Ranker Who Lives Twice

Team: HH, thursdays, Yahiko (11/12)

Yeon-woo instinctively pulled out Vigrid from subspace and raised it

Clang!

The venomous fang of the monster snake dangerously stopped right above Yeon-woo’s head. It struggled to swallow Yeon-woo, but Yeon-woo’s firm Demonic Dragonic Body didn’t budge

Still, the strength of the monster snake wasn’t to be laughed at.

If it was a normal monster, its head would’ve been cut off, but it was strong enough to endure against Vigrid’s attack.

Ching. Vigrid trembled.

Yeon-woo was able to know the identity of the snake with his Draconic Eyes.

“…..Elaine.”

Another executive of Triton. It was Elaine’s transformed form.

〈Transformation – Monster〉. The god Charybdis was an outstanding monster, so not only could her apostle Elaine have the Authority of ruling monsters, she also had the Authority to change into Charybdis’s shedding.

However, Elaine didn’t like transforming into a monster. The fact that she had turned into this form meant one thing.

“Are you planning on getting rid of me first?”

“That’s right.”

The answer to Yeon-woo’s murmur to himself came from behind him. Jinrang had appeared with still eyes.

“So please die here, Hoarder.”

Swek!

The twin swords in Jinrang’s hands were swung. Sturdy Aura came from the blades and let out a brilliant light.

〈True Tornado〉. It was a skill that attacked with the force of a tornado each time he swung his swords.

Right before his blade slid across Yeon-woo’s back, Yeon-woo circulated his Magic Circuit. The Philosopher’s Stone that had been waiting was heated, and his wings of fire spread apart.

Kwaang—

A powerful heat expanded and flicked Jinrang away. Jinrang was pushed away, leaving a deep mark in the ground. He looked at Yeon-woo with his eyes wide open.

His arms were simmering. Above his burnt black skin, white steam was wafting up, causing him intense pain.

He was able to restore his body with holy power, but he couldn’t believe that his body, which received the grace of the ocean, could be hurt like this from heat.

His shock didn’t end there.

Yeon-woo wrapped the fire around his body and turned his body to the side. Vigrid, which was shining white, turned black and caused an explosion.

Wave of Fire. An explosion that couldn’t be compared to before swept Elaine and Jinrang instantaneously. It filled their surroundings.

Kwakwakwang—

The barrier surrounding the air couldn’t endure the expansion of heat and was destroyed. The heat wave drew a whirlwind outside of the barrier and soared up into the sky. The atmosphere was ripped apart.

Jinrang rolled on the floor for a while after being blown away. He used his sword as a cane to force himself up, but when he did, his eyes shook.

‘How can this…..?!’

His plan was simple.

While the Chest of Souls and Necropolis were busy from the sudden attack of the monsters, he and Elaine would take care of Yeon-woo and then the rest of them.

He didn’t think it would be hard.

This place was Poseidon’s holy territory, with his direct blessing, and if they fought from this closed space, he thought they definitely had a chance.

For the other forces, they could just hang on until Benteke opened the iron door and came out.

However, Jinrang belatedly realized that his judgement was wrong.

Yeon-woo wasn’t simply someone Elaine and he could work together to catch.

‘So…..he was a monstrous guy who becomes stronger with every battle.’

Was he hiding his abilities, or was he just stronger? The latter was just proved. Yeon-woo used the same ability that he used when he was fighting with Benteke.

‘No. Or maybe it was both of them.’

However, Jinrang had to think again.

Two Inferno Sights were floating above Yeon-woo’s head like will o’ the wisps. No, they were watching him. It sent shivers down Jinrang’s back.

What was that?

That was all Jinrang could think of. His head became blank just by looking at it. Was this what it meant for your heart to beat out of your chest? He felt like he was hanging on the edge of a cliff.

The moment he saw it, he realized.

Those two eyes were nothing compared to its owner. What he had thought about a separate space being above Yeon-woo’s head was wrong. Yeon-woo was hiding something, an even bigger card up his sleeve.

That wasn’t the only problem.

“N, No. D, Don’t come here!”

Elaine, who had returned to her human form, was filled with fear. She had fallen on her bottom, and she was moving back while kicking her feet against the ground. Her clothes were drenched with sweat, and the fear on her charred face was apparent to see.

The person who had just snickered when her little brother was dead, someone who always thought about how to feel exhilarated. It was the first time Jinrang saw her like that.

That was how scared Elaine was of Boo’s eyes. Much more than what Ted had felt.

People saw as much as they knew.

As the king of monsters, she could see exactly how powerful Boo was and how high he towered above them.

To people like her, Boo was an absolute being who couldn’t be surpassed.

Even if Elaine was a ranker and confident in her strength, there were limits that she couldn’t surpass because of the difference in properties.

Boo was someone beyond those limits. No, he was way above them; he was someone she couldn’t even look at. It was impossible that she was confronting him like this right now.

The Blessing of Charybdis that always protected her had become faint and didn’t return.

「You. Recognized. Me.」

His eyes narrowed as he spoke so only Elaine could hear him. He whispered quietly, but it felt like a shout in Elaine’s head. Her skull felt like it was tightening, and her insides tossed.

「Then.」

What came after made Elaine’s heart beat wildly.

「Die.」

Just when an invisible hand was about to tighten around Elaine’s neck and soul from the shadow…..

