### Chapter: 247
The White Dragon King’s Egg
Kraush, with the egg of the White Dragon King nestled within him, was quietly meditating.
He was currently in the Forest of Giants.
Positioned inside a small hole of a massive tree within the Forest of Giants, a rainstorm was rapidly drenching the whole area.
Plip plop—plip plop—
The rainy season meant the sound of rain echoed continuously outside.
The raindrops hitting the ground soon merged with rivers, creating an ever-growing flood, and before long, the whole forest was swelling with water.
At that moment, Kraush’s eyes slowly began to open.
Simultaneously, a bone-chilling sensation gushed from his mouth.
A truly frosty chill.
It was a cold far more intense than what Kraush’s Lunar Body usually produced.
“Hss.”
As this chilling aura flowed from him, Kraush inhaled deeply.
The cold coursing through his body beckoned an unbearable frost.
What was the source of this chill?
It was none other than the emanation from the White Dragon King’s egg.
What Kraush was attempting now was, in fact, to awaken the White Dragon King’s egg.
As evidence of this, the inside of Kraush’s body had turned completely white, exhibiting symptoms identical to the effects of White Stone Disease.
Only thanks to Ignis, who was still ablaze inside him, was he able to maintain his condition.
[You could at least say if you want to die, right?]
Then, the familiar sarcastic voice of Crimson Garden echoed in his mind.
Unfortunately, Kraush had no intention of dying.
He was merely stepping on another platform to move forward.
“Don’t worry, I absolutely don’t want to die.”
[I’d like to know what that means. You’re the only one aiming to awaken the White Dragon King’s egg.]
The White Dragon King.
He was a World Erosion creature like Crimson Garden and an ancestor of the Ephania royal family.
Due to his obsession with eternal life, the White Dragon King was a lunatic World Erosion creature who left behind his legacy for his descendants.
Yet, there was one thing for sure.
True to title, the White Dragon King had once reigned at the peak of the world.
[What if you end up losing your body?]
“Not a chance; that’s why I’m preparing.”
While he spoke, frost began to cascade from Kraush’s body.
The chill radiating from him was freezing even the moisture in the vicinity.
Had he been a normal person, he would have surely lost his mind to the cold.
However, Kraush was demonstrating his unrivaled mental strength and tenacity in this aspect.
Surprisingly enough, heat and cold have many similarities.
Using his experiences from the curse and Ignis, Kraush was stubbornly enduring the chill.
[You madman.]
Squeak.
As Crimson Garden could no longer hold back, Ebelasque’s corpse rat also squeaked in agreement.
Kraush’s approach was blatantly risky.
[The White Dragon King isn’t someone to underestimate. Even I can’t mock him.]
“I’m not underestimating him.”
Due to the intense chill radiating from his entire being, Kraush momentarily felt light-headed but managed to continue speaking.
Crackle—
At the same time, his chilling aura had completely frozen the wood inside the tree.
In this frostbitten sight, Kraush once again closed his eyes.
Then, he began channeling the power of World Erosion into the White Dragon King’s egg.
Originally, the World Erosion was supposed to consume the energy emanating from the White Dragon King’s egg.
Now, however, it was feeding it back in reverse!
Thanks to this long-awaited nourishment, the egg was thrashing wildly, emitting the aura of the White Dragon in every direction.
With each pulse, the insides of Kraush grew whiter.
The sensation was horrifyingly intense.
It felt as though his organs were rapidly freezing solid.
Moreover, his body temperature kept dropping dangerously low.
If he didn’t concentrate and refrain from using Ignis, he felt like he could die of hypothermia at any moment.
‘This is nothing compared to the high-level curse known as Cold Mountain Craving.’
What he had just faced previously felt trivial compared to the cold he was enduring now.
After several grueling hours of holding on through this paralyzing chill…
Drip—
At some point, Kraush’s hair had started turning completely white, when he heard something.
A sound not coming from outside but from within himself.
Following the noise, he shifted his awareness inward, where he found the White Dragon King’s egg shimmering.
Upon the once purely white surface of the egg, a slight crack had appeared.
As soon as Kraush noticed it, he started pumping even more World Erosion into that fissure.
Crack!
A stronger chill burst forth from the cracked egg.
“Oof!”
The pain caused him to spit out saliva and blood, which instantly turned to icy shards upon contact with the ground.
