Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Necromancer Uprising
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Necromancer.
Those who wield black magic and command the dead.
A skilled necromancer can even raise corpses long buried in the ground.
This Resonance World is a gathering place for the most elite necromancers in the world.
They are the survivors who have endured the empire's relentless manhunt.
'Though there are lizard-like guys who got caught by the empire.'
Even he had sneaked into the Resonance World, evading the imperial gaze.
That alone proved he was no slouch.
"Bluebird Knights?"
"Hmm, was there a knight order like that?"
Vague responses came from the butterfly mask and the monkey.
The skull merely clattered its teeth.
No need to elaborate.
They all seemed clueless.
"Ooh, isn't that the knight order that traveled beyond the continent long ago?"
Leyzon's gaze snapped to the bearded one at the next voice.
Unexpected intel from an unlikely source.
"Traveled beyond the continent?"
"Yeah, literally—a world beyond the continent."
Dungeon Replay's setting is confined solely to the Niflheim Empire.
There are vague tales of other worlds beyond the walls, but nothing confirmed.
"Hmm, isn't that just a fairy-tale legend? They say it's nothing but empty void out there."
The monkey dismissed it as myth.
"Hahaha, you're too young to know, monkey.
There was a time when the empire traded with the outside world.
No idea about now, but back then, kingdoms existed beyond the walls."
Leyzon caught on immediately.
'That bearded guy's a long-lived species.'
Just like Leyzon, a half dark elf who'd lived a century—he was clearly another ancient.
Long-lived races had low birthrates and scant numbers.
But rarity bred powerhouses.
Survival equaled strength.
"People existed outside the walls?"
The butterfly mask looked shocked, apparently hearing this for the first time.
The bearded one let out a hearty laugh.
"Beats me now. That was at least a few hundred years ago."
A few hundred years.
Leyzon quietly swallowed.
The bearded one was far more ancient than he'd guessed.
He smiled benignly, like a grandfather spinning old yarns.
"The Bluebird Knights escorted imperial envoys back in those trading days—the birds bridging us across the walls.
That's how they began."
He even knew the origins of an imperial knight order.
This bearded fellow wasn't just old—he was ancient.
"Tut tut, but I heard they disbanded around fifteen years ago?"
Why drag teeth into this?
As he questioned, the skull clattered its jaws.
"Not disbanded. Wiped out."
A sinister grin crept across the skull's maw.
"And the Bluebird Knights' annihilation? The Vampire Queen."
The skull's gaze pinned Leyzon.
"By her hand."
The skull knew more than expected.
The annihilation news could be dug from info guilds.
But pinning it on Syria? That was buried deep.
'Is this guy the traitor?'
A necromancer in bed with the empire.
Leyzon felt suspicion stir, but he flashed a grin anyway.
"Gotta correct that."
Testing him with half-baked intel.
"The Bluebird Knights didn't get annihilated. They self-destructed."
The Bluebird Knights, who traded with outer kingdoms.
Leyzon didn't know the exact trigger, but the bearded one's words confirmed it.
"On the empire's orders."
The empire had every reason to erase them.
The necromancers exchanged glances at Leyzon's words.
An unspoken game of chicken.
Jump into Leyzon's request, risk empire enmity.
Pass on it? That reward was mouthwatering.
A shot to question the Abyss's sole acquaintance—huge.
'Though I've got zilch to offer.'
Leyzon dangled it knowing the Abyss's worth.
To necromancers, the Abyss was an idol.
So the bait naturally fired imaginations.
The Abyss held secrets unknown to them.
Leyzon played it bold.
Fake it till you make it.
He eyed them with a leisurely smile.
As if he had other takers lined up.
A loaded grin.
It landed perfectly.
"Deal."
The butterfly mask jumped first.
"Hunt down the Bluebird captain and undead him? Piece of cake. No reason to say no."
Finding his grave would be step one, but she was game.
"Cough, count me in! Gotta help the Abyss, y'know."
