Chapter 216
Chapter 216
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 216
Chapter Title: The Ossuary's Demise
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Atop the scorched underground altar.
The Transcendent of Evil slowly withdrew its head, which it had thrust between the cracks in space.
『Not yet, huh.』
A faint hint of regret emanated from the Transcendent of Evil.
But there was no need to push it.
The Transcendent of Ruin was growing weaker with every passing moment anyway.
It was only a matter of time before the corpse lost its power completely.
To a being like the Transcendent of Evil, waiting was but a fleeting instant.
All it had to do was leisurely claim it once the power fully faded.
『We'll meet again soon enough, my friend.』
With that promise for next time, the Transcendent of Evil vanished.
Then, the rampaging Transcendent of Ruin began to crumble away as well.
Thud, boom―
Incomplete undead couldn't last long.
As if to prove it, the Transendent of Ruin collapsed and disappeared right there.
Its gaze lingered briefly on something in the distance one last time.
But soon enough, it turned to dust and was gone.
The two entities that had torn the world asunder in their territorial struggle were no more.
An unexpected silence settled over the warped space.
Squelch―
Just then, the quiet was pierced as a section of space split open.
Shatter!
At the same moment, a shadow bat burst through the rift, soaring upward.
The bat fled the collapsed underground altar at breakneck speed.
The bat's true identity was Leyzon.
Leyzon's undead fusion was currently in a precarious state.
Which meant he had no time to sightsee—he needed to escape immediately.
The bat flapped its wings desperately.
Even if it wasn't in perfect condition, it had endured the clash of two Transcendents.
The space around them was utterly distorted and in ruins.
Which made the path to freedom all the longer.
If it didn't break out of here soon, the twisted space would crush it flat.
Leyzon's eyes scanned the space at high speed.
The Dragon Scale bestowed upon the shadow bat spurred even greater acceleration.
[Leyzon!]
Just as he pressed on, Syria's urgent voice rang out.
Leyzon whipped his head downward.
Kwaaaaang!
In that instant, smoke erupted from the ruined underground altar.
The pitch-black smoke billowed like thunderclouds before swiftly taking the form of a serpent.
A colossal serpent forged from smoke.
It evoked the mythical Jörmungandr.
The snake pursued Leyzon, dragging the smoke in its wake.
The moment Leyzon saw it, he knew instinctively.
'The Ossuary's lingering grudge.'
That bastard—couldn't it just accept defeat gracefully and rest in peace?
It felt like it was determined to drag him down with it to the end.
He'd planned to interrogate it about Tessa, but now that was impossible.
"Hanok, hold on tight!"
"Uwaaaah, got it!"
Leyzon raised his staff.
His mana circuits were strained from unleashing fusion magic nonstop, but now wasn't the time to care.
To survive, he had to escape somehow.
"Attribute Fusion: Dragon Scale. Attribute Fusion: Void Pierce."
He fused every speed-related spell he had.
On top of that, he pulled out every amplification method he could use.
The bat tore through the twisted space like a madman.
The smoke serpent closely tailed the path the bat had taken.
Black sparks exploded within the serpent's body.
It was as if it had been born from a storm itself.
The instant it got caught inside, not a scrap of flesh would remain—it'd all burn away.
Leyzon sensed this and accelerated even harder.
His mana circuits burned hot, like molten metal.
A volcano couldn't have been fiercer.
On top of that, the undead fusion was unraveling in real time.
He was barely holding it together with mental fortitude alone; in truth, it had already passed the breaking point.
Kugugugung!
The collapse of the surrounding space accelerated.
It was the aftermath now that the Transcendent's traces had fully vanished.
Would it get devoured by the smoke serpent?
Or buried alive in the crumbling space?
Could it escape, or not?
'Yes.'
Failure had never crossed his mind.
Leyzon's eyes glowed purple.
With it, the shadow bat began to shift to purple as well.
Purple flames wove into wings that sprouted additionally from the bat's back.
Drip―
Blood poured from Leyzon's nose.
But he ignored it, staring stubbornly ahead.
Because that was the path he had to take.
Crack!
In that moment, Leyzon spotted a rift in the distorted space.
The smoke serpent, hot on his tail, opened its maw.
One snap of those jaws, and it'd be all over.
"Attribute Fusion."
Leyzon squeezed out every last drop of mana and bestowed it upon the bat.
"Dragon Scale."
The wind rose.
It propelled the flames on the bat's back with tremendous force.
The moment the bat's output reached its maximum―
Kwajik!
Its head slammed into the spatial rift.
The bat's head crumpled, but it forced its way through with its wings spread wide.
Shatter!
Finally, the distorted space shattered, and the bat made its dramatic escape.
It barreled through the forest, smashing trees in its path.
Unable to withstand the bestowed speed, it flew a good distance before finally coming to a stop.
By then, thick smoke had risen around them.
From within that smoke.
Leyzon tumbled out of the bat, shook his head, and regained his senses.
He hadn't fully grasped the situation yet.
He couldn't afford to pass out now.
Leyzon straightened his aching body and looked up.
Soon, he saw the hole in space sucking in surrounding trees and dirt as it shrank.
The smoke serpent hadn't made it out in time.
Its sheer size had become its undoing.
For some reason, he seemed to hear a voice laced with the Ossuary's regret.
