Ranker Who Lives Twice

"Hyung, what the hell is this…!" Jeong-woo was at a loss.

An Executor was an existence that brought the end of days and woke the Black King from his 'dream'.

Although Yeon-woo had been designated the Executor early on, as he became the Black King's ego, Yeon-woo postponed this fateful action… But now, he had resumed and reawakened the process. Moreover, the awakening of the Executor meant only one thing…

[World Quest (Block the Execution) has been created!]

The wheel of the end of days apocalypse had begun to turn.

[World Quest / Block the Execution]

[Description: The eternal war between the Heavenly Demon and the Black King, between the 'dream' and the 'wheel', has been taking place from the beginning to the present with too many iterations to be counted. And this shall continue well into the future.

Furthermore, like the inevitable fate met in previous 'dreams' and 'wheels', the countdown towards the end of this 'dream' and 'wheels' has begun.

Moments ago, an Executor was selected to turn the wheel of the end of days apocalypse.

The Executor receives the protection and represents the will of the Black King. Every action the Executor takes leads to the fate of awakening the Black King from his 'dream' and freeing the Black King free from the 'wheel'.

And when the Executor's life and fate reach its end, the 'dream' will vanish, and the 'wheel' shall be scattered. All beings, truths, and phenomena that had existed within the dream will become non-existent.

Thus, the beings living in this 'dream' and 'wheel', must block the Executor from executing his fate so that one's life achievements do not disappear. Otherwise, everything shall be locked away in this iteration's 'dream' and 'wheel'.]

[Constraints: All existences.]

[Time Limit: Until the end of days.]

[Achievement conditions:

1. Block the Executor's intentions.

2. Eliminate the Executor.]

[Reward: Survival.]

A World Quest…was the first quest of its kind for Jeong-woo.

The quest was self-explanatory. This 'dream', that is, the beings living in this world, from gods and demons to humans and other races, were given a universal objective. They were all existences in the current 'dream', and therefore, to protect and continue the survival of their families and livelihood, they must somehow stop the Executor. Even if one did not receive this quest directly, one would be unconditionally affected by it.

The fact that the system gave such a direct quest like this meant that the will of the Executor was firm.

In other words, Yeon-woo had just become the enemy of the world. Perhaps the same applied to the familiars and associates under his rule… Thus, the beings of Day and Night had no choice but to panic.

『What kind of crazy…!』

『Death King! Is he attempting to do something crazy?』

The beast-like opponents who had descended felt the same way. Though it was true that they were steering the 'dream' towards its end, they were not really hoping for the end to come. Of course, since they were not originally from this 'dream', it did not really matter what outcome came about in this iteration of the dream.

Still, they could not let this 'dream' crumble until their purpose was fulfilled. In other words, their goal was to prolong the end until Yvlke could obtain the 'thing' he sought in Li's Tomb. Thus, at the moment, they had no intention of starting the process.

But Yeon-woo had started the process. In a way, this was like setting fire to oneself and rushing to the enemy to die together.

'I heard from Yvlke to watch out for this guy because he isn't normal, but this…!'

'I didn't know he was insane to this extent!'

'He's endangering his family, but perhaps he doesn't care?'

In the end, the beast-like opponents wavered, going back and forth without being able to do anything. They wondered if they had to continue battling with those of the Day and Night, or choose to somehow stop Yeon-woo from taking this drastic, insane action. They could not come to a decision, since Yvlke had never mentioned this option in any of his scenarios.

Naturally, even Yvlke had not expected that Yeon-woo would take such drastic measures, no matter how crazy or mad Yeon-woo was.

Moreover, Jeong-woo received an additional quest window.

[Scenario Quest / Opponent]

[Description: From time immemorial, the Opponent has been ordained to prevent the Executor from carrying out his will. Since the Executor completed the awakening just now, the same fate has started.

From now on, stop the Executor from carrying out his will.

If you are successful, this 'dream' and 'wheel' shall continue, as you wish.]

