### Chapter 392
A breeze stirred the sands.
Under the ruins left by the clash of the two superhumans,
Veldo, the Beast King, looked on.
He was engulfed in an unprecedented tension.
The reason? It was simple.
He faced an opponent where victory seemed utterly impossible, no matter what he tried.
This person, who had triggered his beastification, stood before him.
It was the Dragon King.
Kraush Balheim.
Before him, Kraush shone with white eyes, igniting something primal within Veldo, sending him instinctively recoiling.
But ironically, as his instincts fled in fear, Veldo’s consciousness resurfaced.
When his primal fear took flight, it was his rational mind that filled the void.
This was a situation Veldo had never anticipated.
Even with his arm severed, he felt an extraordinary power surging through him.
It was the true strength of the beast tribe drawn out through beastification.
Like an endless reservoir of strength, he felt he could achieve anything.
But now, facing Kraush, even that felt like pure folly.
Kraush stood before him, a living embodiment of sheer power.
A monstrous being, crafted from unknown material.
That was Kraush.
Yet, while his instincts told him to flee, his reason was anchored.
He had fled, only to find himself here.
For Veldo, escape was no longer an option.
So, what should he do in this moment?
“Defeat the enemy before me and seize victory.”
As the king of the beast tribe, he would pour out his utmost.
With a grunt!
Veldo’s remaining arm muscles coiled in anticipation.
With that, he swung what was left of his arm toward Kraush.
Explosive energy from World Erosion flowed through him.
He didn’t need an arm, as long as he could swing.
That alone would suffice as his power.
A gold-hued force extending from his battered limb reached toward Kraush.
Bang!
The sound of Veldo’s strike clashing echoed.
The resulting shockwave ruffled Veldo’s fur.
Kraush still stood there, not a move made.
He hadn’t done anything at all.
Soon, Veldo felt the surge of energy radiating from his body.
A blade-like gust swirling around him.
This air was definitely the aura of the White Dragon King.
But no matter how potent the White Dragon King’s aura was, it couldn’t possibly stop his punch now.
“What tricks does he have?”
Without pausing, Veldo began throwing punches.
With each swing of Veldo’s fist, the air rippled around Kraush.
Veldo unleashed a barrage of blows.
As he grew sweat-soaked from his relentless assault,
Kraush merely locked his gaze on Veldo.
Thunderous energy hung in the air, both a statement of intent and a protest.
But with each punch Veldo threw, his fists became bloodied and bruised.
Veldo’s eyes bulged as he gritted his teeth.
‘No way!’
Are you telling me I can’t even pierce through this gust?
Veldo felt his mind begin to spin.
He believed he could break through the Crimson Garden’s barrier in beastification form.
Surely, if he activated beastification and retained his sanity, he could conquer it.
But here he was, unable to breach the natural energy radiating from Kraush.
A bitter smile crept onto Veldo’s face.
What kind of monster is this?
“Veldo.”
As despair crept into his eyes,
Kraush’s voice resonated.
Drenched in white, Kraush slowly lifted his Thunder Sword.
“Why not run away instead?”
Hearing Kraush’s words, Veldo realized something.
Kraush had unleashed immense power, now weighed down by his own strength.
It was evident, having done nothing since he severed Veldo’s arm.
Veldo understood this fact subconsciously.
But his instincts had fled.
He thought it impossible to win even if he didn’t move.
Yet his reason remained.
It suggested that now was his chance to defeat Kraush.
Recognizing this was his stubborn pride and arrogance.
He had always been forced to flee.
At this moment, he wanted to trust and believe in his own power to take down Kraush.
But, alas, it was all halted by Kraush’s aura.
Kraush saw through what even Veldo was unaware of.
“Ha.”
Veldo chuckled.
“I am the Beast King. Do you think I would run from my enemies?”
He proclaimed it with the last of his bravado.
He was the Beast King.
The strongest warrior representing the beast tribe.
Veldo’s golden eyes narrowed.
Simultaneously, he drew back his empty right arm, encircling it with his left.
And in that moment, his empty arm began sucking in all surrounding light and gathering power.
With tremendous force, the very fabric of space around him warped, pouring forth light surpassing that of the sun.
Facing Veldo, Kraush slowly lifted his Thunder Sword.
Having reached complete divinity, Kraush made the very world tremble with a single movement.
Surely even an ant would have better odds against a dragon than Veldo had right now.
His only choice was to unleash his strongest power.
Soon, Veldo unleashed his ultimate strike.
“Beast God Fist!”
The limit of his energies shattered the air, launching toward Kraush.
