Chapter 161
Chapter 161
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: rsk yv ct ymu bhy 161i
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: Eden Evolves
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Leyzon quickly donned his mask and led everyone out of the Earthhold Layer in a hurry.
The Earthhold Layer was crawling with imperial troops due to the recent incident.
There was no need to linger and get caught up in it.
'The imperial army will soon hear about the commotion in the Earthhold Layer and come rushing in.'
Sure enough, the outside was in chaos.
Amid the confusion over the news of the double dungeon, wounded pioneers were everywhere.
Leyzon and Hanok were covered in dust from the battle.
Perhaps because of that, no one stopped the two as they slipped away.
'The dungeon has restoration properties anyway.'
It would recover on its own just fine.
In fact, now that it had become a double dungeon, it might draw even more attention going forward.
'Good things are good.'
As they emerged outside, a familiar face appeared right on cue.
He flinched the moment he spotted Hanok and Leyzon.
He was the pioneer who had felt a twinge of guilt, even after using Hanok as bait.
Leyzon was wearing his black mask, so he might not have recognized him, but Hanok gave it away.
"Oh."
Perfect timing.
Leyzon swiftly grabbed him.
"I-I swear, I didn't tell anyone!"
He shouted, trembling as he looked at Leyzon.
"Don't worry. I'm not gonna eat you. I've got one last job for you."
Leyzon handed him the female pioneer he had rescued.
The pioneer stared in bewilderment, but Leyzon patted his shoulder.
"Consider it your rescue, and get compensated from her or the pioneer registry."
This was the reward for tipping them off about the double dungeon.
All the pioneer could do was nod vigorously.
Leyzon then quickly headed out of Eloria Village.
After walking for a good while, Leyzon arrived in a sparsely populated area.
The chirping of mountain birds proved there were no people nearby.
Leyzon stopped and caught his breath.
He had been walking nonstop since exhausting his magic power on the undead fusion.
Even for Leyzon, his body ached.
"Huuuugh, I'm totally wiped out."
Hanok shook his head, looking exhausted too.
Leyzon watched him quietly and spoke up.
"Hanok, you can drop the disguise now."
"Ah."
"Looks like you got attached to it."
"N-No way!"
Hanok panicked and released the transformation.
Leyzon chuckled at the sight.
"I need to reclaim my manhood."
Despite just complaining about being tired, Hanok started doing push-ups.
True to a warrior, his stamina was impressive.
Just then, Leyzon felt something squirming in his pocket.
"Eden?"
In the rush of events, he had forgotten, but Eden was in the middle of evolving.
Leyzon checked his pocket carefully, and Eden's straw head twitched.
'Not fully evolved yet, huh.'
Still, it felt like it was about to break out of its cocoon.
'Yeah, it's about time.'
Eden's evolution was imminent.
"Syria, how about you?"
Syria poked her head out from his pocket at Leyzon's call.
Due to the aftermath of the undead fusion, she had become a tiny white bat.
"Hmm, I think it'll take a bit more to recover fully."
Her recovery speed was faster than before.
'Partly because Syria's adapted, but it feels even quicker since her evolution.'
If she kept evolving, the penalties of undead fusion might disappear entirely.
'Just speculation, so no getting hopes up.'
For now, undead fusion was serving well as a trump card.
Leyzon didn't dwell on it and took a short rest.
He needed Syria's help to open the shadows anyway.
As the sun set and night fell...
"Yawwwn."
Syria stretched and regained her original form.
She twirled the hem of her dress and cupped her face with her hands.
"How do I look, Leyzon? Pretty as ever, right?"
"Like I always say, the prettiest in the world."
Syria giggled happily.
Hanok made a disgusted face from the side but got smacked by Syria and went flying.
"Syria, open the shadow."
"Sure!"
At Leyzon's request, Syria opened the shadow.
Leyzon descended the shadowy stairs she created, step by step.
Soon, a crimson-black shadow space welcomed him.
A massive pillar towered in the shadow space.
Bound to it by arms and legs was a woman.
Her hair, which Leyzon had burned away, had partially regenerated.
Moreover, strands of that hair wormed into her body, aiding the recovery.
"Weird ability, even on second look."
A new power not listed in any skills.
It piqued Leyzon's interest greatly.
It was like seeing DLC for a finished game.
'Who knew they'd prepare expansion packs like this.'
He might have quit due to real-life busyness, but it was a game he enjoyed.
Seeing the next chapter like this was more fun than expected.
'The one who enjoys it is the pro, right.'
Leyzon descended the stairs fully, with Syria and Hanok in tow.
Up close, there was someone else bound to the pillar besides Carmen.
Leon Krais.
The 29th captain of the White Lion Knights.
He stood blankly with empty eyes.
Leon had lost his memories in the process of forcibly extracting the curse of memories.
So he just hung there on the pillar, mindless.
A bit unfortunate, but he was an enemy originally.
'I'll figure out how to use him later.'
Leyzon looked away from him and stepped before Carmen Aurora, the hair sorceress bound to the pillar.
"Syria, wake her up."
"Okay!"
Syria snapped her fingers lightly.
"Kahak!"
In that instant, Carmen's eyes snapped open as if electrocuted.
She coughed a few times and faintly lifted her head.
