Chapter 219
Episode 219
Fwoosh-
The sound of the White Flame burning echoed throughout the Holy Kingdom of Freeman.
The intense aura of the White Flame was strong enough to be felt by the Opposition Faction approaching from afar.
'This is...'
The Heavenly King, Tersada Beakis, widened her eyes.
This aura was undoubtedly the one he had felt from Kraush.
That means the one confronting the World Erosion Beings invading the Holy Royal Palace right now is Kraush.
Tersada's eyes reflected the sky above the Royal Palace.
There, the pure white flames of the White Flame were shining brightly as they burned.
'To think it was this much.'
Although she had already guessed his strength.
She never imagined he could produce this level of output.
'I thought it would be enough for him to just play the role of a scarecrow hero.'
This was not something to be treated as a mere scarecrow.
Tersada's pupils quietly glimmered.
She did not see Kraush's impulsive actions in the Saintess incident as entirely negative.
From the beginning, Tersada had only intended to erase the meaning of the Saintess, which symbolized the Holy Kingdom's corrupt practices.
From the start, she had entrusted Kraush with deciding the treatment of the Saintess.
However, there was a condition that he would become the new hero of Freeman.
'That refusal he gave me that day wasn't entirely a rejection.'
He had severed the corrupt tradition of Freeman's Saintess and even protected Freeman from the World Erosion Beings.
The more his name spread, the louder the name of Freeman, reborn through the Religious Revolution, would resonate.
"Jeniks, Inquisitor."
"Yes."
The deputy leader of the Inquisitors, Jeniks, immediately responded to Tersada's call.
"Make sure to uproot the Holy Royal Family completely."
And ensure that only those who revere pure religion are placed on the puppet throne.
Tersada did not elaborate further.
Jeniks, understanding her intent, bowed his head and disappeared immediately.
Now, it's time to give birth to a new hero.
* * *
While Freeman was stirring in its efforts for the Religious Revolution.
Kraush quietly stared at the burning flames of the White Flame before him.
When he held his breath like that.
Whoosh!
Kraush saw a staff flying toward him through the White Flame and immediately swung his sword.
Clang!
Kraush, who deflected the staff in an instant, stepped back.
That was because the power contained in the staff was beyond imagination.
Even while maintaining the Annihilation Heavenly Rakshasa, he was overpowered.
That meant his opponent was quite enraged.
Within the burning White Flame, the figure of the Smoke Demon began to appear.
Since Kraush had swung his sword with full force, the Smoke Demon had clearly suffered damage.
That was because his right arm and half of his face were covered in burns.
Of course, from Kraush's perspective, such injuries were only enough to make him click his tongue.
Considering he had unleashed his output right in front of him with the intent to blow away his entire body and head, such injuries were minimal.
Kraush had certainly grown stronger, but he still fell short of reaching the level of the Smoke Demon, a powerful figure within Ixion.
'I never thought I could win immediately anyway.'
Even with the current level of injuries, it was fine.
Kraush would have firmly engraved himself as a threatening presence in their minds.
'Just seeing my flames will make them wet their pants.'
Because he was determined to uproot the foundation of Ixion with his own hands.
"It's hot."
The Smoke Demon, in a stance to thrust his staff, examined his burns.
As soon as he realized Kraush had laid a trap, he had surrounded his body with smoke.
Since it had defensive properties, it could withstand most impacts.
However, the aura diminished the power of the World Erosion.
Perhaps because of that, it not only eradicated all of the Smoke Demon's smoke but also directly inflicted damage on his body.
'No. I would have taken damage even without the Former Fighting Emperor's power.'
That was how absurd Kraush's firepower was.
'If possible, I wanted to kill him no matter what.'
The Smoke Demon gazed at the White Flame still burning on Kraush's body.
Just by looking, it seemed he was already preparing for the next attack.
Moreover, Blavi was descending rapidly from the sky.
The Opposition Faction was also almost at the doorstep.
