The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 118

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 118
Chapter 118
Defeating the mercenaries was simple enough.
Their levels were slightly higher than mine, but their actual combat prowess was pathetic.
Compared to the Empire’s knights, who possessed genuine combat techniques and experience, they were nothing more than children playing at warfare.
Though, thinking about it, there was no helping it.
Unlike the Empire’s knights who trained under rigorous instruction, most mercenaries honed their skills through reckless combat against monsters in the field, never learning proper technique.
However.
‘This one seems to have a considerably high level.’
The level gap was something I couldn’t ignore.
After dropping several mercenaries, one with a noticeably higher level stepped forward.
Moreover, he came at me with a skill, showing no intention of underestimating me.
– Activating skill ‘Black Serpent Shadow’.
I responded in kind.
– Activating skill ‘Power Strike’.
Clang!!!
“Ugh…”
I brought him down with the skill.
Though I’d struck him with the flat of my blade, the critical damage landed cleanly enough to drop him in a single blow.
After that, no more mercenaries emerged for a moment.
“Everyone, stand back. I’ll face him myself.”
The man who had been watching the entire situation impassively from the rear rose to his feet.
His entire body, face included, was covered in countless scars of every variety.
Strapped across his back was a scimitar so massive I questioned whether he could even wield it—a crescent-shaped blade.
‘Is the mercenary band commander stepping in personally?’
The guards stationed here.
In other words, the commander of the Steel Claw Mercenary Band.
‘At minimum… his level appears to be 300 or higher.’
The sheer presence emanating from him was extraordinary.
The way he gripped his weapon, the movement of his muscles, the gleam in his eyes as he regarded me—
Every element told me this was someone I absolutely could not afford to underestimate.
I’d estimated him at level 300 or above, but that was merely the bare minimum based on outward appearances.
In reality, his level likely ran far deeper.
“My apologies for underestimating you, adventurer. I thought you were some parachute hire relying on connections, but you’re the real deal.”
From the way he spoke, he’d already acknowledged my abilities.
Yet even as he said this, he drew his weapon—clearly intending to continue our bout regardless of his acknowledgment.
“Still, now that you’ve joined the Steel Claw Mercenary Band, we can’t let your initiation pass without proper ceremony. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“I look forward to it.”
“Hahaha, excellent! That’s the spirit! Recruits these days lack that fire, but you’ve got it. I like you already!”
I could tell without him saying another word.
With that laugh, the duel began.
Normally, when a duel starts, both parties rush toward each other—that’s the standard approach.
But this mercenary captain did not.
He simply widened his stance.
“Alright, the first order of the initiation ceremony!”
He drew the crescent blade from his back.
Then.
“Take this!”
He swung it with tremendous force.
With considerable distance still between us, I couldn’t understand why he was swinging the crescent blade, but.
The moment the mercenary captain’s massive crescent blade swept through the air.
Whoosh!
A crescent-shaped blade aura flew toward me.
Against the blade aura that stretched forward as if refusing to allow evasion, I lowered my stance and tilted my iron sword at an angle to deflect it.
Or rather, I tried to deflect it.
Clang, clang, clang!
The crescent-shaped blade aura relentlessly gnawed at my iron sword.
Unable to withstand it, my iron sword began to shatter.
– Activating 2nd Circle defensive magic ‘Shield’.
I channeled defensive magic into it.
Ting!
I barely managed to deflect the blade aura.
Of course, even with the defensive magic, I couldn’t prevent the iron sword’s durability from depleting and breaking.
And I could tell.
This attack.
While the mercenary captain’s skill was considerable, that crescent blade itself was no ordinary weapon.
So.
“Since you drew your real weapon first, I won’t complain about the weapon disparity.”
“Of course not! Use all the power you can muster!”
The mercenary captain swung the crescent blade again.
This time, without a proper draw technique, the blade aura wasn’t as powerful as the first attack.
Slash, slash, slash!
Instead, he increased the density of attacks through rapid successive strikes.
