Chapter 202
Chapter 202
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 202
Chapter Title: Shadows of the Oracle
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The Bergadia black market had been turned into a total wreck by the sudden assault of a young dragon.
By unwritten rule, incidents within the black market were handled by the black market's own people.
The imperial army never mobilized, leaving the black market members to settle things among themselves.
It was a major blow to the black market, but such places were rife with risks from the start.
Naturally, the black market had plenty of insurance in place.
Thanks to that, everyone quickly got to work on the repairs.
In the meantime, Leyzon took a long rest, proportional to the effort he'd put into creating undead.
This time, he'd rebuilt Nermacardia's magic power core from scratch.
In the process, he'd thoroughly searched for any tricks the Ossuary might have planted, just in case.
'Nothing out of the ordinary turned up.'
Honestly, Leyzon had even considered the possibility that he himself was bait from the Ossuary.
That's why he'd handled things with extra caution deep in the mountains, yet it had stayed eerily quiet.
'What the hell is that Ossuary guy thinking?'
The White Lion Knight Captain had already fallen to Leyzon right in front of them.
So why send Nermacardia, who was a lower caliber than Leon, into the fray?
'Even with that oracle power, they couldn't seriously think I'd lose.'
Were they underestimating him?
'Nah, not that much.'
The Ossuary would never underestimate Leyzon.
If they had, they'd have come out swinging personally long ago to punish him.
The fact that they hadn't meant they were definitely on guard.
'Trying to gauge my level, maybe.'
Whether he could counter the oracle or not.
The Ossuary might have been testing that this time around.
Leyzon rested his chin on his hand.
'Does that mean Leon and Nermacardia aren't disposable pawns to throw away so easily?'
Leyzon's mind was a whirlwind.
He got that the Ossuary's wariness went beyond what he'd imagined.
But that didn't mean they'd blindly throw their full strength at him.
'This feels way too much like deliberate testing up to now.'
20th Ascension, White Lion Knight Captain.
19th Ascension, young dragon with oracle powers.
What would come next?
Or would the Ossuary step up personally?
Even Leyzon couldn't guess.
One thing was clear: he was steadily tightening the noose around the bastard's neck.
They couldn't ignore him forever.
They'd surely make a move soon.
And Leyzon had no intention of sitting idly by.
There were too many nagging loose ends in the Ossuary's movements.
Leyzon still didn't know what the Prophet of the Transcendent Evil was after.
But one thing was certain: it would shake the world to its core.
'Tessa.'
And that's why Tessa popped into Leyzon's head.
Ghost Bride, Tessa Mirage.
What was she doing at the side of the Transcendent Evil?
If she was truly set on finding the real Leyzon, she might even help the Ossuary.
That was when the thought crossed Leyzon's mind.
"Ah."
"Mm? Did something click?"
Iden, who had been resting beside him, asked.
Just as Iden said, Leyzon realized one massive fact.
"...I get why the Ossuary's so wary of me."
Leyzon had his own theory on the Ossuary's caution up to now.
All his actions had been world-shaking chaos, one after another.
So he'd figured it was natural for the Ossuary to be on high alert.
But the Ossuary was a prophet entangled with a transcendent being too.
Mid-level threats wouldn't cut it to earn that kind of vigilance.
'It was Tessa.'
But there was one trigger that had spiked their caution unusually high.
'Tessa's moving with the Transcendent Evil. And the Ossuary knows it too.'
Tessa was borrowing the Transcendent Evil's power to hunt the real Leyzon.
The soul currently in Leyzon's body was Ryu Han-hyuk.
To Tessa, this Leyzon was a fake.
'And she'd have definitely tipped off the Ossuary about it.'
There was no doubt the body Leyzon inhabited was a fake one.
For the Ossuary, that fake's existence was an even bigger headache.
A fake that had stolen the Abyss's body.
The fake's actions were utterly incomprehensible.
So where did this fake come from? Who sent it?
Or who was it, really?
A chain of questions leading to more questions.
The imaginary enemy the Ossuary conjured grew monstrously huge.
Leyzon's eyes widened.
'Tessa's tip-off about me is what's got the Ossuary paralyzed.'
Now he understood why the Ossuary had been probing him all this time.
To them, Leyzon was nothing but an unknown, dangerous foe.
Once his thoughts reached that point, Leyzon let out a hollow chuckle.
A case of the bull retreating in fear of a mouse.
"So that's how it is."
Leyzon grinned wickedly.
The thought of messing with the Ossuary bastard lit a fire in him.
"Lord Leyzon, you're in a great mood!"
"You bet. Always at the top of my game."
Syria beamed alongside Leyzon's grin.
Hanok watched the scene for a moment but said nothing.
He was used to it by now.
"Alright, their chat should be wrapping up by now."
He'd given Silea and the Bloodless Sovereign plenty of time to talk with Nermacardia.
Waiting this long was more than enough.
"Syria."
"Yes!"
