### Chapter 356
After Discovering All the Truths About Abella
Kraush displayed intense anger directed at Abella.
How could someone be so selfish as to destroy the world just for their own desires and, on top of that, try to turn Arthur into a tool for their reincarnation? It was utterly detestable.
“What a damned woman she is.”
Kraush clenched his fists tightly.
The fact that she pretended to be a wishful thinker while harboring such despicable intentions erased any lingering pity he had left for her.
“I never thought I’d find myself thinking that Mary and Sigrid were the sanest around.”
Abella definitely had to die. There was no way she could be allowed to live.
‘So, I must definitely lure Ixion out this time.’
Ixion had been Abella’s hands and feet. If he didn’t crush them, Abella would surely complete the god of World Erosion.
‘More importantly…’
Kraush’s thoughts drifted to Arthur, who had disappeared from Rahern Academy.
There was undoubtedly a bad blood between Arthur and Kraush.
Throughout both timelines – the one Kraush experienced and the one he didn’t – he had been heavily entangled with Arthur.
But one fact was clear. Arthur was at least willing to do everything in his power to prevent destruction.
Her life was not something that could be tied up with a mere reincarnation doll.
‘I need to find Arthur.’
If he wasn’t careful, Abella might do something to the current Arthur as well.
Though Arthur seemed to be uncomfortable with the jumble of mixed-up memories across timelines, he wasn’t completely unreachable either.
‘Let me tell you, finding a person is a hell of a task.’
He could seriously go bananas just trying to locate someone.
But it made sense, after all.
Ultimately, everything happened through people—so many problems arising from the intertwining of human connections.
That was what ultimately drove them back toward destruction.
Kraush stood there to solve these issues.
“Crimson Garden, Ebelasque, find Arthur for me.”
So, Kraush made his request to his two most reliable sources.
[I’ve already set a crow to follow the trail.]
And, of course, Crimson Garden responded almost immediately.
Kraush’s eyes widened in surprise as Crimson Garden scoffed at him.
[Who do you take me for? Knowing it was related to you, it’s only natural I’d set something up beforehand.]
True to form, Crimson Garden was always on top of things.
[If something comes up, I’ll let you know. But what you should be focusing on now is more pressing, right?]
As she said, the immediate concern was Ixion. If they were involved, they’d surely aim for Zodiac.
“Thanks.”
[An expression of gratitude that’s barely worth the calories to say.]
Really, Kraush always found himself indebted to this creature.
With this, he had no worries regarding Arthur.
If anything happened, Crimson Garden would alert him.
‘So now what’s left?’
It was just a matter of using the appearance of Zodiac to draw in Ixion.
‘But there haven’t been any bites yet.’
Were they just waiting for the right moment? Or were they becoming suspicious as well?
Kraush clicked his tongue, pondering.
‘Maybe it would be better to have one of the World Erosion members take him to Ixion instead.’
Not an impossible plan.
It was certainly better than waiting indefinitely like this.
‘The problem is finding a World Erosion member to fit the bill.’
Kraush slowly tapped his crossed arms.
Then, out of nowhere, one candidate popped into his head.
He even knew where that guy was hanging out.
He wasn’t the type to up and move his main base.
Plus, he had a bit of a hair trigger and would bite at any bait tossed his way.
“Crimson Garden, I’ve got an idea.”
Kraush had a quick consultation with Crimson Garden.
After listening to the whole story, Crimson Garden fell silent momentarily, then gave a positive reply.
[That’s an idea with plenty of potential. The challenge now is what bait to use to reel him in.]
“I’ve just thought of something in relation to that.”
Kraush said, turning around.
When he returned to the room, Ardelju was already fast asleep.
She had spent her whole life locked in her mind.
It was no wonder she lacked the strength to return to normalcy just yet.
“There’s a subtle urgency. Must’ve had a sudden epiphany.”
Merzia, who had been monitoring Ardelju, stood up at that moment.
To her question, Kraush nodded.
“Yeah, it’s a bit more complicated than I expected, but at least it’s clear that the child Ardelju birthed is dangerous.”
“Is there a chance that child might notice Ardelju waking up?”
“That could be a possibility.”
Kraush couldn’t guarantee it either.
He had no way of knowing why Abella kept Ardelju alive, locked in her mind.
‘It’d be great if it could be used against Abella.’
But looking at Ardelju’s current state, that didn’t seem to be right either.
After all, you couldn’t leverage someone who’d been asleep their whole life.
Her life, sacrificed due to Abella’s actions, deserved reward in whatever time she had left.
“In that case, I’ll take Ardelju with me.”
Before she fully regained her senses, she’d been struggling to stay here.
But now that she was aware, he would surely be able to persuade her to leave safely.
Kraush agreed with this plan.
“We’ll proceed with that, but personally, I have a favor to ask of you, Merzia.”
At Kraush’s words, she looked puzzled.
What kind of favor could he possibly have?
