The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 111

111.

It was a pure coincidence that he found it.

After sending his comrades back from the dangerous mission where traces of an abyssal being were discovered, Taxinel remained alone in the Dark Forest.

‘…An hourglass?’

Touching the timepiece buried in such an unexpected place, Taxinel chuckled softly.

It was an old, half-broken hourglass, weathered by time.

‘I don’t know who it belongs to, but it seems they didn’t mean to lose it here.’

*Well, it doesn’t look particularly valuable, and no one would bother venturing into this dangerous place just to retrieve it.*

It was simply abandoned. Just like him.

“…Cough.”

*Is this what it means for blood to run cold?*

In his fading consciousness, he wondered.

‘Is this how I die?’

In the heart of a blood-soaked forest where corpses formed mountains.

Gaiman the Destroyer… no, Taxinel, was dying.

Before him, a terrible darkness writhed.

No, the entire forest was writhing.

The Dark Forest, in fact, was an abandoned place consumed by the abyss.

[Khehe…]

Just then, a chilling laughter, like nails scratching a chalkboard, echoed out.

[Khehehe… You’re quite something. To withstand my avatar for so long, even as just an avatar yourself. How about it? Become my contractor. If you do, you can live.]

The master of immortality, the abyss’s greatest fear, sought to overcome death and desired him.

If he took that hand, he could live.

“Get lost. I have no intention of becoming your dog.”

But he was the proud vice-captain of the Lair Knights.

He had no intention of abandoning his humanity and betraying his comrades just to prolong his miserable existence.

*How many of his comrades had died because of that trash?*

He would rather face a glorious death than become that bastard’s puppet.

[Foolish human… This is not something you can decide.]

“…What?”

But that terrible nightmare would not allow refusal.

The nightmare forced its way into Taxinel’s mouth, consuming him from the inside.

[If I want it, it becomes mine. There are no exceptions anywhere…]

“Keuk, Keoeok… N, no…”

Tears of blood streamed from his eyes.

The blood tears soon turned into black tears.

The blood flowing through his entire body transformed into a black fiend.

As if scooping out stagnant, rotten water and replacing it with fresh water, Taxinel’s blood was changing from human to abyssal.

“Keoheok… Keok…”

The lungs that breathed turned black.

The stomach that produced digestive juices lay still, and the bones twisted, the organs intertwined, creating a new, grotesque shape.

With a creaking sound, darkness covered his entire body like armor.

[Khahaha! Yes, that’s it! A very pleasing face!]

Soon, horns sprouted on his forehead, and his eyes glowed red.

*Paat!*

It reacted.

The hourglass he was holding suddenly bounced out and burrowed deep inside his body.

Although no light or sound emanated from it, Taxinel could feel it.

*Thump, thump.*

That which had taken root in his heart was blocking the abyss’s encroachment.

*Should he call it luck?*

Thanks to it protecting his heart at the last moment, Taxinel was able to maintain his human mind.

He had become both abyss and human.

[That noble-pretending vice-captain of the Knights being an abyss contractor… Khehehe… How amusing.]

The master of immortality, saying so as he departed, didn’t seem to harbor any suspicion.

Because it was common knowledge that once the abyss had encroached, it could never return to being human.

It was a stroke of luck.

If that bastard had been a little more meticulous…

If he had harbored even a sliver of suspicion and checked inside, he couldn’t have remained ignorant.

[Ah…]

A chilling voice. Horns that were only half-formed because he couldn’t fully embrace the abyss.

A human mind trapped in a monstrous form.

[Ah… Aaaaaah…!]

*Thud*, Taxinel knelt down, staring at his reflection in a puddle.

[…Aaaaaaaaaah!!!]

Taxinel wailed endlessly.

Shedding black tears.

* * *

“Ah… Good heavens.”

“Vice-captain, you’re back! Ah… God, thank you.”

“Kuek, Vice-captain… Hwaaaang.”

