Chapter 190
Chapter 190
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 190
Chapter Title: Inside the Shadow Wolf
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Leyzon quietly stared at the newspaper.
The Judgment Lord was dead.
That was exactly what the paper said.
The special report splashed across the front page in massive letters announced the Judgment Lord's demise.
He had been hung from a rooftop in the middle of the city, decapitated.
As if someone wanted to boast about killing the Judgment Lord.
Leyzon still couldn't wrap his head around it, even after looking at the paper again.
"...The Judgment Lord is dead?"
Leyzon recalled the Judgment Lord.
Just thinking of the halo above his head evoked pure terror.
A halo appearing suddenly in the pitch-black night.
The barrage of light that followed was blinding.
And yet, that Judgment Lord was dead.
One of the world's strongest beings.
Leyzon's face twisted in confusion.
'Who the hell could have done it?'
Various figures flashed through Leyzon's mind.
'The Mausoleum? The Millennium Mage? The Emperor's Sword?'
But none of them fit. He couldn't think of any reason they'd kill the Judgment Lord.
In truth, the Judgment Lord's death wasn't bad news for Leyzon.
The Judgment Lord had relentlessly pursued him, following some prophecy.
So his death actually benefited Leyzon.
But that very fact nagged at him.
'The Judgment Lord moves based on prophecies from a dead transcendent.'
That was the conclusion Leyzon had drawn from Carmen's stories.
A Judgment Lord created by a dead transcendent desperate not to lose its power.
Killing him so brazenly—what did it mean?
'This is a blatant provocation aimed at someone.'
Whoever was meant to see this news—who could it be?
Leyzon frowned at the increasingly tangled situation.
Was it because the empire's days were numbered?
Events kept piling up without end.
"T-To think a monster like that could actually die."
Hanok Wilbria felt the same awkward shock at the Judgment Lord's death.
He knew full well how powerful the Judgment Lord was.
Leyzon neatly folded the newspaper and tucked it back into his bag.
"Let's not worry about it."
"Uh, aren't you going to check it out? There might be some clues."
Hanok tilted his head.
He figured Leyzon would usually go investigate for sure.
But Leyzon shook his head.
"If we go and the killer spots us, it could get messy."
The killer returns to the scene of the crime, they say.
This was someone strong enough to kill the Judgment Lord.
Leyzon had no interest in clashing with them.
Fighting the strong wasn't his goal.
He only fought when he had no choice.
Avoiding a fight he could dodge was the smart move.
"The Steel Wolf Guild will send some people anyway. Let them handle it."
Besides, the Judgment Lord's death might be bait for someone.
Bait set by someone powerful enough to use him as a lure.
Getting caught in the crossfire between whales would just make them the unlucky shrimp.
'I've gotten a lot stronger, but still.'
It wasn't worth the risk.
Hanok nodded in agreement.
"True. You're always cautious about stuff like this, Leyzon."
For some reason, it sounded like an insult to his usual recklessness. Was he imagining it?
"More importantly, the timing's bad. I've got my hands full as it is."
Leyzon stowed the newspaper and pulled out his book on basic primordial poison magic.
He spent every spare moment studying poison magic.
It was essential primordial magic for the future.
He planned to master as much as he could.
"Right! Who has time for that when you're so busy? No need to take risks like that.
Just send a bunch of expendable grunts!"
Syria Nosferatu, driving the Shadow Wolf, agreed vehemently.
Leyzon was heading to the World Forest as originally planned.
"Exactly! I never thought of it that way. Mana operation really is way more efficient like this. As expected of my teacher!"
"Heh, not many get it right away, but you've got a sharp mind."
Next to Leyzon, the Poison Spider was deep in conversation with Granfin.
Both natural scholars, their exchange of ideas flowed lively.
Granfin seemed to take a real liking to the Poison Spider.
Piran was stuck between them, pitching in eagerly.
Like a grad student with two professors now.
He'd have to treat Piran to some nourishing food later.
"Primordial magic, huh."
Hanok glanced at Leyzon studying, showing some interest.
Primordial magic could be learned without ascension limits.
Hard for Hanok not to be intrigued.
"Hanok, you could learn stuff like this if you became undead."
"N-No thanks!"
Hanok waved it off frantically.
Too bad.
He was curious how warrior talents were classified.
Still, Leyzon wouldn't push undeification on Hanok.
As mentioned before, the four great dungeons couldn't be cleared with one attribute alone.
'Though whether we'll even clear the four great dungeons is up in the air now.'
Leyzon always kept it in mind, though.
'If Piran really awakened his talent thanks to Silriel's research...'
More importantly, non-humans weren't completely severed from their talents.
Just look at Hanok and his innate Sword-Tooth Clan traits.
'Better off than humans whose talents are totally blank.'
Non-humans weren't perfectly severed.
So they surely retained their original talents.
The innate talent of the Sword-Tooth Clan, not a skill.
Awakening that would make Hanok much stronger.
Leyzon paused mid-thought as something hit him.
"Hold on."
He slowly turned his head.
Piran and Granfin were in his view, immersed in primordial magic research.
His gaze settled on Piran.
'Fine, Piran using primordial magic makes sense.'
Piran was a special case, having innate severed talent restored.
So primordial magic fit him.
But what about Leyzon?
'Non-human talents aren't fully severed, but using skills means they're severed anyway.'
Leyzon raised his hand.
