Ranker Who Lives Twice

Gnash! “Those sons of bitches. Do they have no dignity as transcendents?” A distance away from the last site, envoys from godly societies were grouped together, waiting for Yeon-woo. They were all fighting each other over the revelations, but they were still tied together because they were all gods.

All the godly envoys were displeased. They had always been worshipped and admired, so it hurt their pride to be treated like this. It was particularly humiliating that they were helping the giants, who were descendants of their former enemies. Just as the relationship between the demons and dragons had been bad from the beginning of the universe, the same could be said for the relationship between the gods and the giants. In the heavenly world, there were still gods who hated the giants more than they did demons.

If not for the revelations—and more urgently, the upcoming battle with Allforone—this wouldn’t have been necessary. They would have retreated and waited for Yeon-woo to experience a weak moment. However, since time was short, they had to work with Yeon-woo. The representatives of absolute good and evil, Malach and L’Infernal, especially needed the revelations, and it was logical that they would sacrifice Gabriel and Gamigin.

However, although the gods obeyed Yeon-woo, their resentment of him only grew, not realizing that they had their own part in this situation. They already forgot that they had tried to use Yeon-woo as their pawn first.

Gods were beings who were meant to rule over all things. They couldn’t have emotions like regret, shame, or remorse. They believed they were the center of the universe, and the world moved according to their will. From their perspective, Fenrir, who wagged his tail at Yeon-woo, and Agares, who didn’t hide his obsession with Yeon-woo, were transcendents who had abandoned their honor.

They weren’t the only ones; Jie Sect’s Wang Ling Guan continued to show goodwill towards Yeon-woo, and the demonic societies were all attempting to build good relations with him.

“Do they all plan on being used like dogs?”

“Erlang. What do you think?”

The godly envoys all looked at a beautiful man in their center who was sitting in a lotus position with shut eyes. It was Chan Sect’s Erlang Shen. He slowly opened his eyes and the godly envoys watched the light radiating from him with wonder. It was easy to see how he had become one of the three leaders of the Chan Sect. Chan Sect was one of the five great godly societies, along with Malach, Asgard, Deva, and Olympus. After their former leader, the Yellow Emperor, had fallen asleep on the Three God Mountains from some unknown illness, three leaders ruled in his stead: Erlang Shen, Prince Nezha, and Leizhenzi.

Their fame had spread throughout the heavenly world. It was said they were the greatest beings, who were powerful, wise, and noble. In fact, the Chan Sect had only grown stronger after the three leaders had taken the Yellow Emperor’s place.

In particular, they possessed the amazing legend of once having stood against the despised Heavenly Demon, who was the common enemy of all gods and demons. All the godly envoys naturally gathered around Erlang Shen when he arrived. Erlang Shen accepted their actions with grace, as if it were only natural. However, he hadn’t spoken a word to Yeon-woo since arriving. He didn’t try to flatter Yeon-woo like the others or attempt to approach him. He only observed Yeon-woo with an impassive face.

The envoys who’d known Erlang Shen for a long time knew this meant that he was judging strengths and weaknesses of his enemy. They were now asking to see if he had learned anything useful.

But once again, Erlang Shen had no reply. The other godly envoys thumped their chests in frustration. It would have been good if he had said something. It wasn’t good for them to stay in the hidden stage of the lower world for a long time. The more time they spent there, the more laws of causality their societies would have to pay. It would also be a huge annoyance if the owner of this place, the Crawling Chaos, noticed them.

‘We’ve been lucky so far but…’

‘If the Crawling Chaos realizes we’re here, it’ll be dangerous.’

‘He’s a monster. Nothing good will come from associating with him.’

It was impossible for them to fight the Crawling Chaos unless a progenitor or creator god stepped up to help. He could swallow not just their incarnations, but also the true bodies were still in the heavenly world.

Considering that they were in his holy territory, just being here was like an act of suicide. If they didn’t enjoy a high level in their societies, they would have gone crazy or been swallowed up already. None of the gods wanted to be here. They wanted to leave as soon as possible, and Yeon-woo’s tyrannical commands were frustrating to them.

Just then, the last site Yeon-woo entered began to shake. The gods and demons all turned to it with surprise since it was the first time for a phenomenon like this to occur. Erlang Shen opened his mouth for the first time. “He’s here.”

A great wave of magic power lashed around them. The holy power within it made the envoys straighten their backs. The creature they feared to encounter was projecting his will to their location.

