The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 327

327.

[You have defeated the Abyss Magic Dragon, the ‘Dark Magic Dragon’.]

[You are the first player to defeat a complete Magic Dragon.]

[Recorded in the Book of Adventures.]

[The Dark Magic Dragon’s death awakens those who were submerged in the Abyss.]

[Baharun de Arnis, Emperor of the Arnis Empire, awakens.]

[The First Prince, Lior de Arnis, awakens.]

[Your level has increased.]

[Guardian Charlie’s level has increased.]

[Guardian Jihad Black’s level has increased.]

…….

A feast of countless messages flashed before my eyes.

For a moment, only the clamorous notification sounds echoed in the silence.

Soon, a thunderous roar erupted.

“Waaaaaaah!!”

“Crazy!!”

“Is it real? Did we really clear it?”

“They said the Magic Dragon is dead! So we cleared it!”

“Kaiser! Kaiser! Kaiser! Kaiser! Kaiser! Kaiser!”

“Seven Stars? Nah, don’t need ‘em.”

“Enduring, my ass. Kashin’s class just grabs it right away~! Barkeep, a shot of national pride here!”

Seeing the users frantically chattering, Do-hyun finally realized it and put down the Thousand Transformations.

‘Ugh, that was seriously tough.’

It was truly a difficulty level of epic proportions.

If he hadn’t had the ring from the Demon King, he might have failed.

Especially the last hidden phase; it felt like it was specifically designed to prevent players from clearing it.

‘Barely managed to catch it, and then it puts up a 200% health shield and descends? Seriously, even if you have no conscience, there should be a limit.’

If it weren’t for a special ability like the Reversal, he would have had to just suck his thumb and wait until it descended.

And once it descended, it would have been over.

‘Remaining time is 15 minutes… Would it have been doable if I had focused on enduring?’

Well, such things weren’t important now.

The important thing was that he had finally done it.

As always, he had taken another step forward.

Perhaps thanks to that, he even gained an unexpected harvest.

[Swordsmanship proficiency has increased.]

[The path to the next stage of Reversal has opened.]

‘Swordsmanship proficiency is one thing, but Reversal reacting is unexpected….’

Reversal grows when overcoming numerous adversities and hardships, regardless of swordsmanship proficiency.

Since it was an epic boss, it was enough to be called an adversity, so it wasn’t strange for Reversal to grow, but….

‘I didn’t feel that way.’

It was somewhat strange that there was no message like before that he had grown by overcoming adversity, and he didn’t see any blurry scenery.

It’s said that the path has opened, but he didn’t particularly feel anything.

‘Well, the better, the better.’

Do-hyun shrugged his shoulders, deciding to think about the complicated stuff later.

Waaaaaaah-!!!

Seeing the users outside the barrier shouting his name and going wild, Do-hyun grinned.

‘Let’s enjoy this moment more for now.’

It was then that Kashiyar’s voice was heard.

-You’re quite popular among the Apostles?

‘I guess I am.’

-Strictly speaking, you’re not even the same Apostle. You’re my successor.

‘Why don’t you give that successor something more? You keep making me roll around, saying it only has meaning if I roll around myself… You don’t seem to be putting enough effort into your precious successor.’

-Look at this? Do you know how many gods coveted the authority of the Thousand Transformations you have? Being a successor and not knowing its value, this won’t do. Give it back, you punk.

‘What’s given is given. Don’t you know that taking back what you gave is the worst thing to do?’

-Oh my, I raised a tiger cub.

After bickering with Kashiyar and exchanging jokes for a while.

Soon, Kashiyar’s voice became serious.

-Everything’s good, but don’t get too arrogant.

“Because I’m unlucky?”

-That’s also true, but you still have a long way to go. If you’re struggling to handle even my teenage years… you won’t be able to win when ‘that day’ comes.

“What the heck is that day?”

Do-hyun frowned.

Garion too, and the Magic Dragon too, what is that day that makes them act like that?

He let it go earlier because he was in battle, but this time he had to hear it to be satisfied.

