Chapter: 119
After finishing the transaction with the God of Night,
Kraush poured a potion on his leg to recover from the wounds and walked down the corridor.
Not long after, he found a room.
Inside, he spotted shattered relics scattered everywhere.
Haring had been doing a great job smashing things, just as instructed.
Following the broken relics deeper inside, he soon saw a figure with black hair.
With a dagger raised high, she smashed down on another relic—it was none other than Haring Lagrain.
“Haring.”
When Kraush called her name, she turned sharply in his direction.
Her eyes widened slightly as she looked at Kraush, a bit larger than usual.
“Did you take care of it?”
“Yeah, there’s no need to break anything further now.”
Haring slowly lowered her dagger.
She looked visibly relieved.
After all, she had faced the God of Night directly.
She must have felt firsthand how dangerous he was.
So, if Kraush hadn’t solved things as he informed her, she’d have reason to think she was in danger too.
It’s a good thing she followed his advice so well.
“Did you defeat the god?”
“He didn’t have much power, so technically… yes.”
She looked at Kraush with curious eyes.
“Is that how Einvalheim is as well?”
Kraush shrugged his shoulders.
“Even worse than me.”
“I see.”
Haring accepted that explanation without resistance, but just then, from a distance, a loud BOOM! echoed.
It seemed Aniks and the Erosion Species had clashed on their way down.
Even without the God of Night around, the Erosion Species were still a threat.
They weren’t so full that they’d spare the prey right in front of them.
“What are we going to do?”
Haring asked, tucking her dagger into her waist.
“We need to join them.”
Though Haring may not know it, Kraush was running quite low on energy.
His legs were still trembling from the previous exertion.
So, joining Aniks’ group was the right move.
“Oh, and we’ll pick up the Eroder on the way.”
“Let’s go.”
The blunt Haring immediately took the lead as soon as Kraush spoke.
As Kraush tried to follow her, his body wobbled.
THUMP!
Kraush barely managed to steady himself with sheer willpower, avoiding a fall.
He almost rolled like a fool.
Noticing his struggle, Haring turned back to look at him.
“Do you want me to carry you?”
“Do you even have the strength for that?”
Haring moved her hand toward her rear and tilted her head slightly.
“Maybe?”
“Stop talking nonsense and let’s get going.”
Kraush sighed just as he was about to take another step.
At that moment, his sixth sense blared to life.
[ Dodge! ]
With an instinctual shout and his hand shot forward.
In that moment, Haring was right there, and as his hand lightly pushed against her,
CRASH!
The outer wall crumbled, and a spider Erosion Species burst forth, launching webs at Kraush.
‘Damn it.’
Kraush zapped a string of curse words internally as he saw Haring’s eyes widen in shock behind him, and then his body got ensnared in webs.
The spider Erosion Species swiftly snatched him upwards.
“Kraush!”
Haring screamed, running after him as her gaze landed on a hole.
However, Kraush was already being dragged far away.
He was gone.
Not even a trace visible.
Her eyes shook violently.
Breath quickening.
‘No! Calm down!’
Pushing down on her own panic, she reminded herself that the situation triggered past trauma.
She needed to focus.
Right now, she was the only one who could save him.
“Haring!”
At that moment, a voice called from behind.
It was none other than Aniks and his crew.
They looked pretty beat up, as if they’d been in a serious fight with the Erosion Species.
Aniks quickly scanned the area as he rushed toward Haring.
He noticed someone resembling an Erosion Expert on their way.
Having tied him up well, he promptly rushed inside looking for the two, but saw only Haring.
“Kraush is…”
“…he got caught because of me.”
Haring bit her lip tightly.
She realized she was way too slow to notice the spider before it appeared and struck.
Her sensory abilities weren’t great in the first place.
That caused her delayed reaction that led to Kraush being caught instead.
If it weren’t for him, she’d have been the one pulled into the web.
‘Why did he jump in front to save me?’
She recalled Kraush’s condition.
It was obvious he wasn’t alright after the battle with a being empowered by the gods.
Knowing that, when she aimed to join Aniks’ group, she never imagined she would need rescuing herself.
It was pathetic.
Despite all the training that made her strong, the thought that someone else would still have to save her was disheartening.
Clenching her fists tightly, she remembered,
「It’s alright. Haring, your brother will protect you.」
Her brother, who fought to defend her from Erosion back in their childhood.
She vividly remembered the outcome of that day, when her brother finally saved her.
She wouldn’t let such a tragedy happen again.
