Chapter 44
Chapter 44
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Pursuit in Sahā Village
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Follow the main road down from the Ged Mountains, and you'd reach Hogarden Lake Village.
From there, heading south along the merchants' route led to the Eran Earldom.
The Eran Earldom was famous for its clear skies, where the stars shone brighter than anywhere else.
Among its sights, using the Spider constellation as your guide would take you to the Pobli Barony, renowned for its vineyards.
A little further past that barony lay a certain village.
It sat at the crossroads splitting the empire's east and west paths.
This was Sahā Village, home to the Sahā Realm dungeon.
In that Sahā Village, inside one restaurant, a man was quietly sipping his drink.
He had a burly build and deep blue hair.
His piercing gaze peeked through strands of that hair.
An unnatural aura emanated from him constantly.
Because of this, the tavern—usually rowdy with pioneers—was unusually hushed.
Some customers even entered, took one look, and slipped out quietly.
A bitter pill for the owner to swallow.
Even he didn't dare approach the man recklessly.
It was only natural.
His name was Rafila.
The man they called Iron Wall.
The large guild, Steel Wolf.
Mocked for rising to major guild status purely on numbers.
But one thing was certain.
Everyone acknowledged the skill of its guild master, who led Steel Wolf.
And that guild master was him.
Why was he in Sahā Village now?
Because of his younger brother, once affiliated with the guild.
The wastrel, Liren.
He'd entered the Sahā Realm dungeon hunting for the Peerless Gem from the White Jade Serpent.
Then, all contact cut off, and he vanished.
Despite assigning a capable pioneer as his escort, he was still missing.
This was no ordinary incident.
Rafila had scoured everywhere for leads.
But all he uncovered was when Liren had entered the dungeon.
Nothing after that.
Rafila slowly set down his glass.
'Liren entered the dungeon... and vanished.'
Dungeons meant Phantasmal Beasts as a possible cause.
But Liren had a soon-to-be advanced pioneer guarding him.
No mid-tier dungeon Phantasmal Beast could take him down.
'Which means...'
At the very least, not a Phantasmal Beast.
Eliminate those, and only one option remained.
Combat with other people.
'And sightings of the White Jade Serpent stopped right when Liren vanished.'
Rafila pieced together the intel he'd gathered.
He quickly reached one conclusion.
'Someone fought Liren over the White Jade Serpent. And Liren's side lost.'
Leyzon would have been impressed by his deduction.
He hadn't identified the culprit, but his reasoning was sharp.
'One problem, though.'
Rafila drummed his thick fingers on the table.
'Reports of the Judgment Sovereign sighted around that time.'
A Judgment Sovereign suddenly appearing in the Sahā Realm dungeon.
He was the type to pop up everywhere anyway, so nothing new there.
But the timing was too suspicious.
The Judgment Sovereign often acted in incomprehensible ways.
Rumors said he received revelations from transcendent beings.
Rafila didn't buy it.
'Some kind of skill, probably.'
And that skill guided his actions.
'Did the Judgment Sovereign kill Liren?'
He shook his head immediately.
'Liren wasn't enough of a threat for that.'
His brother seemed bold and hot-tempered on the surface.
But it was a defense mechanism to hide his weaknesses.
Liren was like a hedgehog.
A hedgehog crushed by the massive wall of his older brother, only able to bristle its spines.
As a result, Liren kept making mistakes.
As if desperately seeking the affection he lacked.
Rafila had long been disappointed in Liren and held no expectations.
He'd only protected him as his sole blood kin.
For such a Liren to threaten the Judgment Sovereign?
Impossible.
'The missing group was one mid-tier party and Liren's crew.'
After his brother's disappearance, Rafila had tracked down every party that entered that day.
The White Jade Serpent had drawn crowds, so it wasn't easy, but he'd identified most.
Three parties still unaccounted for.
Two were human parties; tracing their routes revealed they were bandit groups that killed pioneers and stole their Pioneer IDs.
Trash like that couldn't handle Pensaldor, the 9-Ascension pioneer at Rafila's side.
So, rule out those two.
The last was a heterorace duo party.
Both 6-Ascension pioneers.
Not enough to challenge Pensaldor either.
But their heterorace nature bothered him.
Unlike humans, heteroraces were full of variables.
'They have potential. Plenty of suspicions too.'
They'd left for the capital by carriage that day.
Then vanished without a trace.
Sunk into the earth or flown to the skies—who knew?
No matter how hard he searched, nothing.
Either they'd gone somewhere beyond Steel Wolf's intel network.
Or they were dead.
"Hoo."
Rafila let out a quiet breath.
He was angry right now.
Not over his brother's death.
He'd discarded that fool long ago.
Nothing about him appealed, blood tie aside.
He'd even planned to clean house soon—ship the accident-prone idiot off to the countryside.
Part of reforming Steel Wolf.
But his brother died first.
What enraged him was someone daring to mock Steel Wolf and him.
