Ranker Who Shatters Myths - Chapter 317

—————
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 317

Sons of Zeus (7)

Altar of Corruption.

The Abyss Swamp, one of the strongholds that the Jiseo Order had established across the world, at its center.

Thousands of fanatics blocked the front of the temple supported by massive pillars of flesh.

And at their center,

Archbishop Mortis, one of the leaders guiding the Jiseo Order, stood.

“…You really made it this far. What a persistent bastard.”

His gaze turned to the masked figures standing below hundreds and thousands of steps.

Most of them were exhausted from prolonged battle, their armor and clothes in tatters,

yet somehow Dionysus, standing at the center, was smiling with his eyes as if enjoying himself.

Like looking at guests thoroughly drunk at a wine-soaked festival.

“How dare you set foot in this place. Even your father Zeus feared to gaze into the abyss of this place. Much less a clown who merely imitates his father…!”

It was all too clear to Mortis’s eyes.

The more exhausted Dionysus became, the deeper the fragrance of wine that flowed from him.

And his subordinates following him were gradually losing their reason, intoxicated by the scent of alcohol.

Their minds were being corrupted.

And at the end of that…

[A new Outer Sea existence gazes with greedy eyes at the Outer Sea existence hidden underground.]

There was the Outer Sea.

The place the Underworld Deity longed to return to someday, but couldn’t yet go due to their wounded body not having healed.

A world of monsters filled with beasts as vicious as, or perhaps more ferocious than, the Underworld Deity.

Yet one of those monsters had set its sights on the Underworld Deity.

Slurp.

The sound of lips smacking seemed to reach even here.

As an apostle serving the Underworld Deity at close range, it was naturally a situation that set his nerves on edge.

The problem was,

‘Outside the World, in the Outer Sea, countless monsters swarm! But among them, there shouldn’t be many monsters worth being wary of…! Just who is that monster?’

Sure enough.

Whoosh!

Above Mortis’s head, dozens of large and small eyeballs appeared in the sky, gleaming.

[The Prophets are wary of the approaching new Outer Sea existence!]

“Don’t mention my father, you mole.”

But Dionysus, even while receiving the full pressure of the Prophets pouring down from the sky, didn’t retreat a single step.

Instead, he emanated even more sinister madness.

“I’m not imitating my father, but have come this long way to become that father.”

“What?”

Mortis made an expression of disbelief.

“Before the monster that devoured your own father, you say you’ll become that father?”

“So what if I do?”

“You’re completely insane.”

“Haha! Hearing such words from fanatics is quite amusing in its own way.”

Dionysus’s eyes gleamed with madness behind his mask.

Mortis was certain.

The bastard was already out of his mind, making them nothing.

“I don’t have time to waste here. So let’s start right away.”

Dionysus raised his golden cup high.

With a motion as if worshipping toward the sky,

Kwaaaaang!

Massive grape vines erupted explosively from behind Dionysus.

They weren’t plants.

Purple energy. Whips of destruction materialized from Outer Sea water fermented in wine.

“Damn it!!”

Mortis frowned and struck the ground hard with his staff.

He realized that the Outer Sea energy Dionysus wielded had been stolen from them.

At that moment,

[‘Prophet: Aeldari’ descends!]

Kwarrrrrung!!

Ominous lightning from the sky struck Archbishop Mortis’s body.

Simultaneously, his appearance began to rapidly grow younger.

Prophet Aeldari, who had also clashed with Lee Hyeon before.

“You, do you know Niemiensan?”

Unlike Mortis, Aeldari was smiling as if quite interested.

“I hope you’ll be a worthy opponent.”

Bang!!

Aeldari kicked the ground fiercely.

* * *

After a fierce battle had taken place.

“Hahahaha!”

Aeldari burst into mad laughter in the sanctum that had become ruins.

“Pahahahahahaha!”

The black swamp water mixed with purple wine created bizarre marbling, and the floor was filled with the corpses of followers.

Even though his right shoulder was in a miserable state with the entire arm blown off,

Aeldari simply couldn’t stop laughing.

Hiss-

Every time he laughed, black smoke billowed from the severed section instead of blood.

But the black flesh covering the sky writhed violently.

