Chapter 158
Chapter 158
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 158
Chapter Title: rsk yv ct ymu bhy 158i
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 158
Chapter Title: The Hair Clone's Pursuit
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In the smoke-filled aftermath of the Abyss Crystal's explosion.
Whoosh!
A man emerged from a gap in the smoke.
He was the culprit who had kidnapped the top pioneer team, including a woman.
The blast's shockwave had torn his skin to shreds.
His arms, neck, and even legs were bent and twisted in a mangled mess.
Yet even in that grotesque state, he charged forward without a care.
The place he pierced through the smoke toward was none other than where Hanok stood.
He was the criminal who had targeted only top pioneer teams with women.
Proving it, he went straight for the disguised Hanok without hesitation.
The moment he thrust out his broken hand through a rift in the smoke.
Whoosh!
Hanok's spear broke through the smoke before his hand could reach.
From beyond the haze, Hanok's sharp yellow eyes flashed with ferocity.
At the same time, Hanok's spear pierced the man's chest dead center.
Boom!
The man's chest exploded open like it had been hit by a bomb, leaving a massive hole.
It was the aftermath of the immense power loaded into Hanok's spear.
But even with a hole in his chest, he reached out with his shattered hand.
Swish—
What extended from his grasp was a massive tangle of black threads.
His pierced chest was stuffed full of the same threads.
The black threads began clumping onto Hanok's spear that had impaled his chest.
The moment the black threads from his body tried to bind Hanok.
Boom!
The whirlwind erupting from the spinning spear pulverized the man's upper body.
At the same moment, just before the man's black threads could touch Hanok.
The skill from Haron enveloping Hanok activated.
Reflection [A]
A simple skill that repels anything touching the body.
A simple skill that repelled anything touching the body.
It couldn't handle excessive force, but these threads were no problem.
In that gap, Hanok quickly rolled away to safety.
The next instant, shadows and darkness engulfed the man.
Krunch!
The man tumbled through the shadows.
There, Leyzon aimed the Staff of Abundance.
"Blood Crystal."
Crack!
At the same time, the shadows and blood solidified into crystals.
The man was completely trapped inside, unable to move a muscle.
Leyzon lowered the staff and walked over.
"Hanok, any injuries?"
"None at all!"
Hanok's battle-glinting eyes gradually softened back to their gentle state.
Hanok picked up a severed black thread from the ground.
Soon, Hanok's face twisted in disgust.
"L-Leyzon, this is hair!"
"Hair?"
Leyzon's gaze shifted to the man.
Trapped in the shadow-blood crystal, his eyes held no spark of consciousness.
It felt as if he had been empty from the start.
"...Syria."
"Yes!"
Syria poked her head out from the shadows at Leyzon's call.
"I'm about to dissolve the crystal, so stay ready."
"Got it!"
Syria signaled she was poised to strike at any moment.
Leyzon aimed the staff at the crystallized man.
'If my guess is right.'
Leyzon activated Magic Cancel.
Shatter!
In that instant, the shadow-blood crystal crumbled.
At the same time, the man's body unraveled into hair.
Masses of hair piled up on the ground.
"Eek!"
Hanok yelped in shock and hid behind Leyzon.
But under Syria's glare, he sheepishly stepped forward.
"A-a doppelganger made of hair?"
Just as he said, the man had never been human to begin with.
Just a doppelganger crafted from hair.
Hanok shivered at the creepy sensation.
A doppelganger made of hair—what a horrifying thought.
"Heh, heh heh heh."
But Leyzon burst into laughter at the sight.
The most joyful laugh he'd let out in a while.
"Wow, even Leyzon's laugh is so bold!"
Syria joined in, grinning at Leyzon's amusement.
"L-Leyzon?"
But Hanok alone eyed him warily.
Leyzon laughing like that—what on earth was going on?
After a long laugh, Leyzon abruptly stopped.
He turned to the two with a sly smile in his eyes.
"Hanok, Syria—ever seen a skill that makes doppelgangers from hair?"
Hearing Leyzon's question, Hanok and Syria tilted their heads.
A skill that made doppelgangers from hair?
Of course they'd never heard of such a thing.
Leyzon curved his eyes into crescents at their reactions.
"For reference, I haven't either."
Hanok tilted his head again, but Syria's eyes widened.
Her head snapped toward the pile of hair.
"Leyzon, no way."
"Yeah, this is a power from beyond the walls."
The Bug Shaman of the Foreign Lands.
An ability unlike any they'd seen before, just like back then.
And like Pauli turning into a dungeon, a double dungeon from the beast realm had spawned.
Everything clicked into place.
"The kidnapper who appeared in the beast realm is from beyond the walls—a foreigner."
In other words...
'Imperial Necromancer.'
Beyond the walls.
From a foreign land.
Another subordinate of the Imperial Necromancer had walked right into their hands.
There was a saying about chasing a cow and catching a mouse by accident.
Leyzon's situation fit it perfectly.
Imperial Necromancer.
They'd found a foreigner from whom they could pry information.
"See, that's why you should always do good deeds."
Efforts to clean up the Steel Wolf Guild's image had paid off.
The world was lending a hand.
"...Good deeds?"
Hanok muttered quietly, but Leyzon paid it no mind.
"Syria, can you track the one connected to this hair?"
If she hadn't sensed its presence from the start, maybe not—but she'd clearly felt this one's aura moments ago.
"Of course! For you, Leyzon, I'd gladly hunt them down!"
"Good, I'm counting on you."
