Ranker Who Lives Twice

Cha Jeong-woo quickly raised Dragon Slayer to defend against the incoming attack. At that moment…

[The successor of ‘Day (Eros)’ reveals a brilliant light!]

A white ray of light shone on the Dragon Slayer’s blade along with a burst of flashing light. Jeong-woo’s signature skill, <Wave of Light>, which originally symbolized himself, shone splendidly while the old gods’ divine powers that were connected to him bolstered his overall power level.

Cha Jeong-woo vigorously swung Dragon Slayer into the air. The enormous frictional heat being generated seemed to burn space as a white aurora-like light filled the world. It was as if a sun had dawned upon a world that had previously been covered in darkness.

Rumble, Rumble, Rumble! Moreover, the thunderbolts that came out from the sun-like burst of light instantaneously covered the sky, covering the otherworld god who was streaking towards Jeong-woo. To be more precise, the thunderbolts dug deep into the otherworld god, ripped at its insides from within, and burned everything it touched.

Argh.

Hurts. Hurts.

Whoosh! The otherworld god did not have a fixed form. It existed as a mass of flames that had been created and amassed while existing for a long time.

These flames were created from the accumulation of power and achievements, so the flames created a barrier to protect the otherworld god from all external influences. However, the barrier was rendered useless by Jeong-woo’s overpowering attack, which shattered the barrier instantaneously. Moreover, the energy in the flame barrier contained the properties of protection and destruction, so the damage from its shattering was bound to be large.

Based on the divine power from the elder gods connected to him, Cha Jeong-woo’s vestige body had already converted all his magic power properties to those closest to Day. Naturally, to an otherworld god, a critical attack with this property was bound to be fatal. By the time the otherworld god struggled in pain and fell helplessly toward the ground, more than sixty percent of its body had already been rendered useless.

Hurts. Hurts.

Whoosh! Even after colliding with the ground, the otherworld god’s body continued to burn with a pure white flame like firewood. The burning went on for a long time.

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

The players who directly witnessed the scene, and the gods and demons from the heavenly world, were astonished. Even if the otherworld god was classified as a low-level being within the Night, it was still a being that had lived longer than the beings in the heavenly world. Cha Jeong-woo killed such a being with a single shot, so the players, gods, and demons could not help but be surprised and astonished.

At that moment, the light surrounding Cha Jeong-woo shone brighter. No, it was more appropriate to express it as an ever-bright aura. Jeong-woo emitted a light that was much more dazzling and beautiful than the one emitted by Vivasvat. Thus, Jeong-woo’s aura naturally aroused awe from every viewer.

However, Cha Jeong-woo’s complexion slightly changed. It seemed as though he had consumed a lot of energy with the previous strike.

Traitor.

Traitor. Must. Kill.

After seeing the scene, the other otherworld gods successively rushed towards Jeong-woo. Among the beings, there were those incomparably stronger and more powerful than the initial otherworld god that had succumbed to Jeong-woo’s attack.

Among the rushing otherworld gods, there were the Eight Gods of Disorder. The one named ‘Green Flame’ belched a strange groan and was entirely covered in green flames.

[The elder gods advise you to avoid the incoming attacks!]

The Eight Gods of Disorder were beings that the elder gods, even if they manifested, were not confident in facing head-on. In particular, the Green Flame occupied a high position in the ‘dream’, as it was known to be the being that sourced excitement and entertainment at the side of the sleeping Black King.

Something that resembled a mouth opened wide and seemingly attempted to swallow Cha Jeong-woo and the many other players whole.

「Cute and snazzy, Rabbit Punch!」Suddenly, a heavy, low-pitched nasally voice rang out right next to Jeong-woo, and a gigantic rabbit monster appeared and punched the side of the Green Flame.

Boom! The Green Flame could not withstand the shock from the punch and bounced back, and because of its size, the otherworld gods near it were also swept away. Due to this, many of the otherworld gods screamed in pain as they were lit aflame by the Green Flame’s green flames.

Laplace, who had transformed back into his true form, a gigantic body, hopped around like a bunny and avoided the menacing green flames before tackling the Green Flame from behind.「A loveable, Rabbit Tackle!」

Boom! Boom! Boom! A tremendous amount of the ground’s earth in front of Laplace was overturned and devastated. The Green Flame had barely avoided the tackle and bounced upward into the air.

How. Dare.

An. Insignificant. Lord. Underling.

About half of the remaining green flames quickly consolidated in the air and started taking shape. The gathered green flames started inflating and growing into a larger mass than before.

