The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 282
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 282
Episode 282.
It was a vulgar expression unworthy of Cheonma, but her words weren’t wrong.
Bang! Crash!
What unfolded behind them was a horrific battlefield.
[The current abyssal transformation progress of the labyrinth is 27%.]
[Even more powerful legions of the abyss are swarming in.]
As soon as the sealed soul was broken, the progress of the abyssal transformation shot up as if it had been waiting.
“No, why are more coming?”
“I don’t know, just block them for now!”
“Aaahhh!”
There were already plenty of legions left, and dozens of even more powerful abyss legions crawling up was horror itself.
The guild members desperately tried to block them, but it was impossible to handle.
Being gradually pushed back was only natural.
[The Commander of the 4th Legion of Ruin uses ‘Grasp of Ruin’.]
[Warning! Contact with Grasp of Ruin results in instant death.]
[If aggro is lost for more than 10 seconds, Pillars of Ruin will rise at random locations.]
[When three pillars are created, area damage will occur.]
[Warning! Exposure to the pillars’ area damage results in instant death.]
To make matters worse, even the legion commander began spamming instant-death skills.
Drawing the aggro of a legion commander who, true to their nature, was immune to knockback and status effects was nothing short of hellish difficulty.
They couldn’t be pushed back, while this side would suffer fatal damage from even one proper hit.
“This is insane… is this even a game!?”
“If you have time to complain, swing your mace one more time!”
“How can I swing any more here? Can’t you see I’m holding two maces!?”
They might regret carelessly breaking that orb, but none of them blamed the Empress.
‘Breaking the orb is the right thing to do.’
No matter how much they thought about strategy, breaking the orbs was the only way.
The abyssal transformation would progress rapidly anyway if left alone.
In that case, wouldn’t it be much more promising to advance while dealing significant damage?
‘The problem is just that the difficulty has become fucking insane.’
And it wasn’t just ordinarily insane either.
[You have partially destroyed the sealed soul of the ‘Commander of the 4th Legion of Ruin’.]
[The legion commander suffers serious damage.]
[The sealed abyss, ‘Commander of the 4th Legion of Ruin’s health is below 30%.]
[The sealed soul is destroyed and splits into four.]
[The four split sealed souls must be destroyed simultaneously.]
[Only single attacks will accumulate damage.]
“Just how many people is this raid for? At this level, it’s legendary named-class…”
“Even legendary named bosses aren’t this fucking insane in this direction.”
“Both of you shut up and just kill those bastards quickly. We don’t have time.”
“I know that too, man.”
At the Empress’s sharp command from a distance, Ast and Cheonma grumbled but moved swiftly.
Where they were heading was where the sealed souls were located.
They were each running to one location, scattered in four directions, and speed was the most important part of this mission.
[Perfect parrying succeeds.]
[You deflect the merciless strike.]
Graaahhh-!
While Dohyun remained alone to draw the legion commander’s aggro, the remaining members had to break through the guardians protecting the sealed souls and destroy them.
It was essentially being left to handle everything alone, but there was no choice.
To reliably destroy the sealed souls that doubled in number, even with everyone rushing in, it would be tight.
“But is it really okay to leave it all to that guy alone?”
“Hm?”
At Ahdeo’s worried words, the Empress chuckled.
“Then what else can we do? There’s no other way besides this, right? Or will you hold the aggro? You can’t do it, can you.”
“That’s true, but…”
“He’ll handle it well on his own, so worry about this side.”
Ahdeo briefly moved his lips as if to say something, then soon nodded his head.
Bang! Crash!
[Perfect parrying succeeds.]
[Back Attack is used.]
Even with a massive body over 10 meters rampaging frantically, the stable appearance of not being pushed back at all left no room for argument.
The parrying and movement skills executed with machine-like precision at exact timing.
There wasn’t a single unnecessary movement.
“…Honestly, it’s amazing. I never thought this would actually be a viable strategy.”
“Well, he is our tank after all.”
Even seeing it with his own eyes was hard to believe, yet those guys acted nonchalant as if they were used to it.
That felt so alien.
‘A tank… so he wasn’t just saying that, he really was a tank?’
It wasn’t his first time seeing an evasion-type tank.
Even among tanks, there were specialized fields, and among them, irregulars called evasion tanks would occasionally appear.
Of course, they only appeared – none of them made a name for themselves.
‘They might work against dungeon bosses, but with raid bosses, one mistake and it’s over…’
Compared to that, evasion-type tanks didn’t even have better tanking ability.
Rather than taking a dangerous gamble when it wasn’t even better, finding a stable tank was a hundred times more beneficial.
Therefore, evasion-type tanks were generally perceived as something close to a novelty pick.
Ahdeo was also one of those who held such a perception…
Whoosh- Swish-
[Perfect parrying succeeds.]
[The mark disappears.]
