Ranker Who Lives Twice
chapter-412

Bang! Kindred’s green right hand twisted like a hook and struck Yeon-woo’s head. He was as quick as he was small, and his eyes glowed with a golden light, indicating that he’d activated his Fiery Golden Eyes.

Yeon-woo swung Vigrid to the left and black Aura unspooled over the shiny white blade, wrapping around it like a cocoon. As soon as the blade clashed with Kindred’s hand, the black Aura trembled and exploded.

Swoosh! Even though it was a simple clash, the impact caused multiple shockwaves to ripple out. The ground had already been split into cracks by the Flood Dragon, and it sank even more as columns of dirt shot up. However, none of that stopped the two combatants, who ran towards each other once again.

“I’ll tear you to shreds today, no matter what it takes.”

“How dare you run your mouth like that…!” Kindred reddened and his attacks took on more strength as Yeon-woo pointed out the Devil Army’s weakness. Whoosh. Flames blazed along his hand and the atmosphere began to burn.

「Kya! Our temperamental king has a way with words now.」

Yeon-woo let Shanon’s words enter one ear and flow out the other as he stabbed Vigrid deep into the fire.

[Vigrid-??? releases a hidden true name, ‘Durendal’.]

[Folklore: Gust of Wind]

Boom! Vigrid unleashed great winds that swept away the flames, and in an instant, it dug deep, restricting Kindred’s movements with the Eight Extreme Swords little by little. Ring. Yeon-woo circulated his magic power to its maximum, swirling it around Kindred. When he added Heaven Bracket, it was like a storm of magic power raging around Yeon-woo. Shwoo.

[Draconic Eyes]

[Black Gubitara - Philosopher’s Eyes]

He didn’t forget to divert more power to his eyes in order to catch Kindred’s nimble actions. The three layers of eyes predicted and tracked Kindred’s movements as he tried to escape the storm.

He cut Kindred’s ankle. However, Yeon-woo held back from spreading his Sky Wings. ‘I have to hide the wings for now so I can use them in a surprise attack later.’

The more cards he had up his sleeve, the sweeter his revenge would be. Since he was planning on fighting the Gluttony Emperor and the Head Bishop, he was careful not to reveal his full power. Besides, even without his Sky Wings, he could hold his own. He had already reconstructed his body with the Atman System in Tartarus, and after succeeding to the throne of the Underworld, his growth was worthy of close attention.

Since he already had the ability to kill gods, he didn’t fall behind the Nine Kings even without opening his Sky Wings. Rumble! Yeon-woo slashed Vigrid down, flinging Kindred away as Fire Lightning rained down.

Kindred gripped his burns, shocked. “How…?” He knew that Yeon-woo was strong enough to disconnect the Head Bishop’s link after absorbing the Great Sage’s exuviae, and he remembered how Yeon-woo had defeated him in Walpurgisnacht. But he still considered Yeon-woo nothing more than a rookie, just like the other Sadhu on the Five Mountains of Penances. It was beyond shocking to him that Yeon-woo managed to push him back like this in such a short time. Yeon-woo’s growth was unbelievable. Ignoring Kindred’s shock, Yeon-woo unfurled his Fire Wings and dashed towards him again. Swish.

Kindred’s childlike face hardened and his only thought was to defeat that rookie. Since he’d only targeted Edora to force Yeon-woo out, it would be good to end things at this point. Whoosh! His Fiery Golden Eyes grew brighter, as if they were about to burst into flame, and dark demonic energy with golden light shot around him.

〈Fiery Golden Eyes Black〉

〈Demonic Spirit〉

〈Possession - Monkey King〉

The black demonic energy and golden light combined, blazing violently. The Heavenly Demon in the Devil Army’s legends was also the Dawn Demon who created fire, and the power Kindred expressed was a spark the Dawn Demon had used called Purefire.