[Limitations: Opponent.]

[Time Limit: Up until the execution of the end of days.]

[Reward:

1. Survival.

2. Title of Creator.]

The description and content of this quest were short compared to that of the World Quest. However, the weight of the message it contained was by no means light. The quest was essentially giving Jeong-woo an order to immediately kill Yeon-woo.

[The blessings of the Great Bear and the Seven Stars follow!]

[The Heavenly Demon is closely observing you.]

Jeong-woo raised his head toward the sky with a distorted face. His expression was filled with a sense of anger and resentment. Up until recently, Jeong-woo was largely glad that he had been chosen by the Heavenly Demon, but now, he felt the exact opposite.

『Was it because of this that you gave me the Ruling Steps?!』 Jeong-woo shouted angrily. Even though he shouted out to no one in particular, Jeong-woo knew that the Heavenly Demon would be able to hear him. However…

[The Heavenly Demon offers no response.]

The Heavenly Demon did not respond to Jeong-woo at all.

Forcefully containing his boiling insides, Jeong-woo shouted out once more.『I don't know what you're thinking, but it won't work out the way you want!』

[The Heavenly Demon offers no response.]

Even though Jeong-woo, the being designated as his right-hand man, was screaming out right in front of him, and even though his chosen Opponent's actions were close to betrayal, the Heavenly Demon showed no response or signs of action.

This non-response infuriated Jeong-woo and further fueled his anger. He ignored everything, opened up his Sky Wings, and flew towards Yeon-woo. Though he still wanted to avenge Brahm, for now, the more urgent priority was to stop Yeon-woo.

The 'Title of Creator', which was presented as the second reward in Jeong-woo's scenario quest, did not even catch Jeong-woo's eye. Since he had a deep understanding of space, Jeong-woo was well aware of the infinite possibilities of possessing the divine position of 'Creation' more than anyone else. And although he knew that the 'Title of Creator' was superior and much higher ranked than 'creation', Jeong-woo did not care at all.

What would Jeong-woo do if he became the Creator? What would he do if he became the administrator of these 'dreams' and 'wheels'? Without his brother, all these things were useless to Jeong-woo.

[The sun of 'Day (Eros)' shines brilliantly!]

Thus, Jeong-woo attempted to somehow restrain Yeon-woo.

[According to the Executor's will, the wheel of the end of days apocalypse speeds up!]

[The law of causation is taking effect and being imposed for the apocalypse process.]

[The law of causation is taking effect and being imposed for the apocalypse process.]

…

[Darkness provides the necessary amount of the law of causality to execute the apocalypse process!]

The reason why Yeon-woo could awaken as the Executor in the first place was that he already acquired the necessary law of causality needed. If he followed the conditions as the Executor, then, no matter if it was Jeong-woo or the beast-like opponents from previous dreams, no one would be able to deal with Yeon-woo, who essentially took the place of the Black King.

[The darkness of 'Night (Nox)' covers all the light!]

Whoosh! A black mist stretched from Yeon-woo and began to swirl. As the whole world was dyed in deep darkness, all of Jeong-woo's light distribution, which had seemed ever glowing, was swallowed.

"No…!" Though Jeong-woo tried to stop this, the incoming black tsunami swept over him at once.

It was the same for Hou Yi and the beast-like opponents. Realizing that Yeon-woo was about to run away, they immediately tried to move towards Yeon-woo, but they had already been caught up in the darkness and became disoriented. Even Yeon-woo's familiars were not an exception.

The power that Jeong-woo sprayed out had no effect either. It was as if there were no laws of time or space in the darkness. In the end, Yeon-woo took advantage of this opening and disappeared using Shukuchi.

Whoosh! After wading through the darkness and arriving at Yeon-woo's last known location, Jeong-woo realized he was too late. All traces of Yeon-woo's divine power were gone. Jeong-woo had no means of figuring out where Yeon-woo had gone.

"Damn it…!" Only Jeong-woo's curse words could be heard.

