Ranker Who Lives Twice

The Demonisms had been quietly observing Yeon-woo and Sage until now, but when they all rose together at once, the atmosphere changed immediately. Various shades of discordant darkness were running rampant, making them look more gruesome. Their unreigned auras were filled with greed for Yeon-woo and Sage.

Delicious fruit. Delicious fruit…

What are you two doing? Fight with each other like you've been doing all this time, hm?

Yeah. Don't worry about us. Hurry on, okay?

Of course, Yeon-woo and Sage weren't ones to foolishly fall for their words.

I know there's a saying that foxes act like kings in mountains where tigers are gone. But there are still two tigers alive and well here, and you're openly revealing your hostility like this? I must look like a fool to you. Sage exuded letters of disbelief. The creatures that weren't able to even meet his eyes were now acting up with drool coming out of their mouths. It was ridiculous.

However, Sage understood them. Egos of the Black King were beings who only had instinct and desire left inside them. It was said they were beings full of hatred who were chosen to carry out the Black King's will in each dream, but after being bound to darkness, they slowly began to lose their identities. In the end, all that was left was their hatred that remained as instinct.

Time no longer applied to them, the land they lived on was gone, and even if they had a new desire, they didn't have the free will to do what they wished. Their identities were naturally eliminated. It was the reason why the egos of the Black King that Yeon-woo had fought against laughed like lunatics and acted gruesomely.

Rather, Yeon-woo was the irregular one for being able to come this far without losing his identity. If there was another irregular…the only other one was probably Sage.

No, maybe this is for the better. You won't act up again if I push you back down. Sage muttered coldly while carefully observing Yeon-woo's reaction. This could possibly lead to a three-way battle. Either one of them could be attacked if they showed any weakness. Moreover, the concept of death was still shaking up Sage's body, so he wasn't in the best condition. Death was slowly eating at his darkness.

After the battle of strength, as his body was mixed with Yeon-woo and darkness, there were parts of Sage's identity that affected. It would probably take quite some time to rid himself completely of the implanted death… If the Demonisms all came at once, he wouldn't be able to buy the time.

So, Sage intended on suggesting a temporary ceasefire to Yeon-woo. Since Yeon-woo was probably experiencing the same symptoms as himself, he'd probably want to take care of all these Demonisms instead of potentially being swallowed by the other egos. The fight between them could be postponed.

Organizing the hierarchy in the world of darkness was very important, after all. Sage thought it was a reasonable decision, and these thoughts were delivered to Yeon-woo. Even if he couldn't use letters or send a message, since they shared the "cloud" of darkness, it wasn't hard to make the offer.

However, there was something Sage was mistaken about. While Sage needed to protect his already established position as the main ego, for Yeon-woo, darkness was only a means of accomplishing his goals.

"No. I'll retreat from here."

What? Sage exuded letters or shock, but when he quickly turned to look over, Yeon-woo was already swiping Scythe down.

"It would be nice to end the battle here, but my family's safety is more important. I don't want them to be swept up in danger."

Chhhk! Darkness…was being torn apart. The darkness that stretched out infinitely had split right in the middle where Yeon-woo and Sage were.

[The world of darkness has been divided!]

[It is being separated into two colors.]

[Warning! The interior of the Black King is turbulently shaking. Take caution of the impact!]

[Warning! The cloud is shaking precariously. If complete separation does not occur, the dangers of destruction may follow.]

[Warning! Darkness is being forcefully ripped apart. A loss of energy may occur. Take caution.]

[Warning! Darkness…]

…

Ah! Sage belatedly realized what Yeon-woo was aiming for.

In the first place, what Yeon-woo had wanted was to rescue his brother and mother. Sage's appearance was just a surprise event. There was no need for Yeon-woo to see the end of things with Sage in this situation. If the other egos came dashing for Yeon-woo, his family and subordinates would be in danger.

Furthermore, Yeon-woo was different from Sage. He wasn't bound to the darkness and had to stay here. He still had his real body, the Giant Demonic Divine Dragon Body, and the dream he was staying in, so he could always escape there.

Yeon-woo would be able to heal himself in the dream. Then, he could return to where the exhausted Sage and other Demonisms were waiting for him. He'd be able to do things without lifting a finger. He didn't even have to worry about being chased out while he was gone. Half of the darkness was stained with the concept of death, so no one would be able to chase him out. He would be suffering no losses from retreating here.

On the other hand, Sage had too much to lose.

Is this what you were aiming for…? Upon seeing Yeon-woo's cold smile, Sage realized the involvement of the Demonisms had all been a part of Yeon-woo's calculations. Sage stretched his darkness toward Yeon-woo, thinking he couldn't let Yeon-woo escape like this.

However, the darkness surrounding Yeon-woo was already far away, puting distance between them.

Keekeek! Keekeekeekeek! I'm going to eat, eat more!

Tasty Sage! I can probably keep on eating and eating even if I'm full!

