Ranker Who Shatters Myths - Chapter 297

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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 297

Blood Pact (7)

Every time the wind brushed against the grapevine leaves, a low, damp earthy scent rose up.

Lee Hyeon passed through the shadows beneath the grapevines while keeping his body low.

‘Going.’

There were no words.

Instead, a very subtle wave was transmitted to all team members simultaneously.

Pat, pat, pat, pat-

Five silhouettes scattering throughout the vineyards.

Someone to the surveillance tower, someone to the outer warehouse, someone to the communication relay.

They had already familiarized themselves with the structure of this place with Kara Moeti’s help.

Once they began causing a real commotion, the SSA and Sphere Watch would be deployed immediately.

Whoosh-

[Steps of Eodukseoni completely erases your presence.]

[Activating the Trust of the Thousand Dokkaebi to move quickly.]

Among them, the place Lee Hyeon was assigned to was the deepest location.

Fortunately, there had been no particular conflicts with the guards on the way here.

‘Here it is.’

The center of the vineyard, stairs leading down beneath the old storage.

It looked like an ordinary agricultural facility on the surface, but the moment he stepped on the stairs, the air changed.

The smell of metal.

Dust mixed with oil.

And,

‘Hot air. Moreover, the walls are all constructed with excessively high conductivity.’

Lee Hyeon’s eyes sank deeply.

‘Has Oleg already done something here?’

More precisely, Oleg had ‘fed’ this vineyard with plenty of lightning.

Lee Hyeon raised a very subtle bolt of lightning at his fingertips.

Not for attack, but for measurement.

The lightning instantly flowed along the wall and disappeared.

As expected.

That meant…

Crackle.

『This is Jet. Everyone, there’s already a charge storage barrier installed here. I repeat. This place has a charge storage barrier. Zarya already knew we were coming. Everyone be careful.』

『…I said something felt strange. Anyway, those SSA bastards. I’ll have to put this on the tab for later. Command confirmed.』

『Then the Sphere Watch waiting on the outskirts too…! Understood for now. I’ll be careful. Command confirmed.』

『Command confirmed.』

『Command confirmed.』

It meant the enemy already knew they were coming and had set traps.

‘I did think it was a bit strange. A place like Zarya wouldn’t be this defenseless.’

Especially this building had the property to sufficiently absorb any lightning, large or small.

If necessary, it would discharge lightning at any time to strike down enemies.

It was as if the entire group had entered the maw of the beast called Oleg.

But Lee Hyeon wasn’t flustered.

All sorts of variables were bound to arise when carrying out missions.

This was also within the expected range.

Tap, tap-tap-

The deeper Lee Hyeon descended into the underground sanctuary, the more stinging the air became.

And,

“I was wondering when you’d come… It seems like we’ve caught a bigger fish than expected.”

Lee Hyeon narrowed his eyes and turned his head.

Space was being distorted.

The feeling of gravity’s grain changing.

Not the floor, but the direction itself being pressed down.

[The myth, ‘Thunder God of the Oak Tree’ directly gazes upon the outsider who has defiled his domain.]

Oleg Perunov.

Zarya’s leader was standing at the end of the passage.

Even though he clearly wasn’t wrapped in lightning nor holding a weapon,

Roooar!

[The barrier threatens you!]

The entire underground sanctuary was reacting like his domain.

Crackle! Crackle-crackle!

Electric currents flowing along the passage walls.

At that moment,

“How long are you planning to hide, kid? When an adult comes to meet you, you should show yourself.”

The guy was definitely looking at Lee Hyeon and lightly flicked his index finger.

Snap!

Crackle-crackle-crackle!!

Three or four lightning spears shot out from one wall and struck where Lee Hyeon was.

[Stealth Technique is forcibly canceled!]

Lee Hyeon emerged from the darkness and drew Dueokshin’s fang from Kibisis in that direction.

Crash!!

Crackle!

Then this time, lightning shot up from the floor as well.

It was a bright crimson color as if blood had been spilled.

But Lee Hyeon didn’t just stand still either.

Thud!!

