The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 226
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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 226
Chapter 226
Cerberus.
One of the dungeons I challenged to obtain Hades’ mythic-grade equipment and earn the qualification called “Hades’ Recognition”—the Hell Gate—and this was its boss monster.
Needless to say, it was an incredibly powerful monster.
The dungeon itself easily exceeded level 800, and Cerberus was the boss monster of such a dungeon.
In other words.
“Run!”
“Kyieeeee!”
It was a monster I couldn’t possibly fight at my current level.
Two years after the game’s launch, even the top rankers of Second hadn’t surpassed level 500, yet here was a boss monster exceeding level 800.
In fact, I suspected it might be even stronger than the White Water Deity I’d recently faced—a monster entirely mismatched with my current capabilities.
“Kwaaaaang!”
“Keheng!”
“Krrrung!”
As I desperately fled, I heard the sounds of the three-headed hellhound behind me.
Truly a powerful mythic-grade boss monster.
It easily kept pace with the legendary speed of my red dragon horse.
And that wasn’t all.
Whoooosh!
“Swerve!”
“Kyieeeee!”
True to its nature as a hellhound, all three heads spewed hellfire.
Fortunately, I noticed and changed direction in time.
If I’d continued straight, I would have been incinerated on the spot.
“Luke, equip the armor set!”
– Yes, Master.
This wouldn’t do.
If I didn’t increase the red dragon horse’s speed even slightly, it would catch up immediately.
With that thought, I quickly equipped the gear onto the red dragon horse’s body.
[ Stormwind Mane Saddle ]
[ Stormwind Mane Horseshoes ]
[ Stormwind Mane Bridle ]
….
[ All 6/6 pieces of the ‘Stormwind Mane’ set have been equipped. ]
[ The ‘Stormwind Mane’ set effect activates. ]
[ Stormwind Mane: The mount’s movement speed increases dramatically. Wind is generated proportional to the movement speed, partially blocking nearby attacks. ]
Immediately, the red dragon horse’s movement speed surged dramatically.
And that wasn’t all.
Even though I’d dodged the hellfire Cerberus spewed, I couldn’t avoid the sparks that scattered.
The wind that erupted around the Red Flame Horse thanks to the Storm Mane set’s effect blocked all the sparks of hellfire.
This was certainly a positive development, but.
‘It’s not enough.’
Cerberus was still hot on my heels.
I’d barely managed to avoid being caught, but shaking it off seemed impossible.
With three heads continuously spewing hellfire in such a situation, even evasion was reaching its limits.
So.
[ Ice Wall ]
( Non-Tradeable )
Type: Grimoire
Grade: Advanced
Restriction: Level 300 or higher, Mage-class job
Description: A grimoire that allows you to learn ‘Ice Wall’, a 4-Circle ice spell that creates a barrier of ice to block enemy attacks.
A 4-Circle spell that could only be learned after surpassing level 300.
I immediately opened the grimoire that would teach me Ice Wall and acquired it.
– Using the 4-Circle ice spell ‘Ice Wall’.
I deployed it instantly in the direction the hellfire was coming from.
Crack!
An ice wall materialized on the spot.
Compared to the 3-Circle spells I’d been using until now, this 4-Circle spell I’d just cast appeared far larger in scale and noticeably more solid.
Whoosh!
But my opponent was Cerberus, a Mythic-grade boss monster.
The ice wall barely managed to withstand the hellfire it spewed for about a second.
Still, I knew how to use Dual Casting, so I could immediately conjure the next ice wall in succession.
Thanks to the two seconds created by the two ice walls, I was able to quickly escape the range of the hellfire while riding the Red Flame Horse.
“Kwaaaaang!”
“Krung, krung!”
“Keheck!”
However, it was merely a temporary measure.
Cerberus continued to pursue me relentlessly, and the hellfire kept pouring down.
But I wasn’t just fleeing with my eyes forward.
