Chapter 207
Chapter 207
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 207
Chapter Title: The Copy Witch, Narmek
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The Copy Witch, Narmek.
She stood there with a thoroughly bewildered expression on her face.
"The Abyss and the Savior Lord... what on earth."
On one side was the Savior Lord, scourge of all evil.
On the other was the world's great villain, the black curtain behind it all.
The two were polar opposites.
Narmek tried her best to suppress her confusion as she carefully stepped past the Savior Lord.
She could accept the Shadow Warlord and Bloodless Sovereign.
But facing the Savior Lord made her feel utterly insignificant.
No matter that she was the Copy Witch—even before the Savior Lord, she couldn't hold a candle to him.
Egis watched Narmek with concern.
He knew there were even greater figures by Leyzon's side.
"Narmek, over there."
"I-I'm fine. Let's go."
As he tried to give her a heads-up, Narmek started walking again.
There was a slight hunch in her gait.
Before long, the other guild members had fallen silent, exchanging uneasy glances.
Doubt flickered in their eyes: Do they really need our power?
Screeech—
Just then, the door at the end of the corridor creaked open.
"Gasp!"
"Whoa, insane."
"He's ridiculously handsome..."
The guild members following Narmek all swallowed hard in unison.
A stunning blue-haired beauty had appeared.
But Narmek gulped for an entirely different reason.
What the hell is this?
18 Ascensions, a Silver Pioneer.
And something else—an eerie power emanated from him.
The man glanced their way, sweeping his gaze over them.
Just that alone sent chills racing across Narmek's skin.
Someone this powerful, and yet a face she'd never seen.
This guy's a necromancer.
His ash-gray eyes betrayed his class.
Could this be the Abyss?
Narmek glanced sideways at Egis.
But he looked just as unfamiliar with the man.
...Even someone this strong wasn't the Abyss?
She couldn't even begin to imagine what the Abyss truly was.
"The Frosty Night and the Copy Witch, huh."
He passed them without much interest.
"The Abyss should be inside once you enter."
A nonchalant reaction, like spotting a mildly notable pioneer.
Yet even that left Narmek speechless.
You don't wrinkle your nose at a silkworm.
Narmek's ears drooped slightly.
She couldn't bring herself to straighten her back anymore.
"The door's open—why aren't you coming in?"
At that moment, a voice called from inside the door.
There stood a sharply handsome man with ash-gray hair.
Handsome like the one who'd just left.
But the presence radiating from him choked Narmek's breath.
A thick aura of death poured off him.
Undead.
A monster at 18 Corruptions, no less.
The Corpse Dragon, Estelle Aragon.
The Abyss's undead rumored to haunt the north.
Narmek's body began to tremble uncontrollably.
The Funeral Clan possessed an acutely sensitive ability to gauge others' levels.
And having operated in the north herself, she knew the Corpse Dragon's dangers better than anyone.
Her feet, stuck to the floor, refused to budge.
Estelle's face furrowed slightly as he watched her.
She wasn't moving despite his invitation to enter.
"Narmek."
In that instant, Egis placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Nyaa!"
Narmek let out an embarrassingly childish squeak, unbecoming of her age.
But there was no time to be embarrassed.
She finally snapped out of it and hurried forward.
She stepped inside.
From outside, it looked like an ordinary room.
But Narmek's body started shuddering violently.
At some point, she'd even forgotten to breathe.
At the room's entrance stood two more undead besides Estelle.
One was an ant wearing a crown.
The other resembled a cursed doll that could pass for human.
Both overflowed with the same immense deathly aura as the Corpse Dragon.
She might have endured them alone.
She'd already acclimated somewhat from the ones before.
But Narmek couldn't lift her head from the floor.
Because at the room's center...
A girl sat on a man's lap.
A beautiful girl with snow-white hair streaked in red.
Every time she smiled, the blood in Narmek's body surged.
As if even others' blood belonged beneath her.
Narmek realized.
The moment that girl commanded her to die...
She'd spew blood from every orifice and mummify on the spot.
The gap between them was that overwhelming.
19 Corruptions, Gold Hero-grade.
Vampire Queen.
Syria Nosferatu.
A being far beyond limits was there.
But what terrified her wasn't Syria.
