I Became A Thief Who Steals Overpowered Skills - Chapter 116

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 116. The Punishment Match Begins

This was Krash, who had demonstrated the ability to defeat an associate professor during the entrance examination.

As he gazed on as if a mere explosion wouldn’t make him fall, even Haring seemed to have nothing to say.

“Emergencies can happen anywhere.”

He wouldn’t deny it, at least.

Still, because he could feel that her desire to save him was genuine, Krash decided not to press the matter further.

Besides, he had no time to argue.

Krash drew the Lioneer.

Then Haring, belatedly, pulled two Bisoos from her waist simultaneously.

Beneath the collapsed floor stretched a long corridor of ruins.

Beyond that corridor, the presence of Invasive Species erupted all at once.

Their target was none other than Krash and Haring, who had fallen.

“Fine, we’ve covered that. I’m heading straight to where the Erosion Sage is. What will you do?”
“I’ll follow you.”

Really, there’s no other option anyway.

“Tell me what you can do.”

At this point, Krash didn’t know that much about Haring’s abilities.

It made sense—she had left the Starry Generation on her own.

She had left the Starry Generation for one purpose: to kill Bianca, who had been Hundred-ranked at the time.

Krash didn’t harbor any particular hatred toward Haring.

What Krash had felt toward Bianca back then was nothing but guilt.

So he could only feel regret for her death.

He held no thought of vengeance against Haring, who had killed her.

Just as Bianca had avenged herself by killing the Poison King who had slaughtered her family, Haring had simply taken her revenge as well.

“Concealment, poison and Bisoos, weak in direct combat and tracking.”
“Then I’ll handle the front. You attack whenever you see an opening.”

Krash drew upon Annihilation Erosion lightly.

Then, from the Lioneer, a golden blade bloomed, and Black Flame began to blossom upon it.

Crash!

In that instant, an Invasive Species burst through the outer wall and appeared before them.

Steel-like spines jutted from its body.

Curled into a ball.

Rolling toward him like a sphere, the creature barreled straight at Krash.

Its rolling was fast enough to shred a human body in seconds.

But Krash swung the Lioneer without the slightest hesitation, meeting it head-on.

Crash!

As Krash and the Invasive Species collided, smoke billowed upward.

Through the haze, the creature poked its head out, still curled tight.

Its face bore the unmistakable mark of shock.

Krash had stopped its charge without giving an inch of ground.

“That all?”
“Screee?!”

As Krash’s Black Flame flared violently, the creature shrieked and thrashed.

But it was too late.

Haring, who had slipped into the shadows moments before, was already moving—twin daggers raised.

Slice!

The violet Aura coating Haring’s Bisoos carved through the creature’s neck muscles, severing its head cleanly.

The daggers passed through the thick flesh without resistance.

Krash caught what had happened.

The Laguren Family’s secret art: Mandok Tussal.

A technique that commanded a thousand different poisons.

The one she’d used just now was likely a toxin that dissolved flesh itself.

It was the poison Haring had favored most back at the Academy, so Krash remembered it well.

‘Even now, it’s plenty potent.’

Poison was one of the most aggressive tools available.

Which made it invaluable against Invasive Species.

If the Laguren Family hadn’t been the spark that ignited the war, they would have been an enormous asset against the World Erosion.

Krash clicked his tongue, remembering those days.

‘This time, I have to keep them all alive.’

Every talented soul capable of fighting the World Erosion had to be preserved and put to work stopping the Apocalypse.

Let her die cleanly, then.

Krash killed the Invasive Species and turned to face Haring as she landed.

Thanks to his Sixth Sense, he’d already pinpointed where that Erosion Sage was hiding.

“Haring.”

So Krash twirled the Lioneer in his grip, pointed it downward, and a cold smile played at the corners of his mouth.

“Ever dug a tunnel before?”
“Huh?”

The moment Haring looked at him in confusion, Krash’s Lioneer plunged deep into the ground.

