Ranker's Return

Chapter 799

“Choose just one: Leave this place or stay quiet.”

Liru alternated looking between Jeras and Hyeonu with half-closed eyes. Even so, the temperature difference was obvious. There was a dull gaze when he looked at Jeras, but when he looked at Hyeonu, he closed one eye slightly before opening it and making a playful look.

‘I guess we’re in the north.’

Hyeonu saw Liru’s expression and grasped the situation. Then he immediately followed Liru’s rhythm.

“I will be quiet. I’ve never been the type to do a preemptive strike. It was self-defense for everyone to live.”

Hyeonu inserted the Mysterious Sky Sword into the sheath. Then he raised his hands above his shoulder. He expressed with his entire body that he had no will to fight at all.

“Really? What about you?”

Liru turned to look at Jeras. Unlike when he faced Hyeonu, Jeras couldn’t hide his bewildered expression at all. It was because he was shocked by Liru appearing here.

‘Why is he here...? This isn’t the north?’

“How... are you here...?”

Jeras was confused. Liru shouldn’t have appeared here. Why did Liru, who never left the vicinity of his temple in the northern part of the divine world, appear at this moment at the border between the central and north areas?

“Why aren’t you answering? Are my words funny?” Liru once again asked the silent Jeras.

“If you don’t answer until the time I count to three... a new king of the god tribe will be born today, yes.” Liru playfully clenched his fists before opening them.

“...I will go. However, this is something I will definitely remember.” Jeras dispersed the rainbow spear and returned to the army of the divine world.

“Remember? You have to remember it clearly. Whose favor made it possible for you to live in the divine world? Have you already forgotten?”

Liru was annoyed by Jeras’ words and actions. This was why his expression stiffened. He couldn't hide his displeasure.

“There is a saying among adventurers that if the favor continues, the person will think it is a right. I think that is what the god tribe is like right now,” Hyeonu didn’t miss the change in Liru’s expression and quickly added these words.

“I really like that saying. If the favor continues, they think it is a right...” Liru smiled at Hyeonu’s words and repeated them. Then Liru reached out to Jeras. Jeras, who was moving toward the divine world’s army, instantly reappeared in front of Liru. Liru looked down sternly at Jeras, who had been suddenly dragged in. “As the king of the god tribe, sincerely thank me for doing the god tribe a favor.”

Liru’s actions were truly one-sided, but Hyeonu felt refreshed by such an appearance. It was because he had just fought for his life with Jeras just now. At the same time, awe toward Liru and curiosity about the story between him and the god tribe arose.

‘What type of relationship does he have with the god tribe that he said he did them a favor?’

He couldn’t ask the question because the scenes in front of him were very interesting.

“Saying thanks...”

Jeras was flustered by the sudden development in the situation. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before getting down on his knees and bowing to Liru.

“I, Jeras, king of the god tribe, would like to express my gratitude to the sun god Liru for his grace to our god tribe, including Veradin,” Jeras spoke while knocking his forehead to the ground several times.

"Yes, this is the mindset that you should have. I am the master of the divine world. It is none of your business no matter where I am.”

Liru regained his smile. He gestured to Jeras with a more relaxed expression on his face. Jeras’ body stretched out following Liru’s beckoning and naturally stood with both feet on the ground.

“Tell it to Veradin as well. Know the subject.”

Liru finished what he wanted to say and flicked his finger. Then the entire divine world’s army, including Jeras, disappeared. They really disappeared in an instant.

“Good work. It wouldn’t have been easy to get to the north.”

Liru approached Hyeonu. The tiredness that had been seen when he first appeared, or the appearance of just waking up, had disappeared completely.

“Yes, it was a bit hard. It is quite a burden to have people to take responsibility for,” Hyeonu replied to Liru’s question without hesitation.

He didn’t hide his difficulties.

“Yes, it is hard to be responsible for people.”

Liru nodded.

“Still, you will have to get used to it. There will come a time when you have to take on that role.”

However, Liru advised that Hyeonu should get used to it rather than telling him that he worked hard. Hyeonu simply thanked him, “Thank you. I would’ve been in huge trouble if it wasn’t for you, Liru.”

“What thanks? I was originally planning on going out,” Liru replied like it wasn’t a big deal.

‘Should I ask him about that?’

The situation was completely cleared up, so Hyeonu had the desire to resolve some of the questions that came to his mind.

“By the way... can I ask you a few questions?” Hyeonu thought for a moment before carefully opening his mouth.

“A few? I will be generous. I’ll answer up to five questions.” Liru smiled playfully and spread out five fingers.

“Liru, haven’t you been alive a really long time?”

“Yes, as far as I know, no one has been alive longer than me. This is the first question,” Liru responded before Hyeonu’s question even finished. He folded one finger. It was a sharp interjection.

