Ranker Who Lives Twice
chapter-225

Team: HH, thursdays, Yahiko

“Your Majesty!”

“What…..!”

The Summer Queen’s scream spread throughout all of the Red Dragon’s territory.

People who had been waiting outside frantically burst the door open. It was somewhere they normally weren’t allowed to enter without permission, but now wasn’t the time to think about rules.

There was a horrifying sight waiting for them inside.

A crack was appearing on the Summer Queen’s body. Like porcelain breaking into pieces. Like dehydrated soil during a drought. The cracks were spreading like spider webs, and blood was pouring out from them.

Her bright silver hair was turning into a dead black.

They moved urgently upon seeing her look as if she would explode any second.

***

With the quick response of the highest officials within Red Dragon, they were able to stop any rumors from getting out.

But all of the 81 Eyes who were at the headquarters were tense.

The Summer Queen wasn’t just the leader of the clan.

She was the Red Dragon, and the Red Dragon was her.

The reason why the Tower was so afraid of the Red Dragon was because the Summer Queen ruled over them, and the reason that the Red Dragon’s players were so strong was because the Summer Queen shared her power with them.

The 81 Eyes could basically be called her apostles.

They borrowed all kinds of powers from her, and their past was passed down from her.

But what if something was wrong with the Summer Queen?

The 81 Eyes and the clan itself would collapse. It was the same thing as their lives being destroyed as well.

They needed to stop that from happening.

Tom and Troy, the people who had brought the tablet, were even more rushed.

“It’s Devil Poison!”

“Nonsense!”

Trop clenched his fist looking at Tom’s devastated face. Anger escaped his gritted teeth.

Devil Poison.

If there was something that could hurt the great Draconic species, it was Devil Poison.

“We quickly put out the fire with the help of the visiting priests. But that’s just a temporary solution. The antidote…..”

Troy swallowed the rest of his words. Tom didn’t ask for anymore, either. It was obvious what he was going to say.

There was no way Devil Poison could be treated that easily. Furthermore, the Summer Queen wasn’t able to rest because of her nightmares. She couldn’t heal herself.

Things would only get worse.

Tom felt like his head would explode, but he had to do something. He was worried not only about being ripped to shreds by his brothers, who were his competitors, but that the clan itself would be destroyed.

“What about the owner of the tablet? Have you found the seller?”

Troy shook his head. They had searched through the records, prepared to stand against the Bureau, but there wasn’t anything left behind. They had searched for eyewitnesses, but everyone said they didn’t remember.

“It was someone who planned it from the start.”

“That’s correct.”

Tom ground his teeth.

It was unbelievable the more he thought about it. Someone had dared to play this trick on the Red Dragon? And the enemy had known that the Summer Queen needed the Philosopher’s Stone. It wasn’t a simple case of terrorism. To be exact, an attack pointed directly at the Summer Queen. It meant that a powerful group must have planned this.

Who was it? The Elohim? The Blood Land? The Sea of Time? The remaining people from Cheonghwado? Or the escaped Sword God?

Whoever it was, at least one thing was certain.

They wouldn’t be able to run away from them. The Red Dragon would chase them to the ends of the world and destroy everything related to them.

They had turned the Bureau, the Magic Tower, and the Blood Land, who had been protecting the magnate, into their enemies.

But Tom didn’t seem to care. His head was filled with the Summer Queen’s survival and the destruction of the enemy.

“Then…..what about how the tablet was found? If someone targeted us, wouldn’t they have left some traces behind?”

Troy nodded his heat, and pulled out some papers.

“Do you remember the Faust Historic Site from 6 years ago?”

“Faust? Wasn’t the place ruled a fake?”

Faust. Almost no one remembered him as it had been a long time ago, but he, the ‘Despiser of Light.’ was someone who had stood as an equal to the Summer Queen. Today, he could be compared to the Martial King.

The reason why he was famous was that although he wasn’t affiliated anywhere, he was the only contractee of the demon Mephistopheles.

Mephistopheles was a collector of all kinds of knowledge, and Faust had recorded achievements in history with his influence.

However, the problem was that his accomplishments weren’t well-known to the world. He never had any friends or comrades with him.

So when Faust’s old research lab was discovered, the Tower was shaken.

But the attention soon faded. Unlike the grandiose rumors, there were only strange things left in the lab. It had been the dungeon of a good-for-nothing magician.

“I also thought that was the case until now. However, it seems like it wasn’t.”

“What happened next?”

“After that commotion, Cheonghwado and Walpurgisnacht inspected the site together 1 year later. At the time, the person in charge of Cheonghwado was Leonte.”

Tom’s eyes flashed. Leonte. He was the person who had been creating the stone.

“And?”

Troy nodded with a crumpled face.

“We don’t know for sure what was discovered there, but after Leonte and Walpurgisnacht entered the site, there are witnesses who say that they had something like a stone monument. Wouldn’t that have something to do with this?”

Tom clenched his fist. Blue veins popped up on his knuckles. Leonte was dead now. Then, there was only one suspect. Walpurgisnacht.

He didn’t know why a bunch of witches had targeted the Summer Queen. The witches might not have anything to do with this, since what they found at the site might not have been related to the tablet.

However, it was clear that they had done something suspicious with Leonte, and the Red Dragon had caught onto this.

If there was anything suspicious, anything that the witches might’ve done wrong, all their questions would be answered if they just stormed them.

And even if Walpurgisnacht wasn’t the actual villain, they would be able to find the actual people behind it soon. It was important to follow the trail.

“So those bitches dared to do something this horrible, hm?”

Crunch!

Tom ground his teeth and turned to look at Troy. Troy nodded.

