The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 278

278.

Meanwhile, before anyone could fully process their surprise,

As Babylon gained the upper hand due to the Heavenly Demon’s intrusion,

“N-No way.”

“Good heavens.”

Similar reactions echoed from Dohyun’s side, where they were fighting a bit further away.

Thwack! Pow!

Swoosh—Thud, rustle!

It wasn’t the ordinary guild members caught in the large-scale battle who reacted this way.

Unlike them, who were largely unaware of the situation unfolding, these were the individuals who could clearly observe Dohyun and Damian.

They were the two guilds’ vice-masters, Lavaon and Marpard.

‘What am I seeing right now?’ Marpard wondered.

Even when the Cult of Caine intruded, even when they were pushed back for being deemed unhelpful in the fight,

Even when the fanatic was fighting evenly with Leon,

He could say for sure that he wasn’t this shocked.

Thud.

“Kugh…….”

“Ouch, my hand is numb. It’s damn hard.”

It was a natural reaction.

Those previous events were unexpected situations or variables, but this was different.

‘The Master… the Master knelt?’

Damian Alexander.

The Iron-Blooded Tanker and the Father of Tankers.

He, who was always ranked first when it came to the strongest tanker in God of Seoul [a popular online game], was kneeling.

Swish.

With a chilling sword pointed at his neck.

He didn’t even have the strength to hold his shield, which lay pathetically thrown aside, and his armor was covered in sword marks, showing how desperately he had blocked the attacks.

It was a shocking sight for Marpard, who admired Damian.

It was a sight he was seeing for the first time in his life.

‘This doesn’t make sense. Something must be wrong,’ he thought.

‘The Master losing in a one-on-one fight? No, it can’t be.’

‘Ah…….’

The surrounding sounds became muffled as if he were submerged in water, and his sense of reality seemed to fade.

The voice that came from the left snapped him out of it, pulling him above the surface.

“Looks like that side is finished?”

“……It seems so.”

It was the voices of the Empress and Arthur.

They, who had been engaged in a fierce close-quarters battle, glanced at the scene and then withdrew their swords.

The Empress frowned at Arthur’s actions, who put his sword away without hesitation.

“What are you doing? Stopping in the middle of a fight.”

She was quite displeased that a guy who was still in good shape was giving up the fight so readily.

But Arthur was firm.

“Xiao’s side was also losing. We had to gain the upper hand here, but Damian lost, so is there any reason to fight more?”

“You never know. Maybe you or that guy could win?”

At her words, Arthur glanced sideways.

He could feel the sincerity in Leon’s eyes and the way he swung his sword, fighting desperately.

He was so focused that he didn’t even realize that Damian had knelt.

It was the first time in a while that he had seen him so serious, but the fanatic was not backing down at all and was wielding his huge greatsword effectively.

“I wonder.”

His expression as he chuckled was subtle.

He looked unsure, but when he met the Empress’s eyes, he said calmly.

“His request was to add strength to ensure victory in a certain fight to prevent any unforeseen variables. Empress, it wasn’t to have an uncertain life-or-death struggle with you.”

‘I think I’ve paid off my debt enough,’ he thought.

Looking at Arthur saying that, the Empress nodded as if she finally understood.

“Tsk, I thought you were slacking off; it’s no fun.”

“I think it was the same for you.”

“It’s no fun if you don’t fight properly.”

“Wouldn’t it have been better to end it quickly and help Kaiser?”

“Help? Him?”

The Empress poked her ear as if she was hearing strange things.

Then she raised the corner of her mouth and spat out.

“My colleague isn’t such a loser that he’d lose to that slowpoke.”

“……Is that so.”

The strongest tanker had suddenly become a loser, but Arthur didn’t bother to argue.

He was actually observing Damian’s state, who had accomplished nothing and lost, just as she said.

‘Once. It would have been over with just once,’ he mused.

Objectively speaking, the difference in stats between Damian and Kaiser was extreme.

It’s true that Kaiser is strong for his level, but that’s it.

