Ranker Who Shatters Myths - Chapter 214
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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 214
Temple of Bel (1)
“Phew… I thought I was going to die from exhaustion.”
Swoooosh!
Thud-
[You have defeated the Boss Monster, ‘King of Anjju’.]
As Eom Gi-seon lowered his half-sword, the leader of the Anjju fell, split in half.
Hiss-
The battle that began with Lee Hyeon and Manager Kang Yun-su’s sudden intervention ended in a complete victory for their side.
With Kim Min-jeong’s cover fire and X Team joining them at the ruins, the tide of battle had completely turned.
“Ugh…”
“We can really rest now, right?
“As expected, once the manager returns, things get resolved quickly, don’t they?”
The other members of Z Team all collapsed to the ground with relief, letting out sighs filled with comfort.
From the sudden missile bombardment to the emergency drop, and fighting through the encirclement to gather in one place.
Only now could they finally loosen the strings of tension, even if just a little.
Fatigue came rushing in.
Of course, they couldn’t completely let their guard down until the rescue team, which still hadn’t made contact, arrived,
but just having people they could be with provided no small comfort to their hearts.
‘Seeing everyone smile makes me feel much more at ease too.’
And Michael Shepherd felt the same way.
These were precious people who had come all the way from Korea to this distant place at his request.
Instead of being able to help them properly, he had been putting them through such hardships from the very beginning, so he couldn’t help but feel sorry.
Moreover,
‘Our communication network hasn’t been working for a long time either. What on earth happened at the encampment? Could they have been defeated by the Sama Society…?’
A shadow of worry briefly crossed Michael’s eyes, but he soon shook his head.
At the encampment was one of the Nine Heavens, Logan Redsky. With him there, it was hard to imagine they would have been defeated by something like the Sama Society.
There must be some other reason.
Besides,
It wasn’t as if there had been no contact at all.
-Just wait a little, Over Zero (Michael’s codename). As soon as the situation here is finished, we’ll come right away…
They must have other urgent matters to deal with.
As his thoughts deepened,
“…You’re saying you’ve found the missing persons?”
Michael’s eyes widened at Lee Hyeon’s sudden words.
Desert Eagle Team.
The team that had gone missing near the Palmyra Desert, the one they had asked Z Team to help search for,
Lee Hyeon was now saying he had found traces of that team.
“Yes. It’s not just Desert Eagle Team. I’ve also found traces of other units that were believed to be missing or dead.”
“…!!”
“They all lead to a dungeon connected to the Temple of Bel.”
“…What you’re saying is,”
“Since it seems like it’ll take time for the rescue team to arrive anyway, let’s complete it ourselves first. The search operation.”
“…!!!”
Thump!
At the fact that they could save other allies too, Michael unconsciously clenched his fist with strength.
Clench.
Moreover, if what he said was true, Z Team and all of them would gain tremendous worldwide fame in the future.
To Michael, who had almost stained his career with mission failure,
Lee Hyeon now looked like an archangel who had descended from heaven on a rope.
“Thank you. Really… thank you. Z Team probably doesn’t have the luxury to worry about anyone else right now…”
“Isn’t that how we all help each other and live?”
Lee Hyeon clasped Michael’s hand and flashed a bright smile.
‘Grateful? I’m the one who’s more grateful, Michael.’
It was a smile whose true meaning was unknowable.
* * *
At the Temple of Bel,
what Lee Hyeon discovered was the movement of various units leading to the Sama Society’s research facility.
And…
Just as he was about to examine it more deeply,
[The ‘Sacred Relic: Thunder Eye Clarity’ has mixed with the Golden Eyes of Truth function, upgrading some abilities.]
[The ‘Object Memory Reading’ function has been added.]
Through the two sacred relics, Lee Hyeon was able to read several residual thoughts left in the Temple of Bel.
Astra Team, Desert Eagle, being urgently pursued by enemies.
-Damn it, how the hell are we supposed to handle this…!
-We need to escape for now. Where should we go?
