Ranker Who Shatters Myths - Chapter 219

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

The Broken Ranker

 

Devours Myths

 

Chapter 219

 

Temple of Bel (6)

 

Lee Hyeon had already given Michael several instructions

 

just before entering the Temple of Bel.

 

“Michael.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“Are we still unable to communicate with the encampment?”

 

“…That’s right. The radio operator tried everything, but it’s not working well.”

 

Michael let out a sigh as if he felt ashamed.

 

However,

 

“It’s probably because of the magic interference devices they installed inside the Temple of Bel.”

 

“Magic interference devices…?”

 

Michael’s eyes widened.

 

It seemed like Lee Hyeon had figured out the reason.

 

“Yes. It’s one of the results they obtained while researching U.C.O. They installed devices from the ruins throughout the desert to continuously stimulate the magic field. And they used the same method to attack the transport aircraft we were on.”

 

“…”

 

“Conversely, they’re amplifying their own magic power.”

 

“What do you mean? The Sima Society researched U.C.O.? Are you saying there’s some relationship between the two!?”

 

Michael looked like he wanted more information,

 

but Lee Hyeon stared directly at Michael.

 

“Michael.”

 

“…Why are you staring at me like that?”

 

“Let’s agree that there’s nothing more to hide between us.”

 

“…Jet.”

 

“You must have already known everything before coming here.”

 

Lee Hyeon’s eyes deepened.

 

“The relationship between the Sima Society and U.C.O.”

 

For a moment, silence flowed between the two…

 

“Hah! As expected, I can never fool Jet’s eyes.”

 

Michael answered with a deep sigh.

 

“How on earth did Jet find out? Even at home country, ASTRA only learned about it relatively recently…”

 

“I heard it from the Director.”

 

“…You’ve gotten that close to the Director already!?”

 

“I’m joking. I learned about it while hunting down the pursuit teams.”

 

Michael let out a hollow laugh.

 

“Those bastards are so stubborn they wouldn’t even open their mouths. But in front of Jet, they must have been like mice before a cat.”

 

Michael didn’t seem to fully believe Lee Hyeon’s words.

 

‘He seems to think there’s a hotline between me and Zhu Bajie that he doesn’t know about… Well, it’s not entirely wrong, so it doesn’t matter.’

 

Somehow, Michael now seemed to think of Lee Hyeon as Zhu Bajie’s hidden card, or ASTRA’s secret agent.

 

Lee Hyeon didn’t bother to correct this misunderstanding.

 

“How much do you know?”

 

“The fact that the Sima Society has been secretly experimenting here for a very long time. There’s a research institute in the Temple of Bel, isn’t there?”

 

Lee Hyeon nodded.

 

“The reason home country suddenly launched surface operations on the Middle East Front was precisely because of that.”

 

“Do you also know what they were researching there?”

 

“The divine elixir of immortality… Shortened to divine elixir. That’s what they call it.”

 

“Divine elixir of immortality?”

 

Lee Hyeon’s eyes lit up slightly.

 

“I heard its purpose is to liberate one from death. Furthermore, it’s said to enable even molting and transcendence.”

 

“…Is such a thing really possible?”

 

Molting, like ‘shedding one’s shell,’ means the realm of surpassing human limitations to reach superhuman status.

 

In other words, becoming a demigod.

 

Top rankers fell into this category.

 

‘Transcendence is the realm beyond this, becoming Logos… But this is only theoretically possible, and there’s no one on Earth who has truly achieved it.’

 

No, there was someone who might have achieved it.

 

Mountain God Mo Jeong-gyeon.

 

“Well. I don’t know the details. Anyway, we’ve been conducting operations to steal it. Rather than that, tell me your story, Jet. Did you discover something about the interference devices?”

 

“I think I found a way to overcome the device’s interference and contact the encampment.”

 

Instantly, Michael’s eyes blazed.

 

“Is that true?”

 

Once.

 

If they could send their coordinates to headquarters just once, there would be nothing more to worry about.

 

“I plan to act immediately upon entering the dungeon.”

 

“…!!”

 

“Please take that opportunity to complete communication with headquarters. And…”

 

While Michael was delighted at the prospect of escaping this tiresome pursuit,

 

he made a strange face at the instructions Lee Hyeon gave, then soon widened his eyes.

 

“A-are you sure that’s really possible!?”

 

He was so surprised that he even stammered, unlike his usual calm demeanor.

 

Smirk.

 

“Let’s try it first. If it works, great. If not, we’ll do it the way we’ve been doing. We have nothing to lose, right?”

 

“Ah, understood. I’ll hurry.”

 

And…

 

* * *

 

The additional instructions Lee Hyeon gave Michael were very simple.