Continuing the battle here would be a bad move.
'Let's retreat.'
Returning to Ixion would earn him scolding, asking what state he came back in.
But at least he could make them clearly aware of Kraush's threat.
"Let's meet again soon."
The Smoke Demon, who blocked Kraush's sword with his staff, retreated with a laugh.
That was because a black spatial door had appeared behind him.
The Black Witch, having learned of the situation here, had provided support.
"If you've aged, just lock yourself inside and enjoy what's left of your life!"
Even in the midst of it, Kraush continued to provoke and relentlessly swing his sword.
However, since the Smoke Demon had no intention of enduring more, he surrounded himself with smoke and threw his body into the spatial door.
"It seems we'll be seeing each other for a long time."
Saying so, the Smoke Demon placed his hand over his head.
Then, realizing his head was bare, he made a regretful face.
That was because his fedora had been blown away by the explosion of the White Flame.
It had been an item he had left behind in his world, but to lose it like this.
It was a shame, but it wasn't more important than his life.
The Smoke Demon disappeared beyond the spatial door, having firmly memorized Kraush's face.
After the Smoke Demon disappeared, Blavi arrived belatedly.
If Blavi had used more of his secret techniques, they might have managed to catch him.
However, that would have caused damage to the civilians.
As it was during the festival, there were too many people everywhere.
He reverted the Yin-Yang Blade, the Heavenly Sword, back into an earring and looked at Kraush.
There, Kraush was kneeling within the gradually extinguishing White Flame, gasping for breath.
His appearance, drenched in cold sweat and looking extremely exhausted, was clearly in a serious condition.
"If you use your body like that, you'll die soon."
"I-it's to survive."
Kraush, using the Snow Devourer, rapidly cooled his body as he replied.
Blavi, who had been watching Kraush, casually picked him up.
"I'll take you back like last time."
It seemed he was referring to when he had taken him to the Saintess during the Agares incident.
"P-please."
With that as his last word, Kraush closed his eyes.
He trusted that Blavi would take care of things from here.
* * *
The Religious Revolution that took place in Freeman.
Such a revolution spread widely across the entire world.
From the dethronement of the Saintess to the change of the Holy Kingdom's king.
This was because truly extraordinary events kept happening one after another.
Thanks to this, special reports were spread globally for a while.
Late September.
At the point where autumn was just beginning, such events were naturally expected.
Along with that, the inauguration ceremony for the new Holy Emperor was also forced through.
The one who newly ascended to the position of Holy Emperor was none other than Tersada Beakis, who had already been a candidate for the role.
"The Holy King, the Holy Emperor—he's monopolizing everything on his own."
Kraush flipped the newspaper over as he read such special reports.
Kraush was still staying in Freeman at the moment.
This was because, due to the major turmoil caused by the events in Freeman, he needed treatment and recuperation.
Of course, most of that recuperation consisted of Austria's nagging and treatment.
Kraush's eye caught the words "dethronement of the Saintess."
Freeman had taken this opportunity to decisively eliminate the outdated practice of having a Saintess.
However, Austria had also been a key figure in this event.
After all, she was the Saintess who had personally eliminated the Saintess role with her own hands.
Since they couldn't get rid of the living Saintess, Austria, Freeman granted her a new position as Archbishop.
'In the end, it means they don't want to send the existing Saintess out of Freeman. That's what it sounds like.'
It seemed they thought it would be a waste to completely erase the existence of the Saintess now that they had established their positions.
In the end, it was interpreted in a way that suited their tastes.
Creak—
At that moment, the closed hospital room door opened.
When Kraush turned his head, there was Austria, as expected.
She peeked her head through the open door.
Then, when her eyes met Kraush's, she flinched and quickly retracted her head behind the door again.
Kraush looked at her with an incredulous gaze.
After all, just a few hours ago, she had been diligently treating him while nagging.
Now, acting like this was naturally baffling for Kraush.
However, he could understand Austria's feelings to some extent.
