Chapter 154
Chapter 154
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 154
Chapter Title: Farewell to the Shadow Warlord
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By the time they finally arrived at the nearest village.
The Shadow Warlord bowed his head in greeting before Leyzon.
"Leyzon, I'll take my leave here."
"Bro, you're leaving already?"
Hanok gazed at the Shadow Warlord with a face full of regret.
But the Shadow Warlord had his own duties to attend to.
He had accompanied them this far to ensure Leyzon and Hanok's safety.
Now that Leyzon was back on his feet, there was no need to stick around any longer.
"Yeah, there's a friend who helped me out. He's probably been worried sick, so I need to go check on him."
The Shadow Warlord reached out and gently ruffled Hanok's hair.
Even so, the regret didn't fade from Hanok's face, though it was clear he was holding back for his brother's sake.
"Leyzon, please take good care of Hanok from here on out."
Leyzon waved at the politely bowing man.
"Sure thing. Just don't let anyone hijack your body again."
The Shadow Warlord gave an awkward smile.
He knew full well that this incident had been a massive blunder on his part.
A guy who recognizes his mistakes is one who grows.
Leyzon could tell the Shadow Warlord would be even stronger the next time they met.
"Right, I have to."
"And I know it might not mean much coming from me, but..."
Leyzon offered the Shadow Warlord a gentle smile.
"Because you're the kind of person who doesn't hesitate to save others, Hanok's been able to grow like this."
Hold back the curses, but let the praise flow freely.
That was Leyzon's personal philosophy, his way of life.
He was more than happy to acknowledge the Shadow Warlord's hard work up to now.
Hearing Leyzon's words, the Shadow Warlord slowly broke into a smile.
"Thank you. Now I get why Estelle was so fond of you."
"And how she could be so upright, too."
Like parent, like child.
Leyzon beamed with pride at the praise for his undead.
Give praise, and praise comes back.
It was the natural law of the world.
The Shadow Warlord exchanged one last goodbye with Hanok.
He would continue struggling to rescue more sub-species from here on.
Those without a place to return to would be welcomed in Sahā Village.
So this wasn't a complete farewell by any means.
Hanok was certain they'd meet again someday.
"Bro, next time we meet, I might be even stronger!"
The Shadow Warlord's face lit up with more fulfillment than ever at Hanok's resolute shout.
With that, the Shadow Warlord departed.
Hanok already seemed to miss him.
But Hanok was growing up little by little.
He no longer wallowed in sorrow over goodbyes.
"Hanok."
"Yeah."
Leyzon chuckled at Hanok's spirited reply.
"You want to get even stronger from here on, right?"
"Yeah! I'll definitely get stronger than you, bro."
With that kind of determination, he'd pull it off for sure.
And Leyzon had the means to make it happen.
"We'll resupply in the village, then head back to the Brazen Plateau."
Hanok immediately caught on.
"Because of that dungeon you mentioned before, right?"
The Hell Realm key dungeon buried beneath the Transcendent Church's Brazen Plateau headquarters.
Leyzon had no intention of giving up now that they'd come this far.
"Exactly. But first, I'm planning to sweep every dungeon in the vicinity."
They'd faced danger after danger lately.
Leyzon concluded it was time to tighten the schedule a bit.
The enemies ahead wouldn't stop at Leon-level threats.
They needed to grow even stronger.
Hanok's and Leyzon's eyes met.
Hanok nodded, understanding Leyzon's resolve.
"Yeah, I want that too!"
Meeting the Shadow Warlord had reignited Hanok's fire.
Leyzon's lips curved up at the sight of those blazing embers.
"Good. Then let's get to it."
Time for a fun dungeon crawl.
Upper dungeon.
A dungeon even top-tier Pioneers staked their lives on.
Which was why the boss of an upper dungeon carried a certain pride.
A rock-solid sense of being the ruler of this domain.
But today.
The boss had to run for its life, pride be damned.
Earth Realm, Rabbit-type boss.
Praise Rabbit.
Here, the Praise Rabbit was invincible, a god.
But right now, that god was fleeing desperately.
Because a massive black sun had descended from the skies onto this land.
Before the calamity, the Praise Rabbit let out a pitiful wail.
Yet the black sun inevitably swallowed it whole.
Krraaa-boom-boom-boom-crash!
The Praise Rabbit shattered into pieces.
A man slowly descended atop the remains of the Praise Rabbit.
His black hair, blue at the roots, fluttered as he lowered his staff.
His name was Leyzon.
Lately, he'd been smashing through every upper dungeon in sight.
"Dungeons are murder to me."
"M-murder?"
Before he knew it, Hanok was munching on jerky beside him, tilting his head.
Hanok had grown even taller and bulkier lately.
His appetite had spiked, and so had his skills.
Leyzon felt a pang of bitterness that his killer gag had flopped again.
Still, someday someone would laugh.
"Leyzon, I've filled up my 12th Ascension EXP!"
While Leyzon was sulking, Hanok reported that he'd maxed his Ascension EXP.
Must be from hitting dungeons non-stop day and night.
Hanok's Ascension EXP had quietly filled up.
"Alright, then next dungeon, we'll grab the quest from the Pioneer Association in the nearest village."
Leyzon's fighting style was too flashy.
So he'd stuck to low-traffic dungeons so far.
'Time to restock food anyway.'
More importantly, Leyzon himself had hit the 13th Ascension requirement with today's dungeon.
He'd cleared five Lv. 11+ dungeons before wrapping up the 12th Ascension.
