Ranker Who Lives Twice

「Thank you for the meal!」 Within the young girl’s shadow, Laplace was about to devour the girl with his jaws wide open…

「… huh?」 Laplace could feel an icy coolness run down his spine. Right behind him…Vimalacitra suddenly appeared and swung Shizu Sword at Laplace. Since the Black Gubitara was condensed in its final form on the sword, if the Black Gubitara exploded, Laplace’s ego would be blown away into non-existence even if Laplace was residing within the relative safety of the shadows. Laplace could not understand why Vimalacitra was responding in such a manner.

Right before clashing with Yeon-woo, Vimalacitra had suddenly changed his location. Laplace did not really care if he perished in this place since he was largely doing what he did for his own entertainment. However, that was not the case for Vimalacitra. Moreover, by taking such drastic action as attacking Laplace, Vimalacitra was leaving himself wide open to Yeon-woo’s attack. Essentially, Vimalacitra was giving himself up.

Vimalacitra did not seem to care about any of this. The only difference was in Vimalacitra’s eyes. His eyes had been filled with glee and interest while fighting against Yeon-woo, but currently, another emotion was being exhibited: concern, fear of something happening, anger.

Vimalacitra definitely considered this girl differently than all other beings. His emotion of concern for her was true. As a previous administrator, Laplace could not help but be surprised by Vimalacitra’s weird, abnormal behavior. ‘Vimalacitra, who never cared about anyone else, is concerned about this little girl? Hey, no matter how weird things get, isn’t this just too much!’ While Laplace was having these thoughts…

Whoosh! Shizu Sword arrived atop Laplace’s head. The powerful force of the strike seemed like it would rip apart Laplace in an instant.

At that moment, Yeon-woo also swung Scythe. Yeon-woo’s own interpretation and manifestation of Black Gubitara flew out in the form of a Sword Thunder strike. The Sword Thunder strike crossed the curves and distortions of space to fall atop Vimalacitra’s head.

Laplace could sense that his death would be followed by Vimalacitra’s death, who had shown his back to his enemy. ‘At least I won’t be going alone,’ Laplace playfully thought. Just when Laplace was about to smile…

Whoosh! Yeon-woo’s Sword Thunder strike entered another curvature of space and distorted. The surrounding space seemed to bend and vibrate as the Sword Thunder strike that was heading for Vimalacitra’s head appeared behind Laplace. With a flash of dark light, Yeon-woo’s strike deflected Vimalacitra’s strike.

Boom! With a loud explosion, Laplace and Vimalacitra were both flung backward. At the same time, a column of light had pierced through the ground, through the mantle and core of the Earth, sticking out from the opposite side of the planet.

Rumble. Earth shook as if it would crumble into pieces at any moment. From the shockwave of the clash, the entire atmosphere of Earth had been forcibly expelled into the solar system. The Earth no longer possessed a suitable environment for the survival of living beings… The entire sea had largely evaporated from the sudden burst of heat, and the rushing gas and magma shooting out from the newly created openings in the mantle caused the Earth’s atmosphere to be filled with dangerous gasses.

「Master! Did you save me?」 After tumbling on the ground, Laplace stopped, lifted up his head, and asked Yeon-woo a question. Though he had avoided the brunt of the shockwave, Laplace had still lost more than seventy percent of his spirit form. However, Laplace was able to retain his ego, so he looked upwards at Yeon-woo with a grateful, deeply moved expression.

However, Yeon-woo, who had appeared in front of Laplace, shot towards Vimalacitra without offering any reply.

「My master acts so cold all the time, but he’s such a warm-hearted gentleman.」 Although Laplace smiled and joked around as he re-entered Yeon-woo’s shadow, he quickly scanned the surroundings. He did not miss the fact that Yeon-woo seemed very angry with how the situation was unfolding.

Yeon-woo had tried to lure Vimalacitra elsewhere, but Vimalacitra did not budge. Thanks to that, the Earth had reached a point where it could no longer sustain life. The only unaffected place was the barrier area where the young girl was enclosed. Sesha and the others, fortunately, had hidden within the ark. However, there was no helping the rest of humanity.

Even the Earth’s orbital axis had been affected. The Earth now followed a chaotic, dizzying orbit around the sun. All the other planets in the solar system had their axes affected as well, so the natural orbits and order within the solar system had essentially broken down.

Everything that Yeon-woo had done up to now with care and consideration was all in vain, so Yeon-woo could not help but feel frustrated and angry. Earth was Yeon-woo’s hometown and the future home where his brother, once resurrected, would stay with his family. However, these were not the only reasons why Yeon-woo wanted to protect Earth.

Sss. At that moment, from the evaporated seabed of the Pacific Ocean, a black substance started rising. It was a substance completely different from the fluid mantle or lava. It was as dark as dark matter that wandered in space, shapeless like a shadow, and viscous like the emptiness.

