Chapter 220
Chapter 220
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 220
Chapter Title: Devil's Fruit
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Smoke rose through the forest.
Leyzon exchanged greetings with the Gray Mage Tower Master, a face he hadn't seen in ages.
Of course, to the Gray Mage Tower Master—Dexter—that expression was one of utter bewilderment.
"Abyss, you..."
Dexter parted his lips, his face brimming with words he wanted to say.
But Leyzon had no time for a long chat with him.
Boom—
That was because one had already risen from their spot.
One casually spat out the blood pooling in their mouth.
A body so gaunt it evoked the image of a woman.
Anyone could tell it looked far removed from battle-ready, yet the aura it radiated was perilously sharp.
"Leyzon-nim, we can't kill them, right?"
Of course, it posed zero threat to Leyzon.
The overwhelming pressure emanating from Syria, standing guard before Leyzon, blanketed the entire forest.
And she wasn't alone.
The serpent dragon blotted out the skies overhead.
Between the trees, the curse-wrought demon lord's eyes gleamed fiercely.
Leyzon was their master, the Abyss.
This place was practically his domain already.
Could One dare pose a threat here?
Regrettably, the gap in power was already insurmountable.
One knew this all too well.
From the moment Leyzon appeared, One had been grinding their teeth.
But not out of rage.
Leyzon's eyes narrowed to slits.
He had caught One swallowing something.
That bastard just gulped down whatever he'd wedged between his teeth.
"Leon."
At Leyzon's call, an arm erupted from beneath One's feet.
Its owner: Leon Creiss.
The White Lion Knight Captain, now a marionette.
One's ankle crumpled under the crushing grip.
Slash!
In that instant, One sliced off his own leg without hesitation.
The severed limb collapsed to the ground amid a spray of blood.
One's body pitched forward.
Beneath the whipping strands of hair.
His eyes gleamed scarlet, bloodshot unlike before.
Red smoke billowed from One's mouth.
And then, One vanished.
Kaaaaang!
A crimson shadow shot up right before Leyzon.
Through the fissures in the red shadow, One's form emerged.
He leveled a long greatsword ahead, snorting like a feral beast.
Devil's Fruit Effect
Power doubled. 19 → 20 Ascensions. Platinum Hero (Entry Level)
Even with one leg gone, his speed hadn't slackened a bit.
At the same time, Leyzon sensed the aura pouring from him was utterly transformed.
More than twice as potent as before.
'20 Ascensions, Platinum Hero level.'
Worthy of an imperial knight captain.
Having already clashed with Leon before, it held no surprises.
Only One's sudden surge in strength puzzled him.
'Some kind of doping, maybe.'
Dungeon Replay had doping potions, sure.
But nothing this extreme—not even for Leyzon.
'This... is intriguing.'
Power rocketing from 19 to 20 Ascensions in one go.
Doping that potent? Unthinkable.
Leyzon couldn't help but salivate.
'No clue on the price tag.'
For a one-shot glass cannon enthusiast like him, it was tantalizing.
Crackle—
The wall of blood and shadow began to shatter.
Even Syria couldn't handle a head-on brawl with a 20-Ascension Platinum Pioneer.
But Leyzon had tangled with far worse.
"Syria, Eden, Estelle."
Purple flames erupted at Leyzon's summons.
"Wrap it up fast."
Syria Nosferatu · Eden Ufera · Estelle Aragon · Pauli Portriche
Three violet soul flames flickered above his head.
As he gripped his staff tighter, purple fire blazed forth.
Layer upon layer of attribute fusion in a heartbeat.
Leyzon had long mastered fusion magic.
He shattered the blood-and-shadow barrier and smashed into One.
Clang!
But One yanked his arm up to block.
A gauntlet encased that arm.
High-end gear, by any measure.
One geared up to swing his sword in the opening.
But he knew too little about this side.
"You should've dodged."
The flames cloaking the staff ignited in unison.
"Eternal Slumber."
⟨ Fusion Explosion ⟩
Kabooooom!
The blast hurled One flying.
Yet One twisted midair and kicked off hard.
Shadows coalesced around Leyzon like afterimages.
The shadows morphed into swarms of insects and took to the skies.
One barreled through the air, cleaving every last one.
But the insects burst on impact, unleashing the curse spores within.
The spores clung to One's body.
Still, his momentum never faltered.
"Curses don't faze that guy!"
Dexter shouted then.
Curses ineffective.
Leyzon eyed One with a peculiar look.
He tightened his grip on the staff.
The spores carried more than curses, after all.
"Eternal Slumber."
⟨ Poison Burst ⟩
Another earth-shaking boom, and One plummeted from sky to earth.
The spores' embedded poison had detonated.
Poison parasites and venomous bugs sprouted from Leyzon's arms and legs.
At the same instant, a massive dose of venom flooded his body.
His staff thrust forward.