『Aeldari! What the hell is this supposed to be-!』

『Your arrogance has finally brought disaster!』

[The Prophets pour their rage upon ‘Prophet: Aeldari’!]

『Not only did you lose the stigmata, now even our deity’s divine body has been stolen?』

『How can you still call yourself a Prophet after this!!』

The Prophets’ spiritual words struck Aeldari’s ears like lightning, but the bastard still didn’t stop laughing.

『What are you doing not chasing immediately! If you won’t do it, then I’ll…!』

The reason the Prophets were so agitated.

This was because the sacred relic that had been carefully enshrined in the temple’s sanctum had been stolen by Dionysus.

The Underworld God would tear off pieces of his own divine body and enshrine them in sanctuaries scattered across various parts of the world, including the Abyss Swamp.

This was to ensure that his fanatics would never lose faith in him anywhere, and would slowly come to revere him.

But now that such a thing had been stolen, they couldn’t help but be shaken.

However,

“There’s no need to waste causality chasing after them. Leave them be.”

Aeldari raised his remaining left hand, stirring the purple powder scattering through midair.

These were the traces left behind by Dionysus and his subordinates’ disappearance.

Divine Authority, ‘Butterflies of the Vineyard.’

An arrogant and splendid exit, scattering into thousands of butterflies and vanishing.

『What did you say?』

“For a crazy drunkard, his swordsmanship was quite impressive. He took my arm, after all.”

Aeldari’s eyes gleamed red.

“Just like that Nemean bastard, those rats from the Inner Sea have sharpened their teeth considerably.”

Aeldari was intoxicated not by the loss of the sacred relic, but by the pleasure of battle with a formidable opponent he’d encountered after so long.

『Have you lost your mind! Do you not know what he took!』

“I know. It’s our lord’s tongue, isn’t it?”

『Knowing that, how can you…!』

Aeldari twisted his lips at the Prophets’ outcry.

“That’s exactly why I’m telling you to leave them be. What he took may be a treasure to us, but to them it will be nothing but poison.”

—The Hardened Tongue of the Underworld God.

It was a black gem said to have been formed from the first lie the Underworld God uttered in primordial times.

A cursed object that contained powerful magic but constantly whispered maddening suggestions to its owner.

Whatever reason that bastard had for taking it, he would never be able to use it properly.

Madmen usually had thin ears, and the Hardened Tongue of the Underworld God would work all too well on such a fellow.

The sacred relic that had left would soon return home.

“How interesting. I look forward to seeing who will stand before me again at the end of this chaos.”

Aeldari sat on the ruined altar, gazing at the ceiling that looked like a red moon, and smiled coldly.

* * *

Olympus’s Vineyard.

Tens of thousands of purple butterflies gathered in the spiritual world created by Dionysus.

Flutter!

Then legions appeared, simultaneously scattering the fragrance of wine and the nauseating stench of blood.

“Huff, huff…!”

“Haah, haah…!”

“W-we’ve finally returned…!!”

The group of followers who served Dionysus.

Though there had been numerous casualties, their eyes were filled with joy as they returned bearing news of victory.

The fatigue accumulated from wandering through the Sanctuary of the Underworld God instantly flew away. Thrilling exhilaration pierced through their entire bodies.

“Kahahaha! If this isn’t the return of a king, then what is!”

Heracles roared as he struck his blood-soaked club against the ground.

Though his entire body was soaked in the poison of the abyss, he had forgotten even the pain.

This was because he had witnessed with his own eyes the fierce exploits and divine authority Dionysus had shown against the Prophet.

Until now, he had secretly believed that in terms of martial prowess alone, he was the greatest among the Sons of Zeus,

But after returning from this expedition, his thoughts had completely changed.

‘Dionysus has sufficient qualifications to become our new father! He has the ability to become a god!’

Unlike father Zeus, who never gave a single response no matter how desperately they searched, begged, and cried out for his return,

Dionysus always led them and brought victory and spoils into their embrace.

Heracles was now completely won over by Dionysus.

He had no doubts about his abilities, divine authority, or ambitions.

[Heracles’s legend has been soaked in Dionysus’s wine fragrance, paralyzing his reason!]

[Conversion is taking place.]

[The fragment of Astrape granted to his Prosopon begins to be dyed with Dionysus’s legend.]