-How about entering the dungeon instead?
-Are you crazy!? There are 21 reported dungeons in the Temple of Bel alone! There are tons of unconfirmed dungeons too, and you want to go in not knowing where we’ll end up…!
-But we can’t just die a dog’s death here! I don’t want to die in this place!
-Captain! Stop this bastard!
-No, Captain! This is the only choice we can make right now!
Desert Eagle Team, driven all the way to the Temple of Bel, had to watch the Sama Society’s chariot units approaching while raising clouds of dust.
The unit known as Shawing (, Sand Shadow), which was reportedly annihilated after foolishly attempting contact with U.C.O.
Shawing wasn’t dead.
Rather, they had preserved their strength while hiding near the Palmyra Ruins, and as soon as prey appeared, they immediately emerged and took a big bite out of their flanks.
The problem was that Desert Eagle Team wasn’t the only one being chased by Shawing.
-The guys from Babel Tower, and the 13th Legion guys we met yesterday, they’re all in similar situations! At this rate, we’ll either be torn apart by Shawing or disappear buried in sandstorms, one of the two…! In this situation where we can’t even contact headquarters, what the hell can we do!!
This was the biggest problem.
For some reason, no matter what they tried, direct communication with the encampment side wasn’t working.
From what they heard, even Babel Tower, which had currently made a ceasefire agreement, and the surviving units of the 13th Legion were all in the same situation.
According to them, Shawing seemed to have some connection with U.C.O. and was using technology related to this to create a strong magical interference field…
Still, there was no way to confirm it, so there was nothing they could do about it.
As a result, for Desert Eagle, each day felt like their blood was drying up.
In the end,
The team leader of Desert Eagle had to make a decision.
-We are….
In the end, Desert Eagle chose to move into the dungeon for survival.
They might end up in a dangerously difficult dungeon,
but it was still much better than being completely wiped out by Shawing without being able to fight back.
And,
Desert Eagle was able to find out belatedly.
-Wh, why are you people here?
-That’s what we should be asking…!
-…The dungeons assigned when passing through the [Gate] should definitely be random. How can three units be assigned to the same place?
The fact that there were already two, no, many more prior occupants in the dungeon they arrived at.
Babel Tower’s ‘Language of the Gods’.
‘Scarab’ belonging to the 10th Corps under the 13th Legion.
Survival units from organizations belonging to the Axis of Evil were hiding there,
and there were also soldiers from UN multinational support units, including the French Foreign Legion, who were already known to be dead.
-…What on earth is going on?
While everyone was dumbfounded about how this could be possible,
Shawing also followed them and entered the dungeon.
It was indeed the same dungeon.
[All object memory readings have been completed.]
‘…So in the end, all the forces targeting the Palmyra Ruins entered the same dungeon.’
Lee Hyeon thought while running his hand down his face.
“I don’t want to share Sata Wang’s research lab with others… but I have no choice in this situation.”
If he entered the dungeon alone, there was no telling what he might encounter.
He didn’t know how Desert Eagle, or the Language of the Gods and Scarab would react.
Moreover,
Shawing’s attempt to reclaim the research lab that had been in ruins for a long time seemed to have other reasons.
‘There might be something that must be retrieved left in the research lab.’
So going in alone could only complicate things unnecessarily.
In the end,
Lee Hyeon changed his mind.
He decided to bring in both X Team and Astra from the ruins.
Going in as a search party seemed much easier for approaching the research lab.
And,
As a result….
* * *
“…This is absolutely maddening.”
Michael ran his hand down his face.
“These military rations here are all ones distributed to our Astra. It seems they didn’t have time to clean up before leaving.”
Traces of Desert Eagle left throughout the Temple of Bel.
The reactions of other Astra members who finished investigating were similar.
“Gatshell’s watch is here too. That stupid bastard, he said it was precious because his fiancée bought it for him, so how could he leave something like that behind?”
“We also found traces of Babel Tower and the 13th Legion staying here!”
