The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 285

285.

“Kuh-ahhhhh!”

*Whirlick-*

The way it endlessly stretched and coiled was like a serpent.

He flailed his arms and struggled, but the more he did, the faster it coiled.

By the time he regained his senses, the restraints had tightly bound his body.

[Why……!]

[It’s a being that possesses a portion of my power. Status ailments from a mere apostle wouldn’t work…….]

Facing their astonishment at the unbelievable situation, Do-hyun spoke leisurely.

“Who said anything about a status ailment?”

[……What?]

I was troubled when I realized that status ailments wouldn’t work on him.

Do-hyun’s ultimate move, the Reversal Stage, only unleashed its full power when combined with Bind.

If the Execution God’s cross didn’t work, things would become quite difficult.

That’s when the lasso I obtained from Sina came to mind.

‘……Wait, the lasso isn’t a status ailment, is it?’

The Lasso of Restraint was literally a ‘lasso’ that restrained the opponent.

It was an item that could restrain anyone, provided they met the conditions given differently to each target.

At this time, the one restraining was the lasso itself.

In other words, it was a physical restraint, not a status ailment.

[The target’s level is too high, reducing the duration of the restraint.]

[Restrains the target for 7 seconds.]

Of course, it couldn’t be helped that the duration decreased against a legion commander…….

‘7 seconds is enough.’

This was more than enough.

“Take him down.”

“Okay.”

“Those are the sweetest words I’ve heard all day.”

Everyone had been saving their ultimate moves for this moment.

They hadn’t even coordinated beforehand, but they all charged at the legion commander from all directions almost simultaneously.

The Empress was the first to unleash her secret technique.

[Consumes all but 4% of remaining life force to create a Blood Sword.]

[Completes the Bloodied Flying Sword.]

[Upon dealing damage to the target, damage increases and causes a small blood explosion, recovering a small amount of life force. Gaining a certain number of stacks grants an acceleration effect.]

[The lower the life force, the more powerful the effect, and the higher the life force, the weaker the effect.]

[Can amplify physical abilities by consuming recovered life force.]

Bloodied Flying Sword.

It wasn’t a very high-grade skill to be called a secret technique.

The Bloodied Flying Sword was only a Hero-grade skill.

Moreover, it was a skill that wasn’t very well-regarded even among Hero-grade skills.

‘If you don’t deal with it, you’ll self-destruct, and even a slight graze can send you to the afterlife. It was so bad that it was called the Underworld Sword instead of the Bloodied Flying Sword.’

It was due to the strange mechanism of being a continuous skill with fatal penalties that you had to use only in the final moments.

Therefore, people only used the Bloodied Flying Sword when their life force was at its lowest.

It was a last-ditch effort, a way to buy time with HP recovery.

But if the one wielding it was the Empress, things were different.

‘That girl uses it in reverse…….’

If she saw an opportunity, she would use it by sacrificing all her life force, and consume all the life force recovered from the strike to enjoy the ultimate buff effect.

That was her Bloodied Flying Sword.

True to her enjoyment of walking a tightrope, she had transformed the ambiguous Bloodied Flying Sword into an ultimate suicide attack skill.

A usage method only possible for her, who possessed overwhelming physical abilities.

‘She’s already difficult to deal with normally, but in a situation like now where we’re just beating on a sandbag, there’s no need to even mention it.’

Bang! Kwang! Bang!

The scene that unfolded was one-sided violence.

Covered in blood explosions, her madly swinging figure was truly a berserker.

Starting with her, all the members of the party poured out the burst damage they had been saving.

Sword Draw.

One Sword.

Starting with the Sword Saint’s Sword Draw, whose instantaneous speed was second to none, various sword techniques poured down in an instant,

[Using the Fury of Holy Light.]

[Deals powerful area damage proportional to divine power.]

[Damage is doubled for targets who have committed evil deeds.]

Arthur’s strongest area-of-effect damage skill.

The Fury of Holy Light plunged down upon him, illuminating the dark labyrinth.

