Broken Ranker Devours Myths - Chapter 74

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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 74

First Hunt (8)

 

 

 

Feng Jinghao quietly flashed a good-natured smile.

“Hmm…… I must be getting old, I keep forgetting what I heard just a moment ago. Could you explain it again? What did you say?”

However, Zhao He strangely broke out in cold sweat down his spine.

“……All contact has been lost.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m sorry, sir! Please spare my life!”

Zhao He prostrated himself flat on the floor.

Cold sweat poured endlessly from his face.

“Why is this person suddenly acting like this? How embarrassing. First, answer what I was asking.”

“Sir…….”

“Can’t you hear me?”

Since those words came across like the voice of the King of Hell,

Zhao He unconsciously squeezed his eyes shut and had to give his report again.

“All the secret safe houses that the Main Committee had established in small countries have lost contact. It appears that every single one has been eliminated without exception…….”

Crack!

Zhao He’s head shattered instantly and his body tilted to the side.

Thud!

Feng Jinghao lightly brushed off the blood and brain matter from his staff while clicking his tongue.

“Oh dear……. My hand moved before I knew it. Really, when you get old, you need to fix this kind of temper first. Tsk.”

Though Feng Jinghao grumbled, his eyes were as cold as ice.

The tower he had carefully built over the past ten years…… had collapsed overnight.

Money, time, talent, effort, and labor had all been wasted.

He desperately wanted to beat all his subordinates to death,

but Feng Jinghao tried his best to control his mind while mulling over the culprit who dared to make him suffer.

He knew him well.

“Lee Gun-san……. That old man didn’t completely retire from active duty, he’s been hiding all this time. Cunning as a snake.”

Lieutenant General Lee Gun-san, who had opposed him for a long time but was forced to exit the international stage with the dissolution of the Thunder Unit.

At the time, the entire world including the United States wanted the Thunder Unit dissolved.

And since Feng Jinghao was the one who led that effort, Lieutenant General Lee Gun-san’s exit remained very vividly in his memory.

But,

Lieutenant General Lee Gun-san had returned.

And with very vicious fangs at that.

‘Where exactly did things go wrong?’

Even when he heard the news that Magic Dragon had been captured, Feng Jinghao wasn’t too worried.

Though it was regrettable to lose such valuable personnel, the Committee had plenty of such talent.

He wasn’t worried even if Magic Dragon knew a lot of information.

He expected this would also be blocked by the gag order and die on its own soon.

The gag order always worked well.

However…….

‘They broke through that gag order. What method did they use?’

The gag order was directly imposed by the god that Feng Jinghao served.

Therefore, even Xu Changyou (Seo Chang-woo) of the Jade Emperor could never lift it.

But Lieutenant General Lee Gun-san had lifted it.

Moreover, by succeeding in interrogating Magic Dragon, who had absolute loyalty to the Committee, everything went wrong.

All the safe houses and facilities secretly installed on the Korean Peninsula were exposed.

And,

the time it took to completely eliminate all of them was just two hours.

The Committee had no chance to do anything.

The operation was carried out as a blitzkrieg.

“Originally, I planned to recover the Demon King from the Korean Peninsula and use it as a foundation to establish a bridgehead for advancing into the Pacific…… but it’s all ruined. All ruined. Hehehe…….”

A laugh filled with utter despair.

But madness filled with rage flickered in Feng Jinghao’s eyes.

“Moreover, it wasn’t just that Lieutenant General who returned. That bastard too……. That bastard returned too?”

Feng Jinghao recalled the Seoul background he had seen in Korean breaking news.

He wondered why it looked so familiar.

It was because it was actually a place he had visited several times.

A place he thought he would never need to visit again after four years ago.

A place he had forgotten.

“Jet……. When you became a cripple, I should have definitely cut off your breathing too…….”

Feng Jinghao could instinctively tell.

The fact that Lee Hyeon was at the center of this incident.

Because it was always like that in the past too.

However,

regretting it now wouldn’t bring anything back.

‘I need to somehow save the remaining foundations even now. If there’s any silver lining, it’s that Ya Deng used the Golden Headband just a moment ago.’

And he probably died.

Unable to handle the energy provided by the Great Elixir and Small Elixir.

But,

death could ultimately become a stepping stone for another new resurrection…….

‘If I use this well, I can turn everything around again.’

Feng Jinghao cooled his heated head as much as possible and picked up his mobile phone.

Ring ring. Click.

『……Hello?』

A blunt voice.