The Red Dragon would have to anticipate bloodshed if they were to fight against the Walpurgisnacht, but they couldn’t weigh the pros and cons right now. Even if they fought against the Tower itself, they had to quickly find the wrongdoer and find a cure for the Summer Queen.

***

Yeon-woo looked at Marquis Caliburn. He was a fierce-looking middle-aged man, just as the diary stated.

The swords that the Gluttony Emperor treasures the most were the 4 Dukes and 8 Marquises. 

Marquis Caliburn was one of the strongest of them, a high ranker with extraordinary abilities. 

Yeon-woo considered whether he would be able to win if they fought. Since he hadn’t completely assimilated with the Philosopher’s Stone yet, it might be hard to go one-on-one. However, if Shanon and the others helped?

‘I can do it. Easily.’

Now, he was powerful enough to target high rankers.

Yeon-woo felt his stronger powers and looked at Marquis Caliburn.

“If I am?”

It was a short, apathetic question.

Marquis Caliburn twitched his eyebrow, then nodded without showing his emotions.

“I guess you are. Of course. With the Exile, the Snake Hunter, and the Cheongram Family’s siblings.”

Marquis Caliburn asked a question with narrowed eyes.

“I’ve been waiting for you to come out. A few months ago, we thought you visited a brothel. When we went, you were already gone.”

“Is it because of Baron Lao?”

“As expected! You know something about him?”

Marquis Caliburn’s eyes flashed.

“Lao was a subordinate that I cherished. He went to invite the Exile and you on the Emperor’s orders, but he never returned. I want to know what happened.”

“Don’t you already know, somewhat?”

The Blood Land knew that the Elohim were chasing after Brahm as well.

The data from the 23rd floor was from before Agares descended. Then they would’ve been able to see the confrontation he had with the Elohim. On top of that, there were other things Yeon-woo set up with Synchronization.

“I want to know in detail.”

“As you said, Lao said that he wanted to invite me and Brahm to the Blood Land. After that…..”

Yeon-woo spoke his lies without even a single blink.

Lao’s arrival. Yeon-woo’s acceptance. Lao’s offer to help them with the Ceratopsian Dinosaur. He continued to explain how the Elohim had arrived, and with Lao’s help, they were barely able to escape.

“I don’t know if you’ll trust me. But Lao said that he couldn’t let the guests that his Emperor invited be in danger, so he told us to escape while he bought time. Thankfully, we survived, but…..”

Yeon-woo’s words faded.

But that was enough.

Marquis Caliburn clenched his fists. His sharp, knife-like eyes were shaking.

Loyalty.

There was nothing better to use against the Blood Land players.

“How were…… his last moments?”

“He died a knight.”

“Is that so? Good.”

Marquis Caliburn was silent and shut his eyes. Lao. He repeated the name of the loyal subordinate who had died for the Emperor.

Behind him, people were murmuring about the cowardice of the Elohim. They were furious.

No one among them was able to sense anything strange. Yeon-woo’s acting was enough to trick a mysterious merchant, so of course, none of them could tell.

Yeon-woo barely hid his laughter with the mask. He might have found another hidden talent of his.

‘With this, the Blood Land will be sufficiently enraged.’

Everything was put into motion.

The Red Dragon would soon chase after Walpurgisnacht. Yeon-woo was planning on interfering using Brahm and Ananta as his reason. Then, the Elohim would step up, and the Blood Land would follow to attack them.

In an instant, three of the Large Clans would be in hot water.

And with this, the Magic Tower, the Merchant Union of the Magnate, and the Bureau would jump in to confirm the legitimacy of the tablet.

There hadn’t been a fight like this since the beginning of the Tower.

Yeon-woo was going to extract what he needed from the fight, including Ananta.

‘Vieira Dune’s head will be a nice addition as well.’

Phante looked flabbergasted at how Yeon-woo could lie through his teeth like that, but he didn’t show his face towards Marquis Caliburn.

Marquis Caliburn calmed himself down and asked Yeon-woo another question.

“Then what did you say at the time?”

“I said I would go.”

“Is that still your answer?”

“Of course. It’s where our comrade was.”

“Comrade…..alright. You’re right. If you’re Lao’s comrade, you’re also my comrade and the Blood Land’s comrade.”

Marquis Caliburn’s eyes shined brightly.

“I’ll swear here. Following Lao’s will, as long as you never betray us, we’ll consider you as our ally and protect you from danger. Wherever you are, the Blood Land’s emperor will be with you.”

Magic power was infused in his voice.

“And the Elohim will have to pay.”

Ching—

[‘Marquis Caliburn’s’ pledge has been declared.]

An invisible line was connected from Marquis Caliburn and Yeon-woo. The pledge of mana he had just made was applied by the system. It was a declaration of war against the Elohim.

It was a pledge that not even the closest of friends made, but that was how angry Marquis Caliburn was.

Marquis Caliburn confirmed that the pledge was made and nodded his head, and he invited Yeon-woo to the Blood Land again.

“Sir.”

Just then, his subordinate quickly whispered in the Marquis’s ear. His face hardened.

Yeon-woo was able to realize what happened.

‘It’s begun.’

Marquis Caliburn turned to look at Yeon-woo with an uncomfortable face.

“I think we’ll have to push the invitation back to next time. The Summer Queen seems to have messed up.”

Since the Red Dragon was on the move, they would have to be on guard as well. Yeon-woo nodded his head like he understood.

“There’s no need to rush. We can talk next time.”

Marquis Caliburn turned away and left the stage with his subordinates.

Brahm approached Yeon-woo, watching them leave.

“Cain.”

Yeon-woo nodded.

“Yes. We should go too.”

Yeon-woo and his party jumped into the portal.