 

―After overcoming the interference device’s obstruction, if I give you coordinates, please request bomber support for that location.

 

―There’s a high possibility that the Sima Society’s encampment, including Onma, is located there.

 

Lee Hyeon had been continuously attempting to hack the interference devices using the Golden Headband and Snow Sapphire ever since falling into the Palmyra Desert.

 

‘When communication with Onma first connected. Catching even a bit of the frequency was effective.’

 

After facing Shawing and Swaeyonggi, and furthermore completing communication with Onma, he finished the hacking…

 

Lee Hyeon immediately passed the coordinates he identified to Michael.

 

And while Lee Hyeon was getting under Onma’s skin, Michael completed communication with headquarters.

 

“Support request. Repeat. B-52 support request.”

 

As a result,

 

Whoooooom-

 

The Stratofortress, often described as the ‘carpet bomber from hell’ or ‘God’s hammer,’ revealed itself in the desert sky.

 

Its size was incomparably massive compared to the Su-24 series bombers that had been targeting Lee Hyeon’s group.

 

The problem was that there wasn’t just one such aircraft, but a formation of four.

 

The bombers that had been called the terror of the desert since the 1950s poured down dozens of tons of bombs like rain.

 

And they weren’t just ordinary bombs.

 

-The bombs loaded on the bombers deployed this time are magic bombs infused with ‘that’ Logan’s condensed magic power.

 

-With the magic power of the Nine Heavens contained within, the explosive force is truly tremendous.

 

-No matter how solid a barrier they have erected, they absolutely won’t be able to block it easily.

 

As if they wouldn’t leave anything intact at those coordinates.

 

This was the result added on top of the achievements of the AGM-158 air-to-ground missiles that had already conducted preemptive precision strikes to destroy the command post.

 

It was truly complete devastation.

 

Sand, stones, and machine fragments scattered like a storm, and the horizon was entirely covered by a wall of flames.

 

Rumble-

 

Crash! Crackle!

 

Roooooar….

 

『So they couldn’t discover anything because it was hidden by a barrier all this time. Is this camouflage technique utilizing U.C.O.’s achievements? If you call them impressive, they’re impressive bastards indeed. Moreover, even after dropping that much, it’s still only half-destroyed. Ha. As expected, the rest will have to be left to what comes ‘after’.』

 

Hiss.

 

『Squadron returning to base, drop complete. Zero casualties across the board. Base, respond.』

 

『Base receiving. Return route approved, anchor point northeast 320. Welcome back.』

 

While the B-52 that completed its mission slowly gained altitude and was absorbed into the night sky,

 

the remaining explosions continued for quite a while, then someone walked out limping from the half-destroyed encampment.

 

Thud.

 

Thud.

 

“…Jet. Are you mocking us? How dare you! How dare youuuu!!”

 

Onma.

 

The bastard who was said to be responsible for one axis of the Sama Society’s Four Demons could no longer show his dignified appearance.

 

One arm was completely torn off, and his face was hideously melted from burns.

 

Though he was a High Ranker classified as a tactical weapon, he was nothing but a paper tiger before the tremendous fury poured out by the world’s strongest U.S. military.

 

No, it was only because he was a High Ranker that he could preserve his life intact like this.

 

It was difficult to immediately estimate how much damage the rest had suffered.

 

There would probably be quite a few survivors. If they scraped together somehow.

 

But it was questionable how many among them could fight properly right away.

 

They couldn’t immediately rush into battle with the wounded, could they.

 

However,

 

what Onma feared most was something else.

 

Feng Jinghao.

 

Would he, whose personality had completely changed after his confrontation with Son Wukong, even forgive him?

 

“Somehow… somehow… I have to tear that bastard apart…!! I have to recapture the research institute too….”

 

Onma gritted his teeth tightly while trying to find a way to make up for his mistake.

 

“The research institute…. That’s right, if I can just find the research institute…! If I just have the ‘leash’…!”

 

“Leash? That’s the first I’ve heard of that. Could I hear the details?”

 

A voice that suddenly interjected into Onma’s muttering.

 

Onma straightened his back while activating his magic power to maximum. Just as his inheritance was about to activate with flashy effects,

 

“Who,”

 

Thump!

 

A large hand that suddenly burst through space covered Onma’s face.

 

A rough touch.

 

It was a hand full of hard, rough calluses like someone who had done manual labor for a long time.

 

Through the gaps between fingers, Onma’s greatly enlarged eyes shook restlessly.

 

The owner of that touch,

 

was a face Onma knew.

 

No, it was a face he absolutely couldn’t not know since confronting Astra.

 

Sun-tanned bronze skin.

