Ranker Who Shatters Myths - Chapter 274

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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 274

To South Africa (7)

Tabo Mncwolisi, head of South Africa’s State Security Agency SSA, was receiving real-time reports about Lee Hyeon.

“After leaving OR Tambo International Airport, he rented an SUV and headed toward Gauteng.”

“So as expected…”

“It seems he’s planning to pass through KwaZulu-Natal and head toward the Drakensberg.”

“This is maddening. So he’s ultimately targeting the Nest.”

With Astra gathering intelligence agencies from allied nations to launch a cooperative organization,

Lee Hyeon’s sudden visit couldn’t possibly be a coincidence.

The problem was why he had specifically applied for a tourist visa.

‘Unless he’s planning to operate openly as bait…’

“Currently, our agents and Draconis Watch are following behind him,”

“But?”

“It appears Astra’s secret agents are also tailing him. And probably,”

“There are many others we haven’t identified. Among them would be those belonging to the Dark Side of the Moon.”

“That’s what we… estimate.”

“What a mess.”

Tabo Mncwolisi was beyond exasperated.

A large-scale agent chase scene you’d only see in movies was unfolding in broad daylight in a major city that was practically his front yard?

Beneath the surface, there was probably a massive intelligence war and diplomatic battle going on.

The SSA had been working all-nighters for days trying to identify the list of foreign agents who had entered South Africa.

The dark circles under Kara Moeti’s eyes, who was delivering the report, were proof of this.

“So this was it all along. Ha! There’s no one crazier than him. What the hell is he thinking?”

When an agent acts as bait, there are usually local collaborators or human intelligence assets.

Cases where someone openly draws all attention like this were almost nonexistent.

But Lee Hyeon was completely overturning all the formulas of espionage.

Should this be called recklessness, or should it be called courage?

‘Well, the three people he brought with him are all rankers too. Did he really come here to wage war? Ha!’

No matter how skilled he was, such audacity was simply amazing.

“Have we figured out what exactly he’s planning to do at the Nest?”

“I’m sorry. We’re still investigating. Astra definitely seems to be targeting the Dark Side of the Moon, but…”

“We need to know what their objective is before we can make proper moves on our end.”

Tabo was frustrated by the current situation where he couldn’t take immediate action.

“It can’t be helped. Continue surveillance for now. Don’t engage recklessly until we know their exact purpose. Especially, make sure to tell Draconis Watch clearly. Tell them not to move until there are orders.”

“Yes. Understood…!”

As Kara bowed her head and was about to leave, the terminal in her hand suddenly rang.

Instantly, Kara’s expression became complicated. A face that looked like she was about to cry.

Tabo felt uneasy.

“…What’s wrong?”

“Draconis Watch has already… moved to capture Jet’s group…”

“What!?”

Tabo unconsciously shot up from his seat.

“And Sub-leader Amandla personally led a unit to move… Wh-what should we do?”

“What do you mean what should we do! Connect the hotline to the leader’s office immediately! What the hell are these bastards trying to…!!”

“Y-yes, understood!”

Kara, whose face had turned pale, began running frantically.

“Amandla, that son of a bitch…! He can’t even properly stop the Underground Cult, and now he wants to mess things up even more!”

Amandla Khoetsi was a figure who showed the most active support for mine expansion and was suspected of colluding with the Dark Side of the Moon.

Tabo had to stand in place for a long time, massaging his throbbing head.

* * *

Total length of about 1,100 kilometers.

The Drakensberg mountain range, filled with peaks over 3,000 meters high.

The mountain range covered with eternal snow appeared outside the car window.

Lee Hyeon finally felt like he had truly found the right place.

“Come to think of it, the name Drakensberg itself means Dragon Mountain, right? Since Tiamat is also a dragon, it makes sense it would be here?”

“It’s an amazing coincidence. Or maybe the dungeon was set up because of that origin.”

Lee Hyeon nodded and replied to Oh Su-heon’s comment.

Then he glanced at the Vajra Bracelet.

[‘Bloodflower Serpent’s spirit is watching somewhere.]

The creature had awakened at some point and was surveying somewhere along the long mountain range with its eyes.

It meant something was being sensed.

Indeed, the stimulation Noeancheongjeong was receiving was continuously growing stronger.

Now it felt hot enough to be noticeable.

“But Team Leader, is this really the right direction? There aren’t even proper roads anymore.”

A question from Eom Gi-seon, who was driving.

Most of the roads were cracked and overgrown with moss and weeds, or completely covered by dirt in some sections.

“This area probably still has magic fields flowing out due to the dungeon break. Even the villages that existed have all been evacuated, so there’s no maintenance at all.”