Syria opened the independent shadow space.
As Leyzon stepped forward, everyone followed.
"You've arrived."
Silea bowed politely to welcome Leyzon.
Beside her, Nermacardia shuffled awkwardly.
Holding the baby dragon in his arms, he looked like he'd sorted out his thoughts.
"Bloodless Sovereign, how's the chuunibyou phase coming along?"
"What's chuunibyou?"
Tragic medieval times.
"That awkward phase some teens go through."
"Talking nonsense as usual."
The Bloodless Sovereign's gaze shifted to Nermacardia.
"This one's decided to stick with me for now."
"Babysitting your nephew?"
"No clue how to do that. Just gonna make him pay back the black market damage he caused first."
Turning aunt and scamming her nephew.
But not a bad deal.
Leyzon couldn't exactly drag Nermacardia around either.
Even if things had turned out this way, the grudge wouldn't have fully faded.
Out of sight, out of mind.
"More importantly, Abyss, I've got a question I've been holding back."
The Bloodless Sovereign finally asked what she'd been dying to know.
"Shoot."
"Since the Judgment Sovereign died, new factions have been rising fast. You aware?"
He wasn't.
But he'd expected as much.
"Necromancers have been especially aggressive. Your doing?"
Hurban, huh.
Leyzon gave a wry smile.
"Got a stake in it."
He'd told Hurban to gather materials if he wanted to become undead.
Spreading the word to other necromancers must've stirred up a storm.
"Some factions worship your name like crazy. Others are just bandwagoning off your rep."
Honestly, not the highest quality bunch.
The Bloodless Sovereign hinted as much.
"Then how about we make a black market overseer while we're at it."
Leyzon's gaze landed on Nermacardia.
The Judgment Sovereign had been killed by Nermacardia.
So the killer could take responsibility.
"Put Nermacardia to work."
"Bossing around someone else's nephew like that."
Earlier she said he wasn't family, now she flipped the script.
Still, it didn't seem like a bad idea for the Bloodless Sovereign either.
She glanced at Nermacardia, who nodded.
"Fine. I'll handle it."
They'd been under the Judgment Sovereign's thumb anyway.
They wouldn't stand a chance against Nermacardia.
"Good. Silea, Bloodless Sovereign, clear out now."
He'd given them enough talk time.
Now it was Leyzon's turn to chat with Nermacardia.
"Lord Abyss, if I may."
That's when Silea chimed in hesitantly.
He knew what she wanted to ask.
"Syria, send Silea to Piran."
"On it!"
Silea bowed and left.
She must've been curious about her blood kin, Piran.
Piran was a mature kid.
They'd chat just fine on their own.
"Send her up when you're done."
The Bloodless Sovereign took Nermacardia and headed back to the black market.
Leyzon was suddenly alone with Nermacardia.
The undead and Hanok had tactfully withdrawn.
Nermacardia fell silent in the one-on-one.
His Leon-battered jaw had been fixed thanks to Silea.
But he couldn't use his oracle recklessly anymore.
"...Thanks for fixing my magic core."
Finally, amid the silence, Nermacardia spoke.
"Forget it. Wasn't looking for thanks anyway, and I know I'm no favorite of yours."
He had no hobby of getting gratitude from grudge-holders.
"What I'm curious about is that oracle."
The reason he'd gone out of his way to spare Nermacardia.
To ask about this oracle power.
"Nermacardia, do you remember how you got the oracle—the revelation power—from the Ossuary?"
Leyzon had cracked it easily, but unknown, it packed insane effects.
He needed to know how the oracle was learned.
"...No memory."
Unfortunately, Nermacardia didn't know much.
"I wanted power and agreed. Next thing I knew, I woke up like this."
So they didn't show the process, huh.
Leyzon clicked his tongue in disappointment.
"But there's one thing I'm sure of."
His eyes sharpened at the next words.
"What would that be?"
"...There were a ton of necromancers for some reason."
Necromancers.
His eyes widened slowly at that.
The empire had rounded up necromancers en masse.
And they'd been prepping something with them.
Back then, Leyzon had gotten a warning via the lizard in the Resonance World.
The necromancers were laboring to steal Abyss undead.
He'd kept that in mind.
But it wasn't a big issue.
Leyzon had acquired all undead except Tessa.
Then one day, the lizard rushed into the Resonance World to relay something urgent.
But the Ossuary blocked it and killed it in the end.
'What the lizard was so desperate to tell me.'
Was it tied to Nermacardia's oracle?
'Oracle.'
Nermacardia's oracle stemmed from a transcendent's corpse.
Necromancers and corpses.
His expression hardened as the thought connected.
A wild guess, but he couldn't dismiss it.
[Lord Leyzon.]
That's when Piran's voice echoed in his ear.
[Lizard's soul restoration is nearly complete. Coming to the Resonance World?]
Perfect timing.
The long-awaited lizard revival was done.
"On my way."
Time to hear what the empire's gathered necromancers were up to.