Chapter 206
Chapter 206
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 206
Chapter Title: Birth of the Undead Abyss
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Right after that, unseen forces quietly gathered in Sahā Village.
A mausoleum where someone sought to raise a transcendent being as an undead.
It was because everyone shared the same desire to stop him.
An eerie wind unknown to the villagers of Sahā Village blew softly.
And among them was a woman who had just arrived that day.
Silver short hair fluttered secretly from within her robe, unseen by anyone.
Several other women appeared one by one at her side.
Aegis included, five women in total.
They were all the elite members of Frostnight.
"Sis, for all of us to mobilize like this—what on earth is going on?"
One of Frostnight's members, a woman with a distinctive mole under her eye, posed the question.
Frostnight was an all-women's guild made up of a select elite few.
In the past, Aegis had faced gender conflicts in her party, so she had gathered others who had gone through the same and formed the guild.
It aimed for no gender conflicts, yet it had risen to the top ranks.
That was Frostnight.
The other members nodded in agreement with the one who raised the question.
It had been a long time since Frostnight claimed the number one spot among major guilds.
Even as a small elite group, they bore the name of a major guild.
Naturally, applicants flooded in.
Thus, Frostnight had created several sub-guilds for those who couldn't join directly.
An alliance formed under the Frostnight name.
The original Frostnight members now all served as masters of those sub-guilds.
They only met for occasional conferences or meetings.
Gathering like this as a full group was rare.
Their doubts were entirely justified.
"Besides, this is the village with the Steel Wolf Guild."
"The wolf who's the object of Sis's crush, right?"
Aegis's shoulders twitched.
She could feel the guild members openly teasing her after so long apart.
They had known for ages that Aegis had a crush on Rafila.
But since she restrained herself as much as possible, they hadn't teased her about it.
Teasing her about a love that couldn't be would hurt too much.
However, lately they had noticed Aegis in unusually high spirits.
And that it was because of her love for Rafila.
The way she fussed with her hair in front of the mirror was straight out of a lovestruck girl.
"Gasp, is it a meeting of the families?!"
"Then we're standing in for the parents?"
"That wolf punk is dead. How dare he try to steal our pretty Sis Aegis—we gotta smash him flat."
At that moment, a staff swung toward the guild members.
Three of them got their heads bonked in succession by the staff.
"You rascals, quit teasing Aegis already."
There stood a petite woman with cat ears sprouting from her head.
From the Burial Clan, she looked young but seemed quite old.
She tapped her staff on the ground with a thunk.
"An old maid long past her prime wants to get married, and you can't even congratulate her?"
Her name was Narmek.
Frostnight's greatest asset, known as the Copy Witch.
17 ascensions, on par with the heroes of the East.
A pioneer stronger even than Frostnight's master, Aegis.
Normally, such power would warrant leading a major guild.
But Narmek had declined any position of responsibility.
Positions with responsibility were just annoyances.
What she wanted was to leisurely study magic.
That's why she had settled in Frostnight.
Her presence helped Frostnight reign as the top guild.
"Whoa, Granny's the meanest!"
"Old maid? Our sis is still young!"
"And Granny hasn't married either, but acts like she knows!"
Narmek snorted at the guild members' jeers.
"It's called experience. Experience, you brats. And who's a granny? Compared to our race's lifespan, I'm still in my prime!"
Aegis's face was one of utter serenity.
She had already tuned them out.
"Aegis."
Narmek called her after bonking each guild member's head once more.
"So, what's really going on?"
It was rare for Aegis to summon the entire Frostnight.
And this was the first time she'd seen such a grim expression on Aegis's face.
"...I brought everyone because I was honestly scared."
Aegis finally spoke.
"This issue is so huge—I wanted the most reliable people by my side."
She had agonized endlessly on her way to the Steel Wolves.
And now, she had finished agonizing.
From here on, she would convey her true feelings.
"Not long ago, I learned about the Abyss."
The Abyss.
At those words, the Frostnight members froze.
They were veteran guild members.
Elite forces who could lead guilds elsewhere.
Thus, they knew the name of the Abyss.
The pinnacle of necromancers.
The great evil operating from the shadows of this world.
The master of the most dangerous undead scattered across the globe.
That was the Abyss.
Aegis said she had learned of this Abyss.
Everyone present instantly grasped the gravity of the situation.
"No way—did they threaten you or something?"
One guild member asked cautiously.
Her hand was already gripping her sword hilt tightly.
If Aegis had been threatened by the Abyss, she was resolved to fight to the death.
But Aegis shook her head.
"Don't worry. We're in a cooperative relationship with him."
A cooperative relationship with the Abyss?
The guild members all exhaled in relief.
