Ranker Who Lives Twice
chapter-718

[Indra, a god of <Deva>, lets out a deep sigh at the sight of your Sword Thunder strikes.]

[Nuit, a god of <Memphis>, sighs after realizing that he can no longer approach your level of existence.]

…

[Osiris deeply admires his Master.]

[Aishiva-Darva bows his head in admiration.]

[The King of Seven Hells exclaims aloud in surprise after observing your conceptual interpretation of death.]

…

[Cernunnos nods after observing your developed Sword Thunder strike.]

As Yeon-woo began to quickly collect the fragments of darkness scattered throughout the universe, all the gods and demons began to watch his movements once again. Almost all the gods and demons looked on in fear, but no one was able to turn their eyes away. This was because they wanted to find out what Yeon-woo’s new purpose was after awakening.

In the Tower, Yeon-woo’s goal was to simply defeat Allforone and climb the Tower’s floors. However, now that Yeon-woo was outside the Tower, no one knew his current intentions and goals.

[Most gods express interest in your new purpose. They are also wary of the return of Kronos.]

[Most demons are on the lookout and wary that you’ll lust to rule over the heavenly world like Lucifer many years ago.]

The two sides voiced two main concerns: Kronos and Lucifer.

Kronos led the heyday of Olympus as a King of Gods. At the peak of his powers, Kronos had dominated over half of the universe. At that time, it was said that great gods, supreme gods, and demon lords had to cautiously hold their breath in order not to be noticed by Kronos.

In fact, though Zeus was the main figure who dragged Kronos down from power, Zeus had received tremendous support and assistance from a multitude of other societies.

It was a similar case when Lucifer was around as well. However, in the end, Lucifer had all his wings clipped and fell from grace. Moreover, his soul had been split into sixteen Soulstones. Just the fact that most of the gods and demons had to join hands to defeat Lucifer exemplified just how great of a force Lucifer was.

Although they acknowledged differences in class and status during normal times, the gods and demons would group together whenever an unrivaled being of power appeared. So, following precedent and this line of thinking, one would expect that Yeon-woo would have to face and contend against the same united front of gods and demons.

In the recent past, when the heavenly world had been chaotic due to various developments, Yeon-woo had used passive methods to induce the heavenly societies to work against each other and not unite. In other words, Yeon-woo had been able to compartmentalize the heavenly world so that he did not have to directly confront them altogether. Moreover, he had constantly created clashes amongst the heavenly societies, making it nearly impossible for the heavenly world to constantly focus its attention on him.

During that time, by utilizing the dragons of death, the Ghost Giants, and Olympus, Yeon-woo was able to build a firm defensive wall that could not be easily overcome.

And now, Yeon-woo had returned as the Black King’s ego. To be more precise, Yeon-woo was not the Black King’s shadow ego, but the Black King’s true ego. This development left the gods and demons with no other choice but to become wary of Yeon-woo.

Moreover, when Yeon-woo casually got rid of the otherworld gods, the gods and demons of the heavenly world had nearly lost their minds. Had Yeon-woo become so powerful that they could no longer resist even if they joined forces? If this were true, it meant that, if Yeon-woo decided to do something to them, the gods and demons of the heavenly world would have no way to stop him.

If Yeon-woo wanted to unify all transcendents into one society and take over the heavenly world, there was nothing they could do about it. That was the reason why the gods and demons were afraid of Yeon-woo, yet, even so, they could not take their eyes off him. The gods and demons had no choice but to stop whatever they were doing, and keenly observe Yeon-woo’s actions.

Even with the gazes of many beings upon him, and fully aware of those gazes, Yeon-woo moved without hesitation. At this point, he knew that staying silent would be much more effective in controlling the observing gods and demons. ‘It’s not like I can freely speak about my thoughts and plans anyway.’ This was because his brother should never know of his plans.

While having these thoughts, Yeon-woo’s Sword Thunder strikes continued to burst with light.

***

[Cernunnos observes the Sword Thunder strikes carefully.]

