Chapter 162
Chapter 162
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 162
Chapter Title: Beasts and Parasites
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Eden declared that he could remove Carmen's curse.
With that, Leyzon got things underway without delay.
Straw sprouted from Eden's finger and burrowed into Carmen's tongue.
Carmen twitched and jerked from the pain in her tongue.
But she couldn't put up any resistance.
Her arms and legs were firmly pinned to the pillar.
Eden's straw probed the curse embedded deep inside Carmen's tongue.
After repeating this for a few seconds...
Pfwoosh!
A black snake shot up from Carmen's tongue.
"Grk!"
Carmen swallowed a scream as agony tore through her tongue.
In that moment, Eden snatched the surging black snake.
The black snake flicked out its tongue, trying to bite Eden.
Eden didn't dodge.
As a result, the snake's fangs sank into his arm.
Sssizzle!
Pitch-black curse poison poured from the snake's fangs, laden with malediction.
Eden watched it all with half-lidded eyes.
Moments later, the smoke slowly dissipated.
The black snake blinked its white eyes.
"All done?"
At Eden's question, the black snake twitched.
"Then it's my turn."
And with that, Eden's mouth stretched wide open.
The black snake startled in terror and tried to flee, but it was too late.
Eden swallowed the snake whole.
He even slurped down the tail sticking out past his lips.
The black snake vanished into Eden's stomach in an instant.
Carmen stared blankly at Eden, forgetting even the pain in her tongue.
She had never seen anyone devour a curse like that before.
"How's it taste, Eden?"
Leyzon poked his head around beside Eden.
It was a type of curse not listed in his existing skills.
Naturally, he was curious—and a bit worried—about what effect it might have on Eden.
Eden patted his belly lightly.
"A real delicacy. Want some, Leyzon?"
"I'll pass."
Stuff like that would only give him indigestion.
Leyzon stepped back in front of Carmen.
"Stick out your tongue for me?"
At Leyzon's command, Carmen silently extended her tongue.
It looked remarkably clean now.
"So, feel like spilling whatever's on your mind?"
Leyzon grinned.
Carmen shot him a sullen look before letting out a sigh.
She wasn't the patient type.
Captured like this, there was no point in resisting.
She gave up cleanly.
"Fine. What do you want to know?"
"Let's start from earlier, when you called me a beast of the land."
Carmen tilted her head.
A what-the-hell kind of question is that? her expression said.
But soon, her eyes slowly widened.
"You... you're not a beast of the land. You're a parasite?"
Carmen had once referred to them as a nation of parasites.
It seemed she meant those born in the empire.
"If the empire folk you call parasites are parasites, then sure."
"Huh? No, that can't be right."
Carmen looked utterly baffled.
"That magic you just used, and those things next to you now. Those aren't 'skills' of parasites."
Leyzon glanced at Eden and Syria.
The two undead tilted their heads, equally puzzled.
Then Leyzon recalled one key fact.
'I evolved an EX-rank skill with the Peerless Gem into ?EX-rank.'
At the time, he'd chalked the missing notation up to a glitch.
But maybe it meant he'd broken through the limits of skills entirely.
'Both Syria and Eden evolved thanks to the Auto-Growing Undead Creation skill.'
That's why Carmen didn't sense them as skill-made undead.
'News to me.'
In truth, the roots of skills weren't so different from Carmen's magic.
Perhaps skills were the only ones capable of such unique evolutions.
'And I lucked into it.'
The world seemed to turn on such unexpected strokes of fortune.
And seizing that fortune fell to the prepared.
Leyzon claimed his boldly.
Now he would wield it freely.
"Sorry, but they are skills."
Leyzon corrected Carmen's confusion.
She stared blankly at him, then scowled.
"What the hell is going on here?"
"Actually, that's what I want to ask. Why are we parasites and you're beasts of the land?"
Leyzon wanted more details from her.
Carmen saw no point in hiding now.
A sneer curled her lips instead.
"You really don't know a damn thing, do you?"
It was blatant mockery.
Syria and Eden's eyes flashed, but Leyzon held them back.
He didn't care about manners right now.
He just needed information.
