Ranker Who Shatters Myths - Chapter 290

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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 290

Molting (7)

The Inner Sanctum of the Dijiang Sect.

The corpse of the archbishop who had died while gazing into the depths of the Underworld had begun to rot at some point.

However, the cardinals and bishops did not remove the body.

That was because it had its own uses.

“Four maggots have started crawling up around this shoulder area. It’s a sign that misfortune will soon befall us.”

“The left eye burst before the right eye. It means an unexpected variable has occurred among our allies…”

“The Left Hand’s thumb bone was also exposed first. Has the collection of the stigmata failed?”

Divination.

Ancient people would use bones to foresee fortune, or use enemy corpses as offerings to speak divine prophecies.

However, nowadays such practices are mostly dismissed as traces of barbarism and rarely used,

but the madness-stained Dijiang Sect didn’t care about such things at all.

No, they rather welcomed it.

A corpse touched by the breath of the underground god was perfect material to use as a divination tool.

It had even roughly predicted the situation in South Africa.

“Nonsense. The 36th Prophet personally went on the expedition, yet it failed…? Besides, the Depths Battle Unit would be attending at his side?”

Just as one cardinal was muttering in disbelief,

Tremble tremble tremble…!

Suddenly, the limp corpse of the archbishop began shaking violently.

The gathered cardinals hastily stepped back.

“The Prophet!”

“The Prophet descends here!”

“Everyone show proper respect!!”

The Prophets were attendants who had spread the gospel of the underground god most widely during their lifetime, and in death enjoyed eternal life while serving beside the underground god.

Naturally, to the lowly beings who had not yet shed their physical forms, they were like divine messengers positioned at incomprehensibly high places.

The archbishop’s corpse suddenly raised its upper body. Jet-black radiance shot up from its eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

Flash!!

Where the cold black light swept through, blinding or eye-closing in its intensity,

the archbishop’s corpse rapidly recovered its rotted parts while transforming into a different face.

It was the 36th Prophet, Aeldari.

“We greet the Prophet!”

“We greet the Prophet, divine messenger!!”

“Huu…”

Aeldari crossed between the cardinals who knelt on one knee and bowed their heads, then sat in a chair.

Thud!

“The fact that I must borrow such trash vessels every time I visit this damned surface world is burdensome. Heavy. Unpleasant and irritating.”

“We are shameless for not preparing a proper vessel, Prophet.”

“Indeed. You should be shameless. Didn’t you end up ruining things again because of your pathetic preparations?”

Aeldari looked down at the cardinals with displeasure, resting his chin on his hand.

The cardinals trembled, realizing that the divination they had seen earlier was correct.

“Then…”

“The Sons of Zeus have seized the stigmata.”

“Wh-what do you mean, Prophet! How could they suddenly!”

One cardinal suddenly raised his head. It was someone who had maintained close relations with the Sons of Zeus.

“That’s what I should be asking, Cardinal Vita.”

“I am…!”

“What exactly are those infidels plotting?”

“I, I don’t kn-know,”

Crack!

Cardinal Vita was speaking when his head suddenly twisted to the side and he died with his tongue hanging out.

“If you don’t know, you should die. How dare you hope to live after causing trouble for our Lord?”

Aeldari withdrew the hand he had extended. The dead cardinal’s corpse rapidly oxidized, leaving only bones.

“It’s exactly as I said just now. The Sons of Zeus dared to block our path to collect the stigmata, and gathered the stigmata from the 【Nest】 under their command. They seek to revive the extinct Zeus.”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!!”

Horror appeared on the cardinals’ faces. Some caught the scent of war and hardened their expressions.

“That thunder-wielding bastard from 【Sipjeon City】 escaped from Fall from Heaven, so they probably thought they could do it too. Stupid fools. Zeus’s soul has already been swept away and disappeared into the Outer Sea.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“But Zeus was quite the philanderer, so he has many children scattered across various places. If they join forces, they might shape their thoughts and create something plausible.”

Gods ultimately originate from faith. Even without a soul, if faith still exists, they could somehow be revived.

Of course, whether the god that appears then could be called the same existence as the previous god was uncertain.

