Chapter 320
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 320
Chapter Title: Ragren War
Within a space shrouded in thick fog.
World Erosors were clashing with members of the Ragren family.
Five World Erosors had infiltrated this place, along with twenty of their spawn.
Most of them were recent recruits to Ixion.
'They're basically all expendable, though.'
Yeonma, who had spread this fog across the entire Ragren estate, thumped his staff against the ground.
Even among World Erosors, there were clear levels of strength.
Some were just lucky survivors who had fled their collapsing worlds.
Their power was laughably pathetic by Yeonma's standards.
That was why the Black Witch hadn't bothered summoning them to Ixion's arena beforehand.
'The Light Pope was actually pretty decent as combat potential.'
Yeonma reacted with a hint of regret.
For all his frivolous behavior, the Light Pope had impressive skills.
'If he'd been a proper asset this time, we could've shaken up the Ragrens big time.'
To the Ragren family, the Light Pope was a nightmare.
He was the perfect figure to sow even greater chaos among them.
'The Black Witch said he defected to the Necromancer.'
The elderly man in the gray suit gripping his staff—Yeonma—let out a sigh and shook his head slowly.
As one of Ixion's founding members, he had exceptional skill, yet those like him kept falling one by one.
And Yeonma knew exactly who was behind most of it.
The man who interfered in Ixion's operations at every turn.
'Krash Valheim.'
Just recently, even Ixion's key enforcer, the Black Sparrow, had fallen to him.
Since regaining consciousness, she had been drooling vacantly, unable to move.
They'd managed to restore her body somehow, but the Memory Devourer had stripped away crucial memories as its price.
This operation's ideal outcome was kidnapping Krash Valheim.
But the main goal was to pin him down.
Ixion had marked him as a definite threat and decided to mobilize their full final force after all preparations.
The Black Witch hadn't explained properly, but for some reason, she claimed it would be more beneficial to let him grow in his current state.
'Well, she doesn't even trust us anymore.'
Yeonma showed regret at the Black Witch's decision.
Ever since the incident in her own world, she viewed collaborators as mere tools and trusted no one.
Perhaps because of that, Ixion was starting to creak from internal friction.
Well aware of it, Yeonma thumped his staff against the floor a couple more times.
It was to shake off the stray thoughts cluttering his mind.
"Yeonma."
At that moment, a voice reached Yeonma's ears.
He slowly turned toward it and saw a man removing a muzzle like one worn by a dog.
His mouth was utterly bizarre.
It looked like a dog's muzzle grafted onto a human face, with long black hair cascading down.
Peeking through that hair were the red eyes of a dog, sending chills down the spine just to behold.
The dog collar around his neck was equally conspicuous. His identity was Mad Dog.
A monster raised as a combat beast after being turned into a chimera in his own world.
"Pant, the Poison King's tied up."
Yeonma nodded at Mad Dog's words, drool dripping from his jaws.
He was the strongest among the newly recruited World Erosors.
The illusions he wielded were so vicious they even ensnared the Poison King.
Especially with Yeonma's fog filling the area, distinguishing reality from illusion would have been even harder.
"Good work."
"Pant, and there's a weird smell."
Yeonma's eyes flickered subtly at those words.
"A weird smell?"
"A nasty one. Something irritating, pant. It pushes me away."
Hearing that, Yeonma tilted his head—then froze.
A certain someone had come to mind.
"Krash Valheim. He's here."
The sensation Mad Dog described matched exactly what Yeonma felt when facing Krash Valheim.
His aura instinctively repulsed World Erosors.
It must have been the same revulsion this world's humans felt toward World Erosors.
'And yet the Necromancer and Undying One stick by him just fine despite that.'
The two cooperating with Krash were baffling.
"He slipped through my fog undetected."
Its range was vast, so he could detect external intrusions, but not everything inside.
"Let's head to him. Can you gauge his status?"
The Black Witch had ordered avoiding direct combat as much as possible, but Yeonma had history with him.
Naturally, he wanted payback.
Whoosh!
At that instant, Yeonma felt a chill and turned to Mad Dog.
Fierce anger burned in his eyes.
"Mad Dog?"
"Pant, Krash Valheim. So this is his scent. Found you at last."
"What happened with him?"
"He killed one of my pack."
Yeonma recalled how Mad Dog oddly cherished those in his pack.
But to join it, one had to become a chimera like him.
Have your face torn off and a dog's grafted on.
Only those who paid that price could become Mad Dog's pack.
And he recognized and cherished them as such.
To the point where he remembered anyone who harmed his pack and sought revenge without fail.
"I'll tear him apart."
Seeing the murderous glint in Mad Dog's eyes, Yeonma shook his head.
