The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 236

236.

‘I didn’t expect this…’

To think the Guardian’s true identity was a manifestation of the forgotten king’s beliefs from his old age.

I chuckled, dumbfounded by the situation, as the Guardian took another step forward.

His presence was overwhelming.

The gap between us felt so vast that the current Dohyun could never win.

[Guardian of the Forgotten Tomb, ‘Belief of the Old King’]

[The Guardian has revealed his identity.]

[The Catastrophe Reenactment Rate is rapidly increasing.]

[The current Catastrophe Reenactment Rate is 28%.]

Even the name tag floating above his head was a dark crimson, not just red.

Or should I call it dark crimson?

Seeing the color that was practically black, I unconsciously tightened my grip on Cheonbyeon.

‘Surely, I’m not supposed to beat this guy? If another strike like that comes, I won’t be able to handle it…’

More than that, wasn’t the goal to save the forgotten king?

I couldn’t understand why he was acting as a guardian and attacking out of nowhere, so I frowned.

-Master….

-Lizariza….

Jihad seemed to be thinking the same thing, as I could sense his anxiety in the trembling of his voice.

Charlie was trying not to show it, but I could see the excessive tension in his body.

That was the kind of opponent he was. That was the power of the forgotten king in his old age.

Even with a haggard, pale complexion and weakened body, he was this strong. I couldn’t even imagine how powerful he must have been in his prime.

Swish-

[Nameless Irregular, my test is the same as before.]

In that sense, I could consider myself fortunate.

The Guardian, having drawn his sword, didn’t immediately rush at Dohyun.

His purpose was, as he said, a test, not a fight.

His sword, drawn and held in a kendo stance, pointed at Dohyun as he spoke.

[Show me yourself. And prove it.]

Prove that you are worthy of obtaining me.

‘…So, he wants to have a conversation with swords.’

For Dohyun, it was a somewhat familiar attitude.

The forgotten king’s decaying body had also shown a similar demeanor, offering to bestow his swordsmanship.

‘Do the knights of the old era really like proving themselves so much, or are the forgotten king and the Lion King just unique…? Well, his body and that guy are the same, so it’s only natural, I guess.’

Dohyun’s gaze turned serious as he looked at the tip of the sword, which seemed to be urging him to draw his own.

If that was truly his intention, there was no reason to refuse.

A conversation with swords?

It was more familiar and preferred than talking with words.

Swish.

Dohyun drew Cheonbyeon, in its White Lion Mythical Sword form, and took a stance.

As he slowly closed and opened his eyes, a different scene unfolded than before.

Snowstorms swirled around him.

A cold energy, as if gripping a sword in a snowy mountain, enveloped the surroundings, and a white lion descended upon it.

[The White Lion’s Mythical Sword (Snow Flower) effect is activated.]

[The White Lion’s Song is activated.]

[Recreates the Forgotten King’s most powerful swordsmanship.]

[The user’s level is insufficient to fully recreate the swordsmanship.]

‘This is that swordsmanship… It’s pathetic compared to the swordsmanship I saw back then.’

Small and pathetic, but the energy contained within was definitely the forgotten king’s swordsmanship.

[That is…!?]

The Guardian, who knew it better than anyone, widened his eyes.

He looked at the swordsmanship with a clearly surprised expression, then nodded as if he finally understood.

[Amazing. Have you already been recognized by me in another era? If so, I can understand a little.]

Come to think of it, that sword.

It was a sword he had used so long ago, and he didn’t think a mere apostle would be wielding it, so he had ignored it, but it really was the sword he used to wield.

At this point, he became even more curious.

[I will see. What is the sword you have been bestowed with like.]

What did that other self see in this person to bestow this swordsmanship?

[I can go all out, right… ?]

The Guardian grinned and unleashed an explosive energy as if igniting the last embers.

As the light in his serene eyes gradually faded, the eyes of the white lion above the sword shone menacingly, and the snowstorm swirled violently.

Dohyun’s already small swordsmanship looked so insignificant that it was almost like dust.

‘This is too much.’

However, Dohyun, seeing the snowstorm filling the cave, chuckled and took a step forward.

[Reversal Stage]

[Using the 1st Form, Beginning]

He moved forward, mixing the White Lion’s Song with the footwork of the 1st Form, Beginning.

To move forward without backing down in the face of any adversity.

That was the essence of the Reversal Stage.

