The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 44

Part 44.

The messages Do-hyun saw were not one, but two.

And the two were a truly mismatched combination.

[Rnell’s Marble is reacting.]

[Elinel’s Necklace is reacting.]

‘……What?’

The combination of Elinel’s necklace, dropped by a seemingly insignificant girl, and Rnell’s Marble, dropped by an intruder, was truly unexpected.

‘Why is Elinel’s necklace reacting here?’

That guy clearly had a clue about the main quest, about a hero.

It seemed the quest about the missing girl was more serious than he thought… but more puzzling was this.

‘No, more than that, why the marble?’

Why was that marble, which he considered a junk item, reacting in this situation?

Wasn’t it just a simple, useless item?

The unexpected combination left him momentarily stunned despite the urgent situation, and a hurried voice struck his eardrums.

-Master! Dodge!

-Rizariza!

-My lord! It’s dangerous!

It was the guardians’ warning.

“Crazy……!”

Turning his head at their urgent gestures, Do-hyun took a large step back diagonally, horrified.

He had no choice but to do so.

Kwagaga-

Just looking at the weapon of that guy, with black light dangerously soaring, was enough to inspire terror.

Clumsy and blunt looking at first…….

The shell that made it look like a scabbard or a blunt weapon broke apart, revealing the weapon within: a spear.

‘……No, is it really a spear?’

The entire weapon was emitting light, lacking a distinct handle.

It was somewhat ambiguous to call it a spear, but it didn’t resemble any other weapon either.

But what was important now wasn’t its classification.

[The Unfortunate Hero ‘??? Rasia’ begins to use some of his life’s power.]

[The Unfortunate Hero’s ‘Sword Aura’ contains a subtle level, granting special effects.]

[All skill and item option effects that touch the aura are nullified.]

—-!

Geueo-!

-Hwiik! M, Master! Every time a pillar is cut, it disappears without a trace?

-My sword of light is also disappearing when it touches that aura, my lord.

-Rizariza!

The Sword Aura that the guy awakened as he realized his true name was going wild.

‘Crazy…… what kind of balance collapse is this?’

Nullifying everything it touches.

In an RPG game where skill and option effects are the main thing, could there be a more broken [overpowered] ability than this?

Of course, there were some restrictions.

[The effect of the Requiem is nullified by the Unfortunate Hero’s Sword Aura.]

Kaang!

‘Only one can be nullified at a time.’

After eliminating one ability, there seemed to be a delay, as he always took that defensive stance.

In other words, whatever it was, the answer was to overwhelm him like before.

But it wasn’t as easy as he thought.

[The Unfortunate Hero takes an offensive stance.]

[As attacks continue, penetration and power increase, and acceleration is applied.]

Kaang! Kang! Kang!

Tadak, tak……!

-Keuek!

-T, Too fast……!

-R, Riza!

The second ability the guy gained by realizing part of his true name.

Combat Stance.

Those two stances, offensive and defensive, were the epitome of difficulty.

Not only did he have a speed buff comparable to a gale, but the spear that broke the blunt shell boasted a sharpness that couldn’t be compared to before.

Huuung- Puk!

Geueo-!

Each time he swung it greatly, the undead were swept away like fallen leaves, and when he thrust, their chests were pierced like skewers and they fell.

The blizzard and the white lion were no different.

Keureureu…… Kkaeeng!

The white lion rushed in to help, only to disappear upon touching the guy’s aura, and the blizzard was struggling to even keep up with his speed.

The Sword Aura’s nullification ability and offensive stance.

These two alone were driving him crazy, but the defensive stance was also very tricky.

[Used Black Lightning.]

[Becomes lightning and quickly moves, piercing through everything it touches.]

[Uses the Bairan Swordsmanship Fourth Form, One Sword.]

[The Unfortunate Hero takes a defensive stance.]

[While in a defensive stance, defense power increases, and the next attack is unconditionally automatically defended.]

‘Agh!’

By sacrificing the undead, he barely managed to get behind him, but when he launched an attack, that damn defensive stance automatically defended it.

