Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: Traitor in the Resonance World
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Leyzon had left the Sunset Desert region and was rapidly putting distance between himself and the east.
Around that time, the battle between the old dragon and the Judgment Lord raged on.
Even from far away, bursts of light were visible exploding in the distance.
Leyzon had temporarily restored the old dragon to its prime.
But it had already depleted nearly all its strength.
Against the Judgment Lord, buying time was likely the best it could manage.
'If only I could land a fatal blow.'
The Judgment Lord was an enemy to Leyzon as well.
More than that, this incident had planted seeds of doubt about him.
Was he truly upholding the prophecy for the sake of world peace?
'Maybe not.'
The Judgment Lord might share the same goal as the old dragon.
'The list of things I need to uncover just keeps growing.'
Still, he was inching forward through the darkness.
Someday, light would break through.
He had parted ways with the Bloodless Sovereign the moment they exited the desert.
She wasn't the type to travel with company in the first place.
"The Judgment Lord doesn't know my true identity. But he'll piece it together from our conversation. Dragons are few and far between, after all."
To prepare for the Judgment Lord, she planned to make her arrangements.
He was dead set on thwarting the prophecy, no matter the cost.
Which meant he would surely track her down.
Leyzon handed her one of Syria's shadow rats with instructions to contact him if the Judgment Lord showed up.
The Bloodless Sovereign departed just like that.
"I still don't like her..."
Hanok grumbled. The Bloodless Sovereign clearly wasn't welcome in his book.
He'd been making decent progress as a pioneer.
Then she kidnapped him, so it was only natural he'd hold a grudge.
Five reached out and patted the sulking Hanok's head.
"Hanok, try thinking of it another way. If not for her, you never would've met Leyzon."
Hearing Five's advice, Hanok glanced their way.
Leyzon casually raised a hand and flashed a peace sign.
Hanok let out a small sigh.
"Still, though."
What a half-hearted response.
Leyzon felt a little stung.
"Sword-Tooth Clan runt, you got a death wish? What kinda attitude is that in front of Leyzon?!"
"Uwak!"
Syria lunged forward and yanked viciously at Hanok's cheeks.
Hanok flailed wildly, but he couldn't break free from her iron grip.
"What a lively bunch."
Pauli chuckled as he watched the scene unfold.
Iden lounged in the sunlight with her usual drowsy expression.
It was clear from this that everyone had grown comfortable with the group as it was.
"Leyzon."
As he observed them, Five sidled up beside him.
"Should I head back to Sahā Village?"
Five had served as bait to draw in the old dragon.
Naturally, he was inquiring about his next assignment.
There wouldn't be any issues keeping him around longer.
But squandering talent like his felt like a waste.
"That's the idea. I want to check on Sahā Village's progress with my own eyes anyway."
Leyzon had set his sights on Sahā Village as the stage for his nation-founding ending.
By now, Steel Wolf Guild's leader Rafila was probably sweating bullets.
As the one in charge, the least he could do was make an appearance.
"We separating from Five again?"
Hanok shot Five a wistful look.
"Hanok, Five's gonna build us a home to come back to."
Leyzon reassured the disappointed Hanok.
"A home to come back to..."
Five mulled over Leyzon's words.
As a Night Crow operative, Five had always been expendable.
He'd never had a real home to return to before.
"What do you say, Five? Think you can pull it off?"
Five's face lit up at Leyzon's question.
"Yes, sir. I'll make sure it's ready for your return anytime."
Fully unshackled from his past, Five was now one of Leyzon's crew through and through.
Leyzon gave him a quick smile and took a seat.
"Alright then. Let's run some training to keep that new home safe."
The antidote manual crafted by the Poison Spider.
Through it, he would master Fierce Poison Mixed Aura [SS] as his own spell.
Syria's shadow wolf pressed onward.
Normally, he'd clear a dungeon or two during downtime, but with the Judgment Lord in pursuit, that was on hold for now.
Besides, they were retracing their steps, so he'd already swept most of the dungeons along the route.
During the journey back, Leyzon pored over the antidote manual without cease.
And that's when Leyzon realized something.
"...I have zero talent for magic."
Leyzon propped his chin on his hand and stared at the manual.
He'd always figured his brain was sharp enough.
But smarts and this were two different beasts.
Gaps in knowledge were bound to trip you up.
Magic especially—a concept that didn't exist in his old world.
Starting from square one with the basics? No wonder it wasn't clicking.
'Doesn't feel impossible, though.'
His patchy knowledge kept holding him back.
"Leyzon, having trouble?"
Pauli wandered over just then.
Leyzon set the book aside to clear his head.
"Trying to wield magic without a skill slotted in. Turns out it's not as simple as I thought."
"Hmm? What kinda spell?"
