I Became A Thief Who Steals Overpowered Skills

Chapter 65 The Conquest of Demonic Bastion’s 8th Floor

Nakcheon. A fallen sky. Once an idol of challengers who had reached the 8th floor of Demonic Bastion, leading the team of top contenders, the Black Lions. However, now Nakcheon was a ghost, bound by the Bastion’s life-giving powers to the verge of the 8th floor, preventing anyone from surpassing to the 9th. And this Nakcheon possessed the sword Rain Thunder Prime. The synergy of the Bastion’s ghost and Rain Thunder Prime was needless to say formidable. Hence, many had challenged Nakcheon, either to reach beyond the 9th floor or covetous of Rain Thunder Prime. Yet, the fact that Nakcheon remained alive indicated the results thus far.

Kraush intended to defeat Nakcheon and claim Rain Thunder Prime.

[It’s been a while since I’ve been here.]

Crimson Garden’s voice reached Kraush as she gazed out the window towards Lavala. Fitting for an immortal, she had been to cities like the Demonic Bastion city, Lavala, before.

“Crim, do you have any familiars in Lavala?”josei

[No. It’s a waste to invest time in a place like this.]

Kraush cracked an eye open upon hearing this. Whether it was during the time of the first spirit mage or not, Crimson Garden seemed to have contributed to many historical events. Before his regression, he hadn’t had the opportunity to converse with Crimson Garden and thus wasn’t curious. But now, he found himself curious about many things.

“Just asking out of curiosity, but it’s not like your familiars built Demonic Bastion, right?”

Demonic Bastion is the ultimate creation of a mad weapons engineer from the long-gone Byzantirium civilization, even before the existence of empires. Wondering if Crimson Garden was involved, he asked, only to receive her amused laughter in response.

[Do you think I’m involved in every world event? I’ve just been tangled up in a few incidents here and there.]

It seems this wasn’t one of those instances.

[I do know that one of the world erosion beings was quite fond of that weapons engineer.]

“You’re talking about a dwarf.”

Kraush spoke nonchalantly when Crimson Garden stiffened.

[You act just like a regressor.]

She seemed annoyed at having her dramatic reveal spoiled. Probably felt like she’d been hit from behind after trying to show off a bit of knowledge.

Kraush chuckled as the carriage jolted to a stop.

“We’ve arrived.”

The coachman’s voice was followed by the door opening, and naturally, Aliod was there. He stepped back to allow Kraush to alight comfortably, and Kraush stepped down from the carriage.

The carriage that seemed tall to him before posed no issue now, probably due to his recent growth spurt. The last time he checked in the mirror, he noticed his baby fat was starting to vanish. Kraush had always been early to mature. Now he was emerging from childhood, nearing the semblance of a youth.

“Bianca.”

Kraush, who alighted first, extended his hand to Bianca, who naturally took it and stepped down after him.

“It’s huge.”

Bianca evaluated the building they were looking at concisely. As she said, the building before them was immense. Demonic Bastion was an unruled territory by mutual silent agreement between the empire and the kingdoms. The Bastion’s byproducts were too valuable for any one side to monopolize, given their immense distances. Thus, to ensure an equal distribution of byproducts, it was left unruled.

The place where they stood was formed by an alliance within Demonic Bastion—a gathering place for those seeking to conquer it. Kraush walked straight to the reception and entered. As he did, a few challengers glanced his way. The attire alone—two young nobles accompanied by a butler—made it look like nobility had come to play in Demonic Bastion. The challengers quickly looked away, knowing it was in everyone’s best interest not to cause trouble with nobility, even in unruled lands.

Kraush paid them no mind and walked to the reception desk, where the attendant quickly noted his noble status and smiled warmly.

“Welcome. I am Chelo, your guide at the Conqueror’s Association of Demonic Bastion. What brings you here today?”

“I’d like to apply for an access pass.”

“Of course, an access pass. If I may confirm your identity? Would that be alright?”

Without hesitation, Kraush revealed the Balheim family crest.

The attendant’s body twitched at the sight.

“Bal… Balheim.”

Attention in the area shifted rapidly towards them. Challengers, too, were well-informed and knew the name Balheim all too well. Seeing their surprised stares, Aliod turned a warning gaze their way. The attention quickly dispersed.

“Ah, your identity is confirmed. Could you please wait a moment?”

“While issuing the pass, I would like to make one more request.”

“Yes? Oh, yes, please go ahead.”

Kraush responded with a slow smile, about to add a request that would surely overturn the staff’s expectations.

“I’d like to post a recruiting announcement for a team to conquer the 8th floor.”

It was time to leverage the name of Balheim.

＊ ＊ ＊

The announcement for the recruitment of a team to conquer the 8th floor caused quite a stir. Under ordinary circumstances, such a call would have been scoffed at, but this time it was different. The recruitment had been initiated by a direct descendant of the Balheim family.

