Chapter 100
Chapter 100
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: Castle Giant
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Castle Giant.
The feelers of Pauli, which had burrowed into the giant like an anthill, twitched.
A massive sphere began to reflect in Pauli's pitch-black eyes.
Beside the crumbling tower.
A sphere of absurdly enormous size came into view.
Fierce poison, blood, shadows, dragon scales, darkness, and more.
The mishmash of all sorts of elements looked dangerous at a glance.
But something even more dangerous was taking shape.
A man standing beside the sphere.
He had originally been an adult man, but his size had shrunk, turning him into the form of a boy before they knew it.
Black and white mixed hair fluttered.
Newly grown fangs protruded sharply, and his eyes were dyed red.
Undead Fusion · Syria Nosferatu
A skill that shares stats and skills through fusion with an undead.
For Leyzon, it was his greatest trump card.
And his strongest move as well.
A chill ran down his spine!
Paul's feelers stiffened.
His instinct for danger rang out fiercely.
The Staff of Abundance was aimed at the Castle Giant.
The wind began to blow.
The Abyss started to soar along with the wind.
The Abyss sphere opened its maw.
The darkness dwelling within the Abyss was beyond anything Pauli could fathom.
As if it would devour anything that dared to charge at it.
The Abyss rose into the sky.
The Castle Giant's fist was already swinging down toward the Abyss.
It was too late to block it.
So, he would minimize the damage somehow and escape.
Crrrack!
The Castle Giant, in the midst of slamming its fist down, began to transform.
The castle's bricks all shifted into a black exoskeleton.
At the same time, the Castle Giant's chest split wide open with a massive tear.
Inside was an insect as gigantic as the Castle Giant itself.
Black exoskeleton.
Thousands of bright yellow eyes.
A jumbled mess of teeth revealed from its gaping mouth.
Its long proboscis opened wide, and pitch-black light gathered within.
Castle Bombardment [SSS]
Energy accumulated inside the Black Castle in the past days.
An explosive skill activated by consuming a large amount of it.
The air warped.
Space twisted around the black light.
Before long, the pitch-black light had grown to resemble a full moon, swollen to bursting.
The Castle Giant's fist made contact with the Abyss.
The light poured out its power, clashing against the Abyss.
For a moment, it looked like the Castle Giant was pushing back the Abyss.
Pauli felt a flicker of hope.
Leyzon opened his mouth to show him reality.
The Abyss was merely preparation in the end.
"Fierce Poison Storm."
Along with the boosted stats from Undead Fusion.
The ultimate spear was finally complete.
Purple light swept across the entire Abyss once.
And that light swallowed the Castle Giant and the undead whole.
The moment Pauli saw it, he realized.
This was bad. He had to run.
Boom!
The back of the Castle Giant split open, and Pauli escaped.
Paul's body shot into the air in an instant.
He planned to fly straight into the sky and flee.
Kaboom!
At the same time, Castle Bombardment [SSS] and the Abyss collided, unleashing a ferocious explosion.
The clouds filling the sky were obliterated, and castles on the ground were swept away.
If it had fallen on a city, it would have wiped it out completely.
In that moment, Pauli realized the sky above his head had darkened.
Pauli's head tilted back.
There stood Leyzon, holding a dragonfly net.
A dragonfly net fashioned by transforming his staff.
A glint flashed in Pauli's eyes.
"!?"
It was shock and astonishment.
Leyzon had definitely been down below.
Even now, the explosion of the Abyss and Castle Giant was tearing space apart.
Breaking through that to reach here was impossible.
So, Pauli couldn't help but be bewildered.
It was only natural.
He could never have imagined Leyzon had an invincibility skill.
Steel Harden [Special]
An invincibility skill learned through Hanon's evolution.
Trusting solely in Steel Harden amid that rampage of energy.
He had pierced through everything to reach Pauli.
A tightrope walk that bordered on suicide.
Leyzon grinned, baring his teeth, having pulled it off.
That smile shone with madness bordering on ecstasy.
There was nothing left to Pauli now.
Sensing this, Pauli twisted his body, but...
With stats boosted by Undead Fusion with Syria.
Whoosh!
The dragonfly net shot out in an instant and snagged Pauli.
At the same time, shadows sealed the net's mesh tight.
Pauli thrashed inside, but the net wouldn't give.
As the words said, he'd caught it with minimal damage.
If Pauli had gone for a desperate last stand, it would have been trouble.
'But Pauli's not the type for that.'
Leyzon had anticipated Pauli would flee if he judged the situation dangerous from the start.
Pauli was the lord of the Black Castle.
The castle's master had to survive to the end.
The moment Pauli died, the Black Castle would crumble too.
This instinct was ingrained in Pauli.