If he hadn’t parried the incoming attack, he would have been countered properly.

And that meant death.

Kwaaaang-!

-……Is that right, Master?

-Goodness.

If he were hit by that merciless strike, he would disappear without a trace.

What was surprising was that it wasn’t the power of the Sword Aura – Strike, but just a blow with some force.

Then, if the guy intentionally launched a strike?

[The Unfortunate Hero uses ‘Sword Aura – Strike’.]

[Warning! It’s an overwhelming strike. Avoid it.]

-Dodge, Ttadak-ah!

Ttadak……!?

Gotong-i couldn’t avoid it in an unbelievable range covering a diameter of 10M, and was reverse summoned at once.

Was it because of Gotong-i’s retirement, who was close to a commander?

[Outlaw Undead is reverse summoned.]

[Outlaw Undead is reverse summoned.]

[Ogre Undead is reverse summoned.]

…….

Starting with that, undead began to be reverse summoned one after another,

[The 2nd Corps Commander, ‘Ogre’, is reverse summoned.]

-Ogre-ya!!

Ueoeo…….

Eventually, even Ogre, who was left alone and struggling in the front, couldn’t hold out any longer and retired [was reverse summoned].

This was what happened in just one minute.

‘……There’s not much time left.’

The duration of the Tears of the God is almost over.

Jihad’s mana is also bottoming out, so he can’t summon the undead army again.

Do-hyun’s stamina and mana were also showing their limits.

He only realized ‘part’ of his true name, and it’s like this, what if he awakens once more?

‘I’ll definitely lose. I have to end it now somehow.’

Do-hyun, who was starting to sweat bullets, raised his spurt with the heart of a candle squeezing out its last light before collapsing [pushed himself with a desperate final effort].

Ability? Skill?

Those were meaningless.

Kaang-! Kang!

Only pure combat continued, with swords and spears meeting.

It wasn’t a choice Do-hyun made with his will.

[Stamina is below 10%.]

[Be careful with stamina management.]

It was just a choice he made because the situation forced him to.

Even if mana was because of the Tears of the God, Do-hyun couldn’t do anything about his stamina.

And that wasn’t much different for the guy either.

[The Unfortunate Hero takes an offensive stance.]

[The Unfortunate Hero takes an offensive stance.]

The guy, who freely switched between offensive and defensive stances, started to not release the offensive stance from some point on.

The reason was simple.

‘Yeah, you’re at your limit too.’

He had been continuing the 1:25 battle all along.

His life force was heading towards the bottom from being beaten like a dog on a dog days [being relentlessly attacked], and his mana and stamina had also reached their limits from rampaging as soon as he awakened his true name.

That guy was also squeezing out his last strength.

Kaang-! Kang!

Sparks flew as the Thousand Transformations and the spear, swung purely without Black Lightning or backstabbing, met.

Kang!

Charlie fills the gap, replacing Do-hyun who was pushed back.

And Do-hyun follows right behind him.

It was truly a desperate battle without an inch of retreat.

[Stamina is below 1%.]

[All stats are reduced by 50%.]

[All speeds are reduced by 50%.]

He forcibly moved his body, which was becoming increasingly difficult to move, dodging, deflecting, and countering attacks.

He moved without resting for even a second, with the mindset that the one who falls first loses.

How many times did he repeat that?

[Life force is below 5%.]

[Be careful.]

[The Unfortunate Hero’s life force is below 5%.]

One more time.

Now that he was driven to a situation where he could end it if he landed one more effective hit.

Cheok.

The three people stopped rushing and stood still at the same time, as if they had made a promise.

But the reasons for stopping were different.

[The duration of the Tears of the God has ended.]

[Thunder Dragon Descent is解除 [removed/deactivated].]

[Darkness Coating is解除 [removed/deactivated].]

[Mana is below 1%.]

…….

Unlike Do-hyun, whose transformation was undone as the duration ended, the guy raised his spear and took a stance.

[The Unfortunate Hero uses ‘Sword Aura – Strike’.]

[Warning! It’s an overwhelming strike. Avoid it.]

