Ranker Who Shatters Myths - Chapter 169

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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 169

 

Deep Sea Dungeon (2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“……Not only did we lose the Blue Ribbon, but the assassination of Jet in Korea also failed? And now Black Maria has started interfering with us too?”

 

Nayeli Vargas’s eyes twitched as she listened to the report.

 

The butlers delivering the report turned pale and bowed their heads deeply.

 

“U-unfortunately, ASTRA’s chief of staff happened to be there at that moment…!”

 

“Black Maria… the ambush was carried out under Luciano Della Cruz’s orders! It seems they stabbed us in the back to improve relations with Gwiroae and expand their territory…!”

 

Crack!

 

Nayeli’s eyes instantly turned bright red.

 

At the same time, her skin color gradually turned blood-red.

 

“These bastards finally…!!”

 

Nayeli’s head was burning with rage.

 

The reports that had come pouring in over the past few days were all like daggers stabbed into the heart of the City Cartel.

 

She knew that Jet wasn’t Gwiroae, but he was still an unpleasant figure,

 

and especially when she heard that they had completely lost control of Guam to Gwiroae and that Black Maria had turned their backs on them,

 

she felt something snap in her head.

 

“B-Boss! Please calm down…!”

 

“Suppress your anger! You mustn’t be consumed by rage!!”

 

Whoooosh-

 

As blood-red currents began swirling around Nayeli, the butlers’ faces turned deathly pale.

 

 

 

[The legend bares its cruel fangs!]

 

 

 

This was because her legend, the ‘Red Queen,’ was slowly beginning to reveal itself.

 

 

 

[Red Queen]

 

The queen of the chessboard who bound Alice when she entered the mirror world. A tyrant who always shouts “Off with their heads!” and a ruthless power-holder who knows how to design the stage of power called the chessboard.

 

Since she rules the mirror world that reflects the opposite of reality, she can easily orchestrate absurd things like imprisoning gods or demons.

 

She is sometimes identified with the Queen of Hearts from the different fairy tale .

 

-Origin: Fairy tale ‘Through the Looking-Glass’

 

 

 

Nayeli’s legend wasn’t a simple fairy tale.

 

In some ways, it was a that had ‘devoured’ several myths.

 

Those swept up in the Red Queen’s blood-red currents die without leaving behind even a corpse, no, not even a soul.

 

This was because the Red Queen used both flesh and spirit together as materials to design her ‘world.’

 

Recently, Nayeli had already consumed considerable mental strength and magic power repairing the rapidly deteriorating rabbit holes.

 

The scale of the rabbit holes was so vast that even a top ranker would struggle with full power, so she was already in a mentally sensitive state….

 

‘Of all times, such a report had to come back now!’

 

‘What should we do? If Boss continues to be devoured by the Red Queen like this, then….’

 

‘Sh-should we run away?’

 

Though the butlers always craved Nayeli’s favor, they feared dying so meaninglessly.

 

Gulp!

 

So when someone was swallowing dry saliva,

 

Tap!

 

Suddenly a staff entered among the butlers.

 

“I’ll persuade the Boss, so you all step back for a moment.”

 

“H-Head Butler!”

 

Instantly, hope appeared on the butlers’ faces.

 

This was the only person Nayeli would listen to.

 

Bruno Calisa.

 

Nayeli’s left thumb and closest aide who had served by her side since before she created the City Cartel.

 

Within the cartel, there were second and third-in-commands with superior skills.

 

But even they couldn’t deny his influence.

 

Whenever there was a need to persuade Nayeli, he always had to be there.

 

“P-please, we’re counting on you!!”

 

Eventually the butlers bowed their heads and hurriedly left the room,

 

“Hehe…. It seems Boss, no, Miss is deeply hurt by this incident. What should we do about this?”

 

Bruno stroked his chin and slowly approached Nayeli.

 

Slash! Slaaash!

 

Each time, the red currents cut through him mercilessly like razor blades, but he paid no heed and drew closer to Nayeli.

 

And then,

 

Bonk!

 

Bruno fearlessly gave Nayeli a hard flick on the head.

 

“Ow!”

 

Nayeli screamed while clutching her head. Her reddened eyes instantly returned to black pupils.

 

Though it hurt enough to bring slight tears to her eyes, Bruno still wore the same kind smile.

 

“Bruno! What are you doing! That hurts!”

 

“Hehe! What’s with the ‘ow’? This old man nearly had one foot in the grave from losing too much blood.”