At the time of treatment, she must have been fully focused on her specialty.
But once she came to her senses, she would have recalled that moment.
The confession she had blurted out in front of Kraush.
"Austria."
When Kraush called her in, she clung to the door as she entered.
Because of her distinctive upper body, she couldn't even fully fit through as she tried.
"Why are you acting like that?"
"Well, no, no particular reason."
Austria rolled her eyes around.
As Kraush had expected, Austria recalled the confession she had made to him.
And just recalling it made her face turn bright red, leaving her at a loss.
It was only natural.
She never expected her feelings to overcome her reason and escape her lips.
As Kraush stared at her intently, her face turned even redder.
Finally, when her face had turned completely beet red—
"I-it's all, all your fault!"
She lashed out at him in an absurd manner.
Kraush blinked at her, who was shifting all the blame onto him, and for some reason, a small laugh escaped him.
Then Austria, who had been staring at him with wide eyes, began trembling her arms.
She felt like she was going to die of embarrassment, but seeing the one who caused it laughing, she couldn't bear it.
"What's, what's so funny! Is my confession that amusing? What am I supposed to do now that it's come to this......."
Before she knew it, Austria started to sob.
Once she spoke, she began to feel wronged.
She never expected her feelings for him to grow this much.
As Austria hung her head low, Kraush briefly rubbed the back of his neck.
After hearing Austria's words, Kraush, in his own way, had been agonizing over it the whole time.
After all, Kraush couldn't simply ignore Austria's feelings.
From before the regression to the present day.
Kraush had formed a significant bond with Austria.
To the extent that the two of them were now deeply intertwined, unable to untangle the ties.
'The Young Hero of Freeman.'
This was how Kraush, now bound together with Austria, was being evaluated.
Freeman, seemingly determined, tied the Religious Revolution and the World Erosion Beings invasion incident together to elevate Kraush's reputation.
Given the precedent from the time of Cardinal Mirey Beakis, the effect was remarkable.
The hero recognized by the newly reborn Holy Kingdom for ending outdated practices.
Naturally, Kraush's name value was skyrocketing.
And, of course, Austria was also tied to him.
She was no longer the Saintess.
No matter how much Freeman gave her the Archbishop position, staying in Freeman wouldn't bring her any favorable treatment.
'For the future, I need to keep Austria by my side.'
Kraush stopped rubbing the back of his neck as his thoughts reached that point.
Austria's feelings had been directly conveyed to him through her words.
Therefore, it was up to Kraush to respond to them.
"Austria, I have a fiancée."
When Kraush spoke seriously, Austria's face became slightly calmer.
"......I know."
She had already fallen for him despite knowing.
"I also know what you're going to say."
He would probably tell her to give up because he had a fiancée.
But unfortunately, after confessing, Austria had no intention of taking back her feelings.
"What you were just agonizing over was because of that, wasn't it? That I have nowhere to go now."
Austria keenly saw through Kraush's thoughts with her sharp insight.
"As you thought, I have nowhere to go now. Even if I finish at Rahelrn Academy and return to Freeman, no one will welcome me."
"That's—"
"So."
Austria walked over to stand in front of the hospital bed where Kraush lay.
Then, all of a sudden, she grabbed Kraush's collar near his neck tightly.
As Kraush looked at her, wondering what she was doing, Austria, with a flushed face right in front of him, shouted.
"Take responsibility until the end. No matter what, I plan to cling to you."
"What the—"
Before Kraush could respond, Austria's face moved first.
By the time Kraush realized what she was about to do and tried to pull his neck back, the wall was already behind him.
A soft sensation was felt on Kraush's lips before he knew it.
As Kraush's eyes widened, Austria forcibly stole his lips and then quickly pulled her head back.
With a face now red to a worrying extent, she brushed aside her side hair with a graceful motion.
At the same time, she gave a smile so seductive that it surpassed embarrassment.
"Now that I've even given you my lips, don't think about running away."
The Saintess's limit had been broken.