The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 145

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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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Chapter 145

Episode 145.

The battle was fierce.

—!

One trying to create distance and one trying to close it.

In that process, countless exchanges took place as a bloody battle unfolded.

Before long, Dohyun, who had manifested black sword aura, delivered a strike.

Kwang!

But the Outlaw King didn’t just take it lying down, extending his hand to make several pillars of darkness surge up from the ground.

[Touching the Requiem results in instant death.]

[If your stats are higher than the caster’s, you won’t die.]

“…Tsk.”

Each one was a lethal attack just from grazing.

No, beyond lethal – facing these overpowered attacks that caused instant death, Dohyun could only click his tongue and dodge.

Meanwhile, the Outlaw King created distance again.

“Wow… Look at him dodging all those instant-kill moves. How does he dodge them all? It’s like he knows in advance.”

“Is this battle even supposed to happen in this area? Kaiser really is legendary.”

“Be quiet. This is important right now.”

An incredible high-speed battle that was hard to follow with the eyes.

Players who couldn’t help but admire it were whispering among themselves, then immediately shut their mouths at the sharp rebuke that followed.

That’s the kind of battle it was. The battle unfolding before their eyes right now.

It was such an epic scene that missing even a moment felt like a loss – at least in Sargis, it was a legendary moment they’d never see again.

In other words, it was that evenly matched a fight, but for Dohyun, it was a deadly situation.

‘Isn’t this too overpowered?’

What was the point of closing the distance?

Using that overpowered area-of-effect instant-kill move and easily creating distance again.

The moment the second phase activated, the guy no longer engaged in proper exchanges with Dohyun.

Whoosh-!

[You’re… trying… hard…]

The guy who easily dodged the Heavenly Transformation thrown as soon as distance was created laughed mockingly.

Regardless, Dohyun reached out his hand again.

Whirlick-

[Ho… oh…?]

He probably didn’t expect it to come back like a boomerang.

The guy was impressed, but that was all.

At his level, such tricks couldn’t inflict damage.

Whoosh- Whirlick-!

[Keu… keuk…, now… you can’t… even… hit… properly…]

No matter how many times he threw the Heavenly Transformation, it was the same.

In the end, he had no choice but to close the distance directly.

-Uum!

-Heeyaak!

Geu, geuh!?

The fortunate thing was that the guy’s Requiem didn’t distinguish between friend and foe.

[A… void…]

[The King… is using… Requiem…]

Thanks to that, whenever the pattern activated, Jihad and Charlie, along with the Outlaws, were busy frantically dodging.

By now, they weren’t even engaging in proper combat.

It was a repetition of fighting while reading the situation, then disappearing like ghosts when the pattern activated.

Thanks to this, the Outlaws weren’t rashly coming after Dohyun either.

[Health is below 20%. Please be careful.]

[Guardian Charlie’s health is below 20%.]

[Guardian Jihad Black’s health is below 20%.]

But even so, the situation wasn’t good.

Not only Dohyun’s but their health was also approaching rock bottom.

‘Does this make sense even after investing 30 stats?’

The total stats he had saved without investing while leveling up was 40 stats.

Even after investing 30 stats before entering battle, the reality that he could barely compete was astounding.

No wonder that guy Ahdeo couldn’t handle it.

‘Can’t be helped.’

Dohyun clicked his tongue and quietly moved his fingers.

[…Why don’t… you just… give up… It’s… pitiful… to watch…]

What was lacking now wasn’t health to endure longer, nor power to deal greater damage.

Just for a very brief moment.

Speed that the guy might miss even for one second.

The timing to catch the guy off guard who had adapted to the current rhythm and was being careless.

Swoosh.

Watching Dohyun close the distance, it was the moment the guy arrogantly straightened his waist and moved his hand again.

‘…Now!’

[Investing 10 stats in Agility.]

[Using Madness.]

[For 90 seconds, 1% of health decreases per second, and stats and all speeds increase proportional to current health percentage.]

Dohyun, who had been waiting for this moment, invested stats and activated Madness simultaneously.

Then, as he put strength into his thighs, his form instantly disappeared.

Thwack!

[…!?]

The Leader of the Outlaws panicked greatly and stepped back.

Having adapted to Dohyun’s movements, he missed the movement when Dohyun suddenly showed unexpected speed.

—-!

[Keu… aaaah…!!!]

The result was devastating.

He suffered the greatest critical damage since the second phase activated.

[Using Sword Aura – Slash.]

[Hidden Field Boss Leader of the Outlaws, ‘???’s health is below 30%.]

He was properly hit by the darkness-wrapped slash.

Dohyun’s strategy had worked perfectly!

“Ooooh!?”

“Holy shit, what’s that black slash? The style is insane…”

“Huh? Isn’t that Madness?”

“I don’t know, is that important right now? Is this a comeback!?”

Cheers erupted from behind at that spectacular strike.

After watching Kaiser being pushed back the whole time and feeling nervous, this was the first proper hit he had landed.

‘Nice!’

This was why he endured without immediately investing the remaining points.

Saving points to supplement stats that felt lacking during battle was a basic strategy used by players with the Hidden Dragon trait.

Crack-

He could confidently say he had used that strategy most brilliantly.

Dohyun clenched his fist in excitement, but now wasn’t the time for this.

‘I need to press the attack as much as possible now that I’ve seized the momentum.’

What a hard-won opportunity this was.

The time they could hold out was at most about 5 minutes.

He had to strike with everything he had right now.

And that was what Dohyun did best.

He was more confident than anyone at tenaciously biting down on an opportunity once he caught it and never letting go.

“Jihad, Charlie.”

-Yes, my lord!

-Got it!

-Risa!

