I Became A Thief Who Steals Overpowered Skills

The very first Spirit Master.

And the only Spirit Master to have ever existed, who established a new paradigm of spirit magic through contracts with spirits, was a man from the Igrit family. He achieved feats worthy of being called heroic alongside spirits. However, spirit contracts eventually became totally forbidden in the world.

The reason was simple.

After the death of the first Spirit Master, the spirit left alone twisted and went berserk without its master. They were ignorant of the concept of death, and in the belief that their master had abandoned them, they ran amok. As a result, their rampage ended up completely annihilating a city.

Through this incident, the world came to a firm understanding: Spirits are types of world erosion species, and they are beings that must never be interacted with. This record continues to this day, and to this moment, the Igrits are managing the forest of the Spirit King out of a sense of responsibility.

Crimson Garden, with a heavy heart, looked up at the sky.

“I captured that berserk spirit by gathering the servants of that time.”

Feeling a sense of responsibility upon witnessing the spirit’s frenzy, she somehow managed to capture the spirit.

“And then I sent it back to the forest of the Spirit King.”

She believed the spirit would revert back to its original nature if it returned to its native forest. However, it did not happen. The spirit, having lost its master, continued to pine for the owner and knew not how to stop its rampage. And as a result, the spirit’s mind completely shattered.

Thus, the Spirit of Chaos was born.

“That’s what’s coming this way now…”

“…Spirits judge humans differently. The first Spirit Master was my servant, so he had my scent on him. So, it recognized that and comes this way, feeling as if its master has returned.”

A great deal of time had passed since the death of the first Spirit Master. Nonetheless, the moment the spirit sensed the presence of Crimson Garden, it began to approach.

“There’s no rationality in the Spirit of Chaos. It has swallowed too much malice in the process of destroying a city, and its own mind has collapsed. So, it cannot distinguish right from wrong. Not only my kind, but you would get swept up in it too. That’s why we must escape before that happens.”

The Spirit of Chaos would undoubtedly still be tracking the scent this way even now. Therefore, Crimson Garden tried to spread the magic circles again to take Kraush and leave.

However, Kraush poked Crimson Garden’s side firmly.

“Kyak!?”

A surprisingly cute scream escaped her.

With an incredulous look at Kraush, who made the noise, Crimson Garden snorted.

“Don’t you remember what I said before? We need to take the egg.”

“Didn’t you hear what I said?”

“I heard.”

“And you truly wish to die, is that it?”

Nevertheless, Kraush had by then already confirmed his sword.

“…Wait, don’t tell me.”

“I know what the Spirit of Chaos is.”

Crimson Garden’s eyes flickered with discernible worry as she realized Kraush’s intention to engage the Spirit of Chaos in combat.

“And leaving it be won’t bring back what’s been broken, will it?”

Kraush said so as he looked up at the sky. Once more, the black mass began gathering from the end of the heavens. Even at a glance, its speed was tremendous. But perhaps it’s more appropriate to call it tenacity.

“…Do you really think you can handle it? I can’t fight in this condition. I can’t help you.”

The Spirit of Chaos had become nothing more than a rampaging erosion species. Crimson Garden was not unaware of this. She merely released the spirit into the forest of the Spirit King out of sentimentality but had given up reality ever since the early morning.

So she asked Kraush.

Could he end the Spirit of Chaos?

“I’m sorry but…”

Simultaneously, black flames enveloped Kraush’s body. It was the world’s erosion power meeting Ignis, starting to burn.

“I was the one who ended that spirit.”

Though, admittedly, not alone like now.

***

Kraush remembered his previous visit to the forest of the Spirit King.

When speaking of the most troublesome beings in the forest, it was none other than the Spirit of Chaos.

Chaos-transformed spirits are not susceptible to usual attacks.

There was only one kind of attack that could be given to the Spirits of Chaos.

‘Skills.’

Only the skills imbued with divine power were effective.

However, even skills varied in utility. While some were aggressive, others were supportive.

Even among the Skyborne Generation, there weren’t many who could face the Spirits of Chaos using solely one skill.

Looking at the Spirit of Chaos, what irony that Kraush was indeed in the best state to confront it.

He currently possessed two skills.

One was the Black Hood.

The other was Ignis.

While the Black Hood had little to do with the offense, Ignis was different.

The divine flames burned everything.

Among the multitude of skills, Ignis was one of the most offensive.

Furthermore, Ignis’s special trait could make all standard attacks effective even against the Spirits of Chaos.

‘It’s better to catch it now than later.’

The longer time passed, the stronger the Spirit of Chaos became by absorbing world erosion within the forest of the Spirit King.

That’s why when the Skyborne Generation visited the forest of the Spirit King, the Spirit of Chaos grew into an uncontrollable monster.

‘Back then, it was deep within, so I thought we couldn’t catch it, but…’

Thanks to Crimson Garden, it came out to the very entrance, for which Kraush could not be happier. It was an opportunity to solve one big headache and, concurrently, obtain the Spirit King’s egg.

Kugugugung!

A wave of black darkness overwhelmed the golden sky, pressing down towards their location.

“It’s coming.”

Crimson Garden’s voice was quietly resounding at that moment.

Kwoong!

