Broken Ranker Devours Myths - Chapter 57

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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 57

Z Team (4)

 

 

 

Whoosh!

Lee Hyeon stood before a waterfall located halfway up the mountain.

A place where magnificent cascading water fell.

“Oh……”

“It’s a spectacular view.”

Manager Eom Ki-seon and Chief Seo Ae-ri exclaimed in admiration as they looked around.

A particularly beautiful spot even within Flower Fruit Mountain, which was full of gorgeous scenery.

Kim Min-jeong tilted her head.

“Is there something here? I don’t see any caves or anything.”

“There is.”

Lee Hyeon pulled Taotie’s Fangs from his inventory.

The team members flinched in surprise and stepped back.

They had seen all too well what happened when he swung that axe.

“Wait a minute, sen—… Damn it! Everyone get down!”

Before Kim Min-jeong could stop him, Lee Hyeon was already throwing Iron Devourer toward the waterfall.

Whooom—

 

[Dueoksini’s Rage erupts!]

 

Kraaack!

Lightning struck the waterfall violently, and steam instantly spread in all directions.

The team members hurriedly threw themselves flat on the ground. Lightning bolts flashed overhead before disappearing.

“Senior! Please! At least warn us before you throw things like that!”

Kim Min-jeong raised her head with a completely fed-up expression.

If she had been even half a beat slower, she would have been hit by stone fragments.

The beautiful surrounding scenery had already been reduced to ruins.

“Sorry. But look over there instead.”p>

Kim Min-jeong turned her head toward where Lee Hyeon was pointing with a sulky expression, then was startled.

Between the split waterfall, a small cave entrance was visible.

“……That place?”

“Right. It’s a hidden stage.”

“……!”

“No wonder we couldn’t find it until now, hidden in a place like this. Shall we go take a look?”

While Kim Min-jeong shook her head, Lee Hyeon lightly leaped toward that direction.

Thud!

The moment his feet touched down,

Whoosh—

Suddenly an arrow shot out from deep within the dark cave.

An arrow heavily coated with poison.

Lee Hyeon drew a new axe and struck upward.

Clang!!

“Senior, are you okay!?”

Kim Min-jeong and the others who followed belatedly checked on Lee Hyeon urgently.

Swish swish swish swish!

Of course, arrows came flying at them as well.

Kim Min-jeong fired magic bullets, Manager Eom Ki-seon swung his half great sword, and Chief Seo Ae-ri deflected the poison arrows aside with her elongated fingernails.

Their senses had become extremely sharp.

They were accurately detecting the positions of arrows that flew silently.

‘The training I put them through was worth it.’

While Lee Hyeon smiled faintly, Chief Seo Ae-ri pulled out a poison arrow stuck in the ground and narrowed her eyes.

“It’s a neurotoxic poison. Unless you have considerable resistance, you’d immediately faint or suffer respiratory failure from muscle paralysis.”

“What? Poison arrows? Then are there traps installed or something?”

Lee Hyeon shook his head at Manager Eom Ki-seon’s question.

“No. This was drawn artificially.”

“Senior, that means…!”

“Yeah. It means there’s a mob hiding in the darkness.”

“……!”

“……!!”

“……An archer mob that knows how to hide its presence. That’s quite rare, isn’t it? Hehe.”

The team members tensed up.

Despite being just a single arrow,

It required considerable strength and magic power to deflect it.

That alone showed this was a much more dangerous difficulty level than the 14 dungeons they had passed through so far.

“This means this place isn’t just a simple 1-star dungeon. So everyone, battle formation.”

Manager Eom Ki-seon, skilled in close combat, took the lead, followed by Lee Hyeon, Chief Seo Ae-ri on the right wing, and Kim Min-jeong at the rear.

A battle formation naturally established without any special orders.

“We’re going inside.”

It was dark since sunlight didn’t properly enter, but by creating small electric lights in the air, they could at least distinguish what was ahead.

Not a single footstep could be heard, only quiet silence flowed.

A dry tension overlaid everything, not knowing when the archer mob that had initially fired arrows would appear.

「Kekeke! What a nostalgic place this is. It’s quite fascinating to see it like this. Isn’t that right, senior brother?」

「…….」

Sha Wujing was grinning constantly as he followed Lee Hyeon through the cave.

In contrast, Son Wukong was quiet.

Lee Hyeon glanced at Son Wukong, who remained silent, then asked Sha Wujing.

‘Have you visited this place before as well, Sha Wujing?’

「Keke. Our master asks such a foolish question.」

‘What do you mean by that?’

Sha Wujing grinned.

「This is the birthplace of the strongest among the seven great demon kings who rule over the eight million demons of Dongsheng Shenzhou.」

‘……Ah.’

「So anyone who has walked the demonic path, even briefly, or even other gods, couldn’t help but be curious. So much so that even the Jade Emperor……!」

「You’re talking too much today, youngest.」

Son Wukong cut off the excited Sha Wujing mid-sentence.

「It would be best to stop the idle chatter there.」

「……If you say so, well, I understand.」

Even Sha Wujing, who would normally have been sarcastic, simply nodded silently.