Leyzon summoned a Bone Broom, leaving those words behind.
They still didn't know about Syria's presence.
It was a precautionary measure, but it had turned into a perfect trap.
'The bastard targeted Hanok from the start, not me.'
A rare female pioneer had arrived.
Even as the doppelganger was destroyed, it obsessively went for Hanok.
It would surely target him again and again.
"Hanok, your disguise was worth it."
"...Not for me."
To think it'd reel in such a big fish.
He couldn't help but grin.
"Hanok, chin up. You're more valuable than anyone right now."
Hanok made a pouty face.
But they'd come this far in this getup.
"We'll catch them for sure."
"Of course we will."
Hanok burned with fierce determination.
His resolve to catch the culprit was commendable.
"Let's go."
Leyzon hopped onto the Bone Broom with Hanok and headed for the sinkhole.
The wind from below whipped Leyzon's hair wildly.
The sinkhole plunged endlessly deep.
'A double dungeon, I suppose.'
This was more like an extension of the dungeon itself.
That's why Leyzon was all the more puzzled.
'Same with Pauli.'
How exactly did these guys create dungeons?
Leyzon had long wondered about that.
This time, he intended to find out.
After descending for a while, until darkness swallowed everything around them.
Leyzon and Hanok dismounted the Bone Broom.
Crunch—
Decayed wood chips crunched underfoot.
Normally, the darkness would blind them completely.
Fortunately, Leyzon had skills attuned to shadows.
He could perceive his surroundings flawlessly in this gloom.
"L-Leyzon, I can't see a thing."
But that was Leyzon—Hanok was another story.
"It's fine."
Leyzon assured Hanok there was no need to worry.
"Everything around us is hostile anyway."
The moment Leyzon spoke, shadows surged from beneath his feet.
Clang!
Leyzon's shadow spike pierced the mouth of the lunging creature.
It was a beast-type phantasmal monster with a red heart encased in pristine white bone.
The phantasmal beast bared its fangs, its red eyes blazing.
At the same time, its long, spine-like tail whipped threateningly.
This was the double dungeon, the Bone Realm.
Home to bone horrors whose bodies were made entirely of bone.
Bone horrors devoured anything that fell from the surface.
What Leyzon had just stepped on was wood devoured by a bone horror.
"Grraaaargh!"
The bone horror strained to crush the shadow spike in its mouth.
Leyzon thrust his staff forward at the writhing shadow.
"Hanok, even in the dark without sight, you'd be fine."
"W-what?"
Hanok raised his spear in confusion.
"You've got Haron. Haron can sense perfectly in the dark. Trust Haron's senses."
With that, Leyzon grinned smugly.
"Daring to mob me?"
Lord of the Horde
'Sovereign' activates.
When facing 100+ enemies, they cannot meet your gaze.
The unique trait of Lord of the Horde.
Sovereign.
The bone horrors charging at Leyzon froze in unison.
In that opening, Leyzon's staff was already in motion.
"Fungal swarm, attribute fusion—fierce poison release."
Poison-laden fungi bloomed around Leyzon en masse.
Poison Phantom Haze [SS] and Fierce Poison Mixed Aura [SS] amplified the power to extremes.
A poison that melted even bone.
Meanwhile, Hanok dropped low in alarm.
"Dragon Scale."
A gale whipped up around Leyzon, scattering the poison fungi.
The fungi clung to the momentarily stunned bone horrors.
Leyzon lowered his staff.
"I'm a Poison Necromancer."
The pinnacle of mob-hunting classes.
Poison Necromancer.
"Fierce Poison Frenzy."
Leyzon showed them exactly what that meant.
The poison fungi on the bone horrors glowed all at once.
Kaboom!
The bone horrors shattered into fragments, bones scattering everywhere.
He'd wiped out the surrounding bone horrors in an instant.
But plenty more bone horrors remained.
They charged even more ferociously, spurred by the explosions.
However, Sovereign prevented the bone horrors from facing Leyzon head-on.
They opted for his rear instead.
The moment one bone horror lunged to devour Leyzon.
Hanok was already there in front of it.
Hanok twisted his waist, adding spin to his spear thrust.
Boom!
The spear shot out like a cannon shell, blasting the bone horror away.
Hanok still couldn't see in the darkness.
But with Haron's support, he knew exactly where every bone horror was coming from.
Hanok had synced with Haron countless times.
His black hair whipping, Hanok began mercilessly smashing every bone horror approaching Leyzon.
Meanwhile, Leyzon spread poison again.
Explosions chained off one after another, shattering bone horrors.
Hanok blocked every bone horror coming for Leyzon.
Leyzon pulverized the rest.
Their coordination was near-perfect.
Leyzon and Hanok had cleared countless dungeons together.
In dungeons, they were the ultimate duo.
The moment Hanok smashed another bone horror.
Whoosh!
A torrent of hair suddenly burst from inside the bone horror.
Realizing what it was, Hanok tried to dodge instantly.
Swirl!
But Hanok noticed hair coiling around his ankle.
"Whoa!"
Hanok was yanked by the hair, his stance crumbling.
Just as he was about to be ensnared.
Thud!
Leyzon's staff smashed down on the hair binding Hanok's ankle.
At the same time, Leyzon's eyes gleamed.
"Syria."
The hair used to grab Hanok was connected to its user.
Leyzon had baited this by letting Hanok act solo.
Shadows had already transferred onto the hair.
"Reel 'em in."
The shadow raced along the hair in a flash.
Too late to cut it now.
Gotcha, bastard.
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