And the timing was ghostly as always.

[Kashiyar’s will is fading.]

[The Demon King’s unique magic, ‘Owner of the Weapon,’ will soon be 解除 [released].]

‘Ah, please….’

Seeing Kashiyar visibly fading, Do-hyun rubbed his forehead, and Kashiyar chuckled and said.

-Not much time, so listen carefully.

Do-hyun perked up his ears and listened attentively.

Otherwise, he felt like he would miss the voice that had become so faint.

Perhaps thanks to that effort.

Do-hyun was able to make out the small whispering sound.

-The day of promise is approaching. Unlike the existing prophecies, the situation has changed… All… War… Soon they will move….

However, when it came time for the most important lines to continue, only combinations of words were heard, as if a walkie-talkie had been cut off.

He strained his ears to avoid missing anything, but the voice faded away mercilessly.

-Remember. You can only stop fate by reaching me….

The only words that were clearly heard were the last ones.

[The duration of Owner of the Weapon has ended.]

[Kashiyar’s incomplete will disappears.]

Do-hyun sighed as he looked at Kashiyar’s empty space after he disappeared with those last words.

‘I don’t know what he said at all.’

There was only one thing he could know.

In the circumstances, ‘that day’ is called the day of promise, and when the day of promise comes, they will move.

‘The day of promise… Is it the day Gamillion mentioned at first?’

At that time, Gamillion also said the word day of promise and trailed off.

It was said that it was promised not to mention that day, so the guess seemed correct.

‘Them….’

It’s a pity that he didn’t hear about them, but if even Kashiyar is warning, they must be something great.

‘Anyway, it’s one mountain after another.’

Well, when has this damn main quest not been like that?

There was nothing new about it, so Do-hyun quickly shook off his thoughts.

However, it wasn’t just voluntary.

Sss- Sss-

-I can’t… end like this… I must take revenge….

A knight covered in blood, forcibly dragging his unmoving body and approaching, forcibly made him break away from his thoughts.

“……?”

“What, is that still alive?”

“Come to think of it… there wasn’t a message that we cleared it.”

“That’s one tough bastard, too.”

Garion Ban Rodman.

He was desperately reaching out, clinging to his tenacious life.

From the sight of him reaching out with his hand that couldn’t reach, trying to get even a little closer, a terrible obsession was felt.

‘Is that why the quest completion window didn’t pop up because that guy is still alive?’

No, can that even be considered alive?

Blood was flowing out of all the holes in his body.

-Cough…….

He coughed up blood and trembled, and it looked like he would die if he just lowered his sword like this.

But Do-hyun didn’t do that.

Instead, he approached and squatted down in front of him, making eye contact.

Then, Garion, who made eye contact, shouted as if in despair, spitting out blood.

-……Why did you appear. If it weren’t for you… I could have achieved revenge…….

“…….”

-It’s been 40 years……. I’ve dedicated 40 years……. I was so close, why did you have to appear at this moment…….

The time he spent spitting out blood became longer, but the sight of him trying to continue speaking was extremely desperate.

Do-hyun, who was calmly looking down at the desperate sight, opened his mouth.

“When I was learning Byran’s swordsmanship, I saw your dirty face a lot.”

-……?

“Most of the time when Byran had a will, you were there. To him, you weren’t just a teacher or a bodyguard.”

-……What’s that supposed to mean…….

“Shut up and listen to the end.”

Do-hyun, who cut off his words firmly, raised his head.

The slowly receding barrier seemed to show that Garion’s embers were fading.

“Do you know when Byran had the greatest will?”

-…….

“When he died because of you? No, that’s not even a big deal. When he felt his shortcomings? When he vowed to become a great emperor who wouldn’t be ashamed of you? When he felt the distance from his brother?”

It wasn’t any of them.

The moment when Byran felt the strongest will wasn’t something so brilliant.

A ceremony that all knights, royalty, or nobles experience.

“When he made the knight’s oath.”

-…….