"We need his body intact. Don't kill him. But..."
Yeonma flashed a benevolent smile.
"As long as you don't kill him, anything goes."
After all, they only needed his body and abilities.
Nothing more.
"Simple enough."
With that, Mad Dog bolted off in beastly form.
Yeonma followed right behind.
Krash was no one to underestimate, even with Mad Dog there.
So Yeonma planned to go all out too.
That was when they reached the corridor leading to the workshop where Krash's presence emanated.
Boom! Thud!
Suddenly, a wall of bone erupted before them.
Mad Dog, seeing it rise, swung the red axe in his hand.
Crack!
The swung red axe shattered the bone wall in an instant.
Yeonma smashed it too with fists conjured from fog.
At the same time, Yeonma's eyes narrowed sharply.
He knew who wielded bone walls like this.
"Necromancer."
The moment Yeonma spoke, skeletal corpses poured down before them.
"Pant!"
Mad Dog snorted and spun his axe, weaving through the skeletal horde.
The skeletons shattered into pieces under him.
Mad Dog truly resembled a beast.
The moment he pulverized the skeletons and advanced—
Thud!
A lance burst from between the skeletons, repelling Mad Dog.
He blocked with his axe but spun wildly, landing upside down on the ceiling.
A massive knight emerged from the skeletal ranks, lance in hand.
A bizarre black crown gleamed above his head.
Unlike usual, thorns protruded from the black crown.
It was Evelask's elite corpse legion, No. 1.
Red energy churned inside No. 1's helmet.
At the same time, No. 3 the old butler stood before Yeonma, gauntlets at the ready.
He parried Yeonma's fog fist with his gauntlet and reset his stance.
Yeonma's brow twitched at the sight.
"Necromancer, you think you can handle us alone?"
Evelask's forces were certainly not negligible.
But they were optimized for group battles.
Yeonma aside, Mad Dog was built for one-on-one.
Boom!
As proof, No. 1 was being overwhelmed by Mad Dog's dual axes.
And No. 3 was the same.
He held against Yeonma somehow, but couldn't dodge everything—damage was accumulating.
New corpses appeared to draw their eyes, but it wasn't enough.
Still, Evelask kept sending more.
Watching the endless horde, Yeonma's eyes twisted in realization.
He saw what she was after.
"You're buying time."
The corpses feigned aggressive attacks but were truly on the defensive.
This was clearly a stalling tactic.
"Mad Dog! Is Krash fleeing now?"
Mad Dog flung No. 1 away again and flared his nostrils.
"He's still there."
At those words, Yeonma summoned dozens of fog giants from behind.
The fog giants soared into the air, colliding with Evelask's corpses.
Thud- Thud- Thud- Thud-
Yeonma's staff relentlessly pounded the floor.
Each time, the fog giants swelled larger, pressing the corpses harder.
"Mad Dog! I'll clear the path!"
Yeonma had figured out Evelask's goal.
She was buying time right now.
He didn't know for what, but it was definitely tied to Krash.
"Go to Krash!"
Yeonma's fog giants charged the corpses relentlessly.
They carved a vicious path for Mad Dog.
The corpses broke through some fog giants but couldn't stop Mad Dog.
Mad Dog finally burst through the corridor and smashed open the workshop door.
The moment Yeonma smirked in triumph—
Stab!
Yeonma's eyes widened at the dagger plunged deep into his side.
It was coated in deadly poison.
'This is.'
Yeonma recalled intel from before attacking the Ragrens.
Haring Ragren, daughter of the Ragren family, apparently had a stealth skill like this.
"Urk!"
She'd struck the moment he focused on repelling the corpses.
Incredibly cunning.
'If she'd aimed for my throat, I'd have noticed.'
Yeonma shrouded his vital spots in imperceptible fog.
Whether by instinct or luck, she'd targeted his exposed flank.
Yeonma felt the poison spreading rapidly through his body.
This was no half-measure; it was meant to kill.
And it wasn't ordinary poison.
It was laced with an unknown curse.
An original brew from Haring.
"Guh, urk."
Yeonma concentrated his fog around himself for defense and collapsed to his knees.
The unexpected strike forced him to take time containing it.
For now, he'd have to focus on recovery until it was neutralized.
That loosened the pressure from Evelask's corpses.
The moment Mad Dog entered the workshop, it had become Evelask's battlefield.
Bone structures filled the space, and countless corpse soldiers aimed weapons at him.
Mad Dog's brows twitched amid his long hair.
"Fearless mutt."
At that instant, Evelask's seductive voice echoed throughout the workshop.
"I'll teach you that stepping into a Necromancer's completed battlefield is walking into death itself."
She would show him the dirtiest way a Necromancer fought.