Ranker Who Shatters Myths - Chapter 208

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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 208

 

U.C.O. (5)

 

A sudden lightning strike that hit them while they were comfortably heading to the Syria region.

 

The bold bastard who dared to touch a transport plane carrying US military,

 

as far as Lee Hyeon knew, there was only one person in this world.

 

‘Feng Jinghao!!’

 

It felt like that bastard was watching him from somewhere and laughing.

 

‘So this is your greeting? Fine. Let’s see what you’ve got.’

 

While Lee Hyeon’s eyes blazed with fire,

 

“Requesting permission to drop!”

 

“Permission granted. Drop! Drop! Drop!!”

 

The metal door opened, and a black storm swept through the interior.

 

His ears rang as if they would tear from the pressure difference, but the external flames burned the sky as they rapidly descended.

 

Lee Hyeon unfastened his belt and checked the equipment in his hands.

 

Oxygen mask, altimeter, automatic opening ring.

 

Crouching down, he pressed his helmet firmly with his hands to secure it.

 

“Drop!”

 

“Drop!!”

 

The prepared team members began hurriedly throwing themselves outside.

 

Into the storm.

 

Into the burning air.

 

Hot air mixed with smoke rushed into the aircraft.

 

“Jet!!”

 

“Michael, I’ll see you below.”

 

Lee Hyeon, who had been waiting for all team members to drop, briefly made eye contact with Michael.

 

A silent promise to meet safely.

 

Michael nodded.

 

“I’ll see you below.”

 

Lee Hyeon smiled slightly and threw himself out.

 

For a moment, he also briefly made eye contact with Kang Yun-su.

 

He, wearing the Gaksi-tal mask of a war hero, didn’t say anything special,

 

but his firmly sunken gaze seemed to say not to die no matter what.

 

As if saying there was still a match to settle below.

 

Tsk.

 

As expected.

 

This person wasn’t a bad person.

 

He was just clumsy at expressing himself.

 

At that moment,

 

Whoosh!

 

The cold wind swallowed all sounds. The world began spinning round and round.

 

Clouds below, and further down, barren wasteland.

 

Looking back, the transport plane was exploding into a fireball, tearing through the sky.

 

‘Everyone must survive. Without fail.’

 

He could see team members everywhere pulling parachute cords as they were dragged down to the ground.

 

But since it wasn’t a properly prepared drop, everyone looked precarious.

 

Lee Hyeon gritted his teeth and turned his gaze back toward the wasteland.

 

‘There are definitely bastards waiting below, targeting us as we attempt an emergency landing.’

 

This attack was thoroughly prepared.

 

They knew exactly which route the transport plane would take, and even deceived Lee Hyeon’s senses while launching missiles.

 

They must have used some kind of Sacred Relic.

 

Feng Jinghao was also famous as a collector who gathered various Sacred Relics from around the world.

 

And,

 

if it was that bastard, he would have definitely prepared the next move as well.

 

‘Then, I’ll eliminate them before they can make their move.’

 

Lee Hyeon didn’t deploy his parachute, but rather accelerated his fall even faster.

 

At that moment,

 

Flash!

 

[Astrape Staff is activated!]

 

Kibisis opened and Snow White shot up into the air.

 

The moment the pure white sapphire emitted light,

 

[Conducting magic power reconnaissance of the surrounding area!]

 

[Searching.]

 

…

 

[Enemy position discovered.]

 

‘Here!!’

 

Flash!

 

Whirrrr-

 

[Successfully observed the coordinates of the discovered location by activating ‘Sacred Relic: Golden Headband’.]

 

The Golden Headband rose above Lee Hyeon’s head and began rotating,

 

and simultaneously, he took out Dueokshin’s front tooth and tore through the air.

 

[Attempting spatial leap!]

 

Just like when he found Zhu Bajie’s location, he initiated spatial transfer using the eagle’s nest.

 

This required consuming a considerable amount of resources again, but,

 

‘Those resources are nothing compared to my team members’ lives…!’

 

He also calculated that he could replenish everything with their spoils of war.

 

The moment he crossed through the torn space,

 

“They’ll definitely make an emergency landing somewhere around here.! Don’t let that rat-like bastard get away, , !! (They’ll definitely make an emergency landing around here! Don’t let a single rat escape, find them all and kill them!!)”

 

Whoosh!

 

He instantly made eye contact with the commander leading the search team.

 

Perhaps to deal with Rankers, he could see two small war chariots in the back as well.

 

In the bastard’s startled eyes, Lee Hyeon’s face was reflected, smiling coldly like a demon.

 

“Found you.”

 

Lee Hyeon didn’t listen for the bastard’s response.

 

Before that, Dueokshin’s molar was already tearing through the air.

 

Rip!!

 

Whoooosh-

 

In an instant, the commander’s head was torn off and flew up.

 

It wasn’t cut.

 

As if roughly torn by the hands of an invisible giant, his face was half crushed.

 

It meant the destructive power of his molars was that tremendous.

 

“, …! (There, enemies are here…!)”