Black Flame erupted from the blade in that instant.

“If you haven’t, consider this your chance.”

Since you’re a special student, I’ll give you a special experience.

＊ ＊ ＊

Erosion Sage Juyeo Irma.

The middle-aged man, his face etched with creases, sat before an altar.

In his hands rested a Crystal Skull.

The eerie-hued skull gleamed slowly in rhythm with the darkness flowing from Juyeo’s grasp.

Then darkness wavered across the altar, following his light.

It was none other than the power of the Night God.

He had been channeling the Night God’s power into the crystal here all along.

But perhaps because it was divine power—

what he’d extracted remained pitifully weak compared to the Night God’s true strength.

Boom!

And it seemed a meddler had appeared at an inopportune moment.

Sensing from a distance the destruction of his Invasive Species, Juyeo’s lips curved into a glossy smile.

“Those fools from the Yellow Mage Tower—they don’t even realize they’ve walked into a trap.”

Juyeo had already discerned that the Yellow Mage Tower had commissioned the Academy to dispose of him.

As for them, it was a calculation of cheapness.

But that was foolish thinking.

‘I’ll capture those Academy wretches they sent and use them as hostages instead.’

The Academy’s members were mostly children of nobility.

No matter how formidable they were, within the Night God’s Tomb he was invincible.

So Juyeo ambushed them the moment they entered.

He would bind them there, preventing the Yellow Mage Tower or anyone else from interfering.

And in that span of time, the instant he absorbed all the power of the Night God—

there would be no one in all the world who could stop him.

‘Those wretches at the Yellow Mage Tower will understand soon enough.’

He had been born—though slavery was now abolished in Debram—

to parents of slave descent, their low station long since past.

He possessed an inborn gift for Magic, yet the stigma of that lowborn status clung to him still.

The Yellow Mage Tower’s masters had never acknowledged him, and with each passing day, his inferiority festered deeper within.

Then one day, he discovered an ancient ruin.

It was none other than the tomb of a nameless demigod who had challenged the gods themselves long ago and fallen.

Yet even in death, that deity had left behind its divine power, dormant within the tomb.

The moment Juyeo grasped this truth, his eyes flew open wide.

He saw in an instant how he might wield such power for himself.

After that, Juyeo returned to the ruin again and again, consumed by research and calculation.

But the ruin could not be mastered by Magic alone.

Through endless contemplation, one answer emerged: the power of World Erosion.

By chance, he learned of an Invasive Species named Wolmyo.

He crossed the Lawless Zone and finally found Wolmyo, then knelt before him and begged to become his servant.

Wolmyo was a generous soul.

He shared with Juyeo the power of World Erosion and told him to go forth and realize his dreams.

So to repay that kindness, Juyeo was determined to make the power of the Night God entirely his own.

He would ascend as a god—the very pinnacle of that caste system the Yellow Mage Tower so revered—and appear before them.

His face shone with anticipation as he laid bare his desire.

Crash! A deafening boom split the air!

That was when it happened.

The ceiling above the altar suddenly came crashing down.

Juyeo’s expression shifted to shock as he looked up at the collapsing stone.

He had never expected the ceiling to give way.

In that instant, someone burst through the ceiling and dropped down into the chamber.

Wreathed in Black Flame, the figure landed with teal hair scattering, a golden blade gleaming in their grip.

“So it’s you. The fool who dared lay hands on what’s mine.”
“What?”

Juyeo’s reaction was one of pure bewilderment at this sudden outburst.

But Krash, indifferent to his confusion, felt the night’s presence flowing from the Crystal Skull cradled in his grip, and a smile crept across his lips.

“Yeah. You.”

I’ll hand out a Punishment Match before the deity does.

* * *

Inside the Night God’s Tomb.

Standing before the sepulcher containing the god’s remains, Juyeo caught sight of Krash and stifled a bitter laugh.