[Delivers a powerful strike proportional to accumulated damage.]
‘A DPS doing tanking… was this even possible?’
Watching Kaiser perfectly evade while holding aggro, that perception was shattered for the first time.
Rather, in this situation, Kaiser’s tanking was more reliable than Demian’s.
No matter how much Demian was called the best in terms of defense, he couldn’t endure those tremendous strikes several times over by himself.
But if there was no need to block and he could dodge everything?
‘…Isn’t that an existence beyond a tank?’
Then why bother being a tank at all?
He was feeling confused by a situation that seemed to contradict the common sense he knew.
“I can guess what you’re thinking, but don’t worry. That guy is just abnormal.”
“…”
When he turned his head at the voice that suddenly interjected, Ast was grinning as if he understood.
Then the Empress, who had been listening from the other side, chimed in.
“There’s a reason why they say he couldn’t have gotten 1st place in Demroc without parrying.”
“There was even a theory that it was a Kaiser-exclusive skill, keke.”
“You can’t complain about not having legendary skills, right? He’s the only one who uses parrying at legendary level or higher.”
“Well, thanks to that we got a tank, so it worked out.”
“Isn’t it problematic that the tank deals more damage than me?”
“Isn’t that your problem for falling behind in damage with that gear setup?”
Seeing even Cheonma join in the chatter, Ahdeo closed his mouth.
‘It doesn’t seem to be simply a matter of parrying.’
While parrying enabled that kind of play, his evasion ability was absurd to begin with to attribute it all to just parrying.
It felt like he was already positioned where attacks wouldn’t hit him in the first place.
At that level, it seemed like he could see a few seconds into the future.
[Sealed Abyss, ‘Commander of the 4th Legion of Ruin’ uses Grasp of Destruction.]
[The effect of Verzina’s Magic Gauntlets has been activated.]
[Special option, ‘Caressing Touch’ effect allows you to touch Grasp of Destruction.]
[Special option, ‘Coordinate Change’ effect moves the coordinates of the intangible energy.]
[This is an overwhelming strike. The changeable distance is greatly reduced.]
It was the result of combining that strange gauntlet he used occasionally, the fuse, and movement skills.
Kaiser, who abandoned attacking and focused entirely on tanking, was truly the ultimate tank.
“Ah, God watches over us. Do your best to repay His faith!”
“Ah… Kamen.”
“Kamen.”
What was even more maddening were the fanatical voices of the Kashin Church echoing from all directions.
As Kaiser began to hold aggro, the fanatic’s eyes shone with even clearer madness, and the Kashin Church members’ movements improved several times over.
Slash- Thunk!
“Everything is for Kashin!”
No, the fanatic’s abilities had amplified several times over from the start.
His violent greatsword swings were enough to make even Ahdeo flinch. At this rate, he might be able to achieve victory against Leon, not just a draw.
Swoosh-! Swish!
Thud! Thud!
Was it just imagination that the flying arrows had become sharper and more precise?
-We can’t lose either!
-Rizariza!
-Yes! Prioritize catching those heading for Master!
The occasional missed legions were blocked by Charlie, Eliza, and the undead legion.
[‘Commander of the 4th Legion of Ruin’s sealed soul has been partially destroyed.]
[The legion commander suffers serious damage.]
Thanks to this, they could more stably break through the legion and destroy the sealed souls.
Starting with that, they continued to smash the orbs,
[Sealed Abyss, ‘Commander of the 4th Legion of Ruin’s life force is below 10%.]
When they came to their senses, the legion commander’s life force had already hit rock bottom.
This was the result created by just one person.
‘We can do it.’
‘One more time. Just one more repetition…’
If things continued like this, they could clear it.
It was when such hope settled in everyone’s hearts.
[Current Abyssal transformation progress is 78%.]
[Current Abyssal transformation progress is 79%.]
The moment the gradually rising Abyssal transformation progress reached 80%.
“…Huh?”
“What, why did it suddenly get so bright… What the hell?”
“Crazy… Wh-what is that?”
Suddenly the battlefield was dyed purple and it opened its eyes.
[The Eye of the Abyss opens.]
[The sleeping demonic beasts of the Abyss reveal themselves.]
Pupils like those of reptiles.
The massive demonic beasts emerging from there with overwhelming majesty were terrifying.
However, no one here had their gaze stolen by the demonic beasts.
[The Abyss’s mighty one, ‘Lord of Destruction’ gazes upon this place.]
[The Abyss’s mighty one, ‘Immortal Master’ gazes upon this place.]
Black forms with only silhouettes revealed.
Constantly undulating, they could only be called darkness itself, and they were watching this place.
-We meet again… don’t we. Vessel…
The moment a spine-chilling voice like scraping metal descended upon the labyrinth.
[You face an overwhelming presence.]
[You confront an unbearable aura.]
