Ranker Who Lives Twice

Boom! The instant Yeon-woo clashed with Typhon and the others, a violent shockwave spread out, sweeping away the lab equipment and what remained of the buildings. A mammoth column of sand soared up to the sky. Yeon-woo flew over it with his wings spread open. He had assessed that it would be difficult to fight properly in a tight space, and Typhon and the other Giants followed him. Behind them, massive tentacles surrounded by an ashy fog grew without any limits out of Bayluk. Each tentacle was thick and reached higher than a skyscraper, and their round suckers looked menacing.

Boom! The sky of the Outer Space grew more frenzied from their battle. There were thunderous booms as black fire spread.

“We were correct. Hahah! There isn’t a body closer to a Divine Human than that child’s!” Bayluk roared with laughter as insanity whirled in his eyes. Half of his body had already been taken over by tentacles, and he didn’t seem human anymore. With the blessing of one of the most powerful otherworld gods, he’d grown intoxicated by the knowledge and holy power he possessed. He clenched his fists. The end game of his mission to create a Divine Human was within sight. He had once lost it in the past, and he wouldn’t let go of it this time. Once he captured Heaven Wing, his brother, who had died tragically, could return to this land again!

Black King.

Throne.

I. Must. Have. It.

Still drunk on confidence, Bayluk turned to Mother Earth’s manifestation when she suddenly spoke up. He was annoyed that she’d interrupted his fun, but he didn’t say anything. There was no reason for him to get on the completed Mother Earth’s bad side, now that she was no longer infected.

After everything was over, the Crawling Chaos would acknowledge him and he would be able to receive his legends. In order to have a high divinity, he needed to have status suitable for it in advance. He said to her solemnly, “Don’t forget our promise. When we catch him, I’ll take the body, and you’ll have his soul. I don’t know what you mean by darkness and the throne, but you should handle it on your own. For that, your marionettes will have to complete their tasks well.”

I. Will. Keep. My. Promise.

“Yes. Be sure you do. Since your fragile divinity is on the line, you should protect it any way you can so that it’s not ruined. Especially since you even swallowed the Soulstone for it.” Bayluk’s tone was sarcastic since they had both worked for the Soulstone, only for her to disappear with it. However, Mother Earth’s manifestation seemed unaffected. Bayluk knew she wouldn’t be shaken by his words, so he didn’t speak further. He spread his hands apart. “Everything that belongs to the Elohim has been sacrificed and the laws of causality are whirling like a storm! The Giants will bring me the ingredients for a Divine Human, and the Devil Army will soon take the legacy the last dragon king left behind.”

Bayluk laughed maniacally as he thought of the Devil Army attacking Laputa right now. “There won’t ever be another perfect opportunity like this! I will succeed in everything!”

At that moment, space itself cracked, and the area around him shook turbulently. It was a phenomenon that occurred whenever a soul as large as a divine being’s was crushed.

“Is it over?” Bayluk looked with a smirk, thinking things were finished faster than he expected. Something was plummeting to the ground. Thinking it was Heaven Wing, Bayluk headed over with joy, already thinking of the experiments he’d perform on the boy and how he’d combine it with magic cores provided by the Crawling Chaos. Boom!

“What?” His face stiffened when he saw the snakelike body at his feet. It was a Hoop Snake, one of the ancient species he’d restored. One of the Giants had probably descended into it, but now, the unfocused eyes were bereft of holy power, and the snake’s body had deflated like a balloon.

Even though the lower world put a lot of restraints on descents, it would have still been difficult for a player to defeat the snake. Suddenly, Bayluk had a foreboding feeling. Something wasn’t right.

* * *

Aaah. Aaaaah.

‘It’s so loud.’ Yeon-woo frowned at the souls that whirled around him in the sky. Although ordinary players couldn’t see then, as the successor of the Black King and the owner of the Throne of Death, he could see the souls in the Outer Space clearly, along with their deep-seated resentment and grudges.

Bayluk and Mother Earth had committed nothing less than a massacre in Peals of the Great. Everyone had been sacrificed for the sake of the laws of causality. However, even after death, they couldn’t ascend to the Beyond. They would only be used as materials to support Mother Earth and Olympus. The Elohim players only realized this after they died, so they could do nothing but weep sorrowfully.

Unfortunately, their despair and resentment was used as energy for the Giants, who’d descended en masse. The survivors of Elohim seemed to have realized something was off, but it was too late.

“Bayluk! What have you done to us?!”

“My b-body, it won’t move!”

“Aaack! My strength! All my Divine Factors are melting…! No! Noooo!”

As they fought, the Elohim players felt their bodies going stiff. The more intelligent ones realized what it was: Spirit Powder Poison. Bayluk had activated the poison he’d already fed them beforehand.

He was sly enough to successfully poison someone like Jeong-woo, who had Draconic Eyes, so it wasn’t that hard for him to poison all the Elohim players. The poison he used was effective in flushing out their innate Divine Factors and blood, so he could amplify the sacrifice.

