Ranker's Return

Chapter 830

‘I need to insert a spoon into the battle...’

Hyeonu felt a sense of crisis that wasn’t particularly a crisis as he attacked the temple of the demon god. It was very paradoxical that he was feeling this way when things were going well.

‘It is going to be really hard this time.’

He couldn’t see any gaps for him to intervene. Both Callioraks and John Blake were fighting very easily.

‘Will I only gain contribution for Tang-E’s buffs? Should I go out now?’

It was too bad to do just this. There was a large rice cake in front of him. It hurt him to take only one bite from it. Even so, there was no other way. It was obvious that he would explode like a shrimp caught in a fight between whales. Hyeonu’s lingering regret grew when Lebron replaced John Blake a short time later.

“It isn’t as hard as I thought. In particular, he lacks a lot of experience. He is the epitome of a self-made warrior.”

John Blake took advantage of a brief gap to step back. Then he pushed Lebron forward.

“Is he a powerful idiot?”

Lebron checked again as he pulled out his sword.

“It is about that much. He fights ignorantly and it isn’t hard if you can get it.”

John Blake made harsh comments about the guardian he had dealt with. It was a thoroughly objective assessment by John Blake.

“I see... I understand.”

Lebron accepted John Blake’s assessment. It was because he was thinking something similar. The guardian was obviously strong. He possessed an overwhelmingly stronger magic power than Lebron and had better physical strength. However, the most important area was severely lacking. Its identity was techniques.

‘He has fought that monster for too long.’

Lebron immediately figured out the problem of the guardian.

Callioraks—the ultimate monster with no end in sight. It was hard to believe that he was a dragon like the dragons in the middle world. The guardian had fought countless times against such a Callioraks. Naturally, everything had to be tailored to Callioraks.

He had become a type of specialist. It was in a semi-forced manner. It might’ve made fighting against Callioraks a bit easier, but it was a clear disadvantage when fighting against other strong enemies.

‘I will definitely show him.’

Lebron thought only of winning his battle against the guardian. There was no experimentation. There was only victory.

Lebron’s body disappeared in a flash and a purple line formed in the air. Just then, the guardian’s rapier drew a semi-circle. Soon after, the purple line collided with the guardian’s rapier. The guardian’s rapier trembled and hummed like crazy. Then the guardian lightly shook off the sword.

This one action turned the aftermath of the shock into nothing. The next moment, the vanished Lebron reappeared. Lebron was holding his sword behind the guardian’s back. He moved the sword lightly from top to bottom. The guardian spun around and stretched out his rapier to block Lebron’s sword. A heavy echo spread across the battlefield and Lebron’s body was pushed back.

It was Lebron who attacked, but he was pushed back due to a lack of strength. Lebron quickly restored his posture like he hadn’t received any damage. Then he headed straight forward and swept his sword toward the ground. The ground cracked and the debris flew toward the guardian. They might be debris but their size was never small. The size of the debris was at least one meter.

The guardian blocked all the debris heading toward him. He didn’t strike them with his sword. He released magic power to form a hemispherical shield.

‘Where did he go?’

The eyes of the guardian widened. Lebron disappeared as soon as the guardian created the shield to block the huge debris. He wasn’t just invisible to the eye. He couldn’t be felt at all. It was as if he never existed.

“Petty tricks like this...”

The guardian’s eyes narrowed like a reptile. Just then, purple pure energy wrapped around the guardian.

‘What is this?’

The guardian felt an instinctive anxiety at the wall of pure energy that appeared in an instant. It was clear that the purple pure energy belonged to the human being he had just hit and fought. However, there was no human being. Only the pure energy appeared. Nevertheless, the response was instinctive.

The guardian quickly stabbed his sword. At the same time, his body spun quickly. He started digging at the purple wall at a crazy speed like a woodpecker digging at a tree. Then swords popped out of the purple wall like crazy. It was an amount that could be inserted into the guardian’s entire body.

However, such an attack didn’t break through the guardian’s shield. Everything was blocked. They just stuck in the shield like a hedgehog.

Lebron’s attack wasn’t over yet. It wasn’t known where Lebron appeared from, but he swung his sword at the top of the guardian’s head. It was a cut that separated the space—Cutting the Moonlight, the secret technique of the commander of the Knights of Keon.

‘He used Cutting the Moonlight so quickly?’

Hyeonu admired Lebron’s battle. He was surprised by the power shown by Land of Mirrors and surprised again by Cutting the Moonlight that easily stretched out.

‘Still, can he win with this?’

This didn’t mean that Lebron would win. Lebron’s attacks were strong, but the guardian’s defense was stronger. In the end, he wouldn’t be able to win the fight if he couldn’t break through. At this moment, John Blake opened his mouth from where he was watching Lebron fight, “Now the exploration is over.”