 

“Still, this is…!”

 

“Shall I give you another one?”

 

“No way!? Do you think I’m still a ten-year-old baby?”

 

Bruno laughed.

 

“Even at your age, your lack of maturity looks no different from your teenage years.”

 

Anyone who knew Drug King Nayeli would have been shocked.

 

He was scolding her like a granddaughter when she always reigned like a queen even in front of her familia (family), and she naturally accepted it and even whined.

 

“Your body? Are you badly hurt?”

 

Nayeli examined Bruno’s body with a face wet with guilt.

 

Bruno lightly shook his shoulders to show her.

 

“Hehe. This much is nothing. Compared to the hardships of my youth, it’s just laughable.”

 

“……Sorry. I got consumed by irrationality again.”

 

“It can’t be helped, can it? It hasn’t been long since you devoured Camazotz’s myth, so you’re bound to keep thirsting.”

 

Camazotz.

 

The bat god of Mayan mythology said to crave blood and sacrifice humans.

 

Nayeli’s legend had the characteristic of growing in size by devouring various legends and myths.

 

The secret to how she could become a top ranker so quickly.

 

Conversely, it was also why her legend would replace her personality when her reason was consumed by anger.

 

“It seems Camila’s death and losing Guam keeps weighing on your mind.”

 

The warm grandfather-granddaughter moment was brief.

 

When Bruno spoke with deeply sunken eyes, Nayeli slightly frowned.

 

“Guam was originally one of the points I considered as a major hub for the rabbit holes. If we lose that place, many rabbit holes will be ruined. And above all,”

 

Cold anger settled on Nayeli’s face.

 

“Brazenly undermining our famiglia’s dignity! If it were up to me, I’d cross over there right now and…!”

 

“You must not do that. A boss’s steps should always be heavy. And you still need to take care of the rabbit hole, don’t you?”

 

Thud!

 

Bruno struck the floor with his staff, cutting off Nayeli’s words.

 

“I now understand the young lady’s thoughts well. Then, this old man will cross over in your place.”

 

“What? No! Bruno is…”

 

“No. That’s exactly why I must go. In fact, excluding the young lady, am I not the person who knows the most about both Guam and the rabbit hole?”

 

“……”

 

“So I will go and settle this chaos.”

 

Nayeli wanted to say it was too dangerous and he shouldn’t go.

 

But she also knew well that there was no one else who could truly settle this chaos.

 

“And above all,”

 

Bruno smiled coldly.

 

“If the young lady’s closest aide were to back down from such dangerous work, what would the other family members think?”

 

In the end, Nayeli let out a deep sigh.

 

“Fine. But be careful and come back. These days… your health isn’t good either.”

 

“Heh heh heh. Even with my body in this state, I can easily handle three or four young ones.”

 

Bruno showed his thin arm slightly. Nayeli could only let out a hollow laugh.

 

He bowed his head.

 

“Then, I’ll be going. And I’ll teach that arrogant child a proper lesson on behalf of the young lady, no, the boss.”

 

A strange gleam flickered in Bruno’s slightly lowered eyes.

 

“About who exactly they’ve messed with.”

 

His name was Bruno Calisa.

 

The man who originally possessed the terrifying title of Drug King.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Challenger Deep.

 

The deepest part of the Mariana Trench, a well pierced through the floor of a considerably large crescent-shaped bottom.

 

Passing through a distance of over 10,000 meters deep in one breath,

 

‘…This is certainly a scene worthy of being called an underwater hell. I can see why the United States failed to conquer it despite putting so much effort into it.’

 

Lee Hyeon could personally feel how extreme the environment of this surrounding world was.

 

「Why are there only ugly ones here?」

 

Son Wukong appeared on top of Lee Hyeon’s head and shook his head disapprovingly.

 

Outside the light passage created by Clasma’s lightning.

 

Countless sea creatures boasting enormous bodies were swarming.

 

From as small as several meters to as large as dozens of meters. Creatures with bizarre appearances were tangled together, repeatedly biting and devouring each other.

 

It was a scene from hell.

 

“I heard that the deeper you go into the deep sea, the stranger the sea creatures become due to the tremendous water pressure. They also get bigger.”

 

「The ugly ones become even uglier?」

 

“And they become more violent too. The dungeon break that occurred on this seabed isn’t over yet.”