A strong killing intent aura emanated through the air. The aura was so overpoweringly powerful that it would cause most beings to either faint or die, but Laplace opened his reddened eyes wide and shouted out,「Sorry, but the Lord of the Pole you’re speaking of already died long ago. I’ve gained all of the previous lord’s achievements as well! No one is allowed to enter this place~!」

After speaking, Laplace ran towards the shimmering Green Flame and swung his fists wildly. His fist strikes, which contained a freezing cold property, proved that Laplace had taken over all the previous Lord of the Pole’s powers and achievements.

[Cha Yeon-woo’s familiar, Laplace, is borrowing some of his owner’s legends!]

[Borrowed legend: Lord of the Pole]

In Kronos’ legends when Yeon-woo faced off against the Night, Yeon-woo had fought with the Lord of the Pole. The legend that Yeon-woo had taken from the Lord of the Pole at that time was now being applied to Laplace.

Naturally, since Laplace was conceived through the vestige left behind by the Lord of the Pole, Laplace’s overall power was strengthened. The icy flames emanating out from Laplace’s two fists were the complete opposite properties of the flames from the Green Flame.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Around the time when Laplace and the Green Flame collided violently, a shadow suddenly arose around Cha Jeong-woo, and soon, Yeon-woo’s familiars started to make their appearance.

Hanryeong, Shanon, and Rebecca, who represented conquest, war, famine, and death, appeared to protect Cha Jeong-woo. The space above Jeong-woo opened, and Boo’s Inferno Sight appeared along with a magic barrier.

In addition, Ghost Giants appeared around Jeong-woo and the others as if they were standing guard. The Dragons of Death flew into the sky once they made their appearance. Dis Pluto and Yeon-woo’s other familiars also appeared one after another. Soon, every one of Yeon-woo’s familiars had taken their place in their formations.

『You guys…?』 Cha Jeong-woo tried to ask them how Yeon-woo was doing and how they were able to appear outside the Tower, but there was no time for chitchat. This was because, beyond the wormhole where the otherworld gods and the Eight Gods of Disorder appeared one after another, Jeong-woo could see a pair of huge eyes staring at him.

The moment they were exposed to those eyes, everyone instinctively felt a sense of horror. It was the Resident of the Border, the leading figure amongst the Eight Gods of Disorder. The representative leader of the Night had appeared.

Where. Father. Is.

Where. Traitor. Is.

To. All. Of. You.

The. End. Of. Days.

Shall. Commence.

[‘Resident of the Border’ curses all beings exposed to his gaze!]

[‘Night (Nox)’ descends.]

For a moment, a black haze appeared above the heads of all those who were exposed to the gaze. Several soul oath curses were being forcefully placed into the souls of those who were exposed to the Resident of the Border’s gaze. There was unconsciousness, dullness, restriction, delusion, self-harm, self-denial…

“Ah…!”

『N-No…!』

『If things continue like this…?』

Players, including rankers, fainted or died once exposed to the gaze. The outcome of the usually brash heavenly world gods and demons, who had all considered themselves above other beings as transcendents, were not much different. At first, they were able to resist to some extent, but soon, they died in succession or were completely bound by the soul oath curses. Their ability to reason became blurred.

Then, when the final curse of self-denial was placed, the legends that they had been built up throughout their existence were dismantled. Many transcendent beings perished on the spot.

The sight of so many gods and demons perishing one after another as they burned into ashes and fell down to the ground looked like a shower of shooting stars raining across the night sky. The stars…were pouring down.

However, all these beings were rubbish, as the Resident of the Border’s real target was Cha Jeong-woo, the being that represented and received the protection of Day. The Resident of the Border seemed full of desire to kill all the traitors who dared to put his father to sleep.

「Continue. Like this. Dangerous.」Boo’s Inferno Sight and the magic barrier it created distorted violently as if it was hard to bear against the Resident of the Border’s continuous attacks.

Here and there, several spaces outside the Tower were distorting and crumpling. The distortion fields that occurred in various places destroyed the bodies as well as the souls of numerous beings, driving the world itself to the brink of destruction. At that moment…

[Agares is descending!]

A bolt of black lightning fell from the sky as Agares appeared in front of Cha Jeong-woo and growled at the Resident of the Border.『Don’t touch my things!』

Magic power raged like a storm and firmly supported Boo's magic barrier, which had been precariously wavering as if it was about to break just a moment ago.

[Metatron is descending!]

[Baal is descending!]

One after another, Metatron and a group of archangels, Baal and a group of demon kings, appeared and stood in front of Cha Jeong-woo as if to protect him.

『Successor, listen carefully.』

『You are the being we’ve been waiting for. For thousands of years, we’ve awaited you. However, you have not fully matured and developed, so retreat!』

Metatron and Baal spread their white and black wings, clearing away all the curses poured out by the Resident of the Border, while they shouted at Cha Jeong-woo.