“The 13th Legion… surely it’s not Scarab?”
“Your concern is correct.”
“Damn it.”
“As you know, Scarab are treasure hunters who specialize in exploring archaeological ruins. They might have discovered something here.”
“It seems we’ll have to follow Jet’s opinion.”
Lee Hyeon didn’t need to explain his psychometry ability separately.
That wasn’t all.
“Donovan, who went out on external reconnaissance earlier, has returned.”
The surrounding situation was also developing rapidly.
“Michael, Sima Society’s pursuit team has established a siege around the outskirts of the ruins. It appears to be Anwei’s Shadow Slayer Unit.”
“It seems we also need to take refuge in the dungeon until the rescue team arrives… Understood.”
Shadow Slayer Unit.
Even Michael, the strategic staff officer, had recently received reports about one of Sima Society’s main forces.
Anwei had been classified as a dangerous individual in Astra’s reports since the Central Hero Committee days.
It seemed there would be no time for rest in this operation.
Michael eventually had to seek out Lee Hyeon again with a sigh.
“It seems we’ll have to follow the opinion Jet gave us. Besides, as you can see,”
Michael took out a silver trumpet in the shape of a horn from his inventory.
“This reactor is also picking up signals from survivors.”
It was characterized by three wing patterns drawn at the end of the tube, with Hebrew text engraved below.
―קול אלהים מדבר.
The meaning was ‘The voice of God speaks.’
Wooong-
There was a small but deep resonance.
[Gabriel’s Silver Trumpet]
The trumpet that the great archangel Gabriel, standing tall in the heavens, blows to awaken the dead and announce God’s judgment.
When blown by humans, no sound is heard, but its resonance responds to the soul and thoughts of the target being sought.
-Type: Sacred Relic. Signal device.
-Origin: Biblical ‘Numbers’
Lee Hyeon’s eyes lit up slightly as he examined the sacred relic.
“Then we need to hurry. Let’s move as soon as preparations are complete. We’ll get ready too.”
Michael left after asking for their cooperation,
“Senior.”
Kim Min-jeong approached Lee Hyeon with a stern expression.
Her face showed she had many questions.
Lee Hyeon nodded.
“What you’re thinking is probably right.”
“…I haven’t said anything yet.”
“You came because of the Horse-Slaying Sword, didn’t you?”
“….”
“Its owner lives here. The U.C.O. and the anomalous phenomena at the Temple of Bel all occurred because of that.”
“…!”
Kim Min-jeong clenched her fists tightly.
Lee Hyeon didn’t bother hiding this fact from Kim Min-jeong.
Since she had mastered Bull Demon Killing Intent, Kim Min-jeong would inevitably learn this truth someday.
In that case, it was better to tell her in advance to soften the shock.
‘Even if she’s faced with some decision to make, Min-jeong will make a wise choice. Among the people I know, she’s also the most tight-lipped, so there’s no worry about it leaking out.’
Lee Hyeon already considered Kim Min-jeong as one of his people, someone he could trust with all his secrets just like Lee Gun-san or Go Jin-woo.
“From now on, a world very different from the common sense you’ve known will unfold. But whatever you see and whatever you hear, always think with your own standards and judgment. Never let yourself be swayed. You understand, right?”
“Yes. I understand.”
“Good. Then nothing major should go wrong.”
Lee Hyeon lightly patted Kim Min-jeong’s shoulder.
Kim Min-jeong’s expression also brightened slightly.
And then…
A moment later.
“Everyone, move out!!”
Z Team, along with X Team and the Astra Unit, all finished packing and moved toward the Temple of Bel.
‘The dungeon that the existing surviving units entered is the Desert City with the Temple of the Sun God Yarhirvol… The Bull Demon King is right there too.’
Lee Hyeon’s eyes gleamed coldly as he passed through the Gate.
‘I’ll end all bad blood there.’
With that resolution,
Whoooosh!
[Entering the Dungeon!]
A burst of light greeted the party.
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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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