Chapter 225
Chapter 225
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 225
Chapter Title: Former Gray Mage Tower Master, Garjun
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Former Gray Mage Tower Master, Garjun.
Leyzon had figured out that he was a Beast of the Earth—and an undead from the very start—for a simple reason.
He had already encountered Carmen, the Beast of the Earth who was absorbing the dungeon.
He had even turned her into an undead himself.
Leyzon was at an expert level when it came to creating undead.
Spotting it the moment he laid eyes on Garjun wasn't difficult at all.
"Tsk tsk, Abyss, Abyss. I've heard the name plenty of times, but you're more ordinary than I expected."
"The world won't let me live ordinarily, that's why."
Leyzon replied with remarkable composure as he looked up.
"More importantly, why don't you come out already and talk? I don't plan to stick around in this dreary place forever."
The Starnet Realm, now that its Holy Net species were dead, consisted of nothing but darkness.
Leyzon had no intention of lingering here any longer than necessary.
"Plus, it doesn't look good for a local to be sucking up the dungeon like that."
"Puhahaha!"
Garjun burst into laughter.
Just as Leyzon said, he was absorbing the power of the Starnet Realm.
It was akin to absorbing the power of a transcendent being's corpse.
Yet Garjun just grinned from ear to ear, unfazed by Leyzon's words.
"Pot calling the kettle black, don't you think?"
Leyzon was an imperial citizen.
Imperial citizens, when you got right down to it, were parasites raised that way.
Moreover, Leyzon's evolution condition was tied to skills.
At that point, there was no real difference between Leyzon and Garjun.
But Garjun didn't know.
He had no idea just how shameless Leyzon truly was.
"Yeah, you're right. Once I run out of food, you'll have to stop eating."
Garjun blinked in surprise.
He hadn't expected Leyzon to be this brazen.
"Have you ever seen one parasite give up its spot to another? Never. So hurry up and come out."
A parasite would assert itself like a true parasite.
Leyzon's sheer audacity left Garjun chuckling dryly.
"I see. That's a fair point."
Garjun could even understand Leyzon's line of thinking.
"But this is a life-or-death matter for me."
That didn't mean he could just up and leave recklessly.
"This is how I extend my lifespan."
An undead's lifespan might seem infinite at a glance.
But that only held true as long as their necromancer master existed.
Once an undead exhausted its innate power, it would crumble and vanish all the same.
I see. So this is his method of prolonging life.
Leyzon was pretending to know more than he did, but in truth, he didn't fully grasp what it meant to become an undead himself.
Back when he faced the Ossuary in that decisive battle.
He had chosen corruption over ascension.
And indeed, becoming an undead had brought him many benefits.
But separate from that, the gaps in his knowledge nagged at him.
He didn't know what burdens came with a necromancer turning undead themselves.
Garjun—this old man knows more about undead than I do, at the very least.
He was skilled at creating them, but his theoretical knowledge fell short.
So Leyzon planned to extract as much information as possible while he had the chance.
Earth Wardens, Sentinels, Gravekeepers, and a Beast of the Earth from the same era.
There was a wealth of info he could glean from Garjun.
"How much time left?"
"Not much. I've almost finished absorbing it."
Garjun tilted his head back with a smile.
To preserve his life, he was extending it through the power of the transcendent corpse.
Leyzon now understood why Garjun had infiltrated the empire.
He must have already turned undead outside.
To gain a transcendent's power from the outside, one had no choice but to become a prophet.
Garjun had wanted to avoid that, so he sneaked into the empire instead.
"Alright, then. I'll wait."
His conversation with Garjun was precious.
Leyzon decided to quietly wait for him.
It took an hour for Garjun to finish absorbing.
He slew the leader just as the darkness fully receded.
"The Starnet Realm overflows with energy, making it great for frequent use. The recovery is quick."
He had apparently been resetting dungeons this way to siphon power all along.
Garjun's face indeed looked brighter than before.
He tossed his head onto his neck, where the severed parts seamlessly rejoined, restoring his original form.
"So, Abyss. What did you come to ask me?"
"About undead."
"Hmm, this'll be a profound discussion."
Leyzon wanted to unleash a barrage of questions.
But he held back.
He couldn't yet tell if Garjun was trustworthy.
All Leyzon knew about him was that he was the former Gray Mage Tower Master.
And a grumpy old coot.
Exposing too much ignorance wouldn't do him any favors.
Information was best gained through equal exchange, not one-sided handouts.
So Leyzon opted to ask about his own speculations instead.
"Garjun, do you think undead can become transcendent beings?"