He’s stronger than other rankers, but definitely weaker compared to the top 10 guild masters.

On the other hand, Damian is the best man in terms of defense among the top 10 guild masters.

The fight between the two was like throwing an egg at a rock.

‘……But he broke through.’

Slowly, but surely.

He avoided taking a single critical hit and landed all his attacks.

Arthur was amazed at the accuracy and venom with which he relentlessly targeted only one spot after throwing his shield.

‘Damian’s high defense became a weakness.’

If that defense had been allocated to speed or damage, things would have been different.

In fact, if he thought of a few people who came to mind right now, he thought a different picture would have unfolded.

But even considering that, he was an absurd guy.

It’s easy to say, but as a human being, concentration tends to fade, but that man didn’t allow even a single mistake, as if he were a machine.

Could I have done that?

Thinking about it, he shook his head.

‘I’d like to fight him if I get the chance.’

Meanwhile, while Arthur was seriously burning with a desire to compete, Damian felt like his insides were burning.

‘Damn it……!’

What kind of disgrace was this?

Damian couldn’t lift his head in shame and resentment.

He could feel Marpard’s gaze from behind so clearly.

‘What went wrong?’

It was definitely a winning fight.

It was a sure fight that any gambler would bet on without hesitation, so why did it turn out like this?

Because the Empress intervened? Because the Cult of Caine intruded?

“You were so talkative, but you’ve become quiet?”

Damian, who raised his head at the low-pitched voice that cut through his complicated thoughts, gritted his teeth.

“This…… This doesn’t make sense.”

“What doesn’t make sense? Anyway, that repertoire doesn’t change.”

“I was definitely superior in everything. But why am I kneeling instead of you!!”

Attention was focused on the shout that was close to screaming.

“……Master?”

“Why is the Master……?”

“Even Arthur gave up?”

“Wh-What? Then we lost?”

The pupils of the guild members who were continuing the battle shook greatly.

Perhaps Damian’s defeat, which was like the fall of a pillar, was quite shocking.

Their morale was broken, and they didn’t know what to do.

It wasn’t just them who were paying attention.

“Damian? Why are you doing that there…….”

“Are you looking away?”

“Damn it! Get away from me! This isn’t the time to be doing this…….”

“Only death to heretics.”

Leon’s eyes, who was fighting a bloody battle with the fanatic, also shook greatly.

He looked much more urgent than before.

He couldn’t have imagined that he would lose to a guy who was much lower level.

“M-Master! It’s a disaster!”

“The Heavenly Demon has appeared, and Cheonoecheon [a group within the guild] is being overwhelmingly pushed back. We need to go support them quickly…… Master?”

To make matters worse, Xiao’s side was also in chaos.

A man in a robe who had rushed over to report froze like a stone when he saw Damian kneeling.

His eyes were asking why he was doing that there.

“Ah…….”

He belatedly realized the situation and closed his mouth, but it was already too late.

“……Cheonoecheon is being pushed back? Then what about us?”

“More than that, wasn’t the Heavenly Demon on our side? What, then half of the masters who agreed to this are against us.”

“Are we breaking the unspoken rule now?”

“Th-There was no such thing!”

The guild members who learned about the situation began to have a panic attack as if they had a panic disorder.

Their morale was broken, and they had lost the will to fight.

“Eliminate the heretics!”

“Yes!”

“Aaaaaaah!!”

“G-Get away! We don’t want to fight anymore!”

“Damn it, this isn’t the time for this. Run away!”

There was no way they could put up a proper fight against the Cult of Caine, who were rushing at them.

They were too busy running away, and they began to die even more helplessly.

“Ah…… Ah…….”

Damian watched all the scenes with his own eyes and knelt down on his other knee.

His guild was collapsing.

The tower he had painstakingly built was collapsing uncontrollably.

“Why did it turn out like this when everything was in our favor?”

Dohyun, who came to him in despair, answered as if he was asking something obvious.

“Because you’re weaker. Is there any other reason? If I were weaker, I would be doing that.”

“…….”