“You dirty-tempered man! How could you use your skill knowing I was coming for the Elder Assembly? If you get rid of them all, who am I supposed to fight!” Yeon-woo could see that Phante and the others were enraged.

「Five minutes before hell.」

「Looks like we have that much more work to do. More importantly, things are getting complicated where Master is.」

「Then go there; I’ll take this place. Dis Pluto! Don’t leave survivors!」

Shanon and Hanryeong were flustered at first, but they split up their tasks so they could maintain their upper hand.

“Father…! Why are you here?”

Meanwhile in Laputa, the Devil Army, which had been lying low, suddenly began their attack. Kahn, Doyle, and Victoria became busy. Yeon-woo didn’t worry about them too much because of Kahn, who had mastered Bian, but Doyle seemed to be uncomfortable once he encountered the enemies. His father, who had given him up to the Head Bishop to be a vessel, was among the intruders. Yeon-woo’s Channel with Doyle was trembling. The Outer Space Peals of the Great was completely under his jurisdiction now, and he was receiving input from all of the events in real time through Extrasensory Perception, including of the Giants who had descended.

『I don’t know if it’s because we’re in the lower world, but you’ve become quite strong. Or is it because you’ve gained something else since the last time we met?』 A storm swept around Typhon and pressured Yeon-woo. The other Giants surrounded Yeon-woo to clip his Sky Wings.

Rumble. The attack was intense. The Elohim’s sacrifice had provided such great energy that the Giants could not only descend, but also fully manifest.

『What a good trick! Let’s see how long you can keep that up!』

The Giants’ manifestation had been blocked from some time. Yeon-woo had used his territorial power to disturb the laws of causality. The Giants were frustrated because things weren’t going as planned. Their descent had been slowed, and they couldn’t demonstrate their power as they could in the heavenly world. It was exceedingly uncomfortable.

In contrast, Yeon-woo had rolled out his Sky Wings, released the Stone of Sin, Dragon Heart, and the Throne of Death. He was bursting out with power that was comparable to that of a divine being. His counterattacks even occasionally forced the Giants out of the bodies of the ancient species, like the Barbaroi that had just fallen.

It seemed like the Giants wouldn’t be able to touch him, much less steal the Black King’s power and the Throne of Death. They’d have to return to the heavenly world empty-handed. They would have taken a pointless risk to descend to the lower world just before their war against L’Infernal.

Unlike the anxious Giants, Yeon-woo calmly use Time Difference and Demarcation to defend against them. However, things weren’t entirely smooth, either. ‘Seems like it won’t be easy.’

Even though the laws of causality disturbed the accumulation of power, it was impossible to stop it completely. Focusing on the battle with Giants was already pushing him and Laputa to the limit. Furthermore, the tentacles of the Crawling Chaos continued to search for chances to swallow him while Mother Earth attempted Erosion to dislodge his Demarcation. On top of that, time was ticking for Sky Wings.

The consequences of lacking holiness were apparent, and if they began a battle on the ground, Yeon-woo would be at a disadvantage. It wasn’t that he didn’t have other options available to prevail. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have tried to fight the Giants in the first place. He would have sacrificed the Elohim and retreated. There was no shame in that; taking a step back in order to take two steps forward later was a strategy he’d already used before.

The reason Yeon-woo was using up the last seconds of Sky Wings was so that he could find an answer to the question that had been bothering him. ‘It’s not just one or two strange things.’

He didn’t quite understand three things. First, what had given the Giants the confidence to descend in such large numbers to the lower world right before their war with L’Infernal? Even if the Titans and Giants had more power than they had in Tartarus, beings like Agares and Baal in L’Infernal couldn’t be underestimated. It would be a life-or-death battle.

And yet, they’d still tried to descend to the lower world with their leader Typhon and their greatest benefactor Mother Earth. Was it purely to take the Black King’s power and the Throne of Death?

‘Everyone’s response to Mother Earth is strange as well.’ The second question was why Asgard, Deva, and the other societies refused to interfere when Mother Earth appeared. She had fought long wars with many societies and was their common enemy.

Now that she had taken over Olympus and shown up in the heavenly world with a bang, the other societies ought to be wary of her. But they were only watching from a distance without even trying to organize together. Even though they were aware of Mother Earth and the Giants’ mission, they seemed to accept the situation as though it weren’t anything out of the ordinary.

It was evident there was something going on between Mother Earth and the other societies. And the third question he had was: ‘Why are the gods and demons just watching too?’

The 666 gods and demons connected to Sky Wings, and the 5,000 gods and demons who’d given him powers weren’t budging. They normally looked on him with favor, but today, they were only bystanders.

Yeon-woo suspected that they wondered whether Yeon-woo was qualified to be the Black King’s successor. It was clear that they considered this a test that would determine if he was worthy of being the Black King’s successor. Their positions in their respective societies were more important than their personal interest in him, so it was probably difficult for them to act on their own.