Garjun froze.
It was an utterly unexpected first question.
He stared at Leyzon with strange eyes.
Leyzon's lips curled up at the reaction.
Because he knew what Garjun had pursued all this time.
Recently, he had met Dexter, the Gray Mage Tower Master.
Leyzon had learned about Garjun from him.
Including the secret the Gray Mage Tower had hidden for so long.
The method to elevate undead to near-transcendent existence.
That was what the Gray Mage Tower had truly been researching.
And the one who led that research was Garjun himself.
"I've heard various things. You were the first Gray Mage Tower Master, right?"
The founder of the Gray Mage Tower.
That was Garjun.
He had infiltrated as a Beast of the Earth, established the tower.
And continued his research there, changing forms over time.
As an undead, he was immortal.
He could have deceived everyone and remained Tower Master indefinitely if he wished.
So why did he one day entrust it to Dexter and leave?
The answer wasn't far off.
"But the Ossuary got in the way, so you left the Gray Mage Tower behind."
The Ossuary—prophets and necromancers.
Garjun had no desire for a direct confrontation.
So he abandoned the tower along with his research data.
Soon after, the Ossuary used the imperial family to dismantle the Gray Mage Tower.
They even put out bounties on necromancers.
Garjun must have been included in that.
To the Ossuary, Garjun was a thorn in their side.
They tried to lure him out by rounding up necromancers.
But they never found him, and Leyzon ended up killing them.
That was the full story up to now.
Leyzon had pieced it together from his gathered info, supplemented by Dexter's.
A slow laugh escaped Garjun's lips.
"What could a ghost obsessed with failed research possibly want to know?"
Garjun's gaze toward Leyzon had shifted.
No longer casual—it clearly marked Leyzon as dangerous.
"Because I'm going to achieve transcendent evolution with undead myself."
But Garjun's eyes widened at Leyzon's next words.
"Are you insane?"
Garjun had spent his days in endless research to become a transcendent.
Yet he had only racked up failures.
Leading to his current state—parasitizing a transcendent corpse just to survive.
"Perfectly sane. You can see that with your own eyes."
Leyzon presented himself boldly to the man.
Only then did Garjun seriously scrutinize Leyzon.
His gaze also fell on the undead at Leyzon's side.
Each of Leyzon's undead seemed otherworldly.
The power bestowed upon them transcended mere undeath.
They dwelled in uncharted territory, beyond even Garjun's knowledge.
"My undead evolve."
Garjun froze at Leyzon's next declaration.
It was something he never could have anticipated.
Did undead even have the concept of evolution?
Not even Garjun, who had handled them his entire life, knew.
Necromancers were often maniacal.
A product of obsession with their field.
Leyzon knew little about Garjun.
But what he did know, he knew cold.
Garjun is a man obsessed with undead.
From the moment Leyzon appeared, he had noticed where Garjun's eyes lingered.
On Leyzon himself and his undead companions.
Garjun's gaze roved over them with insatiable curiosity.
He pretended otherwise, but his body betrayed his itch.
Before long, Leyzon's undead lined up beside him one by one.
Leyzon's eyes met Garjun's.
Here lay the culmination of Garjun's lifelong research.
Over a still lake.
The fisherman cast the bait.
A purple flame ignited above the fisherman's head.
Like a halo, it was a light no fish could ignore.
"As I said, my undead evolve whenever they meet certain conditions."
Garjun's eyes flickered.
The curiosity he had suppressed spilled out uncontrollably.
Leyzon spread his arms leisurely, asserting his presence.
"And the same goes for me."
Leyzon was an undead too.
He evolved ceaselessly as the Abyss.
Garjun's body began to tremble faintly.
As a necromancer specializing in undead, he could tell.
Every undead here differed from the norm.
If it was due to evolution, it all made sense.
"...That's certainly an unexpectedly fascinating tale."
The Abyss was unknown even to Garjun.
So he had kept his guard up.
No need to rashly expose his undead cravings.
Garjun and Leyzon had been locked in a subtle battle of wills.
Hence the bait.
To drag him into the fray beyond mere posturing.
"I told you earlier—I have no experience becoming a transcendent."
Leyzon's lips curved upward.
Garjun's eyes shook violently.
"But I believe the end of this evolution is transcendence."
A transcendent at evolution's pinnacle.
Imagining it, Garjun exhaled excitedly.
His scholarly fervor was palpable.
"So, Garjun."
Leyzon pierced that fervor precisely.
"Help me prove if undead can truly become transcendent?"
It was the moment a grad student selected his professor.
Be my professor.