Ranker Who Lives Twice

A single glance was enough to see that the Sword Thunder flowing along Vigrid was powerful. Typhon attempted to escape his meditation room to avoid being caught in the explosion, and as soon as he hurled himself aside, the room exploded.

"Kegh…!" Even though he had managed to escape, he couldn't avoid the aftershocks, and one of his arms was burned painfully. Typhon plummeted down into the area where the Titans and Gigantes were fighting. However, he was more enraged by the destruction of his meditation room than by the pain he felt.

It had been customized to maximize his powers and divine abilities and served as a control room for all the holy power flowing within Tartarus. It was also necessary in order to completely digest Kronos' remains.

Typhon felt a brewing fury and frustration. Yeon-woo was a skilled master when it came to ruining the plans he'd labored over for years. As if he were driving this thought home, Yeon-woo jumped out of the same crack that Typhon had fallen through, releasing an onslaught of the Eight Extremes of Sword Thunder at the same time.

From the Second to the Fourth Extreme, amplified Sword Thunder fell one after the other, hitting Typhon before he could even use his own power.

"Hahaha! So, you've finally come out now after hiding like a rat, Typhon!" On the ground, Hercules burst into laughter when he saw Typhon. He made a huge swing with his club once more, creating an intense wind that instantly blew Typhon away.

Typhon's face twisted now that he was stuck between Yeon-woo and Hercules. 『You insignificant beings dare treat me like prey?』 He had once enjoyed an equal footing as Zeus, and the situation infuriated him. He gritted his teeth in rage when he thought of Asgard's promise to eliminate Yeon-woo, no matter what.

Boom! Typhon had no choice but to release all his strength. It was partly because he was furious, but in fact, it was difficult to deal with both Yeon-woo and Hercules. He still remembered Hercules' imposing prowess that forced the Gigantes into despair during the Gigantomachia, and of course, Yeon-woo's ability to resurrect the giants and become their god in order to kill the Crawling Chaos was still fresh in his mind.

Neither Yeon-woo nor Hercules was inferior to him, which meant he needed to show all the cards he had. Light flashed and something expanded above and below Typhon's body. In a split second, Typhon grew so large, it seemed that he loomed over the entire Tartarus. The Titans that were kilometers tall looked tiny next to him.

His long snake-like tail stretched into the horizon, and hundreds of wings engulfed the sky. Typhon's true body made him appear closer to a monster than a human. He released a strength that not only swept away Yeon-woo's strength and Hercules' winds, it even made Tartarus quake. There were hints of other gods in Typhon's energy, as well.

"The holy power of Mother Earth and…Kronos?" Yeon-woo flapped his Sky Wings, regaining his balance. His forehead wrinkled as he analyzed Typhon's holy power. It seemed that Typhon had gone through some changes after taking Tartarus as his holy territory. He was using the energy from Kronos' corpse to grow himself more efficiently than the Titans ever did. 'He shouldn't be able to do this… Did he change the laws of nature within his holy territory to make it possible?'

『I'll…kill you all!』 Another wave of strength rushed out of Typhon's enraged voice. Accompanied by the terrifying sounds of the shaking Tartarus, natural disasters fell on Yeon-woo, Hercules, and the battlefield, even in the area where the Ghost Giants and Asgard fought.

Flaming meteors rained down from the sky, and the ground cracked open as magma gushed out. Lightning and storms rumbled, and the gravitational force grew so heavy that it was hard to stand. The aggressive assault had the potential to devastate Tartarus, and the Titans had difficulty enduring it, as well.

Rumble! Swoosh! However, Yeon-woo used the Sword Thunder of the Fifth Extreme, nullifying Typhon's laws of nature and chopping off all the wings on his right side with black-red rays of light.

『Ahhhh!』 Black holy power sprayed out, and Typhon cried out in pain. The torn wings and feathers fell to the ground.

Yeon-woo fought past his dizziness and tried to continue the Eight Extremes of Sword Thunder. He'd never been able to use the Fifth Extreme before without combining with the Demonism. Even the Monkey King's exuviae had difficulty using it. Because of this, he felt like it might be possible to defeat Typhon with a single strike if he used the Sixth Extreme.

However, just as the Monkey King's exuviae had warned, using a power that was sixty-four times more powerful than the original Sword Thunder took a lot out of his body. Because of this, it took him a while to prepare for the attack. In the meantime, the broken wings and feathers combined with the black holy power and transformed into various magical creatures that charged at Yeon-woo.

Kiaaaaa!

Keekeek! Keekeekeek!

Yeon-woo stopped his attempt to activate the Sixth Extreme and quickly swung Vigrid with Sword Thunder. Shwooo. Rays of light twisted at different angles and shot towards the creatures as though it were dividing the world in half.

Crack! He activated the First to the Fifth Extremes one after the other, sweeping away all the creatures and sending an explosion to Typhon's true body.

Bam! Bam! Boom, boom, boom! The explosions pushed Typhon back. Clatter! Chains flew out of pockets of emptiness in the air and wound around Typhon's hand, feet, wings, and neck. Yeon-woo gripped the chains connected to the Despair of the Black King and pulled them in.

