The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 375

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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 375

Part 2, Episode 41.

How much time had passed since Dohyun’s beating began?

As the cheerful jajinmori rhythm echoing through the cave gradually began to fade.

[It has been confirmed that Ivark’s life force is below 1%.]

[You have subdued ‘Ivark’, the intruder of the Corrupted Spirit’s Land.]

[This will be recorded in the Adventure Log.]

“Huh, what? Already?”

Dohyun, who had checked the message, stopped his fist that was about to strike.

Jihad shook his head at Dohyun’s expression of disappointment as he clicked his tongue.

-…Good heavens, ‘already’, Owner? Just watching gave me PTSD.

“Do you keep picking up weird words to use? Do you study Player… no, Disciple language separately?”

-Ahem! I’m a goblin who’s sensitive to trends.

-Rizariza?

Dohyun chuckled as he watched Jihad stick out his long nose and proudly puff out his chest.

Eliza and Charlie don’t seem to adopt words from whatever the Players are chattering about… only that guy frequently quotes what the Players say.

‘What a peculiar fellow.’

There was a reason he was an unprecedented Guardian whose Guardian trait was ‘Opportunist’.

“Ugh… ughhh… ahh…”

At that moment, groaning sounds could be heard.

It was Ivark, who had been beaten bloody all day long.

Gone was his initial appearance of struggling and screaming; he was just groaning in pain.

-Ugh, this reminds me of the old days, I can’t watch.

-Rizariza…

-Mmm…

In a way, he couldn’t help but be the most pitiful boss.

Since the Quest was to subdue and confirm his identity, he couldn’t be killed instantly and had to be beaten to a pulp with fists.

Perhaps that’s why.

-Ugh… no, I don’t want… stop… ughhh…

The arrogant and haughty Ivark was curled up like a caterpillar, constantly muttering.

He showed no sign of resistance whatsoever.

It could be said that the Quest conditions had been perfectly achieved.

‘Now then…’

Dohyun approached him, crouched down, and grinned wickedly.

There was only one thing left to do.

‘Now let’s see what kind of guy this is.’

To confirm what race these so-called intruders actually were.

Would they be elves or nymphs as expected, or one of the non-human races hiding in Ellanis?

Swoosh.

-Ooh… can we finally find out?

-Rizariza!

-Mmm!

Were they just as excited about it?

When Dohyun reached out his hand, they couldn’t take their sparkling eyes off him.

Finally, the moment he pulled back the hood of the robe covering Ivark’s face.

[You have confirmed the face of the intruder Ivark.]

[You have achieved the clear condition for the emergency Quest ‘Intruder’.]

[Quest cleared. Safely escape from this place and inform Periel.]

As the identity of the guy shrouded in mystery was revealed, a cheerful notification rang out, and

“…?”

-What the?

-Ri, Riza?

-…What?

Dohyun and the Guardians widened their eyes as if they had made a promise.

They had no choice.

Ivark’s identity was completely different from what they had imagined.

An elf? A nymph?

It wasn’t anything that ordinary.

Clatter-

The distinctive eerie sound of bone joints colliding.

A face and neck made entirely of bone.

Though he didn’t know what race it originally was, at first glance it had the same form as human bones.

The sight of such a skeleton holding a grimoire was just like…

“…A lich?”

It was the very form of a widely known lich.

‘The intruder is a lich?’

When punching him, he did think the impact felt as hard as bone.

He just thought it was because he was so skinny, but who would have thought he was actually a lich?

This was such an unimaginable identity that he could only let out a hollow laugh.

‘Then what about the intruders I saw before? Are they skeletons too?’

No, he could be certain.

At least those guys weren’t skeletons like a lich.

The impact was different, and above all, didn’t they have the ‘Arrow of Astra’ that could only be wielded by those who received the World Tree’s revelation?

Then it was one of two things.

[Ivark]

Either this guy, whose information couldn’t be read, was the same race as the other intruders but had become a lich for some reason…

‘Or it’s not just one race.’

The intruders were a force composed of multiple types.

Should this be called fortunate, or unfortunate?

Dohyun had gained an opportunity to satisfy his curiosity.

“How frustrating…”

“?”

“Just a little… just a little more and I could have received the revelation… if only you weren’t here! If only you weren’t here…!!”

The voice that had been constantly muttering gradually became faster and at some point changed to something close to a scream.

And at that moment.

“Kuhh… hehehe… Right, since I’m going to die anyway when I go back, let’s all die together.”

Ivark, who had been letting out a chilling laugh like a madman, suddenly threw back the robe that had been covering his body.

Then, between his exposed ribs, something emitting a black light was revealed.

It was a root of corruption.

However, it was emitting a more murky and dense black light than the ones seen before, and it could be seen pumping like a heart.

-Ugh, disgusting.

-Rizariza…!

-Mmm, not a very pleasant sight.

The Guardians frowned at the sight.

Dohyun found it just as unpleasant, but right now he didn’t have time to express that.

“Hehehe… Though I will die, I won’t die alone. ‘That guy’ is someone even Orga can’t control… someone who should never be awakened. Come with me! Hehehe… hahaha!”

The moment his chilling cry ended.

[The intruder of the Corrupted Spirit’s Land, ‘Ivark’, breaks the taboo.]

[Ivark offers himself as a sacrifice to awaken the ‘Ill-Fated Hero’.]