He roughly stomped the floor with his foot.

Earthquake Step.

Originally used as a catalyst to trigger lightning energy, but now he mostly used it to regulate breathing and control the surrounding battlefield.

Lee Hyeon’s footprint remained on the floor. At the same time, lightning energy ripples spread out along the floor in waves, erasing all the crimson lightning.

What filled that space instead was blue-white lightning.

Crackle-crackle-crackle!!

Among the lights of the underground passage that had been flickering with red light, blue light flashed like an angry dokkaebi.

[Thunder Breath of the Thousand Dokkaebi (R) activates to dominate the battlefield!]

[‘Sacred Relic: Golden Headband’ automatically activates to resonate with the spirituality of magic power!]

[Neuan Cheongjeong opens to directly observe the opponent’s movements.]

The Golden Headband appeared above Lee Hyeon’s head and began rotating.

Now the Golden Headband’s role was to divide a portion of Lee Hyeon’s consciousness to efficiently manage lightning.

Having achieved his third awakening and completed his martial arts, the explosive power of his lightning had become so strong that such assistance was necessary.

While his unconscious realm was entirely focused on converging and exploding lightning, ready to discharge at any moment,

Lee Hyeon looked at his opponent with eyes dyed deep blue.

“Haha. Not bad at all.”

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Oleg Perunov applauded while looking very pleased.

“As expected… I should have made my move right when I first spotted you in the Middle East. You’ve become even more of a monster since then. What a shame I missed that opportunity.”

But contrary to his words of regret, he was laughing with excitement.

As if the person called Lee Hyeon was interesting to him.

Indeed, he had a keen interest in the blue-white lightning that Lee Hyeon wielded.

“Even if you already knew we were coming through intelligence operations… how did you read my presence? I hid it as much as I possibly could.”

Oleg raised his index finger and pointed at the ceiling.

“The human nervous system is entirely made up of electrical signals. Cognitive and sensory signals are the same.”

“…Are you saying you used Lightning Energy to expand the realm of your senses?”

“Bingo.”

Oleg twisted his lips into a smile.

“You being here… is the same as being inside my belly.”

The moment his words ended,

[The myth ‘Thunder God of the Oak Tree’ opens fully!]

[Thunder beasts are being summoned.]

Lightning appeared from the walls, intertwining like branches of an oak tree, then transformed into beasts of various forms.

Crows, eagles, cheetahs, leopards, rhinoceros… There were also others with bizarre appearances.

All of them baring their teeth to devour Lee Hyeon.

[Perun]

The etymology comes from *Perkun, meaning oak tree. In Slavic culture, oak trees frequently struck by lightning symbolized sanctity.

One of the three sons of the creator god Rod, born from the goddess Sva, he sits on the highest branch of the oak tree and watches over the world.

Animals like eagles and fish always gather around him, and the stone axe he throws becomes storms that drive away evil.

-Origin: Document ‘Primary Chronicle’

Oleg Perunov’s inheritance, Perun, symbolizes the oak tree and is known for loving the various animals that gather there.

Naturally, it was only fitting that the apostle who inherited that power, Oleg, could command numerous thunder beasts.

Each thunder beast was excellent enough to rival a Ranker.

“Go.”

Oleg intended to personally verify Lee Hyeon’s skills.

The moment he flicked his index finger downward, the thunder beasts all moved at once.

Krrrrrroooong!

Crackle!!

Lee Hyeon gripped Dueokshin’s fang tightly.

“Hoooo-“

One long exhale.

And then,

Crack!

In an instant, blue-white lightning sparked from the corners of his eyes,

‘Reverse Lightning.’

The moment he chanted the name of his martial art like an incantation,

Woooooong!!

Lee Hyeon felt his entire body overheating for a moment.

Not just the layers composing his magic power accumulation circuits, but his blood vessels, muscles, nerves, even his hair and fingertips – everything stood on end. A tingling sensation.

All the electrical signals of the physical body that composed the human ‘Jang Lee Hyeon’ began crossing beyond their limits into the realm of the supernatural.

―Inhuman.

