Chapter 138
Chapter 138
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: The Fake Shadow Warlord
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Syria was no different from a tank.
Wherever she pushed forward, everything was shoved aside.
"Kyahaha!"
Syria let out an inadvertent burst of laughter.
The undead hated the living and craved their destruction.
But undead like Syria, endowed with intelligence, had less of that tendency.
However, now that Leyzon had loosened the reins...
Syria was rampaging freely, unleashing her full power.
"Have I been suppressing Syria too much all this time?"
Come to think of it, he'd never really let her go all out before.
From now on, he should track down groups of malevolent transcendents and smash them whenever possible.
"Abyss."
At that moment, the Sword Saint, running alongside the shadow wolves, spoke up.
True to his title as an 18th Ascension pioneer...
He was keeping pace with Syria's charge.
"I sense a large number of apostles ahead."
As a holy swordsman, the Sword Saint was extremely sensitive to malevolent energies.
In the past, his ability to see through Syria had been thanks to his class.
If the Sword Saint said it, it was certain.
"Syria, Eden."
Apostles were full of variables.
Leyzon sent Eden out as well and drew his staff.
"Annihilate them."
The moment they rounded a massive pillar...
The space ahead was filled with apostles.
The apostles thrust forward their grotesquely repulsive faces.
Then they gaped open their drooling maws.
"Graaaaaargh!"
Leyzon felt a stabbing pain in his ears.
The Transcendence Cult had gathered these irritating bastards in one place.
Eden's form shifted to that of a suited adult male.
Syria leaped from the shadow wolf into the air.
The instant the Sword Saint drew his sword, he surged forward like lightning.
The three powerhouses plunged into the midst of the apostles in a flash.
Boom! Crash! Slash!
The apostles shattered and scattered into pieces.
"...L-Lord Abyss, were apostles always such fragile things?"
"We couldn't handle even one of those things."
"Hieeek."
Hanok shuddered violently.
It was just a glimpse of what those at the pinnacle of the world could do.
Leyzon and Hanok, mere commoners, could never produce such a spectacle.
'I could sweep them all in one go if I wanted.'
But that was only possible with undead fusion.
Apostles inherently had high magic and darkness resistance.
With his current power, wiping them out in one shot was tricky.
So Leyzon decided to do something else.
He aimed his staff at the ceiling of the main hall.
Every time an apostle died, pitch-black malice gathered on the ceiling.
Leyzon was a necromancer too, even if not as sensitive as a holy swordsman.
He could sense the malevolent aura.
'The main hall has a chalice that collects malice.'
And that chalice used the apostles' malice to birth new ones.
Ones far superior to the existing apostles.
It was the main hall's trap.
He'd noticed it the moment so many apostles gathered here.
Right now, there was a chalice above that ceiling.
"Fierce Poison Emission, Attribute Fusion, Blood Crystal."
Leyzon began loading fusion spells one after another.
A special skill of [Undying Life] activated.
Primordial Life
Special Skill of [Undying Life]
Trees began sprouting from beneath Leyzon's feet.
Poison insects and plants sprouted from his arms, injecting venom.
Mana surged wildly.
Poisonous Constitution [C] and Poison Recovery [B] overlapped, filling his mana infinitely.
Fusion spells charged one after another in response.
The Ring of Harmony amplified their power with every activation.
Leyzon's gray eyes gleamed sharply through his black mask.
The apostles began staring at one spot, drawn by the flow of power.
The fusion spell, compressed via Blood Crystal [A], spewed forth pitch-black mana.
Apostles were bizarre entities born of mana and malice.
They were extremely sensitive to mana flows.
Thus, they couldn't tear their eyes from Leyzon's fusion magic for even a moment.
Leyzon's staff became engulfed in the searing light of pouring mana.
"Fusion Magic: Citadel Transformation [C]."
The tree rising from the floor swallowed the fusion spell's crystal.
The moment its form shifted into a cannon barrel...
Leyzon's face twisted into a smile of ecstasy.
It was no different from Syria's grin.
The fusion magic exploded at maximum output.
Fusion MagicAbyss
Maximum Output Explosion
Light devoured everything.
The main hall's ceiling was blasted clean off.
The ceiling—and the chalice above it—were swept away in the explosion and vanished entirely.
The apostles staggered from the ensuing shockwave.
The two undead and the Sword Saint seized the opening to dive into the apostles.
They'd experienced Leyzon's explosions multiple times before.
They'd braced for it from the start.
The unprepared apostles were slaughtered on the spot.
A single explosion had utterly shattered their balance.
Leyzon slowly lowered his staff amid the flying debris from the ceiling.
Mana exhaustion wrapped around his body.
Relief washed over his face.
'This... is an explosion.'
There was nothing better than detonating it himself.
Grip―
In that moment, Leyzon felt a tug on his collar.
He turned to see Hanok clutching it tightly.
"...Lord Abyss, from what I've seen, you're no different."
Hanok looked dejected.
He'd done his part up until now.
But before this overwhelming reality, he felt so terribly small.
Even Leyzon, who was around the same ascension level, wielded magic on another scale entirely.
Among all the mages Hanok had seen...
Leyzon was the only one capable of such firepower.
They felt impossibly distant.
