The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 263

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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 263

Episode 263.

Bloodshed.

The only assassination guild among the Top 10 Guilds, and a guild where everything was kept secret.

All guild members were assassins with much hidden about them, but among them, information about the guild master was classified to the extreme.

To the point where not even a single person knew her face.

This was because she always wore assassination garb and a mask that covered everything below her eyes, hiding herself thoroughly.

What was known was that she was a woman and that she had blue hair pinned up with a hairpin.

[You have been killed by Player ‘Sina’.]

Only her name that greeted you just before death.

Genius of Assassination.

A being born to become an assassin.

The standard and pinnacle of assassins.

Thanks to this, her name was always followed by splendid epithets.

With her thorough work handling and receiving the highest praise as ‘the most assassin-like assassin,’ she was competent.

Perhaps because she was too competent.

This woman who was perfect in everything had one bad hobby.

“…Boring. Isn’t there any stronger prey?”

The intense catharsis that came when successfully assassinating an excellent enemy.

Though she maintained a poker face with no emotional fluctuation, earning her the nickname Ice Witch, only in that moment could she feel the rich festival of dopamine.

That was why she always wandered around searching for strong prey.

But strong opponents were limited by nature.

Before long, the prey written on her list was running out, and this was the reason for her recent discomfort.

‘Should I target the Top 10 Guild members? …No, let me hold back. I can’t break the unwritten rule.’

Objectively, the Top 10 Guild members were all stronger than her.

But assassination was a different field from combat.

Thinking about the pleasure that would come when she assassinated them already made her tingle, but doing so would make her everyone’s target.

She couldn’t give up her future for immediate pleasure.

“Parrying Machine? God of Demroc?”

It was perhaps natural that Kaiser caught the eye of her, who was full of frustrated desires.

A name she had heard a month or two ago. But back then, he wasn’t this much of a hot topic.

‘He was dismissed as nothing more than a specter of the past… but he succeeded in a Calamity raid that the Top 10 Guilds couldn’t clear?’

Was such development possible in such a short time?

Though he was with the Empress, Sword Master, and Armory Owner, even considering that, it was an unreasonable occurrence.

But with video evidence available, it was an undeniable fact.

Especially the scene of him parrying that light trajectory pattern was unbelievable even seeing it directly.

‘…He’s strong.’

Kaiser, he was strong.

Moreover, he was a tremendous expert who could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Top 10 Guilds.

Though he hadn’t fully matured yet, such things didn’t matter to her right now.

‘I wonder how he’ll react? Will he be able to escape my assassination?’

Parrying Machine, God’s Return.

Could this man who was called by such grand titles truly escape from her clutches?

She was extremely curious about how he would counter.

‘Let’s catch him.’

There’s a saying that curiosity is the greatest driving force that moves people.

In the end, she set out to find Kaiser and put in great effort to locate him.

She even expressed intention to participate in meetings she had never joined before.

Rustle-

“He’s quite far. I think we’ve been walking for over 30 minutes already.”

-Still, we’ll arrive soon, Owner?

-Rizariza!

And now.

She could reap the fruits of that effort.

‘A white furry spider, a dwarf wearing a robe, and Charlie… that’s definitely Kaiser.’

In less than a day, she had discovered Kaiser and the Guardians passing through the depths of the Southern Forest.

Looking down at them from atop a tree, she organized the information.

‘The dwarf’s specialty is mass warfare. The legion commander is troublesome. Charlie handles aggro, the spider creates variables… Though they’ve left the Guardian’s domain, they’re all just support roles in the end. The main one is Kaiser himself.’

The basics of assassination was preliminary investigation.

From basic information like the target’s class to trivial details like what they excelled at and what characteristics and habits they possessed.

Only after investigating everything and then moving to action could one be called an excellent assassin.

‘I couldn’t investigate perfectly due to lack of information, but… I’ve grasped that man’s fatal habit.’

Not only that.

She had grasped all the Guardians’ combat methods and habits. She had finished judging how to respond to everything.

However, this was all hypothetical preparation for when ‘combat’ broke out.

She could confidently say the probability of combat breaking out was less than 1%.

