Ranker Who Lives Twice
chapter-456

In the Outer District, where the Elohim’s Outer Space Peals of the Great was located, a dark shadow lengthened on the ground, and a multitude of people appeared from within—players who had pledged allegiance to Arthia.

“Haa…haa…”

“What…is that?”

The players panted in exhaustion, speechless from the fight among the divine beings in the Outer Space. Only one word could describe the sight: incredible. They felt that everything they’d achieved up to this point was worthless, and the way Yeon-woo fought had made a profound impression on them. They could only feel awe.

At first, they had various motivations for joining Arthia—to relive their past greatness, to find a footing in the new hierarchy, to spread their name—but that all meant nothing now. After getting over their awe, the first thing that came to their minds was that they needed to follow Yeon-woo. They had gained conviction.

Then, before the Outer Space collapsed, they were swallowed by a shadow and taken to the Outer District. They shivered because what Yeon-woo had done was still clear in their minds.

“He’s truly a mighty person.” The leader of Iron Throne, Hanathan, clenched his fist. He had already sensed it when he first decided to follow Yeon-woo and pledge his allegiance to him in Laputa, and now his decision was proven to be the right one. Not too far in the future, Iron Throne would be one of the new large clans.

The chatelaine of Demon Beauty Castle, Chatura, felt the same thing. ‘Demon Beauty said we’ll understand if we keep observing him. This is probably what she meant.’ She and many others had followed Demon Beauty Edora in the hopes that she would show them a new world. Even though Edora didn’t take much interest in them, they believed that she would create a new order in the Tower.

The domination of the Eight Clans had been unshakable for hundreds of years, and they never allowed the emergence of a true challenger. Even if they fought among themselves, they would band together like longtime allies to take a threat down. They never allowed anyone to find equal footing to them. Because of that, countless had fallen, Heaven Wing and Arthia among them.

Even so, many players tried to escape the shadow of the Eight Clans. Chatura believed that Edora would be the one to do it, and Demon Beauty Castle was sure that she would be the one to destroy the shadow that loomed over them.

However, Edora said that Yeon-woo would be the one to do it, and Chatura realized how accurate her words were. ‘Everything…is falling apart and changing.’

The Cheonghwado had been shattered, Red Dragon splintered, the Blood Land destroyed, the Elohim in hiding, and the Devil Army irrevocably damaged, the ruling order was being crushed. The time they’d been waiting for had finally come!

There would be greater chaos to come, but without the shadow of the Eight Clans, players would be able to live simple lives as seekers of the truth without anyone bothering them. She was certain that players would be able to focus more on the trials.

Even now, although Yeon-woo gasped for breath as he stood against that shadow, he exuded an unapproachable aura. Just then, a thought occurred to her. ‘After all the shadows are gone, what if he becomes the shadow himself?’ She shivered. It was obvious that Yeon-woo would soon become the absolute ruler of the Tower. Who would be able to cross him then?

Even if the Martial King, Allforone, Waltz, and the Head Bishop stood against him, could they handle the influence that Yeon-woo would eventually wield over the Tower? Never.

The Martial King was indifferent to the Tower, and Allforone didn’t leave the seventy-seventh floor. Waltz and the Head Bishop might be strong, but their forces had already fallen or on the verge of disaster. If Yeon-woo used his power and position as king, there would be no one to keep him in check. When looking at his aggressive actions in the past, it was obvious that he wouldn’t allow anyone to stand shoulder to shoulder with him. A…greater shadow was coming.

Gulp.

[00:02:01_02]

…

[00:00:00_01]

[00:00:00]

[‘Sky Wings’ is no longer operational.]

While Chatura was swallowing nervously, Yeon-woo was enduring the immense penalties that arrived as soon as Sky Wings ended.

[You are on the brink of death.]

[Your body is temporarily below 50% health.]

[Your recuperative powers have decreased by 30%.]

…

[You have been afflicted with the status ‘Derangement’.]

…

At the same time, his separate consciousness returned, followed by dizziness.

『Oho. So you’re not going to faint anymore. You’ve grown up. I’m proud. Keekeekeek!』

Yeon-woo ignored the giggling Demonism and pretended to be unfazed as he collected his wits. There were too many eyes around. If it were only Arthia members, he might risk showing his weak side, but there were too many other players watching.

They were speechless at the power he’d demonstrated, but they would aim for his neck as soon as he showed a single vulnerability. He had to make sure they saw him as someone who was as strong as the mountains and as towering as the skies. From what he’d seen, players were a pack of wolves who were only out for their own greed.

『The way you were pretending to be strong was a good bit of fun. Yes, keep growing like that. Then you’ll be tasty enough for me to eat.』

Yeon-woo cursed at Demonism, who was slowly fading into his unconscious and turned to the person next to him. “Edora.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll leave checking the players to you.”

Edora nodded and began to look through the players. News that the war between Arthia, the Elohim, and the Devil Army was over would quickly spread among the large clans, and some opportunistic players would be looking for easy prey. It was crucial to do a quick analysis of the damages they’d sustained and reorganize their forces.

