Ranker Who Shatters Myths - Chapter 113

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Broken Ranker

Devours Myths

 

Chapter 113

ASTRA (4)

 

 

 

“This is the middle of a park, but is it okay to fight here…!”

“Don’t worry! We just need to cover this with a subspace!”

Denovan pulled out an item from the team inventory and planted it in the ground.

A small cloth flag.

It was decorated with peach blossom patterns.

 

[Peach Blossom Flag]

A dimensional veil created by the Peach Blossom Fairy in the past era when demons and immortals disturbed the world.

When the flag is unfurled, the space within a 100-meter radius is separated from reality like an illusion.

-Type: Combat Support.

-Origin: Legend ‘Tale of the Peach Garden’

 

Instantly, peach-colored petals spread in a whirlwind, separating Z-Team and ASTRA from reality.

A terrain where peach blossoms scattered.

It was an item designed to distort or conceal space so it couldn’t be observed from outside.

Thanks to this,

The Hunters could focus on battle without worrying about prying eyes.

 

[Legend ‘Baby General Uturi’ launches sword energy!]

[Legend ‘Tale of Janghwa and Hongryeon’ sends killing intent from the rear!]

[Legend ‘Fire Dog of the Dark Country’ joins the battle!]

 

Pop!

Paaat-

The Z-Team members who had already surrounded ASTRA drew their items and pressured ASTRA.

“This actually works out well. I’ve been annoyed that these guys keep getting compared to us! Let’s settle once and for all who’s the strongest!!”

However, the ASTRA agents’ faces became excited.

The original order to win over Z-Team had gone awry,

But ultimately they too were martial artists with incredibly strong competitive spirits.

The comparisons with the Thunder Unit that had single-handedly closed a 4-star dungeon annoyed them as well.

Every time they heard such questions, they always shouted that they were superior,

But now it seemed they could truly show who was the ‘strongest.’

Flash! Flash!!

They too revealed their legends one after another,

And just as the two groups of light were about to clash.

Charrrrrrk!!

Suddenly the ground flipped over and black-gold chains burst out in large quantities.

It was the Ruyi Chain.

 

[‘Sacred Relic: Ruyi Chain’ moves freely according to demonic senses!]

 

“…!?”

“What the hell is this…!”

An item of a form they’d never seen before.

The agents tried to strike it down in confusion,

But paralarak!

The Ruyi Chain twisted its body like a living creature to avoid the attacks, then wrapped around their weapons and climbed up toward the agents.

As Lee Hyeon’s will was infused, the Ruyi Chain’s spirituality was given free reign.

“…!”

“…!”

“…Guk!!”

The agents had no chance to dodge the Ruyi Chain.

Before they knew it, the anchor at the end of the chain had struck their wrists or torsos.

Thunk! Thunk thunk!!

Instantly, their bodies staggered,

 

[Energy Drain occurs!]

 

“This is…!”

“Damn it!!”

They turned pale at the feeling of their magic power being sucked into the chain.

They instinctively realized that what was being absorbed wasn’t just magic power, but information about their legends as well.

Lee Hyeon was paying them back exactly what Michael Shepherd had tried to do to Cheong-rae!

 

[Curse Incantations: Magic Extraction, Star-Absorbing Technique, Information Theft]

 

[Forcibly reading the absorbed opponent’s legend.]

[Analyzing the absorbed opponent’s skill tree and divine authority information.]

 

Magic Extraction and Star-Absorbing Technique steal the opponent’s magic power and purify it into one’s own magic power,

While Information Theft carefully examines the data contained within.

 

[The Golden Headband stores all absorbed information and incorporates it into the Fighting Style!]

 

With the Golden Headband joining in to increase calculation speed, results comparable to the Eye of Revelation were achieved.

In this situation, Kim Min-jeong’s group’s offensive struck,

So ASTRA’s coordination inevitably became chaotic.

Just blocking the magic absorption was mentally exhausting enough, but they had to handle formidable attacks as well.

Kwarrrung-

Kwakwakwang!

Urrrrr…!!

Michael Shepherd was equally bewildered.

‘What kind of power…!’

 

[Gabriel is bewildered by the force pushing away his apostle!]

[Gabriel is shocked that his eyes cannot reach it.]

[Gabriel is….]

 

Michael instinctively realized it from the moment he deflected the first axe strike with his fist.

The fact that his opponent’s power already far exceeded his own.

