Chapter 90 |
[EP.90] Has It Passed?
In the forest, where the drizzling black rain was pouring down, Kraush and Lilish stood facing each other.
Kraush remained frozen, recalling the words that had just come from Lilish’s mouth.
“How did you… Ignis?”
Lilish had recognized Ignis.
The Ignis mixed with the power of world erosion, something that certainly didn’t seem like a divine blessing skill within the black flames.
‘How?’
That was the question on Kraush’s mind.
Even Charlotte and the Head Butler, whom Kraush had met so far, knew about Belorkin’s Ignis.
Even she hadn’t associated Kraush’s black flames with Ignis.
After all, it made sense.
Ignis is a flame of purification.
Those who knew Ignis wouldn’t associate it with the black flames they saw.
So how did Lilish recognize it?
Fragments of memories involving Lilish floated up in Kraush’s mind.
However, those memories were naturally not many.
Lilish and Kraush were not particularly close.
Especially since she had spent almost every day outside, dedicating her life to combating world erosion.
Kraush did have a certain respect for her.
After all, she had single-handedly stopped world erosion incidents numbering in the triple digits.
So what Kraush knew about her were her achievements and reputation.
And her exceptional swordsmanship.
And.
‘Skills.’
Kraush frowned internally.
He knew Lilish’s skills, of course, but those skills weren’t particularly helpful in recognizing Ignis.
That’s because they were combat skills.
But perhaps she had changed somehow.
Kraush realized he had been silent for too long.
This would only deepen suspicions.
“Sister, why did you come here instead of dealing with Nisrok?”
He tried to change the subject as if he hadn’t heard her.
Seeing Kraush feigning surprise, Lilish broke her silence.
“I’ve dealt with it. It didn’t take long.”
Kraush knew he had a good matchup against world erosion species, but he was newly impressed by her ability to handle Nisrok in such a short time.
After all, to Lilish, Nisrok wasn’t that dangerous of an opponent.
Even without a knight order, it wouldn’t have been too difficult for her.
“So, I would like to continue asking.”
However, her response seemed to indicate that his attempt to deflect had failed.
Kraush looked at her.
Her face, always somewhat stoic, showed no particular emotion.
Only a pure desire to resolve her question.
Kraush inwardly cursed.
He didn’t know Lilish in detail.
But he did know that she and Belorkin were full siblings, not half-siblings like him and Belorkin.
What would happen if she found out Kraush had killed Belorkin?
Kraush thought it wouldn’t lead to anything pleasant.
So, instead of answering, he let out a light sigh, as if it was hard to bring up the topic.
“I received it just before Belorkin died.”
“Received what?”
“My skill’s ability. I’ve also learned a skill.”
Lilish knew about Belorkin’s end.
That he died fighting against world erosion, ultimately defeating the rampaging Thousand-Eyed Demon.
And Kraush was there with him.
Certainly, at that time, Kraush was far from being able to confront the Thousand-Eyed Demon or even handle world erosion.
Yet, barely a year later, Kraush had grown strong enough to hunt down Harphas, a 6-star species.
Such growth within a year was hard to believe, even for a genius from the Balheim lineage.
‘That power flowing through him.’
Lilish naturally focused on the power of world erosion flowing through Kraush’s body.
To her eyes, the world erosion power within Kraush appeared as a curse.
‘Could it be?’
Her eyes widened at the thought.
Kraush had said he received Ignis as a skill.
Then, could he also steal a curse as a skill?
Lilish knew Kraush had traveled the world for a long time.
Perhaps his worldwide journey was to acquire the power of curses.
‘It’s certain.’
Otherwise, there was no explaining Kraush’s growth.
Only the strong are respected among the Balheim lineage.
Without resorting to a curse, Kraush had no way to earn such respect with his talent alone.
Realizing this, Lilish’s eyes wavered.
Having traveled through numerous world erosions, she knew just how dangerous curses could be.
“Kraush, no.”
She had neglected her family too, but after Belorkin’s death, she believed family shouldn’t be like this.
So, she couldn’t just let Kraush be.
If he kept meddling with curses, someday, its repercussions would consume him.
She didn’t want to lose her youngest sibling like Belorkin.
“…?”
And Kraush, on the other hand, looked at Lilish perplexedly.
Suddenly saying no, what did that mean?
Did she see through his lie?
‘It doesn’t seem like it.’
Lilish’s expression didn’t look like she had caught a lie.
It was more like the same emotionless expression as before.
“If you keep dealing with curses, you’ll be in danger.”
But hearing her follow-up, Kraush gradually realized something.
‘Is Lilish actually worried about me?’
Kraush, who had only ever been a half-brother with a connection to Lilish, was taken aback by her concern.
After all, he had never received such worry from family.
Suddenly, the situation felt extremely awkward.