A black, liquid mass suddenly crashed down in front of Kraush and her.

It seemed to be a being created by a dense concentration of darkness.

The elongated liquid then began taking the form of a person.

Though its lower limbs remained black and liquid, the upper body took on a solid human form, stretching out long arms.

[ Agh… ni. ]

In that instant, the voice of the Spirit of Chaos echoed in Kraush’s mind.

Just by hearing the voice, a mild headache ensued, signifying how close it was to a curse-like wail.

Crimson Garden looked down bitterly at the sight of the Spirit of Chaos.

To her, who saw the world through her kind, the Spirit of Chaos had once been a comrade.

It wasn’t pleasing for her to witness the end of such a comrade in this form.

‘Such a sentimental creature.’

It was because of her kind-heartedness that she couldn’t bear Arthur’s torture of her kind, ultimately revealing the location of her physical body.

But this time was different.

‘Until I become the strongest who surpasses Arthur, you’ll have to help me.’

There was no intention to let Crimson Garden face her end this way.

And the first one to break her shackles was right before her eyes.

Thud-thud-drip—

Dripping black liquid, the Spirit of Chaos began raising its arm.

The Spirit of Chaos attacked indiscriminately without will, possessing only an instinct for destruction.

[ Agh… ni. ]

As the voice echoed once more, Kraush gathered his aura and stamped the ground.

In that instant, black liquid fired like arrows from the fingertips of the Spirit of Chaos.

Pabababang!

As Kraush twisted his body to dodge, the black arrows struck the ground, dyeing it with darkness.

Kraush knew they were a type of curse.

If touched, the body would immediately begin to decay blackened by the curse.

The arrows kept coming as if there was no limitation to their fire.

The cascading black arrows resembled a torrential downpour.

But Kraush did not retreat from the onslaught.

Instead, he nimbly dodged the barrage as if performing gymnastics.

His sixth sense far exceeded any conventional perception.

His expanded senses allowed him to recognize all objects within his vicinity and create the shortest route to escape.

Whoosh!

Ignis, fueled by the power of world erosion, set even the black arrows ablaze.

Lower curses like these were simply consumed by the flames of Ignis.

Kraush’s concentration, fully comprehending and utilizing the means at his disposal, skyrocketed.

‘I can do this.’

Withstanding the black arrows, he understood one thing.

The Spirit of Chaos was now significantly weaker than before.

‘The world hasn’t yet been flooded by world erosion.’

Back then, the Spirit King’s forest had broken even Igrit’s guard walls and proliferated enormously.

As the eaten territory grew, so did the strength of the Spirit of Chaos.

But perhaps now, the forest of the Spirit King was at its smallest in eras.

The power of world erosion the Spirit of Chaos absorbed had its limitations.

Clang!

Amidst the bisected arrows, Kraush confronted the Spirit of Chaos.

The blue hue in Kraush’s eyes flashed, making even the Spirit of Chaos feel overpowered.

Its black arrows were ineffective against Kraush.

Realizing this, the Spirit of Chaos changed its response.

Kwoong!

A rumbling emanated from beneath the Spirit of Chaos.

Following that sound, the inky darkness that had fallen turned into a towering wall.

This wall, which rose high enough to eclipse the sunlight, started collapsing toward Kraush.

If the arrow rain was ineffective, it would crush him to death with a wall.

Staring at the encroaching wall of darkness, Kraush stomped the ground.

At that moment, both world erosion and aura collided and began to rotate within Kraush’s body.

His leg muscles visibly swelled.

Kwang! Amidst a cloud of smoke, Kraush shot forward in a straight line.

As the wall above began to crumble toward him, Kraush had already sheathed his sword.

The aura drawn into his sheath ricocheted wildly, concentrating its power more and more.

Whoosh!

As the world erosion power flew into the sheath, Ignis erupted.

At the moment the explosive power seemed enough to burst the sheath, Kraush executed a lightning-fast unsheathing.

Kikikikikikik, Kwaang!

Kraush’s drawn sword severed the lower edge of the black wall.

Having passed over Kraush, the divided wall crashed down, engulfing the forest in smoke.

In front of Kraush appeared the Spirit of Chaos.

It hadn’t expected its wall to be sliced as well, and immediately pointed its hand at Kraush as countless black arms burst from beneath the spirit’s feet.

But Kraush’s mind perceived every motion these arms made.

Following the paths of the attacking arms, Kraush’s sword danced.

This was the domain of Sword Following.

As Kraush’s sword touched them, the black arms were set ablaze by Ignis and dissipated.

Sword Following dominated all spaces held by the Spirit of Chaos, ultimately bringing Kraush right before the spirit.

Thud!

Before he knew it, Kraush was standing right in front of the Spirit of Chaos.

For a moment, his mind dropped into a state of oneness with everything.

His sword followed the ripple that began in his mind, now carrying the surged aura.

[ Agh… ]

As the Spirit of Chaos made a final flail with its arm, a black flame erupted above Kraush’s sword.

One Sword

A black line split the air.

As the cleft widened, a swirling black fire engulfed the Spirit of Chaos.

[ Agh, nii… ]

With the wail of utter despair resounding, the Spirit of Chaos cleaved in two.

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