Ranker's Return

Chapter 934

The emperor heard the roar of the dragon right in front of him and there wasn’t the usual boredom on his face. No, his exact facial expression couldn’t be read. It was because the light emanating from the emperor’s eyes covered more than half his face.

“I would believe it even if it is a real dragon.”

The emperor marveled in a tone that was higher than usual. The sight that Hyeonu created was amazing.

‘There is nothing? This doesn’t work either?’

Hyeonu bit his lip as he saw the emperor’s strange face. He thought it was just a possibility. He didn’t expect it to work properly. However, he thought there would be a bit of impact because it was upgraded under Callioraks’ blessing.

‘Then this is right.’

Hyeonu let go of all expectations. Debuffs were meaningless. It just purely had to be combat.

‘Let’s just believe in Manifestation of the Chaos Dragon.’

The dragon floating behind Hyeonu quickly moved through the air. The dragon flew in and was absorbed by Hyeonu, who then started to move in earnest. It was incomparably faster than when he received any buffs. He went in and out of the space dominated by the emperor’s magic power like it was his own house.

The Mixed Sky Sword crossed through the air in an instant. The Mixed Sky Sword flew so fast that it couldn’t be seen properly but the emperor held out his sword toward it. Just before the Mixed Sky Sword and the emperor’s sword collided, a seven-colored membrane appeared at the end of the emperor’s sword and blocked in front of the emperor.

Hyeonu felt that the attack was blocked, so he grabbed the Mixed Sky Sword with both hands and swung it like an axe. His intention was to break the membrane made by the emperor.

Just then, the emperor moved. He stepped forward and raised his sword. It was a blow that didn’t look fast or strong. It was like watching an elegant dance. However, the result was shocking. The Mixed Sky Sword rose back to its original position as quickly as it had fallen.

The emperor naturally rotated in place and swung his sword horizontally. The emperor’s sword struck Hyeonu’s empty side. A sharp metallic sound burst out. The emperor’s sword should’ve cut Hyeonu’s side, but it was blocked by something.

“A spear?” The emperor’s eyes widened when he saw the spear in Hyeonu’s hand.

Hyeonu didn’t respond to the emperor’s words as he caught the Mixed Sky Sword, which was spinning in the air and falling. Suddenly, the spear disappeared again.

“You use an interesting thing.” The emperor realized that the spear that appeared in Hyeonu’s hand wasn’t made by magic power. It was a weapon that actually existed.

‘I have to keep the spear in mind.’

The emperor remembered the word ‘spear’ in his mind and lightly kicked off from the ground. The emperor’s body approached Hyeonu like he was being pushed gently. Yet unlike the smooth-looking movement, the speed of the charge was very fast. It felt like a ghost was approaching.

Hyeonu extended his left hand, which wasn’t holding the Mixed Sky Sword, toward the emperor. Then he used Mixed Sky Steps and rushed at the emperor. The emperor felt the magic power scattered around Hyeonu’s hand. This was a magic power operation that the emperor knew well.

‘Land of Mirrors.’

It was a secret technique only passed onto the commander of the Knights of Keon. The emperor also knew of its existence. He had to know about it. It was because his teacher was John Blake, the former commander of the Knights of Keon.

“I don’t recommend using such a technique in a fight with a powerhouse.”

The gliding emperor lifted his sword. Seven-colored magic power rose on all sides. Right behind the spots where the seven-colored magic power sprang up, purple magic power had gathered together to create huge walls. Then continuous explosions occurred between the seven-colored magic power and the purple walls. It continued to explode non-stop.

‘He is using Land of Mirrors backwards?’

Hyeonu was horrified by the sight of the emperor. Land of Mirrors was a skill to create mirrors with magic power, raising walls with it, and attacking the opponent trapped inside. Meanwhile, the emperor used it backwards.

‘That isn’t the point.’

Hyeonu’s eyes widened as he saw the emperor approaching right in front of him. It had been a while since Land of Mirrors had returned to nothingness. The important thing right now was the emperor at hand. The emperor’s sword moved in a smooth trajectory. It wasn’t flashy. It was a beauty that came from neatness.

Hyeonu carefully blocked the emperor’s sword, which was like a rose.

‘Where is it going next? Above? Below?’

Hyeonu’s eyes contained only the emperor. It felt like he would be cut by the emperor’s sword if he lost concentration for even a moment. Hyeonu instinctively swung his sword toward the emperor’s flying sword.

An explosion and powerful shockwaves filled the imperial palace. This conflict didn’t end with just one time. It happened again and again. No one was pushed back. No great skills were used in the battle between the two people. There was only melee combat.

The emperor slashed with his sword. Hyeonu raised the Mixed Sky Sword with both hands to block the emperor’s sword. Hyeonu endured the heaviness that wanted to bury him in the ground and shook off the emperor’s sword.

‘A counterattack...’

Then he swung the Mixed Sky Sword toward the emperor. The Mixed Sky Sword was instantly covered in magic power. At the same time, the figure of the Mixed Sky Sword disappeared for a moment. It was the secret move that Hyeonu had hidden. It was Cutting the Moonlight.

The problem was that the moment Hyeonu used Cutting the Moonlight, the emperor’s sword also disappeared. The vanished weapons belonging to Hyeonu and the emperor came into contact. Then the ground of the imperial palace split around Hyeonu and the emperor.

Blood flowed from between Hyeonu’s closed lips.

‘I can’t do strength vs strength at all.’

