Ranker Who Lives Twice

Fwoosh. Yeon-woo felt an immense amount of holy power gushing into his power. Hades' Spirit Eating Sword burrowed in further like a predator.

『So this is your amusing technique! Is this how you managed to grow so fast? What an efficient power. Did you create it yourself?』 The Crawling Chaos smiled even as he was being eaten. He looked Yeon-woo over curiously, as though he were trying to understand Hades' Spirit Eating Sword. He didn't exude a drop of fear and even looked like he was enjoying himself.

Yeon-woo felt a sudden sense of danger. It occurred to him that the Crawling Chaos had been aiming for this. It made sense now that the Crawling Chaos' attacks had been a lot weaker than his reputation suggested. Yeon-woo quickly canceled the activation of his skills and tried to retreat, but the Crawling Chaos shot out more tentacles from his back, binding himself to Yeon-woo.

『Where do you think you're going? You should eat me up. More, more! Everything!』 The Crawling Chaos' eyes were filled with pleasure. He was worse than Agares.

『You crazy bastard.』 Yeon-woo's face twisted in irritation. The Crawling Chaos wanted to be consumed so that he and Yeon-woo could become one.

'Ah, this is where Father is.'

'Our simple-minded father…why are you so slow? How can you even move in that body?'

'What is behind your scheme? How did you even manage to plan this while asleep? Do you plan to wake up or not?'

'Your mind is so vast that even I cannot understand what you are thinking.'

'If only I can be a little closer to you.'

'If only.'

'Father, if I consume this being who is part of your existence, will I grow closer to you?'

'That will be amusing.'

The Crawling Chaos' thoughts flooded into Yeon-woo. Since he was such a gigantic entity, his thoughts streamed out in a chaotic and non-chronological manner. He didn't seem to care if Yeon-woo ate him up and turned him into nourishment. He hadn't joined the battle without knowing the dangers.

It was possible the Crawling Chaos was attempting to overwhelm Yeon-woo with his thoughts and swallow him, or perhaps his insatiable curiosity was pushing him to examine the structure of darkness inside Yeon-woo. 'Or he could be doing this for his amusement!' Yeon-woo knew how insane the Crawling Chaos was. He wouldn't be surprised if the Crawling Chaos sacrificed himself just for fun.

If the Crawling Chaos was lucky, he'd uncover the secret of darkness, which no one in the universe had been able to learn. If he was unlucky, he'd become a part of the secret. Either result would amuse him.

Yeon-woo wasn't exaggerating when he called the Crawling Chaos a "crazy bastard". Yeon-woo despised the Crawling Chaos from head to toe, as did the Demonism, who fought the Crawling Chaos with him. It was possible the Demonism's character had grown stronger now. He smiled viciously, his sharp canines glinting.

『You're just a ball of thoughts that can't even express himself properly, and you dare hunger for this body? Fine. Come at me!』

Yeon-woo strengthened Hades' Spirit Eating Sword. The Crawling Chaos' holy power began to pour out like ink from a broken bottle. The immense amount of holy power and vestiges that spanned from the creation of the universe made Yeon-woo dizzy. He had merged with the Demonism and raised his strength by several levels with the Fruit of Good and Evil, but those were only shortcuts.

In contrast, the Crawling Chaos had steadily built his foundation through the ages, and it was as solid as a fortress. Yeon-woo just couldn't compare to him. The Crawling Chaos' existence itself was like a weapon. Regardless, Yeon-woo pushed forward with Hades' Spirit Eating Sword and slowly invaded more of the Crawling Chaos' existence.

『Kyahaha!』 The Crawling Chaos continued to stuff his existence into Yeon-woo.

Urrng, urng. The Sin Stone vibrated vehemently. Superbia crushed the vestiges of the Crawling Chaos trying to infect Yeon-woo with chaos, and Gula eagerly gulped down the holy power. His Dragon Heart, which had been enhanced by the awakening of the Giant Demonic Divine Draconic Body, supplied the Sin Stone with more energy when it overheated.

Shake. The push and pull between Yeon-woo and the Crawling Chaos began to make the universe bend around them. The dimensions of the physical world began to collapse as though the universe were on the verge of destruction. A bent space of the fourth dimension appeared.

Crack. It was a singularity that swallowed all matter, anti-matter, time, and space, creating an ergosphere bounded by an event horizon. Both Yeon-woo and the Crawling Chaos slowly lost their sanity as they were swept away into the collapsing dimension.

Yeon-woo endured with the strength of the Sin Stone while the Crawling Chaos released more vestiges. As they did, the gravitational singularity widened, and the dimension began to collapse faster than the speed of light, creating a black hole.