‘Parrying? Go ahead and try it to your heart’s content.’

This was the reason why prey marked by her died without even knowing how they died, and why she trampled opponents stronger than herself and proudly rose to the Top 10 Guilds.

[Legendary skill ‘Ghost Kill Dark Annihilation’ is activating.]

[Activating stealth that cannot be detected even by legendary-grade detection. Movement speed increases while in stealth, and when attacking, stealth is released while dealing 500% increased damage.]

[Activating unique ability ‘Maintain’.]

[Applying effect to Ghost Kill Dark Annihilation to maintain stealth for three attacks, ignoring cancellation.]

‘If you can.’

This was thanks to the fraudulent synergy between a legendary skill and a mythical god’s unique ability.

The sole possessor of these two abilities among 1 billion players.

Her assassination was certain death.

‘Now where should I aim first? Head? Heart? No, I should start by cutting the legs first and slowly…?’

Though half her face was covered, her face that had been cold as ice was gradually being colored with excitement.

Stop.

Kaiser suddenly stopped walking.

Seeing him stop with a cold expression, Sina gulped.

But making her tension meaningless, Kaiser soon lifted his foot again.

‘Of course. There’s no way I’d be detected… What?’

Just as she was relieved and stroking her chest.

Flash!

Kaiser’s figure disappeared.

Sina was startled by what happened in the blink of an eye and started to rise, then stopped.

She felt the sensation of a cold blade touching her neck.

“Are you a voyeur? You seemed to really enjoy peeping.”

She could tell without looking back.

[A mark is being created.]

The message floating above her head was telling her that this man was Kaiser.

‘How?’

The question flashed through like lightning, but her body’s reaction was faster.

Instead of turning around, she actually bent her body forward.

Using gravity to quickly land on the ground, she put her hand inside her robe and threw something without even turning her head.

Thwack- Whoosh!

-Huh? What, suddenly!?

-R, Risa!?

-You! This… are you an enemy!

It was a snare.

The long thing that was a snare instantly bound Jihad’s neck and Eliza’s body.

It must have had special options attached, as even when Charlie approached and swung his sword, it didn’t even get scratched.

-To the left?

Though invisible due to stealth, Charlie was the former Knight Order Commander of Arren Castle.

He tried to draw his sword by predicting the trajectory from the direction the snare was thrown, but something heavy pushed his sword back into its sheath.

-This is… a foot?

Sina, who had stepped on it lightly as if she knew in advance, immediately attached a seal.

[Attaching ‘Seal’ to the target’s sword.]

[Cannot use sword for 40 seconds.]

-!?

With this, Charlie was incapacitated for 40 seconds.

[Using Hero skill, ‘Concussion Inducement’.]

[The enemy hit by the next attack will experience severe concussion, fall into stun, and temporarily have reduced stats.]

[Concussion effect is amplified in proportion to damage.]

[Receives a strike increased by 500% due to the effect of Ghost Slaying Dark Annihilation.]

Crash!

Sina kicked the stunned Charlie and sent him flying, then raised her head.

All of this happened in less than 3 seconds.

Dohyun, who had been watching the entire sequence from above without missing a single detail, let out a hollow laugh.

“This is… practically like a ninja.”

Despite it being an unexpected situation, there wasn’t a single wasted movement.

Moreover, binding Jihad and Eliza first meant she knew Charlie would only draw his sword after entering combat.

This meant she came here with a plan…

‘What? Have I made any enemies recently… oh right. Yes, I have.’

After the World Quest, it was no different from making enemies of most of the Top 10 Guilds and High Rankers.

At that level of skill, she must be at least a High Ranker.

-Ugh, frustrating! Where are you attacking from? Stop hiding cowardly and come out!

-Rizariza! Risa!

-Ugh… I’m sorry, Master. I have no excuse.

Charlie leaned against a tree as if embedded in it, holding his dizzy head.

A little distance away, Jihad and Eliza were bound by the snare and shouting angrily, but Sina ignored them completely and only looked up at the tree where Dohyun was.

“What are you looking at?”

Only blue hair and eyes were visible, but just from her gaze, he could feel killing intent.

