The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 247

247.

Crack-

The sword fractured, shattering like shards of glass.

The King instinctively released his grip.

He felt as though even the hand holding the sword would shatter.

It wasn’t just the sword. Everything in that straight line was breaking.

Crack, crack— Snap!

His own sword energy, which had been surging as if to devour anything.

The white lion, boasting an overwhelming size and lunging with its mouth open as if to swallow him whole.

The blizzard that swirled around them, chilling the area to its core.

The moment that man brought down his sword.

Everything shattered and scattered as if returning to nothingness.

Ah…

In a world slowed down like slow motion, where even sound seemed to have disappeared.

He saw in detail the entire series of events, his own energy shattering into dust.

That’s how he knew.

That the formless sword energy was shattering everything it touched along its trajectory.

And that it was trying to devour even him.

Thud, thud.

The man who had shattered everything stood there, looking at this place, and then slowly began to approach.

His unwavering eyes, unyielding to any adversity, and his footsteps, as steadfast as a mountain, were directed towards him.

It was then that a crack appeared in the King’s eyes, which had been blankly staring.

He couldn’t tell whether the crack originated from within himself or from that man.

To be precise, he didn’t have time to care about such things.

[This… is… ]

Because along with the sensation of his head splitting, certain scenes flashed through his mind.

A dark night, burning ruins.

A man was walking towards his pathetic form, collapsed before he lost his ego.

Tall.

The man stopped at his head, looking down at his bloodied self with arrogant eyes.

Struggling to open his eyes, he looked up and saw.

The chilling black eyes of the man.

The moment his face was reflected in those strange eyes, human yet inhuman, he was horrified.

Flash!

[Ah… ah… ]

Certain memories flashed by like a panorama.

The scene of making eye contact from afar with that chilling man looking down arrogantly.

The scene of the man smiling as he made eye contact at the moment of self-destruction with a massive abyss.

The scene of fighting a giant over 2 meters tall with black wings who attacked him after he fell into a forgotten tomb deep underground.

The scene of finally being defeated, losing his ego, and going berserk.

-The desired outcome has been achieved. Let’s return.

What he saw in his fading vision were five silhouettes and a low voice.

-So, where do we store this guy’s thoughts, Captain?

A voice, relatively lighter compared to the man standing arrogantly, answered.

It was the voice of a man whose lion’s mane stood out even in silhouette.

-Deal with it yourself. Do I have to tell you even that?

-No, it’s not like that, but if possible… Ah, that witch would be good. We can put it in a monument and leave it to her.

The grumbling voice gradually faded, and his vision blurred.

Tears were clouding his eyes.

Ah…

Why were tears flowing?

Why did his hand gripping the dirt floor feel so sorrowful even in his dying moments?

The King couldn’t understand.

Ahhh…!!

But the surging emotions felt within the memories were telling the King.

That those guys were the most dangerous beings of all.

That he had to eliminate those who threatened the empire’s peace.

That became a single obsession, and

[The hidden effect of the Executioner trait is activated.]

[You gain the power to execute the target by burning your body.]

[The activation condition for the Supreme Realm trait has been met.]

[The Forgotten King manifests the Supreme Realm.]

The obsession became a flame, burning both his eyes and heart.

The moment the King, his mind reeling from the scorching heat as all internal mana circuits burned, half-rolled his eyes back.

[You temporarily reach the Supreme Realm.]

[Your ego is unstable.]

[The mana of the knight who reached the Supreme Realm is going berserk.]

[Danger! Do not take the sword strike.]

Urgent alerts echoed above his head like alarms.

“…What?”

Just as he was about to finish, Do-hyun’s eyes widened at the sudden, noisy messages that popped up.

Something flashed within the black mana that covered his vision like an explosion.

It was then that he heard the urgent voices of his companions.

-M, Master…!!

-My Lord!

-Lizariza!!!

And the moment he realized it.

[The Forgotten King unleashes his unique swordsmanship containing the Supreme Realm, One-Hit Kill.]

[It is an overwhelming level of swordsmanship.]

[Second Form: Rupture is devoured.]

[Using the first ability of the Tears of God.]

[Enters a state of invincibility for 2 seconds. (Cooldown: 90 minutes)]

[One-Hit Kill ignores invincibility.]

“…!”

Do-hyun’s feet, which seemed like they would never stop, halted, and his sword fell.

Swoosh-!

His neck was cut.

* * *

-Crazy…

-Uh… um…

-What am I even watching right now?

-Is this even real, guys?

-Damn it… I don’t know.

-Wow… I’ve lived to see something like this.

The live broadcast had already surpassed 200 million viewers.

Although the chat rooms were divided into numerous channels, the reactions were mostly similar.

