Chapter 148
Chapter 148
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 148
Chapter Title: White Lion Knight Order
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A curtain of darkness draped over the night.
Dust swirled through the air from the shattered church.
Amid it all, the shadow cast by the moon through the clouds stretched long.
Within that shadow.
Leyzon and his companions quietly observed the scene above.
"The Empire's knight order..."
The Shadow Warlord muttered, swallowing a groan.
The group that had suddenly appeared and obliterated the church.
Leyzon recognized them at once from the emblem etched on their armor.
'White Lion Knight Order.'
The Empire originally had five knight orders.
But the Blue Hawk Order had been wiped out for some reason.
Thus, only four remained in operation, and the White Lions were one of them.
The White Lions' hallmark was breakthrough by force.
They charged bravely at the forefront like lions, piercing through the Empire's crises.
That was the White Lion Knight Order's creed.
As such, they were a group supremely confident in their martial prowess.
"I'm sorry. They might be after me."
The Shadow Warlord said with a darkened expression.
He knew the knight orders' dangers all too well.
After all, he had been hunted by them as an Imperial criminal.
"I don't think so."
But Leyzon refuted the Shadow Warlord's words.
The Shadow Warlord was indeed a fugitive from the Empire.
Yet they wouldn't mobilize an entire knight order just to capture him.
'Why would those guys come to a ghost town like this?'
He didn't need to ponder deeply.
'The Imperial Necromancer.'
The traitor Leyzon spoke of.
He had surely sent the White Lion Knight Order here.
'And he's in league with the Transcendent of Evil.'
Not long ago, Leyzon had utterly demolished the Transcendent Church's main temple.
Word of that would have reached the Imperial Necromancer.
Leyzon had been at odds with him since the Resonance World days.
'So these guys aren't after the Shadow Warlord—they're here to kill me.'
Leyzon's gaze returned to the White Lion Knight Order.
The Empire's knight orders were symbols of terror.
Even in Dungeon Replay, warnings abounded never to fight them.
The reason was simple.
The minimum requirement to become an official Imperial knight was...
15 Ascensions—Hero rank.
Each one a monster rivaling a major guild master.
Such monsters formed the Empire's knight orders.
Each order consisted of 30 knights total.
In other words, 30 Hero-rank weapons assembled.
'And that's just the minimum.'
Leyzon's eyes swiftly scanned the White Lion Knight Order.
Among them were 16-Ascension Bronze Heroes, and even 17-Ascension Steel Heroes.
A horde of such beasts rampaging together.
No wonder no one dared challenge the Empire's knight orders.
Above all, the truly dangerous one stood apart from those monsters.
Leyzon noticed sweat beading on his palms.
The silence within the shadow stemmed from that one man.
By Syria's nature, she would have screamed to kill them already.
Iden would have followed suit.
Yet Syria and Iden.
Both undead held their silence now.
Leyzon's eyes locked on the beastly massive man.
White hair like a lion's mane.
A massive scar crossing his face.
A colossal frame towering a head above the other knights.
White armor modeled after a lion's head.
29th White Lion Knight Order Captain
Leon Crysis
A monster.
The word for objects of fear.
This man embodied it perfectly.
The overwhelming presence emanating from him froze the air.
Simply breathing exuded pressure.
If they faced him head-on outside the shadow...
Even Leyzon, who had confronted countless powerhouses, might have collapsed.
'That guy.'
20 Ascensions.
Platinum Hero rank.
'Empire, you balance-breaking bastards.'
Leyzon ground his teeth.
The Empire's knight captains.
He knew their dangers well.
Leyzon had cleared Dungeon Replay 64 times total.
He had clashed with knight orders in the process.
And been smashed every time.
Back then, as a game, he'd shrugged it off.
But in reality, the Empire's might hit differently.
'The White Lion captain isn't who I remember.'
Leyzon knew the previous White Lion captain.
But captains were human.
After 100 years, the one he remembered was long in the grave.
Leon was the new captain succeeding the White Lions.
Yet his strength matched the previous captain's.
Humans lacked the longevity of other races.
So how did their captains remain consistently strong?
Leyzon had a hypothesis from before.
'Concentration of talent.'
The Kalтура Empire had castrated all human talent.
Humans became talentless as a result.
But had that talent truly vanished forever?
'No.'
Leyzon was certain, watching the White Lion Knight Order.
The Empire monopolized talent.
And wielded it for the Imperial family.
That was why the Imperials reigned supreme.
Overwhelming talent concentrated in select individuals, in exchange for stripping all humans.
From that sprang the Empire's knight orders—monsters born of it.
'And it's not just raw specs.'
Their armor and swords were uniformly priceless.
Unique-grade at minimum, up to Legendary.
Selling just their gear could buy a mansion.
And then.
'Skills.'
Even at 15-Ascension Hero rank, every Imperial knight held at least one SSS-grade skill.
