Kraush Valheim.
A figure surrounded by nurous rumors even before coming to Rahern Academy.
From claims that he was the new star born in Valheim, to whispers that such stories were all exaggerated.
Rumors of all kinds had spread.
However, after his arrival at Rahern Academy, the truth of those rumors was revealed.
From the academy’s entrance ceremony to the present day, the tales he had written were enough to shock everyone.
Perhaps because of this, Rahern Academy had gradually started to revolve around Kraush.
His presence was so overwhelming that it overshadowed even the first-generation students who had already established themselves within the academy.
And now.
Rona Imblaze, a magical artifact maker and servant of the Black Witch,
was realizing the weight of those rumors.
In the quiet room.
Shrouded by curtains that allowed only faint sunlight to seep through.
Rona felt a chill as she looked at Kraush, who sat shadowed on the bed where the light barely touched.
It was strange.
Even though he was right in front of her, his presence felt unnaturally faint.
It was as if she were staring at a tree in a forest.
If she passed by now, it felt as though she might not even rember him again.
Gulp—
And that faintness only intensified Rona’s fear.
Dangerous.
The Kraush before her now was undoubtedly dangerous.
“Rona Imblaze.”
At that mont, Kraush’s voice broke the silence.
Just hearing it almost made Rona collapse on the spot.
“Do you rember how you beca a servant of the Black Witch?”
An unexpected question followed.
“What are you talking about…?”
Rona tried to respond, but.
Her lips quivered, and no answer ca.
Not because she didn’t want to reply.
The mont Kraush asked, Rona’s mind involuntarily recalled the day she beca the Black Witch’s servant.
But sothing felt off.
It was as if a part of her mind had been erased.
Her mories wouldn’t surface properly.
A look of confusion spread across her face.
She couldn’t recall the day she beca the Black Witch’s servant.
“W-what…”
A bewildered voice escaped her lips.
It was a completely unexpected situation.
“Looks like you can’t rember.”
The realization struck her—she couldn’t recall how she had beco a servant.
At that mont.
[ Get out. ]
The Black Witch’s voice pierced through her mind, sharp and commanding.
Instantly, the Jebilairon shattered and scattered around her.
The fragnts, flying wildly, engulfed the room in chaos and even surged toward Kraush.
Crash! Boom! Bang!
Rona destroyed Kraush’s room, reducing it to rubble as she broke through the walls and dashed outside.
But just as she instinctively tried to flee without looking back.
“You think I’ll let you run after causing this ss?”
The voice startled her.
What shocked her more was that the voice ca from in front of her.
She had just escaped Kraush’s room, how could his voice be coming from ahead of her?
Before she even had ti to process her confusion, Kraush appeared in her line of sight.
His hair swayed slightly as he moved, clearly having run the sa as her.
Accel.
Using his fastest skill, Kraush had instantly caught up to her.
At the sa ti, a weapon appeared in Kraush’s hand—Thunderstorm.
The fla emanating from Thunderstorm was unlike anything she had seen before.
It wasn’t the black flas Kraush had always wielded.
Instead, a pristine white fire burned intensely.
This fla was entirely different from anything up to now.
White Fla (白炎)
It wasn’t the power of World Erosion, which Kraush had always burned with Ignis.
Instead, it was the aura of the world itself—a force beyond comparison.
This aura, the power of the world itself, sent chills down Rona’s spine.
Aura was the force of the world’s very will.
Naturally, it carried the inherent drive to protect the world, making it inherently repulsive to those like her who wielded World Erosion.
The strongest power to resist a World Eroder.
It was this Aura.
And the White Fla, born from such an Aura, burned fiercely.
With this fla enveloping him, Kraush tightened his grip on Thunderstorm.
Blaze!
Rona’s hair bristled like needles, and in that mont, her vision was entirely consud by the White Fla.
Whoosh!
As the White Fla roared, Jebilairon was torn apart by the blade of Thunderstorm.
Jebilairon was a magical artifact forged with the power of World Erosion as its foundation.
Thus, it was exceptionally vulnerable to the White Fla.
Furthermore, Ignis was the power of purification.
“Kyahhh!”
For Rona, a World Eroder’s servant, it was devastating.
It hurt.
It burned.
Why am I even doing this?
As the White Fla burned fiercely across her chest, Rona thought to herself.
That day had started like any other, with her crafting magical artifacts.
To her, magical artifacts were her entire life.
However, after an accident, her creations were dismissed as incomplete, flawed weapons.
Rona couldn’t accept that.
It drove her to dive even deeper into her research.
She wanted to create more perfect artifacts.
Artifacts she could proudly show off to others.
Her efforts hadn’t been in vain.
In truth, Rona’s artifacts had consistently improved in performance.
Their destructive power increased, and their safety asures beca more reliable.
But those were things that could only be proven when soone used them.
Originally a bit of an eccentric and socially awkward, Rona’s magical artifacts had no one willing to use them.
That’s when it began.
A small crack ford in her heart.
A seed of resentnt toward the world that refused to acknowledge her artifacts started to grow.
And then, that day ca.
A black frog appeared before her.
The frog, inexplicably unnerving, looked at Rona and suddenly spoke.
[ I’ll make sure your magical artifacts get the recognition they deserve. ]
The mont those words were spoken, the frog leapt into Rona’s embrace.
Before she could react, the situation unfolded.
When she opened her eyes, she felt as if all the fear and hesitation that had been in her heart had vanished completely.
She felt an inexplicable sense of liberation and euphoria.
A confidence surged within her, making her feel as though she could do anything.
[ Rona Imblaze. ]
With that final call, an unwavering loyalty was etched into her heart.
A futile and profound loyalty to the Black Witch.
