Ranker Who Lives Twice

Olympus was like a burden Yeon-woo always had to carry in his heart. Athena had always looked warmly on Jeong-woo and Yeon-woo, and Hermes was like an older brother who had taken care of Yeon-woo from the beginning.

Hades had guided Yeon-woo not only to find Jeong-woo’s soul but also walk the path of a god. Poseidon had been an enemy at first, but he had helped Yeon-woo in the end. Ares was a bit of a foolish character, but he still tried to appear admirable until the end.

Although Yeon-woo hadn’t spoken much to Apollo, Artemis, or Dionysus, they had been encouraging of his actions, and even though Hestia, Demeter, and others tried to block his path, Yeon-woo didn’t feel too resentful of them.

From the time that Yeon-woo entered the Tower, he had always been deeply involved with Olympus. He had clashed against them occasionally, but they had still been his faithful allies. But now, they had been defeated in Tartarus and forced to retreat to Erebus, and they were even thinking of leaving the heavenly world. A few of them might have already left.

Now that Yeon-woo had grown as powerful as he could and had a substantial group to back him up, he couldn’t postpone recapturing Tartarus any longer. He couldn’t enter Tartarus by himself, but he couldn’t take Arthia with him since they needed to remain on the floors to find the Sea of Time. He couldn’t force his giant army into Tartarus without any preparation, as well.

‘The Titans and Gigantes have succeeded in ascending to Olympus. Since they’ve likely recovered most of their divinity, they’ll be more powerful than ever.’ Furthermore, they had Mother Earth behind them. As the common enemy of all legends, she was an entity who could not be dismissed. ‘And I need to be aware of the movements of the rest of the heavenly world.’

Although the Titans and Gigantes were blatantly working with Mother Earth, they hadn’t received any sanctions from the societies of the heavenly world. It was clear that an underhanded exchange had been made that Yeon-woo didn’t know about.

Additionally, Yeon-woo had planted seeds of division among the societies in the hidden stage of the sixtieth floor. ‘With this, my enemies and allies will be clearly differentiated. It’s gonna be a rough fight in many ways.’

Yeon-woo needed to recapture Tartarus no matter what. Tartarus was Hades’ holy territory. As someone who had succeeded to the Throne of Death, Yeon-woo couldn’t recover all his divine authority without taking back the land. ‘Most importantly, I won’t be able to defeat Allforone if I’m not able to defeat the Titans and Gigantes.’ Reclaiming Tartarus was a crucial event no less important than a colossal war.

‘It’s almost time.’ Yeon-woo looked up at the sky. It was guaranteed he’d clash against many of the gods and demons in Tartarus. Entering alone was like suicide. Fortunately, he knew some folks he could call his allies.

At that moment, the sky began to shake.

[The godly society <Chan Sect> prepares to pay an exorbitant number of laws of causality.]

[A descent is taking place!]

[A descent is taking place!]

At the same time, rays of bright white light flashed above Laputa, and two bolts landed in front of Yeon-woo. The light slowly took on human forms. One of them was Erlang Shen, whom Yeon-woo was already familiar with, and the other was a strange man with blazing red hair and an assortment of various weapons and artifacts on his person.

He had a thick whip in his left arm and three swords hung from his belt. Two long spears and a giant shield were strapped to his back. The thick bronze armor on his body was scratched—evidence of what he’d gone through—but it still had a certain aura. Under his helm were intense eyes that made whoever looked into them shiver.

Yeon-woo instantly recognized him. ‘Prince Nezha.’

The Chan Sect enjoyed an era of prosperity under the guidance of the three leaders after the fall of the Yellow Emperor.

Erlang Shen became the center of all policies and played a dominant role in leading the Chan Sect, Thunder Lorddemonstrated his courage as a one-man army, and Prince Nezha…

As you can tell by his royal title, Prince Nezha has a prominent position within the Chan Sect. It’s said that during the Yellow Emperor’s rule, Prince Nezha was created to be then-general Li Jing’s son specifically for the war against the Jie Sect.

He is a human weapon made from pouring the most precious treasures and artifacts into the soul of an old hero. That is who Prince Nezha is.

“You’re the child named ###? Hm! I see.” Prince Nezha scanned Yeon-woo all over as soon as they met and nodded heavily. While Erlang Shen was composed and quiet, Prince Nezha seemed to be bright and spirited. Even though he was known as a human weapon, he had a warm and relaxed air.

Still, Yeon-woo could feel his skin tingling. ‘This being…he’s strong.’

Prince Nezha heated the atmosphere just from his presence alone. Was it because of the energy of his many weapons or from his fighting spirit? Perhaps it was both. Yeon-woo’s fingertips felt particularly tingly.

[Vimalacitra agrees with you and nods. He rubs his weapons with tingling fingers.]

[Cernunnos watches you quietly.]

“Vimalacitra and Cernunnos? Those prideful old farts have taken an interest in something? Oho!” Prince Nezha exclaimed in astonishment at the gazes from above.

[Hundun watches the two gods of the heavenly world.]

“Looks like the Jie Sect is interested too. Even that recluse is here?”

Hundun, who had shown interest in Yeon-woo at the beginning before going silent for some time, had appeared. Prince Nezha adjusted his helm and looked at Yeon-woo in a different light. “I suppose I’ll have to be careful in many ways with this battle. Anyway…” Prince Nezha smiled brightly and turned to Yeon-woo. “If you look at me with those eyes, I’m going to start feeling competitive.”

