Chapter 253
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 253
Chapter Title: Master of the Dragon Realm, Dragonkin
The lords of the Dragon Realm: the Dragonkin.
One of them stood atop the city walls, letting out a belated yawn.
It was the daily rotation for guard duty.
As it tapped its spear idly, thinking how it just wanted to head back and sleep...
Something caught the Dragonkin's eye far in the distance.
Something pitch-black was filling the entire ground.
The Dragonkin narrowed its eyes, sharpening its vision.
And soon, its eyes widened to their limit.
――――!
The Dragonkin threw its head back and let out a howl toward the sky.
A sound humans couldn't hear, but one all Dragonkin could.
The alarm signaling intruders.
The city walls that protected the Dragonkin.
Charging toward them was none other than the undead legion.
Leyzon stood proudly at the center of that undead horde.
Ambition Star Guild Leader Rastolfo wore a consistently dazed expression.
He never could have imagined he'd end up facing off against the Dragonkin like this.
"There's actually a city wall."
"This feels like we're at war."
"No different from raiding another country."
The Pioneers behind him murmured among themselves.
As they said, the Dragonkin had built massive walls and even formed a village.
Even if they looked like lizards standing on legs three times taller than a human's.
Their societal structure wasn't all that different from humanity's.
Perhaps because of that, some Pioneers wore stiff expressions.
It felt like they themselves had become the marauders.
"What's with the reactions all of a sudden?"
At that moment, Crimson Moon called them out.
She looked at the Pioneers with their uneasy faces in pity.
"To dungeons, we've always been intruders. Now that they've banded together, are you suddenly feeling guilty?"
Hero-grade Pioneers holding moral standards against Phantasmal Beasts.
Crimson Moon spoke as if the very idea disgusted her.
"If you were going to worry about that, you never should have set foot in a dungeon."
The Pioneers looked embarrassed.
Leyzon agreed with her words.
To dungeons, Pioneers were always invaders.
Dungeons were territories activated subtly by the corpses of transcendent beings.
Imperial citizens had always invaded them, plundering resources.
It wasn't for nothing that the land beasts called them parasites.
"Allow me to add one point."
Leyzon decided to ease their guilt while he was at it.
"The reason Dragonkin could develop such human-like ways was because they devoured the brains of Hero-grade Pioneers who entered here in the past."
Dragonkin had the habit of sharing knowledge.
They ate others' brains to acquire the latent memories within.
The more Pioneers failed, the stronger the Dragonkin grew.
That was precisely why the Dragon Realm had been banned by the Imperial Household.
Leyzon drew his staff.
"So that city wall standing there now? It's just the most efficient way they've devised to counter Pioneers."
Humans had such a thing as morality.
The Dragonkin knew exactly how to exploit it.
"I'm not judging personal standards."
Leyzon left them with a warning.
"Just don't die feeling sympathy and regret it later."
He added one more thing.
"Oh, of course, if you die, I'll raise you as undead, so no need to worry."
The Pioneers paled.
At the same time, determination filled their eyes.
Dying here meant becoming an Abyssal undead, serving eternally.
They had to avoid that at all costs.
They revealed a sense of duty to protect their own lives, at least.
"...How kind. Thank you."
Rastolfo thanked Leyzon on their behalf.
He'd prevented a situation that could sap their morale.
"The afterthought was sincere, so it's not exactly kindness. More importantly."
Leyzon looked up at the sky.
A massive magic circle had already formed there.
"Looks like one of the Dragonkin ate a mage."
The most dangerous thing about Dragonkin was acquiring not just knowledge, but Pioneers' skills too.
Not for individuals, but the entire group.
A large-scale spell crafted by multiple mages combined.
If that rained down, it would be chaos.
Perhaps sensing as much, their own mages grew busy.
They were preparing countermeasures against the large-scale magic.
"Ambition Star Guild Leader."
Leyzon left the mages to it and aimed his staff at the sky.
"I'll block that spell, so can you demolish the walls?"
Rastolfo exhaled at Leyzon's question.
He pulled himself together from his earlier stupor.
Then he hoisted [Thunderclap of Ruin].
"I'll smash every last bit of it."
Everyone had their roles.
Leyzon's lips curved up as he activated his magic.
The incantation-like magic activation began.
As spells aligned one by one above Leyzon's head, a halo took shape.
Mana swirled fiercely.
The [Ring of Harmony] on his finger drove the mana into even greater frenzy.
The mages preparing to counter the Dragonkin's large-scale spell turned in stunned silence.
They shivered at the mana flow they'd never felt before.
But to Leyzon, it was everyday routine.
He fused spells familiarly, over and over.
