The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 316

316.

* * *

Meanwhile, before Do-hyun was shocked by the unexpected message.

Whoosh-!

Kwaaaang!

Inside the Curtain of the Abyss.

Garrion and the Guardians’ battle was going smoothly.

No, to say it was going smoothly wouldn’t do justice to the spectacular scenes unfolding continuously.

Ttak, ttak-!

Ughhhh-!

Jihad’s undead legion swarmed from all directions, tying up Garrion’s feet,

and Charlie’s sword, imbued with faint light, clashed incessantly with Garrion’s black sword, overflowing with the energy of the abyss.

Each time, shockwaves spread out, alternately coloring the surroundings with light and darkness.

Clang! Ka-clang!

Clang!

Garrion, frantically raging, and Charlie, deflecting Garrion’s sword while countering.

The sight, as if light and darkness were colliding, left the users in awe.

“Wow… what is that?”

“Was Charlie always that good at fighting?”

“Is this the Knight Commander class? Both of their swordsmanship is insane.”

“Their swordsmanship seems somewhat similar.”

“They’re both from the Arren Castle Knights Order.”

Even though Charlie blocked Garrion’s sword, the truth is, they didn’t have high expectations.

Garrion was a boss that even the top 10 guild masters couldn’t handle.

He showed power befitting a boss of a city-destroying quest, while Charlie was ultimately just a user’s Guardian.

But what’s this?

Swish- Kwaaaang!

The battle that unfolded was more equal than expected.

It wasn’t that Charlie had more power than the top 10 guild masters.

What made all of this possible was none other than the faint light imbued in Charlie’s sword.

[Potential reacts to Charlie’s intense will.]

[The light dwelling in the sword becomes slightly clearer.]

[The light resists the energy of the abyss and exerts great power against the abyss.]

[The light offsets the ‘Execution’ of the Black Knight Garrion.]

The unblockable sword.

That light was offsetting Garrion’s ultimate move, which would have resulted in an execution without even a proper fight.

Ggrrrrr-!

Kwaaaang!

Moreover, with 20 undead creatures.

They were constantly wielding weapons and bodies from all directions, so even Garrion couldn’t easily inflict a critical hit.

“Wow, their teamwork is insane?”

“Was the Necromancer always this OP [overpowered]?”

“Wow, the sheer number of undead makes a difference.”

“They’re practically taking down a boss with a 4-person limit with 21 people. Isn’t that too easy?”

“Yeah, try it yourself if you’re so upset. I bet you’d delete your character in less than a month.”

“The fact that there aren’t any famous Necromancers besides the Four Kings says it all. The undead don’t listen, they eat up mana like crazy, and the efficiency isn’t there.”

“Then what is that?”

“…I don’t know.”

At that, the users couldn’t help but express admiration and doubt at the same time.

The performance, which far exceeded the limits of existing Necromancers, was incomprehensible.

Moreover, a Guardian showing such performance, not even a user?

They were admittedly uncomfortable with Shin-soo, the Necromancer, whom they were seeing for the first time.

-If I block one side, an attack comes flying from the side right away. Is their intelligence high? They’re so systematic and strategic that it’s hard to believe they’re undead.

What Garrion was impressed with was precisely that.

Humans.

A legion that was as systematic as a great knight order, without any flaws.

‘Not very threatening, but tricky.’

They were focusing on eroding him as much as possible, such as cutting off the timing when an opportunity to attack arose, or blocking his evasion and charge routes.

It was the perfect strategy for the current situation.

Tatt-

After all, the only one who could break through his armor and inflict a major wound was Charlie, who was glaring and rushing at him.

Garrion, having deflected Charlie’s sword, glanced to the side.

He wondered if it was the commander’s ability, but…

-Nice, Ttadak! Push harder!

Ttadak!!

-Good job, good job!

-Lizariza!

It didn’t seem to be the case.

That commander was just cheering and doing nothing else.

If so, he must have found a good legion commander, but it couldn’t be the ability of that huge, dumb ogre legion commander.

-A high-ranking legion commander who handles the chill of the underworld…

It was when Garrion was showing interest in a being he didn’t know.

In an instant, the light that flashed above his head brightened his vision.

Charlie’s sword, which had already approached, was falling.

-Do you have the mind to look away?

-Look away…

It was a threatening energy to the abyss, but Garrion didn’t raise his head and blocked the sword as if it were nothing.

Then, Garrion, who was repeating the words, raised the corner of his mouth with a smirk.

-Do I have a reason not to look away?

-…Grrr.

-I think you’re the ones who need to come to your senses.

The anger in his eyes deepened, but Charlie didn’t refute.

To be exact, he couldn’t.

This fight, which seemed equal at first glance, was actually not equal at all.

They were just managing to tie him down with a war of attrition and avoid direct hits.

Even though quite some time had passed since the battle began, they still hadn’t broken through that jet-black armor.

‘…On the other hand, this side is slowly reaching its limit.’

Without showing it on the outside, Charlie, who had been watching Jihad for a long time, could tell.

His hand, hidden in his robe, was trembling.

A typical mana deficiency phenomenon.

He was using even the undead weapon creation, so he was having a hard time holding on.

[The weapon of the 2nd Legion Commander, ‘Ogre,’ disappears.]

…

[The weapon of the troll undead disappears.]

[The weapon of the ogre undead disappears.]

In fact, the weapons of most of the undead had disappeared.

Erasing the undead weapons that Legion Commander Gothong was handling would ease the burden, but doing so would drastically change the battle.

In the end, they had no choice but to forcibly squeeze out mana and maintain it.

In other words, the moment Jihad’s mana disappeared was also the moment they would be defeated.

“…Hey, is it just me, or do the undead seem weaker?”