“Help me. I need to save Kraush.”
That moment, Haring’s demeanor shifted.
As a member of the Empire, she had kept her distance from Aslan and his group, but now she was the one asking for help.
The tunnel was vertically formed.
Even if she rushed, she couldn’t handle this alone.
So, as she pleaded, Aniks was already standing at the entrance of the tunnel.
At the same time, he took a seed from his pocket.
“Don’t worry.”
Aniks’ crimson eyes shone brightly.
“All of the members of the Syngraph will return safely.”
At that moment, a tree erupted from his palm, shooting towards the tunnel.
Aniks immediately reached out to grab a branch.
Following suit, the Syngraph members also seized the branches and soared into the tunnel.
Haring, understanding how they were moving, quickly grabbed hold of a branch as well.
While doing so, she bit down on her lip, thinking of her vow that she would never allow anyone to die for her again.
＊ ＊ ＊
After the fading voice of Haring,
Kraush’s body was being jerked around in the spider’s silk.
Already in agony from the Phoenix of Annihilation, this was torture.
Moreover, his consciousness was fading away.
[ Are you out of your mind? I told you to dodge, and now you let it hit you? ]
But Crimson Garden’s scoldings echoed repeatedly in his ears, barely keeping him from losing it entirely.
[ I can’t survive like this. I can’t! I’m blinded by a girl! ]
That’s not what it was, so please don’t misunderstand.
THUMP!
Just then, the tunneling rescue came to an end and Kraush tumbled to the ground.
‘First things first, get out!’
Realizing that, he immediately drew heat from his mouth.
He then bit down on the sticky threads with the boiling heat.
The silk melted, creating an air passage.
Once free, Kraush flared up Ignis from his fingertips, blasting through and shredding the remaining webs.
As he burst out of the webs, he landed awkwardly and rolled on the ground.
THUD!
After completing a full roll, Kraush exhaled sharply.
Then, looking up, he saw a massive corridor with the ceiling and floor completely shattered.
The overwhelming size of it caused a gale to roar in from above.
Whatever had caused this chaos—definitely a colossal being.
Most likely, those Erosion species who couldn’t even be handled by the main culprit—the gods.
On the sides of that gigantic corridor, a narrow path suitable for a person was set apart.
Kraush found himself on such a path.
“Gah?”
At that moment, as the spider’s silk snapped, one of the spider Erosion Species noticed him, its red eyes gleaming.
Glimpsing at the walls, he saw numerous holes punctured elsewhere.
This must be the narrow path these creatures used to scurry about.
“Whatever.”
Removing the spider silk from his body, Kraush exhaled.
In unbearable pain, he was struggling after using Ignis.
BOOM!
However, the spider Erosion Species wasn’t about to let him rest; another quake resonated.
With warning bells blaring in his head, Kraush glanced up.
And there it was—a massive spider peering down, filling the entire space above.
The absurdly large spider rolled its red eyes, staring straight at him.
It seemed the one that had snatched him earlier was its offspring, and this one was the mother.
[ What are you going to do now? ]
Crimson Garden had a feigned tone of sarcasm in her voice.
Clearly, she wished to express the gravity of this situation.
As the mother spider opened its mouth wide,
“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”
It unleashed a scream, causing the entire area to shake violently.
Upon its cry, shattering sounds echoed all around.
Judging by the feels, this mother was at least a 5-star threat.
And heck, there seemed to be a good number of smaller spiders lurking about.
“Can you provide me an emergency exit?”
[ If only it’s your neck. ]
“Looks like I’m a Dullahan now.”
[ This isn’t the time for jokes, you know! ]
Crimson Garden scolded him.
But rather than answering her, Kraush opened the small parcel in his hand.
This was none other than the bag that Haring had been carrying.
Kraush had snatched it while being taken by the spider earlier.
[ …Are you seriously not trying to save the girl, but just to grab her bag? ]
Kraush briefly fell silent.
What she said was true; he hadn’t intended to get kidnapped instead of Haring.
The moment she was dragged by an Erosion species, he thought of how dangerous this was for himself, who had depleted his power from the Phoenix of Annihilation.
So, Kraush’s plan had been to steal Haring’s family’s poison bag.
With that, even if she got taken, he’d have a way to save her.
But lo and behold, he ended up being taken instead.
He had completely forgotten that the Erosion beings would be drawn to the powers of world erosion.
[ Bianca, that girl would surely be thrilled if she knew your truth. ]
Crimson Garden seemed dumbfounded by the realization.