He belatedly realized it. However, this was unavoidable. Hyeonu hadn’t expected that Cutting the Moonlight could be blocked with another Cutting the Moonlight.

‘I’m glad I have the buffs.’

Fortunately, his health that was shaved off was quickly restored thanks to Tang-E’s buff. It was just that Hyeonu’s decreased fighting spirit didn’t rise again. He was feeling the limit bit by bit. The battle with the emperor was like a swamp. No matter what attack he used, it was blocked. On the other hand, the emperor’s attacks ate away at Hyeonu.

‘How the hell is he programmed?’

It was hard to understand. What made them create this monster?

“Uwahh!” Hyeonu shouted and rushed back at the emperor.

“Don’t lose your dignity. Maintain your dignity until the moment of death.”

The emperor shook his head at Hyeonu. The emperor should always be dignified. That was the basics.

‘If you die, then you die. Does dignity matter?’

Hyeonu laughed at the emperor’s words. It was to keep his dignity as long as possible. Everything was unnecessary after death.

‘If this was shown on the live stream...’

It was a terrible thing. He was stressed as he thought about how much he would be teased by the viewers.

‘No matter what I say, it won’t work.’

Additionally, every time Hyeonu said anything, the viewers would mention the battle with the emperor.

‘So... I have to win.’

Hyeonu gritted his teeth tightly and swung the Mixed Sky Sword. The emperor still managed to fend off Hyeonu’s attack with a neat motion.

“The important thing isn’t what is seen, but what isn’t seen.” The emperor stopped Hyeonu’s wave of attacks and continued speaking.

‘What?’

Hyeonu felt a sense of strangeness as he wielded the Mixed Sky Sword. An alarm bell rang in his head. At the same time, a foreign sensation rose in his body.

‘What does this feel like?’

It felt like something was crawling on his body. It was subtle but very unpleasant. He was very nervous. His concentration that had been fully devoted to the battle with the emperor was gradually dispersed. His scattered concentration immediately affected the battle. An attack that would’ve previously been casually blocked passed right by his face.

‘Annoying. It is too annoying.’

Hyeonu was cornered. His reaction to the emperor’s attacks became slower and slower.

‘I can’t lose here like this!’

A storm-like fighting energy flowed out of Hyeonu’s body. At the same time, the strange sensation in Hyeonu’s body disappeared. Hyeonu confirmed that his body had relaxed and pushed toward the emperor like a bulldozer. He didn’t know when that thing would happen again. He had to end the battle before that. Otherwise... he wouldn’t even be able to fight properly.

The moment that Hyeonu rushed at the emperor, an explosion occurred in Hyeonu’s body. Hyeonu’s body helplessly soared into the air. Then it literally fell to the ground.

Just then, the rankers who were tied by the rope opened their mouths and started to talk.

“He can’t get up?”

“Did he fall down?”

“It ended in such a vain manner.”

They literally just stood up. The ropes around their body fell to the ground. In the first place, they weren’t tied up. They just wrapped the rope around their bodies.

“He is definitely very strong.”

“Even a guild will lose when facing him, right?”

“There are health recovery items... of course they will lose.”

“I just think his health and magic power are infinite.”

They were horrified to see the battle between Hyeonu and the emperor. They had been constantly watching Hyeonu’s fight, but this was the first time they had ever seen a battle like this. Hyeonu poured everything out. Hyeonu’s strength could be seen better because they were rankers, so it came to them as an insurmountable wall.

“Then what should we do?” Gang Junggu carefully spoke to Suped.

“Leave the imperial palace and act as usual.” Suped waved his hand and pointed outside the imperial palace. The players sneaked out of the imperial palace with Suped’s permission.

There was something the players couldn’t see because they were blinded by the thought of surviving. It was that Hyeonu didn’t disappear.

“Duke Suped, you should also go back to work. Don’t you have a lot of things to do?”

The emperor waved his hand at Suped. Suped bowed to the emperor and left.

The emperor, who was left alone, grabbed Hyeonu’s leg and started moving. Hyeonu was dragged away and disappeared into the great hall.

***

Hyeonu was covered in sweat as he came out of the cube. Hyeonu ran to the kitchen, opened the fridge, took out a bottle of water and drank it. Hyeonu emptied the large bottle at once and shook his head like he finally came to his senses.

“Hey, are you crazy? What’s wrong with you?” Yeongchan saw all of Hyeonu’s actions and looked at him like he was pathetic. He couldn’t help speaking when he saw Hyeonu running around the room and drinking 2 liters of bottled water at once.

“Hey, what would I be doing?”

Hyeonu walked weakly and collapsed on the sofa.

“What did you do? Speak properly. That way I can understand it,” Yeongchan said with a distorted expression.

“I lost.”

“You lost? Who did you lose to? Don’t tell me... did you lose to the emperor?” Yeongchan asked with wide eyes. That shouldn’t have happened.

“I lost to the emperor. I don’t even know how I died at the end. It was dark in front of me, so I logged out right away.”

Hyeonu recalled his last moments. He used Fighting Energy Emission and rushed at the emperor, but his body suddenly became weak. At the same time, his health plummeted to the bottom. Therefore, he just logged out. He didn’t want to see the message that he died.

“You logged out? Didn’t you die?” Yeongchan cocked his head slightly to one side. There was something strange about Hyeonu’s words. “You can’t log out when you die, you idiot. You have to look at the message window before leaving.”

Hyeonu heard Yeongchan’s words and rushed back into his room.