Ranker Who Shatters Myths - Chapter 298

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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 298

Blood Pact (8)

“What!? Zarya appeared at the outskirts?”

SSA Director Tabo Mncwolisi’s expression hardened at the sudden report.

“Yes. Because of that, combat has broken out with the Spear Watch forces that were on standby!”

“Information leaking is one thing, but how did they know the standby location…!”

Tabo started to shout but stopped mid-sentence and turned his head to the side.

Amandla Khoetsi, who had been under interrogation until just moments ago, turned pale.

“It wasn’t me! I absolutely didn’t set any traps or anything like that!”

When Kagaso Malape, head of Draconis Watch, said he would hand over complete control of the mine to Russia,

Amandiya immediately left the scene and secretly contacted SSA through a hotline.

In his view, Director Kagaso was selling out the country.

Amandiya’s connections with Russia and China had been solely to save the economy of a nation on the brink of collapse,

not simply for his own benefit.

He too was a soldier who had grown up to protect proud South Africa.

So when he met with Tabo, he had spilled everything…

‘Damn it! Why did this happen! Tonight was supposed to be the execution date! Zarya’s movement was definitely scheduled for at least two more days!’

Since the fact that he had contacted SSA must not be revealed, this meeting had also taken place very briefly in a secret location.

But with the situation turning out like this, it would look like he had personally acted as bait to trap SSA.

Amandiya’s jaw trembled.

His decision for the country had become a threat to his own life.

“I’m not going to blame you, so shut up and stay put. Did you think Oleg Perunov was that impulsive?”

“…That means.”

“It was all planned from the beginning. Knowing that you would leak information to our side.”

“…!”

“An arctic fox wearing a brown bear’s mask… Damn! Did we move too hastily?”

As Tabo was chewing on the cigarette in his mouth,

Flash! Flash!

Rumble!

Suddenly, light burst from outside the window and sounds of combat could be heard.

“Director!! Zarya is outside right now…! You must evacuate immediately!!”

“They’re already here?”

Tabo’s expression hardened.

Zarya’s infiltration speed was far too fast.

A true blitzkrieg.

“So they’re prioritizing securing me first to get their hands on SSA too? Clever.”

That would put South Africa’s entire intelligence system in Russian hands.

Tabo ordered his fully armed subordinate agents.

“First, move Amandla Khoetsi to another safe house!”

“What about you, Director…!”

“It seems you’ve forgotten something during my long absence from the field, so let me teach you one thing.”

Tabo spat out the tobacco he had been chewing onto the floor and glared out the window.

Whoooosh!

Powerful energy emanated from him.

“Until just 10 years ago, if you asked who the strongest in Africa was, everyone would point to me.”

His eyes flashed like a beast’s.

“I’ll show my juniors those skills this time.”

* * *

Crackle.

『This is Volt. Zarya was lying in ambush. Beginning immediate engagement.』

Crackle. Crackle.

『This is Cloud! Zarya forces moving east from the north outskirts of the farm…!』

『Volt again. There are familiar faces among them…』

Crackle.

Crackle.

『This is Storm, there are quite a few here too, hehe. Perfect. Let’s skin some bear hide…!』

『Don’t rush too much, Storm! That’ll disrupt the balance… Hey!!』

『This is Tempest. Mission completed a moment ago. Secured the target Kagaso Malape. Repeat. Secured the target Kagaso Malape.』

『What? How so quickly?』

『He was rushing to evacuate to a safe house when he ran into me.』

『Poor uncle. Of all people to meet, he meets you?』

『Anyway, I’m relatively close to Storm’s position, so I’ll check…』

Crackle.

『Cloud issuing orders to the entire team. Zarya appears to be pressuring us in an arc formation from the east, so Storm and Tempest at the front…』

Crackle.

* * *

[An enormous amount of electrical charge fills the space.]

[Charge absorption barrier activated, absorbing all electrical charges.]

Flash! Flash!

Whether fortunate or unfortunate, all the lightning Lee Hyeon was proud of was absorbed through the walls.

This was a place Oleg Perunov had created for special purposes.

No ordinary lightning energy could ever collapse this space.

But the intense heat couldn’t be absorbed.

Because of the trapped heat, the air temperature in the narrow confined space became unbearably hot.

Hot enough to burn the respiratory tract with a wrong breath.

Crackle.

『Squad Leader, this place is…!』

『…This won’t work. It’s dangerous here. Leave this place to Lord Oleg and everyone fall back.』

Zarya’s 1st Squad, originally scheduled to deploy immediately upon signal to subdue Lee Hyeon, had to retreat from the charge absorption barrier.

No, even without that, there was absolutely no opening for them to jump in.

‘What kind of monster is that…!!’

To the squad leader’s eyes, Lee Hyeon and Oleg didn’t look human at all.

How could anyone swing a house-sized axe around like a reed?