“Not from the beginning… Byran knew your past. That you had a desire for revenge against the royal family.”

-That can’t…… be.

Do-hyun shook his head, seeing Garion’s shaking pupils.

“There’s no way he wouldn’t know. Your family is a major criminal who was secretly preparing a rebellion.”

-……What?

“Originally, you were supposed to be executed, even as a survivor, but what do you think is the reason why you weren’t?”

-…….

“Byran.”

That his first meeting with him was planned.

That he had a desire for revenge against the royal family.

He knew everything, but Byran stopped him. He trusted Garion, whom he had seen himself.

He trusted Garion’s emotions, actions, words, and friendship that he had seen.

And when he received the knight’s oath to serve him as his lord for life.

“Byran also vowed to correct you as your lord and friend for life.”

Keeping a man who hates his blood by his side.

That was the moment he had the greatest will in his life.

He couldn’t help but be a truly innocent and foolish man.

“……That didn’t change until the moment he died after enduring a long life as a mummy. He wanted to give you a chance to turn back before he left.”

That was why Do-hyun unfolded Byran’s swordsmanship in order.

It was a tribute to Byran, and at the same time, it was a recreation of the process he had learned with Garion, from beginning to end.

“The result is… well, you know.”

-That can’t…… be true……. There’s no way he knew……. No, my father was a traitor, how dare you slander me……!

“……Cough, it’s the truth. Garion.”

This time, a voice was heard from another place.

Where the pillar was.

The First Prince, Lior, who had come to his senses after being freed from the encroachment as the Magic Dragon died.

“Garion. Why do you think your family is not despised, and even if they ignore you, they don’t hate you?”

-…….

“Because they hid the fact that your family rebelled. No one knows that fact except for my father, the current emperor, and me and Eden, the princes.”

-That can’t…… be…….

Garion’s pupils trembled incessantly.

He tried to deny it, but everything fit the circumstances.

Garion himself was always wondering why they left him alone, planning revenge.

He just thought it was because he was Byran’s knight.

He thought his plan was perfect.

“……Garion, do you think you’re the only survivor of your family?”

-……What?

“There are survivors among your cousins, not those who are closely related to the rebellion. They are now being protected. It was the order of the former First Prince… Byran.”

Lior’s face, who said that, was stained with bitterness.

“……It was also a surprise gift from Eden for you.”

The Second Prince, Eden de Arnis.

He had been suffering from illness, but he had been interacting with them many times for Garion, who was always silently nursing him.

They were resenting the head of the family who had planned the rebellion for no reason and took away everything from them.

That resentment was directed at Garion, the survivor, so he had to interact with them for a long time and finally open their hearts.

[I want to give Garion a gift when I get better.]

[Garion will definitely like it too. So please pray for me to get better.]

The voice of the Second Prince, who was smiling with a pale face, lingered in his ears.

-No…… that’s not true! Cough! Cough!

Garion, who was trying to get up and deny it, spat out a handful of blood.

The world was stained red.

In the world full of blood, Byran and the Second Prince, Rond, and the countless people he had killed were standing.

They were all looking at him resentfully.

He was smiling as he brutally killed them all.

-……No. That’s not true.

Tears flowed from his bloodshot eyes.

It was black tears.

-I…… didn’t know. I’m a victim too!

Garion, whose eyes were turned over, shouted, waving his hands wildly.

What cut off the scream that was close to a desperate struggle was the following baritone voice.

“Victim? Don’t bullshit.”

-……What?

“Do you think there’s anyone without a story? Don’t justify it. You don’t deserve it. What reason can you give for stabbing so many people who trusted you in the back? You had a chance to find out. You were given a chance to turn back.”

-…….

But Garion didn’t do that.

He had only lived for revenge, and he wouldn’t be able to endure it if what he knew wasn’t the truth.

He deliberately turned a blind eye.

“Don’t make excuses. It’s just that you were trash.”

Do-hyun, who spat out as if growling, raised one corner of his mouth.