Feng Jinghao’s mobile phone showed ‘Xu Changyou (Seo Chang-woo)’.

 

* * *

 

“……What the hell.”

Im Won-young couldn’t believe the scene he was witnessing.

「What’s with this bastard? He’s dead?」

「Kekeke. It’s not like he suddenly wanted to die on his own. Was he trying to make some human sacrifice?」

「Stop talking nonsense and focus on what’s in front of us. We need to collect that thing first.」

Son Wukong dismissed Sha Wujing’s words and pointed at the Golden Headband with a displeased expression.

「Giving the Golden Headband to such a rotten bastard. Absolutely ridiculous.」

Son Wukong examined everything with his Golden Eyes of Truth while passing through the research facility.

And he could see how many human experiments had been conducted.

How much they had tormented the living and the dead indiscriminately in the name of developing necromancy.

For Son Wukong, who had taken honor as his pride throughout his life, this place was an unpleasant location where he didn’t want to stay even for a moment.

“He spent his whole life tormenting his senior brother. But I suppose he grew attached after all?”

“It’s the opposite. Rather, since it bound me down, I don’t want to give it to such a worthless thing.”

“Kekeke. I agree. I don’t want to stay in a place like this any longer either. The stench is… too severe.”

Even though the corpses clearly hadn’t been dead for long, decay was progressing rapidly.

And what on earth was mixed into that poison?

The fluid flowing from the corpses melted even the floor, creating hazy smoke.

“Please wait here for a moment. I’ll go take a look.”

“I’ll leave it to you.”

Im Won-young commanded the Jangsan Tiger to search the surroundings, wondering if there might be other evidence.

Crackle!

 

[Dueoksini’s Collar is activated.]

[All foreign substances attempting to invade through the respiratory system are removed.]

 

Lee Hyeon confirmed that Dueoksini’s Collar was sufficiently effective and climbed up the hill of corpses.

Squelch, splash-

The sensation of stepping with his feet couldn’t have been more unpleasant.

‘The decay rate seems like it should take at least several weeks after death… What on earth is this?’

 

[Curse Immunity (SS) activates to dispel lingering resentment.]

[‘Sacred Relic: Golden Eyes of Truth’ activates to detect abnormal phenomena.]

[Cannot be found.]

[No vengeful spirits or ghosts detected.]

[No curses detected.]

 

Even examining with the Golden Eyes of Truth yielded the same result.

Even vengeful spirits that should normally be found at such mass slaughter sites were nowhere to be seen…

It was too clean.

Rather, that made Lee Hyeon find the current situation even more chilling.

“……”

At the end of the hill.

Executive Director Jeong sat on a chair made of corpses with his head hanging down.

With the Golden Headband pressed deep over his head.

Lee Hyeon reached out and felt his neck.

“How is it?”

Im Won-young asked.

Lee Hyeon shook his head.

“There’s no pulse. He’s really dead.”

“…So futilely like this?”

“What’s down there?”

“It’s the same here too.”

Im Won-young climbed onto the Jangsan Tiger’s back and leaped up to the hill together.

Thud!

A landing as light as a cat.

The Jangsan Tiger, originating from urban legends, seemed able to freely manipulate its weight, as the corpses weren’t even crushed.

“I don’t see any traces of separate curses or rituals. Even though every single one of these corpses clearly shows signs of having suffered in agony. Ah…”

“Is there something?”

“No, it’s not that,”

Im Won-young smiled bitterly.

“There are guild staff members here too. They must have been Executive Director Jeong’s people.”

Im Won-young got down from the Jangsan Tiger and closed the eyes of someone who had died from being crushed inside the pile of corpses.

Lee Hyeon watched this scene, then looked back toward Executive Director Jeong.

‘First, let me recover the Golden Headband.’

 

[Golden Headband]

The shackles that the Jade Emperor and Buddha Shakyamuni placed on the head along with ■■ ■■ to control ■■■■ ■■■.

It excels at controlling energy and clearing the mind to draw out hidden power through harmony between inner and outer aspects.

-Type: Sacred Relic. Items.

-Origin: Myth ‘Journey to the West’

*Several functions are currently forcibly disabled due to infiltration by unknown external energy.

*Restore the original functions.

 

‘…Several functions disabled by external energy?’

A completely different description from when Lee Hyeon had touched Son Wukong’s sacred relics like the Golden Eyes of Truth or Ruyi Jingu Bang.

At that moment,

“Team Leader Im, get away!”

“What? What do you… Kyaah!”