Come into my stomach!

What are you talking about? You need to come into my stomach! Me… Me! I'll eat you deliciously, so come here!

The Demonisms drooled and ran toward Sage. They decided that it would be easier to deal with the exhausted Sage instead of dealing with both of them at the same time, so they chased after Sage obsessively.

The darkness that was about to reach Yeon-woo clashed with the other egos and its direction was lost.

Because of the Demonisms stuck to him, Sage's darkness wasn't able to reach Yeon-woo. He needed to switch to dealing with the oncoming rush of Demonisms instead. You damned bastards! Sage's calm poker face that remained in place no matter what happened cracked for the first time.

* * *

[Darkness is being fully separated!]

[The cloud is receiving a great amount of shock. Please be wary of the aftereffects.]

[The cloud is being forced apart. Data may be lost, so please confirm the original storage.]

[The cloud…]

…

Dududu…! The separation of darkness… Everyone exclaimed in shock at the strange phenomenon that had never occurred before.

『Pahaha! Screwing the Black King over like this! Truly, Cha Yeon-woo, you're…! I can't help but want you! How can you think such things?!』Agares burst out laughing. It was a laughter that was mixed with lunacy. As a demon whose domain was of lunacy, Yeon-woo's crazy actions were too amusing for him. Yeon-woo had done some insane things, but Agares never imagined Yeon-woo would screw over the Black King's main ego.

Father. Father.

Now. Two.

The beings of Night were a bit surprised at this fact, but they thought Yeon-woo must have plans of his own and returned to their shadow without thinking too much of it.

Rather, they seemed to be very amused by this situation internally. They had lived in an unchanging world without any stimulation, but they had experienced "fun" for the first time, so they were enjoying it very much.

['The Green Flame' shouts that his father is truly great!]

['The Source of Uncleanliness' says he will sing in honor of his father since victory is guaranteed!]

['The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young' says not to think of making pig-squealing sounds. She argues that she will sing herself!]

…

Since Yeon-woo, who took them in, had shaken Sage off and pretty much won, they were also glad.

[The Heavenly Demon bursts out laughing at the special situation that has never occurred in all the dreams and cycles.]

[The Heavenly Demon looks curiously at the new ego of the Black King who is acting entirely different from the previous executors.]

The Heavenly Demon also sent messages. Although Yeon-woo didn't know where the Heavenly Demon was, he felt like he could feel the Heavenly Demon's gaze. Just what was he thinking. Yeon-woo wanted to know his intentions.

[The Heavenly Demon opens the book he was reading.]

The Heavenly Demon's messages stopped there.

[Approximately 49.6% of darkness has fallen off.]

[Loss Rate 0.4%]

[Margin of Error ±0.1532%]

[The durability of this dream is within the margin of error. The present ego's existence is shaken, so the dream is further extended.]

[However, the durability of the dream has fallen drastically. If more shock is given, the dream could disappear completely. Take caution.]

…

[It has been confirmed that you obtained nearly half of the darkness. You have become closer to staining the darkness with your color.]

[Your title has been changed to 'Alternative Ego of the Black King.']

Swish! The pitch-black world spun in Yeon-woo's shadow. And when Yeon-woo opened his eyes again, he and the others were back at the boundary of Day and Night that they had left from. If there was anything different, it was that the territory of Night had disappeared and wasn't visible.

"Whew…!"

"We barely managed to return, huh?"

The beings of Day cheered at the fact they had escaped safely from darkness and rescued Jeong-woo and Rhea.

Jeong-woo was among them. He had a blank face, as if he had woken up from a deep sleep, but he soon had a refreshed expression. This air, this feeling… The countless sensations he hadn't been able to feel when he was a vestige body and soul were at his fingertips. He was…truly alive.

Jeong-woo almost felt like crying. Rhea pulled him tightly to her. At that moment, Jeong-woo felt like a seven-year-old child. "…Mom."

"Cry if you want. It's not good to hold it in. You've endured some hard times, so it's okay if you cry out loud now."

Jeong-woo buried his face in Rhea's chest. She told him to cry as much as he wanted, but he didn't want other people to see his embarrassing expression.

"We…really returned, right?"

"Yes. It seems we did."

"We can go back home now."

"Yes. Let's go back." Rhea nodded solemnly. The moment their family had been waiting for had finally come. Rhea also wished to see her other children at Olympus. She'd heard there was a division between the children… She needed to think about how to reconcile them. She also had to console Zeus, who was on a very crooked path.

However, the mother and son weren't able to continue their thoughts any longer. They thought Yeon-woo and Kronos would be smiling like them, but the two had stiff expressions.

『When Sage and you were being mixed together, I happened to see your inner thoughts. I apologize, since it feels like I secretly read your diary, but I want to ask you one thing.』To be exact, Kronos was very angry at Yeon-woo.『What exactly are you thinking, son?』

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