Crack! The chains grew taut, ripping off Typhon's wings and tail.

『You damned bastard!』 Typhon's intense eyes turned to Yeon-woo, and all the laws of Tartarus changed to reject Yeon-woo, placing all kinds of curses on him.

[You have been afflicted with an unidentified curse!]

[You have been afflicted with an unidentified curse!]

…

[You have fallen into an abnormal state, 'Curse Poison'!]

[You have fallen into an abnormal state, 'Holy Power Denial'!]

[You have fallen into an abnormal state, 'Divine Ability Rejection'!]

…

[Warning! This is a dangerous area. If you do not leave quickly, there may be problems with your creation of holy power, and your divine position may be destroyed. It is advised that you escape.]

[Warning! As a result of falling into too many abnormal states, you are currently in an 'Abnormal Curse State'.]

[Warning! Currently…]

…

Typhon forced himself to stretch his hand towards Yeon-woo. The protective barriers around Yeon-woo cracked, and Typhon grabbed hold of him. The more tightly Typhon gripped Yeon-woo, the stronger the binding of the chains grew.

Yeon-woo's head was filled with the thought of avenging Hades as the two engaged in a tense combat to the death.

Kookookoo…!

* * *

"I was hoping for it, but it's still incredible to see that this opportunity would actually appear! Hahaha!" Helios laughed as he looked at Yeon-woo and Typhon fighting to the death. He had come with Typhon to eliminate Hercules and the resistance. His mother, Theia, had repeatedly told him not to lose this opportunity, and he hadn't understood what she had meant by it at first. Opportunity? Knowing how strong Typhon was, Helios didn't see how Yeon-woo would create an opportunity for them. Of course, he knew Yeon-woo was strong and that even Mother Earth was furious at him for spoiling their plans. However, that was all he knew.

Tartarus was already Typhon's holy territory. No matter how much of a rampage Yeon-woo went on, he would still be in Typhon's palm. Furthermore, Asgard was participating in the battle. Naturally, Helios expected Yeon-woo to lose.

'But…it turns out that Typhon might lose instead.' In fact, Helios could already see that it was inevitable. The stage's laws were rejecting Yeon-woo and putting him in an abnormal state, but the chain-bound Typhon was being incapacitated at a faster rate.

Urng, urrng, urrrng.

'Is this possible because of the legacy of the Black King?' Helios looked in trepidation at the chains tightening around Typhon's body, wings, and tail, and the Casts of the Black King on Yeon-woo's limbs.

The Black King was significant not only to the otherworld gods but also to Olympus, as well, and the chains that could bind such an entity were something to fear. However, it was also giving them an opportunity now. Helios thought the world was full of surprises. 『Selene. Eos.』 Helios used magic to send messages to his two sisters, who were leading the Titan soldiers.

『Yes. Go ahead, Helios.』

『Are you about to start now?』

『As you can see, this is the only chance we have. I'll head directly to Kronos' corpse. Get the soldiers to retreat surreptitiously.』

『It seems that you think Typhon is going to lose, Helios. OK.』

As the Titan soldiers began to retreat, Helios moved, desperately hoping Yeon-woo would hold down Typhon long enough.

* * *

"I heard you called for me, Martial King." Henova temporarily stopped making swords in his smithy after receiving word that the Martial King requested to meet him.

The Martial King was enjoying the sunshine with a fishing pole by the lake. "It's been a while, Henova. When was the last time we met, just the two of us?"

Whoosh. Henova puffed on his pipe and breathed out smoke with a grin. "Probably over ten years since you commissioned Divine Evil. We've seen each other around, but we've never spoken to each other too long."

"True." The Martial King smiled as well. Divine Evil was now the sword that represented Demon Beauty, but it was really an artifact created to complete the Yang Sword, which had once only been a legend passed down through generations of the One-horned tribe.

Creating Divine Evil required the touch of a brilliant craftsman, and after a long period of search, the One-horned tribe discovered that only Henova had the skills to craft it. 'And it was more than satisfactory. Even our lofty geezers praised it.'

Considering how the One-horned tribe looked down on people who weren't members of their tribe, this meant that Henova's work was a masterpiece. Edora was aware of this and used Divine Evil with care.

"Anyway, I'm sure you didn't call for me just to talk about old times. What's the matter?" Henova squinted at the Martial King.

"I have a favor to ask."

"Hm? You want to commission something?"

"In a way." Under his straw hat, the Martial King grinned flippantly at Henova. "As you know, I'm the greatest leader and stronger warrior in the history of the One-horned tribe. Unfortunately for the tribe, they won't ever have another king like me." The Martial King complimented himself endlessly. Henova cocked his head. He knew that the Martial King was full of himself, and he was curious what the Martial King was leading up to.

"So, to help the tribe honor and remember me, I want you to make a nice statue of me."

Henova's face stiffened. On the surface, it seemed little more than a conceited request, but the implication was clear. Honor and remember? "You're saying…?"

The Martial King nodded with a smile. "My days are numbered."