And behind them, the fanatic was charging with a greatsword in both hands, and Ast was leaping and slamming down with his iron mace.

[Using a Strike of All One’s Might.]

[Charges for 5 seconds to apply the maximum charge effect.]

[Deals a powerful, unblockable strike, dealing 3x damage and ignoring 50% of defense.]

[Activating the Transcendent Unique Ability ‘Limit Break’.]

[Releases the limit restriction to temporarily use the effects of weapon upgrades to the extreme.]

[+20 ‘Great Giant’s Iron Mace’ is completed.]

Soon, when the two swung their weapons, explosive shockwaves erupted,

[The Incendiary Arrow is activated.]

[The speed at which arrows are fired gradually increases, and the power of the explosion increases.]

Arrows constantly flew in from afar, tormenting the legion commander.

Something black flashed through the dusty haze caused by the gradually increasing explosions.

[Heavenly Demon Divine Fist, 5th Form – Mountain-Splitting Fist.]

[Consumes all health to deliver the final fist.]

It was Cheonma [Heavenly Demon].

A fatal blow that used all her remaining health.

The legion commander’s ribs caved in as her strongest fist landed.

The legion commander’s appearance was not good.

His body was riddled with craters, and he was covered in blood from head to toe.

[The life force of the liberated Fourth Legion Commander of Destruction is below 2%.]

With his life force actually down to the bottom, Do-hyun was slowly taking steps forward.

Step.

Steadfastness like Mount Tai [a metaphor for immovability and stability] was placed on his feet, and as he continued to walk, energy circulated within his body.

One step, two steps…….

Finally, the moment he took five steps.

[The duration has ended, and the target’s restraint is released.]

[The Fourth Legion Commander of Destruction uses the Strike of Destruction.]

“Kuh-ahhhhh!!!”

The legion commander, who had torn off the lasso, rushed forward, extending his hand with bloodshot eyes.

The energy contained in his fist was extraordinary.

The darkest energy of destruction he had ever seen.

It seemed that even a slight touch of it, which had covered the holy energy illuminating the labyrinth in a dark purple color, would cause one to disappear without a trace.

[Warning! Instant death upon contact with the strike.]

[A skill that can never be avoided or broken.]

-Master!

-Lord, be careful! Do not confront it head-on!

-Lizariza!

But Do-hyun went forward without paying attention.

“Who said anything about using the 2nd Form?”

Because what I was about to unleash wasn’t the 2nd Form, Rupture (破) [a technique focused on breaking or tearing apart].

Kuh-ahhhhh!!!

Do-hyun didn’t swing or stab his sword at the approaching strike of destruction.

He simply faced it.

And the moment he accepted the fist.

[Reversing the Heavens (逆天期) – a cultivation stage focused on defying fate]

[Executing the 3rd Form, Heaven (天).]

A new sensation washed over him, and a sky unfolded before his eyes.

* * *

A lofty sky.

A being that one could never reach, no matter how hard they tried.

Even if one did reach it, the sky, which could be mistaken for something benevolent, looked down as if it were overlooking all things.

Whether there was a war, a natural disaster, or the death of a loved one, the sky simply watched.

So, humans often looked up at such a sky and complained.

-The heavens are so heartless.

The sky simply watches and gives no attention.

Even if one prays and hopes earnestly, the sky, knowing everything, merely stands by as if telling them to live the life given.

Therefore, the will of the heavens was fate.

Whoosh-

-If this is fate… I will defy that will.

So, the man standing alone on the burning kingdom shed tears of blood and vowed.

If all these pitiful deaths were also the will of the heavens and fate, he would no longer accept it.

He would walk the path of defying the heavens (逆天).

But the man soon had no choice but to realize.

-Ah…

The reason why he was always taking steps from a certain point, no matter how hard he tried to resist, was simply because he hated the sky.

-To defy the will of the heavens, ironically, one must be able to accept the heavens.

As the art of war says, to strike the enemy, one must know the enemy.

To walk the path of defying the heavens, one had to know better than anyone what the sky was.