“And you’re not the only one who wants revenge.”

-What does that…… Cough?

Thwack-

Garion’s eyes widened at the pain that was felt through his back to his chest.

There was no need to see whose sword it was.

“……Garion, I can’t forgive you.”

Lior de Arnis, who had already approached, was expressing his anger with blazing eyes.

That wasn’t the only one.

Thwack-

-……!

This time, a sword popped out through his side.

It was Charlie, who had been released from his retired state when the time came.

-You have crossed the river that cannot be turned back. Atone for that sin with death.

Is it an illusion?

Thwack- Thwack- Thwack!

Thwack-!

Already dead and gone.

Those who could not exist in reality, including Byran and the Second Prince, Rond, swung their swords.

Countless swords slashed his body, and by the time he reached the point where he was forced to stand because he was stuck in the sword even if he wanted to fall.

-Ah…….

With Do-hyun’s sword flashing for the last time, Garion’s vision turned upside down.

His head was cut off.

Under his bloodshot, wide-open eyes, something dark red, whether blood or tears, was flowing.

“A man who tried to take bloody revenge with a misguided belief, may he die drowned in the blood he shed with his own hands.”

Like Lior’s words, which he recited in a low voice.

It was truly a fitting end for him.

“…….”

“Ah…….”

Perhaps because the atmosphere was somewhat heavy.

The overwhelmed users couldn’t easily make a sound and were just opening their mouths blankly.

‘Tsk.’

Do-hyun also didn’t say anything appropriate because he felt uncomfortable.

How many seconds had passed like that?

Ding-

What broke the chilling silence was the usual cheerful notification.

[You have defeated the Black Knight Garion.]

[By eliminating the mastermind, the doomsday-level city quest, ‘Black Knight Garion,’ is cleared.]

[You have achieved achievements that far exceed the original quest content.]

[You have achieved an unbelievable achievement.]

[By achieving an unbelievable achievement, the title ‘Unbelievable Numerical Value’ is activated.]

[All stats increase by +5.]

[Recorded in the Book of Adventures.]

[You have acquired the title ‘Hero of the Empire’.]

[You have acquired the title ‘Destroyer of Darkness’.]

[By clearing the quest with amazing achievements, the rewards to be received from the imperial family are greatly enhanced.]

[You have cleared the sudden quest, ‘Byran’s Will’.]

[You have acquired 200,000 gold as a reward.]

[The favorability of all NPCs in the empire increases to the maximum, and you become the benefactor of the imperial family.]

[You are guaranteed to acquire the main equipment item of the Black Knight Garion, ‘Black Knight’s Dark Armor’.]

[You have acquired the ‘Black Knight’s Dark Helmet’ as the reward for the 1st place in the contribution to the doomsday-level city quest.]

‘Huh?’

Without any discomfort or anything, a feast of rewards that made his eyes widen.

His eyes turned to it for a moment, but Do-hyun’s gaze soon turned to another place, not the rewards.

Inside the arms of the fallen Garion.

[The Eye of Truth is activated.]

A small something shining red in his chest.

‘Insignia.’

The culprit of all this, and the key to finding the key to fate.

Do-hyun, who approached Garion, quickly grabbed it, and soon a message popped up.

[You have acquired the fifth key to the fragment of fate, ‘Golden Insignia of Valor and Faith’.]

[It has been confirmed that the energy of the Dark Magic Dragon has disappeared.]

[Attempting to connect to the fifth fragment of fate.]

Do-hyun’s lips slowly curled up.

‘Excluding Kashiyar, there are three kings I’ve met so far.’

First, the Holy King.

Then, the Dark King and the Magic King.

Now there are two kings left.

‘I wonder what kind of king it will be this time.’

Since the kings were all those who stood at the pinnacle of one field, they must be extraordinary figures.

Waiting with curiosity and anticipation for a few seconds.

Ding-

Finally, the message he had been waiting for popped up, and

“……What?”

Do-hyun’s eyes widened and then shook greatly.

It was a completely unexpected message.