Chapter 181: Dark Meeting
In the pitch-ck space.
One by one, the invited individuals were stepping into the space.
Dressed in various outfits, they walked with a leisurely gait, as if attending a party.
“Oh, well now, we’ve got quite the rare guest.”
At that moment, a short stocky man with a long beard weed someone with a heartyugh.
Standing there was a tall, slender woman wearing a mask that only revealed one eye.
“Hell Fairy, what brings you to this meeting? It’s been a while since we’ve seen you.”
The short, stocky man addressed the woman with a grin. She was none other than the Hell Fairy.
Despite his attention, she did not show much of a reaction. “I heard that the Mad Sword Emperor was defeated.”
Instead, she revealed the reason for her participation in this meeting.
Ixion, the World Eroder Collective.
This was a space created by the ck Witch, serving as the venue for Ixion’s regr meetings.
“Haha, so I heard. That Mad Sword Emperor, always singing songs of strength, supreme power, and invincibility, finally met his end. I thought he was the type to run for his life and cling to it stubbornly, but I guess not.”
The short stocky man said this with a boisterousugh.
His nickname was Master Craftsman.
He was a dwarf who wielded a hammer capable of creating anything.
“That guy used to beg me to make him a sword. It’s strange—I actually feel a bit sorry now that I didn’t make one for him.”
He lightly tossed and caught the hammer in his hand. His movements with the hammer were practiced and confident.
“It’s strange that he was defeated even with the ck Witch present.”
“Even the ck Witch can make mistakes, can’t she? Most likely, that Light Emperor idiot got carried away and ended up paying the price for it.”
The Hell Fairy expressed her doubts, but he brushed them off lightly as if it wasn’t worth worrying about.
Unlike the Hell Fairy, he didn’t seem to find the Mad Sword Emperor’s death suspicious at all.
Meanwhile, guests continued to arrive in the space.
Some quietly took seats in the corners without greeting anyone, while others exchanged pleasantries, suggesting familiarity with one another.
“Yaaaawn.”
On the other hand, one man sat cross-legged on the floor and let out a massive yawn.
He had a beast-like, enormous physique, oversized ears that didn’t seem human, and white fur covering his entire body, exuding an intense aura.
No one dared approach the man, as if his presence alone created an invisible barrier.
“Well, well, even the Beast King is here.”
The Master Craftsman let out a surprised exmation as he spotted the man.
It seemed that today was a gathering of individuals rarely seen together.
Surely, they too must have been intrigued by the news of the Mad Sword Emperor’s demise, just like the Hell Fairy.
Whether it was the ck Witch’s mistake or the Mad Sword Emperor’s self-destruction, these two possibilities had to be rified.
<i>Click-ck—</i>
At that moment, the sound of high heels echoed from deeper within the space.
As all eyes focused on one spot, a strange presence entered their view.
The unsettling figure, who seemed to twist one’s very insides just by looking at her, had long, ck hair that almost entirely obscured her face.
Underneath that hair, her ck dress and wide, flowing skirt defined her symbolic appearance.
The ck Witch.
As her title suggested, she exuded the aura of a witch more than anyone else.
Her arrival signified the official start of the meeting.
“ck Witch.”
The first to speak was the man known as the Beast King.
“Did the Mad Sword Emperor die because of your mistake?”
Still seated on the floor, the Beast King directly addressed the reason for his attendance.
His question reflected the curiosity shared by everyone present.
The death of a World Eroder.
In these times, it wasn’t unheard of, but Ixion was a group personally assembled by the ck Witch.
If the Mad Sword Emperor’s opponent had been one of the Four Above the Heavens, it would have been understandable, but it was merely one of the Ten Greatest Under the Heavens.
With the ck Witch’s support, escaping wouldn’t have been an impossible feat.
As the Beast King posed his question, the ck Witch remained silent for a moment.
Then, after a brief pause, her dark lips parted slowly.
“Ignis, thought to have been lost, has been found.”
“Ignis?”
Her next words changed the atmosphere of the meeting in an instant.
Ignis.
A skill that allows the extraction of the purest form of World Erosion, essential for creating the God of World Erosion.
It was indispensable to the shared goal of the World Eroders gathered in Ixion.
Perhaps because they understood this significance, everyone’s expressions stiffened at once.
“Who has it? Last time, it was that Valheim guy, wasn’t it?”
Velokin Valheim.
At the time, it was widely known that the third son of the Valheim family possessed Ignis.
However, he had perished due to World Erosion.
Now, a new possessor of Ignis had emerged.
“Kraush Valheim, the youngest of the Valheim family.”
The ck Witch’s response came without hesitation.
The mention of the Valheim name once again caused the World Eroders to show displeased expressions.
It was understandable, as Valheim was a den of demons that even World Eroders couldn’t interfere with recklessly.
“So what you’re saying is, the reason you couldn’t save the Mad Sword Emperor was because you were too fixated on Ignis?”
When the Beast King made this pointed remark, the ck Witch had no immediate reply.
As he implied, the failure to save the Mad Sword Emperor was because the ck Witch momentarily lost her focus.