[The difference in level is overwhelming.]

[He took a step forward in the face of great adversity.]

[The power of the Reversal Stage is increasing.]

[He has seen the path to the next stage.]

And at this moment.

That essence was shining.

* * *

The God of Creation Online website was currently in an uproar over articles related to the World Quest.

[World Quest of Epic Scale! High Rankers Heavily Involved!]

[Even the Arnis Empire is Wary? What Exactly is the Forgotten Tomb!?]

[The Empire’s Leaders, Who Were Wary, Have Heavily Invested Their Users! Siana, the Red Magic Tower Lord’s Disciple and Flame of Upheaval, Joins the Fray, Setting Up a Rivalry with Repias…]

[The 10 Major Guilds, Who Were Late to the Party, Are Quickly Moving! The Participation of the Earnest Guild and the Leonne Guild Has Been Revealed…]

From NPC-affiliated high rankers to the 10 major guilds.

Many were being deployed, boasting an epic scale.

Even the high and mighty Empire was showing particular interest and caution.

Reporters, who wouldn’t let such a hot topic pass, were hammering away at their keyboards with beaming smiles.

-Wow, it’s a real all-out war. I’m so jealous of the guys watching live. It opened right when my access time was up, ugh….

-Four of the 10 major guilds are participating, lol [laughing out loud].

-I heard even more are coming? At this rate, everyone will be gathered in a day?

-Wait, did everyone give up on the New Continent? Weren’t they saying they couldn’t leave because they were in the middle of something?

-This World Quest is worth investing in that much. I heard the difficulty is off the charts?

-Yeah, the monsters were okay, but I almost fainted when I saw the boss. How can the first boss be an elite raid boss?

-The way it looks is almost like a monster from another world.

-Agreed. It barely has eyes, nose, or mouth, and its ears are huge and creepy. It’s like three times bigger than an ogre.

Naturally, the community’s reaction was also unusual.

Every chat room was full, and the scroll was constantly moving.

As a result, all sorts of chats were popping up, but there were a few topics that were particularly frequent.

-What’s with the Empire being wary? Is that real?

-Has the Empire ever cared about what users are doing? They’ve told us to get rid of things that bothered them, but I don’t think they’ve ever been wary.

-They think they’re the best, so what….

One of them was the Empire’s reaction.

The master of the mainland and the country where the only emperor reigns.

It was rare for the Empire, which thought so highly of itself, to react this way to content that users were doing.

-It’s a World Quest, so it could be possible. NPCs usually participate in World Quests anyway.

-It wouldn’t be strange if you thought about it that way… But wary? The Emperor?

-There might be something unexpected going on….

-It seems like they were just interested at first, but suddenly they started being wary?

That wasn’t the only strange thing.

-It’s kind of weird, but the difficulty is insane. How can the Catastrophe Reenactment Rate be 27% already?

-Fr [for real]. At this rate, it’ll be over 50% before the Annihilation comes. We’ll clear it in two days.

-Wait, are World Quests supposed to end in a few days, lol [laughing out loud]?

-Can it even be cleared? The difficulty is no joke.

-Babylon and Cheonoecheon were competing for the boss that came out at 20%, so they basically caught it together, but it still took over 10 minutes.

-Normal users are basically observers, lol [laughing out loud]. They’re just standing far away with their mouths open, watching.

-Ah, so that’s why Earnest turned to finding hidden pieces as soon as they arrived? They’ve just been wandering around all day.

-They’re an explorer guild, so it makes sense. There are so many competitors.

-Don’t underestimate Earnest. Their main field is hunting and gathering, but they’re also really strong.

-Harrington is the real deal. It’s weird that they’re just backing down, and if they’re looking for something so deliberately, it seems like they’ve gotten a clue.

No matter how difficult a World Quest was, this was abnormally high.

The 10 major guilds and high rankers were easily攻略ing [conquering] it, but ordinary users couldn’t even touch the boss properly.

Even the rate at which the reenactment rate was rising was so absurd that it was generally believed that it might end in two days.

Squeak-!

And this atmosphere was even more pronounced on the scene.

“Ugh, damn it, it never ends.”

“Are the monsters getting stronger and stronger? Are these monsters or bosses?”

“Hey, the catastrophe rate went up another 1 percent. It’s 28 percent now.”

“Damn it, they’re respawning in legions again.”