“This is a bit...”

Hyeonu expressed his dissatisfaction by closing his mouth tightly, pressing his tongue hard against his cheek, and biting his lip. However, Liru just laughed and blinked. It was as if he had done something wrong.

“Let me ask the second question.” Hyeonu pronounced it strongly and accented every letter. “What is the relationship between the divine world and the demon world? That is what I’m curious about.”

All the questions that Hyeonu prepared were questions that spanned the entire worldview. It was information that would be very helpful for Hyeonu when playing Arena in the future.

“The demon world and divine world? Where should I start explaining?”

Liru frowned at Hyeonu’s question. He didn’t know how he should explain it. There was too much to explain.

“What you are curious about isn’t the birth of the demon world and divine world, but how it took the form it did today. Right?”

Hyeonu nodded. He wasn’t curious about things like the birth of the demon world and divine world.

“The answer to this question is too long. Will you still listen? You can back off,” Liru said while pretending to fold three fingers.

‘Three? Is it long?'

Hyeonu momentarily thought about it. There were four left, but it cost three questions to listen to this answer.

‘There is one left... because he said it was long. It is okay.’

He could ask one more question as long as he didn’t make the same mistake as the first time. Hyeonu had high expectations for this question. He also had a lot of faith in Liru. It was in the wide scale of thinking of the sun god.

“It’s fine. I would appreciate an answer to this question.”

Liru showed a slightly surprised expression at Hyeonu’s gracious reply.

“Really? I will tell you just once so listen carefully,” Liru opened his mouth as he stared into the distance with dim eyes that seemed to recall the past, “The demons and god tribe didn’t exist in the demon world and divine world from the beginning. A long time ago, they were pushed out of the middle world while fighting against the giants.”

“Huh? Pushed out by the giants?” Hyeonu’s eyes widened as he asked.

It was an amazing story. The demons and god tribe were originally from the middle world. It was also the giants who pushed out the demons and god tribe.

“The three most prosperous tribes in the middle world were the giants and the ran and ra tribes that you now call the demons and god tribe. It is the ran tribe who were gifted with the talent to deal with dark attribute magic power while the ra tribe had the talent for the light attribute. Of course, the giants were overwhelmingly powerful. They were different in their ability to fight. There were even shamans who worshiped a god. It was only natural that the ran and ra tribes would be defeated in the war.”

In many ways, it was amazing.

‘It was worth three questions.’

Hyeonu was really satisfied. Liru’s mouth showed no signs of stopping, but this short answer alone was enough to make the three questions worthwhile.

‘By the way, the shamans worshiped a god?’

Hyeonu felt like he was struck by lightning.

The shamans who worshiped a god and the giants—the moment these two keywords were combined, something came to mind.

“Perhaps... the heavenly father of the giants. Is it you, Liru?”

“How do you know that? Don’t you have a pretty good brain?”

Liru folded one finger with surprise.

‘Shi... this again...’

Hyeonu barely endured the insult that wanted to come out at Liru’s actions. It was a completely unexpected move. However, Liru didn’t care about this and continued with what he had to say.

“Due to the giants, the ran and ra tribes moved to the demon and divine worlds respectively. There were hundreds more demonic creatures than there are now and there were divine creatures and gods in the divine world.”

“Can I ask you one more question?” Hyeonu couldn’t contain his curiosity and opened his mouth.

“No, don’t ask. Keep listening,” Liru resolutely refused Hyeonu’s question.

Then he continued to answer, “The two tribes expressed their unique opinions as the damage when adapting to their new homes increased. It is similar to a fixed thing. Just as the giants had a god, they also needed a god. At that time, both the ran and ra tribes had geniuses as the great tribe chiefs. The two great tribe chiefs became gods after sacrificing more than tens of thousands of tribe members. They called themselves tribe gods.”

It was a secret history, a secret history. A demon god and god. It was about the birth of these two.

‘That is why that guy acted like that.’

It wasn’t just because Liru was the sun god that Jeras bowed his head. In the distant past, gods like Liru allowed the god tribe, or more precisely, the ra tribe, to establish a place in the divine world. Additionally, Liru was originally a complete god unlike the tribe god created by the ra tribe. He was complete from birth.

“But right now, both of them are asleep. I can’t let these dogs develop a habit... when those humans behind you ascended to the divine world, the tribe gods were beaten up by a few humans, including Larenix.”

The seriousness disappeared from Liru’s face and playfulness filled it again.

“You mean Larenix? A tribe god lost? Aren’t they gods, even if they are incomplete?”

Hyeonu made a face like he couldn’t believe it.

“They call themselves gods, but they are just ignorantly strong bastards. A god isn’t such a light title.”

A corner of Liru’s mouth curved up. He was obviously laughing at someone.