Yet it wasn’t lacking in destructive power either.

Rather, it was so merciless that each graze of the axe blade tore chunks from the walls, and dozens of rooms had their partition walls completely collapse, creating one vast open space.

Meanwhile, sparks and embers remained where Lee Hyeon had stepped, causing chain explosions.

Even through all this, Lee Hyeon’s movement speed was impossible to track.

Crash crash crash-

Rumble…!

They could only guess his movements from the long blue-white lightning streaks left in his wake, followed by sonic booms a beat later.

And wherever lightning struck, tremendous explosions filled the space, making their flesh crawl just watching.

On the other hand, Oleg didn’t boast such fast speed.

Instead, he was heavy and intense.

Not only did he casually deflect all of Lee Hyeon’s swift attacks, but he even displayed fist strikes that cleverly exploited openings.

At such moments, it was frightening to think that the barrier protecting the Underground Sanctuary might not hold much longer and would shatter.

‘They said nine layers of barriers were installed, but the first layer is already in danger.’

Gulp!

The Squad Leader unconsciously swallowed dry saliva.

‘Against Lord Oleg, who’s a top ranker, how on earth…!’

He recalled the monster from the folk tales his grandmother used to tell him at bedside in his childhood, Zmey Gorynych.

An evil dragon with multiple heads that spewed fire, poison, and storms to sweep away cities…

Since Perun was known as the heroic god who always defeated monsters, it wouldn’t be strange to compare Lee Hyeon to Zmey Gorynych.

Crackle.

『T-This is terrible, Squad Leader!』

『What’s wrong?』

The Squad Leader was about to leave the sanctuary when he frowned at the sudden radio transmission.

『Just now, the 2nd Squad entered the sanctuary to catch Jet! They said they’d strike from behind while Lord Oleg keeps him occupied…』

『What? Ha!』

『Wh-what should we do? Shouldn’t we stop them?』

『Leave them be.』

『B-but…!』

『Are they the type to listen to what I say?』

『If they want to bite the blade and die on their own, let them. No, actually this works out well. It’s a good opportunity to see how Blue Thunder handles things.』

The Squad Leader’s eyes gleamed coldly.

* * *

“…My belly, you say. Hehe!”

Oleg Perunov twisted his lips.

In a tone that found it very amusing.

Indeed, thanks to his clash with Lee Hyeon, which he had thought would be mere entertainment, dopamine and adrenaline were bursting wildly within him.

“Anacondas often experience such things, don’t they? Cases where prey they swallowed wrong pierces through their belly skin and comes out. Could you really do the same?”

Oleg thought it might actually be possible.

Fast enough to break the sound barrier and create shockwaves in the atmosphere, bold and intense hand movements.

Yet the attack patterns were never simple.

Most appeared to be linear, but that was only because they pursued extreme efficiency.

Having mastered various martial arts like wrestling and Muay Thai in his youth and even achieved world championship, Oleg

could immediately recognize how excellent Lee Hyeon’s footwork and axe techniques were.

‘Plus that ridiculous explosive power of his Divine Authority. He couldn’t achieve such an even match against me otherwise.’

Oleg grinned wickedly as he forcibly shook off the lightning that had flowed through his fist moments ago.

Even if some blood vessels were damaged, he could just seal the wounds with lightning.

He handled his own body as roughly as his violent personality.

Because of this, Oleg rarely felt truly exhausted even when physically drained.

When he started getting tired, he just needed to keep stimulating his nervous system.

After all, sensation was nothing more than electrical signals exchanged between cells and nerves.

If he could increase the intensity, it was also possible to completely cut the power.

Therefore,

he was invincible on the battlefield.

“Your fundamentals are properly established. Where on earth did you learn such things?”

“Fundamentals…?”

For a moment, one of Lee Hyeon’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

A somewhat subtle reaction.

Oleg, too focused on combat, thought it was an awkward reaction to hearing praise from himself, a great superhuman of this era (Oleg Perunov was a person with strong self-love).

‘He must be feeling embarrassed. Anyway, my greatness is…’

A few more compliments would probably make him completely flustered.

If necessary, he’d have to kill him right here, but still, the appearance of a skilled junior was always a pleasant thing.

“Right. Since your fundamentals are solid, you know how to use various applications even in variables. And you don’t waver at all. It means your roots are firm. You’re on a different level from ordinary Hunters who only fight with improvisation.”

“…”

“It seems like you have a separate master – who is it? Is it someone I know?”

At Oleg’s solemn question, Lee Hyeon stood dazed for a moment, then

Pfft.

let out a light chuckle.

“…Why are you laughing?”

“It’s the first time I’ve heard that my fundamentals are established.”

“What?”

This time Oleg’s eyebrow twitched.

“It was because of those damn lacking fundamentals that I got hit in the back of the head four years ago… People’s affairs really are unpredictable.”

“…!?”

Completely unexpected words.