Touching a guild member's—and the guild master's—brother so boldly.
This was a challenge to the guild.
Rafila would never let it slide.
Bam!
Right then, the inn door burst open as someone rushed in.
He hurried straight to Rafila's table.
Rafila glanced at him, and the man whispered urgently.
Rafila stood up.
"Everyone."
His eyes blazed fiercely.
"Those two suspicious bastards are back. Capture them."
At his words, people rose simultaneously from around the tavern.
The drinkers who'd avoided Rafila were startled.
They hadn't realized so many Steel Wolf guild members were stationed here.
Rafila strode out, his murderous intent plain.
Whoever they were...
They'd pay dearly for trifling with Steel Wolf.
The inn in Sahā Village.
A Half Dark Elf pushed open the door and stepped out.
His name was Leyzon.
A Poison Necromancer.
"Hanok, rest at the inn for a bit. I'll be right back."
Sahā Village lay at the heart of the east-west crossroads.
Leyzon's goal was the Cursed Demon King to the west.
It was a long trek west from here.
So, he wanted to handle a few things first.
Clearing the Sahā Realm dungeon, which he'd skipped last time.
And visiting the black market in the neighboring Veronican Barony.
The Veronican black market was smaller than the capital's.
But it had a far wider variety of oddities.
'Speed Reading [C] should be there for sure.'
The skill for rapidly absorbing book contents.
Leyzon planned to grab it before hitting the Sahā Realm dungeon.
And check for other gear too.
'Want to stock up more evolution items for the undeads.'
The Veronican Barony was a bit off his route.
But he figured he'd swing by early.
"Got it! I'll be training!"
Thanks to the five lately, Hanok had gotten hooked on training—his tail wagged whenever it was time.
He'd been shy at first, but now they were inseparable.
'Growth acceleration kicking in.'
With the five around, no issues there.
'The Judgment Sovereign's gone anyway.'
He'd chased another prophecy and left long ago.
A man lost in prophecies, forsaking the present for the future.
Trapped in foresight, endlessly fulfilling predictions.
Having foreknowledge didn't seem all good.
'Knowledge should be wielded, not wield you.'
Leyzon took it to heart, since it applied to him.
Use it, but don't over-rely on past dungeon knowledge.
'A century later, too much has changed.'
This era was far removed from the one he knew.
And unintentionally, he'd tangled in many events.
He'd vaguely realized it before.
But meeting necromancers in the Resonance World drove it home.
'My presence ripples more than I imagined.'
Intended or not, he was influencing the world.
So, he needed to grow stronger, faster.
'Gotta navigate before the empire falls.'
Leyzon still kept the empire's downfall in mind.
"See you soon."
After bidding Hanok farewell, he mounted Syria's Shadow Wolf and departed.
Once Leyzon left, Hanok headed straight for the training grounds.
"Starting right away?"
"Yeah."
Hanok showed his resolve to Five's question.
Lately, he'd expanded Haron's applications through training.
Now, Living Armor Haron covered from gauntlet to full arm.
Combat with it was becoming second nature.
Leyzon said he'd evolve Haron soon—what would happen then? Hanok was curious.
Hanok found a nearby clearing with Five.
They began training immediately.
Even mid-session, Leyzon lingered in Hanok's thoughts.
'How far does Leyzon see ahead?'
Sometimes, his thoughts were inscrutable.
Gathering and using info from everywhere aggressively.
To Hanok, specialized in physical prowess, it was astonishing efficiency.
'Yet he's surprisingly reckless.'
If an unstable bridge loomed, he'd smash it himself.
Then build a new one.
That was Leyzon.
Recklessness and caution coexisting oppositely.
And snap judgment blended in.
That trio birthed the anomaly called Leyzon.
'To keep up with him...'
I need to get stronger.
Hanok deflected Five's sword with his shield and leaped back.
Then gripped his spear one-handed.
He felt his growth in spars with Five.
Thud!
The moment Hanok charged at Five.
Five suddenly closed the gap.
Hanok's sharp eyes twisted to respond—
"Hanok, listen up during combat."
Five spoke to him.
Hanok fought without missing a beat.
"We're being watched. Quite a few of them. Their eyes aren't friendly."
Five had detected enemies via Wide-Area Sensitivity [S].
Hanok's docile eyes sharpened.
Into a hunter's gaze.
"Sounds like they're after Leyzon and you."
Five had overheard their whispers through Wide-Area Sensitivity.
Hanok narrowed his eyes fiercely.
"What do we do?"
"They're Leyzon's enemies."
Five was Syria's subordinate familiar.
As long as Syria trusted and followed Leyzon, so did he.
"Take them all down."
Hanok, who trusted and followed Leyzon, felt the same.
Hanok's eyes gleamed, tracking prey.
"Gotta teach 'em a lesson they'll never forget."
The Black Panther and Night Raven's blades began moving stealthily.