Chapter 166
Chapter 166
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 166
Chapter Title: Corpse Cave
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Back once more to the Insolent Plateau.
On the stark white plateau stripped of all color.
The red shadow wolf carrying Leyzon was stepping forward.
Leyzon rode silently atop the shadow wolf, lost in thought.
"Lord Leyzon, you've seemed awfully pensive lately."
"Yeah... Ever since Carmen, right?"
Iden chimed in, staring at Leyzon as he answered Syria's question.
As the two undead said, Leyzon had indeed been unusually contemplative these days.
Syria and Iden were extremely close to Leyzon.
Even so, they couldn't grasp every thought in his mind.
Leyzon inferred situations based on his exceptional memory.
Most people fail at inference due to memory errors.
Humans tend to think subjectively.
The more optimistically they view things in their favor, the more mistakes they make.
Leyzon's mindset was undoubtedly always positive.
But it was far from ordinary optimism.
Leyzon's positivity wasn't just a matter of mindset.
He had the skill to steer situations toward realizing his positivity.
The ability to guide events in a positive direction.
His actions seemed reckless at first glance, but they were always calculated.
Thus, Leyzon's inferences from information were always close to the truth.
It was the result of combining outstanding memory with situational steering skills.
In that sense, Leyzon's stories might seem far-fetched to others.
In fact, Syria felt like she was hearing fairy tales.
"You could really talk it over with us!"
Syria stomped her feet, looking miffed.
Iden gave a wry smile.
Unfortunately, neither Syria nor Iden could help in this area.
Both were far from scholars.
"Estelle would be better suited for this."
Another undead who shared Leyzon's fondness for contemplation.
The Dragon Lord Estelle Aragon.
He might have offered some help to Leyzon.
But regrettably, Estelle was currently in Sahā Village.
"We can just cheer him on from the sidelines."
Above all, Leyzon would call on them first if he truly needed them.
Iden felt they were fulfilling their roles up to that point.
"No helping it, then!"
At that moment, Syria jumped to her feet.
She had already crystallized blood droplets into a pair of glasses.
"From today on, I'm going to study too. It'll help Lord Leyzon!"
"I think just frolicking by his side would be more helpful."
Syria completely ignored Iden's pointed remark.
"Lady Syria, what's gotten into her?"
Meanwhile, Hanok, having finished training, glanced at Syria.
Syria was pulling books out from her shadow.
Most were novels, but books were books nonetheless.
"Looks like she wants to help with Lord Leyzon's thinking."
"Lord Leyzon's thinking?"
Hanok tilted his head.
Then he turned to look at Leyzon.
Leyzon was staring blankly outside.
"Isn't he just thinking about what to have for dinner tonight?"
"Woof woof!"
Hanok and Haron were as bright and cheerful as Syria.
"Guys."
At that point, Leyzon snapped out of his reverie and stood up.
"What should we have for dinner tonight?"
Iden's surprised gaze landed on Hanok.
Hanok wagged his tail proudly.
Leyzon let out a short chuckle at the sight.
Leyzon often fell into deep thought, but not to Estelle's extent.
Naturally, he kept his ears open to a degree.
Above all, he knew it was dangerous to become too immersed in thought.
'You never truly know a situation until you face it head-on.'
Thoughts and reality are always different.
Before long, the old Transcendence Order headquarters came into view.
He had already accepted the Ascension quest on the way here.
Ascending on the Empire's terms wasn't ideal, but he needed to get stronger first.
'The problem I'm facing now is that from Hero-rank onward, I need imperial permission.'
Leyzon had made several deductions from this incident.
His eyes fell on Syria, Iden, and Haron.
The undead weren't obsessed with Ascension.
Their levels were denoted solely by Corruption.
'Perhaps the Empire is the one that separated Ascension and Corruption.'
They simply labeled levels they couldn't control as Corruption.
In truth, they were one and the same.
'The undead raised their Corruption levels just by clearing dungeons.'
It meant the undead absorbed the dungeon's nutrients wholesale.
That made the Empire's persecution of Necromancers even more understandable.
To the Empire, Necromancers were no different from beasts of the land.
They were beings from whom the Empire couldn't reclaim nutrients.
With that, Leyzon formed a new hypothesis.
It was also the reason he'd been deep in thought all day.
What if he used this on himself?
Leyzon had learned from Carmen that living beings could also be turned into undead.
'If—just if—this is possible.'
Leyzon quietly clenched his fist.
All reasons to be bound by the Empire's Ascension would vanish.
'I'd be able to grow independently on my own.'
Of course, this was just a hypothesis.
Above all, it was an extremely risky endeavor for Leyzon himself.
If someone else did it, fine—but converting himself into an undead?
Whether his mind could endure the process intact was questionable.