With a name as fearsome as its action, this strike left nothing in its wake; it was unparalleled.
Yet an even greater force lurked behind that blow.
With a powerfully set position, Kraush drew in a breath.
As his might surged into the Thunder Sword, it trembled ominously.
Even the sword, which had been with him all this time, felt the weight of the white flame.
A punch was hurtling towards him, destruction seemingly all but guaranteed.
Kraush didn’t hesitate; he merely swung his blade, infused with a blinding white flame forward.
And that white flame burst forth.
In an instant, it devoured Veldo’s strike, reaching him in mere moments.
Faced with the oncoming blaze, Veldo quietly thought.
“Brother, if only I had done better, would we have been alright?”
He had never known his younger brother to complain.
Perhaps it was because he, as the elder, had continuously overlooked his younger sibling’s true feelings.
As that thought surfaced, a wry smile formed on Veldo’s lips.
“a rather pointless thought.”
What could he accomplish by dwelling on a world that had already perished?
With that, Veldo closed his eyes, vanishing into the white flames.
—
*
After Veldo’s complete annihilation,
Kraush, feeling as if his throat was aflame, turned away.
Before him, the seed of the ultimate evil had firmly rooted itself, revealing its true power.
A thick layer of protective shield engulfed the seed of ultimate evil.
Recognizing the threat, it had taken its own protective measures.
It was a bizarrely mighty shield, utterly unaffected by Kraush’s white flames burning beside it.
“Such meaningless actions,” Kraush scoffed.
He forced his eyelids wide open and raised his hand.
From his palm, light began to flow forth.
The energy of that light was none other than the Black Hood.
[Target: Giant’s Forest, Seed of the Ultimate Evil]
Against entities devoid of will, the Black Hood acts like a lethal weapon, penetrating all defenses.
“It’s time for you to disappear from our land.”
With that, Kraush pulled the Seed of the Ultimate Evil toward himself.
Kugugugu!
As the final Giant’s Forest, the seed’s might was unparalleled.
Moreover, Ixion had struggled desperately in his final attempts to awaken the Ultimate Evil.
The sheer force flowing into Kraush felt as if it could shatter his very being.
Crack!
However, Kraush did not yield, clenching his teeth against it.
He began incinerating all incoming power with his white flames, forcing it into Sable.
Kraush held fast to his concentration.
If he lost focus here, everything he had achieved thus far would come undone.
“——-!”
Thus, with a scream swallowed down, Kraush continued to push, and push harder.
Soon, time felt as if it was splintering.
Kraush felt as if he had been plunged into lava, only barely holding onto his sanity.
The seed kept burning.
It consumed, burned, and kept consuming.
An eternity stretched before him.
But just as the universe has an end.
Ultimately, even this elongated moment approached its conclusion.
Swoosh—
A gust of wind blew.
The fully burned Seed of the Ultimate Evil crumbled to ash, swept away by the breeze.
And before this, the true landscape of Mount Freya began to unveil itself.
The flora returned to its original size, and the foul energy that had existed until then vanished like a long-lost memory.
Instead, only a refreshing aura filled the forest.
Kugugugu—
In the distance, the Giant, who had clashed with the Sanctuary of Stars, collapsed.
The Ixion, fighting Icarus, began to wave their arms in surrender, one by one.
Amidst this ending chaos, Kraush stood still.
It had been a long time coming.
He had finally eradicated the seed of ultimate evil that had birthed the nightmare known as the Apocalypse Knight.
His eyes should have been filled with joy and a sense of accomplishment.
Yet, Kraush only quietly gazed up at the sky.
It was no wonder, as Kraush’s battle was far from over.
Above him, storm clouds gathered.
Boom!
At that moment, lightning burst forth from the darkened clouds, striking dangerously downwards.
Amidst those clouds,
A massive dragon began to slowly materialize.
Its body was formed entirely of bones and flesh.
The dragon’s size was immense, more than enough to cover the entire Freya Mountains.
With its bones and raw meats glistening, the dragon’s red eyes dazzled.
Kraush knew well the identity of this dragon.
From the farthest western land.
The once-fabled Dragon King, BARAKA, is said to have nearly brought the world to ruin in ancient times.
Once he fell, that land transformed into a graveyard of the dead.
And now,
The Dragon King had returned as a fierce beast.
As the beast’s arrival shook the Freya Mountains,
Above that imposing serpent,
A petite girl with fiery red hair gracefully descended.
She was someone Kraush knew quite well.
Clack!
“Abella.”
At last, she had revealed herself to fulfill her long-held ambitions.