Ignis was essential not only to Ixion but also to her personally.
As the Beast King’s gaze grew sharper while observing the ck Witch’s silence.
<i>p, p!</i>
Someone suddenly broke the tension with the sound of apuse.
At the center of the gathering’s attention stood an old gentleman, pressing down a fedora over his head, smiling warmly.
“Let’s not push the ck Witch too hard, shall we? As unfortunate as the Mad Sword Emperor’s death may be, we’ve rediscovered Ignis, haven’t we? That alone is a significant gain.”
The gentleman’s words lightened the atmosphere.
“ck Witch, if you’ve gathered information about this Kraush Valheim who holds Ignis, would you mind sharing it with us?”
Naturally transitioning to the next topic, the old gentleman’s question prompted the ck Witch to nod slowly.
As requested, she began to meticulously convey what she had learned about Kraush Valheim to the World Eroders.
As her story unfolded, the Eroders disyed various reactions, with some showing recognition of the name.
After all, Kraush was a figure who had recently be a hot topic, discussed almost daily.
However, as they processed the details shared by the ck Witch, the realization dawned anew.
“Has a new star fallen upon Valheim?”
The Beast King’s question captured the sentiment perfectly.
Kraush’s feats were beyond extraordinary for his age.
Even reviewing his aplishments so far, it was clear to everyone.
It was only a matter of time before Kraush Valheim would be an unparalleled threat.
This also meant that Kraush would be a major obstacle to Ixion’s goal of obtaining Ignis.
“We need to deal with him and bring him in right now.”
The Beast King stroked his white-bearded chin thoughtfully.
“Are we monitoring him as we speak?”
At his next question, the ck Witch shook her head.
Seeing her reaction, the Beast King tilted his head.
“You mean you can’t keep an eye on him yourself?”
“It seems he’s using some kind of barrier.”
“Well, that means he knows about us and has taken precautions, doesn’t it?”
The Beast King’s exasperation was evident.
This unmistakably implied that Kraush was aware of their existence.
“What’s with this kid? He feels like no ordinary opponent.”
Starting with his past feats and now blocking even the ck Witch’s surveince—it was clear this was no ordinary adversary.
“Tch, of course. That boy has her by his side.”
At that moment, another figure from Ixion finally spoke.
There stood a woman whose attire was strikingly provocative at a single nce.
Her outfit barely covered what needed to be hidden, and her long ears stood out against her dark skin.
Her alias was ck Swan.
An entity of the Dark Attribute Demonkind.
“Crimson Garden.”
The moment that name was mentioned, the members of Ixion reacted in various ways.
This was because everyone present had, in some way, encountered her before.
The Immortal
Crimson Garden August
Once the most powerful force in Ixion and the most infamous figure among World Eroders.
“That woman is currently staying by that boy’s side.”
“The Immortal? After wreaking havoc and leaving Ixion, she’s now taken the boy with Ignis as her servant?”
At ck Swan’s words, the Beast King furrowed his brows deeply.
An unusual intensity emanated from him—it was no secret that his rtionship with Crimson Garden was far from amicable.
“I don’t know the details. What’s certain is that she’s with him. Several of her subordinates were spotted near the boy.”
“The Immortal…”
The Beast King ground his teeth alone.
However, his previously reckless demeanor had diminished.
Even he wasn’t eager to face Crimson Garden head-on, knowing full well how troublesome an opponent she could be.
“Ebsque Benapotchi is also there.”
The ck Witch added more to the conversation.
Ebsque Benapotchi, who had been ted to be a new member of Ixion.
Her necromancer techniques were perfectly suited for overwhelming enemies with sheer numbers.
Her absence was undoubtedly a significant loss for Ixion.
“An Immortal and a necromancer… this situation is turning out to be very peculiar.”
The Beast King clenched his teeth audibly, his irritation with theplications apparent in his demeanor.
“So…”
As the ck Witch began to speak again, she suddenly stopped.
Her head froze mid-sentence, and her gaze slowly shifted.
Her sudden reaction caused everyone else to instinctively follow her gaze.
Soon, the sound of footsteps began to echo through the space.
Slow, almost frivolous steps.
As those who recognized the sound started to show their confusion.
“Quite the crowd here.”
A man with blood-red hair appeared.
Looking as rxed as ever, his lips stretched into an unnervingly wide grin.
“What? Were you all waiting for me?”
The Mad Sword Emperor.
The man who was supposed to be dead had shown up at Ixion’s meeting.
As he appeared, the World Eroders each reacted differently—shock, surprise, disbelief, dismay, relief, irritation, anger, and suspicion.
Among these, the sharp stabs of suspicion seemed to pierce through the Mad Sword Emperor’s body.
Noticing this, his blood-red eyes twisted with sudden intensity.
“What’s the matter? Upset that I’m back alive? If you’ve got a problem with it, how about you take me on?”
And with those words, one thing became clear.
This was the real Mad Sword Emperor.
Trantors note:
I just learned that I need to upload at least 50 chapters for NU to add my chapters if there is an <em>‘active’</em> trantor.@@novelbin@@
So here’s 20 more to the previous 30.