Chapter 37
Chapter 37
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Night Raven's Fifth Sword
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Night Raven affiliate, the fifth sword.
The fifth was the sword that had changed hands the most in Night Raven history.
He had lived longer than any fifth before him.
"This is an order from His Imperial Majesty. Fifth, pursue the master of the Gray Mage Tower."
It seemed his time to be discarded had finally come.
The master of the Gray Mage Tower was no one the Fifth could handle alone.
This signaled the start of Night Raven's long-standing tradition.
When it was time to replace them with fresh blood,
they were given a mission from which they would never return, to meet their end.
'I'm not being discarded.'
From the moment he could walk,
the Fifth had been raised in a special environment to become a Night Raven.
So he knew it well.
He knew nothing but carrying out missions.
If the Night Ravens cast him out, he'd turn into an idiot in an instant.
That's why he'd worked tirelessly to stay in the Night Ravens.
But in the end, he couldn't rack up the achievements needed to rise to fourth.
Now he was in his mid-thirties.
It was time to yield his position to younger, more skilled blades.
"...In the end, I never even saw His Imperial Majesty's face."
A life as the Emperor's sword without ever seeing his master's face.
For that life's conclusion, the Fifth set off on his mission.
It was a bitterly fitting final task.
At that moment, the Fifth's eyes snapped open.
"Gah!"
The Fifth shuddered once from the searing pain wracking his entire body.
He scanned his surroundings with bleary eyes.
'Was that just a dream?'
To dream of the moment he was discarded, of all things.
It left a foul taste in his mouth.
'A wave of blood and shadow definitely crashed over me.'
The instant the wave of blood and shadow engulfed him,
he had raised his sword against it to the very end.
Struggling to cleave through the tide.
A hero-grade pioneer was a being who transcended human limits.
The Fifth had shown hero-grade power fittingly.
Yet limits weren't always meant to be broken.
Just as he had never become fourth.
The Fifth failed to crest the wave.
He was ultimately buried in the endless tide of blood and shadow.
And swept away, consciousness fading.
'Where is this?'
Regaining awareness, the Fifth looked around.
'Some kind of cave?'
The dim light made it hard to make out his surroundings.
"You're awake."
He jerked his head up toward the voice.
A man sat there.
Slightly dark skin peeked out beneath black hair.
Ears a touch shorter than an elf's—he seemed like a Half Dark Elf.
His rugged, ugly features were far from elven.
But that was a mask.
The Fifth didn't know his real face.
The Fifth swallowed hard.
Even as a discarded blade,
the team he'd assembled to take down the Gray Mage Tower master had been shattered.
'Damn, a powerhouse necromancer was still lurking?'
There were fewer than ten hero-grade or higher necromancers left.
Of course, those who surpassed hero-grade were all dangerous in their own right.
Capturing them required tremendous effort.
And among those scant hero-grades,
there was no one like Leyzon.
"...Who the hell are you?"
Where had this monster sprung from?
To the Fifth's eyes, his power still seemed around 8th Ascension.
That fact instilled even greater fear.
It meant that despite unleashing that much power, he still couldn't gauge him fully.
"Blue Flame? Dragon Palace Beast? Curse Demon King? Moving Black Fortress? Or the Gray Mage Tower master himself?"
All those mentioned were necromancers or creations of necromancers.
They were beings still lurking across the Empire, gnawing away at the world.
Leyzon tapped his chin with his index finger at the question.
'Dragon Palace Beast is Estelle, Curse Demon King and Moving Black Fortress...'
For some reason, two suspects came to mind.
Apparently, his minions had been up to no good too.
'My undead are causing all sorts of trouble.'
Leyzon sighed shortly, rubbing the back of his neck.
His undead sure knew how to make his life hell.
"Even if I told you, would you know?"
Leyzon's name wasn't known at all.
He meant it sincerely, but the Fifth's pride bristled, his eyes narrowing.
"...No way."
Then something struck him, and he bit his lip hard.
Disgust flickered in his eyes.
"Or are you... Abyss?"
A reaction like he shouldn't utter the name lightly.
Leyzon's eyes gleamed.
'Oh?'
Abyss, straight from the Fifth's mouth.
Leyzon had never heard of Abyss.
But the Fifth's reaction suggested a major threat.
'Looks like there's another big-name necromancer besides the Gray Mage Tower master.'
This might be valuable intel.
He didn't know who Abyss was, but if a necromancer, they could make a deal.
With the Empire treating all necromancers as enemies,
they had to band together.
'Might gain a decent ally.'
Plus, he'd recently acquired the Poison Necromancer manual from a dungeon.
Having a fellow necromancer to research it with would boost success chances.
Leyzon smiled chillingly at the Fifth.
They seemed eager to pry info too, opening their mouth.
They hadn't realized he truly knew nothing.
To Leyzon, the Fifth was an intel fountain waiting to spill with a word.
"Abyss? No idea what you're talking about."
Leyzon played dumb, and the Fifth bit his lip.
"Don't play coy. Someone with your skill couldn't possibly not know Abyss."
Abyss it was, then.
Clearly a top-tier necromancer.
"Curse Demon King, Dragon Palace Beast, Moving Black Fortress, Vampire Queen.
We've confirmed they all came from one person: Abyss."
Right, Curse Demon King, Dragon Palace Beast, Moving Black Fortress, Vampire Queen...
'Ah, damn it.'
Leyzon felt like he'd been smacked in the back of the head.
He rubbed his forehead.
So Abyss was...
'Me.'
He'd hoped for a new necromancer ally.
Leyzon's face fell.
'More than that.'
They'd pieced it together this far.
Leyzon eyed the Fifth.
Thanks to his ramblings, Leyzon had learned plenty.