“I know you possess one of the Ten Heavenly Swords.”
Merzia hesitated.
It was true; she owned one of the Ten Heavenly Swords, but her expression asked what he was getting at.
If she was confused, Kraush quickly cleared it up.
“Could you lend that sword in Zodiac’s name for a while?”
“In Zodiac’s name?”
Merzia wore a look of utter bewilderment.
“Also, I would like you to let them know that it was given directly in the name of the Golden King.”
“Are you asking me to announce that a sword was given?”
Merzia’s confusion deepened, and she looked even more puzzled.
“It’s the perfect bait to catch one of Ixion’s members.”
Kraush couldn’t stay on the sidelines waiting for Ixion to eventually show up.
So, he decided to make the first move.
As Kraush explained, Merzia remained silent with her arms crossed.
Then she looked back at Kraush.
“If I lend you the sword, what’s the payback?”
Was this the reason the name “Golden King” was so fitting?
She was someone who was thorough in looking for gain.
“An Ixion member has a penchant for collecting high-value weapons. They’d certainly have accumulated something worth at least that sword.”
A thieving grin spread across Kraush’s face.
“I’ll let you know where they’ve got everything squirrelled away.”
He was going to hand over someone else’s stuff instead of his.
Plus, it was completely okay since it belonged to a criminal.
“Of course, I’ll deal with the Ixion member myself.”
Merzia glanced at Kraush for a moment.
Then she extended her hand, wearing a grin reminiscent of a loan shark.
“Seems like the Dragon King is quite the shrewd character.”
Kraush clasped her hand.
“Isn’t that just a given?”
They both shared wicked grins.
A perfect pair of Ten Great Lords.
—
In Cloria City, unexpected news spread.
The second-in-command of Cloria.
News was that the Ten Great Lords’ Golden King had visited Zodiac personally.
This sent Cloria into a bit of a frenzy.
Since Cloria wasn’t exactly a big city capable of hosting Ten Great Lords, people were all abuzz about the Golden King.
But the plot thickened; that wasn’t all there was to the story.
By chance, the Golden King received assistance from Zodiac.
And to repay that favor, he supposedly gifted them one of the Ten Heavenly Swords.
According to the Golden King, it was merely a token of goodwill towards someone who would open a new era, but…
A Ten Heavenly Sword held staggering value.
This news spread quickly throughout Cloria and the world.
From opinions about how the usually stingy Golden King had become more favorable, to skepticism over who Zodiac was to receive such kindness.
All in all, it made quite the stir across the world.
At the same time, a World Erosion member caught wind of the news through the world press.
“Wait, my darling went to a little kid like that?”
She furrowed her brows, and her tiger tail swished behind her.
“This is absolutely unacceptable. I need to rescue my darling.”
The tiger ears sprouting from her head perked up.
With an eyepatch on one side and weapons strapped everywhere.
Her beloved title was the Armed Princess.
Her name was Shua Delphia.
She licked her lips while gazing at the paper.
Her hobby? Collecting weapons.
What an appropriate title for the Armed Princess; she was obsessively focused on gathering weapons.
Yet now, one of the Ten Heavenly Swords was in the hands of an inexperienced little brat.
She had endured countless painful farewells trying to acquire the Ten Heavenly Swords.
To her, those swords were akin to first love.
Crunch!
At that moment, her teeth ground together.
Because she had lost sight of a Ten Heavenly Sword right before her eyes.
“Balheim, that bastard.”
She had still not forgotten the resentment that burned within her following that day in the Demonic Bastion when she had lost the Rain Thunder Prime to Kraush Balheim.
Now, she found herself unable to unleash that pent-up frustration, as Kraush had grown far too strong for her to challenge.
“Damn it, this is annoying. Really, really annoying.”
The foul-mouthed princess grumbled, ripping the paper apart with fury.
Then, she sprang off the rock she’d been perched on.
This was a new opportunity to seize the Ten Heavenly Sword.
The Armed Princess was not about to let this chance slip away.
“Cloria, you say?”
Some small, unheard-of corner of the continent.
Clearly, it wouldn’t have proper security in place.
She could easily smash through and snatch the Ten Heavenly Sword.
As she thought about this, a sudden idea struck her.
“Speaking of which…”
She recalled what the Black Witch, leader of Ixion, had said.
She had mentioned that the Zodiac guy from Cloria might be essential in the future.
“That kid, could it be Zodiac?”
The one who received the Ten Heavenly Sword.
A wicked grin spread across the Armed Princess as she thought of her target.
Curious coincidence—it turned out the very one she planned to target was someone Ixion was vying for as well.
The reason she had infiltrated Ixion was simply that the Black Witch promised to grant her weapons in exchange.
Recently, she had been fixated on building her weapon collection, but she stumbled upon a juicy opportunity on the Ixion front.
“I’m so lucky!”
Her footsteps quickened as she grew excited.
Destination: Cloria.
Off to catch the new darling and that Zodiac fellow!