It hadn't changed even after becoming a dungeon boss.
Leyzon descended to the devastated castle with Pauli securely bound.
In the distance, he could see Hanok Wilbria and Lebon, protected by Eden.
Leaving Eden behind had indeed been the right call.
"Leyzon."
Eden waved lazily with a drowsy face.
Leyzon landed in front of her.
"Did the floating island crumble?"
Old man Lebon was still spouting nonsense.
"Is Pauli in there?"
Eden asked, and Leyzon nodded.
"Yeah. Now comes the real challenge."
Dungeons reset once their boss is defeated.
But Leyzon had no intention of defeating Pauli.
Instead, he began rummaging through his bag.
Leyzon pulled out various insect feeds.
These were materials fed to bugs by bug sorcerers.
All made from Phantasmal Beast ingredients, they satisfied Pauli's evolution conditions too.
Good thing he'd prepared them in advance, anticipating a meeting with Pauli before coming here.
"Eden, before my Undead Fusion with Syria ends, layer curses on Pauli to keep him from escaping."
Eden dutifully cast curses on Pauli.
Then Hanok, holding old man Lebon to keep him from wandering off, asked,
"Leyzon, what are you planning?"
He seemed curious about Leyzon's plan.
"I'm going to evolve Pauli, then force an Undead Fusion."
Undead Fusion shared body and mind for a duration.
Which meant Leyzon could awaken Pauli's mind through it.
Right now, Pauli was dominated as the dungeon boss.
Leyzon planned to use Undead Fusion to break that hold.
Hanok pondered deeply.
He looked like something was bothering him.
"Hanok, something to say?"
"Uh, well... What if Leyzon ends up becoming the dungeon boss too?"
Leyzon hadn't considered that possibility.
Leyzon stroked his chin briefly in thought.
"Eden, put a curse on me later too."
And neatly reached a conclusion.
Undead Fusion would end after time passed anyway.
Better to have a precaution for what-ifs.
"Huh? Really?"
Eden, in the midst of cursing Pauli, showed reluctance.
She'd once faced Leyzon head-on before.
But that was before regaining her senses.
Now, there was resistance to harming Leyzon.
Syria protested vigorously from within, but
Leyzon nodded.
"Me losing my mind to the dungeon would be the worst outcome. Eden and Syria wouldn't be able to attack me."
Both were undead loyal to Leyzon.
Even if Leyzon became the dungeon boss,
They wouldn't dare harbor thoughts of attacking him.
That would leave only Hanok,
Who couldn't block an Undead Fusion with Pauli alone.
In the end, even Syria stopped protesting.
Whoosh!
Right on cue, the Undead Fusion between Syria and Leyzon dissolved.
Syria turned into a small white bat and flapped around.
Syria had grown somewhat accustomed to Undead Fusion now,
Unlike the first time, she didn't immediately fall asleep.
Pauli could do nothing, trapped in the net.
Thanks to Eden layering curse after curse relentlessly.
Perfect timing.
Leyzon grabbed the insect feed.
He undid the net and sat in front of the prone Pauli.
He fed chunks of insect feed into Pauli's mouth.
Surprisingly, Pauli accepted it without resistance.
"It's under the Curse of Hunger."
Eden had cleverly chosen a good curse.
Leyzon kept feeding Pauli as much as he could.
After a long while.
Finally, Pauli's form began to change.
Crack!
Paul's exoskeleton split open.
Then, like molting, the shell peeled away.
New legs sprouted from within, and feelers moved.
Leyzon's eyes widened at the sight.
It worked.
Evolution.
Soon, Pauli's body glowed gold.
Golden edges lined Pauli's black body here and there.
A luxurious cape draped over its shoulders and fluttered.
The crown on its head now sparkled with embedded diamonds, proving its worth.
Unlike before, Pauli now resembled a true king.
The fourth evolution among Leyzon's undead.
Now Leyzon could share Pauli's skills too.
Leyzon gave a look, and Eden sighed as she raised her hand.
"Fine. Here goes."
With Eden's words, a curse seeped into Leyzon's body.
Strength drained from his body, thirst welled up.
A sticky sensation of blood moving and nausea accompanied it.
Leyzon slumped down, barely able to stand on two legs.
As expected of a level 18 Corruption curse.
Eden had cast it weakly considering Leyzon, but it was still this bad.
He resolved never to face a curse sorcerer without Eden again.
Leyzon panted heavily with that determination.
Even breathing was burdensome under the curse.
But he couldn't afford to stop.
"Undead Fusion."
Paul's body dissolved and flowed into Leyzon.
Leyzon clenched his fists tight at the sight.
Time to awaken Pauli and become the true master of the Black Castle dungeon.