That’s when it started.

For years, the man wandered the world, looking up at the sky and pondering.

He raised his head whether it rained or snowed, even after several seasons had passed, and this was the same even in the midst of war and countless deaths.

How many years had passed?

After more than a thousand times, he lost count, and it became distant.

Like any other day, the red sun rose, and the moment a bird glided over it.

-Ah…

His head cleared as if morning dew had fallen.

-What encompasses everything is the sky, not the sea.

The sea sometimes accepts, sometimes pushes away, and sometimes resists, but the sky always stays in place.

Even the huge mountains, the infinitely wide and deep sea, and the countless flora and fauna.

The world seen by the sky, which encompasses all things, is different from the human perspective.

The moment he truly realized this.

Flash-

[Awakening a new perspective.]

[Grasping the foundation of all things.]

[Completing the 3rd Form of Reversing the Heavens (逆天期), Heaven (天).]

Ironically.

The blocked path of defying the heavens (逆天) was opened.

Kuh-uh-uh-uh-!!!

“Ah.”

Do-hyun, regaining his senses at the rough roar, saw the legion commander with his huge mouth open before him.

Bloodshot eyes.

The energy of destruction surging savagely throughout his body, starting from his fist. Furthermore, even the shape of the energy spreading around.

‘So, this is it.’

Everything was clear, like slow motion.

Also, Do-hyun could see it.

[Reversing the Heavens (逆天期) Executing the 3rd Form, Heaven (天).]

[Accepting the Strike of Destruction and Grasping the Foundation.]

Where the energy of destruction started, what trajectory it was emitting energy on.

Which place was the most fatal, and where he could go to be the safest.

Everything was visible, and once he realized it, the energy of destruction no longer felt threatening.

It wasn’t an illusion.

Swoosh.

As he reached out his hand, the energy of destruction seemed to ripple and was slowly absorbed.

As he stretched out his foot and let it flow, the trajectory of the Strike of Destruction was deflected to the side, and as he rotated once, it rippled like a wave.

[The energy is too overwhelming to handle.]

[The duration is reduced, and only a portion of the foundation is grasped.]

[Negates damage only on the first contact and can influence the energy of destruction for 3 seconds.]

This was the power of the 3rd Form, Heaven (天).

A swordsmanship that could ignore the first damage and exert influence even on authority.

It was truly a swordsmanship that contained the sky that encompasses all things.

‘It’s perfect for me?’

What swordsmanship could be more suitable than this, which chews through instant death skills and makes impossible parrying possible?

There were many other uses that came to mind besides this.

Even this wasn’t the end.

[Accepting the energy of destruction and acquiring related attributes.]

[The attribute is too overwhelming to handle.]

[Applies a very small portion of the destruction attribute to the next attack.]

‘Look at this? It even does this?’

He had felt the power of destruction to the bone.

Being able to bring even a little of that power was an enormous buff.

A scream-like shout erupted at the sight of him flowing out the attack beyond just deflecting it.

[What an absurd thing…!]

[A mere human… accepts the authority of destruction? Impossible…! Could that be that man’s?]

[No… that can’t be… that swordsmanship has been lost…]

The bizarre voice trembled as if it was quite embarrassed.

Kuh-ahhh! Kuh-ah!!

The legion commander also seemed unable to understand and let out a roar full of anger, but it was no longer as threatening as before.

Like a cornered victim making a loud noise in fear.

It just felt like a desperate struggle.

[Activating True (眞) [essence/true form] – Song of the White Lion.]

[A very small portion of the destruction attribute is added to True (眞) – Song of the White Lion.]

Grrr…

The moment the lion, stained with a dark purple color between the darkened snowstorms, blinked its eyes, like ink spreading on white paper.

“Then let’s finish this up.”

Do-hyun lowered the sword he had raised high, and

—!

A dark light explosion covered the labyrinth.

Tting-

Beyond the dark vision, what could be seen was a small something emitting a faint red light.

And only a cheerful notification.