SSS-grade skills, each a bundle of variables.
Tricky alone, but 30 with them all.
The real issue was Captain Leon.
'Dungeon Replay code dives by players showed all knight captains' skills set to SSS-grade.'
This held for the new captain Leon too.
Platinum Hero specs with full SSS skills.
Leyzon unwittingly swallowed hard.
It was pure, merciless violence incarnate.
And such a being now stood before Leyzon's group.
Leyzon's gaze shifted to Syria.
Syria silently watched Leon, lips sealed.
She recognized his strength too.
Always the supreme ruler, but against an Empire-forged monster, even she fell short.
Thus, she deliberately kept the shadow still.
Any movement, and Leon would notice.
"I'm sorry, Leyzon. I should have detected them sooner."
If Syria had spotted their approach earlier, escape was possible.
She despaired at endangering Leyzon.
But Leyzon shook his head at her words.
"Syria, if even you didn't notice, no one would have."
She was the strongest here.
This wasn't her fault.
"More importantly, how do we handle this now?"
As mentioned, Leyzon knew the previous White Lion captain's info.
As a top-tier NPC powerhouse, he'd memorized the skill list just in case.
But that was 100 years ago.
'No way the current captain has the same.'
Similarities, sure, but differences aplenty.
What skills did current White Lion Captain Leon possess?
What combat style did he favor?
He knew nothing.
The previous captain, yes—but not Leon.
Drip—
Then, from the ruined church, a sound of movement echoed.
The White Lion Knight Order and Leon's gazes snapped there.
Emerging through the smoke was an elderly man.
An old man bereft of eyes and ears.
The Salvation Lord.
"Salvation Lord."
Leon knew of him already.
And knowing, he had still attacked the church.
A chill glinted in Leon's eyes.
His drawn massive sword pointed at the Salvation Lord.
"Word is you've been colluding with the Abyss."
Leyzon's eyes twisted watching the scene.
And something flashed in his mind.
Leyzon had met the Salvation Lord today.
Yet accusations of collusion with the Abyss?
The flow felt off.
'This...'
Information no one could know without selling it.
So who sold it?
Not the Salvation Lord, in Leyzon's view.
Obviously not the two undead, Hanok, or the Shadow Warlord.
But one person.
A face surfaced in Leyzon's mind.
His eyes fell on the straw doll in Iden's grip.
"Gullian, you summoned those bastards, didn't you?"
The soul dwelling in the straw doll—High Priest Gullian.
Before transferring to the doll, he had leaked Leyzon's info to the Imperial Necromancer.
Gullian and the Imperial Necromancer served the same Transcendent of Evil.
Passing info via the Transcendent was simple.
The White Lion Knight Order mobilized to Line Road on the Imperial Necromancer's intel.
Then followed Gullian's updates to Valantia Village.
Too careless.
Crunch!
Iden crushed the straw doll viciously.
The doll writhed in agony.
Yet a faint glee emerged, as if satisfied with his deed.
"Look forward to it."
Leyzon slowly curled his lips at Gullian.
Even in this pinch, Leyzon could smile freely.
"I'll make you regret this for life."
Gullian flinched.
Leyzon intended to thoroughly show him the consequences.
Leyzon drew the Staff of Abundance.
"Salvation Lord, I know you can converse despite your deaf ears. Speak."
Meanwhile, Leon interrogated the Salvation Lord.
"Where have you hidden the Abyss in the church?"
White flames flickered along Leon's sword.
The Salvation Lord met it with silence.
Instead, he slowly drew a sword his size.
Leon's brow furrowed at the sight.
The Salvation Lord signaled intent to fight.
"They said you'd lost eyes and ears."
Killing intent surged from Leon.
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
"Seems age has made you forget the value of your neck."
The Salvation Lord resolved to battle the White Lion Knight Order.
Soon, his parched lips parted.
"You are puppets of evil. My sole remaining nose smells it clearly."
Leyzon grasped why the Salvation Lord drew his blade.
The Imperials had fallen so far as to harbor the Transcendent of Evil's followers.
To him, Imperial lackeys were evil incarnate.
Only good or evil mattered—not strength or weakness.
"I execute evil."
That was the Salvation Lord.
He declared he would execute the White Lion Knight Order.
Leyzon's eyes flashed at the sight.
The Salvation Lord would fight.
That alone unveiled a path to victory.
The Salvation Lord was that much an outlier.
Leyzon recognized this as their sole chance.
The only shot to fell the White Lions.
He exhaled.
Shaking off the negative emotions rising in his mouth.
Instead, his lips curved upward.
Even in crisis, he could smile positively without hesitation.
That was Leyzon.
His eyes changed.
Everyone present noticed.
"Syria, Iden, Shadow Warlord, Hanok, Haron."
Leyzon gripped his staff tight, calling everyone here.
"From now on, we hunt the White Lions."
An Imperial knight order raid.