The necromancer's pure prowess: Omniscient Silence, a realm-spanning ability.
Not to mention its exceptional planning and caution.
A formidable foe through and through.
"......Defeated."
Finally realizing he'd brought it down, Leyzon collapsed to the ground.
At the same time, the undead fusion unraveled, and his undead minions toppled beside him.
The creeping Ossuary.
He'd finally taken it down.
* * *
A victory won by exhausting every trick in the book.
And the aftermath was on a historic scale.
Four undead enhanced via Succession [Special].
Plus Haron, who'd even swallowed the Abyss, thanks to the undead fusion.
He'd pushed them all to the absolute limit.
His body being intact at all was the real miracle.
Leyzon somehow made it back to Sahā Village before collapsing completely.
"Owowowow."
His entire body throbbed.
The aches he'd occasionally felt were nothing compared to this—it was thousands of times worse.
The burning in his joints defied description.
God, just let him die peacefully.
But the pain wouldn't even grant him sleep.
Leyzon had no choice but to endure it quietly.
"Leyzon, Syria will do her absolute best to nurse you back to health!"
Syria diligently performed her nursing dance at his side.
It was cute, but unfortunately, it didn't help much.
The only thing Leyzon could do right now was one thing.
Photosynthesis [Special].
O primordial life-giver, the sun—heal this body.
Leyzon chanted praises to the sun and basked in its rays obediently.
Without photosynthesis, he really might have died.
Someday, he'd be buried in this earth and become a plant himself.
As Leyzon melted into thoughtless photosynthesis.
Knock knock―
A knock came from the door.
If the undead weren't blocking access, it had to be someone he knew.
"Come in."
At Leyzon's command, the door opened, revealing a familiar face.
It was the flame-haired Rakroden.
He too had clashed fiercely with the Ossuary.
Thanks to that, the Ossuary was covered in wounds everywhere.
Especially the left arm injury, which was severe.
The bone had been visible through the melted flesh, so recovery would take time.
"You finally took down the Ossuary, huh."
It was the first time seeing Rakroden's face since the battle.
They'd each returned separately, making it hard to meet up.
Leyzon forced the corners of his mouth upward with effort.
Even his facial muscles ached, so smiling was no easy task.
"Of course. It blocked my path from start to finish."
His grudge with the Ossuary ran deep, like a bitter feud.
Finally, he'd put an end to it.
But Rakroden's expression soured.
"Abyss, as you probably suspect, the Transcendent of Evil's prophet isn't just the one Ossuary."
"Figured as much."
Leyzon had indirectly felt the Transcendent of Evil's power this time.
He now knew bone-deep how dangerous these Transcendents were.
At his current level, facing one head-on was impossible.
But he couldn't just leave the Transcendent of Evil alone.
'Tessa.'
Tessa was by the Transcendent of Evil's side.
He'd half-expected her to show up during the fight with the Ossuary.
But she never appeared.
And then there was Eden's daughter, captured by the Transcendent of Evil.
His grudge with the Ossuary might be settled, but not with the Transcendent of Evil.
And it felt like this grudge would drag on for a long time.
"Now that the Ossuary's dead, the other prophets of the Transcendent of Evil will know too."
"Just to check—where did the Ossuary rank among the prophets?"
"If it could wield its full power freely, it'd be top-tier. It held a position in the imperial family, which kept the other prophets out."
Even then, it couldn't fully control its prophet powers.
What if it hadn't been inside the empire?
What if they'd stormed in when the Ossuary was at full strength?
'I'd have been the one done for.'
The victory was only possible thanks to the empire's constraints.
Leyzon was well aware of that.
"The Ossuary was a sort of balance weight. Like it or not, its presence kept the other prophets from infiltrating the empire."
"And now the Ossuary's gone, and the power left by the Transcendent of Ruin is dissipating too."
"......Now, beasts of the land won't be the only ones eyeing the empire—prophets will come too."
Leyzon let out a hollow laugh.
'Long road ahead.'
He'd scaled one mountain, but countless more loomed.
But Rakroden hadn't come just to warn him.
"You don't plan to sit idly by, right?"
"Of course not."
Rakroden was the type to save as many people as he could.
This guy was bound to have some brilliant plan.
"I'll cooperate. You helped a lot this time, after all."
"I only helped where I could. More than that, you'd better watch yourself from now on."
Rakroden turned to leave, as if that wrapped things up.
"The imperial family will have noticed the Ossuary's death by now. They've probably already pegged you as the culprit, Abyss."
The imperial family would move.
That was Rakroden's warning.
"You've taken down an old dragon, the knight commander, and an imperial necromancer—wonder who'll come next."
Leyzon replied nonchalantly, prompting Rakroden to sigh.
"The Millennium Sorcerer."
As expected.
"And the Emperor's Sword."
The imperial knights.
Rakroden mentioned them quietly before adding,
"You might even think the Ossuary was better."
"On your way out, find that graveyard keeper for me."
Reminded of the earlier request, Rakroden said nothing more and left.
The Millennium Sorcerer and the Emperor's Sword.
Leyzon gazed out the window, thinking of them.
"Leyzon."
And right on cue, the one who'd crossed paths with Rakroden arrived.
Leyzon turned to Crow, who had quietly entered the room.
"I've made contact with the Master of the Gray Mage Tower."
The time had come to meet the necromancer's tower master once more.