[Cernunnos wonders how the ruler of the Sahara magic region will react.]

Cernunnos, who was usually non-responsive and quiet, displayed an unusual number of messages.

Rumble! Sword Thunder was a combination of the old skill, ‘Wave of Fire’, and ‘Volcanic Hammer’ or the ‘72 Bian’. The unique characteristic of Sword Thunder was that its initial explosion would usher in a chain reaction of other explosions from the sparks that came from the initial strike. The lightning from the strike had the characteristic of spreading over a wider range as they seemingly pulled on each other, and the more the lightning did so, the more rapidly the destructive power within the lightning’s range increased.

Such was the Sword Thunder that Yeon-woo exhibited. The black and red lightning bolts spread like a spider’s web and tore through the ground, air, and sky countless times.

And because of the countless flashes of light, the satellites focused on Africa from outside the Earth’s atmosphere briefly captured a scene wherein the entire continent of Africa was drenched in light. Of course, not long after that, the satellites were either swept away by the following magic field shockwave, were rendered useless, or crashed down onto Earth.

Considering the size of the Sahara Desert, which was large enough to accommodate the entire continent of Europe, and if one included the surrounding areas affected by the magic region, more than half of Africa was covered by Yeon-woo’s Sword Thunder.

Yeon-woo thought, matter-of-factly, ‘It’s a bit hard to control my power output.’ He had reduced his power as much as possible when striking with Sword Thunder. He knew that if he was not careful, he would blow away the entire Earth, never mind the Sahara.

By the time the Sword Thunder strikes and their successive effects, which seemed like they would go on forever, dissipated… Sss. The numerous monsters that occupied the magic region, the colonies they constructed, and the various plant varieties which adapted to the darkness were all crushed and scattered. Naturally, none of the monsters were able to put up a resistance. It was a sudden disaster that wiped out and killed everything in sight.

And then…

Whoosh! Whoosh!

“Is it here?” Yeon-woo was standing in the middle of the Sahara Desert and looking down. There, he saw a flow of darkness that went deep inside the ground in a whirlpool pattern.

It was the site of the S-class gate, ‘A Hill in the Grassland’, which was said to have turned the entire desert area of Africa into a magic region. Until a few hours ago, it was difficult to even pinpoint the location of the gate because it had been completely covered by the foreign plants and vegetation that grew across the region. However, once Yeon-woo’s Sword Thunder cleared the area, the gate could be easily seen.

However, utilizing Eye of the Heavens, Yeon-woo saw a drastically different scene. Someone was at the center of the swirling darkness, at the deepest part of the sandy desert where the whirlpool funneled into. It was the culprit who created this magic region.

[Cernunnos narrows his eyes and examines the ruler of the magic region.]

Like a fetus in a mother’s womb, the being was curled up with closed eyes.

“Come out,” Yeon-woo called out in a low voice. Though embedded deep in the ground, Yeon-woo knew the being could hear his voice. He knew that the being had been focusing all his senses on him upon his appearance. No, to be more exact, it was from the moment Yeon-woo opened his eyes and awakened on Earth.

The being had maintained its vigilance up to now. The being had judged Yeon-woo to be an enemy. However, Yeon-woo could only chuckle at the other’s response. One could only call another an ‘enemy’ when comparatively at similar power levels…

“If you don’t come out…”

Sss. Yeon-woo raised his right hand. Black and red lightning energy exploded from his index finger and wrapped around his arm.

Although the size of the lightning was minuscule compared to the Sword Thunder strike that had swept through the Sahara Desert a moment earlier, this current lightning form was tightly condensed. It was a much stronger force of lightning. Depending on how Yeon-woo used it, it had the power to pierce the inner core of Earth.

“Well, I guess I’ll have to bring you out.” Yeon-woo slammed his condensed lightning downward.

[Cernunnos clicks his tongue as if dissatisfied with the attitude of the magic region’s ruler.]

Rumble! A huge pillar that seemed to connect the earth and the sky struck down upon the desert ground and created a huge explosion. The whirlwind broke down and the darkness evaporated at once. The sand liquified from the tremendous heat and splashed tens of meters into the air.

