The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 214

214.

The first time I used Darkness Coating on Lightning Dragon Descent was a long time ago.

It started when I tried using Darkness Coating on Fireball.

I got hooked on the greatly enhanced power and kept shooting Fireballs everywhere, and then a thought suddenly occurred to me.

‘Huh? If I can coat magic… can I coat Lightning Dragon Descent too?’

Strictly speaking, it’s a martial arts skill, not magic, but Lightning Dragon Descent itself is a skill that borrows the power of the Lightning Dragon.

Especially the Lightning Dragon that falls during the first activation boasts effects and performance that can be called magic.

So, wouldn’t Darkness Coating also apply?

-Lightning Dragon is… black? Then Black Dragon…?

-Ri… Za?

-Master… Hurry up and use it. Ah, I can’t stand this!

-Black Dragon, my foot… Ah, I get it. Stop waving your arms.

It was just like Jihad, who spouted cringeworthy lines about awakening the Black Flame Dragon from our first meeting.

Uncharacteristically, he urged Dohyun, and Dohyun was just as curious, so he used the skill without hesitation.

Then, an amazing thing happened.

[Warning!]

[Approaching the power of the Black Dragon through an abnormal route.]

‘…Huh?’

Unlike when I coated Fireball or Thousand Transformations with Darkness, I expected it to just give some defense reduction damage and silence the sound a bit.

Contrary to expectations, strange messages kept popping up.

‘Black Dragon? What Black Dragon?’

Abnormal route? The power of the Black Dragon?

Before I could even understand what this meant, the skill was activated, and what was activated was not Lightning Dragon Descent.

Literally, Lightning Dragon Descent borrowed the power of the Black Dragon.

A completely different skill from the existing Lightning Dragon Descent was born.

‘Crazy…’

‘Wow… so cool. Master…’

Dohyun couldn’t help but admire the new Lightning Dragon Descent that was activated, and for a while, he had to deal with Jihad’s nagging to let him use it too…

Pajijik- Pajijik-

That skill, which he couldn’t use due to mana issues, has now reappeared.

Hair dyed like black lightning. Black sparks flying around. An alien aura different from the Lightning Dragon Descent he had seen before, and an even more threatening and ominous energy is felt.

“Keuk, what is this… What is that form! I have never heard of such a skill!”

Verze straightened his knees and shouted.

He couldn’t understand this situation at all.

That’s Lightning Dragon Descent?

He had spent a year and eight months in God of Seoul, but there was no Lightning Dragon Descent in that form.

No, such a skill didn’t exist in the first place.

Then what is that guy?

‘A guy who hasn’t even transcended can’t do this.’

If he had at least transcended, he could have understood, but this was too far from common sense.

Half in frustration, half in absurdity, Verze somehow managed to hold on to his sanity.

[Health is below 40%.]

‘Damn it… I was careless.’

The situation was not good.

His health had dropped by more than 20% in an instant because he was directly hit by the falling lightning.

Verze carefully activated his unique ability.

[Unique ability ‘The Piercing Gaze’ is activated.]

[Identifying the gap with the target.]

[The opponent is of a lower rank. Predicting victory.]

‘…Was I worried for nothing? Well, even if it’s a little different, it’s still Lightning Dragon Descent. There’s no way he can overcome this gap with just one skill.’

Unlike before, the word ‘easy’ was missing, but it was still predicting victory.

Even that guy’s health must be heading towards the bottom.

He still had 40% left, so he was overwhelmingly advantageous.

‘I’m at an advantage. First, I’ll watch…!?’

That was the moment he was trying to watch carefully, just in case.

Verze’s eyes widened.

Pajik,

The sparks around him seemed to grow, and then it became a streak of lightning.

It was different from Lightning Teleportation.

Kaiser, who had become black lightning, seemed to flicker, and the moment he thought ‘Ah!’, he had already pierced through his body.

[Used Black Lightning.]

[Becomes lightning and quickly moves, piercing through everything it touches.]

[Remaining uses: 1]

It was the power of Lightning Teleportation enhanced with the energy of the Black Dragon.

‘No way…!’

It was surprising that Lightning Teleportation pierced through a living being, but the damage was insane.

He could see his health visibly draining.

Damage that didn’t seem like a movement skill at all.

