Ranker's Return

Chapter 152

Translator: rainbowturtle

Editor: LD & Jyazen

‘Is it a quest?’

Hyeonu pulled out his weapon but didn’t rush forward. He just stared at Floyd with questioning eyes.

“You don’t have to look at me that way. I don’t want to harm you.” After speaking, Floyd sat down with the spear still on his back. “Do you believe me? Rather, I’m thankful to you. You saved the clan for me.”

‘What does this mean again?’

Hyeonu shook his head at Floyd’s words. What did Floyd want him to do? Wasn’t Floyd the one who made his clan like this? Hyeonu was forced to ask Floyd about it since the situation was different from the information he obtained.“What do you mean?”

“The clan was lured by a wicked shaman and cursed by our Heavenly Father. They were deprived of their intelligence and courage. They asked me to kill them when they still had a sense of reason. However, I didn’t do so. How could I end their lives when I didn’t rule the clan properly?”

Floyd’s words were amazing. This was contrary to what Hyeonu had heard and the quest he received. If this was true, the boss monster he had to kill was Chroma, not Floyd.

“This is different from what I heard. I heard from Chroma that you rallied the clan to fight against your god...” Hyeonu briefly explained what he heard from Chroma.

Then Floyd started raging. “He dared to say that?!!!”

Floyd’s yell caused the vegetation to shake.

‘It is great just to hear it.’Hyeonu was glad that he didn’t have to deal with such a monster.

He might have fighting energy, but the fear caused by this monster seemed impossible to resist. It was just like when he couldn’t resist Raccoon’s Fighting Energy Emission.

“So your words are true? Chroma told me lies?”

“Of course. If I could leave this ancestral tower, then I would’ve killed him right away. He is a fallen shaman who led the clan to the path of annihilation.”

In Hyeonu’s eyes, Floyd looked much stronger than Chroma. Since Chroma wasn’t dead, Floyd probably had some type of ban placed on him so that he couldn’t leave here.

“So kill Chroma on my behalf. Then I will give you the chieftain’s sacred relic. In any case, I am a person without a clan. There is no reason to keep this.”

[The quest has been updated.]

[Mad Ruler of the Arperium] → [Fallen Shaman who led the clan to the path of extinction]

‘I think this is right? The quest reward is the giant’s sacred relic.’

It was the first time Hyeonu had completely changed the contents of the quest in this way. Then when he thought about it, this felt right. If Floyd was the one in possession of the sacred relic, then the quest reward wouldn’t be given by Chroma. Hyeonu would’ve obtained it as the quest reward if he had killed Floyd.

“Does Chroma have any weaknesses?”

In any case, Floyd couldn’t help Hyeonu directly. Floyd said he couldn’t leave this place. Thus, he couldn’t help unless Chroma was brought to the bell tower here.

“He was deprived of all the high ranking spells he received from our Heavenly Father. He can only use the basic spells. However, as a heavenly shaman, even his basic spells have great power.”

An idea passed through Hyeonu’s head. To confirm it, he asked Floyd, “Can you help me kill Chroma if I bring him here?”

Floyd was in a frenzy at Hyeonu’s question. “If he’s here? If that is the case, I will not just help. I will cut off his breath.”

“I understand.”

Hyeonu asked because he thought he might be pushed back while raiding Chroma. He believed that he wouldn’t die if he could run away in this direction.

‘I have insurance.’

It was time to hunt Chroma.

***

Hyeonu seemed a bit weary as he approached Chroma.

“I’ve hurt Floyd.”

Hearing Hyeonu’s words, Chroma looked delighted. Hyeonu would’ve been kept in the dark if he hadn’t heard the truth from Floyd.

“Really? My fellow kin... I can finally atone to my father,” Chroma murmured in a low voice.

‘As expected, NPCs can’t be trusted any more than people.’

Unlike his inner heart, Hyeonu acted on the surface for Chroma.

“I would’ve defeated him if I were a bit stronger. Still, I’m glad that you’re so happy.”

Shortly after Hyeonu’s words were over, there was a momentary chill in Chroma’s eyes. Hyeonu would never have noticed it if he hadn’t been watching Chroma carefully.

‘Floyd was right as I expected.’

Hyeonu placed a hand on his waist and prepared his magic power. He was prepared to draw Dark Star at any time.

“Is that so? It isn’t too hard to kill someone who is exhausted. I will bring you the relic soon. Go ahead and rest.” Chroma smiled at Hyeonu.

It was such a great performance that Hyeonu got goosebumps.

“Yes, I understand. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”Hyeonu turned his back to Chroma.

At this moment, Chroma used magic.A black fireball appeared in the air without notice and shot toward Hyeonu. However, Hyeonu was already prepared. He immediately turned back and swung Dark Star. A huge amount of pure energy was released from Dark Star and struck the black fireball. The black fireball and the pure energy were destroyed together.

Just then, lightning fell from the sky. It was Tang-E’s assistance. Hyeonu had hidden Tang-E far away. Before he and Chroma started fighting, he had nagged at Tang-E to use his magic appropriately.