Damian closed his mouth.

In fact, he knew it too.

It wasn’t because of the Empress and the fanatic, or because of Harrington and the Heavenly Demon’s betrayal, that the overwhelming fight was reversed.

“Ah…….”

He just didn’t want to admit it.

That his pride, the strongest defense, was just a slightly harder punching bag for him.

It wasn’t that everyone else didn’t know his place, it was himself who didn’t know his own.

“If you were going to trample on someone, you should have been prepared to be trampled on in return.”

Dohyun said to Damian, who had gone blank, in a cold voice as if reciting.

“Well, it doesn’t look like I need to step in this time.”

“……What?”

“I think you broke the unspoken rule?”

“…….”

Breaking the unspoken rule was tantamount to losing the qualification as one of the top 10 guilds.

If you have overwhelming support, you might be able to get away with it, but if you lose so pathetically…….

“I’m looking forward to it. What your future will be like.”

“Kaiser, you son of a b-”

Damian, who had received the same words he had said, struggled and got up, but soon a blizzard obscured his vision and a white lion wrapped around his body.

—-!

While staggering in an awkward posture, he raised his wide eyes upwards.

Cheonbyeon [likely a powerful attack or skill] was falling.

Swish-!

That was the end.

A death that was all the more futile and pathetic for being the end of a top 10 guild master.

His last memory was not even knowing exactly how he died.

That’s why he couldn’t hear it.

Ting-

The cheerful notification that was heard at the moment of death.

It was a notification that rang simultaneously for everyone, including the guild members who were running away, the Cult of Caine who were chasing after them, and Dohyun, the Empress, and Arthur.

“……Huh?”

“What is this? What appeared?”

“Huh?”

That wasn’t the only thing that was heard.

Thump!

Thump!

The ground shook every time the footsteps of something huge were heard.

“Aaaaaaah!”

“Kuh-eok!”

“This is crazy……. What is this!?”

“Sh-Shit, run…… Keuh-eok!”

Then, the sound of something being trampled on and a terrible scream echoed from behind.

The sound was getting closer and closer, and soon they could realize.

“……Isn’t that our group?”

“It’s coming to us…… Huh?”

That the one who screamed was none other than a guild member of the top 10 guild alliance.

Beyond the fact that the culprit of the scream was coming this way, it had reached right in front of them.

Thud.

At that, the guild members who were running away, the Cult of Caine who were chasing after them, and Dohyun, the Empress, and Arthur all stopped what they were doing at the message that appeared simultaneously.

“Why is this bastard still attacking!”

“Atone for your sins with death.”

……Except for Leon and the fanatic.

The bloody battle of their obsession that unfolded in that way seemed like it would continue, but it came to an end against their will.

“Ugh! Seriously, this crazy b-”

Leon, who couldn’t stand the fanatic who was chasing him like crazy, jumped back greatly and landed, and the sky darkened.

No, only the place where he was was darkened.

“What…….”

The moment Leon, who felt a chill instinctively, quickly turned around.

Crack-!

[You have been caught in ‘Grasp of Destruction’.]

[Caution! You will die instantly if you are caught in the grasp.]

[Player ‘Leon’ has died.]

Something grabbed Leon’s head and crushed it like a walnut.

The sound of inhaling could be heard through the maze, which had become as quiet as a mouse due to the shocking sight.

“Crazy…….”

What followed was a short swear word.

But no one said anything about it.

Because everyone felt the same way.

-……Master, is that by any chance.

-Liza…….

-Hmm…….

“……Oh, right.”

Dohyun was also nervous.

However, the difference between them was that the thing that floated above his head was not a question mark but an exclamation mark.

[More than half of the maze’s statues have been destroyed.]

[A powerful being sealed in the Maze of Unforgiveness has awakened.]

[Encounter the sealed abyss, ‘4th Legion Commander of Destruction’.]

‘……It’s finally here.’

When he saw something hidden with the Eye of Truth [a skill or ability].

It was the moment when ‘it’ that was guarding the red something finally appeared.

Oh