The mixture of blood and ice froze the ground beneath.
Kraush clenched his knees tightly in agony.
Even among this intense cold, the sweat beads dripping from him turned into ice shards that rolled around on the ground.
Despite that, Kraush didn’t stop forcing World Erosion into the egg.
‘Not yet.’
This crack was nowhere near sufficient.
He needed to push in even harder.
To ensure that the White Dragon King would break free from his shell!
Kraush’s blue eyes widened with determination.
Simultaneously, the World Erosion he commanded began pushing into the egg with intensified force.
Oddly enough, the once chill-exuding egg seemed to hesitate momentarily.
At the same time, it began greedily devouring Kraush’s World Erosion.
Crack!
And thus, the fissure grew stronger.
Kraush, now feeling as though his consciousness was splintering, forced a tightening grip around himself to hold onto sanity.
Whether he liked it or not, he had no choice but to force World Erosion further inside.
Crack!
With each second that passed, the fissures deepened.
Crack!
Time seemed meaningless now as it passed without notice.
Crack!
Before long, all Kraush could hear was the sound of the breaking egg.
Crack!
In this frozen sensory deprivation, he felt the egg looming in front of him.
Now almost completely cracked, it was larger than Kraush himself.
As he faced the egg, he confronted the essence of World Erosion pulsing in his grasp.
Without an ounce of hesitation, he directed the force of World Erosion toward the egg.
Ka-crack!
With this strike, his fist penetrated the egg before making contact within.
In that instant, he caught a glimpse of what lay beyond the shell.
There were scales so white they shone like pearls.
Sharp scales resembling those of a lizard, with Kraush drawing blood merely from grazing his knuckles against them.
Perhaps sensing the scent of his own blood…
Wriggle—
The scales inside began to move en masse.
It resembled the fluttering leaves in a breeze.
RUMBLE—
A colossal rumble emanated from within the egg.
For a moment, Kraush felt his body lift off the ground from the sheer intensity of the vibrations.
Kraush’s gaze slowly rose, marveling at the sight above.
And there it was—a pair of eyes.
Eyes that weren’t human, marked with a streak through their center.
The drowsy eyes met Kraush’s gaze for a brief moment before they gradually opened their mouth.
[Who are you?]
In that question lay both warning and inquiry.
Naturally, the only one who could awaken the egg was his descendant.
Given that Kraush appeared entirely unrelated to the lineage of the White Dragon King, it would raise more than a few questions.
“I’m your alarm clock to wake up all you snoozers!”
Upon hearing Kraush’s words, the White Dragon King rolled his eyes for a fraction of a second, then began to chuckle as if he grasped something.
[You stole my egg, you rascal.]
In an apparent void of nothingness, what on earth did he perceive to say that?
Chuckling with amusement, the great head of the white dragon emerged from the shell, dwarfing Kraush’s size—not merely a sensorial experience, but a clear reality.
[How amusing. How ridiculous. A mere human coveting my power so brazenly. Such audacity!]
He laughed, as if to judge a long-awaited indulgence.
[What drives you to this folly?]
The White Dragon King’s gaze lowered to meet Kraush’s.
What kind of mindset must one possess for such an act?
[What price do you intend to pay for disturbing my deep slumber?]
Just then, Kraush realized his legs were frozen solid beneath him.
More accurately, his legs had been transformed into solid ice.
Naturally, they had no intention of moving.
In addition, a chilling aura began pouring from the White Dragon King.
It was the aura of the White Dragon King.
The chill enveloping him froze Kraush in place almost instantly.
Yet, even in this dire situation, he kept his gaze locked on the White Dragon King.
‘This is the realm of delusion.’
A realm that existed not in reality but purely within the mind.
This was precisely why the freshly awakened White Dragon King could wield his power so freely even in this insubstantial world.
Having lived through more than an eternity prior to seeking eternal life, the White Dragon King was indeed a being from ancient times.
In the face of such power, even someone like Kraush was at a complete loss.
[Well, it seems this worked out nicely.]
Observing Kraush freeze solid, the White Dragon King chuckled with glee.
[It was getting quite dull waiting for my descendants to finally break through; perhaps now is a good time to wake up.]
Seemingly deciding to claim Kraush’s body, the White Dragon King proceeded to do just that.
Before he realized, Kraush’s form was now completely encased in ice, save for his head.