"Fierce Poison Emission. Attribute Fusion. Shadow Sanctuary. Attribute Fusion. Blood Sovereign."
⟨ Multi-Fusion Orb Barrage ⟩
Dozens of black spheres materialized around him.
Each devoured staggering mana, staining violet.
In Leyzon's grasp now lay the [Bound Filthy Grudge].
Resentments poured forth, infusing a miniature sun.
"Hah."
Dexter, witnessing it, inhaled sharply in a daze.
The fusion magic's output was freakishly off the charts.
'What in the world.'
What manner of magic was the Abyss wielding?
Even Dexter, Gray Mage Tower Master, couldn't fathom it.
Thud!
Meanwhile, One slammed into a tree, toppling it askew.
He twisted to evade.
"Sloth."
But Leyzon had already accounted for that.
His finger, aimed at One, triggered the [Gloves of Sloth].
One's movements crawled to a near halt.
His eyes widened sluggishly as the tree snapped back with elastic force.
He hurtled straight at Leyzon.
Essentially shoving his head into the wolf's jaws himself.
"Attribute Fusion. Dragon Scale."
⟨ Defensive Gale ⟩
A gale roared behind Leyzon's back.
The fusion orbs streaked forth, arriving before One.
"Attribute Fusion. Ignition."
⟨ Violet Inferno ⟩
Violet flames erupted across the Abyss's orbs in unison.
What followed was.
"Eternal Slumber."
⟨ Annihilation ⟩
——————!
Explosions chained off one after another, sending One tumbling across the dirt.
His body was a mangled wreck, shattered in a dozen places.
One even tried rising on his collapsed shoulder.
Monstrous willpower.
But his flesh was beyond ruin.
One's tier: fresh 20-Ascension Platinum Hero.
If Platinum Heroes had three sub-stages, he was barely scraping the first.
Leyzon had toppled peak-tier Ossuary demons.
Entry-level Platinum? No contest.
Leyzon strode forward leisurely.
He planted his foot firmly before One.
A figure burst from the shadows then.
A man with bizarre black-and-yellow streaked hair.
Night Crow's second sword: Two.
"Hey, Two. Spill—what'd One use?"
Two raised his head slowly.
The moment his eyes hit One, horror twisted his face.
"C-Captain... did he really use that?"
Two knew exactly what it was.
Leyzon fixed him with a stare, and Two's expression soured with regret.
Not fear of Leyzon.
If anything, he seemed eager to cooperate.
Utterly bizarre for someone who should hate Leyzon's guts.
"...From the imperial family. Calls it the Devil's Fruit."
Devil's Fruit.
"Knew it."
Dexter reacted then.
Leyzon turned to Dexter, who'd stuck by his side.
"Handed out by the demon squatting in the palace."
"Demon?"
What the hell?
A demon in the palace?
"Abyss, looks like demons were off your radar."
"You mean that crawling Ossuary thing?"
"Non-human, sure. But deeper still lurks something under the imperial family itself."
Leyzon's brows furrowed.
Transcendents, prophets... now demons.
'Could it be.'
He recalled the White Lion captains extracting talent.
Droves of mages conducting rituals.
It had looked, at a glance, like demon worship.
'Kaltura Empire's legacy.'
If that had evolved into what they call a 'demon' now, it tracked.
A deus ex machina power ripping out talent.
Perfectly demonic.
'Devil's Fruit: a lump of talent squeezed from that demon.'
Explains One's explosive spike.
Like devouring transcendent nutrients raw.
Instant Ossuary-prophet awakening vibes.
"Gray Tower Master, how'd you know?"
"...Previous Gray Tower Master told me. Knowing that is why our tower fell."
Complicated shadows crossed Dexter's face.
Separately, Leyzon's gaze sharpened.
'Garjun's wrapped up in this too.'
The old Gray Tower Master, Garjun.
Already on the list to track down—now with extra questions.
Meanwhile, the explosive aura from One's body ebbed away.
His face, though, visibly worsened.
Doping crash incoming, clear as day.
"Two, what's the tab?"
"...One bite for explosive power. Price: ten years off your life."
"Not a life-or-death gamble?"
"Death's kinder."
Two shot One a sour look.
"Post-crash, you endure ten years' worth of aging all at once. The agony's beyond imagining."
Ten years' aging.
Leyzon stroked his chin at that.
'So that doping packed ten years' talent.'
Devil's Fruit lived up to the name.
Demonic might traded for a decade of life.
Empire bastards churn out insanity like it's nothing.
'Tempting to test... but nah.'
Best not touch this mess.
One was visibly withering before their eyes.
Leyzon leveled his staff at One.
Shadows lashed out, binding him tight.
"Fine. I'll wait till he can talk."
Leyzon planned to take it slow.
Until he bent to Leyzon's words, that is.
Leyzon flashed a wicked grin.
Persuasion was a necromancer's bread and butter.