Ranker Who Lives Twice

Team: HH, Yahiko, thursdays (7/10)

Because Yeon-woo was currently intangible, he didn’t cut Kindred’s neck physically. He had forced the power of the shedding that was still exploding onto Kindred.

『Another shadow? It’s like he’s an amoeba constantly dividing itself into more cells.』

Yeon-woo clicked his tongue seeing Kindred’s corpse scatter. It seemed there was never a time when he wasn’t a shadow.

[00:26:49_78]

Yeon-woo checked the countdown and turned around.

He could see Doyle bowing with blank eyes on the floor.

『Let’s go back.』

* * *

Rumble—

The earthquake that began in the center spread to the rest of the palace.

Dust and rocks fell from the ceiling.

The first people to become nervous about the toppling palace were the mercenaries who were continually being sent into the palace.

『S***! Keack!』

『Save me……! Kuk!』

They wanted to escape from the dangerous situation, but escape was impossible when they couldn’t tell up from down.

The undead army kept on swarming in and stepped on them. It was like elephants were stepping on ants.

[A god of Olympus, ‘Thanatos,’ is thrilled.]

[A god of the Chan Sect, ‘King of Seven Hells,’ observes the dead souls calmly.]

[A god of Ea, ‘Nergal,’ nods with satisfaction. He expresses his satisfaction at the mortal being able to use the power well.]

[A god of Deva, ‘Ksitigarbha,’ shakes his head from side to side and watches the situation carefully.]

……

[A demon of Niflheim, ‘Hel,’ licks his lips with his red tongue. His body trembles from happiness.]

[‘Aēšma-daēva’ checks if there are any souls that will go to him. He expresses his regret that he can’t do anything about the great harvest.]

……

[The gods of death nod. They all speak as one.]

[Message: His.]

[The demons of death are happy. They enjoy their festival and deliver a common message.]

[Message: Successor.]

The gods and demons didn’t stop or hesitate to reveal messages as if they were overjoyed by the situation.

The mercenaries were angry that they were just entertainment for the gods and demons of death, and they even felt helpless, not being able to do anything about it.

[Athena looks at you with sad eyes.]

There was only one god who was looking at the battle from another point of view.

And.

With her at the lead, other types of gods and demons began to show themselves.

[A god of Olympus, ‘Ares,’ nods with satisfaction.]

[A god of the Chan Sect, ‘Prince Nezha,’ comes to observe the situation after hearing the news.]

War.

The gods of war and fighting began to show themselves.

Here, war was spreading with death.

If it was a simple fight, they wouldn’t have been interested because it was just one of the many wars that occurred in the Tower.

[A god of Asgard, ‘Tyr,’ slowly puts down his book of law. He observes the situation with impartial eyes.]

The problem was that Yeon-woo was fighting the countless number of forces alone.

To be exact, it was that Yeon-woo was fighting with all his subordinates, but showing an amount of firepower that no Lord in history had been able to do.

Maybe long ago in the past, the Vampiric Lord Bathory had exuded this much power.

It was understandable for the gods and demons related to war to be watching so keenly.

He was the first person they were interested in after the Martial King.

[A demon of the Jie Sect, ‘Vimalacitra,’ nods with satisfaction. He compliments player ### for being able to stand against all these soldiers.]

[Vimalacitra offers his Authority, ‘Gubitara.’]

[Agares shows his discomfort, saying not to even look at what’s his.]

[All gods ignore him.]

[All demons ignore him.]

[Cernunnos is silent.]

Yeon-woo’s directory of Authorities increased at a quicker pace.

『……These crazy bastards!』

Kwang—

Doctor Doom was flicked away with a loud explosion. The barrier protecting him was already in tatters, so the impact from crashing into the firm wall broke his spine.

He didn’t even have the strength to vomit blood anymore.

Because of the continued attacks, he couldn’t get a grip on himself.

Corpses of magicians were piled up around him. Despair filled his eyes.

And as the messages from gods and demons kept on popping up….. he felt like he was going to die from frustration.

Magicians believed in the natural law of what was around them. This was why many of them were atheists. They just considered the gods and demons on the 98th supernaturalists who weren’t too different from normal players.

Doctor Doom was one of these believers.

He hated feeling like a monkey in a zoo.

However, there was an old sunbae whom he admired like a god.

The creator of sword magic and the originator of Demon Studies along with De Roy. The one who created the Emerald Tablet, opening the path to the Philosopher’s Stone.

Faust.

The problem was that they met as enemies.

「How. Persistent.」

The two Inferno Sights in the air narrowed, as if in an unpleasant mood.

Doctor Doom felt more dismayed as the situation went on. Boo wasn’t as strong as the Faust he knew. Faust was once someone who stood against the Summer Queen. His magic wasn’t merely this level—he could create miracles. It was clear that something was missing from his memory.

However, even so, it was still there.

The power that forced everything around it to bow down.

The blue eyes that looked as if they could swallow demons.

His signature hadn’t faded.

「Become. Fertilizer. For. Master.」

The space opened, and a large hand covered Doctor Doom. He didn’t have any strength to resist anymore.

He just didn’t understand why Faust was the subordinate of a mere player.

Also, it suddenly occurred to him that the reason why he didn’t get a particularly good divination that day. It was most likely that it was the end of the line for him.

‘T, Teacher…….’

His thoughts ended there.

Ssss—

Boo slowly turned in another direction after swallowing Doctor Doom’s soul and recovering some of his knowledge and memory.

The cave was collapsing.

He had spent more time than he expected.

Now, as his great master had commanded, he had to proceed with the last of his orders.

「Wake. Up.」

On Boo’s command, all the undead connected to Boo cried up at the sky.