That’s because there was no other reaction to the spectacle unfolding before them.

Boom! Bang!

What was visible on the broadcast was the ground and buildings being tragically destroyed by the aftermath of the giant deep-sea monster’s rampage.

“Ugh! Save me!”

“Kuh-ugh!”

“R, Retreat! What crazy bastard said we could break this… Kuh-ugh!”

“Damn it….”

And the sight of the high-rankers, who had the honor of experiencing that power up close, running away with their tails between their legs.

Strategy? War?

Such grandiose words were unnecessary now.

Bang! Kuh-ugh!

This was a one-sided massacre.

Compared to the raid team, which had suffered damage close to annihilation, the monster’s health was still at 40 million.

No more rankers were announcing their participation.

The 10 guild masters in charge of command had to make a choice.

Whether to be annihilated as they were, or to shamefully turn tail and run.

“…Retreat.”

Faced with the choice between the worst and the worst, they chose the latter.

They judged that it was better to have a future to look forward to, rather than being annihilated without even gaining honor.

The ambitious appearance from before had already disappeared.

-To think I’m seeing the top 10 guilds running away with their tails between their legs…

-It’s a sight hard to see in life, damn it….

-Look at Leon hastily backing away. Where did the confident declaration to attack go?

-Who called Leon the epitome of bravery, damn it? He’s no different from Verze.

-Dating sim gay bastard LOLOLOLOLOLOL He shows up when you almost forget about him.

And that choice gave the viewers a big shock.

Who were the top 10 guilds?

They were the apex of God of Seoul, who had cleared all the impregnable bosses. Yet, they were leading a raid team made up of high-rankers and were being defeated so miserably.

-I don’t know about anything else, but I know one thing. We’re screwed right now.

-Real;;;

-Should we call back Myeolsal?

-If we can’t catch that in time, we’re screwed. This is a big problem.

-Won’t the Empire help?

-It’s not just that, it’s said to appear randomly in the city. Considering the scale of the damage, I don’t know what will happen to the game in the future.

-Honest is really screwed LOLOLOLOL

Shao, who was watching the bustling chat room, clicked her tongue.

She wanted to turn off the broadcast right away.

In fact, other guilds had turned off their broadcasts one by one, so it wouldn’t matter, but her pride wouldn’t allow it.

She felt like she could only tolerate turning off the broadcast with a dignified appearance.

-But is Kaiser still fighting the King?

Was it because there was no longer any hope for the Calamity raid?

Before she knew it, Kaiser’s name was slowly rising in the chat window.

-It’s been over 40 minutes, is he really catching it?

-The only hope is Kaiser…

-Kaiser, is he really a god?

-No, no, I heard that you can never catch the King. There’s a pattern in the 2nd phase that you can never catch?

-That’s just what they’re saying because they couldn’t break it, you idiot.

-No, it’s not that level. The top 10 guilds have never been humiliated anywhere, so why would they turn tail right away after losing to Aether? They wouldn’t have challenged it unless they heard something that significant.

It was as that person said.

The top 10 guilds, including Shao, didn’t challenge it simply because rankers, including Aether, had been defeated.

[Aether: The Forgotten King is a trap card.]

“What does that mean?”

[Aether: This can’t be caught by the current users. It would take at least Sword Emperor… I can’t believe it. It’s like they brought forward a world quest that will only open in a few years…]

Back when Aether was defeated and it was noisy.

A whisper came to the masters here. He didn’t reply at the end, whether he died after saying those words.

‘If Aether is so sure, there must be something.’

Even if he’s unlucky, it’s not like he’s the type to spout nonsense.

So, they changed their course to attacking the giant calamity instead.

But the result was a miserable defeat.

‘To think they brought forward something that will only open in a few years… maybe that’s right.’

Looking at the absurd difficulty, that might be the case.

Shao glanced up and sighed.

-No, why is the owner of the armory still just sitting on the chair in the midst of all this?

-It’s hilarious how he’s just sitting up there with his chin on his hand and watching LOLOLOLOL He’s like Rodin.

-LOLOLOL Look at that nonchalant face. He doesn’t care about the calamity or anything.

-Was the owner of the armory a gag character?

-Still, he has to participate, damn it, he’s getting a free ride. I’m boycotting Babylon from today.

-Can you catch it if you participate? That’s the smart thing to do~

‘I don’t know what that Aster is up to now, when he used to compete with me… Tsk, is this really the end?’

Even when she looked around, it was just a miserable sight.

The only hope to place her bets on was Kaiser, but even that was close to impossible.

The word defeat naturally came to her mind.

And that was the same for others.

“…It’s over.”

Aether, the master of The King guild, who was watching Shao’s broadcast, also sighed.