As he calmly met her murderous eyes, her brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed sharply.

“…How did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“My stealth can block even legendary-grade detection abilities. I haven’t heard that you have detection abilities that surpass that?”

So that’s what it was.

He had thought it strange that she was standing so openly for someone supposedly hiding, but it seemed it was all well-founded confidence.

‘What kind of cheat skill is that? No, more than that, stealth doesn’t break even after attacking?’

She probably utilized traits and unique abilities.

Without the Eye of Truth, it would have been a dangerous ability.

‘As expected, the Eye of Truth… I trust in you.’

Did she take his praise for the consistently benevolent trait as being ignored?

She lowered her stance and drew out a dagger that looked like a shuriken.

“If you’re not planning to talk, forget it. It’s an unexpected skill, but I didn’t come unprepared for this situation.”

“Says someone who failed at a sneaky ambush. Villains who talk big like you usually end up running away crying.”

“…This won’t do. I’ll cut that mouth of yours first.”

Sina threw the dagger straight at his mouth, showing it wasn’t an empty threat.

It was surprisingly accurate, but Dohyun didn’t care.

He was going to use Backstep anyway.

[Using Backstep.]

[Mark disappears.]

Dohyun moved behind her and took a step forward, thrusting his sword with the stability of Mount Tai.

It was Heavenly Transformation, 1st Form: Beginning.

But what was this?

Swish- Crack!

As if she had expected it, she twisted her body to dodge and swung her reversely-held dagger like doing a backspin.

The dagger aimed at his neck came rushing fiercely with added rotational force.

‘Crazy?’

As the startled Dohyun instinctively tried to parry, the dagger that seemed about to pierce his throat suddenly stopped.

Whoosh-

In the end, only Dohyun cut through empty air.

In his slow-motion vision, Dohyun could see it.

Her dagger gauging the situation like a snake flicking its tongue before prey.

‘Huh?’

After his sword finished swinging and showed an opening, only then did she thrust her fangs.

So Dohyun cleanly let go of his sword and rolled to the left to escape.

Even that seemed expected as the dagger bent irregularly mid-swing to follow him, but when he reached out, Cheonbyeon flew over and blocked between Dohyun and the dagger.

Clang!

“I knew it, but it’s a troublesome weapon.”

She looked down at the dagger in her hand with regret and asked with a smile.

“How about it? Do you still think I’ll run away crying?”

“Did you take it to heart? People who get stung usually act like that. Have you experienced that before?”

“…Get a grip. Your fancy attacks don’t work on me. Your Guardians can’t help you right now either.”

“Well. Aren’t you being too cocky just because you gained the upper hand once?”

“Once?”

She approached slowly while holding the dagger in reverse grip.

Smirking as if it was ridiculous.

“Do you know that everyone has habits?”

“…”

“You couldn’t not know. You’re good at psychological warfare and distance control. You must have utilized it well all this time. But you didn’t know you had habits too?”

“I have habits?”

To Dohyun’s question, she answered as if it was obvious.

“When you take that characteristic step, you always start with your right foot. When you take the rear position, you make the most efficient thrust. Besides that, when you exhale, what attack routes you take depending on your stance.”

“…”

“All of that is in my head. This is my winning strategy and one of the reasons I’m here.”

Saying that, she tapped her head with her index finger and soon had a look as if it was obvious.

“I had expectations because you’re called the God of Demroc or whatever… but this is all? You would have been miserably crushed by the Top 10 Guilds even without me stepping in. Ah, maybe it’s fortunate? Since you got a taste first, you won’t have regrets.”

“Habits…”

She smiled with her eyes curved.

Dohyun, who had been thinking while holding Cheonbyeon, also smiled back.

“If you have habits, you can just change them.”

“…What?”

“Thanks to you, I learned something good. I’m grateful, so I’ll end this quickly.”

At that, Sina couldn’t help but look at him like he was crazy, beyond bewildered.

Habits were like scars carved into the body through repeating movements over long years. They couldn’t be changed in an instant just by deciding to.

But why?

‘…That man. He’s serious?’

A conviction close to certainty could be felt in Dohyun’s eyes.

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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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