Ranker Who Lives Twice

Team: HH, Yahiko, thursdays (8/10)

『I opened my eyes because I heard something strange while I was sleeping. It seems like things are a mess.』

Doyle smiled bitterly as he looked around him. The curse of the Heavenly Demon had ended up messing many things up. If only he didn’t fall asleep to transform, things wouldn’t have gone so awry.

『Anyways. I feel it every time, but I really want to do something about those dragon eyes. Thanks to them, I missed seeing Heaven Wing’s daughter.』

Just then, the aura around Doyle completely changed. A heavy and intense wavelength extended around him.

Kwaaaaa—

It had Doyle’s face, but it wasn’t Doyle. It was another being with Doyle’s face.

Black demonic energy wrapped around him, and his hair turned white. His eyes flashed red.

『Head Bishop……! Where is Doyle?』

Kahn, gritting his teeth, glared at the head bishop. He was stopping himself from running at him.

『I don’t know. Where is he?』

The head bishop smiled lightly.

Something disconnected in Kahn’s head at that moment.

『You son of a b****!』

Boom!

Kahn threw his body at the head bishop. Blood poured out of his cut hand and took the form of a sword.

〈Flow of Blood〉. It was the signature skill of Blood Sword. It didn’t just end with many Bian combined to take the form of a sword, but it amplified attack power by creating wavelengths when it was swung, and it could even attack enemies that were far away.

But in the eyes of the head bishop, it only looked like child’s play.

He put his hands behind his back and lightly rolled his feet.

Boom—

But the result wasn’t light at all. All of the mountains trembled, and cracks began to appear on the surface.

Kahn, who was running at him, was blown away. The Ice King and Victoria were swept away as well while they had been waiting for a chance to attack.

Dust clouds descended around then, and as if that wasn’t enough, the space began to twist.

In there, the head bishop rubbed his creaking hands and feet.

『Hmm, I can’t rein in my strength because I’m not used to my body yet.』

It was why he needed the power of the shedding. He lightly clicked his tongue. What he wanted wasn’t simply to become a divine being. He had wanted the power to erase the curse engraved upon his soul.

However, his long preparations went up in flames. He felt tired of thinking about whether there would be anything to replace the shedding or if he had to look for the remains of another face. There wasn’t much time left for him.

‘Or do I really have to pull in their power?’

The head bishop realized that the guy who gave him all this trouble wasn’t among those blown away.

He clasped his hands behind his back again and lifted his head.

The space moved again, removing the white dust clouds, revealing Yeon-woo high up in the air with his wings of fire spread apart.

The head bishop realized that hundreds of Ruyi Bang pieces were circling around him.

They were what used to be the sacrificial vessel. Ownership of them had gone over to Yeon-woo.

『Are you going to seal me with this? How amusing!』

The head bishop laughed lightly and took a step forward. Although he was in Doyle’s small body, an enormous presence was still emitted from him like he was a giant.

But.

Gulp!

He paused in the middle of dashing to Yeon-woo. Blood was vomiting from his mouth.

『……Oh, dear. Is this too much?.』

The disharmony of soul and body. Doyle’s vessel was still not enough to hold the head bishop’s great soul.

But because he had still forced it in…..

He had probably only lasted this long because this was Doyle’s body. A body like Doyle’s, which was abnormally advanced with divine abilities, wasn’t easy to obtain.

Hwihwihwi—

Just then, the pieces of the Ruyi Bang around the head bishop began to whirl around.

[72 Bian- Bong, In]

Kwakwakwang!

The pieces pattered down. Various Bian were used, and Boo appeared through a new space at some point and was adding on more magic.

The number of attacks increased. It felt as if the Five Mountains would collapse.

The head bishop let go of one hand behind his back and waved it in front of him. Like he was pushing aside curtains, the pieces attacking him were swept away.

It was an unbelievable divine energy.

『This.』

He clenched his left hand into a fist.

『Is how you do it.』

And extended it in the air in front of him.

Kwaaaang!

Demonic energy wrapped around his fist and exploded. The explosion happened right in front of Yeon-woo.

It was a shock that made his body feel like it was being beat up. Yeon-woo was only able to endure it after protecting himself with his wings of fire.

The tens of layers of barriers Boo made shattered with the explosion.

The head bishop was too strong. How was he able to handle such strength with an unfamiliar body like that?

