Ranker's Return

Chapter 803

Hyeonu showed off ‘splitting the Red Sea,’ which would be talked about in the Arena community for a long time, and arrived safely at the snowy mountain.

“Master dude, I suddenly miss my friend now that I’m here.”

Tang-E thought of his orc friend, Cancun, when he saw the snowy mountain.

“Let’s go see him later. He will always be at home.”

“Yes, do that. I know he can’t leave the forest now. He is probably learning while getting hit hard. Poor friend...” Tang-E muttered with a sad expression. It was clear that Cancun would be struggling in many ways by now. Tang-E was sure of it. There was no way Raccoon could teach in an intelligent manner. It was obvious that he would teach with his body.

“I feel sorry for him. How painful must it be,” Hyeonu agreed. Raccoon’s method of teaching was truly one that relied on the senses. It was an abstract explanation and the education that followed with the body. Hyeonu had also experienced it himself a few times.

“You from the Venom Guild, are you okay?”

Hyeonu talked to Tang-E for a long time before turning toward the Venom Guild members, who were chasing after him from behind.

“We’re fine. We came here comfortably thanks to you,” Kalen, who was at the forefront, replied on behalf of the Venom Guild.

“However, it seems that other guilds followed us... is it okay?” Rose asked Hyeonu. It wasn’t just the Venom Guild that used the path that Hyeonu created. Some of the guilds that were present followed the Venom Guild.

“Will there be any difference if people who feel burdened cleaning up the monsters follow us all the way here? You said that the dark elf undead are that strong? They are people we won’t have to meet anyway. You don't have to worry," Hyeonu shook his head and confirmed it.

There was no need to think about those who had already failed once. Changes that would allow them to overcome previous failures were unlikely to happen in a short time, unless they did the fifth class advancement like Hyeonu.

“We just have to go our own way.”

Hyeonu started moving again. There was still a long way to go.

***

‘Isn’t the quest over if I just take a picture of Edward’s face?’

Hyeonu, who had been breaking through toward the snowy mountain without much difficulty, suddenly stopped walking at the thought that came to mind.

‘A quest... a quest...!’

Hyeonu quickly opened the quest window. There was one quest that was cleared.

[Revenge of the Giants has been cleared.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[A skill related to the giants is created.]

‘Yes, there is this.’

Hyeonu smiled when he saw the message window. It was a reward that he should’ve originally received a few days ago. Even so, Hyeonu was happy. He felt like he had found money in the pocket of the padded jacket he wore last year.

[Invincible Tribe]

[The giants have never been defeated in a war. Defeat was given to the enemies of the giants.

Type: Continuous

Rating: Epic

Skill Proficiency: F

All stats will increase by 100% in combat. Increases the speed of health recovery by 300%. Increases the speed of magic power recovery by 300%.]

‘Very good, really good.’

An epic skill was given as a quest reward, regardless of whether the other rankers only had one or two. Hyeonu was bound to smile.

Hyeonu was walking around with a smile like this when the group arrived at the entrance of the snowy mountain.

“From here, the dark elf undead will appear. These bastards are stronger than conventional dark elves. Their attack power and physique are much higher. In particular, they aren’t living beings, so they aren’t afraid of getting hurt,” Kalen looked at the snowy mountain while sharing information about the dark elf undead with Hyeonu.

“What about their intelligence compared to the usual dark elves?”

The downside of the undead was their relatively poor intelligence. The undead with a certain amount of intelligence were very senior undead. It had to be as much as the death knight that Sunny summoned in order to think and move by itself. Sunny had to give orders one by one to the dullahans and the normal skeleton undead.

“I’ve never seen a dark elf undead speak, but they are by no means stupid. It seems that all the habits of their lives have been preserved. It is said that most of them hide their presence and then make a surprise attack,” Kalen tried to explain what he knew to Hyeonu as much as possible, as this would increase the chances of breaking through the snowy mountain and reaching the glacier zone.

They could not guarantee that they would be able to reach the glacier zone alone.

“Really? Then the possibility that they have maintained their sense of reason can’t be ruled out. It is understandable that the other guilds have withdrawn from the snowy mountain.”

After hearing all of Kalen’s explanation, Hyeonu realized why the big guilds were struggling in the north. Currently, most of the large guilds were focusing on leveling up in the demon world. Hyeonu succeeded in the fifth class advancement and opened the overwhelming gap.

There was a significant change in power before and after it. Naturally, they had no choice but to stick to leveling up. They didn’t want to go to the north where hunting was hard and it was difficult to level up.

“Thinking about these things, it means the people following us are empty-headed. They can’t discern their own self-interests.”

Hyeonu harshly criticized the players following him and the Venom Guild. In Hyeonu’s mind, they were already fools blinded by small rewards.

“Let’s go quickly. We will break through the snowy mountain in a single day.”

Hyeonu started moving toward the interior of the snowy mountain.

“Don’t widen the distance too much. Keep the minimum distance.”

The Venom Guild closely followed behind Hyeonu. From here on, they really had to maintain tension. It was because they didn’t know when or where the dark elf undead would attack.