Oleg’s eyes widened slightly, and

“But there’s one thing I know for certain.”

Crack!

Lee Hyeon grinned wickedly while maintaining distance from Oleg.

“My martial arts are working on you too.”

His fangs were fully exposed.

“If that’s the case, I won’t lose at the very least.”

“How arrogant. Just because you heard a few words of praise, you immediately became conceited and try to climb over my head.”

Whoooosh!!

Red flashes eerily blazed around Oleg’s eyes.

“Let’s see if you can keep babbling like that even after you’re dead.”

Crash!

Oleg kicked off the ground fiercely and charged in a straight line.

It looked like watching a battering ram charging toward a castle gate on an ancient battlefield.

So intense that all the gray smoke and black ash scattered away.

Lee Hyeon collided with him head-on without any sign of backing down.

Creak.

His grip on Dueokshin’s molars tightened with force.

[‘Divine Authority: Three Steps of Pātāla’ – You have taken the first step. Magic power amplifies greatly, making the nature of lightning rougher.]

[The solar eclipse of Sun-Moon Eclipse bestows its blessing upon you.]

…

[Mahabali is quite impressed by your greatly changed martial prowess.]

[Brithra mutters that there’s a scent flowing from beyond the outer sea. Says Tiamat’s gift was very useful to you.]

[Mahabali evaluates that your balance of posture and control of experience are excellent.]

[Yarhibol stops scolding his twin brother and gazes at your magnificent appearance with an entranced look.]

…

Craaash!

Lee Hyeon collided with Oleg head-on once more. Or rather, tried to collide.

If it weren’t for the uninvited guests who suddenly appeared, cutting through space.

Paaaaaaat-

“Die, Jet!!”

Zarya’s 2nd Squad, blinded by merit.

“These bastards…!”

Lee Hyeon suddenly found himself facing enemies both front and back.

Oleg’s face instantly hardened, but Lee Hyeon actually thought this worked out well.

‘The lightning discharge keeps failing properly because of the charge barrier. In that case, I have no choice but to collapse Anga itself!!’

Lee Hyeon forcefully pulled his left hand upward.

Then the black-gold Yeo-ui Swae already in his grasp brought along a massive amount with it,

Crrrrrack!

Suddenly, cracks spread instantly from the seafloor where Yeo-ui Swae was deeply embedded to the walls, ceiling, and throughout the entire corridor.

[Yeo-ui Swae has successfully seized control of most of the charge barrier!]

[The pulley turns.]

[Warning! The charge barrier is collapsing at rapid speed. The debris of the collapsed barrier is being absorbed into Yeo-ui Swae.]

[Energy Drain occurs.]

“No way!?”

Oleg and the 2nd Squad Leader finally realized Lee Hyeon’s aim and their expressions hardened.

Yeo-ui Swae had already pierced through the underground seafloor and spread throughout the entire Anga!

‘When the hell did he…!!’

An attempt chosen as a backup plan since immediately destroying the charge barrier was difficult.

But the result was definitive.

Just by Yeo-ui Swae moving, not only did the nine-layered barriers collapse one after another, but the entire underground space came crashing down.

And,

Inside the barrier, all the lightning energy and electric current that had been charged up until now explosively discharged all at once…!

Kwarrrrrung-

In the chaos of falling rocks, dust, high heat and explosions, those guys were swept away by the violent torrent just before colliding with Lee Hyeon.

The 2nd Squad was completely annihilated without even having a chance to do anything, unable to even scream.

“Damn it…!!”

Oleg Perunov spat out a curse and wrapped his body in layers of lightning.

He temporarily gave up on attacking. An explosion of this scale was difficult even for him to handle.

This was the result of feeding not only Lee Hyeon’s lightning but also his own lightning into the barrier.

The trap had backfired on him.

But there was one thing Oleg didn’t know.

That Lee Hyeon had been aiming for this very moment.

Charrrrrrk!

Amid the loud explosion, the sound of iron chains could be heard from somewhere, then suddenly Yeo-ui Swae pierced through the black smoke and struck Oleg’s left shoulder.

Thunk!

“…!?”

Oleg had no time to react. It happened in the blink of an eye.

But in that moment when he couldn’t pull out his anchor while blocking the explosion,

“Got you.”

Lee Hyeon’s cold laughter spread menacingly.

[This is already collected lightning. All analysis is complete.]

[Absorption is possible.]

[Energy Drain occurs again!]

“…!!”

The situation had become the complete opposite of what Lee Hyeon had experienced just moments before.

The problem was,

Lee Hyeon had only his discharged lightning stolen, but Oleg had a straw stuck directly into him.

And this was happening right when his lightning output was at maximum!

A massive amount of Energy Drain occurred.

Kwaddddddeuk-

It felt like Oleg’s prized magic engine might be ripped out entirely.

“Kraaaah!!”

Oleg’s body began to collapse.

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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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