The more this happened, the more the mask symbolizing him was gradually being dyed purple, the color symbolizing Dionysus,

But neither Heracles nor the other brothers following Dionysus had yet noticed this fact.

Only Minos, who had not extinguished the flame of ambition in his heart, realized the abnormal phenomenon.

‘…It’s conversion. That’s definitely what it is.’

Minos bit his lips tightly as he watched his brothers burning with blind faith.

This was actually his first time seeing it in person too.

Conversion.

A strange phenomenon where those who follow beings from the Outer Sea, upon first [recognizing] that being, have their reason and thought paralyzed and are automatically enchanted by that being.

Not only karma and magic power, but even one’s soul could be stolen. One would simply be absorbed into that being. He had once heard that the phenomenon experienced by the fanatics of the Underworld Sect was similar to this.

And the phenomenon currently shown by Dionysus’s followers was exactly that.

First trust, then admiration, gradually becoming soaked in madness until reason was finally paralyzed and one became completely dependent on the being—an ant hell.

The problem was that invisible whispers kept reaching Minos’s ears as well.

-What are you doing, what are you doing, what are you doing, what are you doing?

-Just relax your mind too. Relax your mind. Relax your mind. Relax your mind.

-You’ll be comfortable. You’ll be comfortable. You’ll be comfortable. You can’t escape from them anyway, just like Zeus, if you comfortably go together to where father is, you’ll be able to enjoy greater happiness and bliss, so that’s why, that’s why, that’s why, that’s why.

As if he had become a madman hearing hallucinations.

‘Get away! Get away from me! These damn hallucinations!!’

Minos barely suppressed the urge to burst his own eardrums right then and there, and managed to speak to Dionysus.

“…Brother.”

“Speak.”

Unlike his excited brothers, Dionysus was calm. His breathing was rough, but this was because the black gem in his hand kept irritating his nerves.

The Hardened Tongue of the Underworld God.

A fragment of the Underworld God’s body stolen from the Abyss Swamp.

“May I ask what you intend to use that stolen tongue for? It looks too dangerous to simply use for replenishing magic power.”

“…”

“That is a cursed mass formed from primordial lies. I don’t mean to doubt you, brother, but still, being cautious would be…!”

Minos’s words grew longer than usual for him, then he fell silent under Dionysus’s gaze turned toward him.

The light in his eyes swirled purple behind his mask.

“Lies… Yes, Minos. You’re clever, but conversely, you’re too honest for your own good.”

“What do you…?”

“Lies cover the truth. And if those lies are perfect, sometimes they can even deceive causality.”

“…!?”

Dionysus’s voice scattered dreamily.

“It means results can be reversed. If even the confirmed result of death can be made into a lie, wouldn’t resurrection become inevitable?”

Minos swallowed. He realized that Dionysus’s purpose wasn’t simply to gain power.

‘The Chalice of Resurrection!!’

He recalled the Kantaros that had supposedly been stolen by Gwiroae before.

‘No, this is something much greater than that… Co-could it be that he intends to deny Zeus’s destruction and devour it again? Something like that…?’

He felt a sinister taboo so ominous that he couldn’t even properly guess its purpose.

…Tremble tremble tremble.

Minos trembled without realizing it and swallowed dryly.

Dionysus’s madness had now surpassed any level he could measure.

“Well, that aside… Now we must welcome the brothers who have been waiting for us.”

Dionysus tucked the black gem into his chest while his eyes gleamed coldly.

The place where he turned his gaze.

What should have been bustling with the conversations of brothers was now filled only with silence and darkness,

At the highest point of the meeting hall, in the seat of honor, a man sat with his legs crossed and chin resting on his hand.

“You’ve kept me waiting long, Dionysus.”

Apollo wearing a golden sun mask.

But Dionysus instinctively knew.

The Apollo sitting on that jade throne was not Lee Gun-san.

Crackle!

White lightning shooting up to the sky.

Zeus’s inheritance. Guile Pater.

It was Lee Hyeon.

[Warning! The power storage barrier is in operation.]

[Spatial coordinates are fixed, making escape to the outside impossible.]

“You’ve been away from home for quite a while. Thanks to that, I did some cleaning. How does it look?”

Lee Hyeon stared directly at Dionysus with his blue-white eyes glowing.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————