“Then…”

“Still, keep going in as long as the car can pass. The direction is right.”

But the car couldn’t go much further and had to stop.

The ground was becoming unstable. The weather had also become unpredictable at some point, with dark storm clouds gathering as if lightning would strike.

Moreover, there were unmanned surveillance drones in the sky.

It meant they were approaching the Red Exclusion Zone.

Rumble!

“The GPS is barely working now. From here, we move on foot.”

Eom Gi-seon parked the car in a position where it would be difficult to spot from outside.

The group all got out and rechecked their prepared equipment. Anyone could see they weren’t dressed like tourists.

“This is really intense. Is this really the level of a sealed dungeon?”

Oh Su-heon let out a hollow laugh as she finished changing clothes completely and tied up her hair.

Being a ranker herself, her senses were very sharp. Her fingertips were trembling slightly.

“Lee Hyeon, you were at the Rabu subjugation battle, right?”

“I was.”

“How was it?”

“This is nothing compared to that.”

“Really to that extent?”

“Did you think a ‘god’ was like jjajangmyeon from the neighborhood Chinese restaurant?”

“I wish it were like that. Moon Su-chan, that bastard, how did he end up drifting to a place like this?”

Oh Su-heon grumbled while carefully surveying the surroundings with the Moon-Viewing Fox Mirror.

“If everyone’s ready, shall we get going?”

Lee Hyeon confirmed that Kim Min-jeong had shouldered the case containing her gun and started walking.

Whoosh-

Z Team began moving again.

* * *

“Passing through Red Exclusion Zone. Magic field wave level: low grade.”

The Drakensberg mountain range, especially the areas around where the Break occurred, are under strict civilian blockade and military control.

This is because the extreme magic fields leaking from the dungeon distort the ecosystem.

Sure enough.

Rumble!

Flash! Flash!!

Lightning bolts poured down from the sky without pause, and the ground was filled with pale mist, making it difficult to secure visibility beyond 5 meters.

“Keep the person in front properly in sight. Never let the distance between us get too wide.”

Kiiiaaa-

Kikikiki!

Moreover, the ground was muddy and squishy, and eerie wailing sounds could be heard from somewhere.

This meant that dungeonification had progressed to some degree.

Still, it was bearable up to this point.

However,

“Dungeon wave detected. Passing through Black Ridge Line!”

After entering a specific zone, the environment changed to become even more alien.

The rocks weren’t natural stone.

Not only did they have dark red crystal veins flowing across their surfaces as if they had melted once and solidified again,

Kikikikikikik!!

Monsters began appearing one by one through the black mist.

Atypical creatures with distinctive appearances.

[Dragonblood Larva appears!]

[Wild Wyrmling targets you!]

Forms that looked like hard scale fragments covered with red mucus. Insects appeared in swarms targeting Lee Hyeon who was running at the front,

while from the ground, centipede-like creatures with long bodies burst out trying to grab the party members’ ankles.

[Heavenly Dokkaebi’s Thunder Breath (EX) activates!]

Crackle!!

Rumble-

Lee Hyeon unleashed a massive amount of blue-white lightning while stomping hard on the ground.

Then lightning bolts of various sizes repeatedly struck down and surged up without pause, completely burning away the mobs.

‘These mobs are strongly infused with Tiamat’s scent.’

Lee Hyeon recalled memories from 10 years ago.

Tiamat was a Magic Dragon with legends of giving birth to all kinds of demons and monsters.

[Brithra slightly opens her eyes at the scent of an ancient dragon comparable to herself and watches.]

Perhaps because of this, the Dragonblood Larvae reeked strongly of Tiamat’s blood, while the Wild Wyrmlings gave off a strong smell of Tiamat’s poison.

Every single one was an entity that caused contamination to the surrounding area when killed.

But such damage was forcibly burned away by the lightning bolts.

And then…

Whoosh!

[Combat Sense (SS) warns of danger!]

Lee Hyeon pulled out Dueokshin’s fang from Kibisis and roughly swung it upward.

Boom!!

Flash!

A pillar of lightning shot up into the air with a tremendous explosion.

The attacker who had been targeting Lee Hyeon barely managed to twist his body in mid-air and land on the ground.

“…I was just going to try subduing you. As expected of Jet. You’re quite difficult to deal with.”

The party members all drew their weapons and assumed combat positions.

Eom Gi-seon stood to Lee Hyeon’s right with a half-sword emanating an aura blade, while Oh Su-heon stood to his left. Kim Min-jeong drew her pistol from behind and aimed the muzzle.

A hair-trigger situation.

The attacker hurriedly raised both hands to signal surrender.

Four more agents landed beside him.

All of them possessed extraordinary auras.

