Broken Ranker Devours Myths - Chapter 26
—————
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 26
Sha Wujing (1)
Meanwhile, at that time.
On the surface,
[The monster rush intensifies!]
[Beware of the Black Death.]
Kim Min-jeong stood on the city wall, looking at the black rat swarm filling the distant plains, and clicked her tongue.
Large rats that seemed to number well over tens of thousands.
Just looking at them gave her goosebumps.
‘How on earth are we supposed to stop all of that…?’
She could feel the natives panicking as well.
“Wh-what are there so many of!”
“Sh-shouldn’t we run away right now?”
“Are you crazy!? If we run from here? How will we find the missing children!”
The natives blocked the castle gate and brought boiling oil to prepare, but there were limits to what could be done in just 10 minutes.
“Damn it! This is all because of the Mayor!”
Then the arrows of resentment all pointed in one direction.
The Mayor jumped up from his spot.
“What did I do!”
“This all happened because you didn’t want to pay the Piper and drove him out! The children disappeared, and the rats we barely drove away came back in even greater numbers!”
“You all agreed to that too!”
“Ah, I don’t care about that! How exactly are you going to take responsibility for this situation!”
The citizens were now split into two factions and even fighting among themselves.
Kim Min-jeong wondered if she should draw their attention again, but when the rat swarm reached the moat, the citizens moved urgently.
“The rat swarm is coming! Get ready to pour the oil!”
The rats collectively plunged their heads into the river flowing along the moat.
They died en masse too easily, but the problem was that their corpses quickly filled the moat.
A situation that could only be called madness.
Kim Min-jeong gritted her teeth and pulled the trigger repeatedly.
Bang! Baang!
[‘Legend: Tale of Janghwa and Hongryeon’ activates. The killing intent loaded in the bullets transforms into misfortune and spreads in all directions.]
[A large number of rats fall into calamity and begin suffering from plague. The ‘rat trap’ is complete.]
Kim Min-jeong thoroughly picked off only the leader-like rats that seemed to be commanding the swarm from the front.
This way she could interfere with their major movements, and when they died, the ill fortune they spread could interfere once more.
Thanks to this, she could slow down the monster rush, but,
‘No. This is only buying time. How exactly did Senior Jang guarantee he could stop this!?’
After all, the number of bullets was limited.
There needed to be a fundamental solution.
-How could you handle all that by yourself while I’m away?
Suddenly, the words Lee Hyeon had said before leaving flashed through her mind.
-Haha. Why do you think you’re alone? There will be very grateful allies.
‘When exactly is that damn ally supposed to appear…!’
Kim Min-jeong wondered if there might be other reinforcements, but she couldn’t see any at all and became secretly anxious.
Just then,
‘Wait, what’s that?’
The black wave that had been rushing toward them suddenly began to change direction bit by bit toward another side.
Kim Min-jeong turned her gaze in that direction and let out a hollow laugh.
There were people there she had never expected.
Where the rat swarm was piled up like a hill.
A pillar of fire shot up.
Kwaaaaang!
“You damn bastards!! Die already!”
Team Leader Jeong from Z Team was roaring while wrapped in red flames!
[‘Legend: Red Lantern of the Ghost Moon’ manifests, spewing red ghostly fire!]
Paang! Paang!
Every time Team Leader Jeong threw a punch, flames erupted and the rat swarm was swept away repeatedly.
Because of this, sewage splattered everywhere, but his eyes were already rolled back and he didn’t care at all.
Thanks to this, the other Z Team members could also move urgently.
Various skills ran rampant.
‘Could it be that the ally Senior mentioned was…?’
Kim Min-jeong let out a hollow laugh.
‘He foresaw this far ahead?’
But thanks to this, the aggro was properly drawn, so Kim Min-jeong could only be grateful.
‘Even if they’re struggling, I should at least provide cover.’
Kim Min-jeong wanted Team Leader Jeong to draw as much aggro as possible, so she began support fire to let him rampage much more comfortably.
Of course, while appropriately adjusting the timing so he wouldn’t have the leisure to use his emergency escape item.
Baaang!!
Just as a slight smile began to play around her lips,
[Error! A new that doesn’t fit with the inside the dungeon appears!]
[Error!]
Suddenly a red message appeared in one corner of her vision.
‘Error?’
Kim Min-jeong wondered what this was and suddenly raised her head. For some unknown reason, her spine suddenly felt chilled.
The other Hunters and natives were the same.
They all raised their heads to the sky.
The sky was full of dark clouds.
Flash!
Suddenly two stars twinkled and a pillar of light struck down to the ground.