The substance rose in the air, creating a haze-like atmosphere, and gradually expanded in scope as separate parts started coming together. At some point, the substance spread out over Earth and then to the entire solar system. As it did so, the substance gradually took on a shape.

[The connection with the otherworld has been strengthened.]

[Something that has been dormant on Earth for a long time is wriggling.]

[Something that has been asleep for a long period of time on Earth awakens itself.]

[Something that has been dormant on Earth for a long time foreshadows the ‘Apocalypse’]

…

[The ‘Promised Land’ is preparing to rise!]

The substance had the same shape as the darkness that Yeon-woo had seen before the Tower’s collapse.

It was so huge and so vast that it took some time before Yeon-woo recognized the substance’s proper shape. It was the Black King.

[The Black King slowly opens his eyes!]

[Currently unconscious.]

[Currently, there is no ego.]

[Currently without a soul]

…

[The Black King is trying to find the parts he lacks.]

…

[The Black King stares at his Consciousness.]

[The Black King observes his ego.]

[The Black King silently watches his soul.]

…

[The ‘Apocalypse’ is interrupted.]

[The ‘Promised Land’ is no longer manifesting.]

The good news was that the Black King only possessed a ‘body’. It could not move because it had no soul and ego.

‘In the end…’ Still, it was something that Yeon-woo did not want to bring out, so Yeon-woo frowned in frustration.

Originally, the Black King had been sealed tightly at the bottom of the void by the Heavenly Demon and the Day. And to add weight atop the sealed void, the Heavenly Demon had attracted and imprisoned gods and demons in the Tower. And as if that was not enough, the Heavenly Demon had gathered heroes who were born with the propensity for transcendence from each universe and packed them into the Tower as well. And that place where the void resided was Earth, precisely, another side of Earth.

The reason why Earth overflowed with the legends of gods and demons was that Earth was the place where the Black King was sealed and the residence of the gods and demons.

But now that the Tower was gone, nothing was physically stopping the Black King from rising.

Fortunately, Yeon-woo became a part of the Black King’s ego and was forcibly putting the Black King to sleep in the form of suspending his ‘dream’, but this method was not foolproof. Moreover, apart from the ego, the Black King’s body, specifically, R’lyeh, was on Earth.

R’lyeh had formed an ‘egg’ but was forcibly put to rest on Earth once more when the Tower collapsed. Hence, Yeon-woo wasn’t surprised that R’lyeh made an appearance. It was bound to happen at some point. Since he had not taken complete control of the Black King, Yeon-woo saw R’lyeh as just a component of the Black King.

However, it was to obtain R’lyeh that the rulers of the magic realms sought control over their realms. The rulers had wanted to bring out R’lyeh from within the Earth.

Just like how the Southern pole attracted the Northern pole, R’lyeh, which lacked a soul, had no other choice but to mobilize to somehow find a soul. In the process, R’lyeh naturally moved toward the fragments of darkness. Essentially, the rulers of the magic realms were utilizing the fragments of darkness to bring out and connect with R’lyeh to be reborn as more powerful beings.

As soon as Yeon-woo opened his eyes, he sensed that the fragments of darkness had scattered all over the universe and immediately tried to retrieve them. The reason why Yeon-woo went around the magic realms on Earth was also for this reason.

Yeon-woo could not let anything get close to R’lyeh. The reason he had tried to maintain Earth was to prevent the awakening of R’lyeh… However, since Vimalacitra went all out, R’lyeh was forcibly awoken.

[The godly society, <Chan Sect>, enters a state of emergency. The society is cautiously observing Earth.]

[The godly society, <Memphis>, is at its highest alert state. The society is cautiously observing Earth.]

…

[The demonic society, <Niflheim>, is ready to dispatch troops at any time according to its leader’s command. The society is cautiously observing Earth.]

…

[All the gods are straightening their backs as they recall the moment when the Tower collapsed.]

[All demons are wary since they do not know how the Black King will react.]

[Some beings are greedily looking at the Black King.]

[Some beings are covetously looking at the fragments of darkness that have not yet been recovered.]

[The Black King’s ego looks at the beings who have just revealed their greed and those who have revealed their covetous eyes.]

[The Black King’s ego issues a brief warning to those greedy and covetous beings. The Black King’s ego warns the societies affiliated with these beings that they may face total annihilation.]

[The Black King’s ego makes a list.]

[Some of the beings who showed greed have backed down.]

[Some of the beings who covetously looked at the fragments of darkness are running away and hiding.]

Yeon-woo quickly identified the location of the greedy and covetous gods and demons. He issued a brief warning before their useless thoughts grew. Although Yeon-woo prevented major strife, for the time being, he was certain that he did not completely erase their greed and covetousness.

[The Black King looks at his missing parts.]

