Chapter 153
Chapter 153
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: An Erased Existence
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An utterly unforeseen situation had unfolded.
I thought the Empire had deliberately erased only the Bluebird Knight Commander's information, but they had wiped out her father, the former 29th White Lion Knight Commander, as well.
And the one who erased him was the man with a sickle engraved on his eye.
'That's the one.'
Leyzon recognized him instantly.
He had spotted the man's long ears and deep-toned skin.
Black hair identical to Leyzon's, with blue inner strands, fluttered in the wind.
The Imperial Necromancer affiliated with the imperial family.
The world's one and only Dark Elf.
This was the very person Leyzon called a traitor.
Leyzon glared at him with a furrowed brow.
'What skill did he use?'
Leyzon opened his mental library of memories.
He recalled every skill similar to this one.
But nothing came to mind.
Nada.
Not a single similar skill existed.
A world-spanning ability that erased a person's very existence from everywhere.
No such thing could remain as a skill.
'...It's not a skill.'
Skills were powers that only worked within the Empire.
Beings from outside the Empire used something else besides skills.
Leyzon's gaze returned to the Imperial Necromancer.
'This bastard.'
An otherworldly existence who had slipped in from beyond the walls.
Leyzon's eyes gradually widened.
He felt the puzzle pieces in his mind snapping together all at once.
'That foreign bug shaman.'
That guy was undoubtedly connected to the Imperial Necromancer.
And Leyzon now understood why he had wanted Pauli.
'The Imperial Necromancer bastard was trying to turn my undead into his own.'
The foreign bug shaman might have been acting on his orders.
'Moreover.'
Not just the bug shaman and this guy had infiltrated the Empire's walls.
'There are definitely more.'
There were surely more such figures stationed within the Empire.
And they were manipulating the Empire to achieve their goals.
Leyzon knew what those goals were.
'A being that devours everything in this world will rise as a transcendent.'
It was a prophecy directly from the former dragon lord, the ancient dragon.
Leyzon didn't know the prophecy's origin, but the ancient dragon believed it firmly.
'To make that prophecy about himself.'
Those who crossed from beyond the walls aimed to destroy the Empire.
Leyzon reviewed the frozen memory once more.
After the Imperial Necromancer turned away, time had completely stopped.
Because the recorded memory ended there.
'This memory was captured by the Orb of Talent.'
Only then did Leyzon realize why the memory started from the first White Lion Knight Commander.
The Orb of Talent, which had steadily inherited the talents of every White Lion Knight Commander.
It had preserved memories up to this very moment and passed them on.
'Leon's grudge must have been against Siron, the Knight Commander.'
But the Imperial Necromancer had redirected that grudge.
The original suspicion toward the Empire and resolve to uncover the truth had twisted into resentment toward Syria.
'Leon probably didn't see this far.'
He had only inherited the talent and emotions.
He clearly hadn't received the detailed memories.
The Curse of Memory ended here.
Leyzon awakened his consciousness and escaped the curse.
Leyzon's eyes slowly opened.
The gathered group turned to look at him.
"Leyzon, you're back~."
"You're awake!"
Before he knew it, Leyzon realized he was riding Syria's shadow wolf.
Seeing Syria back in her original form meant she had regained her strength.
"Iden, this memory."
"Yeah, I saw it too."
Since Iden had shared the memory, he had experienced the Curse of Memory alongside Leyzon.
"There's a dangerous one~."
"Yeah. Way more dangerous than I thought."
An ability to erase a person's existence from everyone's memories.
The moment it hit, it was game over.
"What happened?"
Hanok and the Shadow Warlord approached alongside Syria.
Leyzon and Iden looked deadly serious.
Everyone couldn't help but show confusion.
There was no reason to hide it from them.
Leyzon immediately relayed what he had seen in the Curse of Memory.
"...The Empire bastards were truly insane."
The Shadow Warlord muttered in disbelief.
In the past, he had killed the Hundred-Shell Sovereign.
In that process, he learned of the Kaltura Empire's legacy.
But he probably hadn't fully grasped it.
He was born into a world with skills from the start.
A world without skills was unimaginable to him.
Still, he knew the Empire's actions were utterly mad.
And that madness exceeded imagination.
The history of the Knight Commanders was a vicious cycle of endless inheritance.
And it wasn't just the commanders.
Regular knights had likely done the same.
Monopolizing talent.
A tale that would be dismissed as ghost stories by those unaware of the truth.
But these ghost stories were all reality.
"What will you do now, Leyzon?"
Leon had come here on orders to kill Leyzon.
This meant the Empire would now actively hunt Leyzon.
The Empire was strong.
The White Lion Knight Commander, whom Leyzon had barely subdued with every trick in the book.
Three more like him remained.
Plus the underworld swordsman Night Crow and the imperial family's own sword.
'Even the Millennium Mage and the Imperial Necromancer.'
Monsters that made even Leyzon's head spin.
Facing them head-on was impossible, even for him.
"Simple."
But it was something Leyzon had to do eventually, and he knew how to pull it off.
"Time to hit the dungeon."