Leyzon patted Hanok's head.
"Don't worry. I guarantee it—you'll reach that level someday, Hanok."
Leyzon's eyes took in the utterly wrecked apostles.
Syria and Eden slowly turned back toward him.
The Sword Saint shook the blood from his blade.
Not a single scratch marred their bodies.
Absolute strength.
They had proven exactly what it meant.
And Leyzon intended to raise Hanok to their level.
"So watch closely."
Leyzon smirked.
"That's the place you need to reach someday."
Having a goal meant just advancing straight toward it.
Leyzon could fill in Hanok's target clearer than anyone.
Syria, now at their side, pinched Hanok's cheek hard.
"Don't whine next to Lord Abyss, you Sword-Tooth brat."
"Eek."
"Lord Abyss feeds and cares for you every step of the way. If you can't even open your mouth right, what good are you?"
It was a sharp-tongued remark.
Syria released his cheek with a snap.
"We grew this strong because we stayed by Lord Abyss's side."
Hanok, cradling his cheek, glanced at Leyzon.
Eden nodded along.
Even the undead had once been weak.
They'd simply undergone certain processes to become this strong.
The frogs hadn't forgotten their tadpole days.
"Y-Yeah, I guess so."
Hanok seemed to regain some spirit.
Though it looked more like Syria's pressure had forced it out of him.
"No more hiding now, I take it."
Meanwhile, the Sword Saint approached, inspecting his sword.
Through their exchange, he'd already guessed Leyzon's true identity.
Leyzon felt there was no point hiding his face anymore.
He tossed aside the black mask.
His stern-faced visage was revealed to the Sword Saint.
It was fake, of course.
But Leyzon's true appearance was a rare sight.
"Well, this look let us talk without issues, didn't it?"
Leyzon smirked.
Back then, the Sword Saint had been consumed by rage.
Revealing himself from the start wouldn't have led to smooth conversation.
The Sword Saint seemed to understand, saying nothing.
"Next time you lie, do it properly."
"I didn't hide it much because I figured you'd listen to me now."
The Sword Saint turned away wordlessly.
What a stoic guy.
"Now I can call you Leyzon instead of that awkward 'Abyss' that doesn't roll off the tongue!"
"Yeah, much better."
Both had tried their best to keep Leyzon's identity under wraps.
"You two did great. Hanok too."
As Leyzon tried praising Hanok...
He noticed Hanok's gaze fixed rigidly somewhere.
"Hanok?"
Calling his name, Leyzon saw him slowly raise a hand.
Hanok's eyes were blankly unfocused.
"Le-Leyzon."
Leyzon followed the direction Hanok pointed.
There, he spotted a man.
Black ears protruding from his head, eight tails rising from his back.
And amber eyes that felt strangely off.
The man was clearly of the Sword-Tooth Clan.
And there was only one Sword-Tooth Clan member in the Transcendence Cult's main hall.
He was the very reason Leyzon's group had come to the Insolent Plateau.
"Shadow Warlord?"
The moment Leyzon uttered the name...
His eyes turned toward them.
Then he slowly curled his lips into a smile.
A chill!
An eerie sensation swept over Leyzon.
That smile was utterly grotesque.
Leyzon knew at once.
That wasn't the Shadow Warlord.
"That's not my brother."
Hanok's eyes were wide open.
Fur bristling across his body, he screamed as if vomiting blood.
"That's not my brother! Something's taken him over!"
"Syria."
Leyzon called her without hesitation.
Syria's shadow was already in motion.
It pierced through walls and floor, lunging at the Shadow Warlord.
At that instant, the Shadow Warlord smashed the floor and bolted from the area.
Leyzon grabbed Hanok just as he instinctively tried to chase.
With Leyzon holding him, Hanok barely regained his senses.
Tail bristling, he bit his lip.
"Sorry, Leyzon."
Even knowing his brother was in some unforeseen crisis, Hanok snapped back to focus.
This was the quality Leyzon valued most in him.
Hanok looked fragile, but he possessed tougher mental fortitude than anyone.
Above all, Hanok trusted Leyzon completely.
He was certain Leyzon would retrieve the Shadow Warlord.
That certainty kept him from emotional impulses.
"Syria, Eden, Sword Saint—pursue the Shadow Warlord first."
He had some guesses about the situation.
But securing the Shadow Warlord's body came first.
The moment Leyzon gave the order, Syria's shadow wolves surged forward in unison.
'We made it here smoothly.'
Leyzon had never let his guard down while laying waste to the Transcendence Cult.
As mentioned before, the cult was riddled with countless variables.
Piercing through them was solely Leyzon's role.
Boom!
Sure enough, the interior of the Transcendence Cult began to shake.
'Should've brought Pauli after all.'
No problem.
He knew how to handle it without Pauli.
"Everyone, remember this."
Leyzon decided to inform them all of what the Transcendence Cult had done.
"From now on, the Transcendence Cult becomes a dungeon."
It was the cult's hidden ace in the main hall.
The dungeon that even all players called harder at the entrance than Hell Realm Key Dungeon.
Hero-Grade Dungeon
'Transcendence Cult Main Hall'
Entered.
The Transcendence Cult Dungeon had begun.