Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Floating Island Conquest
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After concluding the deal with the Bloodless Sovereign,
Leyzon pulled Hanok out from the shadows.
"Ugh, that woman's the last person I ever want to see again."
Hanok shuddered at the mere thought of the Bloodless Sovereign.
She had been forcibly dragged away by her and used as bait for the Shadow Warlord.
There was bad blood between the Bloodless Sovereign and Hanok.
"Same here."
She was a woman with twisted tastes.
There was no upside to getting tangled up with her.
But he couldn't ignore that she sat at the top of the underworld.
'Leaving her as a line might be handy for the occasional deal.'
Leyzon had many needs ahead, especially for his nation-building endgame.
A good chunk of those supplies could come through the Bloodless Sovereign.
'At least she's reliable when it comes to business.'
Getting too deeply involved would spell trouble, but a measured connection made her a decent partner.
"Let's get moving. We need to clear the Floating Island before that ancient dragon shows up."
Leyzon was currently on the outskirts of the Floating Island.
Earlier, Pauli had let them take the shortest path, but the Floating Island was a living labyrinth where paths constantly shifted.
"Pauli, can you hold the fortress path any longer?"
"Sorry, that was the limit. I can't touch it anymore."
Pauli smacked his lips in regret.
"Push it further, and I'd end up as dungeon chow myself."
No black castle repeats for him.
Leyzon decided not to rely on Pauli further.
"You still remember the Floating Island's paths, right?"
"Locked in my head—crystal clear!"
"That's all we need. Let's hustle before the maze reshuffles."
With the ancient dragon and evil dragon business looming, Leyzon wasted no time and set off immediately.
"Hanok, this is our first upper dungeon."
Leyzon glanced back at Hanok, who was checking her gear.
The fragile look in her eyes had long vanished.
In its place burned the sharp yellow gaze of a hunter.
"I said hurry, but you're the lead on this dungeon clear—same as me."
Using the three undead would make short work of the Floating Island.
But that wasn't the plan.
Not for Hanok.
And not for Leyzon either—he needed the growth.
'The more I use magic...'
The more refined it became.
Proof that invisible skill proficiencies were climbing.
Talent might have vanished from this world, but effort hadn't.
'Strength isn't just skills and ascension.'
Experience and hard work.
Those were the true measures of power.
The fusion magic Abyss, born from every trick in the book—that was the evidence.
Leyzon gripped the Staff of Abundance.
Fierce poison blood orbs began forming around him.
Hanok's ears and tail perked up.
"Kngh."
Her eyes sharpened in an instant as she locked onto the path ahead.
The one-handed spear in her grip gleamed wickedly.
Rumble—
Gigantic mushrooms sprouted from the trees, filling the space and lunging at them.
The Floating Island's phantasmal beasts were ancient fungi.
The moment Pauli's control ended, Leyzon's group became intruders.
"So."
Leyzon called Hanok to his side and thrust his staff forward.
"Let's wrap this up quick and get out."
Veteran mode: Floating Island clear.
Floating Island.
Inside the massive island hovering in the sky.
A lone Sword-Tooth Clan member raced through cliffs and dense vegetation.
The boy with five whipping tails was Hanok Wilbria.
A 10-Ascension upper pioneer.
Behind him.
Hundreds of birds pursued in a flock.
Their eyes bulged unnaturally, heads twisted.
Fungal threads spewed from swollen skin between feathers.
Birds devoured by fungi.
Pan-fungal beasts: corrupted birds.
The Floating Island looked like a plant paradise at first glance, but deeper in, it was a fungal dominion overrun by spores.
A dungeon teeming with countless infected creatures.
That was the Floating Island.
Whoosh!
Hanok dodged a corrupted bird swooping right at his face.
It shot past him without slowing.
And slammed into a tree, detonating.
Boom!
The bird shattered, spraying corpse chunks everywhere.
Hanok rolled clear, barely escaping the blast.
Corrupted birds were living bombs.
Their sole purpose: spread fungi on command.
Any impact set them off, spores blasting outward.
Get too close, and you'd be infested.
As a melee warrior class, Hanok found them a massive headache.
But bad matchups didn't mean dodging forever.
He had to make a move before they caught up.
Hanok's eyes flashed as he ran.
He veered sharply.
Into a cliff.
Without hesitation, he leaped off.
Whoosh!
Floating sensation hit as he plummeted.
His pursuers dove after him.
"Haron."
A long vine shot from his hand.
It whipped around a tree branch atop the cliff in a flash.
The recoil launched Hanok skyward.
The corrupted birds trailing below reacted late.
They banked upward in unison.