“One.”

Air swished from behind her, and her neck was cut by a sword. Elaine’s head dropped to the ground, her face still filled with shock.

Under the fountain of blood, there was an unidentified person moving quickly. They were wrapped with bandages, so it was hard to tell their age or gender.

Faceless. One of the Six New Stars and the clan leader of the Chest of Souls.

The player’s vocal cords were cut, so they came forward with the sound of nails on a chalkboard.

As soon as Elaine and Charybdis’s channeling was cut off and the monsters were confused, he quickly got rid of them and entered the battlefield.

Faceless thought it was weird to stay watching the situation with how things were going, so Faceless entered the castle, cutting Elaine’s head off at once.

Although his home was being invaded like this, Benteke still wasn’t appearing.

This meant one thing. Benteke’s injuries from the battle with the Hoarder were still not recovered.

「You. Dare……!」

Boo was furious. His prey was taken from right under his nose. It wasn’t a normal prey. It was prey filled with Divine Blessings that his great master was supposed to absorb. But he had missed it like this…..!

He was able to hide the soul in the shadows using the Monster Portents, but he couldn’t add it to the collection. He had lost the soul of an apostle so uselessly.

So Boo activated magic to catch Faceless. The land Faceless was stepping on suddenly dropped, and shadow tentacles wrapped around it.

Faceless’s face hardened. Their face was covered from the bandages, so it couldn’t be seen, but for someone who was about to head straight into Benteke’s room, the tentacles got in the way.

The large eyes above Yeon-woo were horrifying, but that was it. Only Jinrang and Elaine felt the difference in their levels; Faceless wasn’t affected by it.

“Get out of the wayyyy!”

Faceless twisted their body in the direction they were running. As Faceless did, bandages unwrapped from the arm and sliced the shadows.

The bandages were as flexible as a whip and sometimes as hard as a blade as it blocked each of Boo’s attacks. Aura was in the bandages. Although it was moving oddly, it was all smoothly controlled.

Kwang!

A large ball of fire fell from the sky. But under this sky, bandages unwrapped from their foot and made a round, reflective form.

Faceless cut off the burnt bandages and unleashed new bandages, changing direction.

Faceless was going to get rid of Boo first because he was a nuisance. Of course, Faceless’s goal was Yeon-woo.

Swek—

And above their heads, a red portal opened, and a middle-aged man descended.

It was hard to see because his robe covered his face, but there were deep dark circles under his eyes.

“I announce bad fate for all of you.”

Doctor Doom, Ranul, spoke those creepy words and flicked his fingers. As he did, countless magic circles were created in the air.

〈Random Magic Circle Release〉. Doctor Doom could use a new form of magic that didn’t require him to store or memorize anything beforehand; he was the only player who could do this.

In a way, it was similar to Heaven Wing Cha Jeong-woo’s 〈Random Shooting〉. Different magic circles all shot out magic at the same time.

Kwakwakwang—

What Doctor Doom was aiming for was everyone here. Yeon-woo, Faceless, Jinrang, and the hidden Benteke. They were all in one place, so he thought he would be able to gain something if he struck them randomly.

In that situation, Creutz interfered. He promised not to interfere with what Yeon-woo did, but he couldn’t let this go because of the clan leader’s orders to protect him.

As he jumped off the Flying Dragon, he struck his sword down towards Doctor Doom. The holy sword Zulfikar emanated light. 〈Holy Cross〉. A white light came from the sky like heavy rain.

“You dare!”

Jinrang was the angriest.

Everything was a mess. They were all emerging clans, but the bastards that were too scared to approach Triton came scurrying over like rats at the chance.

He always stayed calm no matter what the situation, but right now, he couldn’t hold back his anger.

That moment—

Hwak—

The god Orion descended onto Jinrang’s body.

This place was near Poseidon’s temple, and there was more freedom for a god to move from with less restriction due to the principle of causality.

Orion could manifest through the channeling at Jinrang’s desperate wishes. White holy power sparked from Jinrang’s body.

Constellations shined because they were in the dark night sky. That meant that he was stronger than most gods.

Also, Orion was cherished by one of the higher gods of Olympus, Artemis.

Jinrang roared and swung his sword around. True Tornado became even more powerful and broke into pieces above the heads of the invaders.

It might’ve been hard and long to explain everything, but these were all events that happened in an instant.

While two more of the Six New Stars had interfered, holy power sparked, and Boo showed himself,

[Time Difference]

In the slowed-down world, Yeon-woo looked at everything with cold eyes. Draconic Eyes and Extrasensory Perception were calculating and guessing all routes.

On top of this, something else was added.

[Time Foresight]

Click, clack.

The pocket watch was activated. The time that was given to him was 5 seconds longer than what he had before. During that time, he saw many things.

Also, he was careful.

He had already confirmed that Time Foresight couldn’t do everything in the fight with Benteke. There were no “guarantees” in a battle with a god. There would definitely be more futures that he couldn’t calculate. So he checked closer, and he predicted the more accurate futures.

Only

Then, he grabbed it.

Black Aura exploded from Vigrid once again. The Wave of Fire spread through the complicated maze of skills.

The pocket watch stopped. Time returned.

Kwaaang—

The explosion covered the entire castle.

Inside of it, only Yeon-woo was standing.