[The Black King’s ego ignores the Black King’s gaze.]

[The Black King’s ego stares at Vimalacitra with a reproachful gaze.]

“What the hell are you trying to do?” Yeon-woo growled as if he was going to tear Vimalacitra apart at any moment. He had no idea what Vimalacitra wanted or what his true intentions were.

If Vimalacitra’s only purpose was to fight, then they could have moved to a more suitable area to fight. If Vimalacitra was interested in R’lyeh, Vimalacitra could have just turned the world upside down before Yeon-woo’s appearance. There was no need for Vimalacitra to take such a convoluted path to his ultimate objective.

Additionally, with R’lyeh now out in the open, they would have to contend with other beings who coveted R’lyeh. They would not even be able to have a proper one-on-one battle anymore. It seemed as though all of Vimalacitra’s actions were being done to show or prove something to someone…

‘To show someone?’ When Yeon-woo’s thoughts reached this point, his mind started racing and connecting the dots.

“Didn’t I already tell you? I just wanted a proper fight.” Vimalacitra let out a big laugh. The pure joy in his eyes was real.

Yeon-woo finally understood. Vimalacitra sought a fight, but he was also conveying a message to Yeon-woo. This was a warning that there was someone else behind all this. Vimalacitra was warning Yeon-woo to be careful.

‘Who the hell is it?’ Yeon-woo wondered why Vimalacitra was taking such a roundabout way to warn him. Why did Vimalacitra carry out such an elaborate performance like this? Wasn’t Vimalacitra a naturally free being without a care in the world about others?

Yeon-woo had already had his doubts about the possibility of someone being behind all these occurrences before clashing with Vimalacitra. He had considered if it was Yvlke or someone associated with him.

Rumble. Vimalacitra smiled again and flew towards Yeon-woo’s direction. Yeon-woo had to focus all his attention on fighting Vimalacitra. Seemingly satisfied that his message was properly conveyed to Yeon-woo, Vimalacitra re-engaged Yeon-woo.

‘I can’t let things continue like this…’ Yeon-woo tightened his grip around Scythe. He was determined to quickly end the fight. Vimalacitra did not seem to want a long, drawn-out fight either. Additionally, prolonging the fight would not further help Yeon-woo in figuring out who was observing him from afar.

Moreover, Yeon-woo had to issue a warning to the ‘figure’ behind the scenes. A warning that would convey that he would appear before the ‘figure’ soon enough. ‘Father.’

『Alright. I wanted to fight with that guy a bit more… But seeing how things are progressing, it’s probably disrespectful to that guy to drag this out any longer.』

Once Yeon-woo’s thoughts and feelings were conveyed to Kronos… Unity! Apart from being tied to the Black King, Yeon-woo felt his true ‘personality’ become clearer. Furthermore, Yeon-woo felt his sense of independence become stronger. The black and red lightning bolts that formed on Scythe became several layers thicker. It was the greatest Sword Thunder output that Yeon-woo could exert.

[Eight Extremes of Sword Thunder – Eight Extreme]

[All For One – Great Handprint]

Three sword strikes flashed out in an instant. Boom! A gigantic beam of light penetrated the great cosmic space before colliding on Vimalacitra. Whoosh! Scythe’s second strike dug deep through the many flaws that surrounded Vimalacitra, ultimately slicing off the hand that held Shizu Sword. Slice! Scythe’s third sword strike slashed diagonally from Vimalacitra’s left arm into the right part of his chest.

[The spring of death revolves violently!]

[The divine domain of ‘death’ encroaches upon Vimalacitra.]

“Mister!” The sound of someone shouting came from behind Vimalacitra.

Even though death was engulfing his spirit body, Vimalacitra glanced down at Scythe, which was stuck in his chest, and smiled. “This doesn’t seem to be a simple Sword Thunder strike… It seems to be a completely new skill.”

“It’s the Great Handprint.”

“No. Not that. Vivasvat’s skill cannot affect me.”

“I haven’t come up with a name yet.”

“Ah, it’s something you obtained from the ‘dream’. It seems that I was the first to see it… Will you give me the honor of naming it?”

Yeon-woo quietly nodded.

“The ‘Black-Red Gubitara’. How is it?”

“It shall be called so.” Many of the concepts Yeon-woo had realized regarding this new skill had been inspired by Vimalacitra’s fighting spirit, so he acknowledged that suggestion.

“Hahaha. With this, even if my body dies, I shall become immortal. As long as you are alive, my name will continue.”

Gods and demons died the moment their ‘names’ disappeared. Conversely, as long as their ‘name’ was passed on, faith would continue to flow.

“With that skill…you just might be able to catch that ‘figure’…!” Leaving behind these ambiguous words…

Bam! Sss. Vimalacitra exploded into powder, scattered, and disappeared.