Kwaaaaang!
‘…All the rats have been completely annihilated.’
The pillar of light swept away all the rats across dozens of meters, and instead placed two men in that spot.
It was hard to make out their appearance due to the dust cloud,
“…!!”
But Kim Min-jeong instinctively felt that they were extremely dangerous beings.
[Error!]
[Error!]
And she realized.
That even Lee Hyeon probably hadn’t anticipated their appearance.
The two men silently surveyed their surroundings and soon disappeared like the wind.
The presence that had dominated the dungeon vanished as if it were a lie.
‘What the hell…!’
She had to report this quickly.
Kim Min-jeong brought her mouth to the communication brooch.
Crackle.
『Senior, can you hear me? Senior!』
Crackkkle.
* * *
“Kekeke. Where should I start explaining to make our eldest brother find this most interesting.”
Sha Wujing stroked his chin with his hand, lost in thought.
“Ah, that would be good!”
Then he clapped his hands and grinned wickedly.
“After eldest brother laid down his position as Victorious Fighting Buddha for ‘that reason’…”
「Don’t mention that part.」
“Huh? Don’t tell me the disciple beside you doesn’t know about that? Something so important?”
「He’s just a temporary disciple.」
Sha Wujing glanced sideways at Lee Hyeon.
“A temporary disciple when he reeks so strongly of eldest brother’s scent?”
「Stop talking nonsense! Just explain from after I got backstabbed by those bastards!」
“Can’t be helped. Then cutting to the chase, after eldest brother left like that, the Chief Deities immediately…”
Victorious Fighting Buddha was the position Son Wukong obtained after completing the Journey to the West myth.
In terms of rank alone, it was equal to the Jade Emperor or Buddha Shakyamuni.
He gave up such a position?
That meant there must be an incredibly complicated story behind it.
Lee Hyeon filed it away in his mind for now and listened carefully to Sha Wujing’s words.
The content wasn’t particularly complex, as he had said.
After assassinating Son Wukong, the Chief Deities decided to root out everything, fearing his companions would harbor resentment.
Under the Jade Emperor’s leadership and Buddha Shakyamuni’s tacit approval, a massive tragedy unfolded.
A massive massacre occurred across the and , which were among the most prominent groups of gods.
「…A massacre?」
“Kekeke. That’s right. It was such a sudden night raid that there was no time to respond, and when I learned the truth too late… my wife and children had already all fallen victim to the tragedy.”
「…!」
“It was the same for me. They said Bajie and Master had already been killed, so what could a retired old man like me do?”
Son Wukong asked through gritted teeth.
「Who was it that came for you?」
“It was that Nezha brat.”
「…That guy?」
Even Lee Hyeon was surprised at this part.
‘Prince Nezha should have been the god closest to Son Wukong among the Heavenly Army, right?’
「Yeah… That’s right.」
From Son Wukong, who was muttering to himself, both regret and anger emanated.
“Still, I was lucky that my myth wasn’t completely destroyed, so I could somehow send at least the ‘remnants’ down to the surface.”
「…」
“But even then, not knowing when they might track me again, I had to hide my body somehow, and the place I accidentally discovered was,”
「My myth?」
“That’s right. Whether by chance or fate, there happened to be a fragment of eldest brother’s story connected to me.”
Kekeke. Sha Wujing burst into laughter and continued.
“So I quickly entered this side. From what I could see, it seemed like an arrangement that eldest brother’s people had painstakingly created, so I thought if I stayed holed up here, someone related to eldest brother might come someday.”
Lee Hyeon nodded beside him.
It was certainly the right choice.
‘That’s why the adaptation was so drastically different. The Black Skull being there so obviously was for that reason too.’
He also understood why Son Wukong had suspected that the Sha Wujing he knew seemed to behave very differently.
As Sha Wujing who had struggled to create a hiding place, he wouldn’t have wanted this dungeon to be cleared by those unrelated to Son Wukong.
‘Still, that doesn’t justify the children being trapped for 10 years, or the Hunters being used as undead.’
Even Sha Wujing, driven to an extreme crisis, had ultimately changed.
“But now I’ve even met eldest brother directly! Keke. Heaven must surely be watching over us. Kekeke.”
Sha Wujing burst into bright laughter while looking at Lee Hyeon.
“But this child is merely eldest brother’s temporary disciple?”
「What are you trying to say.」
“If eldest brother isn’t interested, may I take him as my disciple?”
“…!?”
「What did you say?」
While Lee Hyeon’s eyes widened slightly, Son Wukong’s face contorted sharply.