“It seems like Charlie is allowing more attacks.”

“Garrion doesn’t have a single scratch? Is this really okay?”

“Damn it, when is Kaiser coming?”

“We’re all going to die like this.”

The voices of a few users with good eyes were heard.

Garrion seemed to feel the same way, as his bitter smile deepened even further.

Even with that face in front of him, Charlie couldn’t do anything.

He was struggling just to cross swords and grapple.

‘…I’m sorry, my lord. I am still weak.’

Although his mission was to buy time until Do-hyun arrived, he had secretly hoped.

To give that guy who trampled on the pride of his comrades.

The shameless bastard who betrayed his lord, whom he treated as a brother and a precious friend, a good blow.

But reality was cold.

‘…I don’t have the power to do that.’

If he had regained his prime strength…

If he had focused and worked harder on growth, even just a little.

‘I vowed never to do this again.’

Would he not have felt this miserable feeling again?

Perhaps sensing that Charlie’s momentum had waned.

Swish-

Garrion, who had released the force on the sword he was facing, stepped back and stared at Charlie.

Then, a heavy voice flowed out from beyond the helmet.

-The Rabion family. The pride of Arren, which has produced many great knights.

-…

-Those who value the pride of a knight above all else, always taking the lead in any hardship and adversity.

As the voice continued, Charlie’s expression hardened.

-Among them, the most outstanding talent, Charlie de Rabion… Is that really the knight called the Dawn of Light? If this is your full strength, I’m disappointed.

Does he know his real name?

That’s part of it, but more than that, he couldn’t understand.

The Rabion family was destroyed.

Now, there are few in the empire who know the Rabion family, and almost no one knows that he is a knight of the Rabion family.

‘I have no memory of him.’

In the first place, he was not someone who lived in the same era as Charlie.

Then how?

Perhaps his question was revealed on the outside.

-You seem to be wondering how I know this.

-…

-I know even more about you. That you always fought at the forefront during the Arren Massacre, that you were praised as the only Dawn of Light in Rabion and admired by many.

Garrion smiled bitterly and took a step closer.

-The moonlit night. Seeing the lord, who had the weakest body, evacuate the residents and remain alone to confront the abyss, and swearing allegiance to him.

-…

And one more step.

He continued to speak as he approached little by little.

-But in the end, you couldn’t protect your lord, your comrades, and your family, and you lost them all.

Grrr.

Charlie, who had been enduring with his eyes shaking, couldn’t hold back any longer and asked.

-…Who are you?

This went beyond the scope of investigation.

Even his subordinates didn’t know the moment he came to serve his former lord, let alone anything else.

There were only a few close colleagues who knew.

But they were already dead.

-Hoo… Hehehe…

-What’s so funny?

-Keuheuheuh… Of course, it’s funny.

Garrion, who was chuckling at what was so funny, slowly raised his head, which he had been lowering.

Then, the reptilian eyes that were visible beyond the helmet were dyed black.

The moment he met those eyes.

-Ah…

Charlie’s pupils dilated.

The world, which had been locked away in a corner of his memory, flashed by like a panorama.

It was the memory of ‘that day.’

‘Kuaaaak!’

‘S, save me! Kkuaaak!’

‘Commander! At least the commander must survive.’

‘The commander is our only hope.’

The residents and soldiers dying in agony in the burnt outskirts of the castle.

‘Charlie. My beloved husband.’

‘I have only one request. Please live the rest of your life happily without seeking revenge. Can you do that for me?’

‘Watch over our precious child, Serina, until she becomes an adult and an old woman. I’ll be watching from above.’

His rabbit-like wife, with her stomach pierced under the rubble of the building, reaching out her slender arms and asking him to live happily.

His young daughter, looking up with innocent eyes that knew nothing.

‘Charlie. I am not afraid of death. I have nothing to fear since I won’t live long anyway.’

‘It’s the same now. I just think the predicted moment has come a little earlier.’

‘So don’t cry. You are our only hope, aren’t you? I believe in you…’

The former lord, who showed a detached appearance until the last moment.
The desperate battlefield where he had to send off even the lord’s eyes without being able to close them properly.

‘Charlie! Live! Rabion is nothing without you.’

‘You must carry on our will!’

‘Everyone charge! Open the retreat!’

The family members who did not hesitate to charge in front of that battlefield.

They did not return.

If they had the strength to retreat, they would have drawn it in and swung their swords.

They killed even more monsters to open a retreat for Charlie and the civilians.

Kuaaaaaaa-!

And the huge monster that revealed itself beyond the castle walls and roared.

That’s the one.

The culprit of all this disaster and the darkness of the abyss.

At the same time, the culprit of the message window that shocked Do-hyun.

Creak- Creak-

[The terrifying being inside the Black Knight Garrion reveals itself.]

[Caution! It is a high-ranking opponent.]

[The darkness of the Curtain of the Abyss deepens.]

Garrion’s body writhed, and the inside of the Curtain of the Abyss was completely submerged in a huge darkness.

No longer could the faint light dwelling in Charlie’s sword illuminate the darkness.

A Great Evil that plunges the surroundings into darkness just by revealing its existence.

[Guardian ‘Charlie’ has encountered an old grudge.]

[Guardian ‘Charlie de Rabion’ encounters the Darkness of the Abyss, ‘Mayongjong of Darkness’.]

The source of all darkness and a being born from nightmares.

It reigns above all its kin, and with a single advent, it destroyed the Rabion family and caused the Arren Massacre.

People who were afraid to even utter its real name called it this.

A terrible nightmare that calls for iron and blood just by its existence.

-Iron Blood(鐵血)……!

The Mayongjong of Iron Blood(鐵血).

Oh