### Chapter: 294
The Whispers of the Willow
Swoosh—
The willow branches fluttered gracefully.
In the underground space, the scene of the willow scattering in the light was incredibly beautiful and enchanting.
Even Kraush found himself staring blankly at the view.
But aside from that, a sinister presence lurked among the willows.
And this presence was undoubtedly tied to Biolain’s power.
“Biolain.”
As Kraush called her name, she nodded in acknowledgement.
Biolain began to walk towards the willow tree.
She stood before the willow, lifting her hands towards it.
Closing her eyes, she focused as if trying to regain her lost powers.
Soon, Biolain would reclaim her original strength—the power of the Gateway.
As Kraush silently observed, a different thought struck him.
Was there really a need for Biolain to bear the weight of that power?
The barrier mage had sealed away the power within Biolain, intending to prevent the clash of World Erosion powers with world powers.
What Ixion was targeting was likely related to this as well.
While Biolain excelled in barrier techniques, she wasn’t particularly strong in combat.
If she was targeted by Ixion, the odds would surely be stacked against her.
‘In that case...’
Wouldn’t it be better for them to take Biolain’s power for themselves?
“Wait, Biolain...”
Just as Kraush was about to call her name again, something distorted caught his eye.
In an instant, Kraush felt the surge of Annihilation Erosion rise through his body.
Thud—
Before the sound of his feet hitting the ground could echo, Kraush’s form scattered.
“Yikes!”
In a split second, Kraush wrapped his arms around Biolain and twisted his body.
Slash!
A huge oval chakram whizzed by, slicing through a few strands of his hair like a hot knife through butter.
It was a blue chakram containing starlight.
As soon as Kraush saw it, he recognized who had just appeared.
‘Black Bird.’
A dark attribute demon and a key member of Ixion.
“Oh my, did you just take a hit?”
Black Bird, appearing from beyond the distorted space, revealed herself, crafting an almost impossible-to-see space with her movements.
Kriiiing!
Before Kraush could regain his stance, the chakram started spinning in mid-air.
At that moment, a powerful gust from the chakram pulled Kraush harshly towards it.
Caught unprepared, he found himself helpless against the force of the chakram.
‘Not like this!’
But Kraush wasn’t ready to go down that easily.
Clutching Biolain, he pulled out Rain Thunder Prime and hurled it with all his might, not bothering to make it into a blade.
Clang!
The moment the grip of Rain Thunder Prime hit the chakram, it twisted.
This was a testament to Kraush’s pure strength.
Thanks to this, the chakram, now twisted, slammed into the surrounding walls, leaving a trail of destruction.
Whoosh!
At that moment, Aslan’s late fire spell erupted against Black Bird.
Black Bird quickly fashioned a circular chakram to deflect Aslan’s magic and wiped it all away.
But Aslan wasn’t just any slouch when it came to magic.
The dispersing flames soon transformed into electrical currents, exploding towards Black Bird.
Caught off guard by the sudden change in magic, Black Bird twisted the chakram.
As a result, the incoming lightning magic ricocheted wildly, demolishing the walls around them.
Kaboom!
Through the billowing smoke, Black Bird grimaced.
The technique of activating magic and then reactivating it again was a high-level skill not easily executed by your average magician.
“Just an insignificant human?”
Thanks to her quick judgment, she had escaped harm, but anger brewed within her for almost being caught off-guard by a human.
Her pride as a dark attribute demon wouldn’t allow her to accept being outdone by a human.
With a sharp turn of her head, she extended her hand.
She intended to retrieve the chakram she had thrown at Kraush and kill the mage who had interrupted her.
But it didn’t take long for her to realize that was a mistake.
Swish!
Amidst the smoke that had thickened around them, Kraush, with Rain Thunder Prime honed to an extreme, was closing in on her with Excel activated.
He had just hurled his sword a moment ago.
With some trickery, he had retrieved his weapon and, in that split second, his eyes burned with a fierce red light, alarming Black Bird.
His sword glowed a deep red, burning intensely.
The overwhelming bloodlust of a dragon surged forth, fueled by the power of World Erosion.
At that moment, the essence of Kraush’s World Erosion converted into a bright aura.
Flash—
As the white sword engulfed in dazzling light was perfected, Kraush swung it with no hesitation toward Black Bird.
Annihilation Erosion
Four Styles
Absolute Death Slice!