Exactly as planned.
As they clustered for ascent,
Hanok drew a massive breath.
Lungs full,
he roared wide-mouthed.
A sonic storm beyond hearing swept the birds.
Unable to withstand, they exploded into fragments.
Fungi scattered on the wind, vanishing over the cliff.
Hanok landed atop the cliff.
He wiped drool from his mouth.
Roaring Surge (S)
Sonic devastation shreds foes with raw sound waves.
One of the skillbooks Leyzon gave him.
A fresh replacement for Primal Roar (B).
Unlike mere stuns, Roaring Surge struck with destructive sound force.
'S-rank lives up to the hype.'
Hanok marveled, testing his new S-rank skill amid the Floating Island.
It outclassed every skill he'd used before.
His combat power had surged.
'And on top of that...'
Leyzon knew Hanok's skill setup inside out.
He'd handpicked perfect upgrades for his most-used abilities.
'Feels just like my old dailies.'
Just way more powerful and versatile.
No frame shift from his prior kit.
Hanok wielded them seamlessly.
'Does Leyzon know every skill or what?'
Not even his class skills.
Yet he had them all scoped.
Leyzon's insight left Hanok in awe.
"Grrrng."
A voice from Haron.
Hanok turned to see dense fungi massing and moving.
He stilled his presence.
Haron's Camouflage (B) kicked in, cloaking him.
He knew where the fungi headed.
Hanok crept along the cliff.
There, dozens of fierce poison blood orbs rocketed skyward.
Each one potent enough to engulf the area on detonation.
At the orbs' center.
Cloud-like darkness churned fierce winds.
'Not fungi gathering.'
The gusts sucked in every spore filling the forest.
Fungi, lighter than plants, couldn't anchor—sucked right in.
'Pan-fungal beasts are the biggest roadblock here.'
They lurked everywhere in the woods.
Some huge and visible, others microscopic.
No host too good or small.
Even humans—once inside, they rooted deep.
Only self-immolation purged them.
True to an upper dungeon, pan-fungals were optimized human-killers.
Leyzon knew this well.
So he targeted the invisible ones first.
Whoosh!
Sucked-in pan-fungals collided with the orbs.
Viscous fierce poison blood swallowed them whole.
The poison melted them down.
"Sword-Tooth kid."
A voice in Hanok's ear.
He startled, peering down.
Syria Nosferatu had slipped from his shadow.
She should feel familiar by now, but without Leyzon, she embodied pure dread—terror woven from nothing.
Her presence crushed eye contact.
"He said when the pan-fungals cluster like this, it'll come soon. Get ready."
"That thing?"
Hanok blinked wide, overwhelmed by her aura.
Rumble rumble rumble—
The entire Floating Island forest shook.
Hanok scrambled up a tree.
There: a stampede charging from the treeline.
All bodies hijacked by fungi.
Hanok recoiled at the spores pouring from them.
His keen nose made bronchial assaults his weakness.
The stench and spores were nightmarish.
Thud!
But a bigger issue loomed.
At the horde's tail end.
Something colossal stirred.
Gusts revealed it fully.
"Th-that's..."
A titanic fungal aggregate.
Piled from fungus-ridden corpses—a giant born of infestation.
Fungal Body Giant
Floating Island Leader Phantasmal Beast
The Floating Island's boss phantasmal beast.
It emerges to protect pan-fungals when their numbers thin too much.
Pop—hiss!
Bubbles burst on its body, spraying spores.
Trees it passed drowned in fungal overgrowth.
It was a walking infestation factory.
"Uwaaaah, my nose—it's gonna rip off!"
Hanok choked back tears from the reek.
Haron swiftly slapped a helmet over his head.
To shield from spores and stink.
Hanok finally breathed easy.
"Get to Leyzon. Safest spot there."
Syria vanished, leaving Hanok behind without mercy.
He pouted.
Take him too while you're at it.
'But.'
Leyzon had said they'd tackle the Floating Island with their own power.
The three undead weren't helping this time.
Hanok had to solo his part.
Shing!
He drew his one-handed spear.
And stared down the fungal beasts swarming toward Leyzon.
'Till Leyzon drops the Fungal Body Giant.'
Guarding him—that was Hanok's role.
He charged into the forest.
Ever faithful to his duty.
And he sensed something faintly.
With a new explosive skill fresh today,
Leyzon would unleash without restraint.
His blast mania worsened by the day.
'Bet it's the same this time.'
Caught in it? Game over.
Hanok shook his head.
'N-no, I'm heading to protect Leyzon!'
Ignoring explosion dread,
Hanok bolted toward him full tilt.