‘What? This uncomfortable feeling. Is someone nearby?’

Hyeonu felt like someone was staring at him.

“Be careful,” Hyeonu opened his mouth and gave a warning to the Venom Guild.

“Huh?” Crimson stopped at Hyeonu’s sudden warning and replied.

“Don’t stop and keep following me. There are dark elf undead nearby. Just move as if nothing happened. I’m saying this because they have a high level of intelligence.”

Hyeonu continued to walk without turning his head. The Venom Guild members muttered among themselves as they followed Hyeonu.

“Why is he saying that there are the dark elf undead?”

“How can I know this, you fool? He just said they are here.”

“Just know that it is correct. Isn’t he Alley Leader? Don’t say the wrong thing.”

"Yes, this isn’t a situation to joke around.”

Crimson was severely attacked by the other guild members for uttering the wrong words. Crimson had no excuses. His voice would become louder if he made excuses and this would be a nuisance to others.

‘They have moved. They’re coming soon.’

Hyeonu’s senses detected movement. Soon, Hyeonu’s eyes saw the identity of the movement. In the distance, black shadows were rapidly approaching Hyeonu and the Venom Guild.

“They’re coming! Be careful!” Hyeonu stopped walking and shouted while wielding the Mysterious Sky Sword. Purple pure energies covered the snowy mountain. The black shadows changed the movements according to the flying pure energies. They popped out in all directions. The purple pure energies literally flew away, smashing the trees and ground.

“Tang-E, use the magic that I mentioned earlier!” Hyeonu shouted as he saw the approaching shadows. Tang-E, who was sitting on Hyeonu’s shoulder, immediately used magic. It wasn’t strong magic, but it was magic that was more difficult than anything else in the current situation.

Purple flames appeared everywhere. The flames moved softly as if they were alive. In an instant, the wall of flames surrounding the black shadows and Hyeonu was completed. The dark elf undead who saw the wall of purple flames looked puzzled. Then a dark elf undead jumped over the wall of flames created by Tang-E. Just then, the purple flames blossomed and turned the dark elf to ashes in a single breath.

It was the moment when the meaning of Tang-E’s magic was revealed. It was intended to prevent them from escaping. It wasn’t about doing something to the dark elf undead directly.

‘I’ve already had enough in Avon Gorge.’

The magic was a product of Hyeonu’s previous combat experience. The more restricted the movement of the dark elves, the easier it was to fight.

“Fight comfortably. After all, the dark elves specialize in ambushes. They deserve a full-scale battle.”

Once all the preparations were in place, Hyeonu rushed toward the dark elf undead.

‘They don’t look as strong as when I was in the League of Different Species...’

Hyeonu had already seen the dark elves in front of him once at the League of Different Species. It didn’t matter how strong they became because they were undead. Hyeonu would be several times stronger than them.

Hyeonu ran quickly and reached out his left hand that wasn’t holding the Mysterious Sky Sword. Purple pure energy emerged from Hyeonu’s hand. The magic power that was fired made purple mirrors that enveloped the dark elves like the wall of fire made by Tang-E. It was Land of Mirrors taught by Duke Blake.

The dark elves ran toward the mirrors that surrounded them and stretched out their daggers. Just then, swords popped out from the purple mirrors and shot at the dark elves. The purple swords instantly pierced the bodies of the dark elves, but the dark elves did not stop. No matter how many swords pierced their bodies, they approached the purple mirrors and threw daggers with black pure energy.

“As expected, this is the problem with the undead.”

Hyeonu shook his head when he saw it. If there was one thing that made the undead superior to living things, it would definitely be this. They didn’t feel pain. However, they couldn’t move forever even if they were undead. The dark elves couldn’t move once the purple swords were lodged in their heads. They also stopped moving once ten or so swords were lodged in their bodies. All their health had run out.

[The cursed dark elf has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

‘Cursed? Is it because of a curse that they became the undead?’

Hyeonu cocked his head when he saw the name that appeared at the message window.

‘Indeed... Edward was the head of Alkyl.’

Hyeonu immediately agreed. Edward was the head of Alkyl, which was full of black magicians and necromancers. It was understandable if he used magic that turned the dark elves into the undead.

At this moment, the dark elf undead got through Land of Mirrors made by Hyeonu and arrived in front of Hyeonu one by one. Several black pure energies flew toward Hyeonu. However, Hyeonu leaned down slightly to dodge the attacks of the dark elf undead and swung the Mysterious Sky Sword. The body of a dark elf undead was struck by the purple-tinged Mysterious Sky Sword and exploded.

[The cursed dark elf has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

Hyeonu immediately used Mysterious Sky Steps and ran forward. He chose to attack first rather than waiting for the dark elves to come.

“Wow~ This is really...”

“I can’t understand it no matter how I look at it. Can we do that?”

“No, because we can’t run on the air.”

Cries of admiration burst from the mouths of the Venom Guild members as they witnessed Hyeonu moving freely through the air and destroying the dark elf undead in one go. Their appearance was no different from the passengers of a bus.