Chapter 204
Chapter 204
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 204
Chapter Title: One Month
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A month.
Just a single month.
That was the time the lizard had risked his life to uncover.
If they couldn't thwart the Ossuary's plan within that month, the Transcendent would become undead.
Could they win against the Ossuary? Or not?
The Ossuary's forces were completely unknown.
The only power he knew of was one.
His oracle—the ability to erase the world's memories.
'No, that's not right.'
But Leyzon rejected it.
'I've been fighting that bastard nonstop until now.'
A numbers game against the Ossuary.
Was that game meaningless?
He could shake his head without hesitation.
It was absolutely not meaningless.
'Recap it.'
And so he shouted to himself in his mind.
The Ossuary was undoubtedly a powerful necromancer.
'His specialty is soul arts.'
On the day he had seized the Resonance Realm alongside the Evil Transcendent.
The Ossuary had displayed overwhelming power.
Yet Leyzon had reclaimed the Resonance Realm he had taken.
And that wasn't all.
The Ossuary's accumulated mistakes were scattered everywhere.
Those were mistakes born from his insufficient power.
No matter how vigilant or cautious he was, lacking strength bred errors.
Leyzon had capitalized on every one of those mistakes up to now.
'In the Empire, his power isn't at full strength.'
The source of the Prophet's power was the Evil Transcendent.
The Empire's land originated from the Transcendent's corpse.
This was the domain of the Transcendent's remains.
The Evil Transcendent's influence couldn't reach here fully.
'The Apostles and the Transcendent Church are proof of that.'
The image of the Ossuary solidified further in his mind.
The enemy he had vaguely thought unbeatable until now.
That enemy was taking concrete shape.
'And I know the maximum power the Evil Transcendent can grant him.'
The experience of conquering Dungeon Replay over many years.
Past experiences filled Leyzon's mind densely.
The creeping Ossuary.
The power granted to him by the Evil Transcendent was at most level 20 in the Otherworldly ranks.
Platinum Demon King level was the limit.
Beyond that, the Transcendent's corpse wouldn't allow it.
However, once the Transcendent's corpse became undead, that restriction would vanish.
'One month.'
This month was when the Ossuary was at his weakest.
'He's not an unbeatable foe.'
Leyzon's closed eyes snapped open.
Sorry, but the Empire was their home ground.
No way they'd lose to some intruder slithering in from outside.
"Leyzon."
He turned at the call.
There stood Syria and all of Leyzon's undead, assembled.
This was Sahā Village.
The Steel Wolf Guild's private room for Leyzon.
And they weren't the only ones.
Leyzon had also summoned various figures connected across the world.
'We've underestimated fellow necromancers until now.'
The Ossuary had noticed the lizard's presence too.
They were surely anticipating and preparing for his arrival.
In that case, he'd smash their preparations to pieces entirely.
Knock knock—
"Leyzon."
A knock sounded at that moment.
The knocker was Rafila.
"Harban has arrived."
The master of the monkey hand, the curse necromancer, Harban.
He'd been waiting.
"Let him in."
Leyzon invited him inside.
The door opened soon after, and Harban bounded in eagerly.
Still kicking his legs in the air as he entered, his energy was as high as ever.
"Abyss niim!"
"Leyzon is focusing right now. Don't act so frivolously."
"Yes, ma'am."
Harban straightened up at Syria's sharp warning.
This was the room where all four of Leyzon's undead stood ready.
Maintaining his own pace in such a space was impressive.
"Harban, the matter I mentioned."
"Yes, everything's prepared. Twelve necromancers, all gathered to become your undead, Abyss niim.
Each one handpicked by me, refined for you alone!"
Harban, who worshipped Leyzon, spoke with overflowing confidence.
He must have that level of assurance.
Good to have you.
Leyzon cracked his knuckles.
"I assume you're prepared."
Sorry to them, but they would serve as experience points for what was to come.
Still, he had no intention of turning them into undead carelessly.
He planned to make them the strongest undead with all sincerity.
"It's the greatest honor in this world!"
Harban bowed so deeply his forehead nearly hit the floor.
Leyzon felt his sincerity too.
"Send them in one by one. Harban, you're last."
"Yes!"
Harban showed no disappointment at being last.
He had unshakable faith that Leyzon had a reason.
Harban dashed out.
In the meantime, Leyzon took a deep breath and clenched his fist.
'Undead Transformation.'
This time, he'd max out the proficiency.
And at the moment he did.
'Me too.'
He would become undead.
Blue flames, Rakroden.
Known in the Resonance Realm as Flamehead.
He had rushed to Sahā Village upon hearing the news through Leyzon.
'Are you sane, Abyss?'
Leyzon's telegram.
It had forewarned of war with the Ossuary.
'Undead Transcendent.'
Honestly, even Rakroden had felt a chill upon hearing it.
Necromancers were those who raised the dead.
The idea of gathering them to raise a Transcendent was unimaginable.
But aside from that, questions arose.
'No matter how much it's the Ossuary, he can't fully raise a Transcendent.'