They had braced for a fight against the Abyss, but it wasn't the case.
"...While we weren't looking, you got chummy with a monster like that."
Even Narmek looked shocked that Aegis knew the Abyss.
"So, what's the connection with this Abyss?"
Aegis hesitated briefly.
Then, as if resolved, she spoke.
"...A necromancer from the imperial court is trying to raise the transcendent being buried in this land."
"Huh?"
An incredulous reaction came from Narmek.
It was completely unexpected.
The other guild members looked baffled.
She slowly relayed what she had heard.
After hearing everything, the guild members' faces were uniformly grim.
"It's basically a crisis for the entire empire. That's why I called in everyone I know who's the strongest."
She couldn't ignore a crisis threatening the world.
So Aegis had summoned all the power she knew.
"I'll follow the Abyss. But you don't have to come with me if you don't want to."
Aegis just wanted to inform them.
At least this way, they could prepare.
Hearing her, the guild members sighed in unison.
"Sis Aegis, you think that little of us?"
"After telling us this, who'd back out?"
"Man, I was living fine, and suddenly the world's in peril."
The guild members chuckled.
Aegis felt a lump in her throat at the sight.
"Above all, didn't you call us because you need us?"
Then Narmek, standing beside her, poked her side with her staff.
"And among us, you need my power the most, right?"
Narmek's lips curved into a smirk.
Known even as the Copy Witch.
A force that didn't yield to any lord.
That was Narmek.
"Come on, no dawdling—let's go. We were born on this land; time to save the world."
Narmek said as she approached the back door of the Steel Wolf Guild.
She kicked it open lightly.
"Let's see the face of that famous Abyss."
"Ooh, I'm curious too!"
"Let's go, let's go!"
The moment the guild members followed Narmek inside—
Suddenly—
Narmek halted her steps abruptly.
As the trailing guild member voiced confusion—
A man stood before them.
Eight tails fluttering behind him, ears perked up.
An overwhelming aura emanating from his entire body.
The moment they saw him, Narmek's eyes gleamed strangely.
"...Shadow Warlord?"
"The Copy Witch, I see."
The criminal pursued by the empire after slaying the Hundred-Tail Lord.
The Shadow Warlord.
He was there.
Narmek showed a stunned reaction.
An crushing pressure radiated from the Shadow Warlord.
'A 16-ascension steel-rank pioneer, they said.'
The Sword-Tooth Clan had a racial trait that granted two ascensions at once.
The Shadow Warlord hadn't ascended recently, but he had long reached 18.
'I heard he was already at 17 when he became a lord.'
But she hadn't expected 18.
"Shadow Warlord?"
"That's him?"
The guild members buzzed.
Narmek gave a wry chuckle as Aegis entered behind her.
"Looks like the Abyss has some real pull. Even the Shadow Warlord's here."
Her earlier smugness now felt silly.
"Lord Abyss is upstairs."
The Shadow Warlord, sensing they were guests, informed them.
"Thanks for the guide."
Narmek's interest in the Abyss surged.
What kind of guy was he to summon even the Shadow Warlord?
As she stepped forward again to resolve her curiosity—
She sensed a presence from above.
The moment Narmek slowly looked up, she frowned.
"Hmm? Copy Witch. You came too."
There was the Bloodless Sovereign, descending with the click of long heels.
She tossed back her red hair with a provocative smile.
"Still got that smug look."
"...Bloodless Sovereign. I didn't think you'd care about saving the world."
"I don't. But I don't want to die either."
The Bloodless Sovereign snorted.
"Just head straight inside. The Abyss is in there. And one bit of advice."
She brushed past the frozen Narmek.
"Don't piss him off needlessly."
With that, the Bloodless Sovereign went down the stairs.
The guild members whispered at the appearance of the underworld black market lord.
Shadow Warlord and now Bloodless Sovereign.
Unimaginable power kept emerging.
"...Damn, the Abyss is something else."
Narmek felt a slight headache as she resumed walking.
She wanted to meet the Abyss quickly.
But as she moved, her face drained of color.
The most unimaginable being had entered her sight.
"Nyaa!? S-Salvation Lord?"
The being that punishes evil in the world.
The Salvation Lord.
At his appearance, Narmek cried out unwittingly.
She hurriedly covered her mouth.
But the Salvation Lord had already sensed them and turned his head.
No eyes or ears visible on him.
Yet Narmek felt he was clearly looking at her.
Her body shrank back instinctively.
She couldn't claim to have lived a purely virtuous life herself.
The Salvation Lord turned away without a word.
Narmek shot Aegis a resentful glance.
As if asking why the hell the Salvation Lord was here.
Aegis looked awkward but said nothing.
She already knew about Leyzon, so it oddly made sense to her.