Amidst the flames engulfing the carriage,

Kraush was gasping for air.

His breathing was erratic.

Bones and muscles screamed for rest, and his mind felt as though it would dissipate under the heat of Annihilation Erosion.

Despite possessing Lunar Body, the unrelenting heat pushed his body to its limits.

“Huff, huff.”

With each exhaled breath, Kraush slowly lifted his head.

From his extended dark sword, unlike earlier, a faint black flame flickered.

In contrast, his opponent stood unscathed.

The Armed Princess faced him without significant damage because, truth be told, neither had landed a fatal blow on the other.

Primarily, Kraush’s attacks had failed to harm the Armed Princess significantly.

The gap in their prowess was too vast.

On the other hand, Kraush, being familiar with all the Armed Princess’s armaments, had stubbornly avoided her attacks.

Thanks to his intuition, which bordered on precognition, he managed to dodge everything that was thrown at him.

But this left his body in even worse shape.

To evade all her attacks, he had to push Annihilation Erosion to its limits, practically grinding his bones.

“Acting as if you have some hidden trump card…”

The Armed Princess twirled her triple blades, her eyes flashing with insight as she observed Kraush.

“All bluster, was it?”

Finally catching on.

“You, damn, you’re not a world eroder, are you? You know all about my arms; what exactly are you? Using the power of world erosion. Whose minion are you?”

The Armed Princess seemed annoyed at the prospect of continuing the fight.

She was tired of facing Kraush, who dodged every attack.

And his knowing all about her arms crossed the line for her, moving from merely annoying to genuinely infuriating.

Kraush watched her for a moment, catching his breath before straightening himself.

Then, suddenly, he sheathed his dark sword.

The Armed Princess frowned at his bizarre action, and Kraush spoke.

“…Didn’t you hear what I said earlier?”

Her eyebrows twitched.

“To stop yowling.”

That was the end of the conversation.

The Armed Princess, indicating she had no more interest in continuing, lifted her hand to her chest.

“I tend to be quite fond of our kind.”

Then she thrust her hand deep into her throat.

Pulling out a stiletto from within, she wiped the drool from her lips, her eyes glowing a fierce yellow.

“But something tells me I need to kill you here.”

Fearful of Balrok’s wrath, she had hesitated to kill Kraush outright.

But now, she decided to forget those concerns.

Kraush wasn’t a world eroder.

A being who knew all her arms, he posed a potential future threat that needed to be eliminated.

“Clang-”

As she gripped the bell-adorned stiletto, the atmosphere around her shifted instantly.

The carriage’s ambiance, previously ablaze with black flames, cooled dramatically.

As if everything up to this point had been mere child’s play.

Her tiger-like gaze now betrayed a new level of hostility.

Kraush felt as though he was choking under the gaze of a massive beast, one baring its teeth, ready to kill its prey.

That alone made it clear she hadn’t been serious about her earlier attacks.

‘Thirteen Demon Kings.’

One of the thirteen arms she personally named.

The Ninth King, Hell Dragon Lord.

Familiar with its properties, Kraush couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Laughing?”

The Armed Princess’s eyes twisted in fury.

It seemed she realized he knew about the Thirteen Demon Kings, and his nonchalant attitude puzzled her.

“Shua Delphia.”

Again, Kraush called her full name.

“What nonsense are you spouting now?”

As the Armed Princess grew impatient, Kraush shrugged lightly.

“Just saying.”

“What?”

It meant nothing.

Just a last-minute stall.

“Crack!”

Because the floor, unable to withstand the heat, began collapsing into ash.

“Boom!”

The walls were torn away, and the carriage was flung outside.

Despite being within the Demonic Bastion, a fierce wind from outside whipped through her hair.

Realizing too late, the Armed Princess’s eyes widened.

As she hastily retreated from the collapsing floor, Kraush also stepped back.

“What, what are you doing!”

“What does it look like? Wood that touches fire burns, that’s natural.”

Kraush spoke nonchalantly, but the carriage’s state told a different story.

Unable to withstand the black flame’s heat, everything began to collapse.

“Crack, boom!”

The pillars broke under the heat, and the roof was torn away by the wind, following the carriage’s momentum.

“Clip-clop, clip-clop-”

Hoofbeats seemed to come from the direction the carriage was heading, but no horses were in sight, only fields rushing by through the torn walls.

The carriage, now losing everything to the black flame, continued to disintegrate.

The Armed Princess clung to the wall, trying to avoid the collapsing floor.

Seeing the rapidly passing ground, she realized how fast the carriage was moving.

But sticking to the wall offered no solution.

The black flames consumed even the wall she was on.

“Let me tell you something.”

Kraush, also clinging to a wall, spoke up.

