I Became A Thief Who Steals Overpowered Skills

Chapter 117

Annihilation Erosion Third Stage

***

Haring reacted too late to Kraush’s shout.

Kraush had no choice but to grab her arm and swing Rain Thunder Prime.

Swoosh!

The black flames slashed through the space, touching Juio’s right arm.

With a burst of explosions, Kraush pulled Haring back significantly.

But even as the smoke billowed, the darkness pouring from the crystal skull continued to spread.

Kraush, holding Haring at his side, quickly moved away from the spot.

He knew what that darkness was.

‘Night.’

Despite trying to deal with Juio quickly to prevent him from using the Night God’s power, conditions had aligned, and the Night God began to stir.

‘Damn it.’

Kraush grimaced at his rotten luck in such situations.

“Put me down.”

Haring’s voice came at that moment.

She looked very displeased at being carried like baggage.

When Kraush released her, Haring landed in a cat-like manner and immediately stood next to him.

“I was in a hurry.”

“I know.”

Good if she understood.

Kraush responded to her as he looked ahead.

The crystal skull in Juio’s right hand had turned pitch black.

Simultaneously, starlight began to swirl in the eyes of the blackened skull.

The atmosphere of the surrounding area shifted.

It felt like they were trapped in a space looking up at the night sky.

Haring’s hair stood on end as she pursed her lips.

Kraush showed an equally displeased reaction.

Knowing exactly what this sensation was, Kraush understood.

When a god manifests in the human world, humans are overwhelmed by an inexplicable impulse.

And that impulse is infinite reverence for the god.

But Kraush knew better.

“A nameless god using mental interference.”

This was an attack on the mind.

Wham!

The flames within Kraush forcibly awakened his mind.

If it were a higher deity, it might be different, but the mental interference of a nameless god could be blocked by igniting his body with Ignis.

Physical shock is perfect for clearing the mind.

“Haring, use a poison you can detoxify.”

Kraush advised Haring, who was paralyzed with fear, her hair standing on end.

Quickly, Haring activated Extreme Blood Poison.

“Ugh.”

Blood dripped from her mouth as the light returned to her eyes.

Though she seemed to be in pain, she could move.

Haring glanced at Kraush.

Extreme Blood Poison could both poison and detoxify.

To break free from mental interference, she used a potent poison.

In her hazy state, she couldn’t calculate the exact amount needed to wake herself up.

So, she used enough poison to make even her, accustomed to toxins, momentarily flinch.

But she could detoxify herself.

Kraush, on the other hand, had to endure the shock with his body.

‘He must have inflicted a shock at least as strong as mine to break free from the mental interference.’

Yet his face showed no change.

‘Are all Balheims like this?’

As Haring gazed at Kraush in wonder,

Kraush focused on the skull ahead.

With a rattling sound, the skull finally opened its mouth.

【How dare you intrude into my tomb. You lack fear, grave robber.】

Each word from the skull made Kraush’s skin crawl.

But Kraush’s eyes slowly opened.

The Night God had correctly identified Kraush as a grave robber.

Another term for a grave robber.

Thief.

And the skill Kraush possessed.

Black Hood.

The Night God knew about the god Kraush had a contract with.

＊ ＊ ＊

Black Hood.

Kraush met the god who gave him this skill when he wasn’t much older than he was now.

Contracts with gods are often said to be special.

The skills granted by gods are powers beyond human capabilities.

Their uses vary greatly depending on the individual.

Many always hoped to possess such skills.

But not everyone is that fortunate.

Crash!

At the time, neither was Kraush.

At 16 years old, just a month into his academy life, Kraush rolled on the ground after being hit in a mock duel.

He was unable to enter Rahelrn Academy at the standard age of 15.

Training an extra year with his mediocre talent, he finally managed to enter Rahelrn Academy.

Compared to the geniuses, he was insignificant, but his training made him an average knight.

However, being average meant nothing at Rahelrn Academy.

“Idiot, stop trying so hard when you know it won’t work.”

In the Martial Arts arena,

Kraush heard contemptuous voices and stares directed at him.

“Spit.”

He spit out the blood gathered in his mouth.

He was in a miserable state.