 

Before they could even aim their gun barrels this way,

 

[Dueoksini’s Swift Thunder is activated!]

 

Kururrrung-

 

Lee Hyeon had become lightning and was roughly striding between them.

 

Kyaaaaak!!

 

* * *

 

Crackle.

 

『Cloud 1, upon landing follow protocol to gather team members and move directly to the designated area.』

 

The voice transmitted through the radio item during the descent was barely audible,

 

but Kim Min-jeong could intuitively tell that Lee Hyeon was planning to do something against the enemies.

 

‘Honestly…. I nagged him so much about how he should take command now that we have more team members. Yet he’s dumping it all on me again.’

 

The team’s emergency protocol was quite simple.

 

In case of a crisis situation, team command would be taken by vice-captain Kim Min-jeong.

 

Instead, Lee Hyeon would move separately like a detached unit or work with infiltration teams like Oh Su-heon to clean up the periphery and lead the main force.

 

Everyone had confirmed Kim Min-jeong’s command abilities during the Crevasse operation, so there were no complaints.

 

However, Kim Min-jeong felt her shoulders growing heavier with each passing day.

 

After all, among the team members, there were many who were her seniors from the academy.

 

But,

 

‘Still, I’ll keep everyone alive. Somehow.’

 

Kim Min-jeong wanted to meet these good people on the surface with smiles.

 

At that moment,

 

Whoosh!

 

Flash!!

 

The corners of Kim Min-jeong’s eyes blazed with fierce flames.

 

Deep blue ghost fire that seemed to ripple as if it would burn the world.

 

[The legend ‘One Who Wears the Crown of Beasts’ reveals itself!]

 

[Bull Demon Killing Intent prepares to activate.]

 

The activated legend was not the Tale of Janghwa and Hongryeon, but Bull Demon Killing Intent.

 

It was the Bull Demon King.

 

During Lee Hyeon’s absence, she had also reached a level where she could freely use Bull Demon Killing Intent through extensive solo training.

 

‘Especially lately, I’ve been feeling this legend becoming more active. As if the original owner of the legend had awakened from a long sleep and started moving….’

 

Kim Min-jeong still didn’t know who the owner of this legend was.

 

However,

 

she now knew that he was a far greater being than she had imagined.

 

The deeper she delved into that legend, the more rough and destructive power she could obtain.

 

‘A god who already possesses myths…. No, a Demon King.’

 

Kim Min-jeong kept her mind straight to avoid being consumed by that power.

 

‘Here I go.’

 

Kim Min-jeong swallowed all those thoughts inside,

 

and checked the altimeter ringing inside her helmet.

 

300…. 200….

 

When she pulled the ring on her wrist, the parachute folded halfway and she got into landing position.

 

Thud!

 

The moment her body touched the ground, sand exploded upward.

 

Kim Min-jeong immediately checked her pistol.

 

Fortunately, the cartridge was intact.

 

Wrapping the muzzle with cloth before sand could enter the barrel had been a stroke of genius.

 

“Respond. This is Cloud 1. Landing zone secured.”

 

Crackle.

 

『….』

 

『….』

 

“Respond. This is Cloud 1. Landing zone secured.”

 

Crackkkle.

 

No matter how many times she tapped the radio item, only noise came back.

 

“Are they causing magic interference? They really prepared thoroughly, these bastards.”

 

Looking up at the sky, she could see the transport aircraft wreckage burning in the distance.

 

Black smoke rose like a pillar, then bent in the desert wind.

 

Probably the other team members, X Team, and even Astra were scattered throughout this vast wasteland.

 

There might be serious injuries from getting caught in flames or aircraft debris, or fatalities from failed landings.

 

But the most frightening thing was not knowing when enemies might approach like a pack of hyenas.

 

The desert heat penetrated through her skin.

 

‘Eom Gi-seon… It would be much more helpful if that guy were around here.’

 

She sighed softly while muttering the name of her absent boyfriend.

 

And….

 

“Let’s give it a try.”

 

Kim Min-jeong took a step forward.

 

The sand under her feet made crunching sounds.

 

At that moment,

 

‘…Someone’s there.’

 

In the distance, a human shadow stirred within the smoke-filled wreckage.

 

Friend or foe?

 

“….”

 

Click-clack!

 

Kim Min-jeong pulled the slide of her pistol while slowly moving forward.

 

* * *

 

“I like it.”

 

Inside the concrete-enclosed sniper tower.

 

Hashad, a demon from the Sima Society, was in front of the screen.

 

Hot afternoon.

 

The monitor was a sea of shadows.

 

White dots were writhing within it.

 

Altitude, speed, trajectory.

 

Everything was as expected.

 

“The [Heart of Sata] reportedly developed at the research institute…. The key lies in converging energy around the target to amplify the explosion radius. Definitely. Plus with Chairman Peng’s legend added, it’s more covert and powerful.”

 

Its effectiveness was proven by evading Astra’s surveillance system, and by the fact that they still hadn’t discovered Lee Hyeon’s group.