 

A colorful bandana worn on his head.

 

And lips that seemed full of mischief yet cold like a beast of prey.

 

One of the two top rankers that America boasts.

 

The Sacred Wolf.

 

‘Logan Redsky!!’

 

He spoke.

 

In very fluent Chinese like a local.

 

“We’ll have a lot to talk about. Right?”

 

“…!!!”

 

Onma’s eyes were colored with despair for the first time.

 

* * *

 

“…What the hell is happening outside the castle?”

 

The only city in the dungeon 【Ancient Desert City】, Bel.

 

Survivors of completely different affiliations and factions had been gathered here in a motley group for several weeks.

 

Since food and resources were also scarce, subtle threads of tension always flowed tautly between them.

 

It wouldn’t have been strange for conflicts to break out several times immediately, but they could endure with superhuman patience only because of their common enemy stationed outside the castle, Shawing.

 

Still, the people inside the castle were gradually showing the bottom of their patience.

 

The single meal they barely managed to fill each day was now almost hitting rock bottom.

 

On one side, there were already sinister rumors circulating that they had begun eating human flesh by sacrificing the wounded.

 

If there was any fortune, it would be that there were wells throughout the city so drinking water wasn’t lacking?

 

But….

 

Certainly, some sounds had been gradually heard from the sand desert outside the castle for several hours.

 

Explosive sounds as if fierce battles were being fought.

 

Even the effect sounds generated when inheritances or skills were activated.

 

“Could it be that Shawing is engaged in combat…?”

 

“Rescue forces!? Did the outside finally locate our position and send reinforcements?”

 

“Radio operator! Radio operator!”

 

“What about communication with the outside!?”

 

“Still dead…!”

 

“What? Then what the hell is going on?”

 

The survivors in the city all belonged to completely different organizations.

 

Astra’s Desert Eagle.

 

Babel Tower’s Language of the Gods.

 

The 13th Legion’s Scarab.

 

Even various individual survivors including the French Foreign Legion….

 

They all kept switching through their respective channels, but nothing was picked up, making them frustrated.

 

Then,

 

Static.

 

『This… is… …ro. Deser…, can you… me? Repeat….』

 

“…!?”

 

“Th, this is!”

 

The communicator that the Desert Eagle team had was responding for the first time.

 

The communication picked up by the communicator that had been completely silent since entering the dungeon was full of noise, but they could still clearly understand what was being said.

 

“C, Captain!”

 

“Be quiet! I need to listen more carefully!”

 

Desert Eagle’s leader, Reed Action, forcibly suppressed his pounding heart while bringing the radio item to his mouth.

 

“This is Desert Eagle. Repeat. This is Desert Eagle. Can you hear our voice?”

 

『….』

 

A quiet response contrary to expectations.

 

Just as Captain Action and the team members’ expressions were about to darken again,

 

Crackle.

 

『This is Over Zero. I repeat. This is Over Zero. Desert Eagle, can you hear my voice?』

 

As a much clearer voice than before came through, the Desert Eagle team members all clenched their fists tightly.

 

Some forcibly covered their mouths with both hands to suppress the screams that were about to burst out.

 

There was only one person in Astra who used the codename Over Zero.

 

“This is Desert Eagle. Yes… I can hear you.”

 

『This voice is… Hawk. I’m glad you’re safe. You’ve all worked hard during this time.』

 

The moment he heard his own codename called by that voice again,

 

Thump! Thump!

 

Captain Ashion’s heart, which he had barely suppressed, began beating hotly again.

 

“I… haven’t worked hard at all. It’s thanks to all the team members that I survived.”

 

『Good teamwork to see. Very good to see. We’ll be entering the city soon. Since not only Shawing but also Swaeyeonggi have been completely annihilated, you don’t need to worry about the rear. Please handle any cleanup so no other problems occur when we enter the city.』

 

“Roger… that.”

 

Captain Ashion answered while forcibly swallowing his trembling voice.

 

Then, just before the communication ended, he urgently shouted.

 

“And, truly, thank you. Colonel… sir.”

 

『…』

 

A moment of silence.

 

And then,

 

Crackle.

 

『I’m not the one you should be thanking. There’s someone else.』

 

“Who… is that?”

 

Michael, who was evaluated as cold enough to be businesslike and inflexible, was praising someone like this?

 

There was even laughter mixed in that voice.

 

『Jet.』

 

Michael said with emphasis.

 

『He’s our hero.』

 

The communication ended with that.

 

However,

 

Thump-thump-thump-

 

Captain Ashion and the team members couldn’t get up from their positions for a long time, trying to calm their hearts that were beating rapidly in the heated air.

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