'Then why can I use primordial magic right now?'
If his talent was severed, he shouldn't be able to use Fierce Poison Composition.
The moment that thought struck, Leyzon's eyes widened.
The worst possibility flashed in his mind.
"Leyzon?"
Hanok called cautiously.
But Leyzon had no time to respond.
"Poison Spider."
He quickly turned to her.
The Poison Spider looked at him curiously.
"Something just clicked. Listen."
Leyzon explained carefully.
Her face hardened as she heard it all.
"...The limit line. You're right. We overlooked that."
"Yeah. Haven't confirmed it, but it seems likely."
Leyzon's hypothesis: the limit line.
Primordial magic had five stages of power.
Skills capped at the third stage of primordial magic.
So, for someone with severed talent learning primordial magic, how far could they go?
Leyzon realized it would hit the same limit line as skills.
Piran, with his restored talent, had no such restriction.
But Leyzon and the Poison Spider did.
Their talents had been severed by the empire.
"If this hypothesis holds..."
"Yeah. No power scaling beyond that."
Leyzon waved off her grim expression.
"It's fine. Primordial magic's advantages are clear enough."
Unlike skills, it had no learning restrictions.
Leyzon handling skills proved it.
"Still disappointing, though."
No higher power scaling.
Leyzon pondered briefly.
'Becoming undead frees us from the empire's shackles.'
No ascension limits was a huge plus.
But undeification didn't guarantee power scaling.
It only removed the empire's bindings.
Severed talents didn't regrow.
'True talent.'
He met the Poison Spider's eyes and nodded.
"Hope Silriel's research results are still around."
"Me too."
Heading to the World Forest for Silriel's research.
Turned out to be a great choice.
Even heading to the World Forest, some things had to be done.
Leyzon cleared unfinished dungeons along the way.
And learned one key fact.
"Uwaaaah!"
Piran rolled across the ground.
A massive hedgehog snarled in front of him.
True Martial Realm, Hedgehog Species.
Self-level, Big-Horn Hedgehog.
Piran rolled to a stop at Leyzon's feet.
His fingers and hair had turned serpentine.
Thanks to that, some of the Big-Horn Hedgehog's toes were petrified.
Medusa Piran's innate skill, Petrification [B].
Unfortunately, Piran lacked combat talent.
He'd grown up in the forest his whole life.
He handled decent poison magic, but his base level was low.
Piran was Corruption Level 1.
Not ready for upper dungeons.
But that very point intrigued Leyzon.
'Dungeons have level restrictions.'
Upper dungeons required pioneer levels to match.
Once inside, difficulty didn't change.
So low levels couldn't enter.
But Piran showed otherwise.
'Undead were always exempt from dungeon entry limits.'
Undead counted as summoner's gear.
No level issues entering dungeons.
Same for undead Piran.
'Gotta test everything.'
But Piran's defeat wasn't just level.
Lack of experience.
Primordial magic required casting unlike regular skills.
A mental focus process.
Not ideal for fast-paced dungeons.
"Another downside compared to skills."
"S-Sorry."
Leyzon helped Piran up.
"It's fine. Just a level gap. Your primordial magic showed plenty of power, Piran."
He had no intention of scolding Piran.
Quite the opposite—he valued his spirit.
"Mainly lack of experience."
Then the Big-Horn Hedgehog charged at Leyzon.
Leyzon's staff spun into his hand.
"Fear Orb."
A mass of murderous intent burst from Leyzon's body.
Estelle's evolution had upgraded the skill.
When cast on a single target, it instills overwhelming fear, paralyzing the body.
Sure enough, the Big-Horn Hedgehog choked and froze.
As it stiffened, Leyzon chained another skill.
"Dark God Descent."
Darkness erupted from under the charging hedgehog's jaw.
It swallowed its head in an instant.
"Attribute Fusion: Shadow Execution."
The darkness blended with shadows, turning liquid.
The Big-Horn Hedgehog realized it couldn't breathe and writhed in agony.
But Leyzon wasn't letting it drown quietly.
"Attribute Fusion: Blood Crystal."
Tzing!
The darkness and shadows encasing its head crystallized.
Thud!
The Big-Horn Hedgehog collapsed, ending its life.
Leyzon now toyed with upper phantasmal beasts without poison.
Hanok Wilbria flew beside him, spear in hand.
Piran watched the hedgehogs exploding in awe.
"Piran."
Leyzon snapped him out of it.
"You're a necromancer. Unlike regular ones, no magic restrictions."
Leyzon planned to meet the flame-head again soon.
Half earth beast bloodline, wielding primordial magic.
Necromancer-class magic.
No time to learn each spell piecemeal in a pinch.
But Piran was different.
"You could become one of the few necromancers like me."
Hedgehog swarms rushed from afar.
Territorial, they wouldn't tolerate intruders.
Leyzon's magic summoned countless fierce poison orbs.
Small as they were, each held absurd power.
"Someday, you could wield the abyss alongside me."
With that, Leyzon unleashed the orbs.
They detonated amid the hedgehogs.
Spores spread, latching everywhere.
Flames erupted from the infected spots.
Leyzon lowered his staff.
"Eternal Rest."
The hedgehogs burst spectacularly.
Piran stared, entranced.
"So watch closely."
Leyzon grinned amid the shattering hedgehogs.
"What a necromancer truly is."
A masterclass from the pinnacle necromancer.