“Exploration?” Hyeonu asked with a surprised expression.

‘Did I misunderstand the meaning of an exploration battle?’

The exploration battle was literally a battle to explore the opponent. It felt like light jabs. Meanwhile, the battle in front of him weren’t jabs, but more of a hook or straight blow.

“There is no power. He hasn’t summoned the magic spirit and there are still quite a few techniques that he is hiding.”

In the past, Lebron’s current appearance would’ve been his true power. Then Lebron made tremendous progress ever since coming to the demon world. He gained magic power, which he was lacking, and learned new skills, including the magic spirit. The words ‘rub one's eyes with wonder’ fit well.

“Most of all, Lebron is familiar with it. He has a lot of experience fighting opponents with more magic power than him,” John Blake added a sentence about Lebron.

“Is that opponent the emperor?”

Hyeonu immediately found the answer. Not many people would be superior to Lebron when it came to magic power. The most likely one among them was the emperor.

“Yes, His Majesty was the opponent. His Majesty not only has a lot of magic power, but he uses things from magic power to swordsmanship. Nothing is lacking. On the other hand, apart from this guardian having a lot of magic power and a fast reaction speed… there is nothing to be concerned about.”

John Blake’s head moved up and down in a nod. It was as Hyeonu said. The person who Lebron fought against the most was the emperor. It was John Blake’s thought that there was no need to worry about Lebron. As if to prove that John Blake’s words were true, Lebron’s movements changed. He summoned his magic spirit and wrapped it around his body like John Blake.

It was from then on. Lebron became a completely different person. Lebron’s attack with the magic spirit was twice as strong as before. It was the same attack, but had different results.

“Run to the temple!”

Just then, a loud roar was heard from where Callioraks and the four guardians were fighting. At the same time, all five guardians rushed inside the black pyramid. Lebron fired pure energy at the fleeing guardian. Dozens of pure energy attacked the guardian, but the guardian had a shield. The shield was troublesome to the end.

Lebron’s attack ended with shattering the guardian’s shield. It didn’t directly hurt the body.

“Callioraks, what is going on?”

Hyeonu ran to Callioraks with a bewildered expression at the sudden situation.

“There is a crisis, so they’re going to run away,” Callioraks replied bluntly like he had expected it.

“Can you just let them go?”

“It doesn’t matter. After all, I’m not aiming for them, but something else.”

“Huh? Something else...?” Hyeonu asked as his words trailed off at the end.

“Of course, it is the demon god. Those guys were just small obstacles. The goal is to kill the demon god.”

Callioraks’ goal wasn’t the guardians. His ultimate goal was to kill the demon god protected by the guardians.

“In any case, it is impossible for them to run away. Not only are they unable to run, but they can’t use space movement. It is all blocked.”

The surroundings were tinged purple as Callioraks spoke. It wasn’t just a domain skill. It was a skill that put the world under his feet.

“Additionally, there is one more thing that they’ve misunderstood. The fragments you mentioned. They must’ve believed in the fragments of the demon god and ran away... I know about the existence of the fragments, so the countermeasures have already been completed.”

Callioraks gave a strange smile.

***

[Go to the middle world and find my fragments. Then I will be resurrected.]

As the battle against Callioraks intensified, the voice of the demon god echoed in the minds of the guardians. This was what allowed the guardians to flee to the temple simultaneously like they had become one.

“Escape to the middle world as God said.”

“Give up the body here.”

“We have to go for the fragments.”

“He can be resurrected in no time using the magic power of the middle world.”

The guardians, who fled inside the temple, spoke urgently while surrounding a huge coffin. The demon god was sleeping in the coffin they surrounded. The demon god was immobile, but his mind was connected to the five guardians. He used it to give orders to the guardians like now.

“Where is the movement magic circle prepared/”

“It isn’t far from here.”

“How will we know where the fragments are?”

“We won’t know unless the fragments are nearby.”

“It must’ve been rumored in some way. The human controlled by the fragments... it can’t be covered up.”

The priests exchanged opinions for a while before immediately leaving the temple. They were in danger of being caught by Callioraks. The priests carefully exited the temple using a hidden passageway. Not long after, someone approached the coffin. The one who approached the coffin was Callioraks. Callioraks stared at the coffin for a long time.

“It has been a long time. No one knew it would take so long to get revenge.”

Callioraks opened the lid of the coffin and placed his palms on the body of the demon god inside. His palm pressed down on the demon god’s forehead and he started to mumble something incomprehensible. The demon god’s body started to be covered in purple patterns. A long time passed before Callioraks carefully lifted his hand. At this time, all types of patterns had entered the demon god’s body.

“I will destroy not only your body here, but also the pieces of your soul that have been implanted in the fragments.”

Callioraks snapped his fingers. A clear sound echoed throughout the temple. At the same time, an intense light filled the temple.