From the look of his uniform alone, he was clearly a student of Rahelern Academy.

And barely a man at that—fresh out of his teens.

‘This reckless fool actually made it here.’

Now he understood why he’d sensed nothing as the boy approached.

It was the aura emanating from Krash’s body.

‘A Curse? World Erosion?’

Some strange force continuously seeped from his frame and his blade alike.

The ruins were now teeming with the Invasive Species he had stationed.

Through them, Juyeo detected any intruder who possessed a force other than World Erosion.

But Krash scattered an aura so similar to World Erosion that detection was impossible.

Though even if he’d detected him, he never would have expected the boy to smash through the ceiling and drop in like this.

“Who the hell are you?”
“I told you—I’m here to punish you.”

Krash rolled his neck casually as he spoke, entirely unbothered.

To anyone watching, it was a gesture of contempt. Juyeo’s brow darkened.

But separate from that, the power Krash wielded was distinctly Master-class.

A realm no barely-adult youth should have reached.

This was no opponent to underestimate.

‘The Yellow Mage Tower sent him on purpose.’

A monster born at that age. How extraordinary.

So this is why the nobility prize bloodlines so highly.

That boy must come from money.

‘All the better.’

With bloodline stock of that caliber, his family would guard him with obsessive care.

He was the perfect hostage material.

“Let me propose something.”

The first to speak was none other than Juyeo.

Krash simply stood motionless, the Lioneer settled at his hip, whether or not Juyeo continued.

“The moment you attack me, your friend up there dies to the Invasive Species. This ruin is packed with creatures you don’t know about.”

Some of them were genuinely dangerous.

Juyeo could barely keep them on a leash, much less command them.

They were specimens the Yellow Mage Tower had gathered in preparation for all-out war.

“Surrender quietly, and I’ll let them live.”

Juyeo understood this age group well.

Those who’d suffered together and taken classes at the Academy held their mutual friendship dear.

As if any of that mattered.

In that instant, Krash’s eyebrow twitched for the first time.

“Friend?”

The only word that landed—the sole remark that pricked him—showed plainly in his eyes.

At the sight of it, Juyeo’s grin widened.

“That’s right. Your friend. Seems you can’t just ignore it when friends are brought up?”
“You bastard, that’s disgusting. Why the hell are you dragging that asshole into this with your talk of friendship?”

What came back was a stream of curses.

Juyeo hadn’t expected to be sworn at for mentioning friendship and stood there dumbfounded.

For a noble, that mouth was awfully foul.

“You could use a beating.”

In that moment, Krash’s foot struck the ground with a thunderous boom.

As heat radiated from his body and thin smoke curled from his lips, Juyeo’s eyes flew wide.

The power radiating from Krash as he charged forward had suddenly multiplied several times over.

“This bastard!”

Juyeo’s eyes widened as he sensed the hidden technique, and he thrust his hand forward without hesitation.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!

Following the motion of his hand, the entire space resonated with a thunderous pulse.

Krash charged straight toward him regardless, though that assumption proved mistaken.

This place was Juyeo’s personal battlefield—a stage he had specially constructed.

He would make this reckless intruder pay the price for entering such ground.

“Swallow him whole!”

At that cry, a massive worm-shaped Invasive Species tore through the ceiling above.

The creature was enormous enough to block out the sky before Krash, and in an instant it gaped its maw wide in his direction.

The Invasive Species had teeth packed so densely along the inner throat that it was utterly grotesque.

Before the creature’s gaping mouth, now inches away.

Krash exhaled smoke quietly.

As his concentration reached its limit, a surge of power rippled outward.

Krash’s eyes flashed, and Lioneer was drawn from its sheath.

Annihilation Erosion.

First Form.

Myeolhwa Balgeom.

Lioneer burst from its scabbard wreathed in Black Flame, striking forward in a single devastating arc.

The slash bisected the Invasive Species and continued without pause, extending toward Juyeo’s throat.