A Ranker boasting strength that overwhelms a High Ranker. Could such a thing be possible?

Of course, he already knew that Lee Hyeon had defeated Zhang Baien at Ulleungdo.

But Zhang Baien was nothing more than a novice to be called a High Ranker.

His power was something he had barely managed to acquire only after receiving massive support from the Central Hero Committee, including Xu Changyou.

Compared to an actual High Ranker, there was a significant difference.

However, Michael was different.

While the revelations and prophecies related to him were famous,

in reality, he was a former monk who had devoted himself to a Catholic monastery in his youth.

So he was confident in refining his inner self and drawing it out in the form of magic power…

‘Jet is already surpassing most High Rankers! The additional functions that come with the six stats… are incomparably higher than others! All of them are at least S-grade… Is this really possible!?’

Additional functions, as the name suggests, play a role in supporting each stat.

That’s why Rankers usually only had high grades in the stats they specialized in, while their other stats tended to be lower.

Even Michael Shepherd only had S-grade additional functions for stamina and intelligence.

The rest were A-grade at best, and some were even C-grade.

But Lee Hyeon was different.

Strength, agility, stamina, magic power… all of them were without deficiency.

And based on this, he displayed absurd combat power by adding excellent skills on top.

Kwakwakwa-kwang!!

Flash! Flash!

Every time Lee Hyeon swung his axe like a storm, Michael had to endure consecutive impacts as if his body was being hammered hard.

If he had known that all the additional functions Lee Hyeon had mastered were SS-grade, he would have been shocked.

 

[The infection of Killing Intent accelerates due to strong external impact!]

 

On top of that, there was the Killing Intent that was already troubling him.

He was caught between a rock and a hard place.

‘What would happen if all the secondary additional functions obtained when the coefficient exceeds 200 also surpass S-grade…?’

Michael forcibly swallowed the blood that had welled up.

It tasted metallic.

‘And what are all these thoughts that appear sporadically!’

Gabriel was flustered because he couldn’t predict Lee Hyeon’s fighting style.

Conversely, Michael felt fear from the afterimages that appeared and disappeared like daydreams with each collision.

Psychometry manifests little by little even during combat.

This was also why Michael had decided he must fight Lee Hyeon even if it meant overexerting himself, and why he insisted on bare-handed combat after discarding his weapon.

But this time too, there was nothing he could read about Lee Hyeon.

All he could see were strange-shaped beings

whose identities were difficult to guess.

‘…Demon Kings! These are definitely Demon Kings!!’

One Demon King was sunk in a swamp made of curses, looking at this place while letting out ghostly wails,

while another Demon King was looking down at this place from a pitch-black night sky filled with the smell of burning, wrapped in hellfire.

He could see a cold and chilly ice castle, and a river of boiling sulfur fire.

And…

Between those Demon Kings,

sat a Great Demon King boasting overwhelming presence and ferocity.

He seemed to be made of condensed misfortune, making it difficult even to look at his existence properly.

All that could be seen was that he had long, pure white hair flowing.

His back was turned, so not even part of his face could be seen.

If he tried to force himself to look at it, it felt like his eyes would burn.

It seemed like even his soul would be corrupted and fall.

Fear raised its head.

‘What exactly are these things…!’

Those Demon Kings, who were clearly Lee Hyeon’s legacy, were difficult to read.

Whether it was because only fragmentary parts were shown, or because his own level was insufficient, he didn’t know.

But one thing was certain.

…Right now, it was impossible for him to ‘peek’ at Lee Hyeon.

‘So that’s why!’

 

[Gabriel urges his apostle to close the ‘Eye of Revelation’!]

 

‘That’s why all the parts related to Jet were deleted from the Book of Revelation!!’

Kwa-aang!!

Michael was forcibly ejected from his deep contemplation along with his body.

“Uweeek!”

He staggered and eventually couldn’t hold back, vomiting blood for a long time.

At the same time, anchors hit his body.

Thud-thud-thud-

Clink!

As the chains became taut, his body also became rigid.

Screech!

And the axe that had somehow approached right under his chin.

Michael crossed both arms to block the attack.

Kwang!!

Michael floated in the air for a long time before finally landing on the ground.

He was already covered in blood.

‘…In the end, I couldn’t read anything. Neither could I. Nor could Lord Gabriel.’

Gabriel might have noticed something, but intuitively he felt that Gabriel too would be quite confused.

 

[Gabriel is perplexed by the opponent’s legacy that he couldn’t uncover.]

