The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 318

318.

It wasn’t just the memories of that day.

Comrades and subordinates who had shared his ideals, and the people of his House.

And even the former lord he couldn’t protect.

-Aaaah… Aaaah….

-Charlie… Save… me….

-You said you’d be the light… Is only… living for yourself… the light…?

They had all become vengeful spirits, filled with deep resentment.

Each time their blackened, decaying hands touched his ankles and the backs of his hands, memories he wanted to forget flashed by like a rewinding videotape.

‘Jacob.’

A loyal subordinate and knight who had followed him for the longest time.

He was a somewhat lacking talent who had risen to the rank of knight at the age of 28, but his effort and mental fortitude were second to none.

-I hope to be of help to you, Commander, even just once. To that end, I will continue to strive until the day I can land a solid hit on the enemy.

-Wanting to land a solid hit in front of your superior… The punishment for insubordination isn’t light…

-Ah, no, that’s not what I meant!

A guy who slept less than half the time others did, training.

Jacob, who always dreamed of a hopeful future, was cut down before he could even spread his wings.

The cause of death was a penetrating wound.

He died after being struck in the chest by a Shadow Arrow fired from behind, taking Charlie’s place.

-If it weren’t for… the Commander… Keueugh….

-I resent… you….

Charlie couldn’t say anything to Jacob, who was sobbing as if filled with resentment.

Thud.

This time, a hand grabbed him from the right. Turning his head, he saw a middle-aged spirit with a face half-collapsed.

A burn scar visible between the wrinkled skin.

A wound he had received in place of Charlie.

Whirring-

A building collapsing in flames.

Argu, the vice-commander, had entered the blaze to save Charlie, who was trapped inside.

The cause of death was fire.

Immediately after saving Charlie and Serena, he was crushed to death by the collapsing building.

-…Why did you live… if you couldn’t protect us?

-Do you like… living as a father… who couldn’t even protect… his daughter…?

-I asked you… to protect her… I asked you to protect… Serena….

Next to Argu, Erina, with a hole in her stomach, screamed, shedding black tears.

Erina, whose stomach had been pierced by debris from the collapsed building, had begged for her daughter to be protected even in her dying moments.

But he couldn’t protect her.

The cause of death was suffocation.

By the time they had escaped with Argu’s help, Serena was no longer breathing.

The burning building was too much for a young baby to endure.

-Aaaaaaaah!!!! Aaaah!!!

The memory of writhing in agony and screaming was vivid.

The sensation of the rain that fell that day hitting his face, the cold temperature of his daughter’s body, came back clearly.

Grasp.

Something grabbed the hem of Charlie’s clothes from behind as he wailed.

It was a ghastly spirit with its lower body severed.

‘Mark.’

It was when Charlie, having lost everything, couldn’t overcome his desire for revenge and spent his days indiscriminately hunting Shadow monsters.

A subordinate knight who had lost his life in the 7th large-scale monster extermination.

Thud, thud.

It wasn’t just Mark.

His former comrades who had been with him were now spirits, strangling him from all sides, and memories kept flooding in.

In his memories, Charlie was constantly wielding his sword.

Swish- Slash-

He had never let go of his sword for a single moment.

The Shadow monsters were constantly invading the half-collapsed castle, and Charlie, as the commander of Arlen Castle’s knights, had to set an example.

…No, in truth, it was revenge.

Now that the Shadow Dragon, the target of his revenge, had disappeared, the only place he could vent his anger was on the monsters.

Swish-

Thwack!

He cuts and stabs the monsters.

How many times had he repeated that process?

As time passed, the comrades who had shared his ideals disappeared.

They had died in the long-lasting war.

Hundred, ten, five….

Swish-

Even when there were no comrades left by his side.

Charlie wielded his sword.

It was no longer because of revenge.

It was just that he couldn’t do anything else.

His House, which had believed in him, his wife who had smiled brightly, wishing this moment would last forever, and his young daughter who knew nothing.

‘I couldn’t protect anything.’

What more should he do, having failed to protect anything?

The endless sense of loss was gradually dragging Charlie into a deep swamp.

‘If you don’t have the skill, you can’t protect or realize justice.’

Therefore, those without skill are sinners.

For those without skill to step forward for the greater good only drives everyone to their deaths.

In that sense, he was more of a sinner than anyone else.

Swishhhhhh-

-Ah….

What Charlie saw when he regained his senses to the sound of rain was deep darkness.

The source of all this.

A giant evil that was swallowing everything.

[Black Knight Garion (Shadow Dragon of Darkness) (Fusing)]

That’s right.

He was fighting against that thing.

No, could he even dare call this fighting?

Clang-! Thud-

Charlie falls pathetically every time the swords clash, and Garion waits for him with a sneering smile, as if mocking him.

[How is it, the feeling of recalling the memories you turned away from?]

Behind the sneering thing, he could hear the sighing of the users [players of the game].

“Ah….”

“Is this the end?”

“He lasted a long time for this level. It’s just sadder to watch.”

“…When will… the Producer….”

“…I’m going to close my eyes.”

He couldn’t hear everything clearly, but thanks to that, he remembered.

The moment that thing started rampaging.

What had happened in that short time.

The Undead Legion was annihilated in an instant, and Jihad, who had been panicking, was knocked out in one blow.

-Lizariza! Liza…!

-….

