I Became A Thief Who Steals Overpowered Skills

Chapter 87 This Is How You Use It, Ancestor

Upon his return, Kraush immediately sought out a conversation with Crimson Garden.

She was the right person to seek advice from on such matters.

[Hmm, it seems like they’re buying time to bring more conditions to the negotiation.]

Crimson Garden’s thoughts weren’t much different from Kraush’s.

“Crimson Garden, what do you think about the value of the Heavenly Slaughter Star?”

[Its flaws are clear, which is problematic, but its simple destructive power is exceptional. The power of the Heavenly Slaughter Star is imbued in the body itself.]

Its value clearly changes depending on the person.

‘I shouldn’t have let it be known that the Heavenly Slaughter Star is valuable to me.’

On one hand, he felt regret.

Being on the negotiating table was satisfactory enough.

“Crimson Garden, do you know what kind of person Serang Sephira is?”

Kraush had seen Crimson Garden, in the form of the crow Mirvis, several times, who is a third-class officer under Sephira.

Given that, she might have had conversations with Serang as well.

[It’s not without reason that Serang Sephira receives the princess treatment within Sephira. Being part of Sephira made it even less likely for them to converse.]

The known external image was somewhat lively and curious in nature.

Serang Sephira maintained her mystique by always covering her face with a veil.

Thanks to that, even Crimson Garden didn’t have much information on Serang.

‘I may know more about that guy for different reasons.’

But that information was a separate matter from truly knowing who Serang was.

‘Anyway, we’ll probably run into each other sooner or later.’

Kraush decided not to think further on it.

Because Lilish and the knight commanders had returned from their meeting.

“Krad, your sister’s room is ready.”

Then, Reblian Fenox approached Kraush.

It seems he found out in advance that Bianca could stay in one of the tents Sephira had set up.

“Bianca.”

Kraush gestured to Bianca.

Of course, Bianca couldn’t follow him into the demonic realm.

“I’ll be back.”

He stroked Bianca’s head as she approached him.

Bianca, following Kraush’s hand movements, soon wrapped his hand with hers.

“Don’t get hurt.”

“It sounds like you think I always come back injured.”

“You always do get hurt.”

That was more about overexerting than getting injured.

But it seemed like the same thing to Bianca, so he decided to remember that.

After exchanging goodbyes with Bianca, Kraush asked Reblian to take good care of her.

She’d probably spend her time reading books inside the tent.

Meanwhile, the knight order had finished their preparations and finally moved in front of the demonic realm’s walls.

Naturally, Kraush was among the Blue Sea Knight Order.

The members of the Blue Sea Knight Order were curious about what Kraush and Serang had discussed but didn’t ask.

They just assumed something was there and thought of it as a personal matter.

‘If anything, Blue Sea Knight Order must have the most upright character.’

He doubted it was due to Vega’s management, probably more because of Reblian’s influence.

“Everyone, listen carefully.”

At that moment, a deputy commander of the Sky-Piercing Knight Order spoke up, taking over for Lilish.

“This expedition into the demonic realm aims to deal with the newly emerged Named and the existing Named who are about to engage in a power struggle near the eastern entrance we are using.”

The demonic realm was vast, making it a different kind of world erosion.

Thanks to that, numerous Named Eroders lived within.

They constantly engaged in power struggles to expand their territories.

‘The Eroders in the demonic realm gain power by consuming the world erosion power possessed by their opponents.’

It was similar to the Extreme Blood Poison technique that Kraush had learned.

Thanks to this, the Eroders of the demonic realm become stronger each time they consume another Eroder.

Thus, when an Eroder capable of swallowing an entire region of the demonic realm and another of comparable power are about to clash,

humans must intervene to kill both or at least one beforehand.

Otherwise, if one side wins and consumes the other,

an uncontrollable Eroder is born.

This expedition was prompted by the sudden growth of an Eroder.

Sephira couldn’t handle it and had to urgently call on Balheim, indicating the situation was dire.

‘The demonic realm, huh.’

Kraush sighed bitterly.

The demonic realm, one of the forbidden areas, requires constant management due to its nature.

However, when a war broke out between the Empire and Starlon,

all the kingdoms saved their strength, and support for the demonic realm nearly ceased.

‘Sephira did struggle desperately to block the demonic realm.’

Sephira’s own military strength wasn’t very high.

They were specialized in investigating world erosion, not in suppression.

As a result, power struggles continued to occur within the demonic realm,

eventually leading to the birth of a colossal Eroder that shattered the walls surrounding the demonic realm.

This Eroder annihilated all the tribes in the plains area and finally attacked the Empire.

The Empire, having exhausted its strength in war, was utterly destroyed.

Ironically, the war ended thanks to that Eroder.

With the empire’s frontlines broken as knights and soldiers scrambled to defend it,

the Eroder had already advanced to the capital.

‘And then Arthur moved.’

Arthur, who single-handedly defeated the demonic realm’s Eroder, became a hero of the empire overnight.

In fact, the empire even granted him a title for it.

His nickname became the “Hero King,”

and it was around that time that Princess Sigrid completely fell for him.

‘Ha, that bastard.’

Looking back, Kraush realized Arthur’s intentions.

Why he had knowingly ignored the war and persuaded the Skyborne Generation to participate.

And because of that, a gap was created in Sephira, allowing the world Eroder to kill Serang.

‘Arthur, that bastard was planning to do everything himself from the start.’

Arthur, after swallowing the Empire and Sephira, even consumed the Skyborne Generation.

From the beginning to the end, he never intended to delegate roles to others.

‘But such actions would make the Empire and Sephira incapable of handling world erosion.’

As Kraush thought about Arthur’s actions, he frowned.

Kraush knew.