When the endless mana supply reached its peak...
A pitch-black sun completed itself before Leyzon.
Trees surged up, morphing as they swallowed the black sun.
A gusting wind finally launched the sun toward the sky.
The black sun soared heavenward.
In response, the Dragonkin's large-scale spell formed a fire dragon.
The sky flushed red.
A massive spell forged by Hero-grade Phantasmal Beasts pooling their power.
On a scale even Hero-grade mages couldn't handle.
The colossal fire dragon plummeted toward the ground.
A final spark ignited atop the black sun as it reached the fire dragon.
The violet flame devoured the entire black sun in an instant.
"Eternal Slumber."
⟨ Fusion Magic: Abyss ⟩
Leyzon uttered the finale.
The black sun opened its maw toward the fire dragon.
And in doing so, it swallowed the fire dragon whole, erasing the sky itself.
―――――――!
Before the overwhelming firepower, even the Dragonkin and their mages lost their wits.
No one could imagine such power from a single person's spell.
"Hoo."
Even Crea, who had a lemon candy in her mouth, let out an exclamation.
But they didn't know.
This was still far from Leyzon's full power.
As everyone stood stunned...
Rastolfo's cannon finished charging.
Rastolfo's cannon unleashed an explosive beam, slamming into the walls.
Kwa-gwang-gwang-gwang-gwang!
Half the walls where Dragonkin swarmed crumbled in an instant.
The interior of the Dragonkin city was exposed at once.
"Abyss pierced through!"
It was Rastolfo's solo preparation amid everyone's shock.
Chaos erupted from the Dragonkin side.
Now was the chance.
"Advance."
At Leyzon's command, the legion surged forward in unison.
The Dragonkin scrambled to deploy their forces in response.
They moved centered around their commanders.
But they knew one thing and not the other.
Leyzon's fusion magic wasn't over yet.
Fragments of the black sun rained down like meteors over the Dragonkin.
Kwaaaang! Kwang! Kwaaaang!
The meteor shower pounded them, sending Dragonkin tumbling and screaming.
They'd been distracted by the breached walls.
The undead legion exploited the gap, surging over the ruins.
The Dragonkin swung their weapons madly against the assailants.
Some even wielded skills.
But against the undead legion, they were crude.
Even if they'd gained knowledge by devouring Hero-grade Pioneers.
It was still just individual power.
They'd never faced a true legion's might.
The Dragonkin formations collapsed, reduced to scorched earth.
And it had taken less than 30 minutes.
But Dragonkin had ranks too.
Individuals equivalent to Yellow-grade Phantasmal Beasts or higher.
They even felled some undead in turn.
"Hanok."
That was why Leyzon deployed mercenaries to take them down one by one.
"Take them out."
A long-haired Grade 1 Dragonkin warrior bellowed an inhuman roar.
The moment Leyzon pointed him out, Hanok kicked off the ground and vanished.
Hanok was a phantom warrior, covered in stealth steps and various skills.
Not even the Dragonkin's detection range caught his approach.
Hanok exploited that to ambush the Dragonkin warrior.
A thunderous clash echoed as they collided.
Leyzon's four undead did the same.
They sliced through high-rank Dragonkin warriors with ease.
Syria Nosferatu's crimson shadows surged like waves, Iwen's curses sang.
Estelle poured out her serpent dragon aura, and Paully remade fortresses in reverse.
The Dragonkin city was thoroughly trampled under undead feet.
Nothing remained in their wake.
Watching the scene, the Hero-grade Pioneers couldn't close their mouths.
Hero-grade Pioneers had fought hard too, of course.
Cooperating to fell Dragonkin and hold the line.
But their efforts paled beside Leyzon's legion.
These were people renowned as Heroes outside.
Here, they were but a tiny fraction of the legion.
They finally realized what the Abyss truly was.
The pinnacle of Necromancers.
What that title meant.
One who could form a legion alone.
One who could raze a nation single-handedly.
Perhaps the Imperial Household had hunted Necromancers all this time solely to check the Abyss.
They couldn't help but think so, gazing at the Dragonkin's devastated city.
Leyzon himself was already thinking of swiftly clearing the next sector.
[Leyzon.]
Then, a familiar voice reached him.
A voice speaking directly to his soul.
Leyzon listened and replied.
"What is it?"
Ghost Princess, Phirshiran.
She rarely initiated contact first.
So when Leyzon voiced his question, Phirshiran quietly reported.
[Ghost Bride—her trace has been found.]
Leyzon's body froze solid.
The one undead Leyzon hadn't found.
Ghost Bride, Tessa Miriji.
Phirshiran had located her.