‘It was worth it.’

The timing of Tang-E’s magic was just right. Lightning fell the moment Chroma tried to use his next spell.

“Ugh!” Chroma groaned.

There was a backlash of magic power. There wasn’t much damage, but it was twisted enough to feel uncomfortable.

“You! Did you already know?!”

Hyeonu responded to Chroma’s angry cries, “Don’t do this or that! Why are you trying to hit a person in the back?”

Hyeonu finished speaking and immediately used One Who Yearns. He didn’t have any information on Chroma, so it would be a big gamble to use the giant buffs all at once.

[One Who Yearns has been used.]

[All stats will increase.]

However, compared to the time when he fought the death knight using all his buffs, Hyeonu would never be pushed here. Rather, he boasted better specs now. Hyeonu had grown to such an extent that he couldn’t be compared to that time.

‘Mysterious Sky Range.’

The power of this Mysterious Sky Range was different from before. The size of every blade of pure energy was at least one meter, and there were dozens of these pure energy blades. Chroma was frightened by Hyeonu’s attack and used defensive magic. A dark blue film formed in the air and covered Chroma’s surroundings.

Hyeonu’s pure energy hit Chroma’s wall of defense. There was a fierce battle between the pure energy trying to break the wall and the defensive wall trying to block it. The winner was Hyeonu. The many blades of pure energy directly stripped Chroma of his defenses. Then they slammed into Chroma’s body.

[Fallen Shaman Chroma has been inflicted with the ‘petrification’ abnormal state.]

[Fallen Shaman Chroma has been inflicted with the ‘frozen’ abnormal state.]

[Fallen Shaman Chroma has been inflicted with the ‘bleeding’ abnormal state.]

[Fallen Shaman Chroma has been inflicted with the ‘binding’ abnormal state.]

[Fallen Shaman Chroma has been inflicted with the ‘burned’ abnormal state.]

The curse of the five-element spider triggered many abnormal states. Chroma screamed as pain filled his body,“Kuaaah!”

Blood burst from his wounds like a fountain. There was the feeling of someone holding onto him as well as burning and freezing sensations. Chroma was clouded by pain, and Hyeonu appeared at his side. It was Hyeonu’s unique rush. He never gave the opponent a break. Giving the opponent a chance to breathe during a raid was one of the great taboos. The pure energy cut Chroma’s waist.

However, there was the sound of an explosion instead of the sound of cutting. It was Magic Power Explosion.

“Human!!” Chroma glared at Hyeonu murderously for the pain that he suffered. It was so intense that if Chrom could kill with his eyes, Hyeonu would be dead 100 times.

“This isn’t scary at all.” Hyeonu, however, didn’t care about anything like that.He was just focused on Chroma.

Didn’t Chroma use magic? How much had his wounds healed? How much health was left? At this moment, Chroma started to mumble in a low voice. Then a dark blue magic power started to permeate his body.

“You! I will show you the origin of magic! It will be hard for you to die comfortably!”

As the dark blue magic power permeated Chroma’s body, all of his abnormal states were lifted and the wounds on his body started to heal.

“Yes, now it is that bullshit recovery pattern,”Hyeonu grumbled in a small voice.

The moment Hyeonu finished grumbling, a blue light flashed in his vision. A blue lightning bolt fell toward Hyeonu’s head. Hyeonu successfully managed to avoid the lightning using Wraith Form.‘I almost died in one shot.’

Tang-E saw this and rushed toward Chroma. ‘It will be hard for Master alone. I’ll help.’

He might be supporting through magic, but it was limited assistance. Consequently, Tang-E decided it was better to aim for a chance through Roar instead of using Giant Transformation.

“Master dude! I will help!”

Seeing Tang-E run over, Hyeonu’s expression distorted as he screamed inwardly, ‘That crazy bear!!!’

Hyeonu still had seven Blinks left. Tang-E had to remain as Hyeonu’s secret weapon. An invisible weapon was terrifying, but the power could be countered as soon as it was revealed. Most importantly, there was no guarantee that Tang-E would be able to avoid Chroma’s spells like Hyeonu. Tang-E might die in one blow.

‘This absolutely can’t be allowed.’

Hyeonu used Mysterious Sky Steps to quickly move toward Tang-E who had joined the battlefield. Then he grabbed Tang-E’s waist and started running like crazy.

“Don’t you dare run away from me!!” Chroma saw Hyeonu and Tang-E fleeing at a tremendous speed and started to pursue them. He was five meters tall, so his running speed was very fast. In this way, it felt like Hyeonu would be caught immediately after the duration of Mysterious Sky Steps was over.

Nevertheless, Hyeonu’s expression wasn’t flustered or troubled. There might have been problems in the process, but this was one of several situations he had considered. Therefore, it wasn’t a problem. Hyeonu was fleeing in the direction of Floyd’s bell tower.

‘Floyd should be able to handle him alone. I just need to get close to him.’

Hyeonu fled, and Chroma chased him. Who was the prey, and who was the hunter? It was something that wasn’t known yet.