Even if the Empire and Sephira existed in good condition, world erosion would spread uncontrollably at its worst.

Arthur must have seen that happen several times.

And he must have tried to maintain the Empire and Sephira in his own way.

‘…Yet, he couldn’t prevent their destruction.’

So Arthur made his decision.

If saving others through his efforts ultimately couldn’t prevent their doom,

then he might as well only gain benefits from it.

For Arthur, regression made everything meaningless.

‘So Arthur couldn’t trust anyone unless they were under his control.’

Kraush had always watched Arthur closely.

Indeed, Arthur always spoke boldly as befitting the Hero King,

but his actions revealed a compulsion to lead things himself.

At the time, that compulsion seemed to stem from the expectations of everyone,

but now he knew that wasn’t the case.

‘Because Arthur was a regressor.’

Arthur had become unable to fully trust anyone.

Kraush realized one thing with a furrowed brow.

‘…Did that guy get betrayed by someone?’

Arthur didn’t just repeat one cycle.

Having gone through countless cycles, he might have been betrayed in a way that left a deep mark.

‘Arthur trusted Mary, Abella, and Sigrid, and continued their memories because.’

Perhaps those three were the only ones who fully supported him across the many cycles he went through.

‘Not that I deny the achievements and abilities of those three.’

Honestly, Kraush had many doubts about why Arthur chose to continue the memories of those three to prevent the world’s destruction.

But now, looking back, Kraush could guess Arthur’s intentions.

‘The reason he chose to continue their memories wasn’t just their competence.’

To him, having members who fully supported him was most important.

Even through regression, they provided him with a sense of mental stability because they believed in him.

“Damn it.”

Kraush cursed inadvertently.

Saying so made him realize why he wasn’t chosen for memory continuation.

‘Because I, although I recognized Arthur’s abilities, never really trusted him.’

Even though they worked together with the common goal of preventing the world’s destruction,

Kraush never truly believed in Arthur as a person.

Arthur probably wasn’t unaware of that.

So, Kraush was discarded at that time.

Looking back, that incident was the root cause of Kraush stealing regression from him.

Kraush swallowed a bitter laugh and lifted his head.

Ku-ku-ku-kuung-

Just then, the gates of the demonic realm opened.

It seemed Arthur intended to subdue the world under his feet to prevent its destruction.

But Kraush had no such thoughts.

After all, even Arthur couldn’t prevent destruction.

‘I’ll go my own way.’

Desperately becoming stronger and smashing every cause of destruction to suppress the doom with power.

That was Kraush’s goal.

‘So, this time, I’ll obtain the Heavenly Slaughter Star and absorb world erosion to become even stronger.’

Kraush’s blue eyes shone brightly.

Then, he suddenly looked back at Crimson Garden.

She had been here all along, not leaving his shoulder.

“Crimson, are you okay with going into the demonic realm looking like that?”

Kraush asked in a voice low enough not to be heard by others.

Crimson Garden glanced at Kraush and snorted.

[You know this child is no ordinary child, right?]

Well, he did know that Crimson Garden’s chosen form was anything but ordinary.

She had shown that in her own way several times.

[Don’t worry. At least world erosion can’t affect this child.]

Hearing that made Kraush curious about the crow’s identity.

But now was not the time to ask because Lilish had begun to speak.

“Balheim Knight Order, advance!”

With Lilish’s shout leading the way, all the knights entered the demonic realm.

The moment they stepped into the demonic realm,

Kraush felt the air change all at once.

Breathing in the heavily laden world erosion felt like inhaling smoke, suffocating.

At the same time, his entire body felt heavier, as if chained.

It was a phenomenon that appeared because the space itself was twisted in the demonic realm.

Ssssshhh!

Black raindrops fell, passing through Kraush’s hair and face, and flowed down.

Instead of the previous plains, mountains and black shrubs grew wildly.

Rows of inexplicable grey pillars stood in line.

The purple sky, filled with black clouds, clearly showed it was the demonic realm.

“Everyone, properly protect yourselves with aura.”

Then, Vega, commander of the Blue Sea Knight Order, spoke with a serious face.

The black rain of the demonic realm.

This rain was a type of curse.

If you don’t constantly surround yourself with aura, it penetrates your skin and gets absorbed into your body.

As a result, the black rain drains all the blood from your body through every possible opening and takes its place.

Humans turned into a shell filled with black rain lose their will and wander the demonic realm as another type of Eroder.

In an even more horrific state with their flesh swollen and burst.

Parasitic Rain.

Those who had visited the demonic realm referred to the black rain in that way.

However, Kraush wasn’t surrounding himself with aura amidst that rain.

He let the black rain get absorbed into his body without doing anything.

Whooosh!

Instead, Ignis flared up from within Kraush’s body.

Before the black rain could forcibly expel his blood, it was forcibly burnt by Ignis.

As a result, the burnt black rain dissolved into world erosion power.

What did this mean?

It was simple.

To Kraush, the black rain was a resource that could be melted into world erosion power.

“Huh.”

Kraush let out a light sigh.

Then, without anyone noticing, he wore a chilly smile.

How could he not smile?

‘I suspected as much.’

To others, this place, which brings death if not surrounded by aura, was like hell.

But to him, it was the best place to grow stronger.

‘No wonder Demaris Balheim became the strongest.’

If he hadn’t gone mad with frenzy and destroyed himself, he might have indeed ended the world.

But Kraush had no intention of ending up like that.

The descendants have a guideline called ancestors, so they can avoid making the same mistakes and advance.

‘Ancestor, watch how your descendant handles magic.’

He’ll make Demaris Balheim jealous in the underworld.

[Pathetic.]

Regardless of Crimson Garden’s disdainful look.

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