“Keeegh!”

Boom!

Juyeo’s scream and the deafening explosion crossed paths simultaneously.

As Black Flame scattered in all directions, sparks raining down and the tomb reduced to ruin.

Juyeo stood unharmed, both arms raised defensively before him.

A defensive incantation powered by the Night God’s strength dwelling within the Crystal Skull had activated perfectly.

“What—what kind of cutting force is this…?”

The problem was that a single swing of Krash’s Myeolhwa Balgeom had shattered the defensive enchantment entirely.

He had survived, but the absurd power of that attack left him stunned.

Dangerous.

It was the moment he hastily reached out his hand.

Thwip—

With the sound coming from his flank, Juyeo’s eyes slowly turned sideways.

There stood a short-haired girl whose hair mixed black and violet.

He hadn’t sensed her presence at all.

It was only then that Juyeo realized she’d used a skill to accomplish this.

The girl, who had driven the Bisoo deep into his flank, withdrew it the moment their eyes met.

Squelch!

With the blade pulled free, blood streamed from Juyeo’s waist.

The problem was that the moment the Bisoo pierced him, his vision split into three and began to spin.

“Cough—hack!”

At the same time, blood gushed from his eyes and mouth.

He understood now.

This was poison.

The poison that the girl had liberally coated the Bisoo with was spreading through his entire body.

Had it been a strike aimed at his throat, he might have sensed it somehow and mounted a defense.

But caught off guard by Krash’s assault, he’d seen nothing coming.

‘That bastard—did he aim for this from the start?’

Krash had presented himself as though belittling his opponent, revealing emotional vulnerability.

Yet Juyeo now realized that every action had been designed from the beginning to draw his attention.

Krash was a meticulous man.

He had lived his entire life as a underdog.

Unless he already possessed information about his opponent, he would test the waters, gauge their full strength, and only then act.

And until that moment, he would do everything in his power to lower their guard.

That was the only way he’d survived this long.

Juyeo realized he’d been completely played, and his teeth ground together.

The whites of his eyes darkened to black.

He drew upon the power of World Erosion dwelling within him, buying himself time to stem the poison’s spread.

His remaining option was singular.

To unlock the power of the Night God.

So the moment he tried to crush the Crystal Skull in his grip—

Slash!

Krash’s blade, arriving in the blink of an eye, carved across his right arm.

Along with Juyeo’s severed arm, the Crystal Skull tumbled from his grasp and rolled across the floor.

“I told you.”

The moment Juyeo’s eyes went wide, Krash’s fist was already driving toward his jaw.

“You needed a beating.”

Crack!

The fist struck true, snapping Juyeo’s jaw and robbing him of his senses.

Chongyeong.

At the same instant, a follow-up blow sent his body airborne once more.

“Kkh—!”

After two successive impacts that rattled his brain, Juyeo crashed to the ground.

With eyes rolled back, he lay completely unconscious.

As Krash caught his breath and retrieved the Bisoo, Haring emerged from where she’d been hiding.

Thanks to her, he’d dispatched an opponent he knew little about with ease.

“Is that a poison that kills instantly?”
“Not that kind. Even with treatment, it leaves aftereffects severe enough that the victim will never move again.”

Terrifying stuff.

Maybe I should learn poison too.

Krash rubbed his jaw thoughtfully.

Then a stray thought occurred to him—poison and curses weren’t all that different, were they?

‘I could end up with something quite promising.’

Perhaps he could master a whole new lineage of curses.

“Haring, what’s your secondary major?”
“Specialized Studies.”
“Good timing. Later, I’ll—”

Krash’s eyes began to narrow.

Because behind Haring, Juyeo’s right arm was slowly rising into the air.

“Haring.”

Krash instantly channeled Black Flame into the Lioneer.

“Run this way.”

The moment those words left his lips, a deep darkness spread outward from the Crystal Skull, engulfing everything around it.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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