“Doors burned by Ignis, for some reason, don’t regenerate.”

“Huh?”

The moment she heard him, the Armed Princess’s head shot up.

Her eyes quickly scanned the surroundings.

And she realized.

Three out of four doors were gone, consumed by Ignis.

Only one remained – the one Kraush was now backing into.

“What, what!”

For the first time, the Armed Princess’s voice betrayed panic.

Her ears and tail stood on end, sensing the danger of the situation.

The secret of the eighth floor, accidentally discovered by Belorkin through Ignis, was that carriages burned by Ignis don’t regenerate.

While this space was connected to the Demonic Bastion, it also linked to a field somewhere in the world.

Therefore, once the space within the carriage broke down, anyone inside would be flung out into the field.

Belorkin had used this quirk to defeat Nakcheon and ultimately secure the Rain Thunder Prime.

“But now, there’s only one door left?”

Sweat dripping, Kraush painted a taunting smile.

“Thud!”

With a push, he opened the only remaining door.

With all other exits burned away, this signified something crucial.

If the Armed Princess didn’t follow Kraush out this door immediately, she, like the roof moments before, would be ejected somewhere.

Within the burning remnants of the carriage, the Armed Princess felt her head spinning.

All this time, as she diligently avoided his attacks, he had been burning the carriage, diverting her focus so she wouldn’t notice.

Her caution had become her poison in a moment requiring bold action.

Her face turned beet red.

Realizing she’d been played by Kraush, her face was seething with anger.

“You bastard! How dare you toy with me!”

As Kraush stepped back through the door,

She gripped the Hell Dragon Lord in a reverse hold.

“Thrust!”

The moment the stiletto pierced her heart,

In an instant, red and black colors swirled around her body from the Hell Dragon Lord.

As flowers that bloom only in hell sprouted from her chest,

Horns and a tail emerged above her head.

Her legs and arms, now dragon-like, showcased an overwhelming presence.

“Clench!”

The moment her swollen thighs gathered strength to their limit,

Her body was propelled forward like a bullet.

“Crash!”

The already burning carriage couldn’t withstand the impact and shattered entirely.

But for the Armed Princess, it was a welcome development.

She intended to burst through the last door Kraush had opened and rend his neck.

Wrapped in fury, resembling a demon, she reached the entrance in an instant, where Kraush awaited her.

As if he had been expecting her arrival all along, standing in a stance of inner calm, Kraush was stirring a storm within his sheath.

The moment their eyes briefly met, the Armed Princess’s eyes widened in shock.

Kraush had been waiting for her, already in the realm of Sword and Spirit Fusion.

“Shiver!”

Feeling the dimensional difference in the power of world erosion emanating from Kraush, every hair on the Armed Princess stood on end.

“You fucking bastard!”

Realizing it was too late, she screamed curses as she extended her claws, desperate to tear his face apart.

She knew she couldn’t reach.

But she had to tear that damned face apart somehow.

However, Kraush wouldn’t give her the chance to vent her anger.

Soon, a dragon’s ascent, born from his spirit, consumed all the flames.

And that signified.

The completion of one sword.

“Flare!”

Annihilation Erosion

Second Form:

Sky Annihilating Sword

“Crash!”

The explosion of black flames engulfed everything, shaking the entire eighth floor with its vast storm, tearing the carriage area to shreds.

“Huff, huff.”

Breathing heavily, Kraush saw the walls, now obliterated by the Sky Annihilating Sword, leaving no trace.

And there was no sign of the Armed Princess.

“Clip-clop, clip-clop-”

Only hoofbeats echoed from beyond the fields.

By now, the Armed Princess would be tumbling across a field, thrown by the carriage’s crash.

‘She wouldn’t die from just that.’

The Sky Annihilating Sword, though Kraush’s full power, wasn’t enough to deal a fatal blow to the Armed Princess wielding the Thirteen Demon Kings.

By now, she’d likely be fuming, having vented her anger.

Their next encounter would undoubtedly be a battle to the death.

But the outcome would be very different from today.

“…But I might die first.”

Murmuring, Kraush collapsed onto the floor.

The mental and physical toll from the fight against the Armed Princess and the use of Annihilation Erosion left him throbbing with pain.

‘I should avoid such a risky gambit next time.’

He wouldn’t have done this if not for the Rain Thunder Prime.

“Flap-flap-”

[ Did you manage somehow? ]

Then, a fluttering sound came from behind him.

Turning, Kraush saw a black crow.

“Crimson, what about Lakradiyon?”

He had dealt with the Armed Princess.

Since she vanished from this space, her clones would also have dissipated by now.

As Kraush asked, Crimson Garden clicked her tongue.

[ You’ll have to see for yourself. ]

It seemed an unwelcome situation had unfolded.

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