A Transcendent was an off-spec existence.
A being beyond the reach of earthly beasts, no matter their struggles.
Even gathering necromancers, fully raising one was impossible.
'What he's aiming for must come after the undead Transcendent.'
Rakroden couldn't guess what came next.
'The Abyss knows this too.'
Yet he had decided to stop the Ossuary.
Even if it meant direct confrontation.
'Madness.'
Rakroden glanced at his own hand.
He had once waged full-scale war against the Ossuary over the Resonance Realm.
Though the Evil Transcendent had intervened, he was the Prophet.
The Ossuary wielded the Evil Transcendent's power as his own.
Could he win against such an Ossuary?
Regrettably, Rakroden wasn't certain.
'Back then, the Ossuary had infiltrated after all.'
Without Leyzon, Rakroden would have surely fallen that day.
He had reclaimed the Resonance Realm, but he had lost in soul arts.
That defeat had etched itself deep into Rakroden's heart.
So he had no choice but to ask Leyzon.
Could he really defeat that monster?
"Rakroden, your face looks dark."
At that moment, the woman beside Rakroden spoke up.
She wasn't alone.
"Not like you. Lighten up."
"Boss, want me to carry you and pat your back?"
"What are you trying to prove in a situation like this?"
The other women chimed in one after another.
Finally, someone tapped Rakroden's back.
There stood Soaz, who had once been defeated by Leyzon.
"Rakroden, I've faced that monster's strength firsthand."
She still shuddered recalling that day.
The day Syria had utterly crushed her.
An unprecedented terror had burrowed deep into her body.
"It's a war waged by such a monster. He's surely planning to win."
Rakroden slowly lifted his head at her encouragement.
She was right.
He had seen the man called Leyzon with his own eyes.
A necromancer who perfectly cornered his foes, the epitome of the art.
The pinnacle of necromancers was declaring war on a Prophet.
He wasn't one to wage a war he could lose.
"You're right."
He had even put off searching for earth diviners to come here.
Rakroden wanted to stop whatever the Ossuary was doing too.
He was a major threat to this world.
"That man wouldn't fight a war he could lose."
Bang!
So Rakroden shoved the door open forcefully.
In that instant, he felt chilling gazes all at once.
For a brief moment, cold sweat beaded on Rakroden's back.
The stares emanating from the room were utterly hair-raising.
'The Abyss's undead.'
And not just them.
He sensed presences from even more people.
"Oh, you're here?"
At the same time, Leyzon's voice reached Rakroden's ears.
There sat Leyzon, casually as ever.
Unusually, he wasn't wearing his mask.
The women following Rakroden unconsciously swallowed.
They had only seen his fierce masked face before.
So Leyzon's true appearance startled them.
Among them, only Moshi, who knew his face, acted at ease.
"Abyss, that look."
Rakroden noticed the Abyss's trembling hands.
Fatigue filled his eyes.
It had taken three days to get here.
Leyzon looked like someone who hadn't slept for three days and nights, plain as day.
Yet his eyes were different from before.
'They hold victory.'
Leyzon's eyes saw only triumph in this war.
Rakroden clenched his fist.
If he declared victory, then he would follow.
The man was worth following.
"Abyss, what do you need me to do?"
He had been called for the war.
There must be a role for him.
"Perfect timing. Follow me."
Leyzon rose from his seat, disheveled as he was.
Then he glanced back at the women about to follow Rakroden.
"Not you lot. Flamehead, you alone."
The women bristled for a moment but froze in unison.
Leyzon's serious gaze silenced them utterly.
Leyzon opened the door to his private chamber and entered.
As Rakroden followed, Leyzon commanded.
"From now on, let no one into this room."
The undead revealed their presences immediately upon the warning.
Even Rakroden felt suffocated by the ferocious auras.
"No matter what happens in the world."
"Absolutely."
"Not even a single ant."
"Will we allow in."
The four undead swore with desperate resolve.
This place was now safe even if the world collapsed.
They wouldn't let anything disturb Leyzon, come hell or high water.
He had entrusted his life to the undead.
Now, he just had to meet those expectations.
"Rakroden, you're a soul necromancer."
"Yes."
"Right. So I'll ask you this: bind my soul firmly."
Leyzon had already opened his bag.
One by one, ominous materials began to emerge.
"Abyss, what are you—"
"I've turned thirteen necromancers into undead."
Thirteen, including Harban.
Rakroden's face hardened.
Turning necromancers into undead.
So those gazes he'd felt earlier were them.
"The sensation of making them undead is still vivid in my hands. This is the perfect opportunity."
Three days and nights without sleep.
But it had to be now, while the sensation lingered.
"I'm becoming undead."
The final step to break through ascension.
He had planned to delay it a bit longer, but the time had come.
To defeat the Ossuary, no means could be off-limits.
Why, despite the exhaustion etched on his face?
The smile on Leyzon's lips burned with fierce intensity.
This was the moment the necromancer's pinnacle would be born.