Checheche—

Void descended where Boo disappeared and erased Doctor Doom’s corpse. Stones came tumbling down.

* * *

[Osiris observes the battlefield.]

The destruction of the cave sped up.

The players who had been trying to stay to finish the fight felt danger.

Kahn and Ivan were among them.

Clang!

The two people fought intensely like they weren’t father and son and turned their bodies in the opposite direction after one last clang, shooting Aura in all directions.

Kashing—

Chwak—

The two bishops, who were watching Kahn, plopped down on the floor before they knew it.

While their attention was somewhere else because of the sudden issue with the ceremony, they were hit without mercy.

Kahn took back the blood sword he was holding and turned back around.

『……Let’s stop here for today.』

『Kahn!』

Ivan shouted in a tearful voice at his son’s cold tone. However, all that came in response was Kahn’s cold gaze.

『Don’t say my name with that dirty mouth. You don’t have the right.』

『Do you still…… hate me?』

『Hate? Of course there’s nothing like that.』

Kahn scoffed.

『You need to have expectations for someone in order to hate them.』

『Kahn…….』

Ivan’s voice was filled with sadness as he said Kahn’s name. He was famed on the battlefield as the Iron Lion, but in front of his son, he was just a bad father who couldn’t stand tall.

It was unpleasant for Kahn to see that side of his father.

『Stop pretending. Didn’t you expect this the moment you threw Mom away?』

He felt disgusted watching the perpetrator act like the victim. Kahn walked away.

Void settled around him and hid his presence. Shanon and the Bone Dragon quietly stepped back as well.

Ivan ended up turning back with his hand stretched out in the emptiness. Then, he began to run. His subordinates were probably still in the cave. He had to save those he could.

Kahn stopped in the darkness and watched his father’s back as he moved away.

His shoulders were small, and his back was curved. He didn’t see the father who used to be a large umbrella to protect him and give him piggyback rides anymore.

『Kahn …….』

As if sensing Kahn’s complex thoughts, Nike appeared and hugged him with his two wings.

The warm fire calmed down his confused mind.

『How does a guy like Cain have a kid like you?』

He joked as he quickly began to move again. He didn’t have to worry about getting lost. The Lich that Yeon-woo commanded had been sending him messages, so his escape route was already guaranteed.

‘How much stronger did Cain get in that time? It probably took quite a bit of time to build up all these undead.’

Was he aiming to become a lord? But he also had potential to become a supernaturalist.

Moreover, the messages from gods and demons that filled up the cave were recommending an apostle position for him.

‘He’s amazing in many ways.’

While Kahn was feeling baffled about Yeon-woo, the Void suddenly disappeared, and he could feel a bright light. As if it had been waiting, the cave collapsed and completely disappeared.

The mountain vibrated throughout.

Kahn could see Yeon-woo already outside of the cave. And Doyle, who was sleeping in Yeon-woo’s arms.

『Doyle!』

Kahn quickly dashed to where Yeon-woo was. Victoria discovered him and spread her arms out with a smile to hug him, but Kahn subconsciously avoided her and reached Yeon-woo.

『Hey!』

Victoria shouted, having hugged the air, but Kahn didn’t hear it as he looked at Doyle.

Doyle was quietly sleeping, like he didn’t know what had happened around him.

Kahn quickly reviewed the 72 Bian he had. Bian was what made Doyle into a revenant, the condition of being a puppet, so he thought there could be a way to fix him through Bian.

Shiver—

Just then, Doyle’s eyelashes fluttered. As his eyes opened slowly, he saw Kahn in front of him.

『……Hyung?』

『Doyle!』

Kahn hugged Doyle. He felt apologetic for making Doyle suffer through everything, and he was grateful that he opened his eyes again.

『The f***, why are you being so cringy?』

Doyle tried to push Kahn away, unfamiliar with this sort of behavior from him, but Kahn didn’t let go.

Victoria, who had been sulking, approached them with a warm smile. The Ice King nodded in relief.

Like that, all the commotion ended.

No, it looked like it did.

* * *

『Huk huk. It’s a relief, isn’t it, Master?』

Nike wiped his tears with his wing and turned his head to Yeon-woo because he wasn’t reacting.

『Master?』

Yeon-woo’s gaze was fixed on the air in front of him, not Kahn and Doyle.

[Athena looks at you with sad eyes.]

There were many gods and demons looking at him.

After this battle, the gods and demons of death seemed to be accepting him as the successor of the Black King, and the gods and demons of death took an interest in him. His list of Authorities exceeded 800.

But of all the gazes, there was one that was different. Not a gaze filled with greed or rapacity but of sadness.

Why?

He had defeated the Devil Army and saved Kahn and Doyle. Now, since everything was taken care of, he could move on to Tartarus and help Hades.

Why wasn’t Athena’s gaze changing? Did something else happen in Tartarus?

But Athena wouldn’t be able to know because the view of Tartarus was blocked from the heavenly world.

Just then, something flashed through his head.

Something he didn’t want to consider……

『Kahn.』

『What?』

Kahn looked back at Yeon-woo from calming Doyle down and tilted his head. Yeon-woo’s voice was strangely cold.

『Step back.』

『What are you……?!』

『Step back!』

Yeon-woo shouted in a tone unlike himself. Kahn stood up before he knew it and fell away from Doyle. Victoria and the Ice King stepped back as well, feeling something wasn’t right.

Doyle just looked at Yeon-woo. There was a smile on his face, but no emotions could be felt from it.

Like a doll.

『Until when do you plan on acting?』

Yeon-woo glared at Doyle.

『Head Bishop.』