For a moment, Yeon-woo thought of the Martial King and the Summer Queen. The head bishop was as strong as them, like he had expected. If he was in his real body, what would’ve happened to him?

At the same time, he had another thought.

‘How….. was Jeong-woo able to fight against this guy?’

While he was falling to the ground, he barely restored his wings of fire and caught his balance.

And.

Pat!

With Blink activated, he reached the head bishop. At the same time, he exploded his condensed Black Aura.

Krrrrng—

The destructiveness of the wave of fire made the head bishop shiver. Surprise spread across his face as he barely escaped it.

『I heard a lot about you, and I see you’re more amazing than the rumors! The Six New Stars? How can they put you in the same group?! Yes. You should amount to this much to be able to get in my way. Yes. Of course.』

The head bishop stretched out his hand and bent forward.

『Alright, then shall we see if you can stop this, too?』

His hand quickly split through the air. Space was cut and what was in his way was swept away.

Pupupung—

Yeon-woo blocked the head bishop’s strikes with black Aura. It was a speedy attack that was hard to follow with his eyes, but Draconic Eyes, Extrasensory Perception, and Time Difference helped to fill in for what he lacked.

Still, the head bishop had the upper hand. Yeon-woo had become stronger after swallowing the shedding, but he hadn’t been able to learn the 72 Bian’s tricks and the Heaven Bracket yet, so there were limits to what he could do.

While the intense battle was occurring,

Pat!

A shadow opened behind Yeon-woo, and his subordinates jumped out.

Shanon climbed high into the sky atop the Bone Dragon and spewed out Poison Breath. Hanryeong and Rebecca aimed for the head bishop’s blind spots.

Boo flicked his finger and drew different magic circles in the air. In the opened Void, magic attacks came pouring out.

It was the power that made the alliance into nothing.

Kwakwakwa—

『What an amusing thing you have there.』

However, the head bishop was still relaxed, like he was out for a stroll.

When he rolled his feet again, the earth suddenly shot up and blocked the Bone Dragon from moving.

While it hesitated, trying to catch its balance, the head bishop didn’t miss his opportunity and hit the air in front of him.

Kwang!

The Bone Dragon’s right wing exploded.

While the large body pitched towards the ground, Shanon jumped and tried to attack the head bishop.

However.

『Is it there?』

The head bishop stretched out his thumb and middle finger to draw a line mid-air. Steps appeared in the air and cut Shanon’s body.

「No way……!」

Shanon disappeared with those words.

『One down.』

The head bishop smiled with satisfaction and flicked away Vigrid, which was aimed at his neck.

In that steady position, he turned his body around and reached out with his left hand. Two swords shot into them like magnets. Rebecca and Hanryeong’s faces hardened.

『Three more to go.』

He closed his left hand.

The superior quality swords cracked. While their pieces blew in the air, demonic energy exploded once again to fling away Rebecca and Hanryeong.

He said he wasn’t familiar with this body, but he had already eliminated three of Yeon-woo’s subordinates.

『And the last one.』

He flicked his finger to where Boo was.

Tak!

〈Space Disconnection〉. As the space twisted, the Inferno Sights in the air disappeared. The head bishop blocked off any interference from the outside.

『You have some good subordinates, but they’re nothing in front of such overwhelming power.』

He smiled looking at Yeon-woo, who was still fighting against his right hand.

『Right?』

Kwang!

All of Yeon-woo’s skills were crushed when the head bishop swung his sword again. Yeon-woo was pushed back far away. There was a trench in the ground where he was propelled backward. Blood dripped from the hand that was holding Vigrid.

There was too much of a gap in their strengths.

Yeon-woo painstakingly felt how great of an existence the Nine Kings were. He felt as if he had met a great city wall.

『Just give up. You can’t defeat me. Still, I’ll offer you a suggestion. I’ll give you a bishop position. Serve the Heavenly Demon.』

Doyle clasped his hands behind his back with a smile.

『No. If you help me to become another face of the Heavenly Demon, this position will be yours. It’s a shame the others died, but if you all fill those positions, it will be a great blessing for us.』

The head bishop took a liking to Yeon-woo and Kahn while he watched them during the ceremony. If things worked out, he genuinely wanted to give them the head bishop position.

Of course, Yeon-woo wasn’t one to be tempted by such words.

