CH 25

Chapter 25. A Real Concern (1)

Translator: Aura

At Krasue’s coherent words, the knight quickly responded with an embarrassed expression,

“Yes. That, that’s right.”

Krasue was thirteen years old, so he didn’t meet the minimum age to participate in this kind of mission.

It didn’t make sense that Krasue, who rather needed protection, had experienced the erosion of the world before.

At that moment, a colleague tapped the knight on the arm.

The intermediate level knight order practically occupied the lowest end of Valheim.

This was a confrontation between direct descendants, so if they were to interfere, their heads would most likely be lopped off.

“Ha, Hahaha! I was just joking!”

Grinning, the knight hurried away from Krasue.

Meanwhile, Velokin was staring at Krasue with a frown. He couldn’t understand the current situation.

‘How on earth can he be relaxed?’

Krasue now looked quite different from him when he first entered the erosion of the world.

Velokin was sure he would panic and make a series of mistakes. However, it was not so. Krasue even advised the knights.

‘What the hell happened to Krasue’s good-for-nothing…?’

Krasue was so different from how he used to be that for some reason it made him uncomfortable.

Just then, Krasue’s and Velokin’s eyes met.

Krasue laughed, without looking away.

It was as if he had said, ‘did you think I would be like you?’

Velokin clenched his teeth and turned his head forward.

He couldn’t look Krasue in the eye.

He had believed that Krasue would live with a good-for-nothing under him for the rest of his life.

But he changed overnight.

A series of questions rose from the depths of Velokin’s mind.

‘Maybe. Just maybe. If Krasue were to grow up like Charlotte and eventually rise to the top… the direct descendant at the bottom would be me…? Wouldn’t I become the most mediocre direct descendant of Valheim?’

Velokin’s teeth gnashed at the incessant questions that came to his mind.

‘No, no, no!’

Velokin continued to make his way through the swamp. His anxiety was evident in his movements.

He was already mentally disturbed by jealousy that Charlotte was better than him.

Ironically, the only support for Velokin’s mind and soul was none other than Krasue.

His younger brother was below him.

And the deeper he sank, the more Velokin’s mind pacified.

However, he had started to rise suddenly.

It was as if he had broken the shackles that bound him and began to climb at an accelerated pace.

Velokin had wanted to make sure here that Krasue would always be below him. But he encountered a reality that made it harder and harder for him to breathe.

If Krasue rose above him, there would be no other direct descendants below him.

Velokin’s mind was in a mess. He was tormented by the thought of ‘what if…’.

“Brother, brother Velokin.”

“Huh, what?”

Velokin looked up, startled by the voice that snapped him out of his thoughts.

Krasue pointed ahead as he looked at the stunned Velokin.

“Looks like we’ve almost reached where the boss is.”

Hearing that, Velokin finally woke up.

He immediately noticed that the swamp had turned much darker and the atmosphere more dangerous, so the boss was definitely nearby. Just as Krasue had said.

“Whoa, it was easier than I thought. It seems you’re in luck, Krasue. My first time was harder.”

Velokin teased as he did his best to suppress the uncomfortable thoughts.

Krasue’s first experience with the erosion of the world didn’t seem like much to him. In fact, the knights also thought the same.

“Aside from the boss, there doesn’t seem to be any other powerful erosion creatures.”

The knights expressed their relief.

Due to the characteristics of the swamp, it was difficult to fight in it.

At most there were insects, so they were pleased that they had made it this far without any major battle.

“That means we have to be more careful.”

However, Krasue sharply warned the knights and Velokin.

As soon as Velokin frowned and the knights looked back in bewilderment, Krasue said as if it were obvious,

“The boss must be dangerous enough for this mission to have been rated three stars without any other powerful erosion creatures.”

The moment they heard this, everyone stiffened.

As he had said, the boss they would have to deal with now was an erosion creature that caused this erosion of the world all by itself.

Certainly care had to be taken, for which everyone became alert.

Even so, Velokin expressed his displeasure as he felt that Krasue had contradicted him,

“Don’t tell me that you are cowards. At most it is an erosion of the three star world. Why do you allow yourselves to be influenced so much by the words of a child?”

Although he had been the one who was influenced the most, Velokin lashed out at the knights.

He then increased the pace with which he advanced inward with his hand on the sword at his waist.

The knights, who were ahead of him, were forced to follow in haste.

Velokin was the center of this mission.

As Krasue followed the footsteps of the knights and Velokin, a smell worse than the swamp itself entered his nostrils.

This smell, which penetrated to the depths of his soul, was that of a terrible curse.

‘I kind of expected it.’

After all, this boss seemed to be quite powerful.

‘Whoever is cursed with it will suffer greatly.’

Or that person will die before the curse can take hold.

But Krasue didn’t care so much since he had already warned of the danger.

The Valheim Family was not just any family. The direct descendants, as well as the indentured knights, were exceptional individuals.

In Krasue’s judgment, they could deal with it without too much trouble as long as they didn’t let their guard down.

Therefore, he turned his attention to another matter.

What he focused on was none other than the very power of the erosion of the world.

The source behind this phenomenon.

It may not be visible to ordinary human eyes, but it was clearly visible to Krasue. His body had been riddled with curses in his past life, added to the fact that he had learned ‘Extreme Blood Poisoning’.

It was as if he were inside a place filled with a thick grayish smoke.

It seemed that the power of the erosion of the world would flow into Krasue at any moment with a simple inhalation through the nose or mouth.

‘Will it work?’

Thanks to ‘Extreme Blood Poisoning’, Krasue now knew how to absorb and handle this power.

However, the theory was not the same as the practice.

Even Krasue was nervous.

‘No, I have to do this.’

Krasue clenched his fists as the events that would happen in the near future flashed through his mind.

If he couldn’t prevent the destruction, there would be no tomorrow.