Amid the flas of the White Fla, Rona’s eyes snapped open.
At the sa ti, a look of confusion appeared in her eyes.
She had never wanted to beco the Black Witch’s servant.
It was true that she had resented the world for not recognizing her magical artifacts.
She couldn’t forgive a world that didn’t acknowledge her creations.
But that wasn’t enough for her to deny the entire world.
It was nothing more than the kind of frustration anyone might feel after tripping while running.
Now that the mories, once wiped clean, resurfaced, Rona panicked.
What had she been so devoted to the Black Witch for?
The power the Black Witch had given her was certainly incredible, but why would soone who lived for creating magical artifacts go so far as to burn down the world itself?
“So, you’ve rembered.”
Kraush and Rona locked eyes once more.
The light of life had returned to Rona’s gaze.
The Black Witch had the ability to turn soone into her servant without their consent.
This didn’t apply only to Mirei, Rona was subject to the exact sa fate.
However, at the mont Rona was struck by Kraush’s White Fla, part of the Black Witch’s curse was undone.
The White Fla possessed the power to erase anything created by World Erosion.
Brainwashing.
The Black Witch would exploit even the smallest crack in soone’s heart, forcing her way in and taking control.
Kraush recalled countless people who had fallen victim to the Black Witch’s unique ability.
Even among the Skyborne Generation, there were those who had succumbed to her brainwashing. Her spells were extraordinarily insidious.
But with Ignis and Aura, Kraush could undo the Black Witch’s brainwashing at will.
“What… what have I done…”
Rona’s face filled with shock and dismay.
To her, the atrocities she had committed felt far graver than the pain of her body burning with the White Fla.
She had committed countless irreversible acts.
“What do I do now…”
[ What a pity. ]
Just as Rona murmured her distress, the Black Witch’s voice once again rang through her mind, like a sudden lightning strike.
[ Still, I gathered quite a bit of information. ]
With those words, the magical artifact hanging around Rona’s neck began to emit a brilliant light.
The radiance, spreading rapidly, was so intense it seed to devour all the light in the vicinity.
“Ah.”
Within the dazzling light, Rona’s hair billowed as she stared at the artifact.
She realized the true nature of the artifact she had created under the influence of brainwashing.
Self-Destruction.
[ You’ve done well. ]
With the Black Witch’s final words, Rona slowly closed her eyes, engulfed in the overwhelming light.
This is the end.
Or so she thought.
Crack!
Just as the light erupted, almost simultaneously, Kraush tore the artifact apart with his bare hands.
Before tears could even form in her eyes, Kraush’s foot slamd into the ground, his body engulfed in black flas.
Instead of Aura, the explosive power of World Erosion’s black fla flared brilliantly.
Additionally, his body gained a newfound acceleration that hadn’t been present before.
His movents felt as light as a feather.
Yet, the strength contained in each step he took was on an entirely different level than before.
It was the power of Accel.
The sound trailed far behind him, struggling to catch up.
Leaving a blazing trail of black flas in his wake, Kraush imdiately launched himself into the sky.
The light radiating from the magical artifact in his grasp grew even stronger.
As the artifact burst with brilliance, Kraush’s left arm swelled grotesquely.
When the concentrated power of Annihilation Erosion in his arm reached its peak, Kraush hurled the artifact skyward with all his might, his muscles straining to their limits, as though they might tear apart.
The artifact, now imbued with light, tore through dozens of clouds and ascended high into the sky.
As it rose endlessly, the artifact eventually reached the very edge of the heavens.
There, its light reached its limit.
Flash!
A silent burst of light erupted above the clouds, obliterating them entirely and unleashing a radiance even brighter than the midday sun.
KABOOOOOOM!
The sound, delayed by the sheer distance, finally caught up.
A storm of noise swept through Rahern Academy, shaking its trees and buildings violently.
While everyone gaped at the sky, mouths agape in awe at the unprecedented explosion, Kraush landed safely on the ground, exhaling a long stream of smoke.
Unlike before, he now efficiently cooled his body using Frost Fang, quickly dissipating the heat within.
As he turned his head, he saw Rona, collapsed on the ground.
She was the very person who had resigned herself to death, thinking she would be destroyed by her artifact’s explosion.
Rona had no strength left in her body.
“Are you going to keep fighting?”
Kraush asked, sheathing Thunderstorm at his waist.
Of course, Rona slowly shook her head.
“What… what will happen to ?”
She mumbled blankly, the Black Witch’s brainwashing fully lifted thanks to the White Fla.
Kraush lit the White Fla in his hand as he watched her.
As he stepped closer, Rona slowly looked up at him.
Was he going to kill her?
As she stared at the White Fla in his hand with unfocused eyes, Kraush spoke.
“Open your mouth.”
“W-what?”
What was that supposed to an?
Still frozen by the fear of death, she blinked in confusion at his sudden command.
Kraush gathered the White Fla at his fingertip and gestured lightly.
“I’m going to erase the mark of a World Eroder’s servant. So, open your mouth.”
Rona’s eyes widened.
She had no idea such a thing was even possible.
“And what do you an, ‘what will happen to you’?”
Kraush pushed the White Fla into her open mouth as he continued.
“In this world, just bla everything on the World Eroders. That’ll take care of most things.”
“B-but Mirei…”
Rona stamred, bringing up Cardinal Mirei Beakis.
As soone brainwashed by the Black Witch, Mirei was utterly unacceptable from Freen’s perspective.
Hearing her na, Kraush let out a short laugh.
“That’s nothing to worry about either.”
After all, Rahern Academy had soone from the highest ranks of Freen.
“Astria can handle that. It’s ti for the Saintess to earn her keep.”
Translators note:
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