Eliza, who had been spitting out spiderwebs while panting at the shocking sight, ended up in the same state as Jihad.

Whether it was the thing’s mercy or mockery.

It hadn’t taken their lives, but in reality, the two were unable to fight.

Only he was left.

[Black Knight Garion uses ‘Inner Darkness.’]

[The target afflicted with the illusion experiences trauma from deep within. This includes trauma that the target does not remember.]

-….

And he was being mocked by that thing, unable to overcome even one illusion, only having his trauma stimulated.

But what would change even if he knew that?

His sword couldn’t reach that thing.

Ggggh- Ggggh-

What’s even more unsightly is that the spirits are still visible.

His former comrades who had shared life and death with him were dragging him into a swamp of death.

Even though he was aware that it was an illusion, this terrible swamp of darkness didn’t let Charlie go.

Is this what it feels like to fall into the abyss?

[You are already a dead spirit. It’s pathetic how you dream sweet dreams and believe them to be true.]

The thing’s voice fades away.

The echoing sound in the endless darkness, where he couldn’t see an inch ahead, seemed to pierce his heart.

‘…I knew.’

In fact, he knew.

That his memories were wrong.

How could he not have noticed after spending months with his lord?

He had been feeling that there was a strange discrepancy between the history he remembered and reality.

That his lord and the Guardians were hiding something.

He had just been trying to deny it.

[You couldn’t protect anything and died. You didn’t even achieve revenge.]

Those without skill have no right.

Not even the right to take revenge.

The moment he had the summoner who was trying to summon that thing in front of him.

The reason he had suppressed the urge to tear him apart immediately and entrusted even revenge to Do-hyun was for that reason.

‘No, is even that a false memory?’

Now it feels like his very existence is an illusion.

Who is he?

Could it be that he is just a spirit, as that thing said?

[Tsk, has he completely broken down….]

In his fading consciousness, he saw Garion clicking his tongue.

Even with that thing slowly approaching, Charlie didn’t grip his sword.

“…No!”

“Block it!”

The screams of the users close to screaming, the fading breath of Jihad, and the mocking voice of that thing faded away.

The echoing sound felt endlessly distant, as if submerged under the surface of the water.

It was as if his body was submerged in an endless swamp, barely holding onto a cliff.

[Now it’s over, Charlie de Lavion. Just return to where you should be.]

Just like that thing said.

He would be at peace if he let go of this hand.

Swoosh.

Charlie, who had let go of the hand he had been desperately holding onto, closed his eyes.

At that moment, when his regrets shattered and he even felt a strange sense of liberation.

Grasp.

Something grabbed his hand.

A thin, delicate hand. A woman’s hand. Charlie’s eyes widened as he looked up at the woman.

‘…Erina?’

She, with unusually determined eyes, was holding his hand tightly.

There wasn’t just one hand.

-Papa!

A small, adorable hand was placed on top of the delicate hand.

A chubby hand with baby fat.

It was Serena.

-Charlie, my dear knight.

And above those two, a man who warmly added strength.

-I believe. I believe that you will become a ray of dawn in this chaotic world.

The former lord who had always believed in the lacking knight.

Abar de Arlen.

He was expressing unwavering faith even in this moment when Charlie had given up on everything.

Charlie couldn’t look him straight in the face.

No, he couldn’t face them.

-…I am weak. Everyone believed in me and sacrificed themselves, but I couldn’t repay that faith.

-Charlie. That’s not true.

But Erina shook her head firmly.

-I know. I know that the guilt of not being able to protect me is preventing you from shining fully.

-….

-Are you going to make our deaths meaningless?

-Charlie, do you really think we are so lacking in pride that we would resent dying fighting the Shadow?

-Ah….

The faint light flowing from the hands of the two people holding him tightly permeated Charlie.

No, to be exact, to the spirits who were reaching out to drag Charlie down.

Swish-

Then, some of the darkness covering the spirits disappeared, and their true faces were revealed.

They were smiling.

Moreover, they were proud.

-Commander. I am so proud of myself. That I entrusted my life to you in the future.

-Chasing away the darkness and protecting innocent people. That is the pride of Lavion.

-Please live for my share as well.

-Did I help a little this time? Haha.

That they had died fighting the enemy as knights.

That their deaths were not futile and insignificant, but that they had died saving someone.

That they had been helpful in the future.

-You’re finally seeing us, Charlie.

Erina, smiling brightly, was not the terrifying demon who had screamed horribly a moment ago.

She was his lovely wife who used to snuggle in his arms.

She had always been waiting.

It was just that he hadn’t been able to see her properly, obscured by the darkness created by his own guilt.

-Show us. Who you are.

-Papa!

-Remember it clearly.

The voices of the three people were heard alternately, deeply engraved in his heart.

-A ray of dawn that will be a hope in any desperate and tiring situation, and the commander of Arlen Castle’s knights. The Knight of Light, Charlie de Lavion. That is who you are.

Finally, the moment he finished speaking the last words.

Ding-

[Activates the legendary skill, ‘The Last Knight.’]

[The first ability reacts to maintaining pride while remaining utterly alone.]

[The weight of the karma borne by the caster exceeds the limit.]

[The extent to which the caster has lost something to protect exceeds the limit.]

[Temporarily gains will and power that transcends the limits.]

——–!!

[…What!?]

Brilliant light filled the curtain of the Shadow.