 

The crack that occurred in Challenger Deep was known to have formed when dozens of dungeons connected and then went berserk.

 

Because of this, the monsters that poured out had to compete with the deep sea pressure and other dungeon mobs, so only the strong ones remained.

 

Son Wukong snorted after hearing all of Lee Hyeon’s explanations.

 

「From what I hear, these things are definitely derivatives of that Bokhai fellow.」

 

“What do you mean by derivatives?”

 

「How should I put it, copies?」

 

“…?”

 

When Lee Hyeon tilted his head with a confused expression, the Peng Demon King climbed onto his right shoulder and explained instead.

 

「The Flood Demon King… that is, my brother Jiao Demon King Du can endlessly ‘pour out’ his subspecies.」

 

“…!”

 

「It’s the same way fish normally spawn thousands of eggs, so wherever brother Du is, there are always monsters everywhere. He devastates those areas.」

 

“Is it a different concept from the Great Sage’s clone technique?”

 

Son Wukong frowned.

 

「Why would you compare me to such mongrels? I purely multiply ‘myself’, while that just pours out mixed breeds!」

 

「To begin with, brother Du is hard to call ‘one being’. Various demons are tangled together to form a collective consciousness.」

 

Lee Hyeon finally began to understand what the Jiao Demon King, the second of the Seven Great Sages, was like.

 

“It’s like a kind of collective organism. Normally it maintains the collective consciousness called Jiao Demon King, but the lower entities keep mating to mass-produce offspring…”

 

「You can think of it as similar.」

 

If Son Wukong and the Peng Demon King’s explanation was correct, the Jiao Demon King had already become an existence that far transcended the category of monster.

 

‘As expected of the Seven Great Sages… Their very existence surpasses imagination.’

 

Gandharva who swallowed the sun, a demon that devours immortals and Buddhas, and now a collective organism of thousands of sea creature species.

 

‘How on earth were Chairman Peng and his gang able to imprison the Jiao Demon King here? This is impossible without divine intervention…?’

 

He thought there might be some secret in the reason why the Jiao Demon King was sealed in the deep sea dungeon.

 

“Then all the sea creatures here could be said to be ‘parts’ of the Jiao Demon King.”

 

「Right. That’s how it is, if you think about it.」

 

Lee Hyeon unconsciously let out a hollow laugh.

 

To think that what had maintained Guam’s massive ecosystem all this time was born from extracting ‘parts’ of the Jiao Demon King.

 

Along with the thought that he needed to stay alert and observe what was happening in the deep sea dungeon,

 

Whoosh!

 

He was already being sucked into the crack covering Challenger Deep.

 

In the pitch-black darkness where not a single ray of light entered.

 

For a moment, he had the illusion of seeing an enormously large ‘dragon’.

 

And then…

 

 

 

[You have entered the dungeon!]

 

 

 

[Dungeon ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’]

 

[You are currently in a mysterious fairy tale where giants live on white clouds above and humans live on black earth below.]

 

[In this world, humans believe that the celestial giants hide tremendous treasures in a huge castle. Because of this, humans dream of inventing a beanstalk that can reach the heavens and secretly infiltrating it.]

 

[From now on, climb to the giants’ castle and safely steal the ‘treasure’.]

 

[Success: Giant’s treasure.]

 

[Failure: Giant’s food.]

 

 

 

In the world that opened with bright light,

 

Kuuuuuuu-

 

Kyaaak! Kyaaaaak!!

 

A completely different scene from the dungeon’s description was unfolding.

 

On the blackened dead earth, an enormously large beanstalk reached all the way to the end of the sky…

 

Unlike the commonly known fairy tale content,

 

It wasn’t the boy Jack but tens of thousands of mobs trying to climb up the beanstalk. In the sky, thousands of giant birds formed flocks.

 

The sea creatures he had seen in the deep sea, no, even more ferocious ones were everywhere.

 

「Hey kid! What are you doing! Look below!!」

 

Then Lee Hyeon, who was about to land on the ground first, had to urgently look down.

 

The black wasteland he thought was the ground… was writhing.

 

As if it were a ‘living being’.

 

‘No, this isn’t ground. This is…!’

 

It was just countless sea creatures tangled together in a chaotic mess.

 

Thanks to this,

 

Lee Hyeon could only understand what kind of environment he was falling into much later.

 

‘The ocean!!’

 

An endless, vast sea.

 

Hundreds of millions of sea creatures filled the distant horizon completely.

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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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