The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 272

272.

They say people lose their reason when faced with an insurmountable wall.

‘I, I have to run.’

‘What am I doing? Fighting those monsters?’

‘I, I can’t do it.’

Pride and self-esteem were long gone from them.

Like a frog before a snake, they had lost even the will to fight.

Just when they were starting to think they might have stirred up something they shouldn’t have.

“Oh? Isn’t that the bastard who swore at me earlier? Perfect.”

“Hieeek!”

The Empress, who was indiscriminately cutting down people, met his eyes.

His face turned pale, and he tried to step back in horror, but he was too late.

By the time she spoke, her sword was already being swung.

‘How can you just cut before saying anything……!’

He closed his eyes tightly, lamenting the injustice in his heart.

Shuaaak- Kang!

Something flew in like an arrow and deflected the Empress’s sword that was about to strike.

A sharp, chilling wind was felt.

Opening his eyes, he saw an angry Lavaon.

It wasn’t just Lavaon.

“Huuuh!”

“Oh ho?”

Immediately after, Marpard rushed in menacingly, shield raised, and the Empress met him head-on as if amused.

But rushing was Marpard’s greatest strength.

Among tankers [characters specialized in defense and drawing enemy attention], none could match the power of his rush, so the Empress, who hastily collided without using skills, couldn’t possibly block it.

Kwaaaang!

Feeling herself being pushed aside, the Empress quickly floated her body to minimize the impact.

The sight of the Empress, who had only been seen as a monster, being stopped for the first time widened the eyes of the guild members.

“What are you all doing?! Get your heads straight!”

“Demian would be so proud to see this.”

Lavaon shouted angrily, and Marpard clicked his tongue as if he was pathetic.

“Ah.”

“What have I done……”

“I was momentarily insane. I apologize, Vice Master.”

The guild members snapped to their senses at the name Demian.

Once they regained their senses, they could see the situation properly.

“They’re just two people. Are you telling me you can’t handle two guys and still call yourselves the Lions of Leonne?”

One-man army? God of Demlock?

Who cares about any of that.

In the end, they were just users who couldn’t move when their stamina ran out.

On the other hand, there were still over 70 of them left.

“We are here. As long as we are here, there is no defeat.”

Moreover, they had two reliable commanders.

The Vice Masters of the top 10 guilds, whom most large guild masters couldn’t even compare to.

With them leading the way, there was nothing to fear.

“Just one guy. You just need to take care of one guy. If you can’t even do that, you’re not qualified to be executives, so prepare to take off your uniforms, got it!?”

“Yes! Understood!!”

It wasn’t for nothing that morale was the most important thing in an army; their eyes changed.

They no longer retreated or hesitated, but confidently narrowed the encirclement.

The tankers of the Aegis Guild stood in the front row, and the dealers [damage-dealing characters] of the Leonne Guild glared sharply from slightly behind.

“Now that’s more like it. You should have done this from the start.”

Only then did Lavaon, who had been frowning, casually rest his sword on his shoulder.

His face was full of confidence.

Of course.

He, the second-in-command of Aegis, the strongest tanker guild, and Marpard, the second-in-command of Leonne, a well-known dealer guild, had joined forces.

‘With this combination, we wouldn’t easily lose to other top 10 guild masters.’

He was confident because it was a high-level combination of a tanker and a dealer.

Lavaon nodded and signaled, and the guild members surrounded Kaiser.

‘While we fight the Empress, the guild members will take care of Kaiser and join us.’

Wasn’t it a truly perfect strategy?

Lavaon smiled and held his sword sideways, and the wind gently made his body lighter.

He was planning to use his speed to harass while Marpard held out.

“Look at this?”

Perhaps she saw through his thoughts.

The Empress, raising the corners of her mouth as if amused, didn’t back down but instead took a step closer.

Her face, now much closer, gleamed with murderous intent.

It was a dangerous look, but even that felt beautiful, a fatal appearance.

“You know that saying?”

She, who had already come within striking distance, opened her small lips.

The words that came out of her cherry-like lips were rough.

“Everyone has a plan. Until they get punched in the face.”

“……What?”

With those words, she flashed her red eyes and rushed in.

“Marpard!”

“Got it.”

Marpard stepped forward again.

It was a similar setup to before, but the unfolding situation was completely different.

The Empress, rushing in and closing the distance to negate the power of the rush, went straight into close combat.

Bang!

“……Keuh.”

The world spun.

His jaw was hit by an elbow, and his head turned.

A relentless barrage of attacks poured in from unseen places. From punches to kicks to even using the sword hilt, it was a one-sided beating.

No matter how much he held up his shield, she found the weak points like a ghost and pummeled him.

‘I, I can’t see.’

In close combat, her small stature was incredibly threatening.

He had to lower his head to see, but his head kept turning, and attacks flew in from blind spots.

“You little fly……!”

Eventually, unable to bear it any longer, Marpard tried to stomp hard on the ground.

It was the activation condition for the legendary skill, ‘Earthquake Wave’.

A great formation destruction skill that creates strong vibrations around just by stomping on the ground, disrupting balance.

It was a very useful skill even in this situation, but the Empress wasn’t going to let that happen.

Tuk.

“……Scabbard?”

She used the scabbard in her left hand to stop his foot from hitting the ground.

It wasn’t a guess.

She had clearly seen him about to swing his sword with his right hand and countered.

‘……She reacted? In that short moment?’

Just how fast were her reflexes?

“I told you. Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”

“Ah……”

A dumbfounded Marpard desperately rolled his eyes.

His eyes were protesting, asking why Lavaon wasn’t helping.

The reason was soon apparent.

Geueo- Geueo-

Kaaang! Kang!

“The Undead Legion and Charlie are not easy to deal with.”

