Chapter 224
Chapter 224
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 224
Chapter Title: Starfall Realm
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Hero-grade dungeon, Starfall Realm.
The one and only hero-grade dungeon in Steeka.
A hero-grade dungeon is akin to an inhuman hellscape.
Heros who surpass human limits.
Only those of hero-grade can enter such a dungeon, and the phantasmal beasts within are entirely different from the norm.
The phantasmal beasts that appear in Starfall Realm.
Star Sovereigns.
Their appearance is profoundly bizarre.
Star Sovereigns have no heads.
Instead, where their head should be, a single bright star shines.
Countless arms sprout from their necks, wrapping around that star in grotesque fashion.
The rank of a Star Sovereign can be easily discerned by its star.
The star glows in rainbow hues according to its grade.
A world where such Star Sovereigns roam.
That is the hero-grade dungeon, Starfall Realm.
Upon entering Starfall Realm, countless stars filled the sky.
A starry sky that seemed ready to pour down at any moment.
Far more stars than in Steeka's own sky.
Beneath that heaven stretched a golden field.
A field that strangely lost its glow when stepped upon.
Yet regained its luster the moment a foot lifted.
Leyzon took a light breath as he stood in Starfall Realm.
"The air's thin."
Hero-grade dungeons have no intention of letting pioneers survive.
This place is designed solely to kill them.
Even the air is so sparse that breathing is a struggle.
But it was of little concern to Leyzon.
After all, he had become an undead.
'If I can't breathe, I'll just sustain myself with mana.'
As long as his mana burned, Leyzon wouldn't die.
He merely felt a slight discomfort from his old habit of breathing.
"It's a pretty place~."
Syria trotted up beside Leyzon.
As she said, it was beautiful to behold.
A sight impossible even in reality.
Until the stars in the sky veered toward them, that is.
"We've been spotted."
The stars that filled the sky.
Those stars were the Star Sovereigns.
"Syria, Iden, Estelle."
Leyzon's undead gathered around him in unison.
"Go wild to your hearts' content."
It had been a while since a dungeon run.
Time to annihilate them.
A hero-grade dungeon is an inhuman hellscape.
This immutable truth remains unchanged.
Yet even in such hellscapes, beings that transcend them exist.
Stars rained down from the sky, smashing wretchedly into the ground.
These were phantasmal beasts befitting a hero-grade dungeon, possessing strength of an entirely different league.
Monsters that could effortlessly raze a city if they appeared outside.
But there existed something even greater than those monsters.
Leyzon scooped up the fallen stars at his feet one by one.
Each was a material worth a fortune outside.
Of course he had to collect them.
Boom!
At that moment, an explosion roared from above.
There, Estelle in her serpent dragon form charged, knocking stars from the sky.
The Star Sovereigns condensed starlight in their grasp and fired it forth.
That starlight lit the heavens, but never reached Estelle.
Because, despite her massive body, Estelle was impossibly swift.
At the same time, Star Sovereigns bound by curses plummeted to the earth.
They thrashed to escape the curse, but to no avail.
Devoured by darkness, they vanished completely from the world.
Another part of the sky was dyed blood-red.
The night sky where stars should streak was gone.
In its place, a crimson heaven bared its fangs.
Star Sovereigns drained of every bodily fluid tumbled across the ground.
They offered no resistance and met their end.
"Syria, good work."
"It's nothing! For you, Leyzon, I'd pluck the stars from the sky~!"
Syria replied with an innocent smile.
To Leyzon, it was endearing.
To the Star Sovereigns, it was the grin of a devil.
The stars that had blanketed the night sky gradually faded.
In their place, darkness began to settle instead of starlight.
Having stolen the stars from the heavens, it was only natural.
'It's about time.'
Starfall Realm hosts two kinds of phantasmal beasts.
One fills the night sky: the Star Sovereigns.
The other emerges when the Star Sovereigns vanish.
Unlike the star-symbolizing Star Sovereigns, these symbolize pitch darkness.
Dark Sovereigns.
Squelch—
Sure enough, an unsettling sound reached Leyzon's ears.
He turned to see distant mountains.
There stood beings draped in long, pitch-black robes.
From between the robes dangled four long, pale arms.
One of those arms held a lantern.
A lantern where darkness dwelled instead of light.
They sought to capture a star within that lantern.
Leyzon's bag brimmed with stars.
The Dark Sovereigns knew this.
Thus, their target was singular.
Leyzon.
The Dark Sovereigns surged through the darkness toward him.
Those mud-like bodies madly craved the stars.
Yet they knew not it was their gravest mistake.
Leyzon had held his staff the entire time he gathered stars.
And mana steadily drained from that staff.
Whoosh—
Violet flames erupted around Leyzon.
The Dark Sovereigns belatedly sensed something amiss.
A colossal flow of mana stirred.
Mana condensed and swirled around Leyzon at its center.
"Come on in."
Leyzon bared his teeth in a welcoming grin.
"Attribute Fusion, Ignite."
The black sun hidden in the darkness finally revealed itself.
Violet light flooded the Dark Sovereigns' vision.