Lee Hyeon didn’t even properly hear Im Won-young’s response and pushed her back forcefully.

Just as the Jangsan Tiger quickly bit her as she was about to roll down the hill and moved her away from the location,

Flash!

Executive Director Jeong’s drooping eyelids opened.

At the same time, a gleaming light in his eyes.

It was as eerie as a ghost’s fire.

Whoosh!

Executive Director Jeong reached his hand toward them.

 

[A ghostly hand approaches!]

 

From the heavily decayed hand like the corpses on the ground, fluid dripped and maggots were crawling around.

 

[Dueoksini’s Rage explodes!]

 

Crackle!

Lee Hyeon also reflexively swung the Iron Devourer, heavily condensed with energy, in that direction.

Kwaang!!

With a tremendous shockwave, the lightning bolts that spread out completely crushed the hill of corpses, reaching down to the ground.

‘The power…!’

Lee Hyeon was pushed back, then twisted his body in mid-air to barely manage a landing.

A considerable distance from his original location.

The Iron Devourer was still trembling.

It was strong enough to make him doubt whether this was really someone who had been a corpse just moments ago.

Moreover,

Hissss!!

The axe blade was slightly worn and emitting white steam.

The weapon forged by Elder Taotie had been damaged.

“There’s definitely something there. To do this to a fang made by someone who is the very embodiment of Taotie’s legacy?”

“Kekeke. It’s resentment poison filled with an enormous amount of lingering grudges. Something like that wouldn’t be easy to extract even with curses, would it?”

While even Son Wukong and Sha Wujing were surprised,

“Team Leader Jang, are you alright?”

Im Won-young approached on the Jangsan Tiger.

“Yes. I’m fine. I wasn’t infected by the poison thanks to my Lightning Energy, but…….”

Lee Hyeon brushed off the poison from his axe blade and looked up.

“That seems to be the problem for now.”

Unlike Lee Hyeon, Executive Director Jeong, who hadn’t been pushed back even an inch in their struggle, was rising from the corpse throne.

Creak!

A sensation as if the world itself was being pushed away.

Though this world seemed to reject him, with something invisible pressing down on him,

he was actually pushing it back while scattering an enormous amount of energy in all directions.

Rumble……!

 

[A new apostle has been born.]

 

“Ah.”

Executive Director Jeong slowly raised his head.

He still looked pale as a dead person, with dark circles sunken beneath his eyes.

“Though it was only a few hours of wandering, the World of the Living is indeed better. It’s good to have gained power, but…… it was truly a place I never want to visit again.”

Even his voice sent chills down one’s spine.

Like the wailing of a ghost.

“……What the hell is this?”

“It seems he died and came back to life.”

Im Won-young was still confused.

Lee Hyeon, with his Golden Eyes of Truth wide open, witnessed hundreds of vengeful spirits now circling around Executive Director Jeong.

They were the owners of the corpse Hill.

All twisted in agony.

“Died…… and came back to life? What do you mean by,”

“Exactly what I said. It seems he used the dead victims here, as well as himself, as offerings to visit the Underworld.”

“……!”

“That’s why the corpses decayed so rapidly.”

Though Im Won-young couldn’t understand the principle, just the fact that someone had visited the Underworld told him something extraordinary had occurred.

“And beings with enough power to bring the dead back to the World of the Living,”

Shriek!

The vengeful spirits surrounding Executive Director Jeong gradually turned ashen gray. Mist began to spread thickly.

“Even in ‘s underworld pantheon, there aren’t that many.”

As soon as those words ended,

 

[The myth, ‘Master of Eerie Winds’ reveals its majesty in this world where it should not exist!]

 

Shriek!

Whooooo-

Executive Director Jeong’s energy spread with tremendous ghostly wails, dominating the Cavern.

Eerie winds,

Ashen winds carrying the screams of the dead swirled around Executive Director Jeong.

Whirrrr……!

“……Fengdu Emperor.”

Im Won-young spoke the name of a god from his memories.

 

[Fengdu Emperor]

One of the underworld gods belonging to . Rules over Fengdu (酆都), the City where the dead reside.

Also known as the king of the underworld (冥府, one of the many names for the afterlife), said to govern sulfur fires and spirits alongside the messengers of the underground world.

