Chapter 94
At the moment Kraush collided with Agares,
someone emerged from the dedicated space magic circle of the Ma-gyeong.
She let out a small sigh as soon as she appeared.
‘I’m in for a scolding.’
Her name was Mirsys.
She held the rank of a 3rd-degree official in the Sephira.
Today, her reason for being here was none other than a request from her master, Crimson Garden.
To Mirsys, Crimson Garden was a benefactor.
The one who saved her from being sold into slavery right before it happened during her time in the slums, and who took care of her was Crimson Garden.
Thus, whatever request she made, Mirsys would do anything.
However, given the likelihood of facing a disciplinary action for this mission, a rueful smile crept onto her face.
Would it be just a reprimand? If it raised suspicions, she might even have to pack her bags and leave Sephira.
If they were to question how she got news of Kraush fighting in a magical realm where most spells get distorted,
what could she possibly say?
There was no way out of that.
She could only cover it up with the preparations she’d made as best as she could.
‘After all, it was a request from Master Crimson Garden.’
Ideally, it would have been fine to bring it up when the Cheongha Knights arrived.
But Crimson Garden had urged her to hurry, saying he felt bad for imposing.
For him, anything related to Sephira took precedence, so Mirsys stepped forward without hesitation.
The destination she sought was none other than the tent where Princess Serang of Sephira resided.
Upon her arrival, she noticed someone peek out, sensing her presence.
“What’s going on?”
It was none other than Blavi, the Celestial Guardian.
Born from the Celestial Bloodline, he was Serang Sephira’s guard.
Mirsys had thought until recently that he was just a new guard for Sephira.
Who would have guessed that this retired Celestial Guardian would appear again in such a young form?
Had it not been for Crimson Garden, Mirsys might have been completely oblivious.
“I have an urgent message for Lady Serang.”
As she conveyed this, Blavi glanced at the Sephira insignia engraved on her chest.
Recognizing her rank, he stepped aside without hesitation.
A 3rd-degree official wouldn’t be doing anything frivolous, after all.
Once Mirsys entered the tent, she spotted Serang seated on a chair, engrossed in a book.
As always, she appeared laid-back, even while reading under her veil.
Could she even see the book through that veil?
As her long fingers turned a page, she soon lifted her head.
Upon seeing Mirsys, the pink lips exposed beneath the veil curled into a smile.
“Nice to see you, Mirsys. I take it you have business with me?”
Feeling the urgency of the summon now mixed with tension on her face.
In the long history of Sephira,
there is only one bloodline that can rise to the role of a 1st-degree official.
The bloodline of the astrologers, who divine through the stars and guide Sephira.
Throughout history, Sephira had the advantage of predicting world erosion and responding accordingly through these astrologers.
They gathered various talents from different countries to respond more efficiently to the erosion.
As a result, Sephira became the premier institution dedicated to the study of world erosion.
Serang Sephira was the unique direct descendant of this illustrious family.
The title of Princess Sephira wasn’t just for show.
“Did you already know I would be coming?”
“The stars don’t tell everything. But when it comes to matters related to Sephira, I can’t help but be informed.”
She let out a laugh that echoed beyond the veil.
Just that made Mirsys tense again.
That girl seemed to know everything, including that she was Crimson Garden’s servant.
Faced with Serang’s strangely mysterious aura, she barely managed to open her lips.
“If you knew I would come, I’ll get to the point. There appears to be a problem with the Valheim group that entered the Ma-gyeong.”
“Oh? A problem with the Valheim group?”
“Yes, an 8th-tier erosion entity, Agares, has appeared.”
Upon hearing this, Serang fell silent.
From her reaction, it seemed she had already foreseen it through her divinations.
As Mirsys waited for an answer, Serang began to lightly tap her fingers on the table.
Mirsys felt the tension but Serang merely twitched an eyebrow.
That was to be expected since she had been divining about the Valheim knights ever since they entered the Ma-gyeong.
‘For some reason, I just can’t seem to see anything no matter how hard I try.’
That question had lingered on her mind.
The astrologers of Sephira continually checked the stability of the world erosion through various realms’ predictions.
However, in recent weeks, the divinations regarding the Ma-gyeong had become increasingly murky and difficult to see.
Upon realizing that, she purposefully came out of Sephira to investigate.