“And they spouted nonsense about using our Lord as material for this purpose. What do you think of this?”

For a moment, deep silence descended.

And what followed was fervor filled with anger. Or madness.

“…If they truly,”

“They truly thought so. I saw Perseus directly wielding Zeus’s lightning.”

“…”

“I ask again. What should we do?”

“We must… kill them.”

“We must cast them into the Abyss so they can never act recklessly again!”

“Infidels are ultimately just infidels. Shouldn’t we put them all on the stake so they can repent?”

The fanatics didn’t raise their voices. But every word they spat out seethed with hostility.

Aeldari’s twisted smile grew wider.

“Prepare for holy war. Kill all those rude infidels and let them wash their sins with their blood. Bring the stigmata back to our embrace.”

“We will follow your command!”

“We will carry out your orders!!”

“Then go. I will illuminate your path.”

The cardinals began rising with their eyes blazing.

* * *

Lee Hyeon’s group returned to the 【Nest】 using Eagle’s Nest.

“Hah… I can’t believe you actually succeeded at such an absurd feat.”

Tiamat greeted Lee Hyeon again with a hollow laugh. Moon Su-chan was beside her.

“Were you watching?”

“There’s no place around here that my gaze doesn’t reach. The human world is no different.”

There was also murmuring from Tiamat’s ceiling.

『That was quite the scheme.』

『What’s so difficult about making those Lower Realm things fight each other…』

『Do you think the underground god is a pushover? If it was that easy, why couldn’t you do it long ago?』

『Just because they’re steeped in fanaticism doesn’t make them easy. Rather, they have sharp aspects because they’re not in their right minds.』

“The fourth brother is right about this. Even if they’re human, we must acknowledge what deserves acknowledgment.”

Tiamat’s amused gaze turned toward Rabu, who stood nearby.

“Rabu, what do you think? As the gatekeeper, you must have formed an evaluation.”

“I…”

Rabu paused for a moment. The gazes gathered on the ceiling all looked at him silently.

Wasn’t he the one who had despised humans? He had even looked unfavorably upon Youngest Brother Moon Su-chan. Everyone was curious about his assessment.

“I gave them the Sea Dragon’s Overflow Core before they left. I told them to call me when they needed help. There were still aspects of them I found unreliable.”

The eyes of several brothers lit up. They had caught the meaning behind Rabu’s words.

“But they never called for me in the end. Yet they still achieved such results. Isn’t that already an answer in itself?”

Rabu bowed his head toward Tiamat.

“If we don’t acknowledge Youngest Brother and his companion, who else could accomplish such feats?”

“Hoho. Then the matter is as good as settled. You both worked hard.”

[Brithra looks at Tiamat while acting extremely arrogant.]

[Brithra haughtily raises their head, saying this is the difference in perspective between you and me…]

“That damn old fool keeps annoyingly poking their head out without warning.”

Clap!

Tiamat clapped loudly.

[All external channels have been forcibly closed.]

[Brithra is forcibly ejected. Curses about a damn old hag can be heard from afar.]

And then…

Ding!

Ding!

[You have successfully completed the Hidden Quest: ‘Protection of the Nest’!]

[In truth, Tiamat was rapidly dying after losing her heart to an entity from the Outer Sea.]

[However, unable to abandon her countless children, she voluntarily descended to this land to build a nest and create a sanctuary where not only her children but various Outsiders could live together.]

[That sanctuary has just escaped from danger. It’s all thanks to you.]

[However, Tiamat’s sanctuary, the Nest, is still a place many covet and watch for opportunities.]

[Please consider together how to make the Nest completely safe.]

[You have obtained ‘Tiamat’s Favor’ as a reward.]

[You have obtained ‘Slightly Less Diluted Dragon Blood’ as a reward.]

…

[You have achieved an incredible Achievement. Your status has greatly increased.]

[Your status has increased.]

…

[The residents of Sepusha begin to view you positively. Some residents consider you a brother.]

[You have gained deep insight into Outsiders.]

…

Amidst the endless flood of rising messages.

But among them, two things caught Lee Hyeon’s attention.