The monkey hopped aboard.
"Hahaha, why not—I'm in too! Been dying to ask the Abyss something since forever."
Even the intel-dropping bearded one tagged along.
The tale would spread to every necromancer here.
'Top necromancers tearing the world apart for the Bluebird captain.'
It'd reach imperial ears via their traitor.
'Depending on how the empire reacts.'
He could sniff out the Bluebird Knights' secrets too.
And while the empire chased ghosts...
Leyzon planned to regroup with his undead crew.
"One question."
Then the skull raised a hand.
No habitual chattering.
Behind those hollow sockets, real gravity gleamed for once.
"Does the Abyss plan to fight the empire?"
Leyzon went quiet at the question.
Then his lips curled in a chilling smirk.
"It's the opposite."
Speak plain.
The empire threw the first punch.
Leyzon's request for the Bluebird Knight captain spread to every necromancer in seconds.
Intel's no solo game.
So the takers leaked it wide.
The out-of-left-field job had necromancers buzzing.
One shot to grill the Abyss on anything.
Nothing better for their kind.
Result? Necromancer chaos erupted across the empire.
Midnight ghost swarms blanketing whole villages.
Graves exploded as corpses clawed free.
Sightings of colossal shadow giants prowling mountains.
Heavy-hitter incidents tied to necromancers everywhere.
Imperial forces scrambled to bag 'em.
But these perps? Elite holdouts.
Ten years on the run from imperial kill orders.
Survival vets.
Irony: the endless hunt honed them razor-sharp.
They refined spells to perfection.
Tightened skill chains.
Honed raw magecraft.
Optimized combos.
Geared up.
Necromancers did whatever it took.
Their magic? Forged to the brink.
In this effort-driven world, legacy of the Kaltura Empire.
To survive, they pushed harder than anyone.
And now.
That stacked power awakened them.
"Imperial army this weak? Been slacking? Trap?"
One necromancer doubted.
"Hmm, guess I've powered up."
Another felt their growth.
"Hahaha, turns out they're nobodies!"
A third scoffed.
Reports of imperial routs exploding simultaneously nationwide.
One-on-one? Manageable.
But a necro horde uprising? Nightmare.
These vets struck fast, fled before response.
Empire stamped feet in fury.
All from one Abyss deal.
That deal.
Sparking the suppressed necromancers to...
Realize their strength.
"Maybe."
"This."
"We could take the empire?"
A shared thought flickered deep in necro minds.
Oppressed by the empire.
Deep distrust.
They yearned to topple it.
But powerless, they endured.
A strange spark kindled in their hearts.
Rebellion—for their rights.
It birthed fresh rumors.
"Heard the Abyss is gearing up to fight the empire."
"Finding the captain to expose imperial dirt?"
"Maybe scouting necros to battle the empire."
Embellishments piled on Leyzon's true intent.
Misunderstandings snowballed.
Igniting long-smoldering necro hearts.
"The Abyss truly cares about necromancers' future."
"Totally played, huh."
"But played like this? Sign me up!"
"Time to show our terror."
"Heh, miss those Gray Mage Tower days."
Leyzon's fire leaped to the necromancers.
Veering into uncharted territory.
The necro apex.
The shadow force quietly feared behind the empire.
Raised its head.
Necromancers roared.
They'd smash the empire anytime.
If the Abyss led the revolution, they'd march.
Necro eyes blazed.
And right then.
Leyzon, holed up in a shadow wolf, picked at his ear.
"Who's yapping about me."
Ears itching like crazy lately.
After Syria shadow-wolf-bit Hanok Wilbria and dragged him over.
Leyzon bolted west with his prize.
To dodge the sword saint's backers.
'Hope the necros are handling it.'
Clueless to their wild pivot.
Leyzon grinned, mulling his Resonance World entry.
'Fingers crossed for a quick Bluebird lead.'
That the necros were ditching the captain hunt for full empire war?
Leyzon had no clue—yet.