Leyzon waved at her.
"Hey, looks like you had a nice dream."
"...You look scarily vicious."
Was that a compliment?
Syria started to bristle, but Leyzon stopped her.
He knelt down to meet Carmen's gaze.
"I've got a lot of questions for you. Wanna chat?"
Leyzon flashed a friendly smile.
How it came across to her was another matter.
But smiling never hurt.
Carmen stared blankly at Leyzon.
Then she slowly opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue.
Was she mocking him? But something was engraved on Carmen's tongue.
Up close, it looked like a pitch-black snake coiled up.
Carmen showed it off before closing her mouth.
"I dunno what beasts like us might wanna know, but I can't just talk freely. My tongue gets cut if I do."
"What if we cut it off and regenerate it?"
Leyzon said it casually, like it was nothing.
"Heh heh heh, even if it grows back, it'll just get cut again."
Leyzon rested his chin on his hand.
"That's a curse, right?"
Carmen stared silently at Leyzon upon hearing the question.
A binding so tight she couldn't even say if it was a curse or not.
But her eyes conveyed her intent well enough.
'Definitely curse-related, for sure.'
Maybe Eden could handle it?
Drip— plop—
Just then, Leyzon's clothes began to bulge.
"Ooh, magic trick?"
Carmen asked nonchalantly.
Leyzon ignored her and pulled Eden from his pocket.
Straw spilled out from Eden's body.
Eden had finally completed his evolution.
Black light poured from Eden, sweeping through the shadows in an instant.
Straw scattered from the straw doll's body as it split open.
'Eden Yfera' has evolved.
[Growth Form] → [Mature Form]
Jet-black hair soon took its place.
The straw face beneath turned into smooth skin.
The strings binding his lips vanished, revealing a handsome young man.
But the aura emanating from him was utterly different.
A heavy pressure settled subtly around them.
An overwhelming vastness that crushed the entire space.
Everyone present felt like marionettes gazing up at the puppeteer controlling them.
Eden's eyelids slowly lifted.
His eyes scanned the surroundings languidly.
"Guhk, heuk."
Carmen, witnessing Eden's evolution up close, cried out in pain.
It was the price of facing his killing intent with her unrecovered body.
"Eden."
At Leyzon's call, Eden turned this way.
When their eyes met, the pressure from Eden vanished.
Instead, his usual drowsiness filled his gaze.
"Leyzon, long time no seeee."
Languid speech.
Unmistakably Eden.
"You got even more handsome."
"Been thinking about being a cool dad for my girl."
So this was the form he envisioned.
It seemed his mental image influenced the evolution.
"How're the skills?"
"Same as Syria's batch."
Meaning most of Eden's skills had reached SSS-rank.
Likewise, Leyzon's linked skills had upgraded too.
Leyzon checked them immediately.
A different darkness and curse dwelled in Leyzon's hands now.
He could feel the skills' grades had risen sharply.
"Leyzon."
Eden called out then.
Eden created a black straw from his hand.
"Think I can control that now."
Eden pointed at Leon.
Leon, still utterly mindless.
Eden approached and shoved the straw into his head.
Krunch!
Leon's head jerked unnaturally as it began to move.
Leyzon glanced at Syria, who freed Leon from the pillar.
Leon soon rose to his feet.
The same Leon who had seemed completely brainless moments ago.
But upon seeing Leyzon, he bowed deeply.
"Leyzon, command me as you will."
He had become Leyzon's loyal knight.
The knight captain with pure 20 ascensions reduced to a puppet.
Eden grinned at Leyzon and made a V-sign.
"New puppet skill."
Curse Puppet [SSS].
Eden's new skill turned even the knight captain into a puppet.
Leon was platinum hero-tier, so undead creation hadn't worked.
Leyzon had tried and failed.
With no other options, he'd left him here.
Syria couldn't vampirize him either due to his high tier.
Who would've thought Eden would solve it.
"He had no mind left, so easy to invade."
"Good job, Eden! My masterpiece as expected!"
"No biggieee."
Eden played it cool but puffed up a bit.
Syria glared but nodded.
"Hmph, not bad."
"I'm more useful than Syria, right?"
"Ha, as if!"
Syria declared absolutely not.
"Eden, come here a sec."
Leyzon intervened before they fought and called Eden over.
He pointed at Carmen, whose eyes had rolled back from Eden's pressure.
"Looks like this one's got some curse on her tongue. Can you check?"
Post-evolution Eden might swallow foreign curses too.
"First time seeing this type."
Eden pried open Carmen's mouth and inspected her tongue.
His eyes lit with interest as his finger turned to straw.
"But I think it'll work."
Leyzon's lips curled wickedly at Eden's words.
Just then, Carmen came to.
She looked panicked with her mouth forced open by Eden.
But Eden gripped her jaw tight, not letting go.
"We haven't introduced ourselves yet, have we?"
Leyzon smiled warmly at her.
"They call me the Abyss. Real name's Leyzon."
"Let... gooo."
"It's fine."
Carmen tried to respond, but Leyzon stopped her.
"We've got plenty of time to talk."
Eden clamped down on her tongue.
"Let's chat nice and slow."
Tears welled in Carmen's eyes for the first time in her life.
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