Ranker's Return

Chapter 727

The battle between Baler and the emperor came to an end.

They were strong. The battle couldn’t be long. One mistake would directly cost them their life.

A groan emerged from Baler’s mouth as his arm was cut by the emperor’s sword. The wound didn’t recover. Rather, the emperor’s magic power gradually penetrated it and started to corrode it.

Baler’s movements became more drastic. He neglected his wounds and launched an attack to kill the emperor. Baler’s fist missed the emperor and hit the air. The space itself shattered at the fist. Even so, nothing changed for the emperor right next to it.

The emperor seemed to be in a windless area where even the breeze didn’t blow. At this moment, the emperor’s sword slashed at Baler’s non-injured arm. However, Baler stretched out his arm to the emperor like nothing happened. The movements of the two people stopped.

“Looking at this, Baler is overdoing it a lot. He lost his reason simply due to anger. In fact, this isn’t the case. It is because he really wants to kill the emperor. He can give his flesh and bones to do so. You all know it, right?” Hyeonu explained why Baler was unreasonable.

Those fighting at a similar level were bound to be cautious. It meant that the battle soon became boring and there were no variables. However, abandoning their caution and acting boldly could quickly show results.

“Baler has shown his confidence here. Confidence that he can win.”

Hyeonu played the still video. The stopped Baler and the emperor started to move again. Baler’s huge palm hit the emperor’s upper body. There was the sound of something bursting and the emperor’s body was pushed back. However, the emperor wasn’t just beaten. A long diagonal line appeared from Baler’s right chest to his left pelvis.

“It is good for you to think about it like this. For example, you have to open your eyes until the end when learning boxing. Open your eyes to the end when playing PvP. Don’t just get hit and hit back... This in itself will increase your chances of winning.”

-Sometimes you can concentrate and sometimes you can’t.

-I can’t help being scared.

-It is okay fighting monsters, but PvP is a bit hard.

Both Hyeonu and the viewers marveled at the emperor’s concentration. In a battle against monsters, the most important thing was to fight without getting hit. It was because the monster had a lot of health. Meanwhile in PvP, it was important for players with relatively low health to hurt their opponents even if they were hit during the process. This was due to the high probability that such damage would be a decisive variable in the game.

It was as Hyeonu said. The emperor’s counterattack had a decisive impact on the battle. Baler’s movements weren’t the same as before due to the pain and damage that was much more serious than the cut on his arm.

After several more exchanges, the emperor showed strange behavior. He held out his palm toward Baler, extended his arm and formed a fist. Then Baler’s movements stopped momentarily. He flinched and shook. The emperor swung his sword at Baler. Baler quickly released his magic power toward the emperor’s sword.

However, Baler’s magic power didn’t have any shape. It couldn’t even stretch out and just stopped. The emperor’s seven-colored sword fell toward such a Baler. Baler’s body was cut vertically and split in two. The emperor stepped on Baler’s body and continued to walk forward.

The video ended here. The subsequent battles weren’t prepared separately because everyone had already watched it on the real-time livestream.

-By the way, why is Baler flinching.

-At the end, he couldn’t even use magic power properly.

-What did the emperor do?

Viewers asked after seeing the battle that ended in such a manner. They didn’t understand it. Why did Baler suddenly become like that at the end?

“It is because of a skill that the emperor has. I’ve seen it before... I don’t know exactly what it is. It is just an incredibly powerful skill. I think you can just understand it like that.”

Hyeonu knew exactly what skill the emperor used on Baler. It was the same skill he used to hit the hatchling in the final stage of Rondal, the Luos Empire’s academy.

‘This time, it was a demon king, so he couldn’t kill Baler in one blow.’

The difference in power between a hatchling without reason and a demon king was enormous. It might be the emperor, but it was still impossible for him to burst his opponent at once like back then.

“Then as the communication leader, there will be some time to communicate.”

***

Hyeonu spent a short time talking to viewers. There was also time to see Tang-E’s cute actions and sleep in the middle. Time passed and it was time to end the livestream.

“Then today’s streaming will end here. See you next time.”

-Increase the streaming time!!!

-The most important thing isn’t getting feedback.

-Our Alley Leader has the skill to see only what he wants to see. He won’t see it even when looking at it for a hundred days.

Hyeonu casually ignored the requests of the viewers. Now he couldn’t afford to stream more often.

‘Once the league starts... it is possible.’

Ironically, Hyeonu was the busiest before the Spring League began. He was conducting New Moon, the audition to select players, and started training regularly with the selected players. To grow the character, he also had to hunt, increase his skill proficiency, and do quests. He even streamed in real time, so he realized what it meant by ‘24 hours is insufficient.’

“I will seriously consider increasing the number of livestreams after spring.”

-Spring? What spring?

-What will change after spring?

-Who knows? Isn’t he busier? The league is starting.

-What... he can’t even show the internal training...

Viewers tried to figure out the meaning of Hyeonu’s words. However, there was nothing to know. There were just vague expectations.

“Next time!”

Hyeonu ended the livestream while waving to such viewers. After the livestream, Hyeonu looked at the sky and stretched.

‘This sky is good.’

Hyeonu liked the clear sky. He felt better when he saw the sky of the middle world, which was clearer than the sky of the demon world.

‘I should hurry and go.’