It was the man she was coquettishly fawning over.
His unfathomable deathly aura shattered her mind.
She couldn't fathom what he was made of.
The instant she laid eyes on him, Narmek knew.
This is the world's black curtain.
The Abyss, Leyzon.
Even with her keen senses, she couldn't grasp his abilities.
"Egis, long time no see."
"Yes, it's been a while."
Meanwhile, Leyzon greeted Egis.
Egis responded casually, as if it were routine.
Suddenly, Narmek saw Egis as a heavyweight.
She'd thought him just a kid, but he'd become a reliable guild master.
"And that's the Copy Witch, right?"
Narmek's shoulder twitched.
Just knowing her name made her tremble.
"Y-yes."
She answered, thoroughly cowed.
Leyzon eyed her briefly before chuckling softly.
The Copy Witch was a Long-Lived species.
She'd been around even back when Leyzon played the game.
So he remembered her wild younger days well.
She was at 16 Ascensions back then, I think.
She seemed composed now, but she'd been a real troublemaker.
Not for nothing was she called the Copy Witch.
"You've gotten a lot stronger. Good. There's something I really need to ask of you."
Narmek's lips parted at his words, as if he knew her.
What even counted as strong?
She felt the most pathetic here.
In her daze, she could only nod.
Now everyone who needed to gather had gathered.
Leyzon finally stood.
"I'll call you back soon. Head out for now."
At his order, Narmek shuffled out, utterly drained.
Leyzon leaned back in his chair, watching her go.
Preparations are complete.
He'd undeadified the necromancer and assembled the group.
Finally, he'd completed his own undeadification.
Leyzon's plan had worked perfectly.
Becoming undead had lifted the ascension restrictions.
No more relying on the Empire.
One regrettable point: his Corruption level hadn't jumped straight to 18.
15 Corruption → 16 Corruption
Clear Hero-grade dungeons 3 times at 15+ Corruption: 0/3
Instead, additional conditions attached to Corruption level-ups.
Even Corruption required dungeon clears.
A self-imposed trial.
It's like it's asking if you're ready to climb higher.
Reaching Hero-grade via undeadification was irregular, but...
Dungeons were still mandatory.
Fine. I was going to keep raiding them anyway.
The road ahead was long.
Reasons to grow stronger were endless.
This was just another chance that had once seemed impossible.
And undeadification brought more than just stats.
New skills born from the transformation.
But what truly surprised Leyzon was something else.
My evolution conditions.
The strength of Auto-Evolving Undead Creation [?EX] lay in evolution.
And Leyzon, like his undead, had evolution materials.
Syria: blood.
Eden: curses.
Estelle: magic stones.
Paulie: insect feed.
Haron: armor.
Each had unique conditions.
And Leyzon's?
Skills.
Leyzon's evolution required skills.
One new slot opened from evolving to Hero-grade.
And a skill had appeared there.
Skill Decomposition [Special]
Absorbs and decomposes skills.
Leyzon's unique skill.
Skill Decomposition.
A skill that absorbed and broke down other skills.
Leyzon's exclusive ability.
He was stunned by its emergence.
Skills were nutrients from Transcendent corpses.
Absorbing nutrients derived from Transcendents.
What did this imply?
Leyzon snapped his head up from his contemplation.
Infant Form, Growth Form, Expert Form, Awakened Form, Perfect Form.
Undead evolution stages flashed in his mind.
He hurriedly opened his Pioneer ID.
Checked Auto-Evolving Undead Creation.
And froze.
He hadn't updated his Pioneer ID recently.
Yet new text had appeared.
Final Stage (???)
Final Stage.
What did this point to?
...Transcendent.
Every step led to Transcendent.
For now, just a hunch.
But certainty bloomed within him.
"Syria."
"Got it. No one comes in."
No point showing anyone.
With Hanok pushed out, Leyzon opened his bag.
Today, he'd received extra skillbooks from the Bloodless Sovereign.
Evolution will definitely benefit from this.
So he'd handle it before leaving.
Leyzon placed his hand on a skillbook.
"Transcendent or whatever."
To smash that ossuary bastard, he'd use any means necessary.
"Skill Decomposition."
Evolution it was.
Wait for me, you ossuary scum.
I'm coming to utterly demolish you.