"That SS-grade poison magic skill from before. Ring a bell?"
Back when he'd fused with Pauli's undead form.
Pauli knew it well.
"Even trying to wrap my head around the spell's not going smoothly."
Leyzon eyed the manual wistfully.
The Poison Spider had gone all out preparing it, but it might as well have been written in another language.
Even with speed reading, comprehension was the bottleneck.
No true grasp meant no full skill potential.
Pauli studied it thoughtfully before offering his take.
"Leyzon, building a fortress starts with solid groundwork. Mess up the foundation, and the whole thing crumbles."
Leyzon's ears perked up.
"That spell you're after is SS-grade, yeah?
Piling bricks without a base? No surprise you're hitting walls."
Sound logic.
"So, back to basics with F-grade spells?"
"Long journeys don't get conquered by shortcuts. Walk the near paths first, no?"
Fair point.
Leyzon had been dead set on cracking SS-grade spells right away.
The manual only covered SS-grade ones, after all.
He'd fixated on mastering just those.
'The Poison Necromancer grimoire had lower-grade spells too.'
He might've overlooked something huge.
"Thanks, Pauli. You just cleared something up for me."
"Heh, happy to help."
Pauli beamed with pride.
"Syria."
"Yessir!"
Syria bolted upright from where she'd been rolling around with some book she'd picked up somewhere.
She scampered right over to him.
"You called?"
"Gonna summon the Poison Spider to the Resonance World. Mind reaching out?"
"On it!"
Syria had a shadow rat on the Poison Spider too.
As she made contact, Leyzon closed his eyes.
Soon, the Resonance World materialized before him.
Familiar by now, he scanned his surroundings.
No letters this time, same as before.
Hunting down his final undead—the ghost bride—would take more time yet.
Leyzon shrugged it off and stepped through the door.
Unusually, the Resonance World felt a tad bustling.
'Skull, Butterfly Mask, Beardy, Monkey... and.'
Leyzon spotted the Lizard Man.
Lizard Man.
The necromancer who'd been hauled off by the imperial palace.
"Oh, speak of the devil."
Skull turned, chattering his teeth in a grin.
His good moods usually spelled trouble.
Leyzon's arrival drew every eye naturally.
Monkey wagged his tail like an excited pup.
Consistent as ever.
Leyzon strode in, irritation plain on his face.
"From the looks of it, something went down."
His gaze settled on the Lizard Man.
And he quickly clocked how the Lizard Man was just... blank.
Pupils dilated, vacant—no spark of life in those eyes.
Leyzon's eyes narrowed.
Something was off.
"What's wrong with him?"
The necromancers traded uneasy glances.
"I got here first. He was already like this when I arrived."
Butterfly Mask sounded utterly baffled.
"Tried talking to him. Nothing. Mind's shattered, looks like."
Beardy had run some tests, apparently.
But the Lizard Man showed zero inclination to budge.
He just stood there, utterly lost in space.
"Something must've blown up on the imperial side."
Monkey eyed him grimly.
Acquaintances from the Resonance World, after all.
Sucks seeing a familiar face like this.
Skull clattered his jaws again.
"Weird part is—even if something happened and he croaked, he shouldn't end up here like this."
Skull nailed the anomaly.
Leyzon's eyes widened slowly at that.
"...Which means the Lizard Man shouldn't even be here."
Puzzled stares turned his way.
Time to clue these necromancers in.
"Think about it. Say he fled here for whatever reason. If he was spaced out from the jump, he'd be holed up in his room, right?"
Dawns of realization spread across their faces.
Leyzon's point had landed.
"So how'd he waltz all the way here on his own?"
The Lizard Man was puppeted out, mindless.
How'd a vegetable like that reach the hall?
Something happened to him in the real world.
He came here begging for help.
But instead of aid, he got jumped here.
Gazes converged on Butterfly Mask.
She was the first to find him, after all.
She recoiled behind her mask, flustered.
"H-hold on! Why would I mess with Lizard?!"
"Didn't that Abyss contact of yours drop a hint once?"
Skull fixed her with a piercing stare.
"Said there's a traitor lurking in the Resonance World."
An awkward hush fell over the group.
Cold sweat beaded on Butterfly Mask's mask—or would've, if visible.
"Don't pin this on me! I'm no fool—if I'd done it, I'd have bolted by now!
Hell, I'd have hidden Lizard first!"
Logical enough.
Cornering her prematurely was risky.
"More likely some outside force got to him while he was coming for help!"
True—external meddling could've zombified him en route.
"Either way, we've confirmed one thing."
Monkey swept a murderous glare across the room.
Except at Leyzon, where he flashed a grin.
"Fail to sniff out the traitor, and this happens again."
The traitor in the Resonance World had to be found.