Krrrrr. Whoosh! The space around the two vanished to reveal an entirely new location. It was a dark world without a single ray of light. Before Yeon-woo could discover where he was, from far away, the Crawling Chaos laughed.『Haha! Finally! I've finally reached the place where our slow father is sleeping…! I'm the only one of his children to come here!』

Still using Jeong-woo's appearance, the Crawling Chaos unfurled his Sky Wings and quickly flew off. Yeon-woo had no idea where he was headed. He couldn't tell which way was up, down, right, or left. He remembered fighting with the Crawling Chaos just moments ago, so he had no idea what had happened. Just as he was about to catch up to the Crawling Chaos to ask…

『Don't go there. It's dangerous.』 Someone grabbed his shoulder.

Yeon-woo turned around, and his eyes widened in surprise. "Monkey King?"

It was a man with mischievous eyes and long white hair, the exuviae that the Devil Army had snatched before Yeon-woo could meet him on the Five Element Mountains. He and the Summer Queen had helped Yeon-woo save Jeong-woo in the pocket watch. Why was he here?

『This is the world of your unconscious, kiddo.』

Only then did Yeon-woo understand. When the Crawling Chaos' vestiges reached a certain area in his mind, Yeon-woo's defense mechanisms forced him into this world. This also explained why the exuviae of the Monkey King was here. Although he had absorbed the Monkey King, the Monkey King's sense of self was too strong, so he survived in Yeon-woo's unconsciousness, just as the Summer Queen had.

Yeon-woo felt a bit apologetic. Although he'd often summoned the Summer Queen, he hadn't heeded the Monkey King's requests to be summoned. It was largely due to the fact that he was too weak. But the Monkey King's exuviae just laughed brightly, as if it didn't matter.

『How do you feel? Usually, even transcendent beings can't look inside their unconscious.』

Yeon-woo didn't know what to say because he'd just opened his eyes and found himself here. "I… don't know. It's large and vast."

『And dark. Isn't it?』 A corner of the Monkey King's exuviae's mouth lifted as he continued speaking. 『Kiddo, this is how dark your inner self is. You should reflect on that.』

Yeon-woo didn't say anything. He thought Shanon would be pleased to hear what the Monkey King said.

The Monkey King burst into laughter at Yeon-woo, who silently pressed his lips together. 『Anyway, you've grown quite a bit since the last time I saw you. Impressive. It would be a close fight even if my real self comes here.』 The Monkey King looked Yeon-woo up and down competitively. If they were anywhere else, he might have challenged Yeon-woo to a fight.

However, Yeon-woo just felt uncomfortable. Even though he was stronger, there was just something about the Monkey King's exuviae that made him hard to approach. "Thank you. But why did you tell me not to follow him?" Yeon-woo quickly changed the subject and turned back to look at the direction where the Crawling Chaos had disappeared.

The Crawling Chaos was already buried so deeply within the blackness that it was hard to sense him. No matter how much Yeon-woo widened his territory of recognition, all he could sense was darkness. He didn't feel anything. Like the exuviae of the Monkey King said, it was too dark. It was also a bit…harrowing. While it was most definitely his inner world, it felt unfamiliar, and even his instincts told him not to pursue the Crawling Chaos. Once he entered that area, he wouldn't be able to find his way back.

He didn't think the space had been created just because he was one with the Demonism. The Demonism was only a cluster of vestiges filled with strong desires; it was impossible for the creature to have such a deep unconscious. That meant this place belonged to Yeon-woo. What could be in that deep blackness? It was like a void, an abyss.

The Crawling Chaos had acted as if something were there, but the only thing that delighted him was darkness…which was all the more reason Yeon-woo didn't understand what was going on. Although he had been chosen as the Black King's descendent, he was a separate being. There was no way the being the Crawling Chaos was desperately searching for could be here.

However, if the being was actually there, that meant that he had a direct connection to the Black King's legacy. However, Yeon-woo had never been threatened by that blackness either. There were too many things he didn't know. Questions led to more questions inside of his head. Fortunately, the Monkey King's exuviae brought him back to reality. 『Let him be. You have a job to take care of, don't you?』

Yeon-woo nodded. If there was something there, the Monkey King's exuviae would mention it. And just as he'd warned, it seemed dangerous to go any farther. He didn't like the fact that the Crawling Chaos was moving freely in the world of his unconscious, but at the same time, he didn't think the Crawling Chaos would be able to do anything major. The abyss was too vast. Even the eons-old Crawling Chaos seemed small within it.

Besides, just as the Monkey King's exuviae said, he had something to take care of: the revelations. He needed to take the parts the Crawling Chaos owned. Yeon-woo turned back to the Monkey King's exuviae. "Where should I go?"