No, Lightning Teleportation shouldn’t have any damage in the first place, so he didn’t know why it pierced through him.

But what was even crazier happened after that.

“Huu…!”

The moment Kaiser, who had stopped behind him, inhaled.

[Thousand Transformations transforms into ‘Assassin’s Dagger’.]

Puk! Puk! Puk!

Puk! Puk!

“Keheok…!?”

Dozens of stabs were fired in an instant, piercing through his organs and vital points.

[Health is below 30%.]

[Be careful.]

‘What is this…!’

His mind went blank from the chunks of damage being dealt.

It was strange because it definitely wasn’t this kind of damage until just now. It was as if the person had changed, and unbelievable damage was being inflicted.

Before his dazed mind could return, messages popped up.

[Afflicted with the status ailment ‘Exhaustion’.]

[Mental exhaustion reduces all stats.]

[Afflicted with the status ailment ‘Confusion’.]

[Mental confusion causes abnormalities in the senses. Especially, the sense of direction is greatly impaired.]

It was the debuff effect from Ludra’s earrings and bracelet.

Moreover, the debuffs didn’t end there.

[Exposed to Ice Stream, slowing movement.]

[Afflicted with the status ailment ‘Slowed’.]

[Exposed to an alien energy.]

Slowed by the Ice Stream and even a type of message he had never seen before.

Verze sensed it. That last phrase was the cause of this abnormal damage.

It was a very good guess.

[Due to the alien energy, additional effects are granted to the existing Lightning Dragon Descent.]

[Physical abilities are greatly increased.]

[Inflicting damage on the target exposes them to an unstable energy. Attacking enemies exposed to the energy partially ignores defense.]

[Can be stacked, and the damage dealt to the target increases in proportion to the stacks.]

‘Defense reduction and damage amplification…’

Moreover, following the speed increase of Lightning Dragon Descent, even physical ability enhancement.

Since the effect of Lightning Dragon Descent doesn’t disappear, but rather the power of the Black Dragon is additionally imbued, it was truly an all-rounder without any weaknesses.

Thanks to this, he was able to possess specs that were incomparable to before.

‘To think there’s such an Easter egg in the skill, it’s amazing.’

At least as far as Dohyun knew, the existence of the Black Dragon had not yet been revealed in God of Seoul.

It was only natural since the reality was that they didn’t even know whether the Lightning Dragon existed or not.

There was no information except for the clue in the skill description that it was a skill of martial artists who worshiped the Lightning Dragon.

‘Is Darkness Coating related to the power of the Black Dragon?’

Or maybe it met other conditions.

It was ambiguous considering that there was no reaction even when applied to other skills, weapons, or targets.

Whatever it was, it was a condition that users couldn’t know.

There was no way there would be a user other than Dohyun who could use Darkness Coating on Lightning Dragon Descent, right?

‘There might be hidden things in other skills too.’

Conditions that only All-Master Dohyun could know.

But now was the time to focus on the battle.

He had gained the power of the Black Dragon and was able to fight on equal terms with Verze, but unfortunately, there was a time limit on this.

[The power was not obtained through a normal route.]

[A penalty is applied.]

[Mana consumption is increased by 666%, and you will fall into a state of exhaustion and blindness after use.]

[The power of the Tears of God is weakening.]

[The power will disappear after 30 seconds.]

’30 seconds… I’ll end it within that time.’

In fact, it was a fraudulent amount of mana consumption that was difficult to maintain even for 10 seconds without the Tears of God [an item that reduces mana consumption].

If used with other skills, it would be difficult to last even 5 seconds.

So, there was only one thing Dohyun had to do now.

Taat! Hwirik-

Kwang! Kwaaaang!

“Keuk…, Kaiser!!”

To relentlessly pour everything out.

He had to keep pushing and end the fight before Verze could think of anything else.

Kwang! Kwaang!!

The scythe coated in black lightning and the sword wrapped in the will of fire collided, and brilliant effects burst out.

Sparks flew, flames spread, and a heavy roar echoed.

The attacks collided madly.

There were several strikes per second, and the two fighting frantically were immersed as if they could only see each other.

Ta-dat.

When Verze was pushed back, Dohyun followed and swung his scythe.

Puk!

When Verze fell, he immediately climbed on top and stabbed Thousand Transformations, which had turned into a dagger.