During the mock duel, Kraush was currently ranked last.

“Aren’t you ashamed to bear the name Balheim? At least fight with some dignity.”

One of his eyes seemed injured.

His vision was dark on one side.

Squinting through one eye, he looked at him.

A fellow student, a year younger than him,

from the Four Kingdoms Poseus,

Derrick Orman.

A new golden child from one of Poseus’s four great families, he was famous.

Kraush knew.

He only managed to enter Rahelrn Academy thanks to the Balheim name.

The ones in front of him were beyond his reach.

But this was all he could do.

“Shut up! You worm!”

Kraush swung his sword at him.

Thud!

A spear shaft hit Kraush’s jaw, knocking him out.

Seeing Kraush roll on the ground, Derrick clicked his tongue.

“If you’re that weak, at least fix that rotten mouth.”

“Derrick! Stop fooling around and come here! Senior Arthur is about to duel!”

“Really?”

As the kids rushed off,

Kraush lay on the ground alone.

The sky seemed endlessly high.

‘It hurts.’

His body ached from the beatings.

Following the professor’s advice, Kraush headed to the infirmary.

He rolled around in there so much he was tired of it.

Outside the infirmary,

Voices of excited kids filled the air.

They were full of dreams, heading towards their goals.

Despite being adults, they were still in their youth.

But Kraush sat alone in the infirmary, treating himself as the nurse was away.

There was no paradise to escape to.

Even at Rahelrn Academy, where he fled from Balheim, Kraush was alone.

“Damn it.”

A curse slipped from his lips.

Kraush grabbed his dark blue hair, nearly pulling it out.

Had he been from a regular family instead of Balheim, he wouldn’t be treated like this.

But his hair color and the name Balheim always followed him like a shadow.

It would never leave him.

‘At least…’

If he had a skill.

Kraush covered his face with his hands.

What was he thinking now?

He wrapped his bandages and walked out of the infirmary.

“Treating like that will only make it worse.”

A voice stopped Kraush.

Turning, he saw someone sitting on the infirmary window sill.

In the dark infirmary,

Sunlight cast shadows on a girl’s back.

Her face was so pale she seemed almost inhuman.

Her black hair flowed like summer wind.

With the sound of cicadas in the distance,

the girl met Kraush’s gaze and smiled captivatingly.

Wearing unfamiliar clothes, she spoke.

“No matter how you treat it, it’s already too late.”

A nameless girl.

And she was the one.

Who gave Kraush the Black Hood.

Standing before the skull inhabited by the Night God, Kraush wore a grim expression.

He still didn’t know why that god gave him the Black Hood.

The god said nothing about herself and never appeared again.

Kraush only felt the god’s presence through the power of the skill.

It was a unique contract unlike any other.

Kraush always wondered.

Who was the god that gave him the Black Hood?

“Night God, do you know which god I’m contracted with?”

Kraush asked as the skull’s eyes glowed red.

【It seems you don’t know which being you’ve allied with.】

He knows.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

This bastard knows.

Kraush’s eyes gleamed.

He hadn’t expected to find an answer to his longstanding question here.

“I’d like to have a conversation.”

Kraush proposed.

While he needed the Night God’s power, information about his own god was also crucial.

So he wanted to talk if possible.

The skull was silent for a moment.

Clack, clack!

Then, the skull’s teeth clattered.

Kraush realized the Night God was mocking him.

As Kraush frowned, the skull stopped laughing.

【Why talk with a grave robber who disturbed my rest?】

Bastard.

He never intended to talk.

At that moment, night swirled around the Night God.

The unconscious Erosion Sorcerer Juio Irma stood up.

More accurately, it wasn’t standing.

Because its head was devoured by the blackness of night, leaving it hollow.

【How amusing. Thanks to the one who coveted my power, I can now wield it.】

Darkness flowed from the arm holding the skull and Juio’s severed arm.

The darkness connected them, restoring the arm.

Wham!

Black flames surged again.

The Night God erased the approaching flames with a gesture.

Then, the skull’s eyes turned to where Kraush had been, but he was gone.

Using the chance, Kraush had fled.

【Pathetic.】

The Night God extended his hand.

Darkness flowed from his palm, sinking into the ground.