Lee Hyeon felt that Son Wukong’s eyes had become much more subdued since arriving at this dungeon, as he began speaking for the first time.

Son Wukong asked Lee Hyeon.

“Kid, you knew from the beginning that this was Flower Fruit Mountain, didn’t you?”

‘Yes. The dungeon report contents and such were too much like Flower Fruit Mountain.’

“Then do you also know what era this is?”

Lee Hyeon shook his head.

‘No. I’m not certain yet. But judging from the traces left here,’

Lee Hyeon looked at the various small traces left throughout the walls of the Water Curtain Cave.

 

[‘Sacred Relic: Golden Eyes of Truth’ has determined that this place is ■■■■’s old training ground based on the traces left in the Water Curtain Cave.]

 

‘It seems to be from the early part of the myth.’

The Water Curtain Cave was where Son Wukong learned and trained in various magical arts and skills under his first master, Patriarch Subodhi.

Those small traces remained relatively vivid.

It meant they hadn’t weathered much through the passage of time.

Thanks to that,

 

[Golden Eyes of Truth recognizes the traces left in the Water Curtain Cave. It accepts ■■■■ ■■■’s training methods.]

[You can now understand ■■■■’s karma more deeply.]

[The ■■■■’s karma absorbed so far is being reassembled anew from the basic stage.]

……

[The proficiency of most skills containing ■■■■’s karma increases dramatically.]

……

[Your understanding of Golden Eyes of Truth deepens.]

[Your intimacy with the Ruyi Jingu Bang increases.]

 

Lee Hyeon could taste the opportunity for growth just by looking at it.

He had accumulated much of Son Wukong’s karma while wandering through various dungeons.

‘But in another way, it doesn’t seem to be like that either. Those parts clearly show a level of completion different from the Great Sage’s early techniques.’

Lee Hyeon pointed at several traces with his index finger.

Traces where the Ruyi Jingu Bang had scraped along the wall surface.

Unlike the other rough and fierce traces, these were very clean.

Most importantly,

‘I can feel divine power. And an enormous amount of Buddha power contained within.’

It meant these were traces left by Son Wukong after he was appointed as the Victorious Fighting Buddha.

Sure enough.

“It’s called the Fighting Style. It’s a technique I developed in my later years by combining various magical arts and skills.”

Lee Hyeon felt greedy for this Fighting Style, but at the same time could understand the meaning of those words.

‘What you’re saying is,’

“It seems the Flower Fruit Mountain here isn’t from any specific era,”

Son Wukong’s eyes deepened.

“But rather closer to the concept of Flower Fruit Mountain filled with memories, the overall foundation of my life.”

It meant a Flower Fruit Mountain that encompassed all eras of Journey to the West.

“So what I’m saying is…”

Just as Lee Hyeon was about to listen carefully.

Whoosh!

Suddenly another new arrow came flying.

A much more stealthy ambush than before, filled with magic power.

Lee Hyeon swung his axe upward and roughly deflected it.

Zing-

Sharp pain flowing through his wrist.

‘Fierce.’

In an instant, Lee Hyeon’s eyes sharpened.

“Enemy!”

“They’re coming again!! This time… multiple!”

Whew whew whew whew whoosh!

A barrage of arrows filled with magic power suddenly covered the cave ceiling and poured down.

“Damn it! Why are there so many! It wasn’t just one but several!?”

Manager Eom Ki-seon, who was in the lead, jumped out.

 

[Legend ‘Baby General Uturi’ flaps with wings grown huge!]

 

The moment he roughly swung his great sword, the wings under his armpits grew dozens of times larger and flapped greatly.

A gust of wind arose in an instant, blocking all the arrows,

Bang! Rat-a-tat-tat!

Screech-

Taking advantage of that gap, Kim Min-jeong and Chief Seo Ae-ri fired magic bullets and swung their elongated claws.

It was to sweep away the arrows that Manager Eom Ki-seon couldn’t deflect.

 

[Legend ‘Tale of Janghwa and Hongryeon’ wildly fires killing intent!]

[Legend ‘Mouse that Ate Claws’ gnaws at the enemy!]

 

The momentum was certainly good, but,

‘What kind of power is in these damn arrows…!’

‘They’ve gotten stronger!’

The results were more modest than expected.

The inertia contained in the arrows was that solid.

Sure enough.

Thud!

 

[Legend ‘Baby General Uturi’ is infected with poison and collapses to the ground.]

 

The 2nd and 3rd poison arrows that couldn’t be pushed away by the gust stuck into his wings one after another, making Manager Eom Ki-seon stagger.

Finally, just as the 4th poison arrow was about to fly,

Crack!

A blue-white lightning bolt shot up into the air.

“Found you.”

The eerily floating Golden Eyes of Truth stared directly at somewhere in the darkness.

 

[Dueoksini’s fury spreads in all directions!]

 

The lightning that evolved by absorbing the White Tiger’s killing intent wasn’t just stronger in firepower.

Its precision was also much different from before.