Since Cha Jeong-woo sensed that the two possessed a similar aura to the elder gods who were protecting him, Jeong-woo could tell that they were also beings of the Day.『My brother is over there! No matter what you say, I can’t leave…!』

『Don’t you know that it is his wish, even before our will, that you retreat?』

『…!』Cha Jung-woo’s expression stiffened.He wondered what the hell that comment actually meant.

『Your brother has asked us to protect you. The content of his message was that we should somehow protect the successor of the Day while he buys time. Additionally, we have decided to protect our successor with our lives… The fate and future of Day…is placed on you.』With a solemn expression, Metatron spoke to Cha Jeong-woo. It seemed that there was no other way than this approach.

『What…!』Of course, Cha Jeong-woo had no choice but to react in a dumbfounded manner. He did not know the secrets of Day and Night, nor could he understand what they meant by him being the future and fate of Day. However, Jeong-woo became angered at the fact that his older brother, who had sacrificed himself throughout his life for him, was once again sacrificing himself for others.

But Jeong-woo was not able to continue speaking. He lost consciousness at the unexpected shock that was inflicted on the back of his neck.

Ananta sadly looked at the fainted Cha Jeong-woo,, and then straightened up and looked at Metatron and Baal. “We… Then, where do we go now?”

『Follow Agares. There is a place that was arranged and prepared by the elder beings of the Day.』

At that moment, Agares stopped staring at the Resident of the Border and turned around to face Ananta and the others.

Ananta knew that Agares had been madly obsessed with Cha Jeong-woo for a long time, so she made an expression of concern, but she had no choice but to quietly nod her head.

『Old man.』With a puzzled expression, Agares called out to Baal.

『What?』

『Survive. Survive until I take over your seat. I have no intention of taking over a vacant seat!』

『Hmpf! Little child, it’ll still take you millions of years before you can even consider something like that!』

『Ugh, you’ve grown so old and decrepit that all you do nowadays is look for cookies…!』

Agares quarreled with Baal, which did not suit the atmosphere, but the other demon lords all seemed familiar with the situation, so none of them paid any attention to the bickering. Then, at a certain point, Agares shut his mouth, stared at Baal for a moment, and then moved towards Ananta.

『Let’s go.』

While Agares and the Eastern Demon Army moved, Ananta and Galliard immediately followed with Cha Jeong-woo and Sesha in their arms respectively.

Dis Pluto guarded the rear, and the Ghost Giants stood on the left and right flanks to defend against the otherworld gods who attempted to approach them. In the sky, two Dragons of Death sprayed Breath one after another as if preparing for an aerial battle.

Furthermore, the members of Arthia, the survivors of Arthia’s affiliated organizations, and Olympus were also mixed into the large convoy. The One-horned Tribe was also part of the large convoy.

***

As various effects blossomed around those who were trying to escape, the area outside the Tower was also rapidly collapsing.

Baal watched the convoy for a long time as they made their escape before clenching his fists.『I feel so relieved to see that stubborn donkey finally leave.』However, unlike the content of his words, his tone of voice seemed a bit longing.

This seemed to be the case with Metatron as well when he spoke up.『Will you not regret it?』

『Regret? What regret?』

『That you’ll eventually die with me in this place. You’ve achieved much and your legends are exceptional. Isn’t it a waste to give all that up here?』

『Ugh. I feel glad that I can finally be able to rest. Truthfully, I’ve been pretty tired for a long time.』

Baal took out a bunch of cookies from his back pocket and popped them into his mouth. Crunch. The crumbs spilled out from his mouth, but his mind was clearer than ever, perhaps because he had re-energized himself with sugar.

『What the Heavenly Demon said was correct. The past generation is the past. The future should be given to the new generation. It’s not responsible for us to always consider only ourselves as worthy to do this work. We’ve probably gone a little senile.』

『I agree. Though Day is slightly disadvantaged and below Night at the moment, the sun will eventually rise once more.』Metatron smiled and nodded. And then…

Oryx.

Shavalyoth.

The Resident of the Border defeated the archangels and demon lords who kept blocking his sight and looked down at the two beings with a furrowed brow. The two beings had always managed to obstruct and block the Night’s plans up to now.

Traitors.

『Traitors… Well, you’re not wrong per se, but can empty-minded fools who follow a stupid leader without any thoughts for themselves really call us that?』Unlike his usual calm manner, Metatron threw a few curse words at the Resident of the Border. And at the end of his words…

Rumble!

[‘Day (Eros)’ and ‘Night (Nox)’ are colliding once more!]

[Armageddon is in progress!]

The remaining archangels and demon kings that represented Day rose upwards into the sky. The light and darkness mixing together exploded over and over again, and after that, the world collapsed. Everything went dark.