-Origin: Literature ‘Ten Kings of Hell Sutra’

 

「Living long enough, you see all kinds of humans. Wasn’t Dongfang Shuo like this before?」

「Haha. Don’t you remember when senior brother caused a ruckus before the King of Hell seeking immortality?」

「That was me going with my own power to help my people live well too! Later, even that King of Hell bastard accepted my apology!」

Son Wukong’s face was filled with disgust as he pointed at Executive Director Jeong.

「But that bastard sacrificed living people to pull this shit, right? You’re comparing that to me?」

「……Ahem. It wasn’t exactly like that. This disciple’s joke went too far. I apologize.」

「A guy who merely oversees ghost gates, strutting around with a few ghosts like some street thug, that’s all he was. I doubt he suddenly received divine favor…….」

「Haha. It’s because of the Golden Headband.」

「That thing’s uselessly good functionality.」

From Son Wukong and Sha Wujing’s conversation, Lee Hyeon could roughly guess what Executive Director Jeong had done.

‘The Golden Headband awakens potential and facilitates thinking ability. Plus it has the effect of awakening inspiration.’

Inspiration, also called the sixth sense, allows one to glimpse the spiritual world.

For Executive Director Jeong, who had learned necromancy, it would have been a tremendous power.

‘So based on that, he challenged reaching top Ranker status by sacrificing even his own soul?’

Magic Dragon had given two Spirit Elixirs as gifts on Feng Jinghao’s errand.

The Great Elixir and Small Elixir.

If he had consumed both by himself,

and if he had used the Golden Headband to awaken inspiration and burned all his potential,

he might have thought it worth challenging the position that only nine humans had barely achieved.

The journey to the Underworld was part of the that occurred during that process.

Just as Feng Jinghao had guided.

‘But…… Chairman Peng wouldn’t give power so readily.’

To conclude, Executive Director Jeong had failed.

Instead, he was given new power.

The blessing of an underworld god who governs the Underworld.

Could there be a more joyful opportunity for a necromancer?

「But you know what’s even more chillingly eerie?」

‘What is it?’

「Fengdu Emperor is the right hand of Taishan Fujun, who governs all types of underworlds. And,」

‘Taishan Fujun was the Jade Emperor’s grandson.’

「Right. You know well. So,」

Son Wukong’s Golden Eyes of Truth flashed sharply.

「That thing is essentially a pawn sent by that Jade Emperor bastard.」

Meaning the Golden Headband wasn’t just given away freely.

The Jade Emperor suspected Lee Hyeon might be connected to Son Wukong or Sha Wujing.

Or was waiting for someone connected.

‘Since Chairman Peng and Seo Chang-woo are close friends……. Chairman Peng set a trap through Executive Director Jeong!’

Rumble……!!

Ashen wind spread throughout the entire room, establishing a firm presence of death energy.

“Jang Lee Hyeon. Im Won-young. I see. So only you two came. Even in this situation, that person stubbornly refuses to reveal himself.”

Executive Director Jeong stared directly at the two.

Having died and returned to life, even his vitality seemed drained, leaving only murky eyes.

 

[The myth, ‘Master of Eerie Winds’ accepts the apostle’s request to harvest your souls and examine your karma.]

 

If the Jade Emperor and Taishan Fujun suspected them, the method they could take was very simple.

Just kill them. Their souls would have all those memories recorded in detail.

If they were indeed connected to Son Wukong as expected, that would be excellent, and if not, there would be no problem.

As Son Wukong said, the main gods weren’t particularly interested in the life and death of the Lower Realm anyway.

“Yes. If that person won’t come, we’ll have to make them come. If we dye this world into a burning hell, won’t they eventually appear someday?”

 

[Combat Sense (S) warns of danger!]

 

“So you’ll have to be the first to die. Consider it an honor.”

Executive Director Jeong clenched tightly the hand he had extended toward Lee Hyeon and Im Won-young as if to grasp them.

As he had resolved, to see the Mountain God’s true form, he was prepared to pour all of Fengdu Emperor’s power into this world.

He intended to create chaos.

At that moment,

Whoosh—

Lee Hyeon reflexively shot forward.

Without even a chance to speak to Im Won-young.

“T-Team Leader Jang!?”

The scent of death was emanating intensely.

Enough to paralyze his Combat Sense.

Wind boiling fiercely like hellish sulfur flames.

Sizzle.

『Team Leader Im, quickly take all the team members and escape this research facility! Hurry!』

Im Won-young’s feet, which had been trying to follow Lee Hyeon, hesitated.

She too sensed the hot wind a beat late.

From inside the Hill of corpses,

black flames were flickering.

Flicker. Flicker.

As if about to explode at any moment.

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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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