「……What’s that crazy bastard going on about?」

「It’s because he’s the leader of the lunatic believers. But he’s too strong. I heard that monster’s the only one who’s still growing among the Nine Kings. It seems the rumors were correct.」

Hanryeong and Shanon appeared behind Yeon-woo and muttered. Because they were undead, they didn’t die, but because their existences had almost been extinguished, their bodies were a lot fainter than before.

Rebecca, who appeared quietly above them, didn’t say much, but her face was determined.

‘If I can take in Heaven Bracket—if I can absorb the strength of the rest of the shedding, will I be able to catch up?’

Yeon-woo quickly checked the area between him and the head bishop. The head bishop was pushing himself into Doyle’s body. Yeon-woo thought there might be a way to attack his openings.

He soon arrived at a conclusion.

‘…..There is.’

He tried getting into form again to fight the head bishop. His body screamed in pain, but he forced his sword up. He gritted his teeth at the fact that he couldn’t move his hand.

‘But I can’t use Heaven Bracket immediately. Then what if I activated Authorities? Will that work?’

The answer came soon.

No.

Then?

‘If I can amplify my strength temporarily by accepting all the Authorities.’

The answer this time was…..

‘It works.’

The gods and messages began to send Yeon-woo messages after reading his thoughts.

[Thanatos looks at you expectantly.]

[Nergal suggests you examine his Authority.]

[Osiris is expectant.]

[Ares is expectant.]

[Prince Nezha is expectant.]

[Vimalacitra makes a suggestion to you.]

……

[Agares screams, saying not to look at what’s his.]

[All godly societies ignore him.]

[All demonic societies ignore him. They want an answer from you.]

Messages popped up endlessly.

[Current possible Authorities: 925]

If he accepted all of them? He was sure that he’d be able to fight head-to-head with the head bishop temporarily.

Then there wasn’t any time to waste.

『Haaaaa…….』

Yeon-woo breathed in deeply and woke up the senses in his body.

『Hup!』

He gripped Vigrid harder.

Nine hundred great beings extended their hands to Yeon-woo as if they had been waiting.

[You have gained Thanatos’s Authority, ‘Night of Harvest.’]

[You have gained Nergal’s Authority, ‘Hogubyeolsung.’]

[You have gained Vimalacitra’s Authority, ‘Gubidara.’]

[You have gained Prince Nezha’s Authority, ‘King of Ten Thousand Soldiers.’]

……

[You are obtaining too many Authorities. Your body cannot withstand them. It is suggested that you stop contracting the remaining possible apostle positions.]

[Warning! You are obtaining too many Authorities. It is possible your body may be destroyed.]

[Warning! You are obtaining too…..]

Authorities symbolized the powers of the beings.

Crunch, crunch—

Holy powers that didn’t align with each other collided. Many voices rang in his ear.

However, that much power filled his body. Vigrid cried out.

Yeon-woo opened his Draconic Eyes’ Authority and combined Heaven Bracket with it.

Then, he brought down Vigrid powerfully.

[Third Dragon Body Awakening]

[All Authorities released.]

[Wave of Fire]

[Heaven Bracket – Lightning Strike]

Krrrrrng—

A storm of fire, lightning, and holy power fell where the head bishop was.

It was too much for even the head bishop to handle.

『What the……?!』

Urrrr—

He was able to avoid the brunt of the Lightning Strike, but he was still injured, burns scattered across his body.

『……You heretic! You dare! To me!』

The head bishop gathered his demonic energy with a crumpled face. He was worried his body would fail him, but he couldn’t let Yeon-woo get away with it.

However.

『What……?』

Strangely, he couldn’t use his body. He glared at Yeon-woo with wide eyes.

『Sorry, but it’s over.』

Although Yeon-woo was sitting on the ground from overexertion, he snickered at the head bishop.

The head bishop could feel a small but deep injury on the back of his head.

It was an injury that didn’t hurt his body.

However, the location of the injury was where his soul and body were connected.

『Just….. when?』

Only

The head bishop turned back.

Kahn was gasping as he glared at him. Blood dripped down his right hand.

〈Blood Bomb〉. A skill that condensed blood. While the head bishop was busy with the Lightning Strike, Kahn had quickly cut his veins and thrown his blood.

Was this what they were after in the first place?

The head bishop had a lot to say, but he fell over. His soul was kicked back to its original location.

Plop—

Yeon-woo was finally able to pass out only after seeing the head bishop fall.

Yellow sparks of holy power jumped around his body.