The being who had stayed silent since Yeon-woo’s appearance jumped into the air at once. Argh! The being now had a half-collapsed face and body, and was full of violent divine power and unpolished darkness energy. Unable to utter divine speech, it seemed that the being possessed little to no reasoning ability. Like an animal, it seemed to only possess basic instincts.

[Cernunnos frowns strongly at the unsightly appearance of the magic region’s ruler.]

“Darken.”

Whoosh! Following Yeon-woo’s Draconic Speech, the shadows that had been spinning in the desert stretched upward and covered the space where he and the ruler of the magic region were.

[You have entered the instance dungeon, ‘Sahara’.]

[The darkness’ effect is being applied.]

The world that appeared looked similar to the Sahara Desert seen from the outside, but it was a place where completely different laws of physics were applied: Dream.

Based on the information analyzed by Yeon-woo of his surroundings, a reinterpreted illusory world was created by utilizing darkness. Naturally, it boasted the same characteristics as the gates and dungeons that had appeared countless times on Earth. However, there was a distinct difference.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Whoosh! Unlike the other dungeons that Yeon-woo had created unconsciously, this dungeon boasted absolute durability as it was intentionally built by Yeon-woo. In other words, Yeon-woo had created a type of ‘prison’ for the being, imprisoning it from the outside world.

[Cernunnos turns his gaze away from the ruler of the magic region.]

[Cernunnos shows a deep interest in the new illusory world (dungeon) you have built.]

Yeon-woo’s Sword Thunder exploded once more. From the Second Extreme up to the Fifth Extreme…the successive Sword Thunder strikes, which would have incinerated everything on Earth into ash, tore the being into pieces.

Argh! However, during this attack, the ruler of the magic region actively used his divine power to quickly repair and regenerate his torn body, reforming his talon-like nails and slashing them in the air.

Whoosh! Each of the being’s attacks was filled with darkness attributes. As the Sword Thunder strikes approached him, the being resisted quite vigorously, either allowing some attacks to come through and reforming his injured body or deflecting the strikes all together.

『I was wondering if someone notable would appear. I guess it’s you?』 Scythe, which had remained quiet until now, suddenly appeared in Yeon-woo’s hand. Kronos looked on at the being with curiosity.

“Do you know who that is?”

『Of course I know.』 Kronos smirked. 『He was a well-known being when he was young. His name is a bit difficult to pronounce, Tiwanaku… If I recall correctly. He’s very rough around the edges and pretty ferocious.』

Yeon-woo tilted his head. If Kronos remembered the being’s name and said he was rough and ferocious, then it meant that the being in front of him must have been quite famous. Then, why and how did a person with such stature and a lot of faith become like this? The power the being exhibited was strong enough to deflect Yeon-woo’s Sword Thunder strikes, but the being looked worse for wear and unlike any divine being.

Kronos smirked as if he knew what Yeon-woo was thinking.『Well, he started getting on my nerves, so I gave him a bit of a beat down. I hadn’t seen him around for a while. I guess he decided to hide on Earth.』

Yeon-woo lightly clicked his tongue. Though Kronos had used the expression ‘beat down’, Yeon-woo knew that, considering Kronos past personality, the being must have been seriously injured. ‘Then, did he instinctively come to Earth to recover? He must have utilized the fragments of darkness to try and heal himself.’

Tiwanaku was not just absorbing fragments of darkness. He created a magic region and used the growing influence derived from the magic region to ‘imprint’ his divine name on the entire Earth.

In doing so, he must have been trying to attract faith. Reigning with fear was a very effective way to spread the name of a god. To mortals, fear meant awe, so fearing something also made the being an object of faith… It seemed like the being dreamed of revival by gradually expanding his magic region with the intent of gradually making the entire Earth his holy territory, allowing him to devour the remaining darkness on the planet.

『Everyone has a nice little plan of their own.』

Boom! Scythe’s blade clearly rang out.

『That is, until they’re beaten up.』