"Eternal Slumber."
BOOM!
With the ensuing explosion, the Dark Sovereigns shattered into pieces.
Leyzon's firepower remained unyielding even in a hero-grade dungeon.
From the fragmented Dark Sovereigns rolled clumps of darkness.
Leyzon collected those as well.
No Star or Dark Sovereigns remained nearby.
Nothing lingers where the Abyss passes.
As if to prove it, his steps were leisurely.
"Iden."
"Yeah, the darkness is thickening bit by bit."
Iden appeared at his call, shifting into doll form.
As mentioned, Starfall Realm has two kinds of phantasmal beasts.
When Star Sovereigns vanish, Dark Sovereigns emerge.
This applies equally to the realm's overlords.
Starfall Realm's overlords number two.
The Star Sovereign overlord must die for the Dark Sovereign overlord to appear.
The Star Sovereign overlord is the brightest star in Starfall Realm's sky.
A star visible from anywhere within.
No such star was in sight.
The implication was clear.
The Star Sovereign overlord was dead.
And the Dark Sovereign overlord had emerged.
Yet the darkness posed no threat to Leyzon.
It merely writhed sporadically, bereft of will.
"Leyzon."
Syria narrowed her eyes.
A sign the dark currents were dangerous.
Leyzon nodded, aware of it himself.
"It's fine. I've got a rough idea of the situation."
Leyzon was a necromancer.
Peerless in undead creation.
Having crafted countless undead, he instinctively grasped the current state.
Including the mad scheme this old coot, Garjun, was up to.
"My turn."
Before long, pitch-black darkness engulfed everything.
The whites of Leyzon's eyes turned black.
With that, the obscuring darkness pierced clear as day.
Leyzon wielded darkness-affinity skills too.
This level of shadow could no longer impede him.
Soon, Leyzon's steps halted abruptly.
There yawned a sheer chasm below.
But the chasm wasn't the issue.
The entity within the massive cylindrical pit was.
The darkness writhed.
Thick, viscous darkness filled the hole like liquid.
It seemed to have once held some form, but now it was a mess.
At the heart of that darkness.
Stood a headless old man.
Half his body was submerged in shadow.
Instead, his head was held aloft in his hand.
Ashen hair and unkempt beard.
Deep wrinkles around the eyes and root-like tattoos.
Leyzon knew that old man's face well.
Former Gray Mage Tower Lord
Garjun
"You've become a headless rider, I see."
There he was, undead—a headless rider.
Garjun's closed eyes slowly opened.
Deep ashen irises.
Proof he was a necromancer.
Soon, Garjun met Leyzon's gaze.
Then, with profound boredom, he intoned,
"The brat's here."
Treating him like an intruder.
Still the foul-mouthed old coot.
Garjun's ill repute had long been infamous.
He accounted for much of the stereotype that necromancers were eccentric.
Being the Gray Mage Tower Lord only amplified it.
Yet in a talentless world, he was the maddest of all.
A necromancer obsessed.
That moniker wasn't unfounded.
"Bone Broom."
Leyzon summoned a bone broom and took to the air.
He soon descended before Garjun, who lurked in shadow.
"Garjun, old timer. Mind if I ask a few questions?"
"I don't recall ever getting chummy with you."
A curt reply from Garjun.
He must have long known Leyzon was prowling Steeka.
Thus, he surely knew Leyzon was the Abyss.
Yet even as fellow necromancers, no warmth.
"We can build familiarity starting now, right?"
"I don't feel like bonding with someone who crashes during dinner."
Dinner time.
Hearing that, Leyzon let out a hollow chuckle.
His undead reacted variously.
Syria furrowed her brow; Iden tilted her head.
Estelle slowly widened her eyes.
"Leyzon, this guy... surely not."
That surely was the truth.
Leyzon answered Estelle's doubt in Garjun's stead.
"Yeah, the old man's literally in the middle of dinner right now."
The reason Leyzon chuckled at "dinner."
Garjun was devouring the overlord.
The Dark Sovereign overlord, Darkest Night.
It was melting away completely, absorbed by Garjun.
Feasting on a hero-grade overlord.
A method akin to undead evolution.
But Leyzon saw beyond that.
Having gathered vast information, he understood the situation.
"Garjun, you're a land beast."
Landkeeper, watchman, gravekeeper.
An ancient land beast that had entered the empire long ago.
Garjun was undoubtedly one such.
And more.
Leyzon's eyes sharpened to clear gray.
"And you've been undead from the start."
You can't fool ghosts, let alone the Abyss's eyes.
From the intel gathered and his undead experiences.
Leyzon pierced Garjun completely.
Garjun, who had stonewalled him throughout, finally faltered.
Then slowly looked up at Leyzon.
Chill—
Leyzon instinctively shivered at the smile in those eyes.
No human smile.
Yet no malice.
Only pure intrigue gleamed there.
"As expected of the Abyss."
Crack—
Garjun rose from the darkness, cradling his own head.
"Quick on the uptake."
This land beast turned undead.
"So, what conversation brings you to me?"
Garjun accepted the dialogue.