Ranker Who Lives Twice

[Wall of Souls]

There was a rumbling somewhere in the unexplored territories.

“Is it over?” Yeon-woo had used layers of shadows and formed a wall of souls to protect himself as he waited for the earthquake to end. Once he felt the shaking subside, he nodded and quietly recalled the Wall of Souls.

The surrounding area was covered with dust and fallen rocks, so it was difficult to tell which direction he’d just come from. Still, Yeon-woo managed to move around by finding some small pockets of space.

Hwack! Yeon-woo widened the Shadow Domain and cleared a path, shattering and scorching the rocks as black flames erupted over the expanding shadows. As he moved around, Yeon-woo became more confident about his theory. This place was not an ordinary cave. He had concentrated the Meteor Sword Art in one spot to make the stage collapse. An ordinary cave would have completely disintegrated, and Yeon-woo was ready to use Blink to escape if that happened. However, the cave managed to retain its structure, which meant only one thing: ‘This isn’t an ordinary cave mine nor a normal hidden stage.’

Yeon-woo’s eyes glittered brightly. Bits of red light glistened through the ruined ceiling. They seemed to be part of an exterior wall. ‘This is a cadaver. This must be the body of an otherworld god.’

This discovery was too immense.

[Many gods are shocked.]

[Many demons are stunned by this incredible revelation.]

Yeon-woo could sense the astonishment of the gods and demons through the Channels. They were usually very composed and collected, but this time, their shock was so great that they could not hide it. If this place were truly the body of an otherworld god, the gods and demons could infer where they were located within.

‘Based on the residual Blood-Tear Stones and Blood Essence spread all over this place, I’m probably in an artery or vein.’ Nearly a hundred prisoners had toiled decades just to build a path to this area. The fact that it was only a tiny section of a god’s corpse was enough to make one’s mind lose perspective. ‘At the very minimum, this place is the size of a large planet. No, maybe it’s large enough to even hold a few solar systems.’

[The godly society <Deva> discusses the secrets of the Central Bureau.]

[The godly society <Chan Sect> prepares to protest fiercely.]

[The godly society <Olympus> is silent.]

[The godly society <Asgard> quietly observes you.]

…

[The demon society, <Jie Sect> reveals its curiosity about the otherworld gods.]

[The demon society, <L’Infernal> feels intense greed.]

…

[The Central Bureau is silent about the various protests pouring out from the heavens.]

When they’d first seen Kronos’ body in Tartarus, various god and demon societies had cursed at its ridiculous size. However, the scale of this body made Kronos’ body seem like a newborn’s.

The higher-ranking gods or demon kings would have undoubtedly traveled across the universe and various dimensions but this was a cosmic entity. Even these well-traveled and experienced gods and demons found the size and scale of this otherworld god unprecedented. It could only belong to one of the original creators or to a conceptual god. However, since these entities seldom had conscious egos, they did not have or maintain a specific shape. In most cases, they existed as natural laws and concepts, and there was nothing to compare their existences to.

Moreover, there was another, larger problem. ‘Are the gods from the other worlds all like this? What rank would this god have been? A high-level god? Or just an ordinary one?’

If this corpse belonged to a high-level god, then there wasn’t too much to be concerned about. The leaders of this world’s godly and demonic societies would be able to contend with them. However, if this was only a run-of-the-mill god, it would be a different story. That would suggest that the high-level otherworld gods would be the size of solar systems or even nebulae. If a day ever came when these otherworld gods arrived in this world, all the gods and demons would have to unite as one just to deal with them.

Yeonwoo realized that the Crawling Chaos might be a low-ranking otherworld god, quite possibly a very, very insignificant one.

“Fuck,” Yeon-woo cursed without thinking. He had not even surpassed the gods and demons in the Tower, and it seemed like even greater beings existed above them. ‘Does this make sense? And…they’re all looking for the Black King. So, the Black King would be…’

[Many gods are silent.]

[Many demons are nervously gulping.]

Yeon-woo brushed his hair back and organized his thoughts. His main purpose was to complete his revenge, find his brother’s soul, and someday destroy the Tower. Nothing else was an immediate concern. If necessary, he was ready to borrow the power of an otherworld god, so this new information and discovery might be a good thing. ‘It’s not like the otherworld gods are impervious to injury or death.’

If an entity like this corpse could die like any other being, that meant that even they could not avoid destruction. Moreover, Yeon-woo was currently absorbing a lot of blood and gradually acquiring the Factors and divinity that the corpse had once possessed. These were sure to be of great help in the future. And so, Yeon-woo set aside his thoughts and refocused on finding the Vampiric Lord.

Ssss!

As soon as he concentrated on his objective, the shadows regurgitated the four people he had kidnapped: Chemical, Mary, Ohn, and Gylfi. They were all disoriented, but after they’d taken a few breaths, their eyebrows started twitching as though they were regaining consciousness.

Gylfi opened her eyes first. “Th-this place is…?”

They were so deep inside the tunnel that the only light source came from a glowing sphere in Yeon-woo’s hand. Gylfi recognized Yeon-woo and trembled visibly. “Wh-what are you going to do to me? Why did you bring me here! What was all that commotion earlier!” Gylfi cried out as she quickly realized that Yeon-woo was the cause of all the chaos. She had only ever planned to dig up and gather a bunch of Blood-Tear Stones before returning to her home world, and she could not maintain her composure. She had been caught up in a situation that she did not want at all.

“If you have a mouth, say something…mmph!” Gylfi couldn’t stand Yeon-woo’s quiet stare and cried out. However, the shadow holding her covered her mouth, preventing her from speaking further.