Multiple blade auras, densely packed, became a sharp net that descended upon me.
A wide-area attack impossible to evade or dodge.
In that case.
[ Azure Wind Shield ]
I would simply block it.
Ting!
“You blocked my blade aura? More importantly, where did you pull that shield from?”
I closed the distance with the mercenary captain while blocking his sword energy.
Realizing that sword energy no longer worked against me, the mercenary captain abandoned his ranged attacks and charged directly at me instead.
With that massive crescent blade swinging in that state, the pressure I felt was considerable.
I doubted my ‘Shield of Clear Wind’ could properly defend against such an assault.
– Activating skill ‘Black Serpent Shadow Dance’.
Using Black Serpent Shadow Dance, I evaded the descending crescent blade.
But then.
“Everyone assumes they only need to dodge my crescent blade once and they’re safe! How naive!”
In that instant, the mercenary captain’s movements shifted.
Planting his feet firmly and contracting every muscle in his body, the trajectory of that massive crescent blade twisted, now aiming for my ribs.
This was likely the mercenary captain’s trump card.
Just as he said, no one would have predicted that such a colossal blade could change direction so dramatically mid-swing.
However, my combat experience far surpassed that of this seasoned mercenary.
Having hunted from First all the way to the Golden Dragon of Greed, I had already anticipated this attack while considering the mercenary captain’s level.
[ Fugitive’s Shadow Shoes ]
As I evaded the attack, I swapped to the shoes Luke had prepared for me on my signal.
– Activating the unique skill of ‘Fugitive’s Shadow Shoes’: ‘Shadow Step’.
I activated the shoe’s unique skill.
My body suddenly sank downward, and I repositioned myself behind the mercenary captain.
Immediately, I drew a new weapon for my counterattack.
[ Blood-Soaked Serrated Dagger ]
I attacked the mercenary captain’s vital point, but.
“Wahaha! You’re the first one to dodge even that!”
The mercenary captain’s skill exceeded my expectations.
He released the crescent blade from his hand and spun his body, launching a kick at me.
As I tried to evade by lowering my upper body, the kick transformed into a downward strike aimed at my head.
Narrowly avoiding the crown of my head, I retreated to the side, and the mercenary captain similarly increased the distance before retrieving the crescent blade he’d thrown.
“Your combat experience is no joke. You look like a greenhorn, but you fight like a seasoned veteran.”
“I appreciate the compliment.”
“That said, you managed to wound me in the meantime.”
Blood was flowing from the mercenary captain’s calf.
The moment I evaded his kick.
It was a wound I created by swinging the Blood-Soaked Serrated Dagger.
This weapon possessed an item ability that induces bleeding in enemies and worsens hemorrhage, so the blood wouldn’t stop easily.
However, he acted as though the bleeding meant nothing to him.
“Come on, swing away! I’m the captain of these mercenaries, so I need to give you a proper initiation!”
He charged at me again, swinging the crescent blade relentlessly without pause.
* * *
Mir.
No, while Mira was fighting the mercenary captain.
Behind them, the mercenaries of the Steel Claw Mercenary Band watched the two duel with vacant expressions.
“Unbelievable—they’re actually matching our captain in combat…?”
Jackal, captain of the Steel Claw Mercenary Band.
He was no ordinary mercenary.
Before leading the mercenary band, he was known as a solitary wolf who hunted monsters alone with that massive crescent blade.
He was famous for slaying powerful monsters—orcs, trolls, ogres—all by himself.
Yet here he was, locked in an evenly matched duel with an adventurer?
“He seems to be holding back his strength for the sake of this sparring match….”
Of course, Jackal wasn’t revealing his full power.
He was restraining himself to keep the adventurer from dying.
Though truthfully, that only applied to the early stages of the fight.
As the battle dragged on, he gradually increased his strength, thinking ‘this much should be fine?’
And now.
“Wahahahaha! This is fun after so long!”
He was unleashing nearly his full power, driving the adventurer back.