 

A large-scale magic interference field had been activated across the wide battlefield including the Palmyra Desert for some time now.

 

All results obtained from researching Sata Wang at the secret research institute in the past.

 

‘No, to be precise, it’s knowledge gained from completely dissecting not just Sata Wang, but also the Roc King and Great Sage over time.’

 

Plus there was even the blessing of Shaohao’s Golden Heaven, known as Feng Jinghao’s legend.

 

[Shao Hao Jin Tian]

 

One of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors known to have first established a nation for humans in the ancient world.

 

Famous for possessing golden virtue (Jin De) and ruling over birds while entrenched in the western territories. The medicines brought by his birds boast various characteristics.

 

‘Even though we split from the Committee, part of 【Heavenly Sect】 still protects us. As long as we have their blessing, we can never lose this fight.’

 

Although it was unfortunate that Sata Wang had now escaped from the research facility,

 

this too could be easily ‘recovered’ without much difficulty before long.

 

“Display the reconnaissance footage again.”

 

The analyst beside him moved his fingers swiftly.

 

The UAV’s thermal imaging first captured the small heat traces of the transport aircraft, then identified the diagonally falling traces one by one.

 

The trajectory was regular.

 

Approach angle, wind direction, deviation due to low-altitude evasion… Combining all of this revealed the probability distribution of the crash site.

 

They had already deployed forces on that probability distribution several days ago.

 

And,

 

A moment ago, the missile accurately shot down the transport aircraft on the predicted approach route, causing the crash trajectory to fall exactly at the calculated point.

 

No, it was even better.

 

As the debris cut through the wind, the crash sites formed a formation that was easier to converge on.

 

‘The graveyard of guilds. Or called Ant Hell, isn’t it? Right here on the Middle East Front.’

 

Hashad wore a cold smile on his lips.

 

‘I don’t know why Onma cares so much about Jet and the Thunder Unit,’

 

“But I need to show them that here in this ant hell, they’re nothing more than a handful of prey.”

 

“Huh? So-sorry! I misheard!”

 

Hashad shook his head while swallowing the quietly whispered soliloquy.

 

“No. Nothing. What’s the distribution value of the crash site?”

 

“Inside the circle is key. Special forces survival probability 82%.”

 

“Ha! So they still have some skill, is that it? If we let them regroup, everything will become a mess. Deploy two small patrol drones toward the western valley. Continue thermal scanning.”

 

Crackle.

 

『Command confirmed.』

 

Friendly forces appeared on another monitor.

 

Motorcycles and small armored vehicles were on standby at the desert’s edge.

 

“Alpha, Beta lines, advance immediately. Snipers behind the sand dunes. Drones search 500 meters ahead with thermal imaging.”

 

Commands continued after that.

 

“Mobile unit rotate west, central unit take the southern ridge.”

 

Just then, movement appeared on the monitor.

 

Among the small white dots, one point was moving urgently.

 

A silhouette dragging parachute lines and kicking off the ground.

 

One person, or maybe two.

 

It was a typical special forces pattern.

 

“Too easy. Surround them first.”

 

Encirclement was a tactic that squeezed the enemy’s direction instead of intense firefight to eliminate air support forces.

 

In the desert, both noise and sand were allies. From now on, his subordinates would approach without making sound, confirm targets with long-range thermal tracking, then gradually close in.

 

There was no thought of rushing.

 

Usually such special forces were vulnerable to traps.

 

Rather than catching them quickly, he planned to predict their movements and gradually control them while slowly strangling their breath.

 

Just like prey trapped in an ant hell slowly dying…

 

Vroom vroom vroom vroom!

 

Small vehicles came down over rocks and slid between sand dunes.

 

Drones flew low, re-detecting fragments and heat signatures from the transport aircraft.

 

Just as a small noose was about to slip over their heads,

 

Crack!

 

Whirrrrr-

 

Suddenly the screen went dark and caught noise.

 

“What? Check the situation…!”

 

Just as Hashad was about to shout something, suddenly the other drone transmission feeds also began shutting off one by one rapidly.

 

“Valley-side drone shot down!”

 

“The drone deployed near the transport aircraft too…!”

 

“Signal cannot be detected!!”

 

The subordinates who had been acting calmly became urgent-eyed.

 

“Hand… axe?”

 

Hashad didn’t miss what the camera had caught before the last drone was shot down.

 

It was definitely an axe.

 

One that accurately detected and flew toward a drone traversing through the air…

 

‘Wait! Jet definitely,’

 

Right at that moment,

 

Flash!

 

The monitors and screens that had gone dark all simultaneously displayed the same footage.

 

Jet.

 

Dozens of Lee Hyeons were coldly glaring this way.

 

『Found you.』

 

『Found you.』

 

『Found you.』

 

“…!!!”

 

The voice that those dozens of Lee Hyeons spoke in unison,

 

approached like a death sentence handed down by a judge ruling the underworld.

 

Just moments ago,

 

Hashad’s complexion, who had been confident, turned deathly pale.

—————
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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