In the meantime, the other three slowly opened their eyes. Chemical shook as if he could barely hold in his anger. Mary was still in a daze. Her eyes were unfocused as if she were still in a state of horror. Tarneck’s guard, Ohn, was staring at Yeonwoo with a calm gaze.

Yeon-woo’s first impression of her was that she was surprisingly beautiful, with her sharp nose and eyes. It was as though she were carved from jade. Although it didn’t really matter if a warrior was good looking or not. ‘However, I don’t think the Vampiric Lord would look like that even if she had a mask on.’

And yet, when he looked at Chemical, Mary, and Ohn, Yeon-woo felt that none of them could possibly be the Vampiric Lord. That meant the only suspect left was Gylfi, but she did not seem to be a likely candidate as well. Had the Vampiric Lord chosen an unworthy candidate? Yeon-woo felt anxious as he stared at his four suspects, thinking he might have to go back to that mess of a tunnel once more. ‘I guess I’ll find out after I test them.’

Hoping he wouldn’t have to retrace his steps, Yeon-woo touched the pendant around his neck. His brother’s second teacher, Lana, had given him the pendant as a token of her gratitude. It was the Sea Water Charm, Ceto’s holy artifact.

[‘Summon of the Dead’ has been activated.]

[Whom would you like to summon?]

“Lana.”

Using the powers of the Black King, the dark, flowing air currents united and formed the shape of a person. Lana slowly opened her eyes. “This place…?”

“It’s been a long time, Lana.” Yeon-woo cheerfully greeted Lana, whom he had not seen for a while while surreptitiously looking at the reactions of the four suspects. Yeon-woo thought that the Vampiric Lord would instinctively react when her daughter, who had passed away long ago, suddenly appeared.

However, the four just stared at Yeon-woo without understanding or knowing what was going on. He did not sense any agitation from them. Yeon-woo lightly clucked his tongue and looked back at Lana. He asked for her patience and began to explain his situation, making sure that he was speaking to her through his Consciousness so that the others could not overhear. He shared all the discoveries he had made so far while searching for his brother’s soul.

「So, in simple terms, are you saying that in order to find Jeong-woo’s soul, you have to go to the origin of the Black King’s darknessand you need my mother for that?」

“That’s right.”

「So that’s why you needed to call this good-for-nothing daughter. I never even imagined a reunion like this with her.」 Lana smiled bitterly and slowly moved forward. Meeting her mother as a soul went beyond being disrespectful to one’s parents. Nothing broke a parent’s heart like seeing their child die. However, because she understood Yeon-woo’s circumstances, Lana moved without hesitation and stood in front of one of the four suspects. As soon as she’d appeared, she sensed a very familiar scent. Since she had parted from her mother at an early age, it was a childhood scent she knew intimately and had longed for. 「Mother. We meet like this. Please forgive your disrespectful daughter.」

Lana stood right in front of Ohn, whose eyes trembled fainty. Eventually, she made a deep sigh. “Pursuing me is not enough, people have used other family members and people of the same race against me. And now, even my daughter…to have fallen to this state…” Ohn brought her delicate hand to her face and ripped her skin off with a tearing sound, revealing an entirely different appearance underneath. Her tall and slim appearance transformed into a small figure about 140 centimeters in height. However, just looking at her sharp eyes, one could immediately perceive the soul-crushing arrogance contained in them. The gentle yet tremendous aura that she emitted made Yeon-woo’s skin tingle. She was the Vampiric Lord, who had ruled over the Tower’s night and the moon.

Shatter! The Vampiric Lord forcefully broke the white mask that had allowed her to disguise herself as Ohn. It was useless now. She reached out her little hand and stroked Lana’s face. With her fingertips, she felt the slippery texture of Lana’s spirit body. “Why is the moon…so heartless?”

「Mother.」

“Well. The moon was always like that, in the past and even the present,” the Vampiric Lord said as she made another heavy sigh. She then glared at Yeon-woo with her cold, deep-set eyes. She hadn’t seen her daughter in such a long time, and she had a mountain of things she wanted to share with her, but right now, she wanted to understand what Yeon-woo’s motives were to show Lana to her. “Why are you looking for me, to the point that you’d even set up this bizarre reunion?”

As he touched the nape of his neck with his hand, Yeon-woo felt that there was a similarity between his and the Vampiric Lord’s auras. However, his energy originated from death, which had a sense of burning with depth and fiery fervor. On the other hand, her energy represented night, so it was subtle and very cool. It was a night that was so deep that its depth could not be measured. He thought it was more apt to call it an abyss as he tried to peer into her. Even with his Draconic Eyes and Fiery Golden Eyes both operating, he could not sense the depths and boundaries of her being.

He felt as if a cold blade were touching the nape of his neck. His skin tingled. His back became cool. His instincts were warning him that he was in danger. ‘She’s at least at the level of the Nine Kings, possibly at the level of my teacher, the Martial King.’

The real monster was right here in front of him. Yeon-woo had never even considered the idea that someone who had power comparable to his teacher’s existed in the Tower. Yeon-woo was forced to pull up the power of Black King to counteract the overwhelming aura that the Vampiric Lord projected. He slowly began to speak, I’m…”

“Before you speak, choose your words carefully. That child, Jeong-woo, gave me a good impression a long time ago. Even if he did the same arrogant acts as you, I would have forgiven him for creating a scene. However, if your words don’t meet my expectations…” The Vampiric Lord had taken a seat on a nearby rock. She crossed her short legs in an arrogant manner and spoke with one side of her lips curled up.

Through her lips, Yeon-woo could clearly see her serrated teeth. He had only ever seen teeth like that on Bathory’s Vampiric Sword.

“I will bite into your throat and throw you in front of Tarneck like dog food.”