Sha Wujing grinned slyly.
“Well, as eldest brother knows, I have almost no disciples, let alone believers, right? So I have to tag along until eldest brother is ‘complete’ again, and there happens to be a very good companion here. From what I can see, he has good qualities too..”
「No way! This guy is mine!」
“Huh? If he’s a temporary disciple, then he’s temporary, so how is he eldest brother’s? It depends on what he decides.”
「I said no!」
Sha Wujing bickered with Son Wukong while slyly winking at Lee Hyeon.
Meaning he would help.
He had instantly noticed the relationship between Son Wukong and Lee Hyeon, and intended to make things favorable for Lee Hyeon.
‘He’s trying to win my favor, something like that.’
Lee Hyeon unconsciously let out a chuckle.
「If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll kick you out…!」
Son Wukong was about to say something when he suddenly looked up.
In an instant, his excited face rapidly cooled.
「Little brother. It seems we had a tail following us.」
“…?!”
Sha Wujing’s complexion also hardened stiffly.
[Error!]
[Error!]
Suddenly, red message windows stuck densely along the ceiling.
‘Something’s coming!’
Error messages only appeared when beings completely unrelated to the dungeon intervened.
“Just when exactly…!”
「After falling from heaven, your senses become quite dull. The field of vision you see is very different from when you were immortal. There’s no need to be discouraged.」
Son Wukong comforting the agitated Sha Wujing no longer looked like a carefree monkey who loved snacks, but like a dignified god.
「I suppose they kept their eyes on you thinking they might be able to discover me by monitoring you, the youngest… What should we do about this?」
[Error! Unauthorized are Error,]
[Correction. are beginning their dungeon search. 3 minutes remain until they arrive here.]
[00:03:00]
[00:02:59]
…
[The surrounding area has been designated as a combat zone for unknown reasons.]
[Escape skills cannot be used.]
Three minutes was far too little time to make their escape.
Moreover, seeing that they had blocked escape skills as well, there was clear malicious intent to trap them here thoroughly.
「Judging by the scent… I see. So they’re apostles of Nezha and Indra respectively?」
One corner of Son Wukong’s mouth twisted.
They were all right-hand men of the most aggressive among the chief deities who had killed him.
[Nezha]
Chief deity of , right hand of the ‘Jade Emperor’. Also a high-ranking divine general who is the object of folk worship. A heroic god who freely wields countless weapons.
-Origin: Myth ‘Investiture of the Gods’
[Indra]
Chief deity of , left hand of ‘Brahma’. Once held such high status that he was called the king of gods. A warrior god who primarily wields lightning.
-Origin: Myth ‘Vedas’
“I… I did something foolish, senior brother…! If only I hadn’t acted so stupidly…!”
「Enough! What’s the point of dwelling on what’s already happened. Let’s first think about how to defeat those bastards.」
If there was any fortune, it was that the ones who came here weren’t the real Nezha and Indra.
It must be because they were blocked by the causality that separates the Heavenly Realm and Human Realm.
In that case, defeating mere apostles would be no trouble at all.
However, the problem was that the apostles’ [eyes] were also connected to their gods…
‘How should I handle that?’
Just as Son Wukong’s eyes were sinking deep in thought, Lee Hyeon suddenly stepped forward.
“Both of you please hide for a moment. I’ll try to block them.”
「What are you planning to do?」
Son Wukong and Sha Wujing’s gazes turned toward him identically.
Lee Hyeon said with a smile.
“Facing two apostles at once would be difficult for me right now, but we just need to hide the fact that you two are here, don’t we?”
Son Wukong’s eyes widened as if he had realized something.
「Don’t tell me, you?」
“I just happened to master a decent technique a moment ago.”
Crack! Crackle!
Lightning energy erupted around Lee Hyeon.
Condensed Lightning.
But it was different from the Condensed Lightning he had been using until just before.
[Using the Ice Jade Heart, your body and mana circuits take on cold properties. A cooling system has been established.]
[Mana circuit efficiency has increased.]
[Magic Power has increased by 5.]
[Dexterity has increased by 4.]
…
[The concentration of Condensed Lightning has exceeded the existing tolerance limit. The temperature of Condensed Lightning has risen dramatically, entering a new stage.]
Crackle crackle crackle!!
The blue-white lightning was now completely dyed pure white.
[You have comprehended !]
Zeus’s signature technique, Diovis.
The first stage out of three total stages, Kéraunos, had awakened.
「…!」
“If I disguise myself as Zeus’s apostle, wouldn’t that be quite convincing?”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————