush with intense eyes.
Seeing Kraush recklessly charge forward at the first opportunity without regard for his own safety infuriated her.
“You—!”
As she scolded him, Kraush gave a brief smile and adjusted his stance.
“Sister, attacking during transformation is common sense.”
Agares only reveals his true eyes once.
It happens solely when he absorbs darkness.
Knowing this, Kraush had recklessly charged forward, even at great risk.
If his true eyes were destroyed, the other cursed eyes would never open again.
Most importantly, the injury to the eyes that served as the conduit for the darkness—
Meant that Agares could no longer freely wield the darkness.
The proof of his inability to use darkness was evident in the bone-made true arms of the rampaging Agares.
Normally, the muscles and skin of those arms would have been filled with darkness.
But now, his arms showed no further transformation beyond the exposed bones.
Unable to manipulate darkness, he could no longer use his original power.
This was the consequence of his overconfidence, thinking he could toy with humans.
If Kraush’s gamble had failed, he had been ready to abandon the plan to kill Agares altogether.
Agares, with his true form exposed and still wielding darkness, would have been nothing short of a disaster.
There would be no way to defeat him under such circumstances.
But the gamble had paid off.
And it had succeeded decisively.
Realizing this, Lilish frowned deeply.
Instead of reprimanding Kraush, she turned to the startled Sky-Piercing Knight Order members, surprised by his sudden move.
“Sky-Piercing Knight Order!”
She wasn’t foolish enough to let this opportunity slip by.
“Unleash your full power and attack!”
At her command, all the Sky-Piercing Knight Order members ignited their Aura Blades and charged toward Agares.
Agares, having withdrawn the darkness, revealed his true skeletal body from beneath his cloak.
The form that should have been clad in the armor of darkness was now nothing but bare, frail bones.
Moreover, perhaps thanks to the Green Wave Knight Order killing off more Erosion Species than expected—
The strength of Agares’s true form, empowered by the Lord’s Command, had significantly weakened compared to before.
“Kieeeeeek!”
Agares let out a scream of rage.
Kraush exhaled and clenched his fist tightly.
“Hey.”
In his hand, a fragment of Agares’s darkness swirled.
“Mind if I borrow your curse for a bit?”
It was now time to turn Agares’s curse against him.