Hyeonu placed Tang-E and Gom-E on his shoulders and walked through Phinis. He promised to meet someone.

‘It has been a while since I’ve sat on the throne.’

The meeting point was naturally the lord’s castle where the Throne that Defies the Natural Order was located. To be exact, it was near it. The Throne that Defies the Natural Order was hidden by Suped’s magic. Hyeonu arrived at the location of the Throne that Defies the Natural Order and the person he promised to meet had already arrived.

“Guardian!”

The name of the man who called out to Hyeonu was Kalui. He was the leader who led the descendants of the Luos Empire that remained in the demon world.

“Kalui, have you been well in the meantime?”

Hyeonu greeted Kalui with a smile. He was an NPC who was very important to Hyeonu. It was because he would present Hyeonu with a direction to move forward.

‘Quest, please let a quest appear.’

Hyeonu thoroughly hid his insides full of desire.

“Everyone is living comfortably thanks to your consideration,” Kalui replied with a solemn expression.

“Let’s go inside and have a conversation. There is a lot to discuss.”

Hyeonu nodded with a smile. Then he pointed to the empty space where there seemed to be nothing.

“Huh? Inside... what?” Kalui stuttered.

He thought Hyeonu was playing a prank on him. Otherwise, Hyeonu wouldn’t be pointing at the air. The only possible reason was him going crazy.

“Just follow me. There is a space inside,” Hyeonu told Kalui before focusing his senses.

At first, he didn’t feel anything. Then as time passed, he felt a familiar sensation.

“Just stick behind me and follow me.”

Hyeonu slowly moved according to his feelings. Kalui followed Hyeonu’s words and walked closely behind him.

“Eh?” After a moment, an exclamation burst from Kalui’s mouth. He had only taken a few steps, but the scenery in front of him had completely changed. Something huge appeared in the vacant lot where nothing was visible.

“D...Dragon?” Kalui looked astonished when he identified the huge object. The identity of the giant object was the head of a purple dragon. Dragons were also a target of fear during the prime of the Luos Empire. No, it was safe to say they were the enemy of the empire.

“You don’t have to be too surprised. It isn’t alive. It is a corpse.”

Hyeonu walked through the air and entered the dragon’s mouth. There was a chair with several giant dragons engraved on it.

‘Throne that Defies the Natural Order...’

He only used it once, but he still remembered getting huge stats.

“Tang-E, give me the buffs and then get down,” Hyeonu spoke to Tang-E, who was on his shoulder.

From the moment he sat on the throne, the effect of Throne that Defies the Natural Order would be triggered. Thus, he had to receive Tang-E’s buffs before he sat down.

“Understood, Master dude.”

Tang-E had this experience before, so he naturally gave Hyeonu Forest's Blessing and jumped toward the ground.

[You have received the Forest's Blessing.]

[Defense has increased.]

[Health will continue to recover.]

Hyeonu checked the message in front of him before sitting down on the throne. Then Hyeonu’s vision was disturbed by new message windows.

[Preparation for Defying the Natural Order 2 has been used.]

[The rate at which magic power and health decreases is in proportion to the time and there are up to five stages.]

[The stage will rise every minute.]

[Stage one has begun.]

‘This is the second time.’

Hyeonu confirmed that the only difference from last time was a number and removed the message windows. From that moment on, Hyeonu’s health and magic power started to be rapidly dragged toward the throne. Hyeonu captured the magic power that was being dragged away. Then the amount of magic power absorbed by the throne started to decrease significantly.

‘This much... Is it stage 4 from last time?’

After regaining his composure, Hyeonu lowered his head and looked down at Kalui.

“Kalui, I want to ask you something.”

Hyeonu focused during every word. Otherwise, his magic power would be sucked into the throne.

“Ask me, Guardian.” Kalui bowed deeply to Hyeonu. It was a greeting to the sole guardian of the Luos Empire who had the qualification to be an emperor.

“Before, you definitely said that the descendants of the Luos Empire remain in the middle and divine worlds, right?”

“Yes, Guardian. There is one place in the middle world and one in the divine world.”

“Can you tell me the locations? I’ll bring them back.”

This was Hyeonu’s purpose. Collecting all the descendants of the Luos Empire.

‘I will get something once I’ve collected them.’

There was only one reason for gathering the descendants of the Luos Empire. It was due to the quest that might be created by them. After the main scenario in the demon world, Hyeonu needed another quest. Simply leveling up through hunting wasn’t too efficient.

“I know where they are, but I don’t know the exact location.”

Kalui’s answer was strange. He knew, but he didn’t know. It was a contradiction.

“Are you saying that the past and current names might be different?”

Then Hyeonu soon understood Kalui’s words. It was because he went through the same situation. During the incident when he gained the giant’s relic, the bracelet on Tang-E’s front paw, the place had a different name than the past.

“It isn’t like that.”

Kalui shook his head. The name probably wouldn’t have changed. It was because few people knew the existence of the place.

‘Even I only heard the name at the end.’

Only the imperial family of the Luos Empire knew the location. It wasn’t until shortly before the destruction that three non-imperial family members came to know about it.

“The name of the place is Bung Bung Island. It is a fantasy island where the Marionette Bears live.”

Tang-E and Hyeonu reacted simultaneously when the words ‘Bung Bung Island’ were heard.