### Chapter: 278
Real name: Bioloren Jeblam.
At 16 years old, she is part of Rahern Academy and the top student in the special class.
Originally, she entered as a hulking male figure, but through Kraush, she was able to live as her true self.
Her life, no matter how well-packaged, couldn’t be described as good.
When she was about 4 years old, her mother, the Barrier Mage, left.
When she left, she didn’t leave a word behind.
Instead, she left only a book on barrier techniques that she had written as an essay.
Bioloren read that book every day, enough to memorize it all.
Looking back, that might have been her bittersweet longing.
At least until she turned 4, her mother had lived with her.
Bioloren didn’t know much about the reasons her mother had left.
Maybe it was her mature personality, but she thought, for the first few years, that her mother would return on her own.
But her mother did not come back, and eventually, Bioloren had to seek answers herself.
She thought maybe her father would know.
Once a week, the Demonic Prime consistently visited Bioloren, spoke with her, and checked her progress in barrier magic.
She asked her father about her mother, but he didn’t provide any significant answers.
He simply asked questions as before, checked her barrier magic, and then left.
When she turned 10, her father no longer came to visit.
Bioloren was left all alone.
Though she lived a life without any lack, being the child of the Demonic Prime,
she had never stepped outside the Jeblam Royal Palace in her entire life.
Moreover, most of those who supported her life were golems made from magic.
“Bioloren, it’s time for your meal.”
“Is that all you can say?”
“I cannot respond to unentered inquiries. I am household golem M-28. Repeating entered actions.”
The golem merely repeated the programmed answers.
They never provided the responses she truly wanted.
“Ugh!”
As time went on, the power of World Erosion began to gnaw at her.
She sought out the Demonic Prime, but he didn’t show much interest in her.
“I see. Could this really be how things turned out?”
Sometimes, indifference is more painful than oppression.
Like he was examining a test subject after trying out everything he wanted to,
he tossed a few suggestions for experiments but did not reveal a solution for the World Erosion that was eating away at Bioloren.
Instead, it felt as if her very existence were merely a result of his experiments.
He would only observe Bioloren.
Her personality began to grow a bit odd over time.
She became sharper about trivial things, and suspicion started to fester.
Imagining World Erosion consuming and killing her became commonplace.
Thus, she had to pour herself into research on barriers.
The barrier book her mother had left behind was her only consolation.
One day, she discovered a group of wizards visiting the palace.
They were regular visiting wizards who came to see her father, the Demonic Prime.
Using her innate barrier skills, Bioloren concealed her presence and followed them.
“Did you hear? The Demonic Prime has a child.”
“Is this about the paper he published last time? So boring.”
“No, no! It’s true! The Demonic Prime has a child!”
Hearing the word “child,” Bioloren paused.
If talking about the Demonic Prime‘s child, it could only be her.
She silently held her breath and listened closely.
“I heard he kidnapped a World Erosion creature and had a child with it.”
“Could he? ...Well, considering it’s the Demonic Prime, that’s possible.”
“I’m serious! You’ve seen the papers! That result could never come without an experiment!”
Kidnapping?
Bioloren felt her eyes widen.
It was an idea she had never heard of or thought about.
“Do you know what the Demonic Prime is trying to do?”
“Hey, if you blab about this, you’ll die.”
“There’s no one else here. Anyway, he kidnapped a World Erosion creature to use as research material for creating a magical race. The child is just one of the results from that process.”
Even as just a child,
Bioloren had finished her genius education through the teaching golems.
Being the Demonic Prime’s daughter naturally meant she had accelerated brain development compared to usual kids.
And that knowledge was now being utilized as a curse against her.
Bioloren understood every bit of their conversation.
If she were just a bit dim, she wouldn’t have grasped the stories they shared.
Bioloren’s body began to tremble slowly.
“Then, the reason for my birth is...”
Now, the cold attitude her father had shown her began to make sense.
The Demonic Prime truly treated her like a lab rat.
“And her mother was the vessel to give birth to such a test subject.”
Bioloren began to lose the faint image of her mother.
Perhaps that’s why her memories began to warp under the influence of her unstable emotions.
In her memories, her mother had always looked at her with sadness, indifferent and uncaring.
The sky felt like it was turning black.
A swamp wrapped around Bioloren’s legs, slowly pulling her down.
Bioloren couldn’t tell what was real.
But, somehow, it comforted her to think this way.
Otherwise, her mother would have abandoned her.
Tears streamed down Bioloren’s cheeks.
Maybe she had known this all along.
She just denied it, trying to ignore the reality.
She was no more than a forgotten test subject.
But one day, when Kraush told her this as she created barriers to avoid the eyes of World Erosion beings:
“Bioloren, if you want to find your mother, come see me after completing the barrier. I’ll give you clues.”