The White Dragon King was entirely erasing Kraush’s consciousness and spirit.
[Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of my body.]
Just as Kraush’s form transitioned into ice, only his eye remained.
Whoosh—
A flame erupted from within Kraush’s body.
The flames surged rapidly throughout him, and finally, the instant it spread completely across his being…
Crash!
The frozen shell shattered, and Kraush exploded into bits.
[Huh?]
The White Dragon King’s surprise was palpable as he witnessed the scene unfold.
How could he have predicted that Kraush would shatter his own essence?
Dumbfounded by the spectacle, the White Dragon King peeled his attention from the shattered frost to something more perplexing.
The crimson gaze resonating from Kraush drew his focus upward.
[What the…?]
The instant he beheld that gaze, the White Dragon King’s surprise turned to realization.
He grasped the glaring fact that the shattered egg was inexorably melting away.
[My egg?]
The dark space turned out to be the egg itself.
The White Dragon King, still trapped inside, remained encased within the very shell he had just broken free from.
[What sort of trickery is this?!]
Overwhelmed by the knowledge that he had completely been toyed with by Kraush, the White Dragon King spread his wings and took to the skies.
He intended to tear apart the eyes of the insolent being gazing down at him.
However, in that moment of ascent, he suddenly realized something pouring in from the fractured ceiling.
[Whoa!?]
Into the egg flowed an ocean of black liquid.
Swiftly, this black water encircled the White Dragon King and pushed him down to the depths of the egg.
And thus, it began filling the inner chambers at alarming speed.
[W-What is this? What are you doing?!]
Recognizing the black water’s might as World Erosion, the White Dragon King flapped his wings furiously.
But no matter how fiercely he struggled, he felt his body sinking deeper into the liquid.
This made no sense.
Nothing about this situation could be explained.
He should have swallowed Kraush’s mental realm whole, seizing ownership of his body.
Yet, here he was—trapped in a predicament where he was being overwhelmed by a mere child.
At the moment he recognized this absurdity, the crimson gaze was snuffed out.
“You’ve entered my realm of perception!”
Then Kraush’s voice resonated throughout.
[What?!]
The White Dragon King stuttered at the revelation.
If this wasn’t Kraush’s mind, then whose could it possibly be?
“The Seasons.”
Out came the name of a powerful curse—the highest-level curse born from World Erosion’s will.
The Seasons.
This was the realm of perception governed by the highest-level curse The Seasons.
In the realm of perception, curses were devoid of meaning.
The curse itself was the format most deeply connected to the essence of mental projection.
In The Seasons‘ realm, even the White Dragon King was no more than a mere insect.
[How dare you! A mere child, trifling with the likes of me, the White Dragon King!]
Despite the White Dragon King’s furious outcry, Kraush paid it no mind.
Instead, the White Dragon King felt himself gradually dissolving within the black water inflicted by The Seasons.
The Seasons devours and dissolves everything, assimilating whatever it comes into contact with.
Therein lies the ability to mimic its surroundings perfectly.
However, to preserve its physical form, it transforms its prey into something entirely unrelated to its own existence.
This also held true for the White Dragon King’s egg.
The White Dragon King, intent on claiming Kraush’s body, had instead become prey for The Seasons along with the egg itself.
[I will KILL you! I will definitely make you pay for your insolence!]
As the wailing curse of the White Dragon King echoed, his head too vanished into the depths of The Seasons.
Soon afterward, Kraush felt the withdrawal of the White Dragon King’s presence from within him.
Just as Aura and World Erosion had been devoured by The Seasons, the essence of the White Dragon King had also vanished completely.
Slowly opening his eyes, he lifted his hands.
In that instance, a pure white aura of the White Dragon erupted forth.
Boom!
As Kraush’s clenched fist shone brightly, the brilliance of victory glimmered within his gaze.
He had finally consumed even the power of the White Dragon King!
CRASH!
Just then, a deafening sound echoed from outside.
Hearing that noise, Kraush gradually stood up.
This eerie, foreboding energy.
As soon as he felt it, realization struck him.
‘Ixion arrived first.’
The Demon Lord may have been left behind, but Ixion had already reached the Forest of Giants.
However, they had no idea who exactly had the upper hand in this race.
“Let’s see.”
Kraush smiled as he swallowed the chill emanating from him.
It was time to flex his freshly acquired power!