‘She must have misunderstood something about the world erosion in me.’
It was a tricky situation to clear up the misunderstanding.
He couldn’t explain about Extreme Blood Poison either.
As Kraush remained silent, Lilish looked around, wondering.
She had never really interacted with her brother throughout her life.
So was it right for her to offer advice now?
Kraush had always been called a halfwit, so he must be yearning for strength more than anyone else.
Her advice might be selfish.
“Don’t worry, Miss Sister.”
Before Lilish could figure out how to broach the topic, Kraush spoke up.
While it was somewhat unpleasant that she was worried,
Lilish in front of him was genuinely concerned.
So, he couldn’t just outright deny it.
“There’s nothing particularly dangerous. I’ve thought about these things thoroughly myself.”
Then, Lilish focused on another part of his statement.
“Long consideration…”
Kraush had said he had thought about it for a long time.
That meant his concerns had been for more than a year.
That implied.
“…It wasn’t Belorkin who defeated the Thousand-Eyed Demon.”
A thought that started from a misunderstanding, but Lilish was close to the truth.
“With that power, you defeated the Thousand-Eyed Demon.”
“…Yes.”
Unable to deny the truth, Kraush responded.
Lilish’s eyebrows slightly trembled.
“Not attending Belorkin’s funeral was because of the guilt of not being able to protect him.”
Another misunderstanding overlapped.
Kraush swallowed silently.
The more they talked, the more ridiculous misunderstandings piled up.
It was a misunderstanding Lilish could have due to not knowing the relationship between Kraush and Belorkin.
At the same time, Kraush felt a queasy emotion deep within.
And soon, he realized what it was.
[Guilt, huh.]
Crimson Garden’s voice echoed through the black forest from atop a tree.
‘Guilt.’
But, of course, it wasn’t the guilt of having killed Belorkin.
Kraush would kill Belorkin again if he went back in time.
Belorkin, until the very end, did not change and tried to kill him.
So, Kraush didn’t feel guilty towards Belorkin.
He just didn’t want to receive misunderstandings and sympathies because of it.
[When did you start asking me for this and that, and now you feel guilt towards your sister? What a strange guy.]
Crimson Garden was evidently annoyed.
[So, are you going to talk about it because of guilt?]
Kraush shook his head internally.
He had no intention of acting out of such petty guilt.
To date, Kraush couldn’t count how many lies he had told.
It was just that, receiving misunderstandings and sympathy from family for the first time, he momentarily felt a pang of guilt.
He had no intention of telling Lilish that he killed Belorkin.
‘After all, Belorkin was closer to Sister than me.’
It’s natural to bend inward.
Compared to a half-brother she barely talked to,
Belorkin, a full sibling, would be more precious to her.
So, as Kraush was about to turn away,
Twitch-
Suddenly, his sixth sense reacted.
As he sharply turned his head, Lilish was also looking in the same direction.
A chilling sensation crept up his arm.
The sense of dread that arises when facing a threat.
Kraush recognized the identity of the entity that caused this sensation.
At the same time, a question formed in Kraush’s mind.
‘Why would this creature be here now?’
This was the eastern region of the Demonic Realm, the outermost and relatively safe area.
It was an aura that shouldn’t be felt here.
“…Miss Sister.”
Kraush urgently called out to Lilish.
She too seemed to have felt it, her eyebrows furrowing.
In that moment, Crimson Garden flew up and landed on Kraush’s shoulder.
[An unwelcome creature is on the move.]
Crimson Garden too seemed displeased with the situation.
Meanwhile, Kraush and Lilish simultaneously turned and began running in the direction from which the sensation came.
“Kraush, head back to the walls!”
Seeing Kraush running straight by her side, Lilish shouted in panic.
She had seen Kraush take down Harphas, but this situation was completely different.
No matter how direct a descendant of the Balheim lineage, it was a dangerous situation.
“Head back? But this direction leads towards where the knight order is, doesn’t it?”
The sensation they felt was undoubtedly heading towards the knight order.
Though the creature had not yet reached the knight order, it wouldn’t take long to overrun them.
Knowing this, Lilish bit her lip.
Even so, she couldn’t just tell Kraush to head back alone in the Demonic Realm.
“Once we get there, head back with Blue Sea immediately.”
“Yes, let’s go for now.”
Kraush’s response didn’t reassure her, but she had no choice.
So, she increased her speed without further ado.
Following Lilish, Kraush also furrowed his brows.
The situation was not looking good.
That’s because Kraush had felt this aura before.
‘Agares.’
An 8-star demon world erosion species.
And in the past,
The very being that broke down the walls of the Demonic Realm and wreaked havoc all the way to the empire.
A Named Erosion Species that should have been at the heart of the Demonic Realm suddenly appearing in the east.