Kraush had seen her face the day he discovered the Barrier Mage’s corpse.
The emptiness and despair.
Since that day, Bioloren had completely cut off conversation with others.
So Kraush assigned her a new purpose beyond survival—the purpose of becoming a barrier mage.
This vague thought that had lingered inside Bioloren.
Although her mother would never return, she desired to search for her.
Kraush had touched that thought, pulling it out into the open.
That was a rather keen move on his part.
Even if she survived World Erosion, she had no purpose in her life; by granting her another reason to live, she aimed to stay alive.
Bioloren understood this.
So even after completing the barriers, she did not go straight to find Kraush.
Now that a reason for living had been created,
if she rushed to finish it, she would just lose that purpose all over again.
So until today, she lived with a new goal tucked away in her heart.
“That’s all I have to say about my life.”
Bioloren concluded her explanation of her life.
Though it wasn’t something she was eager to voice,
her expression was incredibly serene.
That face undeniably belonged to someone who had long since become accustomed to her situation.
Bioloren glanced at Kraush, who was quietly watching her, and let out a faint chuckle.
“You know, you’ve always seemed kind of weak to these kinds of stories.”
Bioloren had hung around with Kraush quite a bit.
Perhaps that’s why, she could see through how he had a weak spot for these things.
“Don’t worry. Thanks to you, I’m leading quite a peaceful life now, after all. I don’t even have to use this body made of barriers anymore.”
Since the day Kraush gave her a hint about barriers,
she could do without the barrier body she had created for her protection.
Taking that into consideration, it had been a life-changing help for Bioloren.
“Do you know how big it is not to worry about how to survive tomorrow?”
As she said that, Bioloren wiggled her fingers.
“So, Kraush, I sincerely thank you.”
Not being used to expressing gratitude, she awkwardly smiled.
“And speaking of Ixion, I don’t know what that group of World Erosion creatures is planning against me, but they have you in their sights, too.”
Since Bioloren had asked Kraush to create a barrier to dodge the eyes of the World Erosion creatures, she had known he was being pursued.
When Kraush had been kidnapped by the World Erosion at the Giant’s Forest.
While the Empire made a fuss about Kraush throwing himself to save the 4th princess,
it was evident to Bioloren that Kraush was the target.
“Prioritize yourself. Don’t be swayed by me. Don’t tie yourself down with your mother’s request. That person has already abandoned me.”
In a situation where one wouldn’t know who was saving whom, Bioloren said.
“This world needs you more than me.”
As if her value in life had expired a long time ago; she smiled as if it wouldn’t matter if she died at any time.
Kraush realized something upon seeing this.
Why, on that fatal day before his reincarnation, she had thrown herself in front of the most dangerous being and cast her final barrier magic.
“Damnit. Whether I’m a World Erosion or something else, no matter how much you point fingers, you and your lot will live your lives forever indebted to me, thanks to someone like me who’s half-human and half-World Erosion.”
In some ways, it was similar to Kraush.
Amid a life that felt meaningless and wasted,
like he had been burdened with a curse that let him steal other people’s curses through the Black Hood, Kraush contributed to the world.
Bioloren, after surviving, found that her life, which had lost its worth as a test subject, could serve to protect the Sky Generation through barriers.
‘Look at us, birds of a feather.’
Before he knew it, Kraush had placed his hand on Bioloren‘s head.
It seemed Bioloren flickered in surprise at the possibility of her hair being grabbed.
Kraush was gently patting her head.
Was he seriously smiling now?
Sadly, it didn’t appear that way to Kraush‘s eyes.
That smile was nothing but a conditioned reflex, far from anything happy.
“Hey, Bioloren.”
“Uh-huh?”
Bioloren, who had never expected Kraush to pet her head, looked dazed.
Kraush continued speaking to her.
“Do you know what feels the most satisfying in my life?”
“...What is it?”
Kraush grinned broadly.
“When I land a proper hit.”
“What do you mean by ‘feeding’ someone?”
Kraush immediately turned and dashed out of the building.
It was a sudden burst of action.
“Wait, Kraush!”
Flustered, Bioloren hurried after him.
Soon, Bioloren caught sight of Kraush’s back as he paused in the middle of town, taking a deep breath.
The moment she was even more puzzled about what he was about to do,
Kraush yelled out with all his might:
“Terasius Jeblam!”
Bioloren’s eyes widened in shock.
He blurted out a name without any chance to stop him.
Far in the distance, the Demonic Prime, who had been looking at the sky, turned to look this way.
Bioloren hadn’t expected Kraush to directly mention his name.
When confusion filled his gaze, Kraush pulled out a thunderous weapon.
“Let’s have a match, you bastard.”
He boldly issued a challenge towards the Heaven’s Sword.