[Complete Abyssal transformation has not yet occurred, so they cannot exert influence.]
[When Abyssal transformation reaches 100%, they will descend.]
“Crazy… what the hell is that?”
“I-I don’t know either.”
The players could be certain.
They didn’t know what those beings were, but the moment they descended, everyone would die.
It was certain death with no room for resistance.
[Sealed Abyss, ‘Commander of the 4th Legion of Ruin’s sealed powers are all released.]
[The Commander of the 4th Legion of Ruin awakens all traits and skills.]
[Beware!]
Moreover, the legion commander had also entered the final phase.
At this, Dohyun frowned for the first time since taking on the aggro role.
It wasn’t because of those beings’ appearance. He had somewhat expected it the moment he saw the Eye of the Abyss.
The problem was the timing.
[Life force is below 10%.]
[All mana has been exhausted.]
‘Of all times…’
He had been desperately holding on, but had finally exhausted all his mana.
The magic gauntlets were also on cooldown.
Now he had to hold aggro with pure control alone, without parrying or movement skills.
With only 10% life force remaining.
“Quickly! Quickly destroy the orbs!”
Ast, noticing this, widened his eyes and looked around frantically.
It was to not miss where the next orb would appear.
However, it was a futile effort.
[There are no remaining sealed souls.]
[Current Abyssal transformation progress is 81%.]
“…What?”
Now only a frontal assault was the sole strategy remaining.
They had to conduct the final raid against the legion commander who had grown as strong as possible.
With a time limit hanging over them.
“What kind of bullshit is this!?”
“Damn it!”
“It’s equally frustrating, but now’s not the time for that. Provide support immediately…”
The complaints about unfairness were brief.
The party members who quickly grasped the situation rushed toward the legion commander.
Time aside, they realized that leaving things as they were would put Dohyun, who was out of mana, in danger.
Roooooar!!
But the legion commander was one step faster.
[Sealed Abyss, ‘Commander of the 4th Legion of Ruin’ uses Veil of Destruction.]
[Designates up to 5 people to seal their movement for 40 seconds.]
[Players ‘Cheonma’, ‘Empress’, ‘Ast’, ‘Ahdeo’, and ‘Fanatic’ have been designated and their movement is sealed.]
The Legion Commander, with all his authority’s seals released, had played his trump card.
The party, who never imagined such a brutish man would have this kind of binding technique, were helplessly caught in the barrier.
“…!”
“No!”
At the same time, the Legion Commander’s fist swung without hesitation.
Thwack- Crash!
Dohyun immediately reacted and rolled backward, but the Legion Commander’s attacks didn’t cease.
When he dodged the punch, a Grasp of Destruction immediately flew at him, and when he barely avoided that, a body slam came.
Even when he dodged that, the Legion Commander tried to fall flat on the ground to crush him.
[Health is below 5%.]
Dohyun somehow managed to avoid the attacks, but given the size difference, there were limits to dodging.
-Master! This humble sword will come to your… Urgh!
-O-Owner!
-Risa!!
The Guardians, sensing their Owner’s peril, tried to step forward, but they were conversely tied down by the demonic beasts.
It would be difficult to shake them off and come immediately.
The time he had to endure alone was still 30 seconds.
[The second ability of God’s Tears is on cooldown.]
[Remaining time is 45 seconds.]
‘What terrible timing…’
He didn’t think he could last 30 seconds when he couldn’t even use skills right now.
Swoosh-
Naturally, Dohyun’s eyes turned toward his inventory.
‘…Should I use it?’
The only method to break through this situation was there.
Dohyun didn’t know exactly what would happen either, but something had to work, right?
He had been saving it to use when there was absolutely no way to solve things…
‘Can’t be helped.’
It seemed like now was that situation.
Just as he was about to reach into his inventory while looking up at the Legion Commander glaring menacingly.
A sword that flew from somewhere drew a clean straight line and cut the Legion Commander’s arm.
Swish-!
Kraaaah!!
An utterly perfect single slash.
Seeing the beautiful sword that seemed to have reached the realm of art, Dohyun quickly turned his head.
“This is…”
As far as he knew, there was only one person who wielded such swordsmanship.
Tap.
Sure enough.
A woman who gracefully landed between the Legion Commander and Dohyun turned her head, her jet-black hair fluttering.
“I finished my training and came straight here when I heard the commotion…”
A woman with snow-white skin wearing training clothes.
When their eyes met, she smiled faintly.
“Fortunately, it seems I’m not too late.”
At the now-familiar pure voice, Dohyun let out a hollow laugh.
“Not too late my ass… You’re properly late. Seriously.”
“Is that so.”
At that, the woman closed her eyes and chuckled softly before turning around.
“Then I’ll take over from here.”
The last member of Kaiser Party.
It was the entrance of the Sword Master.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————