Fortunately, their main force Dis Pluto was fine, and none of the rankers seemed to be badly injured. It was clear that there wasn’t a great change to their numbers and that they’d enjoyed a landslide victory.

However, Yeon-woo had to concentrate on calming down his wild magic power, so he didn’t have the focus to take care of other things. Edora saw his condition with her Insight and immediately began carrying his orders out.

“The damage to Iron Throne is twelve deaths, thirteen injured, and two missing out of 152 members…Demon Beauty Castle…Greenshade Star…” It was only after she’d checked through the players that Edora relized that a few members of Arthia were missing. “Oraboni.”

“What’s wrong?” He had just barely calmed down the overheated Stone of Sin, when he realized that Edora’s expression was stiff.

“Three people are missing.”

“What?” Before Yeon-woo could ask who they were, he felt the world around him slow and a scenea appeared before his eyes.

Whoosh. It wasn’t a Channel connected above but below as the link to his Apostle opened. ‘Doyle?’

『Hyung, sorry. We were in a rush so I couldn’t contact you.』

Yeon-woo was looking through Doyle’s eyes. He and Kahn were chasing someone through thick grass: Black Skull and the bishops of the Devil Army. ‘What happened?’ He knew that the bishops of the Devil Army had attacked Laputa while he was busy with Bayluk, but he wasn’t too clear on what happened afterwards. He’d already been too consumed with releasing the Black King’s power and focusing on the fight with the divine beings. He didn’t have the chance to look at anything else.

Fortunately, Doyle conveyed his memories through the Channel as he explained. 『There wasn’t any attack from Fa—I mean, Black Skull.』

‘What?’ Yeon-woo narrowed his eyes at the unexpected words. A part of Doyle’s memories appeared.

“Oh dear. Looks like Mother Earth and the Crawling Chaos have begun to run amuck. We’ll leave before things get messier.”

“What…!”

“We never planned on fighting you from the start. We have no plans to interfere in worldly business any longer. The reason we’ve come here is my stubbornness when it comes to you, Doyle. They tried to convince me otherwise, but I want to ask you for the last time,” Black Skull’s words were baffling as he looked at his son sadly. “Won’t you come with me?”

Doyle rejected him without any hesitation, disgusted that his father was trying to act like a proper father now even though he had abandoned him in the past. He couldn’t understand what his father was thinking. What did he mean about not fighting and what kind of worldly business was he talking about?

In the end, Black Skull and the bishops left as abruptly as they’d come. However, Doyle and Kahn weren’t going to let them leave that easily, so they began to chase after them. They had left Laputa in the Outer District and were in the middle of climbing the floors, engaging in a few small fights along the way.

『I don’t think they planned on helping the Elohim from the start.』

‘What are they thinking?’ Yeon-woo was also curious. Arthia had only battled the Elohim. Even though they had prepared for all possibilities with Mother Earth and even the Crawling Chaos, it was strange that their allies, the Devil Army, hadn’t pitched in to help them. If the Head Bishop had appeared, Yeon-woo would have struggled to gain victory.

The Head Bishop he met on the Five Mountains of Penances was too strong, and if the Lion King had descended like he did in the Dragon Labyrinth, Yeon-woo would have been defeated.

However, the Devil Army left without even looking back when Mother Earth and the Giants attempted to descend. There was only one possible reason for their actions.

『They clearly had another goal.』 Doyle spoke solemnly, having reached the same conclusion as Yeon-woo.

‘Are…you chasing them to find out?’

『Yes. If they had tossed the Elohim out as bait…it won’t be something minor.』

The grudge the Devil Army held for Yeon-woo couldn’t even be put into words. The fact that they’d retreated meant they were planning something bigger and more dangerous. Doyle wanted to prevent that from happening. They had used his and Kahn’s fates according to their desires, but they wanted to pretend like nothing had happened? It was unacceptable. What he wanted most was to see them fall.

『So I’ll try to block….』 Just then, Doyle paused. Ahead of him, Black Skull suddenly turned and began to murmur indecipherable words. Fierce winds began to whirl around him, full of holy power. Something was descending into his body—Doyle could tell because he’d already had the Heavenly Demon and Mother Earth descend in him.

It was a great divine being that was the match of the Lion King, who had descended in the Head Bishop. One of the Seven Great Demon Kings was arriving. At that moment, the Channel was cut off; it was easy to disrupt because Yeon-woo didn’t have a legitimate divinity yet.

“Boo!” Yeon-woo recalled Doyle’s coordinates and immediately ordered Boo to open a portal. However, Edora grabbed his sleeve.

“Oraboni.”

Yeon-woo was about to say that they could talk later but he was startled by her eyes. Her pupils were shaking. She hadn’t even been fazed when she was surrounded by enemies, and he remembered suddenly that she said three people were missing: Kahn, Doyle, and who was the third one?

Now that he thought about it, the Outer Space had been too quiet when he left. There should have been a huge ruckus because of a loud guy who couldn’t stay still. ‘Impossible.’ He turned to Edora and realized his guess was correct.

“I…can’t see Phante.” Her voice trembled.