Kindred pushed his hand forward, and the Purefire flowed along his body to his fingertips, taking the form of a long club. It seemed he had created a substitute for the pieces of the Ruyi Bang that Yeon-woo had stolen from him.

Purefire and Vigrid clashed against each other, creating another shockwave. Even before the weapons touched, the Purefire gathered around Yeon-woo like will-o’-wisps and transformed into clones of Kindred. It was the cloning technique the Monkey King had used many times in the past. The Kindreds all shouted in one voice: “I’ll kill you.” The Purefires grew sharp and pierced Yeon-woo, making him look like a porcupine.

“Now!” At that moment, the Seven Member Squad, which had been watching from the back, sprung to action. They hadn’t had any reason to interrupt the confrontation between the Hoarder and the Devil Army, but now that they saw an opportunity. Their main goal was Yeon-woo’s death, but now they also had a chance to get rid of Demon Beauty Castle, who had been a nuisance.

However, before they could even get too far, the shadows under their feet suddenly stretched out like taffy and transformed into a barrier. Clang!

「Guys, if you have a brain, you should use it. Do you think the temperamental king here wouldn’t have expected this? Poor fellas.」 Shanon popped out from the shadow and sent his Sword Breaker smashing down. Although he had a light attitude, his attack was the complete opposite.

“Whup!” Uros just managed to block the blade, but Volcano erupted from the Sword Breaker, wrapping him in flames with an extraordinary power. At the same time, tentacles of darkness grew from the ground and lashed around.

“Aack!”

“What is this…?”

The Seven Member Squad was befuddled. At that moment, another shadow shot out of the flames, and Hanryeong appeared, tossing his nine swords in the air and beginning his sword dance.

“The Saber God?”

The ones who recognized the Grave of the Nine Swords of the deceased Saber God turned stiff. Since the Seven Member Squad were the Elohim’s special forces, they had experience with the Saber God’s unbelievable sword dance while the Cheonghwado still existed. Still, to protect their honor as the Seven Member Squad, they got into formation against Hanryeong.

Rebecca quietly descended over their heads. Rumble.

[The Spirit Guai, Jik, has taken care of player Yeoncham.]

[The Spirit Guai, Hon, has taken care of player Arsen.]

…

As the Lion Alliance dealt with the Flood Dragon and the Elohim with the familiars, Yeon-woo faded away after being impaled by dozens of Purefires. The Kindred clones began to look around, as though they had expected it. ‘Fiery Golden Eyes can trace the truth. Quick movements like Blink leave traces of magic power behind, so it’ll be easy to…’ Pewk! Before Kindred could even finish his thoughts, the head of the clone farthest from him blew up.

“There!” The other Kindreds reacted at the same time and shot their Purefires in the same direction. They stretched out like the Ruyi Bang of legend towards Yeon-woo, but he quickly stepped on Blink again, cutting the clone closest to him before vanishing again.

“You rat! How dare you!” Bang! Kindred’s clones tried their best to catch Yeon-woo, but he disappeared and reappeared like a ghost, eliminating the clones one by one. His use of Wind Path and Blink were too quick and complicated for Kindred to track, and Kindred grew frustrated. Purefire and Demonic Spirit were only effective if he managed to land a blow on Yeon-woo, and he was vexed to feel like he was missing each time.

[Cernunnos silently watches you.]

[Vimalacitra looks contentedly at the turbulent battlefield.]

Then, the Blood Land players soon appeared.

“The enemies are there. Everyone, help Cain and push them away!”

“Follow His Highness!”

“Protect His Highness!”

Duke Tuan Tien, Prince Domo, and his bodyguards began to strike the Devil Army and the others at the fringes of the battle. Although the duke looked mild-mannered, his attacks were fierce and quickly demonstrated why he was the deputy commander of the Blood Land. His hand tore out space wherever it reached, and players dropped like flies.

Prince Domo contributed effectively, as well. He led the bodyguards as he shouted “Help Cain!” and “Protect Cain as you would protect me!”