“Where’s Kaiser? Where did Kaiser disappear to!”

“He’s over there! He’s going to Lavaon! Stop him!”

“Wh, what is it. He’s coming back…… Uh oh? He’s going again!”

Over a dozen Undead Legion members, summoned at some point, were wreaking havoc.

And Kaiser, taking advantage of the slightly widened encirclement, was running rampant.

He was like a flash of lightning, scattering blue electricity and darting here and there, making everyone lose their minds.

“Damn it……!”

The guild members became like dogs chasing chickens, and Lavaon was also tied up.

If he tried to help Marpard, Kaiser would cleverly teleport and harass him, and if the guild members joined in, he would retreat with a backstep.

[Exposure to Freezing Airflow slows movement speed.]

[Prolonged exposure greatly amplifies the slowing effect and increases the risk of frostbite.]

“No, is this really Freezing Airflow? Why is the range like this?”

“Backstep, Lightning Teleport, Freezing Airflow…… I’d be angry even if I were a mage, but this is a swordsman? Where’s your conscience?”

“Agh, I’m so frustrated.”

Moreover, he was spreading Freezing Airflow everywhere.

Just when they managed to seize an opportunity, Charlie would intervene, or Eliza would spit a web to tie their feet, making them incredibly frustrated.

The Empress peeked out and smiled at the sight.

“As expected of our tanker, he’s good at drawing aggro [drawing enemy attention].”

“……Tanker?”

……That thing?

Drawing aggro, applying wide-area CC [crowd control], dodging everything that could be a direct hit, and still dealing decent damage, and she’s a tanker?

If that’s a tanker, then he must be a scarecrow, not a tanker.

‘……Is the top 10 guild alliance being humiliated like this by just two people?’

Although they weren’t at full strength either, they still had over a hundred troops.

The combination was better, not worse, and certainly not disadvantageous.

So why was this happening?

Was it because the Empress was stronger than they thought? Because they couldn’t coordinate their attacks?

All of that was true. But the key reason was different.

‘……Kaiser.’

He read their plan to tie up Kaiser and attack the Empress, and instead, he tied up 70 people and Lavaon.

In a way they couldn’t have imagined.

He thought of the best possible move he could make and executed it perfectly.

‘What kind of crazy bastard can do something like this.’

He was certain that only he could do it.

“Let’s finish this up. I need to go see Ahjussi [a respectful Korean term for an older man] too…… No, wait a minute. How many did you get? Look at you, shamelessly sweeping while I was drawing aggro?”

“It’s all skill. If you’re unhappy, you should have drawn aggro.”

“Agh!”

Marpard nodded as he watched the two of them casually talking about their bet even in the midst of this.

He realized.

He was someone who couldn’t even elicit seriousness from them.

There was an insurmountable wall between him and them.

It was the same terrible sense of powerlessness he felt when he first saw his master, and Marpard slowly closed his eyes as he saw the Empress’s sword descending, blocking the sun.

‘I’m sorry, Master…….’

Did he really deserve to be the Vice Master?

Just as he was overcome with a sense of self-doubt,

Shuaaa- Pang!

The shield that flew like a boomerang from behind deflected the Empress’s sword.

At the same time, a powerful vibration echoed on the ground.

[Legendary skill, ‘Earthquake Wave’ has been activated.]

[Losing balance and falling will result in the ‘Grogy’ status.]

[Warning! The terrain may be deformed.]

-Uh oh?

-L, Liza!?

-Ugh……!

Ttak, Ttadak. Geueo-

As if an earthquake had occurred, Jihad and Charlie stopped fighting and lowered their bodies on the shaking ground.

The intelligent Gotong and Outlaws also lowered themselves accordingly, but the relatively unintelligent Undead were slow to assess the situation and fell pathetically.

However, even the Guardians, who didn’t fall, were lying flat and unable to do anything.

It was a situation where they were instantly retired.

“Could this be!?”

“Ah……”

On the other hand, the guild members, who were not affected by the earthquake at all, raised their bodies one by one, their eyes like those of people who had seen hope just before destruction.

Their eyes were facing the sun.

A blurry silhouette beyond the sun was visible in their vision as they basked in the intense sunlight, not even blinking.

[Legendary skill, ‘Meteor Fall’ has been activated.]

—-!!

At that moment, a powerful strike fell with a flash.

Everyone, whether it was Jihad or the guild members, covered their ears at the ear-splitting explosion.

What was revealed when the dust that had settled like yellow dust cleared was a huge crater.

A man was walking from that place, as if a meteor had really fallen.

“I can’t believe it. You were really getting beaten up?”

The answer to the words that seemed to be filled with disbelief came from behind.

A burly, muscular white man, who had caught the shield he had thrown like a boomerang, clicked his tongue.

“Disappointing. No matter how many variables there were…… This is a bit too much, don’t you think?”

Soon, his face, which was revealed as the dust completely cleared, was endlessly cold.

Perhaps because of his height of over 2M [approximately 6 feet 7 inches], he was truly threatening just by that.

“I’m saying the same thing. Are you really a top 10 guild? Take off your emblems, you bastards.”

On the other hand, the man who had fallen like a comet was holding a sword in shining armor, and despite his masculine face, he had a somewhat gangster-like feel.

Even at their scathing diss, Lavaon and Marpard didn’t get angry and straightened their postures.

“M, Master……”

“I’m sorry. I have no excuse.”

Of course.

The beings who had appeared now were like kings to them.

The burly man, who glanced at the two nervous people, turned his gaze.

“What are you looking at?”

“…….”

He frowned at the Empress and then stopped his gaze on Do-hyun, staring at him silently.

Similarly, Do-hyun met his eyes.

There were no words exchanged between them, but Do-hyun could be sure.

‘It’s this bastard. The culprit behind this mess.’