[Hidden Phase begins.]

-Ow, Owner!

-The situation is not good, Master. We must quickly eliminate that guy….

-Rizariza!

Warning sounds like disaster alerts kept ringing, and that guy’s skeletal body was swallowed by the root of corruption that had settled like a heart.

The Guardians cried out in panic, and Dohyun hurriedly extended Heavenly Transformation, but he was a step too late.

The sacrificial ritual had ended faster than Dohyun had anticipated.

[Using Ivark as a sacrifice, the ‘Ill-Fated Hero’ who was sleeping in this place awakens.]

[Warning! This is an opponent with great stature.]

[Due to temporarily breaking taboos to awaken, the ‘Ill-Fated Hero’ awakens in an incomplete state.]

[At regular intervals, the ‘Ill-Fated Hero’ will regain power, and when the time limit expires, will regain complete power.]

[Time Limit – 00 : 20 : 00]

‘Crazy….’

Dohyun’s previously relaxed expression hardened instantly.

-Ow, Owner….

-Riza… ri….

-…This is an unbelievably powerful aura, Master.

This time, it wasn’t just the creatures sensitive to auras, but Dohyun could feel it too.

He felt it on his skin.

The heavy air settling in the area and the killing intent so sharp it made his skin tingle.

Thud, thud.

As the faint footsteps gradually grew louder, that presence also grew stronger.

A massive aura incomparable to Ivark’s.

If asked to name the most tense moment since entering the New Continent, he could say without hesitation it was now.

It felt similar to when he first saw the Forgotten King’s corpse during the Lion King’s trial.

‘What kind of guy is coming out….’

Dohyun gulped.

In an instant, the peaceful atmosphere shattered and became murderous.

Thud.

The footsteps gradually drew closer.

When the figure’s silhouette finally became faintly visible, Dohyun narrowed his eyes.

It was to confirm the identity of that being.

The moment the silhouette became clear enough to make out the face.

“…!”

Dohyun’s eyes widened.

It wasn’t because of a strange appearance like Ivark the lich.

The coldly pale skin and partially rotted flesh were certainly those of an undead, but the facial features were clearly preserved.

Pointed ears and the noble, handsome appearance despite being a corpse.

‘That’s…’

It was unmistakably an elf.

However, there was a crucial difference compared to the elves he’d seen in Elf Village.

‘…Black skin.’

Pitch-black skin.

And silver eyes to match.

There was only one race with such characteristics, without a doubt.

‘…Dark elf?’

It didn’t take long to confirm this thought was correct.

[You have encountered the Eternal Knight of the dark elf with great stature, ‘???’.]

[This is the first boss of this type you have encountered.]

[Upon defeat, the title ‘First Slayer’ effect will activate.]

[Awakened in an incomplete state, so the true name is not revealed.]

[At regular intervals, the true name will gradually be revealed and some of the power from life will be displayed.]

The message proved his guess was correct.

Not just any dark elf, but a dark elf with great stature?

It was clearly an extraordinary title at first glance.

That wasn’t all.

‘Eternal Knight… this again.’

Though conditional, being able to display some power from life meant at least a mid-tier Eternal Knight.

Dohyun frowned as he was reminded of the Lion King’s trial.

He remembered how absurdly difficult that had been.

The biggest problem was that this would clearly be even harder than that time.

That was at least under the pretense of a trial, but this was a mission to actually defeat the enemy.

‘Isn’t this difficulty spike way too much?’

He didn’t know how great that dark elf had been in life, but seeing all those warning messages, it was certainly no ordinary figure.

Realistically, Dohyun had no reason to fight that guy in this situation.

‘They said if you die during the competition, you’re automatically disqualified.’

There was no reason to take unnecessary risks when he’d already built up an overwhelming score.

Most importantly, he’d already completed Periel’s Quest.

Defeating that guy would just be a bonus; there was no need to force it.

According to Ivark, the root of corruption should have completely consumed the Land of Spirits in a few years.

In other words, this was content that shouldn’t have opened originally.

Meaning it was hidden content….

‘…Then naturally the difficulty would be fucking insane.’

In many ways, it would be right to cleanly give up and flee here, but Dohyun didn’t retreat.

Instead, he gripped Heavenly Transformation and stood facing the enemy, waiting.

It wasn’t bravado.

He simply had a reason he couldn’t retreat.

[Eye of Truth activates.]

Red dots were glowing on that Eternal Knight’s body.

Not just one, but two.

But most importantly, it wasn’t about having two hidden rewards.

[You have encountered a figure related to the Main Quest.]

[Defeat him to hear his true name.]

[You may obtain information related to the Main Quest.]

‘Ha.’

The problem was that guy was related to the Main Quest, which had been completely silent.

‘How can I resist this?’

High risk, high return was an unchanging law.

If he defeated this guy who looked damn difficult, he’d get sweet rewards related to the Main Quest.

Most importantly, it didn’t seem completely hopeless.

‘I just need to defeat him within the time limit, right?’

The guy was still in an incomplete state.

He just needed to defeat him before he regained all his power from life.

Right now when he was weakest, a quick decisive battle would do it.

In that sense, Dohyun looked at the wind gently wrapping around Heavenly Transformation and grinned.

[Periel’s Gift – Gale can be activated.]

‘Let’s see how well this performs.’

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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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