Being able to maintain a human mind was a blessing.

The body follows the mind, or so they say.

Although he had become an abyss contractor, perhaps because he was maintaining his human mind, or perhaps because his heart hadn’t been completely corrupted, Taxinel could revert to his human form at will.

“Hwaaaaeong!”

“Vice-captain!!”

No one suspected him.

Not the comrades who had accompanied him on the mission, nor the members of the Knights.

“Welcome back, Taxinel.”

“…Thank you.”

Not even that monstrous Commander Leved.

No one suspected Taxinel.

Perhaps it was only natural.

Because it defied common sense that someone encroached upon by the abyss could wander around while maintaining a human body and mind.

But he didn’t know.

*Saaaah-*.

The hourglass, whose true nature remained a mystery, was not completely blocking the abyss.

Little by little, he was being corrupted without realizing it.

The first to notice the change were the Knights members.

“…Hasn’t the Vice-captain been a little too harsh lately?”

“He was never merciful to monsters to begin with… but it feels different now. How should I put it… It’s like he seems to be enjoying it.”

“Having fun gossiping about your superior?”

“Heok, C, Commander!”

“No! I’m sorry!”

They were puzzled by Taxinel’s increasingly unsettling demeanor.

No, in fact, Taxinel also knew.

*-Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill… Kill and kill again…*

*-Blood… Drink fresh blood…*

*-Do not resist. Accept me…!*

“Shut up! Shut up!”

The whispers constantly ringing in his head never ceased.

‘*…That priest is annoying me with his babbling. I could just kill him… No, what am I thinking right now?*’

There were many times when an unbearable urge to kill surged within him.

At first, he dismissed it as stress-induced auditory hallucinations from enduring so much.

If he could just weather that moment, the urge to kill would subside, at least.

But he realized that wasn’t the case when he murdered the head of a household.

*-Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill-*

*-Drink blood, drink blood…-*

Unable to endure the head-splitting hallucinations any longer, he broke into a home and brutally killed an innocent man in front of his family.

“Ah…”

The world fell silent.

It felt like emerging from a slumber beneath a sea of blood on a noisy battlefield.

The hallucinations that wouldn’t leave had stopped, as if they were a lie.

Blood tears streamed from Taxinel’s eyes. It was the moment he finally felt alive as a human.

It was that day.

“Cough! Keuh-heuk… Please… please save me…”

“Kyaaaaagh!”

“P, please, just spare my child… Keuh-heuk!”

The day Taxinel rampaged through the city, killing people indiscriminately.

And…

“M, monster… It’s a monster!”

“Call Lord Leved… Call Lord Leved!”

“Everyone, run…!”

The day the Destroyer Gaiman appeared.

* * *

[Entering Phase 3.]

—–!

The moment Destroyer Gaiman let out a silent roar as he entered Phase 3.

[Destroyer Gaiman bestows ‘Nightmare Night’.]

[Enemies within range will instantly die if their stats are lower than the user’s.]

A nightmare unfolded.

Everything within a 20-meter radius of the Destroyer vanished without a trace.

The walls, the floor, and even the pillars.

[Guardian Jihad Black’s ‘Orc Undead’ instantly dies.]

[Guardian Jihad Black’s ‘Orc Undead’ instantly dies.]

……

[Guardian Jihad Black’s ‘Forest Blue Goblin Undead’ instantly dies.]

-This can’t be happening…!

Even Jihad’s undead were all gone.

In that place where only darkness remained, Destroyer Gaiman stood.

[…Unpleasant memories resurfaced.]

He lowered his head, saying that, and his gaze turned forward.

There, Do-hyun was slammed against the wall.

The Destroyer frowned as he saw Do-hyun coughing, with a dazed expression.

[You rat bastard…]

He was definitely within instant-kill range, but he miraculously created distance and was only pushed back.

It must have been thanks to the undead enduring the wind pressure in front.