He was trying to gather the mana he had saved until the very end for this moment.

He was about to unleash the final strike.

-My lord!!

Charlie desperately blocked him, but the guy’s strike was even faster.

—-!

An overwhelming speed that made it hard to believe he was the same guy who had been struggling until just now.

The spear, swung in the blink of an eye, was emitting an explosive energy that would swallow Do-hyun at any moment.

A moment of utter desperation.

But Do-hyun rather raised the corners of his lips.

“I knew it.”

-……?

“Did you think I wouldn’t have thought about the duration?”

The best judgment anyone could make right now was to save the last strike.

And the guy’s strongest strike was that strike.

Of course, he could predict with his eyes closed that he would be preparing a strike as his last attack.

[Uses Reverse Heaven Stage 3, Heaven.]

[Accepts the strike of destruction and grasps the foundation.]

And Reverse Heaven is not just a skill, but a swordsmanship.

Do-hyun, who had been waiting only for this moment, activated the 3rd form he had been preparing in advance, and everything in front of him seemed like slow motion.

The energy of the strike spreading forward.

Seueuk.

As he watched it in real time and stretched out Thousand Transformations to a particularly empty point, the energy of the strike was absorbed.

As he stretched out his foot and deflected it, the trajectory of the strike of destruction was shifted to the side.

Hwirik-

As he rotated once, the energy of the strike that had been undulating like a wave was imbued in Thousand Transformations.

[It’s an overwhelming energy.]

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

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

“It was good when you were the only one using it, right? You should experience it too.”

-…….

Then, Do-hyun, who smiled slyly, unleashed Thousand Transformations as it was, and a huge strike covered the guy in reverse.

But the guy had the title of a hero, a high-ranking Eternal Knight.

Was he not one to be defeated by just this much?

[The Unfortunate Hero takes an offensive and defensive stance.]

[Unconditionally deflects the first attack it comes into contact with, and can add that repulsion to the rotational force of the next attack.]

‘This crazy…… he had something like that and wasn’t using it?’

A hidden stance of the combat stance that he thought was two.

He was taking out what he hadn’t taken out until the very end, and was trying to reverse the situation.

‘This really crazy game…….’

There’s a limit to balance collapse, even if he was a hero in his lifetime.

Isn’t it too much for an Eternal Knight who has become a corpse to come up with such an idea?

That’s not intelligence, it’s instinct.

If that’s instinct, it gave him goosebumps how great a hero he must have been in his lifetime, but Do-hyun shouted as if he had been waiting.

“Charlie!!”

-Yes, my lord!

[Charlie has activated a covenant with Kaiser.]

[The sacrifice effect is activated, taking powerful damage instead.]

[Charlie’s life force becomes 1% after receiving damage at the level of instant death.]

A knight’s heroic skill, Covenant [a skill where a knight sacrifices themself to protect their lord].

He had told Charlie in advance just in case, so he was able to use the Covenant at the perfect timing.

The guy didn’t even think of nullifying it, perhaps because he didn’t expect him to hold out like this, and was standing there blankly.

Taat!

Do-hyun, who had bought some time, jumped back greatly to create distance, and the guy, who belatedly came to his senses, rushed in urgently.

He had endured, but that was all.

He instinctively sensed that the victory was his now that Charlie was as good as retired [near death].

Originally, Do-hyun’s defeat would have been decided here.

“Originally, that is.”

Do-hyun, who smiled slyly, looked at the guy who was rushing in urgently and put his hand into his inventory.

What Do-hyun held in his hand was an arrow.

[Uses Astra’s Arrow.]

[Due to the effect of Mimicry, it reacts to the wearer’s will to shoot an arrow and transforms into the most suitable form for the user.]

“Checkmate, you bastard. You’ve done enough, now just die.”

-……!

To be exact, it was an arrow.

Do-hyun, who was holding what had transformed into a harpoon-like form over 3M [3 meters] long, threw it forcefully,

[Casts the Poem of the Hero.]

—-!!!

A dazzling light exploded and covered the cave.