【Run all you want in my tomb.】

Boom, boom, boom!

Rumbles echoed from all around as something massive began to move.

Erosion Species influenced by the Night God’s night started moving.

Their target was everyone within the tomb.

Enhanced by the Night God’s power, their fangs would soon tear the intruders apart.

But the Night God hadn’t considered one thing.

Tap-

Footsteps echoed, drawing the Night God’s gaze.

Whang!

A golden blade slammed into the skull with a loud noise.

The skull’s eyes twitched.

The one who struck was Kraush.

He hadn’t fled after all.

Kraush had only pretended to run.

【A skill.】

The Night God realized what Kraush had done.

As he said, Kraush used a skill to hide his presence.

Haring’s skill, Invisible.

It also allowed him to approach the Erosion Sorcerer Juio Irma.

But Haring wasn’t with him.

The skull realized Haring was moving alone with Invisible.

【Tricks.】

The skull sneered.

All meaningless.

Despite Kraush’s surprise attack, the shield around the Night God remained intact.

Black pillars shot from the ground.

Touching them would blind one with darkness.

Kraush dodged the pillars, stepping back.

Smoke began to seep from Kraush’s mouth.

The World Erosion within him flared as Annihilation Erosion activated.

The Night God’s eyes glowed intensely.

From the first encounter, he sensed it.

The power emanating from Kraush was unmistakably World Erosion.

【Thief, you’ve touched what you shouldn’t have.】

Kraush remained silent.

Instead, he tempered his body.

As his body boiled, he reached the second stage of Annihilation Erosion.

But even that felt insufficient.

‘This level isn’t enough to defeat the Night God.’

Though a nameless god, a god is still a god.

The power from the skull far surpassed Kraush.

Though nothing compared to its full power, it was still overwhelming.

‘There are two paths to victory.’

One, Haring succeeds in the task assigned to her.

Two, destroy the crystal skull containing the Night God’s power.

Both were tough.

But Kraush intended to accomplish both if possible.

“Crimson Garden.”

[Ha.]

At Kraush’s call, Crimson Garden sighed in displeasure.

“I need the third stage.”

[Can you handle it?]

“It’s my specialty.”

Kraush spoke, lowering Rain Thunder Prime.

As he drew breath, he severed a curse he had been using.

Kraush’s eyes turned blood-red, his mind also consumed by red.

[You fool, you could destroy your brain.]

Crunch!

At that moment,

【Huh?】

The Night God sensed a complete shift in the atmosphere.

He knew who was causing it.

Kraush, standing with Rain Thunder Prime lowered, exhaling smoke.

‘What is this?’

The skull’s eyes trembled in the night.

When the Night God realized something,

Boom!

Juio’s body, possessed by the Night God, crashed into the tomb wall, flying to the other side.

The barrier created by the Night God’s power trembled violently.

The skull’s eyes wavered in shock.

He hadn’t comprehended what just happened.

Thud, thump.

Something fell from the broken wall.

The skull’s eyes turned to see Kraush.

His eyes were vivid red, red energy swirling around him.

Rain Thunder Prime glowed a bright red, unlike before.

The skull’s pupils dilated.

He couldn’t understand what Kraush had done.

Smoke slipped from Kraush’s lips.

The explosive power emanating from his body was on a different level.

Kraush temporarily erased a curse.

It was none other than Doll’s Eye.

During training with Crimson Garden, Doll’s Eye had once collided with another curse and was nullified.

As a result, two forces within Kraush’s body went berserk.

One was the madness of World Erosion.

The other was the murderous intent of the Heavenly Slaughter Star.

When both rampaged,

Kraush discovered something new.

Madness and murderous intent are similar but incompatible forces.

They clashed and countered each other, balancing precariously.

If one side tipped, Kraush’s mind would be consumed.

But the clash of these forces channeled pure power into his body.

The madness-enhanced power of World Erosion surged within him.

The murderous intent of the Heavenly Slaughter Star forcefully drew out his physical power.

When these forces imbued Kraush,

he saw a new realm.

The third stage of Annihilation Erosion.

Annihilation Asura

‘Ten seconds.’

The peak time Kraush could reach.