At the same time, Prince Nezha pulled out one of the spears on his back, the Fire-Tipped Spear. The red spear burst into flames as soon as Prince Nezha touched it. Yeon-woo reflexively pulled out his Magic Bayonet and got into a fighting stance.

A sharp atmosphere passed between them, then Erlang Shen shouted with a furious expression, “What are you doing! You should be working together as allies, not fighting as soon as you meet!”

Prince Nezha grinned and put away his spear. “Fighting? You still have a long way to go if that’s what you call our excitement. That’s why the people in our sect still find it difficult to be around you.”

Erlang Shen frowned at Prince Nezha’s attitude, and then sighed, knowing he couldn’t persuade Prince Nezha to act any differently. Still, he had no plans to send Prince Nezha back to the heavenly world. Frankly, he was the only one of the other two leaders who could hold a conversation. Thunder Lord was a mischief-maker who didn’t listen at all. Erlang Shen gritted his teeth at the thought of how much he suffered to prevent Thunder Lord from coming with them to the lower world.

Now that their descent was complete, all they had to do was head over into Tartarus. However, even though Yeon-woo had put away his Magic Bayonet, he looked at the two with a frown of dissatisfaction on his face. “This can’t be all of the Chan Sect’s backup.”

Erlang Shen shook his head firmly. “Of course not. There’s no need for concern. The two of us descended first because of the laws of causality, but when the battle officially begins, more forces will arrive. Thunder Lord is currently guiding them.”

[The godly society <Olympus> protests vehemently, saying this is interference in others’ businesses.]

[The godly society <Chan Sect> rejects their criticisms and says this is for their own alliance.]

[A tense air passes between the two societies.]

[Many societies of the heavenly world observe <Olympus> and <Chan Sect>.]

Yeon-woo nodded. If the Chan Sect was committed to helping him, the chances of victory against the Titans and Gigantes would be higher. Above all, his alliance with the Chan Sect was proof that Yeon-woo and his army of the undead had been acknowledged as a new society. “Then let’s begin.”

Yeon-woo opened the portal to Tartarus.

[The godly society <Malach> blesses your path!]

[The demonic society <L’Infernal> encourages your battle!]

* * *

[You have entered the hidden stage ‘Tartarus’.]

The air flowing inside of Tartarus was significantly different from normal stages. However, it was also different from Hades’ time, almost as though it were rejecting them.

[This is the holy territory of Typhon, god of <Olympus>.]

[The holy power flowing throughout the stage rejects your entrance!]

[You attempt to force an entry.]

[You have succeeded.]

[The disturbance of the holy power will invalidate or weaken the blessings laid upon you.]

[Your divine position is weakened as your entrance is not authorized.]

[Your holy power is weakened as your entrance is not authorized.]

…

[Some of the gazes from the outside have been blocked.]

‘As expected.’ Yeon-woo clucked his tongue, thinking there was nothing he could do. Invading the territories of other gods and demons was suicide. Since he had experience taking over the Crawling Chaos’ holy territory and making it his own in order to eliminate several gods and demons, he knew the dangers too well.

But if he didn’t do this, he would have to ascend to the heavenly world and fight the Titans and Gigantes there to reclaim Tartarus…it was already too late for that. ‘It won’t be easy to get past Allforone. Even if it’s difficult, this is the only way.’

This would be different from the Crawling Chaos, who had only watched in amusement.

“Hm.”

“This isn’t ideal. Hostility surrounds us. It won’t be an easy fight.”

Erlang Shen and Prince Nezha were surprised by the Titans and Gigantes’ hostility towards Yeon-woo, and they couldn’t help feeling worried that the fight would end in many casualties.

Just then, the ashy gray sky began to quake.

“They’re already here?” Prince Nezha gripped his Fire-Tipped Spear thinking the attacks had already begun. He seemed ready to activate the Wind Fire Wheels on his feet and fly up to the sky at any moment.

“Wait.” Yeon-woo stopped him. Prince Nezha turned back questioningly, but Yeon-woo was quickly scanning through messages that had accumulated as he entered Tartarus.

[Agares expresses his strong intent to descend and requests it of his society!]

[The leader of <L’Infernal> says they have already used too many laws of causality recently and firmly rejects the request.]

[Agares says he doesn’t understand why and aggressively protests.]

[Baal ignores him.]

[Agares throws a tantrum.]

[Baal ignores him.]

[The other demons turn around and pretend they don’t see Agares.]

[Agares grinds his teeth.]

…

[Agares has temporarily left <L’Infernal>!]

[The East Demon Army joyfully follows Agares’ decision and leaves as well!]

[A descent is taking place!]

‘That crazy bastard…’ Yeon-woo laughed in disbelief. Agares had temporarily left his society in the past, but that was only with Baal’s silent agreement. This time, Agares was stubbornly insisting on having his way!

Bam! Bam! Bam! It seemed Agares was still trying to descend, not caring about what would happen after. A black bolt fell to the ground.

‘There’s two?’ However, another bolt arrived.

Sssssss. The black light faded, revealing Agares in his childlike form, along with another being.

[A demon of <Niflheim>, Fenrir, wags his tail, glad to see you again!]