The simplest principle of Dungeon Replay.
Clear dungeons and grow stronger.
Leyzon intended to follow it more faithfully than anyone.
"But first."
A suspicious smile crept onto Leyzon's lips.
"I need to ask one person for a favor."
"One person?"
"You know who. That directionless idiot."
Everyone except the Shadow Warlord understood immediately.
They had been together until recently, after all.
The Sword Saint.
Begriss Fernando.
Leyzon planned to strong-arm him into helping.
"W-What do you need to entrust to him?"
Hanok, puzzled by the sudden mention of the Sword Saint, asked.
"The White Lion Knight Commander's memory has been erased from this world."
Leyzon opened his bag.
He pulled out the telegram letter he had given the Sword Saint earlier.
"That means everything he left behind has been erased from everyone's memories too."
"Huh?"
Hanok tilted his head, not understanding.
But the Shadow Warlord was different.
He pondered, then his eyes flashed open.
"...The people who need to erase his traces can't remember what he left behind."
"Exactly."
The White Lion Knight Commander Siron had been erased from the world.
But only memories related to him were wiped—his physical possessions remained intact.
'Even if erased from memory, Siron's corpse didn't vanish.'
Only memories were erased.
And because those memories were gone, the Empire couldn't erase Siron's traces.
No one knew Siron, so no one knew what he left behind.
"He served as White Lion Knight Commander into his middle age.
Plus, he must have diligently investigated his daughter's death all that time."
Then came the Empire's order to pass on his talent.
He knew they planned to dismiss him.
He even realized he might die.
Would someone like Siron leave no information about his daughter?
'No way.'
He must have hidden it somewhere.
And it was to pass on his unfinished work to someone.
'Obvious who.'
Someone with free rein across the Empire.
A position unsuspected even if digging into the imperial family.
And above all, someone who cared for his daughter more than anyone.
'Sword Saint, Begriss Fernando.'
No one was more suitable.
"He must have hidden info somewhere the Sword Saint would know."
"...But there's also the chance it doesn't exist?"
"Sure, but it's worth trying."
Leyzon's lips curved up.
Positivity was basic, no matter the situation.
Leyzon never planned for failure.
He only saw success.
"Besides, luck hasn't been on my side lately."
Ran into the Sword Saint at the Insolent Plateau.
Then the Transcendent Faith prepared an innocent frame-up there.
This time, faced the Empire's White Lion Knights.
Back-to-back bad luck.
Time to turn it into fortune.
Leyzon wrote a telegram to the Sword Saint.
The Sword Saint cherished the Bluebird Knight Commander more than anyone.
He would make the same call as Leyzon.
Scrrch—
In that instant, words appeared on Leyzon's letter.
He didn't even question if the truth existed.
The moment there was even a clue, he would pursue it without hesitation.
'Imperial Necromancer bastard.'
Acting like the world was his, but this was unexpected for them.
He had intervened personally, but since it wasn't his own system, a mistake slipped through.
Now, Leyzon resolved to dig into him thoroughly.
"Iden, can you get Gullian out?"
"Here~."
At Leyzon's request, Iden rummaged and pulled out Gullian.
Gullian, trapped in a straw doll.
Leyzon gripped the doll tightly in his hand.
Even as a straw doll, the pain was the same.
He felt Gullian's straw arm stiffen momentarily.
"Iden, give this guy a mouth."
Some of Gullian's straw unraveled, forming a mouth.
"Gullian, you know about the Imperial Necromancer."
Gullian's body twitched.
Right before switching to the straw doll, he had relayed info through the Transcendent of Evil.
No way he didn't know.
Soon, Gullian tilted his head up.
His straw mouth grinned creepily.
"Of course. How could I, a faithful follower, not know?"
"Iden, from now on, do whatever to this guy."
Leyzon tossed Gullian to Iden.
He showed no mercy toward Gullian.
"Extract every bit of information."
"Heh, heh-heh, think I'll spill just like that?"
Gullian let out an unsettling laugh.
"Curse of Memory."
But Gullian froze at Iden's next words.
"I can use it too."
Iden was the King of Curses.
No curse was beyond him.
"Wait."
Iden sewed Gullian's mouth shut again and raised his hand.
Gullian writhed silently at the curse forming in Iden's grasp.
But he couldn't escape.
The moment Iden began probing High Priest Gullian's mind.
Bzzzzt!
Black lightning exploded from Iden's hand.
"Iden!"
Leyzon called out in alarm, revealing a charred black straw doll.
"...Leyzon."
Leyzon knew the situation without Iden explaining.
The Transcendent of Evil.
He had incinerated Gullian, soul and all.
Gullian was a follower of the Transcendent of Evil.
Having sold his soul, the transcendent could kill him anytime.
"The moment we tried messing with his memories, this happened~."
A restriction on memories and information.
Leyzon let out a hollow laugh.
At the same time, a ferocious smile spread across his face.
"Blocking it this hard, huh."
Leyzon grinned, grinding his teeth.
Imperial Necromancer and Transcendent of Evil.
Fine by him.
Let's see who lives and who dies.
'To the end.'