“The Crawling Chaos!”

You. Again.

* * *

Yeon-woo smirked at the words. He could feel the Crawling Chaos carefully examining him through the darkness. Unlike the last time they met, the Crawling Chaos probably couldn’t read him easily since he’d grown incomparably stronger. The Philosopher’s Stone and Dragon Heart activated to protect his body. ‘Still…he’s strong. I can feel it in my nerves.’

Yeon-woo narrowed his eyes at the prickly feeling at his fingertips. Although he had progressed greatly, the holy power of the Crawling Chaos still overwhelmed him. How strong was he? The more Yeon-woo learned, the greater the Crawling Chaos seemed. ‘But he doesn’t seem so far away now.’

Back then, the Crawling Chaos had seemed like a wide ocean he could never cross, but now, he was more like a large river. Besides, his true body seemed to be located some distance away, and only one part of him was watching Yeon-woo at the moment. Was the Tower blocking him from sending his true body even though this was his holy territory?

Yeon-woo could feel the Crawling Chaos’ thoughts reaching him and bouncing off. He could read emotions of displeasure and surprise from the being. The Crawling Chaos’ thoughts suddenly became sharp as though he were glaring at something.

Revelations.

As expected, the Crawling Chaos knew precisely why Yeon-woo had become stronger.

Some. Time. Ago.

The. Wheel. Was. Spun. Back.

Was. That. You.

He was most likely speaking of the time that the Heavenly Demon had turned back 200 years of the universe. Yeon-woo clucked his tongue. The gods and demons hadn’t mentioned anything, which meant they hadn’t been able to feel it. However, the Crawling Chaos clearly had.

Since it wasn’t something he needed to hide, he didn’t deny it. He cocked his head with a grin. “So what if it was?”

Not. Something.

A. Mortal.

“You don’t get to decide whether I’m worthy or not of having the ability. That’s for me to choose. I’m facing you today because I have something to say.” Yeon-woo cut off the waves of thoughts coming from the Crawling Chaos. The being also stopped emitting them, as if he wanted to know what Yeon-woo wanted. “Do you remember what I offered some time ago?”

Yeon-woo was speaking about his offer to help the Crawling Chaos in exchange for the original revelations. The Crawling Chaos had turned him down, saying the revelations couldn’t be traded that way. Yeon-woo could tell that the Crawling Chaos possessed quite a large amount of the revelations. ‘The giants only discovered a section of what he has.’

Apart from Valdebich’s hopes, Yeon-woo had other reasons to clash with the Crawling Chaos: the revelations contained the only path to darkness. “I’ll change that offer to a warning.” Yeon-woo narrowed his eyes. “From this moment on, I’m going to take over your territory and take my followers from you. Then, I’ll take the revelations from you as part of the spoils of war.”

If he couldn’t prevent the Crawling Chaos from noticing him, then he would declare war. Yeon-woo wanted to walk the path of a god, and he needed to move forward with confidence for his legend to shine. “Prepare for your death and wait.”

…

The Crawling Chaos was silent for a moment.

I. Shall. Wait.

Then, he left. Was Yeon-woo only imagining that it felt like the Crawling Chaos had been grinning? However, Yeon-woo was sure of one thing: the war with the Crawling Chaos could no longer be turned back. ‘I’m going to be busier.’

He needed to train the half-giants faster.

[The scenario quest (Proof of the God and King IV) has been created.]

[Please check the details of the quest in your quest window.]

* * *

When Yeon-woo left the last site after his conversation with the Crawling Chaos, the godly envoys all dashed toward him, shouting.

“###!”

“What have you done?!”

Everyone had heard his conversation with the Crawling Chaos, and they were all astounded. They had been careful to avoid catching the Crawling Chaos’ attention, but Yeon-woo had suddenly declared war. Since they were helping him, they had no choice but to be involved as well.

[The godly society <Deva> protests vehemently!]

[The godly society <Chan Sect> says they cannot become involved in this war!]

[The godly society <Malach> awaits your statement!]

…

The other societies pressured him in the same way.

“So?” But Yeon-woo just smiled crookedly.

“What?”

“What are you…?”

The envoys were flustered. Yeon-woo turned to them and the societies in the heavenly world. “Didn’t I already say it? You have to work like dogs if you want the revelations. This is only part of it.”

No one could reply.

“Participate in the war. Then you can have the revelations.”