Understanding the signal, the guys abandoned the Outlaws they were fighting and rushed over at full speed.

He was recalling the battle with Gaemin the Destroyer.

Graaaah-!

-Haah!

He used the Sword of Light too, and though it was disappointing that only four Undead remained, it didn’t matter.

If he could hold the man down for even one more second, that would be enough.

[Come… come… here…]

[Can’t… let… escape…]

Did he sense the crisis?

Behind the rushing guys, the Outlaws immediately followed, but Dohyun grinned wickedly.

Click.

[…?]

[Something… on… foot…]

[…Thread…?]

The moment he confirmed that what was caught on his ankle was a black thread.

[Activating Fuse – Explosion.]

—-!!!

With a single message, a soundless explosion occurred.

It was the fuse that Dohyun had been throwing and attaching with Heavenly Transformation during the battle.

And the end of that thread was…

[…What… is… this…?]

The Outlaw King looked at the hem of his robe.

More precisely, while stepping backward, he kicked a small stone and felt something strange.

It was a thread.

A thread that was glowing black and exploding soundlessly.

“That was incredibly difficult.”

Throwing Heavenly Transformation even though it didn’t work.

Enduring without raising agility despite the risk.

Hiding it so the man wouldn’t notice if he used the fuse, struggling desperately to drive him to this spot.

“Checkmate, bastard.”

Everything had been a setup for this moment.

Grin.

Watching Dohyun wickedly curl his lips, the blackened Outlaw King expressed unbearable rage.

But that rage couldn’t be properly conveyed.

[Damn… bastard…!]

—–!!

Because the explosion that occurred simultaneously engulfed him.

‘Now! Strike quickly!’

‘Yes, my lord!’

‘Just trust us!’

‘Risa risa!’

The guys who wouldn’t miss this opportunity dove into the smoke with Dohyun.

No matter how much of a Battle Mage he was, strong in close combat, he was still a mage in the end.

He was most vulnerable when multiple opponents swarmed him.

Especially in a chaotic situation like this, it went without saying.

Crack! Smack!

Thud! Thunk-

Graaaah! Grah!

The Jihad Undead’s one-sided beating and Charlie’s graceful pummeling.

Plus Dohyun’s sharp vital point strikes with Madness activated.

The red-eyed madman, darkness-infused Undead, and the former Knight Commander were all ganging up on a single target.

…It was somewhat unsightly, but ganging up was always unsightly.

“What’s happening? I can’t see because of the smoke.”

“The sounds are so brutal… I don’t know who’s getting hit, but it reminds me of school days somehow.”

At least it was fortunate that the Players couldn’t see due to the smoke from the massive explosion.

It was while they were beating him with all their might.

[…Guh… aaaah… aah!!]

Broken, intermittent screams.

The terrible noise was even more chilling because of how fragmented it was, making Players cover their ears.

It was a thunderous sound that naturally made one frown.

But Dohyun was the opposite.

“…!”

A message floated before his wide-open eyes.

[Hidden Field boss Leader of the Outlaws, ‘???’s health has dropped below 20%.]

[Phase 3 is activating.]

[Leader of the Outlaws, ‘Suffering’ opens his eyes.]

At the same time, he saw it.

Red light flashing through the smoke.

It was the moment when Phase 3, shrouded in mystery, was activated for the first time.

* * *

Originally, they were foreigners.

Ghost Soldiers dwelling in the Underworld managed by Hades, Lord of the Underworld.

In the Underworld where territories were already established, they wandered on horseback without proper shelter, unable to belong anywhere.

Such beings had no names.

Born without parents, shelter, or flesh, there was no one to give them names.

-Ghost Soldier bastards have appeared! Run!

-How dare these savage creatures come to this place…!

-Into the hell of karmic fire… I’ll cast you…!

Some feared them, some despised them, and others were hostile toward them.

There was no space for them anywhere.

It was natural.

They were impurities of the Underworld. Beings that shouldn’t have been born, yet were born.

There was no existence anywhere that would like impurities.

-Filthy foreigners. Today I shall exterminate those creatures!

-How dare they invade my territory without knowing their place… What nerve.

-Foreigners? Where do you think you’re going, filthy impurities!

-There is no space for you here. I’ll show mercy, so leave.

In the vast Underworld, there was no one who welcomed them.

Kraaak! Kerhuk!

They wandered for a thousand years.

And just as many of their kind were sacrificed.

Though born in the Underworld, to the beings of the Underworld who valued territories, they were merely foreigners.

A being that belonged nowhere.

A fate that could only be rejected by everyone.

Filthy impurities.

A tribe whose very existence was a burden.

Those words followed like tags, and they had to fight countless others.

Sometimes they would cross the wrong ‘Lords’ and be utterly devastated.

-Why…, do you… kill us. How… are we… rejected…?

To that cry, he said.

-Well. There’s no particular reason. I was just in a bad mood.

-Ah, if I had to give one, there is. I was disgusted by the sight of savage tribes without even names acting up.

…Just.

For just such a reason, we had suffered all this time.

If we were to be ostracized for having no name.

If we were truly a savage race destined to live in suffering for life.

-Then… good. If that is… the law… of the world…

That name. I will take it.

-I shall call myself ‘Suffering.’

But I have no intention of simply taking it.

In the Underworld, names hold power.

[The Door of the Underworld gazes upon your life.]

[Your name is acknowledged.]

[You will live a life befitting your name.]

The suffering of losing one’s kin.

The suffering of being rejected by everyone.

The suffering of living as filthy impurities while everyone threw stones and thrust daggers.

-All… that… suffering… I… will… bear…

One is enough to feel suffering.

The fury of one who bore all suffering – they would have to bear it in return.

And on that day, an Outlaw was born.

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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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