Yet the adventurer was holding their ground against Jackal’s assault.
More than just holding their ground.
Whoosh—
Whenever the opportunity arose, they inflicted shallow wounds upon Jackal.
“What kind of monster is this person…?”
The mercenaries watching the duel glanced at their fallen comrades sprawled nearby.
At first, they’d thought they’d simply been careless.
But having sparred with an adventurer who matched their captain, being knocked out in a single blow was inevitable.
They were genuinely grateful they’d avoided fighting this adventurer.
“But if this continues….”
The mercenaries turned their attention back to the duel.
Jackal swung his crescent blade with unbridled enthusiasm.
Watching him filled them with unease.
He’d never done this against a human opponent before, but the longer Jackal’s battles with monsters lasted—
And the more his excitement escalated, the more he unconsciously activated a certain technique.
Sure enough, a crimson aura began seeping from the excited Jackal’s body.
The mercenaries who witnessed this—
“C-Captain! You mustn’t!”
“Everyone, stop him!”
“He’s going to kill this person!”
“Damn it, he’s never done this against a human before!”
They scrambled to their feet and rushed toward Jackal.
Berserker.
In other words, a berserk state.
Once Jackal entered that state, his excitement would reach a level where he could no longer distinguish between ally and enemy.
If I let things go on like this, I might end up killing an adventurer, which would be problematic.
Thinking as much, I desperately rushed forward to block Jackal.
“Luke.”
– Yes, Master.
The adventurer’s body began to burn black.
* * *
Reddening skin.
A crimson aura flowing outward.
Just by seeing that form, I could tell the mercenary captain was falling into a berserk state.
‘This is dangerous.’
The moment I confirmed that appearance.
“Luke.”
– Yes, Master.
[ Using Black Flame Transformation. ]
[ Borrowing the power of ‘Black Flame Dragon, Luke Nir Desperato Ignokton’. ]
I used Black Flame Transformation and borrowed Luke’s power.
However, when I said it was dangerous, I wasn’t worried about what the mercenary captain might do to me.
A berserk state.
In that condition, one’s thoughts become shallow, or in severe cases, one could lose all rationality.
If that happened, there’s no telling what kind of accident might occur.
So I had to borrow Luke’s power and stop him by any means necessary.
Boom!
The mercenary captain charged toward me.
He kicked off the ground and rushed forward, and the sound of his footsteps was like striking the earth with a club.
The crescent blade swinging as he charged was incredibly threatening from my perspective.
[ Bandit King’s Green Mountain Crescent Blade ]
( Non-tradeable )
Type: Blade
Grade: Epic
Restriction: Level 700 or higher, Strength 3,000 or above
Description: A massive crescent blade that only the Bandit King Drakson, who unified all bandit forces across the continent and was called the Bandit King, could wield.
I too drew out my crescent blade.
– Using the skill ‘Power Strike’.
I swung it toward the crescent blade the mercenary captain had unleashed.
Clang!!
I certainly possessed high stats for my level, and I had activated Black Flame Transformation and drawn an Epic-grade weapon of level 700, but.
The mercenary captain was fundamentally at a much higher level than me, and in his berserk state, he swung his crescent blade using attack skills.
Because of that, a tense standoff continued for a while.
The moment I thought I needed to snap him out of it quickly.
Clang!!
The mercenary commander overwhelmed me with his superior strength, knocking my Jade Mountain Crescent Blade away and hurling it aside.
He abandoned his weapon just like that?
Bewildered by this unexpected turn, the mercenary commander charged at me with both arms spread wide.
I dodged quickly, but his massive palm—large as a cauldron lid—snagged the hem of my garment.
In that instant, as the mercenary commander yanked me forward.
“Wahahahaha! You’re blocking even my berserk attacks? So I didn’t receive this special designation for nothing! I’ve finally met a proper mercenary after all this time!”
His berserk state completely lifted.
With his arm draped across my shoulder, he burst into hearty laughter.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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