Even if you kill them, monsters are constantly being created.

Not only that. The scenery was also becoming more and more destructive, befitting the term “catastrophe reenactment.”

The sight of buildings engulfed in flames and a spooky atmosphere was long gone.

The scene now was so miserable that it was like looking at a ruined country.

“Master, I think the rumors are true.”

“Tsk, I guess so. It’s not a good sign.”

Ast’s expression became serious at the vice-master’s words.

What Ast saw as he looked around was a scene of catastrophe and bizarre monsters walking around a ruined country.

[Offspring of the Deepest Underground]

‘I have a bad feeling about this. The name is ominous… And why is the type ?? again?’

There wasn’t even an explanation. The only things you could check were the name and grade.

And those guys were showing overwhelming power compared to monsters of the same grade.

In particular, the boss monster they had just caught took dozens of hits to barely catch, unlike the expectation that it would die in one or two hits.

’28 percent is still early. But it’s already this bad, which is weird.’

No matter how much of a World Quest it was, the difficulty was usually easy at the beginning.

The World Quest would only be meaningful if ordinary users could enjoy the beginning as comfortably as possible.

In other words, this was the difficulty level organized for the ‘average’ user to enjoy.

In the second half, the highest level rankers usually have to work together to make it possible….

‘……If this is the average standard, what will come out in the second half, which is the highest level standard? What will come out then?’

……Maybe something will come out that we can’t handle at all?

Is that why the Empire is wary?

‘Shouldn’t we stop raising the catastrophe rate and stop for a while?’

Ast shook his head at the ominous feeling that was sprouting in one corner of his heart.

It was an excessive worry.

Numerous high rankers who were making a name for themselves were gathering.

Four of the 10 major guilds had already gathered, and Repias and Siana were sweeping up monsters as if they were competing.

‘It doesn’t make sense that we can’t catch it with this power.’

With that in mind, Ast pushed the 찝찝함 [unpleasant feeling] to one side of his mind, and one guy suddenly came to mind.

‘By the way, what is Kaiser doing? Is he breaking another hidden piece or something? I heard the Earnest guys are doing something too… Am I the only one hunting too honestly?’

It was then.

Kugugugugu-

The ground suddenly shook violently.

Ast, who had been lost in thought, staggered and belatedly regained his balance. The ground that had been fine was collapsing, buildings were collapsing, and the sky was turning black.

But Ast wasn’t flustered.

[The Catastrophe Reenactment Rate has reached 30%.]

[The Forgotten Tomb greatly changes by reenacting a great catastrophe.]

[A boss appears.]

‘Oh, I’m going to be late.’

Because it was something he had already experienced when the reenactment rate reached 20%.

“What’s the boss’s location? How far is it from here?”

“When I looked at the coordinates… Uh? Master. The location is showing up here….”

There was no need to wait for his subordinate’s words.

Before he could even finish speaking, something huge broke through the ground right in front of him and revealed itself.

[Heroic Named Boss, ‘Demon Beast of the Deepest Underground’ has appeared.]

A height of 8M [meters].

Abnormally huge hands and arms that seemed to crush ogres with one hand.

The guy, who barely had any facial features like the previous boss, let out a roar with his only huge mouth.

Kuaaaaaaa-!!

“Prepare for battle.”

Just as Ast, who wouldn’t miss the opportunity, was about to summon the mouth of the divine beast.

Tadada, taat!

Rapid footsteps coming from somewhere.

At the same time, something leaped from the side and emitted a brilliant stream of light.

Beyond the eyes that were squinting as if half-closed by the dazzling light, a man could be seen.

A blonde man emitting brilliant light from his sacred armor and sword.

[The Goddess’s Sacred Light Burns Away Evil.]

[The left arm of the Heroic Named Boss, ‘Demon Beast of the Deepest Underground’ is burned away and disappears.]

As he cut off and burned the huge arm in an instant, the demon beast screamed terribly and writhed in agony.

A unique ability that exhibits even more powerful performance when dealing with evil.

The unique ability of the Mythical God, the Light of the Goddess of Purification.

“Damn it… Did he already come?”

Tuk [sound of something landing].

The holy knight, standing proudly on top of the monster’s head, which was screaming, slowly opened his mouth.

“Already 30 percent… I think I’m later than I thought.”

The Master of The King.

The appearance of Arthur, the undisputed strongest holy knight.