And now, he'd finally completed the 13th Ascension quest too.
'Just two more Ascensions.'
Two more, and he'd be Hero-tier.
'Thinking about it, I've been pulling off Hero-level feats without even being one.'
Somehow he hadn't died yet.
Thanks to this, his skill slots had opened up by two again.
Leyzon pondered what to fill them with.
"Great job, Leyzon! You've grown again!"
Just then, Syria popped out from standing guard nearby.
She clung to Leyzon and rubbed her head against him.
Leyzon familiarly patted her head.
"Leyzon, I think mine's full toooo."
At that moment, Eden appeared holding a Knightly Rabbit, a white-grade Phantasmal Beast.
The Knightly Rabbit carried a knight's curse.
Leyzon instantly understood what Eden meant.
"Evolution time, huh."
"Yeah, feels like it."
Eden replied with a drowsy expression.
First Syria, now Eden was ready to evolve.
Leyzon crossed his arms.
He'd been chased by the White Lion Knights not long ago.
'They can't track us now, though.'
The White Lion Knights had come after him because of Transcendent Church High Priest Gullian.
Gullian's life had been reclaimed by the evil transcendent entity.
So they couldn't relay his position anymore.
'No imperial folks have shown up since.'
It was already spring now.
Leyzon had grinded nothing but dungeons until reaching 13th Ascension.
He'd been cautious, but hadn't seen so much as a single imperial soldier, let alone knights.
'They haven't given up the hunt.'
They'd even sent the White Lion Knights.
Elite knights created by the empire or not, they were top-tier forces.
'I've been hiding pretty well, sure.'
Even accounting for that, there'd been zero activity.
'Are they preparing something?'
Leyzon rubbed his chin, lost in thought for a moment.
There was still time before the undead hijacking the lizard had mentioned.
Though it might've been moved up.
The lizard could've been coming to warn him about it.
'To uncover that bastard's true intentions...'
He needed to revive the lizard.
And for that, he needed the Resonance World.
No word yet on the Resonance World restoration.
Lately, it was just repeating, "Almost there. Really, just a bit more."
Leyzon decided to stop prodding the flame-headed text.
Fatigue was practically dripping from the letters.
Pushing wouldn't help.
Leyzon made his decision.
"Alright, Eden, let's get you evolved."
"For realsies?"
"Yeah. We were heading to the nearby village anyway. Perfect timing. We'll do it there."
Syria could cover for Eden's absence just fine.
Better to bolster their forces while they had the downtime.
"Got it. Starting now."
Eden lifted the Knightly Rabbit.
A curse began wafting up fluffily from the Knightly Rabbit.
Soon, the curse was absorbed into Eden's straw body.
At the same time, a glow started emanating from Eden's form.
The moment the light filled the surroundings.
Thud—
A straw doll dropped to the ground.
A straw doll with a head as big as its body.
The straw doll simply sat there, doing nothing.
Eden's evolution had begun.
Just like with Syria, it would take 100 hours.
Leyzon carefully picked up Eden and tucked it safely into his bosom.
"Syria loves Leyzon's bosom too!"
"Yeah, Syria. You can handle Eden's duties for a while, right?"
"It's me, Leyzon. Syria Nosferatu."
Syria puffed up proudly.
Her confidence had no discernible source, but it felt like the most reliable thing in the world.
"Good. Let's head to the village."
The nearest village.
Eloria, built around the upper dungeon Primate Realm.
Upper dungeon, Primate Realm.
It spawned Target Phantasmal Beasts.
Phantasmal Beasts with gorilla bodies and upper torsos covered in thick, mane-like fur.
Their pelts fetched top prices.
Not only enchanted with magic, but highly valuable as armor too.
That's why so many top Pioneers stayed in Eloria.
'No wonder top Pioneers are swimming in cash.'
Some blew it all on booze, but top Pioneers were wealthy by default.
That was why life-changers started at top Pioneer level.
As they approached Eloria's gates, the city buzzed with people.
Top Pioneers were rich.
They spent freely, too.
Where top Pioneers gathered, infrastructure naturally followed.
'That's why big guilds constantly recruit top Pioneers.'
At that level, they were respected anywhere.
So Pioneers scrambled desperately to reach top tier.
"Th-they all look kinda scrawny and weak."
That's when Hanok whispered beside Leyzon.
Leyzon got where Hanok was coming from.
'He's been through the same hell I have.'
They'd fought battles brutal enough to wipe out even Heroes effortlessly.
From Hanok's perspective, having felt that intensity firsthand, top Pioneers couldn't help but seem feeble.
'Our past fights set the bar way too high.'
Leyzon saw the positive side.
With that courage, they could act even bolder.
Nothing wrong with it.
Just don't get complacent.
This world was full of all sorts of people.
Variables could swing in unpredictable ways.
Leyzon himself was a prime example of a wildcard.
"Let's head to the Pioneer Association first."
"Okay."
Leyzon secured Eden in his bosom and started walking.
'Kinda feels like there are a lot of imperial troops.'
A robed figure with the golden imperial army emblem passed by Leyzon.
That robe was a special issue for imperial officers.
Eloria had tons of top Pioneers.
Regular soldiers couldn't handle trouble here.
So it made sense for imperial officers to be stationed in numbers.
But even so, there seemed to be an awful lot.
Leyzon's nose twitched.
He smelled trouble.
'Something must've gone down.'
The city was starting to give off a suspiciously enticing vibe.