Crash! Bang!

Every time he swung the axe, flashing lightning bolts deflected all the remaining arrows and brightly illuminated the dark cave.

‘If I add the additional function of [Skill] to this,’

 

[The additional function of Skill greatly improves the skill’s accuracy!]

 

[Frost Auspicious Play (SS)]

A heart covered with frost is no longer swayed by hot emotions. From that cold center, calculated schemes emerge and the world becomes nothing but his trivial play.

-Effect: Increased speed of using traps, tools, and combination techniques. When status abnormalities succeed, enemy’s judgment decreases for 3 seconds. 25% chance to trigger critical damage.

-Type: Additional function of skill.

-Origin: Fairy tale ‘Snow Queen’

 

‘I can strike even beyond that.’

Lee Hyeon hurled his axe forcefully into the darkness.

 

[Dueoksini’s Rage erupts!]

 

Kururrrung!

As lightning struck, all the mobs hiding in the darkness with stealth techniques were knocked from their positions.

“Ugh, uaaaah!”

“This isn’t even Thunder God, what is this!”

“Kraaaah!”

Mobs rolling on the ground covered in black soot. They could even speak human language.

“……Monkeys?”

To Kim Min-jeong’s surprise, the mobs looked exactly like common monkeys.

However, they all had eyes filled with venom. They wore armor too, making them look like agile soldiers.

「Youngster, you!」

‘I didn’t put enough firepower to hurt them, so don’t worry. And,’

Lee Hyeon dismissed the emotional Son Wukong and gripped Iron Devourer and Blood Biter tightly in both hands.

‘The soldiers aren’t nearly as weak as you think, Great Sage?’

The Monkey Soldiers quickly got up and disappeared back into the darkness.

And……

Clack clack clack!

The sound of crossbows being loaded echoed from all directions.

No longer bothering to hide their presence, killing intent swirled menacingly.

Simultaneously,

 

[The darkness covering the cave lifts slightly, revealing a cavern.]

 

“This is,”

Along with the illusion that the ceiling they thought was low suddenly expanded wide,

 

[The Monkey Soldiers show strong hostility toward you!]

 

“……There are quite a few more than expected?”

Lee Hyeon looked up and let out a hollow laugh.

Following the dome-like expanded ceiling,

At least dozens, no, hundreds of pairs of eyes glowed eerily like will-o’-the-wisps, glaring down at them.

Steel blades glinting between the shadows were waiting for the chance to be unleashed at any moment.

“……Where on earth did all these monkeys come from?”

Kim Min-jeong stopped helping Manager Eom Gi-seon up and hardened her expression.

‘Come to think of it, since coming to this mountain, we’ve encountered plenty of animals like rabbits and deer, but never saw monkeys even once. Are all the monkeys here?’

Meanwhile, she looked at him, thinking Lee Hyeon would somehow solve this.

The other two team members felt the same.

Since he had easily resolved such crises before, this time wouldn’t be different.

‘The Monkey Soldiers can’t easily fire their crossbows either. They fear senior’s Lightning Energy.’

Kim Min-jeong cautiously predicted victory. She prepared to draw her Magic Gun at any time.

“Human.”

“Drop your weapons.”

“Become a sacrifice, human.”

“Move and we shoot.”

As the monkeys growled,

The team members watched tensely, unable to predict how Lee Hyeon, who wore an inexplicable smile, would act.

Then Lee Hyeon raised both axes high and,

Clang!

Dropped them on the ground.

“I surrender.”

“……?”

“……??”

“I said I surrender. What are you doing? Aren’t you going to capture me?”

“……!?”

“……!!”

Lee Hyeon smiled at the bewildered expressions of his team members and the monkeys.

 

* * *

 

The team members were dumbfounded since they never expected Lee Hyeon to surrender there,

Crackle.

『Follow the instructions given before entering the cave. First, if you do as they say, they absolutely won’t harm you.』

Hearing the command through the radio, they realized there was a plan and followed along. His orders had never been wrong.

Because of this, all team members became prisoners bound with ropes and were scattered to different locations.

Lee Hyeon was the same.

The monkeys dragged him somewhere.

The more he looked from behind, the more he admired their appearance that resembled Son Wukong.

‘The soldiers I met in the had a somewhat different feeling, but these ones……’

「Kekeke. Suddenly surrendering. As expected, our apostle always acts unpredictably.」

Then, Sha Wujing spoke with a laugh.

「But why did you suddenly declare surrender? If you just revealed that you’re the apostle of my senior brother, the conversation would flow smoothly. Ah, perhaps you did it because you needed to separate your companions,」

‘No. Rather, I surrendered because I’m the Great Sage’s apostle. They already know who I am.’

「Huh?」

Sha Wujing tilted his head, not readily understanding Lee Hyeon’s words.

‘Don’t you understand yet? These ones,’

Lee Hyeon looked alternately at Son Wukong, who had fallen silent again, and the Monkey Soldiers who didn’t hide their hostility, and said,

‘They deeply hate the Great Sage.’

「……!!」

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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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