[The Heavenly Demon continues to look down at the Opponent without saying a word.]

***

[The Alternate Ego of the Black King is descending on the great holy territory, 'Hyundo' of the Chan Sect!]

Time was running out. With that thought in mind, Yeon-woo immediately moved to the Chan Sect's great holy territory.

Though he could have gone directly to Li's Tomb, Yeon-woo did not know what to expect, so, in order to avoid making any mistakes, Yeon-woo decided that he needed to make some preparations. 'I need to figure out the level of the Bull Demon King's powers.'

The Monkey King's exuviae also mentioned that Yeon-woo should seek the Monkey King's true self, the Great Sage or Sun Wukong. If Yeon-woo could find Sun Wukong, who like Li was another face of the Heavenly Demon, Yeon-woo would be able to figure out Seven Demon Kings' plans and inflict a fatal blow on Yvlke.

This was why Yeon-woo had told the Chan Sect to find Sun Wukong. However…

'Just as I thought. He's here.'

Contrary to their promise to Yeon-woo, all the major beings and powers of the Chan Sect were concentrated in their great holy territory, and not at Li's Tomb or where Sun Wukong was supposed to be. This was because a significant number of beast-like opponents had descended here as well, essentially making the territory a wasteland. They must have decided to come back before the damage was even greater. No matter what anyone would say, protecting one's great holy territory was the most important thing for a heavenly society.

In the godly and demonic societies, the meaning of the 'Great Holy Temple' at the center of a great holy territory carried great weight. It was the epicenter from which a society's main god could spread its power and influence throughout the wider world, and it was also the gathering place of all the faith collected from existences influenced by the society. It also represented the class and formidability of one's society. If such a place were to be ruined, the possibilities and opportunities afforded to one's society would be ruined commensurately.

[The opponent of 'dream 76,543,545' has found the Alternate Ego of Black King!]

[The opponent of 'dream 4,345,645,738,764' expresses hostility towards the Alternate Ego of the Black King, who is trying to interfere!]

…

『Why is the existence who should be on the border here…?』

『Ask questions later. Stop him first! Quickly!』

『Die!』

As soon as the beast-like opponents found Yeon-woo, they all bared their vicious teeth. Some of them waved their long whip-like tails, to try and tear the space where Yeon-woo was. However…

"So annoying."

['Night (Nox)' spreads thickly throughout the great holy territory!]

Without giving the enemy an opportunity to do anything, Yeon-woo's shadow instantly covered the entire sky over Hyundo.

Soon, otherworld gods poured down in abundance.

Whoosh. Whoosh.

『Ack!』

『Hey, don't grab onto me! Let me go!』

The beast-like opponents tried with all their might to shake off the Eight Gods of Disorder, but the more they did so, the tighter the bizarre-looking tentacles which came out from the darkness squeezed them.

[Night (Nox) guides its enemies, who should have disappeared long ago, to where they belong!]

『N-No…!』They still had not found the safe haven. They could not die in vain until then. Having these thoughts, the beast-like opponents resisted, but the Night took their opponent's vitality and destroyed them one by one without exception.

"…"

"…"

"…"

[All the gods of Chan Sect look at the beings of 'Night (Nox)' with dumbfounded expressions!]

[All the gods of Chan Sect look with fearful eyes at the Alternate Ego of the Black King, who easily and seemingly effortlessly removed the powerful enemies!]

All the heavenly gods who had been fighting to the death just moments earlier had no choice but to stare at Yeon-woo with trembling gazes.

However, Yeon-woo did not care what they thought or felt. He stood in front of the exasperated Erlang Shen and Crown Prince Nezha. "Did you find Sun Wukong?"

Erlang Shen had a lot of things he wanted to say, but he had no choice but to nod immediately when he saw Yeon-woo's fiercely shining eyes. Yeon-woo's gaze seemed to dare Erlang Shen to speak a bit of nonsense so Yeon-woo could tear him apart.

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