[Gabriel speculates that it might be the existence of an ancient god that even he doesn’t know well.]

 

‘…Ancient god?’

Michael wanted to continue his thoughts, but had to stop midway as he barely managed to deflect with his hand blade the axe that had flown to his nape.

Kwang!

Crack-

His hand blade trembled.

Blood seeped from the skin where the axe had dug in.

“I… simply cannot understand you.”

Lee Hyeon’s golden eyes flashed coldly.

“What can’t you understand?”

“This reaction of yours. Honestly, you don’t owe Korea anything more, do you?”

Michael forcibly swallowed the blood seeping from his lips again.

“No, rather Korea owes you a debt, if anything. Isn’t that right?”

“So?”

“It’s not ‘so,’ but that’s what’s strange! There’s no reason for you to insist on Korea, is there?”

Michael had pledged loyalty to the United States. He was prepared to sacrifice his life if necessary.

But that was only because he believed that the United States would also repay his loyalty.

If it had been one-sided love, it wouldn’t have lasted long.

But Korea had failed to repay its victims.

“Think about the treatment your colleagues received after the Gangneung incident. No, you don’t need to go far—just think about the White Night Unit. What about Lieutenant Yoon Baekjo? Is his sacrifice truly being remembered?”

Lee Hyeon recalled the image of his old junior colleague who had once been a chick but became a valiant fighting cock, breathing his last breath while cradled in Lee Hyeon’s arms.

“I guarantee it! Rather than being sacrificed, he’ll be buried hastily out of immediate concern for public opinion,”

“I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

Lee Hyeon cut off Michael’s words mid-sentence.

His Golden Eyes of Truth glowed eerily.

“I’m not loyal to Korea.”

“……Then? What are you being so stubborn for?”

“Me and my people, and my territory.”

“……!?”

Michael’s eyes widened.

Lee Hyeon’s face had somehow drawn close.

“Everything that made me who I am now. I’m only loyal to that.”

“……!!”

Michael’s pupils shook.

The axe blade had already deeply split the guy’s hand and was pressed against his nape.

“There’s no need for repayment. My people will repay it for me.”

Kwaang!

In an instant, Lee Hyeon kicked Michael hard in the abdomen.

Michael rolled ungracefully until he crashed into a rock.

And when he forcibly raised his head again,

Bang!!

The axe had already embedded itself next to his head.

If the direction had been just slightly off, his head would have surely been shattered.

Drip-

A bead of sweat trickled down Michael’s forehead.

“And if necessary, I’ll just change it myself.”

Lee Hyeon slowly approached and pulled the axe from the rock.

Michael couldn’t say anything until then.

He was saying he was only faithful to those around him, not the nation……?

And if that didn’t work out, he would change the world?

In other words, it sounded like a declaration that he would change Korea’s irrational system himself if necessary.

Furthermore, it was also a warning that he would remove all pressures that forced him and those around him.

……It was too arrogant.

For one individual to turn the world upside down.

It sounded more absurd than a 15-year-old boy’s childish declaration to fight against the world.

But……

Somehow, at this moment, Michael felt Lee Hyeon’s presence looming incredibly large.

“I won’t question the rudeness you committed any further. Even if you had ulterior motives, giving Min-jeong the soma was something to be grateful for.”

“……”

Lee Hyeon spoke coldly with his axe slung over his shoulder.

“But there won’t be any more mercy. So get lost.”

Lee Hyeon retrieved all the Ruyi chains that had been embedded in Michael and the ASTRA agents. A black-gold bracelet formed on his right wrist.

Kim Min-jeong, Eom Gi-seon, and Seo Ae-ri followed him as he left.

“……”

“……”

“……”

ASTRA stared blankly at their retreating figures.

Then, just before Lee Hyeon’s group opened a Gate and left,

Michael asked urgently.

“Other forces besides us will try to tear you apart from now on! Your people and territory that you hold dear could be destroyed too! Even so! Even so, you don’t care!?”

Michael didn’t think he could persuade Lee Hyeon with that.

He just wanted to ask.

About Lee Hyeon’s resolve.

It felt like he wouldn’t get another chance to hear it if not now.

Thud!

Lee Hyeon’s steps stopped briefly.

And,

“Tell anyone to come. Anytime.”

“……!!!”

He disappeared beyond the Gate, leaving behind only those arrogant words.

Michael just stared at the spot where Lee Hyeon had left for a long time.

For a very long time.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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