Kindred didn’t understand what was going on. He knew the Blood Land was close to Yeon-woo, but he didn’t think they were foolish enough to antagonize the Devil Army and the Elohim while they were in the middle of war with White Dragon. Furthermore, unlike the Gluttony Emperor, who was known for his impulsivity, Duke Tuan Tien was known as the brains of the Blood Land. And yet he was here committing a bloodbath. The Blood Land didn’t seem to care about the consequences at all.

Meanwhile, Yeon-woo attacked Kindred more quickly, and black flames waved around him.

[Wind Path - Gust]

[Wave of Fire]

[Heaven Bracket - Lightning Strike]

Vigrid’s increased speed cut Kindred’s Purefires, and its blade just barely missed Kindred’s heart.

“No way…!”

“Why not?” Yeon-woo smirked at the visibly shocked Kindred. “Yes way.”

The ranks of the clones began to thin out.

“Damn it…urk!”

Slash!

“How…!”

“Is…!”

“This…!

“Happening…urk!”

Pewk. Yeon-woo bent over backwards to avoid a slash to the throat and used Blink to escape the attacks to his head. Whenever an attack targeted his blindspot, he turned his body in the opposite direction and cut the Purefire with Vigrid. Kindred couldn’t get a single strike in. Yeon-woo avoided them all as he cut the clones’ throats, stabbed them, and crushed them. Kindred was overwhelmingly irritated as the clones died off one by one.

“Shit!” The furious clone disappeared as well when Vigrid pierced through his forehead with the Eight Extreme Swords, Secret Skill Classification.

As he’d built up battle experience in Tartarus, Yeon-woo had combined the Eight Secret Skills of the Eight Extreme Swords, creating different applications and mixing them with Heaven Bracket to improve them. This prompted Hanryeong to say that Yeon-woo had reached an advanced expert level in sword techniques.

Since Kindred only focused his skill on firepower, he couldn’t follow Yeon-woo’s movements. Soon, only one clone was left, and Vigrid managed to stab him in the chest. Pewk!

“Urk!” Kindred was pushed back until he bumped against a firm object. He suddenly felt a burning pain on his right shoulder as the Flood Dragon violently tore at his arm. He’d backed into the Flood Dragon. Krrrng!

“Dammit!” Kindred felt his last bit of reason snap. He reached out and grabbed the Flood Dragon’s jaw and cruelly tore it off. Blood and flesh spattered through the air and turned into black ashes from the heat.

“I’ll kill you…!” Kindred ground his teeth as he glared at Yeon-woo. The flames of the Purefire healed his injuries, but his overwhelming rage didn’t lessen. He’d been humiliated all the times he’d confronted Yeon-woo—at the Five Mountains of Penances, Sesha’s kidnapping, Walpurgisnacht—and he’d been itching to redeem himself. The fact that he couldn’t even stand toe to toe with Yeon-woo made him boil over with anger. “I’ll kill…!” However, Kindred’s fury didn’t last much longer when a strange hand suddenly burst out of his chest, reaching towards Yeon-woo and steaming with demonic energy.

Yeon-woo quickly moved back in surprise, his Fire Wings beating quickly.

『It seems I’ll have to take it from here. Rest.』 A voice growled, and a darkness spread from Kindred’s chest and swallowed up his entire body until it began to take on another form. It was an old man, his hands clasped behind his back.

Yeon-woo’s eyes darkened. The demonic energy that emanated from the man wasn’t normal.

“This is the first time we’ve met, yes?” The old man smiled warmly at Yeon-woo. However, Yeon-woo also noticed that the old man’s smile didn’t reach his eyes, which remained sharp.

It was true that they hadn’t met before, but Yeon-woo immediately recognized him. He would never forget those eyes, and he had to force back his instinctive urge to unfurl his Sky Wings.

The old man smiled in response. It was the leader of the Devil Army himself.