But lo and behold, chaos erupted in the Ma-gyeong, prompting her to rapidly request assistance for Valheim.
She wondered if the chaos was the reason for her inability to see anything.
But then, Agares appeared.
If things weren’t handled properly, it could lead to the unprecedented situation where Agares would reach their walls unnoticed due to the unclear divination.
‘However, it’s strange that the appearance of an 8th-tier erosion entity would cause the divinations to go blank.’
Agares’s emergence certainly indicated a grave crisis.
However, aside from that, she found it odd to think that Agares’ presence would prevent her from seeing the predictions. Since the world erosion had always been filled with variables,
it wasn’t uncommon for an 8th-tier erosion entity to rampage.
Every time, Sephira had managed to see the signs and appropriately requested support from various lineages.
Yet this time, the divinations were obscured.
In that moment, a certain boy came to Serang’s mind.
A member of the Valheim knights, a boy who possessed three skills.
Moreover, he was the brave boy who wanted to inherit the Celestial Bloodline from Blavi.
‘Could it be…’
She subtly raised her hand.
For some reason, that boy had been at the back of her mind for quite some time.
Although she didn’t like to read into people’s fates,
right now she had a strong urge to understand his significance.
In her hand, a pearl, invisible to others, materialized.
The pearl shimmered like the Milky Way, glistening with stars, as her wide-open eyes quietly scanned it.
And before long, Serang’s body stiffened.
‘I can’t see it.’
Things related to that boy didn’t appear in her divinations.
She realized it, perhaps too late.
The reason the predictions concerning this Ma-gyeong were obscured was precisely that this boy was going to enter it.
‘What on earth…’
She made a bewildered expression.
This was a boy whose prophetic utterances had seemed on par with an astrological prophecy.
How astonished she had been by his words.
Now, understanding that she couldn’t even glimpse divinations associated with him, she felt a state of bewilderment bordering on shock.
What kind of being was that boy that caused even divinations to go blind?
‘This has only happened once before.’
Serang’s gaze turned upwards, above the tent.
To the stars, where she wished to spy on the gods’ thoughts.
Back then, she had indeed seen nothing.
The reason she had first taken interest in that boy was precisely that.
The rule among the gods:
Aside from saints, each individual was allowed only one skill.
That boy had broken that unspoken rule, which made her suspicious of him.
She sensed a massive thread of fate swirling around him.
But then she realized she hadn’t yet answered Mirsys.
First and foremost, she needed to handle this matter.
“…Understood. I should seek help immediately. Not just from Valheim, but I should contact everyone as much as possible.”
Nobles have a duty to aid any noble lineage facing turmoil caused by world erosion.
If she can get in touch quickly, they should be able to mobilize rescue personnel by the end of the day.
The response was swift.
However, Serang noticed that Mirsys still had more to say.
After all, her expression hadn’t softened in the least.
“Mirsys, you have more to share, don’t you?”
Thus, Serang posed the question.
In her usual meaningful tone, it was as if she were aware of the other’s intentions.
Being in a peculiar position as an astrologer, she often instilled a sense of mysteriousness in her interlocutor.
Serang relished using that sort of speech.
“Yes, it seems you already know, Lady Serang, but I also want to request support from the Celestial Guardian.”
That Mirsys even knew about Blavi was quite telling.
Mirsys had probably caught on to some connection with that boy.
At this point, wouldn’t everyone in the world know Blavi’s true identity?
“…Blavi is your guard, isn’t he?”
She maintained a composed expression, opening her mouth with effort.
It was uncommon for her to be so flustered, yet recently, she had felt overly exposed.
“Yes, I’m just passing on Lord Krad’s request. He wanted to negotiate.”
Indeed, Mirsys seemed to share some link with that boy.
As if she had been expecting more, Serang felt compelled.
But eventually, as if prompting her to speak, she nodded, and Mirsys approached her.
“May I borrow your ear for a moment?”
“Sure.”
As Serang offered her ear, Mirsys whispered something into it.
Moments later, Serang flinched slightly and fell silent.
The area beneath her veil had inexplicably turned bright red.
BOOM!
Agares’s bony arm, now completely transformed, crashed down to the ground.
The impact was as immense as its size.
The earth shook as if an earthquake had struck.