While the Red Flame Horse concentrated on accelerating and running.
I continued to observe and analyze Cerberus.
And as a result.
‘It’s weak.’
I succeeded in analyzing Cerberus.
Yes, it was weak.
Of course, not weaker than me.
It was relentlessly pursuing the Red Flame Horse, a Legendary-grade mount equipped with the Storm Mane set, while spewing hellfire so threatening that a single touch would reduce me to ash.
Rather, the standard of weakness I was referring to was.
‘Much weaker than the Cerberus from First.’
The boss monster of the Hell Gate Dungeon that I had defeated back in First.
Compared to that boss monster which easily exceeded level 800, this one was weak.
Though not completely feeble—if I had to estimate by level, perhaps around 600?
In any case, if my assessment was correct.
‘It’s manageable.’
Not a monster I couldn’t possibly defeat.
Since I had already brought one down before, I understood Cerberus’s attack patterns with absolute certainty.
‘The set effect is activating properly too.’
The armor of Odysseus that I was wearing.
Its set effect—’Odysseus’s Journey’—which dramatically increases stats and skill levels in newly discovered regions, was functioning perfectly.
Even so, if I fought by conventional tactics, there would be no way through….
‘Rather than being chased all the way to the Underworld Registry while dragging this out, it’s better to pull out a Mythic-grade item and just crush it.’
Don’t I have items I’ve accumulated since First?
With those, I felt confident I could bring down this weakened Cerberus one way or another.
The moment I decided that.
“Red Hare, you’re getting used to this now, right? Just dodge on your own.”
“Neigh!”
I gave the command to Red Hare, twisted my waist, and asked Luke to draw a new weapon for me.
[ Silver Bow, Gandiva ]
( Non-Tradeable )
Type : Bow
Grade : Mythic
Requirement : Level 1,000 or higher, Agility 4,000 or higher, Bow Mastery 100 or higher
Description : Originally kept in the treasury of the Water Deity Varuna, this supreme bow was said to have been used by the hero Arjuna at Agni’s request.
My opponent was Cerberus.
Even if it was weaker than the Cerberus I knew, it still appeared to be a monster at least twice my level.
I couldn’t afford to hold back.
Remaining mounted on Red Hare, I assumed the stance of mounted archery and aimed Gandiva—the bow that had been stored in the Water Deity Varuna’s treasury and imbued with the power of water—at Cerberus.
Among them.
‘The left head.’
I aimed Gandiva at the left head among the three, the one that was particularly furrowed with anger.
[ Using Black Flame Transformation. ]
[ Borrowing the power of ‘Black Flame Dragon, Luknir Desperato Ignockton’. ]
Without hesitation, I activated Black Flame Transformation immediately and pulled the bowstring taut, now wreathed in black flames.
– Using skill ‘Silver Shot’.
Twang!
I released the arrow.
The arrow flew with the speed befitting a Mythic-grade weapon with a 1,000 level requirement.
No matter how much of a Cerberus it was, weakened from my memory and pressed hard by my pursuit, it had no time or leeway to dodge the arrow.
I activate the unique skill of the Silver Bow, Gandiva: Varuna’s Ripple.
The arrow streaks through empty air, leaving thick ripples in its wake.
Thunk!
“Screeeech!”
It buries itself precisely between the eyes of the left head.
I’d aimed for the eye, but true to its mythic nature, the creature twisted its head at the last instant, causing the arrow to miss the eye entirely.
Still, the space between the eyes was a vulnerable spot, so the damage landed squarely.
Thunk.
The left head, unable to withstand the impact from the mythic weapon Gandiva, loses consciousness and droops forward.
It’s not completely defeated—rather, it’s entered a stunned state triggered by accumulated damage beyond a certain threshold.
And immediately after.