Surpassing even the level of half-demon, he had finally succeeded in internalizing the supernatural.

[‘Martial Art: Reverse Lightning’ activates, fusing all physical cognitive abilities with demonic sensory abilities!]

[The boundary between physical body and inhuman collapses.]

[‘Divine Authority: Thunder Ghost of Dueok’ activates, amplifying the martial art’s effects to maximum!]

The blue-white lightning that had been extending from Lee Hyeon in streams didn’t just enhance his physical body.

This time it also enhanced his consciousness and soul.

There was only one thing Lee Hyeon had focused on when creating Reverse Lightning.

―Don’t just enhance physical abilities, but also enhance thinking abilities.

―Imbue intention into each lightning bolt, each spark, to expand ‘myself.’

Having already reached nearly the limit of physical growth through three awakenings, he had no choice but to step into the realm of thought.

Fortunately, the Three Waters Mirror that composed Reverse Lightning was also effective for mental cultivation, and when connected with the Golden Headband, the possibilities were amplified infinitely.

As a result,

Reverse Lightning succeeded in bringing about a new evolution of Thunder Ghost.

[You have fully comprehended the supernatural!]

[Congratulations! ‘Trait: Thunder Ghost of Dueok’ has been promoted to ‘Thunder Yaksha’.]

[Thunder Yaksha]

A state where Thunder Ghost has evolved to become supernatural or inhuman. It creates thunder and lightning to drive away evil.

-Type: Trait. Divine Authority.

The Lightning Energy that had surrounded Lee Hyeon like a being of light, as if he had become Dueoksini,

Now began transforming into a peculiar form and appearance as if he had become a yaksha from mythology.

Behind Lee Hyeon’s back, the form of a yaksha twisted with rage appeared and disappeared.

Grrrrrrr!!

The yaksha growled at the enemies.

In the yaksha’s hands was also an axe of tremendous size.

―Break evil and reveal righteousness.

―Stop disasters and subdue evil.

An axe with different Buddhist verses inscribed on each side.

“The movement of the mind is like lightning…”

Lee Hyeon quietly recited a verse from the sutras that Xuanzang Tripitaka used to chant like background music while he was honing his martial arts.

A passage from the Vimalakirti Sutra.

It became like a mantra, turning Lee Hyeon and the yaksha into a single bolt of lightning.

Kwarrrrrrrrung-

The lightning beasts exploded like firecrackers before they could even tear through the lightning bolts and confront Lee Hyeon.

Flash! Flash!

Rumble! Rumble!!

Roooooar…!!

Moreover, why was Lee Hyeon’s Axe Technique so incredibly fast?

Every time lightning flashed, thunder and explosions occurred a beat later.

Sonic boom.

Lee Hyeon’s offensive, having mastered lightning speed, was absolutely unstoppable.

“…Each thought that arises is destined to disappear soon .”

Human mental images always appear and then fade away. Lightning is the same, so Lee Hyeon, having achieved unity with lightning, could now reach anywhere simply by placing his consciousness there.

Crash!

“…!!!”

In an instant.

Lee Hyeon literally, in the ‘blink of an eye,’ repelled the interference of the lightning beasts and was able to stand before Oleg Perunov.

Oleg looked startled. The speed was so fast that even he couldn’t properly perceive it.

It was truly lightning speed.

“You said this space is your belly?”

Lee Hyeon smiled coldly while wrapped in a mass of light. The shadow of the Yaksha formed behind him also grinned just as menacingly.

“Then I’m curious what would happen if I burst your belly?”

With those cold words, Dueokshin’s fangs were drawn diagonally upward.

[‘Event: Lightning Collector’ has activated and successfully collected Perun’s lightning ‘Grom (Гром)’.]

[Currently collected lightning (19/99)]

– Dueoksini (Specter)

…

– ??? (※Cannot read the legend)

– Perun (Grom)

[Successfully analyzed the absorbed lightning to find weaknesses.]

[Breakthrough method has been completed.]

Blue-white lightning precisely cut through the crimson current and shot up toward the ceiling.

Rummmmmble…!!

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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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