If he thought he was creating distance, he hurled Thousand Transformations, which had turned into a spear.

When Verze swung his sword to ignite flames, Dohyun instantly disappeared with a backstab, and as if Verze had predicted it, he immediately swung his sword backward, facing each other’s weapons.

“Ugh!”

“Get, get back further!”

“We’ll get caught up, quickly!”

As they frantically pushed each other, they fell among the guild members who were surrounding them, and they didn’t stop their attacks.

It was a fierce fight, but why?

The guild members couldn’t dare to open their mouths. Words of support didn’t come out easily.

Kwang! Kwaang!

“Keuk….”

Now they could see it too.

Which side was being pushed back.

As he was pushed back more and more, at some point, Verze couldn’t even properly graze the tip of Kaiser’s toes.

In speed, in skill. He was being pushed back in every way.

Stagger- Puk!

“Keheok….”

The fight, which seemed fierce at first, was now on the verge of being pathetic.

Even while staggering, Verze continued to swing his sword.

However, unlike Verze, who was desperately struggling, Dohyun’s expression was gradually becoming calm.

Verze, he was losing.

Teok.

Verze, who barely managed to regain his staggering balance, glared with eyes blurred by various status ailments.

He couldn’t even see properly now.

He couldn’t even tell which of the multiple Kaisers he saw was the real one.

‘Am I… am I losing? Like this?’

To that man who was only in his early level 70s?

He thought he could win at least here. At least for now.

In the end, was he saying that he couldn’t even reach that guy?

Was he chasing after a pipe dream from the start?

“Why…! Why can’t I reach you! Kaiser!!!”

He didn’t want to admit it.

Because he couldn’t understand it.

After he started wielding that strange black lightning, he became unbelievably strong, as if he had become a different person….

“I’m still stronger. I’m still at an advantage. So why am I losing!”

It didn’t make sense that he was stronger than him.

Because there was an overwhelming gap between that guy and himself.

Moreover, didn’t the Piercing Gaze also prove that his thoughts were correct!

“Because I’m stronger, of course.”

“That can’t be… The message is telling me….”

“You’re trying to overthink the game with numbers. If you were going to do that, you should have played an idle RPG game instead of a virtual reality game.”

“What…?”

Verze’s dazed eyes widened.

At that moment.

Piing-!

Verze’s sword, struck by Dohyun’s blue sword, flew away in vain.

The fallen sword had no trace of the fiercely burning fire and was only emitting a meager bonfire-like dissatisfaction.

[Health is below 1%.]

‘Ah….’

Verze thought that the sight was like himself.

Thud-

Dohyun, who had approached Verze, who had knelt down powerlessly, while scattering black sparks, spat out as if throwing it away.

“Are the numbers more advantageous? Are the stats higher? What does that matter?”

“…….”

“In the end, the guy who’s standing until the end is stronger. That’s why we play this game.”

Around Dohyun, who was speaking calmly, the fiercely flying sparks disappeared.

His hair also returned to normal straight hair, and everything around him became quiet.

A cold silence descended on the stage as much as it had been splendid.

Puk-!

Only the sound of a cold sword tip piercing through the nape of his neck was echoing there.

‘Ah… Is this how it ends…’

Verze’s eyes, which he had tightly closed, trembled.

The dream of a brilliant future, the memory of having driven that man several times, seemed to disappear like a mirage.

And when he opened his eyes again, only a gray screen greeted him.

[Player ‘Verze’ has died.]

He was forcibly logged out upon death.

Thud, Verze’s body fell powerlessly, and a terrible silence lingered for several seconds.

“…Crazy.”

“Crazy.”

“Did the Master just lose?”

“Th, then what do we do?”

Starting with a mumbling voice, the guild members who had grasped the situation screamed in horror and astonishment.

-Fucking, crazy! It’s crazy!!

-Where are the guys who were saying that Verze would definitely win and were betting on it? I memorized all your nicknames, come out quickly.

-Oioi, I believed in you!!

-Wow!! Fucking!!!

-There’s a user who single-handedly invades and destroys the main base of a 100-member guild as soon as they enter the Empire?

-Kaiser, he is a god! Kaiser, he is a god! Kaiser, he is a god!

-God, he is Kaiser! God, he is Kaiser! God, he is Kaiser!!!!

The chat room was literally exploding.