They were in a different situation from Agares, who had announced his participation in the war. Still, Yeon-woo had to wonder once more why they seemed wary of Mother Earth but didn’t do anything about her presence. He tried to get answers but they continued to be indifferent.

[The godly society <Deva> will observe how you plan to overcome this hurdle.]

[The godly society <Asgard> is watching your trial.]

…

‘I was going to do this after all my questions were answered, but…’

[00:02:11]

[00:02:10]

…

His eyes flashed as he looked at the countdown. ‘Oh well.’ There wasn’t much time left. Now that he couldn’t hide his cards any longer, he had to step forward. Boom! Yeon-woo deflected Typhon’s attack that was headed to his face and landed on the ground. The large, dignified building that had been standing there just a few minutes ago had been reduced to black ruins.

『Are you out of tricks now?』 Typhon smirked at him. He knew that Yeon-woo had used up a lot of his power.

However, Yeon-woo just smirked back. “No. We’re only getting started.”

『There must be limits to how long a mere mortal can handle that strange cluster of powers.』

“Limits? Of course, there are. But thanks to you guys, I can try something I don’t normally have the chance to.”

『What kind of nonsense…!』

“Black King!”

Typhon was puzzled.

“Did you understand when I said it?”

Typhon frowned at Yeon-woo’s words first before he suddenly realized what Yeon-woo meant. He shouted, 『Stop him!』

The Giants didn’t know what Yeon-woo was planning, but they knew that something unusual was happening. They opened up space and tried to approach him.

“Stand.” At Yeon-woo’s command, the range of the Demarcation shrank. The shadows focused on Yeon-woo and created a wall that cut him off from the outside.

[Wall of the Dead]

Kyaaaa. Thump, thump! The shadow wall made up of thousands of souls prevented the Giants from approaching closer. Yeon-woo spread his left hand and thrust it in the air. With a crunch, sharp canines latched onto the space. Small cracks appeared on his palm. “Devour.”

[Hades’ Spirit Eating Sword]

The whirling shadows were sucked into the teeth at a rapid pace, like water flowing down a drain. It seemed like a silly act, as though he were taking back the shadows that he’d sent out, but Hades’ Spirit Eating Sword was eating more than the shadows. The wandering souls that had lost their way in the Outer Space, the souls that were meant to be sacrificed for the laws of causality were being stolen!

『You crazy bastard!』 Typhon couldn’t contain his anger and attempted to force a manifestation. At this rate, the laws of causality they needed to gain through any means would be stolen. Even if Allforone stepped in to limit them afterwards, he needed to stop it. The body he was in couldn’t bear the pressure and scattered in the air as an intense storm of holy power raged around him. Only a part of Typhon’s body could descend, and his great eyes appeared as a gigantic arm ripped through space and struck Yeon-woo. Boom!

The extraordinary amount of holy power pressed on Yeon-woo and the ground. It was a strength that could destroy the rest of the Outer Space. Pieces of space rained down from the cracks that grew along the Outer Space.

『Im…possible…!』 However, Typhon’s huge palm couldn’t even crush the ground. It had been met by a strong force. It was the Wall of the Dead that protected Yeon-woo, who had nearly completed his absorption of the laws of causality.

His Soul Collection was filled to the brim, ready to burst any moment. Not only did it contain the Elohim’s souls, but also thousands of souls from the Blood Land, the Lion Alliance, and the Devil Army that he’d taken in the Dragon Labyrinth. They were all weeping together.

From the start, he already possessed more sacrifices than Bayluk and Mother Earth. The amount was more than enough, and he even had rankers that gods and demons would covet.

“I have a question.” Yeon-woo laughed coldly as he looked at Typhon’s eyes, which peered through his gigantic fingers. Typhon’s bloodshot eyes were shaking. “What would happen if I offered as many sacrifices as your group descent did? Or even more than that. I think it’d like it a lot.” Yeon-woo raised the Cast.

Typhon’s eyes widened with shock. 『Stop! Stop…!』

“I present all of it.” Yeon-woo pushed everything into the Cast of the Black King. “So awaken.”

Urrrrng.

The three Casts began to vibrate rapidly. Black Resonance!

『What an amusing thing you're trying to do. Impressive! It’s the best of the stupid attempts you’ve made before! Hahaha! 』

Yeon-woo ignored the Demonism’s laugh, which he hadn’t heard since the previous incident. He attempted to awaken the last of the Cast that had unlocked options, ‘Fury of the Black King.’

Clang! He felt something comfortable on his neck, and the tightly wrapped black chains were loosening on his right arm. Clack. The chains started to unspool like yarn, exuding a black mist.

『Go ahead and play. I'll just amuse myself watching you. Keekeekeek!』 For the first time, Yeon-woo’s hand awakened the true power of the Black King.