However, considering its original power, this was nothing.
Agares, clad in his dark armor, launched attacks without any distance limitations.
Every shadowy area became his playground.
Furthermore, the darkness absorbed all curses.
Upon contact, you would be devoured by those curses.
But that wasn’t all.
The more erosion entities that were hit by the darkness, the stronger he became through it.
However, currently, Agares was not fully utilizing that advantage.
That’s because the very premise for that power was to corrupt erosion entities with darkness.
After Kraush had destroyed his true eye, Agares could no longer use darkness.
That meant he could no longer corrupt erosion entities with darkness.
Therefore, as a result of the Cheongha Knights continuously eliminating erosion entities,
the effects of that dark hold were dwindling without anything to replenish it.
And that inevitably meant Agares was weakening.
Yet still,
Agares was an 8th-tier erosion entity.
Before long, without a head, the bony body of Agares stood mighty on two legs.
His towering figure, easily reaching hundreds of meters, instilled despair in those who gazed upon it.
How could his upper body be covered by the storm clouds of the Ma-gyeong?
SHHHRRRAAA!
Black, rain-like tears rained down upon the Jukcheon Order.
At that moment, his arm lunged towards the ground.
The target: Kraush.
Having been struck by his optical weapon, Agares naturally harbored the deepest grudge against him.
“Kraush!”
“I’m aware!”
Kraush answered in response to Lilish’s warning and dashed towards the ground with all his strength.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
The successive strikes from Agares’s arms fell where Kraush had just been standing.
Had he been even a moment slower, Kraush would have been crushed.
At that moment, the ground where the arm landed cracked open.
From there poured out bony arms the size of a man.
Thousands of them surged toward Kraush.
Each bone-hand was laced with a murderous intent that could dissolve flesh with merely a touch.
Sparks erupted on Kraush’s forehead.
His instincts merged with Lionor, activating his resistance to evade the oncoming tidal wave of bones.
CRASH!
At that instant, a loud explosion erupted from behind as yet another arm crumbled to dust.
It was Lilish’s Shattering Blade.
Thanks to her timely intervention, Agares’s attack temporarily halted.
“Phew!”
Taking advantage of that moment, Kraush quickly caught his breath, clutching his left fist tightly.
In his hand was the darkness he had stolen from Agares.
This darkness included none other than the curses from the dark lord.
However, to use it, he needed to reach the robe that draped over Agares’s neck up in the sky.
Of course, climbing up to that height would be a herculean task, and Agares wouldn’t simply allow it.
Thus, he needed someone else’s strength right now.
“Lilish, can you cut Agares’s legs?”
“Legs?”
Lilish, now breathless, heard Kraush’s shout.
“Are you thinking of a way to take him down?”
“Yes, if I can reach his neck, it’s possible.”
Lilish glanced up at Agares.
His upper body, obscured by the clouds, was nearly invisible.
The Jukcheon Order was also noticeably slowing down.
They too were nearing their physical limit.
Buying time until the main force arrived?
That itself was a tall order.
Considering the time, the Cheongha Knights wouldn’t even reach the walls yet.
In this dire situation, buying enough time for the main force to arrive was virtually impossible.
So now it might be a better option to take a gamble while they still had energy left.
“Got it.”
Given that Kraush had already undertaken a dangerous act to bring them this far,
who else could Lilish trust but him?
“Jukcheon Order! From now on, target Agares’s left leg!”
While she would take care of the right.
“Kraush, go all out!”
Lilish shouted and kicked off the ground, charging towards Agares’s leg.
A leg that was far thicker than any arm.
Of course, that leg was in constant motion as it chased after Kraush.
Agares was not a stationary cannon; he was a living being.
Moreover, being an erosion entity, he possessed regeneration abilities.
Some of the arms Lilish had already broken were gradually starting to heal.
Dodging Agares’s attacks while bringing down that leg—Lilish couldn’t guarantee that it was possible.
‘But.’
Her younger brother was struggling so much for them.
Was it right for the strongest among them to be the one complaining?
‘I will definitely break it.’
Gone was the thought of merely buying time.
To repay her younger brother’s best effort, she would stand against Agares and make sure he fell here.
Lilish Valheim.
At that moment, her eyes shone a brilliant blue.
