Chapter 255
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 255
Chapter Title: Winter Corpse Summer Grass
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The emperor's death had long been one of Jun's main interests.
What sort of death had the emperor met, exactly?
At first, he'd simply assumed it was due to illness from old age. But when he'd laid eyes on the emperor himself, that clearly wasn't the case.
'Especially... that last time I saw him, I definitely sensed some kind of aura.'
Not an ordinary human. A being with enough power to deliberately conceal his own presence.
And above all, one persistent question had lingered in the game communities for ages.
Ben, captain of the Heavenly Dragon Knight Order.
The man rumored to be level 9 never showed his face—not even at the game's true ending.
He was mentioned a few times, but that was it.
Then, after reaching the 6th circle, his mental power—which had skyrocketed—began automatically compiling the information swirling in his mind.
Fragments of deeply buried memories slowly rose to the surface.
It started back when he'd received an invitation from the emperor thanks to Babern's high praise.
"There won't be a captain present. He's a busy fellow in all sorts of ways."
"Do you know him?"
"He was once my disciple. These days, he's more of a close friend."
The wistful words of the former Heavenly Dragon Knight Order captain, Sword Soul Aden.
"Loyal. I behold the Empire's Sword."
"That's an old title from another era. I've retired. Ben's the Empire's Sword now."
Aden's profile as he casually uttered the name, like an old acquaintance.
Yet Ben's true identity as the official Heavenly Dragon Knight Order captain was always shrouded in mystery.
Why was information on Aden's disciple so elusive, even within the game itself?
And why hadn't Ben emerged, even as the empire began its rapid collapse right after the emperor's death?
'Heavenly Dragon Knight Order captain Ben. His true identity...'
None other than the emperor himself.
That was Jun's theory.
'In the end, the emperor's death in the game... has to be the one he meets while carrying out his duties as Knight Order captain Ben.'
And there was only one faction with the power to kill a level 9 player.
The Ascendant Heaven Cult.
'The imperial family—no, at the very least, the emperor—knew from the start. About the existence of the Ascendant Heaven Cult.'
Even before Jun had arrived in this world and begun wielding influence, the emperor had already deemed the Ascendant Heaven Cult an enemy of the empire.
And if he'd waged a secret war against them behind the nobles' backs in the game, dying in the process?
If the Cult had chosen that perfect moment to strike at the empire's heart?
That alone explained why an empire boasting centuries of history had crumbled in an instant.
'So what I need to do now...'
Was to lend as much military might as possible to an emperor preparing for war, blissfully unaware of his impending defeat.
Which made this commission utterly unavoidable.
"Haha, got it. Yeah. It hasn't even been that long since that mess in the north, and now you're diving into the eastern war?"
Jun averted his gaze from Cloi's half-resigned demeanor.
"Yeah, yeah. Gotta be on this level for you to come knocking, right, Jun?"
"...Sorry. For just going along without a word."
"Hahaha. Nah, no need. What're we, strangers? You used to check in with me nice and regular back in the day."
"......"
He had no excuse, even if he grew ten more mouths. But in the end, it was necessary.
Cloi let out a long sigh, her face weary as she spoke.
"Haa... Fine. You're not the type to charge in blindly. I know that. And besides, I'm tangled up in this too."
Cloi, who had lost her own people to the Ascendant Heaven Cult in the past, brimmed with hostility toward them.
That was why she'd been backing Jun's moves with everything she had... but...
"You know this? It's dangerously high-risk, same as always."
"Obviously."
"Haa... Alright. I'll start gathering intel on my end. Lucky for us, the eastern war's been on our merchant guild's radar for ages. Not like any group with real power ignores them."
"......"
"I'll compile the relevant stuff separately. But sorting fact from fiction takes time. Roughly two months."
Not a short wait, but more than enough.
Jun already knew Randel's location, after all.
Fortunately, when he reached out to the count, they agreed.
They needed time to organize and hand over their intel too, it seemed.
Sudden downtime like this.
Of course, Jun had no intention of wasting it.
"Heading back to layer 7."
"Layer 7...?"
"Yeah. First off... Aiden. Time to upgrade that weapon of yours."
"This one's no good?"
Aiden gestured to the sword at his waist, glowing with a faint blue sheen.
Obviously. It was just a stopgap.
"You know it better than anyone. That blade can't handle your full magic power."
It was forged by a renowned smithy, sure—but they hadn't accounted for imperial magic.
"Gonna be a long haul."
"Yeah. And I need time to work with this too."
He pulled the gourd from his dimensional bracelet.