As the Absolute Death Slice extended towards Black Bird, she too launched her chakram.
She showed her irritation even to a fellow member of Ixion.
Kraush didn’t see Black Bird as a significant threat, but he didn’t consider her to be a harmless foe either.
There would be no cooperation with Black Bird.
The Hell Fairy appeared to understand this fact well enough as she quietly chided Black Bird.
“There’s no need to share information.”
“That’s my decision to make. Next time you cut me off, I’ll shove Muhee down your gut, understood? Don’t interrupt me.”
The Hell Fairy offered no reply.
However, Kraush could read her thoughts somewhat.
‘What a nasty piece of work.’
What caught Kraush’s attention, though, was Black Bird’s earlier words.
“Even so...”
Clearly, that was referring to the barrier mage.
Which meant that the barrier mage had cooperated with Ixion.
‘What a mess.’
Kraush decisively deemed the barrier mage to have been caught.
It was unfortunate for her, but now wasn’t the time to worry about her.
Right now, he had his hands full.
“I’m going to kill those two first.”
Black Bird’s chakram began to spin once more.
Kraush couldn’t help but chuckle softly as he watched.
Seeing Kraush break into a smile turned Black Bird’s gaze uneasy.
What could possibly be so funny?
“Those two, huh? Why mention just two?”
Kraush mocked, smirking.
Black Bird glanced at Kraush with a look that suggested she was trying to comprehend what he meant.
Behind Kraush stood Aslan, quietly gathering magic, and Biolain, standing closely behind him.
At that moment, the Hell Fairy paused.
“...They’re in trouble.”
Black Bird soon realized what the Hell Fairy meant.
A sudden burst of wind scattered the images of Aslan and Biolain.
That was an afterimage spell.
Not just any afterimage, but one blended with Biolain’s barrier spells, designed to keep even those skilled in magic like the Hell Fairy from perceiving it.
This was a plan devised collaboratively by Kraush, Aslan, and Biolain from the very start.
The two World Erosion creatures had just walked right into it.
“Are you trying to sacrifice yourselves for this?”
Black Bird, now separated from her allies, reacted with sheer disbelief.
“Oh, so you didn’t realize you were being targeted either.”
As the malice shimmered in her eyes, Black Bird’s anger peaked.
“I’ll make you regret that choice!”
Black Bird’s two chakrams launched fiercely toward Kraush again.
The power contained within the Muhee was so intense it could obliterate everything in its path.
Given the nature of those chakrams, they couldn’t be deflected head-on.
Kraush felt the impending threat as they closed in on him from both sides.
At the same time, the Hell Fairy attempted to teleport and rush past Kraush.
Her goal was to leave Kraush to Black Bird while she secured Biolain.
Crack!
But that plan didn’t quite play out as expected.
At the moment her hair fluttered and obscured her vision, she lost track of Kraush.
“Wait.”
As the poor Black Bird missed, just off to the side the sound of an impact resonated.
Clang!
“Gah!”
It was the Hell Fairy, who had activated her teleport spell, but instead collided with Kraush’s missed strike.
Fortunately, the shield spell she had cast beforehand absorbed the blow, but failing to withstand it completely sent her crashing against the wall.
Black Bird’s face turned pale, entirely failing to read Kraush’s movements.
While she was confused, a white-hot steam began to billow from Kraush’s mouth.
He lazily turned to face Black Bird.
To her eyes, Kraush’s appearance was unlike anything seen before.
With sharp teeth and white scales shimmering through disheveled hair, tiny horns peeked through.
This transformation was miles away from being human.
“...Dragon Royalty?”
Kraush’s encounters with the armed princess had informed him of the power he had begun to wield.
But this was no longer just the power of the White Dragon; this was the embodiment of the dragon itself.
Black Bird stared at Kraush’s shocking form with wide eyes.
To go from being human to becoming a dragon royalty—it was no wonder she was struck dumb.
Demon Dragon of Annihilation!
Transformed into Dragon Royalty, Kraush unleashed his true technique.
A vicious grin spread across his face as he spoke.
“Don’t you talk nonsense.”
Kraush had aimed for Biolain’s safety when letting her escape, but there were other important reasons too.
“I’m simply...”
Simply because he wielded this power himself, it meant he was too strong.
With both of them present, he might just drag them down, preventing him from utilizing his full potential.
“I’m here to take down both of you!”
Now was the time to show them who the real trapped one was.