-Kill that guy… Kill him and be free…

[Keuh…]

Again. The voice that had been silent since the day of the massacre was reacting again from the moment he faced that guy.

The fact that he heard the voice wasn’t strange in itself.

It wasn’t the first time the voice, which had been quiet since the massacre, had reacted.

-He… has appeared…

-Come… to me…

A few days ago.

The voice that suddenly appeared repeated the same words every day without rest.

-Come… to me…

It was a call.

A signal from the Immortal Master calling his contractors.

For contractors who had been consumed by the abyss and were left with only instinct, it was an undeniable oath.

‘What’s going on? It’s been quiet for 10 years, so why is he calling me now?’

Unlike other contractors, Gaiman, who had maintained his human mind, was able to resist, which made his head ache.

He couldn’t leave because the traces [signs of his presence] had recently increased sharply, and vigilance had increased.

But he couldn’t just not go.

‘I mustn’t let him find out that I’m maintaining my sanity.’

Otherwise, he would really become that guy’s dog this time.

Although he had crossed an irreversible river, and was now a monster that could no longer be called human.

However, he didn’t want to live as a trivial creature with only instinct left.

So he was going to leave.

He was planning to find someone to take the blame for him and buy him some time.

‘If that damn guy hadn’t interfered… Damn it.’

That guy was the problem every time.

He was the one who brought his traces and made High Priest Gildete step in, and he was the one who suddenly appeared at the Lilar Temple and got caught at the crime scene.

Zerdic appeared there, and he left evidence!

[Yes… It’s all your fault.]

It was all that guy’s fault.

That damn foreigner was ruining everything.

-Kill him… and be free…

A chilling voice echoed in his head.

He didn’t know why, but he felt it instinctively.

Like the voice said, if he killed that guy, he could be freed from this voice.

He would finally gain freedom.

Paat- Kwaak!

“Ugh…”

The Destroyer, who had leaped forward in an instant, grabbed Do-hyun’s neck and slowly lifted him up.

Do-hyun’s feet dangled in the air. There was no sign of strength to counterattack anywhere.

All he had left now was 1% of his health.

Even one punch to his abdomen would kill him.

“N, no way…!”

“Ahhh…!”

The priests’ faces turned pale.

Among them, the one with the biggest change in expression was none other than Jihad.

-…He’s dying? The Master?

Jihad had never seen his Master in danger before.

Such a Master was facing death, not just experiencing a crisis. He couldn’t believe the fact even though he saw it with his own eyes.

It would be more accurate to say that he couldn’t feel it.

-…The Master is going to lose like this?

That can’t be.

As Jihad desperately reached out, the undead writhed and rose from the ground.

Geueooo- Geueo?

Those were the undead that had been reverse summoned.

After looking around and finding Do-hyun hanging, the undead, having grasped the situation, moved immediately.

But…

[Ah… I am finally welcoming freedom. Farewell, foreigner.]

The Destroyer Gaiman, filled with emotion, was even faster at plunging his fingernails into Do-hyun’s abdomen.

Kwaddeuk-.

It was when the Destroyer had a joyful smile on his face at the sound of bones breaking.

[…?]

Something was wrong.

He definitely heard the sound of breaking, but he didn’t feel anything in his hand.

Rather, it felt like something was blocking him.

With a feeling of disbelief, he raised his head and saw Do-hyun smiling.

“Thanks. Thanks for moving as I expected.”

[…What?]

Do-hyun unleashed Thousand Transformations.

In front of him, a message window appeared.

[It has been confirmed that your health has dropped below 1%.]

[The effect of Karuk’s Essence Ring is activated.]

[A shield that blocks 15% of maximum health damage is created for 5 seconds.]

[The shield blocks ‘Nightmare’s Claw’.]

The Essence Ring he obtained by catching Karuk in Raven’s hidden field, the Warriors’ Habitat.

It was the moment when the true value of that ring was finally revealed.