It had absorbed the energy from the hurricanes and wind spirits of layer 7's rocky wind plains.
This would awaken the wind spirit dormant inside Aiden.
"So, where to next?"
"Final stop's the 'Wyvern Mountains' in layer 7."
As the name implied, a range teeming with wyverns.
Top-of-the-food-chain predators, even among level 7 monsters.
Tough as they were, orcs would uproot their entire village if a wyvern showed up.
"Sounds brutal again..."
Eleanor's words didn't feel like exaggeration.
Wyverns wielded attribute attacks, after all.
Non-dragons that still spat breath weapons, claws that crumpled steel, teeth sharp enough to end a life on contact.
Everything about them screamed trouble.
"Perfect training fodder. They strike without warning."
Under the assumption of human attackers, it'd sharpen their senses too.
"That's the endgame, though. Plenty of detours on the way."
All feasible thanks to the aerial carriage from Ranes Mage Tower.
Without it, it'd eat up an entire season.
'Snagging that carriage really was a masterstroke.'
Time to thank Ranes again.
Anyway, after a few more days of rest, the party set off for layer 7.
"As you know, the 'Wyvern Mountains' are a pain to reach."
They could've dipped into layer 6 for a straight shot, but the layer directly below the range was claimed territory.
Some noble-faction adventure team held it, and with White Whale Mercenary Corps on bad terms with the nobles, the shortest path was off-limits.
"So first up: layer 6's 'Luraman Plains,' linked to layer 7's 'Land of Cold Breath.'"
"That undead-infested dump?"
"Yep. Field traits keep anyone from claiming it. Plus, Maya—you've got something to use there."
"What'sat?"
"Winter Corpse Summer Grass."
"What the heck? We gotta eat it?"
Eleanor's face twisted as the meaning sank in.
Put simply: a mushroom that bloomed on dead bodies.
Maya's expression turned stern and grave in an instant, words firing like bullets.
"You think I'm some isolated savage you'll fool? That I'll gobble down whatever junk you hand me? Was that the leader I knew? I'm disappointed. Can't eat that stuff. Stomachache for sure. Nah, straight-up death."
"Obviously... Raw? Yeah, you're dead."
Not mere poison—corpse toxin. One bite was a nonstop ticket to the afterlife.
"Not raw. Needs processing first."
"Still mushroom off a corpse, though...?"
"True."
"Euuugh."
For all her appetite, Maya shook her head furiously... then accepted.
Her hunger for growth outweighed the revulsion.
"Got it... I'll eat it..."
"Thanks..."
Jun couldn't bring himself to say sorry. Eleanor eyed him with a glimmer of hope.
"So Aiden gets a new sword and wind spirit awakening. Captain unlocks wind affinity. Maya's got her spirit herb? Guess I get something too?"
"......"
"Captain?"
"......"
"Why the silence?"
"...Sorry. And thanks."
"Hey!"
What could he do? Scoring something useful for all four on one trip was a tall order...
Half a month slipped by before they knew it.
Having just crossed the Luraman Plains days ago, the party had arrived at the Land of Cold Breath and was hustling to gather Winter Corpse Summer Grass per plan.
"Diiiie!!"
Disaster of Light
Divine wrath manifests as a golden hammer
The moment the golden hammer—divine wrath made manifest—slammed into the earth, the terrain flipped upside down. Holy power erupted in all directions.
The undead shambling across the frigid, lifeless ground vanished without so much as a proper scream.
And Jun, watching the spectacle...
"Ugh."
Glanced around furtively and backed away.
Eleanor's aura was ferocious as she unleashed her pent-up holy magic in explosive bursts.
"Ha, haha... I had no idea Eleanor was that strong, senpai..."
"Right? Her combat power's insane. Holy might for days."
The undead domain in layer 7: Land of Cold Breath.
Home to the dead, where the stench of rot mingled with sweltering heat.
"Perfect timing. This field's weirdly seasonal."
"Seasonal influence... That's why the Winter Corpse Summer Grass blooms now?"
Just as Aiden said, it parasitized corpses in the cold winter, blooming as mushrooms come summer.
Winter made spotting the spores tricky, but this scorching summer was prime time.
"Thing is, as a spirit herb, it's no pushover to harvest."
Maya was balking hard, but seasoned mercs specialized in gathering it for all sorts of reagents.
"Seriously gotta use that stuff...?"
Maya muttered in her tribal tongue.
She looked dead set against eating it.
Still, her comrades had come all this way for her growth.
Inevitable.