'The Empire knows about me.'
But Leyzon had never been directly pursued by the Empire.
'So they just call me Abyss vaguely, without pinning me down.'
Leyzon was at best an 8th Ascension pioneer.
Until recently, only 6th Ascension.
'No wonder they couldn't pinpoint me.'
The undead he mentioned all threatened the Empire.
Whoever made those had to be a powerhouse.
No way they'd peg him as mid-tier.
'Staying at 6th Ascension actually kept me hidden.'
Luck had aligned perfectly.
Leyzon swallowed a sigh.
'Now I get why Estelle reacted like that.'
Not just Estelle.
Syria too, and the others.
They all figured there was a reason Leyzon stuck to Earthhold Layer dungeons.
And after pondering,
they'd reached that conclusion.
Leyzon avoided Ascension to hide from the Empire.
And to raise his undead.
It was a reasonable inference.
'Reality was just auto-hunting on idle.'
Whatever Leyzon's real intent,
by game terms, it was pure auto-hunt.
'Wonder how the Empire would react knowing Abyss is just an 8th Ascension pioneer.'
They'd be stunned, clutching their necks.
All their hard investigation wasted.
'Well, look at the Estelle incident—my rep couldn't help but grow.'
He'd made undead that killed a count and the Hundred Bone Lord.
The Empire had every reason to mark him dangerous.
The issue was, it was Leyzon himself.
'If the Empire's this aware.'
He'd need to be more cautious with undead contact going forward.
'More tasks added.'
But tasks were meant to be cleared.
Leyzon stayed positive.
'Anyway.'
Leyzon slowly turned to the Fifth.
From their talk and info gathered so far,
Leyzon had formed one hypothesis.
"Looks like there's a pretty skilled necromancer working for the Empire."
The Fifth said nothing.
Which only confirmed it for Leyzon.
Curse Demon King, Dragon Palace Beast, Moving Black Fortress, Vampire Queen.
'To know all my undead came from one maker.'
Some skilled necromancer must have advised them.
Meaning one necromancer sided with the Empire.
'Selling out fellow necromancers to save their own skin.'
Whoever it was, a real scumbag.
He'd love to meet them face-to-face, greet them properly.
Gift them fusion magic.
"Let's end the chat here. You can ask more later."
Leyzon turned away, ignoring the Fifth's questions.
Instead, four figures dropped from above Leyzon's head.
They were all bound in shadow, withered like mummies.
The Fifth recognized them and froze.
They were the hunters who'd ambushed Leyzon with him.
Not one had escaped capture by Leyzon.
"...I won't talk under any torture."
The Fifth showed resolve.
Leyzon tilted his head at that.
"Why would I torture you?"
Hearing that, the Fifth belatedly realized something.
His face drained of color.
"I'm a necromancer."
Necromancer.
They raised the dead.
No need for torture—just kill, raise the corpse, and bind it.
Then they'd spill everything.
No need to make them talk.
Even suicide was fine.
To a necromancer, death was just a convenient tool.
"Dead or alive,"
Leyzon's bright smile contrasted with the Fifth's darkening face.
That smile was as good as a death sentence to him.
Demon.
This guy was a demon.
"It doesn't matter to me."
At that moment, crimson shadow surged, coiling around the Fifth's neck and face.
"Guh, let—let go!"
The Fifth flailed as the shadow dragged him away.
The reaper gripped his head, pulling with shadow.
Death rushed in instantly.
He'd lived his life sword raised for the Emperor.
Even as a blade haunting the underworld, he had pride.
But such a meaningless death?
"Oh, right."
A shadow chair appeared where Leyzon walked.
He sat naturally, elbow on the armrest,
propped his chin, and smiled.
"I don't even need to kill you."
In the shadow sucking the Fifth in,
something appeared in his vision.
A woman.
So breathtakingly beautiful, even the Fifth's eyes glazed over.
Her hair half white, half black, she advanced slowly through the shadow.
She cupped his face in her hands.
Then he saw the sharp fangs in her mouth.
Having dealt with countless vampire-related matters as a necromancer hunter, the Fifth knew what it was.
Vampire.
This woman was a vampire.
'Vampire Queen!'
And he realized.
Leyzon really was Abyss.
The Fifth sensed she meant to enslave him.
Even death felt hollow.
To live eternally as a vampire's thrall?
His knightly pride shattered; he screamed.
"Kill me—rather, just kill me!"
He didn't want to become a vampire thrall.
He hadn't raised his sword for this.
At least let him die human—the Fifth cried out.
But his shouts held no power.
The weak were exploited by the strong.
Just the pitiful bleat of a gazelle in a lion's jaws.
Syria's fangs sank into the Fifth's neck.
He felt burning agony in his throat.
"Aaaaaaagh!"
With his scream, Syria's enslavement seeped into his veins.
Soon, a vampire brand burned clear on his neck.
The Fifth's struggles gradually weakened.
His head buried in shadow, twitching—it wasn't a pretty sight.
But Leyzon waited impassively.
The Fifth was Empire-aligned.
And though unlucky, he'd targeted Leyzon directly.
From that point, Leyzon showed no mercy.
Moments later, Syria appeared beside Leyzon.
"All done, Master Leyzon!"
Back to child form, Syria beamed innocently.
Schluck!
Right on cue, the Fifth pulled his head from the shadow.
His eyes had turned red.
Fangs protruded.
Thrall conversion complete.
The Fifth bowed to Leyzon in that state.
"Master's Master, the Fifth greets you."
"Don't bother with titles. Just call me Leyzon."
"Yes, Leyzon."
The Fifth had become Syria's loyal thrall.
Leyzon spoke without minding his bow.
"Alright, now spill everything you know."
Time to wring every scrap of Empire intel from him.