Failure in the giant calamity raid meant failure in the world quest.

Because the King he had experienced was an existence that users could never catch alone.

It wasn’t like that from the beginning.

His trait of exerting stronger power when fighting against evil made the 1st phase easy.

Even entering the 2nd phase, it was only a little more difficult, and it didn’t seem like they couldn’t break it.

‘…Supreme Realm. The moment that trait was activated. Everything changed.’

A realm of a different kind from what the Sword Emperor had shown.

A sword similar to the flash of light that Brion’s Lord Leved had split the tsunami with.

No, it’s more ferocious, rough, and desperate than that.

It was a swordsmanship that gave goosebumps, unlike Lord Leved, who evoked admiration.

‘A one-hit kill sword that pours everything into one strike. There’s no user who can block that right now.’

There was only one way to block it.

‘At least reach a similar realm.’

That’s why he was sure that only the Sword Emperor could catch it.

“Unless the King himself gets hit by my attack.”

Aether, who muttered that, chuckled.

It was a joke.

Even if he lost his ego, there was no way he would do such a foolish thing.

‘If a disaster is reproduced in the city, there will be chaos for a while. We can’t ignore the possibility of Honest being disbanded. If there’s a gap in the top 10 guilds, we have to keep in mind the possibility of war breaking out. It’ll be a mess.’

Kaiser was already forgotten in Aether’s mind, who was preparing for the aftermath of the world quest’s failure.

* * *

Swoosh-

A quiet silence flows. Only the sound of a neck being cut is heard.

After a beat, he touched his neck with both hands, and thankfully, it was still attached.

-Ugh….

-Ch, Charlie. Are you okay?

-Liza….

On the other hand, Charlie, who was kneeling on one knee in pain from behind.

It was all thanks to Charlie.

[Charlie has activated a covenant with Kaiser.]

[The sacrifice effect is activated, taking heavy damage instead.]

[Receiving damage at the level of instant death, Charlie’s health has become 1%.]

The knight’s hero-grade skill, Covenant.

A skill he had obtained before, but had only been using for buffs because he didn’t need to use the sacrifice effect thanks to the Tears of God.

‘If it wasn’t for this….’

His neck would have been severed by now.

Do-hyun swallowed hard at the horrifyingly large crater that unfolded before his eyes.

The entire path from where the King had been to here.

The whole thing was torn to shreds as if a giant beast’s claws had ripped it apart.

It was torn away because it couldn’t withstand the energy contained in One-Hit Kill.

‘Is he really crazy? The power balance should be broken moderately, why does it ignore invincibility?’

Do-hyun frowned.

It was surprising that there was a pattern that ignored invincibility, but why did it have to be now?

He was lucky to have instinctively used the Covenant.

He felt a chill down his spine when he thought that he would have seen a gray screen if he had only trusted the Tears of God.

-…I’m sorry, Master. I think this is as far as I can go.

“No, Charlie, you’ve done enough. Thank you.”

-Lizariza.

Eliza, agreeing as if it was right and comforting Charlie.

With this, Charlie was retired.

[All of Guardian Jihad Black’s mana has been exhausted.]

[Undead summoning has been canceled.]

-…Master, I’m only going this far too.

The undead legion, which had been virtually annihilated except for Gotongi, had completely disappeared.

Now, only Do-hyun and Eliza were left.

Leaving Eliza, who jumped into his clothes, behind, Do-hyun looked ahead.

[Execute… execute… I must execute….]

The King, his eyes bloodshot, slowly approached, muttering only those words.

That King was very different from before.

The energy emanating from him was unusual, as the phrase that he had temporarily reached the Supreme Realm indicated.

Behind that King, a black lion slowly walked out.

Grrr….

Behind that black lion, a white lion also appeared.

The two lions were looking at this place.

He could instinctively tell. That fighting now would be a complete defeat.

But Do-hyun smiled.

“I finally get to use this.”

He stretched his mouth wide and slowly unfolded the hand he had been holding.

What was in his grasp was a mirror. A small, insignificant, dull mirror. Even a mirror that was half-broken.

But Do-hyun’s eyes, looking at the mirror, couldn’t be more pleased.

[Checking for damage that could lead to death.]

[Meeting the usage conditions.]

[Using the Mirror of Revenge.]

Mirror of Revenge.

The reward he obtained for achieving Brion’s graduation quest with an S rank.

It was the moment that the ?? grade consumable item, which he had been curious about all along, was finally activated.

[Unleashes One-Hit Kill in the form of a shockwave.]

Flash-

A dazzling light burst out from the half-broken mirror, and

[Exe… cute… ?]

The Forgotten King trailed off as a massive shockwave was fired at him at the speed of light.

The King had suddenly become a fool who was hit by his own attack.