“Balheim’s direct descendant is going to conquer the 8th floor?”

“Crazy, what’s Balheim doing all of a sudden?”

The 8th floor, repeatedly thwarted by Nakcheon’s presence, had been unattainable. Naturally, this rumor spread like wildfire across Lavala. Most were skeptical. Demonic Bastion was one of the remnants from a past even before world erosion, an event ordinary nobles might eye the byproducts from. But for Balheim, well-known throughout the world, there seemed no need to stoop to such exploits.

Yet now, Balheim declared an assault on the 8th floor.

“Are they aiming for Rain Thunder Prime?”

“But that’s Nakcheon we’re talking about. Is it even possible?”

Nakcheon, a master ghost, numbered in the mere thousands worldwide. The Skyborne Generation trivialized such masters, but within Demonic Bastion, those who had reached such a level were almost nonexistent. And all of Nakcheon’s former comrades had succumbed to the ravages of time, leaving him alone.

There had been attempts in the past to challenge the 8th floor, but those were old tales. Currently, Demonic Bastion operated only up to the 7th floor. Of course, if the empire or the kingdoms set their minds to it, they could potentially bring down Nakcheon. But the cost-benefit of sacrificing master-level talent wasn’t justifiable.

What if these talents failed and perished against a master ghost like Nakcheon? It would be a tremendous loss of human resources and a dent to the nation’s prestige. That’s why no one was willing to take the risk, and Rain Thunder Prime remained firmly in Nakcheon’s grasp.

“But if it’s Balheim…”

After all this time, with Nakcheon entrenched at the end of the 8th floor, there appeared a direct descendant of Balheim, claiming they would vanquish him.

“Perhaps the old challengers who once attempted the 8th floor will gather.”

With everyone’s expectations centered on him, Kraush yawned lengthily in the association hall.

‘They’re slower than I expected.’

Was he being sized up?

Despite his announcement, Kraush tapped his finger lightly on the desk, noting the hesitant gathering of challengers. He had hoped for a swift assembly to descend to the 8th floor.

[Do you know what is common among those on the verge of becoming masters?]

Crimson Garden, perched on the desk, smirked.

[They mistakenly believe the world lies beneath their feet.]

Kraush neither agreed nor disagreed with her words. There is a wall between experts and masters, and countless individuals have failed to surmount it in their lifetimes. Now, at the very brink of overcoming that wall, it signifies a proclamation of genius within this world.

[And they don’t even realize that this is where true geniuses and the average are differentiated.]

The stages within the master level are far more nuanced than those of the expert—entry, intermediate, advanced, peak, perfection, and the ultimate. That one wall far exceeds the threshold barrier of a master’s entry.

[In the old days, they only spoke of entry, perfection, and ultimate. But nowadays, what’s with all the adjectives? It’s laughable how your generation doesn’t even understand the romance of being the world’s number one.]

Kraush looked at her incredulously as if she were speaking from ancient times.

‘She sounds just like that old man. Well, they’re from the same era.’

Looking at Crimson Garden often reminded Kraush of an old man he once owed a great deal to—the person who helped him wield curses to save his own life, the recluse waiting for death.

‘I wonder where he is now.’

His musings about the Oracles’ Society, expressing power in numbers of aura, sounded just like something Crimson Garden would say. Now, with Kraush being more of an expert in curses, he didn’t particularly need to meet the old man.

“So, what’s your point?”

[The heavier the ear of rice, the lower it bows. The unripe ones don’t know how to bow.]

Crimson Garden spoke as if it were a simple truth.

[Then shouldn’t we force them to bow?]

Force them to bow. Kraush’s response was one of disbelief.

“Considering everything, I’ve just stepped into the highest rank of experts, haven’t I?”

Not long ago, he’d been thoroughly outmatched by Charlotte, who was in the master’s entry-level.

Crimson Garden looked astounded by Kraush’s humble claim.

[Doesn’t Lunar Body make maintaining Annihilation Erosion much easier for you? You enjoy hovering at that threshold, dealing with those who’d like to reach master’s entry. Now even those masters’ entry-level individuals pose little challenge, as everyone knows.]

He couldn’t truly deny it, but pure mastery was still a distant reality for Kraush, prompting a sheepish reaction.

“You used to say I was far off.”

[That’s by my standards, not yours.]

Typical of her arrogance. Meanwhile, Kraush noticed Bianca dozing off, nearly resting her head on the table beside him. She must be sleepy after insisting on waiting with him. Gently, Kraush shifted her head to rest on his lap as she sat on the sofa. Bianca snuggled comfortably into his embrace.

“Well, if they won’t come…”

Shielding Bianca from the sunlight filtering through the window, Kraush mused.

“It wouldn’t hurt to go looking for them myself.”

Forcing heads to bow was his specialty, after all. Now he just needed to identify his initial target. Scanning the list of those who had reached the 8th floor, Kraush made his choice.

It’s this one.