Previously, he had been clamoring to save a girl, yet now this.
Just then, in the midst of rummaging through his pockets for a particular item,
CRASH!
A loud noise erupted behind him, followed by vibrations.
As Kraush turned, he saw a tree sprouting wildly from the tunnel he had just exited.
‘Perfect timing.’
Now that he knew what it was, Kraush closed his pocket again.
He didn’t need to exert energy right now.
The one conjuring the tree had to be Aniks.
Sure enough, Aniks emerged first from the towering tree.
Spotting the spider Erosion Species behind Kraush, he raised his hand.
“KRAAAK!”
At that instant, the tree that had shot up pierced through the spider Erosion Species like a spear.
It died in one hit.
However, Aniks’ eyes darted upward immediately after.
He had also spotted the mother spider.
CLANG, CLANG!
The mother spider began to descend from the ceiling.
At the same time, other members of Syngraph started arriving.
“Aniks, can you handle that?”
“Of course.”
Despite the opponent being a 5-star threat, Aniks was confident.
Kraush thought he’d back off, allowing him to handle the situation.
“Kraush!”
With that, Haring barreled toward him, calling out his name.
She rushed to him, grabbing his collar and assessing his condition.
Kraush blinked, startled by her drastic reaction;
he had saved her but never expected such an intense response.
Haring trembled as she held onto Kraush’s collar.
Seeing her tremble, Kraush’s natural instincts kicked in.
‘This girl’s hiding something.’
It seemed she had some trauma linked to the situation.
And, unknowingly, Kraush had triggered that trauma.
“Haring.”
Kraush spoke soothingly to try calming her down.
“I’m fine, see? Everything’s alright.”
As he gently wrapped his hand around hers, securing her grip, Haring seemed to finally snap out of it.
“Sorry, I just…”
“But right now, that’s the problem.”
Kraush pointed with his chin to the ceiling as the mother spider began to stir.
Aniks instantly began launching trees toward it, attacking with full force.
Though the Syngraph members mounted an offensive, it seemed like it might take quite a while to subdue it.
“I can’t help with that. You’ll have to deal with it on your own.”
Initially, he had intended to pull out a poison from his pouch, but now the situation was different.
Preparing for battle, Kraush announced, and Haring’s expression shifted.
“I’ll take care of it quickly.”
With her dagger drawn, she was about to leap forward when once again, Kraush’s sixth sense blared.
“Damn.”
Couldn’t things just settle down?
Angry, Kraush looked up.
CRASH!
Just as a small stone fragment underfoot began vibrating under him
“Kraush!”
Haring swiftly turned back, racing back toward him.
“Aniks! Something’s coming from above!”
In the meantime, a Syngraph member noticed something odd and cried out.
“Huh?”
As the mother spider lifted its head,
CRASH!
The wall overhead crumbled with a thunderous noise!
“Everyone brace for impact!”
Aniks rushed to raise a tree to block the falling rock particles.
The debris poured down toward Kraush, but Haring split the rocks with her dagger.
The poison infused within her dagger could easily slice through stone.
However, that wasn’t the real problem.
“GAAAAAAAAH!”
With a scream from above, the mother spider collided with Aniks’ trees!
The blow was too strong; some of Aniks’ trees crumbled upon impact.
As a result, some members of Syngraph frantically dodged the collapsing branches.
“ARGH!”
“GRAAH!”
The cries of the members echoed as they couldn’t escape the rocks and wood debris.
Emerging from that chaos were Elfin and Aniks.
Despite rocks and branches falling around them, Elfin swiftly caught the members of Syngraph with her feather-light movement.
Aniks supported her by creating platforms beneath Elfin to help catch the others as they were falling.
“GAAAAAAAAH!”
Meanwhile, the mother spider, filled with rage, spewed venom at the ceiling, flailing its legs wildly.
This created an utter chaos in the plaza.
As rocks rained down and thick smoke filled the air, Aniks hurriedly gathered his crew and rushed back to where Kraush was.
He looked up amidst the smoke to see something glimmering.
“…Oh no.”
Aniks’ face stiffened.
There stood a monstrous figure, gripping the mother spider’s four legs and tearing flesh from its body.
The monster bore a resemblance to a monkey—massively larger than the mother spider, with countless thin tendril-like protrusions writhing from its skin.
Its eyes glowed with an eerie blue light, making it feel unsettling as the pupils were barely visible.
A 6-star Erosion Species.
Dekarabia.
The being that ruled as the lord of this crypt.