'Not yet.'
Up to Hero-rank, he could visit the Pioneer Workshop.
So there was no rush to prepare step by step.
'Once the proficiency is higher and more refined.'
Then he'd perform Auto-Evolving Undead Creation on himself.
Leyzon raised his head with firm resolve.
The one who finds the breakthrough is the one who advances.
If there's no light, become the sole light.
Even if that light is the only shadow in the beam.
Even Mount Geumgang is judged after a meal.
After arriving at the Transcendence Order headquarters, Leyzon filled his belly heartily.
Soup, dried meat, nuts, and dried fruit—nothing fancy, but it was fine.
He'd grown accustomed to the local cuisine here.
'I miss kimchi.'
Anyway, he was adapted.
He needed to eat well before heading to the Hell Realm Key Dungeon.
Once inside, meals would be tough.
"I felt it when we left, but everything really has flown away."
Hanok muttered, gazing at the empty Transcendence Order headquarters.
As Hanok said, it barely qualified as a building anymore.
A ruin with faint traces of what once stood there.
The result of Leyzon hammering Abysses into it repeatedly.
Plus, the Insolent Plateau was a mountainous region with fierce winds.
The gusts had scattered the debris over time.
Soon, no one would even know a headquarters had been here.
"It was never worth preserving anyway."
Through Carmen's tale this time, he'd learned quite a bit.
Especially what the Malicious Transcendent truly sought.
'It must have planned to steal nutrients from the Transcendent corpses all along.'
The essence of the Transcendence Order was fusion with the Malicious Transcendent.
He'd wondered why it facilitated that fusion.
Turned out it was harvesting those fattened on Transcendent corpse nutrients.
To the Malicious Transcendent, nothing sweeter than such snacks.
That's why it obsessively ordered killings.
Transcendent Apostles empowered by the Malicious Transcendent.
All their victims went straight to it.
Hence sending an Apostle to reap the snacks.
'Prophet, Crawling Ossuary. That one's probably its prime harvest.'
It too likely planned to hijack the Empire's nutrient collection.
Yet the Empire kept the Crawling Ossuary in the palace despite knowing.
Clearly, they were both aware and testing each other.
'A mutual exploitation relationship.'
What a complicated way to live.
So while they played mind games, he needed to freeload off it all.
At least he'd learned one fact.
"We have to exterminate every Transcendent Apostle we see from now on."
Transcendent Apostles were utterly useless scum in this world.
"Couldn't agree more."
Iden, who despised the Malicious Transcendent, agreed readily.
The Empire was already drawing power from Transcendent corpses.
No room for the Malicious one to muscle in.
'These eco-terrorists.'
Leyzon himself was being hunted by the Judgment Sovereign who'd received a prophecy.
No different from being hated by the Transcendent corpses.
'Thinking about it pisses me off.'
Why vent on the innocent like him?
Take it out on the Empire or the Malicious Transcendent.
They bully him just because he's weaker.
"That's why people need power."
"Well said!"
Power is truth.
Leyzon and Syria saw eye to eye.
To cultivate that power further, he strode forward.
Soon, the underground entrance from last time came into view.
The Hell Realm Key Dungeon entrance.
Last time, he'd only grabbed the cursed gear here.
This time, he planned to clear the dungeon entirely.
'Been a while.'
Leyzon stepped through the broken door.
Descending the stairs for a while, he passed the treasure vault he'd visited before.
He'd farmed the legendary gear [Bound Filthy Resentment] there.
Just seeing the entrance filled him with pride.
Hanok felt the same, grinning beside him.
Passing the vault, the stairs soon ended.
There stood a decrepit old door.
Just an old door.
So worn it tempted one to turn away, figuring nothing worthwhile behind it.
Yet Leyzon gripped the dungeon door's handle without hesitation.
"Hanok, from now on, have Haron block your nose."
Leyzon warned as he pulled up his own [Robe of the Abyss].
The unique gear, Robe of the Abyss, had protective functions.
This would be fine.
Screeeeech—thud—
The old hinges ground as the door opened.
At the same time, Hanok's tail fur bristled.
Hanok's face went pale.
A terribly foul stench wafted from inside.
Syria's nose wrinkled.
"Lord Leyzon, this smell."
"Rotten stench."
Leyzon answered as he stepped inside.
The surroundings soon shifted.
Walls pooled with ominous colored liquid came into view.
The floor was squelchy, sending chills up the spine.
Drip—drip—
A knight fused from bones and corpses appeared before the group.
The knight tore itself free from the wall and rose.
"This is one of the must-farm dungeons for Poison Necromancers."
Leyzon had two empty skill slots right now.
Time to fill those vacant skill slots.
A key dungeon for skill farming tailored to Poison Necromancers.
Corpse Cave.