More precisely, they had fierce temperaments resembling dragons.

“Draconis Watch?”

When Lee Hyeon narrowed his eyes, the attacker’s face brightened considerably.

“Oh, fortunately you recognize us. Yes, we are Draconis Watch. We have no intention of fighting, so would you please lower your weapons for a moment?”

“That attack just now seemed to be loaded with quite a bit of aura.”

“Haha. To catch the ankle of Jet, who’s been making waves in Awakener society lately, wouldn’t that much be necessary?”

The opponent answered with a grin, but never withdrew the aura he had released outside his body.

A posture ready to attack at any moment.

‘I heard they have a lot of combat experience from monitoring the area around the 【Nest】 where bizarre mobs keep leaking out. They’re definitely rough.’

South Africa’s Awakener unit, Draconis Watch, was among the world’s top ranks in terms of attack power alone.

However, they were only specialized in anti-monster warfare, and were evaluated as lacking in many areas when it came to interpersonal combat or group battles.

But,

after briefly exchanging moves, he thought they weren’t a force to be underestimated.

‘Well, considering they’ve been monitoring the 【Nest】 without major problems despite not being able to properly replenish personnel since the Nest incident, I suppose that’s natural?’

Lee Hyeon brightly activated Neuan Cheongjeong.

His pupils turned deep blue.

‘But there’s something about this guy I don’t like…’

[Lie]

He was definitely hiding some ulterior motive.

“And this is Draconis Watch territory. It’s also a military control zone under special management by the South African government. Yet you opened your inheritance without any prior consultation or permission… it seems there would be no problem if we were to immediately kill you?”

The smile completely disappeared from the guy’s face.

At that moment,

[Dragonic Fear spreads!]

Grooooo-

The expressions in Oh Su-heon and Eom Gi-seon’s eyes changed.

The sharp killing intent of a dragon strongly pressured the party.

A High Ranker level expert.

‘Amandla Khoetsi!’

South Africa’s pride, a High Ranker and second-in-command of Draconis Watch.

His inheritance was Muzimu.

[Muzimu]

An ancestral god originating from Southern African (Zimbabwe, Zambia, northern South Africa) Bantu tribal traditions.

Each tribe’s village is protected, and they are said to detect natural disasters, plagues, and animal rampages in advance to warn their descendants.

-Origin: Oral folklore ‘Tales of Ancestral Spirits’

In sub-Saharan Africa, ancestral gods commonly took on the role of praying for their descendants’ well-being and serving as sensors to detect danger.

This was why Amandla Khoetsi had become a gatekeeper blocking intruders heading toward the Drakensberg Mountains.

“Of course, since nothing has happened yet, there’s no need to go that far… We’ll just complete a brief investigation and send you on your way with a warning, so I hope you’ll cooperate.”

Amandla’s eyes gleamed coldly.

[Combat Sense (SS) sharpens!]

Lee Hyeon could sense the forces that had already established an encirclement around the perimeter and were approaching.

“Lee Hyeon.”

“Don’t worry. We expected this much anyway. Wait a moment.”

Even at Oh Su-heon’s whisper, Lee Hyeon showed no particular agitation, when—

KWAAAAANG!!

Rumble rumble—

Suddenly, a tremendous explosion erupted from deep within the mountain range.

The explosion was so loud it seemed like a landslide might have occurred.

A pillar of dust was shooting up into the sky.

[Dragonic Fear wavers.]

In an instant, Amandla and his forces all turned their attention in that direction, causing the encirclement to waver.

“Now!”

Lee Hyeon didn’t miss the opportunity and kicked off the ground forcefully.

[Activating Heavenly Dokkaebi’s Trust!]

Kururururung—

The party members stuck close behind Lee Hyeon as he transformed into lightning and charged forward.

“Damn it! Stop him!!”

Amandla shouted urgently, trying to block Lee Hyeon’s path, but—

[Heavenly Dokkaebi’s Roar explodes!]

KWAAAAANG!

“Kugh…!”

Amandla couldn’t block Lee Hyeon’s fierce axe technique and was sent flying for quite a distance, coughing up blood.

The weapon he had been proud of was damaged, and the lightning that penetrated his body instantly burned his mana circuits.

“Lord Amandla!”

“H-How could this…!”

While the Draconis Watch agents were flustered by their leader’s one-sided defeat,

Swoooosh—

Lee Hyeon and his party broke through the encirclement in one go and rushed toward the source of the explosion.

There was…

A ‘mine’ filled with all sorts of drilling and excavation equipment, including a tightly sealed massive gate and a dungeon entrance.

And,

“…Yukimihiro?”

They could also spot a completely unexpected face.

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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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