One was the deep insight into Outsiders.

And the other was,

[You have obtained ‘Tiamat’s Library Access Pass’ as an additional reward!]

“Mother, surely not?”

Rabu sensed the subtly changed flow of air and jerked his head up.

“Mother?”

“Mother! Surely you’re not going to give him ‘that’ too…!”

“This is impossible! You’ve never even properly opened it for us!”

[Brithra has consumed multiple causality points to forcibly restore the severed channeling.]

[Brithra says that damn old hag has finally gone senile, asking how a dragon could allow access to their treasury…]

[Tiamat has forcibly closed the channel again. She erected a triple firewall making it absolutely impossible to open.]

Flash!

Suddenly, a flash of light streaked below Tiamat,

Rumble…!!

The Abyss began splitting left and right.

“…!”

Lee Hyeon found the sensation of darkness pushing darkness aside to open absurd, but remembering this was a mysterious world full of all kinds of Outsiders, he swallowed dryly.

Thud!!

Then the gates of the Abyss opened wide,

“…Dragon’s Library.”

Moon Su-chan, realizing what it was, muttered with a thoroughly tense expression.

Whoosh—

Amidst the tremendous swirling currents, Tiamat curled up the corners of her mouth.

“Gods govern providence. But dragons study providence.”

“…”

“Therefore, dragons explore the truths of the world. That’s why dragons are both a wise race and, conversely, a primordial race. They are beings who covet the fundamental by any means.”

Rabu and all the brothers swallowed dryly. All their gazes looking at the Abyss were trembling intensely.

“Inside there are treasures and knowledge I’ve collected since those distant times that could be called the beginning. You’ve worked hard, so I’ll let you take exactly one thing you desire.”

“…!”

Lee Hyeon swallowed dryly.

Tiamat’s epithet was Primordial Sea.

She was an ancient dragon who had lived longer than any gods. How many treasures and knowledge had she accumulated like mountains over time?

That’s why it was called both a treasury and a library. That’s why even Brithra was shocked by Tiamat’s decision.

Hmm.

‘Would this be considered a bribe?’

But Lee Hyeon read Tiamat’s underlying intentions.

It was friend money(?) asking him to continue getting along well with Moon Su-chan, who was both Youngest Brother and an apostle,

And also a request to keep watching over the Nest from the outside.

And…

‘It would also mean working together to find a way to restore her heart if possible.’

Moon Su-chan’s main objective would be to somehow revive Mother Tiamat’s status and return her to the Heavens.

For Lee Hyeon, this was encountering a tremendous opportunity.

However,

[You have declined the additional reward!]

After brief consideration, Lee Hyeon refused the access pass. The Abyss naturally closed again.

“…!?”

“This is impossible…!”

“Human, have you gone mad? How dare you kick away Mother’s treasury?”

As the murmuring from the ceiling grew louder,

Only Tiamat was surprised yet wore a strange smile as if she had expected this all along.

“Why? Are you not satisfied with this much? Or are you perhaps reconsidering the companionship proposal you rejected last time? I’m the type who doesn’t look back at someone whose heart has already left once.”

“Lady Tiamat is certainly a very attractive person, but I’m burdened by the thought of our family trees getting tangled. Instead, there’s another favor I’d like to ask of you.”

“Another favor?”

“Sha Wujing.”

「Kak kak kak! I was waiting for you to call me!」

At that moment, a baby turtle peeked out from above Lee Hyeon’s head and threw itself into the air.

Whoooosh!

With tremendous airflow, Sha Wujing appeared in human form and stood before Tiamat.

“It is a pleasure to meet you like this, Tiamat. I am Sha Wujing of 【Sipjeon City】. Kak kak kak.”

“The youngest priest of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven… I have heard of the Golden Arhat’s reputation. Do you intend to make some proposal to me?”

“Kak kak! That’s right. I was thinking of making a proposal that would benefit both our newborn 【Sipjeon City】 and the still precarious 【Sepusha】…”

Sha Wujing’s eyes drew a bold impression.

“A blood alliance between the two places. What do you think about it, Lady Tiamat?”

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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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