"Not knowing isn't a sin. Trying to learn what you don't know—that's what matters."
Leyzon smiled gently as he spoke.
"Besides, you seem to have plenty of gaps in your knowledge too."
"Me knowing less than a parasite? No way."
Carmen snorted smugly.
Leyzon raised his hand.
An undead centipede spawned in his grasp, brimming with venom.
"But I do know this: stick it in you, and you'll be bawling your eyes out."
The centipede's long legs rustled in unison.
"Won't just threaten you, though. I've got plenty more."
The number of centipedes began to multiply.
The human body had no shortage of holes.
Carmen's eyes darted wildly.
Cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
"I know a lot, right?"
"...You're a real piece of work."
"Pretty nice, actually. I haven't gone through with it yet."
If he were truly nasty, there'd be no conversation at all.
Leyzon preferred a civil chat.
"Right! Leyzon's so kind!"
"Leyzon's a good guy."
Syria and Eden chimed in supportively.
Hanok quietly stroked Haron, staying silent.
He knew his words held no weight here.
Leyzon released the centipedes onto the ground.
He brushed off his hands.
"Back to my question. Why do you call the empire parasites?"
"...Because your empire is built on a corpse."
The threat had worked; Carmen answered readily.
Her disdain for imperials remained, though.
"Corpse?"
"Sigh. The carcass of an irreverent beast that ascended to transcendence, then crashed back to earth."
Leyzon narrowed his eyes.
Carcass of an irreverent beast crashed to earth.
He grasped what "parasite" meant instantly.
'The empire grew feeding on the nutrients of a transcendent's corpse?'
Its people were parasites leeching off that corpse.
Leyzon rubbed his chin.
During his travels in the empire, he'd gathered all sorts of info.
The biggest secret: the empire's hidden truth.
'The empire's full of secrets.'
Supernatural phenomena abounded among them.
Natural dungeons, for one.
Or the talent-thief from Kaltura Empire he'd fought.
'If they all stem from a divine transcendent's corpse...'
It wasn't implausible.
Gathering ascension EXP and skills in god-made dungeons—parasites stealing from the host.
Assume the empire had concealed this.
What benefit did they gain?
'The walls guarding the empire crumble, and the being that devours all rises transcendent.'
The dragon clan's former lord.
Jerome Makira's prophecy.
'The imperial family prepared for transcendence long ago?'
Too many loose ends, though.
Killing off their own kind didn't fit transcendence.
'Maybe the last one standing monopolizes the transcendent's nutrients?'
Plausible hypothesis, if unproven.
Leyzon resolved to extract more from Carmen.
"How'd the transcendent crash?"
"Beats me."
Carmen shrugged it off.
Her face said she truly didn't know.
"Then why invade the empire?"
By her words, this was a nation on a corpse.
No reason for outsiders like her to come.
Carmen hesitated, reluctant.
The centipedes on the floor began milling near the pillar.
She bit her lip and turned to Leyzon.
"The transcendent's influence is weaker here."
"...Because it's on the corpse?"
"Exactly."
Meaning the outside bore the full brunt.
"What happens if it reaches you?"
Carmen let out a hollow laugh.
"The sweetest death imaginable."
Leyzon could guess her definition of "sweetest."
"Transcendents aren't all bad, though. Some help beasts of the land."
Carmen's face darkened.
"But they're rare, and even then, it's just aligned interests."
Leyzon was surprised.
The empire protecting from transcendents? A positive function, first he'd heard.
"And those damn apostles can't cross here either."
Carmen ground her teeth.
"There are apostles inside too."
"Hah, those scraps?"
She smirked dismissively.
"They're not worth an apostle's toenail! The real scum are beasts who made themselves apostles."
Hatred burned in Carmen's eyes.
"Prophets, those bastards. Worms beneath parasites."
Prophets.
Leyzon's eyes widened slowly.
He had a hunch.
"Just to confirm... there are prophets in the empire?"
"Yep."
She grinned unpleasantly, head bowed.
"The bastard who cursed me."
Leyzon's face hardened.
"The crawling crypt. The one holed up in your imperial palace."
The imperial necromancer.
He was a prophet from beyond the walls.