[ Arrow of Light, Tahlum ]
( Non-Tradeable )
Type : Arrow
Grade : Mythic
Requirements : Level 1,000+, Agility 4,000+, Bow Mastery 100+
Description : The radiant arrow of light said to have been shot by the Light God Lu Rawather, piercing the dead eye of the one-eyed giant Balor and slaying him.
This time, I draw not the bow, but an arrow instead.
My target is the right head—the one drooling most profusely among the three.
If the left head possessed fire attribute and thus had water as its weakness.
Then the right head’s weakness was.
Whoosh!
I activate the unique skill of the Arrow of Light, Tahlum: Dead Eye Assassination.
Light attribute.
Thunk!
“Shrieeeek!”
The Arrow of Light, Tahlum, pierces cleanly through the right head’s eye.
Thanks to striking its weakness with a superior attribute, I deal tremendous damage.
Like the left head before it, the right head enters a stunned state and goes limp.
Again, it’s not completely defeated—merely temporarily incapacitated.
And.
‘Now.’
Now is the moment.
Cerberus possesses three heads, but the true head connected to Cerberus’s life is the center one.
To damage the center head, I must first fell or stun the heads on either side.
And with both flanking heads now limp in their stunned state.
Now is my chance to bring down Cerberus.
Even mythic weapons won’t fell it in a single strike, but if my calculations are correct, it should fall before I finish wielding four mythic weapons.
As I reach for a new mythic weapon with that thought.
Something else I recognize flashes across my vision—another structure I know.
‘What is that…?’
The ruins of a collapsed labyrinth.
Standing prominently in its center was a statue of a bull’s head.
That statue was unmistakably.
‘The bull statue of Labyrinth Labyrinthus?’
The boss monster of the mythic-tier dungeon, Labyrinth Labyrinthus.
Like Cerberus, it was a symbol of the Minotaur, a mythic-tier monster.
But that wasn’t all.
‘That’s the Eight-Directional Sealing Pillar.’
A pillar shaped like a serpent’s head split into eight directions.
It too was a symbolic structure from which mythic-tier monsters emerged, and it was a symbol of Yamata no Orochi.
‘The Sphinx statue.’
The symbol of the Sphinx, the mythical beast that guards the Pyramid, was also present.
The moment I recognized them.
My senses, honed through countless dungeon conquests and monster battles since arriving at First, felt a chilling sense of dread.
And sure enough, just before I could draw a new weapon to finish off Cerberus’s middle head.
“MOOOOOOO-!!”
The bull statue of the collapsed labyrinth shattered, and a colossal Minotaur burst forth, roaring with a double-bladed axe in hand.
“Ssssshhhhh-.”
From the Eight-Directional Sealing Pillar, the unsealed Yamata no Orochi erupted, its eight tails and heads writhing.
“Who dares pass this way without permission!”
The Sphinx statue rose, kicking up clouds of dust.
I would have preferred it to end there, but these were merely the monsters emerging from the structures I had discovered.
Monsters from structures I hadn’t yet found began appearing from all directions.
“Aaaaaaaaa-!”
“Pyuooooo-!”
From the sky, Sirens descended with enchanting cries, while Garuda flapped its massive wings.
“Krung!”
“Huoooo-.”
From the ground, the wolf that devoured gods, Fenrir, and Dusk Demon, a creature of darkness, charged forward along with countless other monsters.
“Kroooo-.”
“Ssshhit!”
The abyssal sea monster Leviathan and the White Whale, resembling the White Water Deity, swam through the desolate land as if it were an ocean, approaching me.
Only then did I understand.
The All Master’s Awakening Quest was not simply about defeating Cerberus.
“Kyaoooooo!”
All manner of mythical monsters, including Cerberus.
In this place called the Age of Fallen Mythology, where all manner of mythical monsters lurked, I had to survive to the very end and